Maverick Sheriff (8 page)

He groaned. Best to go another round of trying to clear this up. “Normal. Like you fit in around here.”

She looked at him as if he’d sprouted an extra nose or something. Obviously, he’d missed the mark.

“If I fit in, I won’t get the respect I need,” she said, her voice crisp. The clothes might be different, but that ice-queen voice was the same. “I’d be just one of the good ol’ boys.”

“No one would ever suspect you of being a boy,” he grumbled.

However, it was interesting that Jessa thought she had to keep her outsider status to do her job. He might not like the accusations she’d made against him, but he’d never wanted her to feel that she had to build up walls to stay professional.

She stared at him, whispered something he didn’t catch and looked away. “Whatever this feeling is between us, it can’t mean anything.”

That sounded pretty good, but then she gave him one last glance. Or rather she gave that glance to his jeans.

Oh, man.

One-sided personal was bad enough, but two-sided could get them in a mess of trouble. Thankfully, he got a reprieve from putting his foot in his mouth because the GPS announced they had arrived at their destination.

The modest redbrick house was in a subdivision in an equally modest part of town. Definitely not the home of a lucrative baby broker. Of course, it could be a front, so as not to draw attention, and that meant they needed to take precautions. If Peggy had been the one to hire those two men, then she might have even more men and guns inside.

Cooper waited until Colt was parked and out of his truck before he motioned for Jessa to exit.

“Yes, I know,” Jessa said without his prompting. “I stay behind you, and I don’t take any chances.”

But she would take chances. To protect Liam, she’d do anything, and that was why he had to watch her as carefully as he watched Peggy. If he’d thought for one minute that Jessa wouldn’t have followed him for this visit, he would have just demanded that she stay at the ranch.

They walked to the porch, with Jessa between them, and Cooper rang the bell. There was a camera mounted just above the door and it didn’t take long before the woman’s voice poured through the little intercom just beneath the camera.

“May I help you?” she asked.

Both Colt and he flashed their badges. “I’m Sheriff Cooper McKinnon. This is Deputy Colt McKinnon and A.D.A. Jessa Wells. We need to talk to you.”

The door instantly opened, so fast that Cooper nearly reached for his gun, but the woman he came face-to-face with wasn’t armed. She was a tall, attractive blonde in her mid-to late thirties, and there was little chance she could be carrying concealed in the gauzy white summer dress she was wearing. It fit her like a glove.

The woman’s attention snapped right to Jessa. “Jessa Wells?” Peggy asked, her breath already revved up. “Did something else happen to the little boy you adopted?”

Well, at least Peggy wasn’t going to claim that she knew nothing about the reason for their visit, and she certainly wasn’t acting like a woman with anything to hide.

Of course, she could just be a really good liar.

Jessa nodded in response to Peggy’s question. “Someone tried to kidnap him yesterday.”

“Oh, God.” And Peggy just kept repeating it while she motioned for them to come inside.

They went in, Cooper’s gaze firing all around to make sure they weren’t about to be ambushed. At first he thought he heard someone talking, but he realized it was music. Peggy apparently liked country music and white furniture. In fact, the whole place was pretty sterile looking. Nothing, however, to indicate she was making big bucks with illegal adoptions.

“Sit down, please,” Peggy said. “Could I get you a drink or something?” Again, her focus was on Jessa.

“No, thank you. We’re just here to find out about the man who attempted to take my son.” Jessa glanced at Cooper, silently asking how much she should say. He didn’t want all the details spilled about the DNA test, not yet anyway, so he took things from there.

“Two men wearing masks showed up at the hospital,” Cooper explained, and he looked for any sign of guilt or recognition in her eyes. “One was killed. The other is Vernon Graham. He was injured, but he was able to talk today.” He paused, kept watching Peggy’s face. “And he claims you hired him to kidnap Liam.”

Well, he got a reaction, but it wasn’t one of guilt. Peggy’s breath burst out, and she got to her feet. She pressed her hands against the sides of her head. “This can’t be happening. It just can’t be.”

Cooper stood, positioning himself in front of Jessa just in case Peggy panicked and tried to run. But she didn’t appear to be on the verge of doing anything but breaking down into tears.

And yeah, they came.

