Maverick Sheriff

by Delores Fossen

  He shook his head. “I’d given up. But I shouldn’t have. I kept feeling something.” He rapped his fist against his heart. “Something kept telling me he was alive. I couldn’t allow myself to believe it.”

  Each word crushed her. “I’ve been his mother since he was three months old,” she said in a whisper.

  “I know.” He drew in a long breath and walked to the doorway, no doubt so he could get a better look at Liam.

  Sweet heaven.

  Cooper no doubt saw himself in Liam’s face.

  Jessa didn’t want to see it. Just as she hadn’t wanted to question why Liam had Cooper’s rare blood type. She hadn’t wanted to question anything.

  She’d only wanted her son.

  “He’s awake,” Cooper said a split second before she heard Liam stirring in the crib.

  Both Cooper and she moved toward him, but Jessa made it to him first and scooped him up in her arms. She held him to her as if her life depended on it. Because that was exactly how she felt.

  “How could this have happened?” Cooper mumbled.

  Jessa had to shake her head again. “I got references for the adoption attorney. I followed the rules. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I didn’t do anything wrong, either.” Cooper reached out, skimmed his finger down Liam’s cheek. Liam smiled, breaking her heart even more. “But someone did.”

  “Maybe not.” Her heart was pounding, and she was still breathing too fast. So fast she might hyperventilate. Jessa tried to tamp down her emotions so she could think of a way out of this.

  She couldn’t lose Liam. That wasn’t an option.

  But the tears and the doubts came, anyway. And she cursed them. Silently cursed, too, the footsteps she heard in the hall. She didn’t want to see anyone right now, including Cooper, though she figured he wasn’t going away.

  Tucker stepped into the doorway, his attention going straight to his brother. “You okay?” His gaze swept from Cooper to Liam to her.

  “I had a DNA test run on Liam,” Cooper said. “It’s a match to mine.”

  She had no idea how much he’d told his brother, but apparently not much, since Tucker seemed genuinely surprised. He gasped and caught the doorjamb. “But how? Molly and Cameron washed away in the flood.”

  “Only Molly.” A moment later, Cooper repeated it.

  “Well, that explains the phone call I just got from Colt,” Tucker went on. “He said he’s reviewing some security feed for a break-in at Merritt Labs. He’s already got the footage, thanks to Doc Howland.”

  Cooper nodded. “Someone destroyed the samples of Liam’s and my DNA at that particular lab.” He paused. Touched Liam’s cheek again. “Whoever destroyed those samples is no doubt trying to cover up their part in the illegal adoption.”

  Oh, God. And it was maybe the reason the kidnappers had tried to take Liam from the hospital.

  “Help Colt go through the footage,” Cooper told his brother. “Find out who did this.” He turned his head, his eyes meeting Tucker’s. “We might be looking for a killer.”

  Tucker nodded as if he’d already figured that out, but Jessa had to shake her head. “You think this person murdered Molly?”

  “He or she got their hands on Liam somehow.” Cooper’s jaw tightened. “No way would Molly have just let someone take him from her.”

  He hadn’t said that easily, and despite the emotional pain crushing her chest, Jessa could practically feel Cooper’s pain, too.

  “The autopsy proved that drowning was the cause of her death,” Tucker reminded him. He came closer and put his hand on his brother’s arm. “And there were no signs of foul play.”

  “Maybe because the foul play was the drowning itself. Someone could have kidnapped Liam...Cameron,” Cooper corrected, “and then restrained Molly somehow and moved the car to the bridge so it’d be swept away with her inside.”

  Jessa couldn’t argue with that. Though she wanted to. She wanted to dismiss all of this, but she couldn’t.

  She looked at her son. Really looked at him. At his eyes. His hair. The shape of his face. Liam seemed puzzled by the intense scrutiny he was getting from all three of them. Well, for a few moments, anyway.

  “Horsey,” Liam said, and he motioned toward the plastic horse in the toy box. The last thing Jessa wanted to do was let go of him, but when Liam continued to twist and squirm, she set him on the floor and he made a beeline for the toy chest.

