Chapter 6 - What Reed Saw Burn

"You were at the fire?" I repeated.

Reed nodded. "I was a patrol officer. Twenty-three. First on scene after dispatch."

"Then why didn't you tell us?"

"I was waiting to confirm the connection. That's procedure."

"Or convenient," Claire shot back.

For the first time, Reed looked offended. "I pulled two employees out through a broken window. One died in the ambulance. I have scars on my back from that building. I don't enjoy remembering it."

He rolled up his sleeve. Pale, ridged burn scars climbed his forearm. They were real. Real scars didn't automatically mean a real explanation.

Vega called while we stood there. The microfilm contained coded payments, bank routing numbers, and initials tied to adoption placements. One entry referred to an infant transferred out of a maternity clinic at 2:17 a.m. seventeen years ago.

Claire sank onto the bed. "My mother kept proof."

"A partial index," Reed said. "We still need the underlying records."

I looked at Ruby, asleep against her stuffed rabbit, and made a decision. "I know Riverside. I know the basement. If records are there, I'll show you."

"Not tonight," Reed said. "You're a potential target."

"Then get a warrant and a team."

"We're working on it."

At midnight, I woke to a soft click. The bathroom light was on. Claire wasn't beside me.

I found her in the adjoining room, writing something on hotel stationery. She folded it when she saw me.

"You're not sleeping," she said.

"Neither are you."

"Daniel raised me. If he's alive, I need answers."

"We can get them without walking into a trap."

She looked down. "I didn't tell you the truth about the baby comment."

My throat tightened.

"Ruby said the man told her the baby isn't yours," she continued. "He didn't mean I'd been unfaithful. He meant somebody plans to claim our child belongs to someone else. Just like the infants in those records."

I sat beside her and took her hand. "No one is taking our baby."

A knock came at the adjoining door. Three quick taps.

"Police," a man's voice said. "Open up."

I checked the peephole.

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The officer assigned to our hallway lay unconscious near the elevator.

The man outside was wearing his uniform.