Chain of Custody by Carol Ericson

Author:Carol Ericson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-04-10T00:58:34+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Nash’s mouth dropped open, and he couldn’t hear the rest of Jaycee’s verbal will over the roaring in his ears. What just happened? Did Jaycee just appoint him, a single man, a carefree bachelor, as guardian for her son?

Emily touched his shoulder. “Are you all right?”

“All right?” He twisted his head to the side and met her gaze. “I’m in shock. I can’t... I’m not...”

“You’re not locked in or anything, Agent Dillon.” Alice the caseworker appeared in his peripheral vision, bouncing a gurgling Wyatt in her arms. “I’m not an attorney, but I’ve seen a few situations like this. Nobody can force you to take a child, and it’s not that easy for one parent to cut out another. If Wyatt’s father steps forward, he can fight for custody and a judge will usually go with blood over friendship. Unless...”

Nash snapped his head around. “I’m not Wyatt’s father.”

Alice asked, “Do you know who is?”

At Alice’s question, Emily pinched his side. She didn’t have to worry. He didn’t plan on getting into the whole sorry mess right now.

“I don’t know—for sure.” He waved a hand at the laptop, where Jaycee’s frozen image beseeched him. “Didn’t Jaycee mention the father? Did she give any hints about who was after her or why she was in danger?”

Espinoza shook his head. “Unfortunately, she didn’t get into any of that. When I saw that she’d created a video two days ago, I had my hopes up, but all her thoughts were with her son.”

Nash braced his hands on the counter, on either side of the laptop, almost nose-to-nose with Jaycee on the monitor. “What happens now?”

“We’ll take care of Wyatt.” Alice touched her finger to the baby’s nose. “Detective Espinoza has already contacted Jaycee’s next of kin, and we’ll do some research into Wyatt’s father. This is all going to have to wend its way through the courts.”

“Wend?” Emily stroked Wyatt’s leg. “That makes it sound like a long and tortuous process. Wyatt needs his forever home as soon as possible.”

“There is a procedure that has to be followed, but we always have the child’s best interests at heart. We have many foster families who would take excellent care of Wyatt and treat him as their own.”

Emily ducked and picked up Wyatt’s diaper bag and kicked her own large duffel on the floor. “These are his things, and we have a car seat in the truck. When are you taking him?”

“Not for a little while yet. I have paperwork to fill out with Detective Espinoza and a few phone calls to make.” Alice took the diaper bag from Emily. “He’ll be fine here. Agent Dillon, you can decide whether or not you want to take on this responsibility, and then file a petition when we bring Wyatt’s case to family court. The mother’s wishes on that video and the fact that she left Wyatt with you when she went on the run will both bear strong witness to your claim.”

A father? Hell, he never even kept food in the house for himself.

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