Fourteen
Gleason saw the car about a half mile before they reached the site. Watching it through the heat waves dancing up from the pavement was like seeing it through a veil. The car was not a state police car, which bothered him at first, and then he realized the cop might not be doing this on government time.
“Is that them?” Penny asked, as Gleason started slowing down.
“I would assume so since there’s not another vehicle in sight and they’re in the exact GPS location they said they would be.”
Penny started gathering up the baby’s things. He gently rubbed the little boy’s knee, and when Gleason came to a full stop, Penny unlocked his seat belt.
“Wait here until I make sure everything is on the up-and-up,” Gleason said.
“Yes, sir,” Penny said.
The fact that they were no longer moving had already roused the toddler, and when Gleason got out, the click of the door woke him up the rest of the way. He sat up, looking all around, and then stuck his thumb in his mouth and started sucking as the desert heat rolled through the interior of the car.
“You are such a good boy,” Penny said and ruffled the dark curls.
Sammy pointed at the lovey.
“Henny,” he said.
Penny beamed.
“Yes, your Henny,” he said and tucked it in the little boy’s arm as Gleason approached the man getting out of the car.
“I’m Agent Gleason,” he said and flashed his badge.
Justin showed his, as well.
“Officer Davis, Nevada Highway Patrol,” he said. “Where’s the baby?”
“In the car,” Gleason said and then motioned at Penny.
Justin was antsy. He watched the other man get out and circle the car to get to the baby. At that point he motioned to his parents. They came out of the car a little too fast, but did maintain their personas.
Justin’s heart was pounding as he watched the man come toward them with the toddler in his arms. This moment would be forever etched in his heart. That sweet little dark-haired boy was his nephew.
When his parents stopped beside him, he addressed them impersonally for Gleason’s sake.
“One of you take the child, the other one get his things.”
“Yes, sir,” John said.
And as much as they’d worried about Connie, when it came down to it, she was the one who sold it.
“Has he been fed?” she asked, as Agent Penny handed the toddler and his stuffed toy to her husband.
“Some cookies and fruit on the way here,” Penny said and handed her the sack with what was left over.
“Is he in diapers still, or pull-ups?”
“Diapers,” Penny said. “Extra-large.”
Connie nodded. Then as much as she wanted to throw her arms around the child, instead she reached out and felt his forehead.
“He has no fever. Has he been well or is there anything we’ll need to know about his recent health history?”
Penny shrugged and looked at Gleason.
Gleason sighed. Once more they were coming up short.
“We assume his health has been maintained or else we would have been notified,” Gleason said.
Connie frowned, then waved John away, careful to call him a name other than his own.
“It’s hot, Peter. Get the child inside the car. I’ll be right behind you.”
She turned away from a hot gust of wind as Penny handed her the rest of the toddler’s things, including the blanket.
“Anything else we need to know?” she asked.
“The lovey’s name is Henny,” he said.
She smiled primly.
“A perfect name. Simple. Easy enough for him to learn to say. Good job, sir,” she said and nodded at her son and headed back to the car with a calm and steady stride.
“That’s that, then,” Justin said and turned to walk away.
“Wait!” Gleason said. “How can we get in touch with Star when we need her?”
“I’m not privy to any of that information, sir, but I’ll pass that question on to her when I deliver the child. She will probably be in touch with you. You both go back to your car and leave now,” he said.
Gleason frowned.
“Why do we—”
“Sir. I have strict orders to make sure we are not followed. I remind you. Star’s threat to disappear is not a hoax. Piss that woman off again and she’s gone.”
Gleason pivoted and strode back to the car. His stride was long, and Justin could tell by the way he was walking that he was mad, but as his mother was so fond of saying, they could get happy in the same pants they got mad in.
He stood in the heat with the sun beaming hot against the back of his neck until the car was out of sight, and then made a run for his own car.
Connie was changing Sammy’s diaper as Justin got in.
