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“Do you have to wake her?” Jenna asked.
The woman grimaced. “I try to be gentle, but the process usually wakes the patient anyway.”
“It’s okay,” Brittany whispered. “I’m awake, for now.”
While the technician drew a vial of blood, Nurse Smalls breezed in on silent feet and checked Brittany’s vital signs. “Looking good,” she said softly. “The doctor will probably release you tomorrow so you can go home to recuperate.”
“Without my baby,” Brittany said, her tone flat. She pressed a hand to her chest and glanced toward Jenna hopefully.
Every time her sister looked at her like that, it was as if a giant hand gripped Jenna’s heart and squeezed the life out of it. “Sorry,” she said. “We haven’t heard anything.”
Brittany drew in a ragged breath and let it out slowly.
Nurse Smalls handed her a cup filled with ice water. “Drink as much as you can. You’ll want to make sure your kidneys are functioning. You’ll have to pee before you’re released.”
Brittany fitted the straw in her mouth and drank as much as she could. When she’d had enough, she held out the cup.
Jenna took it and set it on the nightstand. “It’s only four-thirty. You might as well go back to sleep again.”
“That’s right,” Nurse Smalls said. “The doctor won’t be in until around eight o’clock.”
Brittany nodded. “Might as well. No reason to be awake when all I can do is worry.” She shook her head. “I feel so helpless. I should be out there looking for her.”
“No,” Jenna said. “You’ve just given birth. You need to give yourself time to recover. The police are working the case. They promised to keep me informed if they find anything.”
Brittany nodded and held out her hand.
Jenna took it and squeezed gently. “We’ll find her.”
“Thank you for being here for me,” Brittany whispered. “For both of us.”
Jenna’s gut churned. This was her little sister. She’d always helped her when she was in a bad situation. She couldn’t let her down now. “I love you, Brit. We’ll find her,” she repeated.
Her sister’s eyes fluttered closed.
Jenna held her hand until it went limp, then tucked it beneath the blanket.
With any chance of going back to sleep nil, she quietly paced the length of the room, going over everything Brittany had told her about the attack, her boyfriend and the man who’d supported her for the last couple of weeks of her pregnancy for the right to adopt her baby.
She needed to get out and question these people.
Brittany had walked out on Larry Sutton. Was he angry that she’d left him? Would he steal the baby to get his revenge? If so, what would he do with the baby? If he was married with children of his own, he couldn’t just take the infant home and add her to his family without some explanation.
“I’d tell you that pacing isn’t going to solve anything, but I know better. I do some of my best problem-solving when I’m pacing, walking or jogging,” Cliff said softly.
“I keep thinking that we have two persons of interest. What if neither one of them had anything to do with the abduction? We might have an unsub with his own motivation for taking the baby.”
“True.” Cliff pushed to his feet and stretched his arms high above his head. “The ex-boyfriend was the father. Motivation enough to take the baby if he wanted the child and didn’t want your sister to raise her.” He lowered his arms and twisted side to side. “The man who supported your sister with the intention of adopting her baby might’ve suspected she would renege on their bargain and took matters into his own hands.”
“They’re too obvious,” she said.
Cliff stopped in front of her. “Maybe so.”
“But we have to chase every lead until we find her.” Jenna pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing gritty, sleep-deprived eyes closed for a moment. “I just need to get out there and start looking.”
“Do you have a friend or neighbor who could stay with your sister while you work?” he asked.
Her brow furrowed. “Mrs. McAnally, my sixty-seven-year-old neighbor, takes care of my dog when I’m working late. She’s a retired nurse. I might get her to help.” Jenna pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and started to dial.
