The Marshal's Prize (Harlequin American Romance)

by Winters, Rebecca

  His words pained Heidi. She averted her eyes. “Did you try looking for her?”

  “I went through that stage, but as I grew older, I realized she might not have been Floridian and was only looking for the nearest church to leave her baby on her way to somewhere else. I went through every conceivable Garrett name asking questions, but received no satisfactory answers. It seemed a hopeless quest.

  “By then I’d decided to go into the military. Occasionally I still write to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Tallahassee to search for any new Garrett names that I can check out. In fact, just yesterday I received a letter suggesting I contact a genealogist.”

  “Bruno’s the big genealogist in our family. If you asked him, I’m sure he’d have contacts who could help you.”

  “I might do that.”

  “What other sources have you investigated?”

  “I’ve left my name and phone number with the church where I was found and the group home, even with my foster parents, in case someone inquires about me.”

  Heidi feared she was going to break down and have a huge cry. “Don’t ever give up, Mitch. One day maybe a miracle will happen.”

  “Maybe.” He didn’t sound hopeful. “Even if I did find either of my parents, they obviously don’t want to be found. I’m not sure it would change anything except to satisfy my curiosity over what kind of people they are or what they look like. It’s probably better I don’t find them.”

  But he wants to. Heidi took a quick breath. “You’ve led an extraordinary life. We have a Marine in my great-aunt Barbara’s family. Rob says it was an experience he wouldn’t have missed for the world.”

  “He’s right.”

  Their conversation had left her drained. She was ready to leave. “Thank you for breakfast, Mitch. It was delicious.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’m ready to leave for your office and download the files whenever you’re ready,” she said. “I know my great-uncle Bruno is anxious to put an end to the stealing and is grateful for your firm’s help.”

  “I’m grateful for the work.”

  Mitch sounded sincere, but being a P.I. couldn’t compare to his chosen career as a federal marshal. He pulled out his wallet and put enough money on the table to cover their bill. “Let’s go.”

  They both got to their feet and headed for the door of the restaurant. One of the waitresses smiled at him. She’d probably waited on him before. Throughout their meal Heidi had noticed several females staring at him in unabashed admiration. She’d struggled not to do the same.

  Once in their cars, she followed him to his office and parked alongside him. After she got out, he called to her. He was leaning across the seat and had opened the passenger door.

  “Before we get started on those files, I’ve decided I’d like to drive out to Woods Cross with you in order to get a visual of the plant facility. We can go in my car and return within the hour. Do you have sunglasses?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. To be sure no one recognizes you, I’ll run inside our shop and find something to cover those curls. Be right back.”

  Heidi climbed into his Audi and drew her glasses case from her bag. Pretty soon he’d returned with a straw gardening hat that tied under the chin. She put it on with her sunglasses.

  “I can’t believe you found anything so perfect.”

  “The P.I. business often calls for a disguise. We keep all kinds of things on hand for emergencies. This early in the investigation we can’t afford for you to be recognized while I’m looking around.”

  “I’m so covered up, no one will know who I am.” Heidi loved the idea.

  He started up his car and they headed north. “I’ve only driven past Woods Cross on my way to Ogden on business. Tell me about it.”

  She peered at his arresting profile through her sunglasses. “Do you want the family reunion version that goes on and on? We have one every year and the tales get longer.” He chuckled. “Or, I can give you information on a need-to-know basis.”

  He maneuvered expertly through the morning traffic. “I want to hear what Heidi Bauer Norris would like me to know if I were a tourist out here visiting for the first time.”

  “Once I get started, you might be sorry—tell me if you get bored. Okay, let’s see. Woods Cross lies near the bottom of the Great Salt Lake Basin and is located eight miles north of Salt Lake.

  “The town of nine thousand was officially chartered in 1935, but was originally a big unincorporated area with the Great Salt Lake on one side and the mountains on the other. Saska’s family of ten emigrated here in 1892. Her parents and grandmother were ailing and she had six siblings to feed. With the little money they’d pooled, she rented a shack and immediately planted potatoes. With the sales from her sweet buns, she bought up land bit by bit, and their first plant was erected on it.

  “It was hard work because they had to build wooden troughs and ditches along the watersheds of the foothills to channel the water where they wanted it to go. Saska herself helped install drains to carry the excess to the Great Salt Lake. Her family also built holding ponds and an underground cistern to save the runoff.

  “Today I’ll show you the place in the foothills where we have a ranch house and horses. On the site is the original shack and plant. Below it is the modern facility. You’ll notice the fleet of trucks and garage for the mechanics farther on.

  “My relatives Sylvia and her husband Daniel Bauer live on the ranch year round with their five children to maintain it. Zack and I come out here riding every chance we get. My dad joins us when he can. Right now they’re building a float for the Days of ’47 parade coming up on the twenty-fourth.”

  “I’ve heard about it, but I wasn’t flown here until last August and missed it.”

  “It’s our state holiday commemorating the arrival of the pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The parade is next Monday. Maybe you’ll have time to see it.”

