“HOW LONG HAVE you been in labor?” Oscar asked, helping her stand.
Shelley didn’t answer. Instead she said, “Wait. I need to protect Ryan—”
Oscar didn’t hesitate. “You need to protect both the baby you’re about to have and yourself.”
“This is supposed to be the happiest day of my life.” Tears started rolling down her face.
He turned and addressed the people in the room. “Look, do the DNA swab at the hospital. We have to go.”
Looking at Maureen Peterson, he said, “Ma’am, it’s very likely that you and Shelley have a lot in common. You can work together or you can fight. But you’ve spent the last year searching relentlessly for your son. That makes you a hero in my eyes. I also know and love Shelley Brubaker, who went back to her maiden name, and who has been taking excellent care of—” he paused “—a three-year-old who came into her life unexpectedly. I assure you, the boy has enough Legos to build the Statue of Liberty, enough trains to make it from here to California, every DVD of Curious George, and has been hugged enough to know what it means to be safe.”
“It’s true,” Riley said. “Ryan’s had the best of care.”
Teary-eyed, Maureen got choked up.
Shelley gripped Oscar’s arm tightly.
Oscar didn’t waste another minute. He led Shelley from the room and said, “Culpepper, get your car and bring it around front. Riley, you contact Shelley’s doctor and tell him we’re on our way. Everyone else, this conversation will have to take place at a later date.”
Culpepper, shaking his head and muttering something about “never happened before,” hurried from the room.
“Larry did it,” Shelley told Oscar, leaning into him. He felt her weight but it didn’t bother him. If he had to, he’d carry her to the Sarasota Falls Hospital.
“Larry’s capable of anything,” she said. “You can’t stop him.”
Oscar felt his heart break. Shelley’d trusted him. He’d let her down.
“I can walk on my own now,” Shelley protested.
“Believe me, helping you to the car is the easiest burden I’m dealing with.” He marched out the door, waiting only for Lucas to hold it open, and then deposited Shelley in Culpepper’s backseat. He followed her in, holding her hand and saying, “Go ahead—squeeze.”
She looked away from him, shuddering and moaning.
“Drive!” Oscar ordered.
Culpepper floored it.
The Sarasota Falls Hospital was a ten-minute drive on a good day. Culpepper made it in five and pulled up in front of the main doors. Oscar jumped out, shouting, “I’ll get a wheelchair.”
There wasn’t one, not that he could find.
By the time Oscar got back to the car, Culpepper was helping Shelley out of the backseat, and a nurse was hurrying past him, saying to Shelley, “You’ll be fine. Your doctor’s on the way. Let’s prep you.”
Shelley said a four-letter word. The nurse didn’t so much as blink, but Oscar and Culpepper shared a look and followed the nurse, who’d amazingly found a wheelchair and was already in the lobby.
“Should we follow?” Culpepper asked.
“I don’t think so.”
There were no other visitors, and the woman manning the front desk waved them over. “There’s a waiting room down the hall, room twelve. If Shelley wants either of you—” she gave Culpepper a who-are-you? once-over “—that’s where they’ll look.”
“You don’t need to stay,” Oscar told Culpepper. “It’s not like Shelley’s gonna leave without our knowing it.”
“You staying?”
“Until it’s over.” Oscar didn’t just mean the birth. He meant until they caught Larry, and until Shelley didn’t need him anymore.
He hoped he never had to leave.
He’d let her down.
“I’m heading back to the station, then,” Culpepper said. “It’s only right that Ms. Peterson be reunited with Billy. It’s been about a year since he was taken.”
Oscar closed his eyes. As an officer of the law, he had to do what was right, even if it felt all wrong. “And you’re one hundred percent sure that Ryan and Billy are the same child? One hundred percent?”
“I’m so sure that I’d lay my badge on the table if anyone argued.”
Oscar looked down at his chest, where his badge once more hung.
“Townley’s talked a lot about you,” Culpepper said. “He said you were one of the bravest men he’d served with. You tell me, honestly. You’ve seen the photo. Is Ryan Billy?”
Oscar slowly nodded, glad that Shelley wasn’t here.
“We’ll do the swab to confirm, but—” Culpepper’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, checked the number and took the call. Oscar listened to the back-and-forth, even more glad that Shelley wasn’t hearing this.
Ryan had been introduced to Maureen Peterson and remembered her. He’d said, “Mommy, lap” before jumping into it.
