Surrogate Escape

by Jenna Kernan

  Baby Leniix and her mother had been discharged, leaving only baby Fortune, as Lori was now thinking of her. Lori and Nina packed boxes until nearly six.

  “I’m going to wake up Officer Redhorse and see about getting him home,” said Lori.

  “Okay,” said Nina, casting her a smile that showed much pink gum above her teeth before she returned to the computer and the records.

  Lori retrieved the bag lunch and carried it to the room where Jake rested.

  The golden September sunlight stretched across Jake’s bare arm and chest. At some point he’d removed his vest and his shirt now flapped open, giving her an eyeful of his heavily muscled torso. Her breath caught and she worried her lip as she considered turning tail.

  Instead, she stepped closer.

  You can do this, she thought. He’s just a man. Like every other man. But he wasn’t. He was the one man who short-circuited all her wiring, and he did it while asleep. That irritated her, but not enough to tamp down the unrest. She clenched the fist of her free hand to keep herself from stroking down the centerline of his body.

  She stared at him, her body as tense as his was relaxed. It was safe now, since he was asleep.

  But it wasn’t. Not really. Lori stretched her fingers and reached, unable to stop herself. She only just managed to redirect her touch to his forearm. His muscles twitched as her fingertips registered warm skin and the texture of the dark hair. His eyes flashed open as he reached with his opposite hand to his hip where his gun usually sat.

  “It’s me,” she said and stepped away, clutching the bag before her.

  The tension left his body. He squeezed his eyes shut, scrubbing his closed lids with his fingertips before forcing his eyes open again.

  “Sorry. You startled me.”

  He pushed himself to a sitting position, and her gaze slipped to his abdomen and the ribbed muscle there. She swallowed down the gnawing hunger.

  “Everything all right?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She forced her gaze upward to his face. Thankfully, he was looking toward the hallway.

  “Who’s with Fortune?”

  “Nina.”

  He nodded and scrubbed his hands over his face.

  His shirt flapped opened, giving her an unimpeded look at flexing chest muscles as he stretched. Her throat went dry and her eyes widened. He was making her sweat and he’d barely looked at her.

  He noticed the water and poured a plastic cup full. She watched in silence as his Adam’s apple bobbed with each long swallow. Her stomach fluttered and she closed her gaping mouth.

  She resisted the urge to step closer. Oh, no, you don’t, she told herself.

  He wiped his wet lips with the back of his hand and then met her gaze. Did he see the raw desire there?

  Jake’s mouth quirked. “What time is it?”

  She glanced at her watch. “A little after six.”

  His brows lifted. “Really? Seven solid hours. Can’t believe it.”

  No one had gotten much sleep since the dam collapse. Everyone at the clinic was working long hours. They’d stayed open around the clock for the first three days to treat all the injuries resulting from the explosion and evacuation.

  His gaze dipped and her skin flushed as his eyes roamed over her body and then settled on the bag she had forgotten she held.

  “Do I smell food?” he asked.

  She nodded and dropped the bag onto the mobile table. In a moment she had the table wheeled in place beside the bed, automatically adjusting the level to suit him. He ignored the food and instead stared at her.

  She didn’t know what to do with her hands. Should she leave him to eat or stay? Lori glanced toward the corridor with longing.

  Despite how it had ended, Jake had been kind to her after he got over the shock. He’d also stood by her and defended her from his mother, who’d opposed the marriage so vehemently. Her mother had been for it, delighted, in fact. But things had changed after she’d lost their baby. The distance between them had yawned as they drifted further and further apart. Lori laced her hands across her flat stomach, feeling a hollow ache that reached all the way to her heart.

  “Any word from Bear Den?” asked Jake.

  Lori shook her head. “No one from the force has been here all day.”

  Silence stretched as the tension between them crackled like ice cubes meeting water. Jake pushed away the table that separated them and rose to his feet. Lori’s brain signaled danger, but the message never reached her motor centers because she remained frozen in place. Jake lifted a hand and gently cradled her elbow.

  There was a knock, and Lori glanced up to see Dr. Kee Redhorse standing in the door with his perpetual generous grin and warm brown eyes. He’d been in the clinic much of the afternoon.

  “So Sleeping Beauty is finally awake,” said Kee. “Doesn’t seem to have improved your looks any.”

  He strode in and gave his brother’s shoulder a firm pat.

  “Anything happen while I was out?” asked Jake.

  “Had a few more injuries related to cleanup. Seeing those every day since the explosion. Today it was Lawrence Kesselman.”

  Lori had helped close the gash on Mr. Kesselman’s leg. The man had been gaunt, with deep circles under his eyes. Lori knew the reason. His daughter, Maggie, had run away last Sunday.

  “And our mom was in,” said Kee. “She’s got another sore on her foot.”

  The men shared a silent exchange that Lori read as worry. May was still able to walk, but if the ulcer did not heal, her condition could change.

  “I’ve been with patients all day except for lunch over at the diner. Not sure which is bigger news, that you two found a baby or that Lori will finally speak to you again.”

  “Speak to me?” Jake sounded incredulous.

