Free Web of Secrets (Agents Under Fire) by Susan Sleeman Page A

She smiled. “Am I right? You have a thing for him? I mean, how much more perfect could that be, right? Sam and me. You and Connor.”
    “It’s not Connor.” Becca’s answer felt like a lie—they were attracted to each other, but that had nothing to do with her current mood.
    Kait studied her intently, the fire in her eyes usually reserved for grilling a suspect. “It’s the foster connection, then?”
    Becca hadn’t really been dwelling on that aspect of the situation, but it did make her mad that Van Gogh targeted foster girls because they were less likely to be reported missing. That was something she could discuss with Kait.
    Becca found a nearby log to sit on, but since she didn’t plan on being truly forthcoming, she looked at the path. “Foster kids have a connection. A strong one. Since they—we—are so alone in the world, we know how to look out for one another.”
    “I get it.”
    “Really?” Becca glanced at Kait. “I’m not sure you could ever understand what it means to be alone like these girls are.”
    “You’re not alone, sweetie.” Kait squeezed Becca’s arm. “You have me and Nina. And Elise and Buck.”
    Becca moved back. “See, that’s the thing you can’t understand. Elise and Buck were the best foster parents I could ever ask for. I love them dearly, and we’re still close . . . but it’s not the same as having parents. There’s nothing official tying me to another human being.”
    “You’re talking about a piece of paper, like an adoption certificate?”
    “Yes. Maybe.” Becca sighed. “I guess what I’m saying is that I never felt like I had someone who would stay with me, no matter what I did or said. That I could really let my hair down and be myself without doing something to scare them off. That they were committed to me, for life. That I was cherished. Loved.”
    “You didn’t get that from Elise and Buck?”
    “Almost, but no. I turned eighteen, and their responsibility to me was done. They’ll always be there for me if I need them, but at the time, I sensed an urgency to move on so they could make room for another child. They never came out and said that. At least, not in so many words, but it was there.”
    Kait opened her mouth to speak, but Becca held up a hand to stop her.
    “I fully support their desire and encourage them to help as many kids as they can. They’re such good foster parents, and I’ve always known that I’d have to share them. That meant I needed to step up and take care of myself, the way I did when I lived with my mom.” Childhood memories came flashing back, and she shook her head. “It’s so weird when I think about it. As a little kid, I took care of Mom and did things no kid should have to do. Then Elise and Buck freed me from that, and before I knew it, I’d graduated from high school, turned eighteen, and I was basically on my own again.”
    Kait scooted closer. “I thought you and Elise had that whole mother/daughter thing going on.”
    “We do in a sense. I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s weird I guess, but we see each other so often mainly because I work with foster kids.”
    “So the girl—Jane Doe. How does this all relate to her?”
    Becca didn’t have to think about that. Not with memories of Molly overwhelming her today. “She was alone, Kait. All alone.” Tears formed in Becca’s eyes, and she swiped them away. “No one to call out to when she was abducted. No hope that a parent would move heaven and earth to find her. I can feel what she must have been feeling, and my heart aches for her.”
    Kait circled an arm around Becca’s shoulder. “I may not be your parent, but if you ever disappeared, I’d never stop until I found you.”
    “I know. You proved how tenacious you are when you tracked down Rhodes after he killed Abby.” Becca smiled and decided to move on. Kait had lost her twin sister, Abby, to a bullet from her brother-in-law, Fenton Rhodes’s gun. But she hadn’t lost her