Kidnapping in Kendall County (11 page)

Austin turned around, snagged her gaze and slipped his cell into his shirt pocket. “Wait here, and I mean it. Don’t you even think about going out there with me. Call me, and I’ll leave my phone on so you can hear what’s going on.”

She nodded, her breath hitching a little when he idly brushed a kiss on her mouth and headed out, Colt falling in step right along beside him. As Austin had instructed, she called him, but he didn’t speak when he answered the call. Probably because he wanted to keep his attention on the woman who stepped from the car.

It was Vickie all right.

The woman had a large cardboard box that she set on the ground next to the fence, and she took out a manila folder from it.

“I want the money,” Vickie said when Austin and Colt approached her. “Then, you’ll get the files.”

“Show me that folder first,” Austin countered.

Because his back was to her, Rosalie couldn’t see Austin’s expression, but it must have been adamant enough for Vickie to rethink her demand. She handed him the folder.

Colt kept his gun trained on the woman while he volleyed glances at both Austin and the folder he opened. Time seemed to stop. Not her heart, though. It was slamming against her chest so hard that it hurt her ribs.

“Give her the cash,” Austin finally said. He glanced back over his shoulder at Rosalie. “Judging from the birthday, this could be Sadie’s file.”

Rosalie sucked in her breath so hard that she nearly got choked. “And?” was all she managed to say.

She heard Austin’s hard breath, too, but it was Vickie who answered. “Tell Rosalie that it has the name of the person who bought her daughter.”

Chapter Twelve

Austin wished like the devil that he could stop Rosalie from going with him for this visit, but he knew he didn’t stand a chance of making her stay at her family’s ranch. One way or another she would confront the man whose name had been in the file that Vickie had given them.

Trevor Yancy.

Austin shouldn’t have been surprised to see Yancy’s name on those papers claiming he was the one who’d
bought
Sadie. After all, the man was a serious suspect in the baby farm investigation and a multitude of other felonies. However, just the fact that it was Yancy meant that Rosalie wasn’t going to settle for anyone but her confronting him.

He couldn’t blame her.

But Austin darn sure could do whatever it took to protect her.

That’s why he was driving her to Yancy’s estate in San Antonio while her brother Colt followed them in his truck. In addition, Austin had called SAPD and asked them to send out a patrol car to keep an eye on the estate, to make sure Yancy didn’t try to run. Maybe, just maybe, Yancy would confess to everything, turn over a perfectly healthy Sadie to Rosalie and then Colt could arrest the piece of slime.

Austin only hoped Rosalie and he could keep their own tempers in check during this little chat.

He had a lot of dangerous energy brewing inside him, and that anger was headed right toward Yancy. The man had likely caused Eli’s death, and now he might have been the one to kidnap Rosalie’s daughter.

If Yancy had done that, he was going to pay hard.

“Hurry,” she insisted.

Rosalie kept her attention on the phone, and pressed Redial yet again. As with the other half dozen times that she’d tried to call Yancy on both his cell and home phones, the man didn’t answer. Maybe because he didn’t take calls this early or maybe because Vickie or someone else had given him a heads-up that Rosalie and the law were on the way. Of course, Austin wasn’t sure why Vickie would do something like that since she’d been the one to give them the file, but with all the insanity that’d gone on, anything was possible.

“If Yancy’s not home, we’ll find him,” Austin promised her, and it was a promise he would keep no matter what it took. Too bad though that he couldn’t keep it after he had Rosalie tucked safely away. He hadn’t stopped her from going to the estate, but if this turned into an all-out search, he wanted her far away from any path that Yancy and his hired thugs might take.

“I want to hear what he has to say about those adoption papers,” Rosalie mumbled.

“So do I. But if he does actually answer your call, it’s best not to ask him if he has Sadie. We wouldn’t want to spook him and have him run with her.”

“I doubt he can be spooked. He’s arrogant and certain that he’s above the law. He’s not.”

No, he wasn’t. “But until we have Yancy in our sights, it’s best if you keep the adoption questions general. Don’t ask specifically about Sadie. Agreed?”

He could tell she wanted to argue with him about that, but she finally nodded.

Her grip tightened even more on the phone until Austin thought it might shatter. Heck, she might shatter, too. Not with tears this time, but he could feel the rage boiling inside her just as it was with him.

“You have to remember that Vickie or someone else could have faked that paperwork,” Austin reminded her.

The anger flashed in her eyes as if she might argue about that, as well, but then a rough groan left her mouth. “I know. Vickie could be lying to cover her own guilt.”

