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  Sable held the doll in her hands. She didn’t understand why but she knew the doll was important to her. It was another piece of her missing past.

  “I kept these too. These were the clothes you were found in.” Sylvia reached into the bag and pulled out another larger plastic bag. The clothes inside were a young girls pair of shorts and a t-shirt. They were dirty and torn and stained.

  “Is that a blood stain?” Brandi asked.

  Sylvia nodded. “We had no way to identify it back then. That’s part of the reason I kept the clothes. After all this time I don’t know what you can find out from them but you might find something.”

  Nick took the bag and handed it to Max. “Get this to the lab for a complete workup. Tell them we need the results a.s.a.p.”

  Max nodded and disappeared.

  “Did my coming here today help in any way?” Sylvia asked.

  Sable smiled. “It did. You gave me more of a picture of my childhood than I had before. I couldn’t remember any of this. Thank you for that.”

  Sylvia smiled. “I’m glad for that. I once asked Grace a year or so after you began talking again if you remembered anything and she told me you used to talk about an angel. When she asked you about the angel, you told her that the angel protected you. You looked out at the angel for a long time before you were free from the dark.”

  Sable's emotions welled up from deep inside. “Do you have any idea what I was talking about?”

  Sylvia shook her head. “No we never did find out what you were referring to but Grace said she took you shopping one day and you found an angel like the one that saved you. She even showed it to me one day. It was a sculpture of an angel with its wings spread out covering a child asleep in the grass. She told me you had the sculpture in your room for the longest time.”

  Sable's spine tingled, a moment of fear swept through her. “I wonder what it meant.”

  “Has anyone else ever asked about the little girl the sailors brought in that day?” Nick asked.

  Sylvia shook her head. “We closed the file after she was placed with Grace and Gene Quinn.”

  “What about the sailors that brought me in? Do you know who they were?” Sable asked.

  Sylvia reached for her files. She found the file she needed and opening it she handed it to Sable. “Here are their names. Shortly after they brought you in a couple of them stopped to inquire about you. When I was able to tell them that we found you a good home, they stopped coming around. They seemed relieved to know you were okay.”

  Sable glanced down at the four names listed in the report. None of them was a Richard or a Micah.

  Sylvia glanced at her watch. “Oh dear, I have to get back to my office.” She reached inside her purse and handed Sable a business card. “If you have any more questions, please give me a call. I’ll retire in a few weeks but you can reach me at that phone number until then.”

  Sable took the card and nodded. “Thank you.”

  The phone on Sable’s desk rang and Sable’s joy turned to dread. She glanced over at Nick before she picked up the receiver. “Hello.”

  “Sabella,” Oscar’s voice came over the line. “You are making my job so much easier than I anticipated that I had to call and thank you.”

  Sable paled. “What are you talking about?”

  “I had this list of people that I needed to find and wouldn’t you know it, Hope Quinn was one of the names on my list. You saved me weeks of looking for her.” Oscar chuckled.

  “What are you talking about?” Sable demanded.

  “Hope won’t be rejoining you. I’ve taken her to join an old friend of mine. I just wanted you to know that,” Oscar told her.

  “You are a real bastard aren’t you?” Sable growled.

  Oscar laughed out loud. “More than you’ll ever know.” The phone went dead.

  Sable carefully placed the receiver back on its cradle and looked over at Nick. “He got to Hope.”

  “Damn,” Nick swore.

  Chapter Ten

  Nick grabbed his phone and called the desk downstairs. “I need an update on the officer that accompanied Hope Quinn and Dan Paulson.” He listened for a moment then hung up the phone. His look spoke volumes. “They were attacked when they came out of their motel room. Oscar forced them back inside their room. He slashed the officer and Dan then kidnapped Hope.”

  “Did he kill them?” Sable asked.

  Nick shook his head. “Both men are alive but in critical condition.”

  “Are there any witnesses?”

