Confiscated Conception. Delores Fossen

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СКАЧАТЬ that, there was a storm brewing. The thick sludge-colored cloud looked ready to burst wide open, and that would certainly put a damper on his driving like a bat out of hell.

      But those things were only part of their problem. He and Rachel couldn’t go far since they needed to be in San Antonio for that meeting with Aaron Merkens. As meetings went, that one was critical. Merkens might be able to tell them the location of the baby. The flip side was that he might lead them straight into a trap.

      It was definitely a rock and a hard place kind of situation.

      Yet, there was nothing Jared could do about it. He had to meet with the man. He had to figure out where to start looking. But first and foremost, he had to make sure that he and Rachel weren’t captured.

      As much as he hated to admit it even to himself, they and they alone were the baby’s only chance for survival.

      CLARENCE ESTERMAN CALMLY leaned back in the stiff prison-gray chair and stared through the thick, dingy glass at his employee. Gerald Anderson was on a roll, his words fluid. His voice strong and steady. But Clarence looked past that news-at-five veneer and saw a man who was scared spitless of being the messenger for this particular communiqué.

      “I’m listening,” Clarence assured him when Gerald paused and gulped down some water.

      But there was no reason for Clarence to listen too carefully. The oily beads of sweat over Gerald’s ample upper lip said it all. Someone had screwed up badly enough that it had warranted a visit from his personal assistant and security specialist.

      That did not please him.

      There were only two things he hated more than receiving bad news: the stench of the jail and the woman responsible for putting him there. Make that three—he could add yet another thing to his hate list. Lieutenant Jared Dillard.

      “Our friend was supposed to have been observed 24/7. No exceptions.” Even though he whispered that little reminder, Clarence enunciated each word into the offensive-smelling phone that he was forced to use. He’d already bribed the guards to make sure the conversation wasn’t being monitored, but he still chose his words carefully. “Please tell me why that didn’t happen.”

      Gerald made a vague who-knows motion with his hand. “He managed to, uh, shake the observer. I guess he’s better at that than we thought he’d be.”

      “He’s very good at what he does,” Clarence said calmly. “Lots of citations and plaques for his I-love-me wall. But everyone knew that before we ever made him our messenger boy. So, if I take that ‘he’s very good’ information to the most obvious conclusion, then everyone, including you and the observer, should have anticipated that he’d try to stop us from keeping tabs on him.”

      No more news-at-five demeanor. The transformation he saw in Gerald was something immediate and akin to a deer crashing straight into the headlights of a fully loaded semi with its pedal to the metal.

      “We’ll find him” was Gerald’s comeback after he’d guzzled down more water.

      “Oh, I have no doubt of that, not with what I pay you. And when you do locate him, you’ll remind him of the little package we have. That should help him get his priorities back on track. You’ll also inform him that he’s deeply pissed me off with this little evasion tactic.”

      Gerald nodded, as Clarence had known he would do. “Absolutely.”

      But that wasn’t enough. Not when his freedom and his life were at stake.

      “Shake things up a little,” Clarence continued. He ignored the guard’s impatient request for him to hurry his visit. “I want our mutual friend to realize how important it is that we have his cooperation.”

      Gerald leaned forward until his nose was practically against the glass. “You’re not saying what I think you’re saying…”

      Clarence leaned forward as well, but unlike Gerald, he was absolutely certain there wasn’t a trace of fear or concern in his baby blues.

      “I merely want him…surprised,” Clarence explained. He wasn’t totally opposed to killing a cop, but he wasn’t giving up on getting Dillard’s help in bringing in Rachel. “Have I mentioned that someone very close to him has a fear of guns? A childhood trauma. Something about witnessing her parents’ murders. Use that.”

      Gerald shook his head. “How?”

      Clarence slowly brought his teeth together, and it took a moment to unclench them. It was hard to maintain composure when dealing with a certifiable moron. Too bad he needed this particular moron.

      For a little while longer, anyway.

      “Educate her the hard way, Gerald. Send her running from her estranged husband, and she will run right where we want her.”

      “And if she doesn’t?”

      Clarence didn’t bother answering that. He had no doubt whatsoever that Rachel would cooperate once the truth sank in about the baby. Simply put, the child was what mattered most to her. Not her super-cop estranged husband that she hadn’t bothered to contact in over a year. Not her warped sense of devotion to be a do-gooder for the sake of society.

      The baby was Rachel Dillard’s Achilles’ heel.

      And he would use it to break her.

      Clarence placed the phone back on the wall, knowing that Gerald would do what he had been told. Hopefully, this time he’d manage it without the mistakes. Of course, Clarence did have a margin for error.

      All seven pounds and three ounces of him.

      It would be interesting to watch Rachel beg for the child’s life.

      Chapter Three

      Rachel looked out through the rain-streaked windshield and spotted the picturesque log cabin. It was nestled in a thick grove of moss-strewn oaks, making it difficult to see from the road.

      Difficult, but certainly not impossible.

      And that explained why Jared parked the car at the back of the cabin where it would be out of sight.

      “This place belongs to a friend,” Jared explained as they made a dash for the back porch. “We can use it as long as necessary.”

      Rachel wondered if the friend was a man or a woman, but she quickly pushed that question aside. His relationships, personal or otherwise, were no longer any of her business. After all, she and Jared had called it quits months ago. He was a healthy, red-blooded, thirty-two-year-old male, and it was likely—very likely—that he’d been seeing other women.

      While the rain pelted them and the lightning slashed across the sky, Jared fished a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. The place was musky but dry, and a lot larger than it looked from the outside.

      Well, sort of.

      The combined living and kitchen area was large enough to accommodate two people, but what Rachel didn’t see was a separate bedroom. The double bed tucked away in the corner seemed to be the sum total of the sleeping quarters. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to spend the night.

      “We’ll СКАЧАТЬ