Kidnapping in Kendall County (10 page)

Yancy was in all three of the photos.

“It was a setup,” Yancy snarled. “I thought I was meeting a business associate there who was interested in buying the property from me. Now I see that was a ruse to get so-called proof of my involvement in this mess.”

Rosalie and Austin exchanged glances. “You own the baby farm?” she asked Yancy.

Yancy opened his mouth, closed it, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “One of my corporations owns the land and rents it out,” he finally said, as if choosing his words carefully. “I own dozens of properties. So many I don’t even know where they all are.”

“You own dummy corporations,” Austin argued. “And there’s no honest reason for that. Plenty of dishonest ones, though.”

Yancy’s smug look returned. “I don’t like mixing apples and oranges, especially since my last divorce. Lost a boatload of money to that witch, so the corporations help me keep things, well, organized.”

And it kept assets hidden so that he couldn’t be readily identified for criminal activities.

“Who rented the baby farm?” Rosalie demanded. But she didn’t just demand it. She stepped around Austin, went straight for Yancy and got right in his face.

Yancy met her stare. “I don’t know.”

“He’s lying.” Sonny got to his feet and jabbed his index finger at the pictures. “He was there. He knows what’s going on because he’s the one behind it.”

“I’m not behind it. That’s the truth,” Yancy added when Seth, Austin and she groaned. A muscle flickered in his jaw. “I’m not the only one who structures their business with corporations.”

“What the heck does that mean?” Austin snapped.

“It means my people didn’t do a thorough job of checking out the person who rented that ranch property for the baby farm. Or checking out the person who set me up for those photos. The names are all fake, part of a dummy corporation.”

“Convenient,” Austin mumbled, and he cursed.

Rosalie looked as if she wanted to curse, too. Or cry. This had to feel like another blow to her heart. Yet another stone wall in the investigation. Still, they might be able to chip at this wall and figure out what was behind it.

“You’ll give us everything you know about your own corporations,” Austin told Yancy. “Including the one you claim set you up.”

Austin expected Yancy to argue since the FBI could use that info to uncover criminal activity, but after several snail-crawling moments, the man finally nodded. “I’ll have my lawyer deliver anything that might apply here to the sheriff’s office.”

Now it was Sonny who cursed. “Anything he gives you will be fake. All lies.”

“You mean like those photos?” Yancy fired back. “Seems like you’re doing way too much finger-pointing, Sonny-boy. If you ask me, you’re acting like a guilty man with all these wild accusations.”

That set off another round of arguing, and Austin moved Rosalie out of the middle. Seth took over, issuing both men threats if they didn’t settle down. He also motioned for Austin to get Rosalie out of there. Austin was about to do just that when his phone buzzed.

“It’s Vickie,” Austin whispered to Rosalie after glancing down at the screen. Since there was no way he wanted Yancy or Sonny to hear the conversation, he took Rosalie into the hall and shut the door.

“Are you okay?” Austin greeted Vickie when he answered. He hoped those baby farm guards hadn’t come after her, though it was a possibility since Vickie had refused protective custody.

“I’m scared.” That fear came through loud and clear in her voice. “I remembered something about your nephew and the man who brought him to me.”

“What?” Austin asked. Rosalie obviously heard what the woman said because she pulled in her breath, waiting.

“Something important,” Vickie said. “But I can’t get into it over the phone. We need to meet because I have something to show you.”

Chapter Eleven

While she paced, Rosalie listened for Austin’s phone, willing it to ring.

Something that she’d been doing for the past hour.

It shouldn’t be hard to hear the ringing sound because the guest cottage at the ranch wasn’t large, since it was just two small bedrooms, a bath, a living room and kitchen. Not nearly enough space to put much distance between Austin and her.

Unfortunately, though, it’d been just enough for her not to hear all of his phone conversations. And he’d had plenty of those. For each one, Austin had spoken in hushed tones, never putting the calls on speaker, probably in the hopes of not disturbing her.

