The Baby Scheme

by Jacqueline Diamond

“Good.” Alli hoped the man’s other victims would resist, too.

  After they finished, Kevin leaned forward, the covers falling around his waist. “What’s going on?”

  She explained the situation. “I’m trying to remember Dale’s and Bruce’s last names.” Slowly, they surfaced from the far reaches of her subconscious. “It’s Dale Fox. And Bruce…Merckle. The mayor’s bodyguards. It doesn’t sound anything like Klaus LeMott or Randolph Graybar, either.” She felt disappointed. “I guess we can rule them out, unless one of them conned a woman into thinking his name is Ardee.”

  “I’ve got a funny feeling about this.” Kevin wrapped his arms around his knees.

  “You’ve figured out who’s behind it?” That would be an amazing break.”

  “Just a suspicion.” He shook his head. “It’s too far-fetched. I need to think some more.” Flopping back onto the pillow, he closed his eyes.

  “Uh-oh,” Alli said as another consideration hit her.

  His eyes flew open. “Uh-oh what?”

  “That article I sent to the paper. It practically fingers Mayor LeMott. What if we’re wrong?”

  “What if we’re not?” Kevin retorted with maddening logic. “Besides, if the blackmail didn’t originate in Costa Buena, then somehow or other the information had to come from Dr. Graybar’s office, so we weren’t wrong about that.”

  “Anyone might have poked into his files. A member of the cleaning crew, a nurse—who knows?” In the excitement of faking the story and under the pressure of trying to help the parents, she’d shoved aside her doubts. Now they returned full force. “I can’t risk letting the paper run a story when I have evidence it may be totally off base.”

  “You said they wouldn’t run it,” Kevin pointed out. “You said Payne’s uncle is sure to kick it back and make him call the police.”

  Uneasily, she wondered why she’d been so certain of that. “The way they’ve been acting lately, you never know.”

  “And you’re suffering from a guilty conscience,” he said.

  “I guess I am.”

  “Toward Klaus LeMott? His goons have been taking pot-shots at us.”

  “Not them.” In fact, if it weren’t for the shooters, she wouldn’t be sitting here naked in a motel room with a lot of wonderful memories and a splendid view of Kevin’s bare chest.

  However, stretching the truth was one thing, but shattering it into tiny pieces was another. She had too much pride. And, for her friends’ sakes, she didn’t want to contribute to the Outlook’s self-destruction.

  “After what Rita said, I’m less and less sure the blackmailer is connected to the mayor,” she admitted. “Since our goal was to scare him off, the story won’t serve any purpose and it might hurt the paper.”

  He didn’t argue further. “What are you going to do about the situation?”

  “Fess up,” Alli responded.

  “You’re going to call the paper and admit what you did?” Kevin regarded her dubiously.

  “It’s not as if I have anything to lose. They already fired me.” Of course, an admission of wrongdoing might hurt when she needed to get a recommendation for her next job. Still, at least if the editors believed her, they’d also have to believe that Payne was stealing her stuff. “I’ve got to try.”

  “Be my guest.” Lying back, Kevin closed his eyes again. Contemplating the mystery of Ardee, she supposed.

  Alli dialed the newsroom number. One of the copy editors answered. When she gave her name, he said a friendly hello and transferred her to Ned.

  “What is it, Gardner?” the editor asked.

  “Did Payne turn in a story about a blackmail scheme?” She purposely left the type of scheme vague in case her laptop hadn’t transmitted the story after all. No point in giving away her investigation unnecessarily.

  “How did you hear about that?”

  So the scheme had worked. “I wrote it. He stole it out of my computer,” she said. “Listen—”

  “I’ve had enough of your games,” Ned snapped. “One of your buddies is spying for you, isn’t he? That must be how you learned about the story.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake!” she burst out. “I’m trying to do you a favor. It’s a dummy story. I’ve found new evidence that indicates LeMott has nothing to do with the extortion. I’m calling to ask you to drop the whole thing until you can check it out thoroughly.”

