“I’m sure he doesn’t see you as dangerous.”
“He does. And that’s one of the reasons he’s not coming back. Not because of me alone, but because he realized he can’t run this squad and coddle anyone—like Cook. We have a mandate, Nate—we have minimal staff, minimal resources, and a maximum caseload. We have to work hard and work smart. And one of the things I learned from Barry—find a way to turn it off when we go home.”
“Is that why you’re upset?”
“I’m not upset.”
“You don’t have to lie about it, just tell me you don’t want to talk about it.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Fair enough.”
They drove the last fifteen minutes to Laredo in silence, and Lucy took that time to get her head back into this case. She called Siobhan when they hit the city limits. She was antsy, but promised to wait at the hotel for them.
“Siobhan is jumpy. I don’t blame her—she’s been looking for Marisol and Ana for two years. She thinks we’re close—this midwife, Cora Smith, had seen both the girls at the house in Freer, the one that’s now empty. To be this close, I’d be eager as well.”
“You don’t sound confident we’ll find them.”
“I’m not confident they’ll be the same girls Siobhan remembers.” Lucy had been been kidnapped and held captive for two days … it had been hell, a time she wished she could forget forever. And while she could put it out of her mind for days—and sometimes weeks—at a time, it was always there, waiting for moments of weakness to creep up on her. To challenge her, taunt her.
But two years? Could she have been so strong that she’d be able to endure two years of being prostituted? Humiliated? Used? Forced to deliver babies only to be forced to give them away?
What had these girls endured?
Why hadn’t Macey’s baby been taken?
“What?”
She glanced at Nate. “What what?”
“You thought of something. Your body leaned forward.”
Nate was perceptive. “According to Siobhan’s contact, the people holding the girls wanted to make sure the babies were safe, even at the expense of the mothers. Yet there were no babies in the house, no sign of babies having been there—just a delivery room. Ms. Smith helped deliver Macey’s baby—the runaway from Kansas City—yet a week later she was carrying the baby out of the house. Why? Why hadn’t the baby been taken from her? They didn’t care about her life … why would they care now?”
Lucy was running through the facts and guesses. “Let’s say that Baby Elizabeth was in fact Marisol’s baby, and she managed to escape the house and leave the baby at the church. The locket was either because she knew that Siobhan was looking for her, or so that the baby would have something of her heritage.” Probably the latter. “But she was found … or more likely went back.”
“Why would she return?”
“Because her sister was there, pregnant with twins. There would be no other reason for her to return, but she wanted to make sure her baby wasn’t taken or sold.”
“She didn’t go to the authorities.”
“She doesn’t trust them. Look at what happened to Siobhan on Sunday night.”
“She was breaking and entering.”
“The cop touched her breasts, made lewd comments, very possibly to elicit the reaction she had—assault. The cop didn’t believe her story, or if he did, he didn’t follow up on it. Her SD card was stolen, and the only way they could have done that without damaging the rental car was if they had the keys. So someone in that department is dirty.”
“After what happened over the last six months, that wouldn’t surprise me.”
“So why was Macey still at the house with her baby?”
“Could be they didn’t have a buyer until then,” Nate said. The acid churned in Lucy’s stomach. She drank half a water bottle to settle it down. He was very likely right. Macey delivered, they had a healthy nine-pound baby boy. Seeking a buyer. Or the exchange fell through. Maybe the buyer was out of the country.
“Babies go for ten to twenty-five thousand dollars in illegal adoptions,” Lucy said. “But possibly more … if the buyer is looking for something specific.”
“Or if the buyer can’t legally adopt.”
“Or if they want the babies for…” She couldn’t say it. She hated that she could think of the cruel things people could do to the most innocent on earth.
Nate pulled up to the hotel and Siobhan immediately came out and climbed into the backseat. “You made good time, but I’m worried. The midwife gave us everything, but I don’t know that she wouldn’t warn her friend. I hope not—I asked her not to—but what if she did?”