by Tracy Sharp
“Wow,” I said.
“No shit.”
I marveled at the homes, at the winking Christmas lights and decorations. Some of the homes were decorated to the nines. All sparkling and gorgeous. We stopped in front of an enormous brick house that was built to look like a castle, turrets and all.
“Good Christ,” I murmured. “You’re kidding me. She lives here?”
“She does,” Jack said. “Nice, cozy pad, huh?”
“Is she married? Or does she at least have a partner who helps her pay for this place?”
“She has an ex-husband. Divorced five years. He’s an attorney, and still helps her with her business. Most of the adoption paperwork, legal and less than legal, is done through him. So he’s getting a sweet cut too.”
I shook my head, unbelieving. “This is the definition of parasitism, Jack.”
“Yes. It is. Despicable, isn’t it?”
“At least,” I said. “Well, we’re going to put a screeching halt to her nice, thieving little life. I can’t wait to see her face when her world comes crashing down around her.”
“Me neither, Kicks. Me neither.”
We both watched the house, disgusted and pissed off. We were all for people being able to afford houses like that, if they earned or inherited or otherwise came by the cash by legitimate means. But when somebody profited from the suffering of others, it became completely not cool with us.
“So are you going to call him?” Jack asked me.
“Who?” I hoped he wasn’t talking about Callahan. I really couldn’t handle a Callahan talk right now. It would just remind me of what a workaholic mess-up I really was.
“Lucas.” He gave me a side long look.
I sighed. “Eventually. I’m sure I’ll want to pick his brain. You will too.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
“You don’t want to talk about your thing with Lucas?”
I prickled. I really wasn't in the mood. “Why do you want to know so badly?”
“I’m bored, Kicks. I have no love life. Or lust life. Come on, humor me. Are you going to continue with this thing between you two, or was it just a one-time deal?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. I’m just a tad bit emotionally screwed up right now, Jack. You know?”
“I know. I was just asking. I’m not judging you.”
“Didn’t sound that way the other day.”
He gave a little shrug. “Worried about the work, that’s all. I don’t mean to keep you from your happiness. Kill your bliss. Harsh your gig. Or otherwise cramp your style. You understand.”
“You’re just talking to hear yourself right now, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” He grinned.
“So who else is involved in this baby brokering scheme? How big is it?” I asked him, changing the subject.
He let out a deep breath. “It’s big. Anyone she could pay off to help her means. At least one priest that I know of, a few doctors, her ex-husband the attorney and at least one judge that I know of, but probably more.”
“Holy hell.”
He nodded, looking at the house. “Hard to know who to trust anymore, huh?”
I snorted. “Anymore? It always was.”
As we pulled away from the house, I watched as a car came from the opposite direction, pulling into Adrian’s drive way. “Find a spot further down the road and hold up, Jack.”
He saw me looking in the side mirror and glanced in the rear view. “I wonder who that is.”
He drove down the road until we reached a house that had several huge pine trees in their front yard, all decked out with lights. We pulled out in front of the house, hidden by the trees.
We watched as a plump woman climbed out of the car. It was difficult to tell from this far away, but she looked to be in her fifties. She made her way to the back of the S.U.V, opened the door, smiling. She was talking as she fiddled with something in the back seat. Within moments she was pulling an infant seat from the back of the car. Carefully, she made her way to the front door in the snow.
“Well, what do we have here?” Jack asked.
“Looks like a nanny with an infant. Adrian’s infant.”
“Without a man, she doesn’t have all the ingredients to have a baby on her own,” Jack said. “Maybe she doesn’t want to have a baby herself.”
“Why do that and get fat? Ruin that sleek figure of hers. Go through all that pain. Why not just rip a baby off from some poor chump who’s already done that for you.”
“She has the connections,” Jack said. “What do you wanna bet?”
“What do you want to bet that this infant is one of the missing ones from the cult?” I said. “But then, she’s got a pretty big network. Could be anyone’s baby.”
“Let’s go ask some questions,” Jack said, pulling away from the tree lit yard and heading back to Adrian’s house.
“Yes, let’s just,” I said.
We caught the woman as she was putting her key in the door lock. The infant was at her feet, little mitted hands moving and waving in the air. I got out of the truck, smiling.
She turned, looking alarmed, glanced down at the baby, the back at me, then at the truck.
“Excuse me,” I said. “Is this the Whittaker home?”
“No,” she said, cautious. “I sorry. You have the wrong house.” He accent was thick and Hispanic.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” I laughed a little. “We have no sense of direction at all.”
She gave a wary little smile, nodding.
I looked down at the baby, tilting my head. “Oh, how sweet. Darling little thing. Girl or boy?”
“Girl.”
“What is her name?”
She paused, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. “Nina.”
“I have a daughter a little older than Nina. She’s with her grandma right now. I hate being away from her. Are you the proud grandma?”
“No.” She smiled. “I nanny.”
“Ah. Well, you’d better get Nina inside and out of the weather. Sorry to have bothered you.”
“S’okay.” She bent to pick up the car seat.
