Surrendering to the Sheriff (10 page)

Kendall pulled in her breath, moved closer to the phone. Aiden held his breath, too, because he was a hundred percent certain this was something he wasn’t going to like.

“I think we can agree that Mom’s been acting a little erratic lately,” Shelby continued. “She’s upset about the baby.”

Heck, no. He did
not
like the direction this was going.

“What the hell did she do?” Aiden growled.

Shelby cleared her throat. “When I was at the house last night, I saw a bank statement on her personal computer. Not for her regular bank. This was one I didn’t know about.”

Strange, since Shelby managed the family’s finances and Carla’s trust fund.

“I told Mom about the baby four days ago,” Shelby went on, “and twenty-four hours later, she withdrew a large sum of money from this account that I didn’t even know she had.”

That put a tight knot in his stomach. “How much?”

“Fifty thousand,” Shelby admitted after yet another pause. “I hoped maybe she was planning a big trip or something, so after dinner I asked her about it. She claimed she didn’t know what I was talking about. When I went back to her office to show her, the account had been deleted, and there was no trace of it. I can’t think of a good reason why Mom would do something like that, can you?”

No, but he could think of a bad one.

Apparently, Kendall could, too.

“Oh, God,” Kendall whispered, and she pressed her fingers to her mouth.

And Aiden knew why. Fifty thousand dollars was plenty enough to pay for the attacks on Kendall.

“I have to go,” Aiden said to Shelby. “I need to talk to our mother now.”

He pushed the end call button, but before Aiden could scroll through for Carla’s number, his phone rang. At first he thought it was Shelby calling back to tell him to go easy on their mom.

But
unknown caller
was on the screen.

That knot in his gut tightened.

“Sheriff Braddock,” Aiden answered. He didn’t put the call on speaker, but Kendall moved so close that she’d likely hear anyway.

There was a lot of static on the line, and it took several seconds before the caller said anything. “This is Harry Yost.”

Aiden looked at Kendall to see if she knew who that was, but she only shook her head.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Aiden asked the man. He didn’t bother to sound friendly, either, because there were rarely good reasons why someone didn’t want their number viewed.

“I’m the person who kidnapped Kendall O’Neal and took her to your place,” the man volunteered. “If you want to find out why I did that, then come and see me so we can talk.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kendall didn’t have to ask the caller if he was lying about who he was. He wasn’t. She recognized his voice. It was indeed one of the men who’d kidnapped her.

And the very one who’d shot her.

He had also tried to kill Aiden and her before getting away in the SUV. Because he’d been missing for two days, she’d thought that maybe they’d seen the last of him. Apparently not.

“I’m listening,” Aiden said, pressing the speaker button so she could hear better. Probably because she was right against him, and he needed to take out a small notepad and pen from his pocket.

“Don’t bother trying to trace the call,” Yost said. “I’m using a burner, and I’ll toss it as soon as we’re done talking.”

Maybe they’d get some answers before that happened. “Why me?” Kendall asked.

“Can’t answer that. I got orders to take you and use you to get the sheriff to destroy that evidence.”

“Who gave you those orders?” Aiden demanded.

It sounded as if the guy chuckled. “Not gonna get into that over the phone. I’m looking for some help here, and I figure the only way I’ll get that help is to have something I can use to barter.”

Kendall hung on every word. Processing it and mentally repeating it. “I know you,” she said.

Yost, if that was truly his name, didn’t jump to verify that. “Our paths have crossed. When you were at the pharmacy waiting for your prescription to be filled, I started chatting to you about headache meds.”

It took her a moment, but it all came back. A big guy, dark hair with a military cut. “You followed me there.”

“I did.” No trouble admitting it, and that fact caused Aiden to mumble some profanity. “My partner and I were supposed to take you from the parking lot, but somebody was following you. Thought it was wise for us to back off and take you from your office instead.”

The someone following her had probably been the PI Palmer had hired. Or maybe it was the one working for Aiden’s mother. There were an awful lot of PIs lurking around, and it turned her stomach to think that she hadn’t noticed them. Of course, with the pregnancy and Jewell’s trial, she’d had a lot on her mind.

That misstep had turned out to be dangerous.

“I thought you might have remembered my voice,” Yost confirmed a moment later. “And that you maybe could have picked me out of a photo lineup.”

“I could have. Is that why you tried to have me killed at the jail?” she asked.

“I had no part in that one, but I got caught up in the flak.”

“How?” Aiden snapped. “And did you have something to do with the dead guard from the county jail?”

Silence. For a long time. “That’s something for a face-to-face conversation, something I want to have with Miss O’Neal and you.”

Aiden was shaking his head before Yost even finished. “I’m not letting Kendall get anywhere near you.”

“You will if she wants to know who’s trying to kill her. I’m at the football field at the high school in Clay Ridge. It’s early, but there are plenty of kids already here for track practice. Some cheerleaders, too.”

