Kidnapping in Kendall County (9 page)

“We didn’t ask for a specific baby. If we had, we would have asked for a baby Sadie’s own age, but we thought that would make them believe we were only searching for our granddaughter. Instead, we said we wanted to adopt a child. Any child.” Her mother stopped again, gathered her breath. “Roy paid them twenty-five thousand through a wire transfer to an offshore account with the agreement that they’d get another twenty-five grand once we had the baby.”

Fifty thousand. That was the going rate for one of these babies? It sickened Rosalie to think of these monsters selling babies for cash. There was no price tag she could put on her precious daughter.

“Finally, Roy and I got a call that a baby boy was ready for adoption, and that we could have him within a week,” her mother went on. “We were told to wait and that we’d get instructions about the pickup and how to make the final payment. After I was arrested, the person didn’t contact us again.”

Her mother’s arrest had happened nearly four months ago. Right about the time that Austin’s nephew had been kidnapped.

Maybe the arrest had scared off the baby broker?

That had to be it because these baby sellers wouldn’t have cared if the arrest made Jewell an unsuitable mother. However, they might have thought Roy would be under some kind of police surveillance.

Austin added some profanity under his breath and gave Jewell a hard stare. “I can’t believe Seth would have let you do something like that. It was dangerous. The person behind this could have killed both of you.”

“Seth didn’t know.
Doesn’t
know,” Jewell corrected, her cheeks flushing a little. “I’d like to keep it that way, especially since the deal didn’t go through. And if it had, we would have gladly brought in Seth, Cooper and anyone else to catch these monsters. We would have done anything to rescue not only that child but any others we might have found.”

Rosalie and Austin exchanged another glance, and she saw the questions in his eyes. If Yancy was indeed behind the baby farms, then he could have targeted Austin’s nephew to give to Roy and Jewell. A way to dig the knife in even deeper to punish Austin for the investigation that had nearly landed Yancy in jail.

But if so, it was risky, too, since Yancy must have suspected that her parents would have just turned the baby over to the authorities. Of course, Yancy would have still gotten the fifty grand. He was a rich man, but he probably wouldn’t have turned down the cash, and besides he could have had plans just to kidnap the baby boy again. Or scam another set of prospective parents into paying for a baby they’d never get.

“Roy and I didn’t tell anyone what we’d done,” Jewell went on, “because we thought someone might be monitoring our phone calls. Or at least keeping an eye on us. They likely wanted to make sure what we were doing wasn’t some kind of a setup. If we’d told you or Seth, we were afraid it would have blown the deal.”

Instead, her mother’s arrest had blown it.

The door opened, and Seth walked back in. With one sweeping glance, he took in the whole room, no doubt noticing Jewell’s troubled expression.

And the way Austin was holding Rosalie’s hand.

“Bad news?” Austin asked, getting to his feet so he could face Seth.

Seth shook his head. “We found something. We might finally have some proof of the person who set up the baby farm.”

Chapter Ten

Sonny.

Austin hated that the man’s name kept popping up in all the wrong places. Here Sonny had been out of jail only a few hours on the gun charges, but this was a new reason to bring him right back in. Austin had read through the financial report and saw the same red flags that Seth had.

Something wasn’t right on several levels.

For one thing Sonny had two offshore accounts—not exactly standard practice for a run-of-the-mill P.I. Then, there were the cash transfers and withdrawals from his Texas bank. Not enough to trigger an investigation. Just enough to keep him under the radar of the authorities.

Or at least it would have been enough if he hadn’t become a person of interest in the baby farms investigation.

“It all seems, well, almost too obvious,” Rosalie said, studying the financial report from over Austin’s shoulder. “I mean, if Sonny’s behind the baby farms, why would he leave this kind of evidence out there for someone to find?”

Austin made a sound of agreement. “But then, Sonny’s done plenty of
too obvious.
Like being at the second site of the baby farm and pulling a gun on Yancy at the hospital. All of that makes him look guilty.”

And in doing so, it also made him look innocent and as if he’d been set up. Either by Yancy or someone else.

Rosalie must have come to the same conclusion because she huffed and sank back in the chair next to him. Her brother Cooper, the sheriff of Sweetwater Springs, had been generous enough to let them use his private office to go through the financials while they waited for Sonny to arrive for questioning.

Yet something else that was generous.

If Cooper hadn’t allowed Austin and Seth to question Sonny at the sheriff’s office, then it would have had to be moved to the FBI building in San Antonio. Where Austin wouldn’t have been allowed even to witness the interview much less take part in it.

“I owe your brother Cooper,” Austin mumbled.

Rosalie made another sound, not one of agreement this time. “I was surprised that he allowed it. Cooper isn’t exactly on good terms with Seth, my sister and me.”

Austin didn’t have to ask why. They’d been raised by their mother. Cooper and his brothers, by their father. After twenty-something years of estrangement, that was a huge rift to mend.

“So, why then did Cooper let us come here?” Austin asked.

She shrugged, glanced away when Austin tried to make eye contact with her. “I think he feels sorry for me. Like you do,” she added.

