Covert Cootchie-Cootchie-Coo

by Ann Voss Peterson

  “And tell them what? You know they can’t do anything unless she’s been missing for a while. I doubt they have the manpower to do much then. I don’t even know when she arrived in San Francisco or if she’s still here now.”

  “So you don’t know if she’s really missing. Maybe she’ll turn up. Maybe everything will be fine.”

  “Or maybe it won’t.” His eyes grew darker, all pupil with a vivid green rim.

  She shifted in her seat. She hated to turn away someone in need, but she just couldn’t be around this guy. She was too attracted to him. Too tempted. She didn’t need to set herself up for a broken heart.

  She opened her card file and shuffled through until she found what she was looking for. “Call this office and ask for Brian Wilmer. He’ll do a great job for you, and his rates are better than mine.”

  He took the card but didn’t spare it a glance. “Listen, if you don’t want to take my case, that’s fine. But like I said, Missy offered to babysit as long as I hired you to look for Honey, and…”

  It was a guess, but she thought she knew where he was headed. “And you’d like me to tell her I was the one who turned you down?”

  “Would you mind? I’ll throw in a free cruise on the bay.” He glanced at his watch once more. “I have one scheduled in less than an hour.”

  “You want me to go with you right now?”

  “I’m a little desperate here.”

  A desperate and good-looking bachelor who refused to settle down. With a baby, for crying out loud. God help her. When she caught up with Missy, she was going to wring her aunt’s neck.

  REED UNLOCKED THE GATE leading to Dock J and ushered Josie Dionne through. He’d made an afternoon appointment with the investigator she’d referred, and for the rest of the awkward cab ride down the city’s hills and one-way streets, he’d been at a loss for things to say. Now he felt like a clueless teenage boy trying to impress her with his chivalry.

  What had gotten into him?

  Normally he was good at small talk. It was part of his cruise business’s success. But with all that had gone down this morning, his usual fodder of restaurants and weather seemed trite. And since she’d refused his case, he’d prefer to avoid chatting about the concerns that were really on his mind.

  Too bad.

  If he had known this was the woman that Missy wanted to set him up with, he would have taken her up on her offer a long time ago. Josie’s short, swingy blond hair, high cheekbones and twinkling blue eyes were a pleasure to look at. Not to mention that body. Slender, fit and a chest straight out of a man’s dreams. But even more striking than the way she looked was the way she seemed so…in control. At ease with herself. Focused. A woman who wouldn’t be needy or clingy. The requirement at the top of his list.

  “So which one is it?” Josie motioned to the handful of boats moored in their slips along the dock.

  He snapped his thoughts back to reality. His most important concern now was to retain Missy as a babysitter, not catalog Josie’s attributes. Attributes he wouldn’t have a chance to enjoy anyway. “The catamaran on the end.”

  “The big one?”

  Pride wriggled deep in his chest. “That’s her.”

  “She’s beautiful.”

  “Thanks.” His boat wasn’t actually all that big, but it was a beauty. And she’d cost a pretty penny. “I can take up to about twenty passengers.”

  “Always wanted to sail?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Just me and the water and the wind.”

  She gave him a dry look he wasn’t sure how to read and waited for him to unlock the second gate.

  He waved her through to the steps rising to the sailboat’s deck. “Missy is in the cabin with the baby.”

  She climbed the steps to the sailboat’s deck, Reed following. For a second he allowed himself to watch her hips sway in front of him. What the hell? Might as well enjoy himself while he could.

  At the top of the stairs he offered his hand, helping her keep her balance as she stepped onto the boat. He pointed to the door leading down into the cabin. “Hey, Missy. I brought someone here to say hi.”

  He could see a dark shape stir through the open door, but no answer came from his impromptu babysitter. “Missy?” He narrowed his eyes, willing them to adjust after the glare of the sun outside.

  The dark shape rushed at him. Before he could think, before he could react, it plowed into him.

  He fell backward. Reaching out, he gripped a jean-clad leg and held on.

