why I didn't tell you. We know that Terry Nix worked at the hospital. We know that he could have met your uncle in the alcohol treatment program, and we know that Nix dealt in black-market babies. Emily's birth certificate identifies Gina and Robert as her natural parents. They couldn't adopt legally because Robert was a drug addict. The birth certificate had to have been forged. The date of birth is a week before your baby was born, but changing the date was one more step to make it look legit. It all fits, but I can't prove it.'
'Oh, my God!' Abby said, coming out of her chair, the full impact of Mason's explanation hitting her. 'Emily is dead.' Mason took her in his arms, Abby shuddering, dissolving, repeating again and again, 'Emily is dead.' Mason held her until she pulled away, walking around her office, arms crossed, finding her center of gravity.
Mason explained, 'Gina must have told her lawyer, David Evans, about you. Evans let it slip to his girlfriend, Paula Sutton, who worked at KWIN and was jealous enough of Gina to hook you and Gina up. She used Jordan's cell phone to cover her tracks. All she wanted to do was cause Gina some grief. Instead, I think she put this whole thing into motion.'
'Jealousy and hate,' Abby said. 'That's what killed Gina and Trent. What are you going to do?' Abby asked, her mouth set in a thin, fierce line.
'Terry Nix is in the middle of all of this. He was there at the beginning and at the end. He's got ties to Gina, Robert, and you. I'm going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting with him.'
'You think Nix killed Gina and Trent?'
'No, especially if you're right about jealousy and hate. It's not his style. He's a let's-make-love-not-war relic, but I bet he knows a lot more than he's told me so far.'
'Why would he tell you anything now?' Abby asked.
'Self-preservation. That's how guys like him survive. They use guys like Centurion for muscle. Take away the muscle, and they'll give it up. Blues and Samantha have Centurion under wraps. Nix may be ready to talk.'
'I've got some questions of my own,' Abby said, her jaw tightening.
'Don't even think about it,' Mason said. 'Write them down. I'll add them to my list.'
'I'll call you,' she said, returning to the window, palms against the glass, eyes on the street.
Mason wiped his dry-erase board clean, starting over with what he knew, and what made too much sense not to be true. From that, he made a list of questions, guessing at the answers. When he was done, he had a story.
Terry Nix supplied drugs to Robert Davenport when they lived in St. Louis, getting one hook into the Davenports. Nix sold Abby's baby to the Davenports, adding another hook. Years later, Nix landed at Sanctuary, using those hooks to persuade Gina Davenport to refer patients there, adding credibility to the operation, while plugging Robert Davenport into Centurion's drug supply. Gina must have feared disclosure of the truth about Emily and Robert enough to go along, even to the point of letting Emily live at Sanctuary. She lost control of her daughter, her husband, and her life. Emily's death made her more vulnerable, not less, to Nix, one more secret to be kept, the price paid by contributions from Emily's Fund.
Paula Sutton's gambit made real the rule of unintended consequences. Gina must have panicked, Mason theorized, believing that her past was going to catch up to her, and gone to Nix, perhaps to warn him, perhaps to ask his help. Mason doubted Nix killed Gina. It was more likely that Nix would slip away under cover of darkness, content to set up shop somewhere else. Centurion would have had a different solution, equally pragmatic but deadly. He had too much invested in Sanctuary to walk away. Car-jacking Mason to find out what he'd done with the baby ledger was proof enough of that.
Though he was satisfied with his analysis, Mason still couldn't make Trent part of Nix's equation. It was time to talk with Terry Nix. First, he called Blues.
'Are you and Centurion still playing Me and My Shadow?' Mason asked him.
'Gave it up. Samantha's got the cops covering him so close, every time he farts, they gotta roll down a window.'
Mason said, 'Centurion must know he's being watched.'
'They ain't keeping it a secret,' Blues replied.
'Where was Centurion when you last saw him?'
'Holed up in a big house in Sunset Hills, belongs to one of Sanctuary's sponsors. He doesn't want to give the cops any reason to go sniffing around Sanctuary.'
'Perfect. I'm going to have a chat with Terry Nix.'
'You need any help putting that dog in a mellow mood, you let me know.'
Mason pulled into the center drive at Sanctuary just after seven o'clock. The grounds were deserted, the main house dark, except for a light over the porch, the only other illumination from October's first moon. A lone girl was climbing into a Jeep as he got out of his car.
'Where is everybody?' Mason asked.
'Sent home,' she said. 'I'm the last.'
'What happened?'
'Something about insurance coverage. That's all I know.'
'How about Terry Nix? Is he still here?'
'Yeah,' the girl said. 'He was packing until some woman showed up. Last I saw, they were headed downstairs.'
Mason's cell phone rang as the girl drove away.
'Lou, it's Samantha. Where are you?'
'In the front yard of Sanctuary. I came out here to talk to Terry Nix. All the kids are gone. The place is shut down.'
'My people followed Centurion to a house in Sunset Hills that belongs to Kelsey Bond, one of his big contributors. He made Bond smuggle him out in the back of his car and drive to Sanctuary, but Bond jumped out when they got off I-70, made it to a gas station, and called us.'
Mason looked at his watch. It was 7:05. 'How long since Bond jumped out of the car?'
Samantha said, 'An hour, give or take.'
'What kind of car?' Mason asked, walking toward the garage.
'A Lexus sedan. Lou, I'm on the way. Get out of there,' Samantha said.
Mason opened the side door to the four-car garage. A Lexus, its hood still warm, was parked next to Abby's BMW. 'Can't do it, Sam. Abby is inside,' he said, hanging up.
Mason searched the garage for a weapon, finding a box cutter hidden under a pile of oily rags. Slipping it into the pocket of his suit jacket, he circled the grounds, looking for signs of life. He crossed a brick patio with a liquid- propane barbecue grill next to the barn, which smelled of hay and machine oil. Hoping to find a better weapon, he was disappointed when there was nothing there except for a tractor, three ATVs, an assortment of tools, and a heater already in service used to warm the barn during cold weather.
Back outside, he jogged along the perimeter of the house, the first and second floors silent and dark. Lights were on in a third-floor room on the back where, from Jordan's description, Centurion had his apartment. Mason moved on, skirting the evergreen hedge that hugged the house, coming to a break in the hedge for a pair of daylight windows cut into Terry Nix's basement office.
Though the night air was cool, Mason was sweating, his breathing accelerating when he saw Centurion, Nix, and Abby in Nix's office. Abby was strapped into a chair, duct tape holding her arms and legs in place, a small swatch over her mouth, her eyes stretched wide with fear. A syringe lay on Nix's desk next to two open gym bags partially stuffed with cash, another tall stack of currency on Nix's desk. A third bag lay open, its cargo neatly piled plastic bags of white powder.
Though he couldn't hear what they were saying, Mason could tell that Centurion and Nix were arguing. Nix's face was red and he was gesturing wildly, clutching the baby ledger, while Centurion listened, his hands planted at his sides, his head down. Judging from the body language, Nix was chewing out Centurion, an indulgence Mason expected Centurion would soon end with his fist. The argument had to be about how to divide the cash and the drugs, a dispute complicated by Abby, though Mason was worried that they were in agreement about her.
Centurion had raced back to Sanctuary to pick up the money and drugs before Nix could skip out with them. Nix was obviously on the same schedule, though Mason doubted that they were using the same travel agent. Neither one could have been happy that Abby showed up, and both were desperate enough not to leave her as a loose end.
