His Case, Her Baby

by Cassidy, Carla

  She swiveled the rocker around to face him, and his heart nearly broke. She clutched to her chest a pink teddy bear and her tired eyes held all the sorrow of the universe.

  “Nothing?” she said, her voice a mere whisper as she motioned him into an overstuffed chair in the corner.

  “We’re working on getting an identification from her fingerprints. Once we know who she is and where she’s from we’ll be much closer to finding Lilly.” He sat in the chair, wishing he had more for her.

  She rocked for a moment, the chair squeaking slightly with each back-and-forth motion. “Despite what she did, she didn’t deserve to die that way,” she finally said. She stopped rocking and her eyes were midnight-blue as she looked at him. “It was awful. I can’t get the imagine of her on the floor out of my head.”

  “I know. I’m sorry you saw it,” he replied.

  “You look exhausted. You shouldn’t be here. You should be home getting some sleep,” she said.

  “I didn’t want to go home before stopping by here to talk to you,” he replied.

  She turned and looked back out the window, the rocking chair once again creaking with her movement. His eyes felt gritty with lack of sleep, and the longer he sat in the chair the heavier his body became.

  This felt familiar, this intense desire to fix things, to somehow make sense of tragedy, the need to comfort a woman’s pain.

  “I had a child once.” The words fell out of his mouth before he’d realized they were even in his thoughts. She turned once again to look at him, a quizzical and cautious look in her eyes.

  “You said had,” she said softly.

  He nodded. “Her name was Kelly. My wife used to like to call her Kelly belly.” Emotion pressed tight against his chest. He hadn’t intended to talk about this, had spent the last five years of his life trying not to think about it. “She was two when we lost her.”

  He stared past her and out the window, but in his mind’s eye he saw a chubby little girl with laughing brown eyes and tousled dark curls. The pain he’d once felt when thinking about Kelly wasn’t as sharp as it had been, although he would always ache for the child he’d lost.

  “What happened?” Peyton’s voice pulled him back to the present.

  “I was at work when it happened. My wife, Julie, had taken Kelly out in the front yard to play. Kelly was already a handful. She never talked if she could sing, never walked if she could run.” He felt the smile that curved his lips for just a moment and then felt it fall away.

  “It happened in the split second of a heartbeat,” he continued. “Julie looked away, Kelly took off running and the driver in the car coming down the street never saw her.”

  He heard Peyton’s gasp and he smiled and shook his head. “She died instantly. Six months later, Julie left me. She couldn’t forgive herself even though I told her there was nothing to forgive, that it had been a tragic accident. But she told me she couldn’t look at me, that it was just too painful for her to be with me, and so we divorced.”

  “Oh, Tom, I’m so sorry.” She got up from the rocking chair and placed the teddy bear in the crib.

  He knew he should stand and go home, but the weariness that suddenly swept over him made any movement near impossible. “I didn’t tell you this to make you feel sorry for me,” he said as she walked closer to where he sat. “I just wanted you to know that I know what it’s like to miss a child.”

  To his surprise she sat on his lap, curled her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held tight.

  There was nothing sexual in the embrace—they were simply two parents grieving for what might be and what would never be.

  With the sweet scent of her hair in his head and the warmth of her arms around his neck, Tom closed his eyes and prayed that she would never know the finality of loss that he experienced every day of his life.

  Chapter 5

  “India Richards,” Tom said to Peyton that evening. He’d left her place that morning and had gone home to get some much-needed sleep and arrived back at her house a few minutes after five. “Does that name ring a bell?”

  Peyton shook her head. “That’s who she was?” She motioned him onto the sofa, glad to see he looked rested.

  Even with the drama and uncertainty in her life at the moment, she wasn’t oblivious to the fact that there was something crazy between them, a connection on some level she’d never felt before with another person.

  “Not only that, but she had a rap sheet as long as my arm,” he said as he eased down on the sofa cushion.

  “Seriously?” Peyton sat in the chair facing him and remembered how his arms had felt around her that morning, how somehow their pain had mingled together and become more tolerable.

  “Nothing violent. Three years ago she was charged with shoplifting and petty theft in Kansas City, also a prostitution charge there. She got off on probation each time, then apparently moved to Wichita and two years ago was charged with shoplifting once again.”

  “Wichita. So she might have seen me and Lilly there, possibly followed us here to Black Rock.” The thought of being singled out and stalked sent a chill up Peyton’s spine. “Do you know where she lived in Wichita?”

  “Last known address was on Grand Road.”

  Peyton frowned. “That’s clear on the other side of town, miles from where I lived.”

  “Maybe she saw you in a grocery store. Maybe you shared the same hairdresser or dental office. You could have run into her in a million places and not known it. Now that we know her name, we’re working with the authorities in Wichita to find out everything we can about her. Hopefully they can tell us who she associated with and from there we can figure out who might have had reason to kill her. In the meantime, news agencies are requesting anyone with information regarding India to contact my office or the authorities in Wichita. I’ve also sent Caleb to Wichita to do some investigating.”

  “So hopefully somebody will come forward with information that will lead us to Lilly,” she said.