  “You mean, until you can take it to another paper?” he retorted. “Get this through your head—You’re out, Payne is in, and you should learn to live with that.” He slammed down the receiver.

  Ned had gone over the edge, Alli thought. He’d committed so completely to the support of his nephew that he’d become irrational. Her attempt to help had succeeded only in stimulating his protective instincts.

  “Unbelievable,” she said.

  “He’s not buying it?”

  “He accused me of spying on Payne. How do you like that?”

  “I guess this means there’s no chance of stopping the article.” Kevin didn’t sound terribly unhappy about it.

  She hated to see the paper make such a huge mistake. Such a massive screwup could harm everyone’s reputation, and it provided a disservice to readers as well. “I wonder if I could find J.J.’s number at home. I ought to alert him.”

  “Alli!”

  “They can’t do this!” she complained.

  “And you seriously think you can stop them, short of planting a bomb in the printing presses?” he said. “Give it up.”

  Her fighting nature pushed her to carry on the fight, but she knew already she would lose. J.J. would listen to Ned, not her.

  Maybe once Ned calmed down, he’d see the need for caution. He’d always been a stickler for doing things right. She had trouble believing his blind spot for Payne had grown that large.

  “I’ll bet he’ll cut the story to a few paragraphs mentioning only the blackmail angle,” she said. “They can leave the rest for a follow-up. Maybe they’ll be satisfied with knowing they’ve scooped the competition.”

  “They’ll also have scooped you in your own investigation, and with your help,” Kevin reminded her.

  “Did you have to mention that?”

  “I don’t feel as charitably toward that paper as you do,” he returned. “I hope they make fools of themselves.”

  He seemed to take the subject personally, even though it didn’t affect him or his case. “You resent the way they treated me?”

  “You bet I do.” He patted the bed beside him. “Since there’s nothing more you can do about it, why don’t you come here and get some sleep.”

  She considered asking whether sleep was really what he had in mind, and decided against it. Her mood right now was anything but romantic. “What about this Ardee business?” she asked. “Did you have any further thoughts about who the blackmailer might be?”

  “I’ll tell you in the morning,” he said. “I want my subconscious to work on it during the night. It may be nothing.”

  “But you know somebody named Ardee?” Alli persisted.

  “Not exactly.”

  “Stop being so vague!” she ordered. “I want the truth!”

  He chuckled at her vehemence. “So do I. Still, I can’t say anything until I mull it over.”

  Dissatisfied, she curled up and let him cover her. The bed dipped as he lay down alongside.

  Alli tried to relax, but she kept expecting Kevin to explain, or for the phone to ring again. It might be Ned demanding more information and offering an apology. Or Rita, telling her that the blackmailer had provided details about where to leave the money.

  When the phone finally rang, however, it was J. Edgar Hoover. While he was explaining where to find Jimmy Hoffa’s body, she figured out that she must be dreaming.

  EARLY-MORNING LIGHT filtered through the thin curtains, revealing what the darkness had hidden last night: a spiderweb in one corner of the room and a burned patch on the carpet. There were probably plenty more flaws as well. Howev
er, Alli didn’t bother to look for them.

  Kevin slept beside her in a tangle of sheets. It took a great deal of control not to run her hand across his exposed skin, but she decided to let him sleep.

  She was tempted to turn on the laptop and access the newspaper’s Web site to see if the story had run. However, she was leery of the thing while that bug remained in place. Besides, the beeps and hums would wake her companion.

  After ducking into the bathroom, she took a quick shower and dressed, leaving her hair to dry naturally. When she emerged, since Kevin hadn’t moved, Alli pocketed the key and went out quietly.

  She’d seen a newspaper stand in front of the motel last night. Heading there, she noted the rumble of traffic from the nearby freeway, so steady it turned into white noise.

  A few doors down, a family was piling into a station wagon bearing Arizona license plates. She guessed they’d be heading to either Disneyland or the beach.

  When she reached the newspaper vending case, a headline leaped out from atop the stack of papers: Mayor Linked to Adoption Scheme?

