The bar her brother owned was a hangout for all sorts of criminals.
At one time, that included Tony Crossman himself.
And yes, Quentin had gotten involved with Crossman’s schemes and had in turn gotten her involved since April handled the finances for him. Worse, Quentin had tricked her into helping Crossma n with some money laundering. Chase would never believe it was a dupe, though. No. He would always think she’d done it willingly.
In a way, she had.
Chase pulled to a stop behind the cruiser, and Jax didn’t waste any time getting Renée out of the car. “Tell Quentin I need to see him right away,” the woman shouted.
“Oh, I will,” Chase assured her. He glanced back at April. “I’ll deal with your brother soon.”
April had no trouble hearing the implied threat—Chase would do that after he dealt with her. He didn’t use the rearview mirror this time. Chase turned and looked at her. Despite the horrible circumstances, April still wasn’t immune to that face. Hot seemed like much too mild a word when it came to Chase. He’d gotten to her from the first time they met. Was still getting to her.
But she forced that heat aside.
It was easy to do when his gaze went from her to Bailey. He couldn’t actually see Bailey’s face because of the rear-facing infant seat, but his expression softened a bit. Well, for a few seconds anyway. It would no doubt take him a while to come to terms with the realization that he was the father of a two-month-old baby.
“I need to call the marshals first,” he said, taking out his phone. “They should check on Crossman’s former CPA to make sure her identity hasn’t been compromised, too.”
That was a good idea, especially since it’d been the CPA, Jasmine Bronson, who’d been the one who’d actually witnessed Crossman talking about the murder he’d committed.
“After I’m done with the call,” Chase added, “I want to hear everything. And I mean everything.”
“Just be careful what you say when you make that call. The breach in security could have happened right there in that office.”
He didn’t dispute that, though it looked as if that’s exactly what he wanted to do. Chase made the call to his boss, and he asked him to check to see if April’s identity, or anyone else’s, had been compromised.
“Start talking,” Chase insisted the moment he finished the call. He didn’t have his attention on April now. He was watching as Jax maneuvered Renée into the backseat of the cruiser. “You’d better have a darn good reason for keeping Bailey from me for even a minute much less two months. And I’m not buying your excuse that you gave me earlier about those thugs finding you through me.”
“It wasn’t an excuse.” April took a deep breath before she continued. “The morning I went into labor, I got a call from Deanne, and she said she’d heard on the streets that someone was watching you with the hopes of finding me. Needless to say, I believe the person behind that was Crossman.”
Chase immediately shook his head, and he drove away once Jax had everything under control with Renée. “I didn’t see anyone watching me, and I would have noticed something like that.”
Yes, he would have. Especially in the past couple of months. He would have been on high alert because of Bailey’s impending birth and because he’d also been recently attacked by a serial killer. April didn’t know the details of the attack, but she was betting Chase had been looking over his shoulder a lot.
“Deanne said she’d heard the watching was being done through cameras,” April explained, “that someone had managed to set them up in or near your house and by the marshals’ office. The CI also told her that there was an informant in the marshals’ office, too.
“And you believed Deanne?” he snapped. He took the road toward the town of Appaloosa Pass.
“Why wouldn’t I? Deanne’s never lied to me. She was trying to help me tonight, and that’s why she’s dead.” That caused her chest to tighten, and April had to fight back a fresh batch of tears.
“Jericho has the guy who was working with Deanne’s killer in custody. We’ll get justice for her,” Chase reminded her. No doubt to get her mind back on their conversation.
“Yes, but justice won’t bring her back.”
“No,” Chase quietly agreed. Maybe he was grieving some, too. After all, Deanne had been one of his own criminal informants for several years. “Who told Deanne I was being watched?”
“I have no idea. As you know, Deanne didn’t like to share the names of her sources. She said it kept them cooperating so she could use them to get info to help the cops.”
Chase made a grunt of agreement, and while continuing to keep watch, he pulled out his phone. “I need a big favor,” he said to the person who answered. “When you get a chance, go to my place and see if anyone has put any surveillance cameras around the house. Call me if you find anything.”
As he put his phone away, he said, “That was Teddy McQueen, one of the ranch hands. If he doesn’t find anything, I’ll have him go through the house itself.”
A place she remembered well since it was where Bailey had been conceived.
April didn’t have to tap too deeply into her memories to guess where someone would have planted a camera. There were several large shade trees in his yard, a detached garage and even a small barn. But with the hours that Chase put in as a marshal, it was indeed possible that someone had gotten inside the house.
“I couldn’t be sure the person hadn’t planted listening devices along with cameras,” April explained.
That didn’t soothe the glare Chase shot her. “So what? You weren’t going to tell me at all?”
“I was, but Bailey didn’t get out of the hospital until three days ago. I didn’t want to call the marshals because of the possible informant.”
“You could have sent Deanne to tell me.”
“That was the plan. She didn’t want to call you because she wasn’t sure if the informant or one of Crossman’s thugs had managed to tap your phone. And she did try to speak to you in person, but you weren’t at the office.”
“The Moonlight Strangler investigation,” he grumbled several moments later.
Yes, that. A cause very close to home. Since Chase and his family had recently learned that a vicious serial killer, the Moonlight Strangler, was the biological father of Chase’s adopted sister. The Moonlight Strangler had murdered Jax’s wife and had even attacked Chase.
“I was out of the office a lot,” Chase added along with some profanity. Probably beating himself up for not being there. But this wasn’t his fault.
Again, it was Crossman’s.
And that led April to her next concern when Chase took the final turn into town, and she spotted the sheriff’s office.
“Is it safe for us to be here?” she asked.
Chase didn’t exactly jump to answer that. “We won’t be here long. I’ll arrange for a safe house. Not through the marshals just in case Deanne was right about an informant. And we won’t go to the ranch house or my place, either, just in case there are cameras set up.”
Good. Chase’s house was at the far edge of the ranch property, and with the threat of the cameras, she’d figured going there was out. However, she was glad he’d dismissed taking her to his family’s home on the ranch. For one thing, it might not be safe there, either, and for another, she didn’t want to have to face the rest of his family just yet.
Chase didn’t pull into the parking lot. He stopped directly in front of the door of the sheriff’s office and glanced around. Since it was only about six-thirty, there were still people out and about, and there were diners