“Don’t you hurt those kids,” Aiden growled.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I just figured you’d be more inclined to visit with me if I made it in an
interesting
location.”

His smugness made her want to reach through the phone and slap him. How dare he play with people’s lives like this? And apparently he’d done it all for money, as Yost said someone had hired him.

“How do you think a meeting between us would play out?” she asked.

Aiden glared at her, letting her know with those narrowed eyes that such a meeting wasn’t going to happen. Still, she wanted to know what this dirtbag expected of her.

“I’m thinking you’ll show up here in a half hour,” Yost went on. “Since you’re probably still at your house over in Sweetwater Springs, that should give you enough time if you don’t dawdle. Or if the sheriff doesn’t take the time to drop you off somewhere.”

Which was exactly what Aiden would do. No way would he let her go near this guy again after what he’d done to her the last time. Kendall could still hear the gunshot. Still feel the pain in her arm. And while she wanted to know the truth, she couldn’t put her baby at risk.

Couldn’t put Aiden at risk, either.

However, Kendall seriously doubted she’d be able to stop him from going to this meeting.

“Then what?” Aiden pressed. “You expect to tell me whatever it is you think I want to know and then just walk away?”

“No. I expect protective custody. The real kind where I’m, you know, actually protected and not shot or beat to death while I’m in a holding cell.”

“You need protecting?” Aiden didn’t sound any more convinced of that than she was. This guy was a killer. That said, the jail guard was dead, and it was likely that his killer wanted to do the same to Yost.

But why?

Why set this monster into motion and then kill him?

Maybe because she could identify him and somehow link him back to the person who hired him.

She glanced up at Aiden, their gazes meeting, and even though he didn’t say anything to her, she figured he was on the same wavelength. Now Kendall needed to make the connection. And fast.

“Of course I need protecting,” Yost finally said. “My partner, Montel Higgins, is dead. Don’t want to end up like him... I gotta go,” he quickly added. “I see somebody.” No more smugness. Judging from his tone, he was scared. Or else he was pretending to be.

“Who do you see?” Aiden asked.

“Gotta go,” Yost repeated. “Just get here fast, because in thirty minutes, I’m outta here.” And with that, he hung up.

Kendall didn’t waste a second. She headed straight for the stairs. “I’ll get dressed.”

“This doesn’t mean you’re coming with me,” he called up to her, and she heard him start on some phone calls. Hopefully, arranging backup for himself so he wouldn’t have to face Yost alone.

Kendall dressed as fast as she could, throwing on a pair of jeans and a top. When she made it back downstairs, Aiden was still on the phone, so she disengaged the security system. As he’d done other times, he looked around outside, finished his call and got her moving to his truck.

“I’ll drop you off with Leland and Sarah at the sheriff’s office,” Aiden explained. “Jeb will go with me.”

Jeb, the most inexperienced deputy in the department. That didn’t help steady her nerves.

“Yost said you wouldn’t have time to do that,” she reminded him.

He gave her a determined glance. “You’re staying with the deputies.”

She wished that Aiden could do the same, stay tucked away safely with her, but Kendall knew she had zero chance of talking him out of this. After all, he was the sheriff, and he’d want to talk to Yost to see what he could learn.

And they had plenty to learn.

“What are you going to do about your mother?” she risked asking.

No look this time. Not at her anyway. Aiden kept watch around them. Still, she had no trouble seeing the muscles at war in his jaw. “I’ll treat her like any other suspect.”

From some people, that might have been lip service. It wasn’t from Aiden. “Can you think of a reason why your mother would withdraw that money?”

A reason that didn’t involve kidnapping her to force Aiden to destroy evidence.

A reason that didn’t involve the baby, either.

“You know that my mother is seeing a shrink,” he finally said. “Well, she needs it. I told you about her depression, but she’s also been battling extreme mood swings since Dad was killed.”

Another reminder of how many lives had been affected from that one tragic day.

“Did she have mental problems before?” Kendall asked, causing Aiden to give her a questioning glance.

Even though it’d been a simple question, apparently he knew that it hadn’t come out of the blue.

“Before what? Did you find out something about my mother?” he asked.

That required a deep breath. “Maybe.” And another deep breath. “Like Shelby, I’ve been doing plenty of research, and I came across an elderly woman who used to work for a psychiatrist. She said she thought your mother had been his patient a long time ago.”

The surprise went through his eyes. “How long ago?”

“Before she married your father. But I don’t have any other details,” she added. “In fact, I’m not even sure it’s true. The woman’s almost eighty years old, and her memory might not be that good.”

Kendall was clinging to that. Even if Carla had spent time there, she could see why the woman wouldn’t want to share something like that with her kids. Still, if Carla had had issues for that long, then maybe those
issues
had resurfaced with news of the baby.

“Carla never mentioned it?” Kendall asked.

