Secret Delivery (8 page)

Solidarity.

They were on the same side, at least when it came to Joey. That was a powerful union. She was Joey’s mother, and Jack was his father in every way that counted. In that moment, Alana knew she would have to make concessions. She couldn’t cut Jack out of Joey’s life.

She didn’t want to.

Her son deserved a father like Jack.

“We’ll work this out,” Alana promised. And she meant it.

Something else went through his eyes. Emotions that she tried to catalog. Gratitude, maybe. Relief, definitely. At that point, it probably would have been a good idea for her to look away, but she didn’t.

There was a sense of everything slowing down. And getting warmer.

Not warmer, she amended.

Hotter.

Alana recognized the feelings that trickled through her. This was attraction. Basic. Human.

Strong.

Jack shook his head, as if to clear it. But she saw the heat in his eyes, as well. Now he would back off. He’d say something to explain this all away, something to do with the near life-and-death experience she’d just had.

But that didn’t happen, either.

Jack leaned in, lowered his head. His breath brushed over her mouth.

The jolt was sharp and intense. For a moment she thought it was static electricity, but this wasn’t painful. This was some kind of pleasure that was so intense, it was downright scary. It slid through every inch of her.

Alana pulled back and drew in a sharp breath.

“Yeah,” he said. “That was stupid.”

“The craziness got to us,” she heard herself say. Now she was the one trying to explain what’d happened. Great. She didn’t know what’d happened. Heck, it wasn’t even a kiss.

“Alana…” His tone was apologetic, but he waved it off and stood. He went to the other side of the room, as far away from her as he could get without leaving. Which she figured he would do next.

“Alana…” This time, he was disgusted with himself.

She stood, as well. “Jack…” She winced because they were just saying each other’s names as if they’d both turned brainless. “I hope you don’t get sick.”

Alana winced again at the idiotic comment. At her schoolgirl nerves. At the fact that Jack was the last man she should be lusting after.

Wasn’t he?

Hot raging hormones had a way of doling out excuses, and she had a whopper. Since Jack and she both had Joey’s best interest at heart, it seemed logical that they would feel a closeness. After all, he was a man and she was a woman. They were both single.

As if he could read her mind, Jack shook his head. “We already have too much to work out.” His words were calm, void of any emotion.

And it was true.

Less than an hour earlier, someone had tried to kidnap her. The person might try again. Or might even go after Joey. This was not the time or place for hot raging hormones.

She nodded, told her body to knock it off and sank back onto the sofa. She needed to sleep off the kidnapper’s drug. Just a short nap. And then maybe she could watch Joey from a distance. But her head had barely hit the pillow when there was a sharp rap.

“Someone’s at the front door,” Jack informed her.

The kidnapper. God, had he returned? She jumped up from the sofa again and was about to run to Joey.

“A kidnapper probably wouldn’t knock first,” Jack reminded her. He walked out, heading in the direction of the front door.

He was right again. The kidnapper would be a fool to try to come after her while she was in the sheriff’s office.

Alana tamped down the fight instinct and cursed the light-headedness that was causing her not to think straight. She went to the doorway of the break room so she could listen. Jack was already out of sight, but she heard when he opened the door.

And she heard him snap, “What the heck do you want now?”

Alana used the wall for support and made her way up the hall, toward the sound of Jack’s voice.

It was her brother, Sean.

She rounded the corner just in time to see Sean hand Jack some papers. Jack glanced at the top page and then mumbled some profanity. Alana went closer to see what had caused Jack’s reaction.

“This is for your own good,” Sean told her.

Her stomach clenched. Whenever her brother said anything like that, it was usually for his own good, not hers.

“What is it?” she asked Jack, dreading the answer. They had enough to face without adding anything else to the mix.

Jack held up his index finger and continued to read the papers. While he did that, Alana decided to deal with her brother.

“Did you send a kidnapper after me?” she asked. She caught the wall for support and waited for his answer.

Sean didn’t look particularly surprised or outraged. Only mildly annoyed. “Of course not. Why? Did someone try to kidnap you?”

“Someone did,” she assured him, mimicking his annoyed tone. “Someone also had me committed to that Sauder institution by forging the signature of a dead judge. Would you happen to know anything about that?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying.” But she couldn’t be sure of that at all. Her brother had always been a good liar. And a manipulator. But she had to admit that this seemed extreme even for him. This was a lot of go through for the sake of maintaining appearances.

