Chapter ten
The tremble in her hands moved up her arms and through her body, her knees knocking against each other. Then, like a shock of lightning traveling through metal, panic took hold and she leaped up.
Or tried to.
“I need to get to my baby,” she choked out, Spencer’s arm wrapped around her waist, steadying her. Nothing in her body wanted to cooperate.
“We will do everything we can,” Spencer replied, ushering her out of the bathroom.
She spun in his arms and gripped his shirt.
That he hadn’t fully agreed with her sent another shock of terror through her.
“You don’t believe me. You don’t believe that’s my baby,” she demanded.
She needed him on her side. No, not true.
Now that she knew her baby lived, that Anthony had lied to her, she’d tear the world down with her own two hands to get her back.
His hands came up and framed her face. “I believe you, Amber. Now breathe.”
Her gaze jerked over his face. Was he telling the truth or just what he thought she needed to hear?
His thumb brushed her cheek. “You passed out earlier. When you were lying on the couch, I had another look at the photos. I pointed out then that that little girl is the spitting image of you. I didn’t know what it meant, because I didn’t know you’d ever been pregnant.
I thought maybe she was a niece or something.
But now that I know…now that you’ve told me… ”
Sincerity. He’d never lied to her before. And somewhere inside her, some part of her that felt more steady, more grounded, whispered he wouldn’t. Not ever about something like this.
She gave a jerky nod.
“We will find out what is going on, and we will do everything we can to make this right,” he said, pulling her into his embrace.
His steady heartbeat against her chest and the warmth of his body wrapping around her eased the shock.
Eased the desolation, the anger, the fear, the guilt, and all the other emotions swirling inside her.
Desperation still gripped her like a vise, but she had an ally. Together, they’d figure it out.
She took a deep breath, then another, before pulling back. Looking into his keen green eyes, she nodded again, this time steadier.
“I don’t know how those two women have her or why, but I want my baby.
I want my daughter.” The thought flickered across her mind that maybe she was seeing what she wanted to see.
That the little girl who looked just like her wasn’t the baby she lost over a year ago, but it drifted away like ash.
Between where Clara lived, Adrian’s inquiries to the network about her, and the notes, specifically the one stating “She didn’t die,” the little girl had to be her baby.
She might not know how the story clicked into place, but it did.
“Then let’s make a plan,” Mantis said from behind her. She looked over her shoulder. Not only were Mantis and Hawkeye standing shoulder to shoulder, but Dulcie and Lovell had joined them.
“You heard?” she asked. She hadn’t given much thought to the open bathroom door when she’d told Spencer what had happened to her. It didn’t matter, though; they needed to know.
All four men nodded.
“I’ve already called Leo,” Lovell said. “HICC will get eyes on the place, and they are doing deep dives into both Clara Beverly and Adrian Mills.”
She turned and Spencer’s arms dropped away, but he reached for her hand.
“I can’t sit around and wait for that,” she said, the recklessness crawling through her body, leaking into her voice.
“You’re not going to sit around,” Spencer said, leading her into the lodge room. When he pulled out a chair at one of the tables, she shot him a look. A glimmer of amusement touched his eyes, but it disappeared as he handed her his phone. “You’re going to call that number.”
“Why can’t we just go out there?” she demanded.
“Because we don’t know anything about the two women who have your daughter.”
She let the words sink in, then flinched.
He was right. The little girl in the picture looked happy and healthy, but they didn’t know for certain.
They didn’t know what Clara Beverly and Adrian Mills intended or what they’d do if people suddenly showed up on the property.
Yes, they’d been trying to reach her, but to what end?
“Okay,” she said on an exhale. “I call, then what?”
Mantis took a seat opposite her as Spencer’s hand came to rest on her shoulder.
“Then we wait,” Mantis said. “Based on what Leo found, it sounds as if they keep the phone off most of the time, likely to keep from being tracked. But when they turn it on, they’ll get your message and the number they can reach you at. ”
“By then, we’ll have dossiers on both women from HICC,” Lovell stepped in.
