Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 117820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
When I was in the federal institution, he visited almost every day or as often as he could. He brought me magazines and clothes and dinners his wife made. Without him I might never have found enough of my mind to reach freedom.
“They seem to have had a points system for babies based on their skin color, ethnicity, cuteness, for example. But they often had buyers waiting for the baby to be born who were willing to take it no matter the looks. An illegal practice and a lot of the parents who purchased babies are in prison.”
A flare of hope lights up in Kane’s eyes.
“They don’t know anything. It was all anonymous and well-planned. Any footprints left behind, were erased and well.” Webber douses his hope but he looks sorry for it. “You can’t contact these families. Do you understand? Some are innocent. Some genuinely believed they were dealing with a legitimate adoption agency and assumed the fee they were paying was to the mother of the child. An illegal activity in itself but not one punishable by law when all other circumstances are taken into account. People desperate for a family will do desperate things.”
“So she could be out there with loving parents somewhere,” I say to Kane because it is the only comfort I find in times like this.
He keeps looking at the pages.
“Some kids weren’t so lucky,” he growls. “This one was located when she was four. Sex trafficking.”
Webber nods. “Those are the ones we struggle to find the most. There’s no paper trail at all.”
My heart stops beating as it always does when I think of that scenario for our child.
“Oh my God,” Kane breathes, his hands balling into fists. “How likely is it that she’s one of those.”
“Most of the kids that we located were with loving families.”
“How likely?” Kane demands of Webber who looks uncomfortable for a moment, and of course distressed.
“I’d say a twenty percent chance.”
Kane brings his fist down on the table and glowers at me. “If she’s in the hands of a trafficker and you didn’t pull me in to help you find her, we’re done. We should have made this nationwide. We should have gone to every newspaper.”
“You can’t,” Webber barks. “As frustrating as it is, the children involved are already at risk because of what happened to Righteous Hill and its supporters. They might kill the children so there’s no evidence of their existence if they panic and think we could be onto them. Or sell them on, or leave the country, or worse. We have tried to keep this as low key as possible. I understand your frustration Mr. Jessop, but this isn’t just about your kid. We have forty kids in the wind that need our help and just one word to the press could fuck up the rest of their lives.”
“What kind of life do they have if they’re with a fucking pedophile?” Kane yells, standing now.
“Stop!” I shout back, standing and placing my hand on his chest, not the tattooed side.
His heavy breathing makes his chest rise and fall visibly. I keep my hand on it until he forces it away with a powerful shift of his upper body.
“There should be something in the media,” Kane snarls. “Anything. Such as… if you were adopted between the dates of X and X, please contact Detective Dipshit of Chicago.”
Webber’s eyes narrow. “I have done everything in my power to find your child.”
“Except notify her fucking father.”
“I couldn’t legally do that.”
Kane laughs coldly and directs his anger my way. “I feel fucking sick. Tryna to forgive you for this, Immy, running out of reasons to justify your choices.”
“Justify her choices?” Webber hisses, his dad side coming out in my defense. I sink into my seat, suddenly feeling like piggy in the middle. “You have no idea the mental torment she endured in that hell hole, boy. You have no idea the solitary burden she has taken by keeping this to herself. You have no idea the mental torment she has put herself through to find this child.” He places his hands on his desk and his glare gets harsher. “You wouldn’t have been able to do shit. You still can’t do shit. Because unfortunately your daughter’s sale was processed by Father Righteous himself which means it would have been a very high price and an anonymous buyer. Kept tightly under wraps. Not a single person working in that hell hole knew what happened to that baby. I questioned them all. Not just me but my colleagues too. They had no reason to lie about this baby and not the others.”
“What about babies registered at around that time?” Kane asks, sounding just as frustrated as before. “There has to be somewhere we can start?”
“Do you know how many babies were registered at around that time? In the same county let alone the same state. Chances are she was sold out of state and there’s no way to prove that they didn’t have the kid themselves… you can’t just go around asking for DNA tests without a judge’s order and he’d need evidence.”