Rachel stood and crossed the intervening space in two strides. She reared back and slapped Cam full across the face.
Cam’s world went supernova on her for a moment, spangles dancing in front of her eyes. Considering the supposed breach of trust, she understood the response, although she was pretty sure she was going to feel and see the results of that slap tomorrow.
She held up her hands, both to ask for some room to speak and to ward off any more unexpected blows. “Before I spoke to the lead detective, I made her promise that she’d only go after leads that related to the kidnapping.”
“And you trusted her?” Rachel demanded, still standing above Cam, her face a black thundercloud.
“Yes,” she replied. “I did. To be honest, when I told her, she said she never understood why it was illegal to have more than one wife, but not to have a wife and mistresses. Seems that one of her favorite shows right now is Sister Wives.”
“That show,” Emma said, her mouth twisted in a dark smile. “It’s a blessing and a curse.”
“No one’s coming after you for your… lifestyle,” Cam reiterated. “All they want to do is help you find your baby.”
The tension in the room dissipated, and Rachel dropped her aggressive stance. It seemed the three were taking their first breaths since Cam and Harper got there.
“I’m sorry about the slap,” she said, in an apologetic tone.
Cam nodded. To be blunt, it had been impressive. She wouldn’t have thought the young woman would have it in her.
These women clearly knew how to take care of themselves.
* * *
For Harper, sometimes it was about the little things in life.
Watching Detective Stickler deal with Cam being in the house was turning out to be pretty entertaining. The two facing off with one another was kind of like watching an unstoppable force confronting an immoveable object. Having come head to head with Cam’s stubbornness more than once, Harper had no idea how this was going to shake out.
As for Harper herself, she’d been largely ignored. The CSI unit had asked her where the baby slept, but once they realized she had no clue as to the layout of the house, the conversation had ceased.
“I’m going to say once more that I think having civilians here while--” Stickler began, speaking with Emma.
The polygamist cut her off. “I feel far more comfortable with her being here. As well as her partner.” Emma gave a nod to Harper, making her feel like less of a third wheel. Nice of her.
“Fine,” she said, her mouth set in a hard line. “Is there somewhere that we can ask you a few questions?”
Emma motioned to the chairs and couch there in the living room. Once Stickler and her partner, whose name Harper had never caught, sat down, there wasn’t enough room left for Harper and Cam, so they were relegated to lurking about in the background.
Harper wouldn’t have sworn to it, but it looked like Stickler was a touch pleased at that development. She leaned in to speak to Emma.
“The statistics on familial abductions are overwhelming,” she began. “We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t start there.”
“We understand,” Emma replied and turned around to look at Cam. “Ms. Holdon explained that to us right from the beginning.”
Harper squelched the desire to correct her. It was she who had first brought that subject up. Granted, it had been in relation to her husband being the kidnapper, but still…
Stickler shot a look at Cam that Harper couldn’t quite make out. Irritation, perhaps, but it also seemed to have a touch of grudging respect. Or it could have just been the lighting.
“Good,” she said. “Our desire isn’t to make your lives miserable. We just want to find your son.”
“What can we do to help?” Jarom asked.
“To start off with, I’m going to need everyone’s timelines for the last week. Where you were, what you were doing, who you were with.”
“Everyone’s?” Rachel asked.
“I’m afraid so. Each of you… women… is a potential suspect, as well as you, Mr. Young.”
“I’m not a suspect, am I?” Emma said, surprise covering her face.
“Yes, even you. With the… living arrangements of your family, we need to make sure that there’s no reason for any of you to have taken the child. Is there any other family close?”
They all shook their heads in unison. “No,” Emma answered. “Our families all live back in southern Utah. Except for Bethany’s. They’re up in Idaho.”
“And are they all aware of…” Stickler made a gesture that included the three of them and their house.
“Our living arrangements?” Jarom asked, his tone bitter. “Yes. They’re all of our faith.”
Detective Stickler motioned for her partner to hand her something. The milquetoast woman handed over several photographs.
“There are other motives for abductions, of course,” Sticker said. “And we want to make sure that we’re not leaving any stone unturned. Do you recognize any of these people?” She spread the pictures on the coffee table.
Emma leaned in, scanning the faces laid out in front of her. Her gaze landed on one of them.
“Him. I recognize him,” she said, pointing to one of the photos.
“Do you know where from?”
“The park. We belong to a Christian home-schooling co-op, and we schedule playtime for our kids there. I’ve seen him several times.” She glanced up at the detective. “Why? Who is he?”
Stickler shared a look with her partner, then turned back to Emma with some reluctance. “These are photographs of known sex offenders in the surrounding area.”
Emma’s hand flew up to her mouth, and Rachel gave an audible gasp. Jarom half stood, then settled back into his seat on the couch, visibly troubled.
“You think he might have something to do with…?”
“It’s another avenue for us to pursue,” she replied with tact. “We have an even narrower window of time here than we usually do. It’s important we explore all options.”
Emma got up and began pacing about the room.
“Did this man ever approach your children?”
