Finding Her Son

A few months ago that order would have had him pulling her into his arms. Now Mitch simply slipped off his shoes, socks and sweats. He knew the drill. He’d never felt naked in a clinic before, but as he rubbed the gnarled scars on his thigh, he tensed. She’d know soon enough how damaged he really was.

After a slight knock, she entered the room. She glanced at his leg but didn’t give anything away—not pity, not disgust. She moved in closer, and he caught a waft of sweet mixed with tartness. Vanilla and some kind of berry, perhaps? His heart thudded as she placed her hands on his thigh.

“Let’s get started,” she said.

A dozen measurements later, Mitch swiped at the sweat rolling down his face and bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. The white-hot shards of pain shooting across his thigh were much worse since his heroics of the night before. He tried to ignore them as he strained against the minuscule weight Emily had pressed against his leg. His muscles behaved like traitors. Weak as a baby.

She frowned at her notes as she compared them to his records. Then she glared at him. “What have you been doing to yourself? You’ve lost at least fifteen percent of your strength and flexibility gains in the past month. That didn’t happen because of a single jujitsu turn. What aren’t you telling me?”

Mitch grimaced, and she just shook her head. “Never mind. I know. You thought you’d be a cowboy and do a little extra on your own. More is better. Am I close?”

She shifted forward and placed her warm hands on his thigh, working the spasming muscles. Slowly, her touch eased the pain. As the agony became bearable, his focus shifted toward her fingertips on his skin, moved up her arms, to the concentration on her face. He wanted to lift her chin and lose himself in those blue eyes of hers. He wanted to forget everything that was happening around them and just escape in her caresses.

“Man, you’re good,” he groaned. “Can I take you home with me?” Emily on call 24/7. Part-time to massage his aching leg and part-time to take those magic hands and lips a little higher and to the left.

She worked the muscles up and down his thigh. “I know you want faster results, but if you keep working out on your own, you’ll do permanent damage. You’ve really screwed up your leg, Mitch.” She removed her hands. He missed her touch already, but her face had gone deadly serious. “I want a straight answer. Will you follow my rules?”

As he took in her no-nonsense expression, a shaft of fear sliced through him. Had he lost his chance to get back to SWAT? Follow her rules? He had no choice. For more reasons than she could comprehend. “You’re the boss in the gym, Emily. I’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done. I promise you that.”

She paused and finally reached out her hand. “Okay. But you go off on your own, and I’m done. No second chances. Got it?”

He nodded.

The ringing cell punctuated her orders, and Emily’s heart tripped at the sound. Every time she got a call, part of her leaped at the thought of good news while a small dark place trembled with fear of horrifying news. She shoved aside the terror and pulled her phone from her pocket. She glanced at the familiar number. Her pulse raced. Maybe this time…She tapped the phone and stepped away for privacy.

“Hello?” She struggled to keep her voice from being too eager, too hopeful, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Mrs. Wentworth?” Her private investigator’s voice crackled through the phone.

“Perry, any more on Ghost that I can use when I talk to him?”

“He lives up to his handle, ma’am. He really is a ghost, but I did get a lead. Sister Kate connected me with one of the girls. She saw a tattoo that he tried to hide. She won’t go down to the police department, but she described portions of it. The art was complicated and colorful. I can fax you a picture of something similar, but I can’t get into the police records, mug shots or tattoo database to verify his gang affiliation.”

A tattoo. Pain shot through her temple, and she kneaded the throbbing spot, the burn behind her eyes so familiar. A small whimper escaped her lips. It happened whenever she felt on the cusp of remembering the night of the accident. The threatening memories slipped away, and Emily pushed aside the pain.

“Another flash?” Perry asked, obviously hearing the familiar sound.

“Just images of pink, green and red.”

“Like a tattoo?”

“Maybe.” She let out a hiss of frustration. “I don’t know. But the episodes are happening more frequently.”

“You know something important, Mrs. Wentworth. You’ll recall that night eventually.”

She couldn’t wait. She had to go to the police department. She didn’t want to ask the detective in charge of her case for assistance, but wouldn’t he have to listen this time? A car had tried to run her over. Ghost had threatened her. She was remembering something. “Keep digging. I’ll talk to Detective Tanner.” She tried to keep optimism in her voice, but even to her own ears she sounded frustrated. “Maybe he’ll help this time.”

