by Rita Herron
Anger glittered in her eyes, but she gave a nod. “All right.”
“How did William react to the pregnancy?”
“Not well. He had a scholarship to Duke, and didn’t want his life interrupted.”
“But your life was,” he said calmly.
A tiny smile slowly softened her eyes. “Yes. Even though I was young and the pregnancy was a surprise, I really wanted the baby. I felt connected to her immediately.” Her hand automatically went to her stomach, and an image of a young, naive girl flashed in his head.
One who would have made a wonderful mother.
Slade tried to ignore the feelings that realization stirred.
“So, what did William do? Did he refuse to accept responsibility?”
Nina’s mouth thinned again. “Pretty much. He and his parents tried to convince me to have an abortion.” A shudder rippled through her. “His mother even offered me a bribe to leave town and get rid of the baby.”
Slade studied her for a moment. “Did any of them threaten you?”
Nina frowned as if thinking back. “Not in so many words, although Mrs. Hood warned me that I’d be sorry if I ruined her son’s life. William’s father had died the year before, and she wanted William to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer.”
Slade tamped back his anger. “What did you say to her?”
“I let them all off the hook,” Nina said calmly. “I told them I didn’t want their money, that I didn’t need or want William, and that they could all go to hell.”
Admiration stirred in Slade’s chest. “Have you heard from him lately?” Slade asked.
“No. I did hear that he got married to a former girlfriend, a debutante named Mitzi. I’m sure his mother was thrilled.”
“What about your family?”
Anguish flickered in her eyes momentarily before she blinked away the emotion. “I lost my mother when I was little. My father was upset with me about the pregnancy. He also tried to convince me to abort the baby, then insisted if I kept her, that I should give her up for adoption.” She uncapped the water bottle and took a long sip, then set it down and looked at him again. “He thought I was too young and irresponsible to raise a child. And when the doctors declared that Peyton died in that hospital fire, he assured me it was for the best.”
Slade gritted his teeth. Was her father simply protective, or a bastard with an insensitive heart?
“He didn’t believe that your daughter might still be alive?”
She made a sound of disgust. “No, he actually seemed relieved. He thought I was crazy and insisted I go into therapy.”
“Because he loved you,” Slade said.
Another sound of disgust. “That’s what he said. That I was better off that my little girl died.” She turned an anguished look his way. “How could anybody say that? That it was God’s way of giving me a second chance at a normal life?” Her voice quivered again. “All I wanted was my baby back.”
“Maybe he was trying to help,” Slade suggested.
She shook her head. “No, he was embarrassed that I had an illegitimate child, worried about what it would do to his precious reputation.” She looked down at her hands where she’d twined them in her lap. “He didn’t give a damn about Peyton.”
He let her words sink in. So her father was relieved to have the child out of the way. He already disliked the man. “And you did go to college?”
She nodded. “Not at first, but eventually I pulled myself together and earned a teaching degree. Now I teach second grade at Sanctuary Elementary.” Her eyes softened again as if being around the children helped alleviate her suffering.
Slade considered her mental condition and hated the doubts assailing him. Needing to know the truth was one thing. Obsession to the point of stalking, another animal instead. “You stayed in Sanctuary because you thought your daughter might be here, didn’t you?” Slade asked. “You looked for her in every child in school and in town.”
But she didn’t hide her motives or defend herself. She nodded instead, tears blurring her eyes. “I know that sounds pathetic, but I just felt close to her here.”
Just as his mother had refused to move from their home after his sister had disappeared. She’d claimed that she had to be at the house in case his sister returned. Eventually, though, her obsession had driven her over the edge….
“No,” Slade said evenly. “I understand.”
Her eyes narrowed, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “You do?”
Unable to resist, he reached out and covered her hands with his own. “My sister disappeared from our house when I was fifteen. For days and months afterward, I looked for her in every teenager I spotted.”
“You found her?” Nina asked.
God, he didn’t want to answer that. Didn’t want to shatter any ounce of hope she had. But the truth could be brutal sometimes.
“Yes,” he finally answered. “But we didn’t have a happy ending, Nina. She was in the morgue.”
Nina inhaled a sharp breath. “I’m sorry,” she said, then squeezed his fingers. “What happened?”
Hell, he’d already said too much. And she was looking at him with such compassion that emotions he’d long thought buried pummeled him.
No. He couldn’t, wouldn’t blurt out the rest.
“You don’t want to know.” He cleared his throat. “But think long and hard about this, Nina,” he said gruffly. “What will you do if we investigate and find out that your baby did die in that fire? Are you prepared for that reality?”
NINA’S CHEST ACHED from trying to maintain control. Slade’s question threatened to shatter that control.
Was she prepared? How would she respond if he discovered that Peyton really had died? All these years she’d lived on the belief that her little girl was out there needing and wanting her.
“How can I not find out the truth?” she finally said. “I need closure, Mr. Blackburn.”
“Slade,” he said automatically. “And are you sure it’s closure you want? She might be gone forever.”
