“Bessie, let me get those crayons and paper.” Sadie gestured toward the cell walls. “We can decorate your room here just like we did when we were little.”
Bessie’s cries grew quieter. “I like to draw.”
“Me too,” Sadie said. “I have my own studio at my apartment now.”
Another pained look darkened her eyes though, making Jake wonder what kind of art she did.
“I want my dolly, too,” Bessie whispered.
“I’ll bring her next time I come to visit.” Then she helped Bessie to lie down on the cot. “Why don’t you rest a minute and think about what you want to draw while I get our supplies. Okay?”
“’Kay,” Bessie said with a big yawn.
She stretched back out on the cot, and Sadie covered her with the blanket. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Promise?” Bessie whispered.
Sadie patted her sister’s back. “I promise.”
Sadie started to walk away, but Bessie lifted her head. “Sing ‘Hush,’ Sadie. Please.”
Sadie paused, then sank back down on the cot and began to sing, “Hush little Bessie, don’t say a word...”
Mike appeared through the double doors, and Jake threw up a hand to ask him to stop. It was difficult, witnessing Sadie playing parent to her twin. He doubted she’d want Mike watching the scene, too.
An image of Ayla flashed through his mind, and he grimaced. He’d hated his ex for her selfishness in abandoning their baby daughter. And sometimes he wished Ayla had a sibling to keep her company.
But Sadie might have been better off not having a mentally ill one.
Stop feeling sorry for Sadie. You have a case to wrap up, and she’s the key.
Mike gestured toward the front, and mouthed the word Chad, and Jake grimaced again. Amelia’s lawyer had arrived.
Now he would probably move Amelia to the psych ward, and any chance Jake had of hearing her side of the story would be lost between the doctors, her illness, and the red tape.
Sadie felt drained as she stepped from the jail cell. She might be a professional, but this case was her family, her past. Remaining objective was going to cost her, big-time.
Lord help her. She’d forgotten how exhausting it was to pretend everything was okay when nothing was okay.
Jake offered a half-sympathetic look, but she avoided looking directly into his eyes. She didn’t want any kind of connection to him.
Still, just the sight of him tempted her to fall into his arms. “I need to see Dr. Tynsdale.”
Jake nodded. “Thanks for trying to talk to your sister, Sadie.”
A streak of anger shot through her. “I’m not trying to get you a confession. I want to see Amelia well, not in prison.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I...” Jake shrugged, his eyes troubled. “Never mind. Your sister’s attorney is here.”
Chin high, she shouldered her way past Jake and headed through the double doors to the front. Mike was on the phone, laughing, leaning back in his chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world, which irritated her even more, although she didn’t take the time to analyze the reason.
Chad Marshall stood looking out the window at the rain, an expensive-looking briefcase in one hand. Pausing at the threshold, she took a minute to study him. His sandy brown hair was shorter now, combed back from his forehead in a GQ sort of way, and judging from his charcoal-gray suit, he must be doing well financially. He also looked trim and fit, but he’d never been the outdoorsy type, so she assumed he belonged to a gym.
The ladies probably loved him.
But she couldn’t help comparing him to Jake. Jake was sexier—taller, gruffer, more masculine, with a thicker body, massive shoulders, a firmly set jaw. Not as cocky as Chad. No, Jake’s smile didn’t come as easy as Chad’s, and there was no flirtatious gleam in his eyes. She pictured Jake living in a rustic cabin in the woods, while Chad probably owned one of the modern condos being built on the other side of Slaughter Creek.
For years she’d compared every man she met to Jake.
And none of them had measured up.
One of the reasons she was doomed to be alone.
The other—well, she couldn’t think about getting close to anyone else. Or having a family—not when this horrible illness might be passed on to a child of her own.
Chad extended his hand. “Hey, Sadie. It’s nice to see you again.”
Not how she wanted to be reintroduced, but she shook his hand, her stomach roiling at the idea of having to share details about her sister with him.
All that mattered was that he was good at his job. “Thanks for agreeing to represent Amelia.”
“Sure. Everyone is entitled to counsel.”