by Donna Grant
That put a whole new spin on things. If they looked deeply enough, they could find something about Stella’s place that would make them take a closer look. Chuck wouldn’t let that happen. He started his truck and turned around, keeping his lights off until he was a safe distance away.
Just when Chuck didn’t think it could get any worse, his headlights caught another truck as it turned down the same road that he was on. The lights shone into the vehicle, and none other than Sheriff Danny Oldman could be seen behind the wheel. Chuck didn’t have to wonder where the sheriff was headed—he was going to meet the others.
“Fuck. It just keeps getting worse.”
Chuck reached for his phone and called Stella. She picked up on the second ring, her throaty voice coming across the line. “We’ve got a problem,” he told her.
“What kind of problem?”
“The Marlee Frampton kind, except now, she isn’t alone. She’s got others helping her.”
Stella was silent for a heartbeat. “Let me guess. The Harpers?”
“I didn’t see them, but Cooper Owens is with her, and we know how tight that group is.”
“And if the Harpers are involved, then I’m guessing the Easts are, as well.”
Chuck sighed. “Probably. I saw the sheriff headed toward them in his personal vehicle.”
“Headed toward them?” she repeated quickly. “What are you doing?”
“Driving away. They’re not far from you. Two streets over. They’ve set up around a house to do surveillance. I saw the sheriff turn down the road as I was headed out.”
“Was he alone?”
Chuck thought back. “There was someone with him, I know that much, but my attention was on him.”
“Damn. This is disturbing.”
“I think it’s time we leave the area.”
“I can’t,” Stella said. “I’ve got to meet a client tonight, and I have other appointments set up over the next few days that can’t be canceled.”
He rolled his eyes as he continued driving. “Then leave after that. But you can’t stay here. It’s only a matter of time before their attention is on you. But I can make it stop.”
“I already told you not to touch Marlee.”
“I know that’s what you said,” he replied tightly. “But I think you need to reconsider. Who cares that you were friends with her mom? That was a long time ago. Marlee is going to throw our asses in jail. Unless she isn’t here to do that.”
Stella’s sigh was long and loud. “If you think killing her is the answer, then you aren’t looking at the bigger picture. The authorities will double-down on their efforts. They’ll look into everyone.”
“The fact that they’re looking at all should cause you to worry,” Chuck stated.
Stella’s voice was softer when she said, “It does. That, I can promise you. I’ve kept all of us out of jail for this long. Trust me on this, Chuck. Can you do that?”
“I’ve always trusted you.”
“Good. Because I’m not going to put any of us in a position where we can be discovered by anyone, but especially not by Marlee Frampton,” Stella assured him. “No matter how much it looks like we need to run, it’s the last thing we should do. They’ll be watching for that.”
Chuck clamped his teeth together when he wanted to argue with her. The simple fact was that Stella had kept them all safe from the very beginning. Not once had anyone who worked for her been detained by the police. Because she was that good at knowing what to do. He had to remember that despite what he wanted to do.
“You’re right,” he admitted. “I just don’t like Marlee around us so much. And how the hell did she know to come here in the first place?”
“That’s certainly something I’ll be looking into.”
Chuck grinned because he knew that tone. “You know why she’s in the area.”
“It’s a hunch.”
“And your hunches are never wrong. Who is it?” he pressed.
The sound of Stella’s chair being moved could be heard in the background. “The only one it could be is Penny Howard.”
Chuck pulled into the motel lot and parked. He shut off the engine and snorted. “Of course it is. She got angry when the location moved from her agency to the one in Houston for the Mandels last month.”
“Angry?” Stella repeated with a bark of laughter. “If I remember correctly, her exact words were, ‘You’ll pay for this.’ It wasn’t my decision to move the adoption, and I told Penny that. I should’ve known that she would hold on to such anger. I paid her the commission she would’ve made had the deal gone through with her agency. That should’ve been enough. I was more than fair.”
That she was. Chuck hadn’t wanted her to give Penny the money, but Stella had said it was the right thing to do. She often did things like that. It was why so many wanted to work for her. She was fair. Always. Even to the detriment of herself sometimes.
“Shall I do a little digging?” Chuck asked.
“No need. I’ve got a friend doing it. Matter of fact, I should be getting a call shortly to confirm my suspicions.”
Friend was her way of talking about her connections in the FBI. Chuck didn’t like how Stella always took their word as gospel. Didn’t she realize that they would eventually turn on her? Of course she did. Stella always thought ahead.
“You still with me, Chuck?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
“You’ve been working really hard for me. You always have.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I’m just doing my job.”
“The thing is, I want you here with me. Especially now that Marlee is in town.”
Chuck narrowed his gaze out the window. “I figured the last thing you’d want is me near her.”
“I know you’ll heed my orders. If it comes down to us being caught, there’s only one person I want with me. You. I know you’ll be able to get us out. That being said, I need to show Penny and all the others working with us that I don’t take kindly to what she’s done. I’ve dispatched Martin to Dallas to await my orders once I hear from my friend.”
