“What’s that about?” Jordan asked.
“I don’t know.” She turned to face him. “I’ll see if I can find out some information once the ME does the autopsy.”
“No need. I plan to come to the station with you.” Jordan’s expression was stubborn “I want to talk to the ME myself.”
“Okay, that’s fine.” She decided it wasn’t worth the argument. Besides, if her sister had been found dead, she’d want to talk to the medical examiner, too.
Then again, she was a cop. Jordan wasn’t.
Yet, as she and Bear drove to the Canyon Creek Police Department, she couldn’t help but wonder what Peters meant about a task force. It couldn’t be related to the intruder, as she hadn’t even made a formal report yet.
No, she had a feeling the task force was related to Bear’s recent discovery of Jenny Clarke’s body.
And the missing baby.
* * *
Jordan followed Autumn and Bear into the police station. He stood awkwardly for a moment, having no clue where to find the medical examiner.
“Sit here for a few minutes,” Autumn suggested, gesturing to a row of plastic chairs. “The ME’s lab is in the basement. I’ll let Dr. Trina Edwards know you’re here.”
“Thanks.” He sat in the hard-backed, uncomfortable chair, knowing he had chores waiting for him back at the ranch. He couldn’t get the image of Jenny’s black-and-white tennis shoes poking out from her rocky grave out of his mind.
How long had she been there? The question haunted him. Maybe if he’d pushed Peters harder. Maybe if he’d gone over the idiot’s head to the captain, or even the chief of police.
Maybe…
“Jordan?” He glanced up when Autumn approached. “Dr. Edwards has agreed to come and talk to you as soon as she’s finished, okay?”
“Yes, thanks.” He realized in that moment how much he owed Autumn Riley. He’d headed over to help her out of some misguided thought of helping another woman like his sister. But she was the one who’d helped him by finding Jenny’s body. “I owe you, Autumn.”
“What? No, of course not.” She flushed in a way that made her look adorable. His sister was dead, so he shouldn’t notice how pretty Autumn was with her long blond hair, heart-shaped face and bright green eyes. “I’m sorry for what you’re going through.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m not supposed to say much about this yet, but the task force Peters mentioned? An FBI agent in Denver has decided to pull officers in from throughout the state to investigate another missing pregnant teenager. She’s only been gone for twenty-four hours. They’re thinking this is a bigger deal than they originally suspected.”
“Another pregnant teen?” Jordan had to work hard not to let his anger boil over. “So now that there’s another missing girl, everyone cares about what happened to Jenny?”
“Jordan, I’m sorry. Truly.” Autumn looked pained. “I understand how hard this is for you. But we have a chance to find this missing girl before she turns up dead.”
“Like Jenny.” He turned away, wrestling with his emotions.
“Yes, like Jenny.” Autumn reached over to take his hand. “I’ve learned there are two other cases of dead girls being found who were also pregnant. Jenny may have been the first, but she wasn’t the last. It’s critical we understand what’s going on, okay?”
Hearing that his sister may have been the first girl to go missing did not make him feel any better. But what could he say? Jenny was gone, and there was nothing he could do to bring her back.
“Please, Jordan, have faith in the process.” Autumn took a step back. “I’ll be back to talk to you later, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” He blew out a breath, realizing Autumn didn’t deserve his anger. Even Peters didn’t.
The fault for Jenny’s disappearance rested mostly on his shoulders. There were so many things he should have done differently. Like insisting she move back to the ranch. Like buying her a car so that she didn’t need to depend on others for rides.
And especially being more supportive of her when she’d broken the news of her pregnancy. Rather than getting upset with her situation, he should have embraced the idea of raising the next generation of Clarkes.
As Autumn hurried away, he sank back into the uncomfortable chair and buried his face in his hands. Another missing pregnant teen.
What on earth was going on?
Jordan had no idea how long he sat there waiting. It seemed like hours, but when he heard approaching footsteps and glanced at his watch, he realized it had only been forty-five minutes.
“Mr. Clarke?” A woman wearing a white lab coat with reddish, gray-streaked hair pulled back in a bun came toward him. The name tag pinned to her breast pocket read Dr. Edwards.
