“It doesn’t look like anything has been dug through. We know she was here,” Sam pointed out.
“No, nothing seems out of place,” Becky agreed. “Wonder if Deanne had been here before and knew where things were? Or maybe she didn’t take any of Amy’s clothes. Did she baby-sit when you two went out for dinner?”
“No, we had Amy with us, but Amy wasn’t with Jessica the night of Adam Montgomery’s engagement party. Maybe Deanne watched Amy that night. I’ll check on that and let you know.”
They found pictures of Amy, and one of Deanne with Amy at the shelter. “Here you go, the two of them together.”
“I’ll add these to the Amber Alert. If you find anything else, give me a call.”
Sam wondered if anything aside from Amy was missing. He looked in Amy’s dresser to see if Deanne had emptied them. Surprisingly, they were as full as they had been a few nights ago. Meaning that other than the one outfit Amy wore, none of her clothing would be recognizable for the search.
After he closed up Jessica’s apartment Sam returned to the hospital—again with no news.
Chapter Eleven
Sam walked through the quiet hallways of the hospital. This smell had never been one of his favorite aspects of police work—filling out reports while waiting for accident victims to come to, waiting while drunks’ blood alcohol levels were tested, that pungent smell of antiseptic after his squad car had been cleaned out. He hadn’t missed that at all after moving to Detective for Vice and Narcotics investigations.
He sneaked into Jessica’s room, hoping not to disturb anyone. Lidia looked at him hopefully.
He shook his head and whispered, “Nothing yet. How’s Jessica?”
Lidia stood. “She woke once and asked about you. The nurse got her up to walk. She may be able to come home today.” Even at four in the morning, Sam could hear the teasing in his mother’s voice.
“Maybe they should keep her here, with the kidnapping, the stress…”
His mother shook her head. “She wants to get out so she can look for Amy. Any mother would be the same.”
“Which is exactly why she should stay in here where someone can take care of her and leave the searching to the professionals.” Sam watched Jessica for a moment, confused by his feelings.
“Try to be compassionate, Sam. Why don’t you sit down and rest while Jessica is asleep?”
Lulled by the soft noises of the monitors, Sam dozed in the institutional-style recliner. Jessica stirred, calling for Amy, and Sam felt like someone had kicked him in the gut. He wished he had better news to give her. She looked soft and vulnerable as she came out of her sleep.
“Morning.”
Jessica recognized him immediately and pulled herself up in the bed. “Hi. Did you find them?” She looked outside at the pink sunrise. “What time is it?”
“Almost six.” Sam looked down and shook his head, not wanting to answer her primary question. “Did Deanne mention to you that she’s moving?”
“Deanne? Moving?” Jessica asked, pushing herself to a sitting position. “When? Where?”
“Next week. She left a key with her neighbors to let the movers in to pack and move her. We’ll contact them in the morning to see if they have an address for us. I’m guessing it’s not local. That could be her destination.”
Jessica raised the head of the bed and shifted again with an unconscious grimace of pain. “I can’t believe Deanne would do this.”
She tapped her tray, staring right at him. “Sam, where do we start looking?”
He took her by the shoulders. “Oh no you don’t. You’re going to lie back down and rest. The police are doing everything possible for Amy right now.”
Jessica stared at him for a moment, worrying her lip between her teeth. “Deanne really took my little girl? She’s really gone?”
Sam pulled his attention away from her lips and looked Jessica in the eyes. She’d known instinctively that something was wrong long before anyone else had thought to suspect. Why was she doubting the facts now? “It looks like it. We wish she’d call with a good explanation. Family emergency, something. We’ll know more when we talk to the director of the shelter in the morning.”
“Someone is there all night,” Jessica said impatiently.
“The officer questioned them while I was here earlier, but the night staff didn’t know anything more than that Deanne called in sick this morning. Apparently they took her at her word.”
“I can’t believe this.” Jessica covered her eyes and dropped back into the bed.
