Unbreakable Bond & The Missing Twin: Unbreakable Bond / The Missing Twin

“Thank you.”

A minute later, a woman’s voice echoed back. “Detective Little.”

“This is Slade Blackburn, Guardian Angel Investigations. I’m investigating the case of an infant who went missing eight years ago in Sanctuary, the same night as the deadly fire and explosion that caused numerous deaths.”

“Right. I read about the arrests.”

“One of the patients in the hospital at the time was told that her baby died, but her body was never recovered, so I’m investigating the possibility that the child might have been kidnapped.”

“I’m not sure how I can help.”

“Actually, I’m not sure you can either, but I’m exploring every possible lead. I found records of a case you and your partner investigated where an infant was found in a Dumpster approximately two weeks after the child in question went missing.”

“Oh, right, I remember that case.”

“What can you tell me about it? Did you ID the child?”

“As a matter of fact, we did.” Her voice warbled. “The mother was a crack addict. She delivered early, but the child wasn’t breathing so she freaked out and decided to get rid of it for fear she’d be caught.”

“Did you arrest her?”

“She’s in prison now.” A long sigh. “I’m sorry. I guess that’s not much help.”

“No, it means that the child I’m looking for might be alive.”

“If it’s been eight years…” Detective Little said. “You know the chances are slim that you’ll find her.”

Slade gritted his teeth. “I know. But everyone assumed she died in that fire. The fact that there was no body or proof means there might have been foul play.”

“Good luck, Mr. Blackburn. I have a soft spot for kids myself, that’s why I work Special Victims. If I can help you any other way, just let me know.”

He thanked her, then spent the next hour chasing down the other two instances he’d read about, but both turned out to be dead ends, too.

The rain died, the morning sun fighting through the storm clouds. His phone buzzed, and he checked the number. Nina.

He punched the connect button. “Nina?”

“Slade…can you come over?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone left a rag doll with a knife in its heart on my doorstep.”

Slade cursed, grabbed his weapon, shoved it in his holster, threw on a jacket and rushed outside.

* * *

NINA’S HAND TREMBLED as she hung up the phone. Nausea rolled through her as she stared at the doll, and her chest ached so badly it was as if that knife had been plunged into her own heart.

Someone had put the doll on her doorstep to taunt her with the past.

Who would be so cruel?

She rushed upstairs and threw on some clothes, then made coffee and tried to sip it while she waited.

Five minutes later, Slade’s SUV rumbled up the drive and she inhaled deeply. She had to pull herself together. She finally had someone on her side, and she couldn’t chance losing his services now.

Brushing her hair back into a ponytail, she rushed to the door. The sight of Slade Blackburn on her front porch sent a surge of relief through her.

The wind tousled his hair around his broad face, and the trees shook raindrops from the branches, scattering them across the ground. “Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes, just shaken.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“Before dawn, I heard a noise outside.” She led him to the sofa table. Her hand shook as she picked up the doll. “Then I found this on my porch.”

His eyes flashed with anger. “Damn sicko. Did you see who put it on your porch?”

“No, but I saw a shadow outside. Then I heard a car leaving down the street.”

Slade’s jaw tightened. “Do you have a bag I can put it in? I’ll send it to the lab for prints and DNA.”

“Sure.” She rushed to the kitchen and returned with one, and he used his handkerchief to seal it in the bag.

The temptation to share what happened in the past taunted her, but she decided to hold off.

Maybe he’d find a lead from the doll and she wouldn’t have to divulge the humiliating details of her breakdown.

CHAPTER FIVE

SLADE GRITTED HIS TEETH. Nina looked shaken, fragile and exhausted, like a delicate flower that had been crushed in the wind.

But dammit, she also looked beautiful in that pale blue cotton blouse and that flowing black skirt. He itched to pull her into his arms and comfort her but gripped his hands by his sides to keep from touching her.

Someone, whoever had put that doll on her porch, had meant to torment her.

Or maybe the doll had been left as a warning. If she kept asking questions, the same thing would happen to her…

Hopefully Amanda could lift some prints. If not, she might be able to track down where the doll and knife were bought and the buyer.

Slade gritted his teeth. The fact that she’d received it the day after she’d hired him was significant.

