The photo was definitely of the same man who was now riding in the bed of the truck. At least Sonny hadn’t lied about his identity, but that didn’t mean Austin was anywhere close to trusting him.
“Sonny has no criminal record,” Rosalie continued to read. She paused though and cleared her throat. “And your partner wants to know what the heck is going on, except he used a lot more profanity than I just did. He also wants you to call him now.”
She showed him that part of the text, too, though Austin didn’t have to see it to know that Sawyer had likely figured out that Austin wasn’t on vacation as he’d claimed. Nope. He was on an unauthorized undercover investigation that had just gone to hell in a handbasket.
“I’ll call him as soon as I’ve dropped off both Sonny and you,” Austin said more to himself. Rosalie obviously heard it, though.
“I want to go with you to question Yancy or anyone else connected to this,” she insisted.
“Yeah, I bet you do, but it’s not going to happen. No way will I put you in danger like that.”
“I’m already in danger!” she practically shouted, but the fit of temper disappeared as quickly as it’d come. “I need to find my daughter. Eli’s daughter,” she added, probably because she figured it would touch every raw nerve in his body and soften him up.
He couldn’t let it work on him.
His phone vibrated, indicating he had an incoming call, and he saw Sawyer’s name on the screen. His partner had obviously meant that part about Austin calling him back now.
Bracing himself for questions he wasn’t ready to answer, Austin took his phone, issued another “Keep watch” to Rosalie and answered the call. He didn’t put it on speaker, and that was probably the reason Rosalie scooted across the seat—so she could hear.
“Well?” Sawyer said the moment Austin answered.
“I was looking for my missing nephew,” Austin settled for saying.
“Yes, and our boss already figured that out. He’s not happy, Austin, and he wants you back from your vacation.”
“I’ll be back soon.” He hoped. “For now, I just need your help. I’m en route to the Silver Creek hospital to drop off an injured P.I. who’s either a witness or a person of interest in some assorted felonies. I’ll be there in about five minutes. Can you make some calls and arrange for him to be guarded?”
Sawyer didn’t answer for several snail-crawling moments. “Sure.”
“I also need you to have someone secure two crime scenes on the farm road that runs directly east of the town of Silver Creek,” Austin added. “Both were baby farms and are owned by a dummy corporation, Real Estate Investments. There’s not much left of them, and there are possible explosives planted around the grounds.”
“I’ll get someone out there right away,” Sawyer assured him. Another pause. “You had a BOLO on a woman driving a black truck registered to your alias?”
“Yeah—”
“A deputy here in Silver Creek just phoned it in. They found her.” Sawyer paused again. “It’s not good news, Austin. The woman’s dead.”
Rosalie’s heart went to her knees. She couldn’t stop the brutal thoughts and images from going through her head. Images of Janice’s frantic escape from the baby farm and the ordeal that had led up to it.
At the time Rosalie had believed that escape was the woman’s best chance of surviving.
Obviously, she’d been wrong.
“Oh, God.” Rosalie grabbed the phone from Austin and put it on speaker. “What about the babies? Janice had two newborns with her.”
“Who is this?” Agent Ryland snapped.
Austin mumbled some profanity and made the final turn toward the hospital. “She’s Rosalie McKinnon.”
Agent Ryland repeated her name. “She was engaged to Eli.” Even though Rosalie didn’t know Agent Ryland, the man obviously knew her since it wasn’t a question.
“And she’s also Seth Calder’s stepsister,” Austin added. “I ran into her while I was undercover.” He glanced at her, as if he might add more, but then shook his head. “Now, what about the babies?”
“Both are fine. According to the deputy, Janice drove to the sheriff’s office, but she was already injured when she got there. She’d been shot.”
Rosalie’s heart just kept dropping. She was beyond thankful that the babies were okay, but it was terrifying to think of Janice being pursued by these monsters while she was trying to get the newborns to safety.
“The babies are being taken to the hospital,” Agent Ryland continued. “Just as a precaution. There’s not a scratch on them. And, of course, child protective services will be brought in. Will the woman’s killer try to come after the babies?” he came right out and asked.
Rosalie already knew the answer and dreaded hearing it.
“Possibly,” Austin said without hesitation.
“I’ll get right on it,” Ryland answered, also without hesitation, and he ended the call.
“This is all my fault,” she whispered.
Austin made a yeah, right sound. “The fault lies with the person who set up the baby farm.”
True, but if she hadn’t put Janice in a position where she had to escape, the woman might be alive. “If I’d stayed with her and the babies, this might not have happened.”
“Yes, it would have, and you’d be dead, too. Those guards wouldn’t have wanted any witnesses to get away.”
And since both Austin and she were just that—witnesses—then, yes, the men would have tried to shoot her, too. But at least if she’d been there, she might have been able to stop it and Janice might be alive.
Austin drove into the hospital parking lot and came to a stop directly in front of the E.R. doors. Sonny climbed out, not easily, and while still clutching his injured arm, he headed inside.
“Stay close to me,” Austin warned her, and as he’d done while they were on the road, he kept watch around them.
The rain had stopped, but the wind took a swipe at her. She was already shivering from the spent adrenaline, and the bitter cold only made it worse.
The moment the E.R. staff saw Sonny, they rushed forward and whisked him away to one of the examination rooms. A security guard wearing a uniform trailed along behind them.
Rosalie looked around, hoping to see the babies and whoever was guarding them, but the E.R. was empty except for a woman sitting at the intake desk.
“I’ll need to get some information from you about the patient,” the woman said.
But Austin waved her off. “Nothing much we can tell you. We just gave him a ride here.”
That wasn’t the whole truth, of course, but Austin probably didn’t want to get into any details of the investigation with someone who wasn’t law enforcement.
“I’ll check on the babies,” Austin said when Rosalie continued to look around.
He took out his phone, stepped to the far side of the room, but before he could make a call his phone rang. He groaned and showed her the name on the screen.
Seth.
Now it was Rosalie’s turn to groan. Agent Ryland had likely called Seth.