SHELLEY DIDN’T CARE that she was in her nightgown. The hospital didn’t have that many rooms, and she intended to search each and every one. Behind her, down the hall, she could hear Officer Leann Bailey coordinating with security. They’d already locked down the hospital. No one was getting in or out.
“The bathroom,” Leann explained loudly over her cell phone for the hundredth time. “I stepped into the bathroom for a minute.”
Shelley didn’t know who Leann was talking to and didn’t care. She cared only that during that minute, the nurse returned the baby and someone shouted as if in pain. The nurse turned away, and when she looked back, the baby was gone.
That was all it took. By the time Leann had the bathroom door open and Shelley shot out of bed, it was too late. The room across from Shelley’s was empty and had a window open. It looked like the abductor had escaped.
“Shelley—” Leann came in the room as Shelley finished searching the bathroom “—you need to get back to bed. You look ready to fall down. When we find the baby, you’ll need your strength because—”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Shelley said. “You really think I’m going to bed? I’m searching all the rooms on this side. All of them. You look on that side.”
“It could be dangerous. You’re not qualified...”
“Don’t even go there.” Shelley didn’t so much as pause. She went into the room next to the one she’d just searched and walked into the bathroom. Should she encounter Larry, she’d take him on with her bare hands.
“Shelley!” Oscar called to her.
“He didn’t leave by that window,” she told him, poking her head out of the bathroom. “But the one on the right has an open window. The grass is a bit trampled. I don’t know if that means anything or not.”
“Riley’s looking at the footage of who’s come into the hospital in the last twenty-four hours. Lucas, Culpepper and Trimble are driving a grid. I’ll tell Culpepper about the grass. A helicopter’s on its way from Runyan.”
She turned, hitting the ground with her knees and looking under the hospital bed.
“I’ll do the next room,” Oscar said.
“And I’ll do the one next to it.” Maureen Peterson was at the door, and for Shelley, who’d been holding back the tears, it was this woman’s appearance who broke the dam.
“Thank you.”
“No,” Maureen said, “thank you.”
* * *
THE MINUTES TICKED BY. Shelley and Oscar checked every empty room. The security team was at their heels, ready with keys or whatever else they needed.
Oscar’s phone trilled. He took the call and listened. When he hung up, he told them, “Riley says that no one remotely matching Larry has entered the hospital.”
“What next?” Maureen asked.
“Riley and two other officers are combing through the basement, the control room and the cafeteria. They want you to get out of sight.”
Shelley started to argue, “But—”
“Wagner knows how to play both of you. We need our attention on getting the baby back, not on...” Oscar’s voice tapered off as he heard a sound come from one of the rooms that had a patient. A giggle. For some reason, he stopped breathing. Something nudged his memory.
Riley talked about interviewing a motel clerk about one of the women Larry was having an affair with. No name. But she giggled enough that the clerk remembered.
The waiter in Runyan, too, had remembered Larry’s date, a woman who giggled.
It was a long shot. Everyone giggled. Even Oscar had been known to let one loose.
But now was not the time to giggle, and some people giggled when they were nervous.
Oscar put a finger to his lips, looked at the closed door two down from where he was standing and then at the guards.
“Marvin Templeton,” the chief security guard whispered. “Had gallbladder surgery this morning. Got ten children. They’ve all been in and out to see him.”
“In your hospital room,” Oscar ordered Shelley and Maureen in a hushed voice.
They both shook their heads.
He looked at Shelley and mouthed, I promise I’ll get your son back. Trust me. He’d asked her to do that once before. She hadn’t been able to do it.
Maureen pulled on Shelley’s arm. “Come on. They’re right. We’re in the way.”
The giggle came again. He knew that giggle. Something else nudged at Oscar. It all came together, wildly, but together.
No.
Yes.
Maybe.
Didn’t matter.
Maureen pulled Shelley into the room she’d been searching while Oscar walked up to Marvin Templeton’s door, reaching down, turning the knob and slowly opening it.
Guiltily, Tiffany Little, Candace’s stepmother, glanced up.
“Where’s the baby?” Oscar asked.
“Oscar,” Tiffany said, cool and calm, with mock surprise. “What’s going on? There’s so much noise. Is something happening with Shelley? I’ve been afraid to leave Marvin. He’s a distant cousin. Is there a problem I should know about?”
Her eyes worried him. No feeling. None. Marvin slept. Oscar noted the sheet rise and fall.
“I’ll escort you out,” Oscar said.
“Thank goodness,” Tiffany breathed. “I’ve been so scared. Let me get my purse.” She stood, flowing royal blue shirt, white pants, silver sandals. She picked up a good-size tote bag, yarn spilling out.
“This way.” Oscar beckoned, and Tiffany came toward him. When she got to him, he held the door open wide. She peeked out, saw the empty hallway and smiled.
“I’ll tell Jack how helpful you were.”
Four moves, maybe taking three seconds. He grabbed her right hand, the one holding the tote, and before she could even open her mouth to protest, he squeezed, relieving her of the bag. He had her handcuffed when she finally mouthed the word noooo.
Shelley stepped into the corridor from the room nearby, big eyes, breathing in and out loudly to hold back tears. He knew this woman. Knew what she was thinking, feeling, what she wanted.
Oscar turned Tiffany over to the security team and cautiously reached into the tote. Shelley was right there beside him as he lifted her son from the soft cushion of yarn. Her hands entwined with his.
“Oscar,” she whispered, her hands roaming over her son, checking everything from downy hair to ten tiny fingers.
He’d do anything for her: give her the moon, rescue her son, give up the FBI. He was that in love.
She was gazing down at her son.
That was when he realized she wasn’t talking to him. She was talking to her son.
Calling the little boy Oscar.