Read Cowboy Behind the Badge Online
Authors: Delores Fossen
She chuckled. “Which more or less qualifies you as a player.”
He shrugged, wrestling with another frown. “Haven't heard of you trying to settle down with any one particular guy since you split with Darren.”
Of course, he hadn't heard of her sleeping around, either, which was essentially what she'd just accused him of doing.
Tucker couldn't deny it, so he shut up and hoped she'd move on to a different subject.
“I've hit a nerve,” she said. “I'm sorry.”
So much for her moving on. So much for him shutting up, too. He just kept blathering. “I doubt that. Well, you may be sorry that I'm giving you the stink eye, but I doubt you're sorry you brought it up. I know you don't approve of my lifestyle.”
“It's not that.” She hesitated, shook her head, mumbled something he didn't catch. “How many real kisses have you had?”
“Excuse me?” Tucker felt another frown coming on. Possibly more blathering, too.
“A real kiss,” she repeated. “And I don't mean those
unzip me
kisses with your conquests from the Outlaw Bar. I mean real honest-to-goodness kisses that you feel in more than just one part of your body?”
Okay, so Laine had moved on from semisafe conversation about relationships to this. Whatever
this
was. Well, if she wanted to hold a mirror up to his face, she was about to get one turned right back on her.
“How many?” Tucker repeated. “Two. One was with you right there in the kitchen at my granddaddy's house. Yeah, we were just kids, but trust me, it was real.”
She swallowed hard, and her forehead bunched up. “And the second kiss?”
“This one.” Before he could talk himself out of it, Tucker slid his hand around the back of Laine's neck, hauled her to him and did the one thing he was pretty sure he shouldn't do.
He kissed her.
For real.
There it was. The slam of her body heat and taste all at once. Yeah, he remembered it from all those years before, but it was even better now. Of course it was, because if it hadn't been, Tucker might have stood a chance of giving this particular mistake a fast ending. As it was, fast didn't even appear to be an option. Not to his fired-up body, anyway.
He dragged her closer and made things even worse by deepening the kiss. That taste set him on fire, and the rest of her didn't help cool him down, either. Probably because Laine did some dragging of her own, pulling him closer and closer until they were plastered against each other. He could feel parts of her that he had no right to feel.
But he did, anyway.
Her breasts against his chest. Her sex close to his. Her taste, her breath. Everything.
It was too much to feel all at once. Too much to stop, too, with parts of him already begging for more. Much more. Like them naked on a bed. That's why he was a little surprised when Laine managed to stop.
She stepped back again, her gaze meeting his, and he saw the same
What the heck did we just do?
expression on her face that was no doubt on his. So much for holding up a bloomin' mirror to her face.
Now he'd be lucky if he could walk.
“How bad are you regretting that?” she asked, sliding her tongue over her bottom lip. That simple gesture caused his body to clench and beg for more.
“As much as you are,” Tucker settled for saying.
She shook her head, pushed her hair from her face. “Good.”
But she didn't clarify what that
good
meant. Nor did she move too far from him. “Remind me not to play a dangerous game like that with you again.”
Right. Maybe he should tell the sun not to rise, too. He might have better success there. “You think a reminder will fix this?”
“This?”
she questioned.
The heat. The need. And even the little niggling feeling that it had been more than a blasted kiss. Which it couldn't have been, so he darn sure wasn't about to describe it to her. “I'll explain it if you'll explain your
good.
”
Though he had a pretty solid idea of that
good,
too. Like him, Laine wanted one of them to stay sane during all this close-quarters stuff.
Best of luck with that.
Laine immediately backed up. Smart woman. They were indeed playing a dangerous game, and Tucker couldn't be certain they both wouldn't play another round the next time their guards were down.
His phone rang, yanking him back to his senses. Not exactly where he wanted to be at first, but seeing the name on the screen, he mentally adjusted.
“It's Rhonda Wesson,” he told Laine.
He doubted this was a coincidence. Doubted, too, that Hague hadn't known exactly where she was, because obviously he'd managed to get in touch with his cousin shortly after driving away from the ranch.
