Kidnapping in Kendall County

Austin tried not to groan. Lefty Markham was a piece of slime who’d sell his mother for a quarter.

“The job interview, if you can call it that, was done over the phone,” she added. “Along with transportation arrangements. This morning, a truck arrived at an abandoned gas station just off the interstate to pick me up, and the driver made me put on a hood so I couldn’t see where he was taking me.”

That was standard practice for this operation. So, the fake bio and ID must have fooled the person in charge of hiring her. Still, that didn’t mean anyone trusted her.

Nor him.

The camera proved that, and Austin was well aware that he was constantly being watched. Even now.

“You said your daughter was taken eleven months ago?” Austin whispered. He kept them walking at a slow pace toward the house.

Rosalie nodded. “Why? Do you know something about her?”

She sounded hopeful, but Austin would have to crush those hopes right off. “No. I’m here looking for my nephew. He’s a newborn, and someone kidnapped him.”

Rosalie pulled in a hard breath, and even though it was dark, he thought he might have seen some sympathy in her eyes. “So we can find them both.”

“No.” He stopped, turned her so she could see that this wasn’t up for negotiation. “I’ll find them, and you’re getting the heck out of here. I don’t care how. Pretend you’re sick or something. I just want you off the grounds tonight.”

She was shaking her head before he even finished. “I can’t leave. I have to find my baby.” Her voice broke, and he saw the tears shine in her eyes.

Austin huffed. “Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but you won’t be doing your baby any good by getting yourself killed. These men are dangerous, Rosalie, and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep this operation secret and profitable.”

He could tell by the little sound she made that he hadn’t convinced her, so Austin would have to do more than talk. “Then I’ll make the arrangements,” he added. “But one way or another, you’re leaving tonight.”

Before she could respond, or argue, the back door to the house creaked open, and the guard staggered onto the porch. Unlike the other two, Austin knew this one. Walter Ludwig. Not very bright but trigger happy.

A bad combination.

Walter had a rifle in his right hand and aimed his left index finger at Rosalie. “She drugged me and stole my gun.” And even though he was still staggering, the man pointed the rifle at her.

Austin stepped between them, held up his hands in a calm-down gesture. “Everything’s okay,” he lied. “It was all just a misunderstanding.”

Not the best excuse, but Austin didn’t want to say too much. Every word now could be risky.

“She drugged me,” the guard repeated, and he came down the steps, closer to where they stood. “And now she’s gonna pay for that. Get out of the way, boss.”

“Not happening. Just put down the rifle, Walter, and we’ll talk about this.”

“Don’t wanna talk.” His words were slurred, and he had to lean against the porch post to steady himself. “I just want her dead real quick.”

Austin cursed under his breath. He had to figure out a way to diffuse this now, or else the other two guards would hear the raised voices and come running. They were already suspicious of Rosalie and him. Which meant the pair just might encourage Walter to commit murder.

“Move away from her!” Walter growled, and despite his unsteady footing, he came off the porch. Charging right toward them.

Austin pushed Rosalie to the side so he could latch on to the rifle and turn it away from her. Walter’s finger was on the trigger. Poised and ready to fire.

“If you shoot, a bullet could ricochet and hurt one of the babies,” Austin tried again.

His attempt at logic didn’t work. Walter was in a rage. Every muscle in his body primed to fight, and it was obvious he wasn’t going to listen to reason.

“I’m gonna kill her!” Walter snarled, and when he tried to bring up the rifle to do just that, Austin knew he had no choice.

He bashed the Beretta against the side of Walter’s head. It wasn’t a hard enough hit to kill the man, but it caused him to drop like a bag of rocks to the ground.

“What’s going on?” someone asked, and a moment later, the nanny, Janice Aiken, looked out from the kitchen door. She gasped, pressing her fingers to her mouth.

But that wasn’t the only voice that Austin heard.

The barn door opened, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before both guards came out to see what was wrong. This had plenty of potential to end in the worst possible way.

“What should we do?” Janice asked. “I’ll help.”

