Loved by Darkness

by Autumn Jordon

  “Odd name for a toy. Don’t you think?”

  “My niece named her first doll Hi-bye.”

  He drew his brows together, confused by the little people language. “Hi-bye?”

  “Hi and bye. They were words she could say clearly.”

  “Huh.” Okay. He got the reasoning. He’d taken a class on child psychology which had focused mostly on the troubling adolescent years. The language of toddlers hadn’t been included.

  He looked past Jolene’s shoulder, refusing to watch her lips draw on the straw of her soft drink. He refocused on the case. “So the word boo-boo, which I assume refers to injuries, is a word used often in her home.”

  “Maybe. Are you thinking abuse? She doesn’t show any signs. Except for the dehydration. Doctor Evans said she looks well nourished and as if she’s been taken care of. And her swimming suit is an LE, a top-of-the-line brand. Whoever bought it for her, didn’t buy it at Walmart.”

  “So, we might be dealing with a family with an above-average income. The suit could’ve been a gift.” As he considered that, his surroundings disappeared in significance. Could the girl have been kidnapped, held for ransom until things went south for the kidnappers? Again, there had been no Amber Alerts in over a month, and the last one had been for a boy age twelve who had been found alive. He’d skipped out on his parents after midnight to pull an all-nighter playing video games with a friend. The father had found him missing from his bed at two a.m. Norris tapped into the notepad app on his cell. “You said LE?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll have my guys check with the local high-end stores and see if they can help us. Maybe someone will recognize her.”

  Overhead, Brahms’ Lullaby wafted from speakers, announcing the birth of a baby.

  “What’s the size of your force?” Jolene leaned against the wall.

  “There are six of us. Five men and one woman.” His cheeks warmed under his whiskers, knowing he’d just made what could be considered a sexist statement. He didn’t want Jolene to think he was sexist, because he wasn’t. “I know gender isn’t important. I just thought you might want to know there was a woman on the force.”

  “Is she special to you?”

  He snapped his head up. “Hell no! I don’t—”

  Jolene played with the straw poking through the plastic lid.

  “Relax. I didn’t take you for the type of man who dipped his pen in the company ink.” She laughed. “You’re too easy, Stiles.” She took a long draw on the straw.

  Norris clenched his jaw. She’d set him up, teasing him. The woman was maddening—on so many levels. He wouldn’t let her get to him again. “Anyway, May through September we’re all full-time.”

  “You’re going to spread your team thin checking leads.” She was all business once again.

  “We’ve been spread thin before.” He finished his text and pocketed his phone.

  The nurse exited the room where the alarm had sounded. She barely glanced their way before returning to her perch behind the desk where she immediately began to type on her keyboard.

  Jolene rattled the ice in her cup. “Can I help you work this case?”

  “I can’t let you help.” He glanced down the hall, searching for his relief man.

  “Why not? I’m a U.S. Marshal. We’re federal and we do help local and state agencies when they request it. While I’m sitting here with Lia I can check on the stores where Lia’s bathing suit might’ve been purchased. And I’m sure I can handle a few other things too. I do have experience running investigations.”

  He folded his arms across his chest. “I thought you rode a desk?”

  Her shoulders lifted and fell quickly in response to his question. “So do a few other people in town. Perception... I want to keep it that way, so they don’t worry.”

  “I had a feeling.” He studied her.

  “You did, huh?” She pushed off the wall and stepped toward him. “I’m pretty good at hiding my wily ways. What gave me away?”

  He looked down at her and noted a small scar in her right brow and a bit of mustard on her lip. He hadn’t noticed her scar before because her bangs had covered it. He’d be a liar if he said he wasn’t intrigued by and undeniably attracted to the Marshal. If they weren’t standing under bright fluorescent lights in the middle of a hospital hallway, outside a young child’s room, he might even have touched her. Tasted the mustard on her lips.

  “Diving into the ocean to save a possible floater... I don’t think a desk jockey would’ve done that,” he answered.

