Page 92 of Missing Justice

Grey sighed. “Shut it, Teeg. Where are we on that birth certificate?”

Using one foot, Teeg pushed off and sent his chair backward just enough for him to reach the printer perched on top of a folding table. A practiced move, for sure.

Matt leaned sideways and bumped Taylor. “Wonder how long he’s been practicing that move?”

She offered up a winning smile. “I was just thinking that.”

“Long time,” Mitch said. “He’s wrecked three printers. Keeps running into the table and knocking it over. Bye-bye printers.”

“Ouch,” Matt said.

The printer spit out a sheet of paper and Teeg snatched it up. “You’re gonna love this, boss.”

“What is it?”

“They’re dead.”

That statement had everyone spinning to face the computer nerd. “Who?” Matt asked.

“The parents. The ones listed on the birth certificate.”

Dead?Now that he hadn’t anticipated. “Both of them? What happened? They die in an accident and that’s why the baby was up for adoption?”

That sounded harsh, but hell, if both parents had no other family, it could happen.

“Nope,” Teeg said. “They’ve been dead since 1950.”

Moving fast, Grey crossed the room and ripped the report from Teeg’s hands. “Seriously?”

Taylor hopped up and joined Grey at the printer where he handed the document over. “Are we sure this is the same couple?”

Teeg’s computer dinged and he rolled back to it. “Unless there are two other married people with the same exact names who are dead. And, nothing else came up when I ran the search.”

“That’s a little screwy,” Taylor said.

His mind ticking through possibilities, Matt kept his gaze on Taylor as he sorted his thoughts. Mistaken identity, fake names.Identity theft. Well, shit.

“Hang on,” Matt flicked his hand back and forth. “This could be identity theft. I went to the academy with a guy who later joined the CIA. If he needed an alias, he’d walk through cemeteries to find men about his age. Then he’d lift their identities. This couple? They may not even have any kids. Who knows?”

Taylor screwed up her face. “Rosalind stole the identity of these people to use on a fake birth certificate? That’s ballsy.”

“It’s a theory.”

Caroline nodded. “We’ve seen this before.”

“Then where did the baby come from?” Taylor asked.

“Move over, kids,” Mitch said, rising from his chair and smacking his hands together. “Make room for Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Hamilton, a couple of rich assholes looking for a spanking new white baby from a good bloodline. Even if it means doing a black market adoption.”

Taylor snap, snap, snapped her fingers. “That could be it.” She pointed at Matt. “She did say the baby came from good stock.”

“Yep. She could also be lying about that. If it’s on the black market, the adopting couple wouldn’t file a request with the state to unseal records so they can prove the bloodline. They’d have to take old Ros’s word for it. And, for insurance, she gives them this bogus birth certificate with the biological parents’ names and makes up a story about their good bloodlines.”

“Then,” Taylor added, “if the adopting couple searches for the biological parents all they’ll find is two people with the same names that are dead. No real way to prove anything. They can’t go to the authorities. What would they say? Gee, Mr. FBI agent, we did a black market baby adoption and just discovered the original birth certificate is fake. They’re not going to turn Rosalind in. Doing so means they go to prison right along with her.”

Grey held up his hands. “Everyone take a breath. Let’s get all these theories into a report. Then we send Mitch and Caroline in.”

“And maybe,” Taylor said, “Rosalind will bite and we can figure out where the hell she’s getting her babies and if Baby Jarvis was one of them.”