Markers (Joshua Stokes Mysteries Book 3) (4 page)

Six

Impasse

When Joshua reached the hospital, he went straightaway to the fourth floor children’s wing in search of someone who could tell him where they had taken little Anna Leigh McIllwain. A nurse informed him the child was still in Emergency and would remain there until a pediatrician cleared her admission to the fourth floor or discharged her. Joshua’s heart raced as he rode the elevator back down to the main floor. He exited the elevator and turned left toward the emergency entrance. He did not know what he would do if Jonathan McIllwain was already with the child. He knew he could not just gun him down without provocation, but come hell or high water, he did not intend to let him get custody of Anna Leigh until he was cleared as Barnes had said.

The hospital guard tipped his hat to Joshua as he entered the rear exit of the emergency room. Joshua grabbed the first nurse he encountered by the arm and asked the child’s whereabouts. The nurse informed him the child was in room sixteen, which was straight ahead and to the left of the nurse’s station.

“It’s a shame about the mother,” the nurse stated sadly, then resumed her mission. Joshua headed toward the room the nurse indicated and walked straight in; a doctor bent over the child with a stethoscope listening to her chest and stomach. It was all he could do not to grab the doctor by the shoulder and spin him around to read his nametag.

The doctor stood and turned toward Joshua. He was probably in his mid to late thirties, but right away Joshua doubted that he was McIllwain, the doctor appeared to be middle-eastern, either Pakistani, Indian, or from somewhere over in that direction, and his nametag read Dr. Kopje Tajikistan.

“You bebe father?” the doctor asked in accented English. Joshua debated telling the truth, but figured it would be too much of a hassle so he just nodded his head.

“Good News,” said the doctor, smiling. “Bebe fine, healthy, she go home now.”

“Thank you,” Joshua replied, nodding his head. He looked at little Anna Leigh. She looked to be asleep. He felt that warm feeling in his heart again. She was so small. All he wanted to do was to protect her.

“Sheriff”

Joshua heard a familiar voice call to him. He turned to see Bonnie Huggins standing in the doorway. She smiled and said,

“Those little ones sure can tug at your heart strings, can’t they?”

“Yes, they sure can, Bonnie. They are so small and helpless. All you want to do is protect them. I was hoping you’d be on the ambulance that picked them up this morning.”

“I usually am, but was assisting a doctor when the call came. The crew told me what happened - about what her mama said before she died. Do you think all that’s true?”

“I honestly don’t know, Bonnie. But I do know that sort of stuff happens all over the world; even here in our little section of it.”

“Well, I’ve been keeping an eye on her ever since they brought her in, but the shift changes in about an hour and I’ll go off duty. There will be all new faces in here in an hour and a half. Do you want me to stay? I could stay over a couple of hours, or do you have someone else in mind?”

“Bonnie, since the accident this morning we’ve learned that the baby’s father, the husband of the dead woman, is a pediatrician. We don’t know where he works, but with his expertise, this hospital would be my first guess.”

“Oh my, then he could work emergency or on the pediatric floor…”

“So, you see our predicament. If she stays here, she is in danger.”

“Hold on just one minute,” Bonnie said as she turned in search of Dr. Tajikistan. Joshua watched as she spoke with him. He saw the doctor sign some paperwork that Bonnie handed him before resuming his rounds.

Bonnie came toward Joshua smiling, “She’s all yours,” Bonnie said as she handed him the discharge papers. “If you need a place to stash her, bring her by my place tonight. I’ll take care of her while I’m home and my oldest daughter can watch her while I’m at work; she’s had plenty of practice.”

Joshua did not have to think twice about it. He gazed around the emergency room and then focused on the nurse’s station. “Now, all I have to do is get her out of here before the FBI gets here,” he mumbled. He saw the alarm on Bonnie’s face at the mention of the FBI. “It’s okay,” he said, “they were sending someone to stand guard over her, but if her father is a doctor here, there’ll be no way they can protect her. You won’t get into any trouble, Bonnie. I’ll take full responsibility.”

