The Baby Invasion (Destiny Bay-Baby Dreams) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the way he felt about children, that shocked him.  
    Cathy hesitated. “Well, I’d hate to go that far just yet,” she said. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for her disappearance. If I could only figure out what it is. Now tell me everything you know about her.”  
    His mind search took all of three seconds.   He shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t really know her. Maybe one of the other neighbors ...” .
    Cathy shook her head. “I’ve asked all up and down the street. I can’t believe how people can live within breathing distance of one another and not know one thing about each other’s lives! It’s amazing. Everyone’s noticed her, but no one knows anything about her.”  
      Scott nodded slowly, but his mind was on other things she’d said earlier. “Could we backtrack a little? If you don’t live here, what exactly are you doing here? What is your connection to this woman?”  
    She took a deep breath and nodded, trying to calm the rising sense of panic that threatened to surface.   “Okay. I’ve known April slightly for about six months, ever since the triplets were born. I had a temporary job at the hospital at the time and we got to know each other.”
    “Triplets.” The word stuck in his throat. “Three little mirror images?”  
    Cathy nodded. “Almost. They’re beauties.   I can’t believe you’ve never seen them, living right next door.”  
    He swallowed hard. The concept of triplets boggled his mind. “I’m gone a lot.”  
    “So I’ve heard. Anyway, I do babysitting to help make ends meet and April hires me now and then to watch her little ones. This time she was going out of town so she asked if I could stay with them all weekend. I arrived Friday night, waved goodbye to April, and haven’t seen or heard from her since.”  
    “It’s Wednesday.”
    “I know. She was supposed to be back Sunday night.”  
    Cathy sighed. Just having him notice how long it had been made it the more real—and unreal at the same time.
    “I have no idea where she is. She was very mysterious about it. She was going to call me Friday night to give me the number of where she was staying.”   She shrugged.   “No call. Nothing.”  
    “You don’t have her cell number?”
    “I do.   There’s no answer.   And believe me, I’ve tried a dozen times.”   She sighed.   “Until I realized that the phone was here in the house.   I found it in the back of her closet.   She must have left it here on purpose.   Strange, isn’t it?”
    His dark gaze became thoughtful. “You think something happened to her?”  
    She hesitated. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “That’s what I thought at first. I called hospitals in the area to check on accidents.   But I don’t really know where she was headed, so that was pretty useless.’”  
    Scott shrugged. “There must be someone you can call. A grandmother. An employer.”  
    Cathy shook her head. “I’ve searched the house from top to bottom. There are no names, no addresses anywhere. As I said, I’ve gone up and down the street asking neighbors. No one knows a thing about this woman.”  
    “Where does she work?”
    “You got me. She never told me.”  
    Scott leaned back and thought for a moment, then shrugged again.   “I guess you’ll have to call the police,” he said.  
    Cathy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t want to do that,” she said, looking at Scott and wondering why she felt safe telling him things she was telling no one else.  
    “There’s something about April. I’ve always had the feeling she was… well…”   She made a face.   “Not doing anything illegal necessarily, but skating close to the edge. Do you know what I mean?”  
    He nodded slowly, searching her eyes. “But so what? That’s not your problem. And neither are her kids.”  
      She twisted her hands together, wondering how she was going to explain this to him. “I don’t quite feel that