Texas Baby Pursuit

by Margaret Daley

  When Dallas received a call, he looked at the screen and said, “I need to take this.” He left the office.

  Rachel took over the questioning. “Where’s Mr. Tucker looking to expand? He mentioned Houston and another location in San Antonio.”

  “I was looking at purchasing a shopping center in San Antonio near Olmos Park and Alamo Heights, and working to have Baby and Things as one of the main stores, but with the problems developing with his store, that might not be possible.”

  “Do you think he has anything to do with these kidnappings?” She asked it deliberately but acted as though she’d asked something she hadn’t intended. She waved her hand in the air. “Never mind. I know you can’t answer that question. After all, you’re his attorney. Forget it.”

  Dallas reentered the office, his expression unreadable. “Sorry about that, but the investigation is moving quickly.”

  “I’m glad to help, but I have a client coming in a few minutes.”

  “I have one last question. Do you own the Chesterfield Shopping Center?”

  “I’m part owner in a lot of shopping centers and Chesterfield is one of them. In fact, it was one of my first commercial properties. I’m one of the partners in Reuter’s Real Estate.”

  “Is that connected to Reuter’s Trash Pickup?” Rachel asked. So far, the company manager hadn’t returned her call from yesterday, and with all that had been happening, she hadn’t had time to follow up. The chances they would know where their last pickup of trash for Knit n’ Pearl was located was a long shot, especially after listening to the receptionist at the company talk about their process of dealing with their truckloads as they come in.

  “Yes. I have a share of that company. Why are you asking about that business?”

  “We needed to check some trash from one of the stores at Chesterfield.”

  Richard Snapp wrote something on a notepad. “I’ll contact the company and make sure they return your call.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Is there anything else you need from me?”

  “Who rented the space where the accounting business was at Chesterfield?”

  “I’ll have to look into that. I don’t know that information.” The lawyer stood and extended his hand. “I’ll let you know if I can find out.”

  Rachel shook his hand, then Dallas did. He took a business card out and laid it on the desk. “Text or call me with the information.”

  * * *

  Dallas parked his SUV in the sheriff’s-station parking lot next to the building and pried his tight hold off the steering wheel. Tension gripped his body. More questions. Few answers.

  Rachel stopped Dallas from getting out of the vehicle with a hand on his arm. “We have a lot to process. I’d rather not do it in my office. We still don’t know if there’s been a leak or not. Let’s eat dinner in the park across from here. It’s a nice evening and it won’t get dark for a while.”

  “Sounds good to me. We’ve been stuck in Baby and Things all morning, then my car and the lawyer’s office, not to mention the hours in the deserted accounting office next to Knit n’ Pearl.”

  “I hope the Texas Rangers find something at the accounting office that might lead us to who’s behind this ring.”

  “If anyone can, it’ll be Taylor.” Dallas took the bag of hamburgers and his drink and exited his vehicle. “He’s following the money trail. I’ve also asked him to get a warrant and look into Steve Tucker’s finances. With the hidden cameras in his shop, we shouldn’t have any problem doing that.”

  Rachel crossed the street and sat on a bench that faced the station under a big oak tree. Dallas took the seat next to her and handed her the bag with the hamburgers. Taking it from him, she tilted her head back enough that her Stetson didn’t hide her beautiful features, even though they were black and blue from the punches. For a moment, their gazes held as though they were bound together. In the past few days, despite being injured several times, she’d kept going, as determined to bring Brady home as much as he was. He smiled, relishing the soft green of her eyes. The corners of her mouth turned up and a gleam added a sparkle to her expression.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  “Before you looked at me or now?”

  “Now.” He wanted to know more than what she was thinking. He was attracted to her, enjoyed her company. But how did she feel?

  “It’s still hot out here. What made me suggest sitting outside when it’s still in the low 90s?” She winked and broke their visual link.

  He chuckled. “How about before I looked at you?”

  “I don’t think Steve Tucker has anything to do with the kidnapping ring.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Woman’s intuition. He’s definitely in the middle of it, but unknowingly. His business is successful. Why risk a chance to expand the business to be tied to a baby-kidnapping ring? If it was me, I wouldn’t put my main store in the middle of all that.” Rachel took a bite of her hamburger and wiped a napkin across her chin.

  “You have a point, but I’m going where the evidence takes me.”

  “That’s all we can do, right? One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you out here rather than in the office was what we talked about earlier. What if someone is feeding information to the ring about what we’re doing? How can we flush the person out?”

  “Who’s working the case at the station?” Dallas asked, then took a long sip of his sweet tea.

  “Mostly Deputies Jones, Carson and Owens. A couple of others have helped when needed. The problem is that I don’t know my staff as well as my dad does. The only one I’m familiar with over the years is Deputy Jones.”

  “I know a couple from church and working a few cases with your father. I’m especially acquainted with Jones and Carson.”

  After eating the rest of her burger, Rachel took a swig of sweet tea. “With only two weeks on the job, not one deputy has given me any reason to doubt his loyalty.”