Yeah, and that’s the reason Austin had called Rosalie’s brother, the sheriff, so he could escort Vickie into town for questioning. Vickie hadn’t liked that one bit, but Austin didn’t care. She’d possibly destroyed evidence by going to that grain mill.

And maybe worse.

“Maybe Vickie pretended to go to the grain mill to cover up any DNA evidence that might be there.
Her
DNA,” Austin clarified.

Rosalie made a sound of agreement. “But if she’s guilty, why didn’t she stay hidden away? She’s the one who contacted us about your nephew. Vickie could have just stayed in hiding or given the baby to someone else so that she wouldn’t be caught with him.”

Unfortunately, Austin could see that from another angle. “She could have heard that I’d been working undercover to find Nathan and thought she’d better cut her losses. By giving him to us, she might have hoped to get the heat off her and put it on someone else.”

“And she could have used the files to set up Yancy,” Rosalie finished for him a moment later. “That would explain why she didn’t just blow up the grain mill.” Her eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t mean Yancy’s innocent, though.”

No, it didn’t. But with all the finger-pointing that Sonny, Vickie and Yancy were doing at each other, it was hard to home in on the guilty party.

Rosalie tried Yancy’s number again. Same result. No answer. She checked the estimated time of arrival on the GPS. Yet something else she’d been doing since they started this drive from the McKinnon ranch. They were still a half hour out, and that likely felt like an eternity to her.

It did to Austin, too.

It also didn’t help that they were in the middle of a long stretch of rural property.

He’d taken the back roads to get there as fast as possible, but it meant Rosalie, Colt and he were at risk for another attack. The rural road would be a good place for it. Of course, the gunmen could have come after them on the highway, too. No place would be truly safe until the men were found and put in jail along with their boss.

And maybe their boss was Yancy.

“If Yancy has Sadie—”

“Don’t go there,” he insisted.

Austin hooked his arm around her and dragged her as close to him as the seat belt would allow. It wasn’t exactly a hug to comfort her, but it was the best he could do. He definitely didn’t want her to think about why Yancy would have purchased her child.

Because nothing good came to mind.

There was no acceptable reason for a weasel like Yancy to buy a baby.

That sent a new round of rage through him. If Yancy had done anything to Sadie, then no way would Austin be able to keep his temper in check. He would aim every bit of his venom at the man.

“I’m trying Yancy’s cell again.” Rosalie pressed Redial again, and Austin was about to tell her that she should just wait until they got to his place. But this time, she didn’t get his voice mail.

Yancy answered.

“It’s early,” Yancy snarled. “What in Sam Hill do you want at this hour?”

Probably because she was so shocked that he’d actually picked up, it took Rosalie a moment to find her voice. Or maybe she was remembering all the things that Austin had warned her that she shouldn’t say to him.

“What do you really know about the baby farms?” she asked.

Yancy cursed. “Not this again. I’m getting sick and tired of these—”

“Did you try to adopt a baby?” Rosalie snapped.

Austin held his breath, wondering if it might not be a good idea, after all, to go ahead and try to spook Yancy. The SAPD patrol was hopefully already in place at his house so they could stop the man from fleeing. And if Yancy did indeed run, it would just confirm his guilt.

“Who the devil told you that?” Yancy asked.

“Just answer the question,” Austin insisted, using his lawman’s tone that no doubt set Yancy’s teeth on edge. “Did you have anything to do with trying to adopt a baby?”

“Yeah,” Yancy finally said after mumbling plenty of profanity. “About a year ago, but I didn’t go through with it. The only reason I wanted a kid was to keep my wife happy so she wouldn’t divorce me and take a fortune. She decided to leave me, anyway, so I canceled the adoption.”

Rosalie glanced at Austin to see if he was buying this, but he had to shrug. It sounded exactly like something Yancy would do, and Yancy had been through a bitter divorce. From what Austin remembered, there’d been no prenup, and Yancy’s ex-wife had gotten millions from his estate.

Still, that didn’t mean Yancy hadn’t taken Rosalie’s daughter.

“You have any proof that you backed out of the deal?” Rosalie asked.

A few long moments crawled by. “You got proof that I didn’t?”

“Yes, I think we do.”

Yancy’s next round of profanity was significantly worse. “I told you I had no part in that business with the baby farms, and if you’ve got something that says different, then it’s a lie just like the ones Sonny-boy was spewing.”

“You’re sure?” Austin pressed, causing Yancy’s profanity to continue.

“Damn straight. And ask yourself this little question. Why would an operation like this keep records lying around for someone to find? They wouldn’t. So, anything you find or will find has been manufactured to make somebody look guilty. And in this case, that manufacturing has been aimed at me.”

