High Noon. Debra Webb
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on death row. His execution was barely more than three weeks away.
He’d been the one to contact the Colby Agency yet he’d shut down completely since learning of Clare’s disappearance. In part, possibly, because he had learned the one person he had trusted and communicated with in recent years had double-crossed him by helping Clare elude the agency’s surveillance.
Not a whole lot about this case made sense.
The necessity to keep the principals in the dark was primarily to ensure their safety. Until the Colby Agency discovered what Clare Barker was up to, these women’s safety had to be top priority. If word got out, the media circus would hinder the agency’s investigation. Disrupting the lives of the three women who had been confirmed as the long-missing Barker daughters was going to be problematic enough, mostly for them. Sadie Gilmore, the youngest, had accepted this new reality well enough, but there was no way to guess the reaction from the remaining two women. For now, keeping the investigation quiet and finding the truth as quickly as possible was essential.
Bottom line, it didn’t have to make sense to Joel or anyone else. His single mission was to protect Laney and her son.
He settled his Stetson in place and leaned against the front fender. A few more minutes and he would relocate to ensure Laney didn’t grow any more suspicious than she already was.
Laney Seagers had no idea that she had been born Lisa Barker, middle daughter of Clare and Rafe Barker. Prints from her one arrest for assaulting the same jerk who was giving her a hard time at present had confirmed her identity. She had no idea and Joel wasn’t looking forward to sharing that information. And he wouldn’t until one of two things happened—the danger had passed or he was forced to do so in order to keep watch.
The lady seemed reasonably happy considering the less-than-kind hand fate had dealt her. Like most these days it was a rough go on the financial front, but she was managing or she had been until her banker decided to turn testy. To Laney, getting that loan taken care of was her biggest worry at the moment. She had no idea that far larger problems were brewing like dark clouds over her head.
Rafe and Clare Barker were two of Texas’s most heinous criminals, the Princess Killers. The two had allegedly kidnapped and murdered more than a dozen young girls. That number didn’t include their own daughters, who had disappeared under suspicious circumstances the morning of their arrests. The Barkers were sentenced to death. Though Clare’s conviction had recently been overturned, according to her husband she was the one who had actually committed those gruesome murders more than twenty years ago.
Both had been arrested and charged, after so many young girls had gone missing in and around the community of Granger. Several bodies had been recovered from the Barker property. But the bodies of some of the missing as well as those of their three little daughters had not been found.
Now Joel and the other folks at the Colby Agency knew the reason why. Rafe Barker claimed he had turned the girls over to a trusted friend to ensure their safety from their crazy mother. To that end, he’d staged the family car and their room to make it look as if he’d killed them. But now that Clare’s conviction had been overturned, he feared for their lives.
The Colby Agency had no idea as of yet if there was any validity to Rafe’s claim of innocence, but he had been right about his daughters. The woman, Janet Tolliver, he had alleged was his accomplice in that eleventh-hour move to protect his girls had, in fact, arranged for their private, off-the-record adoptions.
Regrettably, she had been murdered within twenty-four hours of Clare’s release. So far there was no proof Clare had anything to do with the murder, but they now knew that Clare had an accomplice. A one-armed man by the name of Tony Weeden.
As an infirmary nurse, Weeden had befriended Rafe Barker. Weeden was the one person to whom Rafe had told his story—until Rafe contacted the Colby Agency. His letter to Victoria Colby-Camp had been smuggled from Polunsky Prison by Weeden.
Whatever scheme was in motion and whoever was telling the truth, there was damned good reason to believe the Barker girls were in danger. The only question was from whom.
Sadie Gilmore, born Sarah Barker and the youngest of the three, was already in the capable hands of Colby investigator Lyle McCaleb.
Russ St. James had his eye on the unpredictable Olivia Westfield, born Olivia Barker, the oldest of the three. When reviewing the background files on the Barker girls, Joel had expected that his assignment would prove the most troublesome. Laney Seagers had a record of violence, though not exactly a rap sheet as long as her arm. She’d been in and out of one kind of trouble or another during her teenage years. She was also the only one of the three sisters with a kid in tow.
So far the biggest issue was with her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child. Still, Joel hadn’t attempted to move in close to his mark until last night. He supposed the next couple of days would reveal a clearer picture of what lay ahead as far as his ability to gain her trust.
As if his thoughts had summoned her, Laney stepped out onto her front porch, settled her attention directly on him and headed his way.
He’d promised to be gone by sunup. Maybe he’d lingered too long. Laney seemed to appreciate his charm to a point, but she was far too wise of the ways of men to be fooled for long. She had no intention of falling into a trap of any sort. The lady was definitely jaded when it came to all things male. But she was attracted to him.
Jeans skintight, T-shirt just as formfitting, she strode purposefully toward him. Her hair bounced around her shoulders, the gold catching the early morning sun and shining like silk.
Now that would be a hell of a vision to wake up to every morning for the rest of a guy’s life. Even a hardcore bachelor like him could appreciate that prospect.
“You’re up early.” He smiled, gave her a nod.
“Saw you walking around out here at the crack of dawn yourself.” She set her hands on her hips and looked him up and down. “I imagine you could use a cup of coffee before you go back to town.” She shrugged. “It’s the least I can do after you stood guard all night.”
He cast a speculative glance at the waist of her jeans. “Decided you didn’t need your weapon this morning?”
She smiled. Not one of those full-blown make-his-heart-thump kind but sexy as hell nonetheless. “I’m a little paranoid at night. Afraid of the dark as a kid. You know how it goes. Some of us just don’t grow out of it.”
“Never had any trouble in the dark.” He matched her smile. “But I have my moments with paranoia.”
“So, you interested in coffee? I grind the beans every morning.”
“Hard to refuse an offer like that.”
“Is that a yes, Mr. Hayden?”
“Hop in.” He grinned. “Considering the miles you walk most nights from one end of that bar to the other, taking a load off won’t hurt.” Not that he minded watching her walk.
“That’s a nice Jeep.” She climbed into the passenger seat. “Looks new.”
“It’s a couple years old.” He cranked the engine. “Bought it for my thirty-second birthday. I guess it’s my midlife-crisis car.”
“At least you didn’t get a massive truck.” She shook her head as he rolled along her dirt driveway. “Some guys think they either have to buy the biggest truck or the fastest car. For some crazy reason they think it’s a chick magnet.”
He glanced at her as he parked in front of her house. “You mean it’s not?”
“Definitely not.” She admired the interior of his Jeep. “A vehicle should suit the man and his purpose in life.”
“Never really thought about it that way.”
Her gaze settled on his. “What’s your purpose, Hayden? You got a house? A wife? Kids?”
He laughed. “No. No. And, no. Did I pass