“Can I help you with that?” I asked her. She seemed to be struggling.
“No, s’okay. Thank you.” There was no way she was letting anyone else handle the baby. Probably a good policy.
“Okay, good night, then.” I said.
“Good night. Merry Christmas.”
“To you, too.” I felt a little badly for her. She’d have to find another home. Another baby to care for, and it was clear that she loved Nina.
I turned and went back to the truck.
“That baby girl was almost definitely stolen from somebody. That’s Adrian’s nanny.”
“Wonderful,” he said, his jaw set.
“Jack. I really don’t want to wait for Adrian’s call. I’ve got a really bad feeling. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s an urgent vibe. We can’t wait any longer. We have to shut her the hell down now.”
His brows furrowed as he backed out of Adrian’s drive way.
For a moment I had the feeling that we’d been watched. Found out. I’d been found out so many times in the last couple of years that it was almost an expectation now. I carried my .45 in holster strapped to my leg. Nicely hidden by my boots. I wasn’t removing it unless I was going to shoot someone or take a shower. It was amazing what you can do with a gun strapped to your leg. But it wasn’t going far from me. I was keeping it close.
Jack’s cell rang as we pulled away from the house. He flipped if open. “We may not have to wait. It’s Adrian.”
“Good,” I said. I looked back and Adrian’s house, at the windows. I didn’t see anyone looking out. The white curtains weren’t slightly open, dropping suddenly. There was no reason to feel that Adrian knew something. Yet I still felt that we’d be busted. I couldn’t shake it.
“This is Jack,” he said. Listening.
I wa
tched his face. His eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry to hear that. So there’s no way?”
I dropped my head back on the head rest. She had found out about us. She was ditching us.
“Okay, then. Guess we’re back at square one,” he said, sounding disappointed. “I’m sorry too.”
When he flipped closed, he swore.
“She’s found us out,” I said.
“Either that or she just as a hinky feeling about us. She’s running scared. She’s terribly sorry, but after looking into all of her resources she’s hit a brick wall. She hopes that we will find a baby soon and apologizes for not being able to help us.”
“She didn’t even offer to put us on a waiting list?”
“Nope. She wants us gone.”
“Well, now.” I grinned. “Lots of people feel that way about us, don’t they?”
“They sure do. But do we listen?”
“Hell, no.”
He gave me that wide, mischievous Jackson smile. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Eleven
The Friends of the Family Adoption Agency was closed for business for the day. It was seven-thirty in the evening, and they closed at five pm. We drove around to the back of the house, parking in a laneway a little ways from it. There had to be a window we could get into. Or we’d pick a lock. Either way, we’d just have to hope for the best that there wasn’t an alarm system in the place.
“I’m surprised she doesn’t have bars on the windows,” Jack said.
“And ruin the look of the house? Pish, Posh.” We stood in the back yard, looking out at the monstrosity. “I wonder if the same cleaning staff that cleans her house cleans this place too.”
“Probably. I’m sure it’s more Hispanic women who are being paid peanuts. And I’m certain she doesn’t provide a health care plan for them.”
I pointed to an upper window that didn’t have a storm window on it. “She missed that one.”
“Well, somebody missed it. I’m sure it’ll be fixed when she notices. Climb on up.”
I stepped on his hand and he pushed me up onto the first level roof. I scurried up the snowy shingles. “Yup. Love this job. Love, love, love it.”
“Stop whining. You’ll slip and fall,” Jack said.
“Shut up.” I made my way to the window and began trying to shove it upwards. It took a while, but it gave a few inches. I took a deep breath and shoved for all I was worth. The curtains billowed out at me. They were a lovely shade of peach, and I wanted to strangle Adrian with them for making me climb through a window on a frigid, snowy night.
I peered into the room. There was a desk in front of the window. The room was dark, but it looked to be an office. I climbed onto the desk, which was level with the window, then turned and staged whispered down to Jack. “I’m in.”
He stood down below the roof I’d just been on; strands of his red hair had been pulled from his ponytail by the wind. “Cool. Hurry up.” He looked around him.
I slid off the desk, cringing at a pile of paper that fell from it, scattering around the room. I dug into my pocket for the mini flashlight I carried around with me on my key chain. I flicked it on and moved the beam of light around the room. There were filing cabinets along one side of the wall. When I tried the top drawer, it was locked. It was the same with the other drawers.
I looked at the desk and tried the drawers. Locked. Of course.
I didn’t have my lock picking tools with me, and I didn’t feel like wasting time looking for a key. So I took my gun out and aimed at the lock of one of the desk drawers, and pulled the trigger. The gun going off sounded like a bomb in the silence. But I wasn’t screwing around. I wanted information now, because I knew that I’d probably never get anywhere near this agency again.
“Jesus Christ, Kicks. Why don’t you just call the cops and give them our location while you’re at it?”
“Shut up,” I said. “I’m getting results.”
“Yeah. You’re getting results all right. They’re probably on their way.”
“Hey, I don’t see you climbing through windows.”
Jack is enormous. Watching him attempt to climb through this window would be a hoot.