  “That’s what we want, Peyton. That’s what everyone wants. Have you heard from Rick?”

  She nodded. “He’s been calling about every two hours to see if there’s any progress. He’s worried sick.”

  “He should be here with you,” Tom replied.

  She heard the faint edge of scorn in his voice and smiled. “To be perfectly honest, he wanted to drive out, but I discouraged him. There’s nothing he can do here but pace my living room floor and make me even more on edge than I already am. I don’t need him here.”

  It was a bit unsettling for her to realize she’d known Tom for less than a week and yet he was the one she wanted to be with her, to support her.

  She knew better than to trust her feelings where Tom was concerned. She was certain that it was the situation that had her feeling so close to him. After all, he was the man she was depending on to bring her baby home. The fact that he’d told her about his wife and baby girl had made her feel even closer to him.

  “Do you want some coffee or something?” she asked. She got up from the chair, needing to do something to take her mind off her growing feelings for a man she barely knew and the ticking of the clock racing down to another night without Lilly in her arms.

  “Coffee would be good,” he agreed.

  He followed her into the kitchen, where she busied herself making the coffee while he sat at the table. She’d been so strong through the day, but as the sun dipped in the western skies anxiety and grief began to build inside her. Like a scream waiting to be released.

  She poured the coffee and joined him at the table.

  “Now our goal is to try to retrace India’s footsteps before this all occurred. There’s obviously somebody else involved in the kidnapping,” Tom said. He took a sip of his coffee and eyed her over the rim of the cup. “Are you sure there’s nobody else from your past that might want to hurt you? Did you date anyone before Rick? Somebody who might not have been happy that you hooke
d up with Rick and had a baby?”

  “I only dated one other man before Rick. He was a waiter at one of the restaurants I worked at. We dated off and on for two years, then I met Rick.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Cliff Gunther, but I can’t imagine him having anything to do with this,” she protested, then frowned. “But, I also couldn’t imagine Kathy doing anything like this.”

  “When was the last time you saw him?” he asked.

  “Just before I moved here. I went to visit him at the restaurant where he worked and told him I was moving.”

  “What restaurant?” Tom asked.

  “Henry’s Italian Cuisine in Wichita.”

  At that moment Tom’s phone rang.

  Peyton immediately felt the tension that wafted off him. He shot her a glance, then rose from the table and carried the phone into the living room. She stared after him, fear piercing through her. Who was he talking to, and why had he felt the need to leave the room? Don’t let it be something terrible about Lilly, she prayed.

  Her heart thundered in her chest painfully fast, and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. Had somebody found Lilly? Had something bad happened? Was Lilly dead? The thoughts crashed through her brain, the kind of thoughts that no mother should ever have in her head. She only breathed again when Tom stepped back into the kitchen. “What is it? Has something happened?” she asked.

  “I’ve got to leave,” he replied, his features without expression.

  Peyton jumped up from her chair. “Tom, what’s happened?” The scream she’d been fighting against for the past two days rose up in the back of her throat. “Is Lilly dead?” The dreadful words yanked out of the very depths of her.

  “No. No!” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “That’s not what the phone call was about.”

  “Then what?” She stepped away from him. “I know it was about the case. You have to tell me.”

  He hesitated, the frown once again digging into his forehead. “We got a tip from a woman who says her neighbors have a new infant. They told the neighbor it’s an adopted baby, but the neighbor is suspicious. The couple lives in Laville, a little town about thirty minutes north of here.”

  “And you’re going there to check it out?” she asked. “Then I’m coming with you,” she said as he nodded.

  “Peyton, this could very well be a wild-goose chase,” he protested. “It could be nothing more than a waste of time.”

  “I have plenty of time to waste,” she replied. There was no way she wasn’t going to be in that car with him when he went to check it out. “Please don’t fight with me, Tom. I can either ride with you in your car or I’ll be following behind you in mine, but one way or another, I’m going along.”

  “I don’t want you getting your hopes up,” he said moments later as he backed out of her driveway. She’d brought along Lilly’s car seat, which was now buckled into the back of the patrol car. “It’s possible we’re going to get a lot of tips that are going to be without merit.”

  “And I’ll be hopeful with each tip that comes in,” she replied. “I don’t know how to be anything else.”

  They drove for a few minutes in silence. Even though Peyton knew he was right, that she was a fool to get her hopes up, she couldn’t help the wild hope that filled her at the possibility that they could be driving to a sweet reunion with her baby.

  She had to continue to believe that Lilly was going to be returned to her safe and sound. Any other thought was too horrible to consider.

  “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met,” he said, breaking the silence. “No matter what happens, I want you to know that I admire the way you’ve handled yourself through all this.”

  “Blame it on my childhood. Surviving that took a healthy dose of strength.” She stared out the side window, infused with painful memories of her past. “It’s ironic. My mother did everything wrong to assure that I would survive my youth. I’ve tried to do everything right, and look where we are.”

  “You can’t blame yourself for what’s happened with Lilly.”

