Page 59 of Protecting Silver
Decker grinned. “Always wanted to visit the Windy City.”
Chapter 28
“Douglas,”Silver said as she carried his ringing phone down the hall to the bedroom. She hated to wake him, but his phone had gone off at least seven times in the last half an hour. She stepped up to the bed where he was sleeping so soundly, and laid her hand gently on his shoulder. “Douglas, time to wake.”
With his eyes closed, he flopped the blankets back, swung his feet over the side of the bed and asked, “What do we have? GSW? MVA? DV? D&D?” Only after asking those questions, did he begin to open his eyes, and frowned at the woman standing before him. He reached up and scrubbed his face hard, and looked around the room. He looked at her sheepishly. “I’m not in an on-call room at the hospital.”
“No, you are not,” Silver smirked at him. She pointed to his lap and grinned. “And I hope like hell you don’t answer whoever wakes you dressed like that.”
Patch looked down, then grinned when he realized he was completely naked. With his eyes shining, he laughed. “Nope, I save this outfit only for you.” Just before he lunged for her, his phone went off again. Silver held it out to him, and he frowned at it.
“This is the eighth time it’s rung in less than thirty minutes. It’s the same number.”
Patch frowned as he took the ringing phone from her. Not recognizing the number, he swiped to answer, but put it on speaker.
“Atwal.”
“Thank god I finally reached you.” Came the frantic voice over the phone. Patch glanced up at Silver with a frown.
“Who is this?”
“Oh, sorry, it’s Tex. I’m excited about what I just learned, and might be a little breathless.”
“Okay, what’s that?” Patch handed the phone to Silver, stood and went over to the drawer that held his clothes when he was there. After pulling on a pair of underwear, then a pair of jeans, he pulled a tee over his head. Taking the phone back, they left the bedroom and went to the kitchen. Patch sighed in relief when he saw the coffee pot was almost full. Instead of pouring himself a cup, he nodded to Silver as she pointed to a chair at the table and went to get him one. After his first sip, he frowned again. “Are you still there?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry, was getting things together. I didn’t have it all organized before I called.”
“Do I need to take notes?”
“Not really. As I’m telling you this, I’m sending you my report. Wait until after we hang up to make sure I sent everything to you. I’ll text you with the number of pages.”
“Okay, but what can you tell me now?”
“I’ve finally found Merrick. It took me this long, because he changed his name. When he was your caseworker he used the name Silas Jackson Merrick, after not being able to find him for several weeks now, I started playing on his initials. After some digging, I found a Joshua Samuel Merriweather.”
“How do you know this is the same person?”
“Because, I was able to get a copy of Merrick’s fingerprints when he worked as a caseworker in the foster care department in Colorado. This Merriweather is now a caseworker with Child Protective Services in Chicago. Again, I was able to get his prints, and they are a match. Merriweather is Merrick.”
“Holy shit, and he’s still working with children?”
“He is. I don’t know if he’s kidnapped any, or what, but I do know he’s working in Chicago. I don’t usually tell my clients what to do, but if I were you, I’d pay him a visit.” There was the sound of rustling papers, then both Patch and Silver heard him swearing.
“What’s wrong?”
“I jumped the gun when I called, and was waiting for one more report to come in. It just arrived, and after only skimming it, it doesn’t look good.”
“Why? Is he getting ready to leave the country?”
“No, it seems like Joshua Samuel Merriweather has a side business.”
“Which is?” Silver asked into the silence.
“According to my sources, he works for a private adoption agency.”
It was silent for a very long time on both ends of the phone. “Shit, so that means if this Merriweather really is Merrick, then I might have been kidnapped in the past, and when the Fosters tried to adopt me, he panicked and kidnapped me again. Makes me wonder how many other children he did this to, and who he’s working with.” Patch scrubbed his face, and took a large gulp of his coffee. “Also makes me wonder who he has working for him.”
“What do you mean?” Silver asked, and Tex echoed the question from his end.
