Barb Han - Stockyard Snatching

“Most kidnappings involve family. Sounds like that isn’t the case here,” the sheriff said. “We can’t rule out the birth parents. What’s your relationship with them?”

“None,” Kate responded. She hadn’t thought about the possibility that Jackson’s biological parents could’ve changed their minds. “The adoption was closed, records sealed, based on the mother’s request.”

“I’ll make contact with the agency to see if I can get any additional information from them. I wouldn’t count on it without a court order, though,” Tommy warned. “What’s the name?”

“Safe Haven,” she stated.

Tommy nodded. “Good. I know who they are.”

Kate held tighter to Jackson. Could the kidnapper have been the birth father? If an investigation was opened, could the birth mother change her mind and take her son away?

“Can you give a description of the man from this morning?” Tommy asked.

“Everything happened so fast. All I can remember is that he was wearing a hoodie and a high turtleneck. He was medium height and had these beady dark eyes against olive skin. It didn’t look like he’d shaved in a few days. That’s about all I can remember,” she said.

“It’s a start,” Tommy said, and his words were reassuring.

He turned to Dallas with that same questioning look.

“He was young and I didn’t recognize his voice, so I don’t think he’s from around here,” Dallas added.

“Is it possible that he’s the father? If he’s not local, then maybe he just found out about the baby and tracked us down,” Kate said, fear racing through her at the thought.

“We can’t rule it out, but that’s just one of many possibilities,” Tommy said. “What about your neighbors on Main? I heard some of them weren’t too thrilled when you moved in.”

“That’s the truth,” she said.

“Someone might have tried to scare you enough to get you to close shop and leave town. That’s a best-case scenario, as far as I’m concerned, because it would mean they never intended to hurt you or the baby. I need a list of names of family, friends, anyone who you’ve had a disagreement with, and your employees.”

The last part caught her off guard. Employees?

That had been Dallas’s first suspicion, too.

“Sheriff Johnson, you don’t seriously think one of my people could be involved, do you?” she asked, not able to fathom the possibility that one of her own could’ve turned on her.

“Please, call me Tommy,” he said. “And I have to search for all possible connections to the guy we’re looking for. You’d be surprised what you find out about the people you think you know best.”

In his line of work, she could only imagine how true that statement was. How horrible that anyone she trusted might’ve been involved.

No, it had to be a stranger.

“I have received threats from some of my business neighbors,” she said.

“Tell me more about those,” Tommy said, leaning forward.

“A few of the other tenants got together to file a complaint with my landlord. They said they didn’t think Main was the appropriate place for a soup kitchen,” she explained.

“And what was his response?” Tommy asked.

“He didn’t do anything. Said as long as my rent was paid on time and I wasn’t doing anything illegal, it wasn’t anyone else’s concern,” she said.

“I’ll send one of my deputies to canvass the other tenants and see what he can find out. We’ll cover all bases with our investigation.” Tommy glanced up from his pad. “How long ago did they make the complaint?”

“Right after we first moved in, so about six months ago,” she said.

“Anyone make a formal complaint since?”

She shook her head.

“What about direct threats?” Tommy asked.

“Walter Higgins threatened to force me out of town,” she said. “But that was a while ago.”

“The town needs your services,” Dallas said through clenched teeth. “What kind of jerks complain about a person doing something good for others?”

Jackson stirred at the sound of the loud voice and Kate had to find his binky to pacify him. She shuffled through the diaper bag and came up with it. Jackson settled down as soon as the offering was in his mouth.

“Sorry,” Dallas said with an apologetic glance.

“It takes all kinds,” Tommy agreed. “I’m guessing they figured it would hurt their business. We’ll know more once my deputy speaks to them.”

“It’s not like people hang around after they eat. There’s no loitering allowed downtown,” Kate said.

“It’s a big escalation to go from complaining to your landlord to a personal attack like this on your son.” Based on the sheriff’s tone, her neighbors weren’t serious suspects. Tommy fired off a text before returning his gaze to Kate. “Now tell me more about your people.”

“We have a small office staff,” she conceded. “Allen Lentz is my second in command and takes care of everything when I’m not around. Other than that, there are about a dozen cooks and food service workers. Only one is on payroll. The others are volunteers.”

Dallas’s posture tensed when she mentioned Allen.

Kate registered the subtle change and moved on. She rattled off a few more names and job descriptions.

The sheriff nodded and jotted a few notes on his palm-sized notebook.

“And then there’s Randy Ruiz. He keeps the place running on our tight budget. He’s our general handyman, muscle and overall miracle worker. Anything heavy needs lifting, he’s our guy. He’s been especially helpful and dependable in the six months he’s been with us.” Despite Randy’s past, she knew full well that he would never hurt her or Jackson.

Dallas seemed to perk up and she was afraid she’d tried to sell Randy a little too hard. True, she could be a little overprotective of him. He’d had a hard road and she wanted to see him succeed.

“Tabitha Farmer does all our administrative work,” Kate added quickly, to keep the conversation moving. “Her official title is volunteer coordinator.”

“How close are you with donors?” Tommy asked.

Thinking about the possibility that anyone in her circle could have arranged to have her child kidnapped was enough to turn Kate’s stomach. She clasped him closer.

For Jackson’s sake, she had to consider what Dallas and the sheriff were saying no matter how much she hated to view her friends and acquaintances with a new lens.

Maybe she was being naive, but she’d been careful to fill her life with genuine people since moving to Bluff from the city. “I maintain a professional distance. However, I do get invited to personal events like weddings and lake house parties.”

“And what do you do with your son during these outings?” Dallas interjected, no doubt remembering her conversation with Allen earlier.

“I don’t usually go. But I used Allen once,” she replied.

“Allen?” Dallas looked up from intensely staring into his cup of coffee.

“We’re like a family at the kitchen, and we take care of each other,” she said defensively.

Dallas’s cocked eyebrow didn’t sit well with her. She could feel herself getting more and more defensive.

“Despite what you may be thinking about my employees, they really are a group of decent people,” she stated, making eye contact with him—a mistake she was going to regret, given how much her body reacted to the handsome cowboy.

“In my experience, that doesn’t always prove the truth,” he said, holding her gaze. “When did Allen babysit for you?”

“It’s been a while. I used Tabitha one other time recently.”

“There a reason for that?” Dallas asked, lifting one dark eyebrow.

“Yes, but it doesn’t mean anything,” she said quickly. Then she sighed. “Okay, I thought Allen was getting a little too...involved with me and Jackson, so I thought it would be best to use Tabitha instead. He’s made it clear that he’d like to date.” She involuntarily shivered at the thought of going out with anyone, much less someone from work. “And I’m just not ready for that.”