The Baby Scheme

by Jacqueline Diamond

  “Wrong!” Alli didn’t break stride. “What I meant was, we’ve got this couple thing down pat, so why stop now? It must have occurred to you that Dr. Graybar and Ms. Reed aren’t likely to welcome a pair of snoops with open arms.”

  She had a point, since Kevin’s request for a meeting had already been rejected, but it went against the grain to get even further enmeshed with her. “The Reverend Weatherby appears to be a trusting soul. I suspect the doctor’s office requires considerably more in the way of ID.”

  “Maybe not for an initial visit,” she countered. “Besides, the pastor referred us. Why should they be suspicious?”

  As he slid behind the wheel, Kevin searched for arguments. The fundamental point was that he worked alone, and that if he had to choose an assistant, that person wouldn’t be a freelance writer with her own agenda. “I don’t like it. Too sneaky, and there could be problems if we’re caught.”

  “We could say we’re afraid to have kids because one of us might have a hereditary illness,” Alli went on as if she hadn’t heard. Stretching her long legs, she said, “There’s a history of allergies on my mother’s side, but I don’t suppose that counts.”

  “What about your father’s side?” he asked ironically. “Surely you could dredge up something.”

  “Wanderlust. That was his disease.”

  As they drove along Bordeaux Way toward home, Kevin thought Alli had finished talking, until she added, “My father radiated charisma. He was charming and energetic and my mom says he swept her off her feet. When I was little, I thought he was the greatest dad in the world. And he was—until he got bored and left.”

  Although this was obviously a painful subject, she seemed to want to talk about it, so he decided to indulge his curiosity. “How did your parents meet?”

  “Mom’s a graphic artist. She was working in Denver,” she said. “He was promoting a rodeo and hired her company to do the ads.”

  “Promoting a rodeo? He didn’t ride bucking broncos or anything, did he?”

  “No more than he made touchdowns when he represented football teams,” Alli said. “He’s a promoter, not a cowboy. At least, I assume he still is.” Her husky voice caught.

  “When did he leave?” Kevin prompted as he turned a corner.

  “When I was eight, he ran off with a woman ten years younger than Mom. Six months later, he came back. He stayed for two years and left again when I was eleven. I never gave up hope, although I think my mom had. Then he showed up again. I begged Mom to give him one more chance.”

  They’d almost reached home. “But he blew it.”

  “This time it was me he let down,” Alli said shakily. “He promised to take me to New York for my twelfth birthday, but he disappeared a few days before. I’d packed my bag with my favorite clothes and put on my new birthday dress, and I’d bragged to all my friends at school. I kept expecting him to return. I couldn’t believe he’d abandoned me.”

  “That was cruel.”

  “It was necessary, not from his point of view but from mine,” Alli said. “I was this horrid adolescent girl who wanted to believe it was Mom’s fault he’d left, that he’d never have treated me that way if she hadn’t driven him to it, but I finally had to face the truth that he didn’t care about anyone but himself.”

  “You never saw him again?”

  She shook her head. “He signed the divorce papers by mail. When we left California, where we’d been living, and moved to Texas, my mother gave our new address to her lawyer, but he never contacted us. I heard later that he’d remarried and had more kids. I hope he treated them better than he treated me.”

  Suddenly, Kevin understood something even though she hadn’t said it. “Sometimes you can’t help hoping he’ll see your byline and call you.”

  She stared through the windshield. Kevin turned into an alley. After activating the garage opener, he swung inside next to her red sports car.

  Finally, Alli spoke, “I’m an idiot to think that if he contacted me it would change anything. The truth is, he’d only hurt me again if I gave him half a chance.”

  “You’re not an idiot,” Kevin said. “In spite of everything, you haven’t lost your faith in people. You even trusted the editors at the newspaper to do the right thing. That’s a quality I admire. Your father’s the idiot and so are they.”

  She leaned across the front seat and threw her arms around him. Her cheek came to rest on his shoulder, and he held her, wishing he knew how to give comfort. Then he realized he already had.

  He didn’t dare speak, considering that right now he cared more about her than he had about anyone in a long time. And it scared the heck out of him.

  “That’s one good thing about you,” she murmured.

  “What’s that?”

  “You never give a person false hope. And you’re smart enough not to talk too much.” With a teary smile, she released him and scooted out of the car.

  Kevin was opening his door when his cell phone rang. He flipped it open. “Vickers.”

  “Kevin?” said a panic-stricken voice. “It’s Mary Conners. You’ve got to help me. I don’t know what to do!”

  Chapter Eight

  Alli hurried into the bathroom and washed her face before any tears dared break loose. She hated to cry, and she’d come close a few minutes ago.

  Over the years, she’d stopped sharing her past with friends because their well-meaning advice proved more painful than helpful. One girlfriend had urged Alli to try to locate her dad and had harped on the subject with such tenacity that she’d become an ex-girlfriend. Obviously, she’d had issues of her own.

  Kevin hadn’t advised Alli to do anything. He’d simply listened, so steadily and calmly that she’d opened up. His quiet encouragement had enabled her to face the long-suppressed pain.

