“Ms. Cummings?” the woman repeated.

“Huh?”

“Hello Ms. Cummings. My name is Diana Spencer. I’m your attorney.”

“My what?”

“Your lawyer. Your fiancé hired me to defend you.”

“Oh.”

Jenna and Diana were shown to a room where they could talk.

“Ms. Cummings, I need you to talk to me.”

“I’d rather not right now.”

“We need to plan your defense. You’ve been charged with a serious crime and you could spend 25 years to life in prison.”

“I deserve it.”

“What?”

“I deserve to be locked up.”

“So you did kidnap the Carter boy?”

“No, I didn’t kidnap Kieran, I’d never do that! Nick loves his little boy, I couldn’t take anyone’s child from them.”

“Then why do you belong in prison Jenna?”

“I killed my babies.”

“How did you kill your babies?”

“Gina was so little, I should’ve took her with me, but I was so angry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Jenna, you’re babbling. I need you to snap out of it and tell me what you’re talking about.”

Jenna stared at Diana, not really looking at her, but through her. Her eyes glazed over as she got lost in her thoughts again.

Diana cast a worried glance at Jenna before looking down at her notes. According to her notes, Jenna was, by all means, a stable woman in the past, but the woman sitting across from her today was a teary-eyes mess who wasn’t making sense.

“Jenna, I think we should call it a day. I’ll come and see you tomorrow and we’ll talk if you’re feeling better, okay?”

She silently nodded and stood up. Jenna said nothing as she was taken back to her cell.

That night, Diana sat at her desk, perplexed by what she saw today at the jail.

“Shouldn’t you have gone home by now Diana?”

“Yeah, but I can’t figure this case out Richard.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Actually, it’s more the defendant I don’t get. Her name is Jenna Cummings. She’s charged with the Carter kidnapping. I almost didn’t take it but something in the way her fiancé talked about her made me think that she might not have done it. When I went to see her today, everything about her totally opposed everything he’d told me about her. She broke down into sobs when I asked her about planning her defense. She said that she deserved to be in jail.”

“So she kidnapped the kid?”

“No, she swears she’d never take anyone’s child away from them. She says that she killed her babies. When I pressed her about it, she wouldn’t answer. Her eyes got this glassy look about them and she started crying again. She didn’t say another word to me. When I suggested that I come back tomorrow to talk about her defense, she got up and left.”

“Sounds like a strange woman to me. Have you talked to the fiancé about her behavior?”

“I haven’t been able to reach him all afternoon.”

“You should probably do some more research on her tomorrow. As for now, go home and get some sleep. Lawyers don’t look good with baggage under their eyes.”

“Good night Richard.”

He walked back to his office and she shut down her computer. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was only 9:00.

“I wonder if Austin Brady is at his house now.”

She picked up the phone and dialed the now-familiar number and waited for him to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Brady?”

“Yes?”

“This is Diana Spencer. I have a few questions I need to ask you.”

“Can you come over? I don’t think the phone is too safe.”

“Sure. I can be there in about 10 minutes.”

“Thanks.”

Before she could say anything, he hung up the phone.

“He must be in a wonderful mood,” she mumbled as she picked up her purse and headed out the door.

Austin answered the door looking disheveled and drowsy. “Come in Ms. Spencer.”

“Thank you.”

She sat down on the couch and looked over at him, “Mr. Brady, I went to see Jenna today and she seemed… distracted.”

“Don’t you think you’d be distracted too if you were in prison for something you didn’t do?”

“I’m not entirely sure about that. Jenna didn’t seem affected by her surroundings. When I asked her about planning her defense, she said that she deserved to be in jail. Do you know why she would think that?”

“She recently lost a baby and she blames herself for it.”

“She mentioned someone named Gina. She said that Gina was too little and she should’ve taken her with her. Do you have any idea what that means?”

“I’ve tried to ask her about that, but when I mention the baby she lost, she closes down completely. She won’t talk or respond to anything I do or say.”

“Has she ever talked about it before?”

“No. When she lost our baby she flipped out and said that God was punishing her for killing her baby. I hadn’t heard anything about her having a child before then.”

“Did she have any prior connection with the Carter family?” “I think she might’ve dated Nick once, but we’ve never really talked about people we’ve dated previously.”

“I’m going to have a talk with the police tomorrow to see if they’ll shed any more light on this. Thank you for seeing me so late Mr. Brady.”

“Call me Austin.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow and tell you what I find out.”

“Thanks.”

“Good night Austin.”

Diana got into her car and sped off to her house. Not bothering to undress, she crawled into bed and quickly fell asleep.

Over at the Carter house, sleep didn’t come so easily. Every noise would wake either Nick or Anya.

Anya was constantly getting up to see if Kieran had magically returned to his bedroom, safe and sound, where he should be. She always returned to bed with tears on her cheeks.

Nick held onto Anya as tightly as he could as they tried to sleep. He kept hearing Agent Morgan’s voice in his mind; “We’re charging her with the kidnapping of your son.”

‘Jenna couldn’t have taken Kieran, she was so happy,’ he thought, ‘Her life was finally back in order. She looked like she’d put Gina behind her.’

Anya rolled over in her husband’s arms and stared up at him, “I can’t sleep without him Nick. What if something terrible has happened?”

“Sh… Don’t say anything like that Anya. Nothing has happened to our son. He’s coming home soon, I promise.”

Nick heard himself making promises to Anya he couldn’t keep. He didn’t know if Kieran was all right or not. All he knew was that he desperately needed his son back home, and the person he’d once loved so completely might have been the one who took him.

Chapter 4
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