Rules of Desire: Protecting Erin(33)

Just sitting up made her feel better. “I’m fine. Listen, I know you’re mad at me for not telling you anything.”

Duncan raised a brow. “You could say that.”

Erin eyed each of them, her heart aching for the pain she’d caused them. “I never really thought I’d see Nelson or Wes again. John and I talked alone several times when Wes and I were gathering evidence against Nelson.”

Smiling, she looked at each of them. “John has better instincts about people than anyone I’ve ever met. He started to get a funny feeling about Wes. He thought that there were times that Wes acted a little…off.”

“Good for him.” Jared adjusted the light blanket covering her while Reese offered a drink of water from the Styrofoam cup, holding the straw for her.

Reese waited, his steely stare daring her to argue with his attempt to help.

Figuring she owed them after all the trouble she’d caused, she smiled her thanks and took a sip before leaning back again.

“Thank you.” Reaching out, she gripped his forearm.

“You’re welcome.” Reese set the cup aside and took her hand. “Your old boss also told us that he trusted you. That tells me that he’s a smart man.”

Erin smiled at that. “He is.”

Duncan straightened. “He also said that he told you to tell us everything.”

“He did. I just never thought it would come to this.”

Toying with her hair, Jared inclined his head. “Tell us.”

Leaning back, Erin sighed, relieved that her headache had begun to ease. “After the trial, John noticed that Wes seemed to be acting funny. I didn’t notice anything at first, but John was curious enough to have Wes followed. When he learned that Wes had made several trips to the prison to visit Nelson, he became even more concerned.”

Duncan lowered himself to the other side of her bed. “Interesting. So he kept having him followed?”

Erin nodded, wincing. “Yes. And found out that Wes visited the prison every week. It was about the time Nelson’s wife divorced him and took off with their children.”

Jared pursed his lips. “Keep going.”

“Well, whoever had followed Wes lost him a few times, once when he went to a park in Dallas. After that, he had the new watch and designer suits.”

Reese looked at each of his brothers before turning to her again. “So they think that’s where Stark hid the money and Cramer somehow got him to tell him about it.”

“Exactly. John had had a complete audit done and knew that roughly seven million dollars was still missing from the money they’d recovered from Nelson’s safe deposit box. Apparently, he’d hidden it somewhere.”

Reese’s brow went up. “He hid it in a park?”

Erin shrugged. “That’s what it looks like.” Shifting to a more comfortable position, Erin sighed. “Even though John had Wes followed for a while, he couldn’t find out anything more. Wes stuck to his routine and lived within his means. They checked his computer at work, and the FBI got involved, but they couldn’t find a damned thing.”

Her voice trailed off when her throat went dry.

Reese seemed to notice, turning to retrieve the cup from the tray and holding the straw to her lips again. “And the feds have been following him, hoping he’ll lead them to the money. Ritten explained all that, and it’s the same story Ace got from the feds.”

Erin sipped her water and leaned back with a groan. “Ace. God, I’ll never forget the look on his face. He’s damned scary, but I felt a hell of a lot better when he showed up.”

“Good to know.” Ace’s deep baritone came from the direction of the doorway, but she didn’t see him until Jared turned aside.

In typical Desire fashion, Ace approached, his eyes filled with concern as he glanced at Jared. “How’s she doing?”

Jared turned back to her, still toying with the ends of her hair. “Her rib is cracked, and they have her taped up.”

Surprised, Erin looked down and started to reach for her side, but Reese took her hand in his and placed the straw against her lips again.

“Leave it alone.”

Jared pushed her hair back from the bandage on her temple. “She’s also got a concussion, so they want to keep her overnight.”

Erin pulled Reese closer, blocking out Jared and Ace’s conversation. “I also have another problem.”

Reese glanced at her breasts. “Mom and the dads are on their way in with the baby. Rachel went to the house to get your breast pump. They already used the milk you had in the refrigerator. You can feed him and pump more.”

“Thank God.”