  “I’ll make time for it.”

  He was getting to her more and more. She took a deep breath and went on, “This year the children will be wearing pioneer clothes and riding on the float. Zack can’t wait. Daniel will be driving the float behind my father, who’ll be riding his horse. He’s the grand marshal. The parade committee asked him to open the parade this year.”

  Mitch turned his head toward her. “A marshal, you say?”

  “Yeah. How about that. In a cowboy hat, no less.”

  This time he flashed her a broad smile. You wouldn’t think it could affect her so, but what else would have made her heart suddenly double thump in reaction?

  The man was a quick study. Inside of twenty minutes he’d seen what was needed by driving around the plant while she answered his questions. On their way back to Salt Lake, he pulled into a popular Mexican restaurant. “I’m hungry,” he declared. “If you’re not, please humor me. I’ve been dreaming of their fish tacos wrapped in blue tortillas since early morning.”

  A soft laugh escaped her lips. “I love them, too. For your information, I’m starving.” She removed the gardening hat he’d given her.

  “You’re a woman after my own heart.” For a second she had the feeling he wanted to kiss her. For much longer than that, she’d wanted him to. It was insane. Crazy.

  After they’d gone inside and ordered, the waitress brought them virgin margaritas. “Have you always loved Mexican food?” She couldn’t learn enough about him.

  “If it’s good, yeah.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  He flashed her a sly look. “How come you always agree with me?”

  An imp got into her. “You’re the P.I. Let me know when you’ve figured it out.”

  His deep laughter resonated inside her.

  * * *


  BEFORE LONG THEY RETURNED to Mitch’s office. “That was well worth the time,” he said as she sat down in the chair opposite his desk. “I can now picture the single-story layout from one end of the plant to the other.” But the picture he preferred was the one of Heidi seated across his desk.

  She’d brought the gardening hat in from the car and laid it on his desk. Her hair was a golden mass he wanted to plunder. “Better yet, no one knew I was there.”

  Except for Mitch, who would have kidnapped her if he’d thought he could get away with it. “The ranch in those green foothills is a wonderful spread.”

  “As I think I told you, Zack and I love to go riding there.” She pulled out her iPhone to start the download.

  “I can understand why. Saska chose the perfect spot to settle. When you see the growth of the communities north of Salt Lake, it makes you appreciate your ancestor’s vision in buying the land before others discovered the value of the area.”

  “In her diary she mentioned how many times someone came along trying to get her to sell, but they didn’t know her.” Heidi’s voice rang with pride. “Saska had a dream.”

  “One that your great-uncle Bruno is determined to keep alive. More than ever I’m anxious to catch the persons responsible,” he asserted. “To get started, why don’t you draw me an organizational chart showing the heads of the different divisions and who reports to whom. I’ll read over the pertinent information from their files and you can fill me in on anything else you know that might be significant.”

  They worked for several hours. Mitch found her an unending source of knowledge. Between that and her sunny disposition, he enjoyed every minute with her. After studying the files complete with ID photos, he said, “While we’ve been going over the information on everyone who works there now, I’ve made a list of the names of those people who’ve left the company in the last five years.

  “I need to know why they left. Was it for maternity leave? A higher-paying job? Or maybe a move out of the city or state? Are they still friendly with any of the workers who are there now? Do any of them have a grudge you’re aware of? Maybe some who are disgruntled? Anything you can tell me will help.”

  She nodded and they dug into working through that list. Eventually he made up another list consisting of ten nonfamily workers let go by the company. According to Heidi, they’d been fired for every reason—from being habitually late to calling in sick too many times to being sloppy on the job. One of the truck drivers had complained that they didn’t pay him enough money for the work he did and he didn’t finish a delivery to Arizona.

  “What about this last name, Gary Norris? Any connection?” He flicked his gaze to her.

  “He’s my ex-husband.”

  Mitch had assumed as much and studied the picture in the file. Nice-looking guy with brown hair and blue eyes. Born in Salem, Oregon. Attended University of Utah two semesters. Started out working at the counter part-time at the No. 2 shop at Bauer’s seven years ago. Graduated to full-time as a baker and assistant manager. Two years later transferred to plant. Worked in the warehouse until terminated two years ago at the age of twenty-nine.

  Already Mitch didn’t like him. “Being that he was your spouse, it couldn’t have been an easy decision to fire him. Who actually let him go?”

  Heidi held his gaze. “My father. If you were to ask Dad why, he’d tell you it was Gary’s attitude. Basically he wanted an upper-management position, but it’s company policy to have obtained an MBA first in order to rise to the top. Bruno and Dad are adamant about that. They believe it shows a person has stuck to something long enough to understand the persistence it takes to run a company.”

  “College does that for you,” he concurred. “When I was reading their backgrounds, I noticed that of those of your family still living, your aunt Marcia, you and your brother, Rich, are the only Bauers besides your father and great-uncle who obtained an MBA.”

