Texas Baby Pursuit

by Margaret Daley

  “Why did you do it, Rob?” Rachel asked in a quiet voice. When he didn’t respond, she continued. “You were part of our family. Why did you betray us? My daughter is gone. They told me they were going to kill her.”

  His head shot up. “Kill her? They promised me she wouldn’t be hurt, and later she would be returned to you.”

  Anger welled up from the pit of her stomach. “And you believed them?”

  “I didn’t have a choice.”

  “You always have a choice.”

  “They had evidence I killed a criminal I was bringing in a few years back.”

  “Did you?”

  “It was an accident.”

  “Who?”

  “Fuller Patterson,” he murmured in a thick voice.

  “He was selling drugs to kids.”

  “I know. I was trying to get him to confess. I went too far. I can’t go to jail. I can’t...”

  “Who recruited you? If you help us find the babies, it’ll go a lot easier for you. I’ll stand up for you.” She needed his help, but he needed hers, too.

  “I want a lawyer.”

  “As you know, that’s your right to have one.” Her voice softened. “But in the meantime, the longer Katie is gone, the better the chance we’ll never find her—that the kidnappers will follow through and kill her.”

  “I met with her once. She told me her name was Audrey, but I followed her and found out where she lived. She thought her threat would totally cow me. She was wrong.”

  “Where does she live?”

  Rob gave Rachel an address in San Antonio.

  “Do you know her name?”

  “Yes. Marilyn Peters and she lives with her brother.”

  Rachel started for the door, paused before leaving and said, “Thank you,” then hurried out into the hallway to call Dallas.

  * * *

  Dallas drove to the front of the hospital. Rachel exited the building and hopped into his SUV. One look at Rachel and all he wanted to do was comfort her. She put on a brave face, but when he gazed into her eyes, the hurt, sadness and fear were evident in those green depths.

  “All right?” Dallas pulled away from the entrance to head to Marilyn Peters’s house.

  “I will be when I get Katie back. I can’t believe Rob was the inside man. I don’t know how many times he had an opportunity to go through our notes on the case. He fooled us. You think you know someone, but you really don’t. This is how I felt when Justin told me he wanted a divorce.”

  “I know how you feel. I went through the same thing with Patricia. Her betrayal made me question my judgment, but I’m finding out if I carry that baggage around with me, I’ll never get over what she did. For Michelle’s sake—and mine—I can’t do that anymore. Everyone makes mistakes. We must be willing to forgive, not so much for the other person but for ourselves. Hate eats away at people, gets in the way of enjoying life.”

  “So you’ve forgiven your ex-wife?”

  Dallas glanced at Rachel, her lips pressed firmly together. “I’m working on it. Michelle blaming herself made me realize I had to, at least for her sake. But now I realize also for my own well-being.”

  Rachel’s mouth relaxed into a neutral expression. “Michelle and I prayed together this morning for the babies stolen. I’d forgotten how good it felt to give the problem to the Lord. It’s too big for me to handle alone.”

  “We’re not alone when we go through the worst of times.” Dallas’s cell phone rang, and he clicked on his Bluetooth in his ear. “Taylor, did you find Richard Snapp?”

  “No. He never showed up at work today. He must have left Baby and Things and disappeared because he isn’t at his house, either. The other team at his home can’t find any indication of where he would have gone. The same here at his office. I hope Rachel’s tip will help us. In the meantime, I’m going to dig into Snapp’s holdings and see if there’s a place he could have gone.”

  “I’ll let you know what I find at Marilyn Peters’s house. We’re not too far away.” When Dallas ended the call, he told Rachel everything Taylor said.

  “That man has my daughter. When I find him, he’ll regret ever taking her, or rather, ordering Katie’s kidnapping.”

  “We’ll get Katie back. It’s been less than twenty-four hours. Taylor is digging into any piece of property that Snapp owns. SAPD will join us at Peters’s place. They should be there by now, waiting at both ends of the street. When we arrive, they’ll join us.”

  “Good. Hopefully she’s trapped but doesn’t know it.”

  “We took extra precautions with her and Snapp as well. No one at his home or office was allowed to call out to warn him.”

  “She lives with her brother. He might be there, too. I don’t know if the brother is involved or not. Rob didn’t know.”

  “The brother could be the third guy we’ve been looking at. The one who killed the male kidnapper.”

  “How about anyone going out the back of her house?”

  “Taken care of. Two police officers are posted behind her place.”

  “You’ve thought of everything.”

  “I’m only part of a team. The stuff Taylor has unearthed concerning Snapp indicates the man has the resources to get out of the country if we don’t surprise him. He has a lot of contacts inside and outside of the US.”

  “Which could mean the babies aren’t necessarily for people in the United States.” Rachel folded her arms over her chest as though trying to warm herself. “You’d think after being in law enforcement for over eleven years, I’d get used to how low a human being can go.”

  “I’ve wondered that, too.” Dallas turned onto a short street with nice homes with well-tended lawns. “We’re going in fast. We can’t let her contact Snapp. The two SAPD officers will go in the back at the same time. We’ll quickly sweep through the house.” He parked two houses away.

