Alex shook his extended hand and was annoyed when he held hers a moment too long, but it was the words that followed that really got under her skin.
“Please feel free to contact me anytime, but do not contact my wife again. It simply upsets her and causes her to drink more. She’s fallen several times lately.”
He squeezed her hand before letting go—a final indication that he wouldn’t take it lightly if she disobeyed.
Alex turned her back on him, took Nobby’s arm, and walked toward the elevator. “We may need to talk with Mrs. DuPont again. We’ll let you know if that becomes necessary.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Blake finished typing the e-mail and turned the computer for Sams to read it. “I put in everything we talked about.”
Sams read the e-mail and sighed. “Too many options to really help her narrow it down. I think we’ve got two separate cases: one for money, which would be the DuPonts, and one for God knows what. Either way, it doesn’t look good for the kids. Isn’t there some statistic that if you don’t find them in the first forty-eight hours, the odds of finding them are zilch?”
“It gets worse every hour. There’s always a trail, but after the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours, things that might have helped you if you’d known about them sooner, start to disappear. There’s a lot of video out there that can be watched for cars going through intersections about the time of the kidnapping. Credit cards used at gas stations. Phony 9-1-1 calls that may take an officer patrolling an area someplace else. If you know what to look for, you can always find a clue.”
Sams hit Send. “And she’s hampered by the fact she can’t get backup or information from the other officers working the case. And she doesn’t have access to computers to get the data she needs.”
“You know about that?”
“Chief Brown called me and filled me in. One of the reasons I allowed this. I always did have a soft spot for the underdog up against the odds. And if I’ve got that girl pegged right, she’ll fight to the very end and go down with the ship rather than raise a white flag.”
Blake stood and started to pace. “So if the Chief knows what the hell is going on, why isn’t he doing something about it?”
“You know what it’s like, Blake. It’s all politics, codes of honor, and instilling public trust. How do you think the other inmates would feel if they knew what I’m allowing you to do?”
“I don’t guess they’d like it very much.”
Sams grunted. “You know damn well they wouldn’t, and if other wardens found out what I’m doing, it would be even worse. The governor went out on a limb by allowing this, and the chief went out on a limb for her by giving her the badge. He can explain that if it comes out because special investigations really is an experimental unit they’re working on. If he does any more than that while she’s suspended, he’ll lose the trust of every commander under his watch. If what we’re doing here saves those kids, we’re all protected, but if it doesn’t, the chief, myself, and the governor may have some really serious questions to answer.”
“She needs backup.”
Sams pulled out a notepad. “What kind of backup?”
Blake pulled his chair closer to the desk and sat down. “A good computer hacker would be my first choice. Someone who can get those financials and background checks without getting caught.”
“What else?”
“I won’t know until I see her report from today.”
“All right. We’ll wait. You think of anything, let me know. We should be hearing from her soon.”
~ ~ ~
Carissa entered the conference room and closed the door behind her. “I called a friend. This special investigations unit is something the chief is toying with. Sort of a trial run.” She walked across the room and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Nothing to worry about. These types of things fail all the time.”
“I don’t like it, Carissa. She asked about the midwife.”
She removed her hand slowly, letting it glide down his arm. “What did you tell her?”
“What the hell do you think I told her?” DuPont barked. “All it takes is me getting caught in one lie for this whole damn thing to fall apart.”
“The old woman died, Nicholas. What was I supposed to do? Bridgett would have run to the police as soon as she found out.”
He shook his head. “It’s done, and there’s nothing we can do to undo it. Cancel the rest of my appointments. I need to get home. The FBI is coming to talk with us tonight and set up the monitoring on the phone. I need to make sure Emma is unavailable for that meeting.”
Carissa straightened his tie. “You have a meeting with Ted, and I can’t cancel that. Sabrina can take care of Emma. We need to get that ransom up as soon as possible so all this can go away.”
Nicholas walked to the bar and poured a drink. “So how do you plan on making sure this special investigations unit fails?”
“You should leave that to me, darling. I’ll think of something.”
Nicholas turned to glare. “Another car wreck, Carissa?”
His whining questions were starting to bore her, and she walked toward the door. “Officers are killed every day in the line of duty, Nicholas. You just make sure that account is set up and Ted is ready to make the transfer tomorrow morning.”
“And what about Lilly?” he asked.
Carissa kept her face averted so he wouldn’t see the grimace the mention of the child’s name brought to her face. Lilly. What a stupid name. “She’ll be returned to you tomorrow afternoon as planned.”
“And Emma?”
Her patience ran out. “Jesus, Nicholas, what’s up with all the questions? You knew the plan when we started this. In fact, you came to me, remember?”
He poured another drink. “I didn’t know anybody was going to get killed.”
“Well, as they say in the movies, shit happens. Get over it.” She glanced at her watch and eyed his second glass in less than ten minutes. “I hope you’re not going to become a problem?” She smiled, noting the slight tremor in the hand holding the glass. “It’s my job to take care of problems. I would suggest you don’t become one.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Where to now?” Nobby asked, buckling his seat belt.
Alex pulled the car into drive. “Home. I’ll process the videos we’ve taken and send everything to Morgan with my notes on the interviews.”
