by Mark Stone
“So, someone must have had to drive him there,” I said in a low voice that was intentionally loud enough for Rebecca to hear.
“I’m sorry?” she asked.
“It’s nothing,” I answered. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” Standing, I nodded at the woman. “Thanks so much for you time. It’s been a pleasure. Please tell Dillon I said hello.”
Please tell Dillon I said a lot of things, I thought as I made my way to the door.
“You’re welcome,” Rebecca called out from behind me.
Pulling out my phone as I walked out the door, I shot Hope a text, asking where I could find the woman she had been keeping an eye on. She replied, telling me that Dr. Trapp’s former nurse was, in fact, at home right now. It was time to go visit Samantha Reagan. It was time to find out what she knew.
Chapter 28
“Thanks for seeing me,” I said to Samantha Reagan as she ushered me into her backyard. We hadn’t walked through her house, but around it. She said it was because, after just moving in, the place was a mess and she would be embarrassed for anyone to see it. I, of course, thought that was a little strange, and made a note to ask to use her bathroom before I left. If she allowed me to do so and I found the place to be a typically messy new home, I’d know she was telling the truth. If she refused to let me in, I’d know there was more to it than that.
“Of course,” Samantha said, motioning for us to sit in a couple of adirondack chairs that looked out into the Gulf. Even after living her for awhile, the sights of this place could still take my breath away. It was like nowhere else on earth, and I adored that about it. “Anyone who wants to help Mike out is a good guy in my book.” She smiled over at me, and as she did, I took notice of just how young she looked. With short blonde hair and a smile that would have been the subject of sonnets if she’d have lived hundreds of years ago, Samantha was a traditional beauty. What was more, she had obviously done well for herself since leaving the service of Dr. Trapp. While there was nothing awe-inspiring about her new home, it was certainly nice enough. What was more, Gulfside living didn’t come cheap.
“He’s got to be going through a rough time right now,” Samantha said, sighing and pouring us both a glass of iced tea from a pitcher that had already been setting there. “And the money. I just can’t imagine how his father could let all that money get away. He was so successful. The fact that you’ve agreed to represent him for what I can only imagine is little to know money is really an act of mercy.” She reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it. “The Lord loves the merciful.”
I looked at this woman for a long moment. While I didn’t have proof, I had my suspicions that she knew what was going on with Dr. Trapp. If I was right, if this was bigger than just Mike, then she could have been complicit or even responsible for the kidnappings of countless children, to the destructions of countless homes and families. Who was she to talk to me about mercy or the Lord?
“Do you have any children of your own, Samantha?” I asked, forcing a smile and trying to keep my disgust on the inside.
“No, no,” she answered, pulling her hand away from mine and shaking her head. “It wasn’t in the cards for me. It’s just as well. I’d have probably made a horrible mother. Ask any of my dogs.” Samantha chuckled hard. ‘It’s alright. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.”
“It would seem that way,” I replied. “Do you have a second job or something?”
“I don’t have a first job at this point,” Samantha answered. “I’m retired.”
“Wow,” I said, looking around. “Not that it’s any of my business, but I can’t believe you were able to afford this place on a nurse’s salary.”
Samantha shuffled in her chair, giving me a look. “Good investments can make all the difference,” she said quickly. “But you’re right. It’s none of your business.”
“Like the sort of investment that comes with an adoption agency?” I asked, glaring at her.
“I don’t know what you mean. Why are you here?” she asked,tilting her head at me accusingly.
“I didn’t mean to offend,” I answered, sitting up straighter in the leaned back chair. “It’s just you have a really nice place. It’s the sort of place I would want one day.” I shook my head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m here to talk about Mike. How well would you say you know the boy?”
“Well enough to know he’s no damn drug dealer,” she said. “He was always such a sweet boy, such a kind hearted soul.”
“Sounds like you’re talking about a long time ago,” I replied.
“I suppose I am,” Samantha answered. “Time seems to get by quicker these days. I guess it’s been a decade or better since I last worked for Dr. Trapp.”
“Twelve years,” I said. “And why did you stop working with the man, curiously?”
Samantha blinked hard at me. “I wanted to move on with my life. I wanted to do other things.”
“What sort of other things?” I asked, arching my eyebrows. “Because, from what I can tell, you went to work in Miami for a doctor’s office much like the one Dr. Trapp ran. And, I can tell from the fact that you moved back up here that Naples wasn’t the problem. So, let me ask you, was it Dr. Trapp himself who you didn’t care for or had he got you into something that was beginning to turn your stomach?”
Samantha stood quickly. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. Actually, you’re right. The last time I knew Mike, he was six years old. He could be any sort of person anymore. I’m afraid I can’t help you. I have to ask you to leave.”
“What was he doing, Samantha?” asked quickly. “Was it just Mike or was he just the first one? Is that how you got your money? Did you might it off the backs of stolen children?”
