Rescued by Larynn Ford

early even. I led Wendy to believe I don’t have many friends and that I’m slightly needy.”
    He glanced down and lifted her chin with one finger. “Needy, huh? Well, it’s a good thing that making sure all your needs are met is my job now, ma’am.”
    “I’ll make a list as soon as we solve this case and you can get started. Which means we need to get crackin’ now.” Rose rolled off the bed and stood in a single movement. Hands on her hips, she glared at Marty with playful impatience.
    “Awww,” Marty protested.
    “Move it, mister,” she said as she pulled on her jeans and a fresh shirt and punched Wendy’s address into the GPS on her phone.
    A knock at the door quickly brought Marty out of bed.
    Rose moved to the door and peeped through the hole. “It’s Logan and June. They brought the car over here.” She opened the door to two concerned faces.
    “Uh-oh. What’s up with you two?” Their serious expressions had Rose alarmed now.
    “Oscar’s found some information that confirms our suspicions about this happy family situation we’ve been witnessing.”
    Rose closed the door and gestured for the werejag couple to take the chairs at the small table by the window. Was this news they would be able use to their advantage? She and Marty eased down onto the bed and waited.
    “Nelson, one of my trackers, went into the clinic with a fake medical issue so he could look around and gather any info possible on the kid’s visit there this afternoon. He lucked out and was able to get peek at a file the nurse left in a stack on the desk . . . Wendy’s file.” Logan paused. “There was a transplant list inside.”
    “Wendy needs a transplant? What’s wrong with her?” Rose’s fingers gripped the edge of the mattress. Her heart lodged in her throat as she waited for the worst of the news.
    “Rose. Wendy has been given a clean bill of health.” Logan took a breath and reached for June’s hand.
    She turned to Marty with the questions and found the same confusion reflected in his eyes. “So if she’s healthy and doesn’t need a transplant.” She spoke the thoughts running through her head aloud as she turned back to Logan and June.
    “The list is of people who are in need of transplants in New Mexico and several other western states,” June added.
    “The training facility is in Santa Fe.” It was all becoming clearer. Rose studied her feet as she tried to imagine what this could possibly mean. She was even more determined to find out now. “They’ve convinced the kids to give blood but how do you convince someone to part with a kidney?”
    “That’s our concern. Is it a willing donation? And don’t get me wrong, if it is a donation from the heart, that’s one thing but . . . that’s not all. There was a list of people willing to pay for newborns.”
    “Selling organs and babies?” Rose’s stomach turned. She glanced at the time on her phone and then to Marty. “We need to get going. Give me twenty minutes head start.” She gathered her things and took the keys from June. “If y’all will still be up, we’ll swing by your place when we’re done tonight and let you know what we’ve found out.”
    The drive to Wendy’s gave Rose time to get back into character, to bring out the shy college student who didn’t make friends easily to the forefront but keep her investigative senses close to the surface. She stopped the car in front of the house and opened the car door when Marty’s truck pulled up behind her.
    She huffed out a breath. Unbelievable. What part of wait twenty minutes didn’t he understand? This macho protective mate bullshit is going to compromise this investigation . . . if I don’t kill him first. She glared at him as she rounded the front of the car and started up the walk.
    Wendy and one of the boys from the park came around the side of the house before she could ring the doorbell. “Hey Rose. We’re out back,” Wendy called, motioning for her new friend to join