“Sergeant McKinnon,” she greeted. “My cousin said I should call you.”
He waited for her to verify that Hague was innocent and had nothing to do with the baby farms.
She didn't do that.
“Are you all right?” Tucker asked.
Rhonda didn't say anything for several seconds. “No. I need to talk to you. I need help.”
“What's wrong?” he couldn't ask fast enough.
“I'm in hiding,” Rhonda answered. “Because someone's trying to kill me.”
Â
Laine watched through the observation glass as Tucker finished up his interview with Darren. Her ex hadn't said anything remotely incriminating and had instead stuck to his broken record claim that he was innocent in Dawn's death.
And maybe he was.
Still, Laine was glad that Tucker was being thorough with this interview. If he cleared Darren as a suspect, and the DNA results came back proving the babies were his, then Darren would walk away with them as fast as he could. He'd be doing it legally, too.
Hide them. Protect them,
Dawn had said to Laine just seconds before those men had gunned her down, and Laine intended to do everything she could to carry out the woman's dying request.
It was odd that Tucker had taken on the same mission. Not just the investigation. He wouldn't have let go of that. But he also didn't seem ready to let go of the babies. He was definitely not the old Tucker.
Well, at least not in that way.
The kiss had certainly been evidence of the charmer cowboy who'd coaxed plenty of women into his bed. Laine had to be careful that the same didn't happen to her. The last thing she needed was to be another notch on his rodeo belt.
Even if that kiss had made her think differently.
For a few heated moments anyway, it'd caused her common sense to take a serious nosedive. Best to avoid future kissing so she could keep a clear head. Too bad just a mental warning wouldn't be enough.
Not even close.
She had to figure out a way to put some physical distance between her and Tucker. Without sacrificing the safety of the babies, of course.
She and Tucker had left them at the ranch with Colt, his father, Rayanne, Rosalie and Mary. In addition, Tucker had put some of the ranch hands on alert. They weren't trained guards by any means, but they were all armed. Hopefully their presence would prevent the missing attacker from trying to get on the grounds.
Maybe Tucker and she would get some other help with that, too.
Just up the hall in one of the other interview rooms, the gunman that'd already been arrested, Gene Buford, was waiting with his lawyer to talk to Tucker about a possible plea deal in exchange for information about Dawn.
“Are we finally finished here?” Darren said, his voice stern enough to snap Laine's attention back to the interview.
“For now.” Tucker stood when Darren did, and they faced each other across a gray metal table. “I'll let you know about the GSR test.”
Darren mumbled something she didn't catch and scowled, clearly not happy. Tucker had swabbed Darren's hands for gunshot residueâsomething that could have perhaps linked him to Dawn's shooting.
GSR alone wouldn't be enough to charge him, since Darren could always say he'd fired a gun elsewhere. It wasn't that unusual for a rancher to have to shoot a rattler or some other predatory animal that'd strayed onto the property. But the GSR might cast enough suspicion that Tucker could get a court order to examine Darren's bank account and maybe get a search warrant for his house.
Darren and Tucker were still in a glaring match when Reed appeared in the doorway of the observation room.
“Rhonda Wesson just arrived,” Reed told her.
Laine stepped out, not sure she would even recognize the woman. She hadn't been part of the rescue of the women and babies from the farm where Rhonda had been held, but there had been some photos of her in the news. Laine remembered a scraggly looking pregnant woman dressed in green scrubs.
Which was very unlike the woman she saw now.
It took Laine a moment to connect the tall blonde to that rescued woman.
Definitely no scrubs today. Rhonda was wearing dress pants and a white top. Not a strand of her hair was out of place. She seemed more suited to being in a boardroom than to being in hiding, but there was concern in her cool green eyes as they swept around the sheriff's office and landed on Laine.
“You must be Dr. Braddock,” Rhonda said, coming toward her with her hand extended. From the looks of it, she'd recently had a manicure.
“Call me Laine.” She shook hands with her, and even though Rhonda held eye contact for several seconds, her attention drifted to the closed doors of the interview rooms.
