Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,44
Any ID?”
“I lifted her wallet, but all that’s in it is ten quid and a bus ticket. Her phone got smashed in the accident. So for now, her name’s Nada Millais-Scott, and her address is Curzon Place.” Curzon Place was Judd’s townhouse in Kensington. “The bloody receptionist wouldn’t let me past unless I was next of kin.”
“Nada?”
“The first name I thought of. She looks Middle Eastern, and I used to work with a woman from Iraq called Nada. I panicked, okay? There was a baby.”
Middle Eastern. Alaric’s worst fears were ninety percent confirmed.
“I’ll need a photo to be sure, but she’s likely to be Hevrin Moradi. She’s a Kurdish refugee, and she was instrumental in leading us to Gemma. Where’s the baby?”
“With Gemma.”
“You can’t just keep a baby, Judd. Social Services should be…” Alaric trailed off. Emmy had been in the foster system, and so had Sky. It hadn’t been kind to either of them. Yes, Judd was an impulsive asshole, but he wouldn’t abuse a kid, and between Blackwood and Sirius, they’d move heaven and earth to look after it. “Never mind. The baby’s at your place?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know how to take care of it?”
“No fucking clue, mate.”
“Are you at the hospital?”
“Next to her bed. I got her a private room.”
“How is she?”
“She wasn’t knocked out for long, but she was confused and crying when she came round, so they took her for an MRI and a CT scan to be on the safe side. Her arm’s broken, but they reckon her head’s okay. Now she’s sleeping. I don’t know what she’s told them, but nobody’s arrested me yet.”
Good. Alaric had to take that as a positive, apart from the broken bone, obviously.
“But…” Judd continued.
“But?”
“I saw the X-rays. That girl’s broken half the bones in her body at some point or another.”
“Fuck.”
“I told the doctors she used to race motocross bikes.”
“Motocross? We’re gonna need to work on your bullshit, buddy.”
“Normally I’m good at it—you know that. This just threw me off balance. The baby and everything. Shit, it was a close call.”
“What happened to the woman who pushed her?”
“She tried to walk off, but I grabbed her handbag and hung onto it until the police picked her up for questioning. No way was she leaving it behind, even if the self-centred cow did try to snatch it back while I was putting Nada into the recovery position.”
“Hevrin.”
“Right, Hevrin. About this baby…”
“I’ll find someone who can help. Leave it with me.”
Alaric hung up and leaned his head against the steering wheel. Why him? He could’ve gotten a nice, easy job pushing paper around a desk, but instead, he was left to wrangle former spies and bail women out of tricky situations.
“Why didn’t you tell him to go to Social Services?” Beth asked.
“Because I don’t want this kid turning into Sky. Foster parents are a mixed bag. Do you know anybody who might have a clue how to look after a baby?”
Beth thought for a moment. “I guess I can see your point about Sky. What about you? Didn’t you help with Rune when she was little?”
“I wasn’t involved with Rune in her younger years.”
Cue the disapproving glare. Alaric had to take it. No way was he having a discussion about Rune’s origins at that particular point in time.
“What about Dan? Doesn’t she have a son?”
“Dan adopted Caleb when he was ten. And don’t even consider suggesting Emmy—kids scare her more than small-arms fire.”
“I guess I know the basics. My sister’s eight years younger than me, and I used to help the nanny with feeding her and things.”
“Call Gemma. Do what you can to assist while I drive us back.”
Judd might have been sought after as a spy and an assassin, but as a nanny? No.
Back at the house, Alaric had hoped to see Emmy or even Dan, but the only person home was Black, sitting behind his laptop at the kitchen table.
“Anything new?” he asked.
“You could say that. This case is going from bad to worse. I should’ve stayed in Thailand.”
Now Black looked up. “I’ll gladly pay for the ticket if you want to go back there.” One-way, of course. Asshole. “What happened?”
Alaric gave him a brief précis, and predictably, Black laughed.
“There’s a woman in the hospital,” Alaric snapped. “This isn’t fucking funny.”
“Yes. More absurd, I’d say. So, what do you need?”
“Do you know anyone with a baby? Gemma needs advice.”
“I thought you were the man who knew everything?” Black’s tone was mocking.