Cowboy Behind the Badge by Delores Fossen Read Free Book Online Page A

hadn’t told him the truth about the babies. Or about anything else.
    Still grumbling something under her breath, Rayanne followed the medics into the ambulance.
    â€œThank you for helping,” Laine called out to her. Not a good thing to say. Anything at this point would have been unwise, especially anything coming from Laine, because it earned her another nasty glare from Rayanne.
    â€œI’ll call for more backup,” Colt said, getting the second man into his cruiser. “I’m guessing Laine and the babies need a doctor, too?”
    â€œYeah.” At least for a checkup. “I’ll drive them to the hospital.”
    â€œBut what about the missing gunman?” Laine asked the moment Tucker shut the door. “He could follow us into town and attack us again.”
    â€œHe could, but it’s my guess he’s in regroup mode. And that means you need to tell me everything you did to cause these goons to come after you. Start with that criminal informant who helped you find the baby farm.”
    Tucker motioned for her to start talking while he went to the doors and locked them. He didn’t intend to be in the house for long, but he also wanted to take a few precautions in case he was wrong about his regroup theory.
    Laine didn’t jump to answer, something that put a knot the size of Texas in his gut. Tucker motioned for her to get on with it.
    â€œThe criminal informant was Gerry Farrow, and he took me to the baby farm,” Laine finally said. “He made me wear a blindfold so I couldn’t see where we were going, and he drove around for a long time. In circles, I’m sure, so I wouldn’t be able to find the place later.”
    His groan didn’t help hush the babies any. “And you thought it was a good idea for a civilian to go walking into something like that with a person you didn’t even know if you could trust?”
    She glanced away again. “I wanted to find those pregnant captives and save them. I didn’t want their babies sold like cattle. And I thought I had a better chance of getting in there than the cops, Rangers or FBI.” Laine paused. “I saw two women, including the one who was killed in the parking lot.”
    Oh, man. “Funny you didn’t mention that connection right off the bat. You’ve told the FBI all of this?”
    â€œI told them about the baby farm, but by the time we were able to work out where it was, it was too late. When they got there, the guards and the pregnant women were all gone.”
    No surprise there. “You were lucky those guards didn’t kill you at the farm.”
    She made a soft sound of agreement. “I pretended to be a potential buyer for one of the babies.”
    â€œAnd they believed you?” Tucker asked, not bothering to hold back on the skeptical tone in his voice. He motioned for her to follow him to the bedroom so he could do something about their wet clothes.
    Laine nodded. Then she lifted her shoulder. “They didn’t try to kill me, anyway. They made some calls, did a quick background check and learned that I had indeed been trying to adopt.”
    Tucker hadn’t thought there could be any more surprises today, but he’d been wrong. “You did a fake adoption request for the sake of the investigation?”
    â€œNo,” she snapped. That put some fire in her ice-blue eyes, but it quickly cooled down. “I can’t have children, so I’ve been trying to adopt for months now.”
    In a town the size of Sweetwater Springs, it was hard to keep secrets, but Laine had obviously managed to keep that one.
    And it caused him to curse again.
    â€œYou gave those guards your real name?” The babies didn’t like his near shout, and they fussed even louder.
    â€œI figured that was the fastest way to get them to believe I was really there looking for a baby.”
    There were so many things wrong with that comment that Tucker