AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why a frog skeleton tattoo? Why not the whole frog?” she asked.
His gaze slid away as he pushed his arms into the sleeves of his black leather jacket. “It’s in honor of a deployment where one of our own gave the ultimate sacrifice.” He tipped his head toward Brittany. “Is she going to be all right? She’s pretty banged up.”
“I think so,” Jenna said. “She’s tougher than she looks.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “Like her sister?”
Though Jenna’s training had been hard, her sister’s life choices had been harder. “Even more so. She could use a break.”
Brittany’s passionate desire to keep her baby girl was a complete turnaround from the young woman who had never seemed to have a direction and never settled for long in one place.
“I have to find her baby,” Jenna whispered. “She needs her mother.” The truth was, they needed each other.
“Your sister said the kidnapper attacked her,” Cliff said quietly. “Do you think it was the baby’s daddy?”
Jenna shrugged. “Maybe. He’s definitely a person of interest. As is the man who wanted to adopt her baby. I want to interview each of them. I also need to spend some time on my office computer. I just don’t feel like I can leave Brittany right now.”
“You know, Hank Patterson’s computer guy is supposed to be good at finding information about people and organizations. I can feed him the names you have and let him get started.”
Her lips twisted for a moment. “I don’t think I want to know where his guy gets his information. I have access to a number of criminal databases. But I’m thinking more is better when it comes to finding the baby.” She nodded. “I can give him the names of the two men and the address where Brittany lived with the ex-boyfriend in Billings.” She pulled out her cell phone and looked up the Billings address she’d saved when she’d sent Brittany a gift on her birthday.
Jenna and Cliff exchanged phone numbers, and she shared the address with him and the names of the two men.
“I’m sending this information to my new boss, Stone Jacobs, and to Hank Patterson. Stone’s tech support, Kyla Russell, works with Hank’s guy. If we have both of them work on this, they might approach it with different perspectives.” He nodded toward his phone. “I’m going to give them a heads-up and a quick rundown of what’s happened.” His eyebrows dipped as he met her gaze. “Are you all right with it? I know law enforcement and the FBI have their own protocols. I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”
Jenna snorted. “We’re talking about my family. All bets are off. I’ll pull out every stop to find that baby. Do it.”
He glanced toward her sleeping sister. “I’ll conduct the call in the waiting room. It’s late, and I don’t want to disturb patients.”
“I’m staying here,” Jenna said. “I don’t want the state or local police to come back to question Brittany again. This unit is short-staffed as it is. They can’t stand guard over every patient.”
Cliff nodded. “I’ll be right back.” He turned to go.
A pang of guilt tugged at Jenna. “Cranston,” she called out.
He turned back to her. “Yes?”
“You don’t have to do this,” she said. “The fact you ran into me in the stairwell doesn’t make you responsible for me or what happens to my family. There are plenty of people working this case, and you’re not even a member of law enforcement.”
He faced her, holding her gaze. “Your sister was attacked. Your niece was taken. If I were you, I’d do anything in my power to help my sister and save her niece.”
She nodded. Involving a stranger in solving a case went against everything she’d learned in training. “What if working with me on this case puts you in danger?”
His lips turned upward on the corners. “Sweetheart, I was and always will be a Navy SEAL. I’ve seen some of the worst things a human can do to other humans. Gone up against people who don’t value the lives of others, including women and children. I’ve been shot, hit by shrapnel and lived through a helicopter crash.”
“Right.” Images of the scars across his back and side flashed through her memory. He’d been in many more dangerous situations than she’d ever imagined. He had the physical scars to prove it. And, based on his admission about having a panic attack when he’d run into the stairwell, he also had mental scars.
He crossed to her and took her hands in his. “Do you want me to back off? Walk away? Leave you and your sister alone?”
She stared up into light blue eyes that seemed to be windows into his soul, and her knees wobbled just a little. “No,” she said without consciously conjuring the word.
This man. This stranger had burst into her life, perhaps at the worst time, but maybe at the time she needed him most.
“I’ve worked every case of missing persons that has come across my desk as if that person was one of my loved ones,” she said, her fingers curling around hers. “But this…”
“Is your sister,” he finished softly.
“Up until now, I might not have been the best big sister, but damn.” A lump rose in her throat, threatening to cut off her air. She swallowed hard, forcing it back. “Brittany and her baby are my only family.” Her grip tightened on his. “I’ll do anything to keep them safe.”
