“Even if she hadn’t it’s likely she would’ve drifted further out and might never have been found at all. You did good. You saved the little girl’s life and her parents, when we locate them, will be overjoyed.”
Jolene just thanked God she’d been up to the task.
“We’re checking with other municipalities up and down the coast. She was pretty well sunburnt, so she could’ve been floating for hours.
“No wonder she was so terrified. I know I would be.” Jolene rubbed her wrist, missing the familiar weight of her bracelet.
“We’re also checking for any missing boats. It might take a day or two to hear back from all the harbor masters.”
Her breath hitched. She hadn’t thought of that scenario. She shivered, recalling how her lungs had burned while filling with cold salt water. Those few seconds of feeling life being pushed from her lungs and the sensation her muscles were weakening and her limbs going limp were enough to keep her on dry land for a while. Her eyes felt scratchy and tired from the salt water. Every muscle in her still felt weak. She closed her eyes and felt the solid floor beneath her stocking feet. Then she looked up at Norris with renewed appreciation. He had saved her life.
She refrained from thanking him again. Instead she drew in a deep breath and said, “Right. It’s a possibility.” With her mind refocused she offered up another scenario. “Or whoever brought her to the beach wasn’t a parent and they’re keeping her disappearance a secret for the moment. Or maybe it was someone hoping to find her before they had to tell the parents. You know, like a big sister who got caught up with her boyfriend and the little girl wandered away. Or her grandparents who are a little feebleminded. Although I don’t see her climbing into the tube by herself and walking into the ocean without anyone seeing her.”
“The beaches are crazy this time of year,” Norris said. “Someone could’ve seen her and assumed someone else watched her. We can’t rule out any possibility. If any of those scenarios happened, we’ll know soon enough. In the meantime, the ER doctor is going to admit her overnight for observation. Hopefully we’ll hear from her parents soon.”
“If not, what are your protocols?”
“Once the doctor releases her, she’ll be turned over to social services.”
So, if her parents weren’t located, the girl would be placed in the care of strangers. Jolene recalled the terror that distorted the little girl’s sweet face when the doctors and nurses first tried to examine her, and she winced. She wanted to do something, but what? She had no rights or jurisdiction in the matter. For now, Norris held all the power over the little girl’s safety.
“Do you need a ride somewhere?” Norris interrupted her thoughts. “I can have one of my officers give you a lift to your hotel.”
When he grazed his nails over the linen fabric at his collarbone she remembered his rash. She’d contacted poison ivy once and hated the irritation the rash caused, so she sympathized with him. “I’m not staying at a hotel.”
“Oh.”
Norris’ long lashes made his eyes look wider. “I ah... I assumed since you’re Rose’s friend that you were staying at her father’s hotel.”
“No. I’m staying with my sister and her family. They live on Mariners Drive.” She rubbed her neck, a response to a long day.
He dipped his head to the side. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Your sister lives in a nice area. I can have my guy drop you there.”
Noticing he watched her closely, she folded her arms across her chest and glanced toward the child. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You don’t need to stay with her.”
She looked up into his concerned face. “Yes. I do. She’ll be frightened when she wakes up and since she seemed comfortable with me, I’ll stay. However, if I can borrow your cell, I’d like to call my sister and see if she can hook up with Rose and get my phone and bag and bring me a change of clothes. Also, I need to check in with my office.”
His brow crinkled. “I thought you were on vacation.”
“I am, but I’m on call twenty-four-seven in case of an emergency situation.”
Norris’ eyes flashed with interest, but he didn’t press her to explain what she meant by a situation. Instead, he slipped his phone out of the front pocket of his jeans and handed it to her. “I should’ve thought... Should have had Pickett grab your things from the boat too. Sorry.”
“You had more important things on your mind than getting my personal stuff to me.” She ignored the warmth of the phone in her hand and shrugged.
He nodded with understanding as she put some distance between them.
Jolene’s nerves tingled, knowing Norris watched her while she walked to the end of the hall to get a bit of privacy. She quickly made a call to her sister, Martina, and then one to Rose, who wanted to hear more details than Jolene would offer. Rose was a witness to what occurred so Rose’s statement had to be accurate and not tainted by Jolene’s experience or opinions. Rose, or perhaps one of the others on board the boat might have seen something no one else had.
After she hung up from speaking to her friend, Jolene decided to wait until she had her own phone to check in with Will, her boss at the U.S. Marshals’ office in Scranton. She joined Norris again outside room eight and handed him his phone. “Thanks. My sister will be here within the hour with my things.”
“Good,” was all he said then he turned back to the window. “So how old do you think she is?”
“Maybe two. I have a niece who is two and half.” Jolene turned to him. “Did you notice how her swimsuit fit her?”
He looked at her quizzically. “Not really. Why?”
She massaged the tightness in her shoulder. Keeping both herself and the girl afloat, had been a strenuous workout for her deltoid muscles. “It might not mean anything, but the suit seemed really small on her. The straps cut into her shoulders.”
“So.”
