Page 44 of Brokered Betrayals
Sawyer’s heart fell. “Fuck.” He wasn’t about to apologize for that one. “Are all of them gone?”
“Yep. Peyton Price is an amateur racer who owns an RV and a car hauler he pulls behind it. According to the neighbors, it’s usual for them to load up the kids and dogs and disappear foran extended period to attend an event somewhere in the US. But this time they took off in the middle of the night. When my detectives checked out the property, they looked in the garage and noted that the race car was inside it. Maybe they had more than one, or perhaps they took it out of the hauler so they could dispose of Landen’s BMW somewhere it wouldn’t get traced back to them.”
“What kind of racing does he do?” Sawyer asked.
“Drag. He’s plastered his social media accounts with photos from racetracks. Looks like he wins a lot.”
“I watched a documentary about drag racing once, and that’s one expensive hobby,” Sawyer said. “That’s probably the income-to-asset imbalance you’re looking for. It wouldn’t be glaringly obvious at first that they’re spending more than their documented earnings.” The possibility they’d profited from coercing disadvantaged women into giving up their babies was sickening. Had they turned to murder to prevent their exploitation from getting exposed? “What about the woman who’d come forward to Ned? Is she safe?”
“Yes, and more determined than ever to tell her truth. These people completely underestimated her if they thought killing Ned would intimidate her.”
“Now what?” Sawyer asked.
“We’ve got enough to name them our primary suspects, so I’ve put out a nationwide BOLO since we don’t know where they’re headed. I plan to go public with information during a press conference this afternoon, hoping someone will spot them and turn them in. But I wanted to tell you first what we’ve discovered. I’ve also filed for a fuck ton of warrants to comb through every part of these people’s lives and build a case for when they are captured.”
“I appreciate you, Charlie.”
“We’re going to get them, buddy. This case is going to pick up national attention, and they’re going to find it impossible to hide.”
And Sawyer knew four prominent podcasters who could ensure the case received maximum exposure. But he had to wait until CCSD issued the information first to avoid stepping on Charlie’s toes. He thanked his friend again, and they ended the call. Energy buzzed through Sawyer’s body, making it impossible for him to lie down or even sit on the sofa. Charlie seemed to have a good handle on the investigation, and he already planned to lean on his friends to help spread the message. He needed to do more, but what?
Sawyer longed for a whiteboard and a dry-erase marker because writing things down always brought him clarity and inspired solutions. His gaze landed on the lawn sign his great-aunt had given them at their baby shower. It was white and had a cartoon stork carrying a baby in a blanket from its beak. The words below the bird made it very clear to any kidnappers that there was a newborn in residence. There was no way in hell they were going to stick that thing in front of their home.
He wheeled Darla into the dining area of the kitchen and turned the sign around to see if it had a graphic on the backside as well. Nope. It was a blank surface, and the corrugated plastic reminded him of a whiteboard. He darted back into the kitchen to see if he had a dry-erase marker or even a Sharpie to use. He came up empty there but found a pack of colorful sticky notes and a ballpoint pen.
“Even better,” he whispered to Darla. “Daddy can throw away any of the sticky notes that don’t make sense.”
She wriggled in response, and he checked both the clock and the feeding schedule to see how close she was to her next bottle. They had an hour to go, which was plenty of time for him to noodle through his thoughts and unwrap Darla from herswaddling to encourage her to wake naturally. They’d learned the hard way that their beautiful butterfly didn’t like to come out of her cocoon all at once. She wanted a slow, dramatic reveal.
Sawyer released the Velcro tabs from her torso and opened the little flaps but left the zipper alone. Darla wriggled her body and moved her head from side to side a few times, but she didn’t scream in protest. She sighed and continued sleeping, so Sawyer eased back over to his makeshift whiteboard. He set a timer on his watch to unzip his princess and set to work. Fears, hunger, and frustration settled in the back of his mind, allowing the shrewd detective to take over. When the timer went off, he pivoted his attention back to Darla.
“It’s time for stage two, Pumpkin.” Sawyer held his breath as he eased the zipper down the front of the swaddling sleep sack. “No need to be angry with Daddy. It’s time to wake up and be alert for your bottle.” He unzipped her without pissing her off and did a silent happy dance. Darla wriggled, stretched her precious arms and legs, and arched her back. She made a rooting motion with her head, smacked her little lips, and then settled back into sleep. She had another twenty minutes before she was due to eat, so he left her to wake on her own and set a new timer. He had only a few more notes to make or suggestions to offer, though he wouldn’t give those to Charlie unless asked. Probably.
“Whatcha doing?” Royce whispered behind him.
Sawyer hadn’t heard him approach, so he gasped and triggered a regretful chain of events. Darla woke with a scream, Dolly barked from the living room, and Bones was likely plotting to murder them all. He spun around to face Royce, who’d picked Darla up to soothe her. Sawyer felt like a complete monster for upsetting her. Tears filled his eyes as he watched Royce rub her tiny back. Their gazes met and held. “I don’t think I’m very good at this,” Sawyer said.
Royce looked at the notes he’d made before shifting his gaze to Sawyer. “At taking time off work? And you thought I’d be the restless one.”
“No, I’m terrible at parenting,” Sawyer said. “I traumatized her.”
Snorting, Royce shook his head. “You did no such thing. All parents startle their babies and feel like assholes afterward.” His eyes widened when he realized what he’d said. “You don’t realize how often you cuss until you try to quit.” Royce tipped his head to the makeshift whiteboard. “What case are you working on?”
“Ours.”
Royce responded with a quirked brow, so Sawyer filled him in on the conversation he’d had with Charlie and his plans to involve their podcasting friends. His husband’s mouth curved into a wry smile, and he lowered his head to Darla’s ear and whispered, “Sitting back and letting others take the lead makes your daddy very uncomfortable, even when they’re equally qualified for the tasks. Some people call him a control freak, but we’ll call him relentless.”
Sawyer’s shoulders sagged as he sighed. “I just can’t let this go. Doing something feels proactive, while waiting leads to…”
“Scary thoughts?”
Sawyer recalled the nightmare that had woken him from his nap. All the fear and anguish he’d felt resurfaced, balling up to form a lump in his throat. He nodded when the words wouldn’t come and exhaled the negative emotions on his next breath. “I dreamed someone came to take Darla away from us,” Sawyer admitted. “It was so vivid and terrifying.”
Royce’s gaze turned sympathetic, and he tugged Sawyer forward with his free hand. “Time for a family hug.” He slung his arm around Sawyer’s waist and held him close. Darla had nodded off against Royce’s chest, and Sawyer laid his headagainst the opposite shoulder to gaze at their daughter and soak in the love they shared.
“No one is going to take our daughter away from us,” Royce said. “This I can promise. Our situation isn’t like the other ones Ivy described to us. We sought legal counsel prior to conceiving Darla. Kelsey had her own legal representation to ensure her rights were respected. We have dozens of character witnesses to go to bat for us and countless receipts to show that Kelsey entered the arrangement of her own free will. Most importantly, Kelsey supports us completely. What happened to the young lady at the heart of the allegations is terrible, and my heart goes out to her, but our situation isn’t the same. Our adoption might get delayed, but I promise you it will happen. We will end up with a lawful adoption decree and a birth certificate naming us both as Darla Grace Locke’s parents. No one is destroying our family, and I won’t entertain any other thoughts.”
Sawyer clung to Royce’s fierce conviction as tightly as he hugged his powerful body. “As it was declared, so it shall be.”