Sam stepped closer. “Don’t do that, you make me nervous.”
Jessica looked at him, wide-eyed innocence. “Don’t do what?”
“Fall back against the bed,” he growled, feeling an unwelcome sense of protectiveness.
“I’m fine. The fusion is complete. The ruptured disk is cleaned out. Don’t worry about me. It’s Amy that needs help.”
He looked at her skeptically. “I haven’t forgotten that, trust me. Just don’t push yourself too fast, okay?”
“Kinda bossy, aren’t you?”
Sam couldn’t tell if she was flirting or serious. “I’m concerned about you. With Amy’s situation, I know you’re going to be tempted to get moving, but you need to take it easy.”
“So you’re a doctor now?”
His mother laughed. “I do believe you’ve met your match, Sammy. It looks like Jessica is feeling better. I’m going to go home, but I’ll see you both later.”
“Thank you so much for staying here overnight, Lidia. It was very comforting to know you were watching over me.” She sat up again, waiting for Lidia to come close enough for a hug.
“I wasn’t the only one watching over you, Jessica, and God’s watching over Amy, too.” His mother offered her hand. “Don’t you lean so far—we’ll hug later. And remember, we have a room ready for you whenever the doctor releases you.”
“Thanks, but—”
Lidia patted Jessica’s hand. “Don’t make a decision yet, the offer stands. Sam wouldn’t dare let you go home alone.”
Sam didn’t need his mother’s prompting; he had no intention of leaving Jessica’s side unless his parents were there to make sure she didn’t go anywhere. “Have a good day, Mom.”
Conversation was awkward for a while after his mother left and Sam felt like the unwanted bodyguard. It worried him that Jessica had moved beyond the shock to the reactive stage.
“What will we do next?” Jessica ran her hand through her wavy brown hair, and Sam noticed she wasn’t wearing any rings. He hadn’t noticed any the other night at dinner either, come to think of it. Did that mean she was ready to move on after losing her husband?
“We won’t do anything unless instructed to do so. The police have issued an Amber Alert, Detective Hilliard is looking into Deanne’s past, and the investigation won’t let up until we find her.”
“Surely you don’t expect me to just sit and wait?” The look on her face told Sam she was dead serious.
“If I have to hold you down myself, I will.” Sam hoped she didn’t push the limits. He didn’t want to create more tension between them. “I can understand your frustration, but the fact remains, we don’t know where to start looking yet. That’s what Becky’s investigating.”
The day shift had come on duty and a new nurse entered the room to check on Jessica. Sam took advantage of the chance to go downstairs for a bottle of soda with a high dose of caffeine. Two all-nighters in one week was more than he was used to.
By the time Sam returned, several media people had found Jessica’s room.
Jessica held her hands in front of her face as a camera flashed. “No, I don’t have anything to say right now.”
A reporter asked how she had chosen Deanne Jones to take care of her child, and suddenly Sam realized he’d grilled Jessica much the same way. No wonder she’d been offended. Sam tried to push into the room, but Colleen Montgomery had already taken the upper hand.
“Jessica Math
ers has just been through surgery. She asked for privacy, and all reporters will leave now. And I’ll take that roll of film.” Jake’s younger sister held out her hand, and the reporter handed her the film, along with sharing a few choice words.
Then the room emptied as if the police chief had just flashed his badge.
Sam laughed as the unauthorized guests fled. “All those years playing cops and robbers with Jake, Brendan and me served you well, Colleen. I couldn’t have done it better myself.”
“Hey there, Sammy… I thought this was Becky’s case.”
“It is. I’m here to—”
“—make sure I stay out of their way,” Jessica finished.
Sam looked at Jessica and smiled. “That’s not true.”
Colleen glanced from one to the other and smiled softly. “Yeah, I get it. It’s personal. I thought I saw you two out on the terrace at Adam’s engagement party.”
Jessica turned red and Sam just shook his head. “If you’re here in an official capacity, Colleen, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Colleen laughed. “Better watch it, I’m not done writing the feature for the bachelor auction, Sammy. Be nice to me, or I’ll have you married off by the end of the month.”