Austin did feel sorry for her, but sadly, it wasn’t the only thing he was feeling for her. Ditto for the guilt. Every time he looked at her—like now—he got that jolt of a reminder that Rosalie was a darn attractive woman.

The jolt was put on hold fast when the door flew open and Seth poked in his head. “Sonny’s on his way. Should be here in the next ten minutes or so, and he’s bringing his attorney.”

“He should,” Austin agreed. “If Sonny doesn’t have a solid explanation for what’s in that financial report, then he could end up in jail again.”

Even though this was just an interview for the man, the stakes were sky-high. Not only for Sonny but for all of them. Because Sonny might surprise them all and confess to everything.

Seth shrugged. “I don’t care who I have to arrest as long as Rosalie stays safe. After the interview, you’ll take her back to the ranch.”

“Of course,” Austin said as at the same time Rosalie argued, “I can get myself back to the ranch.”

“Those guards from the baby farm are still out there,” Austin quickly reminded her.

She didn’t continue to argue, but Austin could still see the uneasiness that she felt about being around him. Seth mumbled a thanks and left, shutting the door behind him.

Austin figured this was a subject that he should just let die, but he couldn’t seem to make himself shut up. “When you look at me, do you think of Eli?”

Rosalie didn’t jump to answer. In fact, she turned away from him, her gaze going to the window.

“I’m sorry,” he added. “If I could change that, I would. You don’t know how many times I’ve wished that I’d been the one to die that night.”

Still no verbal response, but she swallowed hard. “I used to want that. But in a perfect world, you both would have lived, and Yancy or whoever else was responsible for that attack would have been arrested.”

Austin had to mentally replay that, and he took her by the arm and eased her around to face him. “You mean that?”

She nodded, swallowed hard again. “And when I look at you, I don’t think of Eli. That’s the problem.”

He replayed that, too, and even if he hadn’t been looking her straight in the eyes, he still would have realized what she meant.

Rosalie was talking about this attraction between them. He’d felt it, of course. And like her had fought it like crazy. Because it didn’t make sense. Even if he could dismiss the bad blood that’d been between them, they were still in the middle of a dangerous investigation. Hardly the time to start lusting after someone.

“For what it’s worth,” Austin said, “it’s a problem for me, too.”

Since that only revved up the concern in her eyes, Austin wanted to put his arms around her. To tell her that everything would be okay. But with the fire and energy zinging between them, that wasn’t a good idea.

Did that stop him?

No.

When it came to Rosalie, he just didn’t seem to have a lick of sense. He tugged her closer, fully expecting her to hold her ground and keep her distance.

She didn’t.

Rosalie landed in his arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It felt as if she belonged there, too, and it didn’t help cool down the heat.

“This is a mistake,” he heard himself say.

It was. That didn’t stop him. Austin lowered his head and put his mouth on hers.

He’d braced himself for the guilt and all the other feelings he’d expected. However, those didn’t come. He was too wrapped up in the avalanche of sensations. The softness of her lips. Her taste.

That silky little moan that purred in her throat.

All those things slammed through him, and just like that, he was starved for her and had to have more. Austin slid his hand around the back of her neck, deepening the kiss and pulling her closer and closer to him.

Mercy, she tasted good.

Felt even better.

Rosalie did her own share of deepening. She lifted her hands, first one and then the other, sliding them around his neck and completing the body-to-body contact between them.

Not good in a bad way.

He could feel her breasts. Could feel her heart thudding against his chest. And, of course, he could feel the need brewing. It wasn’t something he’d ever expected from her.

Or from himself.

But here it was. Strong, hot and getting hotter with each passing second.

Austin forced himself to back away. Not easy. The majority of his body yelled at him to go right back for more, but he wanted to give her a chance to catch her breath and rethink this mistake they were making.

He saw the surprise in her mist-gray eyes, but the heat was there in abundance, as well.

“You can slap me if it’ll help,” he offered. Austin hoped his god-awful attempt at levity would ease the sudden tension between them.

It didn’t.

“I don’t think anything will help.” She groaned and stepped away from him. “This shouldn’t be happening.”

All Austin could do was nod in agreement. “If I could stop it, I would, but the truth is, I’ve always been attracted to you.”

He expected her to laugh or give him the slap that she’d said wouldn’t help, but Rosalie just stared at him. Then, she nodded.

“You knew that?” he asked.

Another tentative nod. “But I also knew you wouldn’t act on it because of Eli, because he was your partner and friend.”

Well, heck.

All this time he’d thought he had done a decent job of covering up his feelings for her. Apparently, he sucked as much at that as he did at resisting her now.

“I can’t promise you that I won’t kiss you again,” Austin confessed.

Rosalie stared at him as if she might try to convince him otherwise, but the door flew open again, and Seth looked in at them. They stepped away from each other as if they’d been caught doing something wrong. Not far from the truth.

And Seth noticed all right.

Maybe because Rosalie’s breathing still hadn’t leveled, her mouth was slightly swollen from the kissing and their faces were no doubt flushed.

