Mariah Stewart - Cry Mercy

“Maybe Belle never showed any interest in her father while your sister was still alive. Maybe losing her mother when she did made her curious about her other parent. Once she realized she had all these half-siblings, her curiosity might have been fueled by theirs.” Emme had to stretch to keep up with Nick's long stride. “Did she ever say anything at all to you about her father, or wanting to know more about him?”

“Never.” He shook his head. “Belinda never gave any hint that she knew how she was conceived or that she'd found she had half-siblings. I've been looking back over conversations we've had these past few years, thinking maybe she'd tossed out a sign or two and I just missed it. But I can't recall that she'd even hinted at any of this.”

“I wonder how long she knew, how old she was when Wendy told her.”

“I have no idea. I'm still trying to figure out why Wendy never mentioned it to me. She never mentioned wanting to be a single mother. I had no idea why she made that decision, or when.” He appeared thoughtful. “Or why Belinda never said anything. Wendy I can maybe understand. She was so much older than I was, maybe she thought I was too young to have that conversation with. But Belinda… well, I guess I thought we were closer than that.”

“Maybe she assumed you knew and that you didn't want to discuss it. Maybe she thought her mother had told you and that you'd disapproved.”

“Maybe.”

“I wonder how far Belinda got in her search for her donor.”

“I was wondering that myself.” They reached the corner of Witherspoon Street and turned right.

“Suppose, just suppose, Belle had been able to figure out who Donor 1735 was. Suppose she even tried to contact him. How happy would this guy be to hear from a kid he didn't know existed, who maybe wants to call him Daddy? Oh, and to find out he had ten other kids who want to call him Daddy, too.” Emme dug in her pocket for her car keys.

“Probably not so much. There might be some guys who'd take it in stride but they'd be in the minority.” He thought for a moment. “Yeah, mostly I don't think these guys would be too happy. They were promised anonymity; they don't expect that to ever be violated.”

“And let's face it, this would be a huge invasion of their privacy.”

“Do you think that would stop a bunch of kids from trying?”

“No. Nick, if Belle had gotten that close to finding him, would she have told the others?”

“I don't know. Belinda-I have a hard time calling her Belle. It's tough to keep a name straight like that when you've always known someone by another name.”

Tell me about it .

They arrived at her car, and she unlocked both doors with the remote. She started the engine and pulled away from the curb, her mind racing.

“Okay, how about this?” Emme was thinking aloud, playing with different scenarios. “Suppose she had figured it out. Would she have contacted the guy her research led her to and asked him if he'd been a donor, before she told the others she'd found him?”

“You mean, instead of telling them first?” Nick thought it over. “Yeah, I could see her doing that. Rather than get everyone tuned up that she'd found him, she might go that one extra step and make sure.”

“Are you sure there were no notes about this in any of those boxes you went through?”

“No, I'm not sure. I didn't really know what I was looking for. Maybe you should take a look.”

“I'm going to do that.” She drove thoughtfully for a few minutes, watching for the signs for I-95. “Damn, I wish we had her computer. You know it was all in there.”

“You're probably right.”

“No probably . You heard Hayley. This kid, Aaron, found his donor by using the Internet. If Belinda had contacted him, and followed his lead, she'd have done the same.”

“I wish we knew for sure what happened to her laptop.”

“I think we do know what happened. I think whoever is responsible for her disappearance has it.”

Emme signaled to turn onto the interstate and noted that rush hour traffic was in full swing.

“So where do we go from here?” Nick asked.

“We contact each one of the kids on that board, and we ask them to talk to us. I want to get a feel for the rest of the kids involved in this, get a better idea of how they all felt about Belle, how they felt about searching for their donor. Some of them might not have been as cozy with the idea as Hayley thinks they were.”

“Why wouldn't they be?”

“Some of these kids were born to single mothers, some to lesbian couples, some to married couples. In cases involving the latter, there may be a bit of touchiness on the part of the dads, if their infertility was the reason the moms went the donor route in the first place. The kids might be sensitive to that, might be afraid that their dads could be hurt if they knew the kid was looking for the sperm donor.”

“But those kids might not want to seem like the wet blanket when their donor siblings were all stoked about the possibility of finding Donor 1735.”

“Exactly.”

“You think one of these kids could be involved in Belinda's disappearance?” he asked.

“I think there's a very good chance that Belinda's disappearance is connected to her involvement with her donor siblings. It's premature to say how it's related, but I definitely think there's a connection. I just have to figure out what that connection is.”

“We,” he corrected. “We have to figure it out.”

“And you went on the foundation's payroll, when?” She raised an eyebrow.

“You're going to want me along when you talk to these kids, right?”

“Hadn't planned on it.” Emme frowned. “But for the record, why would I want to do that?”

“Because I'm the uncle. Her legal guardian. It gives the whole questioning-the-kids thing credibility.”

“I'm not seeing that connection. And besides,” she added, her eyes on the road straight ahead. “They think you're a perv.”

“Yeah, well, we're going to get to the bottom of that real fast.” Nick looked justifiably annoyed. “I'd sure love to know which of them started that nasty little rumor.”

“I'm sure it was just speculation, like Hayley said. They were just looking for a reason why she might have run away.”

“Why would they have assumed that she'd run away, I wonder?”

“Because it's easier for them to think she'd gone off on her own, than for them to think that she was abducted by someone who meant her harm. Especially if it was someone connected to them.”

“What do you think, Emme?” Nick asked quietly. “What do you really think happened to her?”

She hesitated. “I honestly don't know. I don't think she's a runaway, if that's what you're asking. I do believe she was taken against her will.”

“Do you think she's alive?”

“I don't know.” She owed him an honest answer. “The odds are against it, though. I know you understand that.”

He nodded slowly. “I know that after five months it's not looking too good.”

“I'm sorry, Nick. I hate to assume the worst has happened, but…”

“Yeah, I know. I still want to find her. I still want to know what happened to her.”

She was about to assure him that they'd do their best to make that happen when her phone rang. She glanced at the number before she answered, then looked at the clock. It was well after six.

Shit. Chloe.

“This is Emme,” she said with a sigh.

“Emme, it's Trula. I just wanted to know if it's okay with you if Chloe has dinner with us here at the house.”

“Oh, God, I am so sorry, Trula.” Emme blew out a long breath. “I didn't think we'd be quite this long.”

“Now, don't be sorry. You have a job to do. And I appreciate you letting me borrow this girl for a few hours. We've had a dandy time this afternoon… wait a second there, Chloe would like to say something.”