And that’s why it was best if they parted ways.
She heard the footsteps. Again, not Seth. These came from the other side of the building, and a moment later, Rosalie spotted the guard ushering her mother into the visiting area.
“Rosalie, I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” Jewell said, her voice as thin and weak as she appeared. The orange prison jumpsuit swallowed her and washed out her color even more than it already was. “My lawyer had some good news. A witness has come forward who might be able to clear my name. I don’t know all the details yet, but we should know more soon.”
It was news Rosalie hadn’t expected, but it was indeed welcome. She was about to press for the identity of the witness, but Jewell spoke before she could.
“Something’s wrong,” she said, looking first at Rosalie and then at Austin.
“Maybe,” Rosalie settled for saying. She tipped her head to Austin. “Do you remember Agent Duran?”
“Of course. Eli’s former partner. How are you, Austin?” If there was any hint that her mother blamed Austin for Eli’s death, it certainly wasn’t in her voice. She was warm and welcoming, as if greeting him at her home rather than the county jail.
“I’m fine. Thank you.”
“Good.” Jewell gave them both another looking over. “I suspect I owe you a thanks for taking care of my daughter. I don’t know the details, but judging from your expressions and the fact that the guard said Seth is here, too, you’ve had a difficult morning.” She paused. “And you think I can help in some way?”
“I was, uh, doing some investigating,” Rosalie started. “I ran into Austin, and we met a woman. Vickie Cravens.”
The name hung in the air for several moments, and Jewell shook her head. “You think I know her?”
“She said you did.” Rosalie had to clear her throat to continue. “She’s a nanny and claimed Roy and you were going to adopt a baby that she was keeping.”
“Oh.” Jewell pulled in a quick breath.
Sweet heaven. Her mother certainly wasn’t denying it.
“The baby was my nephew,” Austin added. “Were you aware of that?”
“No, absolutely not.” Jewell pressed her hand to her throat as if to steady herself. “But Roy and I have been working together to find Sadie since she was first kidnapped.”
“What do you mean?” This was the first Rosalie was hearing about that. “Working together?”
Jewell nodded. “You were heartbroken, crushed, and I knew I had to do something to get Sadie back. Roy has contacts in law enforcement, so I called him. After that, we met a few times to discuss what to do.”
“You okay?” Austin whispered to her, and it took Rosalie a moment to realize she had gone board-stiff. Austin slipped his hand over hers, and this time Rosalie didn’t move away from him.
“There’s a lot of bad blood between my parents,” she mumbled. So much, in fact, that she figured Roy was the last man on earth who’d help her mother.
“Roy and I split up twenty-three years ago,” Jewell explained. “It’s a long story.”
Not really. Rosalie could summarize it in just one sentence. “Roy believed my mother had an affair, and amid rumors that she’d murdered her lover, Roy kicked her, me and my sister off the family ranch.”
Even now, that was still an open wound for her, and it was the reason she still hadn’t been able to call Roy her father. Painful baggage indeed, though she was trying to get past it. Only because she had more immediate matters to handle—finding her baby and stopping her mother from being wrongfully convicted of murder.
“After the rumors of the murder, Roy and I decided to divorce,” Jewell corrected. “And I took my twin daughters with me. Rosalie and her sister were young, barely six years old. But our boys were older and could speak for themselves. They wanted to stay with their father, so Roy raised them.”
Unlike Rosalie, there was no bitterness in Jewell’s tone or body language, but Rosalie figured it had to be there somewhere under all that calm composure. Despite the rose-colored spin her mother had just put on things, Rosalie believed that Roy had demanded that she leave.
“Five months or so after Sadie was taken,” Jewell continued, “Roy and I were worried when the cops and FBI weren’t finding anything. So, we put out the word through some shady sources that we were looking to buy a baby. One that we hoped to use to help heal Rosalie’s heart.”
“That wouldn’t have happened,” Rosalie jumped to say.
“I know,” her mother assured her. “But we thought saying that might convince the person behind the black market adoptions. And it did, I guess. Weeks later, someone finally called Roy using a voice scrambler, and whoever it was used a prepaid cell that couldn’t be traced. The person said someone would contact Roy when they had a baby for us.”
Rosalie hadn’t suspected any of this. Of course, she’d been so involved with her own search and her own pain that she wasn’t looking for clues that her mother had been doing the same thing.
With Roy’s help, no less.
Rosalie remembered something else and shook her head. “But Vickie knew your names. She said you were to adopt Austin’s nephew. Why did you ask for a boy if you were looking for Sadie?”
“We didn’t ask for a specific baby. If we had, we would have asked for a baby Sadie’s own age, but we thought that would make them believe we were only searching for our granddaughter. Instead, we said we wanted to adopt a child. Any child.” Her mother stopped again, gathered her breath. “Roy paid them twenty-five thousand through a wire transfer to an offshore account with the agreement that they’d get another twenty-five grand once we had the baby.”
Fifty thousand. That was the going rate for one of these babies? It sickened Rosalie to think of these monsters selling babies for cash. There was no price tag she could put on her precious daughter.