Chuck closed his eyes. “You should’ve sent me to Dallas. Martin is good, but he’s not as good as me.”
“He knows what to do. And like I said, I’d rather have you here.”
Chuck blew out a breath. “I’m here, Stella. I’m not going anywhere you don’t send me.”
“Thanks.”
“Do you want me there tonight with the clients?”
Stella hesitated for a moment and then said, “Actually, I do. Meet me here at the house in two hours.”
“Will do.”
Chuck hung up the phone and looked at the door to Marlee’s motel room. He’d planned to wait there for her all night until she returned, but that had all changed. He wasn’t too disappointed, however. He’d been in love with Stella since the first time he saw her. It had torn him in two when she ended their affair, but he couldn’t hold it against her. She was looking out for herself and her employees. They were a great team, even if she didn’t allow him in her life. This was as close as he’d get. He’d known that for a long time.
Sometimes, she let him accompany her to client meetings, and other times, she didn’t. He always asked. Any time he could spend alone with her were minutes he treasured. She was his boss as well as the woman who had stolen his black heart. He hadn’t thought it possible to love anyone, but then Stella had come into his life and given him a reason to live.
She was everything to him. He protected her, and he’d continue to do that—giving up his life if necessary. That’s how much she meant to him. He never told her any of that. It wouldn’t do any good. Stella was a pragmatist. She didn’t let sentiment get in the way of business. She kept a level head at all times. Which was one of the many reasons she was as good a businesswoman as she was.
Chuck got out of his truck and walked to the door. He used a device and unlocked it. He quickly stepped inside and took a look at all the pictures on
the wall. Chuck slowly moved around the room, inspecting each photo with a critical eye. Marlee was good, he’d give her that. She had zeroed in on the adoption agency in Dallas. Frankly, he was surprised that she hadn’t accumulated enough evidence to take them down, but now, he was glad.
If Penny had pushed Marlee in their direction, then the minute Penny and her business were shut down, she’d spill everything. There wouldn’t be anyone in their line of work that wouldn’t be named. Penny was the kind who looked out for herself.
It was a damn good thing Stella had sent Martin to Dallas to dispatch Penny. Chuck hadn’t even considered the fact that Stella might be wrong about Penny because Stella was rarely wrong. And if she was, she wouldn’t have Penny killed.
That was the one downfall with Stella. She didn’t like to take a life unless she had no other option. Chuck had often told her to take out a person, but she always had a reason not to. So far, nothing had come back on Stella for those decisions, but someone had sent Marlee Frampton straight to their area.
When Chuck finished his circuit of the room, he realized that Marlee had nothing on Stella or any of them. There was a small victory in that, but how long could it last? Sooner or later, Marlee would have to be killed. Stella had to know that. But Chuck was willing to wait until the heat died down, and it wouldn’t blow back on them.
He took one last look around the room before he walked out and got into his truck to drive to Stella’s.
Chapter 31
“I just don’t know,” Danny said with a shake of his head.
Cooper sat at the other end of the table in the dining room, holding his mug that only had a shot of bourbon in it this time. His gaze swung to Marlee, who made a face as she shrugged.
“Exactly,” Marlee said. “There’s no definitive answer on this woman.”
“And you really can’t find her real name?” Abby asked.
Danny removed his hat to scratch his scalp before he returned the Stetson to his head. “I’ve done several searches and nothing. So has Ryan.”
“There’s one other avenue we haven’t tried,” Marlee said.
Jace laced his fingers behind his head. “We’re all ears.”
“I have a friend in the FBI. We got to know each other when she worked my sister’s case. I’ve called Stephanie a few times when I’ve been in a bind. She’s also given me intel on occasion,” Marlee explained.
Caleb frowned and said, “Why haven’t you already made the call?”
“Because you don’t use contacts like that unless you have no other recourse,” Cooper said.
Marlee smiled at him from down the table.
“Cooper’s right,” Clayton said. “However, if we want an answer, then Marlee has to make the call.”
Brice leaned a shoulder against the wall of the dining room. “Out of all those names we checked, there wasn’t one that gave us pause?”
“Not a one,” Caleb answered.
Danny sat back in the chair and looked around the table. “Maybe we should look at those who moved three years ago. Or longer.”
“For all we know, these people could be staying in a house that belongs to someone else,” Clayton said with a shrug. “Hell, they may not even pay any of the bills themselves, which—”
“Means there’s no record of them,” Danny said over him. “Damn.”
The little optimism that had been there at the start of the day was fast dwindling. Cooper saw it, but he wasn’t sure how to change it.
“We’re missing something,” Marlee said. “I can feel it.”
Caleb twisted his lips. “I can’t imagine what it is but point us in the right direction. We’ll find it.”
“I agree with Marlee,” Jace said as he rose and got himself another slice of cherry pie. “I may not have the evidence Marlee does, but there’s no denying these bastards are here. In our town.” He turned back to the group with the pie in hand. “I don’t want them here.”
Brice rolled his eyes. “None of us do. But we have nothing to go on now.”
