Chapter 94

NINETY-FOUR

FEATHERWOOD FARM

Barb struggled to form a plan as she paced the confines of the old rotting building where he'd locked her and Mazie for the night. The place smelled like dirt and animals and the windows had been boarded over.

Mazie was terrified and had cried for her mother all night. Barb could still see Ros in that dirty alley, her clothes filthy and worn, her body thin and frail, her skin so pale she appeared to be on the verge of death. She'd hated to leave her but hopefully someone in town would find her and get her to the hospital.

How had her friend wound up on the streets?

She knew Ros and her husband had had problems. He'd complained about the cost of the IVF just as Thomas had. Their marriage had fallen apart and Ros had mentioned he had a gambling problem. That he'd gotten in debt to some loan sharks that were dangerous.

Had he left Ros penniless?

Mazie shifted beneath the blanket Barb had insisted he give her, finally sleeping. The poor kid looked thin herself, her clothes raggedy.

Anger sat heavy in her chest. Years ago, when she'd lost Grace, the doctor told her she'd never be able to carry a baby to term. The heartbreak had become unbearable. Through counseling, she'd joined the support group and realized she wasn't the only one suffering.

She, Ros, Claire and Loretta had bonded through their grief, guilt and pain. On the verge of suicide, she'd leaned on them, watched each of them face the challenges of invitro. Then she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. The chemo had physically almost killed her.

The women had been there for her then, too. During that time they'd learned that a malfunction at the fertility clinic had compromised a few patients' embryos. Claire's, Ros's and Loretta's were among them. They'd been devastated.

She considered a surrogate but was terrified her cancer would return and she'd die and leave a child alone.

So she'd offered her friends a deal they couldn't refuse. One that still cost her from raising the children herself, but she would become the favorite godmother, an important part of the girls' lives. The plan had worked perfectly, and together they'd created the big family she'd always wanted.

But now she'd not only lost her baby but the twins and Claire, too. And she still had no idea who'd murdered them.

She cuddled closer to Mazie, terrified she was on the verge of losing another child.

Determination set in. She couldn't let that happen. She had to figure out a way to escape and take Mazie with her.

Then she'd turn the tables and make him suffer.