Vicious Cycle (18 page)

“High on what?”

She sighed and looked down at her trembling hands. “Ice.”

“Ice?” Dathan asked. “For the record, do you mean crystal meth?”

“Yes.” She looked up at him. “Am I gonna get arrested for that? Because I don’t have any with me right now.”

“No. We’re not here about drugs. Go on.”

“So I was high and I didn’t realize the baby was coming. But then I felt like pushing, and I told my mother that I needed to go to the hospital. But she said I was fine, that my water hadn’t broken. She was a nurse’s aide, years and years ago, when I was little. She thinks she knows everything. But then my water broke, and she still didn’t take me. Even high, I felt worse and worse, so I shot some more, until I finally ran out. I didn’t think about what it was doing to the baby.”

“And what time did the baby come?”

“I went all night like that, and it finally came about ten in the morning.”

“And what condition was the baby in?”

“She seemed okay, but every now and then she would get stiff and shake. I knew something was wrong. But my mom still wouldn’t take me to the hospital.”

“Did she tell you why?”

“It was because she wanted to give her to those people she found to adopt her, and she didn’t want a record of the birth.”

Kent glanced at Barbara. She pushed off from the wall and stood stiffly.

“Who were the people?” Dathan asked.

“She called them the Nelsons. They were paying her for the baby. They have some connection in town who looks for pregnant addicts. That guy hooked Mom and Zeke up with these people.”

“How much?”

“Forty thousand dollars. My mother couldn’t think about anything else.” Jordan’s face twisted, and she covered her eyes for a moment. “She was going to sell my baby. Just … sell her, like Grace was a car or something.”

Dathan showed no emotion. “Were these people approved by an adoption agency? Were there papers?”

“I never signed anything.”

“What happened when Lance came over?”

“He came to try to talk me into going back to New Day, and while he was there, the Nelsons showed up to take the baby. I couldn’t let that happen. So I locked myself in my room while Lance was arguing with my mom and brother. And I went out the window and put the baby in Lance’s car.”

“So Lance didn’t know the baby was in his car?”

“No. I figured his mom would know what to do. Mainly, I just wanted him to take her away from that place so they couldn’t get her.”

“Why didn’t you go with Lance too?”

“Because I knew my mom would come after me if I did. I thought if he took off and I was still there, I’d buy them a little time. But I paid for it.”

“How?”

“My mom picked my door lock and beat me bloody.”

“So she’s responsible for these bruises on your face?”

“Yes. And she forced me to call the police and report Lance. She wanted the baby back so she could sell her, but she also wanted to get revenge on Lance for getting in her way.”

“Wasn’t she worried about the birth record if she reported it?”

“I don’t know what she was thinking. She was just raging.” Her face twisted again, and a vein bulged on her forehead. “I didn’t want to do it.”

She looked at Barbara. “I’m sorry I lied. But she made me. I didn’t want him to go to jail. He’s the only one who cares what happens to me.”

Barbara breathed a sigh of relief as Dathan wrapped up the interview. Jordan wept as she signed her statement. “I
know what happens next. They’ll arrest my mom and put me in foster care. But I don’t want to go stay with some strange family. I want to give the baby up for adoption to a family who can love her and take care of her, and then I want to go back to New Day.”

“We’ll try to arrange that,” Kent said. “For now, you’ve done the right thing. You’ve helped Lance, but more than that, you’ve helped your baby. Can we count on you to testify against your mother if it comes to that?”

“Yes. I have to,” she said. “It’s not just me now. It’s Grace.”

Barbara tried to comfort her as they finished up. But Jordan seemed to be waiting in dread for word about her mother’s arrest. Until then, she wouldn’t be safe. And neither would the baby.

When Kent was finished at the hospital, he followed Detective Dathan and his partner to the police station. Within minutes, one of them had gone to the DA for a warrant, based on Jordan’s testimony. This was clearly a baby trafficking scheme. If they scared Maureen with jail, maybe she’d expose the others involved.

Kent went with the police to make the arrest. An old Dodge sat on the dirt driveway, and the front door appeared to be open. The crooked screen door had holes in it.

He waited on the lawn as the uniformed officers knocked.

