Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
Adalyn held out a hand and tried to form a smile. Judging from the look on the man’s face, she failed miserably. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course.” Jaxon’s brother, Abel, eyed her critically. “We’ll do anything we can to help.”
Her lips twitched, again falling just short of the polite smile she’d been aiming for.
Her entire body felt brittle, like she would splinter into pieces at the lightest touch.
She waved a hand toward the group assembled nearby.
“We’re printing off another batch of fliers right now.
We’re trying to get her in front of as many people as possible to see if anyone remembers anything. ”
Her voice cracked on the last couple of words. She never imagined those words leaving her mouth. They’d spent the past twenty-four hours tearing the city apart, speaking with anyone who would listen. Her eyes felt gritty and burned every time she blinked.
She looked like crap and felt worse. Dark circles ringed Jaxon’s eyes, but he kept bringing them a steady stream of coffee.
He’d tried to get her to sleep last night, even just for a few hours, but she couldn’t.
Each time she tried, she saw her little girl’s big blue eyes. Was she scared? Was she hurt?
Her mind conjured the most horrific images, and she didn’t dare close her eyes. She couldn’t bear to sleep when her daughter was out there somewhere all alone. She could rest later; right now, she needed to be in the middle of the action, doing something. Feeling useful.
Abel’s wife, Emily, moved forward. Adalyn caught sight of her softly rounded belly, and tears pricked her eyes. All she could think of was Jaclyn when she’d carried her. Words jumbled in her throat, turning her voice raspy. “You don’t need to be out here; you should be relaxing.”
Emily offered her a small smile. “Have you eaten yet? I’m starving.”
Adalyn knew what she was trying to do, but she couldn’t even begin to think about food.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Knox and Jaxon speaking with a couple of the police officers heading up the investigation.
She opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t.
She shook her head instead. The severity of the situation was pressing in on her.
They were now just shy of the twenty-four-hour mark, and her heart rate kicked up.
She knew from the way the cops spoke in low tones to Jaxon and Knox that they were running out of leads.
They’d advised them earlier that no one matching Jaclyn’s description had been seen at any of the airports or bus stations.
That didn’t rule out a car, though. They were close enough to the border.
If someone wanted to smuggle her across…
Bile rose in her throat, and she pressed a hand to the base of her neck as if she could physically keep it from coming up. Abel set a heavy hand on her shoulder. “Stay strong. If anyone can find her, it’s Jaxon and his team.”
She nodded, though she wasn’t nearly as optimistic.
So much time had passed, and they had nothing.
No one had heard or seen anything. It was literally as if she’d disappeared into thin air.
She knew she was supposed to stay positive, but it was so hard.
She wanted to yell and scream and demand answers.
Why? Why her? Why Jaclyn? She turned the question over in her mind again and again.
Who could have done this? And why? Nothing about this seemed logical.
With every moment that passed without answers, her tension ratcheted up.
She was drained, both mentally and physically, running purely on caffeine and hope.
She knew Jaxon was no better. All day he’d been edgy and abrupt, and she knew it was because he was focusing all his energy on finding their daughter.
It was as if a wedge had been driven between them.
She felt more dependent on him than she ever had, yet he’d never seemed further out of reach.
A steel vise constricted her lungs. She needed the reassurance of his touch telling her that everything would be okay.
She needed him—even for just a second. It seemed so incredibly selfish when her daughter was missing that she felt like crying.
She hated herself even more for that weakness.
As a mother, she was responsible for her baby’s well-being.
She was supposed to be there for her, to keep her safe. And she’d failed her.
She offered Abel another wobbly smile. “Thank you.”
They moved away, and she glanced around the room.
They were once again assembled at Vantage headquarters as they determined what to do next.
Several search party groups were still out combing the city, but she could tell from the looks on the cops’ faces that they thought the effort was futile.
She felt completely helpless, and she needed something to do.
A man they’d introduced as Aiden sat at a computer, looking as haggard as the rest of them. She knew he’d been working hard. She didn’t think he’d moved from that spot since she first met him yesterday. His head swiveled from side to side as he studied the four monitors spread over his desk.