  A blow landed against the side of his head. Pain rattled through his skull and ricocheted down his spine. He tightened his grip on the intruder’s leg. The man hulked above him. Long, dark gray coat. Blond hair. And in his arms he held something wrapped in a baby-blue blanket.

  Chapter Four

  Josie didn’t think, she just lunged. Her fingers closed around the man’s biceps. He yanked his arm back, throwing her off balance. His coat sleeve slipped against the hard muscle of his arm.

  The baby’s frightened shriek filled her ears.

  She dug in her fingernails and struggled to hold on. She couldn’t let him get away. She brought up her other hand, raking her fingers, trying to reach his face, his eyes.

  He dodged her flailing hand. He yanked his arm. The sleeve slipped from her grasp. He brought his fist crashing down on her shoulder. Her legs crumpled beneath her and she hit the boat’s deck.

  Moving to run, the man stumbled.

  “Grab the baby,” Reed yelled. He lay on the deck, his arms wrapped around the man’s legs.

  The man thrashed against his hold. He pulled back a leg and thunked the hard toe of a cowboy boot into Reed’s chest.

  Scrambling to her feet, Josie focused on the man’s face. Blond hair. Ruddy skin. Piggish eyes. She went straight for his eyes. Her fingers hit flesh, jabbing into soft tissue.

  A bellow came from the man. His hands flew to his face.

  The baby.

  Josie jumped forward, arms outstretched. Her hands closed around the little body just as both of them hit the hard fiberglass of the deck.

  Air whooshed from her lungs. The fall reverberated through her bones. She struggled to breathe, but could manage nothing more than empty gasps.

  She felt his hands on her body. Grabbing her. Shoving her. He drew back a boot, preparing to kick.

  Reed came up swinging. The guy stumbled back. Reed went after him, thrusting himself between the man and Josie.

  A splitting ache pounded through her skull. She didn’t know how much time passed. Two seconds. Two minutes. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was protecting the baby in her arms. All that mattered was making him safe. She ran her hands over the little guy. He was still screaming, but he didn’t seem hurt, not that she could tell.

  Heavy footfalls vibrated down the boat’s steps and thundered on the wooden planks of the pier below.

  Suddenly Reed was bending over her. “Josie, are you—”

  “I’m fine. Stop him. Go.”

  His hands moved over the crying baby, then touched Josie’s cheek. “Are you sure?”

  “Go.” Josie struggled to a sitting position. Unwrapping the little face, she checked the baby further. He seemed okay. Miraculously fine.

  She twisted toward the pier. The man had vaulted the first gate and had already reached the second. Reed thundered down the pier toward him, but checking her had taken time. Too much time. In seconds the man would blend into the crowd milling around shops and restaurants. Finding him would be like isolating a shard of glass in a beach of white sand.

  A couple strolled along the pier. They drew even with the gate.

  “Stop that man,” Reed yelled. “Stop him.”

  The couple looked past the man and stared at Reed. The man circled his arm around the woman’s shoulders and hurried her away. The man who had attacked her disappeared into the crowd of bodies. Reed plunged after him, but Josie knew he’d never catch up. Whoever the guy was, whatever reason he had for kidnapping a baby, the ma
n was gone.

  Josie’s head whirled. Stroking the baby’s fuzz of hair, she quieted him and tried to think. The man had seemed to come from nowhere. How had she not seen him before he’d attacked?

  She’d been distracted, that’s how. Not paying attention. She’d been focused on Reed and that damn fizz of attraction in her bloodstream. She’d been caught up in her anger with Missy for setting her up with the most inappropriate man in the…

  Where was Missy?

  Josie’s heart stuttered. Holding the baby tight to her shoulder, she thrust herself up to her knees, to her feet. She half stumbled down the steps and into the relative dimness of the cabin. Her aunt had to be here. She had to be okay. “Missy?”

  A small sound, like a light sniffing, came from the galley-style kitchenette. Josie hurried toward the sound. She rounded the countertop.

  Missy lay on her side on the vinyl floor. Blood matted her hair and ran down the side of her face.

