Chapter 3 - Rosewood
Detective Naomi Reyes arrived twelve minutes later with two patrol units.
By then, the SUV was gone.
Evelyn sat wrapped in a blanket at Nora’s kitchen table while Naomi photographed the hospital form.
Naomi had been careful at the supermarket.
Professional.
Skeptical.
Now she looked different.
“You’re certain this is authentic?”
Evelyn nodded.
“I copied it before the original was destroyed.”
“Who destroyed it?”
“Dr. Mercer.”
Naomi wrote the name down.
Nora stared.
“You know him?”
Naomi’s expression revealed nothing.
“I know of him.”
“What does that mean?”
“He sits on three hospital boards.”
“And?”
“His wife is a state senator.”
Nora laughed bitterly.
“Of course she is.”
Naomi looked at Evelyn.
“You said Rosewood handled multiple infants.”
“Yes.”
“Illegal adoptions?”
“I never saw money exchange hands.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Yes.”
Naomi stopped writing.
“How many?”
“Maybe twelve.”
Nora stared at her.
“In how long?”
“Eighteen months.”
Naomi’s jaw tightened.
“Did you report this?”
“Once.”
“To whom?”
“Hospital administration.”
“What happened?”
“I was transferred.”
“And the complaint?”
“Disappeared.”
Nora looked toward the hospital form.
Her daughter had not been the only one.
That made everything worse.
Naomi arranged protective housing for Evelyn.
Before leaving, Evelyn grabbed Nora’s hand.
“There’s something else.”
Naomi turned.
Evelyn looked directly at Nora.
“Your baby wasn’t supposed to go to Margaret.”
Nora’s throat tightened.
“What?”
“She changed the plan.”
“What plan?”
“The transfer order listed a family.”
“What family?”
“I don’t remember the name.”
“Try.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Hart.”
Nora froze.
Lily Hart.
That was the name police had found tied to the abandoned sedan registration.
“The Hart family?”
“I think so.”
“Who were they?”
“A married couple.”
“Did they take her?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn squeezed Nora’s hand.
“But Margaret arrived before they did.”
The next morning, Nora and Naomi drove to Rosewood.
The building stood forty miles outside Tampa behind a rusting iron gate.
It looked nothing like a maternity center.
It resembled an abandoned private school.
Tall windows.
White columns.
Vines crawling across brick.
A FOR SALE sign leaned crookedly beside the driveway.
Naomi had obtained permission from the current property manager.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Most rooms were empty.
One still contained faded wallpaper patterned with yellow ducks.
Nora stopped in the doorway.
Tiny metal hooks lined one wall.
There were scratches on the floor where cribs had once stood.
Naomi said nothing.
They searched the administrative wing.
Most cabinets had been emptied.
One metal filing drawer was jammed.
Naomi forced it open.
Inside were old maintenance invoices.
Utility bills.
Staff schedules.
Nothing useful.
Then Nora noticed a loose piece of paneling behind the cabinet.
“Naomi.”
Together they pulled the cabinet away.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside sat a ledger.
Black leather.
No title.
Naomi put on gloves.
The first pages contained dates and initials.
Amounts.
Doctors.
Hospitals.
Nora’s stomach tightened.
Then Naomi reached the year Lily was born.
Several entries had been ripped out.
But one remained.
June 14.
St. Catherine’s.
B.G.B.
Nora knew immediately.
Baby Girl Bennett.
Beside the initials was an amount.
$240,000.
Nora stopped breathing.
Someone had paid nearly a quarter million dollars.
Below the amount were two sets of initials.
E.M.
And D.B.
Naomi looked at Nora.
“Daniel Bennett?”
Nora could not speak.
At the bottom of the page, written in red ink, were three words.
MATERNAL CONSENT OVERRIDDEN.
Nora stared at Daniel’s initials until they blurred.
Then Naomi turned the page.
A photograph slipped onto the floor.
Nora bent down.
It showed a hospital corridor.
Margaret Bennett stood beside a wheelchair.
May you like
In her arms was a newborn wrapped in a pink blanket.
And standing beside Margaret, looking directly at the camera, was Daniel.
