Page 103 of Fierce-Zander

“So it was a woman?” Sloane asked. “Who gave her the locket?”

“Yes. Her name is Barbara Hendrix. She felt bad for your mother. It was after Sabrina left home. Your mother was upset and Barbara had seen the pictures your mother had of you and Sabrina in your mother’s locker. She took them out, made copies and had the locket made and gave it to her as a Christmas gift.”

“That’s nice,” Sloane said.

“Your mother worked there for a few years and then moved to Tennessee. They didn’t keep in touch, but Barbara was ableto give me the name of the person who hired your mother at her next job and the contact information.”

“They didn’t have that with social services?” Sloane asked.

It worked in his favor to be going to Tennessee for Dane anyway.

“No. Your mother was only employed for a few months and didn’t report it. There were no records of her paying taxes at that time either. My guess is she was employed under the table.”

“She did a lot of work like that,” Sloane said. “I didn’t think of it though.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference if you had,” he said. “It’s not like you had names to give me. But one name led to another and I found that there was talk of Nadine dating a coworker.”

“Did you get his name?” Dane asked.

“I did. William Smith. Went by Billy,” he said.

“That’s a common name,” Sloane said. “No way you can find him.”

“I found him,” he said. “In a cemetery.”

The good with the bad in this job. At least it’d give Sloane closure.

He supposed if he were in her shoes, he’d want that to be the answer.

“So you can’t confirm it with him,” Sloane said.

“Actually,” he said, “I believe Billy was Shiloh’s father. I tracked a few more people down. It was a cleaning company. Most worked under the table but were still in the area. Two said Billy and Nadine had a thing going. When he found out she was pregnant, he’d broken things off. He had two kids already that he wasn’t supporting.”

“Guess my mother has great taste in men,” Sloane said drily. “Do you know how he died?”

“A bar fight,” he said. “He was drunk and was stabbed, but didn’t make it by the time they got to the hospital. I’m not sure any of this is what you wanted to know or hoped to find out.”

There were some things he wouldn’t share. That Billy was often drunk and causing problems. None of that made a difference in the outcome of things.

“It kind of is. I guess in a way I can breathe a sigh of relief that no one out there is coming for Shiloh. I can submit this to the courts too and maybe it will speed things up with the permanent guardianship.”

“I can give Trent a copy,” he said. “His office is right across from mine.”

“I hadn’t realized that,” Sloane said.

“It’s easy to run it over or email it,” he said. “Your choice.”

“If you want to give it to him, that’s fine. I’ll let him know it’s coming. So I guess there isn’t much more I can do. We just assume Billy was the father based on some people’s words?”

“We could track down his kids and ask for a DNA sample. Their mothers would have to approve it. That would make it more conclusive.”

“I don’t know that it matters,” Sloane said. “Shiloh has me. It’s not like I think there is anyone to come get her now. No one from my side of the family.”

“No,” he said. “Billy’s parents are nowhere to be found. I heard the father is in jail somewhere and I can find that out if you want. His mother took off when he was a kid. I didn’t know how much digging you wanted me to do.”

“That’s enough,” Sloane said.

“What about what I asked you to do?” Dane said. “Anything there?”

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