by Rita Herron
Tia swallowed hard then called through the door, “Housekeeping. I have extra towels and pillows.”
Ryder eased Tia behind him. A voice sounded inside, then footsteps and the door creaked open.
Tia’s heart pounded as Wanda appeared. Her eyes were glazed, hair stringy and unwashed, and she reeked of cigarette smoke. As soon as she spotted Tia, she spit out a litany of curse words, then tried to shut the door in their faces.
Ryder shoved the door open, drew his gun and shouted, “Stop and put your hands up!”
Wanda came at him fighting and hissing like a crazy woman, but he yanked both arms down beside her and pushed her against the wall.
Tia spotted a blue bundle lying on the bed between two pillows. Jordie.
She raced toward it.
Chapter Thirteen
Tia ignored Wanda’s shrill scream as she approached the bundle on the bed. Ryder wrestled the woman’s arms behind her and handcuffed her. She kicked and shouted obscenities as he shoved her into a chair.
Hope speared Tia as she slowly sank onto the bed. She didn’t want to startle the baby, so she gently pressed one hand to his back.
Cold fear washed over her. He wasn’t moving.
“You can’t take my baby!” Wanda shouted.
“Shut up,” Ryder growled.
Tia’s gaze met his, terror making her heart pound. If Jordie was hurt or sick, she had to help him.
She leaned over and scooped up the bundle, but as she turned him in her arms, shock robbed her breath.
There was no baby.
She was holding a doll in her arms. A life-size doll that felt and looked like a real infant.
But it wasn’t Jordie.
“Let me go!” Wanda fought against the restraints so hard that the chair rocked back and forth.
Tia whirled on her. “What did you do with my son?”
Ryder’s brows puckered into a frown and he strode over to her to examine the baby. “Good God,” he muttered when he realized the truth.
Tia carried the doll over to Wanda. “Where’s my baby?”
Wanda shook the chair again as she rocked the chair backward against the wall. “You took my boy away from me. You can’t have this one!”
Tia shoved the doll into Ryder’s arms, grabbed Wanda’s shoulders and shook her. “What did you do with my son, Wanda?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wanda muttered. “You’re the one who took my son from me.”
Ryder rubbed Tia’s back. “Let her go, Tia. She’s so strung out she doesn’t know what she’s doing or saying.”
But Tia couldn’t let go. She’d been so sure Wanda had her son. So sure he was here, that she’d take him home tonight and feed him and rock him to sleep and wake up in the morning with her family at home.
That this nightmare was over.
“Tell me, Wanda,” Tia said in a raw whisper. “Where’s Jordie? What did you do with him?”
Wanda went still, her lips curling into a sick smile, yet her eyes weren’t focused. They were glazed over with the haze of drugs.
Tia choked on a sob and stepped back, her heart shattering at the realization that Wanda might not have taken Jordie at all.
* * *
RYDER GRITTED HIS teeth at the agony on Tia’s face. Wanda started another litany of foul words, and he barely resisted smacking her in the mouth.
“Shut up,” he barked.
Tia ran a finger over the doll’s cheek. The damn thing looked so real he expected it to start crying any minute.
Forcing himself into agent mode, he planted himself in front of Wanda, dropped to a squat and tilted her face to look at him. “Wanda, listen to me. Kidnapping is a felony offense. You need to tell me if you abducted Tia Jeffries’s baby.”
Her lip quivered as she flattened her mouth into a frown. “Go to hell.”
“That’s where you’re going if you hurt that baby,” Ryder said, his tone lethal. “But if you cooperate, I’ll see that you get a fair shake, that you receive counseling and treatment for your addiction.”
A bitter laugh rumbled from Wanda’s throat. “You don’t scare me,” Wanda said. Her head lolled from side to side as if she was suddenly dizzy or about to crash. “I didn’t take that bitch’s baby, although it would serve her right if I did, since she ruined my family.”
Tia folded her arms and faced Wanda, her body vibrating as if she was grasping to maintain control. “You lost your child because you chose drugs over him.”
Ryder pressed a hand to Tia’s arm to encourage her to let him handle the situation. “But we can change that,” he said, giving Tia a warning look. “Tell me, Wanda. You were hurting because you missed your son. You were angry at Tia. You found out she had a child, and you wanted to get back at her so you—”
“I hope you never get your kid back,” Wanda yelled.
Ryder put his arm out to keep Tia from pouncing. Tears flowed from her eyes, ripping at his emotions.
Ryder spoke though gritted teeth. “I told you I’d help you, Wanda, but you have to talk first. Now, you slipped into Tia’s house and you took her newborn—”
“I didn’t take the kid.” Wanda slid sideways in the chair, her eyes rolling back in her head.
Ryder caught her just before she passed out.
A strangled sob erupted from Tia, her pain and frustration palpable as he phoned 911.
* * *
DESPAIR SUCKED AT Tia as the medics rushed in and took Wanda’s vitals.
One of the medics gestured toward the doll as they loaded Wanda onto the stretcher. “Is there a child here?” he asked.
Tia shook her head. “She has emotional issues.” Whether Wanda’s drug addiction or her instability had come first, Tia didn’t know.
