Chapter 8



Danny walked into the waiting room to give his friends the news. With a grin, he said, "We have a little boy. Seven pounds, four ounces."

"Congratulations!"

"The nurse was taking him to the nursery so Caitlyn could rest. She said I could show him to you."

"Lead the way," Gabriel said even though he knew how to get there better than the rest of them. He could tell his friend was excited and didn't want to take anything away from his first experience as a father.

They all gathered around the nursery window as Danny pointed out his son. "What did you name him?" Gabriel asked. He knew they'd had trouble thinking of a middle name.

"Enrique Gabriel," he replied, smiling at his friend.

"You gave him my name?"

"What other name would I give him?

"Yours. Your father's."

"It's not official yet. We can still change it easily."

Gabriel realized he'd hurt his friend, but he hadn't meant it like that. "No, Danny. I'm honored, really I am. I was just surprised."

"I'm gonna go back and see my wife."

"You do that, Danny. Your son will be fine with the nurses."

He smiled at Gabriel again. Then, he walked down the hallway. Gabriel turned to Renee. "We should be getting home to our own kids. Don't want to leave Meghan alone with them for too long."

She leaned over and kissed him, then they walked through the waiting room and outside to the car.

*******

Back at the house, Amie sat on the couch, the sound of babies screaming and adults crying intermingling in her mind. She covered her ears with her hands, but it didn't block out the sound. Giving that up, she hugged her knees to her chest and started rocking back and forth on the couch.

Meghan watched her, unsure of what to do. She'd never seen her cousin act like this before. Walking to the telephone, she dialed Gabriel's cellphone. Renee answered. "What is it, Meghan?"

"I don't know. I think something's wrong with Amie."

"What do you mean?"

Gabriel glanced over at her at the change of tone in her voice. 'What is it?' He mouthed.

She just shook her head.

"I don't know. She was covering her ears like she was trying to block noise out. Then she started rocking back and forth on the couch. I don't know what to do." She sounded like she was going to start crying.

"It's okay, Meghan. We're almost home."

"What's wrong?" Gabriel asked when she hung up the phone.

"I'm not sure. But I think Amie's sensing something."

Gabriel depressed the gas pedal, increasing his speed.

*******

After donning a male nurse's outfit, having left the previous owner unconscious in a closet, he slipped into the nursery. 'So far, so good,' he thought to himself. Only one other nurse appeared to be in the room, and she was on the other side of it, checking on a baby. He lifted the less than an hour old, and now screaming, baby and cradled him in his arms. He headed for the door, but stopped when the nurse called out to him. "Where are you going with that newborn?"

"Taking him to his mother. He needs to be fed. Can't you hear him crying?"

The nurse looked at him suspicously. "You don't look familiar to me."

"New here. Now, I think I'd better get him to his mother."

The nurse nodded, still eyeing him warily. "Yeah. You'd better."

Vince walked down the hallway and started to open a door. As soon as he knew the nurse was no longer watching him, he closed the door and started for the doors at the end of the hallway. Reaching them with no further incidents, he stepped outside and walked to his car. He placed Enrique in a car seat bought just for this purpose and stuck a pacifier in the baby's mouth to quiet him. Then, he climbed in the front of the car.

"Wonder how long it'll take for them to realize you're missing," he mused out loud to the newborn.

Enrique spit out the pacifier and showed Vince how large his lungs were. The man turned up the radio in an attempt to drown out the baby's cries. "Your daddy will be echoing those thoughts soon."

*******

Danny stepped into the hallway when he heard the sounds of chaos. He saw nurses and doctors running around. Security personnel approached from every direction. It wasn't the usual organized chaos of a hospital ward. He stopped a passing doctor and asked, "What's going on?"

"A baby is missing from the nursery," he answered before hurrying on.

Danny's heart jumped into his throat. "No, no, please don't let it be him. Please, God, let my son be there." He hurried to the nursery, but one of the security guards held him back. "I have to make sure my son's okay." Danny thought he had spoken in a reasonable enough tone, but by the look on the guard's face, he had screamed. "Please, he was just born. I just need to make sure he's okay." He pleaded now.

The guard hesitated for a moment then nodded and took a step back. Danny rushed to the window and scanned the room. "No, no, no, no," he just kept repeating that word as he sank to the floor. "Please, God, don't let that man do anything to my son." He looked up, and the guard saw steel determination in his eyes. "I will find him."

"Sir, you need to leave that to the police."

Danny took out his badge and showed it to the guard. "See this? I belong to the Missing Persons department of the FBI. This is within my jurisdiction."

Before the guard could say anymore, Danny returned to Caitlyn's room to grab his coat. "What's going on, Danny?" She asked sleepily.

"It'll be okay, Cait. Just go back to sleep. Everything'll be fine." He slipped back out of the room as she stared at him. "I'll find him," he whispered, closing the door behind him.

