Anger made the nerve in Ryan’s jaw tick. The rules said he had to acquiesce. He glared at Sharp a moment before meeting Christina’s gaze. He had to give it one more shot. “She needs her mommy. Wherever she is right now, she’s scared and doesn’t understand why her mommy has abandoned her.”
“Really, Captain,” Sharp said to Gregson. “Control your lackey.”
Ryan’s nostrils flared at the insult but he kept himself still.
Gregson’s hand fell onto Ryan’s shoulder. “Come on, Fitzgerald, we have to give them their moment.”
Despairing that what little ground he’d managed to gain with Christina would be lost forever if he left the room, Ryan made one last desperate play. He made a show of rising to his feet. “If you cooperate, I’ll talk to the D.A. I’ll see what kind of deal we can make.”
“Enough,” Sharp barked. “She has rights and you’re violating them.”
Ryan held up his hands in a show of surrender, but his gaze never left Christina. “She’s been read her rights. She doesn’t have to talk to me if she doesn’t want to.”
She picked up the photograph and stared at the image. “You talk to the D.A., come back with a deal and then I’ll tell you where to find her.”
“It doesn’t work that way.” Glad she was continuing to dialogue with him, he said, “You’ve got to give me something to take to him.”
Sharp leaned down until he was even with Christina. “I can get us out of this,” Sharp insisted. “Just stop talking. You know what will happen to us if you don’t.”
Finally they were getting somewhere. Ryan fought not to react with obviously excitement. They have a boss.
“Who are you afraid of?” he asked.
Neither said a word.
“We can protect you,” Ryan offered, needing them to spill.
Again, silence.
Hoping that changing the focus would eventually lead them back to Georgina and to their mysterious boss, Ryan said, “Tell me, Christina, why did you kill Burke? He loved you.”
Sadness darkened her expression. “Poor Burke. He blamed himself because we couldn’t have children.”
“You wanted Georgina,” Ryan pressed. “You wanted a child.”
She nodded. “We had tried for so long to have one of our own. But it didn’t happen. So Burke contacted William. They had worked together years before. William said he could get us a child.”
“Christina, you’re killing me here,” Sharp snapped. “Be quiet!”
She ignored his outburst. “All we had to do was fly to Ireland and pick her up. We didn’t ask questions. At least not then. We thought it was legal.” She frowned. “I thought it was legal. Apparently, Burke knew it wasn’t.”
“My client is under a great deal of stress and doesn’t know what she’s saying. I demand a moment alone with her,” Sharp said, his voice betraying his panic. “Now.”
“If she wants it,” Ryan said, keeping his gaze locked on Christina.
She seemed to have reverted inward, her gaze unfocused on the photo in her hand.
“When that woman showed up, claiming to be my baby’s mother, I couldn’t believe it,” she continued as if Sharp hadn’t interrupted her. “How had she found us? Why did she want my child? She’d given her up. Thrown her away.”
She turned accusing eyes on Sharp. “That’s what you told me. You said she was a drug addict. That she’d sold you her baby so she could do more drugs.” She shook her head. “That wasn’t true. She wasn’t an addict. She was just a scared young woman who’d thought she hadn’t any other choice. Because you and Roman convinced her of that.”
Fear contorted Sharp’s features. “I only told you what you needed to hear. She agreed to give up her baby. No one coerced her. And she was paid handsomely for the child.”
Ryan briefly wondered if the lawyer realized he’d just confessed to the illegal practice of baby selling. Human trafficking.
“Who’s Roman?” Ryan asked, sensing a piece to this puzzle was about to snap into place. “Is he one of the men who ran away? Your boss?”
“No. He’s no one,” Sharp said, cutting the air with his hand. “A figment of a demented mind. Mrs. Hennessy suffers from a mental illness. We have documented proof.”
Not surprised by that play, Ryan returned his attention to Christina. He’d come back to this mysterious Roman later. “Olivia came to you, wanting to regain custody of her baby.”
“Don’t answer that,” Sharp warned, a note of desperation lacing his words.
“Yes. But I wouldn’t give Georgina up. And Burke was afraid Olivia would go to the police,” she said. “He couldn’t allow that.”
She had. She’d come to Aiden Fitzgerald, her father, for help. And he’d refused to believe her. Anger churned in Ryan’s soul. He pushed it into a deep, dark compartment to be dealt with later. “So Burke killed her?”
Her gaze snapped to his. “Yes. Yes, he killed her. He didn’t want his chances of being elected mayor to be ruined.”
Surprised, Ryan made a mental note to check Burke’s DNA along with Christina’s against the evidence. “But Burke didn’t declare his intent to run until
Christina blinked, her gaze shifting slightly. “He’d been planning to run for a long time.”
Since Burke wasn’t here to defend himself, Ryan could only rely on the evidence to tell them the truth on Olivia’s murder. For now he’d go with this scenario. “Okay. So Burke killed Olivia to keep her quiet. Then why did you kill Burke?” he asked again.
She drew back. “I didn’t,” she said, maintaining the stance she’d taken from day one. “I found him. Dead.” Her voice rose in near hysteria. “My Burke. I found him.”
“I demand you stop interrogating my client,” Sharp said. “You’re upsetting her.”
Ryan softened his tone. “Christina, let’s stay focused on Georgina. Where did you take her? She needs you now.”
“My baby.” Christina appeared on the verge of unhinging. Her eyes grew wide as horror spread over her face. “He took her. He’s going to sell her again. You have to stop him. You have to stop them.”
“Who, Christina?” Ryan pressed. “Who is Roman and what does he have to do with Georgina?”
Sharp stepped closer in an attempt to block Ryan. He glared at Christina. “You say any more and we’re both dead.”
Meghan strained forward, nearly pressing her nose against the glass of the two-way mirror. Her heart pounded in her throat as anticipation wound her nerves into knots. So close. They were so close to finding out where Georgina was. She willed Christina not to listen to Mr. Sharp. Willed her to sacrifice her own well-being for the child she’d brought into her life.
Meghan had every confidence Ryan would be successful. He had to be.
Christina clutched Ryan’s hand. Meghan held her breath. She wished she could be holding his hand, sharing his strength. She’d come to rely on him. To care about him. He was a good man. Fair, honest. He hadn’t disappointed her. She hoped, prayed, she wasn’t making a mistake in trusting him.
“You have to find Georgina before it’s too late,” Christina pleaded. “I should have never given her back. They’ll sell her to someone else. Someone who won’t love her, who won’t care for her the way I did. What have I done?”
A muscle jumped in Ryan’s jaw. Meghan knew he was trying to rein in his impatience and frustration. His self- control was something she appreciated and respected about him. A trait she wished to emulate because she was having trouble keeping her own anxiety from causing her to break through the glass and put her hands around Christina’s throat.
Someone had Georgina and they intended to sell her. Georgina could be lost forever.
As if sensing her plea, he glanced toward her. Though she knew he couldn’t see her through the mirrored glass,
