She kissed and hugged each of them, lingered a little longer with Wyatt and whispered in his ear, “Thank you for being here.”

“Anytime,” he whispered back.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sometime before dawn, Zoe and Miss Gina left the hospital to gather a change of clothes for Melanie and to retrieve Hope’s favorite stuffed something. Wyatt was new to the world of kids, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what a little girl might like. In the hospital gift shop he found a plush purple teddy bear with a pink bow and added a bright silver balloon saying “Get Well Soon.” Because the ICU was extremely limited as to when they could come in and visit, he and Luke camped out in the lobby for the first half of the day. By noon, Zoe, Miss Gina, and Jo returned with a basket full of food and provisions.

Jo appeared to have taken a shower, but the color under her eyes suggested she hadn’t slept much, if at all, the night before. She wore her uniform and a frown. Beside her was a woman in dark blue slacks and a crisp white shirt. She had short, dark hair and an easy smile. “This is Agent Burton,” Jo told him when it was clear the woman was with them. “She needs to ask Hope a few questions.”

He saw that coming, he supposed.

“Is she awake?”

“Off and on all morning,” Wyatt told her.

Jo didn’t seem pleased with her position. “No time like the present,” she said before reaching for the phone that called into the nurses’ station inside the ICU. A brief conversation had the two of them being buzzed in. Wyatt didn’t ask, he just took his teddy bear offering and walked alongside them.

Jo nodded with a smile and followed his lead.

The ICU was much busier than it had been during the night. Doctors in white coats and a handful of radiology and respiratory technicians joined the busy ward.

Jo stopped by the nurses’ station while Wyatt detoured directly into Hope’s room.

She was sitting up, her broken arm resting on a pillow while she attempted to eat what looked like soup from a rolling table pulled up over the bed. “Hey, princess?”

Hope looked up and offered the most precious smile. She skipped hi and hello and went straight to the point. “Is that for me?”

Melanie released a long-suffering sigh when she noticed him standing there.

He stepped into the room and handed the stuffed toy to Hope before he ruffled the top of her head with two fingers. “You’re looking better.”

“My arm hurts, my head hurts, and my butt hurts!”

Wyatt laughed as he walked around the bed and greeted Melanie with a kiss to the top of her head. He leaned over so only she could hear his words. “Jo is here with an FBI agent to ask her questions.”

She sucked in a tiny breath and the smile on her face suddenly looked forced.

“You okay?”

She nodded.

He wasn’t convinced.

A few seconds later Jo and Agent Burton stepped into the room. Hope greeted her with an enthusiastic Auntie Jo! welcome, with Jo kissing Hope’s cheek. “So good to see you awake and eating.”

“They made me drink broth for breakfast.” Hope made a squishy face.

“She’s progressed to soft food,” Melanie told them. “By dinner she’ll be asking for a hamburger.”

Jo pulled up a chair along with Agent Burton. “Hope, this is my friend Mrs. Burton. She and I are working together to make sure we know exactly what happened when you were asleep yesterday.”

Hope scanned the four of them. “Am I in trouble?”

“No, baby!” Melanie patted her leg. “You’re not in trouble.”

“’Kay.”

Agent Burton started with a simple smile. “Hope, honey . . . do you remember what happened yesterday?”

“I fell and broke my arm. Mommy said I hit my head hard, too.”

“Right. What about before you fell? You were really far from the inn. Do you remember why you left home?”

Hope bit her lip and looked around the four of them again.

Melanie once again patted Hope’s leg through the blankets. “Honey, you’re not in trouble. Just tell us the truth.”

“M’kay . . . I was playing outside, in the backyard where Miss Gina could see me. I heard a dog barking. It sounded like it came from the front yard so I looked. I didn’t see a dog.”

Wyatt kept a hand on Melanie’s shoulder, which she covered with one of hers.

“Then what happened?” Jo asked.

“Uhm, I was going back when I heard it again. Then I saw Mr. Lewis by the trees on the other side of the road.”

Melanie gripped his hand. Both of them knew instantly how wrong this was going. Mr. Lewis had hustled from his room, or so they thought, and was outside when Melanie started screaming Hope’s name. Then he told them he hadn’t seen her since breakfast.

“Did Mr. Lewis say anything to you?”

“He went like this.” She made a waving motion toward herself. “I ran across the street. Mr. Lewis said he saw a puppy running off in the woods without its mother.” A pained look crossed Hope’s eyes. “I told him I wasn’t supposed to leave the inn. He said it was okay and that Miss Gina wouldn’t be mad cuz I was with him.” Hope stared at Melanie.

“It’s all right, baby. No one is mad at you.”

Jo pushed out a long breath. “Then what happened?”

“Mr. Lewis and I ran in the trees. He said he saw the puppy go down the hill. It was really steep. I was scared.”

“I bet,” Agent Burton said in a soft voice. “Did you go down the hill?”