by Rita Herron
“Cora, what the hell are you doing sending the sheriff over to question me about your PI boyfriend?”
The anger in his tone triggered her own. “He was not my boyfriend—”
“I don’t give a damn if he was, but I don’t appreciate you insinuating to Sheriff Maverick that I was having an affair!” His breath rasped out. “For God’s sake, you don’t really think that I had something to do with our baby’s kidnapping, do you?”
Cora touched the bandage on her forehead. Someone had tried to kill her. And Jacob had questioned Drew. He was certainly angry now.
He wouldn’t try to kill her.
Would he?
Chapter Eleven
Anger struck Cora. “I didn’t give the sheriff that idea,” Cora said. “But since you brought up the subject, were you having an affair, Drew?”
“What?” His tone sounded incredulous. “I can’t believe you’d ask me that.”
“Why not?” she snapped. “You certainly moved on pretty quickly, both from Alice and me.”
A strained silence stretched between them for a minute. When Drew finally responded, frustration thickened his voice. “That’s not fair, Cora. I was hurting, too, only you were too mired in your own emotions that you didn’t notice.”
Cora sucked in a breath. She felt as if she’d been punched in the gut.
But today had been too frightening and upsetting for her to contemplate whether or not she’d been selfish.
Tears threatened. “I have to go.” She didn’t wait for a response. She ended the call and turned the phone to silent in case Drew called back.
Still, adrenaline was pumping through her, so she retrieved her stationery, then sat down at her desk to write her daughter another letter.
Dear Alice,
Today I saw a little girl named Nina at the bookstore. I met her at the school where I taught. She lays her carrot sticks out in rows like I did when I was little. She also eats the top of her muffin first.
She has pretty brown hair and a sprinkling of freckles across her nose, and she likes to draw. I’m making friends with her mother, Faye.
Maybe when I find you and you come to live with me, you and Nina can have a playdate and become friends. If you like to paint or draw, I’ll buy canvasses, and we’ll carry a picnic to the park by the river and the two of you can paint.
I miss you so much, my sweet little girl. I hope that I get to see you soon. Then you can tell me all about what you’ve been doing the past five years.
I love you always,
Mommy
A pang seized Cora as the therapist’s words reverberated in her head. What will you do if you find her and she’s happy?
She shoved the voice to the far recesses of her mind.
First she’d find Alice. Then she’d decide what to do.
She carefully placed the letter in her keepsake box, then crawled into bed and flipped out the light.
But as she closed her eyes, Drew’s angry words screamed in her head. Drew, who might have betrayed their marriage. Drew, who’d abandoned her after they lost Alice.
An image of Jacob stretched out on her couch flashed behind her eyes. Jacob, who was strong, steadfast, a family man. Jacob, who’d never treated her as if she was unstable. Jacob, who’d promised not to give up the search for her daughter. Jacob, who’d suffered a loss the night of the hospital fire.
But he hadn’t abandoned his family because of it.
The temptation to ask him to join her in bed seized her.
She wanted his warmth. His strength.
She wanted his touch. His kiss. His hands. His mouth. His big warm body giving her pleasure.
She slipped from bed and padded to the door. She cracked it a fraction of an inch, then peeked inside her living room. But his voice echoed to her, and she realized he was on the phone.
“Don’t worry, Liam, I’m not getting personally involved with Cora Reeves.”
Cora’s pulse jumped as disappointment filled her. Obviously her feelings for Jacob were one-sided.
Battling tears again, she closed the door, tiptoed back to bed and crawled beneath the covers, alone.
* * *
JACOB BARELY DOZED off for listening to Cora tossing and turning all night. He checked the perimeter of the house several times, but everything seemed quiet.
Perhaps the shooter thought Cora hadn’t survived, and he wouldn’t return. Although if Cora knew the person who’d tried to kill her, or if he was watching her, he’d know she was alive.
By dawn, he rose, made a cup of coffee and a to-do list.
As soon as he deemed it a reasonable hour, he phoned the local security company. They agreed to meet at the house at ten to install a system.
Then he tracked down the head nurse who’d worked the neonatal unit at the time of the hospital fire.
Cora opened the door, looking sleepy. Her hair was tousled, and the bruises on her face and arms were even more stark in the morning light streaming through the windows.
He dragged his eyes away from her curvy body in those pajama pants and T-shirt. The pale blue color accentuated the vivid hue of her eyes, eyes that looked wary this morning. “Did you finally get some sleep?” he asked.
She nodded. “A little. How about you?”
“A little,” he admitted, although he’d been tormented by the fact that she could have died the night before. If he’d done his job and found Alice years ago, Cora wouldn’t be in danger now.
She walked into the kitchen, removed a mug from the cabinet and made herself a cup of coffee.
“I heard your phone ring before bedtime,” he said.
She shrugged. “Drew called.”
Jacob stiffened. “What did he have to say?”
She sank into the kitchen chair. “He was furious and accused me of telling you that he had an affair.”