“We’ll know what we’re dealing with,” Dulcie said.
“And we can make a plan to reunite you with your daughter,” Hawkeye added.
The thought of waiting swirled in her stomach like a vat of acid, but she breathed through the initial reaction. And kept breathing until the picture in her mind cleared enough for her to see the benefits. Waiting would be hell, but if it ensured her daughter was safe, she’d manage.
She gave another nod and took the phone with a shaking hand. Juan slid the cool device into her grip, and she stared at the darkened screen, sifting through what she’d say. When she finalized it in her mind, she turned it to Spencer, who typed in his code, then she dialed.
The automated voicemail greeted her and when the line beeped, she spoke.
“This is Amber Murray, formerly Amber Ely. I received your messages and now understand why you’ve been trying to reach me.
I don’t know how or why this is happening, but we need to meet.
You should know, though, that I have friends who look out for me, protect me, now.
I can come to you, but I won’t come alone.
” Her voice cracked. Spencer’s hand squeezed her shoulder, a reassuring touch.
She inhaled and continued. “You tried to find me through the network they are a part of, so I know you understand the work they do. Understand what they are committed to and that they have my best interest in mind. Please call me.” She rattled off Spencer’s number, not knowing if it would show up on their caller list. Then she repeated it.
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you.” Hesitant to break the connection, several seconds passed before she brought herself to end the call.
When the screen went blank, she blew out a breath. “Okay, what now?”
“Now you eat and shower and we wait for them to call back,” Spencer said.
She looked up at him. “I hate that plan.”
“I know you do. We’re not fans of it either.”
Honesty rang true in his voice, and though she didn’t like it, she appreciated it. “Okay, but I’m keeping your phone by my side.”
He nodded.
“I’m going to answer every call, because we don’t know if they’ll be calling from the same number,” she added.
“Fine.”
“A woman might call.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re itching for a fight, and you won’t get it from me.” She pursed her lips. Judging by the way she instantly regretted saying the words, he was right. “And for the record,” he continued, “there are no other women. There hasn’t been for months.”
She drew back at that, then swung her gaze around the room. Wasn’t that something guys didn’t like admitting in front of other guys? But none of his brothers looked surprised. Or judgy.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m…”
“I appreciate the apology, but you don’t need to worry about hurting my feelings,” he said. “Now what do you want for breakfast? And if you say nothing, I’m going to let Lovell decide.”
Her gaze flickered to the six-foot-four wall of muscle. Not only did Lovell pack it away, he was also one of the healthiest eaters of the group. Macros were important to the man. “A bowl of oatmeal with a side of bacon, please,” she said.
“Coming right up,” Hawkeye responded, exiting the room.
Lovell’s phone dinged with a text. “Tucker and Ethan are on-site. They don’t have eyes on the women yet but are making their way through the woods to get a better vantage,” he said.
Both men were operatives at HICC, although she thought Ethan, Kara’s husband, helped more with the administrative side of things than headed into the field.
Still, she trusted Leo wouldn’t have let them send him if he wasn’t qualified.
The door swung open, and Kara herself walked in carrying her medical bag. Her gaze swept the room, then settled on Amber. From the look in her eye, Ethan had already told her what was going on. The grapevine in Mystery Lake worked fast and the Warwick one like lightning.
Shooing the men away, Kara pulled a chair up beside her, setting a hand on her wrist. At first, Amber thought she might be checking her pulse, but then she squeezed gently.
Supportively. “I can’t even begin to imagine what your mind, your body, and your heart are going through,” Kara said.
“I’m not sure you need me now. Not for that,” she added, nodding to her bag.
“But I’m here. Do you want me to call anyone else? Daphne? Dottie?”
Her eyes stung as tears filled the corners before overflowing and falling down her cheeks. A tissue appeared in her line of sight and she grasped it, casting a grateful look at Spencer before returning her attention to Kara.
She shook her head, then said, “Both, maybe, I don’t know.
