Free Maverick Sheriff by Delores Fossen

in the corner. When she lifted the top, Cooper saw the stacks of papers and books. Definitely not as sterile and pristine as the rest of the house. Peggy began to dig through the heaps.
    He hoped there wasn’t a gun hidden in that mess.
    Just in case there was, Cooper moved to the edge of his seat so he could watch Peggy better. “Where’d you get Liam?”
    “I didn’t get him. That’s not how it works. I simply put Hector Dixon in touch with this friend of a friend who had the baby. The baby wasn’t even her own child. If I remember correctly, she said someone in her family, a teenager, had given birth and couldn’t keep the baby.”
    “I need that friend of a friend’s name,” Cooper insisted. “Or have you forgotten it, too?”
    For just a moment she got a deer-caught-in-headlights look, but then she nodded. Swallowed hard. “What if the person who hired these kidnappers sends someone to come after me?” Peggy asked.
    “Why would he?” Cooper pressed, though if the woman was an innocent pawn in all of this, he knew a good reason why. Peggy could be a dangerous loose end for someone trying to cover up an illegal adoption.
    “I can arrange for you to have some protection,” Cooper offered.
    Peggy nodded. Stared at him for a moment and continued to dig through the papers. She finally extracted what appeared to be a bill with something jotted on it.
    “It’s not the P.I.’s card, but it is the name of the friend of a friend who contacted me about Liam.” Peggy scanned through the notes. “Her name was Carol Sealey.”
    Jessa shook her head, no doubt because the name meant nothing to her. But it sure as hell meant something to Cooper. Colt, too. He opened his mouth to say something, but Cooper gave him a stay-quiet look.
    Hell.
    This had just taken a really bad turn.
    “I have another desk in my bedroom,” Peggy said. “I’ll look for the P.I.’s card there.”
    Cooper didn’t tell her to stop, and he didn’t go after her. Heck, he wasn’t even sure he could move. He just sat there and waited for the woman to scurry out of the room.
    “Who’s Carol Sealey?” Jessa whispered.
    “She works as a personal assistant for Donovan Bradley,” Cooper managed to say.
    Judging from the way her eyes widened and the hard breath she sucked in, Jessa not only knew who he was. She also knew of Donovan’s connection to him.
    Of course she did.
    There was still a lot of gossip about Donovan and him, and Jessa would have uncovered it when she was investigating him for those unfounded obstruction-of-justice charges.
    “Donovan hates Cooper,” Colt offered.
    “He was once engaged to your late wife,” Jessa added. “And then he was involved with Jewell’s younger sister. Not in a good way, either. I’ve heard there was possibly some physical abuse.”
    Yeah, she knew the whole story, all right. What she didn’t know was that in addition to the pain Donovan had inflicted on his aunt, the man had also tried to cause Molly and him as much trouble as possible. Nothing criminal, just the constant flow of malicious rumors and attempts to destroy Molly’s reputation and the day care and preschool that she’d worked so hard to get started.
    Jessa made a soft gasp, no doubt coming to the conclusion that Cooper and Colt had already reached. If Donovan’s lackey, Carol Sealey, had some part in the adoption, then it was likely Donovan had, too.
    And that would mean Donovan could have stolen Liam.
    But how?
    Molly had been swept away in the flood. She’d drowned. Cooper had seen her body, and there’d been no signs of foul play. Nothing to indicate that the baby could have survived, either.
    But he could have.
    No gasp this time. Jessa huffed, got to her feet. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”
    Too late. Cooper had already made the jump. “I need the results of that DNA test.” And he took out his phone.
    “Please, no,” Jessa whispered.
    Cooper looked up at her, bracing himself for her to try to stop him from