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Cliff started for the door leading out of the kitchen. Footsteps clattered on the staircase in the front foyer.
Thinking Trudy Waters might make a run for it, Cliff dashed out of the kitchen and down a hallway toward the front of the house,
When he emerged into the front foyer, the stairs were empty. The foyer was empty as well.
He took the steps two at a time to the top and hurried to the first door on the left, where voices sounded from within. Expecting the voices to be female, Cliff was shocked to hear a deeper, male voice say, “And you, a big deal FBI Agent led me right to my baby. All I had to do was follow you around. I would never have guessed this old bat took it. Thanks for saving me some time.”
Cliff glanced into the nursery to find Mrs. Waters standing against the back wall beside a baby crib, an infant cradled in her arms. Baby Blakely.
To his right, Larry Sutton stood with his arm around Jenna’s throat, a gun pressed to her temple.
“Now, give me the baby,” Larry demanded. “It belongs to me.”
Trudy Waters held the baby against her, rocking back and forth, humming softly.
“Tell her to give me the baby,” Larry said. “Tell her, or I’ll shoot you.”
“It won’t do any good,” Jenna spoke softly. “She won’t understand.”
“What’s wrong with the bitch? Can’t she hear?” He raised his voice. “Hey, you! Give me the baby.”
Trudy didn’t even look up. She continued to sway and hum, her gaze fixed on the baby sleeping in her arms.
“Make her give me the kid,” Larry said, his voice getting tighter, more desperate.
“If you try to take the baby away from her by force, she might drop it and injure it,” Jenna reasoned. “What good is an injured baby to you, Larry? It won’t bring as high a price with the adoption agency, will it?”
“Shut up. Shut the fuck up,” he said and bumped the pistol's muzzle against her temple. “If you can’t get her to give me the kid, then I don’t need you. I can just shoot you now and take the baby myself.”
Cliff chose that moment to make his entrance, gun in hand, pointed at Larry. “I wouldn’t do that,” he said, his tone even and calm. “It’s over. Your baby-selling days are done. Put down the gun and let Special Agent Jenkins go.”
Sutton shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That baby belongs to me.”
“Just like the baby you made with Sandra Neal and sold for twenty thousand dollars?” Jenna said. “Are you going to sell your kids in Salt Lake City? Does Little Angels pay less for older children? How will your wife, Darlene, feel about that?
“How will you ever look her or your children in the eye, knowing you were selling babies for cash?” Jenna laughed. “Oh yeah, right, you have no sense of honor, no integrity. You’re nothing but a human trafficker, a lying son-of-a-bitch who takes advantage of women and then steals their babies.”
“Shut up,” Larry yelled. “Shut the fuck up!” He nodded toward Cliff. “Get that baby from the crazy woman, or I'll put a bullet through your girlfriend’s head.”
“Jenna’s right,” Cliff said. “You are a lying son-of-a-bitch, the lowest of low-lifes who takes advantage of women and then steals their babies. If you want that baby, you’ll have to get it yourself.”
“You don’t care much about your girl, do you?” Larry raised the gun a little higher. “I’ll give you to the count of three.”
Cliff’s gut clenched. If he played the wrong hand, Jenna could die. “I don’t respond to cowards who prey on women and children,” Cliff said. “Now, are you going to put down your gun and go quietly, or am I going to have to shoot you? It’ll make a big mess, your blood and brain matter scattering over everything around you.”
Sirens wailed in the distance, getting louder as they approached the Waters’ home.
“Don’t add murder to your rap sheet,” Jenna said. “You’re not going to get out of this by hurting anyone else.”
“I think I can get out of this,” Larry said. “All I have to do is take a hostage. Oh, look, I already have one.” He maneuvered her toward the door.
Jenna met Cliff’s gaze and mouthed the words, On three.
Cliff’s heart raced. Adrenaline thrummed through his veins, and he broke out in a sweat. The panic attack came on so fast that he wasn’t ready.
Jenna’s mouth formed the silent words, One…Two…Three.
Jenna went completely limp.
