“Yes, Baron Bell. He seemed like such a nice man. He’s always in the papers, and he’s an advocate of everything. Everyone Tom talked to backed away when he told them it was Mr. Bell who arranged the adoption.”

“Who was the surrogate mother?”

“Her name was Donna Davis.”

Nancy ran to the kitchen, refilled Rachel’s coffee cup, and then walked down the hall to an empty office and called her aunt Maddy. “I don’t know what to do with her, Maddy. Nothing like this has ever come up before. I’ll be honest, I don’t think any of our lawyers here at the firm will agree to go up against someone like Baron Bell on what could become a high-profile case like this one. Talk to me, Maddy.”

Nancy listened. She reached for a pad and pencil and scribbled furiously. “Maddy, are you going to do what I think you’re going to do?”

“Can you think of anyone better?”

Nancy smiled. “Actually, I can’t. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if…Rachel could get her babies back for Christmas?”

“It’s the time for miracles. I’ll do what I can. Keep me in the loop, honey.”

“Will do, Maddy.”

Back in the office, Nancy sat down and reached for a small pad. As she wrote down Lizzie Fox’s name, address, and phone number on a slip of paper, Rachel Dawson kept on talking. “I think this is some kind of baby ring. Tom says I’m out of my mind, but on my really bad days I would go to the park and just sit. I talked to a lot of nannies and young mothers. One of the mothers looked at me when I told her what had happened and told me about someone else the same thing happened to. I have her name right here in my purse. I even went to talk to the adoptive parents, and they’re in the same position Tom and I are in. They used Baron Bell, too. Their surrogate is a student at Georgetown. Is there any way, any way at all, that we could get our babies back for Christmas? We had such plans. Our first family Christmas.” Rachel burst into tears.

“Rachel, I can’t answer that, but the person I want you to go see is just the right lawyer for you. Trust me when I tell you she could take on Baron Bell with her hands tied behind her back and blindfolded. If anyone can help you, it’s Lizzie Fox.”

Rachel Dawson bolted upright. Her tears stopped in midflow. “She’s the lawyer that…She was…the Vigilantes’ attorney.”

Nancy stared across the table, her gaze steady and direct. “Yes,” she said softly.

“Oh! Oh! When should I go to see her?”

Nancy’s phone rang. She picked it up and listened. All she said was, “Thanks, Maddy.”