Then Maureen emerged. She stepped out onto the rotting porch. Her graying roots looked as if they’d grown out four inches since she’d last colored it black. Even from where he stood, she smelled like she’d bathed in pig slop, and her eyes looked over-bright, as if she were high.

“Maureen Rhodes, we have a warrant for your arrest.”

“What?” she spat out. “For what? I didn’t do nothin’.”

“For abusing your daughter and coercing her into giving a false statement to the police.”

They left out the part about baby trafficking. They didn’t yet have enough evidence to accuse her, but Kent hoped they’d be able to bring it up during questioning.

As they read Maureen her rights, Dathan put plastic cuffs on her. It satisfied Kent to see her rendered immobile after she’d called the police on Lance.

They took her to the precinct and sat her in the investigation room. Kent watched through the two-way mirror as the detectives questioned her, but she wouldn’t talk. Clearly, her fear of repercussions from the traffickers and the risk of losing their money was more intimidating than her fear of the police. When they told her Jordan had changed her story, rage reddened her wrinkled face.

“Where is that little brat?” she demanded. “Is she still in the hospital?”

“Are you referring to your daughter?”

“She wants to keep that baby, so she’s making up a bunch of stupid lies. The charges we filed were not false. Lance Covington forcibly took the baby. I didn’t abuse her. He beat her up!”

Dathan glanced at the recorder. “Why did you keep her from giving the baby up for adoption through the Loving Arms agency, Ms. Rhodes?”

“I didn’t. I don’t care what she does with the baby. I just want it to go to a good home.”

“Did anyone ever approach you about exchanging the baby for cash?”

Fear flashed across her face, and she stiffened. “No.”

“Who were the two people who came to take the baby while Lance Covington was there?”

“They …” She paused, took in a deep breath, then looked down at her feet. “Those people weren’t there for the baby. They were there looking at a couch I had for sale. That’s all.”

“A couch? That dirty couch in your living room?”

She didn’t meet his eyes. “Yeah. They didn’t buy it.”

“So let me get this straight. On the day your daughter gave birth at home to a child who was obviously in distress, you took the time to show your couch to strangers?”

“That’s right. I really needed some cash for the baby and all.”

“Where did you list the couch for sale?”

She hesitated, clearly aware that they could check out her story. “It was word of mouth. I told some friends who told some friends.”

“So no one ever offered you money for that baby?”

“Absolutely not.”

Dathan leaned forward on the table. “Ms. Rhodes, are you aware that it’s illegal to take cash for a baby?”

“Yes, I know that.”

“Are you aware that baby traffickers don’t always put the babies in homes of well-to-do people who want to adopt them? That sometimes there are much more sinister things going on?”

“Sinister things like what?” she asked grudgingly.

“Like taking the children out of the country, raising them in brothels. Or selling them to pedophiles.”

She slammed her hand on the table. “I didn’t sell nobody that baby.”

“If you were to tell us who those people were and help us track them down, we might be able to keep the DA from charging you with conspiracy to commit child trafficking.”

There was a long silence as she stared at the floor again. Watching through the window, Kent held his breath.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” she said.

When it was clear they weren’t going to get any more out of Maureen, they took her to booking. Kent heard her shrill, raspy voice grow louder and louder, insisting that her own daughter was a lying tramp.

Kent couldn’t blame Jordan for how she’d turned out. It was probably a miracle she’d made it to fifteen.

P
ride swelled in Barbara’s chest at the way Emily attended to her friend. Today was supposed to be about Emily, but she’d unselfishly let Jordan become the center of their attention.

As Emily sat by Jordan’s bed, updating her on all the drama at New Day, Karen came tentatively into the room. “Jordan, do you need some water?” she asked.

“No, I’m fine,” Jordan said.

“If you need anything, just ring your call button.”

Barbara knew it was time to introduce Karen to Jordan. She took her friend’s hand and pulled her to the bed. “Jordan, Karen is a friend of ours. I asked her to look out for you when I realized she works on this floor.”

Jordan seemed moved. “That’s nice.”

“Jordan, Karen has a special interest in you, because her
brother-in-law and his wife are on the Loving Arms adoption list.”

For a moment, Jordan’s face was blank, and Barbara braced herself for resentment. “Oh. You should have said something.”

