Chapter 73

73

Powell was still trying to process what was going on right now. She knew it was something significant, but why? Well, she wasn't up on that part.

"Alex, why?" Haldyn asked. Alex was still shaking his head. He had been the one to tell Daniel no.

She tried to put it together—fast.

The man who had hurt Heather so badly was Samia, Summer, and Eden's father. And Miguel's baby's father, apparently. Who…Miguel was raising. Miguel was probably on the birth certificate. But he wasn't the baby's biological father. Someone else was.

And that baby was a minor.

In the custody of a man not her biological father. Powell's stomach clenched at what that meant.

Someone else could have a legal claim to the sweet little girl babbling about mama and what Powell thought was ducks.

Someone out there who hadn't yet been charged with a crime, who had a biological claim to Miguel Rodriguez's baby.

Now she got what Alex was going for. He was the one who handled family law. Custody cases. That kind of thing. Her blood froze right in her veins, imagining that man who had struck Heather like that ever getting near that precious baby girl. "Alex is right. The TSP is not getting a sample from this baby girl. I'll file every injunction or stay or whatever I have to do to make sure of it. Is this reference sample absolutely necessary to identify the men involved, Hal?"

"Well, no," Haldyn said. "With Samia's documented DNA sample already on file, as long as she can swear she believes she is the biological child of this man…any other sample isn't needed to identify him, other than from him to confirm. If he's on her birth certificate, Samia's matching DNA is enough to compel a warrant from a viable suspect. Then, when we have him, we do a confirmation test between him and the actual sample we've already collected. Timothy—what is his last name?"

"Grundenman." Several people, including Miguel and Bonnie, said together.

"He's definitely Samia's father," Bonnie said. "That is not in doubt."

"He's an obstetric anesthesiologist out of Wichita Falls," Miguel almost rumbled. "My former wife worked for him before we separated. I suspected they'd had an affair. He wouldn't have been her first. He actually helped deliver Emilia and Raine. The kids' mother died from a heart attack shortly after Emilia was born. Heather and I went to Wichita Falls together to pick up the baby as soon as I learned she existed, not even six hours later. I never spoke to Grundenman. He was just the anesthesiologist for the C-section, and I was keeping it that way. I didn't know if he was the father or not. I wasn't interested in finding out, and I could have been. That was what mattered at the time."

"I never saw the baby's doctors. I was holding her, feeding her, while you handled paperwork and the hospital administration," Heather said.

"Timothy Grundenman spit on Heather. You and Powell can both confirm that someone spit on your left leg?" Haldyn asked.

"Yes," Powell said as Heather nodded. "I watched him do it."

"And it's very obvious he is the father of Samia and this other sample, Samia's biological sister. Her full sister. So, we really don't need a definitive sample from Miguel's baby here. Not…to identify the man involved. To exclude the female sample, though, we would," Haldyn said. "Honestly, just a sample from Summer or Eden would work just as well. If they are his biological daughters. No need for one from Miguel's baby at all. If we have two of his confirmed, acknowledged daughters to give samples, it would lend weight to a warrant request. Since Heather and Powell can't give a full ID."

"Then take mine. Do what you have to do. The TSP is staying away from Emilia. Or they will face a Coleson revolt," Summer said. She looked right at Daniel. "It won't be pretty, by the way. Just so you know."

"You haven't seen us all really angry before, Commander Butthead," Cashlyn added very quietly.

"That is the most terrifying thing I have ever heard."

Powell half thought Daniel meant it.

"What in the hell could the TSP possibly need Emilia's paternity for, anyway?" Hope asked heatedly. " She obviously didn't abduct Heather or Powell. You aren't doing anything that will get her taken away from her brother and sister and her daddy. You just aren't. What kind of an asshole are you, McKellen? She's a little baby, not a pawn on your stupid TSP chessboard."

"Settle down, brat. It'll be okay." Miguel's hand landed on Hope's shoulder. She looked up at him. Powell saw the fear on her face. "No one will take her away from me . "

"I didn't even consider that," Daniel said. He looked at Miguel. "I'm sorry, Mig. I was just following all the angles."

" If Emilia is Grundenman's, I don't know how that will be relevant. Other than to just complicate things for me and my baby. No one messes with one of my kids, McKellen. No one," Miguel said, holding the baby in question close for a moment before lowering her to Hope's lap carefully. "Grundenman was involved in abducting Powell and Heather. We can confirm that through Samia's DNA. Let's focus on finding him rather than figuring out who all the man may or may not have fathered."

"Daddy dearest apparently got around a bit," Eden said quietly. She reached out and touched Emilia's forehead gently, readjusting the hat. Emilia grinned up at her. Eden smiled back—a very similar smile. "You are beautiful, baby girl. You take after your daddy right here , and now Mama Hope in that little hat and those overalls. Period."

