Always Watching (13 page)

“
Chris, I don’t want the
feds talking to Danny unless we’re present,” I piped up from the
back seat.

“
Now we don’t trust the
FBI?”

“
It has been my distinct
impression that they planned to use this kidnapping to leverage
more information from Datello about Marcos.  There is no
evidence to indicate that Datello knows more about the operation of
his uncle’s business than David Levine took back to Washington in
December.  This investigation is far from over.  I think
its best to send the bureau on their way and keep everything else
we’ve learned quiet.”

“
I disagree,” Chris
said.  “They’ve got a hundred times the resources that we do
if this is really a human trafficking ring, Helen.”

“
But we’ve got something
they could never have.  Nobody knows that we’ve linked the
dead girl down at the bay to what happened to Celeste Datello’s
baby yesterday.  As far as anyone other than Melissa Sherman
and we are concerned, it was a single event.  If she’s been
part of her husband’s slavery thing, she’s got to know that we’re
onto the whole mess.  We need to keep her isolated until we
can press charges for kidnapping.  I don’t want the rest of
this addressed.  These things are never one man
shows.”

“
I get that.  But
what if we’re wrong?”

I flipped the tiny t-shirt on the baby
up.  “I’m looking at a fresh umbilical cord, Chris.  It’s
still got a clamp on it.  Tell me that a two week old baby
still has this intact.”

“
Hurry back here. 
The sooner we get this resolved, the better it’ll be for
everyone.”

“
Chris, I know you’re not
going to like this, but for the time being, I don’t think we should
share our suspicions of human trafficking with anyone not already
directly involved in the investigation,” I said. 
“Anyone.”

“
I’m not gonna talk to the
feds about it.”

“
I meant
Orion.”

“
Helen –”

“
Hear me out.  It’s
come to my attention that Johnny has some sort of relationship with
Melissa Sherman.”

“
What
?” 

“
It’s too complicated to
explain over the phone.  Meet us at Saint Mary’s.”

“
I’m still
here.”

“
We’ll be there in less
than an hour,” Devlin said.  “Let the emergency department
know that we’ll need that cord blood ready to test and a
pediatrician on hand to evaluate the baby.  When we determine
if we’ve got the right kid or not, we can inform Mrs.
Datello.”

“
I have serious
reservations about keeping Johnny in the dark, Devlin,” Chris
said.

“
We’ve been through some
serious shit together, Chris.  Either you trust me or you
don’t.  But tell me which it is right now,” Devlin
said.

“
You know I trust
you.  Are you saying that you agree with Helen?”

“
I know what I saw between
Sherman and Commander Orion this morning, Chris.  You know I
trust Helen.  I’d never bet against her.”

“
All right.  But if
he calls, I won’t lie and say we haven’t spoken.”

“
Just tell him that we
need to do this,” I said.  “If we’re wrong about the baby’s
identity, he can blame the whole thing on his bitter
ex-girlfriend.  That ought to calm down the new
girl.”

“
Shit.  Is that
what’s really going on?”

“
Looks that way,” Devlin
said.  “Do your best to keep him behind us, Chris.  We’ll
be there soon.”

Devlin disconnected the call.  “I hope
you realize that we’re so far past the point of no return that we
can’t even see it from here.”

“
I am certain that half of
these baby’s chromosomes were scooped from the Datello gene
pool.  I can’t worry about the rest right now.  If there
are consequences because we didn’t involve protective services for
children, I’ll accept them.  Given what we know about the
Shermans from the woman they
own
, I’m not willing to risk letting
this baby slip through our fingers.”

A sea of commuters into Darkwater parted for
Devlin’s lights and sirens.  My teeth clenched so hard with
the anxiety I felt that my head ached.  The drive through the
city to Saint Mary’s felt like eternity plus ten years.

Finally, Dev pulled up in the ambulance bay
at the emergency entrance.  We hurried into the emergency
department where Chris waited. 

