Читать книгу Landon - Delores Fossen, Delores Fossen - Страница 9

Chapter Three

While he waited on hold for Dade to come back on the line, Landon glanced around the thin blue curtain to check on Tessa again. Something he’d been doing since they arrived at the Silver Creek Hospital. She was still sitting on the examining table, feeding the baby a bottle of formula that the hospital staff had given her.

Tessa was also still eyeing Landon as if he were the enemy.

That probably had plenty to do with the message that’d been scrawled on the boulder back at the barn. This is for you, Landon.

The same words as in the message that’d been left on Emmett’s body. Except this time, there was a little more. Tessa’s dead now because of you.

Reading that obviously hadn’t helped lessen the fear he’d seen in Tessa’s eyes. Hadn’t helped this knot in Landon’s stomach, either. He had to find out what was going on, and that started with Tessa.

She’d insisted on the baby staying with her, so they had both been placed in the same room, where the doctor was checking them now. Maybe the doc would be able to give her something to counteract whatever drug Tessa had been given.

Or taken.

But Landon had to shake his head at that thought. Tessa wasn’t a drug user, so someone had likely given it to her. He needed to know why.

This is for you, Landon.

Someone clearly had it out for him. And that someone had murdered Emmett and had maybe now tried to do the same thing to Tessa and that innocent baby.

The baby had to be cleared up for him, too. If she was his child... Well, Landon didn’t want to go there just yet. He already had enough to juggle without having to deal with that. The only thing that mattered now was that the baby got whatever medical attention she needed, and Landon could go from there.

“There were no prints on the boulder,” Dade said when he finally came back on the line.

Landon groaned, but he really hadn’t expected they would get that lucky. The person who’d set all of this up wouldn’t have been stupid enough to leave prints behind. But he or she had left a witness.

One whose memory was a mess.

“The crime scene folks will do a more thorough check, of course,” Dade went on. “Something might turn up. Anything from Tessa yet?”

“Nothing. The nurse drew her and the baby’s blood when they got here. Once we have the results of the tox screen, we’ll know what drug she was given. And if that’s what is affecting her memory.”

Of course, there was still that lump on her head.

The doctor had examined it, too, right after checking the baby, but like the paramedic, the doc said it was an injury that Tessa had gotten several days ago. In the doctor’s opinion, it was the result of blunt-force trauma.

Landon figured the timing wasn’t a coincidence.

“I don’t think she’s faking this memory loss,” Landon added to Dade.

Tessa must have heard that, because her gaze slashed to his. Of course, her attention hadn’t stayed too far away from him since this whole ordeal started. And after seeing that message on the rock, he knew why.

“All of this is definitely connected to me,” Landon said to Dade. “The second message proves it.”

Or at least, that was what someone wanted him to believe—that both Emmett’s murder and this attack were because of something Landon had done.

“Did you find anything else in the old arrest records you’ve been going through?” Dade asked.

Landon had found plenty. Too much, in fact. It was hard to narrow down a pool of suspects when Landon could name several dozen criminals that he’d had run-ins with over the years. But there was one that kept turning up like a bad penny.

“Quincy Nagel,” Landon answered. The name wouldn’t surprise his cousin, because Landon had discussed Quincy with Grayson, Dade and the other deputies in Silver Creek.

Landon had put Quincy behind bars four years ago for breaking and entering. Quincy had sworn to get even, and he was out on probation now. That made him a prime suspect. Except for one thing.

Quincy was in a wheelchair.

The man had been paralyzed from the waist down in a prison fight. It would have taken some strength to overpower Emmett and to club Tessa on the head. Strength or a hired thug. But while Quincy had plenty of money from his trust fund to hire a thug, there was no money trail to indicate Quincy had done that.

“I’ll keep looking,” Landon said to Dade. Though the looking would have to wait for now, because the doctor stepped away from Tessa, and that was Landon’s cue to go in the room.

Landon knew the doctor. Doug Michelson. He’d been a fixture in Silver Creek for years, and while Landon had moved away when he was a kid, he still remembered the doc giving him checkups and tending to him on the various emergency room trips that he’d had to make.

“The baby’s fine,” Dr. Michelson said right off. “But I want to get a pediatrician in here to verify that. I’m guessing she’s less than a week old since she still has her umbilical cord.”

Since Landon didn’t have a clue what to say about that, he just nodded.

“Is she yours?” Dr. Michelson asked.

Landon didn’t know what to say about that, either, so he lifted his shoulder. “I’m hoping Tessa can tell me.”

The doctor scratched his head. “Probably not at the moment but maybe soon she can do that. I can use the baby’s blood test to run her DNA if you give me the go-ahead.”

“You’ve definitely got the go-ahead for that. And put a rush on it just in case Tessa’s memory doesn’t come back.”

“Will do. I did manage to get Tessa to let a nurse hold the baby so I could get an X-ray of her neck,” the doctor continued, but he stopped, obviously noticing the renewed surprise on Landon’s face.

