This chapter comes with a tissue warning.

Chapter 9

Josiah followed Agent Price up the walk. The neighborhood was obviously a poor one but it was clean and the houses in good repair, all things considered. He stood behind Price, allowing the FBI agent to take the lead. The door was answered by a woman in her early fifties, her red hair beginning to silver.

"Yes can I help you?" Laura Mercer asked. She knew the two men were cops. Live in an area like this as long as she had and you develop a sense about people, especially cops. Lord she hoped her boy wasn't in trouble again. She'd done her best to raise him right but Tommy seemed intent on ending up in prison or an early grave.

"Laura Mercer?"

"Yes."

"My name is Darrell Price, I'm with the FBI."

Laura's shoulders sagged, this was worse than she'd thought. "What did he do now?" she asked, resigned to hearing something terrible.

"Excuse me ma'am," Josiah interrupted. "I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding mister?" Laura hoped he meant what it sounded like.

"Yes ma'am. You see we're not here because somebody is in trouble. We're actually here hoping you can help us solve a mystery," Josiah explained in his deep soothing voice.

"I don't know what mystery you think I could help with," Laura replied her face reflecting her confusion.

"If we could have a little of your time we can explain."

Laura looked uncertain. It could be a ploy to enter her home, maybe they were looking for some sort of evidence to use against her Tommy after all. "I don't know."

"We don't have to come inside Mrs. Mercer," Josiah said. He hoped to soothe her obvious discomfort and suspicion.

Darrell said nothing. He should be objecting after all this was an FBI case and he was supposed to be in charge. But seeing that Sanchez was making headway he was more than willing to stand back and let him continue.

Laura stepped outside, leading them to a small side yard where there was an old picnic table. The three of them sat down.

"Mrs. Mercer my name is Josiah Sanchez," Josiah finally introduced himself. "I'm here on behalf of a good friend of mine, Vin Tanner."

Laura gasped. She hadn't heard that name in twenty years or more. "Cynthia's little boy?"

"Yes ma'am," Josiah confirmed.

"He was such a sweet little thing. It broke my heart to see him after his mama passed. You know she died at home? Poor little thing, I went over that day with some homemade soup. We all did what we could for Cynthia but none of us have much you understand."

"Yes ma'am," Josiah nodded. He could see it was important to the woman that they not blame her or her neighbors for whatever had happened to Vin.

"I knocked but there was no answer. Well I knew that Cynthia slept a lot and Vin might not have heard me knock so I just went on in. I heard him then, the most awful sobbing you could imagine coming from the bedroom. I knew what it must mean of course. Poor little mite, he was draped over her body sobbing and begging her to wake up." Laura paused, wiping tears away. "I called the coroner and social services. I would have taken Vin, any of us would have, if we could've. But none of us could afford another child, we could barely feed the ones we already had. " Laura took a deep breath. "Has something happened to Vin?"

"No ma'am," Josiah gruffly replied. He cleared his throat trying to dislodge the lump that had formed as Mrs. Mercer spoke. "We're actually here trying to discover some answers for Vin about his past."

Laura gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"Vin just recently found out he was adopted."

"Oh, of course. You know I had forgotten that Cynthia adopted him. He was only a newborn when he came to her you know."

"Yes ma'am we know. Do you know where she adopted him from? The name of the agency?" Josiah asked. If they could find out what agency Cynthia had used they would be that much closer to discovering who had taken Vin from the hospital.

"Oh she didn't use an agency," Laura quickly replied.

Josiah's heart sank. Could Cynthia Tanner have taken Vin from the hospital herself? "She didn't?" he asked.

"Oh no. You see Vin is actually Cynthia's nephew. It's really pretty sad when you think about it, orphaned twice the poor little mite."

"What do you mean Mrs. Mercer?"

"Laura," she absently corrected. "Cynthia's sister Pamela was on her way down from Oregon, that's where she'd had Vin. At least that was what Cynthia told me. She'd had him at home so she only had a certificate of live birth. Cynthia said her sister's husband had been a police officer, killed in the line of duty, only weeks before the baby was born. Pamela became quite depressed of course. Cynthia had wanted to go to her but she couldn't get the time away from work. She suggested that her sister come to Texas, stay with her until she was back on her feet. "

"What happened to Pamela?" Darrell asked. It seemed they might find their answers without needing to speak to any of Cynthia's other friends and neighbors.

"Well like I said she had the baby at home. She called Cynthia and told her, said she almost lost him but luckily the midwife was able to save him. He'd had to go to the hospital for a few days and she'd just gotten him back. She told Cynthia she had decided to come to Texas after all. Poor little mite," Laura sniffed. "She was nearly here when the accident happened. It'd been raining and she lost control on the slick roads. Pamela was killed instantly but little Vin survived. Cynthia adopted him of course, what else could she do?"

"Thank you very much Laura, you've been very helpful," Josiah smiled. Thank God he wouldn't have to tell Vin that his mother had kidnapped him. It seemed likely that Pamela had been the only one involved in the kidnapping. "Do you happen to know the name of the midwife in Oregon?"

"Well no, but I'm sure it's on the certificate of live birth," Laura replied. "Just a minute and I'll get it for you."

Josiah startled. "You have it?"

