Abducted (4 page)

“Christy’s doing better. She’s, uh, actually stable now.”

Then why do you sound so strange?
“Okay, what’s the matter, then?”

“Oh, Carly,” he sobbed over the phone as his thin layer of composure broke. “Someone’s taken A.J. Someone stole my son.”

SOMEONE STOLE A.J.

As many times as Carly repeated the words, they still didn’t make sense. Officers were all over the hospital this morning. How could someone kidnap a baby? And why?

She sped to the hospital and prayed that when she arrived, Joe would tell her it was a terrible mistake and A.J. was safe and sound. But the obvious media presence in the parking lot killed all optimism. To avoid the media, Carly parked on a side street and entered the hospital through the emergency room. In spite of the heat, she shivered when she remembered Joe’s voice on the phone. In almost eleven years on the force, Carly could not recall a single kidnapping in her city. And she wondered,
What do you say to someone whose son was just kidnapped?

Four uniformed officers hovered around the emergency admitting desk. One of them saw her and hailed.

“Hey, Carly, what’s the deal with your partner’s wife? Why were she and the kid here in the first place?” Tina asked.

“Don’t know. Earlier this morning the doctors couldn’t say.” Carly sighed. “Have you guys heard any more?”

Tina shook her head. “No, no one is saying much. But they’re giving out overtime like candy for guys to watch the entrances and talk to potential witnesses.”

“Witnesses?” Hope sprang into Carly’s chest. “Did someone see A.J. being taken?”

“We’ve heard rumors someone saw a volunteer leave with a baby earlier, but nothing is confirmed. They don’t want false information going out, so we probably won’t hear anything official until all their ducks are in a row. You know how it goes.” Tina shrugged.

“Lieutenant Jacobs is planning a press briefing soon,” one of the guys added. “Our orders are to watch people leaving. Initially, the hope was that the baby was still inside the hospital. But I think now they know the kid is gone.”

“How long ago did they discover the baby was missing?”

“We’ve been watching this entrance for an hour. If Joe called 911 right away, the baby’s been gone about an hour and twenty minutes to two hours.”

“Thanks for the information. I pray we find A.J. soon.”

They all nodded in agreement, and Carly continued into the hospital. Over an hour, maybe two. A.J. could be halfway to Santa Barbara by now. A shroud of dread and fear enveloped her as the reality of the kidnapping sank in. She stopped at the elevator to gather her thoughts.
I need to encourage Joe, support him, not scare him.

The elevator doors opened, and Lieutenant Jacobs and Sergeant Nelson stepped off.

“Hey, I’m glad to see you two.” Carly greeted the men and felt her gut unclench slightly. She wanted an update from Jake before the press conference. And the lieutenant wouldn’t miss a thing.

“Hey yourself, Trouble.” Jacobs smiled, but his eyes told her he was intense and focused. Ever since the murder of Las Playas’s last mayor, when for a time there was an all-points bulletin out on Carly, Jacobs had called her Trouble. She rolled her eyes at the nickname and fell into step with the lieutenant.

“I wondered where you were,” he said. “I know you and Joe are close.”

They stopped at an open waiting room that had obviously been turned into a temporary command post. A tactical unit was poring over diagrams of the hospital, and Soto, the public information officer, was on the phone. From the sound of it, he was giving a statement to a news radio station. Nelson sat down to use the phone. He was the new sergeant in charge of homicide, and homicide handled all kidnappings.

“When I went home to sleep, it was only Christy we were worried about, and Joe’s parents had just arrived. What happened?” Carly asked.

“I wish I knew. We just don’t have much.” Jake rubbed tired eyes. “There were cops all over this hospital. Guys were stopping by all morning, checking up on Joe and Christy. The best we can tell is, between one and two hours ago, someone walked into the nursery, picked up A.J., put a doll in his place, and walked away.”

“We’re not sure about the time?”

“Yes and no. One or two of the parents who were upstairs with newborns remember a volunteer walking around. We’re looking hard at this because there aren’t any volunteers assigned to that floor right now. Problem is, about the same time the baby disappeared, one of the sick babies began having problems and most of the staff were involved with that infant. The other parents who were up there with sick children can’t tell us much because they were concerned about their own problems.”

“But Andrea brags about all the cameras in this place. Security here is tops; surely they picked something up?” Carly feared she sounded hysterical; she swallowed, working to calm down.

