Reining in Justice

by Delores Fossen

  “I’m not sure exactly what’s going on here,” Rooney concluded, “but I don’t want to be caught up in the blame game. For the record, I only did the job that Addison hired me to do, and I’ll continue doing it unless she tells me to stop.”

  “You might want to rethink that. All of this could be dangerous,” Addison said. Not exactly firing the man, but the warning was definitely warranted.

  “Yeah, I’m gettin’ that. Kidnapping attempts, your place burned down and it all seems to lead back to either you...” He motioned toward Dominic before putting his thumb against his own chest. “Me. Or Dearborn. My money’s on the agency.”

  Addison shook her head. “But who in the agency? The only person I dealt with there was the office manager, Donna Cannon.”

  “She’s gone,” Rooney explained. “She quit about a month ago, and they’ve been using a temp ever since.”

  Well, that explained why Cooper wasn’t getting a lot of answers. “Who do you think is behind Dearborn?” Reed asked.

  “Gunther Quarles,” Rooney said without hesitation.

  Dominic looked at the P.I. as if he’d gone mad. “Quarles is a judge.”

  Reed knew the name. Not just a judge but a rich, respected one. In addition to his being a judge, Quarles’s family had a charity foundation for underprivileged kids.

  “I know exactly what he is,” Rooney said. “But I don’t like the way his name keeps popping up in my investigation. He signed at least five of the recent adoption decrees from Dearborn.”

  Now it was Reed’s turn to shrug. “I’d imagine he’s signed dozens of decrees like that. It’s his job.”

  “I thought that at first, too, but if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find at least three of the birth mothers were teenagers and had spent some time in facilities run by Quarles’s foundation.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything, either,” Dominic insisted. The attorney had never looked comfortable with this interview, but his discomfort went up a significant notch. He fingered his collar and then moved those fidgety fingers to the back of his neck. “It’s not a good idea to antagonize a man like Quarles.”

  The lawyer checked the time on his phone. “I have another appointment.” Dominic spared Addison a glance. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Reed moved in front of Dominic when he reached for the door. “Sorry, but I’ll need both you and Rooney to stay and give statements. We need to find out everything you know about this investigation.”

  Dominic huffed. “But I’ve already told you everything.”

  “Then you won’t mind writing it down.” Reed didn’t give either of them a chance to refuse, either. He pointed toward the two interview rooms just up the hall. “Rooney on the right. Dominic, you can take the left one.”

  Rooney headed in the direction he’d been instructed, clearly cooperating. About this anyway. But Reed had been a deputy long enough to know that sometimes the most cooperative suspects were the guiltiest. Rooney could be here to manipulate the investigation or at least try to figure out what Reed knew.

  Which wasn’t much.

  Reed would have to do something fast about his lack of information, but first on his agenda was finding that safe house for Addison and the baby.

  Pete and Cooper followed the P.I. and the lawyer into the rooms. Maybe they’d be able to get more out of them while they wrote up their statements.

  “I’m really sorry about this,” Addison whispered the moment that Dominic and Rooney were out of earshot.

  He was still riled about her going through with the surrogacy without telling him, but Reed figured Addison had more than enough to deal with right now. He managed a nod, brushed his hand on her arm and reached for his phone so he could start making those safe-house arrangements.

  However, the phone rang, and when Reed saw Colt’s name on the screen, he answered right away and put the call on speaker so Addison could hear.

  “The firemen finally put out the fire,” Colt said immediately. But his hesitation after that had Reed groaning.

  “What’s wrong now?” Addison asked.

  “The kidnappers weren’t lying. They left something in the house.” Again, Colt hesitated. “It’s a body.”

  Chapter Six

  A body.

  Because her legs felt as if they were about to give way, Addison sank back down into the chair. It was a good thing she was holding Emily, because her baby was the only reason she didn’t lose it then and there.

  Reed took the call off speaker, probably because he could see how upset she was, and he continued the conversation with Colt. Addison figured with the way things had been going, it was too much to ask that this was some kind of accidental death.

  No.

  Those kidnappers had almost certainly killed someone and put the body in her house. Some kind of sick warning to go along with that equally sick threat.

  “You’re a dead woman, Addison, and this time that cowboy won’t be able to save you.”

  No, but Reed would try to do just that—save her. She wanted to find someone else to do it. Anyone else. But the truth was that Reed was her best shot right now when it came to keeping Emily safe. Even though he was still plenty uncertain about fatherhood, he would do whatever it took to keep the baby out of harm’s way.

  Maybe it would be enough.

  Reed finished his call with Colt, and he went to the interview room that held Cooper and Pete. Both the sheriff and the other deputy stepped out in the hall, and Reed had a whispered conversation with them. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but whatever it was prompted Pete and Cooper to make phone calls. Reed, too.

  When Reed came back into the squad room, he took hold of her arm and helped her stand.

  “Whose body is it?” Addison asked, though she wasn’t sure she could even handle the answer right now.

  He shook his head. “It might take a while to determine that. Come on, I’m getting you out of here.”

