Stephanie and Carlos used the fifth-floor conference room as a war room for the child trafficking case. They placed whiteboards and posted the links between people and the murders. Nobody could see inside the room to view the details. Only Stephanie and the core team could access the room. Once a week, they would update the files with research from Hector, Peter, Rodriguez and Silvio.
"Should we dismantle it?" Stephanie asked when they added Sadie's forged adoption papers to the wall. Stephanie felt they were doing all that work for nothing.
"No," Carlos replied. "The FBI will eventually call us in on the case." Carlos added other papers he received from his contact in the FBI. "Your team is finding more victims to the list. I doubt the FBI or local authorities see the similarities."
Sighing, Stephanie added another unsolved murder of a woman to the list. Carla Masterson was found dead behind the office building where she worked. Several years earlier, the Minneapolis Times published an article searching for witnesses to the crime.
"It's a very tedious process. But I understand why the FBI never caught wind of a serial killer," Stephanie suddenly said. She pointed at the face shots of the victims when Carlos raised a brow. "None of the women look alike. Usually, serial murderers go for a specific type like age group or physical appearance. These women are from different backgrounds, social statuses and age groups. The only commonalities are they were single moms of young children and had no significant others to report their child missing."
"Babe?" Carlos asked. Stephanie took it to mean, "How is that possible?"
"The fathers are dead, in prison or not involved with their children," Stephanie explained. "None of the women visited their families, either. A few of the women visited fertility clinics to get pregnant. I'm trying to figure out how Patrick and Claudia knew which women to target."
"Playgroups, playgrounds, nannies talking, daycares and mommy and me classes," Carlos supplied. "Possibly a medical clinic."
"Okay, but why wouldn't the daycare or nannies contact someone if the child doesn't show up?" Stephanie argued.
"Someone called to cancel their services," Carlos replied. "Cancelled appointments for their children too. It's likely the medical professionals assumed the children went to other family members," he added, preventing Stephanie from asking the next question.
"You have an answer for everything," Stephanie joked. "Unfortunately, there isn't anything in the records for daycares or cheques issued to nannies. The only way to know for sure is to question the neighbours. I'm sure the detectives already drove that avenue."
"Never take anything for granted. Your father's willing to do some legwork," Carlos said. "We only have to tell him where to look."
"Is that something Mom could do too? She might be easier for the women to open up to," Stephanie countered.
"Babe, are you trying to get rid of your mother?"
"If the shoe fits," Stephanie replied, grinning. "Valerie and I could use a break. Mom keeps asking if we decided to hire a surrogate. I'm surprised Angie and Mary Alice haven't spilled the beans. Then Mom wants to know when Valerie's getting married."
"What did Valerie do?" Carlos asked.
Stephanie and Valerie were annoyed with their mother. Helen had contacted a bridal shop to order Valerie's wedding dress. The manager of Tina's Bridal Shop called to arrange a fitting. "Valerie decided to get married in Disney. She contacted Disney to see when the wedding pavilion was available. Unfortunately, they had no openings for the next year. Valerie provided a date and reserved it."
"When?"
"Um. I'll have to double-check with Valerie. But it's not for quite a while. Our babies will be around thirteen months old if they're born at thirty-two weeks," Stephanie replied.
"Speaking of our babies, when is Jeanne's appointment?" Carlos asked.
"As if you don't already know," Stephanie teased. She grabbed her phone to check the calendar when a text message appeared. "Actually, Jeanne got asked to reschedule. It's this afternoon at two."
Carlos checked his watch. It was already 1315. "Babe?"
"We're meeting Dr. Struthers at the clinic. She had a cancellation," Stephanie replied, reading the second message from Jeanne. Carlos raised a brow, wondering why someone would change an appointment. "The patient miscarried," Stephanie sadly added. She was still afraid Jeanne Ellen would lose their babies.
"Stephanie," Carlos said, using her name, "Jeanne's halfway through the pregnancy. She made it to twenty weeks. Our babies could technically survive outside the womb."
Shaking her head, Stephanie replied, "Boys have a lower chance of survival. Dr. Struthers hopes the babies cooperate to get the measurements today."
Jeanne Ellen met Stephanie and Carlos in the garage. She climbed into the backseat with Jordan, who decided to accompany them on the trip. Two of the babies moved, making Jeanne smile. She rubbed beneath her stomach, where the girl sat above her brother. The third little one was shy and didn't display its parts to the doctor. Jeanne Ellen felt horrible for not telling Stephanie the genders of two of the babies, but she asked the doctor to wait for the third to be known.
Jordan wanted to attend the appointment to keep Jeanne Ellen grounded. Hopefully, the third baby will reveal its gender. "Who's babysitting Mica?" Stephanie asked.
