Page 80 of Chasing Dreams
Chapter 16
“Let’s go to Arizona,” Shaine suggested later that evening as they picked at their dinner in her tiny kitchen.
“What for?”
“Go to that Holbrook place. Look around, get a feel for the kids.”
He understood her desire, but he’d dismissed the same idea. “Shaine, do you have any idea how many impressions would be in a place like that? It’s been a year since Jack and the Cutter baby were there. A dozen or a hundred kids could have come and gone. I’m sure they didn’t keep mementos of the children they hocked on the black market.”
“Don’t say it like that.” She shivered. “That gives me impressions of dark wharves and boats to China.”
He shrugged.
“I can’t stand this waiting.” She laid down her fork, giving up the pretense of eating. “I feel so helpless.”
The dark smudges beneath her eyes said as much as her words. Austin, too, felt the strain of the last week. “How long do you have until Maya has her baby?”
She thought for a second. “Four days.”
“We could make a trip to Kansas and back by then.”
She examined his expression. “Kansas?”
“Amy Cutter’s mother.”
Her chin dropped. “What—do you think that would do any good?”
“I don’t know. She might have something more we could use to go on. We’ve gone through all of Jack’s and Maggie’s things.”
She shoved her chair back and stood. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll check for flights.”
By eleven the next morning, Shaine looked almost green as they hurried off a windy runway toward the taxi lane. “I’ll never take another small-engine plane,” she swore.
“It was a little rough,” he agreed.
“A little? I lost tomorrow’s breakfast back there.”
He grinned. “But I got you here fast, didn’t I?”
They caught a cab and he gave the driver the address. Samantha Cutter looked like the nineteen-year-old she was, with a section of her long straight auburn hair braided and hanging against her cheek. Having been expecting them, she opened the door and ushered them in. “Can I get you guys a Coke?” she asked.
“No, thank you,” Shaine answered.
“That sounds good,” Austin replied, knowing the girl would be more relaxed if he let her serve him.
She brought him a glass of ice and a chilled can of soda, and their fingers brushed. Austin met her eyes, and something in his chest dipped and swayed. He knew this girl. He knew her anguish at the loss of her baby. He’d experienced her every emotion as if it were his own. An experience like that created an incomprehensible connection to another human being.
And she didn’t know him from the man in the moon.
“On the phone you said this was about Amy,” she said, her voice shaky. She had wide hazel eyes, and a full figure packed into jeans and a long T-shirt.
“That’s right,” he returned.
“One of the detectives I keep in touch with said they’re checking out a new lead, and then a Detective McKade called me. Are you some of the FBI people?”
Austin shook his head. “No. We’re working with Detective McKade, but actually, we’re looking for Shaine’s nephew. He’s been missing since the day after Amy disappeared.”