Dammit, he didn’t like the fact that someone was watching her. Someone who obviously didn’t want her asking questions. That fact alone roused his suspicions and gave credence to her case.

The first suspect who came to mind was the doctor. But surely the man was too smart to pull such a stunt. He’d have to know that he would be the first person Slade would question.

“Other than Dr. Emery, who else knows that you hired me?” Slade asked.

Nina ran a hand over her forehead. “William.”

His gaze shot to hers. “Peyton’s father?”

She nodded and folded her arms across her chest. “He phoned last night.”

Slade growled, “How did he find out?”

“Dr. Emery called him.”

“Son of a bitch.”

Nina’s gaze jerked to his, and he forced himself to tamp his anger. “What did he say?”

“He was upset,” Nina said. “William doesn’t want anyone messing up his life by dredging up his past. Especially me.”

Slade frowned. “I don’t give a damn what he wants. He’s going to talk to me. And I’ll get the truth out of him one way or another.”

* * *

NINA’S HEART WARMED. For the first time in eight years, she actually felt as if someone believed her.

That someone else might care that her daughter had gone missing, when her father and Peyton’s own father had accepted her disappearance as if it had been a blessing in disguise.

“Do you want me to call William and tell him we’re coming?” Nina asked.

“No, I want the element of surprise on our side when I confront him.”

Our side? A warmth spread through Nina at the thought of this man defending her. For so long, she felt as if she’d been waging an uphill battle all alone.

The sun glinted through the clouds, the traffic thick as they left the mountain roads and turned onto the highway toward Winston-Salem. The interstate buzzed with early-morning traffic and commuters.

“Did you grow up in Sanctuary?” Slade asked.

“No, in Raleigh. I attended a private school. That’s where I met William. His father lived there before opening a practice in Winston-Salem.”

“So how did you end up in Sanctuary?”

Nina sighed. “When I got pregnant, my father rented a small house in town. He wanted to hide me away from the people he knew in Raleigh, especially his business colleagues. I stayed in the house until after Peyton was born, then Daddy wanted me to come back and live with him, but I…couldn’t.”

Slade’s thick, dark brows furrowed. “Let me get this straight. He moved you to a different town and left you alone when you were pregnant and just a teenager?”

Nina shrugged at the censure in his voice. “It was better that way. We weren’t exactly getting along back then.” She stroked the sides of her arms with her hands, shaking off the memories. “What about you? Where are you from?”

Slade’s jaw tightened. “All around. My dad was in the military. He died in combat.”

Nina wanted to soothe the anguish she heard beneath his calm veneer but sensed he wouldn’t welcome her touch, so she held herself back. “I’m sorry, Slade. How old were you?”

He maneuvered around an eighteen-wheeler. “Thirteen.”

“I’m sure that was difficult on everyone.”

He made a grunting sound. “Yeah. Two years later my sister disappeared, and my mother totally lost it.”

Just as she had when Peyton first went missing.

But she hadn’t abandoned a second child who needed her. “And they left you to fend for yourself,” Nina said softly.

Slade stiffened. “I was the man of the family,” he said. “I was supposed to take care of them and I failed.”

“Slade…”

“Drop it, Nina.” His expression warned her not to push. “Where does William live?”

“Downtown. He bought a half-million-dollar condo directly across the street from his law office.”

“He must be doing well.”

“Yes. Losing Peyton wasn’t even a blip on the radar for him,” she said, fighting bitterness.

He found a parking spot, parked and they climbed out and walked over to the condo complex. People clogged the sidewalk, walking to work; the coffee shop was overflowing with early-morning patrons and horns and traffic noises filled the air.

They stepped into the entryway of the high-rise building, then stopped at the front desk to speak to security. “We’re here to see William Hood.”

A middle-aged dark-haired woman greeted them. “Is Mr. Hood expecting you?”

“No,” Slade said. “But it’s important.”

Nina cleared her throat. “Just tell him that Nina Nash needs to see him.”

The woman buzzed his condo, announced their arrival then spoke quietly into the headset. A second later, she turned back to them with a frown. “I’m sorry, but he says he doesn’t want to see you.”

