Charmed (Second Sight) by Hazel Hunter

this money come from?
    “And where does that get us?” Scanlon asked.
    “Next we prove the connection,” Martinez replied and nodded at Tim.
    “Packets,” he said. “Packets through routers. If I know the two end points, it’s only a matter of time before I can find the routers they’re using to pass information.”
    “ If they’re passing information,” Mac said. “The similar firewalls doesn’t prove anything.”
    “True,” said Martinez, “but it’s more than a coincidence.”
    “Oh I believe it,” Mac said. “I don’t need convincing. It’s a judge that’s going to need convincing before we can execute a search warrant.”
    “Agreed,” said Scanlon.
    “I’ll get him,” Tim said. “I’ll find the connection. You’ll see.”
    He stretched the headphones wide and let them go over his ears.
    “Let him work,” Martinez said. “If there’s a tie-in, Tim will find it.”

    •••••

    Daniel sat down with a thud and a huff at his computer. His head sank into his hands.  
    “ Shit ,” he muttered. It’d been his new favorite word since the FBI agent had left. “ Shit. ”
    Kayla had obviously called Isabelle for help.
    “Shit!” he yelled and pounded the computer desk in front of him.
    “Danny,” came a woman’s voice from upstairs. “Are you okay?”
    “Shit,” he muttered. “Go back to bed!” he yelled.
    And just stay there.
    The computer monitor flared to life. The mouse must have moved and turned it on. He ignored it.
    I’ll be damned if I visit the baby. I never wanted the thing in the first place.
    That’s when everything had started to fall apart. Kayla had gotten pregnant, fought with her mother, eaten everything in sight, and lost her figure. If he never saw her again, that’d be fine. Daniel had quickly agreed to Maurice telling her that he had died. It was supposedly a simple cremation, his family only, no ceremony. She’d bought it. And he’d never visited Green Earth again–not while she was there. He’d worked from his new home.  
    If only she’d just stayed at the commune.
    “Oh my god,” he muttered.  
    This was really going to screw up the queue. Maurice must be having fits.
    Quickly, he looked over his shoulder then typed in his password. His virtual desktop appeared and he clicked on the web browser and brought up the Coming Home group. He drilled down into the infant adoption forum and scanned through the threads.
    Oh dammit. There it is. No one’s even updated the post. The baby is still up for adoption.  
    But of course it was. If he didn’t update the post, who would?  
    Maurice had been very clear. Daniel and only Daniel knew the connection between the commune the adoption web site. And that was only because he had to know. Only someone with the computer savvy to keep the data secure could do this. And it took someone with the mindset as well. He could give a rat’s ass about selling babies. It wasn’t even illegal. All of those women that Geoffrey had impregnated had signed over their rights to the biological father. All Geoffrey had to do to sell them was use a simple power of attorney. On the other side of the equation, the desperate couples got to cut several months and tens of thousands of dollars off the adoption process.
    It was like printing money.  
    But now the queue was screwed up and his bonus . Kayla’s baby had gone missing.  
    But as Daniel glared at the screen, a wild thought began to germinate.
    Does the queue have to be screwed up?
    Isn’t Kayla’s baby also his?  
    “Yeah it is,” he muttered.
    I’m the biological father and I have rights.  
    Can’t I just sell–or rather give it up for adoption?
    The queue would be preserved. His bonus would be on time. He would be within his rights. And maybe there would be perks–he glanced up at the ceiling toward his bedroom–and not like the ones he was already enjoying. Maybe a cut of the business.  
    Yeah, maybe it’s about time.  
    “Danny?” she called