He dressed in the clean clothes that Livvy had had brought over, putting on his holster and weapon, before he went into the bedroom. Addie was right where he’d left her, in the rocking chair with Rose. The baby had finished her bottle, though, and Addie was burping her.
“I heard your phone,” Addie said, the worry in her eyes.
Of course, the worry had been there since the start of this ordeal, and sadly, it likely wouldn’t be going away anytime soon.
“It was a text from Grace,” he explained, going to the bassinet to check on Lily. She was still sacked out. “Trevor is on his way here. Grace decided to do the interview with him here rather than the police station. This way, she doesn’t have to split the manpower and we can continue to show a strong police presence here.”
“In case of another attack,” Addie finished for him.
Judson had to make a sound of agreement. “Right now, there are three cruisers parked out front and four cops inside the house. Grace, Livvy, Bennie and me. The shooter might think twice before trying to come at us again.”
Addie no doubt mentally played out what would happen later today. Grace, Livvy and Bennie couldn’t stay here indefinitely, and the shooter could just wait for an opening. The danger wasn’t over and wouldn’t be until the killer and/or their attacker was caught.
“Trevor will be thoroughly searched before Grace allows him to step foot inside,” Judson explained. “And she’s going to ask if he’ll submit to having his vehicle searched as well.”
If Trevor refused, then Grace would get a search warrant. Trevor wasn’t automatically guilty by association with his kidnapping wife, but simply being married to her should be enough to convince a judge that the cops needed to take a harder look at the man.
“Did Grace say anything about Yvette?” Addie asked in a whisper.
Judson shook his head. “No update on her.”
Because they hadn’t been able to trace the call, they had no idea where the woman was. Basically, they had to wait for Yvette to call them again. Or for someone to spot her.
Or for her body to turn up.
Despite the hell that Yvette had put Addie through by abducting the twins, Judson didn’t wish the woman dead. Just the opposite. They needed Yvette alive and talking, especially if she’d been telling the truth when she claimed she had taken the babies to try to protect them.
That claim had cost Judson some sleep and was even now going through his head. It was too bad Yvette hadn’t spilled more info and named names. And Judson had given that somethinking time, too. Yvette likely would have been reluctant to rat out her own kids and her husband, so who did that leave?
Courtney?
There was no proof whatsoever that the social worker had wanted to kidnap the twins. And that no proof applied to anyone else. There hadn’t been any threats and there wasn’t any chatter on the dark web about abducting the babies. Of course, that didn’t mean such a threat hadn’t existed, but at the moment, everything still pointed to Yvette as the perpetrator of the crime.
Addie sighed, drawing his attention back to her, and she got to her feet. Like her sister, Rose was sleeping, too, and she didn’t even stir when Addie eased her into the bassinet.
“What about Jennifer and Shane?” she asked, still whispering. “Please tell me they didn’t disappear.”
It was a valid worry, since Grace had cut both of them loose for the night. For Shane, there’d been no grounds to hold him, and his lawyer had put up enough fuss for Grace to allow Shane to leave with the promise he would return to the station in the morning to answer more questions.
Jennifer’s situation had been different since she had been found at the scene with a knife and Courtney’s blood, but there was still no evidence that she’d been the one to attack Courtney. In fact, the lab hadn’t been able to find any of Jennifer’s DNA on Courtney or in her vehicle. It was enough for Grace to allow the woman to leave—again with the stipulation that she return for an interview.
“They haven’t disappeared,” Judson assured her, but he didn’t get a chance to add more because there was a soft tap at the door.
“It’s me,” Etta Jean said.
Since the door was locked, Judson crossed the room to let the woman in. Like Addie and him, there was plenty of fatigue andstress on Etta Jean’s face, too, and she was carrying two mugs of coffee.
“I figured you could both use this,” she immediately said, handing the mugs off to them. “There’s also plenty of breakfast stuff in the kitchen. I made some bacon, eggs and biscuits and left it all warming on the stove.”
“Thanks,” Judson said after he’d gulped down some of the coffee.
He was sure his fellow cops and the ranch hands would appreciate the food. He would, too, since he’d need to fuel up to help with the fatigue, and he might be able to convince Addie to eat something as well.
“I’ll stay with the babies as long as needed,” Etta Jean added. She paused. “Any idea when we’ll know…something?” she settled for saying.
Judson had to shake his head. “But there’ll be at least three interviews this morning, and we might get something from one of those.”
Etta Jean nodded, sighed and patted his arm. “Let me know the second you learn anything.”
