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“I had to ask,” Schwope said, “since her story isn’t matching Sutton’s.”
“I understand. Thanks.” She ended the call and laid the cell phone in her lap.
Cliff shot a glance in Jenna’s direction. “Do you think Sutton is telling the truth?”
“If he is, that would mean that Brittany is lying.” She shook her head. “I’d believe my sister over Sutton any day.”
“Are you too close to this case to be unbiased?” Cliff asked.
“Maybe.” She lifted her phone and dialed another number, again placing the phone on speaker so Cliff could hear the conversation.
Following the directions on the map, he turned left at the next street.
“Special Agent Jenkins.” Hank Patterson’s voice filled the truck cab. “Have you found the baby?”
“Sadly, no,” she said. “Is Brittany close? I want to ask her some questions.”
“Hold on, I’ll find her. She and Sadie are in the living room with the kids. It’s just up the stairs.” A moment later, he said, “Here’s Brittany.”
“Jenna?” Brittany’s voice came over the receiver. “Have you found her?”
“Hey, Britt.” Jenna’s gaze met Cliff’s, her lips pressing together. “No, sweetie. Not yet.”
Brittany sighed. “I know you’re trying. It’s just so hard to be here and not close to you.”
“I feel the same, but I’m glad you’re safe. We went by your apartment and packed your things.”
“Thank you. And thank you for the clothes you sent. I’ll return them when I can.”
“No hurry. I found a brochure among your papers for a Little Angel Adoption Agency. I thought you didn’t want to go through an agency and had agreed to Mr. Waters because it was more personal.”
“That brochure was something Larry brought to me, insisting I use them to place our baby for adoption. I thought I’d thrown it away. I couldn’t place my baby with an agency. How could I be certain she would go to a good home? But Larry was so insistent that I wasn’t ready to be a parent and that keeping the baby would ruin my life.”
“Speaking of Larry,” Jenna said, “he showed up at the tavern, said you’d run away with his baby and he wanted to keep it.”
“Oooo, that bast—” Brittany stopped mid-curse. “Sorry, there are little ears here. Larry is a master manipulator. He makes you feel like everything he says is the truth, and any opposing opinion is dumb. That’s why I stayed with him so long. He was the hotshot pharmaceutical salesman driving a sports car. I barely got out of high school with a diploma. Don’t trust him. Once I left him, I realized he’d been feeding me lies from day one.”
“You say he has a wife and children in Salt Lake City. He flat-out denies it. How do you know this? We can’t find a Larry Sutton fitting his description in Salt Lake City.”
“Again, he’s a master manipulator. I wouldn’t be surprised if Larry Sutton isn’t even his name. I caught him on a video call, wishing his wife a happy anniversary. He thought I was asleep.” She snorted. “They were celebrating ten years together. The children all got on the video call. A boy and a girl. They called him Daddy and asked when he was coming home. He said he’d be back in Salt Lake City at the end of the week. I asked him who he’d been talking to, hoping he would confess. He said it was a work colleague. I called him out on the fact those colleagues referred to him as Daddy and Darling.”
“Why didn’t you leave him then?” Jenna asked.
“He told me he was in the process of filing for a divorce and didn’t want them to know yet. But that was months ago. I was stupid to believe him,” Brittany said. “You’re smarter than I am. Don’t believe anything he says. I don’t know why he told you he wanted our baby. He was adamant about putting her up for adoption with that agency.”
“Thanks for clarifying,” Jenna said. “Are you feeling okay?”
Her sister sighed. “As well as can be expected. Sadie and Hank are terrific hosts, and their children are adorable. I’m just anxious to get my baby back. I hope she’s okay. She’s too little for this to happen to her. I hope whoever has her is taking good care of her.”
“Me, too,” Jenna said, her heart pinching hard in her chest at the thought of that tiny baby with the soft orange fuzz across the top of her head. “We’re working hard to find her.”
“I know you are. I love you for it,” Brittany said.
“I have to go now. Take care of yourself, sweetie. I’ll see you soon. Can you hand the phone back to Hank?”
A moment later, Hank said, “I have Swede checking on the Little Angel Adoption Agency. At first blush, he says it appears legitimate. They even have good reviews on the internet. He’s digging deeper.”
“Any hits on the facial recognition of the photo we sent?” Cliff asked as he slowed for a traffic light.
