The Baby Snatchers (30 page)

“Are you all right, Cam?”

“Rohan, I need another favor. Go to my desk
and open the file labeled: Sydney Harbour Hospital. It should be
right there near my phone.”

“Hang on a sec. I’ll go and see what I can
find.”

The line went silent and Cam tried not to
count the seconds. A moment later, Rohan was back.

“Okay, I have the file. Now what?”

“Flick through it until you come to a
printout from the Land and Property Information Office. It’s toward
the back.”

“Yep, okay. I have that.”

“Go through the list of property. There’s a
place located in the Blue Mountains. I can’t remember exactly where
and I need the address. Can you see it?”

The seconds ticked by and Cam did his best
to hold onto his patience. If his hunch was correct, Georgie was on
her way to her childhood home. He had no idea if she was traveling
alone, but he needed to reassure himself she was all right. Her odd
text messages had put him on edge and he wouldn’t relax until he
was sure she was fine.

“Wow, these people are certainly not without
funds. I’d like to own even half of this property portfolio.”

Cameron swallowed his impatience. “Just give
me the Blue Mountains address.”

“Fifty-eight Rawson Parade, Leura.”

“You’re sure?”

“That’s what it says here.”

Cam’s heart rate jumped up a notch. “Thanks,
mate. I owe you one.”

“Is something the matter, Cam? Do you want
me to put in a call to the station up there?”

“Right now, I’m not exactly sure what’s
going on, but my gut’s telling me something’s not right and I’ve
learned to listen to it.”

“I’m happy to call the boys up in Katoomba,
give them a heads up.”

Cam thought about it. Until he knew what was
going on, there was no point alerting the local police. He didn’t
want to waste anyone’s time, least of all some fellow officers.

“Thanks for the offer, Rohan, but I think
I’ll head up there on my own and see what I can find out. If I need
backup, I’ll call. Keep the address handy, just in case.”

“Yeah, all right. Well, good luck and let me
know if there’s anything I can do.”

Cam thanked him again and ended the call. A
moment later, he strode back down the hall and halted outside
Cynthia’s bedroom. Knocking on the door, he waited for her to
invite him in.

“Hey,” she smiled. “What are you doing back
here?”

“I’m sorry, honey, but I have to go out.
Will you be all right here on your own?”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I
lived on the streets for two years, Cam. What do you think?”

“I know, but…you know. You’re sixteen.
You’re still a kid.”

“Cam, I’m
sixteen
. I’m nearly an
adult.”

He smiled. “Okay, but I’m not sure how long
I’ll be gone.”

“I’ll be fine. Go, okay?”

“All right.” He started to back out of the
room.

“Is this about Georgie?” Cynthia asked.

“Yes.”

“Is she all right? I hope she’s not in some
kind of trouble.”

Cam grimaced. “I’m not sure, yet, but that’s
why I have to go. I’m going to find her and make certain she’s
okay.”

Cynthia’s expression softened. “You’re a
good guy, Cameron Dawson.”

Cam blushed under her warm regard, pleased
that his little sister thought so.

“What are you waiting for? Go and save her,”
Cynthia urged. “All girls dream of being rescued by their knight in
shining armor.”

He looked at her. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Do you?” he asked curiously.

Her expression softened. “Yes, and I know
he’s out there somewhere.”

Georgie risked a glance toward her aunt and
was concerned to discover the deadly looking weapon in Rosemary’s
hands was still pointed at her head. She didn’t even know her aunt,
or anyone in her family, owned a gun. It frightened her to realize
how little she knew the woman she’d grown up admiring.

Along with her mother, it was her Aunt
Rosemary who’d inspired her to enter nursing. When she thought of
how the two sisters had been spending their time, a wave of nausea
rolled up from her stomach. She gasped aloud and tears burned
behind her eyes. All of a sudden, she wondered if any of her
sisters knew. She glanced at the rearview mirror to her mother,
needing to know.

“Are Sasha, Clare and Montana involved,
too?”