Their connection ended, and she bit her lip as she studied her phone list on the small screen. A call wouldn’t do any good. Tanner would only put her off again. She’d go over there and wait as long as it took to look at those tattoo records. He would give her access. She’d make sure of it.

She snagged Mitch’s chart, grabbed her bag and turned to schedule the next session. He’d moved so quietly, she hadn’t heard him, but there he stood, inches from her. She almost stepped on his foot and stumbled into his arms. He reached out to steady her, so close she could feel his warmth. She couldn’t stop her body’s reaction to his nearness.

“Whoa, there. Are you okay?” Mitch said.

Her cheeks burned hot, and she pushed back the hair that had fallen in her face. She wanted to ask him for help but just wasn’t sure enough of him. Not yet. “Sorry. I’ve got to run. Ten a.m. day after tomorrow okay with you?”

“I’ll be here.”

She bent her head to make a note, and her unruly locks fell forward again. With gentle fingers, Mitch pushed the hair back in place. His pupils went black as his gaze strayed to her lips.

She cleared her throat and stepped back, touching her fingertips to her mouth. “Um…I’d better go.”

Mitch slowly nodded his head. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Emily filed away his record and raced out the door, her heart slamming into her chest. Her nerves tingled with awareness. Okay, so Mitch was strong and funny and determined. And hot. Despite his injury, he had a body that didn’t stop.

Each step, each rub of her cotton turtleneck against her skin reminded her of what she wanted. What she hadn’t experienced since before Joshua was born. Her breasts ached beneath her clothes. She couldn’t deny her reaction to Mitch, but that didn’t mean anything would ever happen between them. Besides, she didn’t have time for a relationship. Not with anyone. Not until she found Joshua. Thinking of Mitch in any way other than a client or a potential resource was a big mistake. She was a widow. In some ways, she’d become one even before Eric had died, but her aching loneliness was her problem.

She looked back. He stood, watching her, his expression hooded and thoughtful. She might need him and his contacts. She’d promised to help him, otherwise she would’ve handed his case over to one of her colleagues. He and Carl would probably hit it off, but she couldn’t risk letting go of even one potential collaborator.

She would find her son and just prayed Mitch would heal fast—before this unsettling temptation got the best of her.

THE ICY SHOWER HADN’T worked. Mitch secured the towel at his waist and padded across the cold tile of his bathroom. He’d almost kissed Emily. He’d wanted to, more so when he’d recognized the awareness that flashed in her eyes and echoed within him. He could think of a hundred reasons not to give in to the feelings, but that didn’t make him want to touch her any less.

At least he’d bargained for a few hours not having to watch her. He was getting to know every curve of her body, every expression on her face. Bad news. Let another cop get tempted—until he had himself back under control.

The Oklahoma fight song sounded from his phone on the nightstand. His brother, Chase, and his best friend, Ian, gave him a hard time, but “Boomer Sooner” made Mitch grin. Who wanted Mozart or a simple ringtone? Just because his best friend and one of his siblings happened to be one pancake short of a stack and attended the University of Texas…well, sometimes you just had to live with your family’s weaknesses.

“Bradford.”

“It’s Ian.”

Mitch sank onto the bed. “Are you calling as the Coroner’s Office Investigator or my goddaughter’s father?”

“Sorry, bud. Haley’s great, but you asked me to contact you if we received any pregnant guests. Jane Doe came in today. Not pregnant, but she gave birth just before she died. Blond hair, like the girl you asked me to watch out for.”

“Is it Kayla Foster?” Mitch braced himself for the answer.

“She was in a shallow grave, so the animals—”

“Yeah. I get the picture. Was it Kayla?”

“I can’t tell from the photo you sent. Her face is unrecognizable, but she has a gecko tat on her shoulder. I’m waiting on dental records.”

Mitch kneaded his shoulder with his hand, working out the tension that had settled there. “How’d she die?”

“We can’t tell from the external exam. Other than the birth, the body looks trauma free.”

“I’d hate your job.”

“At least my customers don’t carry guns,” Ian said.

“Funny.”

“Seriously, how’s the leg?”

“Almost good as new.” The lie came easily…too easily. Denial or something more after misleading Emily? “I’m a half hour away.”