Slade slapped his hand on the counter. “Tell him he can talk to us now or we’ll be waiting at his office.”

The woman’s brows rose, then she spoke into the headset again. This time curiosity lined her face when she glanced back up. “He’s in the penthouse.”

Slade harrumphed. “Of course.”

The woman frowned again as they made their way to the elevator. Nina’s stomach thrashed as the elevator carried them up, her ears popping as they climbed to the twenty-ninth floor. The doors finally swished open, and she swayed slightly. Silently Slade took her elbow and guided her to the door, then punched the doorbell.

A snarling William opened the door dressed in a three-piece suit, his sandy-blond hair combed back from his forehead and set with gel, his blue eyes like ice chips. Looking at him compared to Slade made her wonder why she’d been stupid enough to give him her virginity.

“Nina, what in the hell do you think you’re doing?” William barked. “Didn’t you understand my warning last night?”

“Warning?” Slade asked in a lethal tone.

Nina shifted. “William threatened to tell my coworkers at school that I’m crazy.”

“Is that so?” Slade glared at William. “Well, I’m working for Nina now, Hood, and I don’t like bullies.”

A vein throbbed in William’s forehead. “And I don’t like smarmy P.I.’s nosing into my business.”

A nasty grin slid onto Slade’s face. “You don’t, huh? Well, you’d better get used to it, because I’m just getting started.” He shouldered his way past William into the foyer of the condo. “And no one, especially some skinny-assed lawyer, is going to stop me.”

* * *

SLADE GROUND HIS TEETH in an attempt to rein in his temper. He couldn’t tolerate any man who’d abandon his own child, and this man had rejected his before his baby had even been born.

To think that Hood would use his money, status and weight to intimidate Nina infuriated him.

If it were his own child and he were in Nina’s situation, he’d move hell and high water to find out the truth, just as she was.

“Mister—”

“Blackburn,” Slade cut in.

“Either leave or I’m going to call security.”

“William, please,” Nina interjected. “All we want is a few minutes.”

William gave her a seething look. “There’s nothing to talk about, Nina. We’ve been over this a thousand times.”

“You never wanted to have a child, did you?” Slade asked.

William glared at him but drew a breath, adopting a professional mask that Slade was sure he used in court. Probably to free any lowlife slimeball who paid his salary.

And judging from the condo and the pricey modern furnishings, he either had a lot of clients or his fees were enormous.

Hood checked his Rolex. “Excuse me now, I have work to do.”

Slade caught his arm. “First you’re going to answer some questions.”

Hood jerked free of Slade, his suit jacket crinkling as he squared his shoulders. Finally he gave a labored sigh. “Five minutes.”

The temptation to hit the bastard was so strong, Slade rolled his hands into fists. “What makes you so sure that your baby died in the fire in Sanctuary?”

A cold look settled in Hood’s eyes. “If you’d seen that explosion, the chaos, the debris…you’d know there’s no way that anyone left inside survived.” He paused. “And Nina and the sheriff certainly questioned everyone at the hospital.”

“Maybe not,” Slade said. “You’re a lawyer. Kidnappings happen in hospitals all the time. Can you honestly say that it wasn’t possible for someone to have carried your baby outside and disappeared with her?”

For the briefest of moments, Slade saw Hood’s mind working, saw the hesitation in his eyes, a moment where he actually considered the possibility. But it quickly disappeared, and the uncaring façade returned, his skepticism firmly tucked in place.

“Even if it were possible, it didn’t happen,” Hood said. “According to the police, every other baby was accounted for. The unit exploded before the rescue workers could save Nina’s child.”

“She was your child, too,” Slade pointed out.

Beside him, he felt Nina’s wave of pain as if it had washed through him. But she didn’t react. In fact, he admired the way she maintained her composure.

“Nina and I came to an agreement before the child was born,” Hood said sharply.

Slade gave a sarcastic laugh. “You came to an agreement? You mean you acted like a spoiled, selfish prick and declared that you didn’t want the child.”

“I was only nineteen,” Hood said defensively. “I had plans.”

Nina folded her arms. “So did I. But that didn’t mean that I could walk away from our baby.”

