The Baby Snatchers (16 page)

“Four for each department.”

“Not so many. It shouldn’t be too hard to
work out where the communication broke down.”

“You’re right and I can assure you I’ll be
looking into the matter very thoroughly.”

Cam heard the steely determination in the
general manager’s voice and was confident she’d do what she said.
After all that had gone down on her watch, she couldn’t afford to
have the police break another scandal among the staff of the Sydney
Harbour Hospital.

“I’ll need copies of those records,” he
said.

“Of course. I’ll get them over to you as
soon as I can.”

“I appreciate your cooperation, Ms Healy. I
hope I can continue to rely on your support.”

“If we have a rogue staff member or members
acting illegally, I want to bring an end to it, right now.”

Cameron’s heart picked up its pace. “Do you
really think that’s possible? That an employee has something to do
with these deaths?”

Deborah sighed heavily. “I’m not willing to
speculate, but know this, Detective: No other hospital in this
country would have an infant death rate so high. Coupled with the
fact most of these deaths weren’t reported to me, it’s obvious
something’s not right. We need to find out what’s going on.”

“I’ll need to speak with some of your
staff.”

“You have my permission to speak with
whomever you want. Just…be discreet. I don’t want this getting out
before it’s absolutely necessary.”

Cameron thought of Cynthia and her little
baby girl and his gut tightened with dread. Was it possible the
child had been
murdered
shortly after she’d been born? And
what about Danielle Jamison’s baby? Was the premier closer to the
truth than any of them had imagined? Had a staff member killed his
grandson? Was the Sydney Harbour Hospital hiding another criminal?
Cam couldn’t bear to think about it.

Thanking Deborah for her cooperation, he
ended the call and leaned back in his chair, stunned at the
direction of his thoughts. Hot on their tail, were images of
Georgie. The premier had said Georgie Whitely had delivered his
grandson. Georgie was also present at Josephine’s birth. How many
others on the general manager’s list had involved the beautiful
midwife? Cameron wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he sure as hell
would have to find out.

Cam swung into the driveway of his apartment
block only moments before Georgie’s Mazda came into view. She’d
sent him a text earlier, to say she was taking Cynthia to the
movies and would drop her home a little after six. Despite the
unsettling questions that still filled his mind, Cam wanted to be
there when she arrived.

Even if he managed to prove that something
illegal had taken place, there was no proof Georgie was involved.
It could be something to do with the failure of hospital equipment
or technology, or involve any one of the thousands of other staff
members who worked at the hospital.

His enquires with the other large hospitals
servicing the greater Sydney area confirmed Deborah Healy’s surety
that none of them would have infant death rates as high as hers.
Yet, apart from the fact the hospital’s reporting system had broken
down, there was still no evidence of wrongdoing.

Pulling into his parking space, he climbed
out and waited for the girls to join him. Like she had earlier that
morning, Georgie parked her car alongside the curb. The two of them
walked toward him, arm in arm, and he was moved to see the genuine
smile that turned up Cynthia’s lips. He hadn’t seen her so animated
since before he left the family home a decade ago. Not even weeks
of therapy had made her smile that way.

“You two look like you’ve had a nice day,”
he said when they reached him.

Cynthia’s grin widened. “We had the most
fantastic
day, Cam! We spent the morning at the day
spa—look, do you like the color of my nails?” She thrust her hands
out in front of her and laughed before continuing. “Then we had
lunch at this really posh place down near the harbor. To top it
off, Georgie took me to the movies.” Cynthia spun on her heel and
tugged at Georgie’s arm. “How did you know I love going to the
movies?”

Georgie smiled softly. “I love going to the
movies, too. It was fun. Thank you for coming with me.”

Cynthia’s eyes widened and she shook her
head. “No! I’m the one who’s grateful. I’m the one who wants to say
thank you. I’ve had the best day ever!” She flung her arms around
Georgie and hugged her. Cam’s chest tightened with emotion when
Georgie hugged her back.

