by Barb Han
“She really is a good girl,” Margaret cooed.
“Is she awake?” Renee performed a double take. Abby’s eyes were wide open. Instead of being afraid of the stranger, she smiled and cooed right back. The grandmotherly image brought out a longing for something that Renee hadn’t even realized had been missing. Abby had no grandparents. And with Renee’s parents long gone and no other side of the family to count on, it was just going to be the two of them. The statement had never felt lonely until now, until the O’Connors, until Cash.
“She’s been awake since you left. I think she sensed you were gone. She’s comforted by you being here.” Margaret’s words made more of those hot tears prick the backs of Renee’s eyes. She wanted more than anything for them to be true. “We’ve been keeping each other company, though. I figured you needed a minute. How’s the tea?”
“Good,” Renee answered quickly. Probably a little too quickly.
The astute woman’s eyebrow lifted ever so slightly. Her gaze went to Cash and held. “You have something on your mind.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You are both welcome to sit down. And, as much as I’ve loved holding this little angel, she’s ready for her mother.” Margaret must’ve felt Renee’s apprehension as she handed over a happy Abby.
Renee took a seat on the couch next to Margaret. It was easy to feel at home with the O’Connors and especially with her daughter in her arms.
Cash reclaimed his seat from earlier. “I got a text from Colton a few minutes ago. The investigation into Ms. Hubert’s death is turning over a few stones and I don’t want you to be caught off guard.”
“The media will be back full force, asking questions. They’ll figure out a way to get my cell number and hound me again.” She looked at Renee with the most determination she’d seen. “They used to pay folks to give my number to them after Caroline was taken. That was back in the day when we had house phones and landlines. Finn and I couldn’t leave the property for fear of being followed. I had my bumper tapped on the way to town once by a reporter. We figured it wasn’t safe to go on the roads until everything died down. Of course, back then we thought they’d find her and bring her home. We endured the publicity because we thought it might help bring her back to us.”
“I can’t begin to understand what you went through. I’m so sorry.” Renee patted Margaret’s hand. Much to her surprise, the older woman gave a reassuring squeeze.
Margaret turned to her son. “What do they know so far?”
He leaned forward and filled his mother in. He spoke with so much compassion. The love and respect between him and his mother was big enough to fill the room.
“And now you fellas are thinking Caroline’s case might be connected?” She seemed to already know the answer to her question but asked anyway.
“I just wanted to warn you of the possibility. You know how many twists and turns there can be in an investigation. Ms. Hubert’s case spans a lot of years. No doubt, the media will make the connection and folks will be talking about Caroline again.” Before he finished his sentence, his mother was nodding.
“Any kidnapping news that involved a child under the age of one caused her name to be brought up. You’d think it would bother me. I never minded, though. I figured it couldn’t hurt to talk about her again. The nagging feeling that someone must’ve seen something that night never left me. The person might not have even realized they’d seen anything important. You hear about these stories of crimes being solved ten or twenty years after the fact because a witness pops up out of the blue not realizing the red sedan they’d witnessed driving away from some crime scene would lead investigators to the offender. That’s always been the problem. Whoever took Caroline was able to blend right in.”
Renee took note of the stack of true crime books on the table next to her. There were stacks of mystery novels, too.
Margaret motioned toward a particularly large pile. “I can’t even count the number of hours I’ve spent in here trying to train my brain first to think like a criminal and then a detective.”
Cash’s hands were folded together and there was so much reverence in his eyes. It clicked with Renee that he and several of his brothers went into law enforcement for their careers. She wondered how much of it had to do with the very real pain still present in Margaret’s eyes.
It struck her just how much one event could alter the course of someone’s life forever. If Abby’s kidnapper had succeeded...
Renee couldn’t continue with that train of thought.
Caroline’s kidnapping had shaped this family. For Renee, her parents’ car crash had altered her life in so many countless ways. While she’d closed herself off from the world, the O’Connors seemed to have used their tragedy to pull together and form even tighter bonds. Maybe that was the difference between growing up alone versus being in a large, loving close-knit family.
“I failed her—”
Margaret’s voice broke. She shushed Cash when he tried to offer words of comfort. Those three words amounted to Renee’s biggest fear. She’d felt that same helplessness when she woke the other night. The man in Abby’s room couldn’t possibly have been there only to scare Renee. She’d caught him red-handed picking up her daughter from the crib.
The cover-up might have been intended to throw them offtrack. The idea that Caroline’s case could be related to Abby’s all these years later was a terrible possibility.
“News will get out about Abby soon. I guess the comparisons are coming no matter how long it’s been. I’m more worried about that to be honest.” Margaret clucked her tongue in disapproval. “I want to find out what happened to my daughter, but I don’t want to overshadow your investigation. It’s no good if people get distracted.”
“No, it isn’t,” Cash agreed. Those words scared Renee. She wouldn’t be able to leave her daughter’s side or sleep alone in a house again until the perp was caught.