“See you then.”

Mitch ended the call and sighed for Ricky’s sake. Mitch hoped this girl wasn’t Kayla. But if she wasn’t, then someone else’s family had a daughter who was dead, a grandchild who was missing, and they didn’t know anything had happened.

By the time he reached the coroner’s office, Mitch had contacted Kayla’s grandmother. He’d kept the questions lowkey, but he couldn’t fool her.

“You bring my girl home,” she’d said. “Either way.”

He entered the building housing the coroner and her staff and strode down the hall to the cracker box Ian laughingly called his office. The stench of formaldehyde and death rose to greet Mitch. He hated the odor in this place. Had since he’d been forced to visit as part of driver’s ed.

He rapped on the door and pushed it open to find his friend and a woman swallowed up in a white coat comparing two photos taped to a cork board. Mitch didn’t give Ian’s visitor a second look. He couldn’t stop looking at the pictures. One the high school photo of Kayla, the other—

“Is that Kayla?” His stomach churned at the sight of what was left of a blond-haired woman’s face. Truth be told, he could only tell the features were a woman because she didn’t have an Adam’s apple. Her eyes were missing, her nose had been gnawed away by animals. She barely looked human. He couldn’t show this body to Mrs. Foster. No way. No how.

One more reason to hate his temporary assignment and get back to SWAT.

Ian grimaced and stood, blocking Mitch’s view. “This is Dr. Tara O’Meare. She specializes in facial reconstruction and identification. Without dental records, I thought she could give us her opinion.”

The woman rose and shook Mitch’s hand.

“Is it Kayla?” he asked.

Dr. O’Meare shook her head. “No. When comparing the two photos, the distance between the zygomatic arches—the cheekbones—is wrong, and so is the position of the eyes. The girl found in the shallow grave is still a Jane Doe.”

“Her grandmother said Kayla didn’t have a tattoo, but I couldn’t be sure.”

“Grandmothers don’t always know everything,” Ian finished.

“Yeah. Even if the body we found isn’t Kayla, I still have a missing girl out there.” Mitch rubbed his eyes. A missing girl, a missing baby and a Jane Doe. Not to mention Joshua Wentworth. With Emily in the middle of it all. Which pieces fit where? He had to pull it apart section by section. Somehow. “At least for the moment, Mrs. Foster gets good news. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope you don’t call anytime soon except for a game of touch foot…” His voice trailed off.

“I’ll keep calling,” Ian said. “You let me know when you’re up for it.”

Avoiding a last look at the photos, Mitch exited the room. He tried not to breathe too deeply until he left the building, then sucked in the crisp winter air. After he inhaled several times through his nose and mouth, he could finally smell and taste the snow tumbling around him.

Once in his car, he slipped on his hands-free device and dialed Kayla’s grandmother’s number.

“Mitchell?” Mrs. Foster’s voice trembled as she said his name.

He hated hearing the uncertainty in the woman’s voice, but he couldn’t guarantee the next time he called, the news wouldn’t be what she dreaded to hear. “It wasn’t her.”

“Thank the Lord.” A small prayer slipped from the older woman’s lips. “You’ll keep looking?”

“Definitely. I have a deal with Ricky,” Mitch promised. “He shows up for practice—”

“Oh, he’ll be at practice, don’t you worry.”

“Mrs. Foster, you know I wouldn’t stop looking for Kayla, even if Ricky never—”

“I know, dear. You’ll find her.”

He disconnected the phone and immediately “Boomer Sooner” filtered through the car.

“Bradford.”

“Get your butt down here,” Dane Tanner barked. “Now.”

“What’s going on?”

“Your assignment just walked in the front door of the police department. Without you.”

Chapter Three

“Let me see Ghost,” Emily pleaded. “Or at least look through the tattoo database. It might jog my memory.”

Detective Dane Tanner clicked the door closed and sat behind the interview table sporting that same patient, dubious expression Emily had grown to hate over the past seven or eight months.

“What are you doing, Mrs. Wentworth?”

“Look, Detective, I know it seems far-fetched, but I’m on the verge of remembering.”

“Why Ghost? And where did this brainstorm come from so suddenly?”

Here we go again. Emily took in a slow, deep breath. “He has a tattoo.”

“Did you see it? Recognize it?”

