That made sense. “And the woman’s name?”

She took a step forward, then stopped when he gestured with his gun. “My lawyer says the only emergency foster care with someone who signs is with a woman named Novak. Dani Novak. Her brother is some kind of hotshot cop.”

Well, shit. If the woman was Deacon Novak’s sister, the most recent news reports he’d seen online also made sense. Reporters were speculating that the kids were in a safe house. Special Agent Novak would never allow his sister to be an accessible target.

He held the bag of heroin behind him when she took another step forward. “I think you’re lying. Your son is in a safe house.”

“I know that,” she said, licking her lips desperately. “I told you that I don’t know where. But the Novak woman is with him, wherever he is.”

“Okay.” Cade could work with that. “Does your son have a girlfriend?” Because a teenage boy might tell his girlfriend where he was, just so she wouldn’t worry.

Stella barked out a nasty laugh. “You’re kidding, right? What girl wants to take on a boy who can’t even talk? I kept trying to get him to talk, but he never would. Wouldn’t even try. His teachers keep saying I should learn sign language or whatever.” She waved with the hand holding the wineglass, which was now almost empty. “I don’t have time for that shit. Someone else can take him. I’ll take Joshua back but not Michael. He’s too much trouble.”

“Joshua is your five-year-old.” He was unimpressed with Stella Rowland Brewer. She was not nurturing.

“Yeah, he’s cute. People like him. He gets them to give me things. I’ll keep him.”

She talked about her son like he was a dog or an inanimate object. Cade had a feeling he wasn’t getting any additional information from this paragon of maternal virtue. Time for the true test.

“I actually knew your husband. Were you aware that John was gambling?”

She inched forward, her eyes on the prize he held. “Sure, but not a lot.”

“He gambled away your house.”

Her face paled. “What? That’s impossible.”

“I was there. I heard him. And when he ran out of money, he tried to win it back by offering up a five-year-old boy.”

Her eyes flickered, then hardened. “Because of Michael,” she said, her voice a vicious hiss. “He turned John bad.”

Cade didn’t think he’d like what came next. “Exactly how did Michael do that?”

“Seduced him,” she spat. She took a few more steps, her shaking hand outstretched. “I told you what you wanted to know. Now give me the stuff.”

Cade dropped the bag into her hand, knowing she wouldn’t call for the cops. She was too afraid they’d take her “stuff.”

She took a taste, her eyes sliding closed. “Oh God. I need this.”