No, of course not.
She lifted her head, and Austin nudged her right back down before he lowered his window.
“I need help,” the man insisted, walking toward the truck.
“Don’t come any closer,” Austin warned him, and he took aim at him. “Who are you?”
“Sonny Buckland. I’m a P.I. from Austin.”
“Send another text to Sawyer Ryland, my partner at the FBI,” Austin told Rosalie. “Have him run this guy’s name and ask him to hurry.” While she did that, Austin pinned his attention to the man. “Open the sides of your jacket so I can see if you’re armed.”
“I’m not,” he insisted, and he winced when he pulled back the side with the blood. “They took my gun when they found me snooping around the place.”
“They?”
“Three armed guards. Big guys. The only reason I managed to escape is because they got a call from someone who told them to get out fast. I ran. That’s when one of them shot me.”
That meshed with what Austin figured had happened. The person monitoring the cameras at the baby farm had likely made the call to let the guards at this place know there’d been a breach in security.
“How do you know I don’t work for those guards?” Austin came right out and asked.
“If you did, you would have already killed me.”
True. But that didn’t mean Austin would blindly trust this guy. The guards could have left him behind with orders to finish off anyone who got near the place.
Sonny clamped his hand over his injured arm and fired nervy glances all around them. “Stating the obvious here, but it’s not safe to hang around. We need to get out of here.”
Austin nodded. “You’re not going anywhere with us until you convince me you’re not working for the baby snatchers.”
“I’m not working for them!” Sonny practically yelled. Then, he groaned, a mixture of pain and frustration. “A client hired me to find his missing pregnant friend. I followed some leads that I got from a criminal informant, and it led me to this place.”
Rosalie made a soft sound of agreement, and even though Sonny’s story meshed with hers about getting the info from a CI, Austin shot them both scowls for inserting themselves into a dangerous investigation. Yeah, he’d done the same thing. And not with authorization, either. But he was a trained agent. Neither of them was.
Of course, Sonny could still be a threat.
“Did you learn who was behind this operation?” Rosalie asked the man. “Did you find any records or anything that could help us locate some missing babies?”
Sonny huffed and made more of those uneasy glances around. He looked on the verge of trying again to press Austin to get him out of there, but maybe he realized the fastest way for that to happen was to give them any info he had.
“I did learn something,” Sonny said. Then, paused. “I think a piece of scum named Trevor Yancy is responsible for at least some of the baby kidnappings.”
Rosalie sucked in her breath, and her hand went to her mouth. Austin tried to rein in any response, but just like that, his thoughts jerked him back to a bad place, a bad time.
Eli’s murder.
Rosalie was no doubt doing the same thing. Because the man Eli and he had been investigating for gunrunning and a whole host of crimes was none other than Trevor Yancy.
“You know Yancy,” Sonny said. Not a question, either.
Obviously Austin hadn’t done a good job of hiding his reaction. No surprise there. Austin was responsible for the way that investigation had turned out, and it had turned out in the worst possible way.
With Eli shot dead by an unknown assailant.
And Yancy a free man.
If Yancy was indeed involved with the baby farms, then the question was why? Was it just another illegal venture on his part, or was there something even more sinister going on here? Something to do with Rosalie and him?
“What makes you think Yancy’s connected to this?” Austin demanded.
Sonny shook his head. “I’ll tell you once we’re out of here. These men will kill us all if they come back.”
Austin couldn’t dispute that, and despite his need for the truth, he could no longer keep Rosalie at the center of this possible danger. He was already responsible for Eli’s death. Best not to add hers to the nightmares that he stood no chance of ever forgetting.
With a firm grip on his gun, Austin opened his truck door, but before he could get out, Rosalie caught his arm. “You’re not going out there.”
For a split second Austin was taken aback by her concern. Her touch, too. But just as quickly as she’d touched him, she pulled away her hand. He realized then that her concern wasn’t aimed at him but rather their situation. If he got shot, her chances of getting out of there and finding her daughter would decrease big-time.
“I’m only going to frisk him,” Austin told her.
He stepped from the truck and did just that. Sonny cooperated, lifting his hands away from his body and wincing in the process.
“No gun, like I said,” Sonny explained. “But I’ve lost some blood.”
Yes, he had, and that meant Austin’s first stop had to be a hospital, and the nearest one was back in the ranching town of Silver Creek. He could leave Rosalie there, as well, since he knew the sheriff and deputies. He doubted Rosalie would like that, but Austin didn’t intend to give her a choice.
“You can ride in the back of the truck.” Austin motioned for Sonny to hop in, and the man did. It was freezing cold and wouldn’t be a pleasant ride, especially considering his injury, but Austin couldn’t risk allowing him in the cab of the truck with Rosalie and him.
“Keep an eye on him,” Austin said to her when he got back in.
He checked the road to make sure no one was out there waiting for them, and when Austin didn’t see anyone, he got them out of there fast.
“Trevor Yancy,” Rosalie mumbled. She turned in the seat so she could nail her attention to Sonny. “Has his name come up in your investigation of the baby farms?”