“
We’ve got maybe fifteen
minutes before he gets here.  I’ve got people waiting to do
the blood test right away.  We won’t be able to stop him from
getting access here once he arrives.”

A nurse whisked us back into a secluded exam
room where the doctor drew the blood sample and put it into the
hands of a waiting lab tech.  “Put a rush on this,” he
said.  “It comes before any stat labs you’ve got
pending.  Got it?”

“
Yes doctor.  We’ll
have a preliminary result in ten.”

I started pacing while the doctor began his
exam.

“
No doubt about it. 
This baby is a day old, maybe less.  Look at the cord, Dr.
Eriksson.  It’s still oozing blood when the clamp is
removed.  I could probably start an umbilical
line.”

“
Has she been harmed in
anyway?” Dev peered over my shoulder.  He felt my trembling
and slipped one arm around my waist.

The pediatrician tested her reflexes and
tone.  “I need to examine for signs of extreme abuse according
to Commander Darnell.  Is that correct?”

“
Yes,” I whispered. 
“Please God…”

Devlin hugged me tighter while the doctor
removed a tiny diaper and examined for the worst assault I could
imagine.

“
She’s fine,” he
said.  His shoulders relaxed noticeably.  “We don’t often
get happy endings in cases like this.  Well done.  Both
of you.”

Raised voices floated through the closed
door.  I cringed.  A moment later, I recognized the
sound.  “It’s Celeste.  She must’ve heard what was going
on down here through the hospital’s infamous grapevine.”

The doctor’s pager chimed.  He grabbed
the phone and dialed four digits.  “Tim, have you got the
prelim already?”

He gave the thumbs up sign. 

I flung the door open and beckoned to
Celeste.  “In here, honey.  We’ve got her.  She’s
safe.”

She rushed into the room, sobbing.  “My
baby!”  Celeste scooped the infant into her arms and cradled
her against her breast.  The baby cries quieted
immediately.  “Oh thank God!  Thank you so much,
detectives!  I can never thank you enough!”

“
Let’s get the two of you
back upstairs,” another nurse beamed at the reunited mother and
child.  “Maybe we can start thinking about names now,
yes?”

Celeste shook her head.  “I already
know what we’re calling her.  Sofia for Danny’s grandmother,
and Helene for the woman who saved my baby’s life – and mine.”

Tears sprang to my eyes.  “Are you sure
you want to do that?”

“
Oh yes.  Danny and I
already discussed it, Detective Eriksson.  Didn’t I tell
you?  This was the only way for healing to ever
begin.”

I turned in Devlin’s arms and buried my face
in his chest. 

“
Not used to that kind of
a happy ending, are you, cupcake?”

“
What did I tell you about
calling me –?”

Devlin tilted my chin upward.  “I’ll
call you what I damn well please.  Right now, hero comes to
mind.  We wouldn’t have found her without you, Helen.”

“
Sure you
would’ve.”

“
You realize of course
that it’ll be a few hours before we have a complete DNA match,” the
doctor intruded on our private moment of relief.  “However,
this girl’s blood is AB negative.  More than rare enough for
me to have confidence that we’ve got the right child based upon the
other physical evidence.  Not only that, she’s a dead ringer
for the picture you put out in the press.”

Dev reached out with one hand and shook the
doctor’s.  “Thank you so much for your efficiency and
compassion, doctor.  I’m surprised that Mrs. Datello didn’t
want to name her baby after you too.”

“
Dev,” I tugged the hem of
his jacket.  “Let’s get out of here now.  Take me
home.”

He understood the confrontation I wanted to
avoid.  “Let’s let Chris know.  I hate leaving him to
face this alone.”

“
I know, but I’m so tired,
I think I could die.”

He ushered me out of the room.  Chris
looked as relieved as we felt.  “Don’t worry about
Johnny.  He’ll calm down when he learns that your lead panned
out.  Get out of here.  I’ll call if there are any
problems.”