“Any investigator would ask the same question,” Jacob said. “Unfortunately in a child kidnapping, we have to look at the parents, their friends and enemies, and acquaintances.”
“I remember you said that years ago when you first interviewed me.”
“I’m sorry that I failed you, Cora. I really am.”
Cora’s big eyes softened. “It’s not your fault, Jacob. I know you did everything you could.”
Jacob shrugged, but the guilt wouldn’t ease up. “Once the security company shows up, I’m going to visit the nurse who was in charge of the neonatal unit when you delivered,” Jacob said. “Maybe she remembered something that didn’t strike her as important at the time.”
“I’ll go with you,” Cora said.
Jacob hesitated, debating on letting her come along. Then again, he didn’t want to leave her alone.
Especially in light of her ex-husband’s phone call. Drew could have called last night just because he was angry.
Or...what if he’d called to see if Cora had survived the accident?
The attempt on Cora’s life had come while he was questioning the Westbrooks.
But Drew could have hired someone to kill Cora just as he could have Philips.
* * *
CORA QUICKLY SHOWERED and dressed before the security company arrived. While they installed the system, Jacob drove home for a shower and clean clothes.
As the technicians worked, Cora stood looking out her window. She usually felt safe here in the mountains, as if it was a sanctuary until she was reunited with her daughter.
Now everything had changed.
The woods looked spooky, a place for predators to hide. The mountains seemed taller, the cliffs steeper, the ridges sharper and more ominous. The river seemed colder, the rapids more intense and dangerous, as if they could carry a dead body downstream and it would be lost forever.
She gripped her hands and fought panic. She could not think like that. She was not a defeatist. She refus
ed to allow fear to hold her hostage.
Jacob would keep her safe. She had to hold on to the hope that they were making progress.
Jacob returned just as the installation was complete, and the security specialist demonstrated how to work the system.
A half hour later, they parked at Wynona Baker’s house. Wynona, who had been kind to Cora at the hospital, had worked in the neonatal unit for fifteen years before Alice was taken.
Wynona invited them in, and they settled at her kitchen table. Ceramic puppies lined a shelf in her kitchen and a picture of a chocolate Lab hung above the fireplace in the corner.
Cora wondered if Alice had a dog.
“How are you, Cora?” Wynona asked.
Cora and Jacob exchanged a look, then Cora murmured that she was okay. Jacob explained about Kurt’s death and the events of the day before.
“Oh my goodness,” Wynona said. “I’m so sorry, Cora. I hoped you were stopping by with good news.”
“I wish we were,” Cora said.
“Wynona, it’s been five years,” Jacob said calmly. “Sometimes immediately following a trauma, our memory is foggy because we’re in shock. Have you recalled anything about that night since? Some detail about what happened in the hospital nursery?”
Wynona rubbed her fingers together in a nervous gesture. “I just remember how awful it was. The minute the fire alarm rang and we realized it was real, not a drill, everyone sprang into action. I ordered staff to move the babies out.”
“There’s some question now as to whether Cora’s daughter was taken when the babies were outside on the lawn or before,” Jacob said.
Cora scrunched her face in thought. Did Jacob know something he hadn’t told her?
* * *
JACOB HAD QUESTIONED the entire staff who worked on the maternity floor after the fire, but at the time, no one had stuck out as suspicious. Most everyone’s story matched—it was pure chaos, everyone was scurrying around trying to help patients evacuate and calm family members. A couple of infants had been snatched from their bassinets by parents who were close by the nursery when the fire alarm sounded.
No one had seen anyone take Cora’s child.
Jacob consulted the notes from his interviews with the staff. “I talked to Dale Friedman and Horace Whitman, two of the orderlies you said helped move the infants. Was there anything odd about either one of them? Maybe a family member who’d lost a child?”
Wynona rubbed her forehead. “Not that I recall. Both Dale and Horace were hard workers. Dale went on to medical school and is doing a residency in the ER in Atlanta now. Horace became a med tech.”
Cora shifted. “Please think,” she said. “Did you notice anyone lurking around the nursery who didn’t belong?”
Wynona sighed, the sound filled with frustration. “I’m sorry, Cora, I...just can’t remember.”
“My husband left my room before the alarm went off,” Cora said. “Did you see him in the hall or by the nursery?”
Wynona rubbed her temple. “I saw him by the vending machine getting coffee. He was talking to a young woman. She had flowers and a baby gift with her. A little pink teddy bear, I think it was.”
Jacob chewed the inside of his cheek. Wynona hadn’t mentioned this before. “Do you know who the woman was?”
The nurse shook her head no. “She gave him a hug and congratulated him on the baby. They started down the hall toward the nursery, and I assumed he was going to show her your daughter, but the woman’s phone rang, and she disappeared down the hall.”
“What happened after that?” Jacob asked.
“I don’t know. The alarm sounded, and everyone went into a panic.”
Jacob retrieved a photo of Drew and his wife on his phone and showed it to Wynona. “Was this the woman you saw talking to Drew?”
Wynona studied the picture for a minute, then nodded. “Yes, I believe it was.”
