“Your feet—” Ethan started to get up, but Kelsey hobbled away, disappearing through the door into the bedroom.
“She might be stubborn enough to handle you.” His brother Tyler kicked back in his chair with a superior look on his face.
“Now look, just because you’re all cozy and happy with Gracie doesn’t mean you have to start in on me.” Ethan caught Janie’s eyes drooping. Evidently, she did, too, because her little head popped up and she slid off his lap onto the floor.
“I’m not starting in on you, just joking around. You can be a little testy.” Tyler poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Ethan. “This might help. Though you might want to reconsider the caffeine.”
“I’ve been held at gunpoint twice in two days, shot at one of those times. Forgive me for being a little ‘testy.’” He glanced at his brother. He knew Tyler was teasing but the jabs hit a little close to home. Kelsey was the first person Ethan had gotten close to in a long time, but there was a reason for that. He wasn’t looking for love. How could he be?
“Ethan, in all seriousness, why are you doing this? I understand helping her escape last night. I’m all for helping out people in need or obviously we wouldn’t have Restoration Cove, but it seems like—”
“You think I feel like this is my shot at redemption for losing Charlie and Amy.”
“Do you?”
Ethan stood and stuck his hand in his pocket, noting Janie’s guarded expression as he did. He pulled out the picture of Charlie that he’d printed after he found all the baby pictures and tossed it into Tyler’s lap.
His brother picked it up and studied it. “I don’t understand. What is this?”
“It’s a picture taken of Charlie two weeks after the night he supposedly died.”
“Supposedly …”
“Yes. He was kidnapped, Tyler.”
His brother stared at the photo. “I don’t even know what to say to this. You’re sure?”
“As sure as I can be without seeing him face-to-face. I don’t know how, but this little baby is my connection to finding him.” Ethan stared at the picture for a moment. “And if I had any doubts, they disappeared when I got a call this morning from one of the men I was investigating for human trafficking. Tyler, I haven’t heard the slightest thing about this case until Janie, and now suddenly I’m getting a call from Tony Cantori?”
“I don’t know what to say.” Tyler studied Janie as she played quietly on the floor. “I can’t even process this.”
Ethan stared out the window toward the blue water of the bay. “Believe me, I know. I found Charlie’s photo in with a file of hundreds of pictures of other children. There is something much larger going on than kidnapping the child of one FBI agent for revenge.” He held Janie’s cup out to her as she crawled to him and pulled up on the edge of the sofa.
“Clearly there’s a lot that we don’t know.” Tyler stood and paced to the edge of the room, and Janie went still on the floor, watching him.
Ethan picked her up. “I think Janie was held somewhere until someone left her for me to find, knowing that I would take care of her because I would do anything in my power to find my son.”
“And finding Charlie does what? Takes down the operation? Saves other children from the same fate?”
Ethan shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t see myself as some savior. I just want my son back.”
“You certainly saved one little girl.” Kelsey’s voice from the door startled Ethan. “She adores you.”
He looked down at Janie. When he first found her, he had seen her as someone to rescue. And yeah, he had to admit, there was a small part of him that had seen his son in her—that thought if his son had been alone and in need, he would want someone to help.
Slowly, though, he was coming to know Janie’s little personality. He knew he would do anything for the little angel playing on the floor beside him, a fact that scared him to death. Because he knew that love made a man more vulnerable—and he didn’t ever want to be that vulnerable again.
Kelsey limped back into the room on the side of one foot and the heel of the other and sank to the floor where Janie played, squirting a prefilled syringe into her mouth before the baby could even protest.
“Impressive,” Tyler noted. He dug around in his back pocket and pulled out a cell phone, handing it to Kelsey. “I forgot to give you this earlier. I hope you don’t mind, but we had your old number forwarded to this phone, since you lost yours.”
“Wouldn’t someone be able to trace her to this location?” Ethan voice was tight with concern.
“Thank you for asking, Granny Worry.” Tyler looked at Kelsey. “The new phone is secure just like yours, so even if someone calls your old number and tries to locate you, they won’t be able to. It’s really important that you don’t tell anyone where you’re staying, Kelsey. Even the people in your office.”
She nodded. She knew that even her coworkers were not above suspicion, that anyone could be corrupted. But it was their job to keep children safe.
“It may seem extreme, but we keep a couple of these phones on hand. Obviously that we exist is no secret, but we want Restoration Cove to be a safe haven for those who come here.”
The doorbell rang. Tyler stood. “It’s probably Nolan. I’ll go meet him. He’ll want to set up in the library.”
Ethan followed Tyler out the door into the hall.
“I’ll be down in a bit. I want to meet Nolan, but I need to get Janie down for a nap.” Her new phone rang, and for a moment, she just stared at it. Within seconds, both men had returned to the doorway.
She picked it up. It was probably just work. “Kelsey Rogers.”
After listening a few seconds, she said, “Thanks for letting me know. Yes, you can fax the medical file to …” She looked at Tyler, the question on her face.
Tyler supplied the number for their secure fax line and Kelsey repeated it into the phone. “Definitely keep me posted on your findings.”