“Can’t even imagine all that’s going through your girl’s mind,” Culpepper said, showing he did have a soft side. “I’ve got three boys of my own. The minute they grab hold of your heart, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for them. I’m also raising a girl from my wife’s first marriage.” Culpepper raised his left hand so that only the baby finger showed. “See this? She’s got me wrapped around hers. Doesn’t matter blood. What matters is the heart. I hope we can get Shelley and Maureen working together. It will make it a whole lot easier on Billy.”
“Ryan,” Oscar corrected him, despite knowing it was wrong.
Culpepper shook his head as he turned and exited the hospital, leaving Oscar alone to walk toward the waiting room.
He was the only one there.
Spotting a chair in the farthest corner, he sat and took out his cell phone, calling Townley, who didn’t answer.
Next he called his aunt Bianca, who said she’d be there after she finished checking a family in.
Minutes passed. Oscar skimmed three magazines. Finally a nurse came in, asked if he was here for Shelley and volunteered to tell Shelley he was there.
“She knows I’m here.”
“Really? Hmm.”
Oscar wasn’t sure what the interchange meant except that Shelley wasn’t asking for him.
Finally his cell sounded, and he saw Townley’s name on his screen. Oscar took the call and asked, “Have you heard of Billy Williams?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“There was nothing to tell until today. Culpepper took the call from Maureen Peterson just hours ago.”
“How did she trace Ryan to Sarasota Falls?”
“Your girl’s been on the television quite a bit. One time, the shot included Ryan—er, Billy. It’s a funny thing. As far as we can tell, Larry Wagner didn’t defraud anyone in connection to Maureen. He married her, got her pregnant, and a couple of months after the baby was born, he took off. She tried to find him, but no luck. Then, a year ago, Billy disappeared from his preschool. All we had was that a smallish man had been seen in the neighborhood, very little description. We didn’t know the whole story until Maureen started unraveling it this morning. She’d seen Ryan on television, Googled Shelley, and found a photo of Shelley and Larry.”
“So, why did Larry take Ryan?”
“We’re going to find out,” Townley promised. “Tell me what’s going on down there.”
Quickly Oscar filled Townley in on the day’s events, ending with the fact that he was at the Sarasota Falls Hospital, waiting for Shelley to have her baby.
“And there’s no sign of Larry, LeRoy, Henry, whatever he goes by?” Townley spit.
“No, but the doctor who Shelley uses had an office broken into last night.”
“Anything taken?” Townley asked.
“Not a thing, but the computer was messed with.”
“I keep trying to find a connection. What brought LeRoy to Sarasota Falls, of all places? It’s not a hot spot. He didn’t come looking for a woman with an expensive Victorian to sell.”
“I agree, and I also agree that his every move has something to do with money.”
“It has something to do with Candace,” Townley surmised. “I think from even before Shelley met him.”
Oscar grimaced. “What makes you say that?”
“He targeted Sarasota Falls. He didn’t know anything about Shelley. She’s collateral damage. On the other hand, he came back for Candace, which put him in danger. There had to be a strong pull.”
“The woman who giggles? She’s the only one we don’t have a handle on, right?” Oscar said. “If we can figure out who she is, we’ll know the answer.”
“That doesn’t mean we’ll find him.”
“It’s another piece to the puzzle, though.” Oscar stood, stretched and paced the room. He was starting to hate this tiny space. He wanted to be with Shelley, holding her hand and promising her he’d take care of everything.
He’d made that promise once before. It hadn’t turned out the way he’d expected.
“Was Maureen Peterson able to share anything we didn’t know?”
“Yes. She said while they were married, he was taking computer classes at the community college. She says he was on the computer all the time. After he left, she took one of the laptops in for repair, and the tech guy said something to her about being a hacker. Wasn’t her. But Larry.”
“You think he’s gotten into anything important? Police files or—”
“I think he’s good. He’s managed to get her phone number every time she’s changed it. He’s used a micro GPS tracker so he’d know where she is. I could go on.”
“I have another call,” Townley said. “You be careful. Keep me posted.”
Oscar signed off, wishing he knew what to be careful of.
Before he had time to put his phone back in his pocket, it sounded again. “What’s happening?” Riley asked.
“I’m in the waiting room. No one else in Sarasota Falls is having a baby. Either that or all their family is in with them. I hear that Ryan and Maureen met each other and there’s little doubt.”
“Trimble’s already sent the swab to the DNA Diagnostic Center in Runyan. The man arranged a court order in less than an hour. It helped that all the paperwork had already been processed. We’ll have the proof by tomorrow.”
