Secret Alibi

by Lori L. Harris

  “How the hell do you know any of this?”

  “Let’s worry about that later. After we make sure another young woman doesn’t end up in a shallow grave.”

  Jack glanced at Alec. “With Whittemore out of the way, that leaves both the office and his condo unprotected. If we assume he did switch the babies that night, he would have had his hands full. Chances are he probably has some place that he takes the baby shortly after birth. He may also have a woman who provides care until the adoptive parents show up. Or perhaps he contacts the adoptive parents when the woman goes into labor, and they take custody directly.”

  “You’re thinking he’d have to make at least one phone call?”

  “And most likely it would be a cell phone that he uses.”

  Jack made another call, this one to Andy. “Any luck with the swabs?”

  “It’s definitely human, Type B.”

  “The same as Amanda’s,” Jack said. “We may already be too late.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was nearly 3:00 a.m. when Lexie, Jack and Alec parked a block and a half from Fleming’s office. The cleaning crew was still inside.

  A nearby streetlamp filled the interior of the SUV with enough light so that Lexie could see Jack’s expression as he cast a glance at her over the seat back. “Any idea what time they usually finish up?”

  “No. But I think on weeknights they only spend about an hour. Just getting the trash and cleaning the bathrooms.”

  “We can’t stay here,” Alec said. “It looks as if we’re casing the area.”

  Lexie’s fingers found the door handle. This was crazy. If there was even a remote possibility that there was something inside that office that would tell her where her daughter was, or help find Amanda, they shouldn’t be sitting out here. They should be in there. Getting answers.

  “I’m not waiting any longer,” she said as she hopped out.

  During the short time they’d been in the car, the night had turned colder and the moon had climbed higher. The surrounding homes had been silent only seconds earlier, but she now heard a dog barking, the muffled sound coming from inside one of the nearby houses. Lexie turned and started walking in the direction of the office.

  She’d taken the Blade brothers by surprise, so it took a half second for Jack to climb out, the closing of his car door fueling more barking.

  Even when his footstep came close, she didn’t look back, just kept walking. “You might as well save whatever it is you’re planning to say. I can’t just stay put and do nothing.”

  He drew even with her on the sidewalk. “It would be safer.”

  She looked at him now. “Maybe. But she’s my daughter.”

  He wrapped his fingers loosely around her forearm, forcing her to stop momentarily. “And what about the child you’re carrying?” He let go of her arm. “Is that child any less important?”

  Lexie tried to shove her hands into her pockets, but the one with the cast was too bulky, so she left them both at her sides. She knew what he was trying to do, and she wasn’t going to allow it. “You know damn well how I feel about this child.”

  Lexie turned and continued walking toward the office. “What neither of us knows is how you feel!”

  If she hadn’t been so angry, she would have found the idea of Alec witnessing another informative blowup between her and his brother embarrassing.

  Jack caught up with her again. This time he took her hand. She tried to pull away, but he managed to keep his fingers firmly knitted with hers. “It gives the illusion that we’re just a couple out for a late night walk.”

  She jerked free. “And now we’re a couple who just had a fight while on a late night stroll.” Lexie lengthened her stride, forcing him to do the same. Jack slid his hands easily into his pockets but didn’t say anything.

  When they reached the office, the cleaning crew was still inside, so they kept walking. Lexie didn’t even glance toward the SUV as it slipped slowly past them, but watching the taillights disappear around the next corner made her feel nervous.

  If something went wrong, there would be no speedy getaway. She and Jack would be on foot, and while she was in good physical shape, if escaping meant scaling any type of structure, a fence or a wall, with the cast on her dominant hand, she was going to be in real trouble. And since Jack wasn’t the type of man just to leave her behind if she couldn’t keep up, she was putting him at risk, too.

  Suddenly stopping, she faced him. “Don’t use this baby. In an attempt to control me, or to beat yourself up. What happened, happened.”

  When she would have walked on, Jack stopped her. “You’re wrong, Lexie. I do know how I feel about the baby.”

  She waited, no longer noticing the cold, uncertain of what he would say, or what she wanted him to say. No. That wasn’t true. She knew what she wanted to hear. That he loved her. That he wanted her. That he wanted their child.

  “I want this baby, Lexie. Just as much as you do. I want to be there to watch my son or daughter grow up.”

  Well, he’d gotten one out of three right. “Okay. We’ll draw up paperwork.” She started to walk away for a third time. Until his next words drew her to a halt.

  “I don’t want visitation rights, Lexie. I think we should get married.”

  She turned to face him. He stood there, five feet from her, his expression hidden in the shadows. She loved him. To the point that her heart would ache for a long time to come if she walked away.

  But he hadn’t said he wanted her. He hadn’t claimed to love her.

  She took a deep breath, let it out slowly. One out of three just wasn’t good enough. For her. Or for Jack. Or the child she carried.

  As she stood there thinking about what she was about to do, the pain inside her expanded. Was she making a mistake? One that she would regret? The sound of a car engine forced Lexie to glance at the office. The cleaning crew was pulling out of the parking lot.

  She immediately started walking back the way they’d come.