“No, but my private investigator talked to—”

“Perry Young has a spotty reputation,” Tanner said. “I’ve reiterated this every time you’ve brought one of his leads to me. All going nowhere, I have to remind you. He’s a gambler and a drinker.” The detective shuffled through some papers. “He’s stringing you along for a steady paycheck.”

Not so steady anymore. That’s why she had to convince the detective to help her now.

“I got a flash of memory, Detective. If I could just see Ghost’s tattoo, or at least look at the books, I might recognize something. Ghost’s in custody, right? How tough would it be for me to talk to him?”

“I’m not breaking protocol because you had a vision. Go to a tattoo parlor.”

“I know what you think of me, Detective Tanner, but do it for the missing girls. Maybe Joshua and their babies are connected.”

“No infants have been reported missing or stolen. I’m sorry.” Dane steepled his fingers and rested them against his lips.

“A pregnant girl is missing.”

“And Kayla Foster’s grandmother reported her. This MO’s not a fit for Joshua’s disappearance. It’s none of your concern.”

She launched out of her chair and leaned over the desk. “You can’t turn your back on the vulnerable. Joshua is only thirteen months old. He’s alone.” She hated the idea of begging—especially to the detective who didn’t trust her—but she’d do anything for her son. She knew the statistics, the chances of getting him back. Infants taken who weren’t returned within a few weeks were almost never found. The numbers didn’t matter. Joshua would be the exception. She grabbed the age-progressed photo from her satchel and shoved it at him. “Please. Ghost tried to force Heather to go with him. You have to help those girls. I can help, too, if you’ll let me.”

“I’ll pass the information to the officer in charge of the assault case. That’s the best I can do. You, however, couldn’t have come in at a better time.” The detective slid a document across the table. “Is that your signature?”

Emily stuffed the photo back into her bag, scanned the paper and lifted her chin. “You want to quiz me about money or bank forms, call my lawyer. My son is out there, and I need help to find him. If you won’t do it, I’ll find someone who will.”

She slammed out of the interrogation room, the wooden door banging behind her, and sagged against the wall. Her heart pounded as reality set in. The Wentworths had closed nearly every door. She’d have to scrape together enough money for an attorney and for Perry. God help her if they blocked the sale of the house somehow.

“Emily?”

The deep voice that she shouldn’t have recognized so easily sent a flood of hope through her. “Mitch.” She turned, then rushed over to him. “What are you doing here? I thought you were SWAT.”

“Temporary assignment while I’m rehabbing.” He clasped her arm and guided her toward a chair next to a desk with his name. “What’s going on?”

Mitch’s concern wrapped around her like a warm blanket. She looked up as he escorted her, strong and able—almost a knight in shining armor. Last night, even though someone had almost killed her, she’d felt safe and protected in his arms after he’d snatched her out of harm’s way. Could she trust him to do the same now?

She had no choice. She had to go with her instincts. She sat down and clutched her evidence satchel meeting his gaze. “Detective Tanner.”

“My temporary boss,” Mitch clarified gently as he hitched his hip on the edge of the desk.

“Oh.” Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea, but she’d run out of options, and no matter what William had advised, she wasn’t giving up. “I received a tip about Ghost’s tattoo, and it reminded me of something from the night of the accident. I asked Tanner to let me see the mug shots or the tattoo database, but he won’t. He wouldn’t even let me see Ghost.”

“Did you see his tat?”

“Well, no, but I heard one of the girls—”

“Tanner’s a real by-the-book kind of guy,” Mitch said. “He doesn’t bend regs. If you didn’t see the tat, he won’t let you at the photos.”

“Do you ever break the rules?”

Mitch quirked a small smile. “Let’s just say in SWAT sometimes a little creative thinking is required. I wouldn’t say I break regulations, but I might bend them a bit.”

Hope flickered through Emily as she stared at the man who had taken down Ghost. She leaned forward in her chair and gripped Mitch’s arm. “I need your help to find my son.”

“I’m not a real investigator, Emily. Just on temporary assignment. You need—”

“I need someone who believes in getting at the truth…and in finding Joshua. No one here does. They never have.” Bitterness crept into Emily’s voice. “I know you’ve heard the rumors, but they’re not true. I loved Eric. Please, help me find Joshua.”

