Chapter Thirty-Nine
Friday, March 30th
Seth threw Wes out of the clinic at midnight. Instead of hitting the sack, he walked up to his office. Sitting at his desk, as Zach said, he found the sixteen files belonging to his new Eagle’s Talon team. It was tailored to the needs of the training center. Amy Byrne, his team leader, had served an Army military police officer. And Tristan Bell, her XO, served as Psychological Operations Officer for the Army.
“Great, they’ll kill each other,” he mumbled. He went down the list. The sixteen-person team had great resumés. He picked up his phone. “Chris?”
“Hey, Boss,” Christian said.
“Hmm, here’s the deal. I’m worried about Ellie, but I’m not out of my brain. Tomorrow at 0600, meeting, my office. Tonight, send out a notification, TC1 starts a three-day rotation. Pool, gym, range and simunitions.” Simunitions were live-fire scenarios covering potential training center emergencies.
“Yes, sir,” Christian called out. “Welcome back.”
“Hmm. See you in the morning.”
Two hours of work later, Wes rubbed his eyes, walked over to his coffeemaker and made a fresh cup. “Alamo, do what you know how to do,” he imitated Kieran.
“Or you’ll be emptying wastebaskets and sweeping floors,” Kieran said.
Wes jumped, spilling coffee over his hand. “Damn it…you scared the crap out of me.”
Kieran raised a brow. “Do you need to change your shorts, or are you able to focus long enough to talk?”
“Ready when you are.” Wes grabbed some paper towels and cleaned up the spill.
“Sit.” Kieran tossed his suit jacket onto Wes’s office couch and sat behind Wes’s desk.
Wes sat across from his boss. “It’s 0200. You drove back from DC. What’s going on?”
“I took the jet. Needed to be here.” Kieran's fingers steepled heavily on the desktop. “We’ve discovered a few issues.” He frowned.
Wes didn't respond and waited for his boss to continue.
“The night Eleanor was admitted to the clinic, a newborn was found in a restaurant parking lot and brought to Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The infant was diagnosed with measles and transferred to Children’s Hospital in Morgantown. The West Virginia Department of Health was notified, and when Pete notified the Virginia Department of Health about Eleanor, they sought potential mutual contacts for tracing. The infant is in very critical condition.
“Yesterday, another child, at first believed to be about eight months of age, was admitted under similar circumstances to the same hospital, also with the measles. Attached to the child was a note advising the staff that the baby was loved, to help her, and they’d added the girl’s date of birth—fifteen months ago—on January fourth.”
Wes inhaled deeply. “What are you saying?”
“We tested the child's DNA against Eleanor’s. The little girl is a match. The girl in West Virginia is Eleanor's child.”
“Ellie is an identical twin. The baby could belong to Belinda.”
“Pete and I thought that too. Scientists with the University of London and London Hospital have developed a DNA test where they can determine the differences between identical twins. They checked for us; the baby girl is Eleanor's. Our jets are racking up the airmiles.”
Wes closed his eyes to think. This had to be the child Eleanor thought was lost. And finding the people who dropped it off at the hospital could break the case. He opened his eyes again. “Boss, this is the break in the case. We need to find the people who dropped the children off at the hospitals. Do they have anything? Cameras? Anything on the child that could lead us to the kidnappers?”
“We believe the little girl is the same child seen with Dixon and Resa Knolls.”
“I don't even know where to begin. Ellie’s been crying in her fevered sleep for her Birdie. She knew that baby was alive before she lost consciousness, if she was unconscious at all. Hayes told us these evil people were her family. Did she know Belinda betrayed her? How do I fix this one?”
“You can't. When she regains consciousness and is able to process this, she will hold your hand. You will hug her while she cries on your shoulder. Hopefully, we will be able to bring her little one home.”
“That means the baby has to stay there for a while. If we take her out of there, they will know we are on to them. The newborn, will it be placed in foster care? We can put together undercover parents to take an interest in the baby,” Wes said sadly.
Kieran cocked his head. Wes knew immediately he was searching for words.
“The process is underway,” he said. “While you were at the clinic with Zach, Witch and Troy slipped out and are headed toward the hospital. They are posing as a couple who can’t conceive a child and want to volunteer to hold babies. Troy is hoping, based on the note left with the baby, someone will want to visit to check on her. He also thinks the Berkeley hospital must be in range of where they are finding their targets.”
