Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(13)

“Katherine,” she said. “Katherine Crista Guerrero. I named her middle name after Cris. Sort of. He’s Cristo. I call her Katie, or KC, sometimes.”

Tilly struggled to soften her drill-sergeant approach. “How old is she?”

“Two weeks tomorrow.”

Fuck. “Are you breastfeeding?”

Sofia shook her head. “I tried and I couldn’t. I’ve still got some formula in the diaper bag. I get WIC and food stamps.”

Well, score one for intuition. The woman looked practically emaciated. With the trauma she’d obviously been through, it was no wonder she couldn’t breastfeed.

Tilly held her hand out. “Give me your cell phone.”

The woman looked confused, but handed it over without complaint. A cheap-ass burner. Tilly checked the call log.

Nothing since Tilly’s earlier call from Cris’ cell, and nothing but Sofia’s call to Cris’ cell for a day before that.

Tilly pocketed it. “No offense, we’ll get you a new one.”

Sofia burst into tears and flung her arms around Tilly. “Thank you,” she said.

Tilly did her best not to gag. The woman smelled like she hadn’t bathed in at least a couple of days. “Let’s get home and get you a shower.”

And then she’d have to call Cris.





Chapter Five


On the way home, Tilly called the office and cleared her calendar for the rest of the day, but didn’t say why.

Five minutes later, Leigh called her. “What’s going on?”

Tilly had her phone plugged into the hands-free speaker for the car, meaning Sofia could hear everything.

“I can’t talk about it right now, Leigh,” Tilly said. “I have someone in the car with me.”

Her friend’s tone turned concerned. “You all right?”

“I’ll call you later today and update you. I need to handle a couple of things right now, immediately.”

“Okay.”

Tilly hung up and glanced at Sofia. “When was the last time you ate?”

“Last night,” she admitted. “I had a piece of pizza.”

When she reached her exit, Tilly pulled over into a McDonald’s and got the woman some food. She knew it wasn’t the healthiest choice, but from the way the woman wolfed it down, Tilly knew it had been the right decision.

They finally pulled into the condo building’s private garage. Tilly knew the longer she waited to let Cris know what was going on, the worse it’d be, but she had to get a handle on everything first.

Carrying the baby, Tilly led Sofia upstairs to their condo and inside. She pointed the woman to the guest bathroom. “First things first. You get in there and get a shower. Towels and everything you need are in there. I’ll unload the car.”

Sofia started crying. “Thank you. I’m so sorry.”

Tilly took a deep breath and tried to check her bitch voice. “I’m not angry with you. I’m angry, yes, but not at you. This isn’t my first rodeo, honey. We’re going to have a serious talk once you’re done with your shower. Leave the bathroom door unlocked. I’ll set your bags inside.”

“Thanks.”

Tilly turned on the TV and gently set the carrier holding the sleeping baby on the floor in front of it. Not the world’s best babysitter, but she’d need at least ten minutes to get the car unloaded.

Once that was done, and she’d got the new baby bottles washed and ready to go, she called Leigh back.

“I need the name and number of the best family attorney in LA,” Tilly said. “Especially for custody issues.”

“What? What’s going on?”

“Long story.”

“Okay, seriously. You tell me what the hell is going on right now. You’re freaking me out.”

“Long story short, Cris’ cousin has a newborn baby and has had the crap beaten out of her. She’s on probation and the *’s in a gang.”

Leigh went silent. “Holy f*ck. Where is she?”

“In my guest shower.”

“Oh, holy f*ck, are you shitting me? Hold on.” Tilly heard Leigh yell for someone in the office. “You’ll want Dale Waters,” she said. “He’s a good friend of Clark’s. I’m guessing you want to talk to him this afternoon?”

“Yep.”

“Okay. Let me call Clark and get that ball rolling and I’ll call you back.”

“Thanks.” Tilly ended the call. She grabbed the filthy diaper bag, took it into the kitchen, and upended it onto the tile floor.

It was…gross. Like a thrift store reject.

And she didn’t want it or its contents on her counters or table.

There wasn’t much in there Tilly wanted to save, except three sealed cans of liquid formula that didn’t have to be refrigerated. Tucked into a side pocket, she found a zipper-top plastic bag holding the baby’s birth certificate, health records, and some other paperwork.

For where the father’s name was supposed to go, it said Unknown.

Tilly set the papers and formula on the counter.

The rest she threw away.

Including the diaper bag.

She went through the laundry basket and Sofia’s purse.

No drugs.