  Alli’s heart sank. Ned had not only run the thing, he’d played up the most incendiary, and probably erroneous, angle. The use of a question mark didn’t compensate.

  As she’d expected, Payne’s byline appeared prominently, along with a thumbnail photo of him. His uncle had gone all out.

  Anger washed away her dismay. True, she’d set up this debacle, but for heaven’s sake, she’d warned Ned!

  After digging coins from her wallet, Alli extracted a copy.

  They’d run her story almost word for word, she saw as she read. The only addition was a puny quote from last night’s watch commander suggesting that the paper call the detective bureau in the morning. That wasn’t confirmation, it was a brush-off.

  “This thing has red flags all over it,” she muttered to no one in particular. “The cops must be furious.” Not to mention LeMott.

  He already believed Alli was still working for the newspaper. He’d probably blame her for this piece, too, despite the fact that her name wasn’t on it. And, in a way, he’d be right. Worse yet, whoever Ardee was, he’d believe the police were targeting the mayor and that he had a clear field.

  The hum of an engine accelerated toward the motel along the street. Despite the other traffic, the sound caughtAlli’s attention.

  She should have been paying heed to her surroundings, she realized with a jolt, and looked up.

  A gray van barreled toward her along the road. In a few seconds, it would arrive directly in front of the motel, separated from her only by the width of a driveway and a landscaped buffer.

  And she was standing here with not one shred of cover.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Inside the parking lot, the station wagon full of kids and parents turned a corner, right into harm’s way. Waving frantically, Alli shouted, “Go back!”

  The sharp report of a gun made her dodge. As the station wagon halted, she gazed wildly around for cover, then took off running toward the side of the building. The tourists sat gaping, obviously confused. She hoped no one had been hurt.

  Two more shots rang out before the van gunned its engine and lurched forward. Alli turned in time to see it heading into traffic. Escaping again, she thought in disgust.

  Unexpectedly, a black-and-white police cruiser emerged from a side street directly in the vehicle’s path. With a bang and the crunch of breaking glass, the van smashed into it, inflating air bags and sending both vehicles into a skid. Across four lanes of traffic, cars screeched and swerved to miss them.

  The front window of the station wagon rolled down. “What was that?” asked the woman.

  Alli pointed at the van. “They fired at us.”

  “Wow!” cried one of the kids. “Can we get out and see?”

  “Absolutely not!” roared the father. The kids chorused their displeasure, but at least no one appeared harmed.

  From the cruiser, two officers emerged with guns drawn. Dale and Bruce stumbled out of the van with hands in the air.

  Bruce, the one with the wiry orange hair, had a grating voice that carried quite a distance. “We weren’t doing nothing,” he whined at the policemen.

  “She’s the one you ought to lock up.” A furious Dale pointed toward Alli. “Did you see the lies she wrote in the paper about our boss?”

  “Dale, shut up,” Bruce said.

  Onlookers gathered as the officers disarmed and handcuffed the men. Toward Alli along the sidewalk loped Kevin, his shirt untucked and his feet sockless inside his shoes. “I thought I heard shots. Are you all right?”

  “I—think so.” She indicated the tableau on the street. “They nearly shot me.”

  Violent shivers overtook her. If Kevin hadn’t gathered her in his arms, she didn’t know what she would have done.

  KEVIN PREFERRED not to leave Alli alone while she was upset. Although the officers shouldn’t have left two witnesses in proximity, where they could possibly contaminate each other’s testimony, he drove Alli to the police station. In all the confusion, no one seemed to notice.

  As they waited to be interviewed, a cup of coffee helped restore her equilibrium. She calmed down a little when he reminded her that Dale and Bruce were finally behind bars.

  The scene in front of the motel wouldn’t be cleared for hours, he knew, as crime-scene investigators searched for the bullets and police contacted as many witnesses as possible. Drive-by shootings were a rare event in Serene Beach, and this one had endangered bystanders as well as the intended target.

