Page 20

She scrolled through the pages, forcing herself to concentrate despite the bouncing SUV and the snow hammering the windshield and the emotions roiling inside her gut.

After a few minutes, Brody sighed. “What are you looking for?”

“I’m not sure. Nothing is popping out at me. I did see that the woman who was supposed to be my mother was named Andrea Brewer. Unfortunately, with this snow, I can’t connect to the internet to do a search for her. The documents I’m reading now, I downloaded earlier.”

“If you think that maybe she was somehow connected to your family, we’ve already checked that angle. There was nothing that connected Andrea to the Ellis family. She didn’t work with anyone in the family. Nor did she attend any of the same social events. As far as we can tell, she had never been inside the house before.”

“So how did she end up with me?” Jenna wondered.

“That’s the big question.” Brody slowed to round a curve. “Did she kidnap you to replace her child? Or was there another motive.”

Jenna tapped her index finger against her chin. “Or did someone else kidnap me? Did she save me?”

Despite the low lightning, she read the disbelief on his face. “That’s a stretch. But we still don’t know how she got to you. Your family was very protective.”

“Here’s my thought. The woman who died—the one who claimed to be my birth mother. Her daughter was four when she died.”

Brody nodded. “Yeah. And you were less than two.”

“She couldn’t have been my mother,” Jenna said. “But I wonder if we should try and discover who her real daughter was and how she died.”

Brody’s eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“We find out what happened to that little girl,” she continued. “Maybe we find out why this woman wanted to replace her with me. Or how she got me in the first place.”

He looked at the road. “I think you’re right. That’s a lead we need to chase. But not tonight.”

“Okay.” She rested her head against the headrest, keeping her gaze on his face. “I’m too tired to think much more anyway. But what do we do now? Before that guy figures out how to come after us again.”

“Or before whoever hired him decides to bring in another hitman.”

She shuddered, ice invading her blood. She’d never considered that.

Brody continued. “We call the police station with an update. Then we find a place to sleep for the night. In the morning, we need to get a different vehicle. Then we’re getting off the highway and heading west.”

She sat silently while Brody made the call. It took a couple of minutes before he was connected to another police officer. She listened to the deep voice coming through the SUV’s speakers.

“Officer Green will be fine. He’s off duty for the next two or three days to make sure his injury doesn’t become infected. But really, it was a minor scratch. Could have been much worse.”

“I’m glad.” Brody mentioned the suspect chasing them and where his car had wiped out.

“I’ll send police to the scene and contact the ambulance crew. No doubt they’ll want to stage nearby until they get the word that the scene is safe. We’ll also have to do traffic control. I don’t want other cars to come through. Are you safe?”

“We are for now,” Brody affirmed. “I think we’ll need to get a new vehicle and then continue to Illinois. We have to get to the bottom of this while it’s hot.”

“Pull into a parking lot or safe area, then text me your location. I will meet you there. We’ll get you that car, then get you safely on your way.”

This was moving way too fast. Jenna appreciated the speed and efficiency, but all the changes made her head spin.

Brody disconnected the call, then began searching for a place to pull over. He settled on a large, big box store, one with extended hours to enable families to do last minute Christmas shopping.

The idle thought that she hadn’t done any shopping yet crossed her mind. She swallowed a laugh.

If only that were the biggest problem she had.

The officer arrived twelve minutes later. He was a burly man with bright blue eyes and a sturdy air about him. Competent, Brody decided.