by Rita Herron
He gave a clipped nod. “I’m going to check out this Waldorp woman and have a chat with William’s mother.”
Nina’s thoughts raced as they took the elevator to the main floor, and Slade drove back to her house. Compassion for the woman who’d given birth to the stillborn baby squeezed her heart. Could she have been distraught enough to have kidnapped Peyton?
And William’s mother…she’d been adamant that she should get rid of her baby. Could she have stolen her or hired someone else to and arranged for an adoption?
“Does Mrs. Hood live in Winston-Salem, too?”
Nina nodded.
“I’ll question her tomorrow, but first I want to do some background work. I’m going to take that doll to the lab.” Slade maneuvered around traffic through town, flipping on his windshield wipers as a light rain began to fall. “I’ll also see if I can get an address for the Waldorp woman. I’ll call you if I find anything.”
Shadows flickered along the sidewalk, night setting in, the rain clouds adding to the gray fog over her house as he pulled into her drive.
Nina grasped on to hope as she climbed out and hurried up to her door. She went inside, flipped on the lights, then went upstairs to shower. A few minutes later, she dried off and pulled on a loose warm-up suit.
But the moment she went downstairs, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and panic hit her.
The CD of lullabies she’d bought for Peyton was playing.
And the baby blanket she’d crocheted and stored in the blanket chest in the attic was wrapped around another rag doll that had been stabbed just like the first.
Chapter Eight
Slade stopped by GAI and found Amanda Peterson still poring over forensics files. Benjamin Camp poked his head in when he saw Slade, and he brought them both up to speed on what he’d learned so far.
“You said a baby was stillborn that same day,” Amanda said. “I’ll find out if this bone could have belonged to that child instead of the Nash baby.”
“Thanks,” Slade said. “I’m sure it won’t be easy.”
Amanda grinned. “That’s what I do,” she said confidently. “Besides, if I can find out where the bone was located, that might help. And you said the stillborn was a baby boy?”
Slade nodded. “That will narrow things down. I’ll make a phone call to the medical examiner and find out the names of any forensic specialists brought in to study the bones. If they had a forensic anthropologist working with them, we should get some answers.”
“I’ve been trying to dig up records on all the employees who worked at the hospital at the time,” Benjamin said. “If the Hoods or Mr. Nash decided to arrange for an adoption, they might have hired someone to kidnap the baby.”
“That’s definitely a possibility.” Slade heaved a breath. “Look for anyone with a shady past, a record, financial problems, anything that throws up a red flag.” He remembered Carrie’s nervous fidgeting. “Be sure to check out a nurse named Carrie Poole. She was on duty that night in the NICU.”
“What’s your next step?” Amanda asked.
“I’m going to investigate the Hoods, and William’s wife, Mitzi. She dated William before Nina and was pissed when Nina turned up pregnant with his child.”
“Sounds like motive to me,” Benjamin muttered.
Slade sighed. “Yeah, although the nurse didn’t remember seeing William or Mitzi at the hospital that night.”
“You said yourself it was total chaos,” Amanda commented. “With all the panic and rescue workers scrambling about, anyone could have slipped through and no one would have noticed.”
“Something else is bugging me,” Slade said. He removed the doll and showed it to them, then explained about the psychiatrist’s report.
“Do you think she’s unstable, that she put it there herself?” Benjamin asked.
Slade shifted on the balls of his feet. “No. At least she doesn’t appear to be delusional.” He decided to run with a theory. “But what if someone wanted everyone to think she was?”
Amanda drummed her fingers on the desk. “Then putting things in her apartment, like the lullaby CD and doll, that would remind her of her loss would do the trick.”
Slade ran a hand over the back of his neck. It was devious, effective and cruel.
And he intended to find the son of a bitch who’d tormented her and make him suffer.
INSTINCTIVELY NINA REACHED inside her purse for her cell phone. She had to call Slade.
But after her father’s comment and seeing the psychiatrist’s report, she was afraid Slade wouldn’t believe her.
The windowpane rattled upstairs, the floor creaking, and pure panic seized her.
What if the person who’d put the blanket on the rocker and started the CD was still inside?
The rain pounded harder, beating the roof, and suddenly the lights flickered off. Nina froze, listening, waiting.
But common sense kicked in, and she slowly slipped into the kitchen, pausing to listen for an intruder. The wind whistled through the eaves, the rain intensifying, and she eased open the door to the garage, scanning the darkness. A streak of lightning illuminated the interior, then suddenly a shadow moved across the window.
Terror streaked through her, and she ran to her car, jumped inside and locked the doors. Her hands shook as she dug her phone from her purse and tried to punch Slade’s number. But she was trembling so badly she dropped the phone. She glanced at the window and saw a hand scraping across the fog-coated pane as if the man was reaching for her.
She screamed, bent to snap up the phone again then inhaled a deep breath to calm her nerves. She was locked in the car. The man was outside.
She was safe.
Finally she managed to punch in Slade’s number. Again, she thought she saw the silhouette of the man race across the window, and her lungs squeezed, begging for air. The phone rang once, twice, then Slade’s husky voice echoed over the line.
