He eased his hands around Liam and lifted him into his arms. Liam didn’t try to inspect the shiny things that had caused him to reach for Cooper. Her son just studied him.
Then Liam smiled.
Cooper closed his eyes a moment, and she could almost see the painful memories tightening the muscles in his face. Heaven knew how much he’d grieved when he’d lost his son in that flood. Jessa suddenly knew how painful that would have been, because she was feeling a little of it now.
God, she couldn’t lose him. Wouldn’t. Because she refused to believe Cooper had any kind of claim on the child she loved more than life itself.
Cooper’s phone buzzed, and he hesitated as if deciding whether to answer it. He had no choice, of course, because it could be about the investigation, but it meant handing Liam back to her so he could answer it.
“It’s Colt,” he relayed to her, and he stepped away from the crib to take the call. He didn’t put it on speaker, and Jessa couldn’t hear what Colt was saying, but she prayed it wasn’t more bad news.
She watched, waited and kept Liam close.
“Yeah, I heard you,” Cooper said to his brother. “No, I’ll handle it. I’ll talk to her.”
Mercy, that didn’t sound good.
“We have IDs on the gunmen,” Cooper explained the moment he ended the call.
Jessa was afraid to feel any real relief, but that was a start. Cooper had already said if he had names, he could begin to look for connections.
“The surviving one is Vernon Graham,” Cooper went on. “He’s awake and says he wants you to offer him a plea deal for a lighter sentence.”
“What will he give us in return?” Jessa asked, and she was almost afraid to hear the answer. So far, nothing about this situation was good.
Cooper paused a heartbeat, his gaze fastening to hers. “Graham says he’ll tell us the name of the person who hired him to kidnap Liam.”
Chapter Six
“You don’t have to do this,” Cooper reminded Jessa one more time. “In fact, I’d rather you didn’t.”
She shot him a glare, kept her arms folded over her chest and continued to stare out his truck window at the passing countryside. “I want to hear what this woman has to say,” Jessa mumbled.
This woman was Peggy Dawes.
Vernon Graham had given them Peggy’s name as part of a plea deal. Judging from Jessa’s scowl and body language, she wasn’t pleased about the gunman’s revelation that Peggy was the one who’d hired him to kidnap Liam. And there was a good reason for Jessa’s anger.
It meant the kidnapping attempt was linked to the adoption. And it also could mean the whole adoption deal had been illegal.
But now Cooper was the one to snarl.
If Liam was indeed his son, then how the heck had Peggy gotten her hands on him?
Unfortunately, he could think of a few scenarios that tightened the knot in his gut. Maybe Peggy or one of her baby-brokering henchmen had caused his wife to be swept away in the flood. Or it could have gone in a different direction and Peggy merely could have found Liam. Of course, that led him to the next question of why she hadn’t just called the cops and reported it.
There was also another possible conclusion.
Maybe the gunman had out-and-out lied.
That also didn’t help with the knot, because it still meant this was somehow connected to the adoption. After all, how else would the gunman have known the woman’s name?
He would soon know the answer to that, since he was headed out to Peggy’s San Antonio house to have a little chat with her. Cooper had considered just hauling her into the sheriff’s office for questioning, but the woman didn’t have even a parking ticket, much less a criminal record. Also, other than the accusations of would-be kidnappers, there were no flags to indicate she was doing anything illegal. Heck, he couldn’t even find a connection between her and the gunman, Graham, who’d accused her of wrongdoing.
Well, he couldn’t find the connection yet, anyway.
But if either Graham or Peggy confessed to anything, Cooper would be making an arrest today. That was why he’d wanted his brother along.
Jessa’s phone buzzed, and she snatched it up and put it to her ear, but not before Cooper saw that the call was from her mother. “Is something wrong?” Jessa immediately asked the caller.
“No, everything’s fine,” he heard Linda say.
