The Sheriff and the Baby (17 page)

“Don’t cry, sweetheart. I don’t know how to deal with weeping women. Screaming babies are fine. But women who cry, particularly when it’s the woman I love…well, it cuts me up.” He dropped a gentle kiss on her lips.

T
HEY SLEPT SPOONED
together. Matt held her against him so snugly, she could feel his heart beating and the evenness of his breathing.

This would be the last night they’d ever spend together and Beth wanted to weep all over again. She lay awake for hours, staring into the darkness, organizing what she had to do the following day.

When Sarah awoke during the night, she slipped out of Matt’s arms and nursed her in the baby’s room. Then she climbed back into bed, where she lay on her side, watching him as he slept. He’d rolled onto his back, the sheet pooled at his waist, and he’d flung one arm across his forehead. She was tempted to stay. So tempted. Never in her life would she be blessed enough to find a love like this again.

Beth was woken by a wet mouth closing over her nipple and came instantly awake. Matt was sitting on the side of the bed. Sarah lay beside her, suckling contentedly.

“I tried to wake you,” he explained, “but you were dead to the world.” He stretched out with Sarah between them and brushed a lock of hair from Beth’s forehead. “She was screaming blue murder in your ear, and you didn’t hear a thing.”

Beth smiled bleakly. Already she could feel herself drawing back from him, erecting an emotional fence as though it could protect her from hurt.

“Sweetheart? What’s wrong?” Matt moved closer.

Beth smiled and turned her head to kiss his hand. “Nothing. I guess I was having a bad dream.” How many more lies would she need to tell before she could get away from here? When would it end—the agony of having to lie so blatantly to the man she loved? When would the heartache of never seeing him again cease?

“It must’ve been a bad dream. You look so sad. Want to talk about it?”

She shook her head and turned her attention to Sarah, making an effort to get her emotions under control, but that only made her teary. She bit down hard on her bottom
lip, collected herself and said, “Could you please get me a glass of water, Matt?”

When he went to do her bidding, she muttered under her breath, “Get a grip on yourself. Otherwise he’s going to get suspicious.”

Sarah was alerted by her mother’s voice and looked up at her, startled.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, for what I’m about to do. But it’s for the best,” she told her daughter, “and one day you’ll know that.”

When Sarah had finished nursing and fallen asleep, Beth brought her to her crib and went to take a shower. She washed her hair, then turned the shower to cold, trying to clear her mind and prepare for the day ahead. She endured the icy prickles for a moment, then flipped off the faucet and stepped out.

Joining Matt in the kitchen, she eyed the poached eggs he’d made for breakfast and felt her stomach revolt.

She watched him eat, barely able to pick at hers. Loathing herself, she knew she’d hurt Matt deeply and throw away her only chance of happiness, but it had to be done.

Beth insisted on clearing up the kitchen while he pressed his uniform. She gazed out to where she’d watched him splitting wood and hugged herself to stop trembling at the thought of their separation. Matt was a wonderful man. Passionate, caring, loving, honorable. Everything a woman could ever want. Was she wise to leave, after all? Couldn’t they both just stay here forever, cocooned in the safety of the cabin? No, that wasn’t possible, no matter how much she wanted it.

He returned a little while later, fully dressed, and she was taken aback by the contrast between her feelings for him now and her apprehension about him when she’d first met him.

How things had changed! In such a short time, Matt had gone from being the enemy to the love of her life.

She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. “My handsome sheriff,” she murmured, snuggling against his chest.

“If this is how you’re going to see me off every morning, I’ll never get to work.” He kissed her deeply and Beth took pleasure in their last moments together.

“Matt, you have to go,” she said, her voice breathless when he finally drew away.

“I know.” He kissed her quickly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. We’ll finish this then.”

Beth stepped out into the winter sunshine. It was a glorious day. The sun reflected off the snow like millions of diamonds sprinkled all over the landscape. Somehow the beauty made her yearn even more for what she and Sarah would be missing.

“You’re so lucky to have grown up in such a special place,” she said and turned to face Matt, wanting, needing, her last sight of him so desperately. Her last moments with him.

Unable to talk, afraid her voice would crack with emotion, she clasped his hand and walked him to his vehicle, the snow crunching underfoot. This would be the final time she made this journey with him. The final time she’d see him, feel his protective warmth. His love.

At his vehicle, she cupped his cheek and said, “Goodbye, Matt.”

Matt pulled her into his arms. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, sweetheart,” he murmured against her mouth, then kissed her.