“What’s wrong with Tessa’s neck?” Landon asked.

“She’s got a small lesion.” The doctor pointed to the area where his neck and shoulders met. “It’s too big for it to be an injection site for the drugs she was given. Besides, I found the needle mark for that. Or rather the needle marks. There are two of them on her arm. One is at least a couple of days old, and there was bruising involved.”

“Bruising that probably happened around the same time she was hit on the head?” Landon asked.

“Yes. The other is more recent. I’d say an injection given to her within the last couple of hours.”

So she’d been drugged twice. “Then what’s with the lesion?”

The doctor shrugged. “I might know once I’ve had a chance to look at the X-ray. For now, though, I need to get an OB in here to examine Tessa.”

Landon heard something in the doc’s voice. Concern maybe? “You think something’s wrong?”

“She doesn’t trust me, so I’m thinking she might not trust an OB to do an exam, either. But an exam is a must since we have to rule out problems other than just the head injury.” The doctor patted Landon’s arm. “Talk to her. Convince her we’re the good guys.”

He’d have an easier time convincing Tessa that the sun was green. Still, he’d try. Plus, the doctor didn’t give him much of a choice. He headed out, no doubt to round up the OB and pediatrician, leaving Landon alone with Tessa and the baby.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Tessa demanded.

Since that was what Landon wanted to ask her, they were at an impasse. One that he hoped they could work through fast. While he was hoping, he needed those drugs to wear off—now.

“Tell me,” she snapped when he didn’t jump to answer.

He didn’t jump because Landon wasn’t sure where to start. The beginning seemed like a lifetime ago.

“Stop me at any point if this is old news,” he began. “A year ago, you moved to Silver Creek to open a private investigations office. We met shortly afterward, had a few dates, and I ran into you again at the Outlaw Bar when I was in town visiting my cousins.”

He paused, waiting for her to process that. “Is that when you were naked in bed with me?” she asked, setting the baby bottle down beside her.

Of course she would remember that. But then, if the baby was his, she probably had it etched in her memory. Landon had it etched in his for a different reason. Because of the white-hot attraction that’d been between them.

But that wasn’t something he needed to remember now. Or ever.

“Yes. The following morning, you told me you couldn’t get involved with me,” Landon continued. “And then your scummy boyfriend showed up. Joel Mercer. Remember him?”

She repeated the name, shook her head. “If I had a boyfriend, why did I sleep with you?”

Landon had asked himself that many, many times. “You said he was an ex, but he sure didn’t act like it.” He stopped, huffed. “Look, are you sure you don’t remember simply because you’d rather not be talking about this with me?”

“I’m not faking or avoiding this conversation. Now, tell me about Joel. Why did you say he’s scummy?”

“Because he is. He’s a cattle broker—at least, that’s what he calls himself, but it’s really a front for assorted felonies, including gunrunning and money laundering. That’s why I was surprised when he showed up and said you two were together.”

Judging from her expression, Tessa was surprised, too. But it wasn’t the same kind of surprise that’d been on her face that morning seven months ago. Landon had seen the shock, and then she’d changed. Or something. She’d become all lovey-dovey with Joel and told Landon to leave.

But Landon hadn’t forgotten the look that’d gone through her eyes.

After he’d walked, or rather stormed, out, he’d gone back to Houston and hadn’t seen her since. And apparently neither had any of his cousins. Tessa had closed her PI office, and while she’d kept her house in Silver Creek, she rarely visited it.

That was maybe why no one had known she was pregnant.

Because if his cousins had known, they would have told Landon. Plenty of people, including a couple of his cousins, had seen him leave the Outlaw Bar with Tessa that night.

“What does Joel have to do with Emmett?” she asked.

Everything inside him went still. Until now he hadn’t considered they could be connected.

But were they?

Landon decided to try something to jog her memory. “Four nights ago, someone murdered Emmett in your house.” Man, it was still hard to say that aloud. Just as hard to think about his cousin dying that way. “Your cleaning lady found his body. He’d been shot three times, and there was a note left on his chest.”

“‘This is for you, Landon,’” she whispered.

“How the hell did you know that?” He hadn’t intended to raise his voice, and the baby reacted. She started to whimper.

“I’m not sure. But I saw your reaction when Dade showed you what was on the boulder. I guessed it must have been something to do with Emmett since the majority of your questions had been about him.” She rocked the baby, kissed her forehead. “And her.”

Yeah. And he would have more questions about her when he was finished with this.

Landon took out his phone, and even though he knew the picture was gruesome, he searched through his pictures and found the one he’d taken at the crime scene.

Emmett’s body in a pool of blood.

There’d been blood on the note, too.

“Does this look familiar?” Landon asked, putting the phone practically in her face.

She gasped, turned her head and closed her eyes for a moment. “No.” And she repeated it in a hoarse sob.

