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Jesus Lord.
“Mr. Bullock, do you recognize this note?” Louis asked.
“No, I do not.”
“That’s odd, because the professional handwriting expert we use has definitively identified it as the same handwriting as on your daughter’s marriage certificate, which points to you as the person responsible for the kidnapping and trafficking of Wolfgang Outen’s baby. It also points to you and your wife having conspired in this heinous act. You left a baby…your own granddaughter…to die. It was by the grace of God that she did not. You expected her to be lost forever. But by the grace of God and the miracle of DNA registries, your plan did not succeed. Now, I’m going to ask you, Carter Bullock, did you, with malicious intent, deprive Wolfgang Outen of his rights as a father?”
Faraday leaned over and whispered in Carter’s ear.
“No comment,” Carter said.
“Carter Bullock, did you, with malicious intent, conspire to have Mr. Outen’s baby kidnapped and trafficked and left to die in another state?”
“No comment.”
“Then I am going to inform you that you are under arrest for the aforementioned crimes. You will be taken to a men’s holding facility, until which time a test of your own DNA either eliminates you as Amalie Lincoln’s grandfather or confirms our suspicions that you have, in fact, committed all of the above crimes, and possibly more. I am ending this session as of 1:10 a.m. this morning.”
“I will not be taken to prison,” Carter said.
Louis stood and pointed at the guard at the door. “Officer, please take Mr. Bullock to booking. Papers to transfer him will be ready tomorrow. He’ll spend tonight with us.”
“Yes, sir,” the officer said.
Carter was led away in handcuffs, wondering who, of all the people involved, would turn on him first, and then grimaced at his own stupidity. If Leigh had seen the picture of Wolf Outen and his daughter, she’d be the one to give him up. No way was he taking all the blame. She’d never wanted to lose her figure to give birth to Cassandra. The idea of raising another baby appalled her. She’d been all for the disappearing act, and if he went down, she was coming with him.
Wolf woke up to a text from Giraud.
FYI. Both Carter and Leigh Bullock arrested on suspicion and being held in custody pending DNA confirmation before evidence goes to the DA. Request details not be shared with the public at this time, but your desire to acknowledge your daughter is understood. This case is going to get ugly and she will be drawn into it, regardless of your desire to protect. It’s my opinion that she would be most protected if, at this time, nothing was said. But again, it’s your call.
Giraud
Wolf was surprised that they’d acted this quickly, and Giraud’s advice was sound. He knew his desire for revenge was driving this, and maybe he did need to step back for now. Protecting Amalie had to come first. But his distrust of the Bullocks and their presence in this city was uppermost in his mind. They’d paid off a whole lot of people to get rid of Amalie. He didn’t trust they wouldn’t start throwing money around to try to make paperwork disappear.
So maybe he didn’t hold a public press conference. Maybe he just dropped this story to theNew York Timesand theWashington Post. The local papers would pick it up from the AP and run with it.
And Amalie was as mad and hurt as a woman could be at what they’d done. He’d warned her what might happen. She’d already told him to go for it. This was their fight. Him and his girl. He wasn’t giving anybody a break. Not the Bullocks. Not the cops. Not the DA.
He’d let her know, and her decision would be the one he followed.
Amalie was knee-deep in tax reports. The deadline for filing was about a month away and she kept getting walk-in customers asking for appointments, which was good but definitely increasing the workload.
She had a client coming in soon to finish up an online filing. She had their copies ready to sign and an invoice waiting, and was getting up to get a cup of coffee whenher phone began to ring and she ran back to her desk to grab it.
“Hello?”
“Hey, sugar, it’s me. Got a second?”
“Just,” she said. “I have a client due any moment. What’s up?”
“The New Orleans police arrested Clark and Leigh Bullock on suspicion of a butt load of charges last night. They’re both in holding, pending DNA testing. It’s procedure for the cops. The Bullocks already see the writing on the wall but so far are denying everything and down to ‘No comment.’”
“Oh my God! That’s wonderful, Dad! Thank you. Thank you for not letting this go.”
“Hell no, I’m not letting it go, and that’s why I called. I told the detective I was going to hold a press conference regarding the kidnapping of my daughter and the crimes committed by the Bullocks to make it happen. They can’t stop me from doing it, but they want me to wait until the DNA tests come back and they turn everything over to the DA.”
She frowned. “What are your thoughts on that?”
“I think I don’t trust anybody here. The Bullocks bought off a lot of people to make you disappear, and I don’t trust them not to try destroying evidence to get away with it. Granted, you are the ultimate proof, but destroying the evidence trail would then be just my word against theirs as to how you disappeared.”