“Then what?”
Alex turned to glare at him. “Then I’m going to camp on that son of a bitch’s doorstep until he leads me to those babies.”
“Waste of good time.”
Alex slammed on the brakes, pulled to the side of the road, and stopped the car. “What the bloody hell? You can’t tell me you don’t think he did it or he’s involved in this?”
Nobby shrugged. “If I was a betting man, which I am, I’d bet he don’t give a damn about his own child, but he’s not going to risk what he’s built there getting caught stealing babies. Find out what happened to the midwife. Awful convenient if you ask me that she dies in a car wreck right after all this goes down.”
Alex glanced over her shoulder and weaved back into traffic. She hated to think DuPont was innocent, but Nobby had a point. Clearly DuPont had a very successful practice. Or at least he gave the appearance of having a very successful practice. She needed to find a way to run his financials, as well as the Wilsons’ and Martins’ financials. She would send everything off to Morgan, dig up the information on the midwife, then start on that. She had four days left, and she wasn’t going to waste any of them.
“Nobby, reach in the backseat and grab the file.” She waited until he had it then passed him her cell phone. “Call the other two sets of parents and ask them if they had a midwife, and if they did, who their midwife was.”
“Got a pen?”
“Glove box.”
Nobby rummaged in the glove box, pulled out a pen, and dialed the first number. After introducing himself, he asked about the mid
wife, jotted a few notes, and thanked them. He continued with the second set of parents, going through the same speech. “No, on the Martins and the Wilsons. Would have made more sense for those two, considering their financial circumstances. Wonder why the DuPonts used one?”
“Good question, Nobby, and one someone needs to answer. DuPont said it was his wife’s idea, but Mrs. DuPont told me it was his idea. Someone’s lying.”
Alex shifted in her seat, pulled out the card Mrs. DuPont had given her, and passed it to Nobby. “I almost forgot I had that. What does it say?”
“Bridgett Sanchez, Baby’s First Midwives.”
“Got an address on the card?”
“Yeah, Two Hundred Maxie Street.”
They weren’t that far away. Alex pulled up to the stoplight and turned left. She was within one block when a uniformed officer stopped her. “Sorry, ma’am, you’ll have to go around. They’re still cleaning up on Maxie.”
Alex showed him her badge. “Cleaning up what?”
“Some kind of gas explosion at one of the buildings. Totally destroyed that one and damaged the two closest to it.”
“Anyone hurt?” Alex asked.
“Body count is two so far.”
Alex felt her gut tighten. “The building that exploded, was it the midwives’?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He glanced behind her at the line of traffic piling up. “Afraid you’re gonna have to move on.”
“Thank you, officer.” Alex turned right onto Maple and headed back toward home.
Nobby grunted. “Somebody’s cleaning up the loose ends fast.”
Alex pulled up in front of the house and parked. “I’ll take Dixie for a quick run and then put all this together for Morgan.”
~ ~ ~
Alex allowed Dixie to run, her own feet keeping pace with her mind as it sped through the information compiled in the past three days. If she were a real detective, she would have access to databases and help that could find the answers quickly to the questions. Morgan was right—she needed backup, and more than just Nobby. She would trust him with her life, but he knew nothing about computers, and she needed research.
If DuPont wasn’t involved, then why was he beating up on his wife, and why wasn’t he grieving like the other parents? Maybe Nobby was right and the baby wasn’t his. Or maybe he was just a cold, unfeeling bastard who put money before family. And where was Mrs. Wilson? She turned Dixie back toward the house. Morgan was her best chance to put everything together. If he was as smart as Nobby thought he was, he would be able to point her toward her next move. “Let’s go, girl. We’ve got work to do.”
~ ~ ~
The mixer grated against the side of the bowl, and Wanda Martin turned it off and sighed. The constant need to shore up Ted and keep him happy was destroying even her love of baking. Then there was Sabrina’s constant whining about not seeing her anymore, and Carissa’s constant demands. The only saving grace Wanda found in the entire matter was that she didn’t have to put up with the brat anymore. What would possess a woman to put herself through all that pain for something that did nothing more than poop, eat, cry, and demand constant attention?
Wanda dipped her finger in the mix and licked it. Something was missing. She giggled as an image of a skull with a huge red X on it flashed through her mind. All she had to do was keep Sabrina and Carissa happy for a few more days, and she wouldn’t have to kill Ted. They would take care of that nasty little chore, and when the shit finally hit the fan, her hands would be totally clean, just as they’d always been. She smiled, picked up the batter, and poured it into a pan. And she would be rich. She would go anywhere and do anything she wanted, without having to answer to anyone.
Her cell phone rang, and she popped the pan in the oven, set the timer, and picked up the phone. “Hello.”
“Hi.”
Wanda grimaced as Sabrina’s voice filled her ear. “Well, hello, darling. How are you?”
“I’m going stir-crazy. Carissa insists I stay at the house with Emma, there’s this new detective on the case, and the FBI are due to arrive any minute. The only time I get a breather is when Nicholas is home, and you know how rare that is.” Her voice turned into a whine. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. It’s just a few more days, honey, and then we’ll be out of here with enough money to last a lifetime. Oops, I have to go. Cake in the oven.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.” Wanda hit the end button and tossed the phone on the counter. She reached for the brochures of exotic places she’d picked up from the travel agency. She wanted to visit them all—alone, of course.