“We could only hope,” said Susan Carter, laughing as she entered the room.
An uncomfortable hush replaced the laughter as Susan stepped to the side of the bed. “I heard the news this morning and just about fainted, Jessica. I’m so sorry.” Susan took hold of Jessica’s hand and held on to it. “I didn’t even question it when I got the message that Amy was sick.”
“It’s hard to believe this is happening.”
Sam glanced at his watch. It had been almost twenty-four hours since Deanne had made her move. “I’m glad you’re here, Susan. We wanted to talk to you.”
Susan turned. “Sure, whatever I can do to help. I can’t believe Deanne could do this. There just has to be some mistake.”
Jessica’s eyes watered but she blinked the tears away. “We keep hoping that, too, but it doesn’t look promising. Now we just have to hope Deanne will come to her senses and bring Amy home.”
“Susan, obviously you had no clue that Deanne would do anything like this. Who did she report to, and what did she say when she called in yesterday?” Sam took out his notebook and turned the page.
“Deanne left a message with the front desk that Amy wasn’t feeling well. I wasn’t in yet. Deanne is supposed to be there at seven, and my hours are nine to six. She reports to me. I covered until the other caregiver arrived at eight-thirty.”
“Do you know where Deanne was when she called?”
Susan shook her head. “No, but we have caller ID. Maybe it’s still on the box.”
“Would you call and ask the receptionist not to touch it until an investigator looks at it? And if you have a chance to pull Deanne’s personnel file, I’m sure Detective Hilliard will want to look at it as well.”
“It’s in my office. I’ll have it ready.”
Sam picked up his cell phone and called Becky to see if the officer had checked for a number on the caller ID box the night before.
“No, but the bank just called in reference to the Amber Alert,” Becky informed him. “Deanne came into the bank yesterday morning to get cash. She had Amy with her. They’re checking her debit card and will call us if she uses it.”
Sam wished he could step into the hall, uncomfortable with the three sets of eyes and ears tuned in to his every word and nuance.
“How much money does she have in her account?” he asked as he turned away from the women.
“Enough to last her a while. She’ll have to dip into it sooner than later if she’s on the run.”
“How much cash did she get? Enough for plane fare?”
“Wouldn’t do her any good, she’d have to show her ID. She took eight hundred, so it will last her a while. I put an APB out on her car and have contacted state patrol in the surrounding states as well.”
He finished updating Becky and returned his attention to Jessica, careful not to interrupt Susan praying with the other two women. From the doorway Jessica looked terrified—more so than she had through any of his contact with her.
Sam waited until Colleen and Susan left to consider his next step. He closed the door so no one else could walk in and bother them. It was time they had a talk.
Chapter Twelve
“What are you doing?” Jessica watched the door close, then looked at Sam. The fine lines on his forehead seemed to have deepened since their dinner date.
“I don’t want any reporters or even friends listening in.” Sam closed the gap between the door and the bed, and her heart raced. “I want to make one thing clear, Jessica. I never meant to give you the impression that I felt you weren’t a good mother. As I heard the reporters asking you questions, I realized how something so easily said can be misconstrued. I think you misunderstood my questions at dinner the other night.”
Jessica wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m a little sensitive this week, I guess. I’ve been so consumed with myself that it’s no wonder people are questioning my decisions.” She closed her eyes and tears threatened again. “My comments must have made Deanne think she was justified in taking Amy. That she deserved a better mother.”
“Why do you say that?” Sam’s eyes were filled with tenderness and compassion, which elicited a war of emotions in Jessica.
She wanted to remember Sam as the cop determined to reveal the problems in her marriage, not as a sensitive, caring man whose presence made her heart pound.
She avoided Sam’s gentle gaze before realizing that staring at his broad chest wasn’t any wiser. It only made her wish she had someone to protect her and tell her nothing bad would ever happen to her again. No one, not even Samuel Vance, could make that kind of guarantee. Her head swirled with doubts. Should she really tell him? Or would that only make things worse?