  Looking at the members of his team Nick paused for a moment. “No the police officer had them book a room away from the front of the motel. Normally that would help someone stay out of the radar but in this instance it helped Oscar get to them.”

  “Why would he go after Hope?” Sable questioned out loud. “What could she know about him that he doesn’t want us to know?”

  “We may never find out,” Nick drew a deep breath then rubbed the back of his neck. “I think its time to visit the Reardon’s.”

  Sable frowned. Everyone seemed just as frustrated as she was. “Why? I mean what do you think they can tell us?”

  “I don’t know but we have to find some kind of connection. We need to know for sure if our killer is Micah or Richard and just who the hell Richard is.” He turned toward the photo of the three young people. “Maybe the Judge can identify the men in the photo," Nick said.

  A short time later Nick’s car pulled up to the Reardon family estate. Retired Judge Gabriel Reardon and his wife Emma built a small mansion just east of Chicago. Their son Greg and his wife Jill lived in the west wing of the mansion while the Judge and Emma lived in the east wing. The grounds were beautifully kept and the entrance was maintained by a pair of roaring lion statues hoisted on brick pedestals.

  As they drove up to the main door, Sable couldn’t help but wonder if this kind of wealth spawned a serial killer or if they were on the wrong track altogether. When they knocked on the door, an older woman answered.

  “May I help you?” She asked.

  “We would like to speak to Judge Reardon if that’s possible,” Nick told her as they produced their FBI badges.

  “May I inquire what this is about? My husband is in his study,” Emma Reardon informed them. She glanced at Sable and caught sight of her blue eyes. For a moment she couldn’t help but stare at the younger woman.

  Sable felt a little uncomfortable under Emma’s gaze. Emma noticed and broke off her scrutiny. “Excuse me, I’ll get my husband.”

  She returned a few minutes later with an older man. Even at his age he was an imposing figure. He was a big man and he commanded authority. He paused for a moment to stare at Sable, and then he turned his direction to Nick.

  “I’m Gabriel Reardon. How can I help the FBI?”

  The unusual scrutiny of Sable hadn’t gone unnoticed by Nick and while he was curious about it, he didn’t dwell on it either. They had more pressing matters to attend to. “Sir, I’d like to ask you about your grandson, Micah.” Nick informed them.

  Gabriel frowned. “What about Micah? We haven’t seen or heard from him in a long time.”

  Nick paused a moment before continuing. “I understand he went missing a long time ago. I was wondering if you ever heard from him again.”

  “What business is that of yours?” Gabriel asked.

  Nick reached inside the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a copy of the photo Sable had found earlier. He showed it to Gabriel, “Is either of these two men Micah?”

  Gabriel reached for his reading glasses and took a moment to look at the picture. When he handed it back to Nick, he told them, “I don’t think so. Where was that photo taken?”

  Nick shrugged as if the answer didn't matter. “Would it be possible to speak to your son Greg?”

  “Why would you want to do that?” The Judge asked. “I just answered your question.”

  “Do you have any photos of Micah?” Nick asked ignoring the Judge’s que
stion.

  “No we do not. When that boy ran away we decided not to keep any reminders of him on display.” At his sides Gabriel's hands clenched into tight fists.

  “He ran away? I thought he went missing,” Sable said her curiosity peaked once more.

  Gabriel looked at her and sneered, “The little ingrate ran away from home over twenty years ago because I tried to make a man of him. He was too soft, always a mama’s boy. I tried to make him into a Reardon but I failed. His mother reported him missing, not me.”

  Sable felt the fury radiating from the Judge’s body. Even after twenty years he was still angry with Micah. She glanced over at Emma and could see the tears welling in her eyes at the loss of her grandson. She looked at Nick and nodded. “I think we’ve taken enough of your time. Thank you.”

  “I’ll see you out,” Emma told them as she escorted Nick and Sable to the front door. As she opened it she turned to Sable. “My husband doesn’t take disappointment very well, but he always loved Micah.”

