Page 70 of Deception

“No. WITSEC was very much against me moving back to Mobile, so I’m not in the program any longer. They also didn’t want me to continue my work with human trafficking victims, and I wasn’t about to give that up. Like Bri told me yesterday, that would’ve let the bad guys win.” She grinned. “So far just changing my location and name has worked.”

“I’m not locked into human traffickers being your shooter. They would have known Bri was with you and taken her.”

“Good point, but who else could it have been?”

“We’re working on it.”

“Is Madison still working the case?”

“Not officially. Pretty sure her supervisor will take her off if he hasn’t already, since it’s been determined you two are family. She’ll be tied up with the judge’s funeral and settling his estate for the near future.” He scanned his notes. “Have you found any other family members?”

When she didn’t answer, he looked up. Tears streamed down her face.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He grabbed the tissue box on the tray table and handed it to her.

“It’s...” She stuttered a breath. “Not you.”

Dani pulled tissues from the box and dabbed her eyes. He waited until she regained control.

“I’m sorry.”

He patted her arm. “Nothing to be sorry for.”

Dani gave him a weak smile. “To answer your question. I’ve found our mother on the DNA site, but her information is private. I sent an email to the address on the company site, but I haven’t gotten a reply.”

“So you have no information on her?”

“All I know is that her Tree gave Ocean Springs as her location, but no address, and I’m not sure if that’s even valid. And if it is, I wonder if we’ve met. Ocean Springs is only about an hour from Mobile.” She stared down at the sheet. “I wonder if Madison can pull in some of her resources and find her?”

Madison had seemed reluctant to talk about her birth mother. “You could ask her. Was there any other information on the site that might help you find her?”

“No. I can send you the report when I get to my computer.”

“I would appreciate it.”

She was quiet a minute. “I do know she was fifteen when she had us. That was one of the few things my parents told me when I questioned them about my birth mother.” Dani gave a wry grin. “Can you imagine having twins at fifteen? We were split up and adopted out to different families.”

It seemed to Clayton some effort should have gone into keeping the girls together. He noticed that the dark circles under Dani’s eyes had deepened. She needed rest, and besides, the bell notifying visitors it was time to leave had sounded a good ten minutes ago. He was surprised the nurse hadn’t run him off. He stood. “Time I was going.”

“Can you stay a little longer?”

Was that fear in her eyes? Or just exhaustion? “You’ll be safe here in the unit, and I’ll be back in the morning.”

“I’m not afraid. Well, maybe a little, but the nurses have assured me no one will get in this room that they don’t know. Bri couldn’t even get in here until the nurse confirmed I wanted to see her.”

“Do you know when they’ll move you out of ICU?”

“The doctor talked like it would be tomorrow or the next day.”

He wished she could stay in the unit. The police chief had pulled the security detail off Dani since this part of the hospital was secure. The floor wouldn’t afford the same safety measures. Clayton planned to ask if the detail could be returned, but he doubted Nelson had the resources to assign her an officer.

“Give me your number, and I’ll call to see where you are before I come. You did keep your phone?”

She nodded and pulled it out from under her pillow. “A nurse loaned me her charger.”

“I’ll pick one up for you tomorrow.” Clayton punched in the number she rattled off, and her phone rang. “Now you have mine.”

“Thanks. I’ll put it in my contacts,”

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