“Finally, Roy and I got a call that a baby boy was ready for adoption, and that we could have him within a week,” her mother went on. “We were told to wait and that we’d get instructions about the pickup and how to make the final payment. After I was arrested, the person didn’t contact us again.”
Her mother’s arrest had happened nearly four months ago. Right about the time that Austin’s nephew had been kidnapped.
Maybe the arrest had scared off the baby broker?
That had to be it because these baby sellers wouldn’t have cared if the arrest made Jewell an unsuitable mother. However, they might have thought Roy would be under some kind of police surveillance.
Austin added some profanity under his breath and gave Jewell a hard stare. “I can’t believe Seth would have let you do something like that. It was dangerous. The person behind this could have killed both of you.”
“Seth didn’t know. Doesn’t know,” Jewell corrected, her cheeks flushing a little. “I’d like to keep it that way, especially since the deal didn’t go through. And if it had, we would have gladly brought in Seth, Cooper and anyone else to catch these monsters. We would have done anything to rescue not only that child but any others we might have found.”
Rosalie and Austin exchanged another glance, and she saw the questions in his eyes. If Yancy was indeed behind the baby farms, then he could have targeted Austin’s nephew to give to Roy and Jewell. A way to dig the knife in even deeper to punish Austin for the investigation that had nearly landed Yancy in jail.
But if so, it was risky, too, since Yancy must have suspected that her parents would have just turned the baby over to the authorities. Of course, Yancy would have still gotten the fifty grand. He was a rich man, but he probably wouldn’t have turned down the cash, and besides he could have had plans just to kidnap the baby boy again. Or scam another set of prospective parents into paying for a baby they’d never get.
“Roy and I didn’t tell anyone what we’d done,” Jewell went on,
“because we thought someone might be monitoring our phone calls. Or at least keeping an eye on us. They likely wanted to make sure what we were doing wasn’t some kind of a setup. If we’d told you or Seth, we were afraid it would have blown the deal.”
Instead, her mother’s arrest had blown it.
The door opened, and Seth walked back in. With one sweeping glance, he took in the whole room, no doubt noticing Jewell’s troubled expression.
And the way Austin was holding Rosalie’s hand.
“Bad news?” Austin asked, getting to his feet so he could face Seth.
Seth shook his head. “We found something. We might finally have some proof of the person who set up the baby farm.”
Chapter Ten
Sonny.
Austin hated that the man’s name kept popping up in all the wrong places. Here Sonny had been out of jail only a few hours on the gun charges, but this was a new reason to bring him right back in. Austin had read through the financial report and saw the same red flags that Seth had.
Something wasn’t right on several levels.
For one thing Sonny had two offshore accounts—not exactly standard practice for a run-of-the-mill P.I. Then, there were the cash transfers and withdrawals from his Texas bank. Not enough to trigger an investigation. Just enough to keep him under the radar of the authorities.
Or at least it would have been enough if he hadn’t become a person of interest in the baby farms investigation.
“It all seems, well, almost too obvious,” Rosalie said, studying the financial report from over Austin’s shoulder. “I mean, if Sonny’s behind the baby farms, why would he leave this kind of evidence out there for someone to find?”
Austin made a sound of agreement. “But then, Sonny’s done plenty of too obvious. Like being at the second site of the baby farm and pulling a gun on Yancy at the hospital. All of that makes him look guilty.”
And in doing so, it also made him look innocent and as if he’d been set up. Either by Yancy or someone else.
Rosalie must have come to the same conclusion because she huffed and sank back in the chair next to him. Her brother Cooper, the sheriff of Sweetwater Springs, had been generous enough to let them use his private office to go through the financials while they waited for Sonny to arrive for questioning.
Yet something else that was generous.
If Cooper hadn’t allowed Austin and Seth to question Sonny at the sheriff’s office, then it would have had to be moved to the FBI building in San Antonio. Where Austin wouldn’t have been allowed even to witness the interview much less take part in it.
“I owe your brother Cooper,” Austin mumbled.
Rosalie made another sound, not one of agreement this time. “I was surprised that he allowed it. Cooper isn’t exactly on good terms with Seth, my sister and me.”
Austin didn’t have to ask why. They’d been raised by their mother. Cooper and his brothers, by their father. After twenty-something years of estrangement, that was a huge rift to mend.
“So, why then did Cooper let us come here?” Austin asked.
She shrugged, glanced away when Austin tried to make eye contact with her. “I think he feels sorry for me. Like you do,” she added.
Austin did feel sorry for her, but sadly, it wasn’t the only thing he was feeling for her. Ditto for the guilt. Every time he looked at her—like now—he got that jolt of a reminder that Rosalie was a darn attractive woman.
The jolt was put on hold fast when the door flew open and Seth poked in his head. “Sonny’s on his way. Should be here in the next ten minutes or so, and he’s bringing his attorney.”
“He should,” Austin agreed. “If Sonny doesn’t have a solid explanation for what’s in that financial report, then he could end up in jail again.”
