Page 20 of Heal
He couldn't say no. She needed someone, and if he was the one she needed, he'd be there as much as he could. Hopefully, once she got to know Faith, she would open up to her a little more. It was a lot to ask Faith to shoulder, but she was the strongest person he knew, and he was sure if there were any problems, she'd tell him.
For now, he had to get through the ultrasound with Lisa, then he'd make sure the kids had a little fun and food.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Parson sat back in his chair, staring at the computer screen, frustrated that he couldn't link any of the other foster children to the case he was working on. He tried linking doctor's names, caseworker names, even schools, and locations to try and find out who the other kids being abused might be. There was nothing.
The police had followed up with the doctor's name that was on file, but there was no record of any doctors with that name anywhere in the state. It should have been something his agency was alerted to, but with as busy as they were, just seeing a child had been seen for an annual physical seemed to be enough for most caseworkers. No one took the time to find out if it was true or not. That was one mistake he wouldn't be making.
As he worked, he tried to think of how to figure out who these children were. The only way he could do it was possibly by showing Lisa photos and seeing if she knew any of the other children. He'd gone over her case history, seeing she'd been in six different foster homes before the last one. Somehow, they'd always found placement able to keep her brother and her together. That was rare in most cases, and he was glad at least the two hadn't been split up.
With no other leads and nothing more he could do, Parson decided to make a file of photos. It would take time as there were thousands of kids in the region. Even if it was a long shot, it was the only shot he had right now. Saving the kids being abused was a priority, and he needed to do anything he could to find them.
After several hours of printing pictures and putting them in a binder, he still wasn't even nearly halfway done, but it was a start. Now he just needed to get the file to Lisa to look at. Since he still wasn't allowed to see the children, he did the only other thing he could.
Parson reached for his phone and the business card Beau had given him. Hopefully, Beau would see how important this was and help him.
"Hello?"
Parson ignored the way his pulse sped up at the sound of the doctor's voice. "Hi, this is Parson Detry with Children's Services."
"Parson, good to hear from you." Beau sounded tired.
"I know you said it would be a while before I could interview the kids, but I was looking into some of the things you told me yesterday. I haven't been able to link any other cases to this one, and trust me, I tried everything, but I thought maybe if you think Lisa is up for it mentally, she might look through some photos of other foster children and see if she recognizes any of them from the sex parties she talked about." