She slid her gaze to the left, meeting his dark eyes burning with...some emotion she couldn’t name.
“You’re not going anywhere with anyone, unless and until you want to. You’re not going to take some dude’s word for it that you’re married and have a child if you don’t remember that marriage or that child.”
“C-couldn’t you have arrested him or something?”
“Nothing he did was a crime.” Rob lifted his shoulders. “And while I wanted to punch him in the face when he grabbed you, I would’ve been the one arrested.”
“What kind of a person would use an innocent child like that?” Libby shook her head. “I could tell Teresa, or whatever her name is, was scared out of her wits. Didn’t you think?”
“I think—” Rob cranked the keys in the ignition “—Teresa is that baby’s mother and Pablo was using both of them to lure you into his trap.”
Libby pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “He’s not one of the men at the crash site, though. I’m sure of it—different voice. That means there are more than two. Pablo must be working with the others, and they must know I have amnesia.”
“He wouldn’t have approached you otherwise with that story, but he didn’t seem surprised when you mentioned Libby James and he knew Libby—you—Sorry, this is getting confusing. He knew you owned a gallery.” Rob pulled away from the curb and headed in the opposite direction of his house.
Libby’s heart skipped a beat. “We’re not going back to your place?”
“I’m going to check out the Paradiso hotels first and find out where Pablo and Teresa are staying—and how they registered.”
“Good idea.” She twisted a lock of hair with her finger, let it go and wound it up again. “How did Pablo know I had amnesia? Only you, Jennifer and I know that. Not even Rosie knows it.”
“Maybe they’ve been watching you. If you knew who you were and who they were, you’d report their actions or you’d continue to do what you were planning to do before they waylaid you.”
“They planted those drugs at the accident scene to make sure I didn’t report anything, or if I did, that I’d be arrested for those drugs.”
“You drove up here to Paradiso for a reason—maybe it has to do with that dead body in your memory and maybe not. They stopped you but would’ve expected you to carry on with your mission...if you knew what it was.” He tapped on his window as they rolled up to the Paradiso Motel. “They knew something was wrong when you stayed here and took a job at Rosita’s. Now they know for sure because my guess is that you’re no stranger to Pablo Bustamante.”
She’d accept his explanation for now, but the notion that people who meant to do her harm were watching her in Paradiso did nothing to calm her nerves.
The clerk at the Paradiso Motel didn’t have anyone matching Pablo’s and Teresa’s descriptions staying there, and Libby and Rob didn’t have any luck at the other two hotels, either.
After the visit to the last hotel, Libby climbed into Rob’s truck and snapped her seat belt with a sigh. “At least we tried. I guess we can do a search on Pablo Bustamante, just like we did on Libby James, but I don’t know how much we’ll find.”
“Well, I did get his fingerprints.”
Libby jerked her head around. “You did?”
Rob pulled a pacifier from his pocket. “Like taking candy from a baby.”
“You stole little Luisa’s binky?” She punched his arm.
“Not exactly. It fell out of her mouth onto the ground. Pablo picked it up, left fingerprints and handed it back to Luisa, who promptly dropped it again. Pablo didn’t notice this time, so I scooped it up with a tissue and pocketed it.” He held up his hands. “Don’t get too excited. We could have the same issue we had with your prints. If he’s a Mexican national, his prints aren’t going to be in our database. I have to go through other red tape to get that information, and nothing I’m doing is official at this point.”
“It’s a start. I never would’ve thought of that.” She scooted down in the seat. “I’m exhausted. Just when I thought I unwound from my session with Jennifer, I get hit with Pablo. Did he really think I’d just waltz off with him?”
“He obviously thought the baby would be the clincher.” He raised an eyebrow. “She was cute. How’d you resist?”
“Cute? She was adorable, but I knew she wasn’t mine. I had no feeling for her here.” She pounded her fist against her heart. “I’d know. I’m sure I’d remember a baby...or a husband.”
“You’d like to think you would, but who knows?” He slowed down to make the turn to his street. “I knew she wasn’t yours by the way she clung to Teresa and barely looked at you. One of the other agents and his fiancée are adopting a baby, and that little guy is constantly zeroed in on his mama no matter who else is holding him. Luisa didn’t have that for you.”
“I agree.” Libby shot up in her seat. “You have a visitor.”
Rob rolled past the Jeep parked in front of his house and pulled into his driveway. “Friend, not foe.”
Libby blew out a breath and threw open the passenger door before Rob even cut the engine. She could do with more friends and fewer foes.
A tall woman with a thick mane of blond hair and sun-kissed skin stepped out of the Jeep and waved. “Those pants actually look better on you than they ever did on me.”
Libby stumbled and made a grab for the door of the truck. “I know you.”
Rob came around to her side of the truck and hugged the blonde. “I should hope so. This is April Archer, your clothing fairy.”
The adrenaline rushed through Libby’s body, and she swayed on her feet. “No, I know this woman...from before.”
Chapter Twelve
April glanced at
