Authors: Alexa Grace
"Christ, did you just say F.H.A.A.?" He jumped out of his chair and leaned against the back of hers, eyeing her laptop screen. "Those initials stand for Forever Home Adoption Agency. Mandy Morris received the same deposits from them."
"I knew it! She
was
mixed up with Dr. Caine's adoption agency."
"Frankie, please pull up any bank transactions with pizza delivery or anything like that. Let's find out where she was living. I'm willing to bet she lived at the same apartment complex where Mandy Morris lived. The one owned by Caine."
"Here's one — Family Pizza and here's the phone number."
He punched the number on his cell phone and walked into the kitchen for more coffee. When he returned, he said, "Bingo. Got her address. Ally lived in the same apartment complex as Mandy Morris. Want to go with me to interview her roommate and neighbors?"
"I wish I could, but I have a telethon volunteer meeting that I can't miss. I’m anticipating the day when Dr. Eric Caine is sitting in a jail cell instead of planning a fundraiser. By the way, don't forget that he's having a dinner party on Saturday. It's a black tie event."
Jennifer spent the morning looking through Ally's things. She had so little. There were four maternity tops in her closet along with some maternity jeans and a pair of worn Reeboks. She pulled out a small box from her closet floor that contained folded notes from friends, some woven bracelets, and a few photos of Ally standing with a couple of other teenaged girls. She was smiling in the picture. The last time Jennifer saw her smiling was the night she was holding her baby for the first time. She wiped at a tear that rolled down her cheek.
Maybe it was the curiosity she inherited from her father that made her question Ally's disappearance from the hospital. Whatever it was, she couldn't let it go. She didn't believe Ally left the hospital with her father. How could she when she didn't even know who her father was?
She should go to the police with her suspicions. But what evidence did she really have to inspire them to investigate David Chambers? Besides, her father was a county sheriff who knew practically every cop in the state. She refused to let her family know about her pregnancy, so going to the police wasn't an option.
She put Ally's things back in the box and pushed it in the closet where she found it. Then she went into her bedroom and pulled a sketch pad out of a drawer. Grabbing a pencil, she sat on the bed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd sketched. The creative outlet had always relaxed her. But this time, she wasn't sketching to relax. She had an idea and she was going to follow it through.
Jennifer worked the drawing until she was satisfied, and then sprayed it with hair spray to set it. She reapplied her lipstick, grabbed her purse, and flew out her door. On the landing, she slammed into a huge man in a suit. The impact sent the contents of her purse flying.
"I'm so sorry," the man muttered and he dropped to his knees and began picking up her items on the stairs.
"No worries. I'm in a hurry." She snatched her wallet and keys out of his hand, finished off the rest of the stairs, and raced to her car.
Lane dusted himself off and continued up the stairs. Once he got to Ally Black's apartment, he pounded on her door. If he was lucky, she'd had a roommate he could interview. At any rate, he wanted inside her apartment to see if she left anything behind that might be incriminating evidence to nail Dr. Eric Caine and anyone associated to him to the wall.
"There's no one home. I haven't seen Ally in a long while and her roommate just left." A young pregnant woman appeared at his right.
"Her roommate?"
"Yeah, the woman you just bumped into on the stairs. She just left in the blue Honda Civic."
By the time Jennifer reached the hospital, her clothes clung to her and she felt wilted as a result of the unseasonably warm June day. Her broken car air conditioner didn't help the situation. She wiped perspiration from her brow and hurried into the building.
Once she reached the third floor, she went to the nurse's station.
"Hi," she said to the first nurse who noticed her. "I'm looking for Carole. Her name is spelled with an 'e' on the end of it. She works here."
"Sure, I know Carole. The last time I saw her, she was in the C-wing. I’ll page her to meet you here.”
Moments later, Carole arrived at the nurses' station.
"Hi, Carole. Do you remember me? I talked to you the other day when I was looking for Ally Black."
"Sure, honey, I remember you."
Jennifer pulled the sketch she’d done of David Chambers out of her purse, unfolded the picture and showed it to Carole. "Does this look like the man with Ally the day she left the hospital?"
"Aren't you the talented one? Yes, that's Ally's father."
Lane looked around him to make sure no one was watching, and then pulled a credit card from his wallet. He slid the card in the vertical crack between the door and the frame near the lock. Within a second, he was in Ally Black's apartment. He looked around the living room and found it tidy with no mail or personal papers lying about. He walked into the kitchen and found it just as clean. Apparently, her roommate was a clean freak.
