Author's Note: I'd like to thank phnxgrl, KenH, foreverHenry919, superlc529, and SSTrans for their reviews. SSTrans: Sorry, I thought I'd been clear when they ran into Anneliese at the orphanage that Hanson felt she had recovered a bit too quickly. That's what he's looking into. superlc529: Wound tracks tend to be shallower with female assailants simply from a strength issue. And it's not that the wound is "shallow." A shallower wound tract is a stab wound where the blade of the knife completely or almost completely enters the body, but the skin and muscles beneath don't compress and create a bruise where the knife's hilt presses into the skin. This is a common thing used in TV shows, at least. And the murder weapon was the knife that was left in the victim. foreverHennry919: Glad you're enjoying the story. Auschwitz is not an easy place to write about, though the performance Gabriel Furman gave as Mengele on the show helps when I'm writing for that character. KenH: I actually haven't written a confrontation moment for Anneliese and Adam yet, though I have a couple ideas. Not sure which I'll end up going with, but stay tuned. As before, this chapter starts right where the last one left off. Enjoy!


Chapter 29

"Jo, I have some more information."

Jo seemed to be in a hurry. "Okay, shoot."

"The wound tracks are shallower than the length of the knife. The hilt wasn't pressed into the skin the way an attack like this usually goes. That means the killer is likely a woman."

"Yeah, I was leaning that way. The Amber Alert for Gavin got a hit. He was spotted with a woman at a gas station off the I-81 in Adams Center, upstate. " Jo grabbed her keys and holstered her gun. "We're headed there. Coming?"

"I would love to."

Jo raced all the way up there with Hanson in the car behind hers and Henry in her passenger seat. A couple times, she would glance in Henry's direction and the image on him pinned to his seat with a scaffolding pole would cross her mind's eye. It had been several months since Henry had told her about his immortality and then been killed in front of her. She'd felt she was over her fear of losing him now that she knew, but it was still scary for her to think of witnessing him dying again.

Henry seemed to have noticed. "What's on your mind?"

Jo sighed. "I'm still… affected by your… death all those months ago. I thought I was okay, but for some reason… this trip is bringing all that back."

"I'm not going to die today."

"I know that."

Henry turned in his seat. "What you saw, the way I died; it was traumatic for you. It would be natural to…"

"Have PTSD?" Jo glanced at Henry again. "I know I have it, but I can't talk to anyone about it. Anyone I could talk to would think I'm crazy."

"So talk to me. I may not have a psychology degree, but I am familiar with tragic and traumatic deaths. At the very least, it should help."

Jo thought that over. "Okay."

Some time later, they arrived at the gas station where the command center had been set up. The detectives checked in with the commander and they exchanged information about the case. Henry wandered around the gas station to look around. The woman's car had been at pump seven and Henry found the snack Gavin had been clutching there.

The Commander was speaking when Henry approached. "Truth be told, we're not even sure if the boy is Gavin."

"The boy is Gavin." Henry held up the fruit snacks with a gloved hand. "The orphanage stamps the snacks apparently. My guess is there have been thefts recently."

Jo turned back to the Commander. "Where were they headed?"

"North. From here, there's really only one road to Canada. Border Patrol and Canadian Authorities have been updated, and we've got a couple road blocks set up. One is twenty miles from the border and the other is two miles from the border."

"Next town?"

"About eleven miles up the road. After that, it's a straight shot to the border."

"How long ago did they pass through here?"

The Commander held up a hand. "Look, the road blocks went up when the Amber Alert came out. They haven't been through either one yet, so they're probably holing up in Watertown."

"Let's go, then."


Auschwitz
January 15, 1945…

Ilse Krause picked the baby up out of his crib. "Guten Morgen. Wie hast du letzte Nacht geschlafen? Scheinbar gut, denn du hast mich nur zweimal geweckt. (Good morning. How did you sleep last night? It must have been good because you only woke me up twice.)" He was getting big now that he was three months old.

She changed his diaper and fed him before she even thought about getting herself ready for her day. Now that she was running an "experiment," Mengele had relieved her of most of her normal duties. She still made sure to make the time to put in the fake external work orders to try and help some of the Jews escape. Not as many had made it out as she had hoped when she'd taken this post. The Nazi's were watching a little too closely.