  “Lexie?”

  “I don’t think marriage is the answer,” she called over her shoulder. When Jack caught up, he remained mute. She didn’t look at him, afraid that if she did, she’d change her mind.

  The breeze sent the small leaves off the surrounding water oaks rattling across the sidewalk. Lexie pulled her jacket closer around her and forced herself to move a bit faster, but was uncertain if it was because she was eager to get inside or because even now she desperately needed to escape the decision she’d just made.

  She kept to pavement as she circled the building. She knew Jack was a half step behind, but didn’t glance around even once. She needed to get her mind back on the reason they were here tonight. When she reached the double plate-glass doors, she looked inside to where security lights lent a hushed glow to the reception area.

  Jack handed her vinyl gloves. After pulling one on, she slid the key in the lock. It turned easily, but as soon as she opened the door, the security system’s soft warning beep sounded. She crossed to the keypad and stood briefly looking at it, praying that the code hadn’t been changed. She pressed in 1-7-9-9. Her finger hesitated over the 7 key. What if it had been changed? How long would it take the cops to get there?

  “Lexie?” Jack said nervously.

  She pushed down on the final key. The beeping stopped. As soon as it did, Jack locked the door behind them.

  “Where to?” he asked. His voice had an edge to it. There was no way to tell if it was the situation that was making him uptight or if he was upset over her refusal to marry him.

  “Marian takes care of the bill paying in the practice, but Dan and Fleming keep personal records in their offices.”

  She led the way back to Fleming’s office. As soon as she turned on the light, the picture window behind the desk became a large black square. Because there were no blinds or curtains, they were going to be pretty much on display for as long as they were in the building. Lexie turned her back to the glass.

  Jack ste
pped past her and, sitting in the desk chair, tugged on the top left file drawer. “I don’t suppose you know where he keeps the keys?”

  Lexie was looking for something sharp to jimmy the lock when she realized Jack had placed a small leather case on the desk and was in the process of unzipping it. He pulled out what she supposed was a lock pick.

  It took him a matter of seconds to open the drawer. “Why don’t you start there, while I do the one on the other side?”

  She scanned the tabs. Most of the files appeared to be standard reports. Which might assist the police with nailing Whittemore but wasn’t going to help them find Lindy or Amanda.

  Jack had already opened the opposite drawer and now worked on the one below it.

  “Did they teach that at the police academy?”

  “No. I learned it from a drug dealer.” He opened the last file drawer.

  At the tone in his voice, she looked up. Their gazes connected only briefly before he turned away. “You better keep looking. We have thirteen minutes.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If anyone saw us, it’ll take them a few minutes to decide that we don’t belong here. Once they make that decision, assuming they’re not carrying a cell phone, we have the time it takes them to walk home and make the call to the police. Stay too long, we’ll both be spending the night in jail.”

  Lexie started digging faster. She slammed the second drawer closed. “Nothing here.” Straightening, she checked out the room. “I’ll go try Marian’s office.”

  Lexie moved quickly, across the reception space and into the administrative area. The file cabinets in Marian’s office were unlocked, perhaps because they weren’t of a sensitive nature, but there was a whole wall of them. And none of the drawers were marked.

  Uncertain where to start, Lexie ripped open one at random. She ran a finger down the line of tabs. The company the office contracted with for medical waste removal. Several suppliers of disposable products. A company that repaired equipment. She slammed the drawer shut. The next one contained files on the different insurance plans the practice participated in. She closed it immediately, assumed it would just be more of the same.

  She grabbed the next drawer.

  “Come on. Damn it, come on,” Lexie said softly to herself. She could feel the tightness inside her escalating. How much time was left? What would they do if they didn’t locate what they needed?

  She opened three more before she discovered what they were after—the statements for Fleming’s cell phone and those for the office. She grabbed the contents of the hanging files. There was a pile of incoming mail on one corner of the desk. She opened and emptied out a large manila envelope. There was a law against reading other people’s mail, but at this point, she’d lost track of exactly how many they’d broken in the past twenty-four hours.

  After shoving the statements into the envelope, she returned to the open file drawer. She transferred a handful of statements for Dan’s cell phone into Fleming’s file and the one for the office. Eventually the records would be missed. She just wanted to buy some time before Fleming became aware of what they were doing.

  She was closing the drawer when she noticed Jack in the doorway.

  “Time’s up.”

  She grabbed the manila envelope from where she’d left it on Marian’s desk. “I’ve got what we need!”

  They were four blocks away when they saw the blue strobe of rack lights on the first cruiser. A second one flew past a few seconds later.

  When she turned to watch them disappear in the direction of the office, Jack grabbed her arm. “Just keep walking. We’re going to take a right at the next corner. And then I think it’s time for some late-night jogging.”

  AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER, Jack sat at his kitchen table, studying the phone records. It had taken repeated attempts to convince Lexie that for the moment there was nothing she could do. She was now stretched out on the couch, not yet asleep, but resting.

