Beverly Long - For the Baby's Sake

“What happened then?”

“Liz and I left the building.”

“Then what?” Sawyer prompted the man, reaching into his pocket for his notebook.

“Then I got a second call.”

“What?” Sawyer stopped taking notes.

“The second call came in just after they’d found the bomb. Same guy who called the first time. Congratulated me on following directions. Then he told me that unless I closed the doors of OCM, there would be another bomb. I wouldn’t know when or where, but there would be one.”

“Liz Mayfield didn’t say anything about a second call.” Sawyer couldn’t believe that she’d withheld information like that.

“She doesn’t know. I’m not looking forward to telling her.”

“Anybody else hear this call?” Not that Sawyer didn’t believe the guy. The man looked shaken.

“No. It lasted about ten seconds. Then the guy hung up.”

“What are you going to do?” Sawyer asked, keeping one eye on Jamison and casting a quick glance back at Liz. His heart skipped a beat when he didn’t see her right away. Then he spied her. She had her back toward him. It took him all of three seconds to realize he was staring at her butt and another five to tear his glance away.

Robert laughed at him. He was quiet about it—just loud enough to make sure Sawyer heard him. Jamison Curtiss looked confused. Sawyer nodded at the man to continue.

“In the past forty-eight hours,” Jamison said, “one of my employees received an anonymous threat. On top of that, my business has been shot at and almost blown up. Whoever is trying to get my attention has it. Unless you can tell me that you know who’s responsible, I don’t think I have a lot of options.”

“We don’t know—” Robert spoke up “—but we will. Who has a key to OCM?”

“All the counselors. And our receptionist. Everyone has a slightly different schedule.”

“And everybody knows the code to turn off the alarm?” Robert asked.

“Of course.”

“Keys to the office doors all the same?”

“Yes.”

“Same as to the front door?”

“Yes.”

Sawyer and Robert exchanged a look. One key and a code. Child’s play for somebody like Mirandez.

“You already gave us a list of employees with their home addresses. I’d like their personnel files, too,” Robert said.

Jamison wrinkled his nose. “Is that really necessary?” he asked.

“Yes.” Sawyer answered in a manner that made sure Jamison knew it wasn’t an option.

“Fine. I’ll have them to you by this afternoon.”

“Anybody else have a key? A cleaning service, perhaps?”

“We all know how to run a vacuum. We can’t afford to pay someone to clean.”

“Anybody really new on your staff?”

“No, we’ve all been working together for years. Liz and Carmen came at about the same time.”

“Carmen?” Robert asked.

“Lucky for her, her brother wasn’t feeling well this morning. She came to work late.” Jamison pointed to the group of counselors gathered across the street. “Carmen Jimenez is the dark-haired woman standing next to Liz.”

“My God, she’s beautiful,” Robert said, then looked surprised that the comment had slipped out. “Sorry,” he added.

Jamison shrugged. “That’s the reaction most men have. Many of our clients are Spanish-speaking. She’s a big asset.”

Sawyer studied the two women who stood close together, deep in conversation. Carmen stood half a head shorter, her black hair and darker skin a stark contrast to Liz’s blond hair and fair complexion. “Liz and Carmen close?”

“Best friends. We’re all like family.” Frustration crossed Jamison’s face. “I’ve got to talk to them,” he muttered. “They deserve to know what’s going on.”

Sawyer watched him walk across the street, joining Liz, Carmen and one other woman, who looked about ten years older. He assumed it was Cynthia, the counselor who just worked mornings. He couldn’t hear what Jamison told them, but by the looks on their faces, they were shocked, scared and, he thought somewhat ironically, Liz and Carmen looked downright mad.

It took another ten minutes before the group broke up. Jamison walked back to Sawyer and Robert. “Well, they know. I told them that I’ve already started making arrangements for our current clients to be referred to other agencies. We have a responsibility to these young girls.”

Sawyer understood responsibility. After all, he’d made it his responsibility to bring in Mirandez. “I’m going to go talk to Liz,” Sawyer said to Robert.

Robert gave Liz and Carmen another look. “I’ll go with you,” he said.

When Sawyer reached Liz, he realized that Mary Thorton sat on the bench directly behind her. The young girl looked up when Sawyer and Robert approached. She didn’t smile, frown or show any emotion at all. She just stared at the two of them.

Sawyer couldn’t help staring back. The girl had on a green shirt and a too-tight orange knit jumper over it. With her big stomach, she looked like a pumpkin. Then the dress moved in ripples.

Sawyer remembered the first time he’d felt his baby move. It had rocked his world. He’d first put his hand on his girlfriend’s stomach, then his cheek. It had taken another hour for the baby to roll over again, but the wait had been worth it.

Sawyer stuck his hand out toward Carmen Jimenez. “Ms. Jimenez,” he said. “I’m Detective Montgomery.”

“Good morning,” she said.

“This is my partner, Detective Hanson.”

Robert reached out his own hand. “It’s a pleasure, Ms. Jimenez.” Robert smiled at the woman. It was the same smile Sawyer had seen work very well for Robert in the past.

Carmen Jimenez didn’t have the reaction that most women had. She nodded politely and shook Robert’s hand so briefly that Sawyer wasn’t sure that flesh actually touched.

Sawyer turned his attention to Mary, keeping his eyes trained on her face. He didn’t want to make the mistake of looking at her baby again. “Mary.” He spoke quietly. “Where were you at six o’clock this morning?”

“Sleeping.”

“Alone?”

Mary gave him a big smile. “I don’t like to sleep alone.”

“So, I guess whoever you were sleeping with could verify that you were in bed this morning?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Come on, Mary. Surely he or she would know if you’d slipped out of bed.”

“Trust me on this, Cop. It wouldn’t be a she.”

“Didn’t think so,” Sawyer said. “What’s his name?”

“I can’t tell you.”

The girl’s eyes had widened, and Sawyer thought her lower lip trembled just a bit. Liz must have seen it, too, because she sat down next to Mary and wrapped her arm around the girl’s shoulders.

Sawyer deliberately softened his voice. He needed Mary. Hated to admit it but he did. “Mary, we can help you. But we need to know what’s going on. You need to tell us.”

“I don’t know anything. You’d need to talk to him.”

“Mirandez?”

Mary shook her head and frowned at Sawyer.

“No.”

“Who, Mary? Come on, it’s important.”

She hesitated then seemed to decide. “Well, okay. His name is Pooh.”

“Pooh?”

“Yeah. Pooh Bear. He’s been sleeping with me since I was six.”

He heard a laugh. Sawyer whirled around, and Robert suddenly coughed into his hand. Carmen, her dark eyes round with surprise, had her fingers pressed up against her lips. Sawyer looked at Liz. She stared at her shoes.

Damn. He could taste the bitter metal of the hook. The girl had baited her pole, cast it into the water and reeled him in. It was all he could do not to flop around on the sidewalk.

“Funny,” he said. “Hope you’re still laughing when you’re sitting behind bars, waiting for a trial.”