“She’s on our side,” Austin explained to Rosalie.

Well, maybe.

He didn’t have time for details and especially didn’t have time to make sure that he trusted Janice. So far, it appeared the nanny was ready to put an end to the black market baby operation, but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure of that. He definitely hadn’t counted on trusting her this soon. But one thing he did know: the babies were worth a lot of money, so even if Janice was in on the scheme, she would indeed protect them.

For now, that had to be enough.

Austin turned to Rosalie, took out one of the keys and handed it to her. “It’s for the truck. Use it in case something goes wrong. For now, go inside and help Janice get the babies ready to move.”

Rosalie gave a shaky nod and hurried into the house with the nanny. They’d barely gotten the back door closed when Austin reeled around and faced the pair of guards who were storming toward them.

“What the hell happened?” one of them demanded.

“Personal dispute. Walter here wanted to sample my lady friend, and I didn’t want to share.”

Walter moaned, twisting on the soggy ground. “She drugged me.”

And despite the moans, that accusation came through crystal clear.

Austin smirked at the man. “I think Walter just had a little too much to drink.”

Yeah, it wasn’t much of an explanation, but Austin didn’t think he could say or do anything at this point that would convince the guards that this was nothing that concerned them.

The guard on the right glanced at Walter. Then, Austin. And finally at the house. “Get the woman out here now so we can talk to her.”

That put a hard knot in Austin’s stomach. “And then what? You kill her and leave us without a nurse? What happens if one of the babies gets sick, huh?”

The man lifted his shoulder, took aim at Austin. “Nurses are replaceable. And so are you. Drop your weapons.”

Oh, man. He really hadn’t wanted it to come down to this because the guards likely knew some critical information that would help him find his nephew. And Rosalie’s baby. That wouldn’t happen if he had to kill all three of them.

Or if they managed to kill him first.

Austin adjusted the grip on his gun so he’d be ready in case the bullets started. He’d have to shoot the one on the right first, dive to the side and hope he got lucky enough to take out the second before the guy got off a shot.

Risky at best.

But his only option now.

Austin brought up his hand, ready to fire, but it was already too late.

The guard pulled the trigger.

Chapter Three

Rosalie and the nanny barreled up the stairs toward the nursery, but the sound of the blast stopped Rosalie in her tracks.

Oh, mercy.

Had the guards killed Austin?

It didn’t matter that he was essentially her enemy. She didn’t want him shot, especially since he’d been trying to cover for her.

Rosalie hurried into the nursery, running past Janice to get to the window. She braced herself to see a dead Austin lying on the ground, but the only person she saw was Walter. He was crawling back toward the porch. No sign of Austin or the two other guards.

“What’s happened?” the nanny asked, and she scooped one of the sleeping newborns into her arms.

Rosalie shook her head just as she heard another shot. It was so loud that it seemed to shake the entire room.

She managed to get a glimpse of Austin. He was still armed, but he was pinned down near some shrubs on the side of the house. The guards had taken up cover behind what was left of the tractor and hay baler.

“We need to get out of here,” Janice reminded her.

Yes, they did. But Rosalie watched as Austin had to scramble away from yet another shot. He was doing this to give them a chance to escape, but it could turn into a suicide mission for him.

“Let’s go,” Janice pressed. She put both of the tiny babies in a single carrier seat and looped the handle over her left arm.

“Is there another gun in the house?” Rosalie asked.

Janice’s head jerked up. “There’s one on the top of fridge. It’s in the way back, so it’s hard to see and reach. But you can’t be thinking of helping him.”

Yes, that’s exactly what she was thinking. Rosalie wasn’t sure she wanted to trust this woman with the truth about what she was really doing there, but the bottom line was that Austin might be her best bet in finding her daughter. Because it was personal for him, too, since he was on a mission to find his nephew.

Plus, there was the part about his owing her for Eli’s death.

It wasn’t exactly fair to play the guilt card, but she was many steps past being desperate. She’d do anything to find Sadie.