He was such a guy. “If it were May and the beginning of the swim season, I wouldn’t think it odd, but it’s nearly July. I know my sister buys new suits for her kids around Easter.”
Norris splayed his broad hand across his chest—the chest she’d been trying hard to avoid looking at.
“I’m not a kid expert by any means, but maybe her family was visiting someone and they forgot her suit and used an old one, or borrowed one for the day.”
“Maybe. Let me check the size?” Jolene quietly padded across the floor into the room. Norris had no forensics team. He needed to rely on the state police forensics lab and until he was able to drop it off at their offices, they weren’t leaving the article of clothing or the raft Lia had been found in, out of their sights. She grabbed the evidence bag off the nightstand next to the bed and rejoined Norris outside the room. The bag crinkled as she pulled the suit out. Jolene tucked the bag under her arm and checked the embossed markings inside the suit’s back. “It’s a size eighteen months. I guess she could’ve worn it last year. It looks brand new, though.” She turned the multi-hued purple suit over in her hands. “The material is not worn on the backside at all.”
“The backside?” Norris’ brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
She spread her hand inside the suit and held up the area which would have covered the little girl’s bottom. “This is the most tatty area on my nieces’ and nephews’ suits. Children tend to scoot on their rumps across the sand, the sidewalks, the floors. My nieces and nephews constantly wear their suits out. Martina buys them two or three suits a year.”
“Interesting.”
“Is it?” She chuckled.
His full bottom lip pursed. “I know nothing about kids. I don’t have kids and I’m an only child.”
“You’re also a man. Most men don’t notice such things so you’re excused on all counts?”
“So, do you have kids?” he asked.
“Never married.” She scowled at his disgruntled expression—and he was right
to be put out: She hadn’t answered the question. “No. I don’t but I have six nieces and nephews and a large extended family of cousins who have bunches of kids. We get together every year which is why I know about things like the tatty backsides of kids’ swimsuits.”
“It must be nice belonging to a big family.”
His smile was the kind of smile that drew a girl to kiss a man she hardly knew. Whoa... Where did that come from?
“Being part of a large family has its advantages, but it also has drawbacks. One being, everyone eventually knows your business.”
“Is that why you moved away?”
He asked a question she didn’t answer honestly for anyone. “Maybe.”
Feeling an invisible force drawing her toward Norris, she dropped her gaze to the little nylon suit. Her mind should be on the little girl in the room, not on this police chief, but she enjoyed his wit and candor. And the physical attraction between them was undeniable.
Inside the room, the little girl began to wake and thrashed her legs around. Pain filled her moans.
“Hit the call button,” Norris ordered Jolene as he followed her into the room.
Once she called for a nurse, Jolene encased the little girl’s hand with her own. “Shhh,” and she bent over the little girl and whispered into the child’s ear. “You’re okay, honey. Shhhh.”
“Ask her what her name is.”
“And you accused me of being the impatient one,” Jolene said, turning her head to find herself nose to nose with Norris. His expression was an intriguing mixture of concern and excitement. “I think it’s something like Lia...”
“Can you check again?”
Her gaze dropped to his parted lips.
As if drawn to her too, he leaned toward her slightly before he jerked away.
She quickly turned away from the attractive police chief and focused her attention on the child. “Give me a minute. I’ll confirm the first name once she calms down.”
Once this child was reconnected with her parents and the case was closed, Jolene might consider exploring their attraction if there was time before she left for home. She welcomed this attraction as a good sign she was finally ready to move on, away from the past. What could be the harm in having a light relationship for a week or so?
CHAPTER FIVE
The early evening sun cut through the large-paned window at the end of the hall. Someone had placed a chair and a hospital table between the window and the child’s room for the officers who watched over her. The recliner-type chair looked inviting, but he was too anxious to actually sit. Norris needed to pace and standing was a better option for him.
In about an hour, the sun would disappear into the ocean and the moon and stars would take over the sky. Then the beach night life would rev up and his small force would need to handle other situations, situations that could erupt into three-alarm blazes if not extinguished immediately.
As each hour passed with no one coming forward to claim the little girl, Norris’ blood pressure rose a few points. From the start, he knew in his gut the child hadn’t simply been lost on the beach. A much bigger case than that had landed on his shoulders.
Down the hall, a janitor mopped the floor and the pungent antiseptic cleaning solvents tickled Norris’ nostrils.
Moving away from the sun’s rays, Norris swiped a finger under his nose and read the text updates he’d received from Pickett. There had been no distress calls to the Coast Guard last night, but that didn’t mean a boat hadn’t perished. No debris had washed up on shore yet, but depending on the currents and manner by which the boat had gone down, it could be days until anything significant was beached.
Also, no one had reported missing children to any of the beach operations along the coast. And no Amber Alerts had been issued in Virginia or in surrounding states.
So where had the girl come from?
A pump alarm sounded from one of the rooms. He watched a nurse from the duty team set down one of the cappuccinos he’d brought them. She leapt from her perch and rushed from the nurses’ station to evaluate the situation. He was relieved she didn’t head for Lia’s room.
