Lucy led Siobhan back down the hall to the nursery, where they could watch the babies through the window. A nurse was rocking Elizabeth and feeding her. “It’s just, why can’t he tell me?” Siobhan said.
“It’s a complex legal matter,” Lucy said, “and there could be other factors. We don’t know, but Noah understands the situation.”
“He didn’t seem to at the hotel.”
“He’s doing everything he needs to do, and more.”
Siobhan sighed and sat down in a plastic chair. Lucy sat next to her. “You’re right, I know you are. Where are they? What’s really going on here? Because this whole thing is so unfamiliar.”
“We’ll find the truth.”
Noah came back down the hall without the doctor. “Siobhan, I understand you’re frustrated and worried. We’re not letting anything happen to that baby. The doctor agreed to increase security for the next forty-eight hours, and I’m hoping by that time we’ll have a custody arrangement that will keep the infant safe until her mother can be located. Lucy and I have an appointment with the assistant sheriff in Webb County. I’ll be happy to drop you off at your hotel.”
“Thank you,” she said, “but I think I’ll stay here for just a little longer.”
“I thought so. I also cleared it that you can have access to Elizabeth in the neonatal unit, under supervision. Not that I don’t trust you, but no one is allowed to be alone with the baby except the nurses assigned to this floor and her doctor.”
“You did that for me?”
“Not just for you.”
Noah and Lucy walked out. “That was nice of you,” Lucy said.
“I need her occupied. Siobhan is driven and intense and while her insight has been valuable, she’s focused on the wrong thing.”
“Why were there multiple pregnant women in that house and where did they go?”
“Exactly. And I tracked down that reporter who gave her the info on the girls in the first place. I’d rather she wasn’t around when we talk to him.” Noah pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “Check your email, read the report from Zach. He has property records, license plates—I didn’t have time to review it. I had a talk with Agent Lopez, the SSA running the Laredo office.” The FBI’s Laredo office was a Resident Agency under the San Antonio umbrella. “They’re swamped right now, but set us up to talk with the assistant sheriff, who may have information on a related case.”
“How so?”
“Woman, suspected illegal, gave birth at the hospital, then disappeared with the baby—even though she was granted temporary residency. It may have nothing to do with this … but Lopez said there were other suspicious things about the case. He only knew about it through interdepartment communications, not because he worked it.”
Lucy looked through Zach’s reports. Thin, but at least they had a direction. “All the vehicles are registered to a business,” she said. “Except the truck. Odd.”
“Odd what?”
“The house is also registered to a business.”
“Shit.”
“What does it mean?”
“It’s going to be a shell game.”
Lucy had no idea what Noah meant, but it didn’t sound good.
CHAPTER SIX
“Thank you for staying after your shift to meet with us,” Noah said to Assistant Sheriff Adam Villines.
“It’s not late—my wife will tell you we eat promptly at six every night, but by the time the kids get back from practice and clean up and whoever is supposed to be cooking actually cooks—we rotate between the kids—it’s closer to eight. Which is fine with me, because my seven-to-five shift rarely ends at five. And it’s Monday. Which means Isabelle is cooking, so help me.”
He motioned for them to sit across from his desk, then he closed the door and sat in his seat. “Tim Lopez from your Laredo office gave me a heads-up, says you’re sharp. I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of the feds. We get a lot of that here, between the DEA and ICE and FBI, pushing in, causing more problems than they solve. Tim and I are both local boys, I trust him. He says you’re okay, you’re okay. But what I want to know is why isn’t Tim investigating this case, why bring in someone from DC?”
“I’m working out of the San Antonio office indefinitely while SSA Casilla is on leave,” Noah said. “I spoke with Agent Lopez earlier, he’ll be assisting, though Agent Kincaid and I are running this investigation. As you know, the Laredo Resident Agency is a small office, they don’t have the time or resources with their current cases to take the lead. I’m keeping Lopez in the loop, however.”
Villines nodded his approval.
Noah continued. “Ms. Walsh spoke to you this weekend?”
“I’ve already had two visits from Ms. Walsh. Tenacious. I know all about the missing girls—she said they were her friends—and what she thinks she knows about the case. To be honest with you, we’re not seeing any foul play here. Not on the surface. We can assist in finding the infant’s mother, but because the baby was left in the county next door, I don’t have any jurisdiction to dig around. I made a call to the sheriff, she says she’ll look into it.”