“Pete Harris is the assigned investigator. He’s reviewing security discs as we speak. Everyone who was on duty in pediatrics was talked to, or will be talked to, and no one saw anything or anyone unusual that is any help . . . so far. I’ve got officers interviewing everyone who was in the hospital at the time of occurrence. The FBI is sending a couple of agents to help. We’ll chase down every lead. I promised Joe our best.”

He paused and took a deep breath. “You know what the worst part of this is?”

Carly shook her head.

“Joe was on his way to get A.J. and take him home. He found the stupid doll.”

Nelson pulled Jacobs away to deal with something on the phone. Carly left them to their work and went back to the elevator. As she stepped on board, her thoughts went to Andrea. She was working pediatrics; chances were good she’d be in the thick of this investigation. When her phone buzzed with a text message, she looked down and saw it was from Nick.
Nick!
She hit her forehead with her hand.
I forgot to call him back. He probably heard the news from the TV. Oh well,
she thought.
He will have to wait until after I talk to Joe.

Between the hospital’s own security and the LPPD, every floor at Memorial was shut up tight. She hated to think it, but it was typical: the barn door securely shut after the horse had escaped. Most of the guards recognized Carly, but a couple of new guys asked to see her badge. When she reached critical care, she found Joe in a quiet module holding Christy’s hand. His beard was darker, and black half circles weighed down his bloodshot eyes. He stood to give Carly a hug and held on tight.

“How’s she doing now?” Carly asked in a whisper, looking down at the still-pale form. Joe’s parents, seated on the other side of the bed, nodded silently to her.

“She’s stable at least. They still don’t know what’s wrong with her, but she’s not getting worse. She isn’t conscious, but I’m almost afraid that’s better. I couldn’t tell her that A.J. . . .” His voice broke.

“Hang in there, Joe. We’ll find him. People don’t get away with taking babies from hospitals; you know that.” Carly hugged his sagging shoulders.

He sniffed back his tears. “I know what I want to believe: that this is a long, involved nightmare I’m in, and I’ll wake up any minute now. I can’t—I never would have thought that something so horrible could happen to my family.”

“My mom has a lot of people praying for you, Joe.”

“Thanks . . . thanks.”

His mom, a small woman with a scarf covering her head, came over and took Joe’s hand. They talked a little about Christy and what the doctors had ruled out. One of the nurses padded softly into the module and said apologetically that there were really too many people in the room. The gentle shove made Carly tell Joe she’d be close if he needed anything. She left to locate Andrea and find out from her how the investigation was going on the hospital’s side.

Glancing back as she left, Carly saw Joe with his mother, huddled close to the pale Christy. Her BlackBerry buzzed again, and this time Nick used 911—the call-back-right-away signal.

Well, I’ve put it off as long as I can,
she thought. Still, she decided to make the call from Andrea’s floor and rode the elevator one level down. Cell phone use was discouraged in the hospital, so she found a free phone at the nurses’ station and punched in his number.

“It’s about time!” Nick was livid. “Were you ever going to call and tell me what was going on with Joe?”

As if his rage traveled through the phone lines and infused Carly, she felt her face flush with indignation. How dare he!

“What is that supposed to mean? Since when am I supposed to check in with you? I called you earlier, and it went to voice mail. I was tired. I went home and fell asleep.”

“Five minutes! That’s all a phone call would have taken you—five minutes. Is that too much to ask?” Nick sounded uncharacteristically harsh. Carly couldn’t recall him ever talking to her that way. She took a deep breath and bit back the sarcastic retort on her tongue.
I don’t want to hurt you, Nick.
Even though everyone kept telling her she wasn’t the problem, she bristled at being his chosen target. Her pastor’s Sunday message came to mind:
“Angry words pierce and the holes can’t be patched.”

“Nick, I’m sorry, okay? I meant to call you again and forgot. I was tired. I really can’t tell you much more than what you’ve already seen on the news.”

The line was quiet, and Carly took the opportunity to count to ten. She felt the flush slowly recede from her face.

“I’m sorry too—sorry I snapped. I’m not mad at you. I . . . well, I just—” his tone was calmer and a little contrite—“I just want to help; that’s all. I hate feeling useless.”

Carly relaxed. “I don’t know if there is much we can do right now. I haven’t talked to Andi yet, but Lieutenant Jacobs is in charge on our end, and you know he’s thorough.” She twisted some hair around her finger.