“Mom, take off everything he has on, even the shoes, and give them to me,” he said.
“But why?” she asked.
“I’d bet a month’s wages there’s a bug in them somewhere.”
“The hell you say,” John muttered.
Sammy laughed when they began taking off his clothes. Connie grinned.
“I’ve never seen a little child who didn’t like to be naked.”
She handed the pieces of clothing to Justin as she took them off, and he began inspecting them seam by seam, hem by hem, and found the first bug in the hem of the little shirt he’d had on. The second bug beneath the inner sole of his shoe.
“Dad, run your fingers through his hair carefully, feeling to see if there’s something stuck to his head that would be hidden within all those curls.”
John did as he was told, his hands shaking in disbelief that this was even necessary.
“What would it feel like?” John asked.
“Maybe like a little mole,” Justin said.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell,” John said.
“Give him to me,” Connie said. “I used to comb the kids’ hair for lice when they were in elementary school. There was always someone coming to school and spreading it around,” she muttered.
She pulled a comb from her purse and began gently combing through the curls in one quadrant after another until she’d covered the entire head.
“No. Nothing here.”
“Then it was all in the clothing,” Justin said and tossed it out the window.
“What about this toy?” Connie asked.
Justin took the stuffed chicken.
“Did you bring another toy with you?” he asked.
“Yes, we brought several,” Connie said.
“Then this is going out the window, too,” Justin said. “You did bring other clothes, right?”
“Just a little T-shirt and diapers. Everything else is back at the house.”
“So get him dressed in that and hurry,” Justin said. “I want out of here as fast as possible, and I need him safely in the car seat first.”
Connie had him changed and buckled in his car seat in less than three minutes.
Justin was impressed.
“Buckle up, everybody.” He put the car in gear, then sped away, heading north to Henderson as fast as he dared to go.
* * *
Agents Gleason and Penny pulled over less than a mile away from the drop site.
“What’s wrong?” Penny asked, as Gleason reached for his laptop in the back seat.
“Just checking to see if the tracking devices are active.”
Penny’s eyes widened.
“Oh, wow... You mean we bugged the kid?”
“Of course. How else will we know where Star Davis is at?”
He booted up the laptop, then clicked on the tracking program. Almost instantly a map of the area appeared with a blinking cursor on the GPS site they’d just left.
“There it is,” Gleason said. “It’s working fine, and see, they’re still there. Probably getting the kid settled in.”
“Or they may have had to change him,” Penny said.
“Right,” Gleason said, and they sat, staring at the map and waiting for the cursor to begin moving.
They waited for over five minutes before Gleason started to frown.
“This has been a long damn time,” he muttered.
Another ten minutes passed and the cursor didn’t move.
“I don’t get it,” Gleason said.
He handed the laptop to Penny and turned around and headed back.
“Why do you think they haven’t moved?” Penny asked.
Gleason’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak, and when they topped a rise in the highway less than a quarter of a mile from the site, Gleason sighed.
“Son of a bitch.”
“What?” Penny asked.
Gleason drove up on the site, saw the clothes scattered about the area. When Penny saw the stuffed toy he’d given the boy lying in the sand, he frowned.
“This toy wasn’t bugged,” he said.
“They didn’t know that,” Gleason said.
They both got out and gathered up the things, then got back into their car.
“Cop was smarter than I gave him credit,” Gleason said. “He obviously found the bugs and that’s why they dumped the toy, too.”
Penny brushed it off, then laid it in the seat beside them.
“I’m taking it home. My kids will like it. Damn shame. Sammy liked it, too.”
Gleason was thoughtful as he returned to the highway and headed back to Las Vegas. Now they were going to have to trust Star Davis to keep her word, which meant they had to keep theirs, too, or the deal was off. Next thing on their agenda: filing official charges against Anton Baba.