“No,” Emma said, still moving. “I just thought he was a dad or an uncle of one of the kids there at the park. He always just sat on the bench off to the side.”
Rachel opened her mouth, hesitated, then spoke. “I think I might have seen him walking around here, closer to the house.”
“Are you sure it was him?”
“No, but it could have been. I remember thinking that he wasn’t dressed for exercising.”
At that point, one of the CSI team entered the room. “Detective, we found signs of tampering on the window. We dusted for prints and found a bunch on the sill.”
“We need to get prints from each of you to compare against them,” Stickler said to the family. “Then we’re going to head back to check the fingerprints against the database. If they’re a match for that suspect, we’ll get a warrant.”
Jarom stood, nodding, and crossed over to where Emma was still moving about the room. He took her in his arms and held her, looking back at the detectives. He cleared his throat, and when he spoke, his tone was husky.
“Anything you need from us, we’ll give you.”
Stickler and her partner stood, leaving the photos on the coffee table. “Don’t stray too far from here, and make sure you keep your phone line as open as possible.”
They walked out the front door, and, judging by the looks on their faces, took the family’s hope with them.
* * *
Something was not sitting well with Cam. The detectives had a solid lead they were following up on, and Cam was almost positive that the kidnapping had nothing to do with any of the family members.
But there was a nagging feeling that this had nothing to do with either. That the family secret of polygamy still had kernels of truth left to offer them.
She moved into the living room, Harper right at her hee
ls. “Mr. and Mrs.… and Mrs. Young.”
“Please,” Emma said through her tears. “I think we’ve moved past that.”
“All right, Emma, then. Do you mind if we talk through a few more things?”
Jarom moved to sit next to his wife… scratch that, wives… on the couch, his face puzzled. “But they have a suspect.”
“Yes, they do,” Cam conceded. “And it seems to be a strong one. Which is probably why they didn’t ask you the questions I’m about to.”
“Such as?” Rachel asked.
“Do you know anyone who has recently lost a child?” Cam asked Emma.
The woman blinked, brushing away tears. The surprise nature of the question seemed to have stopped her crying for the moment. Good. Cam needed her focused.
“Why?”
“In addition to family members and sexual predators…” At Cam’s use of the word, Emma flinched. Cam continued in a gentler tone. “… there is another kind of kidnapping that is much less common. It’s referred to as an empty womb abduction.”
“Empty…?” Emma started, and then seemed to understand. “Oh, no. No. Grace is a lovely person. She would never do anything like that.”
“You know someone who has lost a child?” Harper cut in.
“Yes. From SIDS. But there’s no chance she’s involved. She’s a good friend.”
“When did she lose her baby?” Cam asked.
“A couple of months ago. It’s been a tough time for her, but she’s doing a lot better recently. I’m telling you, it wasn’t her.”
Jarom stepped in as well. “She’s always helped out teaching in the co-op, even though she didn’t have any children of her own. Until…” He waved his hands, a gesture of regret for her misfortune.
“That’s the thing about empty womb snatchings,” Cam explained. “They seem totally normal. They are normal. Right up to the point that they snap.”
Rachel moved in closer, grabbing and holding Emma’s hand. “I can vouch for what Emma says. Grace is a kind person. She would never do this.”
“Hold on,” Cam said, her mind leaping to a conclusion. “Grace knows both of you?”
“Yes,” Jarom said. “She’s a friend of the family.”
“She knows you’re polygamists?”
Emma shrugged. “It was a long time ago. A couple of years, at least. She put two and two together, I guess.”
“But she’s always been supportive of us,” Rachel interjected. “I mean, it was weird for her at first, but she always said that she envied how close our relationship was with Jarom.” She gave a half-laugh. “And how nice it must be to have built-in sisters to help out with things.”
Cam tried to slow her breathing. “Has she ever been over to your house?” she asked.
“Sure. Once or twice after the play group.”
This was it. This was what they had been missing. Cam was sure of it.
“I’m going to need her address.”
* * *
The house was dark when Harper and Cam approached. It was bigger than the Young’s, more well-appointed. Now that Harper understood that the Young’s were maintaining three households, it made sense that Jarom’s salary didn’t stretch quite as far as might be expected.
But here, it was evident that there was no division of resources. There was a tire swing tied to the tree in the front yard, but as Harper passed by she could see that the tire and the rope were both brand new.
This was a couple that had been expecting and planning for an addition to their family. A hope that had been cut short in an instant.
Harper knew exactly how that felt.
They moved to the front door. Glancing at her watch, Harper saw that it was 2:13 in the morning. Kind of early to accuse someone of a child snatching.
She consoled herself with the thought that if it wasn’t Grace, she’d be more than happy to try to help out her friends in any way possible. Harper herself would, right?
Then again, two in the morning was pretty damn early.
Cam rang the doorbell a couple of times. Harper winced, but realized her friend was right. Once might not be enough at this hour.
Far before she would have expected possible, a female voice called out through the door. “Who’s there?”
“Mrs. Peña? I’m so sorry for the hour. We’re friends of the Young’s. Emma and Jarom?” Cam responded.