The tears started to streak down her cheeks. They were sort of convincing for an innocent woman, except guilty people cried crocodile tears all the time.

“You know Vernon Graham?” Cooper asked.

“No, of course not.” She leaned forward, catching Jessa’s hand. “I really just want to help people. Women like you. I have a large circle of friends, and when I hear of someone who’s chosen to given up her baby, then I look for the right family for the child.”

“You’re a baby broker,” Cooper concluded. “You get paid to do what you do.”

Peggy’s mouth tightened a little. “Yes, I get paid. Not as much as you’d think, and I’m not a broker. I think of myself more as a matchmaker. I find the perfect fit for babies.”

“Admirable,” he mumbled, and he hoped he didn’t sound too sarcastic. It was hard to give the woman an inch of leeway when she’d been named a felony suspect. Of course, she’d been named that by yet another felon. “So why did Graham say you’d hired him to kidnap Liam?”

She instantly shook her head, her blond curls swinging around her face. “I don’t know. But something suspicious is going on. I’m almost certain that someone’s been following me, and then three days ago, I got a visit from a P.I.”

Jessa and he exchanged glances. The timing was certainly suspect because that was the day of Jessa’s car accident. Also the day that Cooper had requested a DNA test on Liam. He’d made waves to get the court order for that test, and in doing so, he could have stirred up some trouble from someone who didn’t want trouble stirred.

Cooper snagged Peggy’s gaze so he could watch her reaction to his question. “What makes you think someone’s following you?”

“Just a feeling I keep getting. Like I’m being watched.”

Cooper didn’t discount it. Gut feelings had saved him more than a time or two, but he didn’t like the gut feeling he was getting about Peggy, either.

“What P.I.?” Jessa asked the woman.

More head shaking from Peggy. “I can’t remember his name. He only spoke to me for a minute or two. Said he was representing a client who was considering adoption. All he wanted to know was how I handled my paperwork for the adoptions. I told him there was no paperwork, that it was all done by word of mouth. I’ve been doing this for years, but that’s the first time I’ve had a visit from a P.I.”

“And he didn’t say anything specifically about Liam?” Jessa pressed.

“No. He didn’t ask about any of the babies that I’ve helped place, and there have been dozens of them.” Peggy paused. “Do you think this man was working for the kidnappers?”

“Possibly,” Cooper answered. “And that’s why we need his name.”

“I have his card somewhere around here.” She stood and went to a rolltop desk in the corner. When she lifted the top, Cooper saw the stacks of papers and books. Definitely not as sterile and pristine as the rest of the house. Peggy began to dig through the heaps.

He hoped there wasn’t a gun hidden in that mess.

Just in case there was, Cooper moved to the edge of his seat so he could watch Peggy better. “Where’d you get Liam?”

“I didn’t
get
him. That’s not how it works. I simply put Hector Dixon in touch with this friend of a friend who had the baby. The baby wasn’t even her own child. If I remember correctly, she said someone in her family, a teenager, had given birth and couldn’t keep the baby.”

“I need that friend of a friend’s name,” Cooper insisted. “Or have you forgotten it, too?”

For just a moment she got a deer-caught-in-headlights look, but then she nodded. Swallowed hard. “What if the person who hired these kidnappers sends someone to come after me?” Peggy asked.

“Why would he?” Cooper pressed, though if the woman was an innocent pawn in all of this, he knew a good reason why. Peggy could be a dangerous loose end for someone trying to cover up an illegal adoption.

“I can arrange for you to have some protection,” Cooper offered.

Peggy nodded. Stared at him for a moment and continued to dig through the papers. She finally extracted what appeared to be a bill with something jotted on it.

“It’s not the P.I.’s card, but it is the name of the friend of a friend who contacted me about Liam.” Peggy scanned through the notes. “Her name was Carol Sealey.”

Jessa shook her head, no doubt because the name meant nothing to her. But it sure as hell meant something to Cooper. Colt, too. He opened his mouth to say something, but Cooper gave him a stay-quiet look.

Hell.

This had just taken a really bad turn.

“I have another desk in my bedroom,” Peggy said. “I’ll look for the P.I.’s card there.”

Cooper didn’t tell her to stop, and he didn’t go after her. Heck, he wasn’t even sure he could move. He just sat there and waited for the woman to scurry out of the room.

