And seeing the woman who had entrusted that baby to her staggering down the street with a knife in her back...
He intended to give Kieran whatever space she needed; respecting that might be a need to curl up in bed with her own thoughts, praying for sleep.
He was startled when she turned to him with a grin. Race you to the shower! she said, and she was gone.
Racing to the shower.
Hed thought shed be so exhausted.
Apparently not.
He followed her.
There were, of course, all kinds of ways to deal with strange happenings.
She was already naked, beneath the spray of water. He hesitated at the door, then left his Glock in the bedroom and shed his clothing.
He stepped into the tub. She was instantly in his arms.
Sometimes, people just needed to be held.
And sometimes, they needed more.
Her lips moved over his throat and chest, while her fingers danced down his torso. Her touch...the water...
He was instantly aroused.
They kissed and teased in the water. They lathered one another, intimately.
Then she laughed and moved away, escaping from the shower.
Theyd long ago realized that for a man Craigs size, making love in the shower wasnt particularly erotic. It could be awkward, and slippery in the wrong way.
But heading out of the shower could be completely wonderful, catching up with another with clean flesh, sliding into a damp embrace with token pats from towels, and then falling down into the bed, the coolness of the sheets against the heat of their flesh.
Foreplay quickly became something urgent, something needed, something more and more passionate with each brush of their lips, with the intimacy with which they caressed and kissed one another, with which their eyes met, and they came together at last.
Craig loved Kieran; she loved him. There was no question about that.
It still amazed him how intense their connection could be.
Just as it amazed him that they could live together, sleep together, wake together each morning, and still find it so new and exquisite every time they made love.
He thought that she would want to talk as they both came down after a sweet and wicked climax; she did not.
She curled against him, sighed and seemed to fall asleep almost instantly.
He dozed himself, but woke when she moved. He guessed she hadnt been sleeping at all.
She crawled as silently as she could out of bed, wrapped herself in a terry robe and headed out to the living room.
He followed, and found her looking out the window on what remained of the night.
She didnt hear him at first.
He sighed softly. Kieran?
She started and turned to him. Craig, Im sorry. I didnt mean to wake you. Its Saturdayand you actually have time off. You can sleep as long as you like.
I was planning on sleeping past four in the morning, he assured her. Come back to bed.
I cant forget that woman, Craig. I just cant forget her.
I know. Come back to bed.
Kidnapping. Thatd be an FBI matter, Kieran told Craig.
We dont know that it was a kidnapping. Maybe the woman was the babys motheror grandmother. Maybe she just wanted the child to be safe. Kieran
Kidnapping, Kieran said. Craig, you know that poor little girl was taken from somewhere.
At the moment, the case belongs to the cops. The Bureau might be brought in, but right now, its not my call. We work hard to keep our relationships between agencies all nice and copacetic. Im not running down there and demanding that we take the case. Id be put in my place in two damned seconds, he told her.
But it must be kidnapping. You can talk to Egan, at least, okay?
I will speak with Eganwhen its possible to speak with my director, I promise I will.
Really?
I just told you that I would.
What if he fights you on it? What if hes dismissive?
Ill fight back.
Really?
Ill push and be obnoxious and call in all kinds of favors, okay?
Yeah. Okay. I like it.
He led her back into the bedroom and she slipped into his arms. Resting against his chest, she fell asleep.
He thought about his promise.
He hadnt seen the woman, had no connection to the case, and in his life, hed seen too many murders.
But he would keep his promise, and he was damned determined that theyd get to the bottom of what was going on.
The woman had known Kierans name, and she had brought the baby straight to her, and that could mean...someone out there would be wondering just what Kieran knew about the woman, the babyand the killer.
And that meant that Kieran might well be in danger now herself.
* * *
It was her fault, and she knew it. Craig was up early.
Shed finally fallen asleep. But knowing shed kept him up meant that guilt riddled her. When he got up to leave and head into the office, she got up to start the coffee.
