The Baby Snatchers (29 page)

“Why, Mom?
Why?
” Sobbing, she
stumbled over the corner of a rug.

“No more questions,” her mother snapped.
“You know too much already. Now, get moving and watch where you’re
going. Walk to the front door. We’ll take your car.”

“You’re not going to get away with this!”
Georgie cried out, hating the fear and panic in her voice.

“
Move!
” Rosemary screamed,
threatening her with the waving gun.

Georgie studied her aunt’s face, contorted
with anger. A crazed light gleamed in her eyes. Georgie gasped on
another sob, this one laden with fear. She no longer recognized the
woman she’d known her entire life. Her mom appeared equally
foreign.

With no other choice, she turned and made
her way out of her father’s den, across the wide expanse of Italian
marble and back to the heavy front doors. Pulling them open, she
stumbled down the steps and walked over to her car. Rosemary stood
behind her with the gun inches from Georgie’s head. Her mother
waited not far away.

“Get in. And don’t try anything stupid, or
you’ll be dead,” Rosemary warned.

Georgie gasped, but both women ignored her
cry of fear. With trembling limbs, Georgie managed to slide in
behind the wheel. All she could do was pray that Cameron had
received her message. With the gun at the ready, Rosemary climbed
into the seat opposite. Marjorie took a seat in the back.

“W-where are we going?” Georgie
stammered.

“We’re heading west, like I told you,”
Rosemary growled. “To the cottage in the Blue Mountains.”

Georgie put the car into reverse and backed
out of the cobblestone driveway. Checking for traffic, she eased
the Mazda into the street. Rosemary held the gun with a steady
hand, pointed in Georgie’s direction. It was all Georgie could do
to stay on the road.

“It’s a shame it had to come to this,”
Marjorie stated matter-of-factly from behind Georgie. “But I guess
this is the only way.”

Fresh fear raced through Georgie’s veins,
but she kept her attention steadfastly focused on the road. “What
do you mean?”

Rosemary shrugged nonchalantly. “You’ll
see.”

“But the police—”

“Will never find you,” her aunt added.
“While we were inside, I got your mother to send a text from your
phone to hers. You’re meeting her in the city to catch a late-night
movie. Just the two of you. Some quality mother-daughter time.
She’ll be suitably confused and uncertain when she attends the
police station in the morning to file a missing person’s report. By
the time they get off their asses to look for you, any trace of you
will be long gone. It will be like you didn’t exist.”

The calmness in her aunt’s voice sent
shivers down Georgie’s spine. In desperation, she half-turned
toward her mother. “Mom, please… You can’t—”

“Shut up!” Rosemary screamed and pushed the
gun within inches of Georgie’s face. Once again, Georgie’s frantic
thoughts turned to Cam.

As if he could tell she was thinking about
him, her phone rang. Tugging it out of her pocket, she glanced at
the screen. It was him.

“Don’t answer it!” her aunt shouted, waving
the gun at Georgie’s head. “Give that phone to me.”

With great reluctance, Georgie handed it
over and listened with a heavy heart as the phone continued to
ring. After what seemed a lifetime, the call went through to
voicemail and a moment later, a beep indicated Cam had left a
message. Rosemary put the phone up to her ear. In the silence,
Georgie could hear the deep timbre of his voice.

“Ha!” her aunt scoffed when the message had
come to an end. “How sweet! He’s worried about you. He wants you to
call him back.” With the gun still pointed in Georgie’s direction,
Rosemary quickly sent off another text. “There, that should do
it.”

Dread welled up in Georgie’s belly. “What
did you tell him?”

Her aunt smiled. “Let’s just say I hope
you’re not expecting your boyfriend to come to your rescue any time
soon.”

Georgie clenched her teeth so hard they
ached. “What did you tell him?”

“Just that you were meeting your mother in
the city. You’re going to the movies, remember?” The look of
wide-eyed innocence on her aunt’s face turned the blood in
Georgie’s veins to ice.

Rosemary had it all worked out. Cameron
would no doubt accept her text at face value, even if it did leave
him a little confused. The text she’d sent to him earlier from her
mother’s house had only contained five words:
I need help.
Please call.

