She asked to speak to each family member alone and recorded each conversation so she could study it later. She spoke with Jenna’s mother first.
“Would you like some tea dear?”
“No thank you Mrs. Cummings. I would like to get straight to the point. Your daughter is charged with a serious crime and I need to know a few things about her past.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Mrs. Cummings, has Jenna ever been in any serious trouble?”
“No, Jenna was always a really good girl growing up, until she got herself tangled up with that Carter boy.”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t think I should be saying anything, but that Carter boy… I don’t even remember his name. I think it was uh… Nathan? Neil?”
“Nick?”
“Yes that’s it. Do you know him?”
“Sort of. Please, go on Mrs. Cummings.”
“Well you see, Jenna and Nick started dating about 12 years ago. He was some kind of singer. She fell in love with him right from the beginning. He was spoiled from all his success. He thought he could do anything he wanted. He corrupted my Jenna. She was a good girl.”
“I see… Mrs. Cummings, when you say ‘corrupted,’ what exactly do you mean by that?”
“Jenna was raised as a good Christian girl. She got pregnant before they were even married.”
“Really?” she asked, thinking about her baby daughter at home.>
“Yes. They had a beautiful baby girl named Gina, but that Nick killed her. Poor Jenna, I don’t think she ever fully recovered from that. Gina was her life.”
Diana furiously scribbled in her notebook. The information Mrs. Cummings was providing was turning out to be of more use than she originally thought, but it also provided a motive for kidnapping Kieran Carter. Mrs. Cummings offered Diana tea and cookies one last time before the interview was over.
Diana interviewed Mr. Cummings next. He wasn’t very helpful. He didn’t speak about Nick Carter, but when Diana asked about him, Mr. Cummings began to raise his voice, saying that Nick killed Gina and completely ruined Jenna’s life. After his outburst, he got up and left the room, signaling the end of the interview.
Next, Diana questioned Jenna’s little sister, Sara. She was a lot more open about the fact that she hated Nick Carter.
“So tell me Sara, what exactly makes you hate Nick Carter?”
“He killed my sister’s baby. He destroyed her life. Wouldn’t you hate him?”
“I suppose I would, but I’m not in that position. What if it wasn’t his fault? Have you talked to him about what happened that day?”
“No, and I really don’t care to.”
“Have you talked to Jenna?”
“She doesn’t like to talk about it. The most I’ve gotten out of her is that she and Nick had a fight. She left to come see Mom. While she was gone, Nick killed Gina.”
“Did Jenna actually say that Nick killed Gina?”
“Well no, but that’s what I believe. Gina was dead when Jenna came home. The only person that was there was Nick.”
“Thank you Sara. I’ll be in touch. What you said has been very helpful.”
Diana drove around for a while, trying to collect her thoughts. She called the warden to see if Jenna was doing any better. He suggested that Diana come to the prison and try to talk to her.
On the way to the prison, Diana called Richard to fill him in on what was going on.
“If he did kill Gina, what’s to stop him from killing Kieran as well?”
“I don’t know. I think you might have something there.”
“Look into it.”
Jenna was waiting for her when she walked into the room. Jenna looked like she recognized Diana when she walked in, but Diana wasn’t totally sure.
“Hello Jenna, do you remember me?”
“Yes, you’re Diana Spencer, my lawyer.”
“Well, you’re talking today.”
“Yes, I’m- I’m feeling a little better.”
“Jenna, do you think we can plan your defense today?”
“I guess so.”
“Jenna, you’ve been charged with kidnapping.”
“I didn’t do it! I wouldn’t ever take someone’s baby from them, not after what happened to mine. You can’t live without your baby.”
“Yes, I know you need your children, believe me.”
“Are you a mother Diana?”
“Yes, I have a daughter named Brooke.”
Jenna’s eyes briefly glazed over, but she quickly blinked away her tears.
“Jenna, I’m gonna have to ask you some questions, and I need you to be totally honest with me.”
“Okay.”
“Were you in a relationship with Nick Carter?”
“Yes, for a long time.”
“And did you have a child with him?”
“Yes I did,” she whispered, “Her name was Gina.”
“What happened to Gina, Jenna?”
“I- I killed her.”
“You killed her? Your family believes that Nick killed her.”
“I uh… We-“ she couldn’t speak. She laid her head down on the table and burst into sobs.
Diana put a comforting hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it now. But I do need to know what happened.”
Jenna silently nodded, still unable to speak.
“If that’s all you want to talk about today, I’ll understand.”
She nodded her head again.
“I’ll see you tomorrow Jenna,” Diana said, knocking on the door to let the guard know they were through for the day.
“Richard, I don’t get it. She thinks she killed her child. She can’t even talk about it.”
“Would you be able to talk if you killed your child?”
“That’s the thing, I don’t think she did.”
“Who do you think did?”
“Well that part I don’t know. The kid that died was Jenna and Nick Carter’s.”
“You’re shittin’ me!”
“No, I promise. I talked to her parents and her to sister. They all swear up and down that Nick Carter killed that baby girl.”
“Baby girl?”
“Her name was Gina. She was barely a year old when she died. I’m going to have to look into it.”
“Be careful. This sounds more dangerous than we originally thought it would be.”
“I’m gonna go to the library and see if there was anything in the papers about Gina. I’ll talk to you later Richard.”
Diana pulled off the main road into the library parking lot. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for. She doubted there would be a front-page story on Gina’s death, but she had to at least try, for Jenna’s sake.
“What exactly are you doing to find my son, shoving your fingers up your asses?”
“Nick, please calm down, they’re trying-“
“Don’t tell me to calm down Kyra. These incompetent police officers aren’t doing anything to find my son. He could be hurt or dying and he needs his mother and father. He should never have been taken in the first place!”
“I realize you’re upset Mr. Carter, but that’s no reason to call my associates incompetent. We are doing everything we can to find your son.”
“I know, and I’m sorry Detective Geary, but if your child was missing, you’d be saying the same things. I miss him so much.”
Anya shuffled through the mail and nearly stopped breathing when she saw her son’s handwriting. It was addressed to “Mommy and Daddy” in his childish handwriting. She called out to Nick, but Special Agent Morgan got there first.
“Don’t anyone else touch it,” she ordered, “There might be fingerprints on it.”
She got out a pair of gloves and opened the letter.
“Mommy and Daddy,
I am okay, but the people want ten million dollars for me. They say they will call tomorrow and tell you where and when.
I love you,
Kieran”
After Special Agent Morgan read the letter, Anya burst into tears. Kyra, who was standing in the corner, suddenly fainted.
Nick checked on Kyra while trying to get his wife to compose herself.
Special Agent Morgan calmly took out her cellular phone and called her team back to the house, “Will, we’ve got a ransom note. I need you and the guys to get back here and check it out. I think we finally got something.”