on his back.
“Not till I can toss you on our nice, soft, feather mattress,” he replied. “Besides, at the rate that baby’s growing, I won’t be able to do this much longer.”
“How flattering,” Alice said. “Maybe I should reconsider what we’re about to do, since you think I already look like a whale and I’m not even four months along yet.”
“Did I say that?” Patrick asked Molly. “Did you hear me say anything to suggest that I don’t find my wife absolutely gorgeous and desirable?”
“Well…” Molly teased.
“Never mind,” he replied irritably. “I guess I’ll just have to work a little harder to prove how attractive I find her.”
“In that case, your boat’s closer,” Alice pointed out.
Patrick laughed. “See why I love this woman, Molly? She’s easily won over and she has no patience.”
“And that’s a good thing?” Molly asked doubtfully.
“In this instance, yes.” With an arm clamped firmly across the back of his wife’s thighs, he leaned across the bar and kissed Molly. “I want you to be happy—you know that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
Molly watched as Patrick carted the still-protesting Alice from the bar. She envied them the certainty of the love they’d found with each other. She believed in Daniel, believed that a future with him was possible, mostly because she wanted to so desperately. But deep in her heart, in a place she was trying hard not to go, she knew that real faith in the lasting power of their love was going to be harder to come by.
Daniel spent the better part of an hour on the phone with Joe Sutton, haggling over the next step to take in Kendra’s situation. Joe’s meeting with the Morrows hadn’t gone well. They’d insisted once again that any problems between themselves and their daughter could be worked out once she got home.
“I told them I needed to know what those problems were, but they stonewalled me,” Joe said, sounding thoroughly frustrated. “They still insist it’s a family matter.”
“Did you tell ’em it could become a court matter?” Daniel asked.
“I tried.” He sighed. “I hate to tell you this, but it gets worse. They figured out that I’d only be so interested if I had a lead on her whereabouts. They’re insisting that she be returned immediately or they’ll sue me, the department and anyone else who’s interfering in the safe return of their daughter.”
Daniel uttered a profanity he rarely used.
“I agree, but it’s going to get ugly if we stand in their way,” Joe told him. “I filled my boss in, and he’s bouncing off walls. He wants the girl back home yesterday.”
“Hold ’em all off for twenty-four hours,” Daniel pleaded. “Maybe I can convince Kendra to tell us everything so we’ll have some ammunition to take to a judge. We need to know where the parents intend to send her. If it’s some fancy boarding school where she’ll get an incredible education, he might not be so sympathetic.”
“And what if there is no ammunition?” Joe asked. “What if this is just a mixed-up kid? We wind up with egg on our faces and the department winds up in court.”
“Always a possibility,” Daniel agreed. “But you’ve met Kendra—do you think she’s a kid who just wants to stir up trouble?”
“No,” Joe said. “But we’re running out of time. What if she won’t open up?”
“Then maybe I can talk her into going home to confront her parents directly, with me there as mediator.” He had a hunch Molly wasn’t going to be happy with any reunion in which she didn’t get to participate to reassure herself that Kendra was in good hands. He couldn’t blame her, either.
He also knew that in some twisted way she was equating Kendra’s fate to that of their lost baby. If he failed Molly again, there was no telling how she would react.
“Hold on,” Joe said eventually. “Let me run that by the chief.”
Daniel waited impatiently for him to come back on the line. “Well?” he asked when he heard the line reconnect.
“Devaney, this is Chief Williams. Why the hell are you dragging your heels about this?”
“Gut instinct,” Daniel said at once. “I know that’s not a lot, but there is a real problem there, Chief. I’d stake my job on it.”
“You are staking your job on it,” he retorted. “And Sutton’s and mine, more than likely. That better be one helluva gut you’ve got.”
“I believe it is, sir.”
“Then take your twenty-four hours and not one second longer. This time tomorrow night, I want that girl