  Josie stifled a gasp. Holding the baby with one hand, she knelt and touched her aunt’s cheek. “Missy?”

  She didn’t move.

  Josie moved shaking fingers over her jaw and to the soft tissue of her throat. Her skin was warm. The tick of a pulse tapped Josie’s fingertips.

  She fumbled in her bag for her cell phone. Hand shaking, she flipped the phone open with one hand, punched in 911 and prayed.

  THE HOSPITAL SMELLS and sounds beat at him like an ambulance’s pulsing siren. If he let them, they would take him back to the dark days and weeks he’d spent in Dallas hospitals, days when he felt like he was drowning in guilt and worry, the days before his mother’s death. But even though he refused to go there, he couldn’t keep those same feelings from lapping at the back of his mind. Missy Donderfeldt, one of the sweetest people he’d ever known, was in serious condition. And he had to wonder if he was partly to blame.

  “Reed.” A strong feminine voice sounded from behind him.

  He turned to face Josie Dionne. Eyes red and makeup long since cried off, she cradled Troy against her chest, the baby fast asleep. He hadn’t seen her since she’d accompanied Missy while he’d stayed at the boat to talk to police. She’d insisted on taking the baby with her, clutching him as if she’d needed to hold something while the paramedics worked on her aunt. Now she stood ramrod straight, a determined press to her jaw.

  “How’s Missy doing?” he asked.

  “They say she’s stable. But she hasn’t regained consciousness. My mom is with her now.”

  Was that where the determination came from? Holding it together for her family? A woman set on handling whatever came at her and taking care of others to boot. She struck him as that type. Not that he’d known many.

  “Did you just get here?”

  He nodded. “It took a while.”

  “Did the police find anything?”

  Good question. He’d been with them for hours, and he still couldn’t answer. “If they did, they didn’t share it with me.” He wished Josie could have stayed at the boat. Missy had told him she used to be a cop. They might have been more open with her, told her something. Not that he would have traded places with her at the hospital. Not for damn sure.

  “They told you nothing?”

  “All they would give me is some line about a burglar in the area.”

  Her eyebrows arched upward. “A burglar who steals babies?”

  “Maybe you can talk to them.”

  “I did.”

  “They didn’t tell you anything? Missy said you were once a police officer.”

  “I was, but no. I don’t think they have much to tell. And I didn’t help. A weak description. That’s about all I could give them.”

  He knew the feeling. Everything had happened so fast, he was still trying to sort it out in his mind. But he had a few ideas. “So they sent someone to talk to you already?”

  An orderly wheeled a patient past them. A nurse scurried down the hall in the opposite direction, the rubber soles of her shoes squeaking lightly on the waxed floor.

  Reed waited until the nurse passed. He wasn’t one given to paranoia, but he didn’t want anyone overhearing their business. After the attack, he felt more vulnerable than he had since he was a kid. But this was different. Worse in a way, because he not only needed to protect himself, but Troy and Josie and Missy, as well. Scratch that. He’d already failed Missy. “Is there a waiting room or somewhere we can go and talk about this?”

  “Sure, but the waiting room is pretty full.”

  “Somewhere else?”

  She motioned for him to follow. Reaching an exit sign, she pushed open the door beneath and led him into the stairwell. The door thunked closed behind them. “You know something, don’t you? Who was that man? What did he want?” She stared at him as if waiting for him to explain everything.

  He blew out a heavy breath. “I don’t know.”

  “Why would he want a baby?”

  “Maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he wants Honey, and the baby is just a way to get to her.”

  “You told the police that?”

  “Yes. Although I don’t think I did a good job of convincing them. They didn’t even seem to take the note all that seriously.”

  “The note?”

  He’d forgotten. He’d never told Josie about the note. After she’d turned down the case, he’d no longer had a reason. “Honey left a note tucked in the baby’s seat.”

  She stepped toward him and stuck out her free hand. “Can I see it?”

  “I gave it to the police.”

  “What did it say?”

  “‘Please hide and protect my baby.’”

  She gave a sullen nod, as if absorbing the words. “That’s all?”