Dear Diary,

Matron was forever telling me to always have
a Plan B. ‘You never know when you’re going to need it,’ she’d say.
I’d say, she was right. But then, she was right about
everything.

* * *

Cameron stared down at his phone in
confusion.
What the hell was Georgie on about?
One moment he
received a text that sounded desperate, even fearful and half an
hour later, she told him she was going to the movies with her
mother. It was odd. Going to the movies at that time of night was
strange enough, but going with her mother after all he and Georgie
had discussed at Bar Luca was downright weird. The last person
Georgie ought to want to be hanging with was her mother.

Cam looked at the screen again and couldn’t
rid himself of the feeling something wasn’t right. After the first
text, he’d tried to phone her, but his call had rung out and then
gone through to voicemail. He’d left a message, expressing his
concern and asking her to call him back, but all he’d gotten was
the second text.

Striding down the corridor, he found Cynthia
lying across her bed, engrossed in a book. It warmed him to know
she took pleasure from such simple, ordinary things.

“Hey, how are you doing?” he asked.

She put her finger on the page to hold her
place and looked up and smiled. “I’m fine. What’s the matter?”

He hastened to reassure her. “Nothing. At
least, I don’t think so. I received a strange text from Georgie.
It’s got me a little on edge.”

Cynthia frowned and sat up, tucking her feet
beneath her. “Is she all right?”

“I think so. I’ll be happier after I hear
from her.”

“You really like her, don’t you?”

Recalling their earlier conversation about
her fears that she’d be asked to leave, Cam came further into the
room and perched on the side of her bed. “Yeah, I do, but it
doesn’t change things between us. You’ll always be my little sister
and you’ll always have a home with me, no matter what female
companions come in and out of my life.”

The tension around her mouth eased. She
smiled softly. “Do you really mean that?”

“Yes,” he said, reaching out to give her a
hug. “I really do.”

They sat in silence for a little while and
then Cynthia said, “I like Georgie.”

Cam pressed a kiss against her hair. “I like
her, too.” He hesitated and then remembered something else he and
Georgie had discussed.

“I’d like to know what happened at home that
forced you out onto the streets. Would you talk to me about it?”
He’d voiced his question gently, making sure she knew it was all
right if she didn’t, but he was quietly relieved when she sighed
softly and replied.

“Life didn’t get any better after you left.
Mom no longer had you around to scream at and blame for everything,
so she turned her attention to me.”

Cam was immediately filled with outrage.
“You were a little kid! Barely five years old! What kind of person
picks on a child?”

Cynthia’s lips twisted into a grimace. “A
bully. You remember what she was like. She was never happy. I
couldn’t do anything right. It got worse over the years, right up
until the day I left.”

“So Dad didn’t throw you out?”

“No, not like you, but he did nothing to
make me stay. I told him I couldn’t keep living there, being a
punching bag for his crazy wife. He just shrugged and looked a
little forlorn and then watched me walk out of his life.”

The anger that always smoldered right below
the surface whenever Cam thought of their dad sprang to life. “What
a coward! I’d hoped he’d grown some balls over the time since I’d
left.”

Cynthia shrugged sadly and shook her head.
“I guess not.”

The memory of that awful day and the pain
he’d endured when his father had ordered him to leave, hit him in a
wave so hard it could have happened yesterday. “I’ll never forgive
them,” Cam rasped.

Cynthia scooted closer to him and laid her
hand on his arm. “Don’t say things like that, Cam. A grudge like
that will eat you up inside. One day you’ll realize you’re so full
of hate, there isn’t room for anything else. You don’t want to end
up like that. There’d be nothing left for anyone, including me and
Georgie.”

Cam stared at her in confusion. “Don’t tell
me you’re not angry at them?

“Of course I’m angry! Or at least, I was. I
spent the best part of the first year I lived on the streets, being
angry at them. Then I met Albert and he made me see things clearer.
Some people aren’t strong enough to stand up against a bully. Dad
was weak like that. It was easier to give into Mom’s demands than
to stand up to her.” Her voice lowered to a whisper and tears
glinted in her eyes. “It was easier for him to let us go.”

“Why the hell did they bother to adopt when
it was obvious they didn’t like kids?”