“I’m holding you to your word, Sheriff,” Bonnie said as she wrapped little Anna Leigh in a blanket and handed her to him. “Stay safe,” she said as she walked away.

Joshua carried the bundled child like a football as he headed toward the back exit. He exited the emergency room and then the hospital and headed toward the parking lot. Once in his cruiser, he laid Anna Leigh on the seat and relaxed. He thought he might have to take Bonnie up on her offer; he did not know a thing about taking care of children.

Joshua drove to the nearest payphone and called Metcalf. John Metcalf still had not had any luck in tracking down the elusive Jonathan McIllwain. Joshua needed more time. He had decided to put off going to the address they had for Lita on the change of address application; he’d wait on any sort of notification of the next of kin, might even let the city detectives take care of it. He knew that once the doc found out that Lita was dead, he would want to know the whereabouts of the child. Joshua did not want to tip his hand just yet. He needed more information on McIllwain. Proof was what he needed. Since the deceased had a Fulton County, Georgia, address, he instructed his office to get in touch with the Fulton County Georgia Police Department and let them know of the accident. He would worry about the rest of it, after the Fulton County department notified them back that the residents had relocated to Mobile County. It was tempting to take Bonnie up on her offer; however, he knew that the hospital staff would fall under suspicion as soon as McIllwain discovered that Anna Leigh was missing. He decided to take the baby to James and Ilene Fortner’s house. He knew that once he explained what was going on, Ilene would take the baby in and care for her.

When he drove into James Fortner’s yard and parked, he saw that Hook was outside feeding the goats. James turned and hollered, be there in a minute, Hoss, and then finished what he was doing before putting the feed bucket into the barn and walking toward Joshua’s patrol car. Joshua got out and stood a few feet from his vehicle. He did not want James to see the baby yet; he wanted to sound him out first.

“I know something must be wrong for you to show up in the middle of the afternoon with such a serious look on your face.” James eyes showed his concern as he stopped and looked into Joshua’s eyes.

Joshua started to lie; he started to say that he stopped by to check on the pup he had picked out of the litter that James brought to his place the week before. But he knew that Hook would see right through the lie, so he told him the truth, all of it, right down to taking the child from the hospital even knowing that Joe Barnes was sending an agent over to stand guard over little Anna Leigh.

“Sounds like you’re at an impasse, Hoss. Caught between a rock and a hard place that doesn’t leave you much wiggle room does it?”

“No, it don’t. I was going to see if you and Ilene would take her in and look after her until I can make different arrangements.”

“It’s alright with me, but that’s something you’re gonna have to take up with Ilene. A baby that size is a big responsibility; our boys are grown, I don’t-hell, Joshua, just ask her. She can only say yea or nay, but don’t get mad if she says no.”

“I wouldn’t get mad about that; I know it’s a lot to ask of someone,” Joshua replied. “I can always take her to Bonnie Huggins, she offered, but I know the staff will be the first ones they look at when they discover she’s missing from the hospital.” Joshua turned and started toward James’ back door.

“You know, you’d stand a better chance if you had the baby with you. Women can’t resist babies; they’re born with that mothering instinct already in ‘em.”

“I do have her,” Joshua replied. “She’s in the front seat.”

“Well then, get her and come on in,” James grinned.

Joshua picked Anna Leigh up off the front seat and followed James toward the backdoor of his house. Ilene had come to the backdoor and was standing there giving them a ‘what are y’all up to now’ look. When she saw that Joshua was toting a baby, she began shaking her head, no. Joshua almost stopped but something akin to a father’s need to protect their young rose in him and he continued to follow James inside.

“Well now, that’s a sight I never thought I’d see,” said Ilene as they walked in. Joshua tried to smile but figured it came off more as a grimace.