  Addison pulled back her shoulder. “Is it safe to do that?”

  “I’ll make it safe,” Reed assured her.

  He picked up the diaper bag that she’d gotten from the hospital. All of Emily’s things had been destroyed in the fire, but the nurses had managed to get some diapers, wipes, baby gowns and formula for her.

  With the bag hooked over his shoulder, Reed led her toward the back exit. Not alone, either. Pete stepped out from the room with Dominic to follow them.

  “I called in the other deputies and alerted the ranch hands,” Pete told Reed. The deputy kept his voice practically at a whisper. “Jasper’s heading over there now to make sure everything’s okay. If there’s a problem, he’ll call you. Shawna’s coming in to help Cooper with the statements.”

  Jasper Willett and Shawna Davidson. Addison knew both of them well. Normally, they were the night deputies, but it was obvious this wasn’t a normal situation. She welcomed any and all help.

  “Where are we going?” she asked Reed.

  “Sweetwater Ranch.” A muscle flickered in his jaw. Probably because he knew she wouldn’t be comfortable going to Roy McKinnon’s home.

  And she wasn’t. “Roy—”

  “He’s okay with it.”

  Maybe. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. “What about the others? Cooper has a toddler, and his wife’s pregnant. His sister Rayanne is, too. And his other sister, Rosalie, has a baby. They all live on the ranch grounds and can’t possibly want me bringing danger right to their doorstep.”

  “It’s all being taken care of,” Reed insisted, which could have meant anything. “Move fast when we’re in the parking lot.”

  Despite her reservations about this plan, she did just that. Addison didn’t want to be outside in the open any longer than Reed obviously did. He got them in his truck, and she strapped Emily int
o the car seat the nurses had also given her. The second she finished doing that, Reed got them out of there. Pete was right behind them in a police car.

  “We’re going to the guesthouse on the McKinnons’ ranch,” Reed told her while he checked all around them. No doubt to make sure they weren’t being followed. Addison did some checking of her own, and she kept her arm over Emily’s car seat in case she had to react fast.

  “The guesthouse? But isn’t the ranch where Jewell’s stepson is staying?” That was what Addison had heard anyway. That Jewell’s stepson, Seth, was staying in Sweetwater Springs to be closer to Jewell, the woman who’d raised him, and Jewell had insisted he stay in the guesthouse.

  Reed nodded. “He’ll be there until Jewell’s trial, but he’s away on an investigation right now. Roy agreed that it’s okay if we use the place.”

  Good. That was better than the main house where Roy would be. Of course, she doubted she’d be able to avoid all the male McKinnons, but maybe she wouldn’t have to be there that long.

  “What about the plans for a safe house?” she asked.

  “Still working on that.” Reed didn’t get a chance to add more, because his phone buzzed. Emily was between them, but Addison still caught a glimpse of the screen.

  Gunther Quarles, the judge.

  Addison doubted this call was a coincidence. “Put it on speaker,” she insisted. “I want to hear what he has to say.”

  Guessing from the look Reed gave her, he debated that a couple of seconds, but then he did as she asked.

  “This is Deputy Caldwell,” Reed answered. He put the phone on his lap, no doubt so he could keep his hands free in case he had to reach for his gun. After all, this call could be some kind of ploy to distract them. “How can I help you, Judge Quarles?”

  “You can tell me what’s going on. I understand my name came up in conversation today at the Sweetwater Springs Sheriff’s Office.”

  Reed huffed, clearly not happy that Quarles had already learned that. “It did. But how did you know about it?”

  “Someone gave me a heads-up. I’d rather not say who exactly.”

  She seriously doubted Cooper would have phoned the judge yet, so the heads-up had likely come from either Rooney or Dominic. Dominic had been the one to defend Quarles, so Addison was betting he had done it.

  But why had her lawyer called the judge anyway? Were they friends? Or did Dominic feel as if he owed Quarles in some way?

  “I just wanted you to know I’m sorry about the attack on your ex-wife,” Quarles went on. “That was horrible, just horrible. I had nothing to do with it, of course, and I really don’t want my name tossed around with accusations of wrongdoing.”

  “And who is it that accused you of wrongdoing?” Reed asked, probably to see just how much Quarles had been told.

  Quarles’s huff was plenty loud enough for her to hear it. “I don’t want to play games with you, Deputy. You know what was said about me and who said it. Now it’ll stop. I’m calling Sheriff McKinnon next to make sure no other accusations come my way.”

  “Did you have anything to do with the attack or the baby farms?” Reed pressed.

  Quarles didn’t jump to deny it, but Addison could almost feel the anger seeping from the other end of the line. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” the judge finally said.

  “I’m dealing with a judge whose name came up in conversation in regards to the baby farms and the attack on my ex-wife and a baby,” Reed fired back. “I’m a little testy right now after being shot at and all, but I intend to find out the truth about what happened today.”

  “Good luck with that,” Quarles snapped, and he hung up.

  Addison figured she should be troubled that they’d just upset a powerful judge with a surly attitude, but she was more concerned that Quarles could possibly be a part of this. Until she knew who was responsible for the danger, and why, Emily would never be safe.