“I suppose you think I’m lying about that, too?” Sean tipped his head to the papers Jack was still reading.

He was too smug for that to be a bluff. Those papers were obviously trouble.

She went to Jack so she could have a look for herself. “It’s a court order,” Jack explained. His gaze snapped to Sean’s. “How did you manage to get this done so quickly? You only left the hospital about an hour and a half ago.”

Sean lifted his hands and stayed smug. “What can I say? I know people who know people. A family friend signed it and faxed it to me.”

“And is this judge dead like the other one who signed the original court order?” Jack asked.

“No. He’s very much alive and on the bench in San Antonio. He’s sympathetic to my family’s situation. My sister’s well-being in the most important thing in my life right now.”

Alana ignored him and tried to read the paper, but dizziness was causing the words to squirm on the page. “What kind of court order is it?” she asked Jack.

The muscles in Jack’s jaw went to war with each
other. “It’s a commitment order. Until the new judge can interview you and examine your case files, you’re to be returned to the mental institution immediately.”

Jack looked at Alana. What little color she’d had in her cheeks had drained to white. Sean, on the other hand, looked pleased as punch with himself.

Jack wanted to bash the guy in the face.

Since that wasn’t an appropriate reaction for a peace officer, he settled for pushing the newly issued commitment papers against Sean’s chest. Jack wasn’t gentle about it, either, and Sean staggered back a step.

“Please don’t make me go,” Alana said. Her voice was broken and near panic.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Jack assured her.

That earned him a raised eyebrow from Sean. “You intend to ignore a judge’s order?”

“Damn right, I do.” Jack chose his words carefully because one slip, and he could find himself on the wrong side of the law. “Your sister’s a witness to an attempted felony—her own kidnapping. And because she’s the only person who can identify her attacker, she’s in my protective custody.”

Alana didn’t relax. She eyed Sean to see what he would do next.

Sean waved the papers at them. “I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t think a sheriff of Podunkville can ignore a judge’s order.”

Jack didn’t appreciate the insult, but he took some pleasure that his refusal to hand over Alana was causing Sean to lose his cool. “This Podunk sheriff can. Your judge is on the bench in San Antonio. That’s Bexar County. He has no jurisdiction here. And Alana’s not even a resident of San Antonio. She hasn’t lived there in over eight months.”

Alana’s arm was touching his, and Jack felt her relax a bit. Not Sean, though. His eyes narrowed. “You don’t want to make me your enemy.”

“Really?” Jack couldn’t help himself. Sean was testing his patience. “I don’t mind enemies.”

“You won’t think that way for long,” Sean threatened. “I’ll get another judge to sign the order. One in this county. And I’ll be back.” He turned to walk away.

“It’ll be a waste of time,” Jack commented.

Sean slowly turned around to face him. “What does that mean?”

“It means I know every judge in this county.”

A little of Sean’s smugness returned. “Yes, I’ll bet you do. And not because you’re the sheriff. I know what you did to your own father.” He paused, smiled. “Does Alana know?”

Jack had to fight to hang on to his composure. “No. It’s not pertinent to this case, and neither is the fact you brought it up. If you’re trying to undermine me, it won’t work. I’m not my father, and I have a solid reputation in this town and in this county. Any judge will agree with me once I tell them why Alana is in my protective custody.”

That took care of Sean’s smile. He gave Jack one last hard look, and he stormed toward his car.

Alana sagged against him. Jack looped his arm around her to stop her from falling.

“Thank you, again,” she whispered. “You seem to be coming to my rescue a lot.”

He was surprised and thankful that she didn’t ask about his father. “Rescues are part of the job description.” Best to keep things light. And after that stupid near kiss, he needed to make her understand that this was the job.

Well, for the most part.

Jack couldn’t lie to himself. He’d already tried that and failed. But he couldn’t kiss her. Wanting to kiss her was an entirely different matter. He didn’t think he could talk his body out of wanting to do that. But he would fight hard not to cross that particular line.

He locked the door and led her back to the break room. On the other side of the hall, he could hear Joey and Tessie. It sounded as if Tessie was reading to him. She’d probably found a kids’ book in the small toy chest that Jack kept in the closet in his office.

“Are you okay?” Jack called out to them.

“We’re fine,” Tessie answered. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll be over in a minute to explain everything.” But first he wanted to get Alana settled and hopefully on her way to a much-needed nap.

“Good. By the way, a fax just came for you,” Tessie let him know. “It says urgent on the cover letter.”