Ilse looked around the room. "Was wollen wir heute machen, Abraham? (What should we do today, Abraham?)" Officially his name was Ansell Krause, but whenever they were alone, she would use the name his mother had given him. She could be imagining it, but whenever she said Abraham, she always thought he smiled. "Du hast Recht. Wir sollten warm bleiben und jemanden zum Lächeln bringen. Selbst wenn es einer der miesen Nazis ist. (You're right. We should stay warm and help someone smile. Even if it is one of the rotten Nazis.)"

Screams echoed across the yard. Either Mengele was up early with his secret "patient" or someone had tried to escape. The trains hadn't come for weeks and they wouldn't have arrived this early anyway. The way the screams sounded, it was probably Mengele. Ilse kept her hands over Abraham's ears. No need for him to listen to the horrors here, even if he was far too young to understand.

Ilse sighed when the screams stopped. "Es heißt, die Russen kommen. Ich hoffe, sie beeilen sich. Dann können wir hier rauskommen. Ich werde dir Polnisch beibringen und von deiner Mutter erzählen. Ich habe deinen Vater nie getroffen, aber ich habe herausgefunden, dass er Herman Weinraub hieß und deine Mutter Reba. (They say the Russians are coming. I hope they'd hurry. Then we could get out of here. I'll teach you Polish, and tell you about your mother. I never met your father, but I did find out that his name was Herman Weinraub and your mother's name was Reba.)"

She stopped talking as the doors to her room burst open. "Packen Sie Ihre Sachen. Wir gehen. (Pack your things. We are leaving.)" The officer looked at the baby. "Geben Sie mir das Kind. (Give him to me.)"

"Nein! Ich habe die Zustimmung des Führers dieses Experiment durchzuführen. Sie können es nicht unterbrechen! (No! I have the Fuhrer's approval to conduct this experiment. You can't interrupt it!)"

The Oberschütze was outraged. "Der Führer hat alle Experimente abgebrochen. Sie geben ihn mir, jetzt! (The Fuhrer has cancelled all experiments. You are to give him to me, now!)"

"Hat Mengele das genehmigt? (Has Mengele approved this?)" Ilse was searching for a way to save her son's life. She had risked too much protecting him to have Abraham die now.

Mengele, still wearing his bloody apron, walked in. "Ja, habe ich. Händigen Sie ihn aus. (Yes, I have. Turn him over.)"

Ilse was silent for a long time. "Nein. Ich werde es selber tun. So wird er nicht leiden. (No. I will do it myself. That way he won't suffer.)"

Mengele looked at Ilse for a long moment. "Er ist Ihnen ans Herz gewachsen. (You've grown attached.)"

"Natürlich ist er das. Ich soll ihn als meinen Sohn großziehen. Bindung ist ein zwingendes Beiwerk. (Of course I have. I'm supposed to raise him as my son. Attachment comes with the territory.)" She grabbed a brown, stripped blanket and wrapped Abraham in it. "Erlauben Sie mir, dafür das Lager zu verlassen? (Permission to leave the camp to do this?)"

"Erlaubnis erteilt. Aber Sie werden diesen Mann mitnehmen. (Granted. But you will take this man with you.)" Mengele gestured to the Senior Rifleman.

Ilse nodded. "Ich muss mir etwas Wärmeres anziehen. Würden Sie beide bitte gehen? (I need to change into something warmer. Will you both leave, please?)"

The officer looked at Mengele. "Ich werde draußen warten. (I will wait outside.)"

Mengele nodded and both men walked out. Ilse unwrapped Abraham and changed him into warmer clothes. She then changed her own clothes and packed some things her son would need into a satchel that she would hide under her overcoat. She had managed to steal a gun from one of the officers several months ago and she hung it from the front of her overcoat's belt. A knife had come to the camp with her and that was also hanging from her belt where it would be seen.

