Chapter 3

Michael hadn't slept this good in a long time. He couldn't even remember when he last had a restful night without nightmares and disturbing dreams. For months he worried about Fiona in prison and worked toward taking down Anson so she could be free again. How many sleepless nights had he endured during that time? Too many to count. And then, when she was back in his arms, she decided it was best for her to move out, to take time to reassess their relationship. He hadn't expected that, which led to more anxiety filled nights. What was there to reassess? I love her, doesn't she know that? What happened changed things. I see now what I'd been doing, and I'm working on being the man she needs me to be. He was surprised when she let him crash at her place last night, but he took advantage of it, even if she only shared her bed and not her body with him.

He heard screaming. It increased in volume, and it tapped on his nerves, forcing him to awaken. He sat up abruptly, looked to his right, and saw the bed was empty. Then he realized that the screams were coming from the living area. His ears honed in on the cries as they lessened, sounding far away. His breathing evened out and his heartbeat slowed when heard Fiona's voice singing some little Irish ditty he heard mothers sing to their children when he was in Ireland.

The baby. Ohhhh, how could I have forgotten? He ran a hand through his hair and scrambled out of bed, grabbing his clothes and dressing so he at least had pants on when he went out to the main room. He found Fiona with the baby, feeding her a bottle as she walked about the room humming that little tune. He watched from the hall, just out of sight. Rays of morning sunlight streaming through the slightly opened blinds bathed the two in its brightness. Fiona looked stunning in a simple top and jeans, glowing with the joy of motherhood, even if it was only for pretend, and only for a little while. This dry run gave her a taste of what it was like, and there would be no going back after this. Whether the baby stayed another day or a lifetime, Fiona had been bitten by the mom bug. And he knew it was a force that would be difficult, if not impossible, to resist.

But things were complicated in their relationship. After the shock of almost losing her, and then having her return from prison, Michael only wanted to hold her and never let her go. Fiona had other plans, so they went back to the beginning. It wasn't easy for him to simply date, but if that was what it would take to prove himself to her, he would do it. If it meant taking care of a baby that wasn't hers or his, so be it. His desire for her was shameless, and he would do anything to convince her of his love.

She caught him watching them and smiled. "Good morning, Michael. Did you sleep well?"

His smile stretched into a grin. "Too well. I forgot where I was at first."

A faint blush painted her cheeks and she returned her attention to the baby. So, she liked that I was here. That's encouraging.

"Will you two be okay for a little bit? I've got to run back to the loft and get changed."

"Maybe you should bring along a few days' worth? We don't know how long you'll need to be around to help protect her."

"Sure, Fi. I can do that." Michael couldn't get the rest of his clothes on fast enough, and he was still pushing his feet into his shoes as he headed for the door. Her invitation may have been only for the baby's sake, but there was more to it than that. He was certain of it. They'd known each other for far too long to not pick up on the subtleties of their emotional dancing. He kissed her cheek before leaving. "I'll be right back. Keep everything locked up."

"I will. Be careful." She smiled at him and kissed him on the lips briefly. The warmth of it propelled him out the door. He had to be careful that he didn't let the afterglow distract him and make him miss a tail or someone watching the place. But there was no one. He returned to the loft, showered and changed, and packed a bag, returning to Fiona's in under an hour. She had a smile and breakfast waiting when she unlocked the door to let him inside.

After breakfast, Sam arrived with his arms full of stuff. Michael let him in and caught a zippered case before it crashed through the plate glass window on Fi's front door. "Sam, what is all this?"

"Just a few things I picked up." He dropped the rest on the floor. "One of my neighbors has a kid who's outgrown all this stuff, and she's not having any more, so she said I could borrow it. When we're done, we can give it back, and then she'll probably sell it all at a yard sale or something."

"So what is all this?"

Sam picked up the zippered case. "This is a portable crib, so Baby won't need to sleep in the car seat. This is a small stroller, which is another thing we didn't get. A booster seat kind of thing with a tray, instead of a high chair, and a bag of toys. She's got nothing to play with right now."

"Wow. Thanks, Sam." He was impressed with his friend's thoughtfulness. For someone who had no experience with babies, he seemed to be learning fast.

"No problem, Mike. Oh yeah, and this bag has a bunch of girl's clothes in it. Some really cute stuff, barely worn. She put six months in there, and nine months, just in case she starts growing out of the six month stuff."

"She won't be around long enough..." Michael cut himself off. "If we find the parents, she won't be here for too long."