  She narrowed her eyes at the implication that he’d had reason to avoid verbal exchange with her. If he said another word on the topic, she was going to finally tell him what a complete jerk he was. Why had she let him kiss her?

  Lori wouldn’t marry him now if he got down on his belly and groveled in the dirt. Redhorse was off the menu and he was not stealing any more kisses, either. Not today or ever.

  “Whatever you say, Officer,” said Kee, and he gave Jake a playful push.

  Jake’s mouth twisted as he allowed the shove to rock him and did not offer an insult back as he was likely to do with Ty or Colt. Kee had always been treated differently because of his leg-length discrepancy. His younger brothers looked out for him, his fiercest defenders. Even now, after the corrective surgery, the Redhorse men persisted as if their eldest still required special handling.

  “How did Lawrence look?” asked Jake, wisely changing the subject.

  “Just as you’re imagining.”

  “Bear Den had me do that initial interview with him.”

  “A tough place to start. A missing child, I mean.”

  Jake did not disagree. “He also had me check back with the families of the others. A follow-up interview.”

  “What others?” asked Kee.

  “We have five missing girls since last November.”

  “What? I didn’t know that,” said Kee. “Who?”

  Jake listed the names, and Kee’s frown deepened. He turned to Lori. “Didn’t we see Maggie here last week?”

  “I’m not sure,” she said. But the hairs on her arms were lifting as she considered the possibility. She was not sure about Maggie. But she was positive they had recently seen two of the other girls Jake had just mentioned.

  “What’s wrong, Lori?” asked Jake.

  “Maybe nothing. Excuse me, gentlemen.”

  She stepped out, leaving Jake and Kee to watch her abrupt exit.

  “What was that about?” asked Kee.

  “Don’t know.”

  “So...” Kee rocked b
ack and forth from heel to toe. “You two back together?”

  Jake’s reply was way too fast and way too angry. “No way.”

  “Really? Because when I got here, I thought I was interrupting.”

  “That was nothing.”

  “Seemed like something. All I know is that no one here has gotten more than a second date with Ms. Mott, and Nathan Bullis has been trying for weeks. At least he got her out once. I haven’t even managed that much.”

  “You asked Lori Mott out on a date?” Jake stared at his brother as if he had told him that he had been picked for the mission to Mars.

  “More than once.”

  “Why?”

  Kee laughed and then frowned as he saw his brother was not joking.

  “Ty told me that both Jocelyn and Amelia Mott tried to snag you in high school,” said Jake.

  “Not exactly,” said Kee and grinned. “Amelia got in trouble with a boy.” He shrugged. “It happens.”

  Jake’s gaze darted away and then quickly back as he anticipated the censure in Kee’s expression. But he saw only the gentle acceptance Kee always gave him.

  The same situation had happened to Jake in high school and he knew exactly the kind of contained panic Kent Haskie must have experienced. Kee did not draw the obvious comparison but instead filled the awkward pause.

  “Amelia was just a scared kid and the boy she was seeing, Kent Haskie, wouldn’t marry her. I just went out with her a time or two. Then Kurt Bear Den took her to the Autumn dance. That really helped convince Haskie to get past his fear and see that he loved Amelia. Now I treat her kids. She’s a great mom and she and Kurt seem very happy.”

  “That is not at all how Ty tells it,” said Jake. “What about Jocelyn?”

  “What about her?”

  “She tried to get you to go out with her, too.”

  “No. Never. She spoke to me about Amelia’s situation. Then I came up with the idea to take Amelia out a few times. That was all.”

  Jake rubbed his neck, wondering if Ty’s perception could really have been so wrong.

  “But regardless, Lori is not her sisters,” said Kee.

  “What’s that even mean?”

  Kee cocked his head and his brows lowered as if also confused. “She works outside the home, for one thing. She has an education, for another, and is very good at what she does.” Kee began ticking off Lori’s attributes on his fingers. “Well, she’s beautiful, of course, and smart, funny and, most of all, kind. Oh, and you should see her with babies. She’s a natural. Would make a great mother.”

  Jake did not like Kee’s Cheshire grin.

  “Bet she’d love to snag a doctor.”

  Kee snorted. “Well, not this one, anyway.”

  “Why’d she say no?”

  Kee lifted his brows. “You like being judged by what our father has done? Or by what Ty’s done? By your logic, then, we’re all criminals with gang ties.”

  Jake had worked particularly hard to keep that from happening. He was not his father. Jake scowled now and faced his brother, who was three inches shorter since the corrective surgery.

  “It’s not the same,” Jake said, but his argument felt forced now.

  “No?” said Kee. “I think it’s exactly the same, except I’m not simultaneously carrying a torch and a grudge like you. But Lori said that she doesn’t date where she works, and she said she had sworn off Redhorse men. Thanks a lot, brother.”

  “Maybe she’s just playing hard to get.”

  “You really are delusional, you know?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “She’s not sixteen anymore. Neither are you, and Lori is a registered nurse with a good job and no student loans, which is more than I can say for myself. She’s taking night classes to become a midwife. When she finishes that, she can deliver those babies all on her own. She’ll be in high demand, will deserve a raise, and we’ll be darn lucky to keep her.”