* * *
Justin kept an eye on the rearview mirror as he drove. They were five miles down the road before they met their first car. He knew the highways in this state as good as anyone, and this old highway was rarely used except for the people who lived out this way. It had been a good place for the drop-off and a good road to keep an eye on the possibility of pursuit. When he was certain there was no one behind them, he glanced at his parents in the rearview mirror instead.
It was obvious his mother was in love.
“Just look at him, John! He’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Get one of those toys we brought. He’s nearly through with his vanilla wafer.”
John dug through the shopping bag and pulled out a storybook. It was a small board book with a half-dozen pages—easy turning for little fingers. And it was about Winnie the Pooh.
“How’s this?” he asked.
“Perfect,” Connie said. “Let me get the cookie cleaned off his fingers and then we’ll read it.”
While Connie was wiping him down, John pointed at Sammy’s belly.
“Who’s that?” he asked.
Sammy looked up at John.
“Sammy,” he said, patting his belly.
“Welcome to the family, little man,” John said softly and then settled in for the ride.
* * *
Star was sick to her stomach with nerves. Every time she looked at the clock it seemed to be on the same time, and the longer her family was gone the more worried she became. When the house phone finally rang, she ran to answer.
“Hello?”
“We have him,” Justin said. “We should be home within the hour.”
“Oh, my God!” Star said and sank to her knees. “Is he okay? Is he crying? What do Mother and Dad think about him?”
Justin chuckled.
“He’s pretty damn perfect...a regular little rock star, sis. No, he’s not crying and has already charmed us all.”
“Thank God. Did the Feds give you a hard time?”
“Not really. I told them you’d stay in touch and warned them not to try and follow. Oh... I checked what he was wearing and found two different tracking bugs. We tossed the clothes, so he’s coming home clean. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I’ll be even better when I see my boy.”
“I can only imagine,” Justin said. “See you soon.”
“Yes, see you,” Star said and then ran to her bedroom and hid the gun back in the shoe box at the top of the closet.
She was leaving the room when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and stopped. She looked so different with her hair practically gone—what if her baby didn’t recognize her?
But then as fast as she panicked, she let it go. There was no way to assume how Sammy would react, but she was still Mama. He would figure it all out on his own.
She ran straight to the kitchen and checked what food was on hand that she knew Sammy would eat. There was plenty. By the time they got here it would be dinnertime.
Oh, my God, oh, my God, her baby was coming home.
* * *
Sammy’s patience was gone.
“Want down,” he shrieked, and he was trying to unbuckle the restraint keeping him in the baby seat and was throwing toys on the floor and vanilla wafers at the back of Justin’s head.
“Not yet, darling,” Connie said. “Almost home. We’re almost home. We’re going to see Mama, okay? I can’t believe we didn’t ask if he still took a bottle. Is there still some water left in one of the bottles?”
“A little,” John said and took off the lid and handed it to her.
“Sammy, want a drink?” Connie said.
“Yes, a grink,” Sammy said and opened his mouth like a little bird.
Connie held it to his lips and slowly poured, giving him time to swallow between breaths. Some water went down his chin and the front of his shirt, and some of it went in his mouth, but it was enough. As soon as she screwed the lid back on the bottle, Sammy let out another shriek.
“Mama!” he cried and tried even harder to get out.
“Connie, I would say it was not a good move mentioning his mother,” John said.
“Well, you try something,” she muttered.
“As you can tell by the applesauce on the front of my shirt, I have already been dismissed.”
Justin glanced up in the rearview mirror.
“I’m sorry, guys. It’s not much farther,” he said.
John wrapped the blanket around Sammy’s neck.
“Here you go, buddy.”
Sammy grabbed one end of the blanket, stuck his thumb in his mouth and started rubbing the fuzz back and forth across his nose. Within seconds, his eyes were rolling back in his head, and silence reigned.
Connie gave her husband a thumbs-up and leaned back against the seat in exhaustion. Then she looked at her husband and stuck her thumb in her mouth, too, which made John grin. They were both exhausted.