“Who’s Carol Sealey?” Jessa whispered.

“She works as a personal assistant for Donovan Bradley,” Cooper managed to say.

Judging from the way her eyes widened and the hard breath she sucked in, Jessa not only knew who he was. She also knew of Donovan’s connection to him.

Of course she did.

There was still a lot of gossip about Donovan and him, and Jessa would have uncovered it when she was investigating him for those unfounded obstruction-of-justice charges.

“Donovan hates Cooper,” Colt offered.

“He was once engaged to your late wife,” Jessa added. “And then he was involved with Jewell’s younger sister. Not in a good way, either. I’ve heard there was possibly some physical abuse.”

Yeah, she knew the whole story, all right. What she didn’t know was that in addition to the pain Donovan had inflicted on his aunt, the man had also tried to cause Molly and him as much trouble as possible. Nothing criminal, just the constant flow of malicious rumors and attempts to destroy Molly’s reputation and the day care and preschool that she’d worked so hard to get started.

Jessa made a soft gasp, no doubt coming to the conclusion that Cooper and Colt had already reached. If Donovan’s lackey, Carol Sealey, had some part in the adoption, then it was likely Donovan had, too.

And that would mean Donovan could have stolen Liam.

But how?

Molly had been swept away in the flood. She’d drowned. Cooper had seen her body, and there’d been no signs of foul play. Nothing to indicate that the baby could have survived, either.

But he could have.

No gasp this time. Jessa huffed, got to her feet. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”

Too late. Cooper had already made the jump. “I need the results of that DNA test.” And he took out his phone.

“Please, no,” Jessa whispered.

Cooper looked up at her, bracing himself for her to try to stop him from making the call. But her words seemed to be a prayer. No doubt praying that Liam’s DNA didn’t match his. But now that Donovan’s employee was the one who’d arranged for Liam’s adoption, it was the only thing that made sense.

Unless Peggy was lying.

Since Jessa had heard the stories about Donovan, Molly and him, it wasn’t much of a stretch that Peggy could have heard them, too.

Cursing, Cooper jumped off the sofa, and drawing his gun, he hurried down the hall where he’d last seen Peggy. There were three rooms off the hall. Two doors were open. The other closed. That was where Cooper headed.

“Peggy?” he called out.

No answer.

Gun first, Cooper stepped into the doorway, his gaze slashing from one side to the other. Movement caught his eye, and he took aim. However, it was only the wind stirring the white curtains in the window that was wide-open.

Peggy was gone.

Chapter Seven

Jessa’s mind was running wild, and it was hard to tamp down the bad thoughts when there were so many of them. She hadn’t wanted any of the danger to be connected to the adoption, but with every turn, they kept coming back to it. And now someone who could have given them answers was missing.

Where the heck was Peggy?

Jessa couldn’t hear the phone conversation that Cooper was having with Tucker, but judging from his body language, the search for Peggy wasn’t going well. He was pacing the sunroom that stretched across the back of the McKinnon house. He was barking out orders, too, but so far none of the orders or the search had turned up anything. It was as if the woman had vanished.

“It’s amazing how fast babies heal,” Rosalie said as she changed Liam’s bandage. She finished up, gave him a kiss on the cheek and stood from the wicker chair where she’d been seated.

Jessa thanked her, something she’d been doing a lot lately. She thanked her mother, too, and glanced at Liam to make sure he was okay. He was. He was totally engrossed in the book Linda was reading to him.

“I can watch Liam,” Rosalie offered, “if you and your mom want to take a nap. You both look exhausted.”

Jessa didn’t doubt what Rosalie was saying, but a nap was out of the question for her. No way would she be able to let her body and mind rest with so much up in the air.

“I can’t lose him,” Jessa mumbled. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out, but she was doing it a lot lately.

Rosalie nodded, and she gave Jessa’s arm a pat. It was more than just sympathy coming from the woman. From what Jessa had heard, Rosalie’s newborn daughter had been kidnapped, never to be seen again. Rosalie knew what it was like to lose a child. Cooper did, too.

And it was something Jessa never wanted to experience.

“I’ve been investigating missing children,” Rosalie said. “I’ve made plenty of contacts. I could ask around and see if anyone knows something about the circumstances surrounding Liam’s adoption.”