“Alright, Joshua Stokes,” she said, placing both hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously, before asking, “What are you up to toting a baby around with you?” Joshua stuttered several times, all the while looking to Hook to bail him out, but Hook just grinned stupidly as if saying, ‘you got yourself into this mess you’re going to have to get out of it on your own.’

Little Anna Leigh looked to Ilene, cooed and gaga’ed, and then reached toward her as if she wanted her to take her. Ilene took the baby from his arms and while playing with her said, “You still have some explaining to do, Joshua Stokes. I know you want something, and trying to butter me up with this pretty little young’un here might just get it for you,” she smiled. Joshua let go a sigh of relief.

“I’m going to put on a pot of coffee; you may as well sit down, Hoss,” Hook said as he headed toward the kitchen sink. “I think we’re gonna need it,” he added with a chuckle as he filled the percolator with water and coffee and set it on the stove.

Ilene sat down at the kitchen table and looked up at Joshua. He could not read Ilene as well as he could some folks, but felt he had overcome the biggest hurdle; at least she was holding the baby and playing with her. Joshua pulled out a chair and sat down.

Seven

Motherless Child

Joshua took a deep breath, looked deep into Ilene’s eyes and said, “Let me tell you a little story, Ilene.” He reached for an ashtray and then lit a cigarette.

“This morning, that little baby you’re holding, became a motherless child.” Joshua said the words softly, his voice almost breaking with emotion as if he was trying to compel her with his softly spoken words to take this child and love her as only a mother can love a child. He saw Ilene’s eyes fill with questions.

“This poor little girl’s mother was killed in an automobile accident up above Georgetown this morning. She was running away from a bad situation. Little Anna Leigh here, was with her, strapped into one of those baby carrier contraptions in the backseat. As far as we can tell, except for a couple of marks on her neck and shoulders where the straps held her, she is uninjured.”

“What about the father?” Ilene asked, her tone teeming with concern.

“The father is out of the picture at the moment; and, I will explain that to you in a minute. What I need is a temporary caretaker for little Anna Leigh. I hoped you would take her in; temporarily of course.”

“Isn’t that what Child Services is for? Don’t they take children and put them in foster care until family has been located to take them?”

“Yes, they do, but Anna Leigh’s mother was a victim of circumstance. To be more specific, she was a victim of the
sex
-
trafficking
trade. Anna Leigh’s father
bought
her mother when she was just a young girl, maybe nine years old. Married her when she turned fifteen and then when Lita, the baby’s mother, was nineteen years old, she gave birth to Anna Leigh.”

“How do you know all of this stuff? It’s a little, unbelievable…”

“I know it sounds farfetched, but I’m telling the God’s honest truth, Ilene. Before the woman died, she told me she was brought over here when she was nine years old, and then sold to this man. She was running away from him this morning. She was afraid that he would use the baby in the sex trade or sell her when she was old enough. You know he had to of given her reason to think so… Ilene, I’ve read stories where some of these perverts pay enormous prices to have sex with children…” Joshua paused as a vision of the trash pile flashed through his brain. He took a long draw off his cigarette, quickly pushed the image back and continued.

“Joe Barnes of the FBI is looking into the husband now; and the reason I could not leave Anna Leigh at the hospital is that Metcalf found out that the man is a doctor, a pediatrician of all things. Even with an agent to stand guard, I did not think the baby would be safe at the hospital. Doctors can go anywhere they want to in a hospital virtually unnoticed by anyone because doctors are
supposed
to be there.” Joshua felt his blood pressure rising. He did not want to get mad, but just thinking of what McIllwain had done pissed him off.

“I’ll keep her for a little while,” Ilene said softly as she combed through Anna Leigh’s hair with her fingers. “I don’t want to keep her long enough to become attached to her though, because you’ll play hell getting her back if that happens.”

“I can’t guarantee how long it will be before we get this pervert and put a stop to his buying and selling children for sex, but you can bet I’ll be putting my all into it.”