  It hit her then. The toys and the crib had almost certainly belonged to Cameron. When she’d first arrived at the ranch, she hadn’t even questioned why these things would be there.

  “I can’t stay here,” Jessa blurted out.

  The brothers exchanged a quick glance, and Tucker headed for the door. “I’ll see if Colt’s making progress with the security footage from the lab.”

  Cooper didn’t say a word to her until Tucker had left. “We need a truce. Right now our focus has to be keeping Liam safe, agreed?”

  Jessa didn’t have to think about that. She nodded. “But you can’t take him from me,” she repeated, positioning herself between Liam and him.

  It didn’t work. Cooper just moved around her and sat on the floor next to Liam. Her son obviously enjoyed having a new playmate, because he smiled and handed Cooper a toy from the box.

  “A truce,” Cooper repeated. “You won’t try to take him from this house, and I won’t do anything to take him from you.”

  Not now, anyway.

  Cooper hadn’t actually said those words, but she could hear them in his voice.

  “Say that you’ll agree to a truce,” Cooper added. Even though it was an order—she had no doubts about that—he smiled back at Liam.

  It was the last thing she wanted to say, but the only thing she could do. If she tried to leave with Liam, Cooper would stop her. Legally, Liam was still hers, but Cooper could change that by filing a motion for custody.

  Which he would no doubt do once Liam was safe.

  “Truce,” Jessa finally managed to say, just as Cooper’s phone rang.

  Cooper continued to play with Liam while he took out his phone. Jessa saw Colt’s name on the screen, and even though Cooper took the call on speaker, she sank down next to him so she could hear better. And so she could better monitor this playing session. Yes, she was being petty again, but it was the only control she had over this nightmare of a situation.

  “I’ve got good news and bad,” Colt started. “The bad is that whoever broke into Merritt Lab also disabled the camera. Not sure how, but it looks like some kind of electromagnetic device.”

  Cooper looked ready to curse. He didn’t. Probably because of Liam. “You said there’s good news?”

  “Yeah. There’s no footage of the person in the lab, but I got a picture of him or her stepping from the vehicle. It’s just the one shot because the camera was disabled immediately afterward.”

  “Please tell me you got the license plate numbers,” Cooper said.

  “No, it was obscured with something, but I have a good description of the vehicle. A late-model black Jeep Cherokee with some damage to the front right fender. That’s a match to the paint chips that I found near Donovan’s place.”

  So the person who fired those shots had likely broken into the lab.

  “We’re running the names of all owners of that particular vehicle model,” Colt went on. “We might get lucky.”

  “What about the interview with Donovan?” Cooper asked. “You get anything?”

  “Nothing. His lawyer advised him to stay quiet, and that’s what he’s done. I’m about to cut him loose.”

  “Not yet,” Cooper argued. “I’ll come in and talk to him.”

  Colt hesitated. “You’re sure? Because it seems to me you got other things on your mind right now.”

  “I need to help. I need to end this so that Liam’s no longer in danger.”

  Jessa wanted that, too. Desperately wanted it. But with the kidnapper caught and behind bars, it would leave Cooper free
to pursue custody of Liam.

  “All right,” Colt finally said. “I’ll email you all the updates and files so you can read them before you come in.”

  Cooper thanked him, ended the call and went back to playing with Liam. When Liam made a neighing sound with the toy horse, Cooper mimicked it, causing Liam to laugh.

  “He’s always been fascinated by horses,” Jessa mumbled.

  “Once he’s all healed, we’ll have to get him out to the pasture to see some real ones.” Cooper looked up at her, maybe waiting for her to say that wouldn’t happen, that she would be long gone by then.

  “Remember that truce,” she mumbled.

  “I am. I’m remembering that kiss, too.”

  Jessa flinched. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  Cooper gave her a flat look. “Everything, and you know it. If it weren’t for this attraction between us, I would have already made a call to start custody proceedings.”