Fiona grabbed the bag of clothes. "Thank you, Sam. I'm sure this will all come in handy." She took the baby with her to the couch and sorted through the outfits, finding something just right for her to wear.

"Uh oh, looks like Fi is bent on keeping her, at least for awhile," Sam muttered to Michael.

"Not if you can get these prints to match." He slipped a couple of index cards to Sam. "I took those last night after Fi went to bed." He paused and watched her interact with the baby. "I understand, I think. But it's for her own good that we find out who this little girl is and who her parents are. The longer we delay, the harder it's going to be for Fi to let go."

Sam could tell by the look in Michael's eyes that the pain of loss was not something he wanted her to have to bear, but bear it she eventually must, and somehow he would help her deal with it. He nodded. "I'll scan these and e-mail 'em to my buddy. He's expecting them." He set up his computer and a portable scanner, ran the foot and hand prints through, and sent them off. "Hopefully he'll get back to us today with what he finds. Is there, uh, anything else I can do to help?"

"Not really, Sam. I think we're just going to hang out here and wait for an answer."

"Okay. I'll take off then. I'm meeting my new lady friend for a late breakfast." He winked at Michael. "If I hear anything, I'll let you know."

"We really appreciate what you're doing. We probably won't make any money off of this one, but..."

"It's okay. Sometimes it's more important to help a little kid find her way home." He packed up his computer and headed for the door. "Oh, I almost forgot. I was monitoring police bands to see if there were any reports of a missing baby, or any Amber Alerts out there. Nothing. Absolutely nothing, Mike. That's weird."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking that maybe the parents were killed or are missing, then yeah, we're on the same page, brother."

"When you're not with your lady friend, monitor chatter and see if you pick up anything."

"Will do." He turned toward the door and shot over his shoulder. "We are only meeting for breakfast, Mike. She already knows I'm working a case and that I'm focused on it. And she's okay with that, especially when she heard it involved a baby." He chuckled. "I'm tellin' ya, Mike, women are suckers for kids."

So am I, Sam. So am I.

Sam left, and Michael and Fiona were alone with the baby. He wasn't sure what to do next, but he soon found himself immersed in the world of a helpless little baby and Fiona's new routine. He tried to keep his distance. After all, he knew next to nothing about babies and children, yet his heart always melted for them if they were in trouble. With Fiona's assistance, Michael learned how to experience life with a little one, and he again foolishly gave part of his heart away to another woman. After this assignment, he knew there was only one outcome if he wanted to keep Fiona. He'd nearly lost her too many times already. He couldn't bear to do it again.

Sam called in the middle of the afternoon while the baby took a nap and Fiona snoozed on the bed. The portable crib was set up on her side of the room, not more than three feet from Fi's side of the bed.

"Yeah, Sam."

"Hey daddy...I mean, Mikey." He chuckled. "How's it going?"

"Fine if you like being spit up on. Although, she is kind of cute when she giggles. It almost makes up for the baby puke." He paused as he used a napkin to dab at some of the remnants on his shirt. "You didn't call to hear about my adventures in grossness. What's up?"

"I've got lots of news, and I'm on the way over there."

"Okay, looking forward to hearing what you've got."

A few minutes later, Sam arrived with a thin file folder. "My buddy ran those prints against the hospital records, and we have a match. Her name is Kira Beth Rollins. Her parents are Andrea and Kyle Rollins. I have an address on them, and I went over there. Looks like either they're really bad housekeepers or there was a home invasion. I'm betting on the home invasion."

Michael glanced at the information in the file. "So why haven't the cops been called on it?"

"You know a couple weeks ago we had that hurricane watch? Well, lots of people boarded up their homes and took off, and apparently the Rollins family was among them. The neighbors figured they'd be back any day now." He paused. "But the windows are still boarded up."

"Do they have relatives somewhere?"

"One of the neighbors said there were some in-laws in Tennessee."

Michael heard a noise and saw Fiona standing in the hall, listening to them. He turned his attention back to Sam. "Were you able to get into the house?"

"Yeah. Like I said, it was really messed up. I took some time searching it, just in case there were, um, bodies. But there was no sign of foul play or trauma or anything. Either they were taken without being injured, or they were never there and somebody just went through the house looking for something to indicate where they were."

"Great." Michael lightly slapped the breakfast bar. "Guess we need to find out who these relatives are, and if they've seen Andrea or Kyle Rollins lately."