Beth experienced the deepest pleasure in the feel of his lips, so warm and tender; his arms, so strong and protective; his embrace, so firm and loving.
This is madness,
she
thought.
I’m crazy to be leaving a man like this. A love like this!
She clung to him, savoring their last moments together.

Matt eventually broke their embrace. “Darlin’, if I don’t get going now, I won’t be able to leave.”

She brushed his cheek, loving the feel of his freshly shaved face. “You have work to do. Go.”

He tilted his head and studied her. “If I’d known what a slave driver you could be, I don’t think I’d have proposed to you quite so readily,” he teased. He gave her a melting kiss, then climbed into his truck.

“I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

Beth forced cheerfulness to her voice. “Hurry home.”

She watched him drive away, her heart breaking. She’d tried to put everything she felt for Matt into those last moments with him. All the love she felt for him, her gratitude and her regret for what she was about to do.

When Matt’s vehicle disappeared from view, she walked back into the cabin, figuring out what essentials she needed to pack, her steps heavy with pain.

“H
I
, M
ATT
!” Ben Hansen greeted him as Matt strode in the door. “Glad you could make it today. I’ve gotta confess I wasn’t looking forward to spending time with Mayor Farquar.”

Matt checked through his mail as he walked toward his office. Nothing that couldn’t wait till he’d seen Frank. He asked Ben for an update on the call he’d gotten from Hennessey the previous evening, then phoned a P.I. acquaintance in L.A. Sam Forester promised the utmost discretion and said he’d get back to him as soon as possible. Matt caught up on some paperwork while he waited for Forester to call.

Just over forty-five minutes later, Forester was back
on the line. “I’ve tracked down some dirt on these guys, Matt. Apparently the department’s been suspicious of their activities for some time, even before the death of Marcus Jackson.

“When Jackson’s wife disappeared, alarm bells started ringing. Internal Affairs got involved, but Hennessey heard about it and has been keeping a low profile. At the moment, he and Morgan are looking like model cops, but I don’t think it’d take much to get the department to reopen their investigation. If you could get this woman to make a statement, that would go a long way. Has she got any physical evidence of their corruption?”

Matt hesitated. He didn’t know Forester well enough to trust him with information about the safety-deposit-box key.

When he said he wasn’t aware of any, Forester continued. “There was talk of drugs going missing from busts they worked on. The stuff’s got to be out there somewhere. I just wondered if she’d told you anything about it.”

Matt rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s like I told you, Sam, she didn’t have a clue what her husband was doing until Hennessey and Morgan turned up and threatened her. She disappeared, rather than risk losing her baby.”

“And they claimed she’d gone on the run because she was wanted for questioning in her husband’s death and a string of other felonies. All very convenient for them.” He could hear the sigh in Forester’s voice. “It’ll come down to her word against theirs and, right now, it doesn’t look good that she fled rather than going to the LAPD.”

Matt tried to keep the frustration from his tone. “I explained to you why she couldn’t do that.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Forester’s own frustration with the situation was evident. “Look, I’ll keep digging, and if I turn up anything else, I’ll get back to you. Take care.”

Matt rested his elbows on the desk and rubbed his face. Maybe he should’ve trusted Forester with the information about the key. He’d wait and see what else the P.I. came up with and make his decision then. He was reluctant to reveal all his facts at once—not until he knew Beth was safe and Hennessey and his sidekicks were permanently behind bars.

He smiled with grim satisfaction. Prison wasn’t a nice place for crooked cops.

B
ETH PACKED A SUITCASE
, taking whatever she and Sarah needed and leaving the rest. She took the key from its hiding place and hid it in a bag of disposable diapers, then called Hank.

His number was busy, and when she tried again a few minutes later, it was still busy.

Hating having to call his cousin, Chuck, but needing to get away from the cabin as soon as possible, Beth punched in the number Hank had left for emergencies.

She’d never met Chuck but he seemed cheerful enough when he said, “I’ll be up there as soon as I can, little lady,” he said. “Just makin’ a delivery.”

Beth urged him to hurry, then hung up and cursed herself for not calling Hank the minute Matt had left the cabin. Still, she didn’t expect him back until later this afternoon. There was plenty of time to make her escape and be long gone before Matt returned.

She sat at the kitchen table and carefully composed what to say in her farewell note, put it in an envelope and sealed it. As she placed it on the mantel, tears blurred her vision.
Don’t lose it now. You have too much to do,
she told herself.

