Delores Fossen - The Marshal's Justice

“Who hired you?” Chase asked her, and he made sure he sounded like the lawman that he was. Maybe he could intimidate her into surrendering the weapon.

“I don’t know,” Renée said.

Chase huffed, already tired of this ordeal. He wanted it to end so he could find his daughter and deal with the aftermath of everything else going on here.

“Who hired you?” he tried again.

“I don’t know!” Renée’s answer was louder this time. “I got a call from a man who said Quentin was in danger and that if I wanted to find him then he’d help me.”

“Did this man have a name?” Jax asked. He, too, sounded like a lawman. A riled one. Probably because he was as fed up with Quentin and April as Chase was. Still, his brother would do whatever it took to get the baby back.

“His name is Jason Toth,” Renée finally answered. “He said he was Quentin’s friend.”

It wasn’t a name Chase recognized, and apparently neither did April or Jax. Of course, whoever had come up with this sick plan probably wouldn’t have used a real name.

“Do you know Tony Crossman?” Chase asked the woman.

She gave a shaky nod. “He’s the man Quentin helped send to jail. He wants to hurt Quentin.”

“Crossman wants to kill him,” Chase spelled out for her. “And he’d do anything—that includes using you—to find him.”

Chase didn’t add more. He just waited and let Renée fill in the blanks. It didn’t take her long.

“Toth might be working for Crossman,” Renée whispered, her mouth trembling now.

Bingo. “I don’t know Quentin’s location,” Chase continued, “but if I did and I told you, then Crossman could get to Quentin before you do. Let me guess, you’re wearing some kind of wire right now so Toth can hear whatever you’re saying?”

Renée’s gaze drifted down toward her stomach. And she nodded. It was a good thing Chase hadn’t known Quentin’s whereabouts and revealed it because assassins would have likely already been on their way to kill him.

April cursed and stormed toward Renée. “Where’s my baby?” she yelled to the person on the other end of that listening device.

April probably would have latched on to Renée as well, but Chase held her back. After all, Renée still had the gun, and the woman was past the point of just being panicked and upset. There was no telling what she would do in her state of mind.

“You need to come with us to the Appaloosa Pass sheriff’s office,” Chase told Renée. “We can figure out where the baby is. And just how much Crossman’s henchman has learned.” If anything. “You might be able to save Quentin from being hurt.”

Chase didn’t care a flying fig if Quentin got hurt. The only thing he wanted right now was the location of the baby. Once Bailey was safe, then he could deal with Crossman, his hired guns and anyone else who had a part in this.

“Oh, God,” Renée said, tears spilling down her cheek. “I was a fool to trust Toth.”

Yeah, she was. But Chase kept that to himself. “Just put down the gun and come with us.”

She volleyed glances at the .38, Chase and April. When Renée lifted her hand, Chase was certain that she was about to surrender.

He was wrong.

Renée made a feral sound that came deep from within her throat. Definitely not the sound of a woman who’d just realized she’d made a huge mistake. This was more the sound a trapped animal would make.

She turned, racing around the back of the car. Chase still wasn’t sure what she had in mind, but he didn’t want to risk firing a warning shot. He cursed and went after her.

Renée didn’t stop at the back of the car. She kept running. She jumped the narrow ditch and headed for the woods. For a pregnant woman, she ran pretty darn fast.

“Don’t hurt your baby,” April shouted out to her.

It was a good thing to say. It should have gotten a concerned, expectant mother to slow down.

But Renée definitely didn’t slow down.

“She can’t get away,” April said, following right along behind Chase and the woman.

“Go after her,” Jax insisted. “I’ll stay and search the car to make sure there’s no other gunman inside.”

Good plan. Too bad Chase didn’t have time to talk April into staying with Jax because she, too, went after Renée. Thankfully, it didn’t take them long to catch up with the woman, and when they did, Chase latched on to her shoulder and dragged her to a stop.

Renée didn’t exactly cooperate.

“Let me go,” she shouted, and she started to fight. Clawing and scratching at Chase while she tried to kick him.

Chase did something about that .38. He knocked it from her hand and April snatched it up before Renée could grab it.

That still didn’t stop Renée.

She rammed into Chase and she didn’t hold back. Renée off-balanced them, and Chase knew he couldn’t stop them from falling to the ground. However, he did try to take the brunt of the fall so that Renée’s unborn baby wouldn’t be hurt.

But when he heard April gasp, Chase figured he hadn’t succeeded in doing that.

Until he saw what’d captured April’s attention.

Renée’s dress had been shoved up during the scuffle. Way up. Chase saw a wire, but he also saw something strapped to her stomach.

A fake baby bump.

“She’s not even pregnant,” April mumbled.

That caused Renée to make another of those feral sounds, and she started fighting again. Not just scratching and shoving this time, but she punched Chase hard in the face.

Enough of this.

Since he was no longer dealing with a pregnant woman, Chase rammed her against the ground and pinned her in place.

“Tell Jax I need a pair of plastic cuffs,” Chase told April.

April turned, no doubt to call out to Jax. But his brother responded before she could even get out a word.

“Get up here now,” Jax shouted. “I found a baby.”

Chapter Four

April ran as fast as she could, the horrible thoughts running right along with her. Jax had said he’d found a baby, but that didn’t mean it was Bailey, and it didn’t mean her precious daughter was safe.

After all, the men who’d taken Bailey were the same ones who’d murdered Deanne.

Chase ran, too, dragging Renée along with him. But Renée still wasn’t cooperating, and that slowed Chase down.

April finally reached the road, but her heart sank when she didn’t see Jax. She soon spotted him, though. He was sitting in the backseat of the car next to an infant seat.

And Bailey was in that seat.

“She’s okay,” Jax insisted. “Someone’s obviously been taking good care of her.”

April’s breath whooshed out, and she practically crawled over Jax to get to the baby. He stepped out, hurrying toward Chase so he could take hold of Renée. But Jax did more than that. He clamped his hand over Renée’s mouth.

“I don’t want her calling out for help if she’s got any other comrades in the area,” Jax said.

Yes, and it was something that April should have thought about already. Renée could still be dangerous, but before April could deal with her, she had to see to Bailey first.

Bailey didn’t appear to have any injuries, but April had to check for herself. She took her from the seat, peeling back the blanket so she could check for any scrapes or bruises. None.

Jax had been right. Someone had been taking care of her. Bailey had on a fresh diaper, a clean pink gown, and judging from the bottles in the diaper bag next to the infant seat, she’d been well fed. Thank God. She was okay.

But Chase wasn’t.

April had been so caught up in making sure Bailey was unharmed that she hadn’t noticed Chase was right there by the door, and he had his attention fixed on the baby. He looked as if someone had slugged him, but the shock lasted for only a couple of seconds. Then, April saw something else she instantly recognized.