  “Hmmm. I’ll need to remember not to jump next time.”

  It was so hot the way she stood toe to toe with him. She reminded him of a tigress with her whiskey eyes, her graceful stride and her fearlessness.

  “Plus you’re very perceptive, among other things.” He noted the sudden huskiness of his voice and cleared his throat.

  “Like?” she prompted.

  He wanted to ignore the smile that curled her lips, but he couldn’t seem to look away. She had him under a spell. “You’re determined, fearless, quick and as you said yourself, you’re cunning. Oh, and annoying?”

  Her lips rolled together, holding her smile in check. “How well you know me. Hard to believe we only met a few hours ago.”

  Her playful smile faded as a code blue announcement cut the hallway. The event occurred on the floor above them.

  Once the broadcast ended, she stared at him through thick dark lashes. “So are you going to let me help, at least unofficially?”

  An acute sense of the rational tightened Norris’ neck muscles. “Unofficially? No.” He crossed his arms. “I don’t want any evidence found by you to be dismissed on a technicality. If there is a proper protocol for getting you involved, I want to follow it.”

  “I bet you dot your i’s. Huh?” She chuckled softly.

  “I do.” Again, he ignored her taunt.

  She backed away and leaned against the wall again, looking relaxed and sexy in her tight T-shirt and jeans.

  “So, you’re thinking Lia...”—a sudden yawn made her raise a hand to her full mouth—“is a victim... Of what? Which way are you leaning?”

  “That I don’t know yet.”

  The elevators at the opposite end of the hall opened and Officer Frank Diterich stepped out. “My man is here. You should get some rest. Let me take you home.”

  Her purple spikes shimmered under the bright lights. “I’m staying.”

  “You won’t get much rest here.”

  “I’ve slept in worse places. See you when I see you.” Carrying her soft drink with her, Jolene grabbed the rest of the food he’d bought and marched into Lia’s room.

  As the door closed quietly, Norris wondered what Jolene’s position was with the U.S. Marshals. He intended to make some calls and see what he could learn about her. She seemed sharp, but he wouldn’t jeopardize his career by letting a wannabe field agent fuck things up for him. Or distract him...

  ***

  From her position inside Lia’s room, Jolene watched through the cracked door while Norris gave instructions to his officer. It was absurd, but she felt a twang of loneliness when he disappeared from view and as the sound of his footsteps diminished while the distance between them grew. She had to forget how her pulse quickened when she inhaled his scent or how easy and fun she found teasing him.

  She liked him too much.

  Norris was smart. He’d already thought of more reasons for Lia to be on the water than most investigating officers would’ve come up with on their own during a week. And he’d already given orders and delegated tasks and received information from his small staff quicker than most large-city detectives she’d ever worked with. He ran a well-oiled machine and she respected him for that.

  She glanced at the wall clock. It was after nine. She saw the town lights click on as if falling dominos triggered their switches.

  She yawned and dropped onto the chair next to Lia’s bed. Waiting for something to crack in the case
was the hardest part of the job. The exciting part of the job happened once the perp was known and the hunt for them began in earnest...

  She was getting ahead of herself. Lia’s story could end happily in a matter of hours.

  She yawned again. The day had drained her. She would need her wits about her tomorrow if...

  Another possibility popped into her mind as she sat there watching the sleeping girl. Maybe the child had been abducted by her estranged father after killing Lia’s mother. The woman’s body might not have been discovered yet, thus the reason they’d had no Amber Alert. But if so, why had she been adrift on the ocean? Perhaps once Lia’s father realized what he’d done, he panicked and thought to make Lia disappear so it looked like a child abduction gone wrong.

  But why didn’t he just kill her and dump her body? Why would he put her into an inner tube on the ocean to die a horrid death? Was he punishing her for something?

  Jolene slid her phone from her jeans pocket, wanting to call Norris, but as she searched for the Cape James Police non-emergency number she decided to wait and talk to him tomorrow. She could share the theory tomorrow—if Lia’s parents weren’t found.

