Christy made an exaggerated face. “You’re so … obnoxious. I am not pregnant.”
Now that she’d started the game, Maddie refused to back down. “Think how great it would be if you were.”
“I’m not pregnant,” Christy repeated, her anger on full display. “Stop saying that. Besides, I would never name a kid of mine Parker. I’m not happy with you right now either so Maddie is out of the question as well.”
“You’ll get over it.” Maddie’s smile stayed in place until she walked through the front door and pulled up short. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but the drab gray walls and depressing atmosphere were pretty far from appealing. “This can’t be right.”
“Ugh. Look at this place.” Christy’s disdain was evident. “No one should have to live here.”
“It needs some refurbishing,” Sharon agreed, popping out of a side office and causing both women to jolt. “We do the best we can with the funds we’re allocated. We opt to spend the money on the children rather than new paint.”
Maddie’s cheeks burned under the woman’s scrutiny. “We didn’t mean anything by it.”
“We didn’t,” Christy agreed. “It’s just so … gray.”
“Yes, well, I wouldn’t mind a color spruce myself, but I have other things to deal with first.” Sharon extended a hand and then pulled back slightly when she realized Maddie’s hands were full of bags. “We didn’t get a chance to meet yesterday. I’m Sharon Lansing.”
“Maddie Graves.” Maddie was sheepish as she shifted from one foot to the other. “I’m sorry about yesterday, by the way. You probably think I’m an emotional mess after what happened. I just … I was upset because she was upset.”
“I understand that.” Sharon was professional if not overly friendly. “I get it. Detective Winters explained that you’re the one who found her. We’re lucky you did because if you hadn’t vented that room there’s a good chance the smoke would’ve overwhelmed her.”
“Well, I wasn’t thinking that far ahead,” Maddie admitted. “I simply saw movement and acted. I honestly thought it might be Mildred until I got her outside. Then I realized she was a child and … well, I lost my head a bit.”
“That’s perfectly understandable.” Sharon gestured toward a bench placed against a nearby wall. “Sit, please. We need to discuss a few things before I let you see her.”
“Sure.” Maddie was uncomfortable with the woman’s clipped tone. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes and no. The thing is, we have been unable to make any headway with her. She screams when someone enters her room, she slept under the bed instead of in it last night, and she basically sits huddled in a corner and won’t let anyone touch her.”
The news didn’t surprise Maddie, but it did cause her stomach to twist. “Maybe she’ll react better to seeing me.”
“That’s why I agreed to allow your visit,” Sharon said. “It’s not something we regularly do, but I’m desperate enough to skew from the rules. If the girl – and we don’t have a name – has somehow bonded with you then we’d like to use that as a tool to get her to communicate.
“Also, you have to understand, we’ve been unable to give her even a cursory examination because she doesn’t want anyone to touch her,” she continued. “She hasn’t bathed or brushed her teeth. She refuses to change out of the nightgown she was in when you found her. We’re at the point where we might have to sedate her if we want to examine her.”
“Oh, don’t do that.” Maddie was crushed at the thought. “Let me try. I can’t guarantee that it will work, but it couldn’t possibly hurt to let me try.”
“That’s the plan.” Sharon got to her feet. “I see you went all out shopping for her.”
“Just a few things.” Maddie hated feeling defensive, but Sharon’s tone put her on edge. “I can take it back but … I really would rather not.”
“Well … .”
“There’s nothing in here that can hurt anyone,” Christy offered helpfully. “If Maddie takes it in there she might be so excited by the new things that it will loosen her lips. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“There are other children in this home,” Sharon argued. “If this girl gets everything it might cause an uproar.”
“Well, you won’t know until it happens.” Christy was firm. She wasn’t used to people arguing with her and was in no mood to start allowing it today. “Let’s just see if Maddie can get through to her.”
“Fine.”
CHRISTY AGREED TO REMAIN in the hallway with Sharon and allowed Maddie to enter the girl’s room alone. No one wanted to overwhelm her and there was an observation window built right into the wall.
Maddie knocked before entering, plastering a bright smile on her face, and it took her a moment to scan the room. The girl was huddled in the corner until she saw Maddie. Then, suddenly, she was on her feet and throwing herself at the surprised blonde.
“Hello.” Maddie’s voice was soft, like music, and her fingers were gentle as she combed them through the girl’s hair. “I’m so glad to see you. I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner but … well, I’m here now.”
Maddie lowered herself to the ground so she was on the same level with the girl, who refused to move from Maddie’s side and instead stared into her blue eyes as if trying to communicate telepathically. Her expression was so earnest Maddie thought she might burst into tears. Since she was afraid that would terrify her new friend, Maddie instead forced herself to remain upbeat.
“Still not talking, huh?”
The girl shook her head, boosting Maddie’s hopes that she could understand but simply didn’t want to talk.
“Well, that’s okay.” Maddie meant it. “I bought some things for you at the store.” She gestured toward the bags she left by the door. “I was thinking that we could get you cleaned up and in some new clothes – maybe spend some time together looking at your new books and stuff – and then maybe you’ll feel like talking after that. How does that sound?”
