Read Online The Baby's Guardian by Delores Fossen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Delores Fossen
Ads: Link
employee recognizing her and blabbing to his friends. News like that could get back to the gunmen.
Sabrina was already busy writing her statement when he finished the call so Shaw settled back into the chair to check the messages on his secure laptop. He’d barely made it through the first one when his phone buzzed.
“It’s Officer Newell,” the caller identified himself. “We caught a break on the surveillance cameras we took from the hospital. Most had been disabled. Nothing sophisticated. The gunmen had smashed them, but they missed a newly installed one at the end of the hall near the lab.”
Shaw wanted to cheer. Finally, some good news. “What do we have?”
“Neither of the men took off their ski masks so we don’t have images to put through the facial recognition software, but we do have some of their movements. One of them went into the lab, just as several of the witnesses said. And he took one of the hostages with him. A computer tech named Willa Marks. He appears to have forced her to help him look for something. They were going through the files.”
“Any fingerprints on the keyboards?”
“Plenty. But both of the gunmen wore surgical gloves.And even though there’s a lot of trace on the computer and the surrounding area, it’ll take us a while to rule out what belongs to the staff or the hostage Willa Marks, and what might belong to the gunmen.”
Newell was right. That type of sorting might take days or even weeks, especially when dozens of people would have to be excluded. “What’s Ms. Marks saying? Does she know why the gunman had her in there with him?”
“She’s, uh, not able to talk. She received a head injury when the gunman shoved her down as she was trying to escape. She doesn’t remember anything.”
Hell. The more he heard, the more his stomach clenched. And this was just the beginning. How many more sickening details were there?
Since Willa Marks might not be able to tell them what had happened, at least for a while, Shaw needed to piece together as much as he could. “What files did the gunman search?”
Sabrina stopped writing and stared at him, obviously waiting for an update.
“We’re trying to sort that out now,” Officer Newell verified. “They accessed at least four dozen files, but we don’t know why. I can tell you that all the files they accessed dealt with DNA.”
“DNA?” Shaw questioned. “What kind of DNA?”
“Some were from the babies, some from the parents. We’re talking court-ordered DNA tests. Others were apparently done for medical reasons, like for a baby needing a transplant. A few more are for a database for umbilical storage. There were even a few samples that SAPD had outsourced to the lab for processing.”
Shaw went still. “Were any for paternity?” he questioned.
“Yes, sir. There were several of those. One of them court ordered, as well. Why, what are you thinking?”
He was thinking the gunmen might have wanted to confirm that Sabrina’s baby was his. So the baby could be used as leverage.
But leverage for what?
Because if he could figure that out, he could figure out who was behind all of this.
“Let me call you back,” Shaw told the officer. “I need to ask Sabrina a few questions. In the meantime, find out if the gunmen tampered with any of those files or if they got access to the DNA samples themselves. Specifically, look for any files that were removed or deleted. The tech should be able to do that in just a couple of minutes.”
“I’ll tell him,” Newell assured him.
“What about paternity?” Sabrina asked the moment Shaw ended the call.
She already looked worried, and he didn’t want to make that worry worse, but he couldn’t shield her from this. Sabrina might very well have information they could put together with what the police knew, and then they might have the big picture.
That big picture could lead them to make an arrest.
“The gunmen were going through the DNA files,” Shaw told her.
Sabrina was already busy writing her statement when he finished the call so Shaw settled back into the chair to check the messages on his secure laptop. He’d barely made it through the first one when his phone buzzed.
“It’s Officer Newell,” the caller identified himself. “We caught a break on the surveillance cameras we took from the hospital. Most had been disabled. Nothing sophisticated. The gunmen had smashed them, but they missed a newly installed one at the end of the hall near the lab.”
Shaw wanted to cheer. Finally, some good news. “What do we have?”
“Neither of the men took off their ski masks so we don’t have images to put through the facial recognition software, but we do have some of their movements. One of them went into the lab, just as several of the witnesses said. And he took one of the hostages with him. A computer tech named Willa Marks. He appears to have forced her to help him look for something. They were going through the files.”
“Any fingerprints on the keyboards?”
“Plenty. But both of the gunmen wore surgical gloves.And even though there’s a lot of trace on the computer and the surrounding area, it’ll take us a while to rule out what belongs to the staff or the hostage Willa Marks, and what might belong to the gunmen.”
Newell was right. That type of sorting might take days or even weeks, especially when dozens of people would have to be excluded. “What’s Ms. Marks saying? Does she know why the gunman had her in there with him?”
“She’s, uh, not able to talk. She received a head injury when the gunman shoved her down as she was trying to escape. She doesn’t remember anything.”
Hell. The more he heard, the more his stomach clenched. And this was just the beginning. How many more sickening details were there?
Since Willa Marks might not be able to tell them what had happened, at least for a while, Shaw needed to piece together as much as he could. “What files did the gunman search?”
Sabrina stopped writing and stared at him, obviously waiting for an update.
“We’re trying to sort that out now,” Officer Newell verified. “They accessed at least four dozen files, but we don’t know why. I can tell you that all the files they accessed dealt with DNA.”
“DNA?” Shaw questioned. “What kind of DNA?”
“Some were from the babies, some from the parents. We’re talking court-ordered DNA tests. Others were apparently done for medical reasons, like for a baby needing a transplant. A few more are for a database for umbilical storage. There were even a few samples that SAPD had outsourced to the lab for processing.”
Shaw went still. “Were any for paternity?” he questioned.
“Yes, sir. There were several of those. One of them court ordered, as well. Why, what are you thinking?”
He was thinking the gunmen might have wanted to confirm that Sabrina’s baby was his. So the baby could be used as leverage.
But leverage for what?
Because if he could figure that out, he could figure out who was behind all of this.
“Let me call you back,” Shaw told the officer. “I need to ask Sabrina a few questions. In the meantime, find out if the gunmen tampered with any of those files or if they got access to the DNA samples themselves. Specifically, look for any files that were removed or deleted. The tech should be able to do that in just a couple of minutes.”
“I’ll tell him,” Newell assured him.
“What about paternity?” Sabrina asked the moment Shaw ended the call.
She already looked worried, and he didn’t want to make that worry worse, but he couldn’t shield her from this. Sabrina might very well have information they could put together with what the police knew, and then they might have the big picture.
That big picture could lead them to make an arrest.
“The gunmen were going through the DNA files,” Shaw told her.
Similar Books