He entered a hallway that led to the bedrooms. He peeked in the first one. There was a pink paisley comforter on the twin bed along with at least a dozen frilly pillows. He noticed a journalism college textbook lying on a desk. This couldn't be Ally's room. She hadn't finished high school.
Lane left the room and entered the second bedroom. There was a matching comforter in blue on the bed but no pillows. There were no personal objects on the white dresser or the desk. Really odd. In the other crimes involving young women he'd investigated before, there were always an abundance of personal items on furniture like photos, framed or not, jewelry boxes, and journals. The fact there was nothing personal in this room piqued his curiosity.
He slid back the closet doors. There were a couple of women's tops hanging on hangers. He noticed a box on the floor and pulled it open. With the exception of a photograph of Ally with some friends, there was nothing in the box that would help him. He heard voices and looked out Ally's window to see a couple of women carrying bags past the apartment. Then he heard a door open then slam shut in the distance. It was time for him to leave before the roommate returned.
Jennifer sat in her stifling hot car outside the Forever Home Adoption Agency building. It was David Chambers who took Ally Black from the hospital, not her father. So what did that mean? Did he do something to her? Could this be something as innocent as David giving Ally a ride to the airport? Were her imagination and suspicions in overdrive? What in the hell was wrong with her? Why couldn't she let this go?
She thought of Dr. Caine. He was such a nice man. The day she met him, he seemed to know how hard it was for her to sign the papers to give up her baby. She remembered how he came around his desk and consoled her as she cried.
Besides owning the adoption agency and clinic, he was a respected physician. The nurses in the clinic adored and respected him. He had a right to know if a member of his staff behaved in a way that was questionable. She had to tell him.
Dr. Caine's secretary ushered Jennifer into his reception area after reporting the doctor was on a conference call that would end soon. She tried to look at a magazine but couldn't concentrate so she set it down. She wondered how Dr. Caine would react when he heard her story about his employee. She heard his footsteps then the door of his office opened.
"Hello, Jennifer. It's good to see you again. Why don't you come in and tell me why you needed to see me today." He stood back as she walked past him then pulled out one of the guest chairs in front of his desk for her. He slid around his desk and sat down.
"I've come across some information about one of your employees," she began. Anxiety made a giant knot in her stomach. She bit her lower lip and willed herself to continue talking.
"Is that right? What is it you think I should know?"
"Ally Black, one of your patients, disappeared recently after giving birth."
"Go on," he urged
"I visited with her the night she gave birth. She'd changed her mind, Dr. Caine. She'd held her baby and decided she couldn't give her up. She was going to tell you the next day. But the next day she was gone." Jennifer took a deep breath and tried to relax.
"What do you mean, she was gone?" A flicker of apprehension coursed through him.
"I went to the hospital to visit her and the staff told me her father had taken her home."
"That seems reasonable."
"The thing is, even Ally's mother didn't know who Ally's father was. The man was an enigma. David Chambers took Ally from the hospital was not her father."
"How do you know David took Ally from the hospital?"
Jennifer pulled the folded sketch from her purse and handed it to him. He visibly paled as he looked down at the sketch on his desk. "One of Ally's nurses identified him today as the man who took her from the hospital. He told the nurse he was Ally's father."
"David may have simply been giving the girl a ride and the nurse misunderstood his role."
"No, she and the other nurses told me that David presented himself as Ally's father. And now she's disappeared. She hasn't come back to the apartment for her things. That's not logical. If she were going someplace, she'd want to take her things with her. I think David had something to do with her disappearance."
"Why are you telling me this? Why haven't you gone to the police with your story?"
Jennifer looked down at her hands. "I'm not sure the police would take me seriously. But you are David's employer. Besides that, you're a respected physician in the community." Despite her best efforts, tears streamed down her face. "They'd listen to you. Please help me find out what happened to her. I just want to know if she is okay."
"Jennifer, I don't want you to worry another second. I'll find out what happened to Ally if it's the last thing I do. Can you give me a couple of days? I want to talk to David to make sure this is not a misunderstanding before I go to the police. Can you do that for me?"
"Of course. I'm sorry to unload this on you. Would you call me to let me know what you've found out?"
"Yes. I will. I promise you." He stood, prompting Jennifer to stand too. He walked around his desk and led her to the door. "Please don't worry, Jennifer. I'll find out what's going on."
Panic was rioting inside Dr. Caine, but he willed himself to appear calm. Christ, this was the last thing he needed. This girl could ruin everything he'd worked for. The quick and disturbing thought raced through his mind and try as he might he couldn't erase it.