Today, she barely stays on the road, leaving me to clutch the door handle as we swing recklessly between lanes, but I don’t say anything because we are flying and right now, I can only think of reaching Ellie.
It’s all a misunderstanding, I tell myself. But I’m a MacLaine. I always know a lie when I hear it. The trouble is that I haven’t been listening. I was so desperate for a solution that I didn’t see what’s right in front of me. The skeevy motel. Ginny’s overly helpful attitude. Her willingness to help me get home and sort through this.
“Please be wrong,” I mutter under my breath over and over. Poppy casts a worried look in my direction before jerking the wheel hard to pass a slower vehicle at breakneck speed.
“There it…” I start to point out the faded, old motel as it comes into view but my words die from my lips when I spot the flashing red and blue lights. Two police cars and an ambulance occupy the spots in front of my room. Poppy slams on the brakes and we skid to a halt in the parking lot. I’m out of the car instantly, running toward the police officers and the open hotel door. I’m nearly there when one steps in front of me, holding out his palm.
“Miss, I’m going to need you to—-”
“My baby!” I yell, trying to push past him. “Is something wrong? Is she okay?”
“Your infant was inside?” he asks.
“Yes, I don’t understand.” I look around and realize Ginny’s car is gone. “Did she kidnap her?
But the officer is talking into his radio, no longer paying attention to me. “The mother’s here. Yeah, I’ll take care of it.”
“Where’s my baby?” I demand.
“Your baby is fine,” he says, but there’s no softness in his face. Instead, he looks disgusted. “A concerned guest called when they heard the crying, and the management let us into the room.”
“Wait? What? She was crying, but where was…”
“She’s been taken into protective services. You can’t leave a baby alone around here. Do you have any idea what could have happened? You’re lucky someone even called. This area isn’t full of a lot of concerned citizens.”
“I didn’t leave her alone.” How could he think that? “She was with…”
“You should be more careful about who you trust, because we found her locked in that room wearing nothing but a dirty diaper on the bed. And I know the weather isn’t that cold, but a baby that little can’t regulate their body temperature.”
Now I understand the disgust, because I feel it myself. It coils around me and squeezes until I’m sure I’m going to throw up. My knees weaken and I sway on the spot. Ellie was alone. Scared. Cold. And it’s all my fault.
“Please. This is all a misunderstanding.” I can’t believe anything else, even though I know, deep down, this was planned. “My name is Adair MacLaine. I left her with my sister-in-law. She rented the room. There must be a record. If we can just talk to her or the manager.”
“I know who you are, Miss MacLaine. Your name is on the registration.”
“I didn’t rent the room,” I start to explain.
“Your credit card is on file. It says you arrived here earlier today.”
“Yes, I flew in from London.” I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to trust them.
“And you have family nearby?”
I know he recognizes the name, but he’s not interested in doing me any favors. “If I could just call my father.”
“He’s been notified,” the officer says. “Protective services prefer to reach out to family in these cases. Sometimes the child can bypass foster care when there’s an appropriate guardian available.”
“No, you can’t do that!” I say wildly.
“You really haven’t left us a choice,” he says coldly. “If you won’t care for your baby…”
“I love her. I would never do anything to hurt h—”
“You already have,” he cuts me off, and the rebuke knocks the wind out of me.
He’s right. Not in the way he thinks. I didn’t abandon Ellie, but I put my trust in the wrong person and she paid the price. She’s become a bargaining chip—another possession for the family to fight over. I never should have brought her back to Valmont. I never should have taken that risk.
“Is everything okay?” Poppy steps by my side.
I didn’t see her leave the car. How can I explain this to her? But then I realize, she might be my only hope.