  “But...” His arguments stalled.

  Kee poked him with an extended index finger. “And she makes a better salary than you do. I know what we pay her, and you’re a public servant, so your salary goes right in the newspaper. Plus, I find it insulting that you think the only things about me that would appeal to a woman are my position and income.”

  “Don’t get all defensive.”

  “I may be three inches shorter than all of you, but my perspective on Lori is better than yours. And if she looked at me the way she looks at you, I wouldn’t be pushing her away.”

  “Looking like she hates me, you mean.”

  “Did you or did you not kiss her today?”

  “How do you know that?”

  Kee lifted one finger and pointed at Jake’s upper lip. “Raspberry lip gloss.”

  Jake swiped the back of his hand over his mouth.

  “Better question is, if you think she’s a mantrap, why are you kissing her?”

  Chapter Five

  Lori used a search engine to find the dates of the disappearances of the five girls. Then she used the tribe’s medical records to access the dates of patient appointments. A disturbing pattern emerged. Each lost teen had been seen at the clinic a few days before they went missing, except the first, Elsie Weaver. Her appointment had been over a month before she vanished and she had no follow-up. The others, however, had disappeared within one to three days of their visits. Lori scowled at the list of dates. That was a big coincidence.

  She studied the records. Elsie had fractured her right wrist. Maggie had lice.

  Lori continued to scan. Kacey had come in for a physical for college admission. Brenda had been treated for ringworm. Marta had her first gynecologic appointment due to heavy menstruation and cramping. Marta had been given a prescription for iron supplements due to anemia. All these girls except Elsie had a follow-up nearly a month after their first appointments, which was unusual in itself. They were seen for a follow-up and then...disappeared.

  Something odd was happening. Did this all have anything to do with the eco-extremists who’d taken out their dam? Did the missing girls run, or were they taken?

  “You still here?”

  Lori startled clean out of her seat and to her feet at the unexpected appearance of her supervisor. Usually Lori heard Betty clicking down the hallway long before she appeared. But her supervisor now stood before the raised counter that surrounded the nurses’ station on three sides, looking down her thin nose at Lori. Betty was middle-aged, divorced and wore clothing that showed her trim figure to good advantage. She favored bright blouses that revealed the many fine gold chains encircling her neck.

  Lori forced a smile. “Oh, Betty.”

  “Did I scare you? What are you working on?” Betty leaned over the desk but was too short to see the screen.

  Lori moved the mouse and clicked. The database was replaced with the coding page for her most recent patients.

  “You know...” Lori’s laugh seemed artificial and tinny. “Just coding.”

  Betty’s smile was tight. “From the way you jumped, I thought it was porn.”

  Lori’s face went hot.

  “Who is coming in after you?”

  “Nobody. I called Burl and told him I’d cover it.”

  If they had any babies in the nursery, they worked nights; otherwise they worked one hour past closing.

  Betty nodded at this. “I’m leaving. Just wanted to get another look at that baby you found.” Betty turned to the viewing area to look at their one charge. Fortune slept alone in the nursery. Her supervisor spoke over her shoulder. “Any word yet from Child Protective Services?”

  “No.” Lori frowned. That was odd.

  Betty cocked her head, and one of her plucked and penciled brows quirked.

  “Let me give them another jingle. You need anything before I go?”

&nbs
p; Lori told her she did not and waited until Betty was out of sight to press her hand to her chest and sag on her stool.

  Why hadn’t she told her supervisor what she had discovered? That would have been the perfect opportunity.

  Lori glanced around the quiet floor. If there was a connection between the missing girls and the tribe’s health care clinic, then someone here already knew. But who?

  It could be anyone she worked with here. She ran through the names of the other nurses—Nina Kenton, Burl Tsosie and Verna Dia, their administrator, Betty Mills, and the two doctors, Hector Hauser and Kee Redhorse. Other than that, they had cleaning staff, but they would not have access to medical records. At least, she didn’t believe they would.

  She headed off to see Jake, her earlier rancor overcome by her concern that something was going on here. She stopped in the nursery and lifted the sleeping baby Fortune, then carried her out to the room where Jake rested.

  Lori found the room empty and the bathroom door closed. She could hear him humming. She knocked and the humming stopped.

  “It’s Lori. I need to speak to you.”

  This was met with momentary silence and then Jake called that he’d be right out. The door opened to a billow of steam and Jake standing in only his uniform trousers with a white hospital towel wrapped around his neck and that charming grin on his face. He held the towel with both hands at his chest, which made his biceps bulge. Lori gaped.

  “I’m sorry, Lori, for what I said before. I was out of line.”

  His wet hair clung to his shoulders in dark strands, and Lori could only gawk.

  “It was a bad time. Bad memories.”

  Some were bad and others wonderful. Had it been all bad for him? No, she knew better. That night in his truck? That had been real, and he had been as affected as she had been. His mask of the small-tribe hero had slipped and he’d been there, had let her see inside to the pain and the hope warring within him.

  His gaze slipped to her shoulder. “Is that Fortune?”