Page 8 of Forged in Steele

Pink Alert confirmed. Get through that video as fast as you can.

On it,came her cousin’s reply, and Bristol took just a moment to wrap her head around the situation. Seeing Jared again after nearly nine years? That was shocking enough. But the baby was truly missing, and they were likely looking at a non-family abduction. A child in such a situation should always be considered endangered. Which meant they hadn’t a moment to lose.

But she didn’t know how much to share with Jared about her company. She’d been shocked when she arrived at the birthing center and didn’t find a guard at the door. Sure, Damon was protecting the family’s room now, but Aaron King should’ve been at the main entrance to the center. Probably what Damon wanted to tell her, but kept quiet in front of Jared.

She didn’t know Aaron well enough to know if he could be involved in the kidnapping, but her hasty call to Zeke confirmed that he thought highly of Aaron and was shocked that he’d gone AWOL. Zeke had radioed Aaron at the start of the shift to confirm his location and was now looking into where Aaron could be. Maybe he took an unauthorized bathroom break. Or spotted the suspect and took off after her. But Zeke said Aaron would’ve called in by now.

It was looking like he abandoned his post. Not something she wanted to admit to herself, let alone tell anyone else. She would have no choice after this interview. She had to tell Jared. A baby’s life could depend on her truthfulness.

Bristol looked at Coglin. “Can you find rooms for Mr. Pratt and Nurse Johnson so we can interview them separately?”

“Now just a minute.” Mr. Pratt took a step forward. “I’m not leaving my wife.”

Bristol drew her shoulders back, trying to look taller than her five-foot-nine inches. “I’m sorry, Mr. Pratt, but this isn’t optional.”

“Why?” He crossed his arms.

Jared opened his mouth to step in.

No way Bristol would let him take over again. She moved closer to Pratt. “We find when witnesses are together during questioning that they inadvertently take on the other person’s account of the incident and make it their own. We don’t want that to happen here, as we might miss something vital to finding your daughter.”

“But I…” Mr. Pratt shrugged.

“You want the best chance of finding Luna, right?” Bristol asked, her tone softer now.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s not waste valuable time arguing,” Jared stated as if he was used to being obeyed. “Mr. Coglin, can you escort them to rooms?”

“Of course.”

“Assign rooms next to each other if possible, and I’ll tell our guard to wait outside in case you need anything.” Bristol didn’t want the pair to think they were under guard when in actuality they were. “Also, please don’t call anyone or talk to anyone else.”

Nurse Johnson nibbled on her lip. “I’ll have to tell the charge nurse that I’m not available.”

“We’ll do that when we ask her for the empty rooms,” Coglin said. “If we have any.”

“We do have two rooms closed for pending maintenance requests just down the hall from each other,” Nurse Johnson said.

“I don’t like to hear we have two rooms out of commission, but they’ll work.” Coglin stepped off.

Mr. Pratt kissed and hugged his wife, then picked up his backpack.

“I’m sorry, but I need you to leave your pack here.” Bristol removed the strap from his shoulder.

He tried to tug it from her hands.

She held firm. “Anything in this room could be considered evidence, and that includes your pack.”

“Fine.” He released the strap and flung his hands out in exasperation.

The trio exited.

Bristol tried to block out the mother’s wailing cries and followed them into the hallway while still holding the backpack. She stopped next to Damon, who was a veteran and long-term employee of Steele Guardians. “I need you to go with them. Mr. Coglin will assign them separate rooms. They said they were close together, but let Teagan know if you can’t cover both locations, and she can add someone to your detail. They’re not to leave the rooms or talk to each other.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She cringed at the formality. No matter how many times they’d asked Damon to use their first names, he’d continued with the formality that he preferred from his military days.

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