“Here,” Rosalie said and pressed the truck keys into the nanny’s right hand. Too bad she didn’t have a phone to give her, as well, but the guards had taken those from them. “The truck’s out front, away from the gunfire. Get the babies out of here.”

“But what about you? The boss said we should leave,” Janice reminded her.

Rosalie ignored that and got Janice moving. Thankfully, the sound of more shots caused the woman to hurry, and they made their way down the stairs and to the front of the house.

“Drive toward the interstate,” Rosalie instructed. “And stop at the first police or fire station you see.”

Janice gave a shaky nod and one last look before she raced out the door and to the truck. Rosalie didn’t wait to watch her leave. She figured the moment the guards heard the roar of the engine that they’d try to stop the nanny from fleeing with the babies.

That couldn’t happen.

Rosalie hadn’t been able to protect her own child from being taken, but she could do something about these two. She went to the kitchen, slapped off the lights and stood on her tiptoes so she could search the top of the fridge.

She found the gun.

It didn’t take long, just a few seconds, before she heard the truck start. The guards heard it, too, and one of them lifted his head, ready to bolt toward the vehicle.

Austin stopped him.

He fired a shot, sending the man back behind the tractor. But he didn’t stay put. The guard and his partner started firing. Nonstop.

All the bullets were aimed at Austin.

Walter kept crawling, coming closer to the house, and Rosalie saw him lift his rifle toward Austin. She wasn’t sure Austin would be able even to see the man, and it was a risk she couldn’t take.

Rosalie didn’t think beyond giving the babies the best possible chance at escape. She opened the kitchen door, and the fridge, as well, so she could use it for cover once she fired.

Walter spotted her right away and pointed the gun at her. However, she pointed her gun right back at him.

And she got off the first shot.

She hadn’t aimed for any particular part of him, but the bullet slammed into either his chest or his shoulder, causing him to drop back to the ground.

God, had she just killed a man?

As horrible as that thought was, it would be worse if Walter had managed to shoot Austin, Janice or the babies.

The other guards cursed at her, and both fired into the house. Even over the sound of those shots and her own heartbeat crashing in her ears, she heard Austin.

“Get down!” he yelled.

Rosalie didn’t do that. She fired another shot at the guards. Austin did the same, and it kept the men pinned down long enough that they weren’t able to stop Janice from escaping. Rosalie caught just a glimpse of the truck taillights as the nanny sped away.

The relief flooded through her.

And the fear.

What if the guards had already managed to call someone to get them out there to the road? And what if they managed to stop the truck? She doubted they would hurt the babies. There was too much money to be made from them.

But they’d kill Janice.

“You’re both gonna die!” one of the guards shouted.

The threat had no sooner left his mouth when Austin fired again. Two shots. One for each guard. And both men dropped to the ground.

Everything seemed to freeze. The cold rain. The echo of those shots. The lifeless guards. Everything except Austin. With his gun still pointed at the guards, he jumped onto the porch and went straight toward her.

“Whoever’s on the other end of the cameras will send someone after us,” Austin warned her. “We have to move fast.”

Rosalie knew he was right, but like the rain and the guards, she felt frozen. Austin helped with that, too. He took her by the arm and ran out of the house with her. Not toward the driveway, where Janice had just driven away. But rather toward another barn that looked ready to collapse under the weight of an old, sagging roof.

“Firing at those guards was stupid,” Austin snarled. “You could have been killed.”

She wanted to argue, wanted to remind him that he could have been killed, as well, but Austin kept her moving. Running. And when he threw open the barn door, she saw the other truck.

“Where’s the nanny?” he asked, shoving her inside the vehicle.

“I told her to drive to a police or fire station.”

If he approved of that, he didn’t say. Instead, he hotwired the truck, fast, the engine roaring to life, and he slammed on the accelerator. The back tires skidded on the wet, slippery ground, but Austin quickly gained control.

“I’ll need to drop you off somewhere.” He spared her a glance before those lawman’s eyes kept watch around them again. No doubt for anyone following them. “I have something I need to do.”

“Something involving this baby farm?”