"I was going to work on that this afternoon." Sam pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Michael. "I did find one thing. This business card for The Harding Group. It's a product development company. They're on the up and up, but there have been some allegations about them stealing secrets from other companies. Specifically companies with defense contracts. I don't know what that has to do with this family, but maybe these guys wanted something from them and things got ugly."

"Then how did the baby...Kira... wind up here?" Michael asked. "And of all the places in Miami they could have dropped her off, why here?"

"Haven't got a clue, Mike. I think we need to find the couple and question them to get those answers."

Michael looked back and saw Fiona bouncing Kira on her hip, listening to their conversation. "Sam, let's go outside. I wanna talk about something. We'll be right back, Fi."

Sam and Michael went out to the small fenced in area in front of Fiona's door. "What's up?"

"I think, given the fact that there's an element of danger here for this child..." He let out a small breath and glanced up at the trees, a hand massaging the back of his neck. He returned his attention to Sam as he continued. "I really hate to do this, considering how attached Fi is getting to her, but...I think we need to keep Kira in our custody. She was dumped here abruptly, without any diapers or food, which tells me that something is wrong. Maybe the parents left her here because they were in danger and were desperate. If that's the case, whoever is after them will be monitoring Social Services, if they have the resources to do so."

"I get what you're saying. The second Kira shows up in their system, they might try to grab her and use her as leverage."

"Exactly."

Sam glanced toward the window and saw Fiona looking through it at them with Kira in her arms. "For Fi's sake, I'm not thrilled with the idea, but it's the safest thing for the kid. Okay, I'm gonna go do some more digging, see what I can find on these parents." He sighed. "I just hope this doesn't require a trip up to Tennessee."

"We'll try to avoid that." Michael turned the business card over in his hand. "I'll check out The Harding Group. What do you know about them?"

"They're a multi-million dollar company, mainly they buy other people's ideas, develop them, and then turn around and sell them to the government. Or should I say, any government that wants to buy them."

"Give me everything you can before I go in there. I want to know what I'm up against."

"You got it. And I'll let you know if I get any more info on Andrea and Kyle."

"In the meantime, I don't want to move the baby unless we have to. It's better to keep her out of sight for now."

Sam nodded. "Later, brother."

Michael got out of the car and approached the high rise in downtown Miami. He glanced up at it and caught a ray of sunlight in his eyes as it glanced off the glass and steel. Somewhere in the building he would find the The Harding Group. When he reached the lobby, he consulted the directory and found it on the tenth floor, and he rode up in the elevator. It opened into a reception area confined by walls of frosted glass. A pretty dark skinned woman monitored the phones behind a large, curved oak barrier.

When the phone stopped ringing, the receptionist looked up at him and smiled. "Welcome to The Harding Group, how can I help you?"

"My name is Chad, Chad West. I represent a company that is interested in developing a..." He grinned. "Well, I'd really like to discuss this with your CEO, if possible. It's very hugh-hush."

The woman smiled wider. "I understand, Mr. West. Please wait while I see if Mr. Harding is available."

"Terrific. Thanks." Michael sat in the waiting area and casually perused a magazine while he checked out the surroundings. As he bided his time, a few people entered the offices using the door behind the reception area. They all had key cards to get inside.

"Mr. West, Mr. Harding will see you now."

Michael looked up to see a well dressed woman standing with the glass door to the offices open. She led him inside to Harding's office, asked if he wanted any coffee, and he said, "Thanks, but no. I'll only be here a little while." She nodded and returned to her desk.

A graying man wearing a tailored gray suit moved away from the windows and turned to face Michael when he entered the room. He smiled, held out his hand, and introduced himself. "Mr. West, I'm Tryg Harding. I own The Harding Group. I understand you have something we might be interested in."

"Yes, I do. But before we get down to business, I want to know a little more about your company." He sat in the chair Harding offered and set his briefcase on the floor, and as he sat upright he planted a bug underneath the desk top. "What happens if we agree to sell you our design? Do we receive any royalties or extra compensation?"

"It would depend upon the agreement that's written up."

"I see. Just curious, how do you find people with...secrets...to sell?" He gave Harding a small smile.

Harding smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "We don't solicit secrets. People come to us with designs and projects that have potential, but they don't have the resources to make them happen. We develop them into marketable products."

Michael leaned back in his chair and folded his hands in front of himself. "Did Kyle Rollins offer to sell you something?"

Harding leaned forward in his chair. "I'm sorry, I...I don't know who you're talking about." His face told Michael he was lying.

Michael leaned forward and said, "An associate of mine tells me that he came to your office about a month ago with information on a new product that the company he was working for developed for the Air Force."