*******

Gabriel stepped into the living room and saw his daughter rocking back and forth on the couch. He ran to her and asked, "Amie, what's wrong? Is someone hurt?"

At her father's voice, the young girl seemed to snap out of her trance-like state. She shook her head. "They're sad."

"Who is, Amie?"

She shook her head again. "Baby screaming. Parents crying. Won't go away."

"Amie, can you feel who it is?"

She shook her head a third time, and he saw the tears running down her cheeks. "Stop it, Daddy. Please stop it," she pleaded as he took her in his arms.

"Tell me what you're feeling," he said gently.

"Fear. Sadness. Guilt. Anger."

"Do you know what's happening?"

"Baby's taken."

"From where?"

"I don't know, Daddy," she cried. "I can't see anything."

"What do you feel?"

"Cleanliness. Chaos, but not disorder."

"A hospital?"

"Might be."

"What else do you feel?"

"Vengeance. It's very strong. Think the daddy is going after whoever stole his son."

"It'll be all right, Amie." He turned to Renee. "I'm gonna get back to the hospital and see Danny."

"You don't think it's Enrique, do you?"

"I don't know. If it is, Danny won't be there."

"Maybe I should go too. See Caitlyn."

Gabriel shook his head. "You stay here with Amie. Make sure she's okay. I'll call when I find out."

She nodded his head and watched him walk out the door. Then, she wrapped her arms around her daughter, pulling her close. "Make it stop, Mommy. Please make it stop."

'The hell she has a gift. It's more like a curse.' "I wish I could, sweetie. I wish I could."

*******

Sara sat at her desk looking over files when a vision assaulted her. A baby screaming. Danny and Caitlyn crying. A man grinning. The same man driving a car with a crying baby in the back. "Hey, Danny," she said, coming out of it.

"Huh?" He asked without looking up from his desk.

"Could you cover for me? I have to see someone."

"Sure, Pez. Wanna tell me what it's about?"

She shook her head. "When I get back."

"Okay."

She started down the hall, but stopped when she heard her boss's voice. "Pezzeni, where do you think you're going?"

She turned around. "I think something's happening with a friend's family."

"Well, unless someone's dead, get back in there and get to work."

"But someone might be soon if I don't get there."

"Well soon isn't now, now is it?"

"No, sir."

"Then, get back to work."

"Yes, sir."

Sara returned to the office and sat down in her chair with a growl. Danny glanced up. "Captain didn't let you leave."

She shook her head.

"Now do you want to tell me what's going on?"

Just as she opened her mouth, her phone rang. "Hold on a sec, Danny." She answered the phone. "Hey, Nick. What? Yeah, I'll be right there."

"Where you going?"

"Hospital. Danny's newborn son has been kidnapped."

She stepped out in the hallway and didn't see her boss. She was almost to the doors when she heard him. "Thought I told you to get back to work, Pezzeni."

"Sir, my friend's son has been kidnapped."

"That's a matter for Missing Persons, not Homicide."

"He's only an hour old!"

"Well, until you find out he's dead, it's not our case."

"Yes, sir," she said reluctantly. On the way back to the office for the second time, she dialed Nick's number.

*******

Danny stepped into the warehouse with his gun drawn. "Vince Craig, where are you?" He yelled. Silence answered him.

He walked through the building, kicking open all the closed doors. It was empty. When he'd searched the last room, he sank to the floor, tears of anger, fear, and failure rolling down his cheeks.

He finally picked himself up and walked out to his car. Fifteen minutes later he found himself facing his boss. "Jack, you have to let me find him."

"No, Danny. Go back to the hospital and tell your wife what happened. We will find your son. I promise you that."

"Jack, I can't! I have to find him."

Jack put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Let us. You're too upset to even think clearly right now."

"He's my son! He's only an hour old, and I've failed him already. I have to set things right. I have to find him, Jack."

"You couldn't have stopped this, Danny. You haven't failed your wife or your son."

"Caitlyn won't want to see me."

"Yes, she will. Why do you say that?"

"I lost our son! She's gonna hate me now."

"Danny, she loves you. You'll make it through this. And we'll find your son."

Danny turned and walked out of the office. "I will find him. I don't care if I have to do it on my own. I will find my son. And Vince Craig will pay for doing this."

*******

"Danny, what's going on?" Caitlyn asked when he finally returned to the hospital. "The doctors and nurses won't let me know what all the excitement is about."

"One of the babies was stolen from the nursery," he answered her, looking at the floor.

"Oh no! Is Enrique all right?"

Danny shook his head. "He was the one stolen."

"No," Caitlyn cried. "No. Not my baby. My boy's fine. He wasn't taken. No."

Danny wrapped his arms around his wife, trying to calm her. "I promise you, I'll fine him. I will get our son back."

"No, Danny. Please, stay with me. Don't leave me," she begged as the realization that her newborn son had been kidnapped sunk in. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't, Caitlyn," he told her, kissing her. "I'll never leave you."