It hadn’t worked.

Nothing would at this point except finding her baby and putting an end to the danger.

Since Austin was sleeping on the sofa in the living room, Rosalie wasn’t pacing in there but rather in the kitchen, and she figured the pacing wouldn’t end until the phone rang. It was only six in the morning, and since Vickie hadn’t given them a specific time when she would call to arrange a meeting, it didn’t necessarily mean there was reason for alarm yet.

Still, Rosalie was just that—alarmed.

She wanted the woman to call so they could meet her and see whatever it was she wanted to show them. And she wanted Vickie to do that before anything else went wrong. Whoever was behind the baby farm would likely attack Vickie and anyone else who tried to shed light on the illegal adoptions. Unless Vickie was setting up this meeting so that Austin and she could be silenced. Since that was a possibility, it’d mean they would have to take plenty more precautions.

Including emotional precautions on her part.

Especially since the reason for her emotional precautions was only a few feet away. Rosalie kept her footsteps as light as she could and paced closer to the living room so she could get another glimpse of the cowboy on the couch.

And even while sleeping, Austin was definitely still a cowboy.

He had his black Stetson slung over his face, and he was still wearing his jeans and boots. The sofa was too short for him, so his feet were propped up on the armrest. He looked ready to jump right into action.

Well, except for that unbuttoned shirt.

Rosalie didn’t want to notice his chest, but she did, anyway. That chest looked as if he knew his way around a gym, but she suspected it’d come from working hard on his family’s ranch. It was definitely a body that got her attention.

She touched her fingertips to her mouth, remembering the kiss that shouldn’t have happened. She hadn’t even tried to resist him but instead had stayed there in Austin’s arms while he stirred the heat inside her.

The heat was still stirring.

And that unbuttoned shirt sure didn’t help.

She silently groaned, forced herself to look away. Soon, very soon, after they’d dealt with Vickie’s possible news, Rosalie would have to figure out a way to make Austin understand that this wasn’t his fight. She appreciated his help, but being close to him like this just wasn’t a good idea.

Because she was falling for him.

That caused her to mumble some profanity, and she turned to go back into the kitchen.

“You don’t have to leave. I’m awake,” Austin said, without taking the Stetson from his face.

Even though he couldn’t actually see her, he might have figured out that she’d been gawking at him. That wouldn’t help with the attraction, either, so Rosalie came up with a quick excuse. “I was just making sure that Vickie hadn’t called.”

“She hasn’t.” Austin added a groggy-sounding sigh and sat up. With his shirt still open. He tossed his Stetson on the coffee table and scrubbed his hand over his face.

“You should have taken Seth’s bed,” Rosalie commented. “He didn’t make it in last night.”

Of course, Austin already knew that. He’d taken a shower about five hours earlier before crashing on the couch, and he would have no doubt heard if Seth had come in since her brother would have had to walk right past him. Rosalie wasn’t sure what’d kept Seth, but he was likely working on this investigation and had crashed at his office. Something he did more often than not.

“Should you try to call Vickie?” she asked.

“I did, about two hours ago. The call went straight to voice mail.”

Oh, mercy. She prayed that meant nothing had gone wrong with Vickie, but with everything else going on, that was a strong possibility.

“You do know that you can’t go to any meeting that Vickie sets up?” Austin asked. Except it wasn’t exactly a question. More like a statement of fact.

“I need to go,” she insisted. “I need to find out what she wants to show us.”

Austin was shaking his head before she even finished. “I can’t put you in that kind of danger again. Seth will go with me, and I’ll wear a wire so you can hear what’s going on. But you’ll stay here at the ranch. Your brother Colt told me that the ranch hands are all armed, and that he’ll make sure to be here when Seth and I are gone.”

This was the first she was hearing of any of this. “Did you talk to Colt about this when we were at the sheriff’s office yesterday?”

“No. About two hours ago. I called him. He’s already set up some extra security and has ranch hands on patrol so that no one tries to use the fence to get onto the ranch.”

