Free The Mommy Mystery by Delores Fossen Page A

the crib. So did Houston. But he stopped when he saw the number on his caller ID screen.He gave her a glance to let her know it was important, and Gabrielle picked up the baby while Houston took the call.
    “Sheriff Whitley, what can I do for you?” Houston walked to the doorway and just into the hall, probably because Lucas launched into a full-fledged cry.
    Gabrielle put the baby against her chest and gently rocked him. Lucas crammed his fist into his mouth and began to suck. That, and the rocking, soothed him almost immediately.
    Houston’s call was one-sided, because he didn’t say a word for several long moments. And as each one passed, Gabrielle began to imagine the worst. Had the men in that car gotten away from the ranch hands? Were they on their way to the ranch for a fresh attack?
    “Could you send that picture to my cell phone?” Houston asked. “Salvador Franks, that’s right,” he added, a moment later.
    That got her attention. Salvador Franks was the head of the Cryogen Clinic, and if Mack had told the truth, he was the one who was responsible for the mix-up with the embryo.
    “Well, I want to talk to him, too.” Houston looked back at her. “No, I’d rather not go into town right now. I’m tied up here at the ranch.” He paused. “That’ll be fine. I’m anxious to talk to him.”
    Houston ended the call and made his way back to her. He gave Lucas a rub on the cheek before his gaze came to hers. “The sheriff’s on the way out here, and he has Salvador Franks with him.”
    Gabrielle stopped the rocking, but Lucas’s whimpershad her starting right back up again. “Already? You only called him about Cryogen an hour ago.”
    “Sheriff Whitley works fast, and he wants to help. Don’t worry, though, I won’t let Salvador near you or Lucas.”
    She shook her head. “But I want to hear what he has to say about what happened at the clinic and about his conversation with your father.”
    “That might not be a good idea. There are things going on, and I don’t know just how involved this Salvador Franks is.”
    Before she could ask what he meant by that, Houston held up his phone, and she saw the photo of the man. He was in his late thirties or early forties and had dark hair.
    “Who is he?” she wanted to know.
    “Harlan Cordell. He’s a shady businessman and occasional loan shark. SAPD believes he might be the accomplice to the gunmen who held the maternity hospital hostage.”
    Gabrielle’s heart dropped. So it was true. There really was an accomplice. Oh, mercy.
    Was this the man who’d made her life hell for the past six weeks? Or was Mack to blame for that?
    She shifted Lucas so she could get a better look at the small photo. She studied Harlan Cordell’s face but finally had to shake her head. “I don’t recognize him. Why does SAPD think he’s involved?”
    “An undercover officer learned that the two dead gunmen owed Cordell a lot of money. Word on the street is that Cordell went to the hospital the day of the hostage situation to assist the gunmen who were getting paid todestroy some lab files. Cordell probably wanted to make sure their pay went to him.”
    Gabrielle had followed the investigation in the papers, and it was true. One of the dying gunmen had confessed that they owed money and were little more than hired guns for someone who had offered them lots of money to destroy evidence in the hospital lab. But the man who’d hired the gunmen had also been arrested and was awaiting trial.
    “Look at the picture again,” Houston said, pressing her.
    She did, but after a few seconds, she knew her answer would be the same. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him.”
    “Word on the street says otherwise.”
    Her breath stalled in her chest. “What do you mean?”
    “According to the undercover officer, Cordell thinks you saw him with the gunmen that day in the hospital when you were taken hostage.”
    Gabrielle shook her head so hard that Lucas stirred and started to