Rick Mofina - Whirlwind

“I understand,” Soria said. “Nothing was meant by that, sir. It’s just that resources are being stretched to the limit right now-that’s something everyone’s got to appreciate.”

“We’re talking about our son!” Blake shouted.

“Blake, Blake.” Garrett stepped in. “Let’s just take a breath. The good thing is we found a sign that Caleb’s alive and people are working on it.”

“What I can’t understand…” Jenna started shaking her head slowly. “What I cannot accept, is that from what you just told us-” she nodded to Frank “-Caleb was here with strangers and no one did anything about it. They just let them come into the medical unit and leave with our baby. Like it was nothing.”

Dr. Butler swallowed hard then glanced at the officers indicating maybe Kate should leave, but Jenna caught that.

“No, I want Kate to stay,” Jenna said. “I want her to hear how and why this happened.”

Butler cleared her throat. “The couple was from out of state and came to our unit requesting attention for their baby,” she said. “A male they listed as being three months old.”

“Was he hurt?”

“No, he had a minor abrasion on his head, here.” She touched her forehead. “No sign of a concussion. He was in good health.”

Tears rolled down Jenna’s face. “Did you check for a birthmark on his calf?”

“I saw the mark, yes.”

“You had my son! You had my son in your care and you let those people get away with him! Those people who pretended to be helping me while all the while they wanted my baby! They’re evil and you let them walk right out of here! I don’t understand how you could do that!” Jenna clenched her hands into fists, raised both arms to strike Butler when Blake, Garrett, Rivera and the officers stopped her.

“I’m so sorry,” Butler said. “We’ve been going 24/7 here since the storm. There were no telltale signs about that couple. The woman had short dark hair, not red. We’re not police-we’re medical staff. We didn’t really know until this reporter came to us and questioned us. If it hadn’t been for her, no one would’ve known anything. I’m so terribly sorry.”

Jenna said nothing.

She stared at Butler until she didn’t see her anymore. She sobbed and crumpled into Blake’s chest before Rivera took them to a private corner in the Missing Persons station at the shelter. From there, as they waited for the FBI to arrive, Jenna watched the activity across the floor at the donation table.

The Duncanville police officers were unrolling yellow plastic tape, sealing the area where Caleb’s romper had been found.

Duncanville, Texas

“Let’s go over everything one more time.”

FBI Agent Nicole Quinn reread the files from NCIC, the Duncanville PD and the Missing Person Search System on Caleb Cooper’s case.

Grogan was at the wheel as they rolled from the FBI’s Dallas Division on Justice Way, southbound to the shelter in Duncanville.

Both agents were focused on their assignment, but it was a challenge. The bureau had lost people in the tornadoes. Grogan and Quinn had lost friends and some FBI staff had their homes destroyed. The bureau’s resources were stretched. But despite the storm, the FBI’s work had to continue. Reinforcement agents were coming in from the division’s jurisdictional territory and surrounding states.

“What do you think, Phil?” Quinn asked when she’d finished reading.

Grogan, who’d worked in the fugitive and violent crimes programs, was analyzing matters.

“The fact that evidence shows up over twenty miles from where the mother last saw the baby raises questions,” he said.

Quinn checked her phone for messages. She was also the division coordinator for the National Center for Analysis of Violent Crime and was trying to keep tabs on her other files.

“What’s your take on it, Nicole?”

“The mother’s initial encounter with the two strangers is a factor. The whole thing could’ve been a planned abduction.”

“Or an unusual set of circumstances and coincidences. I’ve seen it before-a case we swore was a homicide that turned out to be a suicide. Another one was a child abduction that turned out to be a runaway who got trapped in a discarded fridge.”

“We’re talking about a five-month-old baby, here, Phil. We’re duty-bound to exhaust all avenues of investigation.”

“I know. I’m just saying we have to keep an open mind. I mean our baby case happened just when we’re hit with force-five tornadoes, so anything’s possible.”

Upon arriving at the recreation center they held up their IDs to the Duncanville officers, who debriefed them at the sealed area next to the table of donations.

“We’re sorry about the baby’s clothing,” Officer Soria said. “A lot of people handled it, but we needed the mother to identify it. We’ve sealed the area and put it in a paper bag.”

“Can you give us a list of people who’ve handled it?” Quinn asked.

“Sure,” Soria said.

The investigators then went to the corner of the station for the Missing Person Emergency Search System. They made the appropriate cursory introductions. Frank Rivera then took them to Jenna Cooper, who was with her husband, sister and brother-in-law. Jenna was sitting on a chair, twisting a tissue in her fists. After the agents identified themselves, Grogan said, “Jenna, Blake, we’re going to do all we can to locate your baby.”

Jenna’s hair was messy. She looked at Grogan with reddened eyes. “Thank you.”

Grogan and Quinn then separated everyone and took initial statements from the key principals in the case: Jenna, Dr. Butler, other staff and volunteers at the shelter.

The agents asked a lot of questions. Some were obvious, others weren’t.

Why did Jenna think the stranger was infatuated with Caleb? Had she received any strange phone calls or emails prior to the event? Did she know anyone who’d recently lost a baby? Had she received a ransom call, or any hint of demand? Did Jenna ever notice seeing the strangers before the event at the flea market, say at a mall, or some other public venue? Did Jenna or Blake owe anyone any money? Did they have gambling or drug debts?

After assessing what was emerging, the FBI agents made calls to initiate an expedited procedure to secure warrants to seize key items, including any recorded images from the center’s security cameras.

Then Grogan requested the Dallas Division’s Evidence Response Team be dispatched to the shelter to process the romper, the medical form the couple had completed and other items for any trace evidence.

When they were alone, Grogan and Quinn compared notes.

“I think our strangers, the people who brought in the baby here to be examined, are our persons of interest,” Quinn said.

Grogan nodded and started making another call. “We’ll get a forensic artist down here to get descriptions from Jenna on the strangers she saw, and from Dr. Butler on the couple she saw. Then we’ll blast them out with details about the baby.”

The case had taken a dramatic twist. Of that there was no doubt, as far as Kate was concerned. Throughout much of the investigation she’d kept a respectful distance, watching and waiting patiently for a chance to get a few questions into the FBI agents.

Now, seeing Quinn and Grogan standing off in a quiet area, Kate decided to approach them.

“Excuse me, you’re both with the FBI?”

Poker-faced Quinn and Grogan acknowledged her.

“I’m Kate Page, a reporter with Newslead. I’ve covered this story since the beginning. Have you got time for a few questions?”

“Not really,” Grogan said.