Even though this was just an interview for the man, the stakes were sky-high. Not only for Sonny but for all of them. Because Sonny might surprise them all and confess to everything.
Seth shrugged. “I don’t care who I have to arrest as long as Rosalie stays safe. After the interview, you’ll take her back to the ranch.”
“Of course,” Austin said as at the same time Rosalie argued, “I can get myself back to the ranch.”
“Those guards from the baby farm are still out there,” Austin quickly reminded her.
She didn’t continue to argue, but Austin could still see the uneasiness that she felt about being around him. Seth mumbled a thanks and left, shutting the door behind him.
Austin figured this was a subject that he should just let die, but he couldn’t seem to make himself shut up. “When you look at me, do you think of Eli?”
Rosalie didn’t jump to answer. In fact, she turned away from him, her gaze going to the window.
“I’m sorry,” he added. “If I could change that, I would. You don’t know how many times I’ve wished that I’d been the one to die that night.”
Still no verbal response, but she swallowed hard. “I used to want that. But in a perfect world, you both would have lived, and Yancy or whoever else was responsible for that attack would have been arrested.”
Austin had to mentally replay that, and he took her by the arm and eased her around to face him. “You mean that?”
She nodded, swallowed hard again. “And when I look at you, I don’t think of Eli. That’s the problem.”
He replayed that, too, and even if he hadn’t been looking her straight in the eyes, he still would have realized what she meant.
Rosalie was talking about this attraction between them. He’d felt it, of course. And like her had fought it like crazy. Because it didn’t make sense. Even if he could dismiss the bad blood that’d been between them, they were still in the middle of a dangerous investigation. Hardly the time to start lusting after someone.
“For what it’s worth,” Austin said, “it’s a problem for me, too.”
Since that only revved up the concern in her eyes, Austin wanted to put his arms around her. To tell her that everything would be okay. But with the fire and energy zinging between them, that wasn’t a good idea.
Did that stop him?
No.
When it came to Rosalie, he just didn’t seem to have a lick of sense. He tugged her closer, fully expecting her to hold her ground and keep her distance.
She didn’t.
Rosalie landed in his arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It felt as if she belonged there, too, and it didn’t help cool down the heat.
“This is a mistake,” he heard himself say.
It was. That didn’t stop him. Austin lowered his head and put his mouth on hers.
He’d braced himself for the guilt and all the other feelings he’d expected. However, those didn’t come. He was too wrapped up in the avalanche of sensations. The softness of her lips. Her taste.
That silky little moan that purred in her throat.
All those things slammed through him, and just like that, he was starved for her and had to have more. Austin slid his hand around the back of her neck, deepening the kiss and pulling her closer and closer to him.
Mercy, she tasted good.
Felt even better.
Rosalie did her own share of deepening. She lifted her hands, first one and then the other, sliding them around his neck and completing the body-to-body contact between them.
Not good in a bad way.
He could feel her breasts. Could feel her heart thudding against his chest. And, of course, he could feel the need brewing. It wasn’t something he’d ever expected from her.
Or from himself.
But here it was. Strong, hot and getting hotter with each passing second.
Austin forced himself to back away. Not easy. The majority of his body yelled at him to go right back for more, but he wa
nted to give her a chance to catch her breath and rethink this mistake they were making.
He saw the surprise in her mist-gray eyes, but the heat was there in abundance, as well.
“You can slap me if it’ll help,” he offered. Austin hoped his god-awful attempt at levity would ease the sudden tension between them.
It didn’t.
“I don’t think anything will help.” She groaned and stepped away from him. “This shouldn’t be happening.”
All Austin could do was nod in agreement. “If I could stop it, I would, but the truth is, I’ve always been attracted to you.”
He expected her to laugh or give him the slap that she’d said wouldn’t help, but Rosalie just stared at him. Then, she nodded.
“You knew that?” he asked.
Another tentative nod. “But I also knew you wouldn’t act on it because of Eli, because he was your partner and friend.”
Well, heck.
All this time he’d thought he had done a decent job of covering up his feelings for her. Apparently, he sucked as much at that as he did at resisting her now.
“I can’t promise you that I won’t kiss you again,” Austin confessed.
Rosalie stared at him as if she might try to convince him otherwise, but the door flew open again, and Seth looked in at them. They stepped away from each other as if they’d been caught doing something wrong. Not far from the truth.
And Seth noticed all right.
Maybe because Rosalie’s breathing still hadn’t leveled, her mouth was slightly swollen from the kissing and their faces were no doubt flushed.
Seth didn’t have to tell them that Sonny was there because Austin immediately heard the man’s voice. And not just Sonny’s, either, but another voice that he hadn’t expected to hear.
“Yancy came with him?” Austin automatically stepped in front of Rosalie.
“Yeah,” Seth verified. “Sonny said he’s got proof that it’s really Yancy behind the baby farms, and he wanted him at the sheriff’s office so all of us could hear it.”
Kidnapping in Kendall County Page 9
