Free Wild Stallion by Delores Fossen

stairs.
    “Steven, the estate manager, will search them both.”
    Good. But Bailey wouldn’t breathe easier until Shannon said what she had apparently come to say and then was off the estate and far away from Caden. Or arrested. If the woman confessed to kidnapping the baby, then Bailey would make sure Shannon was hauled off to jail.
    Jackson led Bailey through the house and to the sunroom. It faced an elaborate garden that still had spots of green despite the winter weather.
    Bailey looked out the glass at the approaching car and the three people who exited when it came to a stop. She recognized Steven immediately, but it took her a moment to realize the stocky woman in the billowy gray dress was indeed Shannon Wright. In the picture Bailey had, and the last time she’d spotted her, the woman had been a brunette, but now Shannon was sporting auburn hair that was cut short and choppy.
    The tall, dark-haired man walking next to Shannon was no doubt the adoption attorney. He spared Bailey a glance.
    Shannon didn’t spare anything. When she caught sight of Bailey, her mouth dropped open, and she came to a dead stop. Either Bailey’s presence was a genuine surprise, or Shannon was faking it so she would appear innocent of having any dealings with the intruder.
    “Strange bedfellows,” Jackson mumbled. He glanced at her. “You okay?”
    “Yes,” Bailey lied.
    Jackson must have known that, because he gave her arm a gentle squeeze. It seemed so…intimate. But Bailey accepted it as a gesture of comfort. Too bad Jackson was the last person from whom she should be seeking anything except information, but she kept finding herself drawn to him.
    Steven ushered the visitors inside the sunroom, but he didn’t come in. He stayed on the other side of the glass as if standing guard. Good. Because Bailey had no idea what could happen during this so-called meeting. It could simply be an attempt to set her up for another attack.
    “Ryan,” Jackson greeted. He shook hands with the attorney. “This is Bailey Hodges.”
    Everything about the man seemed uncomfortable. His shoulders were pulled back. His facial muscles, tight. His mud-brown eyes were narrowed and filled with suspicion.
    “First thing this morning, I got a call from Evan, several calls in fact,” Ryan said, without bothering to introduce Shannon. “He said you have some questions about the adoption. Not a good time for this, Jackson, considering the adoption will be final two days after Christmas. If you had questions, you should have called me directly when we started this process.”
    “I didn’t have questions then. ” In contrast, Jackson kept his voice calm. He looked laid-back and casual in his jeans and white shirt with rolled up sleeves. However, Bailey sensed the storm brewing beneath the cool facade. “Obviously, I have them now. Questions for you, too,” he said, turning that lethal gaze on Shannon.
    With that, Jackson sat on the wicker sofa and waited. Because Bailey’s legs weren’t feeling very steady, she sat as well. Eventually, so did Shannon. Ryan continued to stand and hover over them.
    “I know who you are,” Shannon volunteered, staring at Bailey. “You followed me. Hounded me,” she amended. “And all for no reason. I didn’t take your baby.”
    Bailey listened to each word, replaying them in her head. Even though she had wanted to meet and talk with Shannon for months, this was Bailey’s first chance to hear the woman speak. Shannon had obviously been avoiding her, just as Bailey had been avoiding the cops.
    Was this the same woman’s voice she’d heard in the hospital?
    “I’m innocent,” Shannon persisted. “Though I’m guessing you don’t believe that, because I got a call that SAPD was looking for me again.”
    Bailey wasn’t sure she bought the woman’s denial, and judging from the rumbling sound that Jackson made deep within his chest, he was skeptical as well.
    “You could have told us this with a phone call,”