  He didn’t know which of them had been more surprised by his suggestion that they get married—him or Lexie. He realized now that the proposal had been a mistake. He cared about her, more than he had ever cared for any woman, but what about Lexie? How could he expect her to know how she felt? Given everything she was going through, he didn’t doubt that she had feelings for him. Gratitude most of all. But he would be foolish to think what had happened last night had necessarily been based more on love than on physical attraction and emotional neediness.

  He briefly closed his eyes to clear their grittiness. He was accustomed to working long hours when needed, but he was also human, and his mental faculties dimmed with fatigue.

  Opening his eyes again, he stared down at the numbers. Lexie had gone into labor just after ten-thirty on December 9. If they went with the theory that Amanda delivered at the office and not out at the cabin, the birth would have needed to take place prior to Lexie’s arrival. But how much before?

  Did Whittemore enlist some type of nanny to take care of the baby, perhaps even for several days afterward, or did he expect his clients to take possession within minutes of delivery?

  If they weren’t local, though, the adoptive parents would need reasonable travel time. How much would depend on whether they were coming from somewhere in Florida or out of state, maybe even as far as the West Coast.

  Jack settled on a window of time from forty-eight hours prior to the birth until midnight the night of the delivery. Unfortunately, Whittemore must have been a real talker because he managed to log seventy-eight calls during that period.

  Tracking down that many addresses would take too long, so Jack hunted for a pattern that had initiated shortly after June 2 when Amanda was seen at the Pierson Clinic for the first time by Dan Dawson. It was fairly easy to guess how Whittemore chose his targets. That some of them were Dan’s patients wouldn’t have greatly concerned him. Perhaps the lack of a documented doctor-patient relationship even played to his advantage.

  When Jack narrowed the list to five possibilities, he flicked on his laptop computer, accessed an online reverse directory that also had a background search option. When he was done running all five, he was still left with two possibilities. He didn’t have a printer attached to the computer, so jotted down addresses and some additional info on the households. Both belonged to people with the financial where-withal to afford a black market adoption. The usual going price for a healthy baby of good background could reach up into the six figures.

  He glanced at the stove clock. Nearly 6:00 a.m. He hadn’t realized that he had been at it that long. Leaving everything spread out on the table, he wandered into the living room, intending to let Lexie know that he was stepping outside for a few minutes to clear his head. Finding her still asleep, he left her like that.

  He was checking the wall-mounted mailbox next to his door when the patrol car pulled up at the curb.

  The first officer out of the car was Faith Bair, a seasoned officer. She was attractive and had a good sense of humor, but more importantly, she knew how to handle herself and could take a grown man down to the ground.

  Unfortunately, Shepherd was the second man out of the car. Seeing no other choice, Jack walked out to meet them.

  He nodded at Faith, then turned his attention to Shepherd. “Did you find Amanda Wilkes?”

  “No. Not yet. But I’m sure we will. I did check into her background, though. Seems she has a habit of making up stories to get attention.”

  “Talk to Whittemore?”

  “As a matter of fact, I did. And that’s the reason I’m here.” Shepherd nodded at the front door. “Is she in there?”

  Instead of replying, Jack stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

  Shepherd smiled. “You know how this works, Jack. Bail had been rescinded. I’m here to take Lexie Dawson into custody.”

  “Have a warrant?”

  “Sure do.” He pulled it out and passed it to Jack. “Look. Right now I’m willing to overlook the fact that she wasn’t acting al
one last night when she broke into her ex-husband’s office—I figure I owe you that much. But if you don’t get out of my way, she won’t be the only one in the back of the cruiser.”

  If Jack had thought there was some way he could legally keep Shepherd out, he would have. It wouldn’t help anyone for him to get detained, too. And maybe it wouldn’t be all that bad if Lexie was put on ice for a few hours. He was becoming increasingly concerned that she might do something to put herself and the baby in danger.

  He handed the document back to Shepherd.

  When Jack pushed open the door, the scent of fresh brewed coffee filled the living room. But it was the empty couch that he noticed first and the sound of the running shower.

  Motioning for Faith to check out the bathroom, Shepherd turned to survey the room. The blanket that had been covering Lexie was now wadded up at the end of the sofa.

  “I was up late watching a movie,” Jack offered as an explanation.

  “What movie would that be?”

  “Jaws,” he answered. Lexie had flipped on the television briefly when they’d returned last night. “Coffee?” Jack asked as he headed toward the kitchen. He didn’t really need the caffeine now, his adrenaline having kicked in again, but figured it would be better if he could at least hide the stolen phone statements.

  When he reached the kitchen, though, Shepherd was right on his heels once more. Instead of the fully loaded table Jack expected to find, the surface was clear. Even his laptop was missing. As were his cell phone and all his notes. Lexie’s shoes were still where she’d kicked them off beneath one of the chairs.

  Hoping that Shepherd hadn’t already noticed the two mugs on the counter, Jack added a third. She’d obviously gone out the back way, taking time to gather up everything they’d been working on, but without her shoes.

  She wouldn’t get very far. He tried to imagine where she might head at this time of morning with bare feet. Would she use his cell phone to call a friend to pick her up? Assuming the battery wasn’t dead. Or had she grabbed it knowing that he’d contact her when it was safe?