Trumped Up Charges - By Joanna Wayne Page 0,26
him at all from when you were a kid?”
“Very little. I remember riding with him on a gigantic horse, but then I suspect all horses are gigantic when you’re that young. R.J. is still into horses and owns several thoroughbreds. Which reminds me, you may want to take a pair of jeans and some boots with you. This is a working ranch of sorts.”
“I don’t plan to be there long enough to rope and brand.”
“Just saying, it’s a rustic environment.”
She took a pair of jeans from her closet. “Any other memories of R.J.?”
“I have a vague recollection of his holding me as we swung by a rope and dropped into the water.”
“Was that a frightening memory?”
“Evidently not. I still love grabbing hold of a gnarly rope, swinging out over an old Texas swimming hole and dropping into a pool of splashing water.”
“When I met you, you never even mentioned your biological father. When did the two of you reconnect?”
“We haven’t.”
“Don’t tell me we’re just going to drop in on a gambling drunk you haven’t seen since you were four?”
“I’ve seen him once. We didn’t work on bridging the disconnect.”
“When was that?”
“Yesterday. In fact, I was there for the reading of his will when I heard about the kidnapping.”
She added a pair of red cowboy boots and then zipped her bag while she tried to make sense of that last statement.
“Okay, Adam. Simplify. Is R.J. dead or alive?”
“He’s alive—for now—and reportedly ready to get reacquainted with his offspring. He’s about to get that chance with me.”
Adam picked up her luggage and started toward the door.
“At least call and tell him we’re coming.”
“Why? If he didn’t like surprises, he wouldn’t have shown up for the reading of his own ridiculous will.”
The sound of engines and skidding tires gave warning that the next round of media shots were about to fire.
“Let’s get out of here while we still can,” Adam said. “I’ll explain what little else I know about R.J. on the way to the hospital.”
“If we can get out,” she said, fearing they were blocked in.
“We’ll get out,” Adam assured her.
He proved it with some forceful maneuvering to push through reporters and cameramen from a local TV station. Once in the truck, he started the engine and lay on the horn, sending the wolf pack scattering.
One of the vans didn’t move. Adam went around them, taking out one of her mother’s prized flower beds and leaving deep ruts in the lawn.
Hadley didn’t notice the sign until they were backing past it.
CHILD KILLER
Printed in what looked like dripping blood. Her insides recoiled violently.
“They’re not dead. Lacy and Lila are alive. Why would anyone say such a thing?”
Adam reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze as he gunned the engine and left the hideous sign behind. “Pay no attention. It was put there by a couple of women with a twisted sense of justice.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I ran them off at daybreak. Should have known they’d come back.”
“Child killer, but they’re not talking about the kidnapper, are they?” The sick truth knotted in the pit of her stomach. “They mean me. They don’t even know me. How could they be so cruel?”
“Takes all kinds. Some are gullible enough to believe everything they read in the paper or on the internet.”
They wouldn’t be the only ones to come to that conclusion. “Why do you believe me, Adam? No one else seems to.”
“I know you?”
“That’s not much of an answer.”
“But it is the truth. No one could fake the fear and torment you’re going through now. Besides, you talked of having kids the first time we made love. You said you wanted a large family and couldn’t wait to get married and have a baby.”
Only then she’d pictured Adam in that family.
Never had she pictured a situation like this.
* * *
HADLEY SENSED THE tension the second she stepped into the hospital room. Her mother looked upset and more sickly than she had yesterday. She was pale though her cheeks and eyes held a feverish cast.
Matilda was standing near the bed. Her eyes were red and moist with tears.
“Her brother Quinton is alive,” Janice announced. “Matilda lied when she said he was dead. Detective Lane is the one who finally set that record straight.”
Hadley shuddered as old images rushed her mind. The pervert who’d tried to molest her fifteen years ago was now a seasoned criminal and Lila and Lacy could be at his mercy.
They had to find him. Matilda had to help