Tears started pouring from Samantha’s eyes. “I didn’t know that was what was happening. I swear it. Dr. Trapp told me that these women were in trouble. He said that they couldn’t have these babies and that their parents would throw them out. He told me the mothers wanted this to happen. I didn’t know, when I signed that paper, that he was stealing the children. I thought I was doing a good thing. I thought I was helping. If I’d have know he was just taking the babies, if I’d have known he was telling everyone they died…” Her hands flew up to her face. “I would have never done that.” She shook her head hard. “So, when I started getting the calls, I knew what I had to do.”
“Calls?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at the woman. “What kind of calls?”
Before she could answer, her phone rang. She looked down at it, and her face took on a mask of abject horror. Bringing it to her face, she spoke through sobs.
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” she said. Though crying, her voice was calmer than it had been, more serious. “I swear, I would never have told him that-”
Samantha’s words shut off as her body lunged forward. She fell to the floor and blood began to pool around where she lay. My eyes went wide as I realized what just happened. Samantha had been shot right in front of me. I gasped and I dropped to my knees to help her, though I wasn’t quite sure what I could do at this point aside from call an ambulance.
Instinctively, my eyes went up to the direction where the bullet must have came from. There, speeding away, I saw the same car I saw in the picture of Dr. Trapp, the blue car with oversized wheels.
“Oh God,” I muttered, looking from it back down to Samantha, who was starting to lose her color. “Oh my God.”
Chapter 29
I paced back and forth in the waiting room of the hospital, hoping and praying that Samantha would come out of this thing. Unfortunately, I had no reason to keep my hopes up. Though I called the ambulance as quickly as I possibly could, by the time they got there, Samantha looked to be on death’s door. Her skin was pale and lifeless, her body was still, and she was unresponsive, regardless of how many times I said her name.
By the time Justin came through the door, I must have looked like a nervous wreck, because the man’s eyes widene
d.
“Are you okay?” he asked, swallowing hard. “You have blood on you.”
“Samantha Reagan,” I said breathlessly. “I was talking to her-”
“I know,” he answered. “Dillon told me. They’re looking for the car you saw driving away from the scene, but they haven’t had any luck so far.” He looked at the chair. “You should sit down. Let me get you something to drink.”
“I’m fine, Justin,” I said, nodded firmly and coming to a stop. “I’m just sorry all of this happened, and I’m really sorry that it happened because of me.”
“This isn’t your fault,” Justin said, giving me a pat on the shoulder. “You didn’t fire that gun. You didn’t shoot that woman.”
“But she was shot because I was there,” I answered. “I heard her on the phone. Whoever she was talking to, whoever is behind all of this shot Samantha because they were afraid I was going to get some information out of her.”
“That still doesn’t make you responsible,” Justin said. “You were just doing your job.”
“I was lying,” I said. “I pretended to see her so we could talk about Mike.”
“And that very well could have been the case if it needed to be,” Justin answered. “Look. People who commit crimes, for the most part, don’t want to talk about it. Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do, especially if it means helping out your client.” He took a deep breath. “Who also happens to be the most important person in the world to me.”
“How’s she holding up?” I asked, realizing that, with all of this, I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Daphne since I sent word of the deal Laura Sky offered. “Has she thought about the-”
“About Murder in the Second?” Justin balked. “She’s not taking that. I mean, I understand why you told her about it, but there’s no way that’s happening. We can beat this.” He nodded firmly. “Right?”
“Right,” I said, nodding in return. “Stephen Trapp kidnapped a lot of babies in his life. That means there are a lot more people with motive to kill him. Also, I’m going to guess that the person in the blue car, the person who shot Samantha and who is driving around in a vehicle Stephen Trapp owned, has something to do with this.” I balled my hands into fists at my side. “If the police find that car with a driver in it, I can build a damn fine case for reasonable doubt.” I turned toward the door. “I hate what’s happening to Samantha, and I’m praying as hard as I can that she wakes, and not just because she’ll be able to tell me more about what’s happening. She deserves to live, too. If what she told me is right, then she was as much a victim in all of this as any of the rest of them.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Justin said. “Hope dug around until she found her financials. She was given a tidy sum of money a couple of months ago from an overseas account.”
“What?” I asked.
“Some shell corporation transferred half a million dollars into her bank account. Hope is tracing the lead back in an attempt to find something, but I’m not one hundred percent sure Samantha is as innocent in all of this as we’d like to think.” Justin held out two fingers. “I’m thinking she either hoarded her half of the money from black market adoption sales and just moved it over or someone has paid her for something very valuable.”
“Something very valuable?” I asked. “What do you think-” The breath caught in my throat. “Do you think she’s at it again? Do you think she’s selling another baby?”
“I’m not sure,” Justin admitted. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I know it doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re right,” I answered. “Because why you someone try to kill her?” I leaned against the wall. “Unless she’s found a new partner. Unless the new partner is afraid she was going to turn them over.”
“Or, unless they just didn’t want to split the money,” Justin mused.
