by Barb Han
Missy’s bottom lip quivered, and Cheyenne had to fight the urge to barge into the next room and bring the girl into a hug. It wasn’t her place to, and Brianna beat her to the punch anyway.
Cheyenne teared up to see Missy enfolded in Brianna’s loving arms. Brianna was clearly going to be a very protective and nurturing mother someday. It warmed Cheyenne’s heart to see the tenderness among the trio in the next room. Garrett looked like he’d strangle anyone who tried to hurt Missy or Brianna. Who would have thought the wildest O’Connor brother would turn out to be a family man?
He came from good genes, she thought. Granted, he couldn’t come close to Riggs in comparison, but she was happy to see Garrett looking so natural as part of a family, and so protective over his fiancée and Missy.
“Are you ready to get out of here?” Riggs asked and she realized he’d been studying her as she stared at his family.
“Yes.”
Chapter Fifteen
Riggs had a lot to think about on the drive home. Cheyenne was quiet. Ozzy was still content in the handbag. The little yapper wasn’t as bad as Riggs had chalked him up to be when he’d first met Ally.
He couldn’t go there about her murder. He’d overthink it until the cows came home. Chew on it over and over again, which wouldn’t do any good. In fact, he needed to take a step back in order to clear his thoughts.
More times than not, the answers to any problem came to him while he was distracted. Normally, that meant working extra hours on the ranch. He was also a volunteer firefighter but had put that job on hold during the pregnancy.
Before he realized, he was pulling into the garage.
“How’s the tiny tot in your purse? Does he need to go out?” he asked as he cut the engine off. “I can take him.”
“I can go with you,” Cheyenne offered, and he realized how much the dog meant to her. Ozzy was the last she had of her best friend. The way she held on to her handbag meant someone couldn’t pry that dog out of her hands with a crowbar.
“Someone should stay with him at all times because of the coyotes and I’d enjoy your company.” There were other dangers for an animal of that size, none of which needed spelling out tonight. It had been a long day by any measure. The dark circles underneath Cheyenne’s eyes said she needed to sleep.
Riggs kept the garage door open and walked beside her to the grassy patch of lawn in front of the house. She lifted Ozzy out of her handbag and then set him on the ground. He did his business almost immediately. Two seconds later, he pranced over to Cheyenne and looked up at her expectantly.
Cheyenne picked him up before nuzzling him against her cheek. She mumbled something about making sure he would be well taken care of. The whole scene struck a nerve in Riggs for reasons he couldn’t explain. A question arose. Was it seeing Cheyenne dote on the dog that reminded him what an amazing mother she would have been...correction...was going to be when they located their daughter? Because he was now more convinced than ever that she was still alive.
On a sharp sigh, he turned and walked toward the garage. Her footsteps sounded on his heels and a wave of comfort washed over him that she didn’t hesitate to follow.
“You take the master if you want to try to rest. I’m fine sleeping on the sofa tonight,” he said before reassuring her, “I won’t leave you alone downstairs.”
“Thank you, Riggs. It means a lot that you’re willing to be there for me even after everything that’s happened between us,” she said.
He wanted to tell her that in his mind she was still his wife. Would that bring up more walls between them? No one should have to ask their wife to stick around. The vow they’d taken should have implied it.
Rather than let his pride run wild, he nodded.
“I’ll always be here for you, Cheyenne. All you have to do is ask.” He meant it, too. She could leave when this was all over. He didn’t like the idea, but it was true. She could walk away from him and he would still be here for her if she came back and asked for a favor. It was the vow he had taken and had no intention of breaking. Call it cowboy code, or whatever. Riggs O’Connor wasn’t brought up to renege once he gave his word.
Cheyenne stopped. She bit her lip like she was trying to stop herself from saying what was on her mind. And then she headed toward the master.
Riggs needed a shower and there was only one on the first level. He would give her a few minutes to get settled before knocking. He didn’t want to startle her or catch her getting ready for bed.
The interview with Missy rolled around in his thoughts as he took a bottle of water out of the fridge and downed it. The terrified look on her face would haunt him. The kid had been through a tough ordeal, to be sure. She’d been taken from her family some time before the age of four, according to Colton. For some reason, she was kept at the alpaca farm. An adoption gone bad? Had she been returned by adopted parents who’d decided they didn’t want her after all? She had no memories of the events, according to what Colton had said. Just fuzzy details here and there, confused by a child’s developing mind.
Was it possible his child would suffer the same fate?
Missy had been neglected and treated poorly physically. There’d been no signs of sexual abuse, which was the lone bright spot in her situation other than the help she was getting now. Brianna and Garrett had pledged to get her the help she needed and find her family. Garrett of all people would know how important that was. It was unimaginable to think a young child had been separated from her parents this long. Riggs clenched his back teeth. He couldn’t fathom going sixteen years without knowing what had happened to his child.
Fanning the flames of anger would only serve to distract him from what needed to be done to find his own child. So, with heroic effort, he managed to shove his feelings down deep and focus. There was no way he could rest under the circumstances despite not sleeping a wink last night, so he might as well use the time to be productive.