Karen swallowed. “I didn’t want you to feel pressured. And if you’re not ready to talk about it — ”

“No, I am. I have to make some decisions.”

“Jordan, Madeline and Ben have had four miscarriages. They want to be parents more than anything. I know you have a lot on your mind and a lot of options. But I’d love to introduce you to them. The baby’s so beautiful.”

Barbara couldn’t tell how Jordan was taking this.

“Grace,” Jordan said. “Her name’s Grace.”

Karen laughed. “Yes, Grace. That’s perfect for her.”

“Would they keep that name?” Jordan asked.

“I’m sure they would if you wanted them to. She looks like a Grace.”

Jordan looked off into the distance. “She does, doesn’t she?”

Emily nudged Jordan. “Why don’t you meet them tonight, and see what you think?”

“Okay. We could do that.”

Karen clapped her hands. “Then I’ll go call them. I’m sure they’ll come right away.” She stood a moment, as if trying to decide whether to hug her. Jordan’s expression remained closed, so finally, Karen backed away.

When she was gone, Jordan dabbed at her eyes. “She seems nice. Do you guys know the couple?”

“Yes,” Barbara said. “You’ll love them. Madeline would make a terrific mother. And Ben is amazing. He coaches his nephew’s soccer team. They both teach first graders in Sunday school.”

“Soccer and Sunday school,” Jordan repeated on a whisper. “I like that. It’s better than … what I had.”

“You couldn’t go wrong with them,” Emily said. “And Madeline wears the cutest clothes. You should see her. She has this really cool style, and she knows how to put things together. Grace would never look like a dork.”

Barbara had to chuckle. She never would have used fashion to persuade Jordan, but maybe Emily was speaking her language.

“I want her to grow up like … well, like you did, Emily.”

Barbara’s heart swelled. Was it possible that anyone really saw past Emily’s mistakes and thought she’d been raised right?

Emily laughed. “I didn’t turn out all that great.”

“But not because of your mom,” Jordan said.

Emily paused for a long moment. “No, not because of my mom.”

Barbara backed up against the wall and looked up at some invisible spot on the ceiling. “Thank you, sweetie. I appreciate that.” But I think you’ve turned out fine.

Later, when Madeline and Ben got to the hospital, nervous and teary-eyed, Karen brought them in to meet Jordan. As they talked, Barbara and Emily stepped out into the hall. “This could be a miracle,” Barbara whispered.

“I know, right?”

“Let’s go get a soda while they talk.”

They were downstairs in the cafeteria when Madeline and Ben found them half an hour later. Madeline’s nose was red from crying.

As she reached them, she raised her arms in the air. “Ben made her laugh. She’s really sweet. She said we could have her!”

Barbara screamed and stood up, throwing her arms around her. “Did you call the agency?”

“Yes! We called our case manager together. They’re getting the paperwork ready.” She wilted into tears. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

A
fter Madeline and Ben left her hospital room, Jordan tried to sort through her feelings. There was some peace in knowing the decision was made, but unexpected sorrow crashed over her.

She felt the sudden need to see her baby. Getting out of bed, she tested her legs. She was weak, wobbly, but she made her way out into the wide corridor, rolling the IV pole behind her. She looked up and down the corridor and found the sign pointing to the nursery.

Keeping her hand on the wall to steady herself, she went to the display window. She looked across the sterile bassinets and didn’t see a baby with brown curly hair. Where was Grace? What if her mother had already given her away?

She found the door and stepped inside. A nurse smiled at her.

“May I help you, hon?”

“My baby,” she said. “I want to see my baby.”

“The name?”

“Grace,” she said. “Grace Rhodes.”

The nurse looked surprised. “Oh, the Rhodes baby. Yes, she’s right over here. Are you her mother?”

Jordan nodded, feeling like a fraud. She’d been called many things, but “mother” didn’t seem to fit. She walked barefoot around the corner, pulling her pole behind her, and saw her little bundle lying in the bassinet, hooked up to a monitor. The baby lay sleeping on her back, her tiny hands on either side of her head. She was smaller than Jordan remembered, and her chest rose and fell rhythmically. Her skin was paler than it had been immediately after her birth. The purplish-pink had faded to white.