Safeguarding the Surrogate

by Delores Fossen

  Since the house only had one floor, Daniel headed to the hall next, and Kara was able to take in everything in a sweeping glance. All the bedroom doors and the one to her office and the hall bathroom were open. Just as they normally were. That meant Daniel and she would have to go into each room to make sure no one was there.

  Daniel didn’t waste any time doing just that. He went into the first guest room, his gaze shifting from one side of the room to the other. When they went inside, he checked the closet as Kara looked under the bed.

  No one.

  They repeated the process on the next bedroom and got the same results. However, the moment Daniel went through her office door, Kara knew something was wrong. The curtain was fluttering in the night breeze. And she soon saw why. The window was open.

  Daniel didn’t ask if she’d left it that way. Probably because like her, he saw the bits of glass on the floor. Someone had broken the window, slipped a hand through and unlocked it to get inside.

  “Keep watch,” Daniel reminded her, and he took out his phone to text for backup. Kara hadn’t thought anything could rev up her heartbeat even more, but that did it.

  While he waited for a response to his text, he glanced in every corner. The intruder wasn’t here, and that left just one more place in the house. Her bedroom suite. Lots of places to hide in there, too.

  His phone dinged, and Daniel checked the screen. “Barrett’s on the way,” Daniel told her in a whisper. “He’ll be here in a few minutes.”

  Barrett was not only Daniel’s brother, he was also the town sheriff, and his ranch was only a couple of miles from Kara’s place.

  As she’d done in the other rooms, she looked around to see if anything was missing. And there was. Her laptop was gone, and the bottom drawer of her desk was open. The small metal box she kept there was also open, and the money that would have normally been inside was missing.

  “A burglar,” Daniel added, his voice still barely audible. “Someone who knew you wouldn’t be in the house. He could have come in through the window and gone out through the back door.”

  Daniel was right. Why else would the back door be unlocked? Plus, she had put out word that she’d be in the barn tonight. And that made Kara want to kick herself. She’d practically invited someone to break in.

  With Kara right behind him, Daniel went out of the office, back into the hall and headed for her bedroom. Her first thought was her jewelry box that would be sitting right on the dresser. She didn’t have a lot, but there were several rings and a necklace that had once belonged to her mother and grandmother. That made Kara want to rush inside the room when Daniel walked through the door.

  But instead she froze in her tracks.

  The lamp on the nightstand was on, the milky light practically spotlighting her bed. In the center of it was a woman with long brown hair. A stranger.

  And her dead eyes stared up at the ceiling.

  Chapter Two

  Daniel felt the quick punch of shock and dread before his instincts kicked in, and he pushed Kara behind him. He definitely didn’t want her touching the body and contaminating the scene, but there was a bigger concern here.

  The killer could still be in the room.

  No way could he leave Kara alone, so he nudged her with his elbow and tipped his head to the closet and adjoining bathroom to let her know he had to check them out. She gave a shaky nod, and she started walking when he did, but she didn’t take her eyes off the dead woman.

  Kara was as tough as nails. He knew that. And she’d even been with Maryanne when she drew her last breath. They both were. But murder was different, and even though Daniel hadn’t had a chance to examine the body, he figured this was a homicide.

  Moving as fast as he could, he went to the closet. No one was lurking in there. Next up was the bathroom, and he held his breath until he threw back the shower curtain. No killer there, either. In fact, the only signs of one were the office and the bedroom.

  “Do you know the dead woman?” Daniel asked Kara once he had her back in the bedroom.

  Kara shook her head, and the breath she dragged in was shaky, long and hard. He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not that this was a stranger. If it was someone she knew, it might make it easier to figure out how she’d gotten here and why she’d died. But he knew from personal experience that it could crush you to lose someone you knew.

  Maryanne’s death had certainly crushed him.

  “Why is...was she here?” Kara asked. Her voice was ragged and with hardly any sound. Because her arm was right against his, Daniel could feel her muscles trembling.

  Daniel wanted to get started on answering that why question so he motioned for Kara to stay put, and he went closer to the bed. He didn’t recognize the woman, either, but he made a mental description of her. Brown hair, brown eyes, slim build, midtwenties. She was wearing a yellow dress. And jewelry. Gold earrings, a heart necklace and three rings. Apparently, the person who’d put her here hadn’t seen fit to rob her.

  There were bruises on her wrists and what appeared to be a puncture mark on her right forearm. Maybe from a syringe. If so, it was fresh, and it could mean she’d been drugged.

  When Daniel moved to the other side of the bed, he saw something lying next to her. It was a Texas driver’s license, and without touching it, he leaned in to see the name on it.

  “Mandy Vera,” he relayed to Kara. “According to her address, she’s from San Antonio.”

  Kara repeated the name several times, but then she shook her head. “It’s not familiar. How did she get here?”

  Daniel wasn’t sure, but judging from those bruises, she hadn’t come willingly. However, before he could consider more than that, he heard a vehicle pull up in front of the house. Seconds later, there was a knock at the door.

  “It’s me,” Barrett called out.

