Page 80 of Forged in Steele

She smiled at Amelia but when Bristol turned her gaze on Pam, Bristol’s eyes darkened.

Jared helped Pam into a sitting position. “Before we take you in for questioning, suppose you tell us if you had anything to do with the recent kidnapping of the baby from Mercy Hospital.”

“Are you nuts?” She blinked her eyes, now wide open. “It’s one thing to help Holloway with the interviews for potential parents. Another thing to steal babies.”

“But Amelia says she saw you here with babies.”

“She’s mistaken.” Pam sneered up at them.

“If you keep lying to us, we won’t be able to speak to the DA on your behalf,” Jared said.

A sneer crossed Pam’s face. “Fine. I might have brought a few babies to him from drug-crazed moms who weren’t taking care of them and didn’t want them. They gladly gave them up. What’s the crime in giving a baby a better life?”

“Were they sober when they signed them over?” Jared asked. “Or so stoned they didn’t know what they were doing?”

Pam shrugged.

“But you didn’t take the baby from the hospital?” Bristol clarified.

“No.”

“Do you know who did?” Jared asked.

“No.”

“Do you know if Holloway was involved in it?” Bristol asked.

“Could be, I suppose.” Pam shifted as if trying to get more comfortable. “I know he asked me to do a special job for him. A client specific retrieval. But I told him no. Didn’t want to get into something like that. It’s okay if I refer women to him or like I said, find those babies who need care, but nothing else.”

“Do you know Reya Isaacs?” Jared asked.

“Reya Isaacs? You mean the woman who was in the news lately when her baby was found?” Pam sat forward. “Nah. Is she related to this investigation?”

“What do you do for a living?” Bristol asked.

“I’m a social worker like I told you. Just not for Multnomah County.” She cast a superior look their way. “I didn’t want people to track me down so had Holloway get the bogus ID. Not that anyone ever asked to see it again. Not until you.”

Bristol shook her head. “And you think going outside the system like you’re doing is better?”

“Heck, yeah.” Pam lifted her chin in defiance. “The system is broken. Those babies would go into foster care until the mom cleaned up her act or relinquished her rights. That could be years and years. This way the baby has a loving home and isn’t yanked out of it when the mom sobers up for a while and decides she wants to play mom again.”

“Does Holloway have others who do the same thing for him?” Bristol asked.

Pam gave a sharp nod. “A whole big network.”

“Can you give us a list of names?” Jared asked.

“Sure, once that deal is in ink.” A smug smile claimed her mouth. “But you’re never going to shut him down.”

That’s what you think.Disgusted with this woman and with Holloway, Jared lifted Pam to her feet.

“While you hand her over for processing, I’ll go check on Amelia,” Bristol said.

Jared nodded and escorted Pam out to the patrol officer waiting to take her down to booking at County.

“We’ll be in to talk to you soon,” Jared told her as he settled her into the backseat of the squad car.

She eyed him. “You better go to bat for me like you said. The better the deal, the more I tell you. Who knows, I might even give you enough info to find that missing baby.”

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