  “Yes. I attended the U of U at night and worked during the day, but Gary didn’t like school. He’s not the only one. Four of my cousins work at the plant, yet none of them wants to study that hard even though the company has set up a fund to pay half tuition for anyone wanting to go to college.”

  “Lucky people who decide to take advantage of it. What does your ex-husband do now?”

  “I have no idea. After he was fired, I divorced him for personal reasons. He’s gone back to Oregon where he was born and raised.”

  “Then how do the two of you work out visitation with your son?”

  She looked away. “We don’t. He couldn’t get out of the marriage and fatherhood fast enough.”

  Mitch couldn’t comprehend a man doing that. To have a wife and son, then turn his back on both of them, especially on a woman like Heidi…. It was anathema to him.

  Your birth father apparently did the same to you, Garrett.

  Odd how the two situations didn’t seem comparable.

  “Forgive me for asking that question, Heidi. It’s none of my business.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive,” she murmured. “The truth is, while we were dating, Gary told me how much he looked forward to being a father one day, but once Zack was born, he showed virtually no interest in him. After we divorced, he never paid child support.”

  “You didn’t take him back to court?”

  She shook her head. “You have to understand something. I make a good enough income on my own and always have. He was counting on that. Throughout our marriage and more so by the end of it, he accused me of being born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

  “I simply didn’t know how to fight his flawed logic. Everyone in our family works hard. There are no shortcuts to success. Before he packed his bags, Gary told me that living around us was like wearing a straitjacket.” She paused. “Have I shocked you?”

  Mitch sat forward. “How could I be shocked when I grew up not even knowing who my father was? But I’ll admit I’m saddened for your son’s sake by what you’ve told me.”

  “Toward the end of our failed marriage, I cried my eyes out for Zack’s sake. But I got over it when my attorney informed me Gary had given up his parental rights and had signed papers to that effect. By that time nothing really surprised me, because by then I realized what my dad had said was true. Every man can make a baby, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a parent.”

  “Amen,” Mitch said. “Evidently my parents came to that realization the moment I was born. Does your son know his father gave up all claims to him?”

  “Not yet. I’m waiting for the proper time to tell him, but I’m not sure when that will be.”

  Before they traveled down that path any further, he quickly changed the subject and turned to the computer once more. “I see here that Jonas Bauer attended Westminster College in Salt Lake for two years, but didn’t finish.”

  She nodded. “If you study the applications carefully, you’ll find that forty percent of the employees, family or not, have some credits beyond high school, but not enough to move higher. The rest either started with the company after graduation from high school, or worked at different jobs before coming to Bauer’s.”

  The more he learned, the more Mitch imagined this highly successful, family-owned company was like one of those old pressure cookers that built up steam. Without a release valve, you could count on some kind of explosion. Mitch was eager to get inside the plant and find out who was doing what.

  He saw her glance at her watch, reminding him it was getting late. “We’ve accomplished a lot today, Heidi, but I can see it’s time to let you go so you can pick up Zack. Thanks for working with me all day. This is a great beginning.”

  Much as he didn’t want her to leave, he had no choice but to get up from his chair and walk her out to her car. “I’ll see you at six tomorrow morning.”

  After
she slid in behind the wheel, she flicked him a wicked glance. In full sunlight, her eyes and hair gleamed, dazzling him. “Thanks for the delicious lunch. For a reward, tomorrow I’ll let you make all the donuts.” He chuckled. “If you pass the test, then you’ll be ready to move on to greater things.”

  Greater things meant no more just the two of them.

  Mitch could wish this part of the training period lasted longer. Heidi was growing on him in quantum leaps. Instead of needing his own space, he found he wanted her to share it with him. He was disappointed, in fact, that he had to wait until tomorrow to see her again.

  Their conversation had touched as much on the personal as on the thefts that had brought her to the P.I. firm. He rarely opened up to anyone, but to her he had, and she’d put her finger on the truth about one thing—Lew had two motives for sending Mitch to Utah; the first that he would receive the best medical care, the second that he’d be kept out of harm’s way for a time.

  Long enough for him to have met Heidi Norris.

  After seeing her off, he went back to work, checking backgrounds on the ten nonfamily members let go from the company in the past five years. Each would have worked with Jonas and his son.

  Of the ten on the list, only one had been a woman. Her job had been to work in the mix division. Of the nine men, eight of them had worked in the warehouse. The other one was the truck driver Heidi had told him about. Only two of the men, Dennis Blake and Gary Norris, had been fired within three weeks of each other and might have become friends in their mutual dissatisfaction with the rules.

  Mitch found he couldn’t get his mind off Heidi’s ex-husband. His leaving her and their son without any concern for their welfare was incredibly selfish. Mitch had known a few guys in the military who’d abandoned their wives and children, but now that he’d met Heidi, he couldn’t fathom how any man could give her up.

  With a grimace, he purposely returned his mind to the task at hand. The employees on the list who’d left the Bauer company needed to be investigated. He was curious to see what they were doing with their lives now. It was a painstaking process, but once Mitch was working inside the plant, he’d pick up information fast.