“So, they shot her,” I said. “But what does the car have to do with anything?” I asked.
“We’re about to find out,” Justin said, reading his phone. “Dillon just found it.”
“Really? That’s great!” I said, saying a silent prayer in thanks for the first good break we’d gotten in recent memory. “Any word on who was driving it yet?”
“Jesus,” my friend muttered, looking back up at me with worried and frantic eyes.
“What?” I asked, my heart jumping. “Who was it? Who was driving the car?”
“Mike,” Justin said breathlessly. “My nephew did all of this after all.”
Chapter 30
Mike walked back into the interrogation room and sat down across from me. This time, the boy had shackles on both his arms and legs.
“Is this really necessary?” I asked, narrowing my eyes and motioning to the metal monstrosities as I looked up at the officer who had brought Mike in. “He’s already in custody, and he’s my client.”
“Not my call,” the man said in a clipped fashion. Then, as though he had no idea that he wasn’t supposed to, he clasped his hands in front of his waist and leaned against the wall, making himself comfortable.
“That’s not going to fly, my man,” I said, glaring at him. “We’re about to exercise some very intensive attorney/client privilege and we’re going to need our privacy.”
The officer scoffed at me. “Wasn’t it you who called in the crime in the first place? Didn’t this little bastard take a shot at you? Haven’t you had enough already?”
“This little bastard is my client,” I answered. “And what he did or did not do isn’t clear until it’s been decided by a court of law. So, unless you’d like me to report you, I’m going to suggest that you use the word ‘allegedly’ when speaking about things that aren’t decided business. I also suggest you get your ass out of this room and close the door when you leave. Unless, of course, you’d like this ‘little bastard’ to have grounds for an acquittal based solely on your incompetence.”
The officer looked at me for a long moment. Then, shrugging, he muttered “Your funeral,” and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him as I asked.
“Man, that was badass,” Mike said as he watched the officer turn tail.
“Shut up,” I answered, turning back to him with anger running hot through me. “What the hell is going on here, Mike?”
The idea that I had been all twisted up by this, that Daphne’s intense need for her biological son to be innocent had colored my view, clanged around in my head with all the subtlety of a kettlebell. It made me feel ridiculous and childish. It made me feel like Fallon O’Keefe might have been right about me after all.
“Nothing. I swear,” Mike said, his eyes instantly widening. “I didn’t do any of this. I promise.”
“Don’t lie to me, Mike,” I spit back instantly. “A woman has been shot. She might die. If she does that, you can kiss the idea of a charge for attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon goodbye. This will be Murder in the First.”
“I didn’t shoot anybody!” he said, tears welling up in his eyes. “I would never do that. Not in a million years.”
“Except for the fact that I saw you, Mike,” I reminded him. “I saw the car speed off after Samantha was shot, and then it was found with you in it.” I shook my head. “It seems pretty open and shut to me, and I can’t imagine a jury will see it any other way.”
“I don’t even know how to shoot a gun!” the boy yelled. “I flunked out of ROTC, for God’s sake. What makes you think that I could make a shot like that?”
“The fact that you were in the damn car, Mike!” I responded, trying to stop myself from banging on the table with my fist.
“They told me to get in the car!” Mike said, his resting against the table as he sobbed. “They said that, if I didn’t get in the car, they’d kill her.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Mike?” I asked, patting his head so that he’d lift it and i might stand a chance of actually understanding what he had to say.
“I got a phone call from a weird number agai
n,” he said, sniffling. “The person on the other end told me that the car would be sitting there. They said that, if I didn’t get in it and drive it around, they’d kill Daphne. They even sent me pictures of her while I was talking to them on the phone.” MIke shook his head hard. “I know I don’t know her, and I know she never raised me or anything, but she’s pretty much the only family I have left at this point. Everyone else is dead. I couldn’t just let her die, too. Not without doing something to try and stop it.”
I blinked hard, unsure whether or not to even believe him. Still, I reminded myself that there was something about the boy that struck me as honest before, and that same thing remained within him. I wasn’t being swayed by personal opinions and bias here. I was trusting my gut, and I had to believe it would lead me in the right direction. Otherwise, what would the point be?
“If that was the case, you should have called me,” I said. “I’d have gotten in touch with the police. I’d have kept Daphne safe.”
“You couldn’t,” he answered. “Whoever was on the phone was right there with her. They sent me pictures of Daphne in a flowered dress and a cafe.”
“What?” I asked. “That wasn’t today. That was the day before yesterday. I was with her there. We were discussing the case. Whoever was doing this sent you old pictures. You know, I bet they did more than that.” I stood. “You know what? Hang tight here for a minute. I need to run something by an associate. If anyone comes in, you are to say absolutely nothing until I get back. Do you understand?”
“Yeah,” Mike answered. “I get it.”
“Good,” I said, walking out the door. Walking out into the parking lot, I pulled out my cell phone and called Hope.