Pain rocked through her, but she cloaked herself in the coat of armor she’d donned years ago. She would survive no matter what. “I realize that, but not knowing is no way to live.”
He studied her with such an intensity that she was tempted to squirm. But she refused to show weakness or he might decide she was the nutcase her father and Dr. Emery thought.
He gave a brisk nod. “All right. But what if someone did kidnap your baby, and she’s been adopted and is now happy? What will you do then?”
She had considered that theory, but somehow in her heart she knew that wasn’t the case. “She needs me,” she said simply. “I’m her mother. I feel it.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “You have to consider every scenario, Nina. What if she has loving parents and doesn’t know anything about you? What if she has a family that she loves?”
“I don’t know,” she said softly, honestly. “I guess I’ll cross that bridge when, or if, we come to it. But I am her mother and I deserve to know where she is.”
“Fair enough.” Slade nodded, then released her hand.
Odd how she hadn’t leaned on anyone in years, but for a moment, she’d felt as if she had someone on her side now.
Someone she trusted. And after her father’s and William’s betrayals, she’d never trust anyone again.
SLADE HAD HIS WORK cut out for him. Even though Nina insisted she could handle the truth, no matter what he discovered, he understood the emotional roller-coaster ride involved in looking for a missing child. The toll it took could be dangerous.
His mother certainly hadn’t survived the ride.
And judging from Nina’s fragile looks, she’d been surviving on hope for years. If he stripped that hope, she might crash and burn just as his mother had.
Then again, beneath that tenderness, she was stub born. Determined. And he also understood the torture not knowing caused.
She licked her lips, drawing his attention
to her mouth, and a foreign feeling bled through him, one he didn’t want. He itched to draw her tiny hand back into his, kiss it and promise her that he would make things right.
His body reacted, hardened, betraying his better sense and reminding him that his libido wasn’t dead after all. Geesh, a fine time for it to burst back to life.
Fortunately she didn’t seem to notice.
“Where do we start?” she asked.
Reining in his sudden bout of lust, he forced his mind back to the case. “I’ll put out some feelers across the States, search the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Web site, check into adoptions that occurred around the time of the fire. I’ll question nurses, hospital staff and other locals at the scene that night.” He hesitated. “I’ll also have to question your father, and William Hood and his family.”
“They won’t be happy that I’ve opened this up again,” Nina said.
Slade shrugged. He already didn’t like her father or the Hoods. “I don’t give a damn who I piss off, Nina. I’m on the case now, and I will find out exactly what happened to your baby girl.”
He just hoped to hell she could handle the truth when he did.
Chapter Three
Fatigue from dredging up the past pulled at Nina, but hope fluttered wildly in her chest. Slade would be opening up old wounds between her and her father, and her and the Hoods, but she’d survived their disdain before and she would again.
At least someone was finally going to ask questions.
“Does your father live in town?” Slade asked.
“No, he’s in Raleigh.” She gave him her father’s contact information, including his work number at the bank. “I’m out of school for the summer and want to accompany you when you talk to him.”
He arched a brow. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
No, but she wanted to see her father’s reaction. “I can handle it.”
He gave a clipped nod. “What about William and his family?”
“They’re in Winston-Salem. William took over his father’s law practice there.”
Slade jotted down the name of the firm, then ran his hand through his hair. “What was the name of the doctor who delivered your baby?”
Fresh pain burned her stomach at the mere mention of his name. The delivery had been harrowing enough, but he had been a strong proponent of adoption. “Dr. Don Emery.”
“Does he still live and practice in Sanctuary?”
“Yes, I think so, although I haven’t seen him in months. I tried to talk to him several times, but like everyone else, he encouraged me to move on.”
Slade’s mouth tightened slightly. “I know this is difficult, but think back to the night of the delivery and the day after. Did you notice anything strange, anyone suspicious at the hospital?”
“God, I was so scared that night and was in such a panic, that I don’t remember much. Just that I knew my baby was coming too early, and that I was afraid for her.”
“You were in labor?”
She nodded. “I’d developed complications. They rushed me to the operating room and took her immediately.” Her heart quickened at the memory. “She wasn’t breathing at first, and they had to give her oxygen. She was so tiny and weak that I didn’t know if she’d make it…”
His eyes held compassion as she paused to pull herself together.
“What about the next day? Did you notice someone watching the nursery, looking at the babies?”
Nina massaged her temple as she struggled to force the details of the hospital stay to the surface. “Not that I recall.”
“Did anyone make an odd comment to you about keeping the baby?”
Nina grimaced. “Dr. Emery agreed with my father and encouraged me to give Peyton up for adoption. They both thought that she needed two parents. A couple of nurses also mentioned that adoption might be a good idea.”
“Do you remember those nurses’ names?”
Nina rubbed her temple again. “I don’t know last names, but one nurse was Jane and the other Carrie. I saw both of them outside the hospital after the fire, but they claimed they didn’t know where Peyton was.”
Slade frowned. Was it possible someone had taken the baby from the nursery before it caught on fire?
SLADE BIT BACK HIS thoughts. He hated offering Nina false optimism.
