“Taken?” Scarlett whispered.
“By a wild animal. I was napping and my husband was with him in our backyard. They’d said he needed sunlight . . . for his jaundice. He only turned away for a moment, but when he turned back, Roger was gone. The sheriff never could quite figure out what it was. There were no tracks . . . nothing. But . . . there had been other abductions like it in Farrow. Animals take babies sometimes, you know, just like they take cats and small dogs. Especially when they’re hungry.”
“Oh my God,” Scarlett said, putting her hand over her heart to imagine the horror of a moment like that for a new mother. The pictures that must have come to mind. The absolute torture she must have experienced.
“But he was found. Obviously.”
Dotty bobbed her head. “Yes. A hunter out near Lilith House heard an infant wailing. When he investigated, he found Roger, cold but unharmed in the little shed behind the property. It was like God Himself had delivered him to safety.” Her gaze became distant. “Like I said, there had been animal abductions before, but they seemed to stop after that.” Her eyes came back into focus and she looked at Scarlett, smiling. “Anyway,” she said, “despite the challenges, I don’t take a moment for granted.”
“No, of course not,” Scarlett murmured, gazing at the boy.
A wild animal took him. She could believe in the possibility.
But if so, what kind of creature returned him?
Maybe Dotty didn’t care. She had her boy back and that was all that mattered. Scarlett mustered a smile for her. “I’ll have to ask Haddie what she said to Roger so I can let you know. It was so nice to meet you both.”
“Yes, I’d love that. And likewise. See you around town.”
Scarlett turned, watching as Dotty pushed her son’s modified stroller away, returning to her car. She took a moment to shake off the unsettled feeling that crawled under her skin at the mere thought of a baby being taken by a wild animal. But she couldn’t ponder on that, not now when there were critical and urgent questions that needed to be asked.
Whatever your daughter said made him overwhelmingly happy.
Scarlett took a moment to let herself enjoy the relief flowing through her spirit on that front, at least. Haddie hadn’t been cruel. On the contrary, she’d brought the boy joy. She’d said something that elicited such a strong reaction from him, he hadn’t been able to contain his elation.
Scarlett started her car. The worry that clouded her mind returned as she pictured Millie in her mind, recalled the moment she’d stood watching her from the hall, the surety that had filled her heart.
How could it be true though? How?
You might be imagining things, Scarlett.
Yes, it’d been an overwhelming few days. Her mind could very well be playing tricks on her. She remembered losing her dad when she was just a little girl. She remembered how after his death, she saw him everywhere. In the man walking on the sidewalk as their car drove by. In the profile of the cashier at the grocery store right before he fully turned her way. She suspected it was a common phenomenon when you lost a person. And for all intents and purposes, she had just experienced the loss of Kandi all over again. But she had to find out if there was any merit to the feeling that had gripped her just an hour before. She had to speak to Millie’s mother. Immediately. This could not wait. She owed it to Kandi.
Scarlett pulled up at the church, her heart sinking when she noticed that there were only a few cars in the lot, Vicky’s not one of them. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard. Six thirty-seven. Damn. If the meeting had lasted an hour, then everyone, including Vicky, would be gone by now. She got out of her car, walking toward the building. Likely, she’d passed Vicky as she headed for home, and Scarlett would have to drive back to her house if she wanted to speak with her. But first, she’d check inside the building just to make sure.
She pulled the green door open, the scent of incense meeting her nose, the cool solemnity that all churches seemed to hold greeting her. At first, she thought the room was empty, but then she spotted a woman sitting in one of the pews, head bent forward in prayer. Just as Scarlett noticed her, the woman turned toward her. Vicky Schmidt.
A look of surprise came over Vicky’s face as she stood, turning toward Scarlett.
“I didn’t see your car in the lot,” Scarlett said as she approached.
Vicky shook her head. “I got a ride with Sister Madge. My car’s in the shop.” Her brow dipped. “Is Millie okay?”
“Yes. Millie is fine. No, she’s more than fine, Vicky. She’s so lovely, and Haddie is so lucky to have her caring for her.”
“Oh, well. Thank you. She’s always been a happy child. Highly spirited, if you know what I mean.”
Highly spirited. Like her mother? A lump formed in Scarlett’s throat and she swallowed around it.
“I came to ask you something and”—she bit her lip, glancing to the side—“I understand that this might sound odd and . . . personal, but . . . I have to know.”
Vicky frowned. “Okay.”
“Millie said you and your late husband had her later in life. But . . . was she actually adopted?”
Vicky’s gaze flickered with surprise, two spots of color rising in her cheeks. “I’m sorry?” she asked, her voice cracking. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
Scarlett came closer, watching Vicky’s face. “Millie looks very much like someone I once knew. The body they found in the woods two days ago, Kandace Thompson? She delivered a baby before she died.” She paused, her voice lowering to a mere whisper. “I’m wondering if that baby was Millie.”
Vicky let out a small gasp, sinking down into the pew. Scarlett’s heartbeat quickened as she came around the bench to sit next to the woman.
Vicky gripped the back of the pew in front of her. For several weighty moments, she stared up at Christ, hanging on the crucifix at the front of the church. “We tried so hard to have a baby,” she finally whispered brokenly.
Scarlett stilled, a silent moan rising inside. She’d been right. Oh, Kandi, oh my God, what happened?
“Year after year after year. I wondered what I was being punished for.” She looked down, her hands twisting in her lap. “Then one winter this tiny baby was left on our porch, the umbilical cord still attached.” She looked at Scarlett, tears glittering in her eyes. “Like an answer to our prayers.” She looked down again, her voice growing stronger. “I knew it belonged to one of those girls. It must. And I knew what happened to children born at Lilith House. But that tiny, tiny baby, she appeared perfect. No mark of sin.”
Horror settled in Scarlett’s stomach, Camden’s story rushing through her mind.
“Someone had taken her from there, they’d left her on our doorstep rather than leaving her in the woods or keeping her hidden behind its walls.”
Scarlett fisted her hands, her nails digging into the tender flesh of her palms. They’d known. They’d all known.
“I stayed in for months and when I came out, I had the baby. She was still so very small. No one doubted she was a newborn. I told them all we were too nervous to tell of my pregnancy after our many losses. My husband went along with it, God rest his soul.” She did the sign of the cross. “He was a decent man.”