The girl bit her lip and stared hard into Maddie’s eyes.
“It’s okay,” Maddie offered. “You don’t have to answer right now. We’ll take it one step at a time.”
The girl continued to stare and she didn’t appear afraid of Maddie.
“We’re going to start with a bath.” Maddie was firm as she moved to stand. “Don’t worry. I’m going to be with you the entire time. You smell like smoke, though, and we can barely see that pretty face under all the grime.”
Maddie looked to the window, knowing Sharon was on the other side, for help. “Where is the nearest bathroom?”
NICK READ THE TEXT from Christy three times before placing his cell phone on his desk and scowling. He leaned back in his desk chair and stretched – his back was still giving him issues from the position he’d slept in the previous night – and he was eager to work out all the kinks.
“Who was that?” Kreskin asked, dropping off a cup of coffee on the corner of Nick’s desk before sliding into his chair.
“Christy.”
“Is something wrong with Maddie?” Kreskin was well aware that Nick was a bit obsessive when it came to his fiancée’s safety. Instinctively he knew that if Maddie were in real trouble Nick would already be gone. Given Maddie’s mood the previous evening, though, Kreskin was convinced that Nick’s issues with Maddie might be of the emotional sort. “She’s okay, isn’t she?”
“Physically she’s fine,” Nick replied. “Emotionally she makes me want to … .” He broke off and mimed choking an invisible person, causing Kreskin to smile.
“Welcome to marriage, son.”
“We’re not married yet.”
“Close enough.” Kreskin leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee. “Do you want to tell me what’s bothering you?”
“There are so many things bothering me I don’t know where to start.”
“How about with what Christy messaged you?”
“Oh, that.” Nick rolled his neck until it crack
ed. “She’s with Maddie at the children’s home in Traverse City.”
“Oh.” Realization dawned on Kreskin as amusement took over. “So, your plan to completely remove Maddie from the situation is going well, huh?”
“Don’t push me,” Nick warned, extending a finger. “It’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny.”
“No.”
“Son, you have got to stop letting things like this trip you up.” Kreskin adopted a pragmatic tone. “Maddie is her own person. She has feelings and beliefs. She’s a good person and that means she’s going to occasionally put herself on the line. You didn’t really think she was going to just let this go, did you?”
“I kind of hoped she would.”
“Well, then you were dreaming.” Kreskin saw no reason to coddle his partner. “Has she seen the girl? Has she learned anything?”
“All Christy said was that Maddie and the girl have been spending a lot of time together,” Nick replied. “She’s not talking yet. Maddie gave her a bath and is now brushing and braiding her hair. That’s what the text said anyway.”
“It sounds like Maddie is doing the exact right thing to get that girl to open up,” Kreskin noted. “I don’t know how you can be angry about that.”
“Because I think we both know that something horrible happened in Mildred’s house,” Nick supplied. “I’m going to guess that means something horrible happened to that girl. When Maddie knows the truth, it’s going to crush her.”
“Don’t you think Maddie already suspects?”
“Yes. Knowing and suspecting are different things, though.”
“They certainly are,” Kreskin agreed. “You have to let Maddie do what feels natural to her, though. You can’t control her.”
“I don’t want to control her. I … who said I wanted to control her?”
Kreskin had to bite back a laugh at Nick’s annoyed response. “Fine. That wasn’t the right word. You want to protect her, not control her.”
“Is that so bad?”
“No, but you can’t protect her when she doesn’t want to be protected,” Kreskin pointed out. “Right now, she wants to do the saving. I think you’re going to have to let her.”
“Yeah.” Nick rubbed his forehead. “I can’t do anything about it anyway. What I can tell you is that I’ve been trying to dig into Mildred’s past and all I keep coming up with are dead ends. It’s almost as if she wasn’t who she said she was.”
Kreskin shoved worry for his partner’s love life out of his mind and, interest piqued, leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
“There’s nothing. I can’t find a trail to follow.”
“That can’t be right.”
“And yet it is.”
“Well, let’s dig deeper.”
“Go for it. Hopefully you will have better luck than me.”
“SHE’S GOOD WITH HER.”
Sharon couldn’t help but be impressed as she watched Maddie braid the girl’s hair, all the while keeping up a running conversation that the child showed very little interest in. She was far more entranced by the coloring books and artistic supplies Maddie brought.
“Who? Maddie?” Christy nodded as she watched. She was feeling markedly better and was hopeful she’d managed to sidestep a bout of food poisoning after all. “She’s always had a way about her. People just sort of gravitate to her.”
“It’s probably the way she looks.” Sharon did her best not to sound bitter but failed, causing Christy to smirk.
“Let me guess, you caught sight of Nick first yesterday and your hormones kicked into overdrive,” Christy noted. “Then you realized he was with Maddie and all hope fled. I get it but … you really need to get over it.”
Sharon balked. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I mean … really. I don’t even know the man. Yesterday was the first time we met.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s not hotter than most male models, which makes it even more difficult because he’s straight and you just want to take a big bite out of that firm rear end of his.”