Cynthia looked up at him earnestly. “Dad
loved us. I’m sure he did.”

“Just not enough.”

Cam wanted to rant and rave against the
injustice of it, but something in the quiet acceptance and
forgiveness in his little sister’s demeanor stopped him. Here she
was, still a child and yet she had more understanding and kindness
inside her than he could ever hope to have. Her compassion shamed
him into silence.

Tightening his arms around her, he hugged
her for a long time. “I love you, Cyn,” he whispered.

“I love you, too, Cam.”

He pressed a kiss against her hair and
squeezed her again. Then, remembering Georgie’s conflicting texts,
he gently set Cynthia aside. “I need to make some calls.”

“About Georgie?”

“Yes. I’m a little more worried about her
than I said. I’ll be out in the kitchen if you need me.”

“Okay.” Cynthia threw him a soft smile and
then returned to her book.

Cam strode back down the hallway. His
sister’s attitude had been a revelation and one he needed to
ponder, but right now, thinking of Georgie, he was filled with a
sense of unease and growing urgency. Apart from the fact he needed
to make sure she hadn’t spoken to anyone about his investigation,
she’d been distressed when she’d left him and he needed to know she
was okay. It didn’t make sense that she was in the mood to go to
the movies—with her mother no less. Tugging out his phone, he
dialed the station and was relieved when one of his colleagues
picked up.

Rohan Coleridge was a detective with years
of experience under his belt. He was just the man Cam needed to
talk to.

“Rohan, it’s Cam. I need you to do me a
favor.”

“Sure. Fire away.”

“I want you to check a cell phone signal. I
need to know what tower it’s bouncing off.”

There was a hesitation on the other end of
the phone. Cameron bit back his impatience and added, “It’s
my…girlfriend. I’m worried about her. She sent me a couple of texts
that have weirded me out. I just want to check to ensure she’s
where she says she is.”

“From anyone else but you, Cam, that might
sound a little creepy.”

“It’s legitimate, Rohan. I swear.”

Rohan sighed. “Yeah, okay. What’s the
number?”

Cam supplied Rohan with the information.

“Do you know her phone carrier?”

“No, but let’s start with Telstra.”

“Give me five. I’ll call you back.”

Cam ended the call and sat down on the sofa.
Hopefully Rohan would be able to triangulate Georgie’s cell phone
signal and narrow down her location. She lived in the eastern
suburbs. Anywhere in the vicinity of her street or the city would
satisfy him. It would confirm she was where she said she was, and
if so, he’d leave it at that.

The phone in his hand vibrated and even
though the Caller ID was blocked, he answered straight away.
“Cameron Dawson.”

“Cam, it’s Rohan. Good guess. She’s with
Telstra. The other good news is I’ve been able to approximate her
location. She’s heading west. The last ping we got on her phone was
about three minutes ago from a tower near Emu Plains. I hope that’s
what you wanted to hear.”

Cam’s heart skipped a beat and then took off
at a gallop. Blood rushed through his ears, almost deafening him to
the rest of Rohan’s comments.

“Something’s wrong.” His voice was husky
with strain.

“Sorry?”

Cam cleared his throat and sucked in a
desperate breath. He jumped off the couch and began to pace.
“Something’s wrong. She shouldn’t be anywhere near Emu Plains. She
lives in the eastern suburbs and she sent me a text to say she was
meeting her mom in the city. The fact that you’ve tracked her cell
phone heading west is all wrong. Are you sure your data is
correct?”

Cam clung to the faint hope that Rohan would
answer in the negative, but his sense of foreboding escalated when
his colleague said, “I can’t imagine why it would be wrong.”

Panic started low in Cam’s gut.
Why would
Georgie be at Emu Plains and heading even further west?
After
all that had happened that day, it just didn’t make sense. He
imagined she’d be home, coming to terms with the possibility some
members of her family were criminals, and yet, according to her
cell phone data, she was on the far western point of Sydney. There
was nothing much after Emu Plains except…

“The Blue Mountains,” he muttered and
suddenly recalled her mentioning she’d grown up there. He was also
sure he’d read something about that area while he’d been
researching her parents and the adoption agency.