Texas Baby Pursuit

by Margaret Daley

  “Daddy, I have been.”

  “Good. We’ll do it together. There are never too many prayers.”

  Michelle nodded.

  As Dallas and his daughter bowed their heads, Rachel left them to pray alone. She didn’t want to dampen their hope, but praying didn’t guarantee anything.

  She hurried to her room and finished getting ready for bed, her hands shaking as she buttoned her pajama top. Too keyed up to sleep, she sat in a chair, her teeth chewing on her bottom lip. She didn’t want Dallas or Michelle to be hurt even more when God let them down. The anger she experienced when she thought of her late husband welled up inside her. She’d worked hard not to think about him and now that seemed to be all she was doing.

  She massaged her temples as though that action would drive him from her mind. But one of the texts she’d seen on his cell phone pushed everything else from her thoughts: I’m asking Rachel for a divorce tomorrow. Promise.

  Those words haunted her, even fifteen months later.

  Forget it.

  But she couldn’t.

  A light knock brought her back to the present. She slipped on a robe and quickly answered the door, welcoming any distraction from what she couldn’t change.

  “How’s Michelle?” she asked Dallas, noting his arms straight at his sides, his hands curling then uncurling.

  “Okay. I told her she was safe now. She described the woman with light weird eyes that were big and round. I’m not sure if that will help, but she’ll update her drawing tomorrow. I told her the drawing was very important to our investigation. It seemed to make her feel better.”

  “Good. If she wakes up again, I’ll hear her. I’m a light sleeper.”

  “Thanks for being there for her, Rachel.”

  “Any time. Katie has already fallen in love with Michelle in the short time your daughter has been here.”

  “I think the feeling is mutual.” He smiled, his eyes softening, his stance relaxing. “Good night.”

  “Make sure you get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

  Rachel shut her door and leaned against it, her heart thumping against her rib cage. The memory of his kiss brought instant heat to her cheeks. She was surprised at such a reaction. She understood where he was coming from. Their jobs were tough, and not having someone to share that with was hard on a law enforcement officer. She pictured his smile and the warm look in his eyes. She shivered—in a good way. Could she ever trust a man again? Even one like Dallas?

  She made her way to the bed. When she lay down and closed her eyes, an image of Justin leaving popped into her head. His last words to her rang through her mind: I don’t want to be the father of your child.

  Those words still cut deep into her heart, shattering her dreams of what she’d wanted from their marriage. She didn’t know how to heal from that kind of rejection, and she certainly didn’t want to go through that again.

  Was she willing to put herself through all that pain again?

  * * *

  The next morning, Dallas came down the stairs, pleased that he’d managed to get six hours of sleep. Rob, wearing a holster and gun, stood in the living room watching out the large window. At six in the morning the house was still quiet.

  “Any problems?” Dallas asked Rob.

  The retired deputy sheriff looked at Dallas. “Not a peep.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.”

  “I thought you’d sleep later.”

  “You know how a case can be. Too much crammed in my head, demanding attention. Since I’m up now, you don’t have to stay and guard the house.”

  “I’m gonna go feed the animals, then take a nap. Getting old ain’t for the faint of heart.”

  Dallas chuckled and headed for the kitchen to put coffee on to brew. Before coming downstairs, he’d peeked into Michelle’s room and was glad to see her sleeping. He hoped that their prayers last night had helped her begin to deal with her guilt. His daughter wasn’t to blame, but that was hard for anyone, let alone a teenager, to understand. He didn’t want her to let guilt overtake her life.

  After he poured himself a cup of coffee, he made his way to the den. When he stepped into the room, he found Rachel watching the footage on the laptop.

  She paused the video and glanced at him. “You look rested.”

  “I am. That’s what sheer exhaustion will do to a person. I don’t think I slept a wink the night before.”

  “Hospitals will do that to you. I’m glad to see Michelle is still sleeping. But I have to admit, I can’t wait until she gets up and redoes her drawing of the woman. We need to take the updated version with us to the shopping center.”