Careful
, he silently warned himself.
For all her outward goodness, he hardly knew Georgie Whitely, and
until he knew the extent of her involvement, if any, in the
mysterious infant deaths, he’d do well to keep his distance. He
needed to proceed with caution.

“Well, I guess I’d better get going,”
Georgie said, interrupting his thoughts.

“No!” his sister protested before he could
respond. “Come in! Stay for dinner! Cam cooks a mean barbeque. She
turned to him with an expectant look on her face. “Don’t you?”

He couldn’t find the words to turn her down.
“I’m surprised you noticed. You’ve barely eaten anything I’ve
cooked since you arrived,” he muttered.

Cynthia had the grace to look embarrassed.
“That’s not true!”

Cam softened his words with a smile. “Oh, I
think it is.”

“Well, that was before. I feel so much
better now. In fact, I’m starving. What’s on the menu?” She shot
him a cheeky smile and Cam couldn’t help but laugh.

If he were honest, he didn’t really mind
that she’d invited Georgie to dinner. It would give him a chance to
get to know her a little better and to sound her out about the
infant deaths. It would be interesting to observe her reaction to a
few questions and remarks.

Cam prided himself on being very perceptive.
He had a knack for getting inside a person’s head and they didn’t
even know he was there. It had helped him solve an admirable number
of crimes over the years and he was confident his skills would
continue to serve him well, even with the added complication of his
attraction to his witness. His promise of caution would ensure he’d
keep his libido under wraps. He turned to Georgie.

“Would you like to stay for dinner? After
spending the day with this brat, it’s the least I can do.”

“Cam! That’s not nice!” Cynthia replied in
mock outrage and poked her tongue out at him.

Cam chuckled and Georgie sent him a soft
smile. It lit up her brown eyes and sent a rush of blood to his
groin. He swallowed a groan and once again determined to keep well
away from her. She was dangerous to his peace of mind and until he
knew what was going on at her work place, it was best he keep his
distance. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t exchange chitchat over
dinner. Did it? All of a sudden, he wasn’t quite so certain.

“Are you sure?” she said, nibbling on her
lip.

Cam dragged his gaze away from the tempting
sight and nodded. It was too late now to retract the
invitation.

“Yes, of course,” he forced himself to
reply. “Come on, let’s go inside.” He threw his arm around
Cynthia’s shoulders and the three of them walked toward the front
entrance to the building.

* * *

It was getting late when Cynthia finally
stretched her arms above her head and yawned and announced she was
going to bed. She kissed Cam goodnight and then surprised him by
kissing Georgie on the cheek.

“Thank you for a wonderful day, Georgie.
I’ll remember it forever.”

Georgie smiled with pleasure. “It was
great,” she agreed. “We’ll have to do it again.”

His sister’s eyes widened in delight.
“
Could
we? You mean it?”

Georgie chuckled. “Yes, of course. But we’ll
have to wait a few weeks. It will take that long before our nails
will need to be redone.”

Cynthia shrieked with excitement and threw
her arms around Georgie and hugged her. “Oh, Georgie! Thank you!
You’re the absolute
best
!” Then, throwing them a wave, she
skipped down the corridor in the direction of her bedroom.

Cam stared at the woman who sat across from
him at the kitchen table. She seemed almost too good to be true.
Like a guardian angel sent to heal his sister’s pain.
Could an
almost-stranger really be that kind to a girl she barely knew?
Or was it all an act? Cam was determined to find out.

“Would you like another coffee?” he
asked.

“No, thanks. One’s enough.” She smiled and
pushed back her chair and started collecting the dirty plates.

“I’ll do that,” Cam protested.

“It’s no trouble. Besides, you cooked. I
have a rule in my house: The cook never has to clean up!”

Cam chuckled. “I like that rule. Too bad
I’ve lived on my own for so long. Until Cynthia arrived, there was
nobody around but me. I cooked, cleaned and did whatever else was
required.”

Georgie headed toward the kitchen with her
hands filled with dirty plates. She threw a grin over her shoulder.
“Me, too. If only we’d known there was an easier way.”