The door opened a crack. “It’s two in the morning.”
“I know, and we’re so sorry. We wouldn’t intrude if it weren’t an emergency.”
The porch light turned on and the door swung open a bit further. “What’s the problem?” Grace asked, rubbing her eyes. Harper took a closer look. Either this woman woke up looking like she’d just stepped out of a catalogue, or she hadn’t been asleep when they rang the bell.
“The Young’s baby has been taken,” Cam said.
There was a pause, then Grace inhaled sharply. “What? You… you can’t be serious.”
“I’m afraid we are,” Harper said, stepping in a bit closer. The woman backed up a step, drawing the door in closer. She seemed to do it without conscious thought.
“The Young’s identified someone that they had seen around the neighborhood. They said you might have spotted him as well,” Cam said. Her voice carried no hint of suspicion, and Harper recognized once more how good she was at this stuff. “Would you mind taking a look?” Cam held out the picture she had taken from off the Young’s coffee table.
“Um. Yes. Sure.” She took the photo and glanced at it, licking her lips. “No, I don’t think I’ve seen him.”
“Are you positive?” Cam pressed. “Emma said she had seen the man at the park where you sometimes go for the home-school co-op.”
She looked again. “Oh, maybe. I’m not sure. I’m not all that good with faces.”
“Is your husband here? Maybe we could ask him.”
Grace shook her head. “No. He’s out of the country right now on business. Doesn’t get back for another week or so.”
Cam nodded. Harper wasn’t sure what they were going to do now. It seemed like they’d hit a dead end. But then Cam spoke again.
“I’m so sorry. My cell phone’s dead. Do you mind if we come in and use yours? Just want to check in with the Youngs.”
Brilliant.
Grace Peña swung the door open wide, although her body language was screaming that she wanted to do nothing of the sort. “The phone’s in the kitchen. Right through there.” She pointed down the hall.
Cam turned to Harper. “You stay here. I’ll just be a second.”
Grace swung back and forth between them, seemingly unsure of who to stay with. She began following Cam into the kitchen, glancing back over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure that Harper hadn’t moved.
“Hey, Harper!” Cam called out in a loud voice. “Can you go grab that sheet of addresses out of the car?”
“Shh!” Grace said, shushing her, then stopped, her eyes wide.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Cam said. “I thought you said your husband was away.”
“He is,” she said in a small voice.
“Then why do you need me to be quiet, Mrs. Peña?” Cam asked, her voice oozing kindness.”
“I… it’s late… I…”
“Grace,” Cam said, resting a hand on her arm. “We know you have him. And I think I understand why.”
Her hand fluttering up to cover her mouth, Grace backed slowly away until she ran into the wall of the hallway. Once she made contact, she sank down to the floor. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“They had so many. And I didn’t have any at all. No babies. No babies to hold in my arms. They had so…”
Grace Peña hung her head down, and her body shook with silent sobs.
* * *
Cam held the infant in her arms. He smelled of talcum powder and wet wipes, with just a hint of spit up. The odor of baby overwhelmed Cam, causing her to blink away sudden tears.
It had been a while since s
he’d held one in her arms.
Walking up to the front door of the Young’s home, Cam felt a chill course through her body. She looked at her watch. 2:37.
That was the moment she had gone in to check on Ryan. The moment, seven years ago, when her heart had fallen out of her chest. A part of it had never come back.
But now, seven years later to the minute, she was delivering a baby boy to his parents. Parents who, no matter how strange their lifestyle might seem to others… hell, to Cam herself… loved this boy with all their hearts.
To her surprise, there was no jealousy. No sense of wishing it was her instead of them.
Oh, there was pain. Plenty of it. But it was good pain. The pain that said that she hadn’t forgotten her lost boy. Hadn’t given up on finding him. That as long as there was hope that he was alive, she never would.
The unmarked police car was in the driveway. Looked like Detective Stickler and her partner were back. Well, that would make this reunion a bit more interesting.
But as Cam and Harper climbed the steps to the front porch, the detectives became irrelevant. The door swung wide, and Emma looked out, her gaze wandering from Cam’s face to the babe in her arms.
The look on her face made Cam’s heart swell within her. The pain she had been feeling didn’t disappear. Not at all. But it did change, morphing into something that was far more sweet. Something that held the despair that lived inside her at bay.
This was what she was supposed to be doing. The certainty had never been stronger.
And perhaps, at some point in the future, doing this would lead her back to her own son. She might hold him again in her arms, just as Emma now reached for her baby and clutched him to her breast.
The wish became a prayer that floated up to a God that Cam wasn’t sure even liked her. But for one moment, she softened her heart and poured out her deepest desires.
Help me find my son.
Strangely enough, she felt like her prayer was heard.
To buy the in-progress Empty Crib Collection, click here…
ANATOMY – The prequel short story to Plain Jane: Brunettes Beware
CHAPTER 1
Detective Nicole Usher gulped despite having every intention not to gulp. You didn’t get your gold badge without seeing some things. Gross things. Horrible things. Things no one should ever have to see.
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