  Nick handed her the photo and watched for her reaction. She stared at the picture then nodded. “Micah is the one standing next to the young woman.” She

  looked at Nick and asked. “Is there any information on him? Is that the reason you came here today?”

  Nick shook his head. “No ma’am. Not yet anyway. We just wanted to know who these men were, that’s all.”

  “Do you know who the other man in the picture is?” Sable asked her.

  Emma paled slightly. “I’ve never seen him before.” She handed the picture back to Nick. “I’m sorry.”

  “That’s ok. Thank you for your help,” Nick said

  Emma smiled slightly and closed the door.

  When they were back in the car, Sable took another look at the home. She noticed a movement at the window on the other side of the house. As they drove away she commented, “Well that was a bust.”

  Nick looked at her his fingers tapping a slow steady staccato on the steering wheel. “Not really. We know what Micah looks like and we know the Judge was deeply disappointed in his behavior. We just have to find out why he is still so angry. Maybe the kid had a record. If he broke the law, the Judge wouldn’t like it. I seem to remember the Judge held not only himself but everyone around him to a higher standard.”

  “Whatever records we find would be juvenile records, and they would be sealed. How do you propose we get around that fact?” Sable asked.

  “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Nick reminded her. “First we have to find something; if we do then we’ll worry about it.”

  Sable stared out the window lost in thought. She was remembering Emma’s expression when she stared at her. “I wonder what it is about me that made both of them look twice.”

  “You noticed that too.” Nick maneuvered the car over to the side of the street. He put the car in park and turned to look at Sable. “I think we have to think about a few things here.”

  Sable raised her eyebrow and waited. “And just what would that be?”

  Nick seemed to search for a way to say what he had to. “I think we have to think about the possibility you may very well be related to Micah.”

  Sable glanced out the window. When she looked back at Nick she nodded. “I’ve been thinking that same thought. That’s the only thing that makes sense. Summer wrote in her book that she fell in love that fall. If Micah was the man she

  fell in love with, then I could be the product of that love. If I am, what happened between the time I was born and the day I was found on the Pier? Is the man I call Oscar really Micah or is he Richard? Did he come back to Chicago to find me or to kill me?” She rubbed her forehead to ward off the headache she could feel coming. “This is enough to blow a person’s mind.”

  Nick reached out and touched her shoulder. “I know, but we have to find the truth.”

  Sable nodded. “I think there’s more to the story the Judge told us.”

  “I know there is,” Nick told her as he started the car. “The next time we talk to him we’ll be better prepared.”

  An hour later Jill Reardon came to see them. She was a little nervous as she sat down beside Sable. She too kept staring at her.

  “I can’t believe it,” Jill finally told her.

  “What can’t you believe?” Sable asked.

  “Who are you?” Jill clenched her purse so tightly her knuckles turned white.

  Sable looked at her. “My name is Sable Quinn.”

  Jill shook her head. “Who are your parents?”

  “That seems to be a loaded question,” Sable told her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t really know who my parents are.” Sable was honest with Jill. “I thought I did but now I just don’t know. I was adopted at the age of four.”

  Jill opened her purse and took out a photo. Gazing at it for a moment she handed it to Sable. “This is my son Micah.”

  When Sable looked at the picture, she was stunned. It was a color photograph of a younger version of the man in the photo that she’d found earlier. She dropped the picture then stared at Jill.

  Jill smiled. “You have the Reardon eyes.” She looked down at her hands for a moment then looked at Sable. “When Emma told me about your visit this morning, I didn’t know what to think. I’ve been waiting for some word about Micah for so long that I’d almost given up hope he was still alive. Could it be possible you are his daughter?”

  Sable took a moment to answer Jill's question. She was afraid that if she admitted it, it would be true. “It might be possible. I don’t know for sure.”

  Jill closed her eyes. “Is my son still alive?”