She pulled out her laptop. She had a desktop computer at work but had it networked with her laptopit was a good setup. It had often enough saved her from having to go back into the office over a small detaila note that one of the doctors might need, or even something that she wanted to reread herself to help her with a case they were working on.
She often interviewed and provided therapy for abused womenand occasionally men. It was certainly not in the same number, but there were men who suffered from abuse. One of her recent cases, Harold Lenin, was certainly that manhed been given black eyes by his wife, broken bones and tons of bruises. Hed kept silent through the years, a sad, cowed, little man. He was learning how to live again, recovering from his gunshot wounds.
He wouldnt receive any more of them. His wife had shot him while they were up on the roof. She hadnt been familiar with the gun and the kickback had sent her over the roofand down thirty-five floors.
A lot of the people on the street that day had needed therapy, too.
Oddly and sadly, there were many such cases. They were also working on one case in particular now in which a man had snappedand killed his wife. An all too common occurrence. As it turned out in depositions from neighbors and his own children, his wife had physically and mentally abused him for years, striking him constantly in the head. Apparently, for a few decades, helike poor Haroldhad just taken it.
His lawyers were still trying to plea bargain his case. Was it self-defense? He had finally slugged her back. He was a big guy; shed fallen hard across the room, struck the edge of a credenza and dropped dead.
The reports issued by Kierans office would be incredibly important in what kind of punitive measures the man would face. He had killed his wife, and the prosecution was arguing it hadnt been self-defense, not by the legal definitions that usually set someone free in a courtroom. And women and children were far more often victims of this kind of violence.
Her cases were often very sad, and frustrating. Kieran could usually work really hard and with tremendous empathy and still go home at night. But this thing with the baby...
None of the cases in their office at the moment seemed to have anything to do with an infant.
Ah. What about Melanie and Milton Deering?
At the offices of Fuller and Miro, they were also working with a scary paira murderer and his bride. The question was just how much the bride knew about the murderand if she had participated.
At the offices of Fuller and Miro, they were also working with a scary paira murderer and his bride. The question was just how much the bride knew about the murderand if she had participated.
Yes, looking at it all, Kieran felt a bit overwhelmed by the number of bad cases on the books right then.
But nothing that might have to do with a baby.
Her newest case was Besa Goga. Her crime had been biting. Shed bitten the cable man. At the rate cable men actually showed up in the city of New York, it might be unusual that more people didnt strike out in one way or another.
How had the woman known about their office?
Who were you? Kieran wondered aloud. Why me?
And then she wondered how the baby was doing.
Fine! The baby was going to be fine!
She looked at her computer again and then emailed Drs. Fuller and Miro, asking them if they could think of anything at all that might help figure this out.
Of course, maybe it wasnt that much of a dilemma. People knew about Fuller and Mirothey were rock stars in their chosen field. Not that being celebrated by your peers meant anything to the general public, but the doctors were known for their talents and the way they helped law enforcement. Word of mouth. In the same way, people knew about Kieran. She had managed to get her name in the paper a few timesshe felt lucky the police had helped her avoid the media last night.
The thing was, they werent out there in the same way as true stars or personalitiesactors, musicians, artists, performersbut neither were they any kind of secret.
So what did that mean? Had that woman just known that getting the baby to someone in that office would guarantee policeand help?
Why not just head to a police station?
Kieran yawned.
It was Saturday. She could go back to sleep.
She headed to her room and crawled into her bed.
Two minutes later, she was up again.
She showered and dressed. She was tempted to call Craig, but she absolutely refused to allow herself to do so. No sense driving him crazy at this point, too.
She had the thought that it was too bad thatat this momentthe apartment was almost spotlessly clean. She might start cleaning spotlessly again. No, she would find something else to do.
But it was Saturday. For many places in the downtown area, it was a slow day.
But, Finnegans was a popular pub, the kind of place people were willing to take the subway or cab to reach, even on a weekend.
Perfect.
She would go to work!
She headed into the bedroom for her jacket and purse and then paused. Shed left the television on.
And she was staring at a reporter who was talking about the murder. And the baby. And she suddenly found herself sitting at the foot of the bed.