  Norris had enough on his mind right now.

  She inhaled and immediately longed for the fresh mountain air of Pennsylvania. The hospital room was cool but the air stale. Even the heavily salted air she breathed in while on the boat today would be better. Feeling restless, she rose and walked around the bed to where Lia’s swim suit lay on the table. She glanced at the officer sitting outside in the hall and saw his head drift toward his chest. She wished she could shut down as easily. Chase and Will and her other Marshal’s C.U.F.F. teammates were the same way. Maybe it was her X chromosomes which kept her mind whirling constantly. Well, she’d take two Xs over two sweaty balls any day.

  There were too many setups for Norris and his men to check out in a timely manner. The first forty-eight hours of any crime were crucial to gather evidence in order to solve it quickly. They needed help.

  Of course, she was willing, but U.S. Marshals didn’t get involved with kidnappings of the general public, unless asked. Tomorrow Norris would need to contact the state police, if he hadn’t already. And if any evidence was found or there was reason to believe Lia was brought to Virginia across state lines then the Feds would get involved. She knew Norris didn’t want to give up this case to anyone.

  She dialed Will’s number, knowing she’d rest easier if she had her boss’ permission to help Norris.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Chief, wake up.”

  Norris swatted at the hand that gripped his shoulder and shook him from a deep sleep.

  “Officer Pickett, you better have a damn good reason to wake me.” A beam of light from the hallway outside his office cut across his chest and his watch. “I slept maybe forty minutes,” he grumbled, holding up his arm and peering at the face of the watch he received from his father the day he graduated from the police academy. His mother hadn’t come to the event, but then she hadn’t come to his welcome home party after his stint in the Army. He hadn’t cared then and he still didn’t care.

  “Then you had your forty winks.” Pickett flipped the light switch and Norris growled his frustration at the fluorescent glare blinding his vision.

  “Ted found something in the cold case files online,” Pickett stated, ignoring Norris’ foul mood. Or maybe he was used to it by now. “He remembered a baby with similar features who went missing nine months ago from the Richmond area. By features, I mean hair and eye color and a birthmark on the inside of the left leg.”

  Norris picked up on the trepidation in the deputy’s voice. He shot up to a sitting position and dropped his stocking feet to the cool vinyl floor. He wiped the grit from his tired eyes and then stared up at Pickett. “He knows where the girl’s parents are?”

  The young officer hesitated. “He thinks so.”

  “You disagree with him?”

  “I have reservations.”

  When his deputy’s gaze shot toward the door, uneasiness pricked Norris’ gut. There was something Pickett wasn’t telling him along with the something he was. “Where is he?”

  “He’s in the den.”

  “Okay. Get me some fresh coffee.” Norris reached for his shoes. “I’ll be right there.”

  Pickett did a quick check of the hallway before stepping outside the office.

  Norris sighed. He would lay odds his deputy hadn’t told Ted he’d be contacting Norris.

  He stood and stretched his back before reaching for the shirt hanging on the back of a nearby chair. If Ted were right about the missing child, maybe she would be picked up and the case closed. If so, he would ask Jolene Martinez to join him for a late dinner. They could celebrate jobs well done. And afterwards...

  The memory of the swell of Jolene’s ripe breasts above her sarong as she stood next to him in the cabin’s tight quarters stole his breath. At the time, he’d wanted to peel her shawl away from her body and feel the weight of her breasts in his hands.

  The squeal of the dispatcher’s mike caused Norris to blink the image from his mind. He yanked on his shirt and focused on the case.

  He hoped his senior officer was right. It didn’t matter to him that the man who thought he should’ve been crowned chief of police by the town’s counsel had unearthed the girl’s identity. Ted would likely crow from the rooftop that he was the hero in this story, even though Jolene was the one who’d rescued the child. What mattered was the little girl would be reunited with her parents.

  There still was plenty of case to unravel, such as how the girl ended up in the water and who put her there? To Ted, learning these answers would be grunt work. Work below his status of second in charge. That was a huge difference between them: Grunt work was what Norris lived for.