Seth didn’t have to tell them that Sonny was there because Austin immediately heard the man’s voice. And not just Sonny’s, either, but another voice that he hadn’t expected to hear.

“Yancy came with him?” Austin automatically stepped in front of Rosalie.

“Yeah,” Seth verified. “Sonny said he’s got proof that it’s really Yancy behind the baby farms, and he wanted him at the sheriff’s office so all of us could hear it.”

Austin groaned. If there was indeed proof, then he would welcome it, but he didn’t want to go another round with these two bozos. Not with Rosalie so close, anyway.

“I can handle this if you’d like,” Seth offered.

This time Rosalie and Austin answered in unison, and they were clearly on the same page. “No,” they said.

Even though Austin would have preferred Rosalie to stay out of this, he wouldn’t try to force her to do that. Not that he could have, anyway. She would do anything to find her daughter. Including facing down the man who might have been responsible for Eli’s death.

Austin stepped out ahead of Seth and aimed glares at both Yancy and Sonny while the sheriff and his deputy were frisking the men for weapons. “If either of you draws a gun,” Austin warned both Sonny and Yancy, “I’ll be the one to shoot first, and I’ll put you in the cemetery, not the hospital. You both got that?”

Sonny gave a crisp nod, but Yancy only chuckled. “Same ol’ Agent Duran. Always was too high-strung for me. Same with this one.” He hitched his thumb to Sonny. “And now he’s here to accuse me once again of something I didn’t do. Brought his ambulance-chasing lawyer with him, too.”

“I’m Patrick Donald,” the lawyer said. He was young, probably barely out of law school, and looked more like a linebacker than a lawyer, which meant he likely doubled as Sonny’s muscle or bodyguard.

Since this could easily launch into a full-scale argument, Austin motioned for the men to follow Seth, Rosalie and him to the interview room. He’d start with them together at first. An unofficial chat since he couldn’t conduct an official one. Then, Yancy and Sonny could be separated so that Seth could take actual statements.

Or if they got very lucky, confessions.

Austin would like nothing more than to have these two locked up so the attacks against Rosalie would stop and she could be reunited with Sadie.

Sonny moved slowly, clutching his arm. No doubt because of the gunshot wound. Austin wasn’t about to have any sympathy for the man though because Sonny could have gotten that injury while operating the baby farm. Of course, Austin might change his mind about that sympathy if Sonny came through on giving them info they could actually use.

“Before you give us this proof about Yancy’s guilt,” Austin started, looking at Sonny, “explain your own
guilt.
”

He stepped into the room with the men but didn’t go far, mainly so he could keep Rosalie in the doorway in case something went wrong. Yes, they’d been searched for weapons, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have somehow sneaked one in.

“You mean the financials you have on my client,” the lawyer volunteered. He fumbled with the papers that he pulled from a folder he was holding. “The offshore holdings are bogus. My client had nothing to do with those.”

“You can prove that?” Seth asked, maneuvering around his sister to join Austin shoulder to shoulder.

Seth had probably made that adjustment in his position for the same reason that Austin had—to try to shield Rosalie. But it didn’t work. She came right in next to her brother and Austin.

“I can prove it with time,” the lawyer insisted. “But my client shouldn’t have to go to such measures. He’s innocent, and someone is obviously setting him up.” Donald’s gaze shifted to Yancy, where his accusing glare landed.

“There you go again,” Yancy griped. “Trying to put the blame on me, like always.”

Austin cut Yancy off with a quick slicing motion of his hand and kept his attention pinned to Sonny. One battle at a time, and he was nowhere near done with Sonny.

“What about the deposits and withdrawals in your U.S. account? Did someone fake those, too?” Austin asked.

“No,” Donald said, speaking for his client. “Those were legitimate expenditures and deposits for my client’s P.I. business, and you can contact his accountant if you have specific questions.”

“Oh, we’ll contact him all right,” Austin assured him, and he hoped it sounded like the threat that it was. If there was any dirt to find on Sonny, he intended to find it.

“Did you take my daughter?” Rosalie asked, obviously aiming the question at Sonny.

“No,” Sonny immediately answered. His lawyer caught on to his arms, no doubt to stop him from saying anything else, but Sonny just shook off the man’s grip. “But I’m pretty sure Yancy did.”

Sonny reached inside his coat, and the gesture prompted both Seth and Austin to draw their guns. Yancy laughed again, but Sonny lifted his hands.

“I was just taking out the proof you’ll need to put this piece of slime behind bars,” Sonny insisted.

Austin gave him the go-ahead nod, but neither he nor Seth put away their firearms until he saw that it was indeed just an envelope that Sonny took from his inside coat pocket. Sonny opened it, took out three photos and spread them on the metal table in front of him.

All three pictures were grainy, as if taken from a long-range camera lens, but Austin had no trouble recognizing the place.

It was the baby farm where Rosalie and he had been.

“No!” Yancy practically shouted, and he reached as if to snatch up the photos, but Seth blocked him from doing that.

Both Austin and Rosalie moved closer for a better look at what had prompted Yancy’s reaction. It didn’t take Austin long to figure it out.