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Authors: Delores Fossen
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operation.
“I guess the CSI didn’t find anything at the two baby farm sites?” she asked.
“Nothing. They’ll keep looking, of course.”
Yes, but she was betting the guards had destroyed anything that could prove helpful. “This isn’t just a cottage industry,” she said, thinking out loud. “The person doing this has money and is well-organized.”
“Maybe well-hidden, too.” Austin cursed, shoved his hand through his hair and stood. Pacing, again. “I figure this is a pyramid operation. One top dog with lots of sites. Each site operates independently of the others, so if one goes down, it doesn’t take the others down with it.”
Rosalie swallowed hard. “Then it might be impossible to find the person who took the babies.”
“Hard, yes. Impossible, no. I’m not giving up on finding my nephew.”
“Even though it cost you your badge?” she asked.
A muscle flickered in his jaw. “I won’t stop, no matter what the cost.” He sat in the chair next to her and stared straight into her eyes. “But you’ll have to. You can’t put yourself in the line of fire like this.”
Rosalie considered just lying. Telling him what he wanted to hear, that she’d go home and wait for someone else to find her baby. But she was tired of waiting. She’d been the good girl too long, listening to various lawmen who had told her to let them do their jobs.
Well, they hadn’t done their jobs.
They hadn’t found Sadie.
“I can’t stop,” she told him. “But it’s not your problem.”
“To hell it’s not. I can’t let you go out there and get yourself killed.”
“It’s not your responsibly to keep me safe.”
The flat look he gave her said differently.
Oh, no. They weren’t about to go there with this conversation.
“You don’t owe me because of Eli,” she insisted.
“That wasn’t what you said at the baby farm,” he reminded her.
“I was desperate, and I blackmailed you, but now I’m letting you off the hook. Besides, you’ve got enough on your plate.” She paused. “How much work will it take you just to get your badge back?”
Austin turned, ready to bolt out of the chair, and she saw the pain this was causing him.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” she added. “Eli always said you were married to the badge.”
“Yeah.” And a moment later, Austin repeated it. “The only thing I’ve ever wanted to be was an FBI agent. But my sister is blood. So is her son. I have to get Nathan back home before Christmas.”
Rosalie nodded, swallowed the lump in her throat because that was her wish, too, for her own baby. “When was Nathan kidnapped?”
“Right after he was born nearly four months ago. My sister had a C-section, and she had some problems with blood loss right afterward. She nearly died, so no one got around to taking pictures of the baby. He was stolen just a few hours later. Someone had tampered with the security cameras and jammed the tracking chip used in the hospital bracelets.”
Oh, God. His story brought her own painful memories to the surface. Not that they were ever far from her mind.
At least she had a photo of Sadie, but her sweet baby had been taken much the same way. A very precise, organized crime since the tracking chip in Sadie’s bracelet had been jammed, as well, by placing several Wi-Fi scramblers throughout the hospital. If that hadn’t been done, the chip in the bracelet would have triggered the security alarm when the kidnapper stepped outside the hospital with her. As it was, it’d taken the kidnapper less than five minutes to get in and out.
It sickened her to think of how many times that same crime had been committed since the start of these baby farms.
“If you don’t know what your nephew looks like, then how will you know if you find him?” Rosalie asked.
Austin seemed to be in such deep thought that it took him a moment to answer her. “According to the nurse who assisted with the delivery, Nathan has a large
“I guess the CSI didn’t find anything at the two baby farm sites?” she asked.
“Nothing. They’ll keep looking, of course.”
Yes, but she was betting the guards had destroyed anything that could prove helpful. “This isn’t just a cottage industry,” she said, thinking out loud. “The person doing this has money and is well-organized.”
“Maybe well-hidden, too.” Austin cursed, shoved his hand through his hair and stood. Pacing, again. “I figure this is a pyramid operation. One top dog with lots of sites. Each site operates independently of the others, so if one goes down, it doesn’t take the others down with it.”
Rosalie swallowed hard. “Then it might be impossible to find the person who took the babies.”
“Hard, yes. Impossible, no. I’m not giving up on finding my nephew.”
“Even though it cost you your badge?” she asked.
A muscle flickered in his jaw. “I won’t stop, no matter what the cost.” He sat in the chair next to her and stared straight into her eyes. “But you’ll have to. You can’t put yourself in the line of fire like this.”
Rosalie considered just lying. Telling him what he wanted to hear, that she’d go home and wait for someone else to find her baby. But she was tired of waiting. She’d been the good girl too long, listening to various lawmen who had told her to let them do their jobs.
Well, they hadn’t done their jobs.
They hadn’t found Sadie.
“I can’t stop,” she told him. “But it’s not your problem.”
“To hell it’s not. I can’t let you go out there and get yourself killed.”
“It’s not your responsibly to keep me safe.”
The flat look he gave her said differently.
Oh, no. They weren’t about to go there with this conversation.
“You don’t owe me because of Eli,” she insisted.
“That wasn’t what you said at the baby farm,” he reminded her.
“I was desperate, and I blackmailed you, but now I’m letting you off the hook. Besides, you’ve got enough on your plate.” She paused. “How much work will it take you just to get your badge back?”
Austin turned, ready to bolt out of the chair, and she saw the pain this was causing him.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” she added. “Eli always said you were married to the badge.”
“Yeah.” And a moment later, Austin repeated it. “The only thing I’ve ever wanted to be was an FBI agent. But my sister is blood. So is her son. I have to get Nathan back home before Christmas.”
Rosalie nodded, swallowed the lump in her throat because that was her wish, too, for her own baby. “When was Nathan kidnapped?”
“Right after he was born nearly four months ago. My sister had a C-section, and she had some problems with blood loss right afterward. She nearly died, so no one got around to taking pictures of the baby. He was stolen just a few hours later. Someone had tampered with the security cameras and jammed the tracking chip used in the hospital bracelets.”
Oh, God. His story brought her own painful memories to the surface. Not that they were ever far from her mind.
At least she had a photo of Sadie, but her sweet baby had been taken much the same way. A very precise, organized crime since the tracking chip in Sadie’s bracelet had been jammed, as well, by placing several Wi-Fi scramblers throughout the hospital. If that hadn’t been done, the chip in the bracelet would have triggered the security alarm when the kidnapper stepped outside the hospital with her. As it was, it’d taken the kidnapper less than five minutes to get in and out.
It sickened her to think of how many times that same crime had been committed since the start of these baby farms.
“If you don’t know what your nephew looks like, then how will you know if you find him?” Rosalie asked.
Austin seemed to be in such deep thought that it took him a moment to answer her. “According to the nurse who assisted with the delivery, Nathan has a large
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