“So where do we start?” she asked.
Slade checked his watch. “It’s already getting late. I’ll start putting out contacts on the Internet tonight, call a couple of friends who might be able to help look into the adoption angle, and drop by the hospital and see if the administrator and Dr. Emery are there.” He paused. “Tomorrow I’d like to talk to your father and meet the Hood family.”
Nina gripped the armrest. “Let’s get started.”
Slade sighed. “Nina, why don’t you go home tonight and rest.”
“No,” she said in a pleading tone. “I know this is difficult for you to understand, but I feel…lost in that house alone right now.”
Hell, the trouble was he did understand. He knew how the silence could eat at you, how a person’s absence could feel like part of you had been ripped out. How the walls could scream at you with recriminations.
“All right,” he said gruffly. “But remember, we may not find anything.”
She took another sip of water, then wiped her mouth. “Thanks. I appreciate your candor.”
“Let me talk to Derrick, then we’ll head to the hospital.” He stood, then strode down the hall to McKinney’s office.
Derrick was on the phone when he knocked, but ended the call and gestured for him to enter.
“I need to ask you a favor,” Slade said bluntly.
Derrick pointed to the chair beside his desk. “You’re taking on the case for Nina Nash?”
Slade took the chair. “Yes.”
Derrick frowned. “You know that baby may not have survived.”
Slade’s gut knotted. “I know. But after hearing Nina’s story, it’s possible that someone could have kidnapped the baby in the chaos.”
Derrick folded his arms. “What can I do to help?”
“Talk to your wife, Brianna, for me.”
Derrick arched a brow. “How do you know Bri?”
“I lived at Magnolia Manor when I was a teenager for a while. We met there. I heard she’s a social worker now with an adoption agency.”
The realization of where he was headed dawned in Derrick’s eyes. “She was,” Derrick said. “But she’s taken a leave of absence to stay home with the baby.”
“But Brianna has contacts, right?” Slade asked.
“Probably.” Derrick narrowed his eyes. “You know that adoption records are sealed?”
“Yes, but Brianna must have a friend who can look back through files quietly. Nina’s baby was premature, and had trouble breathing. Handling an adoption for a preemie with medical problems would be tricky—and memorable.”
“That’s true,” Derrick said. “I’ll talk to her and see if she can help.”
“Let me know if she finds a lead and I’ll look into it.”
Derrick agreed, and Slade thanked him and headed back to his office.
Nina was waiting when he returned, and she sat quietly as they drove to the hospital. That quiet strength roused his protective instincts.
Worse, her scent, some sweet fruity fragrance, stirred his desires.
But he tamped them down. Nina Nash was a case, nothing more. Slade would never give his heart to a woman. Loving and losing was too damn hard.
First his mother and sister. Then his men…all the people he’d cared about and failed.
He veered into the hospital parking lot and parked, and they walked silently inside. He introduced himself to the receptionist. “Is your hospital administrator in?”
She frowned and checked the schedule. “Dr. Lake has gone home for the day. He’ll be in tomorrow at nine.”
“How about Dr. Emery?”
She punched in a number,
spoke into the phone then turned to them. “He’s with a patient, but you can go to his office on the second floor and wait there.”
“Thanks.” Slade coaxed Nina to the elevator, noting the tense way she held her shoulders. When they passed the nursery, grief and a wistfulness settled in her blue eyes. Newborns filled the bassinets; pink and blue blankets indicating the gender, while a young couple stood goo-goo-eyed, waving at their son through the window.
The intensive-care part of the unit was housed in a separate room beside the regular nursery, and one tiny infant plugged with tubes and wires lay inside an incubator, kicking wildly.
“He’s a fighter,” Nina said softly as she paused for a moment to watch. “Just like Peyton.”
He pressed a hand to her back in comfort, and she stiffened slightly, then inhaled and moved on down the hall to Dr. Emery’s office.
Slade surveyed the room as they stepped inside. Medical journals and books overflowed a wall-to-wall bookshelf behind a massive cherry desk that was neat and orderly.
Nina slid into a chair, but Slade stood with his arms folded and studied the man’s credentials on the wall between the windows. UNC. Duke. A third wall held a bulletin board decorated with photos of children he’d delivered.
“Is your baby’s photo here?” he asked.
Nina’s shoulders stiffened as she shook her head. He gritted his teeth, regretting the question. Some people reacted to a person’s death as if they’d never existed at all.
A minute later a bushy-haired, freckled man around five-eleven strode in. The moment he saw Nina, a frown swept across his craggy face. “Nina?”
“Yes, Dr. Emery, I’m back.” She gestured toward Slade. “This is Slade Blackburn. He’s with Guardian Angel Investigations.”
Dr. Emery’s eyes narrowed, his thick, graying eyebrows crinkling.
“I need to ask you some questions about the night of the hospital fire,” Slade said without preamble. “I want to know exactly what happened to Peyton Nash.”
NINA TRIED TO STUDY the doctor with an objective eye. But too many times he’d encouraged her to stop asking questions, so many that his dismissal of her had roused her suspicions.