He retrieved his laptop and made a cup of instant coffee. He had one of those rarely used fancy machines in the kitchen that Cheyenne had fallen in love with. She’d taken to waking up at three thirty in the morning to make him a cup of coffee before he headed out to work for the day. It was something she’d insisted on doing despite the fact he was fully capable of figuring out the machine and making his own brew.
She’d told him not to worry. Her favorite part of the day was kissing him goodbye with the taste of coffee still on his lips. And then it dawned on him. Was that the reason she’d taken up drinking coffee in the last two weeks?
Did it mean she missed him more than she was letting on?
Deciding that was another trail he didn’t need to go down, he set up his laptop at the granite island and took a seat. The kiss they’d shared at this spot had him getting up to retrieve another drink of water.
Riggs wasn’t really sure what he was looking for online. Sitting around doing nothing would have him pulling his hair out. He sent a text to Garrett thanking Missy for bravely coming forward. The response from his brother was almost instant.
We’ll find her.
Riggs set his phone down and stared at it, unable to believe history was repeating itself in his family. Colton needed to be left alone so he could continue to conduct his investigation. He’d call the minute there was another development. Plus, two investigations had kicked into high gear. There were three actually. The murder of Ally Clark was one. The disappearance of their sister, Caroline, was another. And now the abduction of Riggs’s daughter.
Three intertwined cases.
It wasn’t lost on Riggs that Ally had been killed within a stone’s toss of the hospital where she worked. No doubt Colton had already received the reports from his deputy. E-cig Nurse from the other day was afraid of someone. She had information that could be damaging to one of the people she worked with, or for, but clearly, she also had a conscience, or she never would have ca
lled Riggs and Cheyenne over in the first place.
Not that it had done any good. E-cig Nurse had panicked when a woman walked out of the hospital and clamped her mouth shut after. So there was a whole lot of haze around what had really happened when Cheyenne was in the hospital.
E-cig Nurse had a kid. She was trying to protect her child. With investigators swarming the building after the discovery in the field, was the nurse in real danger?
Riggs made a mental note to follow up to make sure she and her kid were safe. There wasn’t much he could do at this point. He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. Cold. He nearly spewed the contents. Lots of folks loved iced coffee. He didn’t see the appeal. Give him a hot brew any day.
Opening the laptop, he sent an e-mail to the family attorney to research Raven’s dad and if he checked out to set up an anonymous fund to pay off the nightshift security guard’s pair of mortgages and a college fund for the teenager who’d chanced upon Ally’s body.
Cheyenne must’ve fallen into a deep sleep, because he didn’t hear so much as a peep from the master bedroom as he paced in the kitchen. Dinner came and went. He heated up leftovers. He fed Ozzy and saw to it the dog did his business outside. Then he returned to the bar stool.
How long had he been sitting there churning over his thoughts? After forcing himself to get up and make another cup of coffee, he glanced at the clock on the wall. Two thirty in the morning. In an hour, several of his brothers would be waking for the day. An hour after that, the ranch would be kicking into gear. Assignments would be given out and everyone would disperse.
Riggs loved the ranch. He loved being an O’Connor. What he didn’t appreciate was the burden that sometimes came with his last name. The thought his daughter was abducted in order to get back at his father for investigating Ms. Hubert was a knife stab straight to the heart. Whoever killed Ms. Hubert was responsible for kidnapping his child. He’d long considered his last name a blessing. The thought of it being a curse nailed his gut.
He couldn’t let himself go down that road. There were pros and cons to everything. He’d always been proud of his family name. He prayed Cheyenne could forgive him for it. He couldn’t read the look on her face when they’d learned the crime was linked to his family. Had she convinced herself this was all somehow her fault?
He’d seen her touch the ladybug bracelet several times during the interview and since. It was a go-to move in times of stress. Did she even realize she did it?
Colton was most likely asleep at this point, but Riggs needed to send his brother a text asking him to get in touch when he could. He wanted to know what Colton had learned from the interviews with the nurses and he needed to get E-cig Nurse’s name out of his brother if he could. The person who murdered Ally might go after the nurse next. She deserved protection. Riggs couldn’t allow any more bloodshed of innocent people tied to this case.
He picked up his phone and sent the text to Colton. Riggs’s cell immediately vibrated, indicating a call. With the device still in his hand, he checked the screen. Colton.
“Hey. What’s going on?” There had to be news, or his brother wouldn’t have called in response to a text.
“I’ve been wanting to call all night but didn’t want to wake you.” Colton’s voice had the spark that said he was making progress on the investigation.
“I’m wide-awake. Couldn’t sleep. What did you find out?” he asked.
“The coroner reported the time of death. Seven thirty yesterday morning,” Colton supplied.
“The text from Ally came in twenty minutes prior,” he said quietly. This confirmed she was murdered after she reached out to him and Cheyenne. It was as close as they’d been so far to being able to link her murder with whatever she’d found out.
“There’s more. The flowers have been traced to a nearby grocery store. They were sold at quarter to nine,” Colton reported.
