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I’ve learned that his wife was also a cop prior to a fire that left her with undiagnosed PTSD, and she’s a few inches taller than me with an athletically lean body despite her baby bump. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a long ponytail and her smile is welcoming, crinkling the corners of her blue eyes.
I haven’t said much because I don’t know either of them very well, but I’m struggling to keep from blurting“What do you know about Jade?”I was able to get more sleep last night than the one before, but as soon as I woke up, I thought about this meeting. Well, after I thought about my kids and Seth, of course. I thought about the fact that, no matter how much or how little Braeden knows, it’s something. Certainly more than I’ve known for ten years.
“So, you’ve found something about Jade,” Seth says at last. He’s sitting beside me but he’s on duty and his posture reflects that. It’s sexy as all get out. “I admit, I’m intrigued. Other than those few high school and college articles and the arrest record, my search was exhausted almost right away.”
Sam glances at her husband, then makes a face. “I probably should mention that I’m the reason he continued digging. I know what it’s like to be estranged from a sibling. It was after my little sister, Gemma, died. My younger brother Ryan took off on the day of the funeral and we didn’t see him for four years. Didn’t hear a single word. None of that probably makes much sense, but long story short, when Braeden told me about you and your sister, Jenna, I couldn’t let it go. I hope that doesn’t sound creepy.”
I laugh softly. “No, not at all. And I’m sorry about your sister.”
“Thank you. Gemma had Down syndrome and when she got sick…” Sam swallows as she trails off, and Braeden rests a hand on his wife’s shoulder, massaging gently. She takes a deep breath and wipes her eyes. “Sorry. This pregnancy has made me way more emotional than I normally am.”
“I know the feeling,” I say. “I’m an emotional person to start with, but when the pregnancy hormones were involved, well, let’s just say I kept the Kleenex business running. But anyway.” I wave a hand and Seth captures it. My heart does a funny shimmy as he rests our clasped hands on his thigh under the table, and my thoughts are temporarily derailed. “Um… Oh, yes. Jade. You said you found something?”
Braeden nods. “Yes. I found the original arrest record, same as Seth. The sentencing was up to four years imprisonment for marijuana on hand with the intent to distribute. Because of that, I assumed her child was taken from her after he or she was born. There are only a couple states where prisons have nurseries to give the mothers a chance to possibly raise their child, depending on their sentencing, but Kansas is not one of them.”
Though this shouldn’t surprise me, and I figured Jade and her child were likely separated, I inhale sharply. Seth’s fingers tighten around mine, though his gaze remains squarely on Braeden.
“So, because Sam convinced me to dig further, I called the Kansas City PD. It took a while to get someone to talk to me, but I was able to speak with one of the officers who was part of Jade’s arrest. He told me Jade had already detoxed for the most part during her pregnancy, but the judge gave her forty-eight months prison time with a chance of getting out a year early for good behavior. He forwent the possible fee by saying it was mandatory she successfully complete treatment after being released, even if she was already fully detoxed. She did end up getting out a year early and completing her treatment, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.”
Braeden slides a manila folder across the tabletop to us, the wordsJade O’Malleywritten across its front in bold, all caps black letters. No doubt a man’s writing. “The father of her child was involved in a motorcycle accident that claimed his life two weeks before Jade was due. She had already turned herself in, which likely didn’t please her boyfriend considering he’d fled from the law twice before then and was on a wanted list. I have no evidence to prove it, but I’m guessing Jade was hoping to protect herself and her unborn child, even though it was going to cost her.”
I swallow and close my eyes for a moment, the image of my sister that day in August as fresh in my mind as if it was yesterday. The desperation in Jade’s eyes, her skinny frame despite her late stage of pregnancy, and the pleading in her tone. I know I made the right decision to say no to adopting the baby, especially hearing what she’d been doing, but I still wonder how things would’ve turned out if I had done it differently. If maybe she wouldn’t have felt so alone.
Seth rubs his thumb over the skin on the back of my hand, the gesture so tiny but intimate it makes goosebumps erupt on my arms. “Did you find out if she had a girl or a boy?”