“Poor little man,” John said. “He’s been with strangers ever since the night of that wreck. I can’t imagine what must be going on in his head.”
“We’re less than five minutes from home,” Justin said.
Connie began gathering up what Sammy had tossed, and John pulled out a handful of wet wipes and began wiping down the seats.
When Justin finally turned down his street and they saw his home, all three of them gave a big sigh of relief, and when Justin parked the car and killed the engine, Sammy woke back up again.
Justin saw the front door open and wished he’d had the foresight to tell Starla not to come outside, but then he realized she was standing back in the shadows... She could see out, but people couldn’t see much of her.
Good girl, he thought, and got out.
Sammy’s attitude shifted straight to happy when John lifted him out of the baby seat and handed him to Connie.
Connie gave him a quick kiss on the side of his cheek.
“You are such a good boy,” she said.
Justin helped them out, grabbed all the gear and quickly ushered his parents inside out of the heat.
Connie was anxious on her daughter’s behalf, hoping this reunion would be all she needed it to be, but she needn’t have worried. The moment they crossed the threshold, Sammy saw Star and squealed.
“Mama!”
Star burst into tears as she took him out of her mother’s arms while Sammy kept patting her face, and then pulling at her hair, and saying “all gone” over and over.
“Yes! Mama cut her hair! Now it’s short like yours. I missed you so much, my little man. Mama is so glad to see you.”
Sammy went from the bad mood he’d had earlier to clinging to Star so tightly it was hard for her to breathe. And that’s when she knew her absence had frightened him. He didn’t have the words to ask where she had been, but he had missed her.
Everyone was smiling and just a little teary-eyed at the sweet reunion.
“I feel like we just pulled off a heist or something,” Connie said.
Justin grinned.
“You were awesome, Mom. You and Dad were perfect. You should have seen them, Starla. Mom was all business and working her foster parent persona like a pro. She even called Dad Peter, so if anyone started trying to trace them as foster parents, they wouldn’t have proper names to start with.”
Star turned to her family with her baby clutched tight against her breasts.
“I will never be able to thank you enough for this. When the car we were in started rolling, I wasn’t sure we would even live through what was happening, then knowing he was alive and not being able to hold him was awful. Now I have my baby back, and I’m back with my family. For the first time in seven years I feel whole.”
“Mama cry?” Sammy said and poked a finger in the tears on her face.
“I’m okay, Sammy. They’re just happy tears,” she said.
Sammy tucked his face against her neck and pulled the blanket up to his face.
“I think it’s time to get some dinner started,” Connie said. “Starla, you go get reacquainted with your boy. We’ve got this.”
“I want to go home,” Star said.
“Absolutely,” John said. “We’ve already talked about how we can set up the spare bedroom for a nursery, and it’s right next door to your old room.”
“I want to leave tomorrow,” Star said.
Justin frowned.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to get plane tickets that soon.”
“We can’t fly,” Star said. “I don’t have any ID, and if I did, it would leave a trail for Anton to follow.”
John nodded, surprised they hadn’t considered those problems. “You’re right. Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll rent a big roomy car and drive home.”
“Anything you want, darling. Anything you want,” Connie said.
“I want to go as far away from this place as I can safely get. I want to go home,” she said.
Tears were still running down her cheeks as she carried Sammy back to her room and closed the door.
* * *
Back in Vegas, Anton Baba’s absence was beginning to be felt. There was a small explosion and fire in the kitchen of one of his bordellos outside of the city, while in another part of the state the manager of another bordello was desperately trying to contact him about two deaths in the house, both of which were under investigation. One had been a suicide and the other was an overdose.
The day manager in Baba’s Lucky Joe’s Casino was in an all-out war of words with the night manager over punishment for one of the dealers who’d been caught skimming.
