Читать книгу Stockyard Snatching - Barb Han - Страница 9

Chapter Three

Kate recognized the sheriff as soon as he stepped inside his office. Not only had she seen him around town, he’d stopped by the kitchen to welcome her when she’d first opened her doors.

He was close to Dallas O’Brien’s height, so at least six feet tall. His hair was light brown and his eyes matched the shade almost perfectly.

She was relieved for the interruption, after sharing the news about Jackson being adopted, and especially after Dallas’s reaction, which made no sense to her. He seemed fine with her being a single parent, but lost his ability to speak once she’d mentioned the adoption. What was up with that?

The sheriff acknowledged Dallas first and then offered a handshake to Kate.

Dallas relayed the morning’s events succinctly and Kate’s heart squeezed at hearing the words, knowing how close she’d been to losing her son. She reminded herself that she had Dallas to thank for thwarting the kidnapping attempt.

If he hadn’t been there...

She shivered, deflecting the chill gripping her spine.

“Most kidnappings involve family. Sounds like that isn’t the case here,” the sheriff said. “We can’t rule out the birth parents. What’s your relationship with them?”

“None,” Kate responded. She hadn’t thought about the possibility that Jackson’s biological parents could’ve changed their minds. “The adoption was closed, records sealed, based on the mother’s request.”

“I’ll make contact with the agency to see if I can get any additional information from them. I wouldn’t count on it without a court order, though,” Tommy warned. “What’s the name?”

“Safe Haven,” she stated.

Tommy nodded. “Good. I know who they are.”

Kate held tighter to Jackson. Could the kidnapper have been the birth father? If an investigation was opened, could the birth mother change her mind and take her son away?

“Can you give a description of the man from this morning?” Tommy asked.

“Everything happened so fast. All I can remember is that he was wearing a hoodie and a high turtleneck. He was medium height and had these beady dark eyes against olive skin. It didn’t look like he’d shaved in a few days. That’s about all I can remember,” she said.

“It’s a start,” Tommy said, and his words were reassuring.

He turned to Dallas with that same questioning look.

“He was young and I didn’t recognize his voice, so I don’t think he’s from around here,” Dallas added.

“Is it possible that he’s the father? If he’s not local, then maybe he just found out about the baby and tracked us down,” Kate said, fear racing through her at the thought.

“We can’t rule it out, but that’s just one of many possibilities,” Tommy said. “What about your neighbors on Main? I heard some of them weren’t too thrilled when you moved in.”

“That’s the truth,” she said.

“Someone might have tried to scare you enough to get you to close shop and leave town. That’s a best-case scenario, as far as I’m concerned, because it would mean they never intended to hurt you or the baby. I need a list of names of family, friends, anyone who you’ve had a disagreement with, and your employees.”

The last part caught her off guard. Employees?

That had been Dallas’s first suspicion, too.

“Sheriff Johnson, you don’t seriously think one of my people could be involved, do you?” she asked, not able to fathom the possibility that one of her own could’ve turned on her.

“Please, call me Tommy,” he said. “And I have to search for all possible connections to the guy we’re looking for. You’d be surprised what you find out about the people you think you know best.”

In his line of work, she could only imagine how true that statement was. How horrible that anyone she trusted might’ve been involved.

No, it had to be a stranger.

“I have received threats from some of my business neighbors,” she said.

“Tell me more about those,” Tommy said, leaning forward.

“A few of the other tenants got together to file a complaint with my landlord. They said they didn’t think Main was the appropriate place for a soup kitchen,” she explained.

“And what was his response?” Tommy asked.

“He didn’t do anything. Said as long as my rent was paid on time and I wasn’t doing anything illegal, it wasn’t anyone else’s concern,” she said.

“I’ll send one of my deputies to canvass the other tenants and see what he can find out. We’ll cover all bases with our investigation.” Tommy glanced up from his pad. “How long ago did they make the complaint?”

“Right after we first moved in, so about six months ago,” she said.

“Anyone make a formal complaint since?”

She shook her head.