“The killer bought them after he killed Ally,” Riggs said out loud. The perp must have figured out Ally’s plans and decided to get rid of her on the fly. “He had time to wash the blood off and change his clothes. He had to have resources close by, like a shower and change of clothes.”
“Gert is on the phone to area motels, asking for single male registrants. A man is the only one who would be strong enough to move her body. He would have rented a place that didn’t require him to walk through a lobby with blood on him.”
“Makes sense,” Riggs said. “Is it possible the perp worked at the hospital? He might have access to a backdoor that isn’t widely used.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of digging into the visiting physician who delivered your daughter. Two nurses at hospitals where Dr. Fortner has worked came forward last night to say they believe there have been suspicious circumstances around births he’s attended,” Colton supplied.
Riggs needed a minute to absorb what he was hearing. His heart hammered his ribs.
“Is that so?” he finally asked.
“Yes. They’re willing to come in and speak to me or one of my deputies. Dr. Fortner doesn’t fit the description Missy gave of the farm visitor or the one given by the clerk at the grocery store who remembered selling flowers to a tall guy in a hoodie,” Colton said. Then he added, “I don’t want you to be discouraged, though. This case is blowing open, Riggs. We’ll get to the bottom of what really happened sooner rather than later. I promise.”
“Do you believe my daughter is alive?” Riggs had to ask the question outright.
“I hope she is. I can’t confirm either way, except to say I have questions about what really happened that night.” Colton never pulled any punches and Riggs was grateful for the honesty.
“What about the flowers? Do you have a name?” Riggs asked, figuring the perp might have used a credit card.
“No, the perp paid with cash.”
Of course, he would. The murderer wouldn’t want to leave a trail.
“Do you have any idea what Dr. Fortner looks like?” Riggs asked. “Cheyenne didn’t remember much about his face. She said the details were fuzzy.”
“I do. I’ll send over the photo from his badge the hospital provided,” Colton promised. “Or, if you want it faster than that, his photo is on the web.”
“Right. Good point.” He should have thought of that sooner. “What about the nurse who tried to talk to us outside? The one I told you about. She panicked and stopped talking real fast. With what you’re telling me now, I believe she’s in danger.”
“Let me see.” There was a paper-shuffling noise in the background for a few seconds before Colton’s voice came back on the line. “Loriann Fischer is her name.”
“Are you sending someone over to protect her?” Riggs asked, figuring he already knew the answer to his question.
“I don’t have the resources.” Colton’s voice was low. It was obvious he didn’t like it any more than Riggs did.
“What about her number? Can you give it to me? I’d like to check up on her and make sure she’s okay. Maybe get her to a safe place until you catch this guy,” Riggs said.
“I can’t—”
“She mentioned a kid, Colton. What if the perp goes after one or both of them?” Riggs couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t do everything in his power to ensure their safety.
“I doubt she’d appreciate a call in the middle of the night,” Colton argued.
“What if she isn’t sleeping? The way she looked yesterday morning when Cheyenne and I were talking to her...you should have seen it. She was afraid, Colton. And now Ally’s body has been found. That has to be all over the hospital grapevine by now.”
“How about this. I’ll give her a call and ask if you can check up on her. I can volunteer your phone number, but I can’t promise she’ll use it,” Colton reasoned.
It wasn’t exactly what Riggs had asked for, but it was better than nothing.
“C
an you call her as soon as we get off the phone?” Riggs asked.
“That I can do.”
“Then I guess I’ll talk to you later,” Riggs said.
Colton hesitated. “This is really important to you, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Riggs admitted.
“Then you didn’t get this number from me. And please don’t let it come back to bite me.” Colton supplied the number.
“I’m not sure how I’ll ever repay you, but—”
“Just try not to get me fired,” Colton shot back. His joke lightened the mood.
“Yes, sir,” Riggs teased, appreciating the break in tension. It wouldn’t last long.
“Let me know if she needs protection,” Colton said. “I might be shorthanded, but I’ll figure something out.”
“Will do.” Riggs could do one better than that. He had every intention of seeing to it personally.
The brothers ended the call. Riggs glanced at the clock again. Twenty minutes had passed since the last time he looked. For most folks, this was a ridiculous hour. Not so for ranchers, bakers and people in a handful of other jobs that required early mornings or twenty-four-hour days.
Besides, if E-cig Nurse, aka Loriann Fischer, was as stressed as she had been earlier, there was no way the woman was asleep. She might not answer a call from an unknown number in the middle of the night, though. So he sent a text first, telling her exactly who he was and why he planned to call. Despite the late hour, he had a hunch she might not be able to sleep. Acting on it, he tapped her number into the keypad. Loriann picked up on the first ring.
“How did you get this number?” she asked with a shaky voice.
“I needed to make sure you and your kid were all right.” Riggs intentionally didn’t answer her question.
“Oh.” She sounded suspicious. “How did you find out my name?”
“Through the investigation of the murder of my wife’s best friend.” It wasn’t a lie.