She fed and changed Sarah before Chuck arrived to collect them. “There we go, sweetie, all nice and dry,” she said
as she pulled on Sarah’s sleeper and then another, warmer quilted one for traveling. Beth smiled at her daughter, all bundled up, the hood covering her head protectively.

The sound of a vehicle turning into her yard, its tires crunching on the snow outside her front door, set Beth’s heart racing. This was it. She was leaving. She’d never see Matt O’Malley again.

She lifted Sarah into her carrier, fastened the safety harness and carried her to the living room. Placing it on the floor behind the sofa, she walked over to open the door.

Beth’s smile froze as she looked up into Hennessey’s face.

“Expecting someone else?” He grabbed her arm, pushing her backward into the cabin.

Beth made an effort not to lose her balance, determined to be strong, even though every bone in her body felt as though it had turned to water. Oh, Lord! Sarah was right there in her safety seat, behind the sofa! She stood her ground and shook off his hand. Hennessey’s look of surprise at her sudden show of strength empowered her. “What are you doing here?” she asked, astonished that her voice didn’t waver with fear.

“What d’you think, bitch? I’ve come for the key. Now, hand it over.”

Beth was desperate to play for time. If she could stall Hennessey for a while, maybe Chuck would turn up, see what was going on and call for help.

“How did you find me?”

“Easy. Police computers can transmit all kinds of interesting information. Unfortunately I was on vacation and only got back yesterday. When I saw that a sheriff’s office in Spruce Lake had made an inquiry about your driver’s license, it didn’t take long to track down the person who’d done it.”

M
ATT’S MEETING
with the mayor was thankfully short. The tension he’d felt earlier this morning had been somewhat alleviated by Sam Forester’s news about Hennessey and Morgan being under investigation by Internal Affairs. At least it would make things easier for Beth if there was some preexisting suspicion about their activities.

He checked with the dispatcher and, learning there’d been no important calls for him, decided to head back to the cabin. Beth had acted strange this morning and it had been on his mind. He purchased roses at Mrs. Carmichael’s—correction, Mrs. Farquar’s—florist’s shop, wanting to bring Beth a gift from his heart and thinking how good they’d look in their cozy cabin home.

Home
. The word had such a satisfying ring to it. He couldn’t wait to get back to the cabin.

“W
HERE’S THE KEY
?” Hennessey demanded, looming over Beth.

Mute with terror, she refused to cower beneath his hard glare.

Apparently, seeing that he was getting nowhere, Hennessey gripped the front of her jacket. “Where’s the kid, then?”

The evil pulsing from his eyes made Beth’s stomach turn. She was terrified at the thought of what he’d do to Sarah to get her to tell him where the key was.

“N-not here,” she forced through icy lips.

Hennessey swore and pushed her away from him, scanning the small room.

Praying Sarah stayed snug and quiet in her car seat, Beth called on all her latent acting skills and said, “Sh-she died at birth.”

“Liar!” Hennessey lashed out, his big hand striking her
across the face. She stumbled backward, holding her hand to her burning cheek.

“I know for a fact that she’s alive.” His eyes bored into Beth. “I’ve spoken to someone who’s seen her.”

The pain smarting in Beth’s cheek was nothing to the pain that clenched her heart. She closed her eyes so he couldn’t read the fear there as she asked, “Who?”

“Can’t you guess?” Hennessey asked menacingly.

The image formed in Beth’s mind. Matt! Had he betrayed her?
No!
Matt would
never
betray her.

Her mind tumbled with possibilities. Hank? The reward was so large…and he was a greedy man. Why had she trusted him? She didn’t have time to ponder it now. She had to get Hennessey out of the cabin, away from Sarah, before he found her baby.

If she could lure them away from the cabin, Sarah might have a chance of survival. Someone would be coming by soon. If not the cabdriver, then Matt.

Forcing steel into her voice, she said, “The key isn’t here. It’s at the Spruce Lake Bank.” Emboldened by his look of surprise, she told him, “They…they won’t just hand it over to anyone. I’ll have to go with you.”

She moved toward the door, hoping Hennessey would follow, needing to get him out of the cabin and away from Sarah.

He seemed to consider, then nodded at Morgan and started toward her. “This better not be a trick,” he said. “Remember we’ll have our weapons at your back. One false move and you’re dead. If you so much as blink and I don’t like it, you’re dead. Understand?” Beth nodded.

“Let’s go,” he said, shoving Beth ahead of him.