And then out of the blue, a stranger showed up at the bordello near Reno where the fire had taken place. The janitor saw him drive up in a gold Lexus, and when he parked in Anton’s special parking place he called out to the receptionist.
“Hey, Lola, some dude in a gold Lexus just parked in Mr. Baba’s parking place. He’s coming inside.”
“Thank you, Barry. Now get that trash wagon out of here before he walks in the door.”
“Yeah, okay,” Barry said and pushed the big bin down a hall and out of sight.
Lola was watching the door when the man walked in. Average height. Nothing remarkable about him—until he came closer and Lola had to stifle a shudder. While everything about him appeared perfectly normal, there was something terrifying about his eyes. Something distant, something hard, something...cold as ice.
“Good morning. My name is Mr. Stewart. You are...?” he said.
“Good morning, Mr. Stewart. I’m Lola, the day manager of this establishment.”
He was carefully eyeing the setup and the decor as he moved to the counter.
“I’m making the rounds today and introducing myself. I’ll be handling all of Anton’s holdings now that he’s out of the country.”
Lola frowned.
“He’s out of the country? He didn’t say anything to us.”
“He didn’t have much time to wind things up. The Feds—Well, let’s just say Mr. Baba is otherwise occupied at the moment and his holdings will need to be tended to. We’re old business partners, so I’m doing this favor for him in his absence.”
Lola frowned.
“The Feds? We didn’t know about any federal investigation.”
Stewart ignored her.
“Is the fire damage being repaired?”
“Yes, sir, they worked on it some today and then ran into a snag and will be back tomorrow with different wiring.”
“Good, good. Now, if you’ll show me to his office, I’ll take a quick lay of the land. I’d like to check out the girls, as well, so please have them in the lobby within the hour. I need to speak with all of them at once, and then I’ll have to be on my way. I still have to stop in at our other locations.”
She showed him to the office, then quickly called all of the girls and ordered them to the lobby, dressed and smiling.
Stewart smirked, thinking about Baba hiding out down in Mexico, unaware that his empire was being taken over by new owners. After a quick check of the books, he went back to the lobby and did a quick run-through of the hookers on site.
“Just so you ladies are aware, I’ll be taking over in Mr. Baba’s absence. I don’t know what your rules were before, but I’ll tell you now that I expect superb grooming habits and high-end lingerie. I will have a doctor in weekly to do drug tests and blood tests for communicable diseases. No one gets a free pass. One strike and you’ll be on the first transport out to Asia. You don’t really want that to happen, because that’s where old hookers go to die, so do yourself a favor and make sure you’re up to snuff.”
The fear on their faces was obvious, but he was unconcerned. He moved among the women, getting a closer look at their skin, the circles under their eyes and the carefully hidden needle marks. He even recognized a couple of them from older shipments and nodded at them in turn.
“Becky...right? And you, your name is Elizabeth...no, Elspeth...right?”
They nodded and then looked down, unable to meet his gaze.
“Well, now, this is a fine group, Lola. See that you keep them this way,” he said. Then he turned and left as abruptly as he’d arrived.
Lola scowled as the girls all started talking at once.
“Get on with you,” she snapped. “I have some phone calls to make.”
Back in her office, she tried for two hours to get in touch with Anton before giving up and leaving him a message.
The manager of the other whorehouse got the same visit from Mr. Stewart, but was glad to see him arrive. He was exactly what they needed to get the cops off their backs regarding the deaths of two girls in one week. He took control of the situation and soon had death certificates clearing them of any wrongdoing.
On the third day, Mr. Stewart showed up at Lucky Joe’s Casino with the same story for the manager as he’d told the others. Stewart soon had access to Anton Baba’s office.
Everywhere he went, he left questions and confusion behind. No one was sure if they could trust this stoic stranger who’d just barged in and snapped up control. But the frantic phone calls to their trusted boss went unanswered, and so for now they all resigned themselves to accepting the new leadership.