Page 6 of Wired Courage

Alika clapped him on the back with his remaining hand. “Better you than me, man.”

Chapter Five

Day Nine

Sophie lay in bed, curved around her empty belly and aching breasts, the comforter over her head to shut out the light, a return to old habits. She held the yellow flannel sheet that had covered the baby’s bassinet mattress folded close in her arms and bundled beneath her chin.

If she shut her eyes, she could inhale the smell of her baby, milky and sweet, still clinging to the bedding. She could pretend that none of the horror of the last hours had happened.

Sophie had cried until she was an empty husk, unable to answer questions from the investigator from KPD who’d implied that she might have had something to do with Momi’s disappearance. She’d been unable to defend herself coherently last night. Alika had eventually contacted the doctor they’d had on call for the birth after she’d wrecked the sideboard and Jake had to restrain her.

Jake and Alika had let her down. They were supposed to have her back! Instead, they’d both at least considered that she might have had something to do with Momi’s disappearance.

The doctor’s eyes had been kind as he checked her over privately in her room upstairs. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he’d asked when she told him to give her a shot to help dry up her milk more quickly. “If the baby is returned soon, you may not be able to nurse her.”

“She won’t be returned soon.” Sophie knew that in her bones.

Her mother had taken her child.

Nothing else made sense. Awful as it was, Sophie was sure of it, and she would need all of her strength and focus in the days to come.

“I need to be able to help find my child. That’s the priority. Can you put me on an antidepressant medication, too? I expect I will be having some difficulty.” The last thing Sophie needed was a bout of postpartum blues.

A call to Dr. Wilson, Sophie’s therapist, had confirmed her diagnosis of chronic depression, and the physician had agreed to write her a script. Esther, the only person Sophie currently trusted, had promptly gone to a nearby pharmacy to fill it.

Those things taken care of, Sophie had taken the tranquilizer the doctor recommended, and gone to bed.

She had allowed herself this one night to wallow.

One night to cry because she hadn’t been able to revel in her bond with her child and nurture her daughter with her own milk.

One night to weep that she couldn’t enjoy the love of the unconventional family that surrounded her.

One night to be immersed in rage and grief and revenge fantasies about what she’d do to whomever had taken her baby—even if that person was her mother.

And now that night was over. There was nothing in her life from here on out but getting Momi back.

Sophie sat up slowly, forcing her aching body to rise. She got up to use the bathroom and change her pads. She paused upon returning, and frowned.

She’d been sleeping so heavily that she hadn’t noticed that Jake had joined her in the bed at some point. He hadn’t been with her last night, but he was breathing heavily in sleep now, on his side of the bed. His back was to her, the bulky triangle of his shoulder a mountain-like shadow in the dim light seeping through the drapes.

Jake had thought she might have done something to Momi.

Alika had thought so too, though the baby’s father hadn’t been stupid enough to say so. The cops had all implied it, grilling her over and over again with the same questions, hardly doing a perfunctory check of the grounds outside—and Sophie knew what they’d looked for so hastily: a hole in the dirt where she might have buried her child, some sign she’d tossed the baby off the cliff or smothered her in the laundry basket.

Just the thought made Sophie nauseous.

She turned away from her lover and walked to the window, moving the curtain aside to peek out into the brightness of midmorning. Today she would get ahold of Connor and find a way to get out of this house and look for Momi. Connor would understand, and he would help her without question. He’d never believe she could have done something to Momi.

The bed creaked as Jake got up. She heard his feet pad across the wide teak planks of the floor. She felt the warmth of his body, normally so welcome, against her back in the thin cotton gown she’d been wearing since the birth. His hands cupped her shoulders tentatively. “Hey.”

She shrugged him off. “Get away from me.”

“I have news.” Jake moved back and she felt the loss of heat. “About Momi.”

Sophie spun to face him, and the sudden movement made her dizzy. She grasped the windowsill to stabilize, meeting his silver-gray eyes. “I’m listening.”

“The cops and Alika and I did a more thorough search early this morning after Hamilton came in and threw his weight around. We found a footprint outside the downstairs office window—too small to be a man’s. Also, evidence of a surveillance camp that had been checking out the house. A multi-passenger chopper was parked on the cliff and took off.”

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