Alana stopped. “Do you think it’s about the man who tried to kidnap me?”

“Maybe.” But more likely it was about Alana herself. Reyes had put out a lot of feelers on this case,
and the fact that it was marked
urgent
meant he had to deal with it ASAP.

With his arm still looped around Alana, he started for the break room again, but she stopped. “Could I go with you to get the fax?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

She pushed her hair from her face and sighed. “I won’t touch Joey. I just want to look at him.”

Of course she’d want to look at her son. The logical part of Jack’s brain knew that was a natural reaction. The illogical part wanted Alana in that break room. But he couldn’t keep her away for long. Nor was he sure that was even a good idea. For better or worse, Alana was here, in Joey’s life, and somehow he had to deal with that and keep his son in the process.

“We’ll get the fax, and then we can go to the break room so you can tell me why Sean is so hell-bent on putting you back in a mental institution.”

“I can tell you that now.” They took it slow walking down the hall. “Sean will say that he’s concerned about appearances, and in part, that’s true. But the real reason he’s doing this is for the money.”

Jack figured that would play into this somehow. “How would keeping you locked away get Sean money?”

“We both inherited fifty percent of our parents’ jewelry business when they died. It’s worth a lot. Millions. Well, it was eight months ago, anyway. Since I’ve been out of my mind, literally, Sean would have had sole control of the business and the money.”

“And you think he wants to keep that control?” Jack asked.

“Oh, yes. Our parents died eight years ago when I
was twenty-one. Sean’s six years older than I am, and at that time he had a lot more experience in the business. He had his own contacts. His own way of doing things. He’s tried to buy me out numerous times, and every time I’ve refused. I might not know the business as well as Sean, but I wanted to keep control of my own designs. I knew if Sean bought me out, that wouldn’t happen. He tends to go for profit rather than quality.”

Jack gave that some thought. “How’s the business structured? Do the profits go into one account?”

Alana shook her head. “Two. The profits are split fifty-fifty and deposited into our individual accounts.”

Jack made a note to check into Alana’s financial records. They might hold some clues as to why this was happening to her.

She paused when they were just a few steps from his office. “I don’t want my brother to be guilty of this. I don’t want to believe he could choose money over blood.”

Neither did he, but Jack had seen it happen too many times to discount Sean as his primary suspect. Besides, he didn’t hold a lot of stock with blood. His father was proof of that.

They stopped in the doorway of his office. Tessie was sitting in his chair holding Joey. She was trying to read to him, but Joey had already lost interest in the book. He was squirming and doing his best to get down. Tessie held on, probably because she didn’t want Joey trying to crawl in Alana’s direction.

When Joey’s attention landed on Jack, he stopped squirming. “Da-Da,” he babbled. He gave Jack one of those big, priceless grins.

Jack smiled back, went to them and scooped Joey into his arms. He got rewarded with a hug. But Joey’s interest was held only for a second. His son’s exploring fingers and eyes went straight to the badge clipped onto Jack’s belt. Because Jack knew what Joey wanted, he took off the silver star and handed it to him.

Joey beamed and made a few syllables to indicate he had the “toy” he wanted. With Joey now content—for at least a moment or two, anyway—Jack went to the fax machine.

Alana stayed in the doorway, but she had her attention focused on Joey. The little boy spotted her and lifted the badge as if to show her his prize.

“It’s shiny, isn’t it?” Alana said. There was so much emotion in her voice that Jack worried she was close to crying. However, she blinked back tears.

Joey answered her with more babbles and gave her a smile, as well. Jack knew that was a moment she would remember for the rest of her life.

“Why did you come back?” Tessie asked.

Oh, no. Jack hadn’t wanted this conversation to happen now. Not with Alana still woozy from the kidnapper’s drug. “It’s complicated,” Jack explained.

Alana obviously wanted to take that explanation further. “I have no memory of why I left the hospital that night. I don’t know what happened, but it must have been extremely serious to make me leave the way I did.”

“No memory,” Tessie repeated. Jack knew that tone. She was skeptical. But he also knew that his aunt was a fair and reasonable woman. If they learned that Alana hadn’t voluntarily walked out eight months ago, then
Tessie would step up and try to make things better—just as she’d done twenty years ago when Jack was a kid.

“I think someone might have drugged me that night,” Alana continued. “And threatened Joey, too. There aren’t any other reasons that would make me walk out and leave my son behind.”