She hung up the phone and turned to Ethan. “The warrant came through for Janie’s medical records. The doctor faxed them to my office. We’re going to send an officer to the address they show for Janie and ask some questions. They’ll call us with any new information.”
On the floor, Janie couldn’t get a block into a bucket and dissolved into tears. Ethan picked her up again. “I could try to get her to sleep if you want to wait on the call.”
“No, go talk to Nolan. Get the file. I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.” She held her arms out to Janie and the baby lurched into them, immediately laying her head on Kelsey’s shoulder.
“Tyler will make sure the papers get through, and we’ll start Nolan working on connections to the address in the file.” Ethan patted Janie on the back, his face serious. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this, don’t worry.”
He made Kelsey feel safe. He made her feel like someone cared. Special moments she’d missed when she lost her parents—those were things she tried to provide for the foster children in her care.
Now someone was showing her the same care.
It meant more to her than she could’ve imagined. And she was going to have to let him go. Because even she knew he wasn’t in this for a relationship. He was in it to find his son.
She was a means to an end because she held the baby that was the key to it all.
SIX
Ethan leaned over the fax machine as it spit out pages. “Come on.”
He’d known his son was alive for approximately twenty-four hours, and the tension inside him was hitting the unbearable point. He needed information and he needed it now.
He picked up a page, glanced at it and shoved it in front of Nolan. “Here. Here’s the address.”
Nolan took the sheet and placed it to the side on the shiny surface of the cherrywood desk. “Dude. I don’t even have the system hooked up yet.”
“Sorry.” Ethan stacked the pages of the medical file, taking a deep breath. He stabbed his fingers through his hair,
giving him a bed-head look. “Can I help?”
The guy had been attached in some way or another to every agency Ethan could think of. His security clearance was probably higher than the president’s. He shot Ethan a look. “No.”
Ethan paced the room. “The address is in Jacksonville. Maybe that’s where they moved their operation. It would make sense with the tourism industry and the port.”
“Not to mention the I-95 corridor.” Nolan powered up the computer. “Okay, give me the address—and look through those papers. If those are medical records, you should have some other info. A copy of a driver’s license, or a Social Security number—something.”
His fingers flew on the keys. “So I have some databases that I normally check for information on property owners. If she gave the correct address, we might be able to find information on the owner or renter.”
More tapping on the keyboard. He made a noise.
“What? What was that?” Ethan leaned forward.
Nolan shoved him back. “Don’t hover. It’s listed under a corporation name. Let me do some more digging. It’s probably a shell, but I might be able to come up with something.”
Kelsey appeared in the door. Ethan straightened. “Baby asleep?”
“Yes, but that’s not why I’m here. I got a call from the cops in Maryland. There was nothing in the house. It had been cleaned out.” She looked defeated, dark circles making her eyes look bruised. “Wait—did the fax come through? What’s Janie’s name?”
He picked up a page from the fax, turned it to show her. “Her name is Jane Peters.”
“Peters? My guess is the real name is more like Petrovka, but they Americanized it. I wonder what her mother called her. Children in Russia always have nicknames, even if the name is longer than their real name.” She blew out a breath. “Will we ever be able to find out for sure?”
“Don’t worry. We’re not out of it yet.” Ethan circled an arm around her waist, and she leaned into him, lifting one of her sore feet to rest it on the other one. “Everyone leaves traces. We just need someone who can find them.”
“Luckily you have that person sitting right here.” Nolan tapped on the keys. “Okay, I searched the name listed on the form. Viktoria Arsov didn’t use her real Social Security number. There’s even a note in the file that she forgot her driver’s license when she was in the office with the baby. But we can cross-reference the name she gave with the address we have.”
He hummed a little as he typed and scrolled. “Okay, she doesn’t have a bank account, but she has a credit card in the same name with a slightly different spelling, using that address.”
Kelsey shifted her weight to the other foot, but they were both so sore that it didn’t really help. “I can get a court order for the credit card records, but it might take a little while.”
Nolan tapped the keys a few more times, and a paper came spewing out of the printer. “She used that card three hours ago, about forty-five minutes from here, at a hotel just outside Fort Walton Beach.” He whipped the paper out of the tray and held it up.
Ethan snatched it. “I’m going.”
Kelsey blocked the doorway. “Ethan, you have to call the sheriff’s office or the SBPD for help. You have no idea what this woman is capable of or if she’s even alone.”
Tyler walked in, dropped into one of the leather reading chairs and hooked one foot over the other knee. “I have to agree with Kelsey on this one. There’s nothing good that can come from going alone, but lots that can go wrong.”
“This woman is the only lead I have to finding my son.” He looked into Kelsey’s eyes and took her hand. “I don’t want to leave you, but you’ll be safe here, I promise.”
He let her hand drop as he strode away without giving them a chance to say more. He wasn’t kidding. It was hard leaving her here. Harder still was knowing Charlie was out there somewhere and not knowing where. Or how to get to him.
“Ethan.” The soft voice behind him stopped him in motion as he reached for the doorknob.
His shoulders dropped. “I’m sorry, Kels—I have to go. I have to take this chance.”
