Chapters (65)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Part Two
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Part Three
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- About the Publisher
“Not yet, but my brother, who is a detective, is very close to finding it. And we have a license plate number,” I said. “What will you do with an address?”
“On your behalf, I’d file a request for injunctive relief, a court order, and get the local protective services folks to pick up your daughter.”
“What will happen to her then?”
“She’ll be taken care of, either at an on-site facility or, if needed, in a short-term foster placement until we can sort it all out.”
“Holy crap,” I said. The image of our baby girl in a foster home was gruesome and completely unexpected.
“Fine. So we can get the papers ready and serve them on her as soon as we get a location. Did you hire a private investigator?”
“No, Ruth’s brother,” said Hal.
“Oh, that’s right. You told me that.”
Hal sighed, annoyed that Mr. Bakerfield had already forgotten a simple piece of information. “What about the contract?” He leaned forward in his chair. “Shouldn’t we start an action to enforce it?”
“I think we should, yes.” Mr. Bakerfield leaned forward, mirroring Hal, and said, “I’ll draft a complaint for your review.”
“Good.” Hal slapped the table and scooted to the front of his chair, readying himself to stand.
Now that Sol hadn’t directly criticized the terms of our agreement with Cally, Hal seemed strangely proud that his precious contract could be the centerpiece of a lawsuit to enforce our rights, even though it meant our new baby might end up in foster care. I wanted to slap my hand on the table and shout, No, not good! Raymond and I have nearly found the baby with no lawsuit, and no one needs to go to foster care if we do it our way.
Mr. Bakerfield stood, indicating our meeting was concluded. “I need you to get in as soon as you can for a blood test, Mr. Olson. You can have the clinic send your blood report to my office.” He handed us his business card.
“Call me Hal.” He stood up and reached out his hand.
“Call me Sol.” The two men shook hands.
“Thank you.” Hal lifted his coat and swung his arms into it. “We’ll get you that address as soon as we can, so she can be served with papers.”
I said nothing as we walked out the colonial-style doors and into the parking lot. Hal tried to put his arm around me, but I was walking too quickly, and he didn’t keep up with me.
“I need to get back to Duluth,” I said once we found our car and got in. “Can you drive me to the airport?”
Forty-Two
Cally
MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2002
Afternoon