“No. To date we haven’t had any need of
their services, and of course, none of them followed us into the
nursing field. But who knows what the future may bring? I’m sure
when the time’s right, we’ll fill them in on our good deeds.”

Georgie opened her mouth to utter another
round of protest at the way her mother described their horrific and
illegal undertakings, but then closed it again. It was obvious
Marjorie was under some sick delusion that she was acting in the
best interests of all concerned, and particularly, the babies. In
her mind, she seemed to be saving the newborns from a fate far
worse than death.

Georgie couldn’t deny the life of a child
born to a drug addict wouldn’t be easy, but it wasn’t up to
individuals to make the decision to have the children removed.
There were government agencies with specially trained people to
assess each situation and deal with them in an open and honest
manner. Georgie refused to acknowledge the little voice in her head
that reminded her how, too often, the government resources were
stretched to their limits and some families simply fell through the
cracks.

On some weird level, she could understand
why her mother and aunt had set out on this path, but it didn’t
make it right. Not one little bit. Curious as to how they’d started
out, she glanced at her mother through the rearview mirror
again.

“What made you decide you needed to involve
yourself in stealing other peoples’ babies?”

Her mother scowled. “We’re not stealing
them. We’re giving them a better life!”

Georgie shrugged. “From what I’ve heard,
it’s stealing, but that’s beside the point. You’ve been doing this
for nearly forty years. Drugs and alcohol weren’t even a problem
back then. Not like it is now. Why were you stealing babies four
decades ago?”

Rosemary let out a long drawn-out sigh, but
the hand holding the gun didn’t waver. “Oh, honey, we mightn’t have
had the level of drug abuse to deal with, but society back then had
its own set of problems.”

“Like what?” Georgie asked, hoping to
distract the women from their apparent deadly goal upon their
arrival at the Leura cottage.

Her mother continued. “The sixties and
seventies were times of uninhibited, amoral behavior. There were
plenty of girls willing to sleep with any man who happened to show
them attention. Babies born out of wedlock to teenage moms were a
common occurrence.

“Both Rosemary and I did our training under
Sister Mary Margaret Hennessy, a nun from the local convent and
matron of the hospital. Back in those days, many hospitals were run
by religious orders. Ours was no different. It was Matron who first
approached Rosemary about relocating children born of these mothers
to more deserving and satisfactory homes.”

Georgie shook her head, still unable to
believe their mindset. “But,
why
? Just because a girl’s
fifteen and without a husband or partner doesn’t mean she’s an
unfit mom. I’m sure I would have made a great mom, if I’d been
given the chance.

“Many of the young women I’ve met over the
past two years see the birth of their babies as a reason to try
harder to make something of their lives. They don’t want their
babies to grow up living the kind of lives they have.

“By stealing their children, you’ve taken
away that tiny spark of desire that ignited inside them the moment
they set eyes upon their newborns to better themselves. Apart from
the illegality of it, the tragedy of what you’ve done is so
montrous I can barely get my head around it.”

Her mother scoffed. “You’ve lived a blessed
life, Georgina. You’ve wanted for nothing. The best clothes,
schools, friends… The list goes on. Perhaps you might have done a
reasonable job of raising your son, but you had a family who were
in a position to support you and your baby and help you every step
of the way.”

Georgie’s heart pounded. She stared at her
mother through the mirror. Never once over the years, had her
mother indicated that she’d been prepared to help Georgie raise her
child. In fact, every conversation they’d had about it, then and
since, indicated the exact opposite.

“You’re lying! You had no intention of
helping me with my baby. You told me over and over again. There’d
be no help from my family. It was made very clear. And Dad felt the
same. You told me the other day he was going to cut me off.”

“Oh, Georgina! You’re such a drama queen!”
Her mother chuckled, infuriating Georgie further.

“Don’t you dare dismiss me, Mom! I’m no
longer a frightened teenager who can be bullied into doing what you
want. I want to hear the truth!”

“You can’t handle the truth!” Marjorie
shouted.

“Ladies, please. Perhaps it might be better
to leave this…this family disagreement to some other time,”
Rosemary interrupted. “Georgie, your mother is right. Your
situation was very different than our patients. Most of them are
barely able to take care of themselves, let alone a baby. And I’m
referencing the ones who actually want to try and improve their
lot.

