Landon

by Delores Fossen

  “Did Grayson call him in for questioning?” Landon asked.

  “No,” Mason snarled. “He was going to wait until after he questioned Joel again later this morning. Maybe I should take Tessa back to the ranch while you deal with this?”

  Tessa wasn’t sure why Mason had said that until she got a better look at the man in the wheelchair. Landon had shown her his mug shot. Quincy Nagel.

  And he was yet another suspect.

  Quincy had barely made it into the office when Landon stepped from the car. Quincy turned his wheelchair in their direction, and much to Tessa’s surprise, the man smiled.

  “Thank God you’re here,” Quincy said. But he wasn’t looking at Landon when he spoke. He was looking at Tessa. “Where’s the baby? I’m here to take my daughter home.”

  * * *

  LANDON HADN’T BEEN sure what exactly Quincy would say to him, but he hadn’t expected that.

  Clearly, neither had Tessa, because she got out of the cruiser to face the man. In case this was some kind of ploy to get her out in the open so someone could gun her down, Landon hooked his arm around her and maneuvered her into the sheriff’s office. Mason followed.

  The place wasn’t exactly quiet. Two deputies were at their desks in the open squad room, and Landon spotted Grayson in the hall outside his office. Like the deputies, he was in the middle of a phone call, but when he spotted them, he disconnected and headed for them.

  “Trouble?” Grayson immediately asked.

  Probably. Trouble and Quincy often went together.

  “No trouble, Sheriff,” Quincy insisted. He didn’t sound like the thug that Landon knew he was. Didn’t look like one today, either. He was wearing a dark blue suit and so was the linebacker-sized guy behind his wheelchair.

  “You said something about a baby?” Tessa asked.

  Quincy smiled. “Samantha. I understand you’ve been keeping her for Courtney.”

  Landon looked at her to see if this was yet something else she’d kept from him, but she looked as shell-shocked as Landon felt. That precious little girl was Quincy’s?

  “So where is she?” Quincy asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Landon said before Tessa could speak. No way was he handing over a newborn to this man.

  Quincy’s thin smile didn’t stay in place for long. “But you do know.” His jaw tightened. Eyes narrowed. “Quit playing games with me and give me my daughter. I know that Courtney gave Tessa the baby, but that’s only because she couldn’t find me. Well, I’m here now, so give Samantha to me.”

  Landon needed to stall him until he could either get in touch with Courtney or find out what the heck was going on.

  “Tessa and I don’t have your daughter,” Landon said. “The baby we have is ours.”

  The squad room suddenly got very quiet. Grayson knew Landon had just lied through his teeth. Mason, too.

  Quincy looked Tessa over from head to toe. “You expect me to believe that you just had a baby?”

  Even though Tessa was wearing loose loaner jeans, they skimmed her body enough to show her flat stomach. But Tessa didn’t panic, and she stepped right into the lie by taking hold of Landon’s arm and leaning against him.

  “Tessa kept the pregnancy from me,” Landon added. “But she had no choice but to come to me when someone tried to kill her. What exactly do you know about that?”

  Quincy shook his head as if trying to figure out what was going on, but then Landon saw the moment the man pushed his surprise aside to deal with the accusation. “Nothing. You believe I tried to hurt Tessa?”

  “Did you?” Landon didn’t even try to sound as if Quincy might be innocent. Plain and simple, Quincy hated him, and he hated Emmett, too, for testifying against him. That hatred could have bubbled over to Tessa.

  Except Quincy might not have gone after Tessa because of any ill will he was feeling for Landon. This could indeed be connected to the baby.

  “Where’s Courtney?” Landon asked.

  Quincy shook his head again, and Landon got a flash of the thug behind the newly polished facade. “You tell me. Are you hiding her from me?”

  “Is there a reason I’d do that?” Landon countered.

  Oh, Quincy did not like that. The anger slashed through his eyes. “You have no right. Courtney is my lover, the mother of my child. Tessa knows that.”