Cooper’s mind was working, trying to solve the problem while the others talked, and he kept going back to their location that night. He’d thought it was a good location. Even now, he still knew it would be where he’d hide out.
His gaze snapped to Marlee to find her already looking at him. “We were in the right place.”
“I think so,” she said with a nod.
Danny frowned as he leaned his forearms on the table. “You mean tonight?”
“Not that particular house, but the area,” Cooper said.
Caleb pinched off a piece of the pie crust from Jace’s plate before Jace turned away so Caleb couldn’t reach more. “It is very secluded in that area. Lots of acres between homes.”
“And we didn’t look at half of them,” Marlee declared.
Cooper rubbed a hand over his mouth. “There are a lot of homes back there.”
“It used to be one huge ranch back in the eighteen hundreds, but the surviving children of the owners sold it off in sections in the fifties. Some as small as ten-acre plots, but others as large as seventy and eighty,” Clayton told them.
Brice scratched his temple before he dropped his arms and pushed away from the wall. “We can’t go to every house and talk to them.”
“Why not?” Caleb asked.
Cooper nodded. “We’d need a damn good reason, but we could.”
“People open the door for kids selling candy,” Jace said.
Abby laughed from the doorway of the kitchen. “Pretty sure that’s only you. The Girl Scouts in the area go to your house first to sell cookies. That should tell you something.”
Jace swallowed the last of the pie and shrugged. “I like cookies.”
“You like everything,” Brice told him with a grin.
Cooper sat forward and looked between Marlee and Danny. “What would need to happen for us to go to the houses?”
“You don’t need my permission to do anything,” Danny told him. “It isn’t against the law to knock on someone’s door. Now, what you do after that, or what you find, well, that’s when it gets tricky.”
Marlee met Danny’s gaze. “Unless we don’t do anything. Just like today, it was collecting intel. This will be, as well.”
“I can’t do it in the morning,” Caleb said. “I’ve got to finish with the mare Doug gave me to train. He’s coming tomorrow to pick her up.”
Marlee smiled at him. “Thank you for the help today. Thank you to everyone. I’m used to doing things alone, but someone”—she paused and looked at Cooper—“told me I need to hire people. After today, I’m definitely going to do that. That being said, please don’t feel like you have to help me. I appreciate anything you can do, but I don’t expect anyone to work like I do.”
“But we will,” Jace said with a grin.
Caleb rose to his feet and pushed in his chair. “I’ll check in with y’all after lunch and catch up then. For now, I’m getting home to my wife, who has been texting me nonstop for an update.”
Caleb and Brice left while the others remained. Once it was quiet again, Danny asked, “What do you think you want to ask as your reason for knocking on these doors?”
“Whatever we say is going to be a lie,” Marlee said. “Are you sure you want to know?”
Danny gave her a flat look. “There isn’t a soul in this county who doesn’t know how close I am with the Harpers and Easts, as well as Jace and Cooper. Anything that happens, people figure I’m in on it regardless.”
“In other words,” Clayton said, “Danny would rather be prepared than caught off-guard.”
Marlee nodded and crossed one leg over the other. “Understood. Well, what I was thinking is that I know we’d cover more ground if we went alone, but I don’t think we should.”
“I’m in wholehearted agreement on that,” Cooper said. He knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate if he was worried about Marlee.
Jace’s and Clayton’s smiles nearly made Cooper roll his
eyes. He didn’t care that it was obvious why he’d made that statement. Marlee knew he liked her. Hell, he’d told her as much. He just hadn’t told her the rest. It had been a while since he’d told a woman that he loved her.
Marlee smiled at him for a moment. “We’ll cover less ground, but it’s safer. If we run across these people, I doubt they’ll give themselves up easily. They murder pregnant women. They won’t hesitate to do the same to us. Now, a good reason to go knocking on people’s doors is because of an upcoming election. Anything going on?”
“Not for a bit,” Danny answered.
“We can do a census for the county,” Cooper offered.
Marlee’s face brightened. “That’s perfect. We’re going to need clipboards, paper, and pencils.”
“I think I’ve got all that here. Let me see,” Abby said as she hurried away.
Danny nodded to Cooper. “That’s a good idea, actually. Most people won’t demand to know more information if someone comes to their door for a census.”
“Can we pull up a map of the area with all the homes?” Marlee asked.
Clayton got to his feet. “I can do you one better.” When he returned, he unrolled a map on the table. “My grandfather bought several plots of land when they went up for sale. He wanted to buy the entire ranch, but it didn’t happen. He sold those pieces of property before I was born. But we never got rid of the map.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” Marlee said as she stood to get a better look at it.
Cooper also got to his feet so he could see. He’d dated a girl in high school who had lived back there. That’s how he knew how secluded the houses were. “We need to mark off the houses we looked at today.”
“On it,” Marlee said as she got the paper from earlier with the addresses. Just as she was about to mark the map, she paused and looked at Clayton.
“Go on,” he told her. “If this saves lives, you can do whatever you want with it.”
Marlee then used a pencil and put a small X on the homes they had visited. It didn’t take long. When they saw how many houses were left, silence filled the room.