  Dallas placed his mug on the table. “Before I get settled, would you like some coffee?”

  She looked up at him, her face glowing from the obvious rest she’d gotten last night. “Yes, half milk and a spoonful of sugar.”

  “You mean your milk is flavored with the coffee?” He grinned.

  “Yes.” She eyed his mug. “I don’t know how you can drink it black.”

  He sauntered toward the hallway, saying, “I’m a simple kind of guy.”

  “Milk and sugar aren’t what I consider fancy,” she called out as he left.

  His smile grew as he entered the kitchen. It was easy to talk with Rachel. Since Patricia left him he hadn’t dated anyone. His job and his daughter had demanded all his time, or at least, that was the excuse he gave himself when his friends had tried to fix him up with women. But with Rachel, it was fun teasing and bantering back and forth with her. He’d missed that.

  He should regret the kiss they’d shared last night—it had been unprofessional in the middle of a case. But he didn’t regret it one bit. He hadn’t felt this way in a long time, but he was smart and cautious enough to realize he needed to take things slow.

  When he reentered the den and sat next to Rachel, the scent of vanilla drifted to him, mocking his cautious side. “Any revelations from watching the security footage again?”

  “No, other than the sisters at Knit n’ Pearl got a good view of the woman who later took the bracelet. Between them, hopefully we’ll get a confirmation of what the lady looks like. If we find her, we’ll most likely find her male accomplice.”

  “That’s what I was thinking. I didn’t see anyone who looked even remotely like her at the drugstore, and since there weren’t any security tapes from Baby and Things, we can’t say anything about that place.”

  “But we should take the drawings from the sisters and Michelle to that shop. Maybe one of them will trigger a memory.”

  “We’ll stop by your station to get the sketch artist’s illustrations. Plus, we need to visit the other workers that weren’t at the store yesterday but were working when my sister went in.”

  “You think the team was stalking Lenora?” Rachel closed the laptop and relaxed back in her chair while sipping her coffee.

  “Possibly. Maybe they followed her home and tried to figure out when the best time was to take Brady.”

  “Morning! How long have you two been up?” Rachel’s father asked from the den’s entrance.

  “Half an hour,” Dallas answered.

  “An hour.” Rachel rose. “I should probably check on Katie. She’s usually awake by now.”

  “If she is, she’s being extra quiet.”

  “That’s when I worry. She can get into trouble faster than a cheetah.”

  Bill came into the room as Rachel left. “Any leads?”

  “Yes. Michelle remembered something last night. She knocked the sunglasses off the woman’s face and saw what she looked like without them.” Dallas took another sip of coffee. “I wonder if she’s awake yet. I’m tempted to go upstairs and see.”

  “You don’t need to. As I came downstairs, I spied her going into the guest bathroom on the second floor.
She’ll be down soon, especially when Anita starts cooking breakfast.”

  “Good. We’ll be going to the shopping center again today with what we know about the lady kidnapper.” Out of the corner of his eye, Dallas caught sight of his daughter entering the room. “We were just talking about you, princess.” He stood and hugged her. “Did you sleep all right?”

  “Yes. I want to work on the drawing. Where’s my first one?”

  Dallas reached across the table and snatched up her illustration. “I’d like you to do a new one. Okay?”

  Nodding, Michelle took the sketchpad and sat on the other side of the table.

  “I’ll be right back. I want to get some more coffee. Do you want anything to drink?”

  She shook her head, never looking up.

  Dallas walked with Bill into the hallway. “She gets into a zone when she draws. The artist we use texted me last night, and said he didn’t get much from the sisters at the Knit n’ Pearl, so I’m not sure how detailed his pictures will be. According to him, each description the sisters gave was very different, but if they see a picture Michelle drew, they might recognize the woman.”

  “What I think is strange is the outside cameras weren’t working.”