Harding's eyes sparked at the revelation. "You would have to speak with my associate about that. I don't deal directly with those who wish to conduct a transaction with our company."

"Great! Why don't you call him or her in and..."

"Ms. Lane has been out of the office for the past few days. She's ill."

"How convenient." Michael muttered. Aloud, he said as he leaned forward and handed Harding a business card, "If there's anything, and I mean anything, that you can tell me about Kyle Rollins and his relationship to your company, give me a call. We have reason to believe that he was attempting to sell something illegally, and if that was the case, I'm sure with a respectable company such as yours you don't want that to blow back on you. It would be best to cooperate with me here."

"I'm sorry, Mr. West. All of our dealings are confidential. I cannot give you any information on who buys and sells with us." Harding shot out of his seat and leaned over his desk. "Get out of my office right now, Mr. West. I won't ask you again."

"Alright. Thank you for your time, anyway, Mr. Harding." Michael leaned over, checked the location of his bug, and grabbed his briefcase. He stood and offered the man his hand. "Have a great day, and please, call me if you change your mind."

Harding didn't budge. "Don't count on it, Mr. West."

Michael waited until he was in the elevator to call Sam. "I rattled the cage at The Harding Group. Harding knows something about Kyle Rollins. When I started asking him about what Rollins tried to sell them, Harding got defensive."

"So you think he's responsible for the Rollins couple's disappearance?"

"I know someone is, whether his people took them, or made them run...I just don't know yet." Michael changed the subject. "Did you find anything more?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Kyle has been working as an engineer at Aerocorp for over ten years. He had plenty of exposure to things that other governments would love to get their hands on," Sam replied. Michael heard a shift of papers as he continued. "Andrea is a stay at home mom. Married twelve years, they had an older child, but he died in a car accident last year when he was five. Kira is their second child. It looks like having another baby was causing some emotional and financial strain in their marriage. Probably why he decided to approach Harding, make a little extra cash to pay for the kid's college fund or something."

"Anything else?"

"Not really. I did find out where the relatives are in Tennessee, and I called an aunt. She said she hasn't seen them. No one in their family has seen them since last Christmas."

"Well, I planted a bug in Harding's office, so I think I'll be spending a few hours downtown, grab myself a coffee, and listen in. I'll let you know if I hear anything good."

"I'll keep looking for more on Andrea and Kyle. A buddy of mine at the DMV gave me their license plate number, and that it was registered here in Miami. No traffic tickets, moving violations, nothing. The guy is clean. Trouble is, I don't think he's driving his car."

"What do you mean?"

"Fi said she heard tires squeal and she saw the tail end of an older car that took off from the scene. Didn't get a plate, unfortunately. But this guy's plate is on a Toyota Highlander. It doesn't match the vehicle that was at Fi's."

"Thanks for the info, Sam. It's looking more and more like they're on the run from Harding and his people, and for some reason they picked Fiona's courtyard to leave the baby. They were in a hurry and maybe forgot to leave a diaper bag. See if you can talk to the manager at Fi's property, and maybe they have surveillance tape of that parking lot that you can look at."

"I'm already on my way there. Talk to you later, Mike."

His visit to the office stirred up Harding. By the time Michael got off the phone with Sam and tuned in to the bug's signal, he caught the tail end of a phone conversation. He only heard Harding's side, but the man made an appointment to speak with the person in his office. Michael waited in the coffee shop a block away to listen in on the meeting with a receiver plugged into his ear.

"I'm glad you could make it Gordon."

Gordon's voice was tight as he spoke. "So what's going on, Tryg? You sounded desperate on the phone."

"It's Kyle Rollins. Some guy was in here asking about him. He started with questions about our operation and then launched into asking about what happened with Rollins." He paced the floor. Michael could hear each footstep. "He knows that we had a deal with him!"

"What else?"

"He doesn't know where he is right now."

Gordon sighed. "And neither do we. I've got someone up in Tennessee checking with the relatives. Apparently, someone's already called them."

"What the...great, just great. Now we've gotta find out who this Chad West guy is and stop him, on top of finding Rollins and his family."

"One of my guys found their Highlander at the Miami airport this morning," Gordon said. "We're looking into whether or not they took a flight out and if they did, where they went. We'll find them, it's just a matter of time."

"Gordon, if this deal falls through, I'm a dead man. This whole company goes down with me. Not to mention, if the cops start sticking their noses into our business, then the government..." He trailed off with a heavy sigh.

