Read Kidnapping in Kendall County for Free Online Page A

put it on speaker, and that was probably the reason Rosalie scooted across the seat—so she could hear.
    “Well?” Sawyer said the moment Austin answered.
    “I was looking for my missing nephew,” Austin settled for saying.
    “Yes, and our boss already figured that out. He’s not happy, Austin, and he wants you back from your
vacation.
”
    “I’ll be back soon.” He hoped. “For now, I just need your help. I’m en route to the Silver Creek hospital to drop off an injured P.I. who’s either a witness or a person of interest in some assorted felonies. I’ll be there in about five minutes. Can you make some calls and arrange for him to be guarded?”
    Sawyer didn’t answer for several snail-crawling moments. “Sure.”
    “I also need you to have someone secure two crime scenes on the farm road that runs directly east of the town of Silver Creek,” Austin added. “Both were baby farms and are owned by a dummy corporation, Real Estate Investments. There’s not much left of them, and there are possible explosives planted around the grounds.”
    “I’ll get someone out there right away,” Sawyer assured him. Another pause. “You had a BOLO on a woman driving a black truck registered to your alias?”
    “Yeah—”
    “A deputy here in Silver Creek just phoned it in. They found her.” Sawyer paused again. “It’s not good news, Austin. The woman’s dead.”

Chapter Five
    Rosalie’s heart went to her knees. She couldn’t stop the brutal thoughts and images from going through her head. Images of Janice’s frantic escape from the baby farm and the ordeal that had led up to it.
    At the time Rosalie had believed that escape was the woman’s best chance of surviving.
    Obviously, she’d been wrong.
    “Oh, God.” Rosalie grabbed the phone from Austin and put it on speaker. “What about the babies? Janice had two newborns with her.”
    “Who is this?” Agent Ryland snapped.
    Austin mumbled some profanity and made the final turn toward the hospital. “She’s Rosalie McKinnon.”
    Agent Ryland repeated her name. “She was engaged to Eli.” Even though Rosalie didn’t know Agent Ryland, the man obviously knew her since it wasn’t a question.
    “And she’s also Seth Calder’s stepsister,” Austin added. “I ran into her while I was undercover.” He glanced at her, as if he might add more, but then shook his head. “Now, what about the babies?”
    “Both are fine. According to the deputy, Janice drove to the sheriff’s office, but she was already injured when she got there. She’d been shot.”
    Rosalie’s heart just kept dropping. She was beyond thankful that the babies were okay, but it was terrifying to think of Janice being pursued by these monsters while she was trying to get the newborns to safety.
    “The babies are being taken to the hospital,” Agent Ryland continued. “Just as a precaution. There’s not a scratch on them. And, of course, child protective services will be brought in. Will the woman’s killer try to come after the babies?” he came right out and asked.
    Rosalie already knew the answer and dreaded hearing it.
    “Possibly,” Austin said without hesitation.
    “I’ll get right on it,” Ryland answered, also without hesitation, and he ended the call.
    “This is all my fault,” she whispered.
    Austin made a yeah, right sound. “The fault lies with the person who set up the baby farm.”
    True, but if she hadn’t put Janice in a position where she had to escape, the woman might be alive. “If I’d stayed with her and the babies, this might not have happened.”
    “Yes, it would have, and you’d be dead, too. Those guards wouldn’t have wanted any witnesses to get away.”
    And since both Austin and she were just that—witnesses—then, yes, the men would have tried to shoot her, too. But at least if she’d been there, she might have been able to stop it and Janice might be alive.
    Austin drove into the hospital parking lot and came to a stop directly in