  “I agree, but every time they’re fixed they’re taken out. It could be kids playing pranks or something more sinister. If I can find a good place for it, I’m putting up a small surveillance camera for the parking lot. I’ve got an idea that might work, at least for a few days.”

  One of Bill’s eyebrows lifted. “My curiosity is piqued.”

  “There’s a billboard near the parking lot. I’m having one mounted up on it.”

  When Dallas and Bill entered the kitchen, they spotted Rachel’s mother standing at the stove flipping pieces of bacon. Dallas crossed the room and refilled his mug. “That smells wonderful.”

  “I’m fixing a big breakfast. I know my daughter will most likely skip lunch. She always does when she’s on a case.”

  Dallas laughed. “I’m guilty of doing the same thing.” The aroma of baking mingled with the scents of coffee and bacon. “Are you making biscuits, too?”

  Anita nodded. “With gravy and scrambled eggs.”

  “Michelle is going to be spoiled. At our house breakfast is usually a bowl of cereal.”

  Anita grinned. “Just Michelle?”

  “No, me, too. Cooking isn’t my forte. That’s why my daughter is cooking more and more.”

  “Michelle. She likes to cook.” Anita looked from Rachel to Dallas. “So does Rachel. In fact, I could use your help if Bill will take Katie. You can make the scrambled egg mixture.”

  Bill stood by the back door. “First I need to check in with Rob before he heads to town later.”

  “I’ll take Katie.” Dallas covered the distance to Rachel, holding his arms out for the baby. “Katie, we’ll go find Michelle. Okay?”

  “Mimi.” Katie launched herself into Dallas’s embrace.

  “So that’s what my daughter calls Michelle. She’s been jabbering that name while I was dressing her. That’s one mystery solved.” Rachel approached her mother.

  “Let’s hope the others are that easy.” Dallas settled Katie against him and headed for the den. “We’re going to Mimi.”

  Katie looked up at Dallas with the same green eyes as her mother. “Mimi. Mimi.”

  When Dallas found Michelle finishing her drawing, Katie leaned toward his daughter with her arms outstretched.

  “You have a visitor.”

  Michelle’s whole face lit up with a huge smile. “Katie!” Scooting the chair back, she took the young girl from Dallas. “I’m glad you’re up. Remember you’re showing me the barn and animals today.” She rose with the baby in her arms, nodding at her sketch. “That’s what the woman looked like to me. I only saw her for a few seconds, but her eyes were light gray—almost silver. Hard to forget.”

  “Thanks, honey. I know this was difficult for you, but it’ll help us find the kidnappers,” Dallas said as Katie played with Michelle’s long hair.

  “I hope so.”

  “When are you going to the barn?” He didn’t want her to go, especially with Katie, without someone else being there, too.

  “Katie’s papa is taking us. When the doctor says it’s okay, Bill said I could ride one of his horses.”

  “That’s fine, I just don’t want you to leave the house alone.”

  Michelle’s eyes darkened. “I won’t, I promise. Besides, someone has to be here to play with this sweet thing. Isn’t that right?” she asked Katie.

  Katie threw her arms around Michelle’s neck as the pair moved into the hallway.

  Dallas stayed behind to look at his daughter’s drawing. With the sunglasses gone, the picture indicated the woman had high cheekbones and dark eyebrows and lashes. She might have been wearing a blond wig. He’d have Michelle produce another illustration with dark hair and use both when he went back to the shopping center.

  For the first time in thirty-eight hours, he felt they had a good chance to find the kidnappers, and possibly Brady.

  * * *

  “When things settle down, I plan on coming back here to shop at Baby and Things. Yesterday I saw some darling clothes for Katie.” Rachel slipped out of Dallas’s SUV, parked in front of Knit n’ Pearl. She met Dallas on the sidewalk. “Katie loves being with Michelle.”

  “Yeah, and Michelle is loving that. Katie has been good for my daughter since the kidnapping.”