I settled into the front seat next to
Dev.  He wasted no time getting away from the hospital. 
I suppose he sensed that only a fraction of Johnny’s rage would be
quelled by the news that we were right about the identity of the
baby in question.

“
Are you sure you want to
go home?”

“
He’s got these vehicles
lo-jacked, Dev.  If we go somewhere else, he’ll still find
me.”

“
Not if I leave you and go
back to work.”

I shook my head.  “The confrontation is
coming.  I’d rather have it on my turf than someplace that
might become loud and more public than I’d like.”

“
He should’ve thought
about that before he publicly pawed a kidnapper for the
paparazzi.  Speaking of our guilty party, I suppose we should
tell Crevan that he needs to bring her back here to be formally
charged.”

“
I’d love to know the
identity of the man that Florence gave the baby to.  It’ll be
a necessary link in this case, Devlin.  Maybe we should
–”

“
You need to rest. 
You’re staring to show that Hindu cow gaunt look again.”

“
Shut up,” I slugged his
arm and pulled out my phone.

“
Crevan, we’ve got a
preliminary match.  Bring Mrs. Sherman back to Darkwater
Bay.”

“
Yeah, there might be a
problem with that, Helen.”

“
Don’t tell me Johnny
threatened your job too.”

“
Of course he did, but
this thing has turned political.  Collangelo is demanding
–”

“
I’ll take care of
it.  Get her back to Darkwater right away.  And Crevan,
for political reasons, let’s keep her at Central Division for the
time being.  Even though it’s OSI’s case, it happened in
central’s jurisdiction.  Since Orion is moments away from
interfering, I’d rather keep her out of his clutches – at least
until that DNA test confirms what we already have compelling
evidence to support.”

Chapter 11

If I ever had doubts about the savvy of
Chris Darnell, today erased every last one of them.  Crevan
called before he left Montgomery and told us that all of Melissa
Sherman’s political support evaporated the second Chris said the
baby’s identity was confirmed to his satisfaction until the
unarguable DNA results were available.

Devlin pulled into my garage and shut off
the engine.  “Alone time, or do you want a buffer for the
inevitable cyclone of fury?”

“
Definitely a
buffer.  He’s not going to be happy that he was thoroughly
caught in an indiscretion.”

“
Great,” Devlin
grinned.  “He can kill two birds with one stone.  He can
get his walking papers before he gives me mine.”

“
He won’t fire you. 
You protected that baby.”

“
Sofia Helene,” Dev
grinned.  “I like it.”

He walked behind me, stepping close, in time
with my weary gait.  His hands rested on my hips.

“
Devlin, you know I can’t
do this.”

“
Yet,” he murmured into my
ear.

“
You’re an angel for being
so good to me.”  Inside the mudroom, I turned in his
arms.  “But you deserve better than someone who’s such a
mess.  I was a mess before I got to Darkwater Bay.  I’ll
be a mess for a long time after I’m gone.”

“
So that’s the plan, huh?”
Johnny’s voice snarled behind me.  “One fight, and you’re
outta here?  But not before you play doctor with my detective
to drive the final nail in the coffin of
us
first.”

Devlin let go of me like a hot potato. 
I jumped away.  Johnny was already retreating.  He
stalked into the bedroom, his closet specifically, and started
throwing his suits on the floor in the middle of the room.

“
Johnny, how dare you come
in here acting like the wounded party after what you
did!”

Cobalt blue coals
glittered where his eyes should’ve been.  “What
I
did?  I’m not the
one who made this problem for Joe a million times
worse!”

“
It’s not my fault he
consorts with kidnappers.  Then again, cheaters rank high on
his list of confidants, so why should that surprise me?”

Fists clenched and started
to rhythmically pound his thighs.  “I did
not
cheat on you!  If you
hadn’t been such a cutthroat –”  Johnny clamped his mouth shut
for a moment.

“
Bitch.  You can say
it, Johnny.  Why hold back now?  Or don’t you have the
balls to tell me what you really think to my face?  Hell of a
lot easier to cut me loose over the phone, huh?”