“Well? What did you say to Deanne?” Sam’s inquisitive voice caught her off guard. She didn’t want to face him, yet she had nowhere else to go.
“We were friends, I thought I could trust her and share my frustrations with her. Maybe she misunderstood me.” Jessica tugged at the sheet, meticulously straightening and smoothing every inch of it over her legs.
Sam waited, then cleared his throat. “Go on.”
“The morning after we went to dinner, I told Deanne that Amy had been a pill.” Jessica could hardly think about it, let alone say the words aloud. “I know Amy didn’t mean to color on my papers, or spill her milk, and I didn’t mean…” The tears won. “I made lots of stupid comments, but I never really meant them. I was tired, and overwhelmed with being a single parent and dealing with this constant pain. I can’t go on without Amy.” Jessica heard the meal cart rattle past her room and figured her breakfast would be arriving soon. She would almost welcome an interruption to this conversation, although she was too worried about Amy to eat.
“We’ll find Amy,” Sam insisted. He took hold of her hand, and Jessica pulled herself up. Sam tentatively placed his other hand behind her shoulder blades to help her. “Careful.”
Jessica clicked the button for the pain medicine and waited for it to take the edge off. “How can you be so certain? She’s been gone almost twenty-four hours already.”
“I have faith.”
“And what happens when that fails you?” She already knew the answer to that one; she’d been living with it most of her life.
A hush descended on them as Jessica waited for his answer.
“You pray God will help you adjust, just like He did after your husband died. It wasn’t easy, I’m sure, but you’re making a happy life for you and Amy.”
“I was trying, anyway. Look where that got me.”
Sam let go of her and folded his arms across his chest. “You have to believe in order to know the truth.”
Jessica shook her head. “I’m not naive enough to believe that I can wish my daughter back and she’ll instan
tly appear.”
Sam paced the room. “You’re right about that. Bad things happen to everyone, even those who live seemingly perfect lives. But God allows everyone to be tested to see how strong our faith is. To show us His ultimate power.” He paused and looked at her. “God wants to answer our prayers. To give us our heart’s desire. But we have to believe He can and will do it.”
Jessica felt her heart racing. She wanted to believe in God, but every time she asked Him for help, bad things happened anyway. “Why are you so worried about me? I mean, are you just such a nice guy that you take care of everyone this way? Staying on duty all night, begging them to believe in God, praying for their salvation? Or do you feel you have to take care of me because your mother wants you to, or…”
The silence stretched between them, broken only by the muffled clamor in the hallway. “I think the reason fits into the ‘or’ category— It might possibly be…‘or’—” He stumbled over his words. He looked down at his feet, then seemed to study the fluids going through the IV. “It doesn’t make much sense…” He sat on the edge of the hospital bed and turned toward her.
Jessica touched his very handsome unshaven cheek and looked into his cocoa-brown eyes, feeling perfectly at ease. “What little you know about who I am should send you as far in the other direction as you can run.” Her hand brushed over his curly dark hair and came to rest behind his shoulder.
“Love defies logic, and in case you didn’t notice, I’m not running,” Sam replied.
Jessica fought to control her swirling emotions. Love? Was he claiming to love her?
She froze, not knowing what to say, then inched closer until her lips touched his. This kiss was as memorable as their first had been, under the romantic lighting at the Broadmoor Hotel, with that familiar element of emotional upheaval. Only this time the kiss was something she’d eagerly anticipated, almost as if it sealed a promise between them.
Jessica pushed herself away. What was she doing, kissing Sam like that when her daughter was missing? She had no business even thinking of romance right now. The notion of a commitment terrified her, especially to a man whose faith was obvious to anyone who could look past his badge. She recalled the day she’d read that article in the Colorado Springs Sentinel about the Christian Cop. This man’s double trouble, she thought.
Finding Amy Page 10