She clenched the phone close to her mouth. “Slade, someone was in my house,” she whispered. “They’re outside now.”
“Where are you?”
“The garage.” She scanned the window again. “In my car.”
“I’ll be right there.”
The line went dead, and she clawed inside her purse and found her mace, bracing herself in case the man attacked.
SLADE SLAMMED ON HIS HORN, yelling at the cars to get out of the way. He wished to hell he had a siren to make the traffic move faster.
Nina might be in danger. He had to get to her, find out who was at her house.
Rainwater spewed from his tires, and he ground gears as he rounded a curve and sped onto the street leading to her house. As he neared the cul-de-sac, he searched the street and surrounding property.
His headlights flickered across the lawn, and he spotted a dog trotting by the mailbox. Darkness shrouded Nina’s house inside and out, sending alarm bells clanging in his head.
The rest of the neighborhood had lights.
Slowing, he pulled to the side and parked along the street, removed his weapon and crept toward her drive, glancing left and right in search of the intruder. The wind was blowing, tree branches swaying beneath the force, but the rain began to die down, turning to a drizzle.
His boots crunched wet leaves and twigs that had blown down in the storm as he inched forward. Moving slowly, instincts alert, he checked the front of the house. A streak of lightning zigzagged across the lawn, allowing him to see that no windows had been broken.
The intruder could have gotten in around back.
Slipping sideways, he padded around the outside of the house to the backyard. Woods backed up to the property, trees providing cover for someone who might have been inside and escaped.
He scanned the distance, but it was too dark to see into the trees. A twig snapping to the left made him jerk his head sideways, and a shadow moved. He raised his gun to fire, but a dog suddenly ran past, and he cursed. Dammit, he could have shot the animal….
Still tense,
he made his way around the house, passing in front of the windows in the garage. Nina’s car was parked inside, but the interior was dark and he couldn’t see if she was still there.
Knowing he’d spook her if he knocked, he removed his phone and called her number.
She answered on the first ring. “Slade?”
“I’m outside. It’s clear out here. Open the garage door and I’ll search the house.”
“I can’t. It’s electric,” Nina said.
“There should be a button to switch it to manual.”
“Yes,” Nina said. “Let me find it.”
A minute later, the garage door slid upward. Nina looked pale and shaken, and she was clenching a vial of mace in her trembling hands.
At least she’d had something to protect herself.
“You didn’t find him?” she whispered.
“The only thing I saw was a dog.”
“It wasn’t a dog, Slade,” Nina cried. “It was a man. I saw his hand on the window.”
“How did you know he’d been inside?”
Pain flickered in her eyes. “He left me another present.”
A curse rolled from his lips. “Stay here and let me make sure he’s not still in the house.”
She nodded, and he urged her inside the car again, then waited until he heard the lock click into place. Then he slipped inside the house to see what the bastard had left this time.
NINA RAKED HER fingernails up and down her arms, her nerves on edge as she waited for Slade to search the house. If the person who’d broken in and left that doll intended to scare her off, he was wrong.
She was stronger than she’d been eight years ago. And the fact that someone was tormenting her only made her believe that she was right about her daughter. That someone was scared she might discover the truth.
Because that person knew where her daughter was.
She glanced back and forth between the windows and door to the inside, her breath hitching when the door squeaked open. It was so dark, the only thing she could make out was the outline of a man’s big body. Then the lights suddenly flickered on, and she recognized Slade.
He looked big and feral, his face chiseled into a hard mask. She flung open the car door, jumped out and hurried toward him.
He jammed his gun inside his jacket pocket and gripped her by the arms. “It’s clear. The main breaker had been flipped. That’s why the lights went out.”
She nodded numbly, and allowed him to guide her into the kitchen, then into the den. Her gaze flew to the rocking chair and the doll wrapped in the baby blanket.
The lullaby CD was still playing, taunting her.
Slade clenched his jaw, then walked over and switched off the CD. “I’m going to send it to the lab although I doubt we’ll get anything. Whoever did this probably wore gloves, but I’m still going to dust for prints.”
Nina stared up at him, her heart racing. “Then you believe me? That I didn’t put that creepy doll in the rocker or make up the intruder?”
His gaze met hers, emotions flickering in his brown eyes. Eyes that could dissect a person in seconds, eyes that could look cold and intimidating. Eyes that said he’d seen too much death and violence in his life.
She thought he wasn’t going to answer, then he cleared his throat. “Yes, Nina, I believe you.”
His gruffly spoken words made her heart twinge, and suddenly tears filled her eyes. She’d been alone so long, had faced scorn and animosity and pity. She knew how to handle those.
She didn’t know how to handle having someone believe in her again.
“God, Nina…” A groan ripped from his throat, then he pulled her in his arms and pressed her head to his chest.
Nina collapsed against him, savoring the feel of his strong arms embracing her. His heart thudded beneath her ear, his chest rose and fell with a labored breath and he gently stroked her hair. His touch felt so intimate that she clung to him, a flutter of arousal tickling her stomach.
