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Cliff covered her hand with his. “You might wait until seven or eight o’clock. It’s not even five yet.”
Her hand tingled where he’d touched hers. “Right,” she said and quickly withdrew her hand, shoving it and the cell phone into her pocket. Though he was no longer touching her, the tingling continued, a warmth spreading from her hand through her body.
Jenna stepped away and resumed her pacing. “I hate that we have to wait to do anything. The seconds are ticking away. Whoever stole the baby could be taking her further and further away with each passing minute. If I had my laptop, I might be able to do some digging.”
“I could stay with Brittany if you want to go home to get it,” Cliff offered.
Her brow furrowed. “I barely know you…”
“But somewhere, deep inside, you trust me.” He smiled. “You can’t help it. And that—”
“—bugs the crap out of me,” she finished and sighed. “And reassures me at the same time. Okay, I’ll run home for my laptop and be right back. I don’t want to miss the doctor if he comes early.”
“Are you sure you’ll be all right going home alone at this time?” Cliff asked.
Her lips twisted. “I do it all the time.”
“Right.” He held out his hand. “Let me have your phone.”
She reached into her pocket, frowning. “I might need it.”
“I only want it for a minute.” He took the phone from her hand, glanced at the screen and handed it back. “Unlock it, please.”
She did as he said and handed it back.
Cliff added a phone number with his name on it to her contacts list. After he called himself from her phone, he handed it back. “Now, you have my number. If you run into trouble, call me. If it’s bad trouble, call 911 first, then call me.”
She slid the phone back into her pocket, the device still warm from his hands. “It goes both ways. If anything happens here…”
“I’ll call immediately.” He walked with her to the door. “Don’t worry about us. I’ll be with Brittany the entire time. Go.” For the second time since she’d met him, he bent and brushed his lips across her forehead.
She raised a hand to the spot, heat filling her cheeks. “Why do you keep doing that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It just feels natural.”
“Do you do that with all the girls?”
“Not actually. There’s something about your forehead that begs to be kissed.” He turned her around and gave her a gentle push. “You don’t want to miss the doctor, and your sister will want to see you when she wakes. Don’t be long.”
“Yes, sir,” she said and popped a salute. “And thanks.” She hurried out to the elevator and took it to the ground floor. The circus of police had long since gone, along with the people they’d detained. The only people in the hospital entrance were a couple of security guards and two Bozeman police officers, apparently providing additional backup.
Jenna made it a point to check in with them and let them know who she was and that she’d be back in less than thirty minutes to stay with her sister.
She left the hospital and made her way to the car she’d parked the evening before when her sister had begged her to come to the hospital. She hadn’t known then why her sister was there or that she’d given birth to a baby girl.
The hours that had passed seemed like a lifetime. She’d gone from having one family member to two and back to one in the few short hours. And now, she was running an investigation on the sidelines to find her newest family member.
Add a handsome, tattooed and scarred Navy SEAL she couldn’t get rid of, and her life had gone from ordered and simple to what-the-fuck crazy.
“Wow,” she murmured as she slipped behind the wheel of her candy-apple red Jeep Wrangler and started the engine. As she pulled out of her parking space, she circled around the hospital, looking for the different exit doors, places a person could hide and anything that might help her understand how someone could walk into a hospital and steal a baby. She slowed as she passed the loading dock.
At the very least, the police ought to have located the truck by now. It couldn’t be easy to hide something that big. And once they found it, hopefully, they could lift prints that would identify the person who’d driven it.
As much as she’d like to spend more time examining the loading dock and the corridors and rooms leading to it, she needed to retrieve her laptop and get back to Brittany before she woke again. The sleeping medication they’d given her would be wearing off, and Brittany would be alert enough to make herself sick with worry.
The drive to her little cottage on the northeast corner of town didn’t take long that early in the morning. Most people were in bed, getting those last few minutes of sleep before their alarm clocks went off and they had to get ready for work or school.
The routine of their lives seemed so repetitive and calm compared to Jenna’s.
