Mystery Child

She might be dead.

They’d have to make sure she stayed safe, too.

They?

He was on vacation.

As soon as Chance showed up, he was going back to it.

Until he showed up, though, Malone would stick around. He always completed his missions. This time would be no different. He just hoped that finishing it didn’t mean sticking around for days or weeks. That seemed to be the way things went—he agreed to help for a few hours and ended up helping for a lot longer.

He pushed through a thick stand of trees, stepping off the path and into a small field that butted up against a wide well-manicured yard. The small ranch house August lived in was just ahead, the glow of the porch light faded beneath the onslaught of emergency lights. Three police cars were parked in the driveway, and two officers stood on the porch, talking to August.

“Looks like this is it,” Quinn said so quietly he almost didn’t hear. Then she took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and marched toward them.

THREE (#ulink_de835aa6-1285-5ea0-bc3d-eb6b6a07738a)

No record of Tabitha McConnell ever giving birth.

No adoption records.

No evidence that there is any connection between Jubilee and your sister.

The words spilled out of the mouth of the stunning brunette who sat across the table from Quinn. Flawless skin, beautiful tailored suit, Special Agent Veronica Spellings looked like a model and acted exactly like what she was—a federal investigator. She’d arrived an hour ago, and she’d been all business ever since. Questions. Jotted notes. Sympathetic looks mixed with a few raised eyebrows.

“Take a look at this,” she said, sliding a paper across August’s kitchen table, her dark eyes devoid of emotion. She had short nails and long fingers, the diamond ring that glinted on her left hand almost gaudy in comparison to the woman’s conservative suit.

Quinn lifted the paper, eyeing the colored photo of a pretty blonde, a tall red-haired man and an infant. The woman held the baby as though she wasn’t quite comfortable with it, her smile a little forced. She had dark circles under her eyes and the look of someone who was deeply unhappy. Beside her, the man stood grinning at the camera. His hand cupped the woman’s shoulder, and the joy in his face was undeniable.

“That’s Megan and Daniel Boone Anderson, and their daughter, Kendal. The picture was taken a month before Megan and Kendal disappeared. Megan died a few months later. Kendal has been missing ever since.”

“I’m sorry,” Quinn murmured. She wasn’t sure what else to say.

“That was five years ago. The baby would be Jubilee’s age now. Mr. Anderson has moved on, of course. He has a family. Children, but he’s still desperate to find his daughter. He’s never stopped looking for her.” Agent Spellings eyed Quinn expectantly.

Quinn knew she was supposed to respond. Maybe with a gasp or a denial—No way! The baby in the picture isn’t Jubilee.

She couldn’t deny what she didn’t know, though.

She wanted to believe Tabitha, but the evidence Agent Spellings had laid out was undeniable. Up until Tabitha had moved to Nevada a year and a half ago, she hadn’t had a child. Friends at her old apartment had never seen her with a little girl. Her coworkers hadn’t ever heard her speak about being a mother.

The FBI had moved fast, gathering information a lot more quickly than Quinn ever could have, and the information indicated that Tabitha had lied.

Quinn couldn’t deny it. She couldn’t brush it under the carpet and pretend it didn’t exist. But, she wouldn’t regret the decision she’d made, either. Jubilee deserved to be with someone who loved her, who had been desperately seeking her for years. If she was Daniel Boone Anderson’s child, she deserved to be part of his family.

“I’m sorry for what happened, but I don’t know anything about it.” She fingered the photo before sliding it back across August’s kitchen table. She and Agent Spellings had been left alone in the room, a half dozen police officers and two other agents vacating the kitchen and escorting August and Malone out with them. A CPS caseworker had arrived and taken Jubilee into another part of the house.

Hopefully, she hadn’t taken the little girl away.

Jubilee might not be her niece, but Quinn felt responsible for her.

“You’re sorry, but do you understand the ramifications of what you and your sister have done?”

“Of course, I understand, but I had no reason to doubt my sister’s story.”

“Except that you hadn’t seen her in years,” Agent Spellings pointed out.

“She’s family.” That was it. All Quinn was going to say. If she needed a lawyer, she’d get one. Right now, she just wanted to be done and go home.

“I understand. I have sisters, too. I know how deep the bond can run.” Agent Spellings sighed. “You’re not in any trouble with us, Quinn, but we would like to speak with your sister.”

“If I knew where she was, I’d tell you.”

“I hope so.” The agent switched gears, pulled something out of a briefcase. “We found this in your car.” Agent Spellings set a manila envelope on the table, Tabitha’s handwriting scrawled across the front. It had been sealed when Quinn fled the SUV. Now the flap was open.

“Tabitha gave it to me.”

“And you didn’t open it?”

“She asked me not to.”

Agent Spellings raised a dark eyebrow. Obviously, she doubted Quinn’s answer.

“She asked me to give it to Jubilee’s father,” Quinn continued, her tone a little more defensive than she wanted it to be.

“I would have been curious enough to open it,” Agent Spellings countered. “Most people would have done the same.”

“I’m not most people. Jubilee’s father’s contact information was on the envelope. I didn’t have any need to see what was inside of it, and I had no reason to doubt my sister’s word.”

Agent Spellings snorted, the first time she’d done anything that was less than professional. “Of course you did. Your sister is as much of a con artist as your father was.”

It was a low blow, and one Quinn wasn’t expecting. Obviously, Jubilee and Tabitha weren’t the only ones the FBI had been investigating.

“What does that have to do with anything?” she hedged, not sure where the conversation was going but certain she wasn’t going to like it.

“Did you really think she wasn’t conning you, Quinn? That she didn’t know you were going to become bait? A way of getting whoever was after her off her tail?”

“All I know is that she was dead serious when she said she was afraid of her husband. She wasn’t conning me when she said he’d kill her when he found her.”

“Believing people we love is a lot easier than realizing we’ve been fooled and used by them.”

“I’m not a fool, Agent Spellings. Living with my father taught me how to know a lie from the truth.”

Agent Spellings sighed. “Then, maybe she was afraid but maybe it was because she took thousands of dollars from her husband’s bank account and stole a small fortune worth of family jewelry from his wall safe.”

“Who told you she did that?”

“A police report was filed in Las Vegas last night. We’re trying to get in touch with your sister’s husband now. He flew out of town on business a few hours after he filed the report.”