by Sharon Sala
“Yes, of course,” the director said. “I’ll have someone who’s baby-capable join you. What time are you leaving?”
“Within the next thirty minutes from our office,” Gleason said.
“I’ll have someone meet you there.”
“Thank you, sir,” Gleason said. He figured the kid might be hungry on the long drive, so he went to the break room to get some snacks from the vending machine. About to select a bag of chips, he realized a kid that little might not have the teeth to eat some of this stuff, so he pocketed his change again and made a quick run down to the cafeteria.
He came back with a couple of bananas, little lunch cups of applesauce, a handful of vanilla wafers in a small sealed container, a packet of wet wipes and some plastic spoons. Then he settled in to wait for the other agent to arrive, absently wondering as he waited who it would be.
Ten minutes later a short, stocky man came hurrying into his office with a big smile on his face. His suit was rumpled, his tie was askew, and as he came closer, Gleason could see food spots on his tie and another one on his lapel.
What the hell?
“Agent Penny reporting for duty,” he said and flashed his badge.
“What department are you from?” Gleason asked, knowing immediately that this guy had not seen any action—at least not recently.
“Payroll,” Penny replied.
“Payroll? The director sent someone from Payroll to accompany me? Did he say why?”
“He thought I was a good fit for the job.”
“Really?” Gleason said. “Have you ever worked in the field?”
“No, sir,” Penny said.
Gleason frowned.
“Are you qualified on the gun range?”
“Nearly,” Penny said.
Gleason stared. How did one nearly qualify?
“Then what skill do you possess that he thought would be perfect for this?”
“My wife and I have eight children, one of which I delivered...not by choice, just by consequence.”
Gleason sighed. He had asked for this.
“All right, then,” Gleason said. “Let’s get started.”
“I need to get some stuff out of my car before we leave. It’s in the parking garage.”
“Like what?” Gleason asked.
“Disposable diapers, some wet wipes and a lovey.”
Gleason’s eyebrows arched high enough to take flight.
“What the hell is a lovey?”
“A toy to sleep with. I keep a new one or two in the car for emergencies.”
“Emergencies?” Gleason echoed.
“Yes, like being forty miles from home before one of the kids discovers they’ve left their own lovey behind by mistake. You cannot imagine the hell of driving eighty miles round trip to go back for Leroy.”
Gleason sighed. He should have let it go, but by now he had to know.
“Who is Leroy?”
Penny smiled. “A stuffed giraffe with a broken neck and one ear. He’s Lucy’s favorite lovey. Lucy is my youngest.”
And that’s when Gleason got it. The director knew exactly what he was doing. Gleason was the one slow on the uptake.
“Then let’s get going,” he said. “We have to get the kid and then drive a good distance to reach the drop-off site.”
“Absolutely,” Penny said.
* * *
Star was beside herself with anxiety. She was so homesick for her baby she couldn’t talk about him without bursting into tears.
Once her family learned about Star’s ultimatum, they went into overdrive. Her parents went to town with a list Star had given them of things they would need for a toddler. Basic clothing, a couple of lightweight blankets, one pair of little tennis shoes in his size, even a baby toothbrush and toothpaste, toys and diapers. Her parents were over the moon getting to buy stuff for their first grandchild and hurried to fill the list. They didn’t have as much time to dawdle over the adorable baby things, though, because they would be going along with Justin to bring Sammy back, posing as foster parents helping with transport.
Justin already had the rest of the week off and was immediately ready. When he made the call to Gleason, his heart was pounding. There should not be any danger to this at all. The location he’d chosen was in the middle of nowhere, and with nothing for anyone to hide behind. It was as straightforward as he could make it.
Star kept thanking all of them over and over. It had been so long since she’d had anyone on her side that she’d forgotten what it felt like to know people had her back. Hopefully his arrival wouldn’t cause Justin and Donna an even bigger hardship, and they wouldn’t be there long. Her parents were already planning to take her home, though she kept explaining the danger that might put them in and the need for her presence at home to be under wraps. No journalists at the door wanting to interview the missing girl. No neighbors in and out wanting to see the baby.
And then her father stopped her.
“Starla. It’s going to be all right. The house on our right is for sale, and the old woman who lives on the left has a caretaker and never leaves her house. Honestly, there aren’t any people left in our immediate area who knew you or even know we had a child go missing. I think it will be fine, okay?”
“Okay.”
Donna was at work, and so when they all left, Star was in the house by herself. She locked all the doors, got out the pistol she’d stolen from Luis and settled down to wait. It was going to be the longest three hours of her life.
* * *
Gleason had never been so happy for Penny’s presence, because the little boy was unhappy with both of them. The only thing that had calmed him was the food he’d brought and Penny’s lovey, a stuffed chicken named Henny. Despite the kid’s constant shrieking, Penny seemed to be enjoying himself.
