Stockyard Snatching. Barb Han
about his sex life with anyone, not even his best friend. “There was only the one time with Susan and me. Afterward, she got clingy and tried to move into my place. Started trying to rearrange furniture. I caught her in lie after lie and broke it off clean after I witnessed her in the parking lot with that other guy, looking cozy. I’d suspected she was seeing someone else and she got all cagey when I confronted her and asked her to leave. I couldn’t prove my suspicion, though. But when she called a few months later and said she was pregnant with my child, I didn’t believe her.”
“I can’t blame you there,” Tommy said. “I wouldn’t have bought it, either.”
“But I can’t turn my back until I know for sure.” If what Susan said was true, then he’d already messed up what he considered to be the most important job in life—fatherhood.
Dallas had known Susan could be dishonest, and that was the reason he’d broken it off with her. He couldn’t love someone he couldn’t trust. But he never imagined she’d lie about something this important.
“If there was another guy involved, and I believe you when you say there was, then he could be the father of her child.” Tommy sipped his coffee, contemplating what he had just learned.
“You know I can’t walk away until I know one way or the other,” Dallas said. “This isn’t something I can leave to chance.”
“And there was that one time,” his friend finally said, his forehead pinched with concentration. “So, there is a possibility.”
“If I’m honest...yes.”
“But it’s next to impossible. I know you. There’s no way you would risk a pregnancy unless you were one hundred percent sure about a relationship staying together,” he stated.
Dallas nodded.
And then it seemed to dawn on Tommy. “But she could’ve sabotaged your efforts.”
“Right.”
“Well, damn.” His friend’s expression changed to one of pity. “I’m sorry to hear this might’ve happened. Any idea how old the baby would be now?”
“According to my calculations...about three months old.” And that was most likely the reason Kate’s case hit him so hard. If he had a son, the boy would be around the same age as Jackson.
“Any idea where Susan and the baby may be? It’d be easy enough to get a paternity test once you find them.”
Tommy said the exact thing Dallas was thinking.
“I don’t know. Neither does the man I hired to find them. She literally disappeared.” Ever since hearing about a possible pregnancy with Susan, Dallas had found his world tipped on its axis and he didn’t exactly feel like himself.
“There might not even be a baby,” Tommy said.
Dallas’s phone buzzed. He fished it out of his pocket and then checked the screen. “Susan had a boy,” he said, focusing on the message from his private investigator’s assistant, Stacy Miller. “And Morton was able to link her to an adoption agency.”
Tommy rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Yeah, Dallas felt the same way right about now. Especially when the next text came through, and he learned the adoption agency was named Safe Haven.
“I’d say that’s a strange coincidence, but I know Safe Haven is the biggest agency in the area, so I guess I’m not too surprised to hear their name again,” Tommy said. “And just because Susan had a baby doesn’t mean it’s yours.”
“That kid in there is around the age Susan’s baby would be,” Dallas supplied.
“Doesn’t mean he’s Susan’s,” Tommy said. “Odds are against it.”
“I know.” Dallas nodded, still trying to digest the news. His plans to help Kate Williams get settled with the sheriff and then head back to the ranch to start a busy day exploded. They had a record number of bred heifers and there’d be a calf-boom early next year that everyone was preparing for. But nothing was more important than this investigation.
“In fact, I’m inclined to think that’s the closest thing we have to proof that the baby isn’t yours.”
Dallas made a move to speak, but his friend raised his hand to stop him. “Hear me out. If Susan was telling the truth and the baby was yours, she would stick around for a DNA test. If she couldn’t have your last name, then at least her son would, and he’d have everything that comes with being an O’Brien, which is what we all know she’s always wanted anyway.”
Dallas thought about those words for a long moment. “I see your point.”
“And I’m right.”
“Either way, if she used Safe Haven, then everything should be legit, right?” Dallas asked, hoping he’d be able to gain traction and get answers now that a child had been confirmed and he had the name of an adoption agency. His investigator was making good progress.
“They’ve been investigated before and came up clean.” Tommy took another sip of his coffee. “That doesn’t mean they are. They could be running an off-the-books program for nontraditional families. Kate’s case gives me reason to dig into their records. I’ll make a request for access to their files and see how willing they are to cooperate.”
“Will you keep me posted on your progress?” Dallas asked, knowing he was asking a lot of his friend.
Tommy nodded. “I’ll give you as much information as I legally can.”
“As far as Susan goes, you’re the only one who knows, and I’d appreciate keeping it between us for now.”
“You haven’t told anyone in the family?” Tommy asked in surprise.
“Everyone’s had enough to deal with since Mom and Pop...” Dallas didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to. Tommy knew.
“If you have a child, and I’d bet my life you don’t, we’ll find him,” Tommy said, and his words were meant to be reassuring.
He was the only person apart from Dallas’s brothers who would know just how much the prospect would gnaw at him. And if his brothers knew, they’d all want to be involved, but Dallas didn’t want to sound the alarm just yet. There might not be anything to discuss, and he didn’t like getting everyone riled up without cause.
Another text came through on his phone.
“Looks like my guy left to investigate Safe Haven last night and hasn’t checked in for work this morning,” Dallas murmured. “His assistant said he’s always the first one in the office. She’s been texting and calling him and he isn’t responding.”
“We need to talk to her,” Tommy said. “You know I’m going to offer my help investigating Susan’s disappearance. She’s originally from here and that makes her my business.”
“And I’ll take it,” Dallas declared. He wouldn’t rely solely on Tommy, because his friend was bound by laws. Dallas saw them more as guidelines when it came to finding out the truth. “We can work both cases and share information. As far as Kate’s goes, I’m not sure I like Allen Lentz.”
The sheriff leaned against the counter with a questioning look on his face.
“He sounded possessive of her when she called him this morning, and I got the impression he sees the kid as an obstacle to dating her,” Dallas explained. The news that Susan had had a boy was still spinning around in the back of his mind.
“I’ll have one of my deputies bring him in for questioning this morning,” Tommy said. “See if I can get a feel for the guy.”
“I’d be interested to hear your