kitchen sorting through some drawers. He stopped and looked up at me. “What’s wrong?”
I ran, skipping stairs to get to him. “I’ve figured out the connection between the Kents and the girls.”
My theory was that the Kent girls had been replaced after their untimely deaths. At first Cade dismissed it, thinking my suggestion was nothing more than a fluke. But I didn’t care what he thought. In all my years as a private investigator, I’d come to realize life didn’t always have to make perfect sense.
“Do you have any idea how many married couples want to have children, and when they start trying, they find out they’re infertile?” I said.
“It doesn’t mean you’re right about what happened to Olivia and Savannah.”
It didn’t mean I was wrong, either.
“Over six million,” I said.
“Yeah, but don’t most of them decide to adopt?”
“Do you think couples can just walk into an adoption center, fill out a form, flip through an album, and pick out their baby?”
He shrugged.
“Maybe it’s hard here, in the US, but that’s why most people adopt foreign babies.”
“Most people aren’t celebrities, Cade. Do you have any idea how long it takes?”
“Even with a couple who can have babies, it doesn’t happen instantly. Sometimes it takes months for a woman to get pregnant. Then there’s nine months of waitin’ before it comes out. I should know.”
“Lucky you,” I said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” I said.
He grabbed my wrist. Not hard, but enough to show me he was serious. “It’s not nothin’. What aren’t you saying?”
“It doesn’t matter—it doesn’t have anything to do with the case.”
“I don’t care—tell me. I’m not lettin’ go ‘til you do.”
I was perfectly capable of freeing myself from the hold he had on me, but I didn’t bother.
In a hushed voice I said, “I tried to have a baby once.”
I wasn’t sure he heard me, until he let go.
Cade took a step back. He looked at anything other than me, like if he locked eyes with me in that moment, he’d have to deal with female waterworks, but he was wrong.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said. “It was a long time ago. It’s no big deal.”
Cade pulled a chair out from under the table and gestured toward it. I sat down. He did the same. He tried to take my hand in his, but I pulled back. It didn’t dissuade him.
“I, uh, appreciate you sharin’ something so personal with me. I know it’s not easy for you—I can tell.”
I felt a sudden sensation of vertigo. I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, Cade had leaned closer to me, hovering a few inches over my face.
“What are you—”
“I came fifty percent of the way,” he said. “This is the part where you come the other fifty.”
I didn’t know what to say. I knew what I should have said, but I hesitated. I didn’t know why.
He wrapped his fingers around my chin, attempting to guide me the rest of the way. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Cade…I…I’m in a relationship with someone.”
He released me. “Of course you are. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
“Don’t be. I think you’re great.”
“No woman has ever, and I mean not ever, described me as great before,” he said. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“It means I really like working with you.”
“The feelin’ is mutual, but I suppose you already—aww, hell. Can we change the subject? I know you weren’t finished with what you were sayin’ before, so I’m just going to sit here and try to keep an open mind.”
I nodded, grateful for the reprieve.
“Many couples have a hard time adopting, and when that happens, some people turn to other methods. With the Internet so accessible these days, you can find other options.”
“Such as?” he said. “I’m guessin’ you’re not gonna tell me about somethin’ that’s legal.”
“Correct. There are illegal agencies that will help people get babies. Not adoption agencies—it’s more along the lines of human trafficking. Do you know much about it?”
He tilted his head to the side. “A bit.”
“There are a couple of ways it usually happens. Some agencies kidnap children and offer them up for sale to the highest bidder, or they kidnap the children until reward money is offered and then return them. At other agencies, a person is hired to find a certain type of child. The person who hires the agency can request anything they want—any age, a boy or a girl, it doesn’t matter. Nothing is out of their reach.”
He shook his