“That’s Drew’s wife,” Cora said tightly. “She worked for his law firm at the time.”
Jacob considered the information. If Drew had been having an affair, was it with Hilary? That would explain how quickly they’d married after his divorce.
“There’s something else I’d like for you to look at,” Jacob told Wynona. On his last stop to Liam’s office, he’d copied footage of the person in scrubs carrying the bundle toward the laundry area.
He angled the phone for Wynona and Cora to see. A pained silence fell across the room as they watched the footage.
“Do you have any idea who that person could be?” Jacob asked.
Emotions clouded Wynona’s face. “No. I can’t see his—or her—face.”
He had another clip of the activity on the maternity wing. “Look at this and see if anything strikes you as off.”
A frown puckered the skin between Wynona’s eyes. “Wait,” she said, her breath catching. “That woman there, the one in the dark coat.”
Cora leaned forward, anxious. Jacob gave Wynona another minute.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Her name is Evie Hanson. I don’t know why she was there. She was put on suspension two weeks before the fire.”
“Why was she placed on suspension?”
Wynona bit down on her lower lip. “I hate to gossip.”
“Please,” Cora said again. “What happened?”
“She learned she couldn’t have children,” Wynona said. “She was really depressed about it. One of the doctors found her sneaking into the nursery to hold the newborns.”
Jacob clenched his jaw. Why hadn’t this come up before? “Where is she now?”
“I don’t know,” Wynona said. “I thought she moved away before the fire.”
“We have to find her,” Cora said. “What if she was so depressed that she kidnapped Alice?”
Chapter Twelve
“Why didn’t you tell us about her before?” Cora fought to keep anger from her voice, but it broke through anyway.
Jacob touched Cora’s arm, a silent message to remain calm. She knotted her hands, though, and squared her shoulders. She’d been patronized and treated like she was unstable so many times that her defenses rose.
Wynona looked taken back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think about it. I thought she was gone. I hadn’t seen her in the hospital in days.”
“And looking at the photograph triggered your memory,” Jacob said gently.
Wynona nodded, her lip quivering. “If I’d seen her and thought she might be involved, I would have come to you, Sheriff.” She turned to Cora. “Not a day has gone by that I haven’t regretted what happened that night. I’d been a nurse for fifteen years before that horrible fire. Although we’d lost a baby or two due to health issues, no child had ever been stolen from our nursery. When I first came on board, I instigated stringent security measures to prevent a possible kidnapping and baby mix-up.”
A tense second passed.
“Did you know Evie?” Cora asked.
Wynona offered her a small smile. “I did. And it’s not what you think, Cora. Evie was sweet and giving, and she loved children. She worked in the pediatric heart unit.”
Questions nagged at Cora but compassion also surfaced. “She must have been devastated to learn she couldn’t have children.”
“She was,” Wynona said. “The counselor on staff assured Evie she was a good candidate for adoption. So I don’t see any reason she’d do something as drastic as to kidnap your baby.”
Cora wanted to believe her. From Wynona’s comments, Evie sounded like a wonderful person. If she had taken Alice, at least her little girl was in loving hands.
“That may be true,” Jacob said. “But I need to question her. Do you have any idea where she is?”
Wynona shook her head. “I really don’t know. So many people left Whistler after the fire that I lost track. You know it took mont
hs to rebuild the wings of the hospital that were damaged and employees were transferred to other hospitals.”
Cora clung to the hope that Evie might have answers for them. Or that she might actually have Alice.
Her heart pounded with anticipation at the thought.
* * *
JACOB’S PHONE BUZZED with a text as he and Cora left Wynona’s house. “Liam is going to meet us at the police station.”
“Does he have information?”
“He didn’t say. But I want him to find Evie Hanson.”
“So do I.” Hope flashed in Cora’s eyes. “I wish Wynona had mentioned Evie five years ago.”
Jacob ground his teeth. “That would have been helpful.”
He offered Cora a sympathetic smile, then veered onto Main Street toward his office. “Do you want me to drop you at home before I meet with Liam?”
“No, I want to know if he can find Evie.”
Jacob felt the sudden need to protect her from false hope. “She might not have Alice,” Jacob reminded her.
Her lips curled downward into a frown. “I know. And don’t worry about me, I’ve survived disappointment before.”
Cora leaned toward the window, and he realized she was watching a woman and little girl enter the bookstore. The longing on her face twisted at his heartstrings.
He passed the store, then pulled into the space designated for the sheriff. Cora was out of the car before he could go around to open her door. A lot of young men these days didn’t bother, but his father had taught him and his brothers to be gentlemen.
A breeze stirred the air, the temperature in the high seventies. The sun had fought through the clouds from the night before. With the summer break, the park across from the sheriff’s department was full. The town seemed crowded, with vacationers flocking to the mountains for hiking, white water rafting and camping. The Whistler B & B had three cars in front, a good sign.
The owner, Beula Mayberry, had been struggling lately, but he’d heard she’d renovated, so hopefully business would pick up.