Delores Fossen - Kidnapping in Kendall County

With Eli shot dead by an unknown assailant.

And Yancy a free man.

If Yancy was indeed involved with the baby farms, then the question was why? Was it just another illegal venture on his part, or was there something even more sinister going on here? Something to do with Rosalie and him?

“What makes you think Yancy’s connected to this?” Austin demanded.

Sonny shook his head. “I’ll tell you once we’re out of here. These men will kill us all if they come back.”

Austin couldn’t dispute that, and despite his need for the truth, he could no longer keep Rosalie at the center of this possible danger. He was already responsible for Eli’s death. Best not to add hers to the nightmares that he stood no chance of ever forgetting.

With a firm grip on his gun, Austin opened his truck door, but before he could get out, Rosalie caught his arm. “You’re not going out there.”

For a split second Austin was taken aback by her concern. Her touch, too. But just as quickly as she’d touched him, she pulled away her hand. He realized then that her concern wasn’t aimed at him but rather their situation. If he got shot, her chances of getting out of there and finding her daughter would decrease big-time.

“I’m only going to frisk him,” Austin told her.

He stepped from the truck and did just that. Sonny cooperated, lifting his hands away from his body and wincing in the process.

“No gun, like I said,” Sonny explained. “But I’ve lost some blood.”

Yes, he had, and that meant Austin’s first stop had to be a hospital, and the nearest one was back in the ranching town of Silver Creek. He could leave Rosalie there, as well, since he knew the sheriff and deputies. He doubted Rosalie would like that, but Austin didn’t intend to give her a choice.

“You can ride in the back of the truck.” Austin motioned for Sonny to hop in, and the man did. It was freezing cold and wouldn’t be a pleasant ride, especially considering his injury, but Austin couldn’t risk allowing him in the cab of the truck with Rosalie and him.

“Keep an eye on him,” Austin said to her when he got back in.

He checked the road to make sure no one was out there waiting for them, and when Austin didn’t see anyone, he got them out of there fast.

“Trevor Yancy,” Rosalie mumbled. She turned in the seat so she could nail her attention to Sonny. “Has his name come up in your investigation of the baby farms?”

“No.” Austin didn’t have to think about that, either. A lot of names had popped up. Potential suspects and kidnap victims. But if he’d seen anything about Yancy related to this, he would have definitely remembered.

“Is it possible...?” Rosalie’s breath hitched, and even though they weren’t touching, Austin could practically feel her muscles tensing. “Would Yancy have kidnapped my daughter and your nephew because Eli and you had been investigating him?”

Anything was possible when it came to a snake like Yancy.

Anything.

And since that wasn’t likely to make Rosalie’s breath stop hitching, Austin didn’t spell it out for her. Still, this could be the lead that Austin had been searching for. He reached for his phone to have someone bring in Yancy for questioning, but it dinged before he could do that.

“It’s a text from FBI Agent Ryland,” Rosalie relayed. She still had hold of his phone and stared down at the screen. “He said there’s a Sonny Buckland who’s a P.I., and he’s attached a photo of him.” She held it out for Austin to glance at.

The photo was definitely of the same man who was now riding in the bed of the truck. At least Sonny hadn’t lied about his identity, but that didn’t mean Austin was anywhere close to trusting him.

“Sonny has no criminal record,” Rosalie continued to read. She paused though and cleared her throat. “And your partner wants to know what the heck is going on, except he used a lot more profanity than I just did. He also wants you to call him now. ”

She showed him that part of the text, too, though Austin didn’t have to see it to know that Sawyer had likely figured out that Austin wasn’t on vacation as he’d claimed. Nope. He was on an unauthorized undercover investigation that had just gone to hell in a handbasket.

“I’ll call him as soon as I’ve dropped off both Sonny and you,” Austin said more to himself. Rosalie obviously heard it, though.

“I want to go with you to question Yancy or anyone else connected to this,” she insisted.

“Yeah, I bet you do, but it’s not going to happen. No way will I put you in danger like that.”

“I’m already in danger!” she practically shouted, but the fit of temper disappeared as quickly as it’d come. “I need to find my daughter. Eli’s daughter,” she added, probably because she figured it would touch every raw nerve in his body and soften him up.

He couldn’t let it work on him.

His phone vibrated, indicating he had an incoming call, and he saw Sawyer’s name on the screen. His partner had obviously meant that part about Austin calling him back now.

Bracing himself for questions he wasn’t ready to answer, Austin took his phone, issued another “Keep watch” to Rosalie and answered the call. He didn’t put it on speaker, and that was probably the reason Rosalie scooted across the seat—so she could hear.

“Well?” Sawyer said the moment Austin answered.

“I was looking for my missing nephew,” Austin settled for saying.

“Yes, and our boss already figured that out. He’s not happy, Austin, and he wants you back from your vacation. ”

“I’ll be back soon.” He hoped. “For now, I just need your help. I’m en route to the Silver Creek hospital to drop off an injured P.I. who’s either a witness or a person of interest in some assorted felonies. I’ll be there in about five minutes. Can you make some calls and arrange for him to be guarded?”

Sawyer didn’t answer for several snail-crawling moments. “Sure.”

“I also need you to have someone secure two crime scenes on the farm road that runs directly east of the town of Silver Creek,” Austin added. “Both were baby farms and are owned by a dummy corporation, Real Estate Investments. There’s not much left of them, and there are possible explosives planted around the grounds.”

“I’ll get someone out there right away,” Sawyer assured him. Another pause. “You had a BOLO on a woman driving a black truck registered to your alias?”

“Yeah—”

“A deputy here in Silver Creek just phoned it in. They found her.” Sawyer paused again. “It’s not good news, Austin. The woman’s dead.”

Chapter Five

Rosalie’s heart went to her knees. She couldn’t stop the brutal thoughts and images from going through her head. Images of Janice’s frantic escape from the baby farm and the ordeal that had led up to it.

At the time Rosalie had believed that escape was the woman’s best chance of surviving.

Obviously, she’d been wrong.

“Oh, God.” Rosalie grabbed the phone from Austin and put it on speaker. “What about the babies? Janice had two newborns with her.”

“Who is this?” Agent Ryland snapped.

Austin mumbled some profanity and made the final turn toward the hospital. “She’s Rosalie McKinnon.”

Agent Ryland repeated her name. “She was engaged to Eli.” Even though Rosalie didn’t know Agent Ryland, the man obviously knew her since it wasn’t a question.

“And she’s also Seth Calder’s stepsister,” Austin added. “I ran into her while I was undercover.” He glanced at her, as if he might add more, but then shook his head. “Now, what about the babies?”

“Both are fine. According to the deputy, Janice drove to the sheriff’s office, but she was already injured when she got there. She’d been shot.”