Cameron’s heart leaped at the discovery she
lived alone. It boded well for the fact that she might be single.
The next instant, reining himself in, he told himself he shouldn’t
be so interested in her personal life. He had yet to broach the
subject of the dead infants and still didn’t have a clue how she
might react.

They’d shared a pleasant meal around the
table talking about their day. Cam had kept the conversation light,
unprepared to discuss what had kept him busy throughout the day. He
needed to comb through the hospital records and get a better sense
of what had happened before he went any further. Still, the mood at
the table was comfortable and he’d enjoyed getting to know Georgie
better.

“You’re really good with your sister. She’s
lucky she found you.” Georgie’s quiet words broke into his
thoughts.

He stared at her. “I’m not sure that
she
found me. The way I heard it, you were the one who made
the enquiries. If it weren’t for you, I would never have known she
was in the city, let alone in a hospital giving birth.” He moved
closer to where she was stacking the dishwasher. “I haven’t had a
chance to thank you.”

“There… There’s no need to thank me. I was
merely doing my job.” Her eyelids fluttered rapidly and her flimsy
dress moved with each quick intake of breath. Cam was pleased to
see she was affected by his nearness.

He’d always enjoyed women and they seemed to
enjoy him. There had been a fair number of them, in and out of his
life. No doubt a therapist would imagine the fact he’d grown up
with a wicked adoptive mother, and a birth mother who hadn’t loved
him enough to keep him, would have been enough to sour him off
female companions for life. But that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t all
women he held a grudge against, just two of them. As far as he was
concerned, both of them could burn in hell, along with his cowardly
father.

Shaking off his dark thoughts, he gave
Georgie a soft smile. “Are all nurses as dedicated as you?”

“I’m not sure you’d call it dedication. Like
I said, I was merely doing my job. When I first saw Cynthia, she
was already in labor and it was obvious she’d had a rough time. I’m
sure I don’t need to remind you about her appearance that first
day.”

Cam remembered the dirty state his sister
had been in, even after a shower, and nodded slowly. “I
remember.”

“When I questioned her about her living
arrangements, she told me she moved around a lot and was reluctant
to give me specifics. It was obvious she had no fixed place to go.
I was concerned for her and her baby and what would happen to them
when they were discharged. When she told me she had no family other
than a brother who was a police officer in the city, I took the
only course of action open to me: I made an effort to locate
you.”

“And you did.” Their gazes caught and held
and the silence between them stretched out.

The tension in the air escalated and was
only broken when Georgie turned away and focused her attention on
stacking the rest of the dirty plates. The cutlery followed and the
noise of that precluded further conversation. Cam busied himself by
collecting the condiments off the table and storing them away in
the pantry.

A few moments later, the cleanup was done
and he reached for a bottle of port. “Would you like a glass?”

She shook her head. “I’m driving. I’d
better—”

“You didn’t have any wine at dinner. One
glass won’t put you over the limit.”

She seemed to think about it and then
accepted his offer with a slight smile. “All right. One glass.”

He poured the drinks and carried them over
to the glass sliding door that led out to the balcony. “Let’s have
them out here. It shouldn’t be too cold, yet.”

Georgie followed behind him and he handed
her a glass. “You have a great view,” she murmured, peering through
the dark.

The lights from nearby houses and apartment
blocks gently illuminated the night. His balcony overlooked a leafy
park favored by morning joggers—him, included. He indicated the
wooden deck chairs and they each took a seat. Georgie relaxed in
one with a quiet sigh.

“What a week,” she murmured and took a sip
of port.

Cameron stared over at her and wondered what
she was thinking. “It can’t be easy, doing what you do. How do you
keep it up?”

She smiled softly. “It’s my job and I love
it. I guess it’s as simple as that.”

Cameron nodded. He understood how a job
could keep someone enthralled, the good times far outweighing the
bad. There were many people who wondered how
he
could do
what he did for a living, but it was like Georgie said: Policing
was his job and he loved it.