“You are a fine little man, yes, you are,” Penny cooed and casually draped the little blanket around Sammy’s shoulders.
Sammy’s eyelids were droopy, and Penny was hoping the child would soon fall asleep. The blanket might speed up the process.
Sure enough, Sammy’s head began to nod. His shrieks morphed into prattle as he rubbed his lovey against his face.
Agent Penny smiled. His oldest son, Reese, used to do that when he fought sleep. Slowly, the chatter tapered off, and when silence finally fell, Gleason gave Penny a thumbs-up.
Penny smiled at him in the rearview mirror and then leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. But no sooner had they shut than he opened them again and sat up a little straighter, reminding himself that he was on a case, not a family car trip.
He got a couple of wet wipes and quietly went about cleaning up the vanilla wafer crumbs from the child’s seat and from Gleason’s upholstery, then wiped his hands and put everything in a sack he was using for trash.
“How much farther do we have to go?” Penny asked softly.
“About fifteen minutes or so.”
Penny took a three-sixty view of the land in which they were driving.
“There’s nothing here... Miles and miles of nothing but desert with mountains on the horizon,” he said and then settled back against the seat.
Gleason agreed. Now that they were in the area, he understood the thinking behind this meeting place. There was nowhere to hide and no sneaking up on anyone. Pretty smart move on the part of the state cop.
He glanced up in the rearview mirror to the sleeping toddler. Now that he was quiet, Gleason had to admit he was pretty cute. All that dark curly hair and a really sweet face. He looked like his mother, except his hair was dark. He wondered what it was going to be like to grow up with a father who was the head of an organized crime ring.
And then he looked back at the highway and glanced at his GPS. They were almost there.
&n
bsp; * * *
Justin had been parked at the location for almost thirty minutes now and had come early on purpose, not wanting any surprises. His parents had been talking nonstop about this, but the closer it got to the time, the quieter they became. He hoped he had impressed the need for cool detachment from both of them. They were supposed to be a set of foster parents who had volunteered for this duty, and nothing more.
He glanced up in the rearview mirror and saw tears on his mother’s cheeks.
“Mom?”
Connie quickly wiped them away.
“I’m sorry. I just keep thinking about what Starla has gone through, and I just can’t understand why things like this happen to good people.”
“Bad things happen because of bad people waiting to take advantage of innocent people.”
“It’s just so horrendous, it’s hard to wrap my head around that world she was in, and the things she must have had to do to—”
“Stop it!” John said. “Just stop it right now! That shit doesn’t matter. It’s never to be talked about unless she brings it up. Understand?”
Connie was crying again.
“I know. I just—”
“Damn it, Connie! We thought she was dead! I’m sorry for everything bad she went through, but I am so grateful that she found a way to live through it. We have our family back, plus a bonus grandson. How freaking awesome is that?”
Justin frowned.
“Mom, wipe your face and get it together. They could be here at any time now.”
Connie grabbed a handful of tissues and wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then took a brush to her hair.
John leaned over and kissed her.
She smiled.
Justin sighed. Disaster averted.
Another minute passed, and then he saw a vehicle topping a rise in the road and grabbed his binoculars.
“Someone’s coming,” he said.
“Is it them?” Connie cried.
“I don’t know yet,” Justin said and kept watching.
As the car approached, Justin could guess by its make that it was the Feds. And when that car began slowing down, he knew he was right.
“Yes, it’s them. Just sit. When I need you, I’ll motion for you to get out. And remember what I said.”
“We know, son. We won’t let you down,” John said.
“We’re all here for Starla. Remember that,” Justin said, and then he opened the door and got out.
Fourteen
Gleason saw the car about a half mile before they reached the site. Watching it through the heat waves dancing up from the pavement was like seeing it through a veil. The car was not a state police car, which bothered him at first, and then he realized the cop might not be doing this on government time.
“Is that them?” Penny asked, as Gleason started slowing down.
“I would assume so since there’s not another vehicle in sight and they’re in the exact GPS location they said they would be.”
Penny started gathering up the baby’s things. He gently rubbed the little boy’s knee, and when Gleason came to a full stop, Penny unlocked his seat belt.
“Wait here until I make sure everything is on the up-and-up,” Gleason said.
“Yes, sir,” Penny said.
The fact that they were no longer moving had already roused the toddler, and when Gleason got out, the click of the door woke him up the rest of the way. He sat up, looking all around, and then stuck his thumb in his mouth and started sucking as the desert heat rolled through the interior of the car.
“You are such a good boy,” Penny said and ruffled the dark curls.
Sammy pointed at the lovey.
“Henny,” he said.
Penny beamed.
“Yes, your Henny,” he said and tucked it in the little boy’s arm as Gleason approached the man getting out of the car.
