Lakota Baby. Elle James

      Del shrugged. “A lot changes in a year.”

      “Apparently.” Not for the first time that day, Joe regretted the timing of his call to service with his South Dakota National Guard unit. He wondered if things would have been different if he hadn’t gone. Would he have turned his back on Maggie? Would Kiya Driskall still be alive? Would the gangs have expanded whether or not he’d been here? He’d never know.

      One thing was certain, he didn’t regret his time in Iraq. The people of that country needed someone to defend their right to life and the men in his unit had needed him. Courting death in Iraq taught him a lot about himself. And if he could he’d take back what he’d said to Maggie before he left.

      Del strode to the wall where a white board hung, littered with notes from previous cases. He wiped it clean and wrote in black erasable marker the date and time of the missing person report and the call. “We know it’s a kidnapping and we’ve been given the ultimatum. We need to find what it is they think was stolen,” Del said.

      “What we need to do is find the baby before they hurt him.” Joe pushed his chair back and stood. His heart pinched in his chest at how devastated Maggie would be if Dakota was hurt or killed. “Call in the entire force, we’re going house-to-house across the reservation until we find that kid. Do the necessary calling. I’ll be back in a minute.”

      “Where you going?”

      “I’m going to get Maggie. She’ll want to be there for the search.”

      “Yes, sir!”

      Joe left the office, his long stride eating up the distance between the door and his vehicle. He hated himself for the way his pulse quickened at the thought of seeing Maggie again. He shouldn’t be feeling that way for a newly widowed woman. Hell, she’d only lost her husband less than two weeks ago.

      FOUR HOURS LATER, the sky was dark except for the yellow glow of porch lights on Red Feather Street. Disappointment gnawed at Joe’s gut. They were no closer to finding Dakota. Joe pulled the SUV to a stop in Maggie’s drive.

      She sat for a moment staring at her house. What was she thinking?

      Joe couldn’t imagine the worry going through her mind. “We’ll find him, Maggie. We still have the scattered homes farther out to check.”

      She turned to him and placed a hand on his arm. “You’ll call me if you find anything? It doesn’t matter what time of day or night. Please call me.”

      Her eyes beseeched him in the light from his dashboard, the pale purple smudges beneath them a testimony to the long day and the little sleep she’d had the night before. Joe couldn’t stop his hand from reaching out to cup her chin. “I’ll call you, Maggie. You know I will. I want Dakota back, too. He’s part of my family.”

      Maggie’s eyes widened before her lids dropped down to cover the shock in their smoky-green depths. She jerked her chin from his grasp and fumbled with the door handle. “I should go inside. Maybe the kidnappers left another message on my answering machine.”

      Had he imagined that look of fear when he’d mentioned Dakota was family? Did she hate him so much that she didn’t want him to be a part of her son’s life? “Dakota’s my nephew, Maggie. Does it bother you that I care about him?”

      “No, not at all.” She gathered her purse and pushed open the door.

      She wasn’t telling him something, and Joe wondered if what she held back was important to the case. He’d opened his mouth to ask her, when he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye. His attention swung to the blinds in one of the windows. They hung at an odd angle. “Did you leave those blinds like that?” He pointed toward her house.

      “Huh?” Maggie’s gaze followed the direction he indicated. “No. That’s the master bedroom. I never touch the blinds.” She jumped out of the SUV.

      “Wait, Maggie.” Joe was out and beside her before she reached the front door. He set her to the side of the entryway and checked the handle. The door was locked securely. “Come on.” He grabbed her hand and ran around to the back door.

      The door stood wide open, the frame splintered from a harsh blow. “Someone kicked this door in,” Joe said, his voice a low rumble in the dark.

      “You think they’re still inside?” Maggie whispered.

      “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Joe held her by the shoulders and stared down into her eyes, barely discernible in the light from the stars. “Stay here.”