The monitor to his far right bore a generic desktop-type screen like a home computer. The two middle monitors showed video feeds, and the screen to the far left was filled with code that made her eyes blur. He paused for a moment to rub his eyes, then his fingers once more flew over the keyboard.
She approached silently and moved into his peripheral vision. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
He glanced up at her, his tension evident in the set of his shoulders. With a short jerk of his head, he nodded to a chair. “Grab a seat.”
She rolled the chair over and sat beside him. He pointed toward the two screens in the middle that showed black-and-white video feed. “These are from traffic cams at the major intersections close to your house.”
The duplex was located a few streets off the main thoroughfare, so there were few businesses in the area to pull information from. She knew the police had checked with all the residents in the surrounding area to see if anyone had seen Jaclyn or any strange people in the neighborhood.
“At this point,” Aiden said, “we’re looking for anything. I’ve been checking each car that goes through the intersection to see if there’s a child inside.” He paused for a moment before continuing, his tone warning. “The perp may or may not have a car seat to transport her.”
Her breath caught. Jaclyn was barely a year old.
She’d seen horrific videos of what could happen if a child wasn’t properly situated in a car seat, let alone without one completely.
She swallowed hard and pushed the thought away, focusing on the screen in front of her and praying they would find something to help them.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Jaxon flick a look in her direction.
For the briefest of moments, they made eye contact before he seemingly dismissed her again and went back to talking with the police.
She blinked back the sting of irrational tears.
She knew he wasn’t ignoring her on purpose, but the knowledge didn’t stop it from hurting any less.
For the next two hours, she and Aiden scoured the video feeds with no results. They weren’t the only ones. She knew the police were doing the same thing on their end, checking cameras and speaking with people all over the city.
One of the most surprising things to happen over the past few days was that Adalyn’s mother had stepped up and offered her services.
Her current boyfriend had invested a ton of money into putting bulletins on the local radio and TV during primetime hours so that Jaclyn’s face was plastered everywhere.
Evelyn had been quiet, reserved even. It was the first time in Adalyn’s life she’d seen her more concerned about someone other than herself.
She refused to read too much into it, though.
She appreciated her help, but she was stressed beyond comprehension.
They offered a reward if Jaclyn was found safe, but so far she hadn’t heard of any of the leads panning out.
Aiden turned his attention to the monitor on the far right again, which had been ignored while they’d sifted through video feeds.
Knox appeared over Aiden’s shoulder. “It’s almost time for the auction to start.”
“We’ve got more important things to worry about,” Aiden said tersely.
Knox gave a little nod. “I understand that. Why don’t you take over the auction, and I’ll help look at the feeds.”
Aiden looked like he wanted to argue, but instead gave in. Knox dragged a chair around to the other side of Adalyn, then rearranged the monitors to give Aiden some space.
“I’m sorry for taking time away from your other jobs,” Adalyn said softly.
Knox shot her a fierce glance. “There’s nothing more important than taking care of our own.”
A steel band constricted around Adalyn’s heart at the loyal declaration.
Her eyes burned, but she blinked it away and refocused her attention on the screens.
Beside her, she heard Aiden on the phone with someone, and she watched a sort of live auction feed pop up on his monitor.
She turned a curious glance on Knox. “What’s he working on? ”
“Have you heard about the thefts around town?” she nodded, and Knox continued. “Seems they’re holding auctions every Friday night and shipping the goods all over the world. We’re trying to find the origin point and the person responsible.”
Her eyes widened as she gave an appreciative nod. “Sounds… complicated.”
They lapsed back into silence and delved once more into the video feeds.
After a bit, Jaxon moved to stand behind Adalyn, but he offered no reassurance.
He didn’t touch her, never even said a word.
Again, that irrational anger flared to life and simmered in her stomach.
Her emotions were ready to bubble over. Suddenly, she was mad at everyone and everything.
None of this was fair. She wanted her daughter back, and she wanted to know why she’d been taken in the first place.