“I’m Agent Gleason,” he said and flashed his badge.
Justin showed his, as well.
“Officer Davis, Nevada Highway Patrol,” he said. “Where’s the baby?”
“In the car,” Gleason said and then motioned at Penny.
Justin was antsy. He watched the other man get out and circle the car to get to the baby. At that point he motioned to his parents. They came out of the car a little too fast, but did maintain their personas.
Justin’s heart was pounding as he watched the man come toward them with the toddler in his arms. This moment would be forever etched in his heart. That sweet little dark-haired boy was his nephew.
When his parents stopped beside him, he addressed them impersonally for Gleason’s sake.
“One of you take the child, the other one get his things.”
“Yes, sir,” John said.
And as much as they’d worried about Connie, when it came down to it, she was the one who sold it.
“Has he been fed?” she asked, as Agent Penny handed the toddler and his stuffed toy to her husband.
“Some cookies and fruit on the way here,” Penny said and handed her the sack with what was left over.
“Is he in diapers still, or pull-ups?”
“Diapers,” Penny said. “Extra-large.”
Connie nodded. Then as much as she wanted to throw her arms around the child, instead she reached out and felt his forehead.
“He has no fever. Has he been well or is there anything we’ll need to know about his recent health history?”
Penny shrugged and looked at Gleason.
Gleason sighed. Once more they were coming up short.
“We assume his health has been maintained or else we would have been notified,” Gleason said.
Connie frowned, then waved John away, careful to call him a name other than his own.
“It’s hot, Peter. Get the child inside the car. I’ll be right behind you.”
She turned away from a hot gust of wind as Penny handed her the rest of the toddler’s things, including the blanket.
“Anything else we need to know?” she asked.
“The lovey’s name is Henny,” he said.
She smiled primly.
“A perfect name. Simple. Easy enough for him to learn to say. Good job, sir,” she said and nodded at her son and headed back to the car with a calm and steady stride.
“That’s that, then,” Justin said and turned to walk away.
“Wait!” Gleason said. “How can we get in touch with Star when we need her?”
“I’m not privy to any of that information, sir, but I’ll pass that question on to her when I deliver the child. She will probably be in touch with you. You both go back to your car and leave now,” he said.
Gleason frowned.
“Why do we—”
“Sir. I have strict orders to make sure we are not followed. I remind you. Star’s threat to disappear is not a hoax. Piss that woman off again and she’s gone.”
Gleason pivoted and strode back to the car. His stride was long, and Justin could tell by the way he was walking that he was mad, but as his mother was so fond of saying, they could get happy in the same pants they got mad in.
He stood in the heat with the sun beaming hot against the back of his neck until the car was out of sight, and then made a run for his own car.
Connie was changing Sammy’s diaper as Justin got in.
“Mom, take off everything he has on, even the shoes, and give them to me,” he said.
“But why?” she asked.
“I’d bet a month’s wages there’s a bug in them somewhere.”
“The hell you say,” John muttered.
Sammy laughed when they began taking off his clothes. Connie grinned.
“I’ve never seen a little child who didn’t like to be n
aked.”
She handed the pieces of clothing to Justin as she took them off, and he began inspecting them seam by seam, hem by hem, and found the first bug in the hem of the little shirt he’d had on. The second bug beneath the inner sole of his shoe.
“Dad, run your fingers through his hair carefully, feeling to see if there’s something stuck to his head that would be hidden within all those curls.”
John did as he was told, his hands shaking in disbelief that this was even necessary.
“What would it feel like?” John asked.
“Maybe like a little mole,” Justin said.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell,” John said.
“Give him to me,” Connie said. “I used to comb the kids’ hair for lice when they were in elementary school. There was always someone coming to school and spreading it around,” she muttered.
She pulled a comb from her purse and began gently combing through the curls in one quadrant after another until she’d covered the entire head.
“No. Nothing here.”
“Then it was all in the clothing,” Justin said and tossed it out the window.
“What about this toy?” Connie asked.
Justin took the stuffed chicken.
“Did you bring another toy with you?” he asked.
“Yes, we brought several,” Connie said.
“Then this is going out the window, too,” Justin said. “You did bring other clothes, right?”
“Just a little T-shirt and diapers. Everything else is back at the house.”
“So get him dressed in that and hurry,” Justin said. “I want out of here as fast as possible, and I need him safely in the car seat first.”
Connie had him changed and buckled in his car seat in less than three minutes.
Justin was impressed.
“Buckle up, everybody.” He put the car in gear, then sped away, heading north to Henderson as fast as he dared to go.
* * *
Agents Gleason and Penny pulled over less than a mile away from the drop site.
“What’s wrong?” Penny asked, as Gleason reached for his laptop in the back seat.
“Just checking to see if the tracking devices are active.”