Sharon’s mouth dropped open. “I … you … .”
“Don’t worry about it.” Christy waved off the woman’s obvious discomfort with a dismissive hand gesture. “Nick Winters has left a trail of broken hearts in his wake. You’re hardly the first.”
“Oh, well, I don’t think my heart is broken.”
“But you were attracted to him, weren’t you?”
Sharon shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. “He’s an attractive man.”
“He is, and he made the rounds for ten years, crushing women left and right as he tried to make sense of his life.”
“I don’t understand what that means.”
“It’s a long story,” Christy said. “I’ll make it short. Nick and Maddie loved each other in high school but were too afraid to admit it. She left to become a nurse. He stayed and became a cop. For ten years they pined for one another.
“After her mother died, Maddie came home,” she continued. “They took one look at one another and their worlds went sideways. They’ve been joined at the hip ever since.”
“That was a fascinating story,” Sharon drawled. “Why on earth did you tell it to me?”
“So you’ll understand that it’s nothing personal. Nick didn’t look past you. It’s just … all he can see is Maddie. I never believed in destiny or soul mates until I saw them together. Now I believe that maybe that thing about there being one person for everybody is true. Those two are definitely soul mates.”
“I’m not jealous of her,” Sharon said hurriedly. “I simply thought he was hot.”
“It’s fine.” Christy was blasé. “Maddie has a way with people. That’s why she’ll be good for that girl.” She turned her eyes back to the window, to where Maddie was bent over and coloring with her young charge. “You know how some people are magical? Maddie is one of those people.”
“She clearly seems to be doing well with our guest,” Sharon noted. “The thing is … I don’t know what to do if she won’t talk. We don’t have a name. Our best guess is that she’s about fifteen.”
Christy was horrified. “Truly? She’s so small.”
“She is, but even though she’s thin she’s not malnourished,” Sharon said. “She might have some health issues, but we need to get her to a doctor to be sure. Hopefully Maddie will be able to calm her.”
“She already has,” Christy noted. “In fact … .” She broke off and leaned closer to the window, her attention completely drawn to the girl’s hands. They were moving, and in a way Christy recognized as something beyond simple gestures. “Look at that.”
“What?” Sharon followed Christy’s finger with her eyes. “I … is she doing sign language?”
“I can’t be certain, but it sure looks that way to me,” Christy replied. “I mean … all I ever learned was the alphabet. She looks as if she’s trying to have a conversation with Maddie.”
“Do you think Maddie realizes that?”
“There’s one way to find out.” Christy reached for the door handle, pausing before pushing inside. “Can you get someone who knows sign language here?”
Sharon nodded without hesitation. “Absolutely. I’ll place a call right now.”
“Good. I think we’re about to have a breakthrough or something. Maddie needs to know, though. I think she knows the same alphabet I do. We learned it at the same Girl Scouts camp when we were kids.”
“I’ll be right back.” Sharon’s level of excitement grew. “I think we’re actually going to be able to help this girl now. I can’t tell you how relieved I am.”
“That makes two of us.”
Seven
Nick and Kreskin headed to the medical examiner’s office one town over when they realized they were getting nowhere trying to track Mildred’s family tree. Nick’s frustration at the effort was obvious when they landed in the parking lot.
“I don’t get it. I mean … I can see how things like that would slip
through the cracks in olden times.”
“Like when I was young?” Kreskin teased.
Nick refused to rise to the bait. “You know what I mean. This is the computer age. All this stuff should be trackable.”
“I don’t disagree with you.” Kreskin sobered. “The thing is, Mildred was older. Computers weren’t a thing when she was born. I think some of that information fell through the cracks. Going forward things like this won’t happen. Looking back, though, well … we’ve got our hands full.”
“There has to be a record of that girl’s birth,” Nick complained. “She didn’t just hatch out of an egg and miraculously appear in Mildred’s basement.”
“No, she didn’t.” Kreskin held open the door so Nick didn’t have to break his stride while entering the medical examiner’s office. “We’ll figure out who she is. I thought you said Christy sent a text that they were getting somewhere.”
“They did, but she didn’t get into specifics. She said she was too busy.”
“So, maybe she is too busy,” Kreskin suggested. “You should have faith in Maddie. She’s come through a number of times before. This time probably won’t be any different.”
Nick balked. “I do have faith in Maddie. I’m the one who believes she can do anything.”
“Then what are you afraid of?”
Nick worked his jaw. They both knew what he was really afraid of. It was an ugly thought he didn’t want to give voice to.
“That’s what I thought,” Kreskin said after a beat, refusing to back down. “We can only take this one step at a time. This is the first step.”
Nick knew he was right and yet he couldn’t shake his worry about Maddie. “I hope we can find answers on this sooner rather than later.”
“That really would be a nice change of pace, wouldn’t it?”
PATTY FOSTER WAS IN her forties and boasted a round and pleasing face. She smiled at Christy and Sharon as she followed them to the observation room, seemingly unbothered by the story they shared upon her arrival.
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