He didn’t answer her right away. “Yeah.”

There was a lot of emotion in that one-word response. Rosalie didn’t know Austin that well, but she’d been engaged to an FBI agent. Was the sister of one. She knew the personal risks they were willing to take.

“Your cover’s been blown,” she reminded him.

Well, it had been if any of those guards had survived or if the people behind those cameras had been able to figure out what was going on. Heaven knew who was already on the way out to intercept them.

Austin just shook his head. “I have something important to do. Keep watch,” he added, his voice clipped now.

She did. Rosalie kept her gun ready, but that didn’t stop the feeling that Austin was withholding something she needed to know.

“There’s a safe house about ten miles from here,” he explained. “I’ll drop you off there and call someone to come and get you. Seth can put you in protective custody.”

Because she would now be a target. Rosalie didn’t welcome that, but she’d known it was a risk before she’d ever started this.

“Where are you going?” she pressed.

Austin mumbled something she didn’t catch. Cursed. Then, he shook his head. “There’s a second place. Not too far away. Once I have you safe, I can go there.”

It took a moment for that to sink in. “You mean another baby farm?”

“Yeah. It’s a lot bigger than this one. Maybe even the command center for the entire operation.”

Mercy. This was exactly what she’d been looking for. Despite the ordeal of the shooting and the breakneck speed that Austin was driving, Rosalie could feel a glimmer of hope.

“I haven’t been able to get onto the grounds of this second house to access the records,” he continued, “but I know there are babies being held for processing. If the guards heard about what just happened here, they’ll shut down that place and move the babies.”

Austin’s gaze slashed to hers for just a second. “My nephew could be there.”

“And my daughter. Or at least the records to show me where she was taken. I have—”

“I can’t take you with me. It’s too dangerous.”

Rosalie heard the words, and she knew they were true. But that didn’t matter. “I’m going with you. You can’t stop me.”

That brought on some more profanity. “It’s dangerous,” he repeated.

“Do you really think I care about that now or that I want you to care about it?” Despite the high speed, she scooted closer to him, so he could hopefully see the determination in her eyes. “Put yourself in my place.”

Her voice broke. And the blasted tears came. Tears that wouldn’t do Sadie any good, so Rosalie tried to choke them back.

“I have to find my daughter,” she managed to say. “And you’d just be wasting time taking me to the safe house. The guards could be moving the babies and records right now. If that happens, we might never find them.”

Again, no immediate answer. He just volleyed glances among the road, their surroundings and her, but Rosalie saw the exact moment that he realized she was right.

“You’ll stay in the truck,” he snapped. “And don’t make me regret this.”

Rosalie didn’t say anything. Didn’t want to utter a word that would make him change his mind. She only wanted to get to the house and see if her daughter was there.

Or any babies for that matter.

Yes, Sadie was her priority, but she couldn’t bear the thought of any child or parent going through this.

Austin took the next turn off the road. Then, another. Thankfully, he seemed to know exactly where he was going. That would save time, but would it get them there fast enough?

Rosalie remembered the communicator that one of the guards had been wearing when they’d stormed into the cottage and found Austin and her in bed. If the guard had been wearing that during the attack, then someone would have already been alerted to a problem. The people behind this would soon link that problem back to Austin and her.

And Janice.

Rosalie added a quick prayer that the nanny had already made it to safety with the babies. Too bad she didn’t have a way to contact Janice, but maybe they could do that soon.

“Thank you,” she whispered to Austin.

“Don’t,” he snapped like a warning. “Because I’m not doing either of us any favors here.” He paused and, even in the dim light from the dash, she saw his jaw muscles stir. “They’ve killed people, Rosalie. And they’ll kill again.”

That reminder caused her heartbeat to kick up a significant notch, and she thought there was even more that Austin had to say. But he didn’t say it.

He just kept driving.

The rain was coming down harder now, the wipers slashing at the fat drops, but it was still hard to see. It got even harder when Austin turned off his headlights and slowed down. Using just the parking lights to guide them, he turned onto another road, drove about a quarter of a mile and then brought the truck to a stop.