  “I don’t.” It was true. Peyton didn’t blame herself. “I trusted a woman I thought was a friend. I had no way of knowing she wasn’t who she presented herself to be. If I blame myself for that then I’ll never trust anyone in my life again.”

  “And that would be the real tragedy in all this,” he replied.

  “Why haven’t you remarried, Tom?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine that it had been for lack of female interest.

  He was hot, and more than that he seemed to be kind and sensitive. He was the total package, and she couldn’t believe that all the single women in Black Rock hadn’t noticed.

  “Just not interested,” he replied. “Until the accident it was pretty good. Sure, Julie and I had some issues, no marriage is perfect, but for the most part it was all pretty good. I just don’t want to do it again. It’s as simple as that.”

  “So, you don’t believe in second chances at happiness?”

  He shot her a quick glance. “I can be happy and single. Besides, I’ve got a big family, it’s not like I’ll ever be lonely.” He turned off the main highway and onto a county road.

  “I want to be married,” she replied. “I feel like I’ve been alone all my life and I can’t wait to find that special man to share the rest of my life with me.”

  They fell silent once again, and the rise of anxiety pressed tight against Peyton’s chest. She needed Lilly. She couldn’t imagine having to spend the rest of her life with the kind of grief that Tom lived with, with the ache of a child lost forever.

  As they got closer to the address Tom had been given, he felt Peyton’s hope fill the car, and he was sorry she was with him, afraid that if the infant wasn’t Lilly then the composure that Peyton had maintained for so long would finally crack.

  He’d been a fool to let her come along. He shouldn’t have told her what the phone call had been about. This wasn’t just about finding out if Lilly was there; it was possible they were going to the home of India’s murderer. Having Peyton along with him was not only unprofessional, but it could also be dangerous.

  He glanced over where she stared out the window. There was no question that he found her more attractive than he’d found any woman in years. Her blond hair fell to her shoulders in a soft wave, and even the worry that furrowed her brow couldn’t diminish her beauty.

  He was compromising his professional ethics by allowing her to be with him and wondered why he was having such a problem keeping his personal feelings out of this case.

  He’d always found it easy to maintain a professional distance, an emotional detachment on the cases he worked as sheriff. In the years he’d been in charge he’d had to occasionally arrest people he thought of as friends, he’d had to investigate neighbors and never had he allowed his personal feelings about the matter get in the way of his duty.

  Maybe it was because this case was about Lilly. Maybe it was impossible to separate himself from Peyton’s emotions because in many ways they were so close to his own.

  He tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he turned down a dirt road that would take him to the farmhouse they sought.

  He was familiar with the area, as it was part of his jurisdiction, although he didn’t know the people who lived in the particular house where they were going.

  “Peyton, you have to wait in the car while I check it out,” he said. “That’s not a suggestion, it’s a command. You can’t forget that somebody murdered India and we don’t know if one of the people in this farmhouse is responsible for her death. I need you to stay in the car to assure your own personal safety, but more importantly it might assure Lilly’s personal safety if she’s in there.”

  She looked at him with her amazing blue eyes and offered him a nervous half smile. “I won’t do anything to jeopardize Lilly’s safety. As difficult as it will be for me, I’ll wait in the car until you tell me to get out.”

  He nodded. “I appreciate your coop
eration.”

  She released a small sigh. “I want it to be her so badly I feel sick.”

  He fought the impulse to reach over and cover her hand with his. Somehow he had to stop wanting to touch her all the time. Eventually this case would end, hopefully with a happy ending, and she could move on with her life and find a man who wanted to marry and spend forever with her.

  He definitely wasn’t that man.

  He pulled to the side of the road and shut off the engine. “What are you doing?” Peyton asked.

  “Benjamin is meeting me here. I didn’t want to go in without backup,” he replied. He could tell that this information frightened her.

  She needed to be frightened. There was no assurance that there wasn’t danger in coming here.

  By the time Benjamin pulled up behind them, Tom wasn’t sure whether it was her tension that filled the car or his own.

  He got out of the car and met his brother, who had gotten out of his own vehicle. “This might be nothing but a wild-goose chase,” he said to Benjamin. “Maybe a neighbor with a beef blowing a whistle on an innocent set of new adoptive parents.”

  Benjamin flashed Tom a tight smile. “Won’t be the first wild-goose chase we’ve shared.”

  “Be ready for anything. I don’t know what we’re walking into. Somebody put a six-inch blade into India Richards’s heart and it’s possible that somebody is in that house.”

  Benjamin nodded. “You watch my back, I’ll watch yours.”

  “Then let’s do it,” Tom said and got back into his car. He turned and looked at Peyton, whose eyes radiated electric blue with anxiety.

  “Promise me you won’t move from the car until I come out to you.”

  “I promise,” she said, her eyes shining earnestly. “Just hurry and tell me if she’s in there or not.”

  With her promise ringing in his ear, Tom started the car and turned into the long driveway that led to the house.

  It was a small home, and the deepening shadows of twilight couldn’t hide the look of neglect that clung to the place. Still, lights spilled from the front window and a beat-up pickup was parked in the front.