Stealing Time

options now: Either Lin had killed her baby when Heather Rose returned him to her, or she had given him to her cousin Nanci Hua, and the child was with Nanci on Long Island.

If Nanci had the baby, she'd made a big fool out of April, and April had good reason to be furious. But all she could feel was sorry that she'd snapped at Mike. It took her several minutes to stagger down all five flights in the unsavory building. The ancient lady with two teeth and a pink sweater was hanging out by her door, waiting for news. April bade her adieu without supplying any. When she emerged into the fresh air and spring sunshine at last, she was overwhelmed by a sense of freedom and escape from the claustrophobia inside. Then a vision of the nude photos of Lin's battered body on the autopsy table made her sit down abruptly at the top of the stoop. She was hit by a rush of sadness for the dead girl, whose fate could have been Sai Yuan's thirty years ago if she hadn't been so lucky as to marry Ja Fa Woo, or April's if she hadn't been so lucky as to be their child. What was she doing, thinking of marrying a foreigner herself? The edge of her jacket clunked against the concrete, reminding her of the phone in her pocket. She took it out and dialed Nanci's number.

Nanci answered warily before the second ring.

'It's April. I need to come out and talk with you about your cousin and her baby.' She heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.

'My cousin's baby?'

'You lied to me, and you made a lot of trouble for a lot of people,' April said wearily.

'You know?'

'Yes, Nanci, I do. You should have told me.'

'I know. I'm sorry.' Nanci's voice was so faint April could hardly hear it.

'Do you have the baby?'

'Yes.' The voice got even smaller.

April didn't want to tell her she might have saved Lin's life if only she'd spoken up sooner.

'I'm coming out there. We have to talk.'

'They all found out. Someone else from the police just called me!' Nanci cried.

This was news to April. 'Oh, yeah? Who called?'

'Some captain. He said it turns out the baby wasn't Lin's. She got him by mistake, and

he's

coming out to take the baby away.' 'What captain was that?'

'I don't remember his name. He just told me there's been a terrible misunderstanding about this whole thing because of Lin's unfamiliarity with the language. He said the baby Lin gave me isn't Lin's. The baby's real mother wants him back this afternoon, and he's on his way out to get him.'

No police captain had told her that. April's sadness and dizziness vanished. Suddenly her head was clear. Nanci was crying now. 'He said the parents want to prosecute me for kidnapping. I didn't kidnap him.'

'I know you didn't. What did Lin do, call you to come in and get him?'

'Yes. It's my fault,' she sobbed.

'It's not your fault,' April snapped. She was getting tired of hearing her countrywomen take the blame for everything.

'He told me that keeping the baby without telling the police made the baby's real mother crazy with worry.'

'Listen to me. He wasn't telling you the truth,' April said firmly. 'We can easily establish whose baby he was.'

'But he told me Lin is dead,' Nanci cried.

'What else did he tell you?'

'He said she jumped out of a window. I don't understand. Last night that woman, Annie, told me Lin was sick, and if I gave her two thousand dollars, I could have my cousin. But she never called me back. And now Lin's dead. It

is

my fault.'

'Try to calm down and listen to me,' April commanded.

There was a short silence; then Nanci blew her nose.

'Nanci, are you alone?'

'Yes. I called Milton at work, but he isn't home yet.'

'When did you get that call from the man who said he was a police captain?'

'I don't know, a few minutes ago.' 'Look, he wasn't with the police.'

'He wasn't? Are you sure?'

'Yes, I'm sure.'

'How do you know?'

'Because

I'm

with the police. Listen to me—I don't want you to let anyone in, okay? Wait for Milton to get there. Wait for me to get there. We'll go over all of this.'

In the background April could hear the cry of a baby mingle with Nanci's panic.

'What's your address? How long does it take to get there?'

'Wait a minute. I have to pick up the baby.'

'That's okay. I'll hold on. Don't hang up, Nanci.'

There was static on the line as April waited. She willed the cell phone not to go dead. A wave of nausea hit, then passed. The baby stopped crying. A few seconds later, Nanci came back on the line.

'Don't give the baby to anybody. Keep him for now. He

is

your cousin's.'

'Is she dead?'

'I'm sorry,' April said softly. 'Yes.'

'Oh, God, it's my fault.'

'No, Nanci, somebody hurt her. It's his fault, not yours.'

'But why? Who would do that?'

'I'm not sure yet. Just stay inside and don't open the door. Give me your address.'

'It's 355 Ring Road, Garden City.'

'Okay, that's not too far. We'll have some people out there very soon.'

'People? What people? Oh God, I'm scared.' Panic traveled through the line.

'Just stay inside and no one will hurt you.' April didn't think a Popescu would break the door down.

April hung up, then dialed Lieutenant Iriarte. He was not in a good mood.

'I told you to be back here by noon. Where the hell are you?' he demanded. 'You got a fucking convention of hysterical Chinese waiting for you up here.'

'You asked me to locate the baby, sir. I've located him. The dead woman's cousin has him at her home in Garden City.'

'Well, great. Now get the hell up here and deal with these weeping women.'

'Ah, I can't, sir. I think Popescu is on his way out to Garden City to reclaim the baby. I have to go out there.'

'The hell you do.'

'He may be a killer.'

That got him. 'What!'

'It had to be one of the Popescus who did the baby's mother. My guess is it was Anton.'

Iriarte didn't buy the hypothesis. 'Oh, come on. Why him?'

'It's complicated, sir. It may be because he has no balls.' April really loved to shock her lieutenant.

'What!

Are you crazy?' Now he was screaming in her ear.

'Lieutenant, why don't you call Jason Frank and ask him to talk to Heather Rose and her parents. He'll know how to deal with them.'