LITMIR.BIZ

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through the database and see if there are similar incidents out there. In the meantime, I’d like to send a deputy to your house to take a look around.”

      Kate gasped and the baby stirred. She immediately went into action, soothing the infant in her arms. He was such a tiny thing and looked so fragile.

      “You think they know where I live?” she asked when the baby had settled into the crook of her arm.

      “It’s a possibility we can’t ignore, and I’d rather be safe than sorry,” Tommy said.

      “Can I see you in the hallway?” Dallas asked Tommy as his friend rose to his feet. Dallas’s protective instincts were kicking into high gear.

      “If you’re going into the hall to discuss my case, I have a right to know what’s being said.” Kate’s gaze held steady with determination.

      Dallas paused at the doorjamb. He couldn’t deny that she was right, and yet he wanted to protect her and the baby from hearing what he needed to ask Tommy next.

      “Whatever it is, I deserve to hear it,” she insisted.

      A deep sigh pushed out of his lungs as he turned toward her and stepped back inside, motioning for Tommy to do the same. “The person who did this could be someone who sees Jackson as in the way of being with you,” Dallas said, and it seemed to dawn on her that he was talking about Allen.

      “Is that why you zeroed in on Allen when I called him earlier?” she asked Dallas pointedly.

      “Yes,” he answered truthfully.

      “We won’t stop searching for whoever is behind this,” Tommy interjected. “And we’re considering all possibilities.”

      She sat there for a long moment. “What about those other possibilities, Sheriff?” she finally asked.

      “It could be that someone wants revenge against you. It’s obvious that your child is very important to you and that snatching him would be one way to hurt you,” Tommy said. “Or a teen mom has changed her mind about giving up her child. She might’ve figured out who you were and told the father.”

      “The adoption was sealed based on the mother’s request. However, I made sure of it to avoid that very circumstance. How on earth would she know where Jackson is?” Kate asked.

      “You can find out anything with enough money or computer hacking skills,” Dallas answered, even though he knew firsthand either option could take time. And in this case, maybe it had. Jackson was nearly three months old, so that would give someone plenty of time to find the two of them. Grease the right wheels and boom.

      “I have to think that if this was a teen mother, then she’d be destitute. Wouldn’t she? If she had money or family support, would she really be giving up her baby in the first place?” Kate asked.

      Good points.

      “How well did you vet this adoption agency before you used them?” Dallas asked.

      “They’re legitimate, from everything I could tell. I hired a lawyer to oversee things on my end and make sure everything was legal,” Kate stated.

      “I’ll need the name of your lawyer,” Tommy said.

      “William Seaver.”

      “Is he someone you knew or was that the first time you’d dealt with him?” Tommy asked.

      “My brother connected us. He’d heard of Seaver through a mutual friend. I’m sure he checked him out first,” Kate replied.

      “I’ll run his name and see if we come up with anything in the database,” Tommy offered. “We’ll be able to narrow down the possibilities once I get all this information into the system and talk to a few people. Also, I’d like to send someone to take a look at your work computers. I need permission from you in order to do that.”

      Kate gave her consent even though she seemed reluctant. Her reaction was understandable given the circumstances. Dallas would feel the same way if someone wanted to dig around in the ranch’s books.

      Tommy called for Abigail.

      The older woman appeared a moment later and he asked her to send someone to Kate’s house to look for anything suspicious, and after that to run information through the database to see if she got a hit on any similar crimes.

      As soon as she left, Dallas turned to Kate. “That’s everything I wanted to ask or say about your case. If you’ll excuse us, I need to discuss a personal matter with the sheriff.”

      Dallas motioned for his friend to follow him down the hall and into the kitchenette.

      “I’m sorry we lost the guy earlier,” Tommy said once they were out of earshot. “If we’d caught him, this nightmare could be over for her.”

      “Whoever it was seems to know how to disappear pretty darn quick,” Dallas commented.

      “It’s difficult to hide something that weighs more than four thousand pounds,” Tommy agreed, obviously referring to the minivan.

      “You think this whole thing might’ve been a setup to scare her out of town?” Dallas asked, unsure of how to approach the subject of his possible fatherhood to his friend.

      “I thought about that, as well,” he admitted. “It’s too early to rule anything out even though it’s not likely. I’m anxious to see if we find similar crimes in the database. And, of course, we’ll look at her personal circles.”

      Dallas leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve been looking into adoption agencies myself lately.”

      “Come again?” Tommy’s eyebrows arched and Dallas couldn’t blame his friend for the surprised glance he shot him. “I know you’re not looking to adopt.”

      “You remember Susan,” Dallas began, uneasy about bringing this up. Susan had grown up in Bluff, so Tommy knew her well.

      “So glad you finally saw through her and moved on.” His friend rolled his eyes. “She was a head case.”

      Dallas couldn’t argue. His judgment had slipped on that one. As soon as he’d figured her out, he’d broken it off. “She might be more than that. She might be the mother of my child.”

      The possibility that Dallas could be that careless had never occurred to his friend, a fact made clear by the shock on his face. “There’s no way you could’ve done that!” he declared. “Have you considered the possibility that she’s lying?”

      “Of course I have,” Dallas retorted.

      “If this is true, and I’m not convinced it is, where is she? And why didn’t you come to me before?” Tommy asked.

      “Those are good questions,” Dallas admitted. “As far as where she went, I’m looking to find an answer. She disappeared from New Mexico and not even her family here in Bluff has seen her since. We both know that she loved it here. Why wouldn’t she come back?”

      “She didn’t say anything to you before she left?” Tommy folded his arms, his forehead wrinkled in disbelief.

      “And I didn’t get a chance to ask where she was headed before she disappeared.”

      “What makes you think she used an adoption agency?” Tommy said, after carefully considering the bomb that had just been dropped. “And why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

      “She told me she was pregnant and said we should get married right away,” Dallas said. “I told her to hold on. That I would be there for my child, but that didn’t mean we needed to make a mistake.”

      “That probably went over as well as a cow patty in the pool.” His friend grunted. “She seemed bent on signing her name ‘O’Brien’ from when we were kids.”

      Dallas had been an idiot not to see through her quicker.

      “But

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