  Leaving his shirt unbuttoned for the moment, Norris stalked into the open office his deputies shared. As he approached Ted Beltz, Ted hung up the phone.

  “I heard you solved the case,” Norris said.

  “I did.”

  Ted’s shitty grin could only be labeled smug. He handed off the file in his hand.

  “I recalled reading an Amber Alert a few months back.”

  “Nine months.” Norris read the date on the paper Ted had inserted into their file jacket.

  “Yeah. September fifth of last year. It was Labor Day weekend. You were here then.”

  Norris slid his gaze off the page and toward Ted. Yeah. At that point he had been here for a whole three weeks. His chair hadn’t had his ass imprint by then since he was so freaking busy settling into the job and a new house. Ted expected him to recall a case that hadn’t been in their jurisdiction? “Your point?”

  Ted’s expression remained self-righteous. He lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug.

  “Nothing, Chief.”

  He’d rather the man liked him, but he could live with the fact he didn’t as long as he did his job and showed him respect in front of his fellow officers.

  Ted pointed to the file. “The Burgess baby, Abigail, went missing from her family’s Richmond suburban home while a holiday picnic took place in their backyard. Someone walked in the unlocked front door and snatched her out of her crib, sight unseen.”

  “Okay.” Norris remained silent for a minute while he read down over the notes provided by the local and state police officers who had worked the case before it was handed off to the FBI. The child belonged to Darren and Bonnie Burgess, a happily married working couple of average income. Baby snatching for ransom had been scratched off the scenario list by the investigation team, as was vengeance by a jilted lover. The couple, married for five years, had one other child, a son, Lonnie, age four. Until that day, the Burgesses had the American dream going on, Norris thought sorrowfully.

  “Good.” Norris read the next page. “The parents had her finger and feet stamped and a DNA sample was included with the collected evidence. See how much of the evidence kit is available digitally, specifically the fin
gerprints and footprints. Let’s get them and compare them to our girl. If we have enough matching markers, we’ll request DNA testing.”

  “All that might not be necessary,” Ted responded.

  Norris’ jaw tightened. He knew what was coming before he asked and pressure thumped against his temples. “Don’t tell me you called the parents of this missing child?”

  “Yeah. I just hung-up with the father. They should be here in about an hour to do a positive ID.”

  “Fuck it, Ted.” Norris slapped the file closed.

  Coffee sloshed over the lip of Pickett’s cup and he cringed. “Owww.” He set the cup down on the edge of a desk and flung his hand in the air, sending droplets spiraling toward the floor.

  Larry turned to watch them and his chair’s moan fill the dead silence cloaking the room.

  “What?” Ted looked up at Norris resentfully. “You’re pissed because I solved the case.”

  Norris’ jaw locked, trapping additional choice words. How could Beltz, an experienced officer of fifteen years, be so stupid? He stepped forward, crowding Ted, and peered down at him.

  “This isn’t about me or the problem you have accepting I’m in charge here. Get that straight.” He pushed his index finger against the manila folder. “What happens if our girl isn’t their daughter? You’ll tear the hearts out of the family again. Every step they’ve conquered toward healing will be lost.”

  “She has to be theirs.”

  Norris narrowed his eyes. “Why? Because you said so?”

  “She has a birth mark on the inside of her left leg, same as the missing baby.”

  “Get your head out of your ass, Ted. A lot of kids have birthmarks. There are reasons we have protocols in place to identify and notify next of kin.” As a policeman, Norris had learned the importance of self-control. He put the desk between them before he punched the man’s self-righteous smile right off his burly face. Didn’t Ted realize the damage he could have done?

  Several phone lines rang at once. Larry grabbed one.

  Norris opened the file jacket and zeroed in on the name he needed. “Pickett, get me special agent, Kyle Carter on the phone. He’s with the Richmond office.” He turned to hand the file to the deputy and saw that Pickett held out a phone receiver toward him. Apparently Pickett had answered the second line.