Finding Her Son(17)

“It’s been a while since I’ve done an all-nighter,” she said. “But I’m game.” She took a sip of coffee and settled in for the duration.




MORNING CAME TOO QUICKLY. They’d barely moved. “What are we doing?” Emily said tossing another stack of notes to the table, her voice cracking. “There’s nothing here. That’s why I hooked up with Sister Kate. Desperation. Missing babies. Except they aren’t missing. Detective Tanner was right. There’s no connection.”

“Not yet. Did you expect me to pull out a miracle in one day?”

“You’re so determined, maybe I hoped you would.”

She studied his alert expression and half smile. After a night together, she’d become ultra-aware of Mitch’s sense of humor, his addiction to sugar in his coffee and his need to stretch his leg every few hours. He never complained, of course. She also appreciated his keen wit and how quickly he leaped from fact to fact, even though most led to dead ends. Sitting next to him, passing papers back and forth, touching casually a thousand different ways, made Emily feel more comfortable with him. It felt good. To have a real partner again.

She knocked shoulders with him, but when she should have pulled away, she lingered, giving in to a desire that had simmered the entire night. Their hands touched before she drew hers away, her face heating. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Their gazes caught, his lowering to linger on her lips.

He let out a long, slow breath. “Time to meet Perry. I’ll follow you.”

“He won’t like it.”

“I don’t much care what he likes. If he has evidence against the department, I want to know about it.”

Mitch packed up the evidence box and loaded in some of Eric’s bank statements. Emily grabbed her purse and evidence satchel and, with a last glance at the murder boards, said a small prayer. Once outside, she slipped into her car and pulled out of the driveway with Mitch tailing her.

When she and Eric had moved into the house, she’d loved the view of the pine trees along the serpentine curve. Even the steep drops on either side of the road hadn’t fazed her…not until that night a year ago.

She navigated the car along the narrow stretch of asphalt. A metal sign loomed toward her on the left. Her heart always jumped a bit as she approached the turn. Some days were worse than others, but she handled it. Once she found Joshua she’d conquer the road forever.

The gleaming white of the cross loomed at the horizon. She waited for the splash of poinsettias to come into view, but the flowers were gone.

Oh, God.

A small blue blanket splattered in red was draped over the top of the white cross.

Pain exploded behind her eye, throbbing in her head. Blood. Everywhere. Images, sounds. Joshua’s cry. A flashlight. Eric’s gray face. Blood pulsing from his chest. Red and green. Pain. Pink. Blood. Blue blanket.

Joshua. No! The blanket wasn’t his. It couldn’t be.

She had to stop. She had to know. Heart racing, she panted. She couldn’t breathe. Her foot slammed into the floor. The car didn’t slow down.

Her knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. A burning hit her throat. The copper taste of blood exploded in her mouth and lights flashed in her eyes.

She pumped the brake. Nothing.

The car sped faster on the downward incline. The metal guardrail raced past her. This couldn’t be happening. She gripped the steering wheel so hard her hands cramped, and she kept pounding the pedal, but it was no use.

The slight slope became steeper. Fifty miles per hour. Fifty-five.

A hairpin curve waited ahead. She’d driven the road countless times, but not this fast. Never this fast.

Snow began to fall, small flakes.

Not again.

Behind her a loud honking sounded, but she couldn’t afford to look in her rearview mirror. The phone in her pocket rang, but she couldn’t pick up. She struggled to keep the car on the road. Much more snow and the road would become too slick. She’d never make the curve.

With all her strength, she wrenched up on the emergency brake.

Nothing.

Please, Mitch. Help me.

The road seemed to narrow; the cliffs on either side seemed to go on forever. Her life couldn’t end here. Not in this place. Not before she found Joshua.

A car sped past her. Mitch.

“No brakes!” she screamed, as though he could hear her.

Mitch’s SUV raced in front of her. He slowed down, and her car shoved into his rear bumper. They rounded the curve, but she was going too fast.

Emily struggled to steer. Her tires hit black ice. She skidded toward the cliff.

Joshua, I won’t die. I promise.





Chapter Four


“No!”

Mitch watched in horror as Emily’s compact car spun out of control. He had to save her. He wrenched his steering wheel and maneuvered his vehicle between her and the guardrail, pumping his brakes. Her vehicle shoved into his driver’s side door.

With a curse, he turned into the spin, until finally his four-wheel drive caught traction. Tires squealed, and he gauged the distance to the edge. It was going to be close.

“Come on, baby. Stop.” He yanked on the emergency brake, spun the steering wheel hard to the left and prayed. Brakes sparked and metal ground against metal as they skidded toward the drop-off.