By the time I got back, Reyes was up with Beep. Shirtless, he held her in his arms as he turned to me, and my breath caught in my chest. Here was a man so powerful, he could make the earth quake beneath us, holding something as fragile as fine china. It was charming and endearing and sexy and exquisite.

I walked to stand beside him. He grinned down at me, pride evident in his every move.

“Did you get some sleep?” I asked, placing a hand on his arm.

“Sure,” he said, lying through his teeth. His sleepy eyes and unshaven face awed me for a moment.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Denise said, barely audible above Katherine the Midwife’s snoring. Then she turned back to me. “You have some pretty great friends.”

Reyes had just set Beep in my arms when I walked over to Denise. “You saved her life,” I said, my gratitude limitless. “I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there today.”

“Yesterday.”

“Yesterday,” I corrected.

She bowed her head. “I’m just glad I could help.” She turned and left.

“And you,” I said to the ball of perfection in my arms, “I have to show you something. Coming?” I asked Reyes as Beep and I left the room.

He followed us downstairs and outside, where we sat on two lawn chairs to gaze at the stars. I told her all about the constellations, pointing out each one and reciting its name, at which point, Reyes corrected me.

Naturally, I ignored him. “And see that star?” I asked her even though she had yet to wake up. “I’m claiming that one for you. It’s all yours. Its name henceforth shall be known to all the lands as Beep.”

“I’m pretty sure that one’s already named.”

I turned to Reyes as he lay beside us. Still shirtless despite the crisp night that didn’t seem to faze him.

“And I’m pretty sure it’s a planet, not a star,” he continued, a playful grin lifting one corner of his mouth.

“Really?” I looked at Beep. “Did you hear that? Daddy is dissing your star. And he’s wearing duct tape. Duct tape is so last June.”

“Venus,” he said.

“Beep,” I volleyed with a stern brow.

He laughed softly. “Beep it is. I found something about her very interesting.”

“Just one thing?”

His grin widened. “This is interesting in a different way.”

“Really?” I asked, intrigued.

“Seven pounds, thirteen ounces.”

I gasped and gazed at her wide-eyed, making everything I said and did into a Broadway production. Not sure why. “Did you weigh seven whole pounds and thirteen ounces? No wonder Virginia is under the weather.” Then realization dawned, his point sinking in at last. I glanced at Reyes. “Seven original gods, thirteen altogether.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Just found that interesting.”

“I do too. Like, bizarrely interesting.”

“You seriously need to hydrate and eat something. What do you want?”

“Dude, you can make eggs into a gourmet three-course dinner. Surprise me.”

“Oh, I didn’t say I was going to cook. I was just offering to hold our daughter while you cooked. I’m kind of hungry, too.”

I laughed.

“Eggs it is. I have some red chile potatoes made up, too.”

“My mouth is watering just thinking about it.” Then I bolted upright. “Coffee,” I whispered, the word like a delicate snowflake on my mouth. “I can have coffee now.”

It was like the heavens had opened up and God smiled down on me.

“Aren’t you going to breast-feed?”

And they closed again. “Yes.”

He shook his head and went to scrounge us up some grub. I sat back in despair until I really examined the situation. Maybe it would be best for Beep if she built up a tolerance to caffeine now. Start her off young.

Reyes made breakfast, cooking eggs to go on the potatoes and chile, and brought me a huge plate. I handed Beep off to him.

Watching Reyes hold her, as though she were made of glass, afraid to wrap his arms too tight, was priceless. It amazed me to see how one tiny creature had the power to turn a man made of pure, natural prowess into a bumbling mess. Not that I was much better, but we’d get there. We had all the time in the world.

12

It was a sad and disappointing day when I discovered my Universal Remote Control did not, in fact, control the universe. (Not even remotely.)

—MEME

We went inside after we ate, not wanting Beep to get pneumonia. The house began to stir a couple of hours later. Kit and Agent Waters called soon after with news on the possible kidnapper.

“We tracked one of the burner phones from the text messages. It was still on and we traced it to a garbage can in the alley behind Dion’s on Wyoming. From there, we traced where it was purchased and they had surveillance footage. We got him. His name is Colton Ellix. There’s only one problem,” she said, her voice tinged with panic.

“What?”

“He died two days ago in a car accident. He was trying to outrun a squad car that, at first, wasn’t even after him. He thought they were, took off. The officers pursued, but he exited at Rio Grande during rush hour traffic doing at least a hundred. He killed a pedestrian as well as himself.”

My heart sank. “She’s still alive, Kit. You need to look into all his holdings, anywhere he frequented, his past. Where did he grow up? Does any of his family have land?”