Tainted Love

by Stacy Claflin

  “Right.” Jess kissed her cheek. “So, I need you to watch Sammy and Daisy for me while I do that. If it’s time, I’ll come back with the baby. If it isn’t, then I’ll be back and have to go back to the doctor later.”

  Willow nodded again.

  “You okay if I go? You don’t need anything?”

  “Nope.”

  “There’s some food ready in the fridge if anyone gets hungry. Just take what you need if I’m gone a while.”

  “’Kay.”

  “Love you.”

  “You, too.” Willow grabbed a different marker and didn’t look up from her page.

  Jess gave her another kiss, left the house, then double-checked the lock before starting the car. It was nice to have some time to herself, but she couldn’t help worrying about the kids while she was gone. Willow was a great little mom to her siblings, so everything would be fine. She was the most responsible almost-eight-year-old Jess had ever met. She’d make a good actual mom someday.

  Once the car was warmed up—it was getting to the point where it needed babying—Jess backed up. She stared at the little house surrounded by woods. Would she be returning with a new baby in a few hours?

  A warmth spread through her, and she had a good feeling. This was going to be her day. Maybe she’d even get the first baby she attempted. She’d never been that lucky before. Even as easy as it had been to take Sammy over a year ago—his DNA supplier had leaped across the park to her older kids, leaving him right next to her—Jess had already had three failed attempts.

  No matter how you went about it, having a baby was not easy. Especially not like this. But it was worth it in the end. There wasn’t anything like holding her sweet babies right after she got them.

  She triple-checked the address in the GPS, then headed down the gravel driveway, which led to a dirt road. Then finally pavement. Sometimes it was a pain living off the beaten path, but it kept them from dealing with nosy neighbors or anyone ever accidentally finding them.

  The drive was pretty quick, as it was early enough in the day to miss any traffic issues. She arrived at the beach and looked around. Hardly anyone there. Hopefully, the baby would be there. The mom hadn’t posted any social media updates indicating an outing to the shore that day. But maybe she’d just arrived. Didn’t matter either way. This was only one of three potential babies. She still had a good feeling about returning home with a bundle of joy.

  Jess slid on her long red wig and added her signature floppy hat and big sunglasses. At least nobody would question the hat and sunglasses at the beach. It was overcast, but still bright. The kind of day people got sunburned because they didn’t bother with sunscreen and didn’t realize how many of the sun’s rays were actually bouncing off the water.

  After double-checking her appearance, she slid out of the car and quickly adjusted the fake belly. Once everything was perfect, she trekked over the grassy hill until she came to the sandy, rocky shore. Lazy waves splashed, and a toddler sat burying her legs in the sand while her mom fussed over a baby in one of those wrap things.

  It was hard to tell from the distance, but it looked like her woman. If not, these people would do. The baby looked small enough—not that she needed a newborn. Just one young enough that wouldn’t make Willow start asking questions. She was getting smarter by the day, and Jess couldn’t placate her with pat answers anymore.

  She made her way over and stopped to say hi to the toddler first. The little girl giggled and said she was a mermaid, pointing to the wet sand over her legs that was supposed to be a tail.

  “Wow, I’ve never met a real mermaid before.” Jess smiled widely then headed for the mom, who was glued to her phone. “How’d you manage a mermaid for a daughter?”

  “Huh?” The woman looked up. “Oh, yeah. She’s obsessed.”

  “How old’s the little one?” Jess nodded to the baby, mentally planning how to get her with the challenge of being attached to the mom.

  “Seven weeks.” She smiled. “When are you due?”

  Jess put her hands on her back and gave a little groan. “Today, actually. I’m hoping that walking around will help kick things into gear, you know?”

  “Good luck with that. Hasn’t worked for me. I tried everything both times, and each time they came two weeks late.”

  “So the second one doesn’t come earlier?”

  “Not for me.” The woman turned back to her phone.

  “See you around.” Jess turned around and walked back the way she came, stopping when she reached the little girl again. She squatted and whispered, “Have you played in the water yet? It’s the perfect day for it.”

  “Mama said I can’t.” She patted her ‘tail’ and added more sand.

  “It isn’t that bad.”

  The toddler gave her a quizzical expression.

  “Really. The water’s so calm, you’d easily be able to find starfish and sand dollars. Have you ever seen those before?”

  “Yep.”

  “You should go look.”

  The mom was staring at Jess, her head tilted. Probably didn’t trust her. Everyone was so distrusting these days.

  Jess started to rise. “You really should go look. I heard there are mermaids out there on days like this.”

  The little girl snapped her attention to Jess. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’d look, but I can’t go in the water right now.” Jess started to walk away, but gave the toddler an encouraging expression.

  She didn’t head for the water, but did stare at it with a conflicted expression.

  Jess held back a smile and silently willed the girl to go. Then she could make her move. Get the baby and get out of there.

  The mom was still watching Jess.

  She put her hands back around her waist and trudged toward the water. That might be all the encouragement the girl would need to go looking for mermaids. Distract the kid, who would distract the mom. It was all Jess needed to make her move.