” Everything felt so twisted and unhinged inside her.
Her friends couldn’t do anything about it, and she didn’t much like the image of herself languishing in the clubhouse, surrounded by awkward silence, as people fretted around her.
Maybe she should just crawl into bed until the call came.
“I already called Daphne,” Lovell said, his voice deep and steady. He and Daphne had moved in together only two weeks earlier. The laughter, the lightness, of that day felt like a lifetime ago.
“And Dottie is out on her morning walk. She’ll be back in the next fifteen minutes or so,” Dulcie said.
Amber felt herself nod, an automatic reaction.
Hawkeye returned with her breakfast, setting it in front of her. She stared at the food, knowing she needed to eat.
“Hawkeye, could you bring her some tea as well, with sugar? And why don’t the rest of you gentlemen have a seat,” Kara said, her voice gentle without leaving room for discussion.
Amber’s stomach roiled, but Spencer gave her an encouraging nod, and she picked up the spoon.
Taking one bite, she paused, wanting to make sure her body didn’t revolt before taking another.
By the time she choked it all down, Dottie had arrived and joined her at the table.
With Spencer sitting across from her, Kara on one side, and Dottie on the other, a seedling of strength began taking root inside her.
And when Daphne burst in, carrying four bags filled to bursting, declaring she was going to be auntie twice in one year, Amber even managed a smile.
Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, Daphne rounded the table and stopped by Spencer. “Now I know you’ve been exploring all sorts of delicious things with my girl,” she said to him. “And I’m happy for both of you, but you need to move that fine ass—”
Lovell cleared his throat.
“…that isn’t quite as fine as my man’s,” she added without missing a beat, “and let me have a chat with her.”
Spencer blinked at the order, but something flickered to life inside Amber.
Daphne had always known exactly when and how to take a room by storm.
Years ago, they’d been on the same modeling circuit and so many of Amber’s best nights, before her life had gone to hell, were evenings with Daphne that bled into nights, then into mornings.
She’d been…lighter then. She’d laughed more freely, more fully.
She’d seen beauty in even the smallest of things: snowfall, the sunrise on a horizon, a puppy basking in the sun.
She’d been open to wonder. No, not just open to it, she’d sought it out. Craved it.
She would have made a terrible mother then. She’d been too young, too caught up in her freedom. But she missed parts of who that young woman was—that courageous, adventurous person who embraced life.
And Daphne was here to remind her of that woman. Amber would never be the same; she could never go back, but she needed parts of her younger self now. She needed to see the world, or at least this part of it, as hers to conquer.
Spencer rose, and Daphne slid into the vacated seat.
“Now, I stopped at the store and picked up a few things because we’re going to get your baby back, your little girl, and you need to be prepared.
I’ve got diapers and some clothes. Oh, and look at this.
” She dug around in one of the bags and pulled out a tiny swimsuit with octopus print.
“It’s frickin’ ridiculously adorable. Babe? ”
“Yeah.” Lovell stepped forward.
“There’s a porta-crib in the car, too—can you bring that in?
” Then turning back to her, Daphne continued.
“I didn’t want to order you a crib; that seemed like overstepping it just a tiny bit.
” A burble of laughter climbed up Amber’s throat.
“But they have some cute ones at the baby shop in town. Now, according to my auntie research, by her age, she should be drinking out of sippy cups, or open cups, so I have some of those, too. They’ll need to be washed, but so will all the clothes and sheets. ”
Finally, Amber laughed. No doubt Daphne’s intent. “You’re over the top, you know.”
Daphne smiled. “I know.” Then turning serious, she reached across the table and took her hand.
“But we got this, Amber. We will get your little girl back. Grieve and mourn and be angry and feel everything you need to feel—a few months of therapy probably wouldn’t go amiss—but remember that she’s alive.
And while the time since her birth was stolen from you, from both of you, you now have a future.
One you can fill with love and laughter and adventure and anything else you want to fill it with. The choice will be yours now.”