“That’s right, Nina. You’re such a damn saint,” Hood bit out. “You can’t even let the child go when everyone has told you she’s dead.”

A brunette with wavy hair and catlike eyes appeared with a frown, her silk pantsuit flowing freely. “What’s going on, honey?”

Hood jerked his head toward her. “Mitzi, we have company,” Hood said. “Nina and her new detective, Mr. Blackburn.”

“God, Nina,” the woman muttered. “Don’t tell me you’re nagging William again.”

Hood wrapped his arm around Mitzi’s shoulders. “Sorry, sweetheart, but she’s still as crazy as ever.”

“We were discussing the night of the fire in Sanctuary,” Slade cut in. “You seem certain of the facts, Hood, but I spoke with Dr. Emery, the ob-gyn, and I think the case is worth investigating.”

Slade removed the bagged doll from inside his jacket and held it up. “In fact, last night someone left this on Nina’s doorstep.”

Mitzi made a shocked sound, then clung to William’s arm as if she feared Slade had stabbed the doll himself just for effect.

Slade directed his comment to Hood. “Where were you last night?”

Mitzi answered before Hood could respond. “He was with me. All night,” she said with a suggestive smile.

Hood made a clicking sound with his teeth. “Blackburn, you poor, dumb sucker. Obviously Nina forgot to mention a few details about her past.”

“William, don’t,” Nina said in a choked whisper.

“Don’t what, Nina?” Hood scowled at her. “Tell him the truth, that you’ve pulled this same stunt before?”

Slade shot Hood an angry look, but something about the guilt in Nina’s eyes warned him to tread slowly. He was here to investigate, find out the truth, whether or not Nina liked it.

Whether or not he did.

“What are you talking about?” Slade asked.

William’s expression turned pitying. “Nina has a habit of suckering people in with her sweet smile and big, sad eyes. But she’s unstable. She has been for a long time.”

“If you’re referring to the fact that she had a breakdown after her baby went missing, then yes. I am aware of that.”

Hood arched a brow. “So she explained the details of her psychosis?”

Guilt and worry slashed her face. “William, don’t—”

The look Nina exchanged with Hood made apprehension knot Slade’s belly. He’d insisted Nina be honest with him, but apparently she hadn’t shared everything.

“After Nina lost the baby, she did things like this. She bought a rag doll like this one, then claimed that someone stuck a knife in its heart and left it on her doorstep.”

Slade stood ramrod still, forcing himself not to react.

Hood continued, “She also said that she packed up the baby things and stored them in the attic, but then insisted she came home one night and found them scattered across her bedroom.”

“I didn’t scatter those baby things around,” Nina argued. “They were packed away in my closet.”

“That’s not what the psychiatrist reported,” William said, then turned back to Slade. “Nina also swore that someone put a CD of lullabies in her car and that sometimes she’d wake up at night and one would be playing but that she hadn’t started it.”

Nina started to speak, but Hood was on a roll and sneered down at her. “Oh, and did she tell you about the voices? She swears she hears her little girl singing to her at night. A Mary Poppins song, right, Nina?”

“Stop it!” Nina turned and ran from the condo, her sob echoing in the air behind her.

Slade didn’t know what to believe. But he didn’t like Hood and refused to let him bait him, so he gave him a steely look. “If I discover you had anything to do with your child’s disappearance or those things happening to Nina, you’ll pay.” He jabbed a finger at Hood’s chest. “And no amount of money will save you.”

* * *

NINA SLAMMED THE SUV door, and leaned her head into her hands. This couldn’t be happening again.

Yes, she heard the voices. Her daughter singing. But that was real.

Only everyone had made her doubt herself. And then all those creepy things had started happening…and she’d finally broken down.

Heat warmed her cheeks, and she suddenly felt nauseated. The sound of the driver’s door opening rent the air, and Slade’s masculine scent filled the close confines. This morning she’d felt as if she might have found an ally. Maybe even a friend.

But his anger permeated the tension-filled air as he climbed inside, and she found she’d lost that ally now.

God help her. She had to make him believe her. “Slade—”

He threw up a hand, silently ordering her not to speak. “I warned you yesterday when I took this case that you had to be honest with me.”

