Page 39 of The Sheriff's Baby

“Welcome to the club,” Duncan muttered. But in Hamlin’s case, not being happy was a good thing. Riled people often said more than they intended to.

As expected, Slater had the cruiser waiting for them right outside the ER doors, and the three of them hurried to get in. Duncan glanced at Joelle and saw that she was looking at the window next to her. And she was no doubt recalling that Willie Jay had shot through a similar window to get to her.

The bullet-resistant glass was better than nothing, but this had to be a reminder that they weren’t safe, not even in the cruiser. Duncan could only hope they’d be making an arrest soon that would put an end to the danger.

Duncan kept watch as Slater drove, but he didn’t see anyone he didn’t recognize. If Joelle hadn’t been with him and if they hadn’t been in the middle of town, Duncan would have wanted to spot the missing attacker. Would have liked to have a showdown with him. But the thug apparently wasn’t showing his face in broad daylight.

After Slater parked, they went into the sheriff’s office. Which was nearly bare. Understandable, what with all the various components of the investigation going on and with some of the deputies needing rest after a hellishly long day. Woodrow was at his desk, working on his laptop, and Ronnie was at his. Not alone. There was a young brunette woman sitting next to him. Both Ronnie and the woman got to their feet, their attention turning to Duncan.

“This is Erica Corley,” Ronnie said. “She just came in to talk to you.”

The name was familiar, but Duncan thumbed through his memory to figure out if he recognized her. He didn’t. And when Joelle and Slater shook their heads, he figured they didn’t know her, either.

“I’m Sheriff Holder.” Duncan went closer to Erica and hitched a thumb at Joelle and Slater when he introduced them.

The woman nodded, swallowed hard. “I’m Al Hamlin’s ex-girlfriend. Al and I had a baby together when we were teenagers.”

Duncan was certain he looked surprised because he was. Not about the baby part but that Erica would just show up like this. Then again, it was possible the PI they’d talked to had located her and sent her to them.

“I heard about the kidnapping and attacks on the news,” Erica went on. “One of the reports mentioned Al, that he was on the scene when a man was taken into custody.”

Duncan silently groaned. He didn’t know how the media picked up on such details, but he had to admit a story like this would make good press.

“And I thought... Well, I wondered,” Erica added a moment later, “if Al was involved in some way?”

Since that was exactly what Duncan wanted to know, he motioned for Erica to go into his office. Joelle came, too, but Slater muttered something about needing to check for updates, and he headed to his desk in the bullpen.

“Can I get you some coffee or water?” Duncan asked her.

Erica shook her head and took one of the seats next to Duncan’s desk. Joelle took the other.

“Was Al involved in the kidnapping and attacks?” Erica pressed.

Considering that Willie Jay had worked for Hamlin, the answer was yes, but Duncan kept that to himself and went with a question of his own. “Do you believe your ex is capable of something like that?” He’d asked Brad’s ex, Shanda, the same thing, and she’d more or less waffled on her response.

Erica didn’t.

“I believe he’s capable,” she said after a heavy sigh. “I don’t know why he’d do it, but...” She stopped. “It could be because of what happened with our baby. I suppose you know about that?”

“We do,” Duncan verified.

Erica nodded. “I wanted to give the baby up for adoption, and Al wanted to, well, sell it.”

There was some anger, maybe even shame, in those last few words, and Erica lowered her head, shook it.

“I was against it,” Erica went on after several moments. “But Al kept pressing me. He said he’d gotten in touch with someone, and the person would pay us ten thousand dollars. I don’t come from money, and that sounded like a fortune to me. So I went through with meeting with this person, even though I wasn’t sure I could actually sell my child.”

That meshed with what Duncan had read in the juvenile records that Slater had managed to get. The arresting officer had mentioned that Hamlin had been the one to orchestrate the sale and had also contacted the couple two more times to up the amount he wanted them to pay for the child. That’s how the extortion had come into play.

The wannabe adoptive parents had been charged, too, since they had planned on paying for the baby, but no one involved in the case had pointed the finger at Erica as being the aggressor in the sale or the extortion. Still, she’d been convicted since she had gone along with meeting the couple.

“What happened at the meeting?” Joelle prompted when the woman fell silent.

Erica gave another of those long sighs. “The San Antonio cops found out what Al and I were doing because they showed up and arrested us.” She shifted her attention to Joelle. “I think your late father was the one who told the cops.”

Duncan didn’t know who was more surprised by that, Joelle or him. “My father?” she questioned.

“I spoke to Sheriff Cliff McCullough shortly after I was arrested. He’d gotten a tip from a longtime confidential informant that a couple was trying to buy a baby, and he gave SAPD the couple’s names, and that in turn put the cops on Al and me. We didn’t even make it to the meeting with the couple because they in turn told the cops about us. We were convicted of attempted extortion and trying to sell the baby.”

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