  “Then let’s go talk to your dad. Taylor is working the accounting office angle, SAPD is working Lynn Davis’s murder and your deputies are working the death of Johnson. We need to go back to the ranch, talk with your dad, then sift through all the information from the different sources. Still no word on Johnson’s car or the female kidnapper and the man who killed Johnson. I don’t think they’re running the ring, but one of them might lead us to the person in charge of the statewide ring.”

  “That person might not even live in the area,” Rachel noted.

  “I have Texas Rangers standing by ready to investigate any leads, especially in El Paso and Dallas where the ring operated.”

  “Now we just have to get a name. Let’s go talk to Dad.” Rachel rose and tossed her trash in a garbage can nearby. She headed across the street and paused at the door into the station. “I’m letting Deputy Jones know where we’ll be and I want to check on the latest tips we’ve received.”

  When Dallas entered behind Rachel, he glanced over the large open room where a couple of deputies were working. One was on the phone, the other on the computer.

  Rachel approached Deputy Owens. “Where’s Deputy Jones?”

  “He got a call and left. Don’t know where.”

  “I’ll be at the Safe Haven Ranch.” She started to leave, but stopped and looked at Deputy Ellis, who’d just hung up the phone. “Is something wrong?”

  Ellis’s face turned red. “My girlfriend called me about a photo that she saw on the internet. She just texted it to me.”

  Rachel marched over to her young deputy. “What?”

  He handed her his phone.

  As anger flooded Rachel’s face, Dallas bridged the distance between them and glanced over her shoulder at a picture of them eating their dinner in the park. The words, “This is what our sheriff does on the job when a baby is missing.” Whoever took it had ca
ught the moment when they’d looked at each other and smiled.

  “Marvin is like a gnat pestering me every chance he can get.” Rachel pivoted and made her way to the exit.

  Dallas followed her from the station. “Next time I see Marvin all I’m going to see is a gnat.”

  Rachel visualized that and started laughing. “Don’t make me laugh. This is serious. Marvin is a sore loser, and he’s making my life more difficult.”

  “It’s because he couldn’t believe he could lose to a woman, even with your dad being the previous sheriff. Lenora works with him on a committee at church. She runs the group, but Marvin is always trying to take it over.”

  “What does she do about him?” Rachel asked as she slid into the passenger side of Dallas’s SUV.

  “She found confronting him directly didn’t work. So, instead, she poured out so much charm that he didn’t know how to deal with it.”

  “I’m gonna try that. Use honey rather than vinegar.”

  “Exactly.” At a stoplight he slanted a look at her. “Speaking of my sister, tomorrow I’d like to stop by her place to fill her and Paul in on what we’re doing. I’ve talked with her on the phone, but I think it’ll be good to reassure her in person.”

  “We could now, if you want.”

  “No, we should go through everything we have. I’ll call Taylor and see where he is on who rented the space for the accounting office. I can’t leave it to Snapp to get us the information.”

  “Are you going to talk to Michelle tonight?”

  “I’m gonna try. I hope riding today with your dad has taken her mind off what has happened. She’s always been a child who takes the problems of the world on her shoulders. But it got worse after Patricia left.”

  “The important thing is that you’re there for her.” Relaxing back against the headrest, Rachel hoped that Michelle would finally tell Dallas about how she blamed herself for her mother leaving them and how scared she was that something would happen to him.

  “I heard that your mother made a pot roast tonight. Wish we could have been there for dinner. Michelle even helped her cook.”

  “Knowing Mom, she has saved us some. We can have a late-night snack.”

  Total darkness had blanketed the landscape by the time Dallas drove up to the gate to the Safe Haven Ranch. As he turned and headed for the house, he said, “Forget late night. I could have some now. After all, we skipped lunch and a hamburger isn’t enough for dinner.” He parked out front. Lights from the living room illuminated part of the porch.

  “I can’t wait to hug and hold Katie,” Rachel said as they both climbed from the car.

  “I feel the same way about Michelle, especially when we’re working this type of case.”

  She withdrew her key rather than ringing the doorbell and inserted it in the lock. When she entered the house, silence greeted her except for the two loud beeps that sounded when someone opened an outside door even when the alarm wasn’t on. “Katie shouldn’t be in bed yet. It’s too early. They must all be in the den. Dad’s truck was outside.”

  She walked down the hallway that led to the den with Dallas right behind her. When she stepped into the entrance, her dad was lying on the couch while Rob sat stretched out in a lounger. Their eyes were closed. Rachel stiffened.

  A chill shivered down her spine. Her father would never be sleeping on the job, especially when family was involved and the alarm was off.

  “Dad! Dad!”

  ELEVEN

  Katie!

  As Dallas bent over her father, Rachel raced through the house, checking everywhere. She passed through the living and dining rooms, but saw nothing out of place.

  Until she stepped into the kitchen.

  Her mother lay on the floor near the sink with the water running. Michelle was stretched out on the tiles on the other side of the table. For a few seconds, all Rachel could do was stare at Michelle, her arm reached out with her hand touching the leg of the highchair.