"I know one thing," Summer said. "Even if Timothy didn't father her or if he did, Mig, she's a Coleson now, and we're not going to let anyone do anything to ever hurt her. Or Jago and Raine. Or take Emilia away from where she belongs. She doesn't just have Miguel now, people. She has us too. Whether she's my baby sister or not, she is a Coleson now. No matter what."

More glares sent Daniel's way.

"Okay, so that's out of the way. No one does or says anything about Emilia's possible paternity until after this Grundenman is caught and dealt with. Then, it won't even be relevant," Jarrod said, standing. He went to the whiteboard Heather had had Crispin bring in from the study earlier and reached for the marker Hope still held. "Let's look at this from another angle. The assholes who hurt Heather tie to the assholes who worked for and/or with Eastman. That ties this case and that one together. And…they tie to Sol Kimball and Steve Wilson and the rest of them."

"You're back at your ‘parts-of-a-whole' theory, aren't you?" Heather asked, shifting next to Powell. She had Ember again, holding her so close. But it was obvious she was hurting. "Talk about obsessive, Foster. But that's more insane than I can believe. Why would anything connected to Eastman tie to Powell? Me, I can see, considering Denita, and Steve—you know, my one major lapse in judgment?—"

"Had to happen eventually," Cashlyn said to Cara, who just nodded.

"The odds said it would someday. She was bound to have at least one major lapse in judgment in her lifetime," Crispin added.

"Be quiet, you monsters," Heather said just as quickly. "Anyway…how did Eastman tie to Gunnar's OPJ case in your convoluted Jarrod brain? Refresh my memory since my melon is still ringing right now."

"Other than your family being Eastman's targets and your brother-in-law being tied to the OPJ? Strange coincidence that. I'm not sure yet, Scary Heather. But…give me a while. In the meantime, we need to know everything you Colesons know…about Timothy Grundenman."

"Wait a minute, are you thinking some Colesons have something to do with the OPJ case?" Hope demanded, glaring at Jarrod next. "It's only been around for like three or four years, right?"

"Probably around five or six, actually. Considering time involved to develop it," Gunnar said. "I spoke to Rafe about the process and about Banks Claireson."

"Not as being involved with it, Gremlin, but what if you all have been maybe targets of the people involved? I don't think Powell was a target for this latest abduction. I think they just walked right into a distribution point. Which…Hughes Heights? Seriously? Hiding drugs in an elite, exclusive gated , patrolled community? That's kind of stupid—aren't there logs of every entry into this place?" Jarrod asked.

"I have a warrant in for those videos and records," Daniel said. "But it's been…stalled. Judge Pohler lives in Hughes Heights too. I suspect he's behind the stonewalling."

"I'll make a call," Mac said. "You'll get your warrant by the morning."

Her brother had connections. She had no doubt he meant it. He was still very angry right now. Powell could see it in his eyes.

"I have a theory…" Jarrod started.

"Groan. Just groan. Foster has a theory, " Murdoch said.

"Jarrod has a theory . Jarrod goes on and on about his theory. I know everything about Jarrod's theory now. Every possible detail about Jarrod's theory," Heather told her family. "Jarrod believes there is an organized crime ring in Finley Creek."

"This part of the state, actually. Not just here in this city," Jarrod said.

"There are a few things I remember from my illustrious tenure as sheriff of Garrity County that have me agreeing. This was while my beautiful Zo-Zo goddess was recovering. There is something going on around here, people. There just is," Murdoch said.

"I'm starting to agree with Jarrod," Zoey said. "From things I have…seen…"

"Me, too," Heather said.

"I think…I may have seen those things too," Hope said quietly. "And the earliest date was at least fifty years ago."

"And stretches from all the way down from Garrity to Wichita Falls," Haldyn added.

"Which, if it was in Garrity County, that means Coleson Hollow was right in the middle of it too. Right there with a nifty little hospital at the center. Almost exactly in the center of it, strangely enough. That beautiful little sleepy town might just hide a sinister soul." Murdoch looked at Bonnie. "So who would be left who would know anything about that hospital's last days, second-most-beautiful-love-of-my-life?"

"It would just be me. Just me and Timothy. Everyone else is gone, Murdoch. Me, and possibly Marcia, Heather and Joy, Eden and Sam. But they were young girls, then. Everyone else…would have been too young. Or gone now." Bonnie looked sick. Powell could understand why. That hospital had been their family's legacy. And now it could be tainted once again. "Me and Timothy."

Gunnar stood and went to kneel in front of Bonnie. He was so gentle with her. Powell loved how gentle that man was. She just loved him, period. She'd admitted that to herself. And the first chance she had, she was going to tell him too. Before their Viking baby made his or her appearance.

"Tell us about Timothy, Bonnie. Help us understand. So we can finally find the answers," Gunnar said.

Powell just stayed where she was and waited.