Landon didn’t have a heart of ice. Not completely, anyway, and whether he wanted to or not, he was affected by that look on her face. Affected, but not to the point where he was stopping with the questions.

“Why was Emmett there at your house, and how did you know he was dead?” he pressed.

She shook her head. “I honestly don’t know.” Tessa paused, swallowed hard. “There’s something about that photo that seems familiar, but I don’t know what.”

Good. Because if it was familiar, then it meant she was possibly there and might have seen who had done this.

Landon went to the next picture. A mug shot this time of Quincy Nagel. “Recognize him?”

Tessa moved closer for a long look and gave him another head shake. “Who is he?”

“A person of interest.” Too bad Landon hadn’t been able to find him yet. “A thug I arrested who might have wanted to pay me back by killing my cousin.”

Tessa kept her attention on the baby, but because Landon was watching her so closely, he saw the small change in her. Her mouth tensed. A muscle flexed in her cheek. He hoped that was because she was concerned for the baby rather than because she was withholding something about Quincy. The little girl went beyond the whimpering stage and started to cry.

“So I slept with you, got pregnant.” Tessa stood and rocked the baby. “Or maybe you believe she’s Joel’s daughter? You’re not sure, but you’ll demand a test so you can be certain.”

He nodded. Though he would be surprised if she was Joel’s. Yes, Tessa had been more than just friendly with Joel, but Landon didn’t think she was the sort to go from one man straight to another. But he’d been wrong about stuff like that before. He didn’t think so this time, though.

“Or maybe she’s not my baby at all,” she added. Tessa shuddered, dodged his gaze.

Landon lifted her chin, forcing eye contact. “Are you remembering something?”

“No.”

Her answer came much too fast, and Landon would have jumped right on that if his phone hadn’t buzzed. It was Grayson, which meant it could have something to do with the investigation. Since the baby was still crying, Landon stepped just into the hall so he could hear what the sheriff had to say.

“We found something,” Grayson said the moment Landon answered. “A car on a ranch trail not far from the barn. The plates are fake, the VIN’s been removed, but it has some baby things in it. A diaper bag and some clothes.”

Tessa’s car.

Or one that she’d “borrowed.”

“We’ll process it, of course,” Grayson went on, “but something really stuck out. The GPS was programmed to go to your house in Houston.”

Landon wanted to say that wasn’t right, that there’d been no reason for her to see him, but if the baby was indeed his, maybe Tessa had been on the way to tell him. Of course, that didn’t explain the other things: the dyed hair, the hit on her head, fake tags, no vehicle identification number on the car. Those were all signs of someone trying to hide.

Landon stepped out of the doorway when he saw Dr. Michelson approaching. There were two other doctors with him. The pediatrician and the OB, no doubt, and maybe one of them could talk Tessa into having the examination.

“What about the area leading from the car to the barn?” Landon asked Grayson. “Were there any signs of a struggle?”

“None, but something might turn up. In the meantime, ask Tessa why she was going to see you. Hearing about the GPS might trigger her memory.”

He ended the call, intending to do just that, but Dr. Michelson pulled back the blue curtain and looked at him. “Where’s Tessa and the baby?”

Landon practically pushed the doctor aside and looked into the room. No Tessa. No baby. But the door leading off the back of the examining room was open.

Damn.

“Close off all the exits,” Landon told the doctor, and he took off after her.

He cursed Tessa, and himself, for this. He should have known she would run, and when he caught up with her, she’d better be able to explain why she’d done this.

Landon barreled through the adjoining room. Another exam room, crammed with equipment that he had to maneuver around. He also checked the corners in case she had ducked behind something with plans to sneak out after he’d zipped right past her.

But she wasn’t there, either.

There was a hall just off the examining room, and Landon headed there, his gaze slashing from one end of it to the other. He didn’t see her.

But he heard something.

The baby.

She was still crying, and even though the sound was muffled, it was enough for Landon to pinpoint their location. Tessa was headed for the back exit. Landon doubted the doctor had managed to get the doors locked yet, so he hurried, running as fast as he could.

And then he saw her.

Tessa saw him, too.

She didn’t stop. With the baby gripped in her arms, she threw open the glass door and was within a heartbeat of reaching the parking lot. She might have made it, too, but Landon took hold of her arms and pulled her back inside.

As he’d done by the barn, he was as gentle with her as he could be, but he wasn’t feeling very much of that gentleness inside.

Tessa was breathing through her mouth. Her eyes were wide. And she groaned. “I remember,” she said.

He jerked back his head. That was the last thing Landon had expected her to say, but he’d take it. “Yeah, and you’re going to tell me everything you remember, and you’re going to do it right now.”

But she didn’t. Tessa just stood there, her attention volleying between him and the parking lot.

“Please, just let me go.” Her eyes filled with tears. “It’s not safe for you to be with me.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Landon snapped.

She closed her eyes, the tears spilling down her cheeks. “I’m not who you think I am. And if you stay here with me, they’ll kill you.”