Second Chance (24 page)

Eden pulled her head from Jordan’s shoulder. The tears in her eyes were like a gut punch he felt all the way to his soul. They’d found Hailey. She was dead.

“Is it Hailey?”

“No.”

The relief he felt at that one word was almost more than he could handle. Having to tell Keeley her daughter was dead would have been his worst nightmare come true.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“It’s Paulo.” Eden swallowed. “He’s sick … in the hospital. We need to go to him.”

Keeley appeared beside him and said, “Of course you do.”

Still disturbed by what had just happened with her, Cole forced himself to focus. “Anything I can do?”

Jordan jerked his head in a nod, indicating he wanted to talk privately. While Keeley went to Eden and hugged her, Cole and Jordan retreated to a corner of the room.

“You okay?” Jordan asked.

“Hell no.”

“You going to be able to do this?”

“You mean, am I going to be able to keep my hands off our client? Yeah, I’ll make damn sure I am.”

“That wasn’t exactly what I was asking. But I trust you to know what’s best.”

Cole swallowed a snort. Good thing Jordan trusted him, because he sure as hell didn’t trust himself. He glanced over at Keeley, who was talking in a low voice with Eden. Keep his hands off her? Yes, he would do that. But how to tell Keeley without hurting her? He didn’t have an answer for that one.

   Keeley’s determination that Hannah’s birthday be one of joy was a success. Miranda arrived with Maggie, who carried in a giant stuffed giraffe. Jenna brought a doll and a half-dozen books. Eden and Jordan had given her a dozen or more DVDs of children’s movies. And Cole surprised everyone, including Keeley, when he disappeared in the midst of the party and returned a few minutes later, pushing a small pink bicycle into the room. Hannah had squealed with glee, causing everyone to laugh.

Hannah had only mentioned Hailey once. Before she blew out her candles on her cake, she expressed her wish out loud: “I wish Hailey would come home.”

Tears sprang to her eyes before Keeley could stop them. She swallowed a sob, tried to speak and found she couldn’t. Cole had been the one to press a kiss to the top of Hannah’s head and say, “That’s a good wish, Hannah, and one we’ll make come true.”

Still unable to speak, Keeley smiled her appreciation at Cole.

Eden and Jordan left early the next day. Despite Eden’s worry for her son, Keeley could tell that she felt guilty for leaving. She’d assured her that she would be fine. And she would be. With Cole here, somehow she still
felt that optimism that Hailey was alive and they would find her.

Out of necessity, Cole, Eden, and Jordan had met with Honor to update her.

It no longer hurt as much that Honor had been relocated to Greenville. She didn’t resent it because she knew there were other cases just as important to them.

She did wonder if LCR would begin to feel the same way, though. Yes, she was their client and paying them well, but they were used to action. Used to getting things done and going on to another job. Nothing had happened with this case. Finding Hannah had been a miracle, but the longer Hailey was gone and there were no real clues, the less their chances of finding her.

She knew Cole didn’t feel that way, but how long would that last? He wouldn’t stay here forever. And she would never stop looking. He’d said he wouldn’t leave until they found her, but she was realistic enough to know that he couldn’t stay here indefinitely, no matter how much she wanted him to.

“Want to go to the park?”

Keeley jerked at the suddenness of Cole’s voice. She pulled her gaze away from the website she’d been staring sightlessly at for several minutes. She’d zoned out again and hadn’t even known he was in the house.

“What?”

“It’s a beautiful day outside. Let’s take Hannah and go for a picnic in the park.”

Her stomach twisted. How could he ask her to go to the place where this nightmare had begun?

“Don’t look like that, Keeley. I know what I’m asking, but you’ve never gone back since it happened. I want you to see if you might remember something. Even as young as Hannah is, she might remember something, too.”

“No, it would upset her too much.”

“She’ll be fine. If she looks the least bit upset, we’ll bring her home.”

“But the psychologist said she didn’t appear to remember anything.”

“And she could be right, but let’s try it and see what happens.”

Keeley stood. He was right. Nothing would get accomplished if they didn’t have the courage to do everything they could.

“I’ll go get her dressed.” She stopped at the door, took a deep breath for courage, and said, “You know, we need to talk about what happened.”

