“Told you,” Joaquin muttered.
“I hate you,” Dewi muttered back.
Joaquin smiled.
That wastwicein one day he was right about something. First the easy-peasy, and now this.
I will probably never live this down with him.
Joaquin continued to snicker occasionally but refrained from further comment.
They pulled up to the house and parked in the driveway. Fortunately, Dewi didn’t see Emily’s car anywhere. Dewi dragged Cordoba out of the car and kept a tight grip on his wrist all the way up the front walk.
This house looked like it’d seen its fair share of hurricanes and hadn’t weathered all of them as stoically as newer construction. There were at least five different kinds of roofing shingles in obviously patched areas, and one front window still bore weathered and warped plywood emblazoned with GO AWAY ANDREW! in faded red spray paint.
The older woman who opened the door appeared to be in her late forties or early fifties, and Dewi immediately grabbed her hand and Primed her to let them in so they could all step inside and close the door.
Dewi was about to start questioning her when she spotted eight portable crib/playpens in the living room. The house was spartan in terms of furnishings, but it looked tidy and smelled clean to Dewi’s keen lupine nose. Not only did it smell clean, she didn’t even smell any dirty diapers. Every portable crib held at least one baby, and one held two tiny babies that looked like they’d been born premies. They were all sound asleep, with ages that appeared to range from the tiny premies all the way up to larger babies who might be on the verge of learning how to walk.
Dewi forced herself to whisper. “Why are they all asleep?”
Catarina looked at Dewi like she was a two-headed dog. “It’s nap time,” she whispered back. “They all just had lunch.” Theduhwas implied, but clearly visible in the woman’s expression.
“They’re not drugged or anything, are they?”
A wave of indignant outrage suddenly pounded Dewi from the woman, who opened her mouth to yell when Dewi shushed her and ordered her to speak quietly.
“No!” the woman hissed. “I wouldneverdo that! They have full tummies. That’s what babies do.” She pointed at Dewi’s baby belly. “You should learn this quickly. Babies eat, sleep, poop, and cry, and they want to be held and feel safe. I wouldneverharm a baby!” She sniffled. “I can’t have children. But at least I can take care of them for others.”
Joaquin showed the woman a picture of Hannah. “Is this baby here? Little girl? Fawny and Henry maybe brought her this morning.”
She looked at it and nodded. “Hannah.” She pointed to the farthest crib in the back corner of the living room. Joaquin picked his way over there and then nodded, holding up a diaper bag that matched the description Emily had given them.
Dewi spotted a table with three mismatched chairs around it over in the kitchen. “Go sit over there,” she told Cordoba. “And be quiet. Don’t move from that seat until I tell you to.”
He did.
Dewi took a deep breath and released the woman’s arm. “Anyone else here but us? And the babies, obviously.”
She shook her head. “My husband works until 7:00 tonight. The first mom doesn’t pick up her baby for at least another two hours.”
Dewi pulled out her phone and showed her a picture of the baby boy. “Do you know this baby?”
She looked at it. “That’s Eduardo. Henry’s son. I usually keep him, but as it is I couldn’t handle an extra one because I wasn’t expecting the twins today. They brought them after I’d already told Henry I’d watch Hannah. So Henry took Eduardo with them and they left the little girl. He gave me one hundred dollars not to tell Eduardo’s mom he had him. Swore he’d bring him back early this afternoon before she came to pick him up.” She looked panicked. “Is Eduardo okay?”
Answers that question.“He’s fine. Stay right here.” Dewi moved deeper into the house, motioning for Joaquin to follow. They quickly cleared it and, yes, the rest of the house was just as clean, much to Dewi’s relief.
They’d made it back to the living room when they heard a car pull up out front, and Dewi motioned for Joaquin to go outside and handle it. Meanwhile, Dewi returned to the crib and picked up the sleeping baby g—
She peeked down the front of the diaper.
Yep. Girl.
She had just slung the diaper bag over her shoulder and turned when Joaquin returned, leading Emily inside. She carried the baby boy and Joaquin carried the diaper bag.
When Emily spotted Dewi holding Hannah, she burst into relieved tears but Dewi held up a finger to shush her as she picked her way through the playpens of sleeping infants.
“Is this Eduardo?” Dewi asked Catarina and pointed at the baby Emily held.
