Wanted: Father for Her Baby: Keeping Baby Secret / Five Brothers and a Baby / Expecting Brand's Baby

“Yes, of course. That’s understandable.” Dante Moran hesitated for several moments. “I’m afraid I’m puzzled as to why you left me a message to call you. Is there some information Dundee needs in order to close out the case?”

“This wasn’t an official Dundee case. This was a personal matter for Frank. Sawyer McNamara sent me along because…well, to be honest with you, Sawyer thought I might have a special interest in Andrew Patton’s kidnapping.”

“You’ve lost me. I don’t understand why—”

“Eleven years ago my daughter was kidnapped and to this day I don’t know what happened to her. I’ve searched for her for over a decade without any success. What I want to know is this—did y’all confiscate any files on the abducted children? Things like where they were born. State? Town? And dates. Dates of births? Dates they were adopted? Who adopted them?”

“You’re asking me to divulge official FBI business,” Moran said.

“All you have to say is yes or no.”

“Yes.”

Kate sucked in her breath. “How far back do those files go?”

“Rephrase that so I can give you a yes or no reply.”

“Do they go back eleven years?”

“Yes.”

Kate’s heart lurched to her throat and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. “Is there any way I can get a look at those files?”

“No.”

“What if Sawyer McNamara—”

“No.”

“You don’t understand.” Kate didn’t mind begging. She’d gladly get down on her hands and knees and plead with him if she thought it would get her what she wanted. “Please. If there’s even the slightest chance that my daughter was taken by the same abduction ring that stole Andrew—”

“I can’t promise you anything. But I’ll pull the files from ten years ago and take a look. I can’t give you permission to see the files, but if you’ll give me all the information on your daughter—”

“Mary Kate Winston. She was two months old. Blonde. Brown-eyed. Kidnapped from Prospect, Alabama. I can fax you all the details.”

“You do that.”

“How long—?”

“It could take days to find something…if there’s anything to find.”

“I’m coming to Memphis,” Kate told him. “I’ll give you the details of Mary Kate’s abduction when I get there.”

“I’ll be expecting you.”

“Moran?”

“Huh?”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me. I haven’t done anything.”

“Oh yes you have. You’ve given me just a tiny bit of hope. I’m not sure why you’re doing this for me. I don’t think it’s because you’re such a nice guy, is it?”

“Hell no. Anybody who knows me will tell you I’m a real hard-ass.”

“Then why?”

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“I’ll leave for Memphis as soon as I can get packed.”

Leenie and Frank stood in the doorway, Andrew in Leenie’s arms, and waved goodbye to Kate as she walked toward Frank’s rental car parked in the driveway.

“Be careful driving in this rain,” Leenie cautioned. “The roads are probably still slippery from last night’s sleet.”

“I’ll be very careful,” Kate called back as she opened the car door.

“Call us when you get to Memphis,” Frank said.

“Becoming a father has certainly turned you into the paternal type, hasn’t it,” Kate said jokingly, then slammed the door and started the car.

As soon as Kate backed out of the drive, Frank closed the door and turned to Leenie. “She’ll be all right. I’m sure the roads are mostly clear by now. It’s nearly ten o’clock.”

“I’m not as concerned about her arriving safely to Memphis as I am about what she’ll find out while she’s there. If there is no information about her daughter in those files the FBI confiscated, she’ll be heartbroken. She’s been searching for her little girl for eleven years.”

Frank slipped his arm around Leenie’s shoulder, then tickled Andrew under his chin. “Everybody at Dundee knew there was something tragic in her past and some even speculated it had to do with a child, but none of us knew exactly what had happened.”

“I can’t imagine how she’s stayed sane all these years,” Leenie said. “And not only stayed sane, but actually functioned, kept a job, lived a fairly normal life and all. If I’d lost Andrew that way—”

“You didn’t. He’s right here, safe in your arms.” Frank hugged her and their son to him. She slipped her free arm around Frank, trapping Andrew between them.

When Frank leaned over and kissed her on the mouth and then kissed Andrew on the top of his head, Andrew fussed loudly.

“I think we’re crowding him,” Frank said, a wide grin on his face. “So, Mama, what’s the next thing on the agenda for today? Andrew’s had his morning bottle and a diaper change, so what’s next?”

“A bath. Want to give Andrew his bath?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Sure. No problem. How hard can it be to give a two-month-old a bath?”

Leenie smiled. Frank had a great deal to learn about babies.

Chapter Ten