“Excuse me,” Rhonda said when she noticed that Laine's gaze had followed hers. “Police stations make me nervous. Actually, being anywhere in public right now makes me feel that way. I don't want to stay long. I just want to talk to you and Sergeant McKinnon.”
Laine was about to assure her that would happen just as one of the interview room doors opened, and Tucker stepped out. Darren and his lawyer were right behind him.
“You need to get off this witch hunt,” Darren snapped, looking at Laine, and then at Rhonda. He barely spared her a glance.
Rhonda had a much stronger reaction.
She stepped behind Tucker, her attention fixed on Darren. “I didn't know he'd be here.”
“I was interviewing him,” Tucker explained.
“Railroading me,” Darren corrected. “Is that why you're here, Rhonda? You planning to railroad me, too?”
“You know each other?” Tucker asked.
“Know her? She tried to milk money from me just a few weeks ago.”
“I didn't,” Rhonda insisted. “I just wanted to talk to you about Dawn, and I wanted to see if you were the person following me.” She paused, swallowed hard. “Dawn was terrified of you.”
“She wasn't, and you're saying that just because you're riled that I wouldn't pay you off.”
Frantically shaking her head, Rhonda turning to Tucker. “We need to talk, but not with him around.”
Rhonda threw open the door to the other interview room. Gene Buford was cuffed at his hands and feet, and he was seated with his court-appointed attorney. Both turned in Rhonda's direction, as did the guard who'd brought Buford over from the jail.
The moment seemed to freeze. Gene Buford was in the process of getting to his feet when he looked into the hall where Laine, Tucker, Rhonda, Darren and his lawyer were standing.
Buford eased back into his chair.
“We've waited long enough,” Buford's attorney snapped. She was a petite brunette who looked as if she'd just finished law school. Hardly the voice of authority.
“And you'll wait some more,” Tucker snarled back, shutting the door. He tossed Darren one of his hard glares, and both Darren and his lawyer finally left.
“Sorry,” Rhonda mumbled. “I'm just shaken up.”
“Because of Darren Carty?” Tucker asked.
She nodded. Then shook her head. Her fingers were trembling when she brushed her hair from her cheek. “It's not a good idea for me to be here.”
“You're safe,” Tucker assured her, and he led Laine and Rhonda into the empty interview room. “Why are you scared of Darren?”
“My cousin Martin told me that Darren was a suspect in Dawn's murder and that he might be the person who's been following me.”
Rhonda sat next to Laine, and the woman turned to her when she continued. “I'm pretty sure someone's been following me, and I think it's connected to Dawn.”
“How?” Laine asked. “Why?”
“I'm not positive, but I think it has to do with that black-market baby operation where we were held captive.”
Laine was almost certain of that. “How well did you know Dawn?” Laine pressed.
Rhonda drew in another shivery breath. “We were held together for a while. Until they moved her to another place. That's around the time Sergeant McKinnon here rescued me.” She paused, looking up at him. “I can never thank you enough for that.”
Tucker nodded. “We hope you can help us find Dawn's killer.”
“You mean it isn't Darren?”
“It could be, but we're looking into several possibilities.” Tucker didn't mention that her cousin was one of those suspects. “Tell us what's been happening since you were rescued.”
Rhonda put her hand on her stomach. “Well, obviously I had my baby. A boy that I gave up for adoption. I can barely manage to take care of myself, much less a baby.”
Laine couldn't argue with that. She'd read through the woman's bio on the drive to the sheriff's office, and even though she was in her early thirties, Rhonda had never held a real job for more than a few months. She was smart, though, and had managed to finish a college degree while serving time for embezzlement and extortion. She'd been out of jail for six years now and in that time had stayed clean and off the radar.
Well, until she'd been taken captive and then rescued at the baby farm.
Of course, Rhonda looked as if she had gotten past her shady roots. At least when it came to her appearance.
“Dawn talked about Darren while you were both being held captive?” Tucker continued.
Rhonda nodded. “She was scared of him and even hinted that he might be the reason she was there. Dawn had tried to get away from him, you see. He didn't really want her, only the baby, and after they had an argument, she told him she didn't want him to raise the child. She'd planned to give it to someone else, someone who'd be a good father.”