  The unmarked SAPD vehicle pulled up right behind his SUV while another down the street took up a position several places away on the other side of Marilyn Peters’s home. He reached into the backseat to gather weapons they might need. Rachel and he had suited up with their Kevlar bulletproof vests before they met at the hospital.

  As he exited his car, he sent up a prayer for the safety of the team going in. One SAPD sergeant stayed behind to coordinate the groups. When Dallas reached the front porch, the police with the battering ram got into position. He put up three fingers and silently counted down, then the officers slammed their apparatus against the wooden door. It gave way on the second strike, and Dallas led the charge into the house, the sound coming from the back indicating the two breaching the rear were successful, too.

  Marilyn Peters paused for a second halfway up the stairs, glancing over her shoulder at them. As she swirled around and continued up the steps, Rachel flew past Dallas, ascending only a few feet behind the female kidnapper. Dallas followed. At the top, Rachel lunged forward and pinned the woman to the floor. Rachel read Peters her rights as she pulled the kidnapper’s arms behind her back and handcuffed her.

  “Where’s your brother?” Rachel asked.

  The suspect shrugged.

  * * *

  Dallas moved in and helped Peters to stand. “You’re under arrest on multiple accounts of kidnapping as well as murder and attempted murder.”

  “I didn’t kill anyone.”

  Rachel got into her face. “So you admit kidnapping babies?”

  “No!” Peters raised her chin and glared at Dallas and Rachel. “I want my lawyer.”

  “Who is that? Richard Snapp?”

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

  Dallas removed his cell phone and showed the woman the photo of her and Snapp together at Lone Star Tavern. “Then explain that. You have a choice. You can either go down for kidnapping, murder and attempted murder or you can make a
deal for a lesser charge if you give us the whereabouts of Richard Snapp.” He gripped the female’s arm and guided her down the stairs.

  He sat her in the living room while the rest of the police went through her house. “If you were smart, you would waive your rights and tell us where Snapp is. He’s not at his office or home. We’re digging into every aspect of his life, and if we find where he is, you’ll be charged with no deal for crimes that will put you in jail for the rest of your life.”

  “You don’t have anything except a picture of me with Richard. He asked me out on a lunch date. I don’t know him other than that time we were at Lone Star Tavern.”

  Rachel stepped forward. “His daughter identified you as the female kidnapper and Rob Woodward said you were involved with kidnapping my baby last night as well as trying to kill him.”

  The color drained from Peters’s face.

  Dallas stood next to Rachel and said, “Ah, you didn’t know that Rob was alive and telling us about you recruiting him to help you. Time is running out for you. We’ll find Snapp with or without your help. The deal is only on the table if you tell us where he and Katie are now.”

  “All I know is where Katie was last night. Richard could be long gone by now.”

  “Where?” Rachel’s voice quavered.

  Finally, Peters started to talk. Dallas wrote down the location of the ranch south of San Antonio that she mentioned and then turned her over to the SAPD sergeant. He and Rachel left the house and jogged to his SUV. As he pulled away from the curb, he placed a call to Taylor to coordinate the raid on the place, praying Katie, Brady and Chris were still there.

  THIRTEEN

  Near dusk, Rachel looked through the binoculars at the layout of Snapp’s ranch from a rise to the north of the main house. The San Antonio police had gotten more information from Marilyn about this place. She noted the building behind the barn that, according to the female kidnapper, was where young women were being held until they gave birth to their babies. Some of the ladies disappeared, and Marilyn didn’t know what happened to them, and others had been at the ranch for a few years, becoming pregnant several times so far. Rachel didn’t know if Marilyn was telling the truth about what exactly she knew. The very thought that women were held captive for breeding purposes chilled Rachel to the bone.

  “If our intel is right, Katie and possibly Brady and Chris are still in the main house.” Dallas set his binoculars down. “We’ll be hitting there and the building behind the barn as soon as it’s dark.”

  “The timing will have to be precise and quick, like at Marilyn’s place, or Richard Snapp could harm the women and babies.”

  “We have to assume everyone at the ranch knows what’s going on. You can’t have an operation like this for several years and keep it totally hidden from the cowhands and other employees working here.” Dallas gestured toward two men mounting their horses near the barn then riding out toward a pasture to the west where cattle grazed.

  “Most likely those guys aren’t just cowhands but guards, too.” Rachel donned her bulletproof vest, still remembering what Marilyn had said to her interrogators at the police station about why they risked taking Katie, Brady and Chris from their homes. Rich, important clients had certain criteria for the babies they wanted and paid handsomely for a child who fit those conditions.

  “Ah, I see more pairs of cowhands are leaving and heading east and south.”

  Rachel watched the men ride off, then swung her attention back to the main barn. “Make that four groups of guards. This last one is coming our way.”

  “We’ll take them down before moving toward the house.”

  Rachel glanced west. The sun was sinking below the horizon. Not too much longer. She desperately wanted to hold her daughter in her arms again. The waiting for darkness to fall caused her to pace among the trees as time slowly moved toward that goal.

  Dallas stepped into her path. “Okay?”

