THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

paled. “You’re confusing me.”
    “Is Jake alive, Libby?”
    “Yes. He’s fine. I love Jake. I’d never hurt him.” She clutched the side of the table, steadying herself.
    “Where is he?”
    She started breathing heavily, then she mumbled.
    “What did you say?” Scott asked.
    “I’m dizzy.” She shook her head. “Something’s wrong.” Her hand trembled like that of a junkie needing a fix.
    “Libby. Stay with me.” Scott left his seat and crouched in front of her. “You hear me? Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.”
    She followed Scott’s instructions.
    Once her breathing slowed, he returned to the chair across from her. The color came back to her face.
    “Do you need medical assistance?”
    “Can I have some water?”
    “Sure.” Scott left the room.
    Von met him in the hall. “Thank God. He’s alive. Now we just need to find out where he is. What the hell is Jeremy up to? I don’t really know the guy, but he’s always been there for Kasey.”
    Scott pulled a paper cup from the side of the water cooler and filled it. “Wish me luck,” he said, then went back in.
    Scott handed Libby the cup. The water rippled as she lifted the cup to her lips, her hand trembling.
    “Thank you.” She set the cup on the table in front of her.
    Scott rubbed the back of his neck, then straightened. “Let’s start over. How do you know Kasey Phillips? She’s never heard of you.”
    “Of course not. She doesn’t care about our family, just her own.”
    “Even if that’s the case, you can’t take a child from his mother and get away with it. It’s illegal.”
    “Jeremy has rights.”
    “Even if they were married, matters of custody are for a court to decide. Not you.”
    She rested her head on the table.
    “I know this is exhausting, but if you’re a Christian, I know you want to do the right thing.”
    “Of course.”
    “I want to show you something. I’ll be right back.” Scott walked out of the room, went to his desk, and got the case files from the accident and Jake’s disappearance. He walked back in and started reading facts to Libby.
    Logic outweighed the story she’d been told by Jeremy. Scott saw the expression on her face change with each fact. He licked a finger and turned to another page, chronicling the last several months of the investigation.
    Thirty minutes later, Libby had the whole string of events laid out for her.
    Her jaw went slack. She kept muttering, “I can’t believe it.” Her gaze darted, unsettled, as if she was looking for a way out.
    Control was finally shifting.
    Only one thing could save her now—the truth.
    Scott spoke slowly, careful to choose the right words. “Libby, Kasey is a wonderful mother. She lost her husband. She loves Jake. Please help us reunite them.”
    “What about Jeremy?”
    “Libby, you better worry about yourself right now and doing the right thing.”
    She zoned out for a long moment, then turned to Scott. “The address is written inside the cover of a paperback book I was reading. It’s in my car.”
    “Who is he with now?” Scott asked. “Is he safe?”
    “Oh yes. I’d never have taken him there if I didn’t think so. They’ve been friends of our family for years—they have four kids of their own. I was supposed to go pick him up next weekend. Jeremy was going to visit Jake there.”
    “Thank you, Libby.”
    “I am so sorry.” She lowered her head. “I had no idea. You’ve got to believe me.”
    “I do.” Scott walked out and locked the door behind him. Von shadowed him down the hall while Scott gave orders to move Libby to a holding cell. He and Von located the keys to Libby Braddock’s vehicle, and ran to the cruiser to go back to the hotel and search the car.
     

 
    Chapter Thirty-Seven
     
    Kasey rushed to the processing desk at the station. “Is Scott around?” she asked one of the officers.
    “He just left.”
    Her shoulders drooped. “How long ago?”
    “Ten minutes, maybe?”
    She dropped her hands to her side. “Did he leave a message for me? Kasey Phillips.”
    The officer shuffled some papers and checked a rack of cubbyholes. “No. I don’t see anything up here for you.”
    Kasey tried Scott’s cell phone but it went to voice mail, she left him a message then scribbled a note on a slip of paper and handed it to the gal at the desk. “Can you see that he gets this if he comes back?”
    “Sure.”
    Kasey thanked her and left for Scott’s house.
     
    Not five minutes