Her breathing became raspy, her breasts tingled and she had the insane urge to press a kiss to his chest.
But that would be foolish. Just because he was being nice didn’t mean he was attracted to her, or that he wanted her. He was simply being human, compassionate.
And she couldn’t allow herself to lean on him or become dependent. She’d learned long ago that men couldn’t be counted on or trusted.
SLADE’S PULSE RACED. He shouldn’t have pulled Nina up against him. It had been too damn long since he’d held a woman. Since he’d been with one.
Since he’d even wanted to.
But Nina had been trembling and afraid, and he’d seen the relief in her eyes that finally someone believed her story, and he couldn’t resist.
Oh, hell… It was more than that.
She’d fought against all odds to find out what happened to her baby girl. How could he not admire her dedication and determination?
And now…one touch wasn’t enough. Nina felt so small and sweet and precious in his arms that his body hardened, need ripping through him.
He traced his hand down her hair, then along her cheek. Her skin felt so soft that he wanted to put his lips where his fingers had just touched.
She tensed slightly as if to pull away, and he tilted her chin up with his thumb.
“I promise you I’ll find out who’s doing this,” he said in a deep voice.
She nodded, her lower lip quivering. He traced his finger over her mouth, and her breath hitched, desire flaring in her eyes. “Slade…”
Her raspy sigh was his undoing.
He groaned, then lowered his head, angled his mouth and closed his lips over hers.
Chapter Nine
Slade traced his tongue along the seam of Nina’s lips, urging her to open for him, and she complied. Her fingers tiptoed up his arm, and she threaded them in his hair, urging him closer, and another groan ripped from his gut.
Aching with the need to have her, he deepened the kiss, savoring the scent of her sweet body as she moved against him. Her lips tasted like berries and hunger, her kiss so erotic that flames of desire shot through him.
She moaned softly, her breasts brushing his chest in an erotic tease, and his hands slid downward to pull her hips deeper into the V between his thighs. He sucked her tongue into his mouth, greedy for more, and she trailed her hands down his arms to his back again, then slid one over his hip.
He wanted her to move that hand lower.
Then she pressed her lips over the scar on his cheek, and something moved inside him.
“What happened?” she whispered.
The images of his dying men flashed in his head. “Iraq.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, then traced her finger over the puckered skin.
Dammit. What the hell was he doing?
He tore himself away from her, well aware that they were both breathing heavily, on the verge of doing something each of them would regret.
“This is insane,” he said, then forced himself to look away from the stormy heat in her eyes. If he didn’t, he’d haul her back into his arms and this time he wouldn’t stop. He’d carry her up the stairs, throw her down on the bed and make love to her until neither one of them could remember their names.
“Why is it insane?” Nina asked in such a sultry voice that he had to close his eyes to regain control.
“It just is.”
“Why?” she asked again, this time hurt lacing her tone. “Because you think I’m unstable?”
God, he couldn’t let her think that. “No. Because I’m working for you. This is a job, Nina. It can’t be anything more.”
Disappointment darkened her eyes, but he steeled himself and shut down.
He couldn’t allow himself to care. Couldn’t give her false promises or the impression that he’d stick around, that he was any kind of family man.
He didn’t deserve a family, not after all the people he’d failed.
NINA SWALLOWED BACK her hurt. Slade was right.
The
y were working together, and she’d been frightened and had forgotten her senses for a moment.
It couldn’t happen again.
Still, need and desire heated her blood, and she wished for once that she could feel something besides anguish and worry and the never-ending pit of emptiness inside her.
That she could feel loved.
But loving was dangerous. And the only person she had room for in her heart was Peyton. If—no when—she found her, her daughter would need all of her attention and time.
But what if she’s happy with a loving family? Can you tear her away from a good home?
Her chest clenched, but she pushed away the thoughts. She’d face that decision if it came down to it.
But the sound of Peyton’s little voice taunted her. She wouldn’t be able to hear that voice if Peyton wasn’t calling out to her….
“Where did the baby blanket come from?” Slade asked, jarring her back to the present.
“I crocheted it for Peyton before she was born,” Nina said. “But I packed it away in the storage closet in the guest room. That’s where I stored all the baby things.”
He narrowed his eyes. “So the intruder was in that room, and dug through your closet. I’ll look for prints in there, too.”
She nodded, then shivered at the thought of someone pawing through her precious baby items.
“Was there something special about that blanket?” Slade asked.
Nina pressed a hand to her mouth. “I was going to bring Peyton home in it.”
A troubled look passed across his face. “Who knew about it?”
Nina frowned, trying to think back. “No one. At least I don’t think anyone did. I made it when I lived alone here in Sanctuary.”
“How about the CD?”
“One of the nurses who taught the prenatal classes gave each of the women a copy.”
“What was the nurse’s name?”
“Charlie,” Nina said. “Why?”
“I’m just looking for a connection between the items and the person who broke in. For some significance.”
Nina gave a small laugh. “Well, the psychiatrist said I played the CDs to soothe my grief, and the blanket to wrap my lost child in my love.”