Thankfully, Jessa and he were close enough that he had no trouble hearing the conversation. He’d taken precautions when Jessa had said she’d be going with him to see Peggy. Cooper had put all the ranch hands on alert, and Tucker was standing guard. Rayanne was also in the house, but he hadn’t even bothered to ask her to help. Unlike Rosalie, Rayanne didn’t seem to be the helping sort.
Still, there were plenty of things that could go wrong that didn’t involve security, so Cooper listened carefully to what Linda had to say.
“I just wanted you to know that Dr. Howland was here to check on Liam, and he said he was doing great,” Linda explained. “He didn’t feel there was any need to move him back to the hospital as long as Rosalie continues to change and check the bandage.”
Jessa huffed softly. And Cooper knew why. It meant she’d have to stay at the ranch. Of course, she could just hire another nurse and leave, and Cooper figured Jessa was already working on that.
He was working on making her stay.
Until the DNA results came back, Cooper wanted Liam under the McKinnon roof. And after he had the results... Well, he’d deal with that when and if the time came.
“Thanks, Mom,” Jessa said. “Give Liam a kiss for me.”
Jessa put her phone away and continued to look out the window. Cooper did his own share of looking, too. First to make sure they weren’t being followed by anyone but Colt, who was driving behind them in his truck.
But Cooper also looked at Jessa.
No matter how many times he told his eyes to stay off her, they didn’t listen. Partly because of the worry and fear still on her face. Partly because he shared the same concern about Liam’s safety as she did.
However, it was her jeans and snug red top that were giving him the most trouble.
There was nothing particularly special about the items of clothing, except they looked damn good on her. Hugging her curves. Making him well aware that beneath her A.D.A. facade, there was a red-blooded woman.
One who stirred his own blood.
And that couldn’t happen.
Hell.
He wasn’t in any position to start a relationship, especially with a woman who thought he was lower than grit on a horse’s hoof. And besides, he had to focus on getting things straight with this adoption and the attack. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough to keep him busy.
“You keep looking at me,” she grumbled.
Yeah, he did. “It’s nothing personal,” Cooper said, and then silently cursed. Obviously, her jeans had also rendered him stupid.
Because a man gawking at a woman was indeed personal.
“I meant it doesn’t mean anything,” he corrected. “It’s just you look, well, different. Sort of naked without one of your suits.”
What he should have done was just shut the heck up instead of babbling like an idiot.
Her eyebrow slid up. “Naked?”
He groaned. Best to go another round of trying to clear this up. “Normal. Like you fit in around here.”
She looked at him as if he’d sprouted an extra nose or something. Obviously, he’d missed the mark.
“If I fit in, I won’t get the respect I need,” she said, her voice crisp. The clothes might be different, but that ice-queen voice was the same. “I’d be just one of the good ol’ boys.”
“No one would ever suspect you of being a boy,” he grumbled.
However, it was interesting that Jessa thought she had to keep her outsider status to do her job. He might not like the accusations she’d made against him, but he’d never wanted her to feel that she had to build up
walls to stay professional.
She stared at him, whispered something he didn’t catch and looked away. “Whatever this feeling is between us, it can’t mean anything.”
That sounded pretty good, but then she gave him one last glance. Or rather she gave that glance to his jeans.
Oh, man.
One-sided personal was bad enough, but two-sided could get them in a mess of trouble. Thankfully, he got a reprieve from putting his foot in his mouth because the GPS announced they had arrived at their destination.
The modest redbrick house was in a subdivision in an equally modest part of town. Definitely not the home of a lucrative baby broker. Of course, it could be a front, so as not to draw attention, and that meant they needed to take precautions. If Peggy had been the one to hire those two men, then she might have even more men and guns inside.
Cooper waited until Colt was parked and out of his truck before he motioned for Jessa to exit.
“Yes, I know,” Jessa said without his prompting. “I stay behind you, and I don’t take any chances.”
But she would take chances. To protect Liam, she’d do anything, and that was why he had to watch her as carefully as he watched Peggy. If he’d thought for one minute that Jessa wouldn’t have followed him for this visit, he would have just demanded that she stay at the ranch.