  “No, I don’t,” Tessa argued. “Courtney’s never even mentioned you, but she did tell me that Samantha’s father was abusive.”

  “That’s a lie!” Quincy shouted. “I never laid a hand on Courtney.”

  The goon behind his wheelchair leaned down and whispered something to him. Landon didn’t know what the guy said, but it caused Quincy to rein in his temper.

  “I want my daughter, and I want her now,” Quincy insisted. “And don’t say you don’t have her, because I know you do.”

  Landon lifted his shoulder. “You’re mistaken.” And Landon left it at that. “Now, let’s talk about Emmett. About his murder.”

  The rein on Quincy’s temper didn’t last long, and Landon could practically see the veins bulging on the man’s neck. “I had nothing to do with that.”

  “I don’t believe you. I think you killed him to get back at me.”

  The goon whispered something else, or rather that was what he tried to do, but this time Quincy batted him away. “You have no proof linking me to Emmett’s death.”

  “Wrong.” Landon decided to test out his latest theory. “You went to Tessa’s, looking for Courtney and the baby, and Emmett was there. You got violent, Emmett tried to stop you, and you killed him.”

  Despite his tense muscles, Quincy managed a smile. “I didn’t know you believed in fairy tales. I’ve never stepped foot in Tessa’s place, and that means there’s not a shred of physical evidence to link me to it or Emmett’s murder.” He made a show of gripping on to his wheelchair. “Besides, how could I overpower Emmett when I can’t even walk?”

  “You don’t need to walk to shoot someone,” Landon argued. “Or to hire a thug to shoot someone. With the trust fund your parents left you, I’m betting you’ve got plenty of funds to hire plenty of thugs.”

  “Prove it,” Quincy snapped. He motioned for his goon to get him moving. “In the meantime, I’ll work on getting a court order to force you to turn over my daughter to me. Neither Courtney nor you will keep her from me.”

  Landon considered holding Quincy for questioning, but the man would just lawyer up. It was best if Landon backed off, regrouped and figured out exactly how Quincy was involved in this.

  Quincy’s goon wheeled him out of the sheriff’s office, but Landon didn’t stand there and watch them leave. He moved Tessa away from the windows in case Quincy or his hired gun started shooting. Since Landon didn’t have a private office, he took her down the hall to one of the interview rooms.

  “I didn’t know Quincy was involved with Courtney,” Tessa said the moment they were inside. “I told the truth when I said she’d never mentioned him.”

  Landon believed her. “Quincy could have been lying about Courtney.”

  Tessa blinked. Shook her head. “But why would he do that?”

  “I’m not sure.” But Landon intended to find out. He took out his phone, and this time he didn’t text his cousin Holden. He called him, and he put it on Speaker. Mainly because he knew Tessa would want to hear this, and he didn’t want her standing too close to listen. “Please tell me you found out something, anything, about Courtney Hager.”

  “Bad morning?” Holden asked, probably because Landon hadn’t even bothered with a greeting.

  “I’ve had better. I just had a visit from Quincy Nagel claiming he’s the father of the baby Tessa was protecting. Courtney Hager’s baby.”

  “Quincy, huh? Haven’t found a c
onnection between Courtney and him. Uh, can Nagel even father a child?”

  “His paralysis is in his legs, so yes, I’m guessing he could. But that doesn’t mean he did. What did you find out about Courtney?”

  “Not much at all. She has no criminal record, and she did have a baby just last week. She also moves around a lot. I mean like every couple of months. The local cops did a welfare check for me, but she wasn’t home, and her neighbors said they hadn’t seen her in days.”

  That was possibly because she was on the run, hiding out from Quincy, but it was just as possible that she was hurt. Or dead. Quincy could have gotten to her before he came looking for his baby. If he had a baby, that is.

  “Did you have DNA tests run on the baby?” Holden asked.

