Chapter Three #2
As far as Judson was concerned, Rowena should have lived out her last days in prison.
But the parole board obviously didn’t agree.
Judson knew that because he’d made some calls shortly after they’d gotten the babies back to the ranch, and he had been able to confirm that Rowena did indeed have pancreatic cancer, and her prognosis wasn’t good.
Supposedly, she had less than six months to live.
Judson had also been able to confirm something else: Rowena hadn’t been anywhere near the ranch at the time the twins had been taken. She had been at a clinic in San Antonio, nearly an hour’s drive away.
The sound of a car engine caused Judson’s attention to shift to the windows, and he saw Livvy pull the cruiser to a stop in front of the house. He immediately got to his feet, hoping this was good news. Hoping that they’d found Yvette and had arrested the woman.
But then Judson saw that Livvy wasn’t alone.
There was a tall, lanky, dark-haired man with her, and Judson recognized him from the photo that he’d pulled up when they’d been searching for the babies.
This was Shane, Yvette’s son.
Good. Despite his sister’s concern, Shane seemed unharmed, and he might be able to give them answers as to the whereabouts of his mother.
Judson went to the door to let them in, and he immediately looked at Livvy for an explanation for the visit.
“Shane, this is Deputy Judson Docherty,” Livvy said. “And Addie Jansen,” she added when Addie stepped up behind Judson. “After Shane heard about the APB on his mother, he came into the station.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Shane said, not actually looking at Addie and him but at the house. His gaze was sweeping over it, taking it all in. “Wish it were under different circumstances.”
“Where’s your mother?” Judson asked, well aware that he sounded abrupt. But the sooner they caught Yvette, the better, and he didn’t want to waste time on small talk.
Shane sighed, shook his head and finally turned his gaze toward Addie and him. “I don’t know where my mom is, but we need to find her.” He opened his mouth, closed it and seemed to rethink what he’d been about to say. “We should probably sit down and talk.”
Judson agreed, and he stepped back for him to enter, but Shane paused in the doorway, glancing around the foyer. “So, this is where CPS brought Jennifer and me when we were babies?”
“Yes,” Addie murmured.
“I thought I might feel something. Some sense of recognition. But I don’t.” Shane shrugged. “I was just a baby, and I guess we didn’t stay long. Just a couple of months before we were adopted.”
That meshed with what Judson had read in the files that he’d managed to access while Lily and Rose were being examined at the hospital.
“You never came back here, just to have a look around?” Judson asked, and then he went with the question he actually wanted answered. “Maybe you came with Yvette?”
Something flashed through Shane’s cool blue eyes. “No,” he said. He didn’t add anything else until they were in the living room, and then he turned to face them. “And I’m not sure my mother has been here recently, either.”
Livvy didn’t seem surprised by the comment, which meant Shane had likely already discussed this with her.
“I have a photograph of your mother’s car fleeing the scene,” Judson was quick to point out. “And the woman she left the babies with ID’d Yvette from a photo the cops showed her.”
Shane nodded, slipped his hands into the pockets of his khakis. “My mother is a wonderful, loving, trusting woman,” he said.
That didn’t mesh with the info in the files. “She had a record, and she lost custody of you and your sister as kids,” Judson argued.
“She did, but all her problems were caused by alcohol and drug abuse. Once she got sober, we reconnected, and I forgave her for what happened. And I love her,” he tacked on to that.
That confession made Judson wonder if Shane was looking at this through rose-colored glasses. Maybe he wasn’t able to see his mother’s faults. Judson had gotten a totally different vibe about Yvette from Jennifer.
“You love her,” Judson repeated. “Yet your sister was worried that Yvette had done something to you.”
Shane rolled his eyes. “Jennifer always thinks the worst of our mother. Apparently, so do you, if you believe she stole those babies.”
“If she didn’t take them, then who did?” Judson demanded, wanting to hear this theory.
“Her husband, Trevor Cates,” Shane supplied. He said both the title and the name as if they were the deadliest kind of venom.
“Husband?” Judson challenged. “There was nothing in Yvette’s records about her being married.”
“Because she married the son of a bitch just two weeks ago,” Shane spat out.
“Trevor, or Trev as she calls him, is a low-life gold digger who Mom met in rehab. My mother had just received a huge settlement that she got for being injured on the job, and I believe Trevor married her so he could get his hands on it. And I also think he might have taken the babies to try to set her up so that she’d be either arrested or killed. ”
Judson took a moment to process what Shane was saying, and looked at Livvy to get her take on it. “I ran a background check on Trevor,” she said. “He’s got a record for DUI and extortion, but there are no red flags to indicate he’d arrange a double kidnapping.”
“He did it,” Shane insisted. “I think Trevor coerced my mother into coming here. Maybe even used drugs or booze. He could have taken the babies and then fled with Mom and them.”
“The witness didn’t see anyone else in the car with your mother,” Judson let him know.
Shane had a quick answer for that. “Trevor could have been hiding in the back seat. Or by then he could have had Mom drop him off somewhere.”
Judson had to at least admit that those were possibilities. After all, he’d thought he had seen that shadow or something, but there was no proof that anyone else had been with Yvette.
“There has to be an easier way for Trevor to get his hands on your mother’s money,” Judson reminded Shane.
“Well, he can’t outright kill her, because then he wouldn’t be able to profit from his crime.
I’m in law school,” Shane added. “Trevor could also have triggered a relapse, something to send my mother over the edge, but he wouldn’t necessarily get the money if she was back in rehab.
” He paused again, his forehead bunching up.
“I think Trevor hoped the cops would kill her and then he’d be her beneficiary. ”
“Do you have any evidence whatsoever that would back up any of this?” Judson asked.
Shane sighed again and shook his head. “But I know in my gut that he’s bad news and wants her dead.
That’s where I’ve been all morning, out looking for her.
I wanted to find her and try to convince her to leave Trevor.
I need you to talk to him. I need you to force him to tell us where my mom is and what he did to her. ”
“We’ll contact him and see what he has to say,” Judson assured him. “Do you have his address?” he added to Livvy.
She nodded. “It’s just outside of Bulverde. Grace and two deputies are on the way there now. They should be there soon.”
Good. Maybe they would find Yvette and could arrest her.
“My mother wouldn’t have taken those babies without some kind of prodding,” Shane insisted. “I’m sorry they were taken, sorry for the hell you must have gone through when they were missing, but my mom’s not responsible.”
The words had no sooner left his mouth than Judson’s phone rang and he saw Deputy Eden Gallagher’s name on the screen.
“Excuse me a second,” Judson said, stepping out of the room to take the call. “Eden,” he greeted when he was out of earshot. “Please tell me you found Yvette.”
“Not Yvette, but there’s a lot of blood,” Eden replied. “And a big, bloody butcher knife. From what I can see, someone could have been seriously injured or even murdered here.”
“But no body?” Judson pressed.
“No, no body, but the place isn’t empty. There’s someone here who might be able to give us answers.” Eden paused. “Her daughter, Jennifer. FYI, Jennifer has blood on her hands, and she was holding the knife when we found her.”