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

didn’t know where to start. “So, you let them believe you were a customer willing to break the law. Obviously that didn’t work out so well, did it?”
    â€œObviously,” she mumbled. “One of the guards told me they’d be in touch, and we left. But they did follow us.”
    Of course they did.
    Tucker rummaged through his closet, locating some dry clothes for himself and a white button-up shirt for Laine. He dropped it all on the dresser. He also maneuvered her away from the window and helped her put the babies on the bed so she could change.
    â€œThey followed you to your office?” he asked.
    But he darn near forgot the question when Laine shucked off her wet top. She had on a lacy white bra, but the rain had practically made it see-through.
    This wasn’t the kid he’d kissed in his granddaddy’s kitchen.
    Nope. Laine was a fully grown woman now, with real curves he had no business gawking at. She obviously felt the same because she scowled when she noticed where his attention had landed.
    â€œSorry, I forgot we had this...connection between us,” she mumbled.
    â€œThere’s nothing between us,” Tucker jumped to say.
    Too bad it was a big fat lie. One that he had zero intention of straightening out. He yanked off his shirt as if he’d waged war on it.
    â€œTo answer your question—no, the guards didn’t follow me,” she snapped.
    Because his mind still wasn’t where it should be, it took him a moment to remember the question—had the guards followed the CI and her back to her office?
    â€œHow would you know if they’d followed you there or not?” he pressed.
    Laine huffed, snatched up the shirt. The moment she had it on, she eased down on the bed beside the babies, trying to comfort them. “The CI made sure of that. He drove around with me until they stopped following us, and he said it was safe.”
    â€œWell, he was clearly wrong about that, wasn’t he?” He huffed. “Remember, there are two things that make a CI. Being a paid informant and being a criminal.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    Her gaze snapped back to his. Probably something she wished she could take back, because Tucker had already stripped down to his boxers. Proving that she was the most stubborn woman in the whole state of Texas, she didn’t look away.
    â€œIt means the CI could have been looking for a way to earn a few bucks. He could have gone back to the baby farm and told them that he was suspicious of you and that you needed to be taken care of.”
    Laine opened her mouth, no doubt to deny that, but then she shook her head. Her eyes widened, and she touched her fingers to her mouth. “Oh, God.”
    â€œYeah, oh, God, ” he mumbled. “You took a serious risk going out there, going anywhere, with that idiot. And even if he was truly trying to help, he put your neck right on the line by taking you into a hornet’s nest.”
    He could have continued his tirade for several more minutes, but his phone rang, and Tucker saw Reed’s name on the screen. He hoped the deputy had some good news, because they sure as heck needed it. He hit the speaker button so he could take the call and finish dressing.
    â€œI was just out at the parking lot behind Laine’s office,” Reed said. “I found some blood.”
    Tucker cursed, not because he hadn’t expected the news. After everything Laine had told him, he had, but that blood was confirmation they were dealing with killers and not just some loons out to kidnap a pair of newborns.
    â€œThere’s not much blood left because it’s raining hard,” Reed went on. “Still, I found some spots on the corner of the building beneath the eaves. Found a pacifier, too. Hard to tell, but it might have a fingerprint on it. DNA, too, if the rain hasn’t gotten to it.”
    â€œSend it and the blood sample to the Ranger lab for