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“You need to get the carpet and the toy box out of there first. Maybe you’ll find some fingerprints.”
The sheriff plucked his radio speaker. “I don’t have a lot of help, but I can call in some assistance from Midland. If it’s not too dangerous to enter the mine, they’ll retrieve the evidence.” He waited a beat. “You say this woman doesn’t know her name? Do you believe her?”
Daniel met the sheriff’s gaze. He understood what the man was asking. “Wrapped in carpet held together with duct tape? She didn’t do that to herself. Yeah, I believe her.”
The sheriff zipped across the desert and soon reached the Trouble, Texas, Medical Clinic. Daniel carried Raven inside.
A grizzled doctor took one look at her wounds, grabbed a gurney, then wheeled her into a closed area. Daniel followed.
“You with her?” the nurse asked, obviously ready to evict him.
Daniel nodded. He wasn’t about to let Raven out of his sight. Not while she was so vulnerable.
The doctor immobilized her neck first, then bent down. “Can you hear me, miss?” he asked loudly.
She didn’t respond at first, until a child in a different examining room cried.
Raven’s eyes blinked open, and she stared up at the doctor in panic.
“Where am I? Where’s my baby?”
* * *
PAMELA WINTER EASED the rocking chair back and forth, back and forth, her aging muscles aching as she held the child closer.
Squeak. Squeak. Squeak. “Mommy’s going to take care of you.”
The baby cooed in her sleep, pursing those sweet little lips as if she were nursing. Pamela wished she could do it, but it was impossible at her age.
“You’ll be fine, my precious girl.”
Pamela let her wrinkled hand stroke down the soft cheeks of the healthy eighteen-month-old baby. So healthy when...
No. Pamela wouldn’t think that way. Everything would be fine. She’d done what she had to do.
The television filtered through the room. Another game show, one she’d watched nightly for twenty-five years. The recliner near the fireplace mocked her with its emptiness.
This wasn’t the home it was supposed to be. She wasn’t supposed to be alone. She was supposed to be here with her husband, with their new daughter. A perfect, happy family. A second chance. A do-over after the horrific way their first attempt at parenthood had turned out. She’d believed her husband had changed. He’d certainly been quieter toward the end. He hadn’t used his fists or his threats as much after Christopher left.
Until earlier that day before her husband died.
Pamela hummed a lullaby and touched the rosy cheek of the beautiful baby in her arms. A perfect daughter. Unlike Christopher, the child from hell. A child with no conscience who, even when he grew up, never felt the need for one.
Thank God his father had finally found an alternative. After yet another stupid stunt, he’d told Christopher to choose the army or jail. Christopher had picked the army, so now he was trained to kill, with no conscience to stop him. Pamela shivered, even though the temperature hadn’t turned cold. Every day she prayed she’d get a telegram, or a knock at the door, along with a military chaplain saying her son was dead, and the world was a safer place for it.
What a blessing that would be.
A key sounded in the lock. She tensed. Her husband was dead. Her son was gone.
No one should have a key.
“I’m home.”
Oh, my God. Christopher.
Pamela vaulted out of her chair, clutching the infant in her arms. What was he doing here? Her son wasn’t due for leave from deployment for another six months.
She couldn’t deal with his horrible temper, his manic and depressive rages. Not now. What was she going to do? He’d kill her if he found out the truth about what she’d done. She settled the baby in the nearby cradle and rose from the rocker.
He could never find out.
Heavy steps clunked across the hardwood floor. She bit her lip.
The tall, strapping man, as handsome and dangerous as his father, strode across the room, the once long, shaggy hair now cut military short. He dropped his duffel in the marble-covered foyer.
“No hug for your baby boy?”
He gave her a smile. A smile she hadn’t seen since he’d become a teenager.
She allowed herself a smidgen of hope. Was the good Christopher back? She embraced him carefully like one would a cobra. He could be that lethal.
Her son stared at her. “Is the baby sleeping?”
She nodded, her throat closed off in fear. Would he be able to tell?
With a grin, he crossed to the cradle and stared at the infant. “She’s even more beautiful than her pictures. Chubby, rosy cheeks. You’ve been plumping her up. I’m glad. She was so pale in the last set of photos.” He kissed the top of the baby’s head. “I’m home now, kiddo. Anyone messes with you, and they’re dead.”
Pamela turned so he wouldn’t see the tears trailing down her cheeks, tears that were an all-too-common occurrence these days. Her arms felt empty again. She picked up the baby and then faced her son. Forcing a false smile into place, she reached a trembling hand to Christopher. “I’m glad you’re home,” she lied. “Safe with us. Safe and sound.”
“I opted out early. I’m back for good.”
She tried to swallow down the terror that clutched at her heart. This wouldn’t work. She couldn’t keep the truth from him forever. Someone would tell him, or he would guess.
Why was this happening?
Pamela hadn’t thought he could leave the service before his five-year enlistment was up. Nothing had worked out like she’d planned.
Everything was so hard now. So wrong.
The baby squirmed in Pamela’s arms and opened her striking green eyes.
“Hello, beautiful,” he said, scooping up the baby from his mother’s arms.
He walked across the room, past the darkened hearth, then sat in his father’s chair, an obvious act of defiance to the man he’d hated.
Christopher examined the infant in his arms. “She reminds me of someone. Who do you think?”
Pamela swallowed, unwilling to answer. She had to get him out of here, away from the baby. She would have to come up with some way to hide the truth.