They walked to the porch, with Jessa between them, and Cooper rang the bell. There was a camera mounted just above the door and it didn’t take long before the woman’s voice poured through the little intercom just beneath the camera.
“May I help you?” she asked.
Both Colt and he flashed their badges. “I’m Sheriff Cooper McKinnon. This is Deputy Colt McKinnon and A.D.A. Jessa Wells. We need to talk to you.”
The door instantly opened, so fast that Cooper nearly reached for his gun, but the woman he came face-to-face with wasn’t armed. She was a tall, attractive blonde in her mid-to late thirties, and there was little chance she could be carrying concealed in the gauzy white summer dress she was wearing. It fit her like a glove.
The woman’s attention snapped right to Jessa. “Jessa Wells?” Peggy asked, her breath already revved up. “Did something else happen to the little boy you adopted?”
Well, at least Peggy wasn’t going to claim that she knew nothing about the reason for their visit, and she certainly wasn’t acting like a woman with anything to hide.
Of course, she could just be a really good liar.
Jessa nodded in response to Peggy’s question. “Someone tried to kidnap him yesterday.”
“Oh, God.” And Peggy just kept repeating it while she motioned for them to come inside.
They went in, Cooper’s gaze firing all around to make sure they weren’t about to be ambushed. At first he thought he heard someone talking, but he realized it was music. Peggy apparently liked country music and white furniture. In fact, the whole place was pretty sterile looking. Nothing, however, to indicate she was making big bucks with illegal adoptions.
“Sit down, please,” Peggy said. “Could I get you a drink or something?” Again, her focus was on Jessa.
“No, thank you. We’re just here to find out about the man who attempted to take my son.” Jessa glanced at Cooper, silently asking how much she should say. He didn’t want all the details spilled about the DNA test, not yet anyway, so he took things from there.
“Two men wearing masks showed up at the hospital,” Cooper explained, and he looked for any sign of guilt or recognition in her eyes. “One was killed. The other is Vernon Graham. He was injured, but he was able to talk today.” He paused, kept watching Peggy’s face. “And he claims you hired him to kidnap Liam.”
Well, he got a reaction, but it wasn’t one of guilt. Peggy’s breath burst out, and she got to her feet. She pressed her hands against the sides of her head. “This can’t be happening. It just can’t be.”
Cooper stood, positioning himself in front of Jessa just in case Peggy panicked and tried to run. But she didn’t appear to be on the verge of doing anything but breaking down into tears.
And yeah, they came.
The tears started to streak down her cheeks. They were sort of convincing for an innocent woman, except guilty people cried crocodile tears all the time.
“You know Vernon Graham?” Cooper asked.
“No, of course not.” She leaned forward, catching Jessa’s hand. “I really just want to help people. Women like you. I have a large circle of friends, and when I hear of someone who’s chosen to given up her baby, then I look for the right family for the child.”
“You’re a baby broker,” Cooper concluded. “You get paid to do what you do.”
Peggy’s mouth tightened a little. “Yes, I get paid. Not as much as you’d think, and I’m not a broker. I think of myself more as a matchmaker. I find the perfect fit for babies.”
“Admirable,” he mumbled, and he hoped he didn’t sound too sarcastic. It was hard to give the woman an inch of leeway when she’d been named a felony suspect. Of course, she’d been named that by yet another felon. “So why did Graham say you’d hired him to kidnap Liam?”
She instantly shook her head, her blond curls swinging around her face. “I don’t know. But something suspicious is going on. I’m almost certain that someone’s been following me, and then three days ago, I got a visit from a P.I.”
Jessa and he exchanged glances. The timing was certainly suspect because that was the day of Jessa’s car accident. Also the day that Cooper had requested a DNA test on Liam. He’d made waves to get the court order for that test, and in doing so, he could have stirred up some trouble from someone who didn’t want trouble stirred.
Cooper snagged Peggy’s gaze so he could watch her reaction to his question. “What makes you think someone’s following you?”
“Just a feeling I keep getting. Like I’m being watched.”
