“I do,” Hans said. “I definitely do.” Leaning forward, his elbows resting lightly against his expensively tailored pant legs, he smiled. “I have names.”
Nothing about Bodhi’s posture changed. He didn’t seem to react. Yet the energy around him shifted. This was the kind of news he’d been waiting on getting. “What type of names?”
“First, the name of the woman who gave birth to the third King child. She was a challenge to track down, and a bit of a hellion herself. I would advise being prepared to lock her down should you need to speak to her. She was quite vexed that I located her.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope.
Bodhi took it and passed it to me. “That she’s alive is impressive. I take it she isn’t local?”
“Yes and no, she married into one of the Bridgeport families, the newer money. But a rather acrimonious divorce, as well as a hefty payout from her prenuptial, keeps her in comfort. She has no interest in returning to New York however. She not only changed her name, she changed it again after she married. She is very much not Tracy Dunlop from Brooklyn who had an affair with Julius King and served as his mistress for four years.”
I opened the envelope and pulled out the sheet of paper. It was older, the texture of the paper a little softer and finer as it had aged. It was a birth certificate.
Baby boy.
Theodore Julian Dunlop.
Mother Tracy Dunlop.
There was no name filled in for the father, just the mother.
A boy.
Milo and Em had a baby brother. My heart filled and crashed in the same breath.
“Does she have the boy?” Bodhi asked but Hans was already shaking his head.
“This was the part I found most difficult. She didn’t want to part with any information. In fact, she became downright hostile until I made it clear that her life could become much more unpleasant. Finally, she admitted that she made arrangements for the boy to disappear. She wouldn’t share the details but that she’d made it clear to the father that he would never see the child again.”
“King could simply kidnap and torture her.” It wasn’t like he was above that.
“Perhaps, liebchen…” The faint smile touching his lips as he glanced to Bodhi while saying the endearment almost made me roll my eyes. “However, she has buried her identity very well. She took from him what he wanted most and made sure he couldn’t have him. She mentioned using his own contacts against him. I can get more details, but it will take time.”
Used his own contacts. “King is into human trafficking.”
We’d known. Of course, we’d known. But we’d never had concrete proof.
Was King the one Harper used to get rid of Andrea?
The sulfurous scratch of anger lit inside me. Hans had names.
“I also have another birth certificate.”
Another…
“For King?” The energy around Bodhi shifted once more. It grew almost deadly in its stillness.
“No,” Hans said, withdrawing another envelope from his inner pocket. “This one would have been impossible without Ms. Dunlop’s assistance. It would seem, one of the reasons she knew how to hide the boy was because she’d seen it happen to another woman’s child.”
Ice shivered over me.
“My mother.” The two words escaped Bodhi like bullets being fired.
“I believe so. The certificate of live birth was buried, and the name isn’t correct on it. However, the times, the place, and the dates all line up with everything else you’ve learned.”
When he held out the envelope this time, Bodhi didn’t move. He stared at the sealed rectangle like it would communicate the secrets of the universe.
“Shall I?” I asked gently and Bodhi gave the slowest of nods.
I put away Theodore’s birth certificate and then took the new one. I slit it open.
“I wish I had more to offer you, my friend. These challenges have truly been a pleasure to dig into. I can, of course, continue to find more—should you require it.”
Bodhi didn’t even seem to be breathing as I opened the envelope and extracted another birth certificate. Like Theodore’s it was slightly older, softer and worn. The timing seemed almost beyond coincidental. It couldn’t have been more than a year before Andrea had been born.
Pain fisted around my heart. We would find her dammit.
Forcing my mind to the present, I scanned the certificate.
Another baby boy.
Levente Cassidine Noble.
I frowned at the name. The name of the mother was listed as Ayla Winters.
“If you’re wondering, I did check—there was no Ayla Winters at that hospital nor any hospital in that region during that time. The name is very conspicuous as it’s close to Isla.” The absolute sobriety in Hans' manner was a distinct contrast to his earlier playfulness. “Without DNA, I cannot confirm one hundred percent…”
“But he was sold and moved into this pipeline that removed the King child?”
“Indeed,” Hans said. “She gave me a couple of names that she used then but they were dead ends. Most likely aliases.”