Yancy had a point, but it was a point all three suspects could make. There was situational evidence to suggest that all of them had motive and opportunity to pull off an operation like this. Sonny and Yancy had the means with their bank accounts, and Austin was sure if he dug harder, that he’d find Vickie had those same means.

“If you’re telling the truth,” Rosalie said, obviously ignoring his question, “then you won’t mind if we search your house.”

“Heck, yeah, I mind—”

Yancy continued to talk, but Austin tuned him out. That’s because he saw the large SUV coming down the road toward them, and it looked like the vehicle their attackers had used. Not a good time for this to happen since Austin was approaching a bridge where there’d be no place to maneuver.

He moved his hand over his gun and was about to call Colt to alert him, but the SUV swerved directly into their lane.

And it came right at them.

* * *

R
OSALIE
HAD
HER
attention focused on Yancy’s rant so it took her a moment to realize that something was wrong.

Oh, God.

It was happening again. They were in danger.

“Hold on!” Austin shouted a split second before he jerked the steering wheel to the right. If he hadn’t done that, the SUV would have crashed right into them.

Instead, their front bumper bashed into the concrete guardrail on the narrow bridge. Her body jolted forward only to be slammed back again when the air bags deployed and hit her right in the face.

She couldn’t see, but mercy, she could feel. The impact knocked the breath right out of her. Thankfully, though, Austin seemed to be able to react. He quickly batted down the deflating air bag on his side because the truck was still moving. And Rosalie got a glimpse of where they were headed.

Straight down the bank and into the creek.

Austin fought the steering wheel, and he hit the brakes. But it was already too late. Rosalie put up her hands to brace herself for the impact.

She didn’t have to wait long.

It seemed only a blink of an eye before the truck plowed right into the water. The impact gave her body another jolt, knocking her off balance. Before she could even get the door open, icy water started pouring into the cab.

“Colt’s behind us,” Austin mumbled.

Maybe he said that so she wouldn’t panic and would remember that they had backup. However, her brother could be under attack, as well.

Rosalie frantically tried to open the door, and her heart skipped a beat when it didn’t budge. Neither did Austin’s, but he slammed his shoulder against it until it gave way, and he pried it the rest of the way open with his hands.

“Come on,” he said, keeping his gun and phone above the water that was rushing in.

He caught on to her wrist and pulled her closer toward him. However, he didn’t get out. Austin looked up at the SUV, probably to make sure they weren’t about to be gunned down when they exited the vehicle.

“They’re still out there on the bridge,” Austin told her. “Keep low and move fast.”

That didn’t help steady her heart, and she was already shaking so hard that Rosalie was afraid she wouldn’t be able to move. Austin made sure she did, though. With the water inside the truck already chest high and getting deeper, he pulled her into the creek.

The water wasn’t over their heads, but it was freezing, and the cold blasted through her. Her teeth started to chatter and she was shaking. Still, Austin kept her moving. Not toward the gunmen and Colt but toward the bank on the opposite side of the creek.

Her heartbeat was so loud in her ears, and with the water raging around them, it took Rosalie a moment to realize some of what she was hearing were gunshots.

Sweet heaven.

Not again.

They were under attack and literally out in the open. Plus, her brother was no doubt being shot at, too. Hopefully, Colt had managed to stay safe and could return fire.

Somehow, Austin was able to keep his gun and phone out of the water while he also kept her moving. Her heart was pounding even harder, her breath barely there by the time they made it to the bank. It was a mixture of dead grass, icy mud and rocks, and they crawled toward one of the large boulders. With her wet clothes weighing her down, each inch was a challenge.

The moment that Austin got her behind the boulder, he turned and fired at the people shooting at them. Rosalie got a glimpse of the men then. Both had taken cover behind their SUV. One had his weapon aimed at them. The other had his aimed in the direction of Colt’s truck. She didn’t see her brother, but she heard the sound of the gunshots coming from his direction.

Thank God.

Maybe Colt would be able to capture at least one of the men so that Austin and she could finally get some answers as to what was going on. However, she wasn’t sure it was a coincidence that they’d been attacked so close to Yancy’s house.

Was Yancy trying to kill them so she wouldn’t find her daughter?

That only made her anger and resolve stronger, and Rosalie wished she’d managed to hang on to a gun so that she could help Austin and Colt return fire.

“Backup’s on the way!” Colt shouted to them.

Rosalie didn’t know if that was a bluff or if Colt had actually managed to make a call with all the chaos going on around them. Either way, it stopped the men from shooting, and she saw one of them motion toward the other.