  Good. Because Daniel not only needed backup, he also wanted his brother to take charge of the crime scene so that he could get Kara out of there. After all, the killer could still be hanging around. And that made Daniel want to curse. Kara had tried to make herself bait, and it could have worked. She could have been the one to end up dead in that bed.

  With Kara still close to him, Daniel went to the door and opened it. He didn’t offer any explanation to Barrett. Daniel just motioned for him to follow them back to the bedroom. With a puzzled look on his face, Barrett stepped in. Then he froze for a second before he went to the body.

  “What the hell happened?” Barrett demanded.

  “Not sure. Kara and I came in from the barn and found her like this. The window’s broken in Kara’s office so that appears to be the point of entry. It’s just up the hall, and there are some items missing.”

  Daniel immediately saw the questions in his brother’s eyes. Eyes that were a genetic copy of his own.

  “You didn’t see who did this?” Barrett asked, aiming that question at Kara.

  She shook her head, pushing the wisps of her dark brown hair from her face. “No. I was in the barn when Daniel got here.”

  “She was trying to draw out the killer,” Daniel supplied.

  No need for him to add more to that because Daniel and Barrett had already discussed Kara’s obsession with a possible surrogate killer. And here he hadn’t even believed there was a killer.

  Well, he sure as heck believed it now.

  Of course, he had to stay objective and look into the possibility that this wasn’t connected to anything to do with surrogacies. If it wasn’t, then it would give them another puzzle as to why this had happened. But one thing was for certain, it was connected to Kara. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to stage a crime scene like this. There had to be a reason for that, and Daniel would make it his priority to figure that out.

  Along with keeping Kara safe.

  “So, if the killer came through the office window, how’d he
get her in here in the bedroom?” Barrett muttered. “He must have broken in and unlocked the back door to bring in the body.”

  “I only heard Daniel’s truck when he drove up,” Kara said. “And yours. I didn’t hear another vehicle.”

  “How long were you in the barn?” Daniel asked her.

  She had clamped her teeth over her bottom lip and had to release it before she spoke. “Over an hour.”

  Plenty of time for someone to do this. “The killer could have parked on a nearby ranch trail, walked to the house with the woman, broken in and then murdered her.”

  Barrett nodded. “If so, there could be footprints or tracks. I’ll get a CSI team and the medical examiner out here right away.”

  Daniel took out his phone as well, and he checked the time. The Willingham Fertility Clinic was already closed for the night so he called his contact Loretta Eaton, the office manager. He wasn’t sure how much info Loretta could give him without a search warrant, but this was a start.

  “Mandy Vera,” Daniel said to Loretta after he identified himself. “I’m pretty sure she was just murdered, and her body was left here in Mercy Ridge.” Though he’d have to verify that her driver’s license wasn’t a fake. “I need to know if she had any connection whatsoever to Willingham.”

  Loretta’s sharp sound of shock made Daniel wish he’d sugarcoated that just a little. Of course, it was impossible to sugarcoat murder.

  “Her name doesn’t ring any bells. I’m home right now and don’t have access to the files,” she said, “but I’ll go into the clinic and check.”

  “Thanks. Text me as soon as you know one way or another.”

  “I will. Uh, how was this woman killed?” Loretta asked.

  Daniel had no intention of giving her any other details. Not until he figured out who was responsible for this. Probably not Loretta, though. The woman was in her midsixties and petite. Still, she might say something to the wrong person.

  “I can’t get into that right now,” Daniel answered. “But it’d help a lot if you check those records for that name.”

  Loretta repeated her assurance that she would, and Daniel ended the call. Barrett, too, had finished his call and was studying the body.

  “The ME will have to confirm it, but it looks like strangulation,” Barrett said. “There doesn’t appear to be any blood or tissue under her nails.”

  Daniel had noticed that as well, and that likely meant Mandy hadn’t struggled while she was being strangled. Maybe because she’d been too drugged to do anything to stop the attack. Or maybe her killer had worn gloves and long sleeves. But Daniel figured if the woman had been conscious, she would have definitely fought back, and the covers on the bed didn’t appear to have been disturbed.

  “There are marks on her forearm,” Daniel explained. “It could have been the way the killer got the drugs into her.”

  Barrett made a sound of agreement, and when he kept his attention on Kara, it caused Daniel to look back at her. There wasn’t much more color in her face than there was the dead woman’s, and the pupils of her dark brown eyes were too large. She looked as if she might be in shock. No surprise there. However, it was a reminder that she shouldn’t be here.

  “I can’t have you pack anything to take with you,” Daniel told her. “Everything in the house has to be treated as a crime scene.”

  He followed her gaze as it drifted over his shoulder to the framed photo of Sadie and him that she had on her dresser. Daniel knew that she loved Sadie, but there were plenty of photos of just his little girl and even some with Kara and Sadie. He wasn’t sure why her choice of pictures unsettled him, but what was more unsettling was the look in her eyes when their gazes met. She quickly turned from him, as if she hadn’t wanted to give away what she was thinking.

  Or feeling.

  Hell. He wasn’t stupid, and he’d felt that tug inside him sometimes when he looked at Kara. A tug he hadn’t wanted, but it was just a basic primal urge. After all, she was an attractive woman. However, Daniel hadn’t wanted her to feel that same attraction for him.