  “Yes,” Landon answered. “But I did that in case the child turned out to be mine. Now we could look for a match with Quincy, and it’ll speed things up because Quincy’s DNA is already in the system.”

  “I’ll get to work on seeing if it’s a match. And I’ll keep looking for a connection between Quincy and her,” Holden went on. “By the way, did Tessa remember anything else that could help us find Emmett’s killer?”

  “Nothing so far, but Grayson is questioning Joel later this morning. I’ll be here for that—after I take Tessa back to the ranch.”

  Tessa’s gaze flew to his. “I want to be here for Joel’s interview, too,” she insisted.

  His first reaction was to say no, that she didn’t need to go another round with Joel, but if Landon had been in her place, he would have wanted to hear what the creep had to say about the attack.

  “I’ll let you two work that out,” Holden grumbled. “If I find out anything else, I’ll call you.”

  Landon put his phone away and stared at her. “Tell me everything you know about Courtney. How did you meet? How long have you known her?”

  “Like I already told you, I’ve only known her a few months. She moved into the rental house next to me, and while she was waiting on her internet to be connected, she came over and asked to use mine.” She paused. “I did a computer check on Courtney, to make sure she wasn’t someone Joel hadn’t sent over to spy on me. I didn’t find anything.”

  Good. Because a connection to Quincy was bad enough. Still, that didn’t mean this wasn’t all stirred together somehow. But at the moment Landon couldn’t see how. If Quincy had arranged for Courtney and Tessa to meet, what could he have gained by that? It was the same for Courtney. If the woman had known about his affair with Tessa or Landon and Quincy’s bad blood, why wouldn’t she have said anything about it?

  Landon was still trying to piece together some answers when his phone buzzed, and he saw the name on the screen of someone who just might be able to help him with those answers.

  Ward Strickland.

  Tessa must have seen it, too, because she pulled in her breath. “I want to talk to him,” she insisted.

  “For now, just listen,” Landon instructed. Whether she would or not was anyone’s guess. Like his, her nerves were sky-high right now.

  “Deputy Ryland,” Ward said the moment Landon answered. “Your cousin Holden told me you needed to speak to me. Is this about Tessa? Do you know where she is?”

  Landon took a moment to consider how to answer that. “She’s in protective custody. Someone’s been trying to kill her,” he settled for saying.

  “Yes, I heard. She left me a message but didn’t give me any details. Is she all right?” The man’s tone sounded sincere enough, but Landon wasn’t going to trust him merely on that.

  “For now. But I need proof as to who’s behind these attacks. I’m hoping you can help with that.”

  Even from the other end of the line, Landon heard the agent’s weary sigh. “I’m sure Tessa would say it’s Joel.”

  “Is it?” Landon pressed.

  “Maybe, but I’ve been investigating Joel for a year now, and I haven’t found any evidence to arrest him for a misdemeanor, much less the felonies that Tessa claims he’s been committing.”

  Tessa shook her head and looked ready to launch into an argument about that, but Landon motioned for her to keep quiet.

  “You believe Joel’s innocent?” Landon came out and asked Ward.

  “No, not totally, but I’m not sure I believe what Tessa said he did. In fact, I’m not sure I can trust Tessa.”

  Thankfully, Tessa didn’t gasp or make a sound of outrage, though there was some anger going through her eyes.

  “I need to talk to Tessa,” Ward went on. “I tried to trace the call she made to me, but it came from a prepaid cell, and she didn’t leave a number where she could be reached.”

  “You want to talk to her even if you don’t trust her?” Landon snapped.

  “Of course.” The agent paused. “Because I’m not just investigating Joel. I’m also investigating her. I believe they’re working together, or else Tessa could be using Joel as a front man for several illegal operations. Specifically, gunrunning and money laundering.”

  Tessa no longer looked angry. But rather defeated. Landon couldn’t blame her. She’d been attacked at least three times and had been drugged, and someone had injected her with a tracking device. Now here was a federal agent accusing her of assorted felonies.