“What about direct threats?” Tommy asked.

“Walter Higgins threatened to force me out of town,” she said. “But that was a while ago.”

“The town needs your services,” Dallas said through clenched teeth. “What kind of jerks complain about a person doing something good for others?”

Jackson stirred at the sound of the loud voice and Kate had to find his binky to pacify him. She shuffled through the diaper bag and came up with it. Jackson settled down as soon as the offering was in his mouth.

“Sorry,” Dallas said with an apologetic glance.

“It takes all kinds,” Tommy agreed. “I’m guessing they figured it would hurt their business. We’ll know more once my deputy speaks to them.”

“It’s not like people hang around after they eat. There’s no loitering allowed downtown,” Kate said.

“It’s a big escalation to go from complaining to your landlord to a personal attack like this on your son.” Based on the sheriff’s tone, her neighbors weren’t serious suspects. Tommy fired off a text before returning his gaze to Kate. “Now tell me more about your people.”

“We have a small office staff,” she conceded. “Allen Lentz is my second in command and takes care of everything when I’m not around. Other than that, there are about a dozen cooks and food service workers. Only one is on payroll. The others are volunteers.”

Dallas’s posture tensed when she mentioned Allen.

Kate registered the subtle change and moved on. She rattled off a few more names and job descriptions.

The sheriff nodded and jotted a few notes on his palm-sized notebook.

“And then there’s Randy Ruiz. He keeps the place running on our tight budget. He’s our general handyman, muscle and overall miracle worker. Anything heavy needs lifting, he’s our guy. He’s been especially helpful and dependable in the six months he’s been with us.” Despite Randy’s past, she knew full well that he would never hurt her or Jackson.

Dallas seemed to perk up and she was afraid she’d tried to sell Randy a little too hard. True, she could be a little overprotective of him. He’d had a hard road and she wanted to see him succeed.

“Tabitha Farmer does all our administrative work,” Kate added quickly, to keep the conversation moving. “Her official title is volunteer coordinator.”

“How close are you with donors?” Tommy asked.

Thinking about the possibility that anyone in her circle could have arranged to have her child kidnapped was enough to turn Kate’s stomach. She clasped him closer.

For Jackson’s sake, she had to consider what Dallas and the sheriff were saying no matter how much she hated to view her friends and acquaintances with a new lens.

Maybe she was being naive, but she’d been careful to fill her life with genuine people since moving to Bluff from the city. “I maintain a professional distance. However, I do get invited to personal events like weddings and lake house parties.”

“And what do you do with your son during these outings?” Dallas interjected, no doubt remembering her conversation with Allen earlier.

“I don’t usually go. But I used Allen once,” she replied.

“Allen?” Dallas looked up from intensely staring into his cup of coffee.

“We’re like a family at the kitchen, and we take care of each other,” she said defensively.

Dallas’s cocked eyebrow didn’t sit well with her. She could feel herself getting more and more defensive.

“Despite what you may be thinking about my employees, they really are a group of decent people,” she stated, making eye contact with him—a mistake she was going to regret, given how much her body reacted to the handsome cowboy.

“In my experience, that doesn’t always prove the truth,” he said, holding her gaze. “When did Allen babysit for you?”

“It’s been a while. I used Tabitha one other time recently.”

“There a reason for that?” Dallas asked, lifting one dark eyebrow.

“Yes, but it doesn’t mean anything,” she said quickly. Then she sighed. “Okay, I thought Allen was getting a little too...involved with me and Jackson, so I thought it would be best to use Tabitha instead. He’s made it clear that he’d like to date.” She involuntarily shivered at the thought of going out with anyone, much less someone from work. “And I’m just not ready for that.”

She’d probably emphasized that last bit a little too much, but what did she care if they knew she wasn’t in the mood to spend time with a man, any man.

“How old is your son?” Tommy asked, after a few uncomfortable seconds had passed.

“Jackson? He’s almost three months old.” Kate gently patted her baby on the back, noticing something stir in Dallas’s eyes.

