for her own good.
“Jaxton Williams, juvenile rights attorney.”
“You must represent young Chase,” Daci said. “Serena’s been telling me about her situation.” She sent a kind smile toward the younger woman. “It’s got to be tough.”
Serena’s intense expression lightened. “Yeaaaah.” She breathed out long and low, as if such simple understanding meant the world to her.
An infant in a nearby crib began fussing, and Serena turned toward the sound. “I’ll get him. These babies are so cu-u-ute!” She practically skipped away.
Daci’s gaze followed the younger woman, a small frown on her lips. Jax cleared his throat, and she met his look.
“Since Chase isn’t here, I’d like to see little Annie Brown and speak to her caregiver.”
Daci smiled. “That would be me today. Follow me to the changing room, and I’ll talk with you while I change her diaper. She crawled past me a few minutes ago, while I was finishing up with another child, and I thought she smelled a bit ripe.”
At Jax’s low groan, her smile morphed into a smirk as she scooped Annie up.
“Do you provide nose plugs?” Jax followed her toward a side room.
“Wimp,” she said under her breath.
“I heard that.”
Daci’s answering chuckle warmed Jax from the ground up. She laid the child on the changing table and tickled the little girl’s plump belly. Annie giggled and kicked.
“Hold still, sweet stuff.” Daci began the changing process.
Jax stood rooted, staring, his heart shredding into tiny pieces. He’d visited this day care before, watched other babies being changed—though maybe not from this close up—but this moment was starkly different. Daci didn’t look a thing like Regan, and if their daughter had been born, she would have been much older than Annie, almost ready for kindergarten, but something about the way Daci moved, the expression on her face, the tone of her voice as she spoke to the little one hit him like brass knuckles with fresh realization of what he had lost. A deep groan wrenched his gut.
Daci’s head turned sharply. “Are you all right, Jax? You look like the Red Cross took the last pint of your blood.”
He blinked down hard against the wet sting behind his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. Or I will be.” He opened his eyes to find her holding the little girl, who had gone limp and was sucking her thumb.
“Did you really have some questions about Annie, or did you need an excuse to talk to me?”
“Both.” Get a grip, Williams. “When you changed her, did you notice any bruises?”
“No, just healthy baby bottom.”
“Good.” Jax smiled. “That’s what I expected to hear. Annie had a rough start in a toxic environment, but the dad has custody now, and she’s been thriving. This was basically a final follow-up visit.”
“Aren’t these kinds of visits more social services territory?”
“Sure, but that department is spread so thin they’re more than happy to enlist the help of a nonprofit like ours to pick up the slack. I’ll write up my report, and they’ll put it in their file. At the next court date, Annie will likely be released from the system into the mainstream. We call that a success story.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Daci held the child toward him, and he received the warm bundle. The girl stared at him for a few blinks, then laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
“She likes you and trusts you.”
“I like her, too.” He gazed down at the head of wispy brown hair.
“You’re a natural. Any little Williamses at home?”
“No, not married anymore.” Jax grimaced. “That’s a story for another time. I need to get going and stop at Chase’s foster home. How are you doing with Serena?”
“You saw.” Daci rippled her shoulders. “She may be sober, but she’s still a hot mess. I’ve stuck close to her all day and have begun to believe she genuinely wants to be a good mother to her son, but she’s so pathetically clueless about what that entails.”
“Contrary to her airhead demeanor, which I suspect is an ingrained facade to make her seem no threat to the predators in her environment, testing has shown she’s bright. She’s also motivated. She’ll learn. No sign of our target?”
“Nary a one. Though I don’t suppose he’s going to announce his presence beforehand.”
“He might call or text Serena.”
“Workers here can’t use cell phones except on break. Following her to the break room when I’m supposed to be on duty would be irresponsible in regard to the children, and it would look suspicious to Serena, but I’ve kept close watch to see if she exhibits any nervousness when she comes back on duty. I don’t think she’d be able to hide her reaction if he reached out to her. Even if she believes he doesn’t know she betrayed him, anyone would get the willies if contacted by an escaped felon. Besides, the Marshals Service is monitoring her cell communications.”
“Do you have a plan to get into her circle of friends?”
Daci’s expression clouded. “I’m going to express interest in attending an addiction-recovery meeting. If she accepts me as one who understands her issues, I should be a shoo-in.”
“Sounds like a great plan to me, but you don’t look happy about it.”
“This is a world I thought I escaped. I’m not eager to revisit it.”
“Understood. Hopefully, Naylor will be in custody again soon, and you can move on to a new assignment.”
“One more thing, I want to apologize for leaving you abruptly yesterday. I’m not usually so touchy.”
“No problem. It was an unsettling day.”
Daci smiled up at him. “I appreciate your patience.”
He made himself turn away before he blurted out an invitation to revisit their canceled meal plan. Dating Daci was out of the question.
A few minutes later, little Annie had been tucked into a crib with her favorite blankie, and Jax was on the road. The visit at Chase’s foster home was brief, but it confirmed the little guy was recovering from a cold. His foster parents thought he would be able to return to day care in the morning. Jax called Naomi at Little Blessings with the update and asked that the message be passed along to Serena. Then he headed downtown to his office and worked a few hours on court filings and briefs.
When the clock had finally crept past the time for Daci and Serena’s shift to end, he called Daci’s cell. She answered after two rings.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“At the
