Chapter Three

      “No witnesses. No physical evidence. No ransom demand. The Amber Alert is still active. But it’s been thirty-two hours since the kidnapping, and we’ve got nothing, Alicia.”

      County Sheriff Coleman had escorted her home from the hospital after recovering from heat stroke. Thank heavens someone had seen her through the window after she’d passed out. The excessive heat inside the car could have killed her. She’d hated to call the county sheriff to bring her home, but the press had made it impossible for her to leave unescorted, and the Aubrey police had refused to help.

      Now he stood in her humble living/dining room like he had a dozen times in the past four years. Same humble sheriff, just a different house than when he’d notified her Dwayne had died at the scene of his car accident.

      “I don’t understand. We both know the only person who could be behind this is Shauna. She’s publicly threatened to take Lauren from me.” Her husband’s stepmother had put on a good distraught act for the television cameras, but Alicia knew the truth.

      Knew the Webers wanted her little girl’s trust fund. Knew in her heart they were involved with the abduction. The gleam of dollar signs in their eyes proved it to her over and over again.

      “Why can’t anyone see past the fake tears she has only when the press is around?” There was something else just behind Shauna’s heavy-lidded eyes. Gloating. The same look she’d had when they’d successfully frozen all of Dwayne’s assets.

      “Lauren isn’t at the ranch or the Frisco house, where Shauna lives now. We’ve checked. We’ve followed Weber. We’ve searched every property remotely associated with either of them.” The sheriff shook his head as he had each time he’d told her the same results while she’d been in the hospital.

      “What about the FBI? Did you contact the Texas Rangers like you said? Or are you telling me to give up?” She wouldn’t.

      “I’m telling you I won’t stop looking, but there’s little I can do. The rangers are on watch and are conducting the investigation. They feel like this is a domestic dispute and haven’t called in the FBI yet.”

      “Did Shauna stop them? Does everyone believe her and the lies she’s telling the press? I did not kidnap my daughter for her trust fund.” Vultures.

      He hung his head, letting her assume it was true.

      “It might be time for a private investigator,” he said.

      “I checked into them yesterday from the hospital. They all want a lot more money than I have access to. And they want it up front before they’ll even begin.” She went to the window to see if any cameras were still parked out front. None. “Shauna says she’s hiring her own and swears if they find her, she’ll take her away. Isn’t that grounds for a search warrant or something? You’ve searched here based on the accusations of the press.”

      “Now, Alicia, that’s not why the task force looked around and you know it. Shauna invited us to search all the property without a warrant.”

      “You know that in the media, I’ve already been found guilty of kidnapping my own daughter, but I’m not sure how I did it. I think of all the times I judged those mothers being crucified by the news stations. You never hear about them being found innocent. But I’ll take the blame, Sheriff. I’ll let them call me whatever they want to get Lauren home safely.”

      If she wasn’t so tired, she’d pace the carpet. Sitting and waiting was driving her crazy. Too exhausted to stand any longer, she fell into the chair and couldn’t stop the tears.

      Lauren was gone and there was no one to find her. The light pat on her back reminded her that the sheriff was politely waiting.

      “Alicia, you know that wasn’t me. I don’t think you’re using Lauren for publicity.”

      “I don’t know what to do, Ralph.” She needed to pull herself together one more time so he could leave. “Sorry I had to call you again, but I couldn’t get out of the hospital door with those vultures wanting a statement.”

      The press had hounded her, comparing her to a desperate, unstable woman. Implying she’d kidnapped her own little girl for the ransom. The local newspaper had made the first insinuations in their weekly editorial. Reporting that she was broke, unable to pay her bills because she was in the process of suing her sweet mother-in-law for Lauren’s trust fund.

      “It’s all so stupid crazy, Ralph. If anyone is hungry for cash, it’s Shauna. Everyone knows she married Dwayne’s dad for the money. Goodness, she was the same age as her stepson. She hated me in high school and especially hated me after I married Dwayne. Even more after Roy left everything in a trust to Lauren.”

      Another slow, awkward pat.

      Pull it together.

      “You should go. I’m fine. Really,” she finally managed.

      “Lock the doors, Alicia. I don’t think it’s safe.”

      She nodded, but if the kidnappers had wanted to kill her, it would have been much easier when they’d taken her baby. As it was, they were successfully framing her for their actions.

      “I mean it, girl. They may be back to finish what they started. You could have died from being locked in that car.”

      “I’m fine.” She feared her own neighbors more. That people she’d known all her life might take a mob mentality and throw bricks through her windows. Hadn’t that happened to a mother of another kidnapped little girl?

      “As long as you stay inside, you’ll be fine.” He patted her shoulder again, following with a little squeeze before heading to the door. “Lauren will be fine, too. We’ll find her. I promise you that.”

      “Without