The television volume rose as a news banner flashed across the screen.
Breaking news. Trouble, Texas.
The picture of a battered and bloody woman took up the entire screen.
Pamela almost cried out in shock at the sight. With a trembling hand, she grabbed the remote and pressed the volume control so she could hear.
“The sheriff’s office revealed the woman was found in an abandoned mine west of Trouble. Referred to as Jane Doe, she cannot identify herself due to a head injury. They’re asking anyone who knows or has seen this woman to contact them immediately.”
Pamela dropped the remote. She glanced at her son, then swayed. “This can’t be happening. That woman is supposed to be dead. She tried to steal my baby.”
Chapter Three
“Open your eyes, darlin’. Please.”
Daniel’s soft, deep voice soothed Raven’s senses. She wanted to do what he asked, but she couldn’t seem to function. She hurt too much. The rhythmic pulses slammed in her temples like a bass drum reverberating through her mind. She wanted to let sleep overtake her again, except for some urgent feeling that drove her to wake up and move. She needed help for some reason. His help. For something very important...
Dazed, she struggled to lift her lids. Through her lashes, unfamiliar images coalesced. The room was dark, save a low light glowing from above the headboard. An IV and monitor were hooked up by her bed. Panic started, then she heard someone speak again.
“That’s it. Wake up now. Just a little more.”
It was Daniel. What a relief. She knew his voice. Trusted his voice.
A callused finger traced her forehead, and she peered blearily over at the fuzzy double image of the man sitting beside her.
“There you go. Keep those beautiful eyes open.”
“Daniel.” His face, handsome and troubled, held her enthralled. He was familiar. The only thing that was. She reached up and touched his cheek, the one with the scar.
He clasped her hand in his and drew it away. “Don’t exert yourself. Are you really awake this time?” he asked. “Awake enough to answer some questions?”
“I think so,” she croaked.
Daniel gave her a small smile, and she could see the relief in his eyes.
“But I don’t know where I am.”
“We’re in Trouble, Texas, at their medical clinic. You had me worried, passing out like you did.”
She licked her lips. Her mouth was so dry. “My head hurts. I can’t think straight.”
“I’ll tell the nurse. Want some water?” he asked.
“Please.”
He cupped her head and held a straw next to her lips. With one sip, the cold fluid coated her throat. She smiled at him. He knew just what she needed.
Even that small movement made the throbbing restart. She lifted her hand to her temple and encountered a bandage. “What’s this? What happened?”
“Before or after the cave-in?” he asked.
“Cave-in?” Hazy images of darkness and falling rocks assailed her. The scent of panic and fear, from a...a dog and Daniel. Dust. Blood. There were some memories there, but none were very clear. She touched the bandage once more. “How did I do this? Did the rocks hit me? What was I doing in a stupid cave anyway?”
“I don’t know the answers to all your questions, but falling rocks only did some of the damage.” He leaned forward, glancing at the curtain. “Look, I don’t have much time before someone comes in, but I do want to help you. Can you try to think about being in the mine shaft before it caved in? Do you remember who hurt you?”
“Someone hurt me?” She furrowed her brow, trying to reconstruct the strange images in her mind. “Why would anyone do that?”
“Think. What do you remember?” he asked.
“My name is Raven.”
“Raven’s not your name.” The man’s expression held nothing but pity. “We made it up because you were panicked about not remembering yours.”
“That’s crazy.” She dug her fingernails into his palm. “That’s the only name I know. And I know you. You were holding me and telling me everything would be all right. We were in the cave together. You held me. I remember you.”
He squeezed her hand. “I was only holding you to calm you down. I’m sorry. We never met before today.”
“It doesn’t seem possible. You’re...you’re Daniel. I know you.” She grasped at the small straw of sanity remaining. “I was in your arms. How can you deny we know each other? Why are you lying?”
The curtain surrounding them was yanked back, the sound of the metal rings scraping like nails on a chalkboard.
A man in uniform entered the room. “Yeah, Adams, that’s something I’d like to know. You sure looked involved with her when I saw you.”
“I was trying to save her life. What was I supposed to do? Dump her and run?”
“No, but you informed the charge nurse you were together when you arrived. You were in the exam room the whole time. Didn’t look like a total stranger situation to me. So what gives?”
A deep-seated fear took hold in Raven’s chest when anger rose to Daniel’s face.
He slowly stood and faced the lawman. “My dog found her, and I tried to get her help. End of story.”
“I also warned you not to come back here alone with the Jane Doe. You make a habit of going against the law? You got a prison record somewhere I should check out?”
Daniel blanched, darkness in his eyes once more. “You go ahead and check.”
“I intend to,” the sheriff shot back. “Now, why don’t you wait outside, while I have a talk with this lady you claim not to know.”
Raven gripped Daniel’s hand. He was her only touchstone. “Please, don’t make him leave.”
“I’m Sheriff Galloway, ma’am.” His gaze sliced across Daniel. “It appears you’ve been the victim of a crime. I need to ascertain the threat. I said, step away from her, Mr. Adams.”
Daniel glanced at their intertwined fingers. “Why don’t you let the lady decide, Sheriff? She doesn’t look all that eager to be alone with you.”
“I said move away.” Galloway grabbed Daniel by the arm. “Don’t press me. You’re two seconds from a cell.”
Daniel yanked his arm from Galloway’s grasp and pushed aside the curtain.
“Don’t leave, Adams. I’m talking to you next.”