  “She’s very good with children. A natural.”

  Dallas opened the door to the shop and waited until Rachel went inside, then followed. “I’m glad we got here early before their knitting classes started. I want them to see the video footage of the couple and then Michelle’s drawing along with several others.”

  “Like a photo lineup. Great idea.”

  The younger sister, Annie, came across the store to greet them. “Did you find anything on the security tapes that’ll help you with this case?”

  “Yes,” Rachel said.

  The owner breathed a deep sigh. “I’m so glad because I couldn’t give the sketch artist who came yesterday afternoon much to go on.” Annie swept around. “Barbara, the Texas Ranger and the sheriff are back,” she called out. “She’s in the back, checking inventory.”

  The older sister, whose hair was a mixture of black and gray hair, emerged from the rear of the store. “Annie and I were hoping you would come back. I remembered something about the woman. She was chewing gum when she came in here but threw it away almost immediately.”

  It was a long shot, but Rachel still asked, “Have you emptied the trashcan she used?”

  “Yes, every weekend we clean our place thoroughly.” Barbara chuckled. “I knew you would ask, and I even checked to see if the garbage bin had been picked up. Wednesday is when they come. It has already been emptied. They usually come first thing in the morning.”

  If only they had known about that yesterday. If they had found the gum, they could have gotten DNA from it. “What company do you use?”

  “Reuter’s Trash Pickup. They’re used by everyone in the shopping center. I have their number in my office.”

  “Do you bag your trash up?” Dallas asked.

  Both sisters nodded.

  “Great. Could you go get the phone number for me?” While Barbara scurried to the office, Dallas slid the six drawings out of a folder and laid them on a nearby table. “Do you see anyone here who was in your store last Friday?”

  Annie studied each one, quickly dismissing the two pictures from her and Barbara. She lingered over the drawing Michelle made after her nightmare. But she moved on and finally tapped the last one—the one Michelle had drawn the previous day. “It’s the blond hair. Curls everywhere. The sunglasses are large ones. They capture your attention.”

  “I wonder what she look
s like without the big hair and sunglasses.” Rachel watched as Annie again studied the last drawing, then went back to Michelle’s sketch from that morning. There were similarities, but the sunglasses camouflaged part of the face so it was hard to say definitely it was the same woman.

  “Maybe this one.” Annie pointed to the most recent drawing. “But I’m not sure.”

  “Sure about what?” Barbara asked as she joined them and gave Dallas a slip of paper.

  “I’m torn between two pictures,” Annie answered.

  Rachel asked the elder sister the same questions about the illustrations on the table. “What I saw is this lady.” She picked up Michelle’s first drawing with the sunglasses.

  Dallas opened the laptop and ran the security tape with the woman on it. “You mean this lady?”

  “Yes, that’s her,” Barbara said while Annie hesitated, then slowly nodded. “But the other could be her, too.”

  “She found the bracelet?” Annie asked.

  “Yes.” Rachel walked to the basket of skeins on the floor. “The video showed the bracelet was over here in the basket.”

  “I talked to my sister last night,” Dallas said. “Lenora remembered going through that basket looking at the various colors. But when Brady started crying, she got distracted and didn’t realize the bracelet came off while she’d been searching through the yarn.”

  “Lenora’s your sister?” Annie’s eyes widened. “I didn’t realize that. Has she seen the sketches?”

  Dallas took a deep breath. “When we return to Cimarron Trail, we’ll show her the drawings and see if she recognizes the lady. Had that woman ever been in your shop before?”

  “No, not that I remember, but I’m not good with faces. You’re better at stuff like that than me.” Annie turned to her sister.

  Barbara shook her head. “And I didn’t see enough of the man with her to say anything about him.” Her forehead furrowed. “I’m so sorry for what’s happening to your sister. She’s a special customer to us. I remember when I taught her to knit while she was pregnant with Brady. She wanted to make him a baby blanket.”