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Leland’s checking to see if he can find a money trail so we can figure out who hired him.”
    Good. That was a start. “What about the other one? Any sign of him?”
    “Not so far, but they’ll keep looking.”
    Kendall didn’t want them to stop looking, but she had to be realistic. It’d been several hours since the men kidnapped her, and the one who got away was probably long gone by now.
    She stood, straightened her clothes. “You ready to talk?”
    His gaze drifted to the ultrasound screen that was now blank. “Not about that. Not yet. But if you’re up to it, I need to take your statement about the attack. You might be able to recall some detail that’ll help us figure this out.”
    Kendall definitely wasn’t feeling up to reliving the nightmare or giving a statement. She was exhausted and dizzy, and her arm was throbbing. Still, if she didn’t do it now, she’d only have to go to Aiden’s office tomorrow. Besides, she wasn’t exactly looking forward to returning to her house right now. Not with that escaped gunman still at large.
    Aiden got her moving out of the ultrasound room and into the hall, but he stopped when they reached the glass doors that led from the ER to the parking lot. He slid his hand over his gun and looked out, his gaze slashing from one side of the lot to the other. Since it was close to 9:00 p.m., there weren’t many cars, only those of the workers and the handful of people in the ER itself. But Aiden still took his time, no doubt making sure they weren’t about to be attacked.
    “Wait here,” he said. “I’ll get my truck and bring it right to the door.”
    However, he didn’t even make it a step before Kendall spotted movement in the parking lot. Aiden saw it, too, because he pushed her behind him and drew his gun.
    But it wasn’t the masked attacker coming back for another round.
    It was a woman Kendall instantly recognized, and she groaned. It was almost as loud as the one Aiden made.
    His mother, Carla, was making a beeline toward them.
    Since Carla and she didn’t live in the same town and definitely didn’t travel in the same circles, it’d been a decade or longer since Kendall had seen the woman. She hadn’t changed a bit. Tall and lean and dressed to perfection in a spring-yellow dress. Her dark blond hair was swept up and her makeup flawless. She looked ready for a church social.
    Except for that troubled expression.
    Aiden grumbled something Kendall didn’t catch and maneuvered her back, away from the door.
    “Your deputy said you were here,” Carla greeted.
    “I’m fine. I wasn’t hurt.”
    “Good to hear.” She spared him a glance as if it was the last thing she’d intended to ask about. And it probably was, since her attention stayed on her son for only several brief moments before it went to Kendall.
    That definitely wasn’t a loving look she gave Kendall.
    “I figured I’d find you here with my son,” Carla complained.
    Aiden tapped the badge clipped to his belt. “She’s with me because I’m doing my job. Two men kidnapped Kendall, and she was shot.”
    Again, that didn’t appear to be what Carla had come to discuss. “Kendall O’Neal’s not only a job to you.” Carla’s breath shuddered, and tears watered her eyes. “How could you crush me like this, Aiden? How could you let Jewell McKinnon’s sister seduce you?”
    Oh, no. Not this. Not now.
    “It wasn’t like that,” Aiden insisted, but he might as well have been talking to the air, because his mother didn’t even look at him. She was glaring at Kendall.
    “I know what happened between Aiden and you,” Carla said to Kendall. “And now we need to figure out what we’re going to do about this baby you’re carrying.”
     

CHAPTER FIVE
    Aiden really didn’t need his mother in his face right now. His fun meter was at zero, and judging from the start to this particular conversation, everything about it was going to fall into the nonfun category.
    He could go two ways with