  Target. That meant Alli. Lovable, crazy, incredibly sexy Alli. She had walked into the path of those bullets and he’d done nothing to prevent it.

  When she left the motel room, Kevin had heard the door close behind her. However, he’d been too sleep-dazed to respond. Why hadn’t he remembered that the van might be lurking? Why hadn’t he stopped her?

  A man ought to protect the woman he cared about. Not because he was a former cop or because he had outdated notions about women being helpless, but because he’d rather risk his life than see her get hurt.

  Kevin knew better than to mention that idea, since Alli had made it clear last night that she didn’t want to be crowded. He confined himself to supportive words and trips to the coffee machine.

  Finally, someone led them each to a separate interview room. Although he’d missed the actual shooting, Kevin related to the investigator how the van had been hunting them and why.

  Since his client had given permission, he filled in the blanks about the blackmail scheme. By the time he finished, several detectives had entered the room, including his replacement as bureau lieutenant, an old friend named Brad Zucker.

  “So tell me,” Brad said, “does this reporter friend of yours have anything to do with the story in the Outlook this morning?”

  Having read the front section while waiting to be questioned, Kevin knew the whole sorry mess had made it into print. “She called and begged the paper not to run it,” he said. “You can’t blame her for that garbled nonsense. Were you aware of the blackmail, by the way?”

  “I can’t comment on an ongoing investigation,” Brad replied, which meant yes.

  There was one point Kevin hadn’t mentioned in front of the other investigators. “Can I talk to you alone?” he asked.

  The officers glanced at the lieutenant questioningly. He nodded. “Sure. Guys?” They scraped back their chairs.

  “Not in here.” The room could be observed from outside, and Kevin had reasons for keeping his comments private.

  “My office okay?” Brad inquired. “I guess I won’t need to show you where it is.”

  “I vaguely remember.” They were both kidding, since it used to be Kevin’s office.

  As they walked to the detective bureau, the hubbub of the station felt familiar and reassuring. “How’s Alli doing?” he asked.

  “Still going over the facts,” Brad said. “Those reporters can be pretty observant.”

 
“She’s good at her job,” Kevin told him. “You’d be surprised how easily she persuades people to open up.”

  “I’m not even going to ask how you two hooked up, although I can assure you the rumor mill’s running overtime around here.”

  “Our mutual interests coincided.” Kevin didn’t add any more until they’d settled into the office with the door closed.

  The place hadn’t changed much, except for a bit of extra clutter and a framed photograph on the desk. Although he couldn’t see the people in the picture, he knew they must be Brad’s family.

  “What did you want to tell me?” the lieutenant asked.

  “We learned something new last night about the blackmailer,” he said. “Something I didn’t want to mention in front of anyone else.”

  “Why not?” Brad watched him guardedly.

  “Because it concerns a former member of this department.”

  TO ALLI’S CHAGRIN, she got the shakes a couple of times during her interview. Each time, she calmed down by force of will and continued talking.

  Seeing no point in holding back, she explained about the adoption probe. A phone call to Rita gained permission to use her name as a witness, so Alli passed it along.

  Afterward, she found Kevin waiting for her in the hall, discussing the Angels’ chances in the coming season with Brad Zucker, whom she’d often contacted in the past regarding stories. She decided to go directly to her questions.

  “This blackmail case,” she said, “were you looking into it already?”

  “No comment.” His smile failed to appease her.

  “Hey, we’ve given you a bunch of stuff we’ve dug up ourselves,” Alli said. “The least you can do is tell me what’s going to happen to the parents. They’re scared to death they’ll lose their kids.”

  “I’m not in the business of ripping children away from their families,” he answered. “If Costa Buena wants to demand the babies back, they’ll have to initiate the process on their end. Then it’ll be up to the feds and the courts. As long as the parents aren’t accused of a crime, they don’t fall into my jurisdiction.”

  “This could drag out for years, couldn’t it?” Although she supposed that might come as a relief, it could also prove an expensive legal battle.