Oscar shook his head. His hometown certainly had more than its share of connections to this case: Candace’s hometown, Larry Wagner meeting the giggling woman and now the nearby DNA Diagnostic Center.
“What will happen with Ryan tonight? I know that’s going to be Shelley’s first question.”
Riley didn’t answer right away. Oscar said, “Until tomorrow, when the sample is processed, Ryan cannot go with Maureen Peterson.”
“A representative from child protective services is on her way. Ryan will spend the night in a temporary foster home.”
“Here in Sarasota Falls?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know the family?”
“Not yet.”
“Can I watch Ryan?”
“No.”
“What if Shelley gave permission?”
“Not a possibility. Shelley is not the legal guardian. Any papers she has are probably forged. We don’t want to do anything to cause Trimble or Maureen Peterson to start questioning whether or not Shelley had anything to do with the kidnapping.”
“Come on. They can’t think that.”
“What would have happened if Shelley hadn’t gone into labor?”
“I don’t know.”
Oscar hit the off button and then put his phone on mute. He didn’t want any more calls. He wanted to be in with Shelley. She shouldn’t have been going through any of this alone. A half-dozen times he walked down the hall, wanting to be where she was. A half-dozen times he returned to the waiting room. He was out of his element.
He found another magazine and skimmed through it. Then he went down the hall and got a bad cup of coffee and some chips out of a machine. Returning, he neared the waiting room and heard a distant wail. Shelley had a good set of lungs on her. Leaning against the wall, he waited, feeling half like an intruder and half like the luckiest man on earth. He’d get to be one of the first people to see Shelley’s baby. He hoped the little girl looked just like her mother.
Finally it grew quiet. He could hear talking, the doctor giving orders and even Shelley asking a question. One more scream. Then came laughter. Shelley’s. Like he’d never heard before. His heart soared. She was all right. He’d not even realized how worried he was.
After a few minutes, the door opened and a hospital bed was wheeled from the room. Shelley looked at him, gave a half smile and looked away.
“She’s going to recovery,” the nurse said. “We had a few problems with the placenta...” Her words tapered off as she moved. He thought about moving with her down the hallway, but a tiny bed with plastic sides was wheeled from the room. A baby, lungs not quite loud but strong nevertheless, followed her mother. Oscar longed to introduce himself to the baby.
But he knew what Shelley’s half smile meant. She was displeased, and he didn’t blame her.
The nurse, who knew nothing except he was the man who’d accompanied Shelley on a few doctor visits, came over and said, “She’ll be assigned a room in a couple of hours. Go get something to eat. You look ready to collapse.”
He nodded and headed to the front of the hospital, his feet slowing because he didn’t want to leave. He hesitated at the front door and, instead of walking through it, sat in a visitor’s chair, turning his phone back on and checking his messages.
Aunt Bianca had texted that she was on her way. Oscar quickly called her back. “Stop by Shelley’s. Get Robert to let you in. I know she has a suitcase packed by the front door. Look on her fridge. She had a list of to-dos written there.”
“On my way,” Bianca said.
Ten minutes later, Bianca’s number again appeared on Oscar’s phone, but it was Robert’s voice that he heard. “Bianca tells me that Shelley’s just had her baby, and I should unlock the door so she can get a suitcase.”
“Yes. I’m at the hospital now.”
“Something curious I thought I should share. The Sarasota Falls Medical Center called me this morning about their break-in. I swept the system and found something. It’s a bit like teenagers when they hack into their school’s system and change grades.”
“You have my full attention,” Oscar said.
“Whoever broke into the medical office, hacked the system, installed hardware that gave them passwords, and did a single change.”
“You found one change.”
“I did, just about twenty minutes ago. It wasn’t easy, but I focused on Shelley. I knew she was a patient, and I know she’s the one person in town who’s had the most trouble lately.”
Oscar grinned. He’d just been shown up by a geek.
“What exactly did the hacker do?”
“Changed the permissions on Shelley’s file. They deleted the restraining order Shelley had against her ex-husband. The way the file read before the change, Larry Wagner had no rights and could not enter the area of the hospital where his child was.”
“And now?” Oscar was afraid he knew the answer.
“Now the file reads that Larry has the same rights as any involved father would. Why would someone change Larry Wagner’s rights?”
Oscar’s thoughts came faster than his words.
The only person who might want to give Larry Wagner permission to see Shelley’s baby was Wagner himself. He headed for the nursery. His job right now wasn’t protecting just Shelley, but also her baby daughter.