“No we don’t.”

“Why?”

“Because it can’t happen again, Keeley. I’m responsible, I know. I got carried away again. But I can’t have a relationship with you. And you’re not the type of person to have sex with someone and just forget about it.”

“You mean the way you did with Honor.”

There was both guilt and embarrassment in his expression. “You know about that?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t mean to. I overheard you apologizing to her. You didn’t even remember being with her.”

His mouth flattened into a grim line. “It was a long time ago.”

“Do you sleep with so many women that you can’t remember them?”

His face shut down … he didn’t intend to say anything else. He would neither deny her accusation nor defend himself. It was none of her business; she knew that. If Cole wanted to sleep with an entire fleet of women, it shouldn’t be her concern. But if he did sleep with so many women he couldn’t remember sleeping with a beautiful woman like Honor, then why wouldn’t he sleep with her?

In a year or two, would he have forgotten that one night with her? No, she refused to believe that … it had been too incredible … too special. But had it been that special to him?

Keeley had worked hard at overcoming the insecurities Stephen’s betrayal had caused her. It hadn’t been easy. She knew she wasn’t unattractive, but there were certain things she didn’t like about herself. Things Stephen had sometimes made a point of mentioning.

“Keeley, I don’t want to hurt you.”

She suddenly realized she’d been standing in the middle of the room staring at him. Cole had probably read every expression on her face as an indictment against him. She held no rancor toward him. How could she? He’d done nothing but try to find her children, defend her against Elizabeth’s spitefulness, offer his body to her as solace, and give her hope. Just because he didn’t want a repeat performance wasn’t something she could hold against him. If she couldn’t even keep her husband’s interest, how on earth could she expect to attract someone like Cole?

“Thank you for being honest with me.”

As she turned away, she couldn’t help but wonder why he flinched.

“Mommy, higher … push me higher!”

Despite his bleak feelings from their earlier talk, Cole couldn’t help but smile as mother and daughter figuratively butted heads. Hannah wanted to swing higher; her overprotective mother was giving her only the lightest of pushes.

He’d hoped coming here would trigger some kind of memory for Keeley or Hannah. Though Keeley had a haunted look in her eyes the first half hour, Hannah had acted as if nothing bad had happened here. The resilience of children always amazed him.

He wanted to give both of them a little time to get more comfortable before he started his questions. If they were relaxed, perhaps they might remember something.

Admittedly it was a long shot, but he was running out of options. Hailey had been gone almost three months. The press had gone, with only a weekly call from a few of the major television stations to ask for updates.

The FBI was still on the case, but Honor was their only local agent. And even she was working on other cases and was basically waiting for something to break on this one.

Cole was convinced nothing would break unless they forced it. Hailey wasn’t coming home on her own. Her picture had been flashed on every television station from here to Australia. People all around the world knew
about her case, and not a damn one of them had given them a clue they could use.

Even their sadistic emailer seemed to have lost interest. It had been almost a week since Keeley had received a cruel reminder of her loss. Was this a final indication that everyone assumed Hailey would never be found? He refused to allow that to happen. He would never give up and neither would Keeley.

“How about we stop for a few minutes and talk?”

Hannah looked disappointed, but Keeley looked scared. Cole hardened his heart.

Keeley pulled Hannah from the swing and headed toward Cole. He spread a blanket on the ground under a giant oak. Opening the picnic basket Keeley had packed, he pulled two bottles of water out and handed one to Hannah and one to Keeley.

They both took a sip and then he asked, “Tell me about that day, Keeley.”

Keeley swallowed the water, took a breath, and said, “It was sunny … not as sunny as today. And warm. One of those early spring days that makes you realize winter is completely over.”

“What time did you get to the park?”

Her brow wrinkled in concentration. “Not as early as we’d planned. Jenna was supposed to meet us here. She was bringing lemonade and cookies. When she called and told me she couldn’t come, I took some extra time and baked cookies from some frozen dough I had in the freezer.”

“Where was Jenna?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Pointer had died in an accident the day before. Jenna had to meet with the family to make arrangements for a double funeral.”