"Well yes. Cynthia had told me where her important papers were. I've kept them all these years for Vin, hoping he'd come back. I didn't do anything wrong did I?" Laura nervously asked.

Josiah grinned. "No ma'am, not at all. I was just surprised." Technically she should have turned the papers over to the state which would have made gaining access more difficult, if they hadn't thrown them away by now. Since her actions would help them solve the mystery of Vin's kidnapping Josiah wasn't about to give her any grief.

"I'll be right back," Laura smiled. She hurried into the house, returning a few minutes later with a manila envelope bearing Vin's name. "Here you are, everything is in there. You will make sure Vin gets it won't you?"

"I will ma'am," Josiah promised.

"Thank you." Laura shook her head, "Poor little mite," she sniffed once more.

Thanking her once more for her help the two men excused themselves and returned to their car. Josiah opened the envelope, pulling documents from inside. "Here it is," he said after a short perusal of the documents. "Certificate of live birth, Vincent Michael Connor. Born May 24th, 1970 in Elgin Oregon to Pamela Michelle Connor, father Ryan Michael Connor. " Josiah's eyes roamed over the paper, searching for the information they needed. "Here it is, presiding midwife Mary Winterset."

"Let's get to the hotel and see what we can find. With any luck we can reach her by phone and find out what we need to know," Darrell suggested.

Josiah nodded. "From your lips to God's ears," he prayed. It didn't take them long to reach the hotel.

The moment they entered the room Darrell was opening his laptop. Fingers flying over the keyboard he began his search. "Well here's the confirmation of Mrs. Mercer's story. Pamela Connor was killed in a one vehicle accident in 1970 leaving behind an infant son."

"I thought you were looking for Mary Winterset."

Darrell shrugged. "I thought we should confirm Mrs. Mercer's story first." Without another word he went back to his searching. "Got her." He looked up from the screen. "You want to call her or me?"

"It's your case."

"Remembered that did you?" Darrell lightly asked. He hadn't minded Josiah taking over at the Mercer house, but he couldn't resist teasing the man a bit.

Josiah grinned. "Never forgot."

Darrell chuckled and picked up the phone. Dialing the number listed on his computer screen he waited for somebody to answer.

"Hello," a pleasant voice greeted the agent.

"Hello, may I speak with Mary Winterset please."

"This is she."

"Mrs. Winterset my name is Darrell Price, I'm with the FBI."

"The FBI? What could the government want with me?" Mary was perplexed.

"We're hoping you can help us with an old case."

"I don't know how I could but I'll try."

"Do you remember delivering a child for a Pamela Connor in 1970?" Darrell asked.

Mary remembered it clearly. It had been such a sad case. "Yes I remember. What about it?" she couldn't imagine what this could have to do with the FBI.

"Could you tell me about it?"

"There's not much to tell. Pamela wasn't very old, only twenty-two and recently widowed. Her husband Ryan had been killed in the line of duty you see. They had been preparing for a home birth, neither of them liked the idea of drugs and hospitals. " Mary sighed deeply. "Pamela went into labor early. I tried to convince her to go to the hospital but she wouldn't hear of it. She was adamant that she couldn't let Ryan down by giving into her pain. That's how she saw going to the hospital you understand. Anyway the baby came but the poor thing was too weak. He only lived a little over an hour. I filled out the death certificate. It was so very sad; the poor girl losing both husband and child only weeks apart. I asked her if there was anybody I could call for her. She thanked me but said there was no need. Ryan would be home soon, he could take care of them. I know I shouldn't have left her alone in that state but when I tried to tell her that Ryan was gone she became violent. I went to the nearest phone and called for an ambulance but by the time they arrived Pamela and the baby were gone."

"I see. Mrs. Winterset do you remember hearing of a kidnapping that occurred a few days after the death of Pamela Connor's child?" Darrell asked.

"I heard about it when I got back, why do you ask?"

"Back?"

"Yes. I was very upset by what happened to Pamela and quite worried about her but I had arranged to leave for France weeks before all of this happened. As a matter of fact if Pamela hadn't gone into early labor I would have been turning her care over to a colleague of mine."

"And you didn't connect Pamela Connor with the kidnapping when you came back?" How the woman could have missed the obvious connection he couldn't imagine.

"Agent Price I was gone for three years," Mary coldly replied. She didn't care for the young man's tone. "By the time I returned that kidnapping was old news so no I didn't make the connection. Are you saying that Pamela was responsible for the kidnapping?"

"That is still to be determined," Darrell hedged. "Thank you for your help Mrs. Winterset." Replacing the receiver he turned to Josiah. He quickly repeated what he'd been told.

Josiah sighed. "Poor girl. She must have convinced herself that Vin was her dead child. The fact they shared the same birth date would have helped convince her."

Darrell nodded. In spite of the pain the woman had caused he could feel sympathy for her. The loss of her child coming on the heels of losing her husband must have been more than her mind could handle. "Your friend will be relieved."

"He will," Josiah agreed. "I don't think this should wait until we get back to Denver," he said reaching for the phone.

"I'll just go get us some food," Darrell said. Quietly he left the room allowing the older agent some privacy.

"Vin, I've got some news," Josiah smiled into the phone. He sent up a silent prayer, thankful his earlier prayers had been answered. It would have devastated his young friend had his mother been involved in any way with the kidnapping.

TBC...

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