Weary from a night without sleep, Maddie wished shed taken the time to do more than shower and throw on some lipstick and jeans. Maybe a power suit. She should have at least put her hair up in one of those sensible buns that made grown men and the high-school students in her English class take her more seriously.
She tucked one brash-colored strand of hair behind her ear and put on her best schoolteacher voice. I dont think Joe has anything to do with Katies disappearance. Im more interested in what that man named Zero told me last night.
The detective stopped shuffling his papers. Zero? Hefty black guy? Lots of jewelry?
Maddie nodded. Im sure hes a pimp. I was talking to one of his girls first, a woman named
KCPD is well aware of who Zero Chambers is. You dont have any business messing with him.
Yes, well she breathed deeply to ignore the memory of his hands and body rubbing against hers he mentioned something about a clinic. One where pregnant women go to sell their babies. I guess its more profitable than giving the child up for adoption.
Wait a minute. Go back. Cooper touched his fingers to the back of Maddies hand, where she still clutched her purse in her lap. Zero knows about a clinic where theyre buying babies?
Isnt that what shed just said? Is Zerothis Mr. Chambersreliable? He talked as if it were something hed considered investing in. Maddie pulled her hand away, embarrassed that she wasnt a better judge of men. Maybe he just made it up. Im sure he was trying to shock me.
Instead of another lecture on the foolhardiness of conducting her own private investigation, Cooper Bellamy was suddenly, intensely interested in everything she had to say. If theres word on the street, Zero would know about it. He pulled out his pen and notepad and turned to a fresh page. Now tell me again exactly what he said about this clinic.
Hoping that shed finally provided a lead in the search for Katie while praying that a place that bought and sold babies couldnt really exist, Maddie carefully related the details of her encounter with Zerominus the touchy-feely, groping part. I cant imagine anyone doing something so awfultaking advantage of the most vulnerable people in our societyand not hearing about it on the news.
Detective Bellamy raised his dark eyes from his notes and looked at her as if he thought she was simpleminded. Its not something they want to advertise, Ms. McCallister. Those babies are for sale. They want to keep their operation way under the radar so that it doesnt generate any press. They have to be sidestepping a bunch of legalitiesmedical licenses, government inspections, forged documentation, taxes.
Whod want to buy a baby?
Wanna-be parents who cant or dont want to conceive themselves. Couples whove gotten stuck for years in the legal-adoption process or who dont qualify for some reason. If they can meet the asking price, Junior can be theirs. He pulled up something on his computer and scrolled down the screen.
KCPD suspected something like this was going on. He spared her a glance from his furtive work. Six months ago, we had an eighteen-year-old show up in rehab. The girls parents claimed shed been pregnant before disappearing on a meth binge. The girl wasnt pregnant when she surfaced again, and she had no recollection of the babys whereabouts or even having been pregnant.
Katie isnt a drug addict. If that girl you mentioned was a meth user, then her baby might have it was tragic to even suggest the possibility died. Katie wouldnt take drugs, drink or smoke anything that could harm a fetus.
Bellamy nodded, but Maddie had a feeling the detectives interest in her search had moved way beyond Katie. We had another vic, unidentified, show up two months back who, according to the medical examiner, had recently gone through a healthy delivery. The mother was dead, but there was no sign of the babyalive or dead. It matches a case in St. Louis. We havent had any leads
Dead? The mother was dead?
The idea that anyone would treat an innocent baby like a commodity didnt stun her as much as the expression on the detectives face that said Zeros story could be true.
Maddie felt the blood draining to her toes, leaving her light-headed and sick to her stomach. Katie doesnt want to give up her baby. She picked out names. We decorated the nursery together. Were not rich, but were not hurting for money, either. She wouldnt get involved in something like that. Not if she had a choice.
But Cooper wasnt listening now. He was on his feet, glancing through the deserted rows of paired-off desks and cubicle walls that filled the Fourth Precincts Detectives Division.
Katie wouldnt sell her baby. Where would she meet such people? Why?
For the first time in twenty-nine days, Maddie hoped that Katie was just another teenage runaway.
The blood of determination started pumping through her veins again. Maddie braced her hand against the desk and rose to her feet. Katies in more trouble than I thought, isnt she? She might already be dead.
Coopers own color blanched, as if he just now realized how many gruesome details hed shared. Im sorry, maam. I was just thinking out loud. Im sure your niece will turn up perfectly fine. The baby, too. The possibility of that clinic is just something we were briefed on. Something to watch for. If it happened in another town, it could be happening here. But we dont have any proof of that yet.
Maddie didnt want his apologies and reassurances; she wanted cold, hard facts. You think its a possibility, though, dont you? That this baby-selling clinic exists. That Katies a part of it.
I dont know, maam.
Shes important to you now because she could be a lead on a major case.
Just sit tight for a sec. Please. He waved toward the chair beside his desk and urged her to take a seat. Let me run this story by someone else. Make sure Im not crazy for even considering it.
Maddie hesitated. Was this a brush-off or a reason to hope? What about Katie?
Ms. McCallister, if your niece is involved in an illegal-adoption ringwhether by choice or against her willthen I can guarantee you that every resource KCPD has will be put into finding her. This could be a huge case.
And if this adoption ring doesnt exist?
Well still find her.
He asked her to sit one more time before zipping toward a door marked Captain. But Maddie hugged her arms around her middle and chose to pace instead.
Whether Katie was involved in a major criminal operation or just a seventeen-year-old girl, confused and alone on the streets, Maddie was beginning to fear that shed never see her again.
Chapter Two
What am I supposed to do with it?
The Fourth Precincts briefing room was generally empty on a Saturday morning. But drawn like bees to a dewy flower, a surprising number of plainclothes and uniformed officers alike had gathered around the front table. Some of them werent even on duty. Grown men spouted nonsense words; professional women cooed. Stories about kids and grandkids and kids some hoped to have one day filled the air like a party.
Dwight hovered near the back of the room, staying well away from the happy throng. His all-night marathon of answering questions about the babys mother and what the blood in his office and on the note might mean made him testier than usual. Theres no way Im taking it home with me.