  Yesterday, when she first saw this house, it had seemed like a haven. It had become even more so today, thanks to Kevin.

  What if she and Kevin could actually mean something to each other? What if she lived here for real…awakened every morning beside him…could count on his support, whatever might come…

  Longing swept through Alli, so powerful that she stared at her mirrored reflection in horror. He didn’t want her to stay. And she didn’t want to. It was dangerous even to think such things.

  She was just feeling vulnerable because she’d dredged up old memories, Alli thought sternly. After she dug out her cosmetics bag, she set to work repairing the damage to her mascara.

  When she finished, she emerged and tracked Kevin to his desk. He sat frowning at his computer.

  “I think I’ll wait until morning to pack, if you don’t mind,” she said.

  “Sure.” He didn’t take his eyes from the screen. “Things have changed. We’re going to have to speed our timetable.”

  “Care to clue me in?” When Alli came around, she discovered he was exploring a financial site, the kind available by paid subscription.

  He flexed his shoulders. “My client called to say the blackmailer is demanding she pay by Wednesday instead of Friday. He cussed at her and made threats about what would happen if she didn’t comply. Scared the heck out of her.”

  “This guy’s a monster,” Alli muttered. “I wonder why he’s in a hurry.”

  “She’s afraid he’s figured out that she’s having him investigated,” Kevin replied. “Dr. Abernathy must have told someone about my visit. Yours, too.”

  “You think Dr. Abernathy ratted us out to the blackmailer? I had the impression he didn’t know what was going on.”

  “I think the shots scared him badly enough he called someone in a panic,” Kevin told her. “My best guess would be his old partner. In turn, either Dr. Graybar stepped up the pressure on the victims or, if he isn’t the blackmailer, he passed on the information to someone else.”

  “That doesn’t seem to leave much doubt that the doctor’s involved,” she noted.

  “It’s suspicious but circumstantial,” Kevin said. “If we jump to conclu
sions, we could miss important clues.”

  “Agreed.”

  Alli felt tempted to renew her suggestion about posing as a couple in order to penetrate Graybar’s office, but Kevin had already turned it down. Pressuring him, she’d noticed, had a tendency to bring out his defenses. Although patience had never been her strong suit, she decided to try it in the hope that he’d come around on his own.

  She took out her personal organizer. “This creep might have made the same threats to my contact. I’m going to call her.”

  “Good idea.” Kevin brought up another screenful of data. “I’m searching Dr. Graybar’s credit report for a motive.”

  “It does seem odd for a physician to risk his reputation by stooping so low,” she admitted. “He might even endanger his medical license.”

  “You’d be surprised what chances people will take when they need money.” Kevin didn’t remove his eyes from the computer.

  Alli moved into the living room so as not to disturb him. Rita Hernandez’s phone rang only twice before someone answered. “Hi,” said a little girl’s voice. “Is this Grandma?”

  “Maria! For heaven’s sake!” Rita sounded almost frantic as she grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

  Alli had a good idea what had alarmed her. After Alli explained who she was, she heard the woman’s sigh. “Has the blackmailer contacted you again?”

  “About an hour ago,” she replied grimly.

  “He moved up your deadline?”

  “Yes! How did you know?”

  “You’re not the only one,” Alli said.

  “That scumbag! How many people is he squeezing?” Rita asked.

  “I don’t know.” Surely he couldn’t be approaching all the adoptive parents, or word would quickly reach the police. On the other hand, if the guy was desperate enough for money, he might not be thinking straight. “Tell me what he said.”

  He insisted on being paid by Wednesday. “He believes we can come up with twenty thousand dollars in cash! This is crazy. My husband says we should go to the cops, but I’m terrified we’ll lose Maria. I haven’t slept in days.”

  “I’m doing the best I can,” Alli responded. “There’s a detective assisting me.” She hoped Kevin wouldn’t mind being demoted to second fiddle. “We’ve got a few leads. Believe me, we’re doing our best.”

  “Thank you so much for looking into this. I heard you left the paper. Is that true?”

  “Yes. I’m freelancing, but I’ll find a way to stop this guy no matter what it takes,” Alli promised.

  “If anyone can do it, you can,” Rita said.

  On the other end, the little girl began demanding her mother’s attention, so they brought the conversation to an end. But Alli deeply appreciated the expression of confidence.

  When she joined Kevin, he glanced up expectantly. She filled him in on what she’d learned. Afterward, she said, “Since this guy must be hitting a number of families, I can’t figure out why someone hasn’t gone to the police.”

  “They probably have,” he replied.

  Much as she wanted the blackmailer caught, Alli felt a tick of apprehension at the possibility that her exclusive story was about to become common knowledge. “I guess all the papers know about it, then.”

  “Probably not.” Kevin leaned back. “If it were my case, I wouldn’t put out a press release until I’d made an arrest or at least issued a warrant.”

  That made sense. However, it still increased the pressure for her to assemble the facts quickly.

  With the Wednesday deadline looming, that didn’t leave much time to use the story as a bargaining tool for a new job. Furthermore, even if advance word didn’t reach the papers, Alli knew how vulnerable she’d be once she disclosed her investigation during an interview. There was nothing to stop an editor from assigning one of his own reporters to duplicate her work, cutting her off completely.

