Midwife Cover. Cassie Miles

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СКАЧАТЬ in a clean white blanket. She took the bottle from Cole and teased the nipple into the baby boy’s mouth. After only a few tries, he started sucking.

      The whole process had taken less than ten minutes; Petra was an expert. She looked toward Cole who was on his cell phone. Even though she didn’t really want to talk to Special Agent Brady, she spoke to him in a soft voice that wouldn’t upset the feeding infant. “I’d like an explanation.”

      “Nothing you need to worry about,” he said. “Thanks for taking care of the, um, immediate problem.”

      “Are you referring to the poopy diaper?”

      He scowled as though it was below him to discuss poop. This guy was uber-intense. Tight-lipped, he said, “The infant needs to be turned over to Child Protective Services.”

      “There’s only one thing this baby needs. His mother. What happened to her? Is she dead?”

      “Why would you think—”

      “There was blood on the blanket. A big smear right next to the logo for Lost Lamb Ranch, whatever that is. So, what happened? Did you find the baby at a crime scene?”

      Even though Brady had already washed his hands, he used a spritz of hand sanitizer. “The short answer is yes. There was a crime. We don’t know where the mother is.”

      “I might be able to help. I don’t know all the pregnant women in the area, but I’ve got a pretty good network. Should I ask around?”

      “That won’t be necessary.” His gray eyes were cool and distant. “We have reason to believe the mother isn’t from around here.”

      “On the run?” she guessed.

      His expression gave nothing away.

      “Is she a hostage? Or kidnapped?”

      “It’s an ongoing investigation. I can’t discuss it. You understand.”

      She took his condescending attitude as a challenge to figure out what was going on. The infant she held in her arms had switched on all her protective instincts. She couldn’t just hand him over and walk away.

      “It must have been something terrible,” she said, “that separated the mother from her baby. In spite of how dirty he was, he’d been taken care of. Mom didn’t want to abandon him.”

      Brady said nothing.

      She could only think of two reasons a mother would leave her baby behind. “Either she was forced to run or she thought the baby would be safer without her. If I had to guess, I’d say that mother and baby were being transported illegally.”

      “Good guess,” Cole said as he ended his phone call. “I checked in with the sheriff, and he put me through to one of his deputies who picked up an injured woman—an illegal with no green card. She kept saying that her baby was stolen.”

      “How badly is she injured?” Brady asked.

      “Knife wounds. A lot of blood,” Cole reported. “The deputy took her to Doc Wilson’s house. It was closer to his location than any hospital or clinic. The doc stitched her up. He says she’ll be fine.”

      “We need to talk to her,” Brady said.

      “I told the deputy to stay with her at the doc’s place. If anybody is after her, she could be in danger.”

      Petra listened with rising concern as they discussed their plan to drive to Doc Wilson’s place. Her heart went out to this mother. She wanted to help. “I’m coming with you.”

      “I can’t sanction that,” Brady said.

      Still holding the baby, she left the room and went down the hall to one of the desks behind the counter. “What I do is my decision. Not yours.”

      “You heard what Cole said. It’s dangerous.”

      She whipped around and transferred the baby into Brady’s arms. “Keep the nipple in his mouth. He needs to get as much hydration and nourishment as possible.”

      Sitting in her ergonomic desk chair, she slipped into her lightweight summer hiking shoes and unlocked her bottom desk drawer. In the back of the drawer, she found her GLOCK automatic, loaded a clip into the magazine and snapped the gun in a holster onto her belt.

      “No,” Brady said firmly. “You’re a civilian.”

      She pointed to a yellow-painted brick that she was using as a paperweight. “You know what that is?”

      “An award for completing the Yellow Brick Road at Quantico.”

      She gave a nod to her former career path as an FBI special agent. “I was number one on the obstacle course back then, and I’ve kept up my skills. Besides, I can take care of the baby.”

      “The baby? Who said anything about taking the baby?”

      She stood to face him. Brady was over six feet tall, and she was only five feet, seven inches. She had to tilt her chin to look him straight in the eyes. “If you want the mom to talk, you need the baby. She’s not going to open her mouth when she’s in a panic about her missing child.”

      For a full twenty seconds, he glared at her, definitely ticked off. Then he inhaled deeply, exhaled and conceded. “You’re right.”

      “Wow, I didn’t expect you to give in.”

      “You might have the wrong impression of me.”

      “Let’s see.” She took a step back and looked him up and down. “My first impression is that you’re rigid, controlling and always follow the rules. Pretty much the opposite of me. Is that about right?”

      “Not bad for a superficial description.”

      “Could you do better? Go on, tell me about myself.”

      “You don’t want to play this game.”

      Another challenge? She couldn’t let it pass. “I insist. Tell me your impression of me.”

      “A risk-taker,” he said in a low voice meant only for her ears. “Pretty much fearless, but you’re afraid of fire.”

      “What?” How had he known that?

      “You heard me,” Brady said. “You come from a family where at least one member is in law enforcement. You’re rebellious and always root for the underdog. You’re honest to the point of tactless. You say that you don’t care what other people think but you’re sensitive. You lost someone close to you—a boyfriend or a fiancé. And you’re from northern California, near San Francisco.”

      Taken aback, she gaped. He’d been correct on every single count. “Either you’re a psychic or a damn good profiler.”

      “Psychics don’t generally become special agents,” he said. “If you come with us to pick up the mother, I’m going to insist that you wear a protective vest.”

      “Fine.”

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