“No.” Austin didn’t have to think about that, either. A lot of names had popped up. Potential suspects and kidnap victims. But if he’d seen anything about Yancy related to this, he would have definitely remembered.
“Is it possible...?” Rosalie’s breath hitched, and even though they weren’t touching, Austin could practically feel her muscles tensing. “Would Yancy have kidnapped my daughter and your nephew because Eli and you had been investigating him?”
Anything was possible when it came to a snake like Yancy.
Anything.
And since that wasn’t likely to make Rosalie’s breath stop hitching, Austin didn’t spell it out for her. Still, this could be the lead that Austin had been searching for. He reached for his phone to have someone bring in Yancy for questioning, but it dinged before he could do that.
“It’s a text from FBI Agent Ryland,” Rosalie relayed. She still had hold of his phone and stared down at the screen. “He said there’s a Sonny Buckland who’s a P.I., and he’s attached a photo of him.” She held it out for Austin to glance at.
The photo was definitely of the same man who was now riding in the bed of the truck. At least Sonny hadn’t lied about his identity, but that didn’t mean Austin was anywhere close to trusting him.
“Sonny has no criminal record,” Rosalie continued to read. She paused though and cleared her throat. “And your partner wants to know what the heck is going on, except he used a lot more profanity than I just did. He also wants you to call him now.”
She showed him that part of the text, too, though Austin didn’t have to see it to know that Sawyer had likely figured out that Austin wasn’t on vacation as he’d claimed. Nope. He was on an unauthorized undercover investigation that had just gone to hell in a handbasket.
�
��I’ll call him as soon as I’ve dropped off both Sonny and you,” Austin said more to himself. Rosalie obviously heard it, though.
“I want to go with you to question Yancy or anyone else connected to this,” she insisted.
“Yeah, I bet you do, but it’s not going to happen. No way will I put you in danger like that.”
“I’m already in danger!” she practically shouted, but the fit of temper disappeared as quickly as it’d come. “I need to find my daughter. Eli’s daughter,” she added, probably because she figured it would touch every raw nerve in his body and soften him up.
He couldn’t let it work on him.
His phone vibrated, indicating he had an incoming call, and he saw Sawyer’s name on the screen. His partner had obviously meant that part about Austin calling him back now.
Bracing himself for questions he wasn’t ready to answer, Austin took his phone, issued another “Keep watch” to Rosalie and answered the call. He didn’t put it on speaker, and that was probably the reason Rosalie scooted across the seat—so she could hear.
“Well?” Sawyer said the moment Austin answered.
“I was looking for my missing nephew,” Austin settled for saying.
“Yes, and our boss already figured that out. He’s not happy, Austin, and he wants you back from your vacation.”
“I’ll be back soon.” He hoped. “For now, I just need your help. I’m en route to the Silver Creek hospital to drop off an injured P.I. who’s either a witness or a person of interest in some assorted felonies. I’ll be there in about five minutes. Can you make some calls and arrange for him to be guarded?”
Sawyer didn’t answer for several snail-crawling moments. “Sure.”
“I also need you to have someone secure two crime scenes on the farm road that runs directly east of the town of Silver Creek,” Austin added. “Both were baby farms and are owned by a dummy corporation, Real Estate Investments. There’s not much left of them, and there are possible explosives planted around the grounds.”
“I’ll get someone out there right away,” Sawyer assured him. Another pause. “You had a BOLO on a woman driving a black truck registered to your alias?”
“Yeah—”
“A deputy here in Silver Creek just phoned it in. They found her.” Sawyer paused again. “It’s not good news, Austin. The woman’s dead.”
Chapter Five
Rosalie’s heart went to her knees. She couldn’t stop the brutal thoughts and images from going through her head. Images of Janice’s frantic escape from the baby farm and the ordeal that had led up to it.
At the time Rosalie had believed that escape was the woman’s best chance of surviving.
Obviously, she’d been wrong.
“Oh, God.” Rosalie grabbed the phone from Austin and put it on speaker. “What about the babies? Janice had two newborns with her.”
“Who is this?” Agent Ryland snapped.
Austin mumbled some profanity and made the final turn toward the hospital. “She’s Rosalie McKinnon.”
Agent Ryland repeated her name. “She was engaged to Eli.” Even though Rosalie didn’t know Agent Ryland, the man obviously knew her since it wasn’t a question.
“And she’s also Seth Calder’s stepsister,” Austin added. “I ran into her while I was undercover.” He glanced at her, as if he might add more, but then shook his head. “Now, what about the babies?”
“Both are fine. According to the deputy, Janice drove to the sheriff’s office, but she was already injured when she got there. She’d been shot.”
Rosalie’s heart just kept dropping. She was beyond thankful that the babies were okay, but it was terrifying to think of Janice being pursued by these monsters while she was trying to get the newborns to safety.
“The babies are being taken to the hospital,” Agent Ryland continued. “Just as a precaution. There’s not a scratch on them. And, of course, child protective services will be brought in. Will the woman’s killer try to come after the babies?” he came right out and asked.