Cooper didn’t discount it. Gut feelings had saved him more than a time or two, but he didn’t like the gut feeling he was getting about Peggy, either.
“What P.I.?” Jessa asked the woman.
More head shaking from Peggy. “I can’t remember his name. He only spoke to me for a minute or two. Said he was representing a client who was considering adoption. All he wanted to know was how I handled my paperwork for the adoptions. I told him there was no paperwork, that it was all done by word of mouth. I’ve been doing this for years, but that’s the first time I’ve had a visit from a P.I.”
“And he didn’t say anything specifically about Liam?” Jessa pressed.
“No. He didn’t ask about any of the babies that I’ve helped place, and there have been dozens of them.” Peggy paused. “Do you think this man was working for the kidnappers?”
“Possibly,” Cooper answered. “And that’s why we need his name.”
“I have his card somewhere around here.” She stood and went to a rolltop desk in the corner. When she lifted the top, Cooper saw the stacks of papers and books. Definitely not as sterile and pristine as the rest of the house. Peggy began to dig through the heaps.
He hoped there wasn’t a gun hidden in that mess.
Just in case there was, Cooper moved to the edge of his seat so he could watch Peggy better. “Where’d you get Liam?”
“I didn’t get him. That’s not how it works. I simply put Hector Dixon in touch with this friend of a friend who had the baby. The baby wasn’t even her own child. If I remember correctly, she said someone in her family, a teenager, had given birth and couldn’t keep the baby.”
“I need that friend of a friend’s name,” Cooper insisted. “Or have you forgotten it, too?”
For just a moment she got a deer-caught-in-headlights look, but then she nodded. Swallowed hard. “What if the person who hired these kidnappers sends someone to come after me?” Peggy asked.
“Why would he?” Cooper pressed, though if the woman was an innocent pawn in all of this, he knew a good reason why. Peggy could be a dangerous loose end for someone trying to cover up
an illegal adoption.
“I can arrange for you to have some protection,” Cooper offered.
Peggy nodded. Stared at him for a moment and continued to dig through the papers. She finally extracted what appeared to be a bill with something jotted on it.
“It’s not the P.I.’s card, but it is the name of the friend of a friend who contacted me about Liam.” Peggy scanned through the notes. “Her name was Carol Sealey.”
Jessa shook her head, no doubt because the name meant nothing to her. But it sure as hell meant something to Cooper. Colt, too. He opened his mouth to say something, but Cooper gave him a stay-quiet look.
Hell.
This had just taken a really bad turn.
“I have another desk in my bedroom,” Peggy said. “I’ll look for the P.I.’s card there.”
Cooper didn’t tell her to stop, and he didn’t go after her. Heck, he wasn’t even sure he could move. He just sat there and waited for the woman to scurry out of the room.
“Who’s Carol Sealey?” Jessa whispered.
“She works as a personal assistant for Donovan Bradley,” Cooper managed to say.
Judging from the way her eyes widened and the hard breath she sucked in, Jessa not only knew who he was. She also knew of Donovan’s connection to him.
Of course she did.
There was still a lot of gossip about Donovan and him, and Jessa would have uncovered it when she was investigating him for those unfounded obstruction-of-justice charges.
“Donovan hates Cooper,” Colt offered.
“He was once engaged to your late wife,” Jessa added. “And then he was involved with Jewell’s younger sister. Not in a good way, either. I’ve heard there was possibly some physical abuse.”
Yeah, she knew the whole story, all right. What she didn’t know was that in addition to the pain Donovan had inflicted on his aunt, the man had also tried to cause Molly and him as much trouble as possible. Nothing criminal, just the constant flow of malicious rumors and attempts to destroy Molly’s reputation and the day care and preschool that she’d worked so hard to get started.
Jessa made a soft gasp, no doubt coming to the conclusion that Cooper and Colt had already reached. If Donovan’s lackey, Carol Sealey, had some part in the adoption, then it was likely Donovan had, too.
Maverick Sheriff Page 6