Freaking out every time the doorbell rang or being too scared to go to the store sounded like living in a prison.
Margaret fell quiet for a long time. She looked tired, weary. The glow from holding Abby had faded.
The older woman pushed up to standing. “We won’t solve anything tonight. I’d probably better try to get some sleep.” She turned to Renee. “Thank you for letting me hold your angel. She’s a lucky little girl to have you as a mother. I hope you’ll come to me with any questions you have. I’m not sure that I know much, but I’m happy to share what I’ve learned over the years.”
“I will take you up on that. I’m grateful for any advice.” Renee meant every word. She was rewarded with a warm smile.
“Cash, will you show her to her quarters?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He stood and wrapped his mother in a hug. Another one of those rogue tears leaked from Renee’s eyes. She ducked to cover it while she wiped it away. His mother had to know Renee already knew where her room was, so she took the suggestion as a sign Margaret wanted to be alone.
“Do you want me to take her?” he asked, nodding toward Abby.
“No, thanks.” She needed her daughter to keep her arms busy. Especially because what they wanted was to reach out and touch Cash.
Chapter Fifteen
Renee reviewed the facts once she was settled in the comfortable guest room.
The mystery mover’s identity had been revealed. He had a solid alibi as did his crew chief, Paul. They’d learned earlier that the lighter, a piece of evidence she’d hoped might lead to the perp, belonged to Paul.
Darion Figg was in jail, which didn’t necessarily rule him out but made pulling off the crime more difficult. He had the perfect motive along with an equally perfect alibi. He had harassed other women at the office. The reason he’d been fired had to do with the pictures found on his work computer and wasn’t necessarily the direct result of her complaint about him. Some of her other office
mates had come forward, too. So, the trail of revenge should be longer than just Renee.
Kipp McGee was tied to a murdered woman who was linked to a kidnapping ring. Why give Abby to Renee in the first place if he was only going to turn right around and take her back? She needed to think through why someone would do that. What would his reasoning be? Didn’t he have to have a motive?
She looked up at Cash. “Something has been bothering me about Kipp McGee. Why give Abby to me only to take her back a month later? Why not cut out the middleman altogether if he had the baby in his care in the first place? He was the one who brought her to me.”
Cash leaned back in the chair beside the bed. “For one, to throw people off the trail of who the baby was really going to. You hired him to do a job. He delivered. He collects his fee and makes you think he moved on.”
“He’s never been inside my new house. Didn’t you say early on the perp seemed to know the layout?”
“Being from the area and having been in countless homes, it wouldn’t be difficult for McGee to guess the layout.” He made a good point.
“I know it wasn’t him that first night, though. It sounds like you’re saying he would’ve hired someone to...do it for him.” She couldn’t bear to say the words take her.
“Right,” Cash agreed.
“So, someone botches the first attempt and then tries to cover with the guys from the grocery store parking lot. And then an anonymous tip leads the investigation to him, but he can’t give any details about the person who hired him. It doesn’t make sense to me,” she said. “Why would someone go to all that trouble?”
“To change the motive. To distract investigators and lead them down a different path,” he stated.
“Jamison is missing and so is Yolanda,” she reminded him.
“The investigation is all over the place right now, which could indicate the perp is an amateur. He might’ve started to take your child and then panicked when you caught him. It was maybe supposed to be a quick in-and-out job. But you ruined that so he had to hire someone to throw us off.” Cash rubbed the scruff on his chin, a habit she’d noticed him doing when he was stressed.
“And then there’s Darion.” She crossed her arms over her chest and hugged them. It was strange thinking about who might have a grudge against her.
“Getting drunk and being locked up gives him an airtight alibi,” Cash said.
“For both attempts.”
“He couldn’t have known the first attempt would fail and I seriously doubt he could pull off the second one from jail,” Cash reasoned.
“It sounds safe to erase him from the suspect list then.” At least they were able to cross a couple of names off the list so far.
Cash nodded. “Unless new information comes up to change our minds, we can go ahead and rule him out for now.”
“You said something early on that has stuck in my mind ever since. You stated that the crime seemed personal because of the second attempt happening so soon. Have you changed your opinion?”
“My personal opinion? No.” Cash’s cell buzzed. He checked the screen and then gave her a look that sent her stress levels soaring before picking it up. The look was becoming familiar and meant Colton had another message.
Cash studied the screen. “There were no prints on the ladder.”
“Wouldn’t there be someone’s prints on there?” Someone had to have touched it at some point. Right?
“It was wiped clean. Considering the perp took off after being interrupted, he had to have wiped the ladder beforehand. And it also means he wore gloves so we’re not likely to get any viable prints at your house, either.” He issued a sharp sigh. “There’s something else. Yolanda Tran answered Colton’s call. She said that she and Jamison are on a babymoon and that he’s been with her since the doctor’s appointment.”
