As he jumped to get the door, Bailey said, “Chief Harper said he’d send me what I need in an email.”
“What the hell?” Dex asked, lifting his hands in question.
“I got a call from Chief Harper,” Bailey said, as if Dex would know who that was.
Dex looked between the two of them and said, “Who the fuck is Chief Harper?”
Bailey rolled her eyes and looked at Dex. “He was the first responding officer when my parents found me. He investigated my abandonment.”
“All right, already,” Ryan bellowed, now impatient. “What did he say?”
“The FBI has a DNA database,” Bailey said. “They use it to match human remains with missing persons.”
“Human remains…” Dex sneered. “That’s so gross, and what the hell does that have to do with you?”
“If anyone with your DNA has submitted DNA in hopes of finding you,” Ryan said, ignoring Dex, “and if you submit DNA—”
“Yes,” Bailey said, her smile widening. “It’s a long shot, but anything would help, right?”
“That’s fucking ridiculous,” Dex said, throwing his hands up. “You were abandoned. Why would anyone come looking for you?”
It took all Ryan’s strength not to call him a knucklehead. “Grandparents, aunts and uncles, any extended family. Since we don’t know the circumstances in which she was abandoned, any scenario is possible.”
Bailey jumped up and down. “Oh, my God, I’m so excited! Harper said he’d email the information to me. We have an appointment a week from Monday at the FBI office.”
“Bailey.” Ryan’s heart clenched in his chest, and he looked up at Dex. Their expressions must have matched. If she didn’t get answers from this, it could crush her. “Bailey, please don’t get your hopes up here. This is a long shot.”
“No, kidding,” Dex said. “This is complete bullshit. It’s never going to work. You’re really reaching here.”
“No, I feel good about this,” Bailey said.
“Stop!” Ryan nearly shouted it. “Stop and think about this, Bay. If someone was looking for their missing baby, why didn’t they find you?”
Bailey’s smiled collapsed. “I don’t know, but…I’m optimistic. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, if you’re also being realistic about it.” Ryan stared into her eyes, praying she understood. “You could submit your DNA and never hear anything. You could submit your DNA and not hear something for twenty years. Be prepared for anything.”
She nodded and gave him a somber look. “Okay, fine. I won’t get my hopes up.” But then her smile formed again as if she couldn’t help it. “But I’m still so happy to have something to look forward to.”
Ryan couldn’t keep himself from smiling, too. She was adorable. “It’s going to be a long ten days.”
“I can’t believe this. You’re actually going to do this?” Dex shouted. “Jesus, this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Bailey, don’t do this.”
“Of course I’m doing it. Why wouldn’t I?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at them both. “Why would you?” Dex said, “If you’re happy with your life, then why are you still searching for the scumbags who left you to die?”
“If you didn’t know about your family, you’d want to, wouldn’t you?” Ryan asked.
“And what the fuck, Ryan? I thought we had a deal not to encourage this.”
“What?” Bailey asked. “What deal?”
“Just today, Ryan agreed not to encourage you to continue with the search because it isn’t safe for you.”
“Wait…” Her eyes focused on Ryan. “You guys talked about this today?” Her horrified glare switched between them. “You’re scheming behind my back? Making deals and—”
“Bailey, it’s not like that,” Ryan said, holding his hand out to calm her down.
“The fuck it’s not,” Dex said, “We even shook hands on it.”
“Excuse me, but since when is it okay for you two to make decisions for me, and about me, without my consent?” She pointed to Dex. “You’re not my boyfriend.” Then she pointed to Ryan. “And neither are you.”
“We’re just trying to save you from being hurt,” Dex said.
“How ironic. The asshole who can’t show up for a date and the other asshole who can’t openly talk about his feelings are trying to keep me from being hurt?” She stepped between them and reached for the office door. “News flash, I don’t need saving! Go to hell—both of you!” Then she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
When Bailey entered the house, it was dark. She clicked the entry light on and looked around, feeling a little tense at being there alone. Of course, that pissed her off since she’d grown up in the house and had never, ever felt scared to be there alone. She shook off the feeling and dashed into the living room. She wanted to get in and out before Ryan got home—not that he’d be home any time soon since it was Friday night, and he was obligated to play another two sets at the club.
After receiving that call from Chief Harper, she was more determined than ever to find out where she came from, and if that meant she had to do it alone, she would. There was more to this story. Something happened. Something more than her father finding her in the snow, and her Uncle Patrick knew what that something was. With everything that had happened, and now having her mother’s scrapbooks stolen, she couldn’t pretend it was something as simple as a teenage pregnancy and an abandoned baby.
She’d stored all the letters in a manila envelope and left them in her apartment, but when she didn’t find them there, she thought they had to still be in her mother’s desk. So much had happened in the few days before leaving for Wisconsin, she was starting to question what she’d done with them. She pulled the drawer open, but it was empty.
Damn it. Where were they?
Maybe Ryan looked through them again. She stood and rushed