“You’ll let me know, won’t you?”

“Of course I will.”

There was a pause; then he thanked her before saying good-bye. Carly replaced the receiver and sat for a minute with her head in her hands.
Why has Nick pulled so far out of my reach? He’s put up a wall I don’t know how to get around or through, and it scares me as much as A.J.’s being missing.

“You with us?”

Carly jumped at the sound of Andrea’s voice. When she faced her roommate, she saw frustration and fatigue and hoped the anger about their conversation yesterday had dissipated.

“Yeah, I’m here. I was just thinking.” She shook away her musings and focused on Andrea. “Hey, what’s going on? I thought Memorial’s security was the best.”

“It is. It just doesn’t do any good when it’s turned off.” Andrea sat down in a chair next to Carly, leaned back, and closed her eyes. “I swear, Carly, it was like Casper the unfriendly ghost was here this afternoon. She—at least we think it’s a she—waltzed into the nursery security office, turned off all the cameras, and left with A.J. I’ve been everywhere, talked to everyone, and this person came and went practically without being seen.”

There was something strange in Andrea’s body language, but Carly wasn’t sure what it was. “Was anything going on here today out of the ordinary that would have distracted security from noting her coming and going?”

“Not a thing,” she said with some heat. “We were short one security officer, but the shortage was downstairs at the information desk. That may have made it easy for someone to come in unnoticed, but not all the rest. I can’t believe it.”

“Andrea, I think we’ve got something.”

Both women looked up at the sound of a male voice. It was Peter Harris, homicide detective. He smiled and dipped his head to Carly but looked every bit as frustrated as Andi. Carly knew he was on a mission. As part of the same case that earned her the nickname Trouble, Pete Harris had weathered storms of internal investigations after it was discovered his partner of eight years was on the take and involved in three murders. It was his partner who had firebombed Kay Edwards’s house. Now the man would hopefully end up serving a life sentence in Folsom Prison. The investigation exonerated Pete and he stayed in homicide, working hard to remove all doubts about his loyalty.

“What? Please tell me you’ve found a lead on the baby.” Andrea stood. Carly shifted anxiously in her seat.

“I wish I could.” He put his hands on his hips and sighed. “But we do have something. It’s this mysterious volunteer. We finally heard something solid. One of the cafeteria workers coming in to start her shift saw someone dressed in scrubs with a volunteer badge leaving with a baby. I’ve seen this mysterious volunteer on a couple of the security discs, but she never looks up at the camera. Anyway, the time frame fits, and we have a vague description. Lieutenant Jacobs just put a call in for a sketch artist.”

“Good! She won’t be able to hide if we get a picture of her on TV, will she?” Andrea relaxed perceptibly.

“That’s the hope,” Pete said with a nod. “We’re still searching all the camera feeds for a clear shot of her face, but there are a lot of discs to review. Anyway, someone is bound to spot a woman who suddenly appears with a baby. A.J. is no newborn; he’s four months old.”

Carly said nothing. Pete’s optimism was comforting, but a question nagged. Why did the woman take the baby in the first place?

“News coverage will make it impossible for the woman to hide.” Andrea closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

“Hang in there; we’ll find her.” Pete patted Andi’s shoulder. “Jake is doing everything he can and making sure we get any and all resources to help the investigation. Which brings me to my next question.” He turned toward Carly. “I know you’re happy back in your patrol niche, but would you consider a brief reassignment to homicide?”

“To work on A.J.’s case?”

“Yep. It might only be grunt work, but we are shorthanded. I haven’t been assigned a new partner yet, and you know Sergeant Nelson is new. It would help to have a little experience poking around.”

“Anything I can do to help, I will.”

“Great. I’ll run it by Nelson. Give me your cell number.”

Carly wrote the number down and handed it to Pete. “How about the lab? Any luck with prints on the doll or anywhere else?” she asked, already ticking off the steps of an investigation in her mind, energized by the opportunity to be actively involved.
Joe is my partner, and I really want to do something for him.

“Not the doll; it’s fabric. But we may get something off the digital recorder in the security office. The volunteer, or whatever she was, knew how to pick a door lock and then how to shut off the cameras. I hope she left a workable print somewhere.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m confident we’ll get A.J. back. The media will fill the airwaves with pictures of him, and Nelson will set up tip lines.” He looked at Andrea, mouth set with grim determination. “Someone will see something and call. I’m sure of it.”