Born In Death

“Well, jeez. You gotta wait a minute.”

Eve was put on wait mode while music sweeter than the icing on her cake tinkled in her ear.

During the ten minutes it played – with periodic computer-generated bulletins assuring her that her call was important – she began a series of probability runs.

By the time an actual human came back on, she was drinking her second cup of coffee and studying the results.

“Lieutenant, is it?” The man looked slick and sounded same.

“That’s right. And you are?”

“Matt Goodwin. You’re inquiring about the Park and Go on Fifty-eighth?”

“That’s right. Do you own it?”

“I represent the corporation that does. What seems to be the problem?”

“I’m investigating a possible crime in which this lot may be involved. I need the security discs as well as the logs for Thursday last, between eighteen and nineteen hundred hours.”

“What possible crime?”

“It’s a Missing Persons matter. I need the discs and the logs as soon as possible.”

“I believe those discs are dumped every twenty-four, Lieutenant. As for the logs, I assume you have a warrant?”

“I can get one.”

“Well, when you do – ”

“And when I do, I’ll see it includes logs for an entire week, as well as a search into the lot’s – and the corporation that owns it – standards and practices. I’ll have to bring you and your client into Central for questioning. Or, you can get me the logs for that single hour of that single day.”

“Of course my client would want to cooperate with the authorities.”

“Good for your client.”

“I’ll have to contact my client, and with their permission, arrange to have the logs you specified copied and made available to you.”

“You do that. Relay to me at this number where the logs can be picked up. By nine A.M. tomorrow morning.”

“Lieutenant, it is the weekend.”

“I’ve heard that. Nine A.M., or I get that warrant.”

She clicked off, went back to studying her probability results. Even with the sparse data at her disposal, it was ru

Tandy had no criminal record on either side of the Atlantic, no known association with criminal elements. She had a small, tidy nest egg that jibed with someone who lived carefully on the salary she’d pulled in since the onset of employment. Her parents were dead, and from the basic data Eve could access without a warrant, her stepmother and stepsister had no wealth. Middle-income salaries.

There were no suspicious deposits or withdrawals in Tandy’s accounts that indicated blackmail on either side.

On the surface it appeared the only thing of true value Tandy owned was what she carried in her womb.

Playing a hunch, she contacted the owner of the White Stork.

“Lieutenant Dallas. You’ve found Tandy.”

“No.”

“I just don’t understand this.” Liane Brosh was a youthful sixty, with a face strained with concern. “She must have just taken a weekend away. Maybe a quick trip to a spa to rev up before the baby comes.”

“Did she talk about doing that?”

“No, not really. I suggested it a couple times, but she always said she was already revved.” Liane smiled weakly. “We had a little shower for her here at the store, and I gave her a gift certificate to a day spa in the city. She said she was saving it until after the baby. But I’m sure she’s fine. Maybe she just wanted to get out of the city for the weekend.”

“Does that strike you as something she’d do?”

“No, it doesn’t.” Liane sighed. “It doesn’t sound like her at all. I’m so worried.”

“Can you tell me if anyone came into the store to see her specifically, to speak with her?”

“Tandy worked with several expectant parents. All the staff is available for personal shopping, for helping with registries, decor, layettes.”

“How about someone she might’ve worked with, or who might have frequented your shop whose expectations weren’t realized. Miscarriage, for instance.”

“It does happen. I can’t think of anyone offhand, but I can certainly check the records, ask the other girls.”

“I appreciate that. Did she ever speak about the baby’s father?”

“In general, and vaguely. No specifics, and since she didn’t want to talk about it, I didn’t press.”

“If you think of anything, even if it doesn’t seem important, I want you to contact me. Twenty-four/seven.”

“I will. We love Tandy. All of us will do anything we can to help.”

Eve tried another hunch and contacted Tandy’s midwife.

“This is Randa.”

“Randa Tillas, Lieutenant Dallas.”

“Tandy.”

“Nothing yet.”

“Well, damn it.” She was a striking black woman with the faintest hint of the islands in her voice. Her rich brown eyes filled with concern. “I contacted members of her birthing circle, in case she was spending a couple of days with one of them. But no one’s heard from her since Wednesday.”

“Any member of that circle have a problem pregnancy?”

“I’ve got one with high blood pressure and another on bed rest, but nothing major, no.”

“Maybe a birthing coach who’s had trouble conceiving, or carrying to full term.”

“I don’t have full medical on coaches, but that sort of thing usually comes up during the class. I’d try to discourage coaching by anyone who might be in a dark place. It wouldn’t be good for them, or the mother.”

“Did she ever talk to you about the baby’s father?”

“Some, yes. It’s important for me to know as much as the mother is comfortable telling me. For a single mother, more so. Especially one, like Tandy, without family support.”

“Can you tell me what she told you about him?”

“I’m treading a line here, but I’m worried enough I’m stepping over it. He was someone she dated for about a year back in London. I think she was very much in love with him. The pregnancy was unpla

“Long way to go.”

“I thought so, but she said she’d wanted everything fresh, and it seemed reasonable. I’d say she’s very resolved to have this baby and to raise it on her own, with no murky feelings toward the father. She was very spare on the details about him, but she did slip once or twice and call him by name. Aaron.”

“That helps. Thanks. Anything else, contact me.”

“I’m going to go through my file on her, and ask the other members of the team if she spoke to them about anything that seems important. We all want her and the baby back, safe and healthy.”

14

SHE WENT OVER THE DATA PEABODY SENT TO her computer on like crimes. IRCCA had popped a few for her. Abductions, abduction/murders, rapes, rape/murders. Abductions where the baby had been delivered then stolen, and the mother left behind.

Alive or dead.

In the majority of the abductions, the woman had known her kidnapper, or had had previous contact.

Eve separated them into known or unknown, into family strife, cases where the abductor had been mentally ill, and those done for profit.

She culled out the rapes into a separate file.

Then she worked them geographically.

There had been cases in New York with similar elements, and those involving family members of the victim she separated out again. She set aside those cases where the perpetrator was doing time, earmarking those to check other family members, and any possible contact with Tandy.

She outlined Missing Person cases where the investigator found the woman had gone into a shelter to escape an abusive relationship, or simply walked out. And others where neither mother nor child had ever been found.

Because Tandy had come from London, Eve moved there next. A smattering of like cases again, but none that had any outward link to hers.