“I have a lead on the kids.”
Braith’s expression changed.He thrust Archie’s coffee into his hands and reached into his pocket for the car keys.The two of them didn’t say anything as they locked up at the office and climbed into Braith’s car.Braith waited until they were on the road to ask for more details.Archie was eager to tell him.
“I got an anonymous phone call.This person attended some of those illegal fights and said that they saw Finn.They were talking as if the other two might have been there, too.”
“I don’t like this,” Braith said with a growl.
“I don’t either, but I don’t think they were lying.You know the kind of people who go there.”
They could mostly be divided into two different groups.One group comprised the desperate people who were fighting for money and to survive, while the other group was the people who paid to watch these fights.They were assholes who didn’t think anything of exploiting people.They wouldn’t hesitate to attack Archie and Braith if they weren’t careful, but that wasn’t going to stop them.If the kids were there, theywouldget them out.
“Have you ever been to one of these fights?”he asked Braith.
Braith’s jaw tightened as he nodded curtly.“For a case a few months ago.”
From his expression, Archie could tell it hadn’t been good.He knew his best friend.He was sure that Braith had been desperate to put an end to these fights, but how could he?He was just one person, and even if he helped some of the fighters, there would always be more.It was how these things worked, unfortunately.
“We need to be careful,” Braith said.“This isn’t going to be easy or pretty.These people aren’t going to let us take the kids easily.”
“We’ll do it anyway,” Archie said.It might not be easy, but he was sure that they could.They were used to difficult cases, and while most of those cases didn’t include fighting, they’d known what they were doing when they’d opened the agency.Sometimes, they had to get their hands dirty to help people, and it looked like this was going to be one such case.
The tension in the car rose with every minute that passed.It was enough to make Archie want to scream, but he pressed his lips together and bounced his knee instead.Braith hated it when he did that, but his best friend didn’t say anything.They were both nervous and worried, and the closer they got to the address the anonymous caller had given Archie, the worse it got.
Archie had expected the place to be hidden or look abandoned, so he was surprised to see that there was a long line of cars parked in front of it.There was no one in sight, but he could hear the noise of a crowd as soon as he left the car.It would be easy to find this place just from that.
“That sounds like a lot of people,” he commented.
“I’m not surprised.These fights are popular.”
Archie grimaced.“That doesn’t bode well.”
“It doesn’t, no.”
They looked at each other.It was only the two of them against who knew how many people in what looked like an abandoned warehouse.They didn’t know for sure if Finn was inside, but Archie hoped they’d find him here.He didn’t like anything about this mess, but right now, it was his mess to deal with, and he’d told the Hendersons that he’d do everything in his power to find Finn.He hadn’t been lying.If the kid was here, Archiewouldfind him.
He just wasn’t sure he’d be able to get him out.
* * * *
JASPER STARED AT THEpile of newspapers.They were yellowed and dusty, and he could feel his nose itching just by looking at them.“Aren’t they supposed to be digitalized or something?”he asked.
Kerry snorted.“With the lack of funding, I don’t think so.If you want to look through them, you’re gonna have to do that by hand.”
Jasper wondered if he really wanted to find his birth family.Did he want it enough to sift through all of these old newspapers in the hope that he’d find mention of a baby being abandoned or found?It might not help him find them, anyway.He’d probably leave the library empty-handed just like he’d walked into it, but even though he was tempted to turn around and walk out, he couldn’t.
When Kerry had suggested they go to the library, he’d wondered what she was up to.She’d explained that since they didn’t know where to start, it might be a good idea to look into the newspaper that had been published around the time of Jasper’s birth.Jasper wasn’t even sure how old he was.He didn’t know if Leroy had lied to him about that, too, but it was possible.He might be younger or older than he thought he was.He might not be a Leo.There was no way for him to know, but he had to start somewhere, and this was a logical place to do so.If they did find mention of a newborn being kidnapped or abandoned, they’d go from there.If they didn’t, well, they’d have wasted a day off work, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
Jasper wasn’t hopeful, but he still sighed and went to work.He sneezed almost as soon as his hand touched the first newspaper, but after giving himself a few minutes to blow his nose and breathe, he was able to focus.He didn’t expect Kerry to do this for him, even though she’d promised she’d help.He was grateful for the help and the company.He knew himself.If he’d been alone, he would’ve turned around and left as soon as he’d walked in.
He could hear the sounds of the library around him as he worked, but he didn’t focus on that.Instead, he turned the brittle pages of the newspapers, quickly scanning them in search of the words baby or anything that could relate to that.Even if a baby had been abandoned or found, he didn’t think it would’ve made the front page, which meant he had to dig deeper into the newspapers, which in turn made him sneeze more often.
He never wanted to see newspapers again once he was done with this mess.
“We’re assuming that Leroy didn’t change your birthday or anything like that, right?”Kerry asked after what felt like ages.
Jasper checked his phone, groaning when he realized it had only been an hour.“Knowing my father, I don’t think he would’ve gone through the trouble of coming up with an entirely new identity for me.He probably gave me a new name, but I really don’t think he would’ve gone any further than that.It would’ve complicated his life.”
Kerry snorted.“So if we’re assuming that you were born in August of the same year, I might have found something.”