Watching.
Even though there was nothing the reporter could say that she didnt already know.
* * *
Craig headed into his own office, determined that hed call his director, Richard Egan, the minute it hit nine oclockeven though he doubted that Egan ever slept that late, Saturday or no. But nine seemed a respectable hour.
He didnt have to wait, however. Marty KimCraigs favorite kid in the technical assistance division, stopped by his office, looking in. Hey!
Hey, yourself. Working Saturday?
I am. Running some facial recognition programs and the like. Im not surprised to see you.
Youre not?
Nope. Egan just said youd be in.
He did, did he?
Marty grinned. He was tall and thin with a great boyish face. Marty had no desire to be a field agent, but he loved analysis and could coax amazing information from any database.
Hes waiting for you.
Thanks.
* * *
The supervising field director was in his desk chair, swiveled around to study the flat-screen television set up on the wall of his office.
It was tuned to the news. And they were rehashing the story over and over again, as they tended to do. A reporter was standing on the street in front of Kierans office building in Midtown, telling her audience that as of yet, the police had no identification on either the woman or the infant.
Egan looked at Craig. Its not a major election year. This poor womans murder and the abandoned baby have become a media obsession.
Yes, sir. Thats what Ive come to talk to you about.
Egan nodded, then shook his head.
Kieran is involved. Then again, Craig, shes not. The baby was handed to her, but thats where it ends. Child Services has the baby. Shes out of it now.
But shes not. The press doesnt have this, and I hope that they dont wind up with it, but when the murdered woman gave Kieran the baby, she asked for Kieran by name. This woman went up to the offices of Fuller and Miro at a time when she knew they were closing down. And she knew Kieran by name, and possibly knew she was usually the last one out.
Egan turned his attention back to the television. The anchor was showing pictures of the baby, and a sketch that had been done of the dead woman by the NYPD composite artists, showing her as she might have looked in life. Craig figured it was a good ideagetting the picture out there might be their best way and only hope for an identification.
What do you think? Late forties? Egan asked. I dont think she was oldI think she looked older than her years. Poor woman. Id be willing to bet she lived a hard life before she was murdered. And she was trying to do the right thing by that baby.
I believe she was. Sir, theres still the baby. The logical assumption iseven if for a good reason, such as saving the childs lifethat the child was abducted. And since
Give it up, Craig. Yes, abduction. We can muscle our way in.
Sir, you know that I dont like to let anything in my personal life
Craig, Kieran Finnegan is your personal life. The woman attracts trouble of the most unusual variety. We work with her employers on a regular basis, though this is hardly the same as most instances. Ive already made the calls to set up a joint task force. Ive called Mike Dalton. Hes glad he had some vacation time latelyhell be in within the next hour. And what the hell did you think I was doing here today? Egan shook his head. Its Saturday. Feel free to say thank you anytime. Egan pushed a folder across his desk toward Craig. Theres what Ive got. Joint investigation. Autopsy todaybe there by two this afternoon. Obviously, the usual is happeningfingerprints, dental work, and so on. If anything has been discovered about the woman, I dont know it as of yet. We will know more once theres an autopsy, but even that... Egan ended with a shrug. Ethnicity, maybe. Youd think that in a city of millions of people there would be someone out there who did know something.
There must bebut they arent coming forward.
They dont want knives in their backs, Egan said flatly. Anyway...theres your case. The FBI and the NYPD are pulling information from every source we havesomeone has to be missing a baby. And the woman...well, we might be looking at someone in the country illegally. That would explain the lack of any ID, drivers license, bank card, anything. Anyway, youre on it.
Thank you, Craig said, picking up the folder.
So, in truth, Im a liar. You dont have to thank me. Word came down today from on high that they want us on this one. US Marshals will be in with us. Fellow from that department will be Hank LeBlanc. Hell meet you at autopsy with a guy from Major Case. Theyve given it over to a higher division, so that means theyre worried about it. I think its your friendhe got that promotion after the diamond business two years back.