  Until last week, she’d have trusted the integrity of her prospective employers. After her experience with Payne, she realized how naive she’d been.

  “What’s going through your mind?” Kevin asked. “You look like someone just stole your teddy bear.”

  “It occurred to me this investigation has a very short life span,” Alli said. “My best bet is probably to use it to leverage my old job back, but I’m not sure I can do that.”

  “Would you want it back after the way they treated you?”

  “Don’t forget, I worked there for five years. I love my readers and I miss my friends,” she explained. “The problem is, J.J. and Ned believe everything Payne tells them. Unless he screws up badly enough to open their eyes, they’re never going to see things objectively.”

  “I can’t help you there,” Kevin said. “But I have found something interesting.” He indicated the screen.

  “Dr. Graybar owes money?”

  “He was listed as partner when his uncle opened a restaurant in West L.A. that folded in less than a year. The doc co-signed a loan as well as some leases, which put him on the hook for a lot of money.”

  Alli whistled. “You have to feel sorry for the guy. He might have been trying to do his uncle a favor.”

  “Apparently, he’s not very smart about finances. He tried to recoup in Las Vegas, but he had about as much luck at the tables as he did as a restaurateur,” Kevin said. “He got behind on all his payments, including rent for his office and payroll taxes.”

  “Isn’t it illegal to use payroll withholding for anything else?” she asked.

  “Absolutely. The guy was not only facing bankruptcy but also possible jail time.”

  “So he turned to blackmail?” It certainly looked like a motive, but Alli had a hard time picturing a physician who volunteered at an orphanage turning against his own patients.

  “Here’s the twist. A couple of months ago, he paid everything off.” Kevin tapped on the desk. “He got caught up with his bills and made the government happy.”

  “Where’d he find the funds?”

  “Exactly what I’d like to know. I don’t see any indication that he sold property or took out a consolidation loan that could account for it.”

  “He either begged, borrowed or stole,” Alli guessed.

  “Most likely he borrowed under the table,” Kevin told her. “He does have considerable income, but such a poor credit rating that he wouldn’t have gotten far with a legitimate lender.”

  “Crooks don’t lend money unless it’s worth their while,” she pointed out. “What could he use for security? His house?”

  “Already mortgaged to the hilt,” he said.

  “So what did he have to offer?” It was a rhetorical question. They already knew what he must have sold: the names of patients who might lose their children if the government of Costa Buena determined that they’d been adopted illegally.

  Kevin appended a query of his own. “And who did he offer it to?”

  “Whoever it is, I wonder why he’s moving up the timetable,” she said.

  “Maybe he’s just greedy. My client would do anything to keep her son from being taken away and he knows it.”

  “Whatever the reason, we’ve only got a couple of days before these people have to pay,” she pointed out.

  “If we could get inside that medical office, we might be able to determine who on staff has access to patient records.” Kevin released a long breath. “Posing as a couple might not be such a bad idea.”

  Alli tried to keep her expression bland. “You think so?”

  “We can plan our strategy tomorrow,” he said. “I do have other obligations to follow up tonight.”

  “That works for me,” she replied, and, by an immense expenditure of effort, managed not to smile.

  ALLI WASN’T SURE what to expect when she accompanied Kevin to his workplace on Monday. She kept trying and failing to imagine how the prickly detective managed his take-charge mother.

  They kept matters businesslike, she discovered when Heloise arrived at the sunny two-room setting a few minutes after they
did. If Mrs. Vickers had any questions about what the two of them had been doing between Saturday night and Monday morning, she kept them quiet.

  “You’ll need to assume another identity,” she advised after they explained their plan. “You can use my maiden name, McKinley, if you like.”

  “Good,” Kevin said. “It beats Smith or Jones.”

  A call came in for him. While he was tied up, Alli and Heloise retreated to her desk and put their heads together.

  They both enjoyed the challenge of inventing details for the newly minted husband-and-wife team of Kevin and Allison McKinley. After a little research on the Internet, they decided the couple feared having children because of a recessive blood disorder that ran in both their families.

  “How many do you want?” Heloise asked.

  “Children? We only need to ask for one,” Alli said.

  The older woman adjusted her glasses and glanced toward the closed door of her son’s office. “What about in real life?”

  “You mean, do I want kids?” So Heloise had started thinking along those lines. “I don’t believe in planning my life in advance. It’s better to be spontaneous.”

  “That’s a healthy approach,” she replied, not very convincingly.

  They decided that the doting McKinleys had been married for three years and that, when they found a child, Alli planned to take leave from her job as a…

  “Preschool teacher,” Heloise suggested.

  “Me? I couldn’t make a convincing case if they question me. How about aerobics instructor,” Alli proposed. She’d led an aerobics class once when the regular teacher fell ill.

  “But you do like children, don’t you?”

  Neither of them heard the inner door open. “Mom,” Kevin warned.

  “Oops. The boss is back.” Heloise ducked her head. “I’d better mind my own business.”

  “I’d appreciate your not mentioning anything about this situation to my sisters,” he said. “Not about Alli being here and not about…any of it.”