“What about friends and family?” Tommy asked, his gaze moving from her to his friend. “Anyone in the area?”

“I didn’t know anyone when I moved here, and everything about preparing for the baby was harder than I expected, so, yes, I bonded with my employees.”

“You don’t have family in this part of Texas?” Tommy asked.

“It’s just me and Jackson.” She shook her head. “My brother and I are close, but he lives in Richardson, which is a suburb of Dallas. He works nonstop. We started a tech company together after college and made enough to do okay. I sold my interest in the business to have a baby, and now he’s running it alone.”

“Forgive this question...” Tommy hesitated before continuing, “But how did your brother take the news about you leaving the business the two of you started?”

“Carter? He was fine with my decision. He knew how much I wanted to start a family,” she said defensively, a red rash crawling up her neck. And if he hadn’t been the most enthusiastic about her choice at first, he’d come around.

“Again, I’m sorry. I had to ask,” the sheriff murmured, taking a seat across from her in the sitting area of the office.

“Mind if I ask why you decided to move to Bluff?” Dallas asked.

“There was a need for a soup kitchen, and it’s one of the most family-friendly towns in Texas three years running, according to the internet,” she said with a shrug. “I thought it would be a good place to bring up a baby.”

“Even without family here?” Tommy asked.

“My parents didn’t approve of my decision to have a child alone.” She didn’t really want to go down that road again, explaining the quirks of her family to a stranger. The one where her mother had flipped out and pretended to have a heart attack in order to alter Kate’s course.

She glanced at Dallas, ready to defend herself to him, and was surprised by the look of sympathy she got instead.

“I guess I don’t understand that particular brand of thinking. It’s my personal belief that families should stick together even if they don’t agree with each other’s decisions,” Dallas said, his steely voice sliding right through her.

The sincerity in those words nearly brought her to tears.

Why did it suddenly matter so much what a stranger thought about her or her family?

* * *

DALLAS NOTICED KATE’S emotional reaction to what he’d said about family. If she really was at odds with hers then they couldn’t rule them out as suspects.

“If you’ll excuse us, I’d like to speak to the sheriff in the hallway for a minute,” he said to her.

“Do we have to wait around? Can we go home now?” she asked, clearly rattled from their conversation.

“I don’t think it’s safe,” Dallas said, before Tommy could answer. “This attack was ambush-style and planned.”

His friend was already nodding in agreement. “The kidnapper had a knife and a getaway vehicle,” he added. “This indicates premeditation. I’ll need to run this scenario through the database and see if there are similar incidents out there. In the meantime, I’d like to send a deputy to your house to take a look around.”

Kate gasped and the baby stirred. She immediately went into action, soothing the infant in her arms. He was such a tiny thing and looked so fragile.

“You think they know where I live?” she asked when the baby had settled into the crook of her arm.

“It’s a possibility we can’t ignore, and I’d rather be safe than sorry,” Tommy said.

“Can I see you in the hallway?” Dallas asked Tommy as his friend rose to his feet. Dallas’s protective instincts were kicking into high gear.

“If you’re going into the hall to discuss my case, I have a right to know what’s being said.” Kate’s gaze held steady with determination.

Dallas paused at the doorjamb. He couldn’t deny that she was right, and yet he wanted to protect her and the baby from hearing what he needed to ask Tommy next.

“Whatever it is, I deserve to hear it,” she insisted.

A deep sigh pushed out of his lungs as he turned toward her and stepped back inside, motioning for Tommy to do the same. “The person who did this could be someone who sees Jackson as in the way of being with you,” Dallas said, and it seemed to dawn on her that he was talking about Allen.

“Is that why you zeroed in on Allen when I called him earlier?” she asked Dallas pointedly.

“Yes,” he answered truthfully.

“We won’t stop searching for whoever is behind this,” Tommy interjected. “And we’re considering all possibilities.”

She sat there for a long moment. “What about those other possibilities, Sheriff?” she finally asked.