"Hector," Jeanne Ellen said. She shook her head and giggled. "He loves the little girl."
"She loves him too," Jordan added. "Hector may look scary, but he's a teddy bear."
Stephanie knew that firsthand. Hector never intimidated her. The glint in his eyes always gave him away. He spent many hours teaching Stephanie how to throw various sharp objects. Her newest skill was shooting arrows. Stephanie couldn't wait to test out the grenade and rocket launchers. Hector said she had to master the bow and arrow first.
"Any news regarding Nicki and Lester?" Jeanne Ellen asked. She never got a follow-up on Nicki's proposal. Stephanie snorted, then shook her head. It wasn't a secret, but Lester never went out of his way to announce it, either.
"I'm honestly surprised you haven't figured it out," Stephanie said. She turned slightly to look at her sister-in-law. "They eloped."
"You're shitting me!" Jeanne Ellen shouted. Stephanie shook her head. "When?"
"They got married the following weekend when Sadie stayed with us," Stephanie replied. She checked her calendar. "Nicki and Lester got married six weeks ago. Lester's too chickenshit to tell anyone. Haven't you noticed he always shoves his left hand in a pocket?" Jordan laughed and agreed it was so obvious that nobody noticed. Besides, men don't make the habit of checking if another man was married.
~~~~~
Lester had the afternoon off work. He took Sadie to get her ears pierced. Nicki would meet them for dinner. "Dad, when do we hear the decision?" Sadie asked. Lester loved being called Dad. The courts accepted the adoption request upon learning Sadie's biological father relinquished his rights, and the mother wished for Lester Santos to raise her daughter.
"Nicki said we have a hearing in a few weeks," Lester said. "Getting married helped our case."
"Did you ever think you'd get married?" Sadie asked.
"Not really. I never thought I'd meet a woman like your mother." Lester smiled when he recalled meeting Nicki for the first time. Nicki thought she had his number. Once upon a time, he was a womanizer. That changed after Stephanie's assault. Lester spent many hours playing video games with Stephanie and learned something about himself. He realized sleeping with random women didn't fill the void of losing Lydia. The attraction to Nicki was instantaneous. He knew she felt it too. Nicki was too stubborn to go on a date. Her need to get closer to Lester overrode her senses. The attraction and magnetic pull were too strong to ignore. Their first kiss was explosive. Nicki stopped fighting the inevitable.
"If Mom never got married, would you have married her?" Sadie asked. She was curious about Lester's relationship with her mother.
"No. Lydia may have accepted my decision to join the Army, but she never wanted to be a soldier's wife," Lester replied honestly. "I truly loved your mom. Sometimes love isn't enough."
"You weren't in the right social class," Sadie said. "But look where that got my mom. I wish we could go back in time to change everything."
"I'm glad we can't change the past. I believe everything happens for a reason." Lester mussed up Sadie's hair, making her grin. "Are you ready?" Lester asked, parking behind the plaza. He was taking Sadie inside the tattoo shop to get her ears pierced.
"Why didn't we go to Trenton Tattoos?" Sadie asked, pointing to the sign reading Inked.
"I know the guys here, and the place is clean," Lester replied. Sadie and Lester walked into the tattoo shop. Lester stopped and stared. Nicki was paying for her tattoo. "What are you doing here, Baby?" Lester asked, kissing her shoulder.
"Getting that ink you designed," Nicki replied. "I was hoping to surprise you." Lester buried his face into Nicki's neck to hide his emotions. He drew a butterfly for Nicki. Inside the pattern of its wings were their initials.
"Can I see?" Lester asked, hoping to see the finished product.. His voice was thick with emotion. Nicki pulled her yoga pants down, showing her left hip. Lester gently pulled back the gauze covering the tattoo. "You added Sadie's initials on the wings." The S broke through the wing, making it appear to divide the sections. It was perfect in the design, giving it the definition needed without ruining the image.
"Of course I did. Whenever we decide to have our own child, I'll add it to the tattoo," Nicki said. Lester noticed a smaller rose-coloured butterfly appearing to fly away. "That's for Lydia. Without her, we wouldn't have Sadie." Lester turned Nicki to face him, then slammed his lips to hers.
"Are they always like this?" the tattoo artist asked.
"Yup," Sadie replied. She loved how Lester and Nicki reacted around each other. It reminded her of Stephanie and Carlos. They knew when their partner entered the room and searched for them. Sadie meant to ask them about it.
"I'm Luke. You know my brother Cal," Luke introduced himself. Sadie grinned, remembering the tall man with the flaming skull on his forehead. "Are you getting a tattoo today?" he teased.