  But the kid didn’t budge. Just sat there patting down the sand over her legs.

  Jess shoved aside her frustration. She just needed to think of something, anything, that would work. Maybe she could convince the little girl to run off to the playground without telling her mom. Or to the tall logs near the docks. Then Jess could offer to hold the baby while Mom rushed off to help the toddler.

  It had worked so well with getting Sammy. Surely, it’d work now. A seven-week-old would be the perfect addition to her family.

  Jess made a dramatic production of walking along the shoreline, grasping her back and rubbing her belly. The child hadn’t budged, but the mom was now closer to her, going back and forth between watching Jess and interacting with her phone.

  Maybe this wasn’t her lucky day, after all. Or maybe this was the wrong baby. She’d give it one more try before moving to the next one.

  Jess wandered back over to them. She smiled at the mom. “Still nothing.”

  “Probably isn’t time yet.” She gave an obviously forced smile.

  “I’m determined to have this baby on the due date.”

  “Like I said, good luck with that.”

  Jess turned to the little girl. “I think I saw a mermaid in the water.”

  Her eyes lit up. “You did?”

  The mom’s nostrils flared. “Come on, Maddie. We’re leaving.”

  “But, Mommy!”

  “Now.” She flung the sandy toys into the diaper bag, grabbed the child, and stormed toward the parking lot with the girl on her hip.

  Jess crossed her arms. So much for that.

  Time to try again.

  Worry

  Nick slammed his phone on the desk. Every time he called Ava, the call went straight to voicemail. She should’ve been out of school, which meant she needed to answer his calls. That was part of the deal to keep the device. And he needed to make sure she’d gotten his texts about Mason be
ing out. She hadn’t responded to any of them.

  Then he checked on the officer posted at her school. She hadn’t gotten on the bus. He’d already reported it, but it hadn’t made it to Nick’s desk. After vowing to find out who was responsible for that mess-up, he called the school to make sure she had even shown up that day.

  “Let me check the records.” Typing sounded on the other side of the phone. “Yes, she was at all of her classes, but I see that she didn’t show up at the tryouts for the play.”

  “She was going to try out for a play?”

  “According to this. She’d signed up to try out after school today.”

  “There isn’t anywhere she’d be? Like, detention?”

  “No. I’m sorry, Captain Fleshman.”

  “Call me if you hear from her.”

  “Of course.”

  “Thanks.” Nick ended the call and tugged on his hair. Assuming she wasn’t in a ditch somewhere—which was a lot better than he was actually picturing—he would give her the lecture of a lifetime. Probably take away phone privileges.

  Unfortunately, with Mason out on bail, chances were she was with him and his worst fears were likely to be reality.

  He’d sent every free officer out to look for him, but so far, nobody had seen a thing.

  It was time for him to get out there. Being captain, he was usually expected to be at the station, but this was one of those times that called for him to be out in the field. No way was he going to sit this one out now that Ava had missed her afterschool tryout.

  He gathered his things and updated everyone on the situation, then grabbed the first officer he saw to join him.

  “Me, sir?” Chang asked.

  They’d been at odds for some time, and that was undoubtedly why the other man was leaving the force soon. Alex would be a much more pleasant day shift replacement. “Yeah. Come on.”

  Chang followed Nick to his Mustang then they hit the street. He asked questions about Ava and Mason as Nick drove.

  The first place he went was the school. Neither of them was anywhere in sight. Then he headed for the coffee shop where he’d arrested the little pervert. But they weren’t in there, either.

  He told Chang to call it in and see if there were any new updates.

  “None, Captain.”

  Nick frowned. With so many on the lookout, someone had to see something. But it was anyone’s guess where Mason would take Ava. Could be anywhere, but he didn’t have the advantage of being from around the area. It was a small enough town, though growing, and most everyone on the force had grown up here.

  His stomach churned acid. It lurched. His chest tightened.

  He wanted to hunt down the person who had posted Mason’s bail. Who would do such a thing? His attorney? Or did the kid actually have a girlfriend? But if that were the case, why would she be helping him with Ava? Either the girlfriend was as twisted as Mason, or she had no clue what he was actually doing.

  Nick had seen enough cases of male-female criminal teams to know it was a possibility the kid had found someone crazy enough to work with him to hunt down Ava and help him to finish what he’d started more than a year earlier.

  “You okay, Captain?” Chang’s voice pulled Nick from his thoughts.

  He realized his knuckles were turning white from squeezing the steering wheel. “I’ll be okay once I know my daughter’s safe.”

  “Can you think of anywhere else she might be?”

  “If I could, don’t you think I’d have looked?”

  “I’m just thinking, your daughter is tough. And when I interviewed the kid, he wasn’t all that bright. It wouldn’t surprise me if she took control of the situation and convinced him to go somewhere she’d have the upper hand.”

  Nick stopped at a light and turned to him. “You really think so?”

  “Yeah. I’m not saying Cooper isn’t dangerous, but your daughter could easily work him. Turn the situation to her advantage. She got away from him the first time he assaulted her, didn’t she? When they were back East with your ex?”

