Gone (Deadly Secrets #2)(54)

His skepticism barely fazed her. “It’s hers. I remember when she pulled this button off beneath the bow. It went flying across the car. I saved it. I always meant to reattach it, but I just never found the time.” She turned toward Jack Bickam, standing behind her in slacks and a dress shirt rolled up to his elbows. “I have it in a drawer at the apartment. I can get it for you. You can see—”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Raegan, but I’ll tell the tech.”

Alec pulled his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest, a grim expression on his face, the good mood he’d been in back at her apartment long gone. “Let’s say for argument’s sake this is hers.” He glanced at Raegan with a pointed look. “And I’m not saying it is hers.” He looked back at Bickam. “But if so, what can it tell us?”

“Well.” With his own gloved hands, Bickam took the toy from Raegan. Reluctantly, she let him have it, but her fingers felt cold when it left her grip, and it was all she could do not to yank it away from him. “We’ll run tests on it. See what we can find. If there are any hair or skin cells in the fur, we’ll find them.”

“Can you tell how long it was in that car?” she asked.

“Probably not.” Bickam set the rabbit back on the high counter behind Raegan. She turned to stare at it, unable to look away. “We’ll run what we find on the toy against what we found in the car. That might tell us if the same person who abducted that toddler was ever near Emma. Assuming it’s her toy, that is.”

Beside her, Alec nodded.

“There’s not much more you two can do here tonight,” Bickam said, drawing Raegan’s attention. “Why don’t you head home? It’ll be a few days at least before we get any kind of results. I’ll call you as soon as I have any news.”

“Thanks.” Alec shook Bickam’s hand and turned to leave, but Raegan’s feet faltered, and when she looked back at the dirty toy, she didn’t want to let it out of her sight.

“Come on, Raegs.” Alec tugged at her elbow.

She finally turned away from the toy and followed him out into the hall. But the minute they were alone, everything started to shake. “Oh my God.”

He drew her against him. “Don’t do it, Raegan.”

“Alec.” She gripped his elbows and looked up at him. “It’s her bunny. You know it’s her bunny.”

Doubt crossed his features. Doubt and fear. But she didn’t let it deter her.

She held on tighter, pleading with her eyes, with her grip, with her voice. “You know it’s her bunny. You saw it. It’s the same one she used to drag everywhere. It’s the same one she used to tuck under her arm when she snuggled with you on the couch.”

His gaze searched hers, full of apprehension and pain.

“It’s hers, Alec. I know it’s hers.”

“Maybe,” he finally whispered.

Tears blurred her eyes. Tears of hope and of relief. She slid her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest, the beat of his heart strong, steady, real. As real as that rabbit.

“Maybe, okay?” he said louder, closing his arms around her. “But it doesn’t mean anything. Even if it’s hers, it won’t tell us where she is. It won’t tell us if she’s alive or . . .”

He swallowed hard, and just the fact he couldn’t say the word anymore gave her a strength she hadn’t felt before.

She lifted her head and gazed up at him through blurry vision. “She’s alive, Alec. I feel it. I know it. I know you feel it too.”

“Raegan.” He framed her face with his hands, his eyes still pained but insistent. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up here.”

“She’s linked to that boy they found in the car. To that girl we saw at the hospital. I know it.”

“Those kids were missing for a day and week. Not three years. Even if she is alive, she could be anywhere.”

“We’ll find her.”

“Raegan—”

“I know we’ll find her.” She closed her arms around his waist again and pressed her cheek to his heart. “This is a sign, Alec. A good sign.”

He wrapped his arms around her again. Tight. So tight. “I want to believe that,” he whispered. “I really do.”

For the first time in three years, her heart, which had been empty for so long, slowly started to fill. She closed her eyes and this time didn’t let any of the doubt in. “You will. I’ll make you believe it. I promise.”



Alec hadn’t slept. He spent the night wrapped around Raegan while she dozed, but he couldn’t get his mind to stop spinning long enough to relax. All he could focus on was that stupid stuffed animal. All he could see was the hundreds of times he’d watched Emma drag it through the apartment. All he could think about was the dozens of different scenarios she could be in right this moment if she really was alive.

If she was alive . . .

That was the kicker, right? If. He hadn’t lied to Raegan. He wanted to believe their daughter was out there somewhere. But every time he tried, a new sense of fear grabbed hold and wouldn’t let go—one focused on who she was with, what they were making her do, and what would happen to her if he and Raegan never tracked her down.