“Does that mean he’s ruled out?” A part of her wished it was true. She didn’t want someone she’d once cared about and trusted to be responsible for one of the most horrendous acts against her.
Cash looked up from his phone. “I’m never thrilled when a person’s alibi hinges on someone else who has a lot to lose. Plus, their story seems to be changing from a doctor’s appointment to a babymoon.”
“Paul’s mother might have a lot to lose, right?” It clicked why. It was probably common for a person to lie, cheat or steal to protect someone they loved. The reasoning made perfect sense and yet it all still had a huge ick factor. Renee had always been one to follow the rules. Then again, she’d never been in a situation where she’d had to protect someone she loved. She glanced over at Abby’s crib. Her protective instincts were already so strong. But what example would she set for her daughter if Renee was willing to do anything at all costs to cover for her. Protecting and covering were two different things in Renee’s book. Clearly, not everyone shared her morals.
“Right. Besides, he could’ve tricked her into thinking he was home when he wasn’t.” What he was saying made perfect sense.
“Yolanda has a lot to lose if Jamison goes to jail right before she gives birth to their child.”
“What else can you tell me about your ex, though?” he asked.
“Like?” Renee would like to forget as much about him as she could, but this might be important to the investigation. Again, it should seem strange sharing so many personal details with him. Instead, it was like talking to someone she’d known her whole life.
“What were his habits? How did he deal with stress?”
“He changed a lot over the years. I mean, when we first got together, he could be a little possessive. I tried to break up with him over it but he convinced me to stick around. He was great in the early days. He once drove two hours round trip to put a single flower on my car with a note telling me to have a great day. But it grew from there and started to worry me that he was getting too attached, too soon. When I put my foot down about him showing up unannounced at the restaurant where I worked, he stopped.” Or so she’d thought, until now. It was highly possible that he’d been keeping track of her over the years without telling her.
“From the sounds of it, he pursued you pretty hard.”
“Looking back, I guess that’s true. He definitely had to convince me to go out with him in the first place,” she said.
“You weren’t interested in him?” An eyebrow arched.
“Not him. Not anyone. I’d lost my parents the year before we started dating and their relationship had left a sour taste in my mouth. I was working at a restaurant to pay for classes at my community college. The business my parents owned was in bad financial shape. It’s part of the reason they fought all the time. I’d been living at home, working my way through school when the accident happened.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Those words soothed her soul. Despite not having a great relationship with her parents, she was still sad they were gone.
“Thank you. While they were alive, there was still a chance to make things right. You know?”
He nodded his understanding and she appreciated his compassion, but how could he know what it was like to come from a broken family?
“Our home was foreclosed on and I had to find a place to live. I rented this tiny apartment over an older couple’s garage. I had no way to bring furniture. I couldn’t afford to buy anything, so I slept on a pile of blankets on the floor. I kept working despite everything I was going through. I managed to stay in class, barely able to afford to keep going. But I did and I got an associate degree and tech certification, so now I can support myself and my daughter.”
“Wow.” He sat back and blinked at her like she’d just dropped a bomb in his lap. “I knew you were strong and capable when I first interviewed you but this...most people would buckle under those circumstances, not fight.”
It was strange to hear from an outsider’s perspective considering she’d never talked abou
t her past with anyone. Even Jamison seemed content to take her at face value when she said that she and her parents weren’t close, but that she’d loved them. He’d never once seemed amazed by what she was able to accomplish, but then she’d never really gone into much detail, either. Looking into Cash’s eyes now, his admiration was almost overwhelming. “I did what I had to in order to survive. Anyone in my position would do the same.”
She tried to shrug off his compliment.
“I’d say you’re doing a helluva lot better than surviving. Not many people could pick up the pieces of their life and thrive, considering the obstacles life threw at you early on.”
She was surprised she wanted to tell Cash about her past. She was used to downplaying or hiding it.
“I never talk about the past. Part of me thinks I’ve bottled all my emotions up for so long that it’s just become the elephant in the room of every friendship, every relationship.” Renee was surprised at how much she wanted to open up to a stranger. Except that Cash O’Connor didn’t exactly fit into that category. There was a spark with him that she’d never felt before with another man. The connection between them couldn’t be faked. And she should be embarrassed that he’d rejected her advance before but she wasn’t. The fact he’d wanted her as much as she wanted him—well, almost—comforted her. She was on the right track. He felt the chemistry between them as much as she did. And he made it seem like it was taking all of his self-control to keep their relationship platonic.
“It’s easy to do. Tuck an emotion into a box and stuff it down deep.” He stared at the wall when he spoke. As wonderful of a mother as Margaret had to have been, losing her firstborn in the way she had would’ve altered the rest of her life.
“The work you do is dangerous. Does that ever bother you?” She wanted to know more about his decision to go into law enforcement versus the family business.
“There’s not much more danger than ranching.”