  Yes, she did know that. And it terrified her even more. Because what would happen when this attraction ended? She wasn’t sure what troubled her most—that it would end...

  Or that it wouldn’t.

  Jessa had no idea what she would do then—feeling this heat with the man who could destroy her.

  Cooper’s phone buzzed again, but this time she didn’t recognize the name she saw on the screen. Arlene Litton.

  “She’s our horse trainer,” Cooper explained, and he answered the call on speaker.

  “Coop, we might have some trouble brewing,” Arlene said. “I was out checking on some calves and spotted a car parked just on the other side of the east back fence. It’s nestled in some trees, nearly out of sight. The engine’s still warm and there’s some fresh footprints leading from it and into the pasture. I wrote down the license plate number and called it in to Reed. He said he’d run it.”

  Jessa had no idea if this sort of thing happened often, but she was betting it didn’t.

  “What kind of car?” Cooper asked the woman.

  “A black Jeep Cherokee.”

  Oh, mercy. That put her heart right in her throat, and she seriously doubted it was a coincidence that the vehicle matched the description of the one on the security footage from the lab.

  Cooper got to his feet. “Look at the front fender,” he instructed Arlene. “See anything?”

  “Yeah.” She must have picked up on the concern in Cooper’s voice because it was now in hers. “It’s bashed in real good, like he ran into something. What you want me to do about this, Coop?”

  “Lock down the ranch and get some hands out to follow those tracks. I’ll be right out to help. And, Arlene, be careful. This guy could be a killer, and we have to find him before he tries to come after Liam.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Before Cooper even made it to the hall, Jessa caught up with him. “You’re not really going out there, are you?”

  Cooper nodded. “This guy isn’t giving up, and he needs to be stopped.” But he appreciated her concern. Not for himself, but for Liam. “I’ll have Tucker stay here with you. Some of the other ranch hands, too. They’ll surround the house and will have orders to shoot anyone who tries to get in.”

  Jessa opened her mouth as if ready to argue with that, but finally shook her head. “Just be careful.”

  Her concern took him back a bit, and he cursed that blasted kiss that had changed everything between them.

  “You and Liam stay away from the windows,” Cooper added, and he hurried out.

  He didn’t waste any time—he called Tucker and filled him in so his brother could start getting the ranch hands in place. Thankfully, Tucker was already inside. And Rayanne. Cooper didn’t like the idea of relying on his surly sister for anything, but she was a deputy sheriff, and if it came down to it, she’d hopefully stop a killer from getting into the house.

  Cooper hurried downstairs to his office and armed the security system, using the keypad by the front door. He’d be heading out soon, but before he did that he needed to check the cameras they had positioned throughout the property. He might get lucky and spot this guy.

  Nothing was on the first camera in the part of the pasture where Arlene had spotted the Jeep. The camera angle was wrong for him to see the vehicle itself, but he had no doubt that it was there.

  How far had the driver managed to get, and where the hell was he?

  He saw some ranch hands on the second camera. They were hurrying toward the house. Good. As soon as they were in place, he’d be free to leave.

  His father was on the third camera. Roy was also heading for the house, and he was armed with a rifle. Arlene, too. Even Seth was outside the guest cottage, and he was talking to one of the ranch hands, no doubt to find out what was going on.

  But there was no sign of the man who’d driven that Jeep.

  Cooper remembered the other attack at Donovan’s. The guy had fired shots from the top floor and the roof there. He quickly panned the camera around as much as he could, and saw something that caused his stomach to clench.

  There, on the roof of one of the barns, was a guy dressed in clothes that would have blended in with the other ranch hands—jeans, boots and a cowboy hat. The guy had a scope rifle next to him, but he didn’t aim it at the house. Instead, the man aimed some kind of handheld device.

  Cooper couldn’t be positive, but judging from the way he was moving and adjusting it, the device was some kind of thermal-imaging equipment. If he was right, the idiot could use it to pinpoint not just how many people were inside the house but their exact locations. If he was looking for Jessa and Liam, he would have no trouble spotting them.