"You could have done this right, from the start. Look for people who had legitimate claims on inventions and designs..."

"Enough! I don't pay you to be my conscience, Gordon. I pay you to be my muscle. You find Chad West and take care of him before he goes to the cops. Then you finish finding the Rollins couple, take care of them and their family. Make them disappear."

"I had some guys tailing them yesterday. The couple wound up in Coral Gables and stopped at a couple different places. He lost them for a little while and picked up on the trail again, but the baby wasn't with them." He sighed. "Then my guy had to stop for gas, and my team lost them until they located the SUV at the airport lot."

"Oh, can this get any worse? Find them and don't leave any witnesses. You hear me?" Harding fought to control his voice so the clients in the waiting room wouldn't hear him.

"Yeah, boss. I hear ya."

"Good. Now leave me alone, I have to think about how we're going to cover up this whole thing."

Michael left a half cup of cold coffee on the table as he hurried for the car. "Sam."

"What's up, Mike?"

"Where are you right now?"

"I'm on my way to your mom's. Fi was having a little trouble with the baby, so I thought I'd pick up your mom and take her over there to see if she could help."

"My mom?" Michael's voice raised slightly.

"Well, she did have two. I think she's got a lot more experience than the three of us put together." He paused. "I'm almost to your mom's. Are you heading back to Fi's?"

"Yes. And when I get there, we're preparing the baby to move. Harding just found out that Andrea and Kyle were in Coral Gables yesterday, riding around. They must have been looking for the right place to drop off Kira. If Harding's guy finds Fi's place..."

"Yeah. I'll call Maddie and tell her I'm going back to Fi's. See you when you get there."

Sam's car was parked in front of Fiona's place when he arrived. As Michael got out of his car, he searched in vain down the line of parked cars for anything suspicious. He hurried inside and almost tripped over a pile of things sitting on the floor near the door. Sam came out of the bedroom with the portable crib carrier slung over his shoulder.

"Woah, look out there, Mikey!"

"Are you seriously taking all of this along?"

"Unless you intend to come back here with the baby, we have no choice," Fiona said.

Sam dropped the crib onto the floor. "Fi, I've got an idea. Do you have a really big suitcase?"

"Yes."

"Good. We'll pack all this stuff into it, and I'll take it out to the car. If someone's watching, they'll just see some guy who looks like he's going on a trip. I'll come back in like I needed to do something before I left. Then Mike, you and Fi leave the place with the diaper bag and the other car seat, but use the blanket to cover it up."

"If it's the same people who followed the Rollins couple, they'll recognize this carrier." Michael smiled. "Good work, Sam."

"I'll keep watch after you leave, see if anyone follows you, and if they do, I'll call. Then I'll take off with the baby and we'll meet at one of our safe locations after you ditch your tail."

"My mom's house?"

"Yeah. That's probably our best bet," Sam answered.

"Okay, got the bag packed, Fi?"

She struggled with the zipper. "I'm not getting any more in here!"

Sam picked up the handle and hoisted it. "Holy crap, are you trying to give me a wrecked back?" By the time he reached the courtyard door, he had it under control. As Sam opened the trunk, he glanced down the lot and saw a car parked across two spaces. Two men inside were watching, of that he was certain. He threw the suitcase inside, slammed the lid, and returned to the apartment.

"Okay, it's affirmative that someone is at least watching the place. I'm hoping that when you guys leave, he follows. If not, I'll have to figure another way to smuggle Kira out of here."

"Let's hope they follow, then." Michael checked to make sure Fiona was ready. There was no need to ask. All he had to do was look at her, and she nodded. "See you at my mom's house, Sam."

"Good luck, Mike."

"You too."

Fi tossed Sam her keyring. "My front door is the one with the pink nail polish on it."

Sam examined the keys and found it as his eyebrows rose. Her keyring looked more like a polish palette and each one sported a different color. "Interesting way to keep track of 'em, Fi."

He watched through the thin curtains as Fiona strapped the seat into the back and got into the Charger. Michael pulled out, and after a few beats, the silver car followed. Sam called Michael and let him know he definitely had a tail. He waited a few more minutes before he picked up the baby carrier with Kira in it, locked up the apartment, and took her to the car. Just to be on the safe side, he peered around the courtyard door first to make sure no one was around. All the way to the car, he watched, on edge for something to happen. He strapped the seat into the back, got in, and took off. Just one more precaution. Sam drove around a little, and once he was satisfied that he didn't have a tail, he turned toward Maddie's house.