Maverick Sheriff (14 page)

Rayanne nodded, waited until Cooper started moving that way and followed along behind him. They inched their way toward the kitchen. No sound of footsteps, which could mean the guy was just lying in wait. If he was hell-bent on kidnapping Liam, then he might want to eliminate any obstacles first.

Cooper stopped when he reached the kitchen and looked around. Still no one. Not even Rosalie and Linda.

Where the heck were they?

He heard some movement in the sunroom, and both Rayanne and he took aim there.

“It’s me,” someone called out. Arlene. Cooper was about to tell her to get down, but she continued before he could say a word. “I think he’s getting away.” Arlene stepped into the doorway. “I heard him moving around in a couple of the rooms. Didn’t want to shoot in case some of the hands were in there.”

“Where’d the intruder go?” Cooper demanded, and he hurried to the family room where Arlene pointed.

“Stay here,” Cooper told Arlene. “Rayanne, find your sister and Linda.”

No one was in the family room, and he opened the door that led to the side yard. No sign of a runner. But he stepped outside, listening for any sound that would give away this idiot’s position.

Nothing.

Cooper didn’t want him in the house or even near it, but he sure as hell didn’t want him getting away, either. He went to the side of the sunroom and looked around the corner.

And he cursed.

The kidnapper wasn’t there, but he’d ditched his rifle and the thermal-imaging equipment, and he’d no doubt done that so he could escape fast. That didn’t mean the guy wasn’t armed, though. He probably had a handgun or two on him.

“Head there!” Cooper shouted out to several of the ranch hands. He pointed toward the pasture nearest the window.

Of course, the intruder had had precious seconds to use another way to escape. Or this could all be a ruse. The guy could be hiding, waiting for Cooper to go in pursuit, and then the bozo could use that opportunity to get back in the house.

“Any sign of him?” Arlene asked. She was in the doorway of the sunroom, her gaze firing all around, but she also had her phone sandwiched against her shoulder.

“Nothing. Where’s Rosalie and Linda?”

“They’re fine. They hid in the pantry.”

Good. He hadn’t wanted the intruder to take them as hostages. Or worse—harm them in some way.

“Who’s on the phone?” Cooper asked Arlene while he kept watch.

She held up her hand in a wait-a-second gesture. “Yeah, I’ll tell him.” Arlene put away her phone and met Cooper’s gaze for a split second. “That was Reed. He ran the license plate I called in. And he got a hit. The Jeep’s registered to one of your suspects. Hector Dixon.”

Chapter Twelve

Jessa prayed she wasn’t making another mistake.

She’d already made so many by not keeping Liam safe, and she might be adding to that lack of safety. Ironic. Since she’d brought him to the Sweetwater Springs sheriff’s office, a place where she shouldn’t have to worry about repeat kidnapping attempts.

But then, she’d have to worry about that no matter where she was.

That was the reason she’d brought Liam with her when Cooper had said he was going to his office to question the suspects. She wanted a chance to confront Hector and demand that he explain why an armed intruder had used Hector’s vehicle to drive to the ranch.

The front door of the office opened, and Jessa snapped in that direction, her body bracing itself for another attack. But it was only Tucker.

“Just checking on things,” Tucker said. “Thought you might like an extra hand.” And he slid his hand over the gun in his holster.

Jessa was glad for the extra protection, even if it was Cooper’s family.

“Don’t worry,” Cooper said to her. “Hector will be here soon.”

Yes. Colt had called and insisted that he come in. Hector would be questioned, along with Donovan, who’d also been ordered back in for another round. There’d been no sign of Peggy, or they would have had all their suspects under the same roof.

That only made her stomach churn more.

Because Liam would be under that roof right along with them. Her mother and Rosalie had Liam in Cooper’s office at the back of the building, and Jessa didn’t think a hired gun would be stupid enough to come to the sheriff’s office. But then, she’d thought the ranch was safe, too.

Cooper had already told her that she would be able to observe the interviews from the two-way mirror off the interview room. Jessa was past the observation stage. She wanted to question both of them, but Cooper hadn’t budged on it. With reason. If either man said something that could lead to their arrest, Cooper didn’t want that compromised by her being part of the interview.

