Confiscated Conception. Delores Fossen

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      At seemingly a snail’s pace, an old beat-up truck hauling a flatbed of hay pulled out from a side road and directly into their path. He managed to swerve around it. Barely. The car jerked to the right when he clipped the ditch. Jared corrected and then corrected again so he wouldn’t broadside a tree.

      He heard the sound of metal scraping and buckling and saw the cause of that noise in his rearview mirror. The Rangers and detectives hadn’t been so lucky in avoiding an accident.

      They’d sideswiped each other to avoid the truck, and the impact had sent both cars careering into a waist-high ditch. Everyone looked unharmed, but their vehicles were temporarily out of commission. It’d probably take a tow truck to get them back on the road.

      Jared didn’t waste any time. He stomped on the accelerator and got them out of there.

      “We can’t follow the highway,” he said.

      He sped toward the farm road that he’d already checked out. By his estimation, it would take five minutes to get there and another five minutes to start working their way through the maze of back roads that would eventually lead them to the cabin.

      “They’ll set up blocks to find us.”

      When she didn’t respond, Jared glanced at her. Rachel was no longer sitting low in the seat. Nor did she have her attention focused on the accident behind them. Rather, she was looking at the envelope and the photograph that had fallen out of his jacket pocket.

      “Who is she?” Rachel asked.

      The picture lay between them. The gruesome image that he hadn’t wanted Rachel to see.

      Jared checked the mirror again to make sure they weren’t being followed. They weren’t, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. He hadn’t intended to get into an explanation like this until they were someplace safe. Of course, he didn’t have a clue when that would be.

      He tried to put the picture of the dead woman back into the envelope, but Rachel pushed his hand away.

      “Esterman’s people sent this to you, didn’t they.” Rachel’s voice was ragged, laced with nerves and adrenaline, but there was fire there as well.

      Jared knew exactly how she felt. He’d had the same reaction the first time he saw it. It wasn’t any easier the second time around. “Yeah. It was in the envelope with the letter and the photo of the baby.”

      He debated how much more he should tell her, but the debate didn’t last long. This was a critical piece of information that he couldn’t keep from Rachel. She’d risked as much as he had by leaving the safe house. Besides, he needed her cooperation, and this unfortunately might do it.

      “I computer-matched that photo to the one in her police record,” Jared explained. “Her name is Sasha Young. She did time for forgery, and she’s—”

      “The surrogate mother,” Rachel finished. “The woman who supposedly gave birth to our child.” She paused and moistened her lips. “They murdered her?”

      Oh, man. This wasn’t an easy thing to discuss with Rachel. If the people behind this would kill a young woman, they probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill again. But then, Rachel must have come to that same conclusion. If she hadn’t truly thought a child was in danger, she wouldn’t have climbed out that window with him.

      “It appears they murdered her,” Jared admitted.

      She narrowed her eyes. “Appears? That’s twice you’ve used that word today, and it’s starting to annoy me. Cut the doublespeak, Jared. Is she dead, or is this a doctored photo to scare us into doing what Esterman wants?”

      If he hadn’t been so concerned over what they were about to face, he might have smiled. Might have. Here, he’d expected the news to send Rachel into a near panic. And it no doubt had. But even so, she was holding herself together—for now, anyway. However, they weren’t even close to finishing this.

      “I don’t know if she’s really dead,” he admitted. “I checked the morgue, and there’s no Jane Doe fitting her description, but that doesn’t mean anything. They could have taken that picture and then disposed of the body so that it wouldn’t be found—ever.”

      “Yes.” Rachel took a deep breath, and another, and rested her head against the seat.

      “I know this isn’t easy, and I’m sorry.” That picture probably reminded her of her own murdered parents. It was the main reason Jared hadn’t been eager to show it to her.

      Her head whipped up. “My God, your mother and your sister. Esterman might go after them—”

      “I’ve already taken care of it. I sent Karen and Mom on a little trip out of state this morning. With bodyguards. They’ll be fine.”

      At least, Jared hoped they would be. He was thankful that his family had gone willingly into hiding. Of course, he hadn’t given them much of a choice. Jared was sure the only reason Esterman hadn’t thought to use them sooner was that Rachel and he had been separated. If Esterman had believed for one minute that he could get to Rachel through them, they would have become his first choice of targets.

      “They must be terrified,” Rachel concluded.

      Yep. But Jared wasn’t about to confirm it. It would only push their feelings of panic up a notch. “They know I’ll defuse this situation with Esterman as fast as I can.”

      She glanced at him. Not exactly a vote of confidence. Rachel shook her head. “After the cops asked me to spy on Esterman, I learned the horrible things that he’s capable of doing. Well, at least I thought I had. But this…God, this. I didn’t know anyone could come up with something so sinister. And to think I used to work for this man. Heck, I used to believe we were friends.”

      Friends. Oh yeah. Jared had caught wind of some of that. When things had been at the worst in their marriage, Rachel had mentioned something about having a few long talks with her boss.

      That still didn’t set well with him.

      Not just for the obvious personal reasons, either. It likely meant that Esterman knew some of the details of Rachel’s and his breakup. If the man knew that, then he was also aware of how much Rachel desperately wanted a child. Esterman must have used that information when he put this plan together.

      And he’d come after her with a vengeance.

      “I don’t regret spying on him,” she continued several moments later. “And I don’t regret turning over the information to police. Money laundering. Murder for hire. All under the guise of a respectable accounting firm.” Rachel placed the photo in the envelope and neatly tucked it back into his jacket pocket. “But I do regret that the investigation brought things to this point.”

      So did he. And even after hours of thinking of little else, he just hadn’t come up with a way to fight Esterman. But then, Esterman had had a year to come up with his plan to stop Rachel from testifying. Jared had had just hours, and precious few of those.

      Jared turned onto the little-used farm road and checked his mirror again. Still no sign of any Rangers or cops, but they had almost certainly called for backup. By now, peace officers all over the area would be responding. His captain would have been alerted—and maybe even СКАЧАТЬ