The Heiress and the Sheriff

There was a dressing screen in a corner between a chest of drawers and the bed. Gabrielle went behind it and quickly began to shed her clothes. “Wyatt? You mean the sheriff?” she asked Maggie, wondering why he would have any say about this family’s social life. It didn’t make sense.

“Yes.”

Gabrielle tried to digest the response as she smoothed the long cotton shift down over her thighs. The dress was sleeveless with a scooped neck and slit up one calf. It fit as though it had been made for her.

“I know this will probably sound silly,” Gabrielle spoke up from behind the dressing screen, “but I don’t understand why the sheriff would care if you had parties.”

Maggie remained silent for a few moments, then she said, “Well, it just wouldn’t be safe. It would be inviting more trouble.”

Gabrielle stepped out from behind the screen, and Maggie smiled with approval at the dress.

“You were saying something about more trouble,” Gabrielle went on. “Are you talking about my car accident?”

The other woman quickly waved her hand. “Oh, no, Gabrielle. My nephew Bryan was kidnapped from this house nearly a year ago. So far the law officials haven’t been able to find him. And Wyatt is afraid the person or persons responsible for the act might try to strike again.”

Gabrielle was frozen by the woman’s disclosure. Wyatt had told her the Fortune family had been having some trouble, but she hadn’t expected it to be this serious or sinister! And he suspected her of being involved in some way! Dear God, the idea of stealing a baby from its own home was repulsive to her. She couldn’t have been involved, could she?

“Gabrielle, are you all right? You’ve gone so white.” Maggie rushed across the small space separating the two women and firmly gripped Gabrielle’s elbow. “Are you going to faint?”

Gabrielle shook her head and passed a hand over her face. “I—I’m fine. What you just said—it’s terrifying. No wonder Wyatt didn’t want me coming out here. For all he knows I might have been involved. I don’t even know myself,” she said desperately.

Maggie patted Gabrielle’s arm in an effort to soothe her. “I’m willing to bet you have nothing to do with baby Bryan’s disappearance. Or with baby Taylor’s arrival.”

Gabrielle’s face puckered with a bewildered frown. “Baby Taylor? You mean there’s something else going on about another baby?”

Maggie nodded. “The kidnappers demanded fifty-million dollars in ransom for the baby’s safe return. But my brother-in-law Devin, who’s an FBI agent foiled their attempt. The kidnappers escaped, but he did manage to get the money and the baby back. Or so everyone thought, until he got the baby home. We were all shocked when we saw the child wasn’t Bryan. None of us had ever seen this baby boy before. But stranger still, he’s turned out to be a Fortune.”

Gabrielle’s eyes widened. “But how could that be—if no one knew the child? Did one of the Fortune men have an affair that produced a baby no one was aware of?”

Maggie grimaced. “That’s what Bryan’s mother, my sister-in-law Claudia, is starting to think. Even though her husband, Matthew, swears he’s never been unfaithful. But the DNA tests prove he’s the child’s father.”

“So one baby is still missing and the other one is not yet identified? I can see now how my sudden appearance might cause suspicion.” She groaned with regret. “I just wish I could remember something—anything that might tell me why I was driving toward this ranch.”

“Don’t worry, Gabrielle. Wyatt is a good sheriff. He’ll sift through every possible clue to find your background.”

Gabrielle could certainly believe that. She got the impression he’d leave no stone unturned to put her behind bars, or, at the very least, out of the state of Texas.

What had she gotten herself into? Try as she might, she couldn’t see how she was going to get herself out of Texas—and away from Sheriff Wyatt Grayhawk.

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