“It could be that someone wants revenge against you. It’s obvious that your child is very important to you and that snatching him would be one way to hurt you,” Tommy said. “Or a teen mom has changed her mind about giving up her child. She might’ve figured out who you were and told the father.”

“The adoption was sealed based on the mother’s request. However, I made sure of it to avoid that very circumstance. How on earth would she know where Jackson is?” Kate asked.

“You can find out anything with enough money or computer hacking skills,” Dallas answered, even though he knew firsthand either option could take time. And in this case, maybe it had. Jackson was nearly three months old, so that would give someone plenty of time to find the two of them. Grease the right wheels and boom.

“I have to think that if this was a teen mother, then she’d be destitute. Wouldn’t she? If she had money or family support, would she really be giving up her baby in the first place?” Kate asked.

Good points.

“How well did you vet this adoption agency before you used them?” Dallas asked.

“They’re legitimate, from everything I could tell. I hired a lawyer to oversee things on my end and make sure everything was legal,” Kate stated.

“I’ll need the name of your lawyer,” Tommy said.

“William Seaver.”

“Is he someone you knew or was that the first time you’d dealt with him?” Tommy asked.

“My brother connected us. He’d heard of Seaver through a mutual friend. I’m sure he checked him out first,” Kate replied.

“I’ll run his name and see if we come up with anything in the database,” Tommy offered. “We’ll be able to narrow down the possibilities once I get all this information into the system and talk to a few people. Also, I’d like to send someone to take a look at your work computers. I need permission from you in order to do that.”

Kate gave her consent even though she seemed reluctant. Her reaction was understandable given the circumstances. Dallas would feel the same way if someone wanted to dig around in the ranch’s books.

Tommy called for Abigail.

The older woman appeared a moment later and he asked her to send someone to Kate’s house to look for anything suspicious, and after that to run information through the database to see if she got a hit on any similar crimes.

As soon as she left, Dallas turned to Kate. “That’s everything I wanted to ask or say about your case. If you’ll excuse us, I need to discuss a personal matter with the sheriff.”

Dallas motioned for his friend to follow him down the hall and into the kitchenette.

“I’m sorry we lost the guy earlier,” Tommy said once they were out of earshot. “If we’d caught him, this nightmare could be over for her.”

“Whoever it was seems to know how to disappear pretty darn quick,” Dallas commented.

“It’s difficult to hide something that weighs more than four thousand pounds,” Tommy agreed, obviously referring to the minivan.

“You think this whole thing might’ve been a setup to scare her out of town?” Dallas asked, unsure of how to approach the subject of his possible fatherhood to his friend.

“I thought about that, as well,” he admitted. “It’s too early to rule anything out even though it’s not likely. I’m anxious to see if we find similar crimes in the database. And, of course, we’ll look at her personal circles.”

Dallas leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve been looking into adoption agencies myself lately.”

“Come again?” Tommy’s eyebrows arched and Dallas couldn’t blame his friend for the surprised glance he shot him. “I know you’re not looking to adopt.”

“You remember Susan,” Dallas began, uneasy about bringing this up. Susan had grown up in Bluff, so Tommy knew her well.

“So glad you finally saw through her and moved on.” His friend rolled his eyes. “She was a head case.”

Dallas couldn’t argue. His judgment had slipped on that one. As soon as he’d figured her out, he’d broken it off. “She might be more than that. She might be the mother of my child.”

The possibility that Dallas could be that careless had never occurred to his friend, a fact made clear by the shock on his face. “There’s no way you could’ve done that!” he declared. “Have you considered the possibility that she’s lying?”

“Of course I have,” Dallas retorted.

“If this is true, and I’m not convinced it is, where is she? And why didn’t you come to me before?” Tommy asked.

“Those are good questions,” Dallas admitted. “As far as where she went, I’m looking to find an answer. She disappeared from New Mexico and not even her family here in Bluff has seen her since. We both know that she loved it here. Why wouldn’t she come back?”

“She didn’t say anything to you before she left?” Tommy folded his arms, his forehead wrinkled in disbelief.

“And I didn’t get a chance to ask where she was headed before she disappeared.”

