Page 44 of Ransom for His Secret Son

“Did you get a look at her?” Remi pressed.

Allie frowned. “Yeah. She was in her thirties, short, with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Just businesslike. Didn’t seem like she cared much about anything but the job.”

Brody leaned forward, his voice low. “Did you need a C-section?”

“No,” Allie said with a small shake of her head. “I was able to have them naturally. Two boys.” Her voice trembled a little, but she pushed forward. “They were healthy. Everything seemed normal.”

Allie’s breath hitched again, her eyes glistening with tears she struggled to hold back. The words tumbled out in a shaky, broken whisper, and Remi could feel the weight of her trauma in every syllable.

“A few minutes after they were born,” Allie continued, “the nurse took the babies out of the room. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but then she came back in. She had a syringe in her hand.” Her face paled. “She tried to stab me with it. I—I didn’t know what was happening. I just fought her.”

Mercy. Remi could barely imagine the terror that Allie must have felt.

“She tried to inject me with something. I don’t know what. But I managed to grab her wrist, and I turned the needle on her.” Allie’s voice cracked, and she wiped her eyes. “She dropped to the floor, unconscious.”

Remi’s stomach churned at the thought, but Allie wasn’t finished.

“It was hard. I was in a lot of pain, but I got out of there as fast as I could. No one else was around. The babies were gone. I couldn’t find them.” She paused, eyes drifting as if she were replaying the scene in her head. “But I found her purse. She had keys and an envelope. There was three thousand dollars in cash inside. I took it. Took the keys, too.” She met Remi’s gaze, her expression filled with guilt. “Her Jeep was in the parking lot, so I used it to get out of there.”

Remi took a moment to process all of that. Allie had barely escaped with her life, and Brody’s missing son was still out there.

“And the nurse?” Brody asked, his voice like gravel. “Where is she now?”

Allie’s lips trembled. “I don’t know. I left her there.” She wiped at her eyes again. “I didn’t know what else to do. I drove here, got dressed and then went to the store up the road to get some supplies. Once I’d done that, I parked the Jeep out of sight so that no one driving by would see it.”

Brody sighed, the sound of pure frustration. “Why didn’t you go to the cops, Allie? Why keep this to yourself?”

Allie winced at the question, like it stung more than she was willing to admit. She shifted her gaze down, taking a moment to steady herself before answering.

“Because of the badge,” she said quietly. “The nurse had a cop’s badge. I saw it when I grabbed her purse. I thought maybe she was working for Shelby’s ex, and she’d said he was violent.”

Remi’s stomach dropped. A cop’s badge? But that didn’t mean anyone from law enforcement was involved in this. It could have been fake. Still, Allie wouldn’t have known that. She’d been a terrified young woman, probably traumatized by everything that’d happened.

“I didn’t know who I could trust,” Allie went on. “So I came here. This trailer belongs to a friend of mine. She’d left some clothes and things here, and I knew that she kept a spare key under a rock in the yard. It’s been empty since last fall and that no one would be coming here until the summer.” She shook her head, as if the weight of everything was just too much to carry. “The dog’s a stray, so I brought him inside with me for protection.”

Well, the dog was certainly doing a decent job of that, and Remi was glad that Allie had him. However, it wouldn’t be enough if someone did show up here looking for her. And someone likely would.

Because Allie was a loose end that needed to be eliminated.

“I’ve been hiding out,” Allie went on, “trying to figure out what to do next.” She paused, then added, her voice quieter, “When I saw the news reports, I knew I had to talk to you. I didn’t have any other choice.”

Brody took a steadying breath. “You made the right call coming to us,” he assured her. “And now I’m going to have to ask you to trust me. You need to be in a safe house, and you also should be checked by a doctor.”

Allie started frantically shaking her head.

“A doctor I trust,” Brody added before Allie could voice her objection. “One I swear isn’t connected to what happened to you. I have two deputies just up the road. Deputies I trust, too. They can take you and your dog somewhere safe while Remi and I work on finding the location of the clinic where you gave birth.”

Allie glanced at the dog, who was now lying quietly at her feet, then back to Brody. “I’m not sure…” Her voice faltered, uncertainty clouding her expression. “I don’t know if I can just go with them.”

Remi softened her tone. “Allie, right now, it’s the safest option. They’ll keep you protected, and it’s not forever. It’s just until we figure out what’s going on and we can get you answers.”

After a long, tense moment, Allie sighed and nodded, though her eyes remained wary. “I—I guess you’re right.”

“Good,” Brody said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll text Harlan and Jolene.”

As Brody quickly typed the message, Allie hesitated before adding, “I remember something else about the clinic. There was a dumpster in the back with weird graffiti on it. A mermaid.” She frowned, thinking back. “I remember thinking it was odd for a place like that to have that kind of graffiti.”

That was something—something they could work with. Remi hoped so, anyway.