That meshed with some of the other things they'd learned, but Laine still had a hard time imagining Darren kidnapping his pregnant girlfriend to keep her from giving up his baby. Of course, she also understood this need to be a parent and have a family. Maybe Darren had just taken that need too far.
Rhonda twisted a plain gold ring on her thumb. “What about the baby? Wait, I remember right before Dawn was moved, she found out she was carrying twins.” She leaned closer to Tucker. “Are they here? God, please tell me Darren can't get his hands on them.”
“No, they've been moved to a safe house,” Tucker said.
A lie, of sorts, since the babies were actually at the ranch, but Laine was glad he wasn't giving out their whereabouts. Especially to this woman, who unnerved her. Maybe it was the perfect clothes and manicure, but something about Rhonda didn't feel right.
“Good.” Rhonda repeated it as she eased back deeper into her chair. “Dawn would have wanted them kept out of harm's way. Did either of you get a chance to see Dawn before she was killed?”
Tucker shook his head, and Rhonda turned to Laine, obviously waiting for an answer.
“I didn't know her,” Laine settled for saying.
“Really? Because I'd heard you were involved with the baby farm investigation.”
“I was, uh, removed from the case.”
“Oh.” Rhonda cast an uneasy glance at Tucker, who thankfully didn't elaborate.
“Tell me about your cousin Martin Hague,” Tucker went on. “Any chance he was involved with the baby farm?”
Rhonda's eyes widened, and it seemed to take her a moment to realize Tucker was being serious. “Why?”
“Because he's shown a lot of interest in Dawn's babies, that's why.”
Rhonda just shook her head again. She looked to be on the verge of dismissing any possibility of her cousin's guilt. Then she blew out a long, frustrated breath. “Maybe.”
That got Tucker and Laine's complete attention.
“Maybe?”
Tucker pressed.
“Martin's always been ambitious. Always looking for an angle to make money.”
“Then why'd he become a social worker?” Laine asked.
“I think it was because of the adoption opportunities. There's a lot more money in that than people think, and the job would give him contact with women he could coax into giving up their babies.
“You didn't know he'd helped with some adoptions?” Rhonda added when they just stared at her.
“No, and I'd like some details about that,” Tucker insisted.
“Well, there won't be records, that's for sure. Martin's too careful for that. He just connects pregnant women with potential buyers...I mean, parents who'll pay for a private adoption.”
“And how do you know this?” Laine asked.
“Because that's what he tried to do to me. He found some family that would have paid me twenty grand for my baby. I didn't like them when I met them so I said no. A couple of weeks later, I was kidnapped and taken to that hellhole of a place that the press dubbed the baby farm.”
She and Tucker exchanged relieved glances. Finally, this was some fodder to stop Hague and that blasted court order. Maybe. Rhonda had already said there'd be no records, but it was possible to connect the extra money in Hague's bank account to the adoptions of his clients.
Rhonda shook her head again. “I don't think Martin's responsible for my kidnapping. He's greedy, but I don't think he has the grit to do something like that. Besides, he probably thought he could just set up another private adoption for me. That's what he did after I was rescued and had my son.”
“Hague helped with that?” Tucker asked.
“Yes. It was a different family from the first one, and I really liked them.”
Tucker frowned. “They paid you?”
Rhonda nodded. “I didn't exactly have any extra cash after you rescued me, so yes, I took some money for the private adoption. That money's almost gone now, and I need a safe place to stay.”
Well, that money explained the expensive-looking clothes.
Tucker hesitated a moment. “I'll see what arrangements I can make for a safe house. Wait here.” He motioned for Laine to follow him. She did, and when they stepped out into the hall, he shut the door.
“I don't trust her,” Laine immediately whispered. “Women in hiding from a would-be killer don't usually have time for a manicure.”
Tucker made a sound of surprise to indicate it wasn't something he had even considered. “I want to get Rhonda's accusations about Hague on record.” He glanced at his watch. “All this might take a while, and I still need to talk to the idiot who wants a plea deal. I can have someone take you back out to the ranch.”
It was tempting, but Laine didn't even get a chance to consider it before Tucker's phone rang.