Rosalie already knew the answer and dreaded hearing it.
“Possibly,” Austin said without hesitation.
“I’ll get right on it,” Ryland answered, also without hesitation, and he ended the call.
“This is all my fault,” she whispered.
Austin made a yeah, right sound. “The fault lies with the person who set up the baby farm.”
True, but if she hadn’t put Janice in a position where she had to escape, the woman might be alive. “If I’d stayed with her and the babies, this might not have happened.”
“Yes, it would have, and you’d be dead, too. Those guards wouldn’t have wanted any witnesses to get away.”
And since both Austin and she were just that—witnesses—then, yes, the men would have tried to shoot her, too. But at least if she’d been there, she might have been able to stop it and Janice might be alive.
Austin drove into the hospital parking lot and came to a stop directly in front of the E.R. doors. Sonny climbed out, not easily, and while still clutching his injured arm, he headed inside.
“Stay close to me,” Austin warned her, and as he’d done while they were on the road, he kept watch around them.
The rain had stopped, but the wind took a swipe at her. She was already shivering from the spent adrenaline, and the bitter cold only made it worse.
The moment the E.R. staff saw Sonny, they rushed forward and whisked him away to one of the examination rooms. A security guard wearing a uniform trailed along behind them.
Rosalie looked around, hoping to see the babies and whoever was guarding them, but the E.R. was empty except for a woman sitting at the intake desk.
“I’ll need to get some information from you about the patient,” the woman said.
But Austin waved her off. “Nothing much we can tell you. We just gave him a ride here.”
That wasn’t the whole truth, of course, but Austin probably didn’t want to get into any details of the investigation with someone who wasn’t law enforcement.
“I’ll check on the babies,” Austin said when Rosalie continued to look around.
He took out his phone, stepped to the far side of the room, but before he could make a call his phone rang. He groaned and showed her the name on the screen.
Seth.
Now it was Rosalie’s turn to groan. Agent Ryland had likely called Seth.
“Let me talk to my sister,” Seth ordered. Even without the call being on speaker, she had no trouble hearing him.
“I’m fine,” Rosalie jumped to say to her brother when Austin handed her the phone.
“You’re not fine if you were in the middle of an undercover investigation. Have you lost your mind?”
Probably. Hard to have a sound mind with her baby kidnapped. “I don’t expect you to understand why I did what I did.”
“Oh, I understand it all right. I want to find my niece as much as you do, but I don’t want my sister dead in the process. Put Austin back on the phone,” he ordered, sounding very much like the hardheaded brother that he was.
“How the hell did she manage to get inside an undercover operation, and exactly how close did she come to dying?” Again her brother’s voice was so loud that Rosalie didn’t need the speaker function to hear him.
Austin’s gaze met hers, and she silently pleaded with him not to tell the truth. It was best if she broke the details to Seth after he calmed down. Whenever the heck that might be.
“Rosalie’s okay. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Austin said, but he shot her a glare. No doubt because he wasn’t happy about the lie or her involvement in any of this.
“From what I’m hearing, you were both at the wrong place. You do know your boss is ticked off about this?”
> “Yeah, I heard,” Austin mumbled. “Can’t be helped.”
“We got a lead on the missing babies,” Rosalie volunteered since she doubted Austin wanted to continue to listen to this scolding any more than she did.
She moved closer to the phone, and in doing so, her cheek brushed against Austin’s. The slight contact stunned her, as if it’d been more than just an accidental touch, and she eased away from him.
Austin’s gaze stayed on her, and he cleared his throat. Obviously, he wasn’t any more comfortable touching her than she was touching him.
Except it hadn’t been just discomfort on her part.
Rosalie felt that trickle of heat. The kind of man-to-woman heat that she couldn’t possibly feel when it came to Austin, so she quickly shoved it aside and hoped it didn’t come back.
“Trevor Yancy’s name came up in connection with the baby farms,” Austin told Seth.
“Hell,” Seth mumbled.
And that was Rosalie’s reaction, too.
Well, it was after she managed to force that trickle to take a hike. It was easier to do now that Yancy was in the forefront of her thoughts.
Yancy and his hired gun could be the people responsible for the attack that had left Eli dead, and she wanted the man to have no further connection to her and her family. However, Yancy might have the ultimate connection if he’d been the one to kidnap Sadie.
“I’ll deal with Yancy,” Austin continued. “And I’ll drive Rosalie home as soon as someone arrives to take over for me here at the hospital.”
“Don’t take her home yet.” Seth cursed, groaned, cursed again. “I’m tied up with a case here in El Paso, so I’m asking you to do me a favor. Protect her. Make sure these goons don’t come after her. And, Rosalie, don’t you dare say you can take care of yourself.”
Since that’s exactly what she’d been about to say, Rosalie just stayed quiet and aimed her own glare at the phone. She loved Seth, and he’d been more of a real brother to her than her own three blood-kin ones had been, but she couldn’t stop looking for her precious baby.
No amount of warnings from anyone, including Seth or Austin, would stop her.
Kidnapping in Kendall County Page 4
