“Has a Tasha Macklin delivered her baby yet? I am from the Department of Children and Family Services. We received a referral from her doctor saying the baby has chemical endangerment. They found doses of diazepam, which is the generic name for Valium, in her system and in the baby’s system; it seems like mom was self-medicating. There are no doctor’s orders on file. According to the lab report, this drug was in her system when she came in for a prenatal visit, and I need to detain the infant. The mother will be given a court date in the hopes of reuniting with her baby after a thorough investigation is complete.”

I stopped the recording on my iPhone. I had been practicing my spiel daily. If my plan worked, they would be charging Tasha with “knowingly, recklessly, or intentionally” causing her baby to be exposed to a controlled substance in the womb—a felony punishable, in her case, by up to ten years in prison.

At least 50 times, I practiced my spiel. I had my New York Human Services badge, and all the appropriate paperwork. I changed my name to Megan Sloane, and I set up a dummy corporation that was a privately-owned Human Services Agency.

I planned to pick the baby up from the hospital, act as though I was taking the baby to a foster home, and then we would be on our way to a new life.

On the other hand, I didn’t know what was going on. I’d gone by Kaylin and Angel’s house and it was lifeless. Several of the shingles were replaced with boards. I’d called their office many times, but they were never in and had not returned my messages. What was happening? When was Tasha having the baby or had she had it?

I called Kaylin’s number and it went straight to voicemail. I called Trae’s number, straight to voicemail. I tried Tasha’s number, but she had blocked me. They all had disappeared on me. I was back at square one.

Chapter Twenty-Three

JAZ

“Steele. He’s dead. The deed is done, Faheem. That was my call. You can thank me later . . .”

“Then why the fuck are you sitting here telling me that you handled it? What? Just because I’m banged the fuck up, you think I’m pussy, Jaz?”

“You can laugh all you want, because the deed is done, and I took care of it. You always wanted me to honor your thug, but you need to recognize and honor mines.”

“Jaz, I already told you, you ain’t no thug. You got someone else to do it. You know why? ‘Cause you ain’t no killer.”

“Whatever. But like I already told you, the deed is done.”