“But—”

“Stop, Nina,” Slade said in a harsh voice. “Don’t lie to me now or ever again.” He started the engine. “I’m going to talk to your father, and if I discover that you made up the story about this doll to get attention, we’re finished.”

CHAPTER SIX

HURT KNIFED THROUGH NINA, and she folded her arms and stared out the window as Slade drove toward Raleigh.

Her father would probably verify William’s story, paint her as a sad, demented freak just as William had.

She should be used to people’s reactions to her breakdown, but she didn’t know if she’d ever totally become immune.

She had not stabbed the doll and put it on her porch the night before, just as she hadn’t years ago. She also hadn’t strewn baby paraphernalia all over the house or put those CDs in her car and house.

Not that she remembered anyway…

No. She wasn’t going to doubt herself again. The doctors and therapists had almost convinced her that she was delusional with grief and stress and the effects of the antidepressants. But she wasn’t taking antidepressants now, and she had recovered from the breakdown.

Not to mention that the person tormenting her had driven her over the edge.

And now the taunts were starting all over…

Because she’d hired a private investigator.

Couldn’t Slade see that that meant someone didn’t want her learning the truth?

She opened her mouth to argue, but quickly clamped it shut. Hadn’t she learned from experience that protesting and trying to explain only made things worse? Made her sound more pathetic and desperate?

She hated to look pathetic in his eyes.

But how could she explain the voices she heard at night? The little girl’s voice singing to her? The sense that she was singing so Nina would come for her…

The words to the song, her soft soprano voice, was like an angel’s, the voice mesmerizing her just as the Pied Piper’s flute had enthralled the children.

The silence became painful during the drive, Slade’s withdrawal hurting more than she could imagine.

“Tell me about Mitzi,” he finally said quietly.

Embarrassment heated her cheeks. Mitzi had married William…and made a fool of her.

She licked her dry lips and sucked up her pride. If she wanted his help, and she did, she had to be honest. Pride be damned.

“She was Miss Popular in high school and came from a prestigious family. Her father worked abroad so she traveled and studied in prep schools all over the world before they moved back to Raleigh her senior year.”

“She seemed to be jealous of you,” Slade commented.

Nina gave a sardonic little laugh. “Jealous? Why would she be jealous of me?”

“Because you slept with William and had his baby.”

Nina chewed her bottom lip. “Jealousy isn’t the word I’d use. She hated me.”

Memories flooded her. “Mitzi was one of the it girls. Plastic, if you know what I mean. She served on every school committee, led the dance squad and was voted prom queen.” She sighed. “All the boys wanted Mitzi.”

“And Mitzi?”

“She wanted William.” Nina picked at a piece of lint on her shirt. It was so long ago, it shouldn’t still hurt. But she’d been young and foolish and naive.

“So you fought over him?”

Nina laughed. “Not really. In fact, William never showed any interest in me until after Mitzi broke up with him.”

“She broke up with him?”

“They had some kind of stupid fight a week before prom, and so he asked me. I realize now he only wanted to get back at her.”

She felt his eyes boring into her face, but she couldn’t quite look at him. “It’s really such a cliché. Shy girl goes to prom with the big guy on campus. Gets pregnant. He goes back to the girl he really loves.”

Slade muttered an obscenity. “But Mitzi didn’t take the pregnancy so well?”

She laughed again. It was either laugh or cry. And she would never cry again over Mitzi or William Hood. “No. She spread the word at school that I was a whore. That I’d thrown myself at William and promised him sex if he’d take me to the prom.”

In spite of her resolve to overcome the bitterness, it resonated in her voice. “That’s when my father moved me out of town.”

Another dark, seething look passed over his face, settling into his deep brown eyes. Eyes that looked permanently angry at the world.

And now angry at her.

She stiffened her spine. She didn’t give a damn if he was angry with her or not. She’d hired him to do a job.

And she’d put up with anything he threw at her, even his ridicule, his pity, his disbelief, as long as he followed through.

Finding out the truth about Peyton was the only thing that mattered.

* * *

SLADE CONTEMPLATED WHAT he’d learned about Nina, William Hood and his wife, as they wound up the mile-long drive to Nina’s father’s estate.