A Cop In Her Stocking. Ann Peterson Voss

about Ty’s role, a lot of blaming. But in the end, he’d been just as worried about the ransom call as she was. She just needed to know that he’d hold up his end—she needed to hear him swear it—before she went out to talk to Lieutenant Wheeling.

      “And then what happens? I take the blame for this? I get arrested?”

      “I’ll back you up. I’ll tell them it was a misunderstanding, that we’ve worked everything out.” She wasn’t sure if that would be enough to protect him, but she hoped it would at least convince him to go along.

      “And I’m supposed to stick my neck out and trust you to explain things?”

      “I will explain things.”

      “Right. If I had a more devious mind, I might think you and Davis set this up. That he faked the kidnapping so you could trap me with some kind of kidnapping charge and take full custody.”

      She closed her eyes. She’d only needed Doug to come through for her twice in all their time together, after Connor was born and now. He’d failed her the first time. She had to make sure he came through for her now. “I will make sure you don’t get in trouble for this, Doug. I promise. But I need you to do this. Connor needs you to do this. Please.”

      “I suppose.”

      She recognized the smug tone in his voice. She could picture him right now in her mind’s eye, all inflated and self-important. The strange thing was, she didn’t care. She’d tell him anything he wanted to hear, just as long as he came through on his end. The only person she cared about was her son. “Thank you. You’ll call him now?”

      “Yes.”

      “You have his phone number?”

      “He’s called me a dozen times in the past hour, I swear. All I have to do is call him back.”

      “Thank you.”

      “I want you to remember this, Megan.”

      “Don’t you worry. I will.” She ended the call. She was still shaking, but at least she felt like she had a plan, a plan that was underway.

      She’d wait for Doug to make his call, then give the lieutenant all the reassurances he needed from her end. He had no reason not to believe her. It would all go smoothly. It had to.

      “Was that Doug?”

      Ty’s voice jolted along her nerves like an electric shock. She’d been so focused on convincing Doug to call Lieutenant Wheeling and then doing her own explaining that she’d almost forgotten she also had to lie to Ty. “Yes. He promised to call your lieutenant back right away.”

      Ty nodded. “Does he know anything?”

      “Yes. He has Connor. That was him at the mall.” She tried to give him a relieved smile, but she wasn’t sure she remembered what that felt like. “So everything is okay.”

      “Really?”

      What did that mean? That he didn’t buy it? “Yes. He saw you with him at the store, and, well, he got jealous. He called me to let me know everything’s okay. Everything’s over.”

      She expected him to look relieved. Something. But his expression didn’t change. “You have to tell Lieutenant Wheeling. But I have to warn you everything is not likely to be over instantly.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “We’re going to have to investigate what happened. Make sure Connor is okay.”

      “Why? There’s no need for it.”

      “That’s good. I’m glad. But we have to confirm that fact in order to close the investigation.”

      “But I’m telling you that he’s safe.”

      Ty held up his hands.

      Megan’s mind raced. If the police went after Doug for the story they’d concocted, he’d tell them the truth for sure. It would all be over. She couldn’t let that happen. “You can’t do anything if I don’t cooperate.”

      “The department has an obligation to check on Connor’s welfare.”

      “You can’t charge Doug with anything for taking his own son.”

      “If he has Connor and the boy is all right, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

      “So what happens now?”

      “We tell Leo. He’ll take it from there.”

      And judging by the squareness of the man, she’d be willing to bet he’d follow procedure to a T. Which probably meant she didn’t have much time before the police would know Doug didn’t have Connor at all. She had to head this off, or at least buy some time until she could give the kidnapper what he wanted and get her son back.

      She stepped toward Ty and laid a hand on his arm. “I don’t want the police to harass Doug. He’s Connor’s father. I have to deal with him. Something like this…he’ll blame me. He’ll make things miserable for me, just because he can.”

      She wasn’t sure if she could convince the lieutenant and the other officers out in her living room, but maybe she could appeal to Ty. He wanted to help her. If she could convince him, maybe he’d convince his lieutenant. “Things are fine between me and Doug right now. I don’t want to ruin that balance.”

      “He took your son without telling you. That doesn’t seem fine to me.”

      “He was upset when he saw I let Connor go shopping with you. I think he felt like you were trying to take his place with his son. But I talked to him. Now he understands that’s not true. I also talked to Connor. Everything is fine. Can’t this whole thing just be over?”

      “It’s not that simple, Meg.”

      “Can we try to make it that simple?”

      He didn’t answer.

      Seconds stretched, one after another until Megan thought she might fall to her knees and beg. She couldn’t let things unfold this way.

      “All right.”

      Ty’s answer was so low, at first Megan thought she might have imagined it. “Did you say yes?”

      “I’ll talk to Leo.”

      “Doug said he’d return the Lieutenant’s calls.”

      “Good. He’d better do that. The sooner, the better.”

      “He will.”

      Ty stepped toward the hall, then paused. He turned back to face her, lines digging into his forehead and bracketing his mouth. “Who called earlier? Right when I left you?”

      Megan had been ready with the story she’d cooked up with Doug, but she wasn’t prepared for this. Ty must have heard her cell phone ring as she closed Connor’s bedroom door. “It was…it was Doug.”

      Ty watched her carefully. “That’s a coincidence. You were about to call him.”

      He might have been just making a casual observation, but Megan didn’t think so. More likely, he suspected she was lying. A jitter seized her stomach. “A coincidence. Yes, it was. At least everything worked out. Connor is safe, and everything is fine.”

      “Glad to hear Connor is okay. That’s the important part.” Again he started to leave, then caught himself. This time when he returned his gaze to hers, his eyes held something softer. Sadder. “I don’t understand why you’re still protecting Doug.”

      She wished she could tell him the truth. That this wasn’t about protecting Doug at all but protecting Connor. She wished she could trust that if Ty knew the real situation, he would stick by her. But wishing didn’t change anything. He was a cop, and she was about to become a criminal. That was the way things were.

      It was up to her to get her baby back, to make him