Or maybe he was just worried she’d fly off the handle.

Jessa couldn’t deny that it was a strong possibility.

Cooper got a paper cup of water from the cooler and handed it to her. “You could wait in my office with Liam,” he reminded her—again.

“I want to see Hector when he walks through that door,” she reminded him right back.

A heavy sigh left his mouth. “You’ve had a lot hit you today—”

“So have you.” And he knew exactly what she meant. More than the attack, more than the hunt for the person responsible. They were both dealing with the results of the DNA test.

“I’ll want the paternity test repeated, of course,” she said, but her voice broke. The emotion flooded through her. She hadn’t cried since the attack. Hadn’t come close to falling apart. But Jessa felt as if that might happen now.

Cooper took hold of her arm as if he expected her to crumple into a heap. Probably because she looked on the verge of it. He led her out of the main squad room, past his office and to the break room.

“I’ll have the test repeated,” he assured her. “Do you really think I’d lie to you about something like that?”

No. But that was what tore at her even more. He wouldn’t lie, and that meant somehow she had to deal with a truth she wasn’t sure she could face.

“I can’t lose Liam.” She’d been saying that a lot lately. Not just to Cooper but to herself. “And I’m not sure I can put this on the back burner while we try to catch this kidnapper.”

Another sigh, and Cooper pulled her into his arms. She didn’t want this. Okay, she did. But she didn’t want to want it. She didn’t want to want
him.

“You can go ahead and cry if you think it’ll help,” he offered.

Just the offer was enough to make her want to choke back tears. She wasn’t a crier by nature, and she’d been doing too much of it lately. Jessa stepped back from him. Not easily, though. Part of her wanted to stay in Cooper’s arms and let him help her through this, but she knew that Cooper, and her reaction to him, was a huge part of the problem.

“We need to get answers from our suspects,” she reminded him. Reminded herself, too. “Because everything points to someone trying to cover up an illegal adoption.”

“Yeah,” he said. “There are some open cases on missing babies. Our situation might be connected to those.”

Jessa thought about that a moment and didn’t like any of the conclusions she reached. Judging from the way Cooper’s forehead bunched up, neither did he. It was especially troubling that his wife could have been murdered so that someone—a monster—could take Liam.

There was a knock at the door just a split second before it opened. It was Colt. Even though Jessa was no longer in Cooper’s arms, she stepped back farther to put more distance between them. That only made Colt give his brother a suspicious glance. She figured Colt wasn’t stupid, and he could see the attraction between Cooper and her.

“I got the financials and background checks on Hector and Peggy,” Colt said, handing Cooper a half-inch-thick file. “There’s plenty to read in them, but some highlights—there are some suspicious deposits in Peggy’s account. By suspicious, I mean two or three times a month, she makes cash deposits of anywhere from five to ten grand.”

“Money she’s getting from being a baby broker,” Cooper supplied. “Do the deposits line up with the dates of the adoptions?”

“Hard to tell. Those records she left Jessa are a mess, and we’re still trying to untangle them.” He paused. “Our FBI
stepbrother
offered to help.”

Cooper pulled back his shoulders. For a second, anyway. “Let him help. If he thinks he can make sense of it, let him try.”

“He’s not doing this for us,” Colt reminded him. “But because he wants to help Rosalie find her missing daughter.”

Cooper nodded. “I don’t care why he’s doing it. We just need to get to the truth.” He thumbed through the file, and she saw something highlighted that had caught Cooper’s attention.

“Two days ago Hector made a payment to Vernon Graham,” Jessa said, moving closer so she could get a better look.

“Well, Hector didn’t make the payment directly,” Colt explained. “It came out of his business expenses. His assistant actually signed the check.”

The amount was only a hundred dollars. Not exactly enough for a hired gun. Still, it was a direct connection between Hector and Graham.

Or was it?

Her attention landed on another highlight on the next page. A payment that Peggy had made to Graham for the same amount—a hundred dollars, and the check had been made out on the same day as Hector’s payment.

Cooper shook his head. “This is starting to look like a setup.”

“I agree,” Colt said, “But it could be a reverse psychology. If all our suspects look guilty, then we don’t know which one to arrest.”