  Where was Katie?

  A cry—as though an animal was wounded—reverberated through the room, sending a shudder down her body.

  Dallas burst into the kitchen. “Rachel?”

  His hand clasped her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around him. “Your dad and Rob are alive.”

  “Katie’s gone,” she said, trembling.

  Dallas spied Michelle on the floor and hurried to her, feeling for a pulse. “Have you looked everywhere?”

  “I don’t have to. I just know it.” As though on automatic, she stooped next to her mother, trying desperately to detach herself from a personal connection to what had happened. “She’s breathing.”

  Dallas stood and pulled out his cell phone “So is Michelle. I’m calling 911 and backup. We need to check the rest of the house.”

  He was right. But she knew what she would find: nothing. While he made the call, she rushed out of the kitchen and mounted the stairs, praying that she was wrong. Katie has to be in her bedroom. God, please help me find her.

  When she entered her daughter’s room, her gaze riveted to the empty baby bed—the empty room. She didn’t need to search the rest of the second floor. This was the only place Katie would be left alone.

  Dallas came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her as though letting her know she could lean on him. “I’ll finish checking the house. Go sit with your mother and Michelle. I didn’t see any physical signs they were knocked out. I didn’t smell chloroform or any other kind of gas, so I can only guess how they all ended up passed out.”

  Knocked out? “Someone gave them a knockout drug?”

  “That’s a good possibility. The doctor can test them for the substance.”

  “But who...”

  “It must be the kidnapping ring. They now have their third baby. We have to find them soon. They could be gone by tomorrow.”

  She struggled to keep the hysteria from welling up in her, but thoughts of not ever seeing Katie again overwhelmed her. She turned in his embrace and closed her arms around him, drawing strength from him.

  “There’s nowhere safe anymore,” she murmured against his chest, swallowing the tears demanding release. She had to pull herself together. She wouldn’t rest until she found Katie.

  “This was a bold move—one meant to throw us off balance. It’s not gonna work. I promise you no one will mess with my family or yours without severe consequences. I think we’re close. When we find out the information on the accounting firm, it may lead us to the person behind this.”

  She focused on his words, reassuring yet tough. Leaning back, she looked up into his dark eyes, full of concern. She reached deep down for her professional facade. She wouldn’t let them win. “I’ll be with Mom and Michelle. Check the rest of the upstairs.”

  When his arms fell away, she missed his touch. With him, she didn’t feel so isolated. She believed what he said. She wouldn’t face this alone.

  As she left the bedroom, Dallas said, “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  She glanced back at him, his gaze soothing as it touched hers. Hurrying down the stairs, she wondered how the kidnapper got into the house. The alarm wasn’t set, since they were expecting her home, but the two beeping sounds would have alerted anyone in the house that someone was coming in. And when they all went to the barn earlier, Dad would have set the alarm.

  A moan came from the kitchen. Rachel quickened her step. When she entered the room, her mother was trying to raise herself from the floor, but she collapsed back onto the tiles, her eyelids fluttering. Although Mom had looked right at her, she didn’t seem to register that Rachel was there.

  She approached her mother and shook her shoulder gently. Her eyes were closed now. “Mom, what happened?”

  Suddenly Rachel heard a crash from the den. As she hurried out of the kitchen, she checked Michelle who was still in the same positi
on, and then she left to see what had made that noise. She collided with Dallas.

  He steadied her then kept moving, drawing his gun. “I heard something.”

  She followed right behind him, also removing her gun from its holster. “Me, too.”

  When Rachel entered the den, her gaze was drawn to her father’s favorite place to sit. It was empty. He was collapsed on top of the coffee table. He’d probably tried to get up and couldn’t.

  Dallas lifted her father and laid him down on the couch. Her dad’s eyes popped open, staring right at her. But it was as if he wasn’t really seeing her. She’d seen people who had been given pills, like roofies, who were awake but paralyzed, not really aware of what was happening around them. How did this happen to her family?

  In the distance, the sound of sirens coming closer filled the air.

  Dallas headed out of the room, saying, “I’ll let them in. Check everyone and make sure they’re still okay. I’ve seen bad reactions to drugs like this.”

  After checking her dad’s pulse, she moved to Rob. Earlier he’d seemed all right, but now his pulse raced. His lips and fingernails had a bluish tinge. She rushed toward the foyer. The paramedics needed to see to Rob first.

  As Rachel hurried out of the house, the first ambulance pulled up. “Rob’s in respiratory distress. Dad seems fine.”

  “Michelle and your mom okay?”

  “Don’t know. I’m going there now. Get the EMTs to the den, then I’ll direct the other ambulance to Mom and Michelle.”

  When Rachel went into the kitchen, she examined her mother and then Michelle, and still found their pulses okay and they showed no signs of turning blue. She released a long breath. Her heart pounded against her chest and sweat ran down her face. She returned to the front porch as two paramedics exited the second ambulance.

  “There are four victims down. Two in the kitchen and two in the den. The other EMTs are in the den. I’ll show you to the kitchen.”