  “I’ll do some checking on Quarles,” Reed said as he put his phone away. “Maybe something will turn up.”

  It was a generous offer, considering that Quarles could try to hurt Reed’s career, but she figured if the judge was involved in the baby farms or the attack today, then he would have hidden that connection so well that it’d be nearly impossible to find. Still, Quarles appeared to have a short fuse, so maybe he would trip up and reveal something incriminating.

  Sooner or later, something had to go in their favor.

  She hoped.

  “What happens if we don’t find out who’s behind this?” Addison hated to ask, but she needed to know.

  Reed made a face as if insulted by that, and he tapped his badge. “Believe me, I’ll find out.”

  Coming from any other man, that would have sounded cocky, but Reed was a good lawman. Addison prayed that good would be good enough.

  His gaze drifted to Emily, staying on her for just a few seconds before he went back to looking around. “She sleeps a lot.”

  “Only during the day.” Addison was only partly joking about that. “If you hope to get any sleep tonight, you’ll need to put some distance between you and us.”

  “No distance,” he answered quickly. “We’ll all be in the same bedroom.”

  Of course they would be. She should have already realized that Reed wouldn’t risk letting her out of his sight. The baby would be there with them so it wasn’t as if Reed and she would actually be alone. In a bedroom. Still, her body seemed to think they would be, and the memories came flooding back.

  Memories of so many other times when Reed and she had been alone and in bed.

  Despite the hellish ordeal they’d just been through, Addison felt that familiar trickle of heat seep through her. The kind of heat only Reed could generate inside her. Yes, their marriage had failed big-time, but no matter what she did to try to cool it down, the attraction was still there. Probably always would be.

  Something that didn’t exactly please her.

  Reed took the turn toward the Sweetwater Ranch, and she saw the sprawling pastures, houses and outbuildings. More memories came.

  Some good, some bad.

  Addison had lived in Sweetwater Springs most of her life, first with her parents in a house not too far from here. Then, when her folks had been killed in a car accident when she was sixteen, she moved in to her aunt’s place only about ten miles away. By then, Reed had been living with the McKinnons, so Addison had seen him often enough. They hadn’t dated because of the four-year age difference, though, until she’d come back after college.

  And then they’d gotten married in the McKinnon house.

  Addison got another dose of those memories when they drove past it.

  “This is the safest place I could think of,” Reed reminded her, probably sensing that she wasn’t at all comfortable with this arrangement. After all, they were returning to the scene of the start of their failed marriage.

  He stopped his truck in front of the small guest cottage just across the yard from the main house. There were ranch hands milling around. All armed. No doubt there to protect Emily and her. Too bad they might be needed, especially since she had no idea if a ranch this large could even be secured.

  She adjusted the blanket around Emily, and they got out, hurrying into the cottage. The place was small, just as she remembered. A living-kitchen combo area, two bedrooms and a shared bath between them. There was also an infant basket on the coffee table, more diapers and some baby clothes.

  “Rosalie brought the stuff over,” Reed explained.

  Good. Addison made a mental note to thank her later. Along with Jewell, Addison had kept in touch with Jewell’s twin daughters over the years, and both women were grateful that Addison was willing to help their mother by being a character witness at Jewell’s trail.

  There’d be no such gratitude from Jewell
’s sons, however.

  Colt, Tucker and Cooper didn’t want Addison or anyone else to say anything at their mother’s murder trial that would implicate their father. Addison had no intention of doing that, mainly because she knew nothing that would implicate Roy. Still, there had been a line drawn in the proverbial sand here, and Addison was on the wrong side of that line when it came to the McKinnon males.

  And Reed.

  Of course, Reed and she were on opposite sides now for a different reason. Their failed marriage. And now the baby.

  “Are we going to talk about Emily?” she asked, easing the baby into the basket.

  “No.” As if angry with it, Reed twisted the locks on the door and punched in the numbers to set the security system. Then he huffed. “There’s nothing to talk about, really.”

  She hadn’t meant to make a loud sound of surprise. “Really?” Addison said. “I know you’re upset.”

  “That doesn’t mean we have to talk about it.” Reed turned toward the kitchen but then just as quickly whirled back around to face her. “All right, let’s talk,” he snapped.

  Even though Addison had wanted to go ahead and get this out in the open, Reed’s suddenly intense expression had her wanting to take a step back. She didn’t. Addison figured she deserved it if he lashed out at her.

  But he didn’t lash out.

  A weary sigh left his mouth, and much to her further surprise, Reed reached out and pulled her into his arms. “I just need time to work out all this in my head.”

  Addison wasn’t sure what exactly he needed to work out, but it set off another alarm inside her. One not just associated with the reminder of being in his arms. She eased back so she could look him in the eye.

  Not exactly a good decision on her part.

  For a moment she got lost in those eyes. His mouth. And she couldn’t let it happen. Reed and she had too many things to settle without adding that to the mix. And that was why Addison stepped away from him.