“Yeah.” Cooper looked up from the papers. “Make that call to Seth and ask for his help.”

Colt hesitantly nodded and turned, no doubt ready to make what Cooper would see as an unholy alliance with their stepbrother. However, he stopped when the front door opened.

“I’ll call Seth in a few minutes. Right now, it’s showtime,” Colt said. “Hector Dixon’s here.”

Even though Cooper tried to stay ahead of her, Jessa didn’t let him. She hurried past Colt and practically ran to the reception area. And Hector was indeed there.

His gaze narrowed immediately when he saw her. “This is your doing—again. I’m fed up with you and the sheriff accusing me of wrongdoing.”

“Someone tried to kidnap Liam again,” Jessa settled for saying, though she wanted to say plenty more to him. Actually, she wanted to make him tell her the truth, and it sickened her a little that she was ready to use force to do that.

Her news softened Hector’s glare, but she couldn’t be sure if his reaction was because he genuinely felt sorry for her or because he was faking it to take suspicion off himself.

“This way,” Cooper insisted, tipping his head to one of the interview rooms. He picked up a laptop, some files, and led Hector inside. Once there, Cooper met his brother’s gaze, and Tucker took Jessa into the observation room so she could watch.

“I know about the DNA test,” Tucker said the moment his brother was out of earshot. “I talked to Doc Howland about it to make sure there was no chance it was wrong. He’s positive that Liam is indeed Cooper’s son.”

Oh, God. If the doctor had talked to Tucker about it, that meant soon it could be all over town. Everyone would know, and all those people would be telling Cooper how happy they were for him. His family would no doubt be pressing for him to claim Liam and kick her out of the picture.

“The doc was worried about Cooper,” Tucker went on. “About you, too. And he wanted me to make sure you were both okay.”

“We’re not okay,” Jessa said under her breath.

Tucker just stared at her. No sympathy. No assurance that all would be well.

He looked a lot like Cooper. Same gray eyes. Same dark hair. But Jessa knew Tucker had a reputation for being a ladies’ man. And a reputation for bending the law. He would do anything it took to make sure she didn’t stand in the way of Cooper getting his son back.

“Cooper nearly died when he lost them,” Tucker continued. He didn’t look at her now. Instead, he fastened his gaze to his brother on the other side of the glass. “He won’t go through another ordeal like that.”

But Jessa certainly would, and it broke her heart to think of just how quickly she could lose the child she’d raised. It made her want to snatch up Liam and run. Anywhere. Anyplace where Cooper couldn’t claim him. However, she could be running straight into the arms of a kidnapper.

Or worse.

It’d occurred to her that the person trying to cover up the kidnapping might be willing to do anything to make sure Liam couldn’t be linked back to him.

Anything.

Tucker cursed, caught her arm and put her in the only chair in the room. “Are you about to faint?” he snarled.

She must have looked pretty bad for him to think that, and Tucker seemed as uncomfortable playing nursemaid to her as she was to be on the receiving end of it.

“Just breathe,” he grumbled.

She couldn’t do that well, either. But she did watch Cooper, and she prayed he’d get a break in the case to end the danger.

Then she could think of running with Liam.

Cooper took a piece of paper from the file Colt had given him and he slid it Hector’s way. “That’s the registration for your Jeep Cherokee. A man used it to drive to my family’s ranch. He broke in, and I believe he tried to kidnap Liam.”

Hector started shaking his head before Cooper even finished. “I keep that vehicle out at my hunting cabin. Anyone could have borrowed it to set me up for this.”

He hadn’t hesitated on the answer. Maybe because he’d been expecting the question. Still, it seemed risky for Hector’s hired gun to use a vehicle registered to him. But again, Hector could have done that, hoping it would smack of a setup.

Cooper looked through the rest of the papers. “I don’t see a hunting cabin listed in your assets, but there’s one in your sister’s name.”

“It belongs to both of us, but her name is on the deed. We don’t use the place very often. That’s why I wouldn’t have noticed the Jeep was missing.”

“I’ll send the Rangers out to the cabin.” Cooper glanced back in Tucker’s direction, and his brother made the call to get that started. “If the Jeep is there, they’ll process it for any evidence.” Cooper went to the next page. “Do you know Vernon Graham?”