“What makes you think she used an adoption agency?” Tommy said, after carefully considering the bomb that had just been dropped. “And why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

“She told me she was pregnant and said we should get married right away,” Dallas said. “I told her to hold on. That I would be there for my child, but that didn’t mean we needed to make a mistake.”

“That probably went over as well as a cow patty in the pool.” His friend grunted. “She seemed bent on signing her name ‘O’Brien’ from when we were kids.”

Dallas had been an idiot not to see through her quicker.

“But that still doesn’t answer my question of why you didn’t come to me right away,” Tommy said.

“I needed answers. You have to follow the letter of the law,” Dallas said honestly. “I wanted someone who could see those lines as blurry.”

Tommy took a sip of his coffee. “That the only reason?”

“I knew you’d want to help, and you have a lot of restrictions. I wanted fast answers and I wasn’t even sure there’d be anything to discuss,” Dallas said. “Plus I didn’t want to tell anyone until I was sure.”

“Didn’t you suspect she was seeing someone else?” his friend asked.

Dallas nodded. “I’m certain she was. I figured she was making a bid for my money when she played the pregnancy card with me.”

“She probably was.” Tommy grimaced. “Which was a good reason for her to disappear when you refused to marry her. She couldn’t get caught in her lies.”

“I thought of that, too. There’s another thing. I used protection, but it’s more than that. We didn’t exactly... It’s not like...” Hell, this was awkward. Dallas didn’t make a habit out of talking about his sex life with anyone, not even his best friend. “There was only the one time with Susan and me. Afterward, she got clingy and tried to move into my place. Started trying to rearrange furniture. I caught her in lie after lie and broke it off clean after I witnessed her in the parking lot with that other guy, looking cozy. I’d suspected she was seeing someone else and she got all cagey when I confronted her and asked her to leave. I couldn’t prove my suspicion, though. But when she called a few months later and said she was pregnant with my child, I didn’t believe her.”

“I can’t blame you there,” Tommy said. “I wouldn’t have bought it, either.”

“But I can’t turn my back until I know for sure.” If what Susan said was true, then he’d already messed up what he considered to be the most important job in life—fatherhood.

Dallas had known Susan could be dishonest, and that was the reason he’d broken it off with her. He couldn’t love someone he couldn’t trust. But he never imagined she’d lie about something this important.

“If there was another guy involved, and I believe you when you say there was, then he could be the father of her child.” Tommy sipped his coffee, contemplating what he had just learned.

“You know I can’t walk away until I know one way or the other,” Dallas said. “This isn’t something I can leave to chance.”

“And there was that one time,” his friend finally said, his forehead pinched with concentration. “So, there is a possibility.”

“If I’m honest...yes.”

“But it’s next to impossible. I know you. There’s no way you would risk a pregnancy unless you were one hundred percent sure about a relationship staying together,” he stated.

Dallas nodded.

And then it seemed to dawn on Tommy. “But she could’ve sabotaged your efforts.”

“Right.”

“Well, damn.” His friend’s expression changed to one of pity. “I’m sorry to hear this might’ve happened. Any idea how old the baby would be now?”

“According to my calculations...about three months old.” And that was most likely the reason Kate’s case hit him so hard. If he had a son, the boy would be around the same age as Jackson.

“Any idea where Susan and the baby may be? It’d be easy enough to get a paternity test once you find them.”

Tommy said the exact thing Dallas was thinking.

“I don’t know. Neither does the man I hired to find them. She literally disappeared.” Ever since hearing about a possible pregnancy with Susan, Dallas had found his world tipped on its axis and he didn’t exactly feel like himself.

“There might not even be a baby,” Tommy said.

Dallas’s phone buzzed. He fished it out of his pocket and then checked the screen. “Susan had a boy,” he said, focusing on the message from his private investigator’s assistant, Stacy Miller. “And Morton was able to link her to an adoption agency.”

Tommy rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

Yeah, Dallas felt the same way right about now. Especially when the next text came through, and he learned the adoption agency was named Safe Haven.