Stockyard Snatching

“Either way, if she used Safe Haven, then everything should be legit, right?” Dallas asked, hoping he’d be able to gain traction and get answers now that a child had been confirmed and he had the name of an adoption agency. His investigator was making good progress.

“They’ve been investigated before and came up clean.” Tommy took another sip of his coffee. “That doesn’t mean they are. They could be running an off-the-books program for nontraditional families. Kate’s case gives me reason to dig into their records. I’ll make a request for access to their files and see how willing they are to cooperate.”

“Will you keep me posted on your progress?” Dallas asked, knowing he was asking a lot of his friend.

Tommy nodded. “I’ll give you as much information as I legally can.”

“As far as Susan goes, you’re the only one who knows, and I’d appreciate keeping it between us for now.”

“You haven’t told anyone in the family?” Tommy asked in surprise.

“Everyone’s had enough to deal with since Mom and Pop...” Dallas didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to. Tommy knew.

“If you have a child, and I’d bet my life you don’t, we’ll find him,” Tommy said, and his words were meant to be reassuring.

He was the only person apart from Dallas’s brothers who would know just how much the prospect would gnaw at him. And if his brothers knew, they’d all want to be involved, but Dallas didn’t want to sound the alarm just yet. There might not be anything to discuss, and he didn’t like getting everyone riled up without cause.

Another text came through on his phone.

“Looks like my guy left to investigate Safe Haven last night and hasn’t checked in for work this morning,” Dallas murmured. “His assistant said he’s always the first one in the office. She’s been texting and calling him and he isn’t responding.”

“We need to talk to her,” Tommy said. “You know I’m going to offer my help investigating Susan’s disappearance. She’s originally from here and that makes her my business.”

“And I’ll take it,” Dallas declared. He wouldn’t rely solely on Tommy, because his friend was bound by laws. Dallas saw them more as guidelines when it came to finding out the truth. “We can work both cases and share information. As far as Kate’s goes, I’m not sure I like Allen Lentz.”

The sheriff leaned against the counter with a questioning look on his face.

“He sounded possessive of her when she called him this morning, and I got the impression he sees the kid as an obstacle to dating her,” Dallas explained. The news that Susan had had a boy was still spinning around in the back of his mind.

“I’ll have one of my deputies bring him in for questioning this morning,” Tommy said. “See if I can get a feel for the guy.”

“I’d be interested to hear your take on him,” Dallas stated. “I told her not to clue him in to what had happened this morning when she phoned him to open the kitchen for her. And I asked her to put him on speaker so I could hear his voice.”

“What was your impression of how he sounded?”

“I didn’t like the guy one bit.” Dallas would keep the part about feeling a twinge of jealousy to himself.

“Wanting the kid out of the way would give him motive,” Tommy said. “I’ll run a background check on him when I bring him in. See if there’s anything there.”

Tommy’s phone buzzed. “This is my deputy,” he said, after glancing at the screen.

Dallas motioned for them to return to Kate as his friend answered the call.

She was cradling the baby and Dallas got another glimpse of the little boy’s black curly hair—hair that looked a lot like his own—as they walked into the office. Dallas wasn’t quite ready to accept that possibility completely as he moved closer to get a better look at Jackson. There was no way that Kate’s son could be Susan’s baby.

Right?

Tommy was right. All of this would be way too much of a coincidence. The adoption agency was large and there had to be dozens of dark-haired baby boys who had been adopted around the same time. Not that logic mattered at a time like this.

Plus, Dallas hadn’t considered the fact that if Susan had had his baby, then wouldn’t she sue him for support? Or blackmail him to keep the news out of the press?

Until he could be certain, would Dallas look at every boy around Jackson’s age with the same question: Could the child be his?

Not knowing would be mental torture at its worst. Every dark-haired boy he came across would get Dallas’s mind spinning with possibilities. What-ifs. Was he getting a glimpse of the torment he’d endure for the rest of his life if he couldn’t find Susan?

Morton had confirmed there’d been a child, which didn’t necessarily mean Dallas was a father. And Morton had been able to link Susan to Safe Haven Adoption Agency. Dallas had every reason to believe that his PI would figure out the rest and Dallas would get his answers very soon. Being in limbo, not knowing, would eat what was left of his stomach lining.

Kate was watching him with a keen eye as Tommy entered the room.

“Can I go home now?” she asked, cradling Jackson tighter.

“This might sound like an odd question, but do you close and lock your doors when you leave your house?” Tommy asked.

“Yes. Of course. I’m a single woman who lives alone with a baby, and I wouldn’t dream of leaving myself vulnerable like that,” she said, and her cheeks flushed.

Embarrassment?

Dallas noted the emotion as his friend moved on. “Well, then, your place has been broken into,” Tommy said.

“What happened?” Kate’s face paled.

Dallas’s first thought was Allen. But wouldn’t he already have access to her house?

Not if she never let him inside. Maybe the date bit was a ruse to get into her home.

“The back door was ajar and the lock had been tampered with. My deputy on the scene said that nothing obvious is missing inside. All the pictures are on the walls and the place is neat.” Tommy listened and then said a few “uh-huh”s into the phone.

“Do you have a home computer?” he asked Kate.

“A laptop on my desk,” she answered.

Tommy repeated the information to his deputy and then frowned.

So, someone took her laptop?

“Are you sure it was on your desk the last time you saw it?” Tommy asked.

“Certain. Why? Is it gone?”

He nodded. “The cable is still there.”

That same look of fear and disbelief filled her blue eyes.

“Can you think of anything on your hard drive someone would want?” Tommy asked. He also asked about work files, but Dallas figured whoever broke into her house wasn’t going after those. This had to be personal, especially after the failed kidnapping attempt.

If someone was trying to scare her, then he was doing a great job of it, based on her expression.

“No. Nothing. I keep all my work stuff at the office. I vowed not to work at home ever again once I left the corporate scene. I have a manila file folder in the drawer, right-hand side, about Jackson’s adoption,” she added, holding tighter to her baby. “Is it missing?”