So, he’d gotten even less sleep than she’d originally thought. And during his sleepless time, he’d managed to come up with a plan with her brother to exclude her from talking with Vickie.

Rosalie didn’t like that, and she was ready to voice that displeasure when he stood, stretching and giving her an even better peek at the chest that she shouldn’t be peeking at. She forced herself to look away. But not before Austin got a glimpse of her face.

“This is about that kiss, isn’t it?” Austin mumbled, but he didn’t wait for her to confirm it. He strolled toward her, finally doing something about that unbuttoned shirt. “I should apologize.”

Rosalie found herself dumbfounded again. It probably wasn’t a good idea for them to be discussing the attraction, but when Austin reached her, he slid his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her to him for a brief but scalding-hot kiss.

“I should apologize for that, too.” He made a sound as if he liked what he’d tasted, and his gaze landed on the coffeepot. “Thank God, caffeine.”

He helped himself to a full mug while Rosalie stood there with what she was sure was a gobsmacked look on her face. He gulped some of the coffee down with his attention still on her.

“You hate me,” he concluded.

“I hate myself,” she countered. But then had to shake her head. “I’m just confused.”

“About your feelings or me?”

She had to think about that a moment. “Both. You know we shouldn’t be feeling these things, right?”

“Yeah, but I also know that wanting the attraction to stop doesn’t work.” He paused, had more coffee. “After we find Sadie and you get on with your life, maybe then you’ll be able to forgive me.”

“I have forgiven you. That’s the problem. I’ve forgiven you, but I can’t forgive myself for feeling this...guilt.”

He nodded. “Part of me died that night, too, with Eli. But I’m not sure that’s what he would have wanted.”

It wasn’t. Rosalie knew that in her heart, but she just couldn’t let go. And that’s why she stepped back when Austin reached for her again.

She got just a glimpse of the troubled look on his face before his phone rang. He hurried, grabbing it so fast that he nearly knocked it off the table.

“It’s Vickie,” he let her know as he answered it, and this time he put the call on speaker.

“Sorry that I didn’t answer my phone, but I’ve been on the move since we talked,” the woman immediately said. “Someone was following me when I tried to go back to the motel where I was staying.”

Rosalie could hear the fear in her voice. Or rather Vickie
sounded
afraid. After everything they’d been through, Rosalie wasn’t about to take that at face value. Vickie could be playing some kind of sick game with them.

“When and where are we meeting?” Austin demanded.

“I’m at the McKinnon ranch. Well, near it, anyway. I’m on the road just outside a closed cattle gate. If you open it, I can drive in and we can talk now.”

Austin cursed. “You shouldn’t have come here. That’s too risky for you and Rosalie. Meet me at the sheriff’s office in town.”

“No. I told you I don’t trust the cops. I’m not going there.”

“You can trust the sheriff,” Rosalie insisted. “He’s my brother.”

Now it was Vickie who cursed. “I don’t care who he is. If you want the information I have, then open the cattle gate right now. If not, I disappear, and you’ll never see what I have or me again.”

Sweet heaven. Rosalie could practically feel the debate going on inside Austin because she, too, was having the same reaction.

She wanted to trust Vickie, but it was a huge risk to allow her onto the ranch. After all, she could still be working for the person behind the baby farm or could be the culprit and had come there to kill them. To permanently silence them in case they’d learned anything while undercover.

“I’ll come to you,” Austin finally said. “But first tell me what you have. I want to make sure it’s worth risking my neck.”

“Oh, it’s worth the risk, all right. But it’ll cost you. I need money to get away from here, and I figure the McKinnons have plenty of it.”

Blackmail. That turned Rosalie’s stomach, but if she were in Vickie’s shoes, she might be forced to consider doing the same thing.

“How much do you want?” Rosalie asked.

“Ten grand.”

