We stop at Jess’s on the way home and Rob welcomes me with open arms—literally. He jerks me into a tight hug and crushes me so hard, my back cracks.

“Easy, babe. There are bones in there,” Jess reminds him. She takes the baby from me and disappears to get both boys situated in the nursery.

“Drink?” he offers.

I shake my head but walk to the kitchen anyway. I reach for the bar and sit on an available stool.

“Man, Bec. I don’t even know what to say.”

“I just feel like no one is doing anything.” I rip my hands through my hair. “Don’t communities like this rally together with signs and go knocking on doors or something?”

“When the police say you can, sure.” He pours me a glass and slides it over. “Your friend Jake—does he have any leads?”

I shake my head. “Not yet. He’s working a case right now so he can’t give it his full attention, but he’s looking into surveillance cameras. And Officer Toby, who was at your party, is helping too.”

“Toby’s good police.”

I know he’s spent a lot of time working cases with local cops, since it’s a close-knit community and he’s the only criminal defense attorney in town. I rotate the glass in my hand. “Let me ask you a question. You know criminal behavior. Take me through this. What would be someone’s motive?”

“Plenty of reasons. One parent or relative wants custody or guardianship. In your case, this doesn’t make sense, of course, because there’s another child involved.”

“This isn’t an act done by a relative.” My mother floats to mind. If she were here, she’d go to the ends of the earth to bring Jackson back. If she were here, he wouldn’t have gone missing in the first place. I smack away that loss and focus on this one. This is the one I have to get through. This is the one to survive. “What about a stranger’s motivation?”

He sighs. “Where do I begin? Extortion, ransom, legal adoption, sex trafficking. The list is endless.”

He must register the horrified look on my face because he quickly backtracks.

“Those are just the typical reasons someone would take a child. I have to say though, babies aren’t as common. And to leave another child in his place?” I hear him scratch his head. “That’s a new one for me. Probably why Elmhurst PD is a bit slow to start. They may not have seen it before. Chief Holbrook is notoriously—”

“Conservative. Yes, I’ve heard.” I groan and drop my head in my hands. “Or they just don’t believe me and are biding their time until this all blows over.”

“It’s possible.” He takes a swallow of the brandy he’s poured.