Sarah chose that moment to moan softly in her sleep.

Hennessey froze midstep and spun toward the sound.

Beth’s insides turned to water. “Leave her!” she cried. “She’s got nothing to do with this!”

Ignoring her plea, Hennessey stepped around the end of the sofa. “Well, well, well, what have we here?” He sneered. “Oh, look! It’s a
baby!
” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he lifted Sarah out of her carrier and held her up in the air.

If Beth had been scared before, it was nothing compared to the terror she was feeling now. “Put her down!” she screamed and rushed at Hennessey.

Woken abruptly, Sarah began to wail.

Hennessey paid no attention to the baby’s cries and fixed his gaze on Beth. “You lying bitch!” he spat and dropped Sarah back into her carrier. “You lied about her and you’re lying about the key.”

He backhanded Beth so hard she saw stars. Tears swam in her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

His eyes narrowed. “And you thought that if we’d gone to the bank, you would’ve been able to get away with something there!”

Hennessey reached down to Sarah and held the baby up again, taunting Beth, his eyes shining with cruelty. Then he threw Sarah in the air.

Beth screamed, beseeching him to leave her baby alone as Sarah’s wails turned to screams of fear. Beth fell to her knees at Hennessey’s feet. “Please, please put her down,” she begged, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’ll do anything you want. Just please don’t hurt her!”

“Where’s the key?” Hennessey demanded, making a motion as if he’d throw the baby in the air again. Beth was terrified Sarah’s neck would snap from the force and prayed that the quilted sleeper she wore offered some protection. “Tell me,” he growled, “otherwise, next time, I won’t catch her.”

“Here!” Beth shouted, her voice shrill with terror as she grabbed for the bag containing Sarah’s diapers and scrabbled through it, then sobbed with relief as her hand closed over the safety-deposit key. She held it up to him. “Take it! Just take it and leave us alone! I won’t make any trouble for you, I promise. Please, please put my baby down,” she begged, tears flowing freely. “She hasn’t done anything to you. Punish me—not her.”

Hennessey snatched the key from Beth’s frozen fingers and dumped Sarah unceremoniously onto the sofa.

With a cry of relief, Beth reached for her baby, but Hennessey clutched her hair, hauling her back against him.

“Now you’re going to pay for your lies,” he snarled in her ear. He glanced up at Morgan. “Kill them. Kill them both,” he snapped and released Beth. He tossed the key in the air and caught it as he strolled toward the door, leaving Morgan to dispose of them.

Beth bent down to pick up Sarah and felt Morgan’s gun at her throat. Certain that Morgan had every intention of carrying out the order, she called on every bit of strength she had. She placed her crying baby back on the sofa in order to leave her hands free and to create two targets for Morgan instead of one. Perversely, Sarah stopped crying and looked around the room.

“Yeah, be the hero, Hennessey, why don’t you?” She sneered at his back. “Leave the dirty work to your little henchman.”

Hennessey turned toward her, gave a tiny salute, then continued toward the door.

That hadn’t gone the way she’d hoped. She was hoping one of them would take umbrage at her taunt, particularly Morgan. She was in no doubt as to how long Morgan would live once Hennessey got his hands on the drugs and money.

She glanced at Morgan’s gun. Thankfully it was still pointed at her and not Sarah.
I have to save Sarah.
But how? Everything in her screamed to rush at Morgan, try to wrest his weapon away from him. But she knew that course of action was fruitless. He was so much bigger and stronger; he’d overpower her in a second. The only weapon she had at her disposal was guile.

Morgan moved his pistol, aimed it at Sarah and flipped off the safety.

“No!” Beth shrieked, her voice hoarse with tension and abject fear.

Hennessey halted in the doorway. He turned slowly. “No?” He strode back into the room and stood over her. “I don’t think you’re in any position to call the shots around here.” He gripped Beth’s chin, lifting her face to his.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Morgan’s weapon had come back around to her. Her heart was pounding, her palms sweating, but she made herself ignore her body’s response and raised her chin, shaking off Hennessey’s grip.

“That key will only open the box that contains all the incriminating papers,” she said. “You know the ones, Hennessey? The lists of all the deals you and Marcus did over the years. You should be grateful I didn’t send it to the LAPD. I’m sure they could’ve convicted you on that alone.”

Beth felt her strength return as she watched Hennessey pale at her words. He couldn’t know that she’d been too terrified to send it to the LAPD in case someone else in the department who was also corrupt had gotten hold of it. She turned away from Hennessey, her mind racing.