“She under arrest?” the medic asked.
Ryder cleared his throat. “For now.”
“For what?” Tia asked. Being cruel? Traveling with a doll?
“Attacking an officer,” Ryder said. “At least that gives us a reason to hold her until she’s coherent.”
So he hadn’t completely ruled out Wanda as the kidnapper. Although if Wanda had taken Jordie, Tia would have expected her to brag about it, to rub it in her face.
Ryder retrieved Wanda’s purse from the desk chair and dumped the contents on the bed as the medics carried Wanda to the ambulance. A baby bottle, wipes, keys, tissues, a pack of gum, a small bag of powder that Tia assumed was cocaine, a tube of dark red lipstick, a pack of matches from the Big Mug, a ratty wallet and a cell phone.
He scrolled through her contacts. “Husband’s name is still in here. A few others, but not many. I’ll have the lab check them out.”
Tia looked over his shoulder. “What about her recent calls?”
A couple of unknowns. The motel number. The name Horace Laker. A woman named Elvira Mead. The bus station.
Did one of these people know where Jordie was?
* * *
RYDER WENT DOWN the list, calling each number. The two unknowns did not respond. Horace Laker was the owner of Laker Car Rentals. Wanda had rented the van from him.
“Did Ms. Hanson have any children with her when you saw her?” Ryder asked.
“Didn’t see any. Said she was in a hurry, though. Had to meet up with someone.”
Someone who’d taken Jordie, or her dealer?
“Was she high when she talked to you?”
The man coughed. “Didn’t think so. But she did seem antsy. But everyone’s in a hurry all the time these days so I didn’t think much of it.”
Ryder thanked him, disconnected, then called the last number. Elvira Mead answered. Ryder introduced himself and explained the situation. “How do you know Wanda?”
“I’m her
neighbor,” Elvira said. “She called and asked me to feed her cat for a few days. Said she was going out of town.”
“Did you see her with a child? An infant, maybe?”
“No, she lost her boy a while back. Thought that might straighten her up, but it sent her into a downward spiral.”
“Did she mention a woman named Tia Jeffries?”
“She hated that woman,” Elvira said. “Blamed her for her husband leaving her, but we both knew it was Wanda’s addiction. He had to take that boy away from Wanda.”
Ryder’s gut pinched. Hopefully the woman hadn’t gotten her hands on Tia’s son. “Did she mention getting revenge against Tia?”
A hesitant pause. “She mouthed off some, but if you think she kidnapped that baby, you’re wrong. I saw the story on the news. The night the baby went missing, Wanda was passed out at home.”
“You’re sure about that?”
Elvira gave a sarcastic laugh. “Damn right I am. She barreled in driving like a maniac. Left her car running, crawled out and practically collapsed in the driveway. I went out to check on things, turned off the engine and helped her inside.”
“That was nice of you.”
A pause. “I’ve been in AA for twenty years. Kept trying to talk Wanda into joining. I promised her I’d be her sponsor, but she refused to go.”
Ryder thanked Elvira for her help and disconnected.
Tia was watching him. “Anything?”
He hated to dash her hopes, but he refused to lie to her. “That was Wanda’s neighbor. Wanda was home the night Jordie disappeared—she said she passed out and was there all night.”
Ryder checked his watch. It was almost time for the early evening news. “We’ll drop her phone off at the crime lab. Gwen can check out her contacts while we go to the TV station.”
He hated to put Tia through a public appearance. And it could bring false leads.
But sometimes a parent’s grief and fear in a personal plea touched viewers and strangers enough to make them take more interest in helping to find a missing child.
They needed all the help they could get.
* * *
TIA FRESHENED UP in the bathroom at the TV station, well aware she looked pale and gaunt. Desperate.
God, she was desperate.
The past three days had taken its toll on her body and her mind.
But she had to pull herself together to talk to the press.
On the drive to the station, she’d rehearsed in her mind what she wanted to say. In each scenario, she wound up screaming for the kidnapper to return her baby.
You are not going to fall apart. You’re going to be calm, reasonable, tell the truth and...beg.
She tucked her brush in her purse, wiped her face with a wet paper towel, then dried her hands.
Several deep breaths, and she summoned her courage and left the restroom. Ryder was waiting, his gaze deep with concern.
“They’re working on Wanda at the hospital,” he said. “Gwen just phoned. She didn’t find anything suspicious in Wanda’s bank records. In fact, Wanda is broke. Probably depleted her money feeding her habit.”
“Then she might have been desperate enough to take Jordie and try to sell him,” Tia said, her voice laced with horror.
He shrugged in concession. “I’m not ruling out that possibility, although her phone records haven’t turned up a lead. And she has an alibi the night of the abduction.”
Tia clung to the theory because they had no other clues. “Then she had a partner or help.”
Ryder kept his expression neutral. “So far, nothing we’ve found supports that theory, Tia. According to a neighbor Gwen talked to, Wanda didn’t have any friends visiting. She’d alienated all her family. Another neighbor saw a shady-looking character confront her at her car once. She owed him for drugs.”
