Unbreakable Bond & The Missing Twin: Unbreakable Bond / The Missing Twin

“Can you tell us exactly what you remember about that night?” Slade said.

She bit her lip as she looked at him, then nodded. “I wasn’t in the nursery when the fire broke out. I was down the hall with another patient. I helped them to get out, then rushed back to help clear the babies. Two other nurses from the regular unit had infants in their arms, and rescue workers were rushing toward them to help. I ran to the NICU. There were only two babies in there that night, and Jane had the little boy. I went to get Peyton, but she wasn’t in the bassinet.”

“No one saw anyone take her?”

Carrie shook her head. “Dr. Emery had ordered tests for the baby, and I assumed that someone had taken her to another wing to administer them.”

“Carrie, I know it’s been a long time,” Slade said. “But do you remember anyone odd hanging around the nursery, someone who looked out of place?”

She fidgeted with the pocket of her scrubs jacket. “No, not that I can think of.”

Slade hesitated. “How about other births that might have gone wrong that night or week? Maybe someone who had a miscarriage?”

Carrie drew her shoulders back. “That information is restricted for the patient’s privacy.”

“Please,” Nina said. “If there’s a chance another patient kidnapped my baby, you have to help me.”

Her eyes flickered sideways nervously. “Well, there was one woman… She gave birth to a stillborn that afternoon. A baby boy.”

Nina’s chest constricted. “Do you remember her name?”

Carrie chewed her bottom lip. “I’m really not supposed to divulge that information. I could get fired.” She fidgeted. “Besides, the poor woman suffered a terrible tragedy herself.”

“I understand,” Nina said. “What happened to the baby?”

“I don’t know. He was probably taken for an autopsy.”

“The woman’s name?” Slade pressed.

“Gwen Waldorp,” Carrie said. “I think she moved to Kings Mountain.” Carrie glanced at her watch. “If that’s all, I need to get back to work.”

“One more question,” Slade asked. “Do you know William Hood and his family?”

Carrie nodded. “I’ve seen their pictures in the newspaper.”

“Were either William or his mother at the hospital the night Peyton was born?”

She backed away, fidgeting with her hair again. “I don’t remember seeing them.”

“How about William’s wife? Her name is Mitzi.”

“I told you I don’t remember. It was madness here, everyone in a panic.” She tapped her watch. “Now I really have to get back to work.” Her ponytail swung behind her as she turned and rushed down the hall.

“What do you think?” Nina asked.

Slade frowned. “I think that nurse knows something she’s not telling us.” He gestured toward the elevator.

“That bone your forensics person found, it could have belonged to the stillborn,” Nina suggested.

He gave a clipped nod. “I’m going to check out this Waldorp woman and have a chat with William’s mother.”

Nina’s thoughts raced as they took the elevator to the main floor, and Slade drove back to her house. Compassion for the woman who’d given birth to the stillborn baby squeezed her heart. Could she have been distraught enough to have kidnapped Peyton?

And William’s mother…she’d been adamant that she should get rid of her baby. Could she have stolen her or hired someone else to and arranged for an adoption?

“Does Mrs. Hood live in Winston-Salem, too?”

Nina nodded.

“I’ll question her tomorrow, but first I want to do some background work. I’m going to take that doll to the lab.” Slade maneuvered around traffic through town, flipping on his windshield wipers as a light rain began to fall. “I’ll also see if I can get an address for the Waldorp woman. I’ll call you if I find anything.”

Shadows flickered along the sidewalk, night setting in, the rain clouds adding to the gray fog over her house as he pulled into her drive.

Nina grasped on to hope as she climbed out and hurried up to her door. She went inside, flipped on the lights, then went upstairs to shower. A few minutes later, she dried off and pulled on a loose warm-up suit.

But the moment she went downstairs, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and panic hit her.

The CD of lullabies she’d bought for Peyton was playing.

And the baby blanket she’d crocheted and stored in the blanket chest in the attic was wrapped around another rag doll that had been stabbed just like the first.

CHAPTER EIGHT

SLADE STOPPED BY GAI and found Amanda Peterson still poring over forensics files. Benjamin Camp poked his head in when he saw Slade, and he brought them both up to speed on what he’d learned so far.

“You said a baby was stillborn that same day,” Amanda said. “I’ll find out if this bone could have belonged to that child instead of the Nash baby.”

“Thanks,” Slade said. “I’m sure it won’t be easy.”

Amanda grinned. “That’s what I do,” she said confidently. “Besides, if I can find out where the bone was located, that might help. And you said the stillborn was a baby boy?”

Slade nodded. “That will narrow things down. I’ll make a phone call to the medical examiner and find out the names of any forensic specialists brought in to study the bones. If they had a forensic anthropologist working with them, we should get some answers.”

“I’ve been trying to dig up records on all the employees who worked at the hospital at the time,” Benjamin said. “If the Hoods or Mr. Nash decided to arrange for an adoption, they might have hired someone to kidnap the baby.”

“That’s definitely a possibility.” Slade heaved a breath. “Look for anyone with a shady past, a record, financial problems, anything that throws up a red flag.” He remembered Carrie’s nervous fidgeting. “Be sure to check out a nurse named Carrie Poole. She was on duty that night in the NICU.”

“What’s your next step?” Amanda asked.

“I’m going to investigate the Hoods, and William’s wife, Mitzi. She dated William before Nina and was pissed when Nina turned up pregnant with his child.”

“Sounds like motive to me,” Benjamin muttered.

Slade sighed. “Yeah, although the nurse didn’t remember seeing William or Mitzi at the hospital that night.”

“You said yourself it was total chaos,” Amanda commented. “With all the panic and rescue workers scrambling about, anyone could have slipped through and no one would have noticed.”

“Something else is bugging me,” Slade said. He removed the doll and showed it to them, then explained about the psychiatrist’s report.