“I understand. Just be careful, please. This is the person who left a baby defenseless in the middle of the ocean.”
He gave her a quick smile, meant to reassure. “Janie’s got you now. She’s far from defenseless.” He pushed open the back door. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. Hopefully with the woman who knows the details of Janie’s life.”
Kelsey pressed something into his hand. “We’ll have backup meet you there. Your brother said to give you these.”
Keys. He wouldn’t have gotten very far without them, evidence that he wasn’t thinking as clearly as he should be—guess he needed the backup they were sending after all. “Thanks.” He touched her cheek. “You won’t even know I’m gone.”
He walked away.
His baby had been taken from him. He could barely breathe at the thought that Charlie might be alive. For so long there hadn’t been a whisper of hope in his life. There had been nothing to look forward to. He’d been an empty shell.
Hope hurt.
But he was ready for it. Charlie needed him. And he needed Charlie, to know that he was okay. To know that his little boy hadn’t suffered—wasn’t suffering the way Ethan had these last two years.
He glanced back at the house and saw Kelsey framed in the doorway to the kitchen. The early afternoon sunlight shone on her face, gilding her in its light. She was tough and sweet, had to be to hang in there in the job she did. He had amazing respect for her.
Truthfully, she was beginning to mean something to him in a way that was completely unexpected. He didn’t know what to do with the knowledge, or even what it meant, but there it was.
And that kind of hope hurt, too. He felt like he was coming apart at the cracks. Every bit of sticking together that he’d done in the last two years seemed to be shredding in the face of these new developments.
The only thing he knew to do was stay busy, chase down the leads to find his son and baby Janie’s past and do everything in his power to keep both of them safe.
He could think about the rest later.
Kelsey watched Ethan drive away and fought the urge to, in a fit of temper, hold her breath until he returned. She had a little baby upstairs depending on her, depending on both of them, to find out what in the world was going on.
She limped back into the library. Ethan and Tyler’s friend, Nolan, had his head bent over the computer. He was talking to himself and typing. His hair was sticking up in all directions. He wore a tiny silver cross on leather threads around his neck. She hated to interrupt his work, but he was probably the only person who could help her. “Nolan?”
He didn’t look up.
“Hello?”
The computer expert stopped typing and looked up, squinting eyes the color of aged whisky at her. “Sorry, I’m not good with names. Do I know you?”
She eased into a seat across the table from him, relieved to take some of the pressure off her feet. “I’m Kelsey, Ethan’s friend.”
“The social worker.”
“Right, the social worker.” As a general rule, she wasn’t a fan of labels, but if it worked for him, she could deal. “I need some help. We found an SD card with photographs of infants that we believe were trafficked through illegal adoptions. I need to try to find these babies.”
“You have photographs?” He reached into his bag and pulled out another laptop.
“I was thinking maybe there would be a way to search for pictures of those babies that were posted somewhere? I know we might not find all of them, but if we found some of them and could find the adoption states, I could subpoena the records, which might bring out more information.”
“Yeah, it could be a good start at tracking down the people who would actually sell a child to a person desperate enough to buy one.” The anger in his voice took her aback.
He blinked and the anger disappeared. “Sorry. It makes me a
little upset that there are more than four hundred million orphans in the world, but babies are being trafficked for profit.”
It was the first sign of emotion that she’d seen from the very efficient, methodical Nolan. Also preoccupied, disheveled and disorderly and, apparently, passionate about some things. Intriguing.
“I understand. I was adopted at the age of ten. If my parents hadn’t taken me in, there’s no telling where I would’ve ended up.” She stuffed her hands into the pants of her borrowed jeans, the legs cuffed because Gracie was two inches taller. “So, is there a program like that?”
“Sit down.” He slid a laptop across the table to her. “I have … access, we’ll say, to a reverse image search. It’s highly specialized. You enter the picture, the program searches the internet for images with similar reference points. You should have some luck, but it’s going to take time. You’ll have to enter each photo individually.”
An hour later, she’d found four children out of the forty that she’d run through the search engine. She was surprised how many people blogged about their adoption journey.
So she had names to start with for the four, and those she was passing across the table to Nolan to start background searches. He was having better luck than she was at finding out real information.
She heard a noise and looked up, wondering if she should worry about the lighting fixtures above them. It sounded like someone knocking on a door, but she had a sneaking suspicion that it was a toddler, banging the side of her bed against the wall. “You’ll have to excuse me. I think I’m needed upstairs.”
“What? Oh.” Nolan scrubbed a hand through his curly hair, making it stand up even more. “You can take the computer with you if you like. It’s not like I can use both of them. If you find anything more, you can always bring it to me or shoot me an email. There’s wireless here and it’s safe to use.”
Safe to use the wireless. Something else she wouldn’t have considered. “Thanks, Nolan. You’ve been a lot of help.”
Kelsey limped up the stairs as fast as she could, taking most of the weight on the handrail. She went through the sitting room to drop off the computer before opening the door to the blue-and-brown bedroom, an inexplicable joy filling her at the thought of the blue-eyed, towheaded tot on the other side. She peeked around the corner.
The Baby's Bodyguard Page 6