  That got Cooper moving. He barreled up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

  “Jessa?” he called out before he even reached the landing. He also fired off a text to Tucker so his brother would know the shooter’s location. “Get Liam out of the room now!”

  He figured that would scare her to death. It did. Jessa had no color in her face and was shaking from head to toe. But she had Liam sheltered in her arms when she came running out of the room toward him.

  “Where’s the gunman?” Jessa asked, her words running together.

  “Too close. Come with me.”

  “My mother...”

  “We’ll let her know to hide, too.”

  Thankfully, Liam didn’t seem to be aware of the immediate danger. He still had the toy horse and was wearing a cowboy hat that was many sizes too big for him. Later, Cooper would kick himself for allowing another attack like this to happen, but for now he just focused on getting them to safety.

  The door to Rayanne’s room flew open, and she came out, her gun aimed and ready. “What’s going on?”

  “There’s a gunman on the roof of the barn nearest the house.” He tipped his head in that direction. “Can you keep watch up here and make sure he doesn’t come through the windows?”

  She glanced at Liam. “He’s after the boy?”

  Cooper nodded and wanted to curse that he had to explain anything. If this were one of his brothers, there would have been no questions asked. “Yeah, he’s after Liam,” Cooper said.

  Rayanne nodded. “If he comes through a window, how you want me to handle it?”

  “Shoot to kill.”

  That she didn’t question, but she did take out her phone. “I’m calling Rosalie to tell her to take cover.”

  “My mom, too,” Jessa added. “They’re in the kitchen together.”

  Rayanne just gave him a get-going gesture with her hand, made her phone call, and Cooper got Jessa moving again. When they reached the stairs, he spotted Tucker in the foyer, already standing guard by the front door.

  “We’re getting the hands out of the line of fire,” Tucker relayed. “Away from the barn. If anyone tries to get in, the alarm will sound.”

  That was good, but the kidnapper didn’t have to get inside to do some damage. He could start shooting through the walls.

  “I’m taking Liam and Jessa to my offi
ce,” Cooper said as they headed that way. It was on the opposite side of the house from the barn and the shooter. “Wait with them.”

  He’d been right about his brother not questioning anything. Well, not with words, anyway. He saw the hesitation in Tucker’s eyes. Maybe because Tucker knew Cooper would hate to leave Liam. But he had no choice. It wasn’t just his job to stop this shooter—it was what he needed to do to protect Liam.

  With Tucker right behind them, Cooper led Jessa to his office. Liam immediately spotted the framed photos and some books. “Wanna see,” he said, and he wriggled to get down.

  Jessa held on to him and went to the computer monitor, where Cooper still had the feed from the camera on the screen.

  And Cooper’s heart dropped again.

  Jessa pointed to the screen. “Is that the barn roof where you saw the gunman?”

  Yeah, and he was no longer there.

  Cooper bit back the profanity that he was thinking and called Arlene. “This guy’s on the move. He’s wearing jeans, a dark blue shirt and a tan hat.”

  “I’ll find him,” Arlene promised, but he knew that was a promise she couldn’t keep. He could be anywhere.

  Cooper searched through all the cameras again. “I think he’s got an infrared or thermal-imaging device. He’d aimed something at the house.”

  Jessa’s eyes widened when she looked at Liam. “He’ll know it’s Liam because of his size.”

  “Yeah,” Cooper settled for saying. He snared Tucker’s gaze. “Go to the closet where Dad keeps his hunting equipment. There should be one of those silver Mylar blankets.” It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would stop the majority of the body’s heat loss, making it harder for the shooter to spot Jessa and Liam.

  Tucker hurried off to get the blanket, and while Cooper kept watch on the computer screens, he maneuvered Jessa and Liam to the floor and beneath his desk.

  “It’s a game,” Cooper said to Liam, hoping that he didn’t sound as worried as he felt.

  There were no toys in his office, but Cooper took off his badge and handed it to Liam. “Tank you,” Liam babbled, and he smiled from ear to ear.