Page 143 of Callahan

Nothing seemed out of place as we inspected the front door, then Brian pulled keys from his pocket and unlocked the front locks.

“You have keys to the bakery?”

“Yeah. Don’t you?”

“I do. But I was staying here.”

“She wanted me to have a set in case she got locked out, and she couldn’t get a hold of Kristy. Then when I installed the deadbolts, I kept a set of those, too.”

“I guess it’s a good thing, since mine are on my key ring in the Bronco that Alan is driving, hopefully to my place.”

We did a sweep of the bakery and kitchen. Nothing looked out of place, so we headed upstairs to the apartment.

Even before Kristy opened the door, I could hear Conor crying.

Half the woman’s ponytail had fallen out, and she was obviously frazzled as she bounced him in her arms with tears in her eyes. I noticed a full bottle on the counter in the kitchen.

“He won’t eat, and no matter what I do, he won’t stop crying,” she lamented. “He’d finally cried himself to sleep, but just woke up crying again.”

I reached for him, then snagged the bottle off the counter and walked into the living room where Justin was still seated on the couch.

I slowly sat down in the chair, softly talking to Conor as I did.

“Hey, little man. I’ll bet you’re so hungry.” I presented the bottle to his lips, and encouraged, “Come on, sweet boy. Take your bottle.”

He smacked his lips and soon latched onto the nipple and started sucking. Little grunts escaped him, like he couldn’t drink fast enough.

“Slow down, buddy. You don’t want to get a tummy ache.”

Kristy stood at the other end of the room, staring at me with her mouth hanging open.

“How the hell did you do that?” She gestured to Lainey’s date. “He and I both tried. I thought for sure he’d be able to get him to eat, since he’s a doctor. No such luck.”

Justin chuckled. “In my defense, I mostly deal with emergencies. Pediatrics isn’t my specialty.” He watched the baby suckling his bottle in my arms. “You’ve obviously got the magic touch.”

Kristy sounded in awe. “Lainey said you are the baby whisperer. She wasn’t lying.”

“We’ve had a few bonding moments recently. I’m sure he’s missing Lainey, and I’m familiar.”

“Whatever it is, you are now in charge of the baby.”

Brian was quick to veto that shit.

“No, he needs to help me.”

“How about I finish feeding him while you get Kristy and Justin’s statements, then we get ahold of the O’Briens and see if they can take him?”

Kristy reiterated what she’d told Justin when we watched on camera, then Brian asked a few more questions.

“Do you know if she took anything with her? Are her keys here? What about her phone or her purse?”

“Her purse was open on the kitchen table when I walked in, like maybe she’d been going through it. Her keys are in the bowl by the door. I haven’t seen her phone.”

“Was the bakery door unlocked when you got here?”

“Yeah, it was. Which I thought was weird, but not alarmingly so. I mean, it’s Haven Springs. My parents have never locked their doors. I don’t even think they know where their keys are. Her apartment door from the bakery was unlocked, too.”

“What about the one leading to the exterior stairs?”

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