  “That’s true, but I don’t trust Mason. He traveled all the way here just for Ava. No other purpose.”

  “And his dad didn’t say anything when you went to interview him?”

  “I should’ve pushed him harder. Dave kept saying he hadn’t talked to Mason since his birthday. Then I found out his birthday was four days ago.”

  “He’s in on it. Want to go back to the prison and interrogate him? I’ll call and let them know we’re on our way.”

  Nick’s heart pumped harder. He’d love nothing more than to grab Dave by the collar and choke him, but interrogating him would have to do. “Let’s do that. Thanks.”

  “Don’t thank me until his kid is behind bars again and your daughter’s safe.”

  Nick turned down a side street and headed for the freeway. He was going to the penitentiary for the second time that day.

  Trap

  Ava sat across from Mason and glared at him. “I want proof that Hanna’s okay.”

  He shoved a white paper cup in front of her. “I don’t have her. How am I supposed to do that?”

  She balled her fists and leaned over the table. “Find a way! You have someone watching her. The dude who was going to act if you didn’t contact him.”

  “Her,” Mason corrected. “And she already left.”

  “Get me proof!”

  He narrowed his eyes. “You don’t get to call the shots!”

  “If you want me to hear you out, I do. Show me she’s safe, and you have my attention.”

  Mason muttered something under his breath.

  “What was that?”

  “You’re supposed to be shaking in your boots, not ordering me around. You don’t seem to get how this is going to go.”

  “I only came here to protect my sister. You don’t convince me she’s safe, we don’t have a deal.”

  “That’s not what we agreed on.”

  “I’ll scream. Everyone will turn and look. Some people are bound to recognize me as the police captain’s daughter.”

  He leaned back and folded his arms. “I’ll call the chick. Then the subject is dropped. Got it? You can ask my friend if she’s okay.”

  “I said proof. A picture of her getting on the bus or safe at my grandparents’ house. Something like that.”

  Mason pulled out his phone. “Fine. Then you’re doing what I say.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Drink your coffee.”

  She eyed it. “What’d you spike it with?”

  He glared at her. “Nothing. I don’t have a lot of money and I don’t want it to go to waste.”

  Ava bit back a sarcastic comment and brought the cup to her mouth, but she didn’t sip it. She took a deep breath but didn’t smell anything weird. Not that it meant anything. Plenty of drugs were odorless.

  “You got proof the brat’s fine?” Mason said into the phone.

  She kicked him for calling Hanna a brat.

  He knitted his brows together, giving her a frightening look that sent an icy chill down her spine. His eyes seemed hollow, empty. Like he lacked a soul.

  A minute later, he ended the call then showed her his screen. A photo of Hanna lined up at her school bus.

  Her stomach twisted. It creeped her out that someone was watching her nine-year-old sister. Someone working with or for Mason.

  “Happy?”

  Not being stuck here with you. She gave a slight nod. “What do you want from me?”

  “I think you know.” He nodded to her drink. “You drank that yet?”

  “It’s delicious,” she lied. “Why am I here?”

  “You really don’t know?”

  “Would I keep asking if I did?”

  They stared each other down before he spoke. “You know how I feel about you.”

  She flashed back to him gropi
ng her at the Halloween party. “You really should get help for that.”

  “Why? You so clearly feel the same way.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Say what?”

  “Don’t try to deny it.”

  “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I have a boyfriend.”

  “The guy you aren’t speaking to?” Mason leaned forward.

  Her stomach dropped. He knew about that? She struggled to find her voice. “You’re wrong. And even if that were true, what makes you think I’d want you?”

  “You never pressed charges. You had the chance, but you didn’t do it.”

  The coffee shop seemed to shrink around her, press on her. “Because I thought it was a mistake! That you were high on something. I just didn’t want to ruin your life. A charge like that won’t go away. That was what I was thinking. I was trying to be nice!”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “So, you do like me.”

  “I was trying to protect my brother!”

  “Really?” He rested his chin on his palm. “We didn’t know we were related back then. Remember?”

  “You were about to become my stepbrother, Mason. I’ve always thought of you as a brother. That’s it. Nothing more. Don’t you realize how gross it is for brothers and sisters to hook up?”

  “Half-siblings. Only half.”

  Ava ran her fingers through her hair. It would take a miracle to get through to him.

  Think!

  She turned her head toward the door. “Is that my dad?”

  “What?” Mason spun around.

  Ava swapped their drinks then brought his up to her mouth like she was sipping it.

  He turned back and glared at her. “I don’t see him.”

  She glanced at the door. “My mistake. That guy looked like him.”

  “The Samoan dude?”

  “No. The other one. But seriously, can I go? I met you. We talked. I’m late for a play tryout.”

  “I suppose you’re going to blame that on me, just like missing detention?”

  Ava set the cup down. “Well, it isn’t anyone else’s fault.”

  His face reddened. “I don’t want to spend any more time here. This is probably the first place your dad would look.”