An attractive blonde woman in a dark green dress approached. “I’m Jesse Simpleton. I’ll be handling the interview with you, Miss Jeffries.”
Tia shook her hand. “Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to do this.”
“Of course.” The young woman’s voice softened with compassion. “I’m so sorry about your baby. We’ll do whatever we can to help.”
“I’ve set up a tip line.” Ryder pushed a piece of paper into the woman’s hands. “Here’s the number.”
“We’ll make sure it appears on-screen and rebroadcast it with each news segment.” Jesse showed them where to sit by the anchor’s chair, and the director instructed them regarding the cameras.
Jesse squeezed Tia’s hand. “Just talk from the heart.”
Tia didn’t know what else to do. Before they started, she removed the photo of Jordie she’d taken the night she’d brought him home from her purse and rubbed her finger over her baby’s sweet cherub face.
The director signaled it was time to start. Jesse introduced her. Tia angled the photograph toward the camera.
“My name is Tia Jeffries. Six weeks ago was the happiest day of my life. I gave birth to my son, Jordan Timothy Jeffries. He weighed seven pounds, eight ounces and was nineteen inches long.” The memory of holding him for the first time made tears well in her eyes. “I carried him home the next morning, ecstatic. He was a good eater and was growing and healthy and happy. But three nights ago, someone slipped in my home while I was sleeping and stole him from his crib.” She swallowed, battling a sob.
“I know he’s out there somewhere. I can hear him cry at night. I can feel him wanting to come back to me, to be with his mama where he belongs.” She pressed a kiss to the photograph. “I don’t care who you are or why you took my baby. I don’t want revenge or even to see you in jail. All I want is my little boy back.” She swallowed hard. “If you have him, please drop him at a church or hospital. No questions asked.”
Jesse announced the information about the tip line, but Tia had to say one more thing.
“I’m offering a reward of a hundred thousand dollars to whoever brings him back to me or provides a lead as to where my baby is.”
She felt Ryder’s look of disapproval, but kept her eyes on the camera as the reward was posted on-screen.
If she had to, she’d use every penny she had to get her son back.
Chapter Fourteen
Tia prayed the TV plea brought in answers, that someone had seen her baby or knew who’d taken him and decided to do the right thing.
Ryder stopped at the diner and insisted she eat dinner, although she could barely taste the food for the fear clogging her throat.
An hour and a half later, he pulled into her driveway, the silence between them thick with tension and the reality that night had come again, another night where she would go into an empty house, with an empty nursery and an empty bed.
“I’ll come in and check the house.” Ryder slid from the SUV and walked her to the door. Tia swallowed back emotions as she unlocked the door.
Ryder flipped on a light and strode through the house, checking each room. “The house is clear,” he announced as he returned to the kitchen.
She nodded. She hadn’t expected the kidnapper to have returned.
Ryder hesitated, his dark gaze penetrating hers as he brushed his fingertips along her arm. She sucked in a breath.
“You did good during the interview, but—”
“If you’re going to tell me I shouldn’t have offered a reward, don’t bother. If the kidnapper took Jordie for money, this should prompt a call. And if not, maybe someone who knows where Jordie is or who took him might step up.”
“I just want you to be prepared in case we receive prank calls or false leads.”
“I know.” Despite the fact that she told herself not to lean into him, she did it anyway. “But we—I—have to do something.”
Understanding flickered i
n his eyes. “You are doing everything you can,” he said. “Trust me. We won’t stop until we find your baby.”
Tears pricked at her eyes. She needed to hear that, to know that she wasn’t alone and that he wouldn’t give up. She’d read about cases where leads went cold, other cases landed on their desks and police essentially stopped looking. Children were lost for decades.
Fear nearly choked her. Ryder must have sensed she was close to breaking. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
“Hang in there, Tia.”
She battled tears, blinking hard to stem them as she nodded against his chest. His chest felt hard, thick, solid. His arms felt warm and comforting—safe.
His steady breathing and the gentle way he stroked her back soothed her.
But that was temporary. Nothing had changed.
Except that at least she wasn’t alone.
She lifted her head to look into his eyes. “Thank you, Ryder. I’m...glad you’re here.” She hesitated. “Working the case, I mean.”
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything.” He eased away from her, making her instantly feel bereft and alone again. “Try to get some rest.”
She nodded and bit her tongue to keep from begging him to stay.
He walked to the door, shoulders squared, his big body taut with control. “Lock the door behind me,” he said as he stepped outside onto the front porch.
She rushed to do as he said, then watched through the window as he climbed in his SUV.
* * *
RYDER PINCHED THE bridge of his nose as he drove away from Tia.
He didn’t want to leave her, dammit.
But he had no place in her life. Except as an agent working her case.
He checked his phone, but no messages or calls yet. He hoped to hell the TV plea and tip line worked. Or maybe Gwen would locate the woman on that tape at the hospital.
Dark clouds rolled above, thunder rumbling. Most people had tucked their children into bed by now so they’d be safe and sound for the night.
Like Tia had thought her baby was.
Predators were everywhere, though. Watching and stalking innocents. Waiting to strike when the victim let down his or her guard.