The Baby Thief by L. J. Sellers Page A

of plants in a front bay window. “Will you water the plants if she doesn’t show up?”
    “Sure.”
    They stepped out of the apartment and Dottie locked the door as the wind blew rain under the covered upper balcony. Eric zipped his jacket and hurried down the stairs behind the manager. He wanted to get downtown and file a missing person report. It was possible Jenna had gone AWOL, but he didn’t think so. The fear in his gut was real now, a physical presence that didn’t go away when he tried to think about something else.
    He and Dottie exchanged phone numbers and promised to call each other if they heard anything. Just as Eric stepped out of the office, the sky opened up, and the light rain exploded in a downpour, the first of the season. He ran for his Firebird, the only car in the lot that hadn’t been made in the last decade. The engine fired right up as it always did. He wondered how Jenna felt about his car. She hadn’t said anything when she rode in it. He wondered what kind of car she drove, if she even had one. He wanted to know everything about her. Starting, of course, with where in the hell she was.
    Jackson was on the phone when Eric entered the Violent Crimes Division, so Eric wandered over to Rob Schakowski’s desk and read over his shoulder as the detective keyed in an assault report with thick fingers. His crewcut and barrel chest made him seem out of place in front of a computer.
    “Hey, I thought you weren’t into this crime stuff anymore,” Schak said without looking up. It was after three, and Eric knew from experience that the detective was pushing to get this paper work done before the four-to-midnight crew came on duty.
    “It seems to be following me around.” Eric noticed that the people in Schak’s report all had the same last name. “Domestic violence or family squabble?”
    “Both.” Schakowski grunted, then said, “The guy was beating on his wife, and his brother tried to stop him. So the guys get into it, and it’s still a fistfight at this point. Then the wife attacks the brother with a knife and puts him in the hospital. Now the kids are at grandma’s, and she’s an alcoholic”
    “Sorry I asked.”
    Eric walked over and slouched in a chair next to Jackson’s desk. In a moment, Jackson hung up the phone and looked over at Eric. “Tell me you found the woman and everything is okay now.”
    “No.” Eric sat up. “I went to her apartment, and she hasn’t been there. It doesn’t look like she packed anything to take with her either.”
    Jackson let out a big sigh. “Women always do this to you, my friend. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Remember Amber? She got so in touch with herself after knowing you, she ran off to Reno to be a black jack dealer. And Suzan? She moved to Alaska.”
    “Her mother was sick!”
    “What about Kori?”
    “What about her?”
    “Never mind.” Jackson rubbed his forehead. “Tell me about the apartment.” He looked up suddenly. “By the way, how did you get into the apartment?”
    “The manager.”
    “Some ridiculous story about being a long, lost brother?”
    “I didn’t have to lie. The truth of this situation is enough to alarm a normal person.”
    Jackson shrugged. “Tell me all of it.”
    Eric summed it up. “Jenna hasn’t been to work, and I don’t think they’ve heard from her. She isn’t at her mother’s, and that’s the only family she has. She hasn’t been in her apartment and didn’t take anything with her. All that stuff women usually drag around with them is still there—make-up, lotion, hair stuff, all of it. Her luggage is still in the closet, and her drawers are full of clothes.”
    Jackson said, “She could be staying with a friend, another woman who has all that stuff.”
    “Maybe.” Eric felt deflated. “Call the restaurant. Tell them you need to question her again. I’ll bet they have no idea where she is.”
    “What’s the number?”
    Eric