Aiden shook his head, and he sat there, stiff and silent as stone.

Kendall waited a few moments. Not nearly enough time for him to process all this, but they were just scratching at the surface and didn’t have a lot of time to work this out.

“Of course, I now have to wonder about the money that Shelby saw in the account,” Kendall added.

More silence, and he seemed to be trying to tamp down his nerves. “Carla might be hoping to use it as some kind of payoff to you. Maybe to get you to give up the baby.”

Kendall’s mouth fell open. “I’d never give up this baby.
Never.
Not for any amount of money—”

“I know that, but my mother’s desperate, so she might be willing to do desperate things.”

“How desperate?” she pressed when Aiden didn’t continue.

He swallowed hard. “Desperate enough to try to get you out of the picture.”

That caused her heart to slam against her chest. Of course, Kendall had already considered it after everything she’d learned, but it was another thing to hear it said aloud. From the woman’s own son, no less.

“I’ll handle it,” Aiden went on. “I’ll bring her in, question her. If she’s behind this, I’ll get the truth.”

A truth that could shake him to the core. Yes, Aiden’s relationship with his mother was rocky, but she was still his mother. And if she’d truly been behind the kidnapping, then that also meant she was responsible for the attempts to kill them.

Good God, had Carla tried to have her own son killed? Or was he just possible collateral damage, because Kendall would have been Carla’s real target?

“I’m sorry.” Kendall slipped her hand over his. More tight muscles. But he didn’t pull away. “And it might not even be her. After all, we have two other suspects. Palmer and Joplin.”

Aiden didn’t answer, but she figured he was hoping that it was anybody but Carla.

His phone rang, and when he fished it from his pocket, she saw Leland’s name on the screen again.

“We got a problem,” Leland said the moment that Aiden answered. “There’s been a report of gunshots near the high school.”

Aiden cursed. “I’m still five minutes out.”

“Sarah and I are on the way there now. I know that only leaves Jeb in the office to watch Kendall, so I called Seth Calder. He was at the jail going over what happened, and he’ll be at the office by the time you get there.”

Aiden groaned slightly but thanked Leland. His phone also beeped, indicating that he had another call coming in. One look at the screen, and Aiden cursed again when he saw it was from an unknown caller.

Yost, no doubt.

“I’ll call you back,” Aiden said to his deputy and then switched over to Yost. “What the hell’s going on?”

“Well, it’s not going as planned, that’s for sure. Somebody’s shooting at me, and I had to return fire.” Yost sounded out of breath, as if he was running. And there was a loud bang. Probably the sound of another shot.

Oh, God.
The students could be hurt.

“Who’s shooting at you?” Aiden demanded.

“Don’t know. Yet. But obviously there’s been a change of plans. Don’t come here. I’ll call you when I’m out of this mess.”

“My deputies are on the way to you now,” Aiden told the man, but he was talking to the air, since Yost had already hung up.

Aiden sped up even more, but he continued to keep watch around them, and when he reached the sheriff’s office, he didn’t go into the parking lot. He literally drove onto the sidewalk so he could stop his truck directly in front of the entrance. Seth was already there, stepping out of his vehicle, and he hurried toward her.

“Tell Jeb to lock down the place,” Aiden told Seth. “And thanks.”

Seth grumbled a terse “you’re welcome” and he got her inside. He didn’t have to tell Jeb to do a lockdown, because the deputy started it right away.

Kendall looked out the reinforced window, praying that Aiden would be all right, but as soon as he put his truck in gear to drive away, she heard a sound that she didn’t want to hear.

A gunshot.

And this wasn’t coming from the school a mile away. It was close. So close that Seth pushed her behind him, drew his gun and looked out the window, as well. Kendall came up on her toes so she could look over his shoulder, but there was nothing to see. Not at first anyway.

There was another thick blast.

Followed by the sound of Aiden’s truck door.

And a moment later, she saw Aiden peering around the edge of the building, his attention on the park behind the sheriff’s office.

“The shooter’s out there,” she whispered, her voice already shaking. She wasn’t worried for herself but for Aiden.

“Aiden’s deputies are coming,” Seth reminded her, no doubt sensing the bad scenarios going through her head. “He’ll have backup soon.”

But maybe soon wouldn’t be soon enough.

There was another shot.

Mercy, who was doing this? Yost? Or was this the person he’d mentioned seeing at the school? She figured whoever that person was, he didn’t have friendly intentions, because Yost had ended the call darn fast.

“Stay down.” Seth looked back at her with a warning glance. “The glass is bullet-resistant, but a cop-killer bullet can get through. Sorry,” he added in a mumble when she gasped.

Cop-killer. A coated bullet that could penetrate walls.

And kill cops like Aiden.

“I just don’t want you hurt,” Seth said to her. “And neither does Aiden.”

That was true, but that still didn’t level her breathing. Why was this happening again?