“You’re taking too long, Leah.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I sighed, getting back to work.
As luck would have it, there were several keys in the top drawer. I found a little ring with a few tiny keys on it, keys just big enough to fit in the locks of a filing cabinet.
I went over to the filing cabinet. Tried a key. Bingo. Thank you God, for small favors, because now I didn’t have much time at all, I was certain.
Jack was probably having a heart attack down on the ground out there.
I opened up a top drawer and started looking. I hoped Jack was watching the front of the house, because it wasn’t likely that anyone would approach from the back. I went back to tell him that, but when I looked outside, he was no longer there.
I looked through the files. There were several, all in alphabetical order, listing names of birth mothers. These files had legal documentation, as well as hospital files. They were dated five years ago, and appeared to be legitimate. But then, all the adoptions would appear that way. Adrian’s ex was an attorney, and like Jack said, Adrian had a few judges in her pocket. It was a scary world.
I heard something rap against the window, then again. Shit. Jack was throwing stones. If I didn’t peek out at him now he would likely end up breaking the window, using larger and larger rocks. I went to the window, stuck my head out.
“Hide,” he said. “Now.”
Shit. I looked around. Hide where? I stood still and listened. Somebody opened the front door downstairs. Maybe they didn’t know I was in there. Maybe they just came back to work or to get something.
I heard a woman giggle, then a man’s voice, low and hushed.
Great. Somebody had come to the office after hours to get it on.
I sat on the edge of the desk and crossed my arms. How long could it take?
I wondered who it was. The receptionist? Adrian wouldn’t bring a lover back to this office. She had a big house to go to. Unless she was slumming it, but then she could always go to a hotel. I looked at my watch and sighed.
Thinking I should tell Jack, I leaned out the window and staged whispered again. I probably might as well have been hollering. “Somebody’s getting jiggy with it. It shouldn’t take long.”
“You hope,” he said. “Unless he’s like me. Then it could take hours. Days, even.” Even from this distance, in the half light from the moon and stars, and the snow all around him, I could see his grin.
I rolled my eyes, and backed out of the window.
The guy didn’t waste any time. I could hear her loud moaning from upstairs where I was. I placed a hand over my forehead. Christ. This was almost worse than all the shit I’d already endured during the week.
And worse yet, I had to pee. Badly.
There had to be a bathroom up there. It’s not like they’d notice. I just wouldn’t flush.
I had to be out of my mind. But if I didn’t pee right now I’d end up wetting my pants, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to take a chance at being caught with a dark pee stain on my jeans. Hell, no. I’d rather be shot.
I crept to the doorway and peered out into the hallway. I crept out and used my mini penlight. There was a bathroom, last door on the opposite side. I quietly went in, keeping the light off.
Pulled down my pants and placed my gun on the sink, emptied my bladder. It took forever, and I tried not to let it all go too fast, but it sounded like a waterfall to my ears.
I finished. When I’d pulled my jeans back up and tucked my gun into the back of my waistband, I almost forgot and flushed.
I looked at the sink. Should I risk washing my hands?
She moaned and groaned downstairs. Screw it, they wouldn’t hear me. I turned the tap and almost screamed. The pipes groaned more loudly than she had. I turned the tap off and swore.
She’d stop
ped groaning. Panicked whispers.
Not good.
Then I heard loud footfalls running up the stairs. I ran to the office and grabbed up several files that I'd left on top of the filing cabinet, threw myself across the desk, reaching the window and tumbling out of it. I slid partially down the roof, files gripped tightly in one hand.
Jack caught me when I let myself drop.
I looked up at his grinning face for a moment before slapping him lightly on the cheek. His smile grew wide and he leaned in fast and planted a quick little kiss on my lips.
I blinked.
“Got ya.”
I smiled, despite myself. “Put me down, Jack.”
He dropped me and I fell on my ass. “Asshole.”
Footsteps on the roof.
Jack lifted me to my feet. “Enough screwing around, Kicks.”
“Right. I’m the one screwing around.” My lips tingled where he’d kissed me. It was a strange sensation and my heart thumped. I wasn’t sure if I completely disliked what I was feeling.
But I had no time to philosophize about it.
As we ran, I glanced back at the roof. There was a figure standing on it, but I couldn’t make out who it was. Only that it was a man.
We got to the truck, my heart hammering.
“Holy hell,” I said between ragged breaths. “I’m going to die of a friggin’ heart attack at this rate.”
Jack chuckled. “That would be disappointing, wouldn’t it, after all the shit we’ve been through.”
“Who was that?”
“Uh, I do believe that was Adrian’s ex.” He started the truck and sped down the road.
“You’re kidding. He has a key and he takes women to the office?”
“I guess the women are married. I know he’s engaged to be remarried.”
“Really. Why bother?” I said. “I wonder if Adrian knows.”
“Well, he’s helping her with the fraudulent documentation for the phony adoptions. She probably lets him do whatever the hell he wants.”
“Why wouldn’t the cheap bastard get a hotel?” I wondered.
“More exciting? Maybe he’s known all over the city. Who knows?”