“You can’t tell me you haven’t wondered what
happens to the hundreds of wretched young souls who leave the
safety of our hospital ward in the company of their drug-addicted
mothers—mothers who have neither the inclination nor willpower to
change their desperate and dubious lifestyles.”

Georgie kept her attention on the road. She
wasn’t prepared to let either woman know that she often despaired
over the babies who were born to moms just like the ones Rosemary
described. It didn’t matter. Nothing justified their actions and
nothing either of them said would change her mind.

“Why didn’t you just approach each mom you
thought fell into that category and talk about adoption?” she
asked. “It’s what thousands of single moms did back when you were
young. It wasn’t necessary to steal them, then or now! And to
compound the tragedy by telling those poor moms their babies had
died…” She shook her head and bit back a sob. “It’s wrong! It’s so
wrong!”

Her aunt merely shrugged and another glance
in the mirror showed Georgie her mother was equally unaffected by
her daughter’s despair. It was obvious she’d never make them
see.

“Pull in over there,” Rosemary snapped. “I
don’t want your car visible from the road.”

Through the darkness, Georgie made out the
dark hulk of her childhood home. The cottage was now used
infrequently by her family, but it had always been kept in good
repair. A man came twice a week to mow the lawns and keep the
gardens under control. The last time Georgie had been there was for
Christmas, nearly six months ago.

Thinking about that time when all her family
had come together as one, to share the holidays and celebrate, she
was filled with a deep sadness. Life would never be like that
again—even if she managed to survive the next few moments and
whatever else her mother and aunt had in store. As if she could
sense her thoughts, Rosemary waved the gun in Georgie’s
direction.

“Get out of the car and keep your hands
where I can see them.”

Georgie did as she was told. The crazy gleam
had returned to her aunt’s eyes. It was almost as if she relished
the idea of having her niece at her mercy. The thought sent a cold
shiver down Georgie’s spine. She glanced at her mother, hoping to
find some sign that she wasn’t supportive of Rosemary’s dangerous
plans—whatever they might be—but Marjorie didn’t appear in the
least concerned.

A little desperately, Georgie’s thoughts
turned to Cam and she wondered if he’d given any thought to her
contradictory text messages. The possibility that he hadn’t, caused
panic to flare inside her.

What if he’d simply taken Rosemary’s text
for what it was and accepted that she’d gone to the movies?
Even now, he could be asleep, blissfully unaware of her jeopardy.
Her blood ran cold and her chest went tight. She swallowed a sob of
desperation and tried not to think about it.

Despite the earlier threats, she was certain
her aunt didn’t plan to actually kill her. She’d known the woman
her entire life. Her aunt had helped celebrate Georgie’s every
milestone. They were as close as an aunt and her niece could be.
There was no way she would kill her, no matter what she said. And
especially not in the presence of her mother.

For all the recent shocks Georgie had borne
with respect to her mom, it still didn’t change the fact they loved
and cared for each other. Even the adoption had been forced upon
Georgie because her mother cared. She cared about her future; she
cared about her choices. She’d known better than Georgie that a
baby would change everything.

Looking back, Georgie wished she’d been
stronger, braver and had fought harder to keep her son, but she
didn’t blame her mother for forcing her to sign.

The feel of cold steel pressing against her
back elicited a gasp and brought her attention crashing back to the
present. Her aunt still held the wicked-looking weapon and was
prodding her with the barrel of the gun in the direction of the
paved walkway that led up to the front door. The carefully tended
gardens that framed the path were dark shadows against the
blackness of the night. Guided by memory and the faint light from
the tiniest sliver of moon, Georgie stumbled forward.

The sudden onset of headlights from a
vehicle turning into their drive lit up the path. Hope flared
bright in Georgie’s chest and she spun on her heel.
Cam!
A
moment later, she recognized her father’s silver Mercedes S Class
Saloon. He drove past them and came to a halt outside the garage
attached to the side of the house.