She giggled. It had taken little convincing to get Sabrina to go along with her plan to steal the ransom money so the two of them could live happily ever after. Carissa had been a little harder, but not much. She’d come around after a few hours in bed. Ted had been the hardest, and she needed to keep him happy for a few more days.
The timer went off, and Wanda checked the cake. “Ten more minutes.” She poured a glass of wine and sipped it slowly, her mind drifting to all the wonderful places she wanted to go. The time passed quickly, and when the oven beeped, she removed the cake and set it on the rack to cool. What she needed was a nice long soak. A warm, willing body would take care of Ted. Maybe she would just toss the cake and use the frosting on herself.
~ ~ ~
Blake read through the information Alexandra had provided and cursed softly. “Something must have gone wrong. They’re cleaning up too quick. If we don’t find the DuPont baby soon, they’ll dispose of her next. She’s their biggest risk.”
Warden Sams frowned. “What about the other two?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think they’re connected to the DuPont baby. There’s something much bigger going on there. According to Alexandra’s notes, Martin never once asked about the babies. His wife doesn’t ask about the babies. Neither of them show any signs of grief or worry. I’d say they know exactly where their baby is.”
“And the third couple?” Sams asked.
“No idea yet. Alexandra says the husband appeared to be devastated, but she hasn’t seen the wife. She’s going to have to go back and interview the wife.” Morgan glanced at the reports again.
“So what’s our next move?”
“You care if I run a search?”
“Go ahead.”
Blake ran a quick search on Baby’s First Midwives, but it came up empty. “She needs help fast. People with computer skills that can run searches that may not be totally legal, but will get her the information she needs. I could do it if I had the right equipment and enough time.”
Sams opened his desk drawer and pulled out his cell phone.
Blake eyed him suspiciously. “Who are you calling?”
“My daughter. She’s a criminal psychologist major at NYU. I’d be willing to bet she knows a few guys that can do just what you need.”
Sams made the call to his daughter and told her what he needed. “Four Fifty Adams Court. They’ll be expecting you. We’re sending the information to them now.”
Blake looked up from his screen. “So?”
“Tell Detective Fox to order some pizzas. She’ll have four gung ho college students showing up at her door in the next half hour.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Alex answered the knock on the door to Nobby’s home. Morgan had told her four college students would be coming by to help, but the group ahead of her was not what she’d expected.
The young woman in front transferred a bag to her left hand and stuck out her right. “Hi, I’m Gabriella Sams.”
Alex shook her hand. “Alex Fox. Please come in.”
“Oh, man, love the freaking accent. Can we all talk British? When I find something, I’ll just yell, ‘Bloody hell!’”
Gabriella stepped aside to allow the others to enter as she introduced everyone. “This degenerate is Ben, better known amongst his friends as Reefer. He doesn’t look like much, but the government has alread
y hired him for his hacking abilities.”
Alex smiled, degenerate being one of the terms she might have used to describe the long-haired, hippie-dressed young man.
“This charmer is Gavin. He could talk Eskimos into buying ice, and he knows his way around the financial sites most people don’t even know exist.”
Alex smiled and nodded, unsure what she was supposed to say to that.
“And last, but not least by any means, Tamara. Better if you don’t ask what she does.”
Tamara grinned and pulled her sunglasses down over her eyes. “I smell pizza.”
Alex led the four into the dining room, where she’d cleared the huge table. “You can set up in here. Just let me know if you need anything. There’s pizza and drinks in the kitchen. Bathroom is down the hall on the right.”
In less than five minutes the group had assembled a layout of equipment with cords running everywhere. Gabriella followed Alex into the kitchen. “My father said you would have an e-mail telling us what you needed?”
Alex flipped on her laptop and pulled up the e-mail. “Morgan sent this earlier. This is where we start.”
Gabriella whipped out a notepad and began taking notes. The group joined them, digging into the pizza and grabbing soft drinks from the fridge before coming to peer over her shoulder. Gabriella tore off a set of notes and gave them to Gavin. “Financials on all these.”
She handed the second set to Reefer. “Get inside and find out who owns or is connected to Baby’s First.”
The third set of notes went to Tamara. Gabriella reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys. “I don’t want to know what you’re going to do until it’s done.”
Alex frowned as Tamara headed for the front door. “Where’s she going?”
Gabriella reached for a piece of pizza. “Better if we don’t know. Why don’t you take a walk? Give us a few hours and come back. We should have something by then.”
Alex strolled through the dining room, unnoticed by the heads bent over their equipment. Reefer’s fingers moved across the keyboard faster than she could imagine. She needed to check on Nobby, Cinders, and Dixie, and clearly, she was useless to the students. Not only did she not know what they were doing, she also failed to understand half the comments they made to each other. The half she did understand would have resulted in an arrest warrant if she’d done her job. What the hell has Morgan gotten me into?
Tragic Deception (Deception Series Book 1) Page 6