“Where’s the other key, then?” Hennessey demanded.

“There
is
no key,” she said, her smile triumphant.

Hennessey’s eyes narrowed. “What’re you saying?”

“I’m saying that if you touch one hair on my daughter’s head, then those drugs and that money will rot in that L.A. bank vault forever.”

Hennessey snorted. “Yeah, right!” He scowled at Morgan. “Kill ’em and let’s get out of here. I’ll get hold of the stuff somehow.” He looked back at Beth and said, as he watched her carefully, “She’s lying. I’ll bet the other key’s in the first box.”

Beth crossed her arms and cocked her head on the side. “Jeez, Hennessey, you must think I’m as stupid as you are.” She sneered, playing the bitch, enjoying the look of annoyance on Hennessey’s face.

Enraged, Hennessey drew his weapon and pressed it against her cheek.

Beth detected the tremor in his hand.

Realizing he wasn’t as much in control of the situation as he wanted to be encouraged her, firming her resolve. “Go on,” she urged. “Kill me. But you’ll never get your money.”

Indecision flitted across Hennessey’s features. “What are you doing?” he demanded.

Beth’s eyes narrowed. “You think this is a game, Hennessey?” she almost screamed. “This is no game, you slimy bastard! This is life.
My
life. My
baby’s
life. And I’ve had enough of you toying with it!”

She pushed the weapon away and stuck her face up close to his. Hennessey was too surprised by her action to react.

“You see, I should be thankful to you, Hennessey. You’ve forced me to toughen up over these past few months. I’ve had to be very cunning to keep one step ahead of you. I knew my life depended on you not getting access to that box, so I took precautions.”

Beth wasn’t the least bit fazed by Hennessey’s growl
of frustration. Maybe if she played for time, the cab she’d ordered so long ago would show up. She didn’t suppose Chuck would be able to help much, but at least his presence might even the odds somewhat.

“The other safety-deposit box can only be opened by my thumbprint.”

Hennessey snorted and addressed Morgan. “Cut off her thumbs and then kill them.” He glanced at his watch. “And hurry up about it.”

Beth’s stomach dropped at his words. What a stupid, naive fool she’d been to come up with the thumbprint routine! It had sprung to mind because they’d used it as a security measure on one of the homes she’d designed. Damn!

Morgan disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a meat cleaver.

An idea formed. “Just one little problem with that plan, Hennessey. The thumbprint security system is thermal sensitive. The sensors have to be able to detect body temperature within one degree of ninety-eight point six—otherwise, the whole vault shuts down, with you two clowns locked inside.”

“She’s lying!” Morgan yelled. “I’ve never heard of any such thing!”

Hennessey studied her for several long moments. “Maybe she is and maybe she isn’t. I can’t take that chance. We’ll bring them with us. When we get to the bank, we’ll cut off her thumb. That way, it’ll still be warm enough for me to do what I need to do and get out of there. Then we can dispose of her and the kid.”

No doubt Hennessey intended to drive back to California. It would be too risky to take them on a plane, but if they brought Sarah with them, the baby wouldn’t be safe. A dozen hideous scenarios filled her mind at the fate
that might befall Sarah if Hennessey killed her but not Sarah….

Once he recognized her deception and found the second key in the safety-deposit box, he’d kill her; Beth was in no doubt of that. Unless she could get away from him before they reached L.A., she would die. And when Hennessey realized she’d played him for a fool, it wouldn’t be a quick death, either.

Her only chance now was to escape from Hennessey somewhere between here and L.A. But if she had the added burden of Sarah, she’d never be able to accomplish that.

“Leave my daughter here. Otherwise, the deal’s off.” She snatched the cleaver from Morgan’s grip. Bracing her hand on the stone mantel, she held the cleaver above her thumb. “You leave her or I cut it off right now,” she threatened. “And there’s no way you’re going to be able to heat it back up to the correct temperature again!” The cleaver trembled in her grip.

Hennessey paused as though undecided.

“Leave the kid,” he finally snapped.

Beth released a sigh of relief and dropped the cleaver as Hennessey grasped the back of her hair and dragged her toward the door.

All the fight gone out of her. Beth stumbled as she looked back at Sarah, her tiny arms waving in the air. “Sarah!” she cried, trying to imprint the last image of her beautiful daughter on her mind.

At least they were leaving her precious baby behind. At least she had a chance! Matt would find her when he returned. Sarah would be safe with Matt.