A STAND-IN FATHER

After his brother's death, Gil Boyer cared for a new mother and her child, his nephew. So when the young woman suddenly disappeared with the baby he'd come to love, Gil went to lady P.I. Paulina Stewart for help, thinking this an open-and-shut case. Then his sister-in-law turned up dead….

Something about this big man's fierce devotion to the little baby touched Paulina's heart. Somebody had the child, and with Gil's help, she had to find the kidnapper. Paulina had an unblemished track record: she always solved the case—and she never got emotionally involved with a client…. Until Gil Boyer stepped into her office. He needed more than her professional support. He needed her.