While the women continued to talk, Jack looked at the fax. It was from the Texas Rangers in San Antonio. He read through the two paragraphs. And then read it again. When he finished, he realized that both Tessie and Alana were staring at him, obviously waiting to hear why the fax had been deemed “urgent.”

Jack decided to start with the simple item first. “The Rangers did a quick check of the Sauder Facility. Everything about it is bogus.”

Alana’s breath shuddered. “There’s proof?”

He nodded and idly gave Joey a kiss on the forehead when the little boy babbled something. “Everything is fake. The permit for the place. The judge’s signature on your commitment papers. The foundation set up to pay your expenses.”

“So where did the money come from?” Alana asked.

“They don’t know yet.” Their gazes met, and he saw in Alana’s eyes what was no doubt in his. The money had probably come from Sean. “There are now APBs out on Margaret Vargas and Ted Moore.”

Alana nodded and swallowed hard. “They had to be in on this.”

“Not necessarily. They could have believed the institution and commitment orders were real. There could even have been phony orders or instructions from a doctor. Still, I want to question them.” He glanced at the
fax again. “The Rangers want to know the location of the place so they can send a CSI unit through it.”

Alana nodded, then huffed. “I don’t know the names of the roads, but I think I could take you there.”

That’s what he was afraid she would say. He wasn’t exactly champing at the bit to drive her out to a remote facility where she’d been held prisoner. And he didn’t want her to face the stress it would cause. It might not be safe. Whoever was behind this might have the place staked out. The trip could turn into a dangerous trap, and this time the kidnapper might succeed. Still, there could be valuable information inside. Info that would break this case wide open.

“After you’ve rested, try to draw a map,” Jack instructed. Maybe it wouldn’t be necessary. Maybe the Rangers would find Margaret and Ted and get them to confess to everything.

This was starting to get beyond complicated.

“Does the name Special Agent Parker Howell mean anything to you?” Jack asked, reading from the second paragraph of the fax.

Her eyes lit up with recognition. “Yes.” But just as quickly, her forehead bunched up. “He’s an FBI agent. I remember him coming to my office about a year ago. He was investigating the sale of illegally obtained diamonds. I didn’t have any information to help him.”

He read through the fax again to make sure he hadn’t missed something. “And?”

“That was it.” She paused. “At least I think it was.” Her forehead bunched up even more. “Why?”

“Because he’s been trying to locate you. He requested assistance from the Rangers eight months ago
when you disappeared. He saw the APB that was put out when you left the Sauder Facility, and he’s on his way here to Willow Ridge.”

Alana shook her head. “What does he want?”

“The fax doesn’t say. I hoped you might know.”

“No.” Her voice and expression were laced with questions and concerns.

Jack shared those concerns. What did an FBI agent want with Alana? He hoped like the devil that she hadn’t been involved in anything illegal.

Then rethought that and decided she wouldn’t have done anything illegal. Not voluntarily, anyway.

He cursed.

He was neck-deep in personal involvement here. Much to his disgust, any objectivity he should have about this case was long gone. Alana had been railroaded. End of speculation as to her guilt or innocence. That made him either one perceptive lawman or an idiot.

Yeah. That desire to kiss her had really screwed up things.

“Get some rest,” Jack told Alana again. “I’ll wake you when Special Agent Howell arrives.”

She nodded, but didn’t budge. The smile she aimed at Joey was weak from fatigue, but she continued to stare at the baby. “What will happen, Jack? It’s not fair to the three of you to be cooped up here with me.”

Another thing that had to be worked out. “We’ll stay here tonight. I’ll have Reyes, my deputy, bring in some cots and supplies. Maybe by morning, we’ll have this situation resolved. If not, we’ll go to the ranch. It’s not quite as secure at this building, but I can get the ranch hands to put together some safety measures.”

“And then what?” Alana asked.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. He hated that he didn’t have the answers. His son’s safety might be at stake, and that meant he had to do whatever it took to keep Joey out of harm’s way.

Jack heard the rattle of the knob on the front door, and he groaned. Hopefully, it wasn’t Agent Howell already. He wanted Alana to rest before that meeting. However, the rattle was quickly followed by the sound of someone inserting a key into the lock.

“It’s me,” Reyes called out a moment later.

Since it was possible that his deputy had the kidnapper in custody, Jack handed Joey to Tessie and went past Alana and into the hall.

Reyes was alone. And the man looked seriously riled.

“He got away,” Reyes snarled. Though Jack had already figured that out. “I swear I’ll get him, though. Just give me some time.”