The girl’s name was definitely Lia. They now knew that much, thanks to Jolene. She had deciphered and confirmed the information from the few words the girl had muttered.
Lia now called Jolene “Mama.” The poor child was in shock and had attached herself to Jolene with a vengeance.
Yes, there were signs of trauma bonding between Lia and Jolene, on both sides. Lia clung to her as if Jolene were her mother and Jolene let her. The attachment bond had begun to cement itself even before he had reached them in the water.
Jolene came into the hallway, leaving the door ajar a few inches. “What’s going on? You’re still here?”
“There’s an emergency somewhere... Yeah. One of my officers will be here in about ten minutes. I need to get back to the station and check on things.”
She looked more comfortable in her fresh tight short-legged jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers. She still smelled of suntan lotion and the sea.
“Never a day off,” she said to him.
She understood his life all too well.
“They are rare.” On the boat, before she dived into the ocean, he’d been distracted by her trim body and full breasts, so he hadn’t really noticed Jolene’s spiky raven hair ends tinted a deep purple. He now noticed them when she moved into the rays of the setting sun to stare out over the parking lot below.
She turned, placed her hands on her hips and arched her back to limber up. “It feels good to stand and stretch.”
She wearily raised her arms over her head, first grabbing her right elbow and pulling her arm as far back behind her head as possible. Her sun-kissed breasts swelled against the tank top’s neckline and he had to look away before his interest was noticed. Then she did the same and stretched the muscles of her left arm.
“I guess there’s no news?” she asked.
“Ah... No.” He cleared his throat of the desire her stretching caused. Any male would do the same... “She’s exhausted and with the sedative Doctor Evans gave Lia earlier she’ll probably sleep until morning. We’re not going to learn more from her tonight. If she wakes, they’ll call me. I can take you home,” he offered.
“Thank you. But, I’m going to stay. In case she does wake up.” Jolene bent over at the waist and touched her toes.
“She won’t,” he responded, not daring to watch her moves anymore.
She stood and placed her hands on her hips.
He scoffed at her tenacity. “I figured you wouldn’t leave so I grabbed something from the cafeteria for you when I picked up coffee for the nurses.” He pointed to the bag sitting nearby on the hospital table.
“Nice. Thank you.” She walked over and opened the plastic sack.
“I didn’t know what you might like...”
When she looked up at him she wore a huge smile. “A chef’s salad and a soft pretzel. And you grabbed mustard too. Awesome.” She ripped off a piece of the pretzel and popped it into her mouth.
“The pretzel was for me, but you can have it.”
“Sorry.” She stopped in mid-chew and trapped a chuckle with the back of her hand and then swallowed. “Thank you. You want some?” She held out the pretzel.
He chuckled. “No. I’ll grab something later.”
“It’s good. Not too much salt.”
“I had enough salt today,” he responded. “Go ahead and eat it.”
“Okay.” She quickly ripped the pretzel in half and dropped one part back into the bag. Then she laid the Philly-style pretzel on a napkin, opened the mustard and smeared it over his snack.
“I didn’t take you for a carb girl.” Good God, he enjoyed watching her nibble the pretzel. He had to order his dick to behave and promise his grumbling stomach a double-packed garlic cheese steak in twenty minutes if it would be quiet for now.
“I’m a total carb girl. Pasta is my Achilles heel.”
“I’ll re
member for next time.” His fingers rasped over the bristles on his jaw. Maybe he should’ve taken ten minutes to shave before heading out that morning.
Her tongue swiped a bit of mustard from the corner of her mouth.
He shifted his eyes and focused on the orangey-pink clouds drifting across the sky behind her. He couldn’t get distracted by this woman. This case was the biggest thing to happen in Cape James since he’d taken on the job ten months ago. It was probably the biggest case in a decade and he was on probation for one year, until the end of August. His job might even hinge on him handling this correctly. If he didn’t do his job to the satisfaction of his hiring committee, all his hard work to turn this little force into a top-notch team might be for nothing. He’d be looking for another job somewhere.
He enjoyed living here. He seemed to have finally earned the respect and cooperation of Ted Beltz, his second in command who thought the chief of police position should’ve been his simply because of tenure. He’d come to like his officers: Ted, Frank, Larry, Warren and his one woman officer, Sandy.
He got along with most of the town’s administration. However, some of them wanted a chief of police with larger iron fists. They were the teetotalers whose families had walked this shore for generations and who didn’t easily tolerate the riff raff who intruded on their quiet seaside life six months of the year.
“You sure you don’t want some?”
“No,” Norris responded, pulled away from his brooding thoughts. “So, did Lia say anything more? Maybe her last name?”
He’d asked the little girl a few questions when she’d first woken, but she clammed up and sunk into the mattress at the sight of him. Later, when he observed her from the threshold, he noticed she tensed whenever a man came into the room which made him wonder what her father was like.
“She asked me for Boo-boo,” Jolene said. “From her description, I think Boo-boo is a stuffed rabbit, a purple stuffed rabbit.” She popped the last piece of pretzel into her mouth, tied the bag top and placed it aside.
Loved by Darkness Page 4