  “We don’t know,” Sable told her. “Why did you say I have the Reardon eyes?” she asked.

  “Every generation of Reardons have the same cobalt blue colored eyes. Greg has them; Micah had them and now so do you,” Jill told her grinning. “You caused quite a stir this morning. Gabriel didn’t quite know what to make of your appearance.”

  Nick was sitting at his desk but had listened to the entire conversation. “Mrs. Reardon, would you be willing to give us a DNA sample? That would answer the question of whether or not Sable is related to you and Micah.”

  Jill thought about his request for a moment and then nodded. “You do realize that if it turns out Sable is related, Gabriel might not like it.”

  “What makes him think I would like it either?” Sable commented. She shuddered to think what that possibility might bring to her future.

  “What did your son do to irk the Judge so much?” Nick asked.

  Jill chuckled softly. “Micah was too much like him. They were both head-strong and fearless. Gabriel loves the law and just to be different, Micah loved to break the rules. He tested his grandfather’s patience and temper time and time again. Gabriel even threatened to send him to military school if he didn’t straighten up.”

  “When did that happen?” Nick asked.

  “That was just before Micah ran away,” Jill told them sadly. “I’ll never know for sure if that was the reason he ran away or not. It took me the longest time to forgive Gabriel for that.”

  “Do you know anyone named Richard that Micah might have hung around with?” Sable asked.

  Jill thought about it for a moment then shook her head. “I don’t recall anyone by that name.”

  At that moment the door to the office swung open and Gabriel Reardon came in. He looked furious. “Jill, you’ve taken up enough of their time. Go home,” he growled.

  Jill got to her feet. She looked scared but held her ground. “Gabriel, these people may be able to tell me where Micah is. Don’t you understand that I need to know whether my son is dead or alive? Even after all this time.”

  Gabriel looked at his daughter in law. “It doesn’t matter. The boy is gone and he won’t be coming back. If he were alive, don’t you think he’d have called by now? My God, woman, I’ve had private investigators looking for him since the day he left.”

  Jill n
odded. “I know. But they never found him did they?”

  Gabriel bristled. “And you think these people can? Find him I mean.” Gabriel took a deep breath. He straightened himself and looked at Jill. The look in his eyes was hard and unyielding. “Go home. I’ll deal with these people.”

  All the fight went out of Jill. She reached inside her purse for a tissue. She dabbed her eyes and touched it to her tongue. She pretended to put it back in her purse but dropped it on Sable’s desk. Sable moved a file to cover the tissue and nodded.

  Jill picked up her purse and with her head held high, she left the room. Gabriel watched her depart and turned his gaze on Nick. “Mr. Ramer, I thought I was clear this morning when I said we had no information that would be useful to your investigation.”

  “Did Micah know a young man named Richard?” Sable asked.

  Gabriel swung his eyes toward her and paled. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he looked rattled. “No he did not.”

  “Do you?” she asked.

  Gabriel made a face. “Young lady, I know a great number of people. As a judge and a lawyer I’ve met a lot of different types of people. I’m sure at least some of them are named Richard.”

  He turned back to Nick. “I won’t have you intruding on my family again. Stay away from us or you might be sorry you didn’t.”

  “Is that a threat, sir?” Nick asked.

  Gabriel shook his head. “No sir, that’s more of a promise.” He nodded and turned to leave. As he did, Brandi was leaving the conference room and through the

  open door he caught sight of the enlarged picture he’d seen earlier. A moment later he glanced over at Sable. He paused as if to say something then thought better of it. He stepped toward the door.

  When the door closed behind him, Sable expelled her breath. She sat down in her chair. “Whew.”

  Nick looked grim. “I know what you mean. Damn it,” he swore. “I wish we would have gotten Mrs. Reardon’s DNA.”

  Sable smiled. “We did.” She moved the file and revealed the tissue. “I hope the sample is big enough.”