She saw the turmoil and indecision in his eyes, and something that almost looked like guilt. “It’s not your fault this department has let me down, but you can change that.”

“Bradford. In my office. Now.”

Tanner’s order made Emily jump, but Mitch had been expecting the interruption. He patted her arm. “I’ll be right back. Don’t worry.”

He walked into his boss’s office.

“Wentworth came to see me like you said she would. So…what does she want from you?” Tanner asked.

“Help to find her son. Because she doesn’t trust the rest of your unit.”

The detective sank back into his chair and smiled. “This couldn’t be better if I’d planned it. Do it.”

“Tanner—”

“This is your chance. She might let something slip. Maybe her son’s disappearance was part of a plan gone wrong. But even if she’s not involved, she knows something. Tell her you talked me into letting you take over her investigation. Tell her you need to stick close because of Ghost’s escape. Earn her trust.”

“But—”

“Get out there before our chicken panics and runs away. Work Emily any way you can. Find out if she’s into something that got her husband killed and her son taken. I’ll work the money angle. I want to know who murdered Eric Went-worth.”

His boss’s jaw twitched as he passed over a single cardboard box. “Here are copies of the key forensic and evidence reports on the accident and kidnapping. No real leads. Most of that file’s full of initial interviews and her PI’s false tips. It’s been vetted. Show it to Wentworth. Use it to gain her trust and get her reaction.”

“I’ll do my best.” Mitch snagged the evidence and stared at his boss. “Why so rabid on this, Tanner?”

His boss let out a long sigh. “Eric Wentworth called me the day before he died. I’d taken time off. Turned off my cell. Wentworth said he had some vital information for me, but he needed to be discreet. No details on the message. He died before I could return the call. I never turn off my phone anymore.”

“Damn, Dane.”

“Find out who killed him.”

Mitch gave a stiff nod to his boss and pasted a satisfied expression on his face as he returned to the bullpen. He lifted the box. “It took some convincing, but I got the case.”

Emily’s face broke into a relieved smile. Guilt burned through Mitch’s gut. He liked straightforward and honest, not games.

He shifted the evidence in his arms. “Look, we should talk in the conference room, but let’s get out of here first. It may be bending the rules a bit, but there are things I need to tell you, and—” he peered around the room “—we have an audience.”

Emily looked about then turned to Mitch. “I’ve been watched more than enough in this police station. Follow me to my place. Let me show you what I’ve done. Maybe you’ll see something I haven’t.” She snagged a sticky note and pen from the top of his desk and scribbled her address. She handed him the yellow paper. “Just in case I lose you.”

He took the slip but didn’t need the information. He’d memorized her address.

Mitch didn’t like the sour taste success left in his mouth. Emily trusted him, and every word he spoke had a lie hidden behind it. He’d have to live with the consequences.

As they passed the desk sergeant, one of his SWAT-mates, Reynolds, ran past. “Mitch. Wish you were back, man. We got a bad one at the Denver Federal Center.”

Reynolds shoved through the doors to the SWAT Den, and Mitch could see the flurry of activity.

“Okay, children. Mount up,” Lieutenant Decker, his SWAT commander, yelled.

The steel door closed out the noise. Mitch’s knuckles whitened around the box handles. “I should be there.” But until Ghost was caught, he couldn’t let this case go…whether he was reinstated to SWAT or not. Emily was in danger, and he couldn’t turn his back on his responsibility to her.

He felt the warmth of her hand on his arm.

“You’ll get back to them,” she said. “Soon.”

Was her concern real or had she recognized his desperation to return to SWAT? Was Tanner right? Was she a black widow? A beautiful, tempting black widow, but a dangerous predator nonetheless?

God, he hoped not. They walked out together.

After shoving the box in his SUV, Mitch followed her around winding curves to an isolated neighborhood that backed up against the Rocky Mountains. She slowed to fifteen miles below the speed limit when they reached the curve where the accident had occurred. A single white cross with a red wreath of poinsettias decorated the side of the road. He’d watched as she placed them there. Would she stop as she sometimes did?

After slowly passing the spot, she sped up and took a few more turns to her house. A picket fence surrounded her ranch-style home. As she pulled into the driveway, Mitch frowned at the Priced to Sell sign in the front yard. That was new since this morning. So, money was as tight as Tanner believed.