“I know you will, Joshua, but I know
me,
” said Ilene. “I’ll be attached to this child before the day is over. And when it comes time to give her back I don’t need the heartache to be any worse than it ought to be,” she said, her eyes tearing at the thought. Joshua reached out and patted Ilene’s hand. He was glad that there were good people like her and Hook in the world; he was proud they were his friends.

“You ready for a cup of coffee?” Hook asked, as he sat a cup in front of Joshua.

“Yes I am,” Joshua said, “how about pouring me a shot of whiskey in it and make it a hot toddy.”

“Sound’s like a good idea,” James said, as he reached and got a bottle of whiskey out of a small cabinet over the refrigerator. “Have to keep it hid from the boys,” he said, grinning as he poured a shot into his and Joshua’s cups.

Joshua stayed about thirty minutes talking with James and Ilene and when he left, he felt good about leaving the baby with them. He trusted them to care for her and he knew that neither Barnes nor anyone else knew where he had taken her.

He told Hook and Ilene that he did not want them to tell anyone who the baby really was. By the time he left, they had come up with a cover story saying that Anna Leigh, who Ilene was calling Annie because she was an orphan, was the granddaughter of an old friend of hers that was hospitalized in Lucedale, Mississippi. She would say they needed someone to watch her so her mother could be at the hospital
etc.
etc.
When he got behind the wheel this time, Joshua felt much better. Now, he could get back to trying to locate McIllwain to give him the news of his wife’s death and to look into his actions.

He was glad it had worked out with Ilene and he had not had to go to his last option. He was trying his best to keep some distance between himself and Emma Carr, but if Ilene had refused to keep the baby, he would have asked Emma to watch her, even if it meant her moving back into his cabin for a while.

Joshua had just turned onto Moffett Road headed back toward town when his pager beeped, alerting him to a message. He pulled into Tommy Creighton’s Filling Station to use the payphone to call Metcalf. He had gotten out of his patrol car and was walking toward the phone booth when Deputy Cook drove up.

“Sheriff, we’ve been looking all over the place for you!” Cook exclaimed. “Someone done took that baby from the hospital! The FBI has the hospital closed down searching for her now.”

“Really? Damn, I reckon I had better call in and see what’s up,” Joshua said worriedly, not letting on that he knew anything at all. He dialed and asked for Metcalf’s extension. When Metcalf came on the line, Joshua asked him if he had had any luck finding the doctor yet. Metcalf informed Joshua that, no, he had not and then told him what had happened and what was going on at the hospital.

“All the news stations in town are converging on the hospital as we speak,” Metcalf said. “Kidnapping is big news-it’s scary and folks start worrying about their own children.”

“Yeah, I reckon so,” Joshua said calmly.

“Funny thing is” Metcalf said slowly, “the description the doctor that discharged the child gave of the man they believe took her… the man he
thought
was her father. He said the perpetrator was about a hundred and eighty pounds, with slightly graying hair. He was about six foot tall, wearing jeans, a cowboy hat and boots. That description sounds a lot like you, Sheriff. Did you take her?” Metcalf asked outright.

“Yes, I did. She is in a safe place and will be well taken care of; that is all you need to know. You were not involved and the less you know about it the better. How in the hell did the news folks find out about it so soon?”

“You know how it is, Sheriff,” Metcalf replied. “They got informants everywhere where news might happen.”

“That is their slogan, isn’t it, ‘Everywhere News Happens’ or something like that. Well, let’s just hope all this racket is enough to flush out the good doctor,” Joshua said, adding “When it gets out that a woman died in a vehicle accident and her baby girl was abducted from the hospital, the doc may come forward.”

Joshua hoped that was the case but he was prepared to do battle if necessary. He already had the address where they lived and he could easily stake the place out and waylay McIllwain when he left the residence. However, he knew that Barnes wanted to investigate further into him and the trafficking thing before doing anything that might jeopardize the case, especially all the work the FBI had already put into investigating the slave trade. Patience was not a virtue that Joshua possessed.