“I have reports on you, Mr. Donovan. Several, in fact, from associates of mine who consider you not only trustworthy but something of a wonder.”

Mel thought Sebastian sat in the small, beige-toned office like a king at his court. He responded to Devereaux’s statement with a slight nod.

“I’ve been involved in a few federal investigations.”

“Most recently in Chicago,” Devereaux said, flipping through a file. “A bad mess up there. A pity we couldn’t stop it sooner.”

“Yes.” It was all Sebastian would say. Not all of those images had faded.

“And you, Ms. Sutherland.” Devereaux rubbed his round, bald head, then poked a finger at the nosepiece of his glasses. “The local authorities in California seem to find you competent enough.”

“I can sleep easy now.” She ignored Sebastian’s warning glance and leaned forward. “Can we bypass the introductions, Agent Devereaux? I have friends back in California who are desperate. David Merrick’s only a few miles away—”

“That’s yet to be determined.” Devereaux set one file aside and picked up another. “We had all pertinent information faxed in after your call. A federal investigator has already interviewed your witness at the … Dunes Motel in Utah.” He pushed his glasses up again. “He positively identified David Merrick’s picture. We’re working on IDing the woman.”

“Then why are we sitting here?”

Devereaux peered over the rims of his glasses, which had already slid down his nose again. “Do you expect us to knock on every door in Forest Park and ask if they’ve recently stolen a baby?” Anticipating her, he held up a pudgy finger. “We have data coming in right now on male children between the ages of six and nine months. Adoption records, birth certificates. We’re looking into who has moved into the area, with a child, within the last three months. I have no doubt that by morning we’ll have narrowed it down to a manageable few.”

“Morning? Listen, Devereaux, we’ve just spent the best part of twenty-four hours getting here. Now you’re going to tell us to wait until morning?”

Devereaux leveled a look at Mel. “Yes. If you give us the name of your hotel, we’ll contact you with any further developments.”

Mel popped out of her chair. “I know David. I can identify him. If I did a sweep of the area, set up some surveillance—”