“And Miranda and Maggie. Weren’t they supposed to come, too?”

“Yes … but I knew the night before that they
wouldn’t be coming with us. Maggie was running a fever.”

“Okay, so what time did you get here?”

“About ten-thirty, I think.”

“Was anyone here when you arrived?”

“There were a few people. Not as many as I expected, considering the weather. Hailey and Hannah had the playground to themselves.”

“And you saw no strange men lurking about? Men you’d never seen before?”

“No. The few people I did see were people I’m acquainted with.”

“How long were you here before it happened?”

“Not long. Maybe about forty minutes or so.”

“Show me where you were and where Hannah and Hailey were.”

She stood and walked over to the monkey bars. “I was standing between the girls. Hailey was playing on the bars. I heard her giggle and turned to see her trying to climb higher. She’s such an adventurous rascal. I pulled her down and told her not to do that anymore. She just grinned at me.” She closed her eyes as if the memory was painful.

“Then what?”

Opening her eyes, she concentrated on what Cole knew was the most horrific moment of her life. “Hannah asked for some juice.” She walked a few steps to a bench. “I pulled a juice box out of the bag. She took it and went toward her sister. I knew Hailey would want some, too, so I was getting out another one when I heard the screams.”

Cole stiffened his resolve and looked at Keeley’s daughter. “Hannah, do you remember that day when the bad man took you?”

He ignored Keeley’s gasp and concentrated on the
little girl, who seemed to be totally absorbed with her water. He said again, “Hannah, do you remember?”

“He gave us cookies and juice.”

Keeley jerked. Hannah had never mentioned that before.

“Was it good?” Cole asked.

She scrunched her nose up and shook her head emphatically.

“What else do you remember?”

“We got sleepy.”

They’d pretty much determined that both girls had been drugged, most likely to keep them quiet until they could be gotten rid of.

“Do you remember what the man who took you looked like?”

Another emphatic shake of her head and then, “Mommy, can I swing again?”

Cole held back his impatience. As much as he wanted to push her, he couldn’t. Hannah was five years old. It was a miracle that she had suffered no apparent emotional trauma from her abduction. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

As Hannah stood, she looked at Cole and said, “He had a boo-boo like that.”

Cole looked down at the inside of his forearm where he had a long, slender scar. A scar caused by a whip. His heartbeat kicked up. It wasn’t much but it was something. The man who’d taken the girls had a scar.

His heart still thundering, he kept his voice only slightly curious and said, “Really. Where was it?”

As if she didn’t know that the two adults were hanging on her every word, she said, “On his hand.”

“Did he have dark hair like you and your mommy’s?”

She shook her head.

“Was it like Eden’s?”

“Like Hailey’s and Daddy’s.”

“You mean blond … kind of like Aunt Miranda’s?”

She nodded her head and said, “Can I go swing again?”

Cole looked up at Keeley. There were tears in her eyes and gratitude on her face. Wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her, he stood and said, “I’ll call Honor,” and walked away.

Keeley followed Hannah to the swings, her emotions close to eruption. Her baby had remembered something. No, it wasn’t a lot—hair color and a scar—but it was more than they’d had before. Anything at all to help narrow down the suspects was progress. And she owed it all to Cole. She hadn’t wanted to come here. Hadn’t wanted to put Hannah through more questioning. Hadn’t wanted to relive the horror of that day, even though it was ingrained into her mind. But Cole had done the hard thing, and thanks to him, they had something they didn’t have before.

“Mommy, who’s that with Unca Cole?”

Last week Hannah had started calling Cole “Unca Cole.” She should discourage it. He wouldn’t be here forever, and having Hannah attach any kind of nickname to him meant she could easily form an attachment.

So far she hadn’t told her not to call him that…. She should, she knew … but not yet.

Keeley twisted her head to see Cole standing beside a truck and being hugged by a beautiful auburn-haired woman. A man with shoulder-length golden-blond hair, about Cole’s height, stood beside the woman. He gave Cole a brief manly hug. They talked for several seconds and Cole did the most extraordinary thing. He pulled the woman back into his arms and swung her around, the golden-haired man grinning the entire time. Then Cole set her down and placed his hand on her belly.