He cursed.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, but Rosalie was afraid to hear the answer.

“There should be vehicles.” Austin got his gun ready, opened the door a fraction and looked around them. He killed the parking lights. Inched closer.

Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw the silhouette of what appeared to be a large metal barn. Austin was right—no vehicles. No lights, either. The place looked deserted.

He reached over, his hand brushing her leg, and he grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment. He flicked it on and turned it toward the ground.

That set off another round of profanity.

“There are plenty of tire tracks that have dug into the muddy road,” he relayed. “We must have just missed them.”

No! It felt as if someone had just clamped a fist around her heart, and Rosalie tried to choke back a sob.

“Maybe they left records.” She hoped so, anyway.

Austin inched the truck closer to the building while he kept the flashlight aimed at the ground. He turned it off only when they reached the front of the barn.

The double sliding metal doors were wide-open, and it was pitch-dark inside. If anyone was lurking in there ready to attack, Rosalie couldn’t see them.

“Get down,” Austin ordered.

She did. Rosalie got onto the floor as Austin drove right into the building.

“Empty,” he mumbled.

But then he hit the brakes.

Rosalie lifted her head to try to see what had captured his attention. It appeared to be a white piece of paper nailed to one of the walls.

Austin turned on the flashlight, pointed it toward the paper, and she saw the words scrawled there.

You’re a dead man, John Mercer.

“John Mercer,” Austin repeated. “That’s the name I’ve been using at the baby farm.”

That hardly had time to register in her head when she heard the slight hissing sound.

“Hold on!” Austin shouted. He threw the truck into reverse and slammed his foot on the accelerator.

Just as the wall of fire shot up in front of them.

Chapter Four

Austin held his breath and prayed that he’d get Rosalie away from the building in time.

The truck bolted through the doors, and the moment they were outside, Austin spun the steering wheel to get them on the road. He hit the gas again and got them moving.

Not a second too soon.

Behind them, the building burst into a fireball.

Obviously, someone had put a hefty amount of accelerant inside, and it’d worked. It wouldn’t take long for anything left inside to be destroyed.

Hell.

These goons were trying to cover their tracks, and in doing so they might have erased the very information that he needed to find his nephew.

“Call 911,” he told Rosalie, tossing her his phone. Austin kept watch around them to make sure they weren’t about to be ambushed. The narrow road was lined with trees on both sides, and that meant plenty of places for the shooters to hide. “Tell them we need the fire department and the locals out here. I want this entire area sealed off.”

Austin wasn’t sure how she managed it because her hands were shaking so hard, but Rosalie made the call. Maybe, just maybe, there might be something left to recover.

“I have to find out if Janice made it to someplace safe,” Rosalie said the moment she finished the 911 call. “Oh, God,” she added in a mumble. “What if the local county cops are in on this?”

“Don’t borrow trouble,” Austin reminded her.

He took his phone, scrolled through the numbers, located the number of his partner at the FBI, and gave the cell back to Rosalie. “Text him. Tell him to BOLO Janice Aiken and that she’s driving a black truck registered to my undercover alias, John Mercer.” Austin rattled off the license plate. “I want him to call me the minute he finds her.”

“BOLO,” she repeated while she wrote the text. “Be on the lookout.”

She’d obviously picked up some cop jargon from Eli or maybe her stepbrother Seth. Austin figured Seth wasn’t going to like Rosalie’s rogue investigation, and Rosalie wasn’t going to like it when Austin called her stepbrother so that Seth could force her to back off. Since she wouldn’t listen to him, he had no choice about doing that.

“These baby thieves know you’ve betrayed them,” Rosalie said after she finished the text.

Yeah, they did. The note proved that.

You’re a dead man, John Mercer.

And while the idiots behind the baby farms probably didn’t know his real identity, it wouldn’t be long before they figured out he was FBI. After all, they had countless images of him from those surveillance cameras.

Of Rosalie, too.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” he insisted. Obviously, he was repeating himself, but Austin hoped she realized just how much danger she was in.