Juniper Hill (The Edens #2)(75)

When I picked him up on Monday and he cried, it pissed me off. I get it.”

Memphis had been running late so I’d gone to get Drake before the daycare had closed. The moment I’d lifted him from Jill’s arms, he’d cried.

Something about the whole situation sat wrong with me. It was like Jill didn’t put him down all day. Like she intentionally spoiled him so that he’d want her. Maybe I didn’t have a damn clue what I was feeling, but there was something slimy about her. Something that had rubbed me wrong.

Like Memphis, had she been mean to Drake, it would have been easier to pull him away. But that boy adored her.

“We’ll ask Mom this weekend,” I said. Because the daycare was closed all next week for the holidays, Mom had agreed to watch Drake. “See if we can make this Christmas babysitting permanent.”

“I’m sure the daycare will make me give them a thirty-day notice.”

“Probably, but as soon as Mom is good to watch him, we’re switching.”

“Deal.” Memphis smiled. “God, I feel lighter already. This might be the last pickup.”

“The last jailbreak.” I pulled into the parking lot and left the engine running, then followed Memphis inside.

She walked down the hallway for the nursery, stopping inside the door to do a quick sweep of the room. “Hi. Um, where’s Drake?”

“Hi.” A woman who was not Jill glanced at the clock.

“You’re early to pick him up.”

“So?” I stood behind Memphis and crossed my arms over my chest. “Where is he?”

“They, uh . . .” The woman swallowed hard. “She’s not back yet.”

“Back from where?” Memphis took a step closer. “What’s going on?”

“I need to get my manager.” The woman took a step, trying to pass us for the door, but I shifted and blocked her path.

“What the hell is going on?” My heart began to race.

“Where’s our kid?”

“Jill, um . . . she just left about thirty minutes ago. She took him to her place for a little bit to change some laundry or something. She promised to be back by five.”

“She took him?” Memphis’s jaw fell open. “She doesn’t have my permission to take my child from this building.”

“It’s just—”

“Next door.” Memphis held up a hand. “That’s what you said last time.”

Without another word, she swept up Drake’s car seat and his diaper bag from his hook, then she marched to the center’s office, where two older women were chatting.

I stood at Memphis’s back and watched her read the riot act to the ladies and immediately pull Drake from their facility.

Both claimed they had no idea Memphis hadn’t given her approval.

“Jill said you didn’t mind. That he could go with her.”

“I did no such thing,” Memphis barked. “We’re done here.

You will not see us again.”

“We require a thirty-day—”

“Finish that sentence and I’ll call my sister-in-law, the chief of police, and let her know that your staff is taking children off premises without parental permission.” I leveled the women with a glare. “I believe they call that kidnapping.”

Both blanched.

Memphis turned and walked out the doors, looking both ways. Her hands were shaking. “I don’t know which house is hers.”

“Hang tight.” I stormed into the center and demanded Jill’s address.

When I came out, Memphis was standing on the sidewalk, the car seat and diaper bag at her feet and her eyes full of worry.

“It’s this one.” I steered her to the home next door, a small, single-level home with blue siding and a green door. Every window was dark. The porch light was off.

There was nothing but silence as I rang the doorbell over and over. Then I pounded my fist on the door, but it didn’t matter. No one was home.

“Are you sure it’s this one?” Memphis asked.

“They said blue house next door.” Every other home around the daycare was a shade of tan.

I pounded on the door again with no answer.

“What the fuck?” I backed away, scanning the street.

The color drained from Memphis’s face. “Where’s my son?”





CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

MEMPHIS

In just minutes the street had filled with police cruisers.

Winn pulled in last, getting out of an unmarked SUV, and rushed over to where we stood. Her officers followed, crowding in close to form a blockade around us.

My entire body trembled as I stood tucked into Knox’s side.

Winn took my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Tell me everything. From the beginning.”

The idea of saying the words— she took my son—made my throat close. Like he knew I wouldn’t be able to do it, Knox held me tighter and spoke for me.

He told her how we’d come to pick up Drake. How we’d gone to Jill’s house only to find it empty. How we’d both raced for the center, panicked and frantic, and demanded information from the owner and other caregivers—there hadn’t been much to share. No one in the building, not the women in the office or the girl in the nursery, had a clue where Jill would take Drake.