"Not until I'm eighteen. Dad said I can get my ears pierced today," Sadie replied.
Lester felt Sadie tug on his arm. He broke the kiss, leaving Nicki weak in the knees. "I'm getting a matching tattoo," he announced.
"Dad, you promised I could get my ears pierced," Sadie said, crossing her arms across her chest. "Luke needs you to sign the consent papers." Lester shook the stupor from his head, then signed the documents permitting Luke to pierce Sadie's ears.
"That's alright, sweetie," Nicki replied. "We can get your ears pierced. Then I'll take you shopping for new shoes. The latest hi-tops are out."
"Sweet," Sadie said. "I'm ready, Luke." Sadie wanted the black and the blue ones. She hoped Nicki would let her buy both pairs.
Luke got Sadie to select earrings to wear after her ears got pierced. He gave Sadie an ice pack to hold onto her lobes to numb them. "Let me know when you're ready," Luke said. Nicki stood beside Sadie while Lester spun in circles on the stool. Luke got Lester's attention and motioned for him to leave the room.
"Okay. I think my ears are numb," Sadie announced. Luke used alcohol pads to clean the earlobes.
"Be brave," Nicki whispered. She held Sadie's cold hand while Luke pierced her ear with a large needle. Sadie felt the pinch, then the slight pain when Luke pushed the earring through the hole. He moved to the next side to pierce the other ear.
Nicki wiped the tear from the corner of Sadie's eye. "I'm okay, Mom," Sadie replied. "The second one hurt a bit more because I knew what to expect."
"And your earlobe warmed," Nicki added.
"That too," Sadie said.
Luke briefly explained the care instructions, then gave Sadie the solution to rinse her ears after a few days. Sadie and Nicki returned to the entrance of the shop where Lester patiently waited. "I'll settle up when I'm done," Lester said. He chastely kissed Nicki's lips and Sadie's forehead.
Lester watched the sway of Nicki's ass as she left the tattoo parlour with Sadie. "You've got it bad," Luke teased.
"I do, and I couldn't be happier," Lester replied, following Luke into the procedure room. He watched Luke cleanse the table, then toss the rubber gloves into the trash. Luke washed his hands and asked Lester to get onto the table.
The men chatted about Nicki and how Lester got custody of Sadie. Luke shook his head. "It's a miracle you found Sadie," Luke said when Lester finished the story.
"Technically, Sadie found Mary Alice, my friend's niece. I feel kind of bad for the woman who raised Sadie."
"Why?" Luke asked. He couldn't understand the logic. The woman bought Sadie like one would an animal. It was disgusting that people sold children like pets, then completing the transaction with an adoption certificate that couldn't get recognized by the courts.
Lester shrugged, "Maybe she believed the adoption was legal."
"Did she fight for custody?"
"No. She knew the adoption was illegal. According to Javier, the woman was happy to get rid of Sadie." Lester shook his head. He didn't understand why anyone would willingly give up an amazing child like Sadie. "It's possible she didn't fight because she'd get charged," Lester reasoned.
Luke remained silent as he coloured the butterfly's wings. "I'm surprised you wanted a matching tat," Luke said as he changed the ink colour. He continued working on the wings.
"I want to match my woman," Lester replied. Luke shook his head, then leaned over Lester's hip to get the details drawn into the wings. "Do the smaller butterfly too."
"Are you sure?" Luke asked. Lester pushed onto his elbows to look over his shoulder, glaring at his friend. "Got it." Luke grinned as he added the rose-coloured butterfly to Lester's hip.
After paying Luke for the tattoo and piercing of Sadie's ears, Lester decided a quiet night at home would be better than sitting on an uncomfortable restaurant chair. Smiling, he called Nicki. "Hey, Les. What's up?" Nicki answered. Lester grinned when Nicki paused to place an order at their favourite Chinese restaurant. He patiently waited for her to finish.
"I was about to ask if you wanted to grab takeout and go home," he replied.
Nicki giggled, the sound going right to his groin. "Sadie wanted to eat at home instead of getting stuck in the restaurant," Nicki said. "I bought her the red and the blue high tops. Her old ones were wearing out."
"Did you pick earrings too?" Lester wondered. He wanted Sadie to have options.
"No. Sadie asked to wait until she could swap hers out. We did find some jeans she liked," Nicki said. "I'm taking Sadie home. Can you grab the food on the way?"
"Of course," Lester replied. They ended the call. Lester got into his car and then stared toward the sky. "Thank you, Lydia. Without Sadie, I never would have met Nicki." Lester drove to the Chinese restaurant feeling like he won the lottery.