Sharon Dunn - Top Secret Identity

“I’m sorry. Do you feel comfortable leading Richie around? I’ll help get him into the saddle, and then I need to speak with these two people for a minute.”

As Josh and Serena drew near, Morgan instructed Richie to place his foot in the stirrup. The two marshals stood off at a distance, waiting for her to finish.

After Adele led Richie toward the group, Morgan crawled over the metal fence that surrounded the outdoor arena. Why hadn’t they told her they were coming? How could she ever expect to have anything that felt like a normal life if they could show up at any time? If Alex saw them, she’d have to make up a lie about who they were.

Both Josh and Serena nodded as she approached them.

The marshals were dressed more casually than the tailored suits and crisp white shirts they’d been wearing the first time she’d met them. Serena had pulled her dark hair up with a clip and she wore jeans and a button-down shirt. Josh dressed in a windbreaker, khakis and a polo shirt.

Morgan had met them once before when she’d been told that they were the ones handling the illegal adoption ring case. Her initial impression of Josh and Serena was that they were both good at their jobs, but there was a tension between them that she didn’t understand.

Morgan glanced around. It would be nice to hide in the barn while she talked to the marshals, but she couldn’t leave the class in case there was a crisis. Alex was in his office in the guesthouse. Hopefully, he’d stay inside so he wouldn’t wonder who Josh and Serena were. She didn’t like the idea of deceiving him.

Josh spoke first. “The reason we’re here is we just wrapped up a case that had some similar elements to it as yours. I don’t know if you saw the news story about a woman named Emma Bullock. She was found beaten nearly to death in a Minneapolis park. She had no memory of the assault or of who she was. She went by the name of Julie Thomas for a long time.”

So that’s why they’d come here. They probably hadn’t gotten her message yet. “I haven’t had time to watch the news.” She drew her attention to the students to make sure everything was running smoothly. “I don’t see how that relates to what happened to me in Mexico.”

Serena rested an arm on the fence. “As it turns out, Emma was trying to protect a baby at the time of the assault. Unfortunately, the baby was taken from her.”

Morgan’s chest tightened. More than anything, she hated that anyone would harm an innocent child. “Did they find the baby who was taken?”

Serena shook her head. The forcefulness of her words gave away how upset she was about the crime. “The missing baby’s name is Kay. Does that ring any bells for you?”

Morgan closed her eyes, trying to shut out the pain connected with knowing a child had been kidnapped. She shook her head. “Is this Emma woman Kay’s mother?”

“No,” Serena said. “Kay’s mom is a young girl named Lonnie. We’ve been unable to track her down either, and we’re afraid she may have met with foul play.

“For a while, we thought we might have found Kay. A blonde, blue-eyed baby was brought to the Denver airport by a man we know to be associated with this ring, and it was on the same day Emma was attacked.”

Josh pulled a photograph out of his jacket pocket. “As it turns out, there are two different babies. We call the little girl we intercepted in Denver Baby C. She’s in foster care right now.”

Morgan stared at the photo. A happy baby with a tuft of blond hair and bright eyes looked back at her.

“Does she look familiar to you?” Josh stepped toward her.

“Give her a moment to think, Josh.” Serena’s words were terse.

The tension between the two marshals had bubbled over. She wondered what the history was between them. It seemed personal. Maybe they had been involved at some point and weren’t anymore.

Josh shot Serena a look that had daggers in it and then turned to face Morgan. “A blonde, blue-eyed baby would be unusual in Mexico.”

The trauma of what she had been through made her memory foggy. “I definitely never placed a child who looked like that. But sometimes we had moms who would visit once and then change their minds.”

“It would have been shortly before you had to leave Mexico,” Josh said.

Morgan strained to put together a cohesive memory from that time. A vague picture materialized in her mind. “There was a mom with a blonde baby. I think the mom’s first name was Vanessa.”

Serena stepped closer to her, urgency filling her voice. “Do you remember her last name?”

Morgan shook her head. “If I had the records, notes and photographs from my office, I might be able to help you more.” Frustration rose to the surface. “Were you able to get anything from the agency office?”

“By the time we cleared the paperwork with the Mexican authorities, the place where you said your office was had a real-estate firm occupying it. We haven’t been able to locate the other woman you said worked there. Whatever you left behind got destroyed.”

Could her coworker have been a part of the deception? Anger burned inside her. The agency had represented itself as Christian. Had they used her to give the agency legitimacy? “So all you have to work with is what I witnessed.”

Josh cleared his throat. “We need to connect the dots in order to get the big fish behind all of this. We’re looking at multiple incidents in different states and now internationally. We put you under our protection because we believe your testimony might be valuable once our case is made.”

Serena picked up where Josh left off. “It would be helpful if you could remember any more details.”

The marshals weren’t hiding her out of the goodness of their hearts. She was in witness protection because they thought she might be of value. “I know that you expect me to help.”

Josh paced. “In all the dealings with these mothers and children, there must have been names mentioned. There has to be some sort of connection back in the States.”

Morgan shook her head. “We dealt with a lot of different agencies and people.” She tried to piece the memories together... “That night Josef attacked me in the office, I was going through the records. There was a pattern with three of the women, meeting with me and then deciding to keep their babies. And then a few weeks later, they’d be back ready to give up their kid. When they came back, they seemed agitated and afraid.”

Josh crossed his arms over his chest. “So you think they might have been blackmailed or coerced?”

Morgan nodded. “I noticed other things, too. My coworker started transporting the babies across the border to meet the adoptive parents. Adoptive parents are supposed to meet residency requirements in Mexico—they can’t just have their babies delivered.”

Josh shoved his hands in his pockets. Both of them must be mulling over what she had told them. “When you showed up, I thought maybe you’d gotten a message from my local contact,” Morgan said.

Josh looked at her. “Brendan never called us.”

“Last night at least two guys were prowling around the grounds. They tapped on my window and tried to open my door. Then when I was outside, one of them knocked me over.” Her voice tinged with anxiety. “Do you think whoever this big boss is could have found me already and sent someone?”

Josh seemed alarmed. “What happened after he knocked you over?”

“He ran off because Alex was coming around the corner. Alex thinks it was just teenagers goofing around, but I don’t know.”

Josh’s voice grew intense. “Did you get a look at him?”

“All I saw was his plaid coat,” Morgan said.

“That’s not much to go on.” Serena faced Morgan. “We can look into it from the angle of information having leaked out. I don’t think any details about your relocation have been shared with anyone outside the St. Louis office except with Brendan. If there’s even the possibility you’ve been found, we’ll move you.”