“Yes. She had a boy.” Braeden nods to the folder as if he didn’t just give me an answer to a question I’ve wondered for a long time.I have a nephew.“I put notes with all this information in there, by the way, so you could have it. Jade gave birth to a baby boy on September twentieth of that year, meaning her son will turn ten on—”
“My birthday,” I whisper, unable to blink hard enough to keep the tears from rolling down my cheeks. My sister had a little boy on my birthday. I have a nephew who’s been celebrating his birthday on the same day as me for nearly ten years, connected by blood, but never knowing the other existed. “He was born on my birthday.”
Braeden pauses until I’ve got my emotions under control, and I don’t miss the way his voice softens slightly when he continues. “I wasn’t given the name of the child for privacy reasons, but Jade’s son was placed with his paternal grandparents after he was born. Following Jade’s sentencing and her successfully completed treatment, she set about getting herself on the straight and narrow so she could go to court to try and be awarded custody. The officer I spoke with provided the name and number for the attorney Jade hired. The attorney told me Jade has sent a letter every year since being awarded custody with the attorney’s assistance, thanking her and giving a brief update. As of the one she just received in May, Jade and her son are living in Iowa. Jade has a stable job as a journalist at a small newspaper. She didn’t tell me more because I said I didn’t need to know, but she provided a PO box. It’s on the top sheet of paper inside that folder.”
A PO box.My heart pounds as those words sink in, and I can’t speak. All knowledge of how to form words has completely fled my mind because I have a way to contact my sister. After nearly a decade, I know where Jade is for the first time. I know she’s safe. I know I have a nephew. I know my nephew and I share a birthday. I know they live in Iowa, the state next door to me.
“Are the paternal grandparents still part of their lives?” Seth asks.
Braeden nods. “The attorney said they are, but I didn’t ask for details. I tried to maintain as much privacy as possible for both you and your sister’s sake, Jenna. I apologize if I did overstep by any—”
“No.” I don’t know how I got the word past my tight throat, but I manage to find a few more. “You were able to locate my sister and my nephew. That’s not overstepping.”
Braeden dips his chin slightly. “Now, I can’t say how Jade will respond to you reaching out. She doesn’t know anything about this. And the reason she’s been able to remain elusive when it comes to phone records or an address is because she’s using an alias. The attorney said she didn’t legally have her name changed, but she’s been able to fly under the radar for the most part this way. Probably because she doesn’t want anyone from the crowd she was involved with to locate her.”
“Is she in danger?” I ask.
“Not directly, no. But when you get yourself involved with an operation like the one she was part of, you don’t just get out of it. Especially when the former ringleader, who is now deceased, fathered your child.” Braeden keeps his tone light, but I feel the seriousness underlining his words. “Do you have any other questions?”
I hesitate for a moment, then shake my head. “No. I don’t think so. I’m going to take a little time to see what I feel led to do with this information moving forward, but no matter what, I want to thank you. I’m a virtual stranger, and you did all this for me. I need you to know that I’m beyond grateful.”
Clearly just as uncomfortable with being in the spotlight as Seth is, Braeden only nods modestly as he eases to his feet. “It’s the least I could do, considering Seth speaks so highly of you. And I’ve learned there has never been a truer statement than the one about having a happy life if you’ve got a happy wife.”
Sam grins unabashedly, allowing her husband to help her up. “It’s true. I just hope you’ll be able to find peace in knowing your sister is safe, no matter what you choose to do. When he was able to find those details out for you, it was like something told me we needed to tell y’all in person. And since we needed an excuse to get away for the weekend, well, here we are. I remember how it felt when I didn’t know if my brother was alive or if he was safe or if I’d ever see him again, and since my husband had the resources available to him, I just couldn’t let it go.”
“And for that, I’m very,verygrateful.” I push my chair in and pause. “Are you a hug-type person? I don’t want to hug you if you’re not, but if you are…”
Sam laughs and nods. “Oh, most definitely. You can’t be a part of my family or Braeden’s and not like hugs.”
As I embrace the woman I didn’t know until today, the woman who felt compelled to go to such great lengths to find my sister, I feel amazed. Sometimes, I’ve noticed, the biggest blessings are the ones you never saw coming. I don’t know how the Universe managed to orchestrate this one, but somehow it did and now I’ve met a lovely new couple and I have a decision on my hands.
One that I will not take lightly.