  “I want to take Tessa into custody,” Ward continued. “If she’s truly in danger, I can protect her. And if she’s helping Joel, maybe I can learn that, too. When can I pick her up?”

  Landon’s first instinct was to tell his guy to take a hike, but there was no sense showing Ward his hand. “I’ll get back to you on that. Gotta go.” And Landon ended the call.

  Tessa was shaking her head before Landon even slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I’m not going with Ward. He could be trying to set me up to cover for Joel.”

  She turned as if to bolt out of there, but Landon took hold of her shoulders to stop her. “You’re not going anywhere with Ward.”

  Her breath rushed out. Maybe from relief, but her eyes watered. “I’m not helping Joel,” she said, her voice more breath than sound. “And I’m not a criminal.”

  Landon wasn’t made of ice, especially around Tessa, and seeing those fresh tears in her eyes melted the ice he wished were there. Cursing himself, cursing Tessa, too, he slid his arm around her waist and eased her closer.

  She melted against him. As if she belonged there.

  His body seemed to think she belonged, not just in his arms. But other places. Like his bed. Still, Landon pushed that aside and tried to do what any de-iced human would do—comfort Tessa. It seemed to work, until she looked up at him.

  Hell.

  He didn’t want another dose of this, but he wasn’t exactly moving away from her, either. In fact, Landon thought he might be inching closer.

  Yeah, he was.

  And he didn’t just inch with his body. He lowered his head, touched his mouth to hers. Now would have been a really good time for her to come to her senses and push him away. Thankfully, she did. Tessa stepped back.

  “I’ll bet you’re already regretting that,” she said, pressing her lips together a moment.

  “I regretted it before I even did it.” Regretted even more that it would happen again.

  Landon wanted to think he could add a probably to that—that other kisses would probably happen—but he wasn’t a man who approved of lying to himself. The probably was a lie. If he was around Tessa, he would kiss her again. And that was a really good reason to come up with other arrangements for her protective custody.

  Definitely not Ward. But maybe he could arrange for her to stay with Holden for a while.

  There was a knock at the door, and even though Tessa was no longer in his arms, she moved back even farther. The door opened, and Grayson stuck his head inside. His attention went to Tessa, not Landon.

 
“There’s a woman lurking across the street,” Grayson said. “I haven’t been out there, because I didn’t want to spook her, but it’s possible it’s Courtney.”

  That got Tessa moving, and Landon had to hurry to get in front of her. “I don’t want you outside,” Landon reminded her.

  He wasn’t even sure she heard him, because Tessa was already looking out the window. Landon did the same, and it didn’t take him long to spot the woman. Lurking was a good description since she was in the narrow alley between two buildings, and she was glancing over at the sheriff’s office.

  Landon had seen Courtney’s driver’s license photo, but it was hard to tell if it matched this woman. The hair color was right, but she was wearing a baseball hat that she’d pulled low over her face. Also, with the baggy dark blue dress she was wearing, he couldn’t tell if she had recently given birth.

  “It could be her,” Tessa said, shaking her head. “But I’m not sure.”

  “I’ll go out and talk to her,” Landon volunteered. “Wait here,” he warned Tessa. “And I mean it.”

  Grayson stepped beside her and gave Landon a glance to assure him that Tessa was staying put. Good. One less thing to worry about.

  Landon went outside, but he didn’t make a beeline toward the woman. If this was Courtney, then she probably wouldn’t trust him just because he was a cop. He first wanted to make sure it was her, and then he could try to coax her into going inside.

  But the woman surprised Landon by calling out to him. “Are you Landon Ryland, the cop Tessa told me about?” she asked.

  “I am.” Landon went a little closer, wishing he could get a better look at her face.

  And he did.

  The woman moved out from the alley, not onto the sidewalk but just enough for him to see her.

  Hell.

  It wasn’t Courtney. Landon didn’t have a clue who she was, but when she lifted her hand, he saw the gun.

  The gun she pointed right at him.