Officer Springer smiled. “I worked a few cases with him before he retired. He was a great detective. Why don’t you bring me up to speed?”
After doing so, Evangeline pulled a picture of Charlene from the Internet and Officer Springer posted someone at every exit.
“My partner is on the third floor looking for her now,” Evangeline explained.
Officer Springer relayed that to her team. “My officers will start on the first floor, and I’ll put in a request for a search warrant.”
A news truck pulled into the parking lot. “I’ve got to move these guys off the property,” said the officer. “We’re dealing with minors and I need to keep a tight lid on this.”
“I want to check on my sister,” Evangeline said as the women exited the building. As she headed into the parking lot, Evangeline pulled out her phone and called her boss.
“Tate, here.”
“Jim, it’s Evangeline.”
“I take it you saw the email.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
“No, I haven’t.”
“The Bureau issued you a formal apology. You’ve been officially reinstated. Now, when the hell are you coming back to work?”
“How ‘bout now?”
“That’ll work.”
“Good, because I found Uncle Charlie.”
Silence.
“Were you working your cases while on leave?” His tone changed from chipper to serious.
“My sister and her newborn were kidnapped and I—”
“What?”
After providing him with a high-level overview, she said, “This is much bigger than I’d anticipated. Charlene Caraway is running what appears to be a very successful, very profitable baby farm.”
“Dear God,” he said. “Do you need a warrant?”
“The police are getting one, but if you can do it faster, I’ll take it.”
“Let me see what I can do,” he said and hung up.
Evangeline slipped into the back seat beside Hannah. “The police are searching for Charlene. How are you guys doing?”
“I’m okay.” Hannah smiled at her son, cradled in her arms. “Robert is safe.” Tears filled her eyes. “Thank you both so, so much.”
Sanchez smiled. “This is why I love my job.” She glanced toward the building. “Let me see if I can wrangle a paramedic.” She opened the door. “Be right back.”
After Sanchez shut the SUV door, Evangeline said, “I’m so sorry I left you.”
“This is not on you,” Hannah replied. “I’m grateful you guys found us, and that Sinclair isn’t dead.”
Despite the adrenaline pounding through her, Evangeline shot her a brief smile. “Me, too.” Then, her smile fell away. “There were several newborns in there. Can you confirm that’s Robert?”
After unsnapping his onesie and moving his diaper out of the way, she pointed to a tiny mole on his hip. “Even if he didn’t have that mark, I would recognize my own child. This is definitely my baby.” She smiled down at him while she dressed him. “Hi, sweet baby. Mommy loves you so much.” The happiness in her eyes fell away. “I let Charlene in. I never should have done that.”
“Don’t go there, Hannah. No one suspected her. I’m guessing she drugged you and brought you here.”
As she nodded, her lower lip quivered. “She stopped by to deliver presents, which she said she left in the car. She made herself coffee and me an herbal tea. While we were chatting, I started feeling woozy. She insisted on taking me to the doctor. I have a hazy memory of putting on my coat. Next thing I remember, I was sitting in that room with Robert, but the door was locked from the outside.” Hannah started trembling. “When the nurse took Robert, I was powerless to stop her.”
Leaning over, Evangeline hugged her. “I’m so sorry.”
“Charlene told me my son was worth a quarter of a million dollars, but I was worthless and would have made a terrible mom.”
“What a bitch.”
“I’m afraid to go home,” Hannah said. “Where’s Joey?”
Evangeline’s guts churned as she stared into Hannah’s eyes. “You trust me, right?”
“Oh, my God, yes. Of course, I do.”
“He won’t be hounding you for Robert.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, furrowing her brow.
“You know I can’t talk about my work. Just focus on your beautiful child and forget about him, okay?”
Hannah snuggled her son. “As far as I’m concerned, Joey Thomason never existed.” When she lifted her face, determination shone in her eyes. “Charlene was going to kill me, wasn’t she?”
Evangeline squeezed her hand. “She can’t hurt you now, either, Hannah.”
“Where is she?”
“Somewhere in that building and I’ve got to help Sinclair and the police find her.” Evangeline looked out the window. “Looks like Sanchez found a paramedic. I think you should get checked at the hospital. You don’t want to pass whatever Charlene gave you on to Robert in your breast milk.”
“No, I don’t.” Hannah sat up tall. “Maria—Sanchez—said something to me that helped me so much.”
“Yeah?”
“She said, ‘Something bad happened to you and you can’t change that. It’s how you manage it going forward that shapes who you are. You can be a victim or you can be a survivor’.” Hannah smiled. “I choose survivor.”
Relief and gratitude coursed through her. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I hate Charlene, and I will do whatever I can to make sure she spends the rest of her evil life in prison.”
Sanchez knocked on the window and Evangeline opened the door. “Paramedics want to take Hannah and Robert to the hospital,” Sanchez said. “I can go with her if you need to get inside.”
Evangeline turned back to Hannah for confirmation.
“Find her,” Hannah said. “Don’t let her get away with what she’s done.”
Evangeline exited the vehicle and thanked Sanchez. “If Hannah can use your phone to call our mom, she can meet you guys at the hospital.”
“I’ve got this,” Sanchez replied.
Evangeline took off toward the building, more determined than ever to find Charlene.
His weapon in hand, Sin exited the pristine surgery center and powered toward Charlene’s corner office. Motivated by revenge, he would not leave the premises until she’d been found.
“Sin, I have an update,” Evangeline said through the comm.
“I’m here,” he whispered.
“One of the officers confirmed her Mercedes is still parked in her reserved spot and she’s not hiding in it.”
“She wasn’t in the birthing or surgery rooms, either. I’m headed to her office.”
While Charlene could have snuck out with one of her employees, his gut told him she was hiding somewhere in the building.
And I’m going to fucking find her.
He eased open the door to her office. A dark oak desk and leather executive chair filled one corner. A white sofa and glass coffee table occupied the other side of the room. Charlene’s floor-to-ceiling built-ins were packed with books, but it was the famous painting by Gustav Klimt that caught his eye. A young woman adorned in flowers held her young child against her bare chest while they slept.