She re-wrapped Abraham in his blanket and put on the overcoat, holding her son in front of her to hide the gun. "Lass uns gehen, Abraham. Ich werde nicht zulassen, dass sie dir etwas antun. Ich verspreche es. Ich werde dich zu den Amerikanern bringen. (Let's go, Abraham. I'm not going to let them hurt you. I promise. I'm going to get you to the Americans.)"


Present day...

Hanson walked up to one of the cars in the motel parking lot when they arrived. "I know that plate number. When I ran Hunter Peterson's name, a car registration with this plate number popped up."

"He lied to us." Jo headed for the manager's office. "Excuse me, sir, NYPD." She flashed her badge and then held up her phone. "Have you seen this man?"

The manager grabbed his glasses and took a look. "No, I can't say I have."

"What about this boy?"

"Him I've seen. Cutest little tyke. Wasn't too happy with his mama for some reason."

Jo glanced at Henry. "Which room is theirs?"

"Hold on, let me check." The manager grabbed the log book. "So what's this about anyway?"

Hanson was trying to read the book upside down through the window. "That woman wasn't his 'mama.' The boy was kidnapped. Didn't you see the Amber Alert?"

"Nope. I don't have a computer and the television is broken." His finger trailed agonizingly slowly down the page. "Ah. Here she is. Rebecca Hadley. Room 116."

Hanson walked away to check the name, so Jo took over. "What time did they check-in?"

"Late last night. I was just about to leave for the night."

"Have they left their room?"

The manager shook his head. "Not that I've seen."

Hanson came back over. "Hadley lives at the same address that Peterson does. What are the odds that they are in this together?"

Henry was following the detectives. "I would say very good."

"That's what I said. I have uniforms headed to their place. Maybe they'll dig up something."

Local officers in the parking lot quickly positioned themselves around the hotel room. Jo and Hanson quickly briefed them on who the suspects were and what they might expect to find inside. A few uniforms were selected to breach the door. Jo and Hanson were with that group and Henry was to wait behind the other officers. One uniform was getting ready to swing the ram into the door when the sounds of a yelling match echoed through the door. Jo tapped on her ear to suggest they listen and the uniform lowered the ram.

"No, Becks, this is wrong!"

"He's your nephew, Hunt! You should be happy I got him for you!"

Peterson, it seemed, was not involved in the murder and kidnapping after all. "He has a new family! I tried to get custody of Gavin, but I've never been cut out to raise a kid! The courts knew it, I know it. We have to take him back!"

"After what I did to get him for you? Are you crazy? We need to get out of here; we need to get to Canada!"

"I can't be a part of this, Becks. I'm already an ex-con. If I do this and we get caught, I'll go to jail for a long time. I'm not going to prison for you!"

"Then get out! Go! Get your ass out of here!" Hadley was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"If I do that, what happens to Gavin, hunh? What will you do then?"

"I don't know yet. All I know is that I'm done with you."

"Rebecca, please! Let me take him back home."

"I can't let you do that. Either you're with me, or you can get out. Make a choice, Hunter."

"Just… promise me you won't hurt him."

The woman sighed. "I won't hurt him."

For a minute, all they could hear was an indistinct mumbling. Jo thought she heard a young voice begging and then Hunter's deeper voice was saying something again. He's saying goodbye to Gavin. There were a few more terse words between Hadley and Peterson and then the door opened. The uniforms had already backed up a step so Hadley wouldn't see them. It seemed that Peterson wasn't paying attention to his surroundings as he closed the door.

Which suited Hanson just fine. He grabbed Peterson and pulled him away from the door quickly. "You lied to us, Hunter."

Peterson kept his voice low. "No, I didn't. I had no idea Becks was the one."

"How'd you find out?"

"Early this morning. Becks called and told me where she was. She said we needed to talk and to get here as quickly as I could. She told me what happened when I got here." Peterson looked at Jo. "I was trying to get her to turn herself in. Before you guys grabbed me, I was going to call you."

"Turn around." Hanson pulled out a pair of cuffs. "You're under arrest till we can sort this out."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Peterson complied and put his hands behind his back. "Get him out safely, please."

Jo nodded. "That's the plan."

Peterson was led away and everyone turned back to the room. "Let's get that kid outta there."


A/N: Stay tuned!