  “Yes. She didn’t even sign it, although I know her writing.”

  “What did Brian think?”

  “Brian?”

  “The P.I. I referred you to.”

  “Damn.” He glanced at his watch. “I should have met with him an hour ago.”

  “So you haven’t hired him?”

  “No.”

  “Good. I want to take the case. That is, if you still want me. I’ll even throw in babysitting.”

  Her turnaround didn’t really surprise him. Apparently there was more to that determined set to her jaw than being strong for the family. Josie was ready for a fight. “You’ve got a deal.”

  “You’re not going to ask why I changed my mind?”

  The answer seemed more than obvious to him. “Your aunt was attacked. You want to find out who did it. If he is really after Honey, finding her means finding answers.”

  She nodded, although the way she averted her eyes suggested there might be more she wasn’t saying. “And you’re okay with that?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? I want to find out who hurt Missy, too. If it wasn’t for me, she never would have been in my boat with the baby. I feel responsible.”

  Her gaze flicked to him, then away.

  That was it. That look. The way she averted her eyes. “You feel responsible, too. Why?”

  She shook her head. “Not responsible. Not really. Just…guilty.”

  “Why would you feel guilty?”

  She shook her head again. “I was angry with her. That’s all. I went with you to give her a piece of my mind. And now…” She looked down at the floor and patted the baby’s back, as if Troy was the one who needed comforting.

  “She’ll be okay. She will.” Reed touched the sleeve of her jacket. A soft touch, no more than a brush of the fingertips, but he meant it with every cell in his body.

  Josie raised her eyes to his. “She has to be.”

  He couldn’t agree more. He’d let too many people down in his life. He couldn’t let Missy down, too. “And between the police and us, we’ll find this guy. Before he hurts anyone else.”

  She cupped her chin toward the fat little cheek resting on her shoulder. “I sure hope so.”

  JOSIE DIDN’T EXPECT many favors from her little brother. She never had. But she’
d expected more than this. “I just need you to tell me if—”

  “You know better than to ask me questions like that.” The reproach in his voice hurt more than a sharp slap.

  “Normally I wouldn’t. But this is urgent.”

  “As urgent as me keeping my job?”

  Josie shifted on the edge of the bed. After all she’d done for him. She let out a sigh. Chuckie wouldn’t even have that job if not for her urging. She’d supported him and prodded him in everything he’d ever done, and this was the thanks she got. Him acting as if she were trying to screw him over. She should have known when he didn’t show up for the party celebrating the opening of her own detective agency that he didn’t feel obligated to return any favors she’d done him. She shook her head at her own drama. Chuckie didn’t have a problem with her quitting the force or hanging out her shingle as a P.I. It was the reason she’d done it he didn’t agree with.

  Maybe she should have gone to see him in person. Not at the airport where he worked, but at home where his guard would be down. He certainly would have found it harder to turn her down face-to-face. “I just want to know if she flew on your airline. And when she arrived from Dallas. She’s the mother of a baby. She’s missing.”

  “If she’s missing, call the police.”

  “I’ve already talked to the police. You know they don’t have the manpower to track down a woman who has only been gone a few hours.” According to Reed, it was questionable whether they even saw a connection to the man who’d hurt Missy. “She’s in trouble.”

  “Better than me being in trouble.”

  “There’s more.”

  “I’m hanging up now.”

  “I think this is connected with the attack on Missy.”

  “What?”

  “The guy who hurt her. He was after Honey Dawson’s baby. Or maybe Honey Dawson herself.”

  “Call the police, Josie. If they get a warrant for the information, then I can give it to them.”

  “They don’t—”

  “Them. Not you. If you wanted that power, you should have stayed a cop. I have to go.” The line went dead.

  Josie stabbed the Off button on the cordless phone. So much for connections and shortcuts. Her brother hadn’t forgiven her for quitting the force. He didn’t understand that she wanted to be in control of her own life. And he didn’t approve of her reason. Or at least, he thought she was getting the natural order of things mixed up. He thought she should be married before she became a mother.