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opportunity needed to right that perceived wrong.”
    Dan had pondered that theory as well, but he didn’t want to believe the one qualified man who’d been passed over would go to such extremes. He’d known Harold Black for more than twenty years. After a bumpy few weeks in the beginning, Harold had backed Dan up every step of the way in his position as chief.
    Why would he turn on him now?
    Jess .
    Maybe. Certainly for some reason Harold disliked her. He’d been complaining about her from the very beginning.
    “I don’t believe this is an inside job, Frank.” Dan wasn’t ready to go there. “I honestly don’t know who’s behind it. On some level, it makes me feel better assuming Eric Spears has set this sequence of events into motion.”
    “Whoever it is,” the attorney submitted, “he’s doing a damned good job of pushing you into a corner.” Teller clasped his hands in his lap and appeared to weigh the situation a moment before he continued. “Wherever the threat is coming from, you need to protect yourself, Dan. You need to start immediately. Based on what you’ve told me, the situation is escalating. We don’t want to wait until you’ve been put on administrative leave or had charges filed against you.”
    Dan nodded. He felt ill. Was this really his life they were discussing? It seemed insane, but it was real. “I agree that we need to move quickly. I’m also thinking, in light of the fire, that maybe I need to get my affairs in order.”
    Teller frowned. “Are you talking about your estate? Are you feeling threatened on that level? If so, there are other precautions we need to consider.”
    Dan held up his hands. “With all that’s occurred, I think it would be best.” If anything happened to him, he wanted to ensure Jess and the baby would be well taken care of.
    Teller passed a hand over his chin. “There’s someone in my office who can handle your estate for you, if you prefer not to use your family attorney.”
    His family attorney was a lifelong friend of his parents. Dan was reasonably confident it would be best if he had a more objective voice handling his personal matters. “That would be very helpful.”
    “In that case,” Teller stood and Dan did the same, “I’ll have my assistant prepare the necessary documents of our agreement, and I’ll see that my colleague contacts you about your private affairs.”
    Dan skirted his desk and shook his old schoolmate’s hand. “I appreciate it, Frank. This is a difficult situation. I need someone I can trust without reservation in my corner.” No one understood that necessity better than Frank. Though their pranks together had been basically harmless, Frank had gone too far once with his need to make a nemesis look bad. Dan had covered Teller’s ass when no one else would. Frank owed him.
    “Absolutely.” Frank’s eyes told Dan that he was remembering exactly how much he owed Dan. “You can count on me.”
    When his friend was gone, Dan moved to the window and stared out at the city he loved. He couldn’t say how this was going to end. Whatever happened, he would not let Jess and their child down. A smile tugged at his lips. If their baby was a boy, he couldn’t wait to teach him how to play football and to cheer for the best team in the nation, Alabama’s Crimson Tide.
    His heart melted at the idea of having a little girl who looked like Jess. There would be dance and piano lessons and eventually recitals. He blinked at the foolish emotions that blinded him for a moment.
    No one was taking this happiness from him. He would see Eric Spears in hell first.

5
    4:05 p.m.
    Jess placed the photo she’d printed of the little blonde girl on the case board. Harper had started a timeline of events. The best they could estimate, the woman had left the child between nine-fifteen and nine-thirty this morning. Lori and Cook were at the security company office reviewing the video feed recorded between eight and eleven this morning on every