Rosalie didn’t know the financial workings of the ranch, but she knew it was very successful, and it was highly likely that there was at least that much or more in the safe in Roy’s office.

“I’ll call the main house,” Rosalie whispered to Austin, but he caught on to her hand to stop her.

“I’m not just walking down to you, carrying ten grand,” Austin said to Vickie. “You need to tell me what you have.”

Silence. For a long time. So long that Rosalie’s heartbeat started to throb in her ears. If the woman refused and just drove away, the information might be lost. Still, there was Austin’s safety to consider. Rosalie definitely didn’t want him out there if this could turn into another attack.

“Well?” Austin prompted.

“The man who brought me your nephew called himself Jack Smith,” Vickie finally said. “There was a woman with him, dressed in white scrubs like a nurse. Anyway, the baby had some kind of seeds on his blanket.”

“Seeds?” Austin and Rosalie asked in unison. That certainly wasn’t something Rosalie expected Vickie to say.

“I mean the baby was clean and everything except for those seeds. I asked about them. More like casual conversation, you know, and the woman said they’d picked up the baby at the grain mill about ten miles from where I lived. Smith shushed her right up, and told me that the birth mother had hidden the pregnancy from her parents, and that she met them there at the mill so her folks wouldn’t find out that she’d given birth.”

“And you believed Smith?” Austin pressed.

“I did at the time. I didn’t think anything more about it until after this mess with the baby farm broke loose. Then, I began to think it might be a ruse of some kind. I mean, why would the birth mother choose to meet them in a grain mill?”

“You mean the old abandoned one on the other side of town?” Rosalie had only vague memories of the silo that jutted up in an overgrown field.

“That’s the one,” Vickie verified. “It’s exactly ten miles from me just like the woman said, and there’s not another one in the area. I went over there last night, looking for answers.”

“You did what?” Austin cursed again.

“I didn’t go alone. I took a couple of friends with me. They were armed, but the guns weren’t needed. Nobody was there. Just some boxes with files in them.” Vickie paused. “The files are connected to the baby farm.”

“Files,” Austin snapped, not sounding at all happy about this. “You contaminated a scene that could be critical to this investigation.”

“I found proof of the person who got Rosalie McKinnon’s daughter,” Vickie insisted. “And if you want it, it’ll cost you ten grand. I’ll be waiting at the end of the road.”

“Meet me at the sheriff’s office,” Austin argued, but he was talking to himself because Vickie had already ended the call.

Austin jabbed the button to return the call. No answer. It went straight to voice mail.

“I’ll see about getting the money,” Rosalie said, hurrying to the landline in the kitchen.

She considered calling her sister, who was still staying in the main house with her fiancé, but Rayanne was pregnant, and Rosalie didn’t want her anywhere near Vickie or the danger. Her brother Cooper was at his own house, which was about a quarter of a mile away. Not far, but it would eat up precious moments if he was the one she involved in this. Ditto for her other brother Tucker.

That left her younger brother, Colt, and her father.

Rosalie pressed in the number, not sure which she would get, and it was Colt who answered on the first ring.

“What the hell’s going on?” Colt immediately said. “The ranch hands just called, and there’s a woman parked right in front of the gate—”

“I need ten thousand in cash,” Rosalie interrupted. “The woman says she has information about my daughter.”

Rosalie took a deep breath, praying that whatever files Vickie had would do just that—help her find Sadie—and that it would all happen without anyone else getting hurt.

“I’ll be right there,” Colt assured her before she could tell him that she’d pay him back as soon as she could get to the bank.

Like Vickie, Colt quickly ended the call, and Rosalie hurried back to the front of the cottage to see what was going on. Austin was already outside on the porch, his gun drawn and his attention on the small black car at the end of the road.

“Stay back,” he warned her.

Rosalie did, but it was hard to do that with possible answers this close. It seemed to take an eternity, but she realized it was less than five minutes before Colt emerged from the main house and headed toward them. He, too, was carrying a gun and a thick plastic bag.