  “You okay?” Barrett asked, and that’s when Daniel realized his brother was volleying glances at Kara and him.

  “Fine,” they answered in unison. Which, of course, only made them sound guilty of something.

  “Fine,” Daniel repeated, changing his tone so that he sounded like a cop. Thankfully, he didn’t have to add more because he heard a familiar voice at the front door.

  “It’s me,” someone called out. Leo, his kid brother and fellow deputy.

  “We’re back here,” Barrett told him.

  Several seconds later, Leo appeared in the doorway, and as Daniel and Barrett had done, his gaze swept around the room. Blowing out a slow breath, he put his hands on his hips. “Damn,” he grumbled.

  That about summed up how Daniel was feeling, but his brother’s arrival was good news. Now, he wouldn’t have to wait around to get Kara out of there.

  “I’m taking Kara to my house,” Daniel explained. That would accomplish a couple of things. She wouldn’t have to keep staring at the body, and he could check on Sadie. He had a good security system, but he’d feel better once he was sure the nanny and his daughter were okay.

  Barrett nodded. “Walk with them to Daniel’s truck,” he added to Leo.

  Kara made a soft groan, one that had come from deep within her chest. No way had she forgotten that a killer had been here, but maybe it had just occurred to her that he could still be lurking around.

  She didn’t resist when Daniel took hold of her arm to guide her out of the room, but she did look back at the dead woman. “We have to find out who did this. We have to stop him.”

  The we concerned Daniel a lot, and it caused Leo to give him a raised questioning eyebrow. No way did Daniel want Kara involved in this investigation. But she already was. The trick would be to keep her safe and not allow her to set herself up as bait again.

  “You’re taking her to your place?” Leo asked when they reached the front door.

  Daniel nodded, but he felt the split second of hesitation in Kara. He didn’t want to read too much into it. After all, before they’d found the body, he’d already talked her into going to his house to say good-night to Sadie. But this would be more than just her popping in. It was going to take a day or two for the CSI team to process the scene. Only then would Kara be free to return.

  The question was—would she want to go back? Would she ever be able to walk into her bedroom and not see the woman’s dead body? If the answers to those questions were no, then she might be at his place longer than either of them wanted.

  When they went out the door and onto the porch, Daniel immediately looked around for any signs of the killer. Nothing. There were no trampled down plants or grass. Leo was doing the same thing, and he used the flashlight function on his phone to examine the gravel and dirt driveway in front of the house where Barrett, Daniel and he were all parked.

  Still nothing.

  Of course, he could have screwed up any prints when he’d driven in. It hadn’t been on Daniel’s radar that a killer could have just been there. Just the opposite. He’d come to tell Kara that there was no reason for her to lure out a killer who didn’t exist. Now he knew differently and wondered how soon it would be before Kara said I told you so.

  Or blamed him for this.

  If he’d just listened to her, there might not be a dead woman lying on her bed. He might have been staking out her place and could have caught the guy red-handed.

  “I’ll have to come back in the morning to check on the horses,” Kara muttered as Daniel helped her into his truck.

  Her comment actually made him feel better because it meant the shock was wearing off. “I’ll have one of my ranch hands do it.”

  Daniel had four who worked for him, managing the herds of Angus cattle that he raised, and he’d send o
ne of them here to her place. No way did he want Kara out in the open like that until they had some answers. He was pretty sure those answers would confirm something he already felt in his gut.

  That Kara was in danger.

  With that unsettling thought going through his head, Daniel started his truck as Leo headed back to the house. Daniel would have driven away had his phone not buzzed with a call. When he saw the name on the screen, he knew he had to take the call right away.

  “It’s Loretta Eaton from the fertility clinic,” he relayed to Kara, and he hit the answer button while he continued to keep watch around them.

  “Oh, God,” Loretta immediately said. And Daniel felt that same avalanche of dread that he heard in the woman’s voice. “It’s true, Deputy Logan. God, it’s true. Mandy Vera was one of our surrogates.”

  Chapter Three

  Kara didn’t have to hear what Loretta had said to Daniel. She could tell from his softly muttered profanity and the grim look on his face that what the woman from the fertility clinic had told him wasn’t good news.

  “Thanks for letting me now. I can’t talk right now. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Daniel told Loretta, and he ended the call.

  “Mandy was a surrogate,” Kara stated.

  Daniel hesitated for several moments before he nodded, and he fired off a text. “I’m letting Barrett know. He’ll want someone from SAPD to go out to Mandy’s place and have a look around.”

  Yes, and maybe they would find something, especially if that’s where the killer had gotten his hands on the woman. But if that’s where it’d happened, then why hadn’t he just murdered her there?

  The answer to that settled like ice in her bones.

  “This is personal,” Kara managed to say. “He set all of this up to taunt me.”

  Daniel didn’t deny it. Couldn’t. Because he knew as well as she did that there was no other logical reason for why Mandy had been brought here and posed liked that in Kara’s bed. It had all been set up to shock and terrify her. And it had worked. The fear slid through her, breath to bone.