  “Yes. When we hit the house, my destination is the second floor, the bedroom at the end of the hall on the right side of the place. That’s where the babies are kept until handed over to the couples who bought them.” She would lead a small assault team upstairs, clear that level and secure the children while Dallas would search for Richard Snapp and make sure the first floor was safe.

  “We need to check our equipment one last time before we move out.”

  She nodded, knowing the drill. This wasn’t the first time she’d participated in a raid. She knew the dangers she faced as Dallas did, too. The main floor would be where most of the guards would be located. “Promise me you’ll take care of yourself. Marilyn said there were at least six, if not more, guards in the house. They’re familiar with the layout. We only have a rough sketch of the floor plan from Marilyn. What if she’s leading us into a trap?”

  He took her hands and held them up between them. “Then we’ll just have to pray harder.” Dallas bowed his head. “Lord, protect us and help us get the babies back, free the women and put an end to this evil. In the name of Jesus Christ.”

  “Amen.” She wanted to feel that earlier peace she’d felt after praying with Michelle, but so many things could go wrong. She wanted Katie and the other babies back and Dallas unharmed. Are You there, God? Do You hear us?

  “Let’s go,” Dallas said to the law enforcement officers from various agencies. “Taylor, you and your detail take out the two guards who rode out this way, then head to the building behind the barn.”

  Taylor nodded. “I’ll keep you informed of our progress.”

  As his detail moved out to deal with the two guards, Dallas double-checked he had what he needed, put on his night-vision goggles and signaled the others to fan out and head for the main house. They used the cover available to keep their approach a secret. If he’d had any doubt this wasn’t the right place, he didn’t now. The guards patrolling the grounds right now wore night-vision goggles and were armed as though they were going into battle. Not your typical cowhands.

  Near the house, three of his team, made up of local law enforcement officers and Texas Rangers, parted to cover the back entrance. The other eight would go in through the front with Rachel’s group of four going upstairs. There was a lot at stake here. Usually when he participated in a raid, he wasn’t personally involved, as he was in this case. Not just because of Brady, but he felt a connection with Rachel and her daughter. This had to work.

  When they burst into the house, Dallas shouted, “Police.” He heard the same from the three coming in the back entrance. His men fanned out while Rachel, gun in hand, started up the stairs. His team was to sweep through the left side of the house while the other in the kitchen would take the right side and clear it. One would be left in the entrance hall, guarding the front door.

  Checking every place a person could hide, Dallas and his men cleared the library and crept onward, leaving behind one officer to guard their backs. As he entered a large sprawling room, a shot struck the doorframe near Dallas’s head, and he pulled back. Then another rapidly sounded, coming from down the hallway they hadn’t checked yet. The bullet hit him in the chest.

  * * *

  With three other officers, Rachel ascended the staircase. When she reached the second floor, she went first, glancing around the corner to view the hallway to the right then left. She signaled to the next two to go right while she and her partner went the other way. Three closed doors lined her end of the corridor. She opened the first one—a bedroom with a large poster bed in the center. While the deputy covered her back, she snuck forward, inspecting any place where a person could hide.

  With each step she took, her heart pounded against her chest. When she reached the objective, she stood to the side and quickly opened the door. Using the wall as protection, she peered into the walk-in closet. Empty. Not even clothes were hanging up in it. As she backed away and started for the hallway, two gunshots reverberated through the
air, the sounds coming from below.

  “Texas Ranger Sanders is down,” came through her earpiece.

  She stiffened, her heart sinking into her stomach. Her first impulse was to race down the stairs and help Dallas. But there were six other men downstairs, much nearer than her. She had to find the babies.

  After checking the bedroom across the hall, she tiptoed toward the last one, not wanting to give anyone a clue where she was. But when she stepped on a wooden plank that creaked, the loud noise announced her approach. Changing tactics, she inched toward the nearest door and pushed it open, ducking away from the entrance. When she eased forward, she swung into the room with her gun held in both hands out in front of her.

  A nursery—with five baby beds, a changing table and a large dresser.

  The sight churned her stomach because from her vantage point she could see each crib was empty. She quickly moved through the area because there was no place to hide, except behind the two closed doors. After examining the closet with stacks of disposable diapers of various sizes, she headed for what must be a bathroom.

  Another shot blasted from below. Then two more.

  She glanced toward her partner, on guard at the exit. All she could think about was Dallas lying on the floor, possibly dead—and maybe others were, too.

  “We’re under attack, pinned down in the middle room downstairs,” she heard over her earpiece.

  She needed to finish and get down there. She quickly thrust the last door open and scanned the bathroom. With her back against the wall, she sidled toward a hidden nook where the toilet probably was. A vision in the mirror sent terror racing through her. Richard Snapp stood there, pointing a gun at her.

  * * *

  The force of the bullet that hit Dallas’s vest threw him back against the wall in the hallway. He slid down to the floor, pain spreading outward as though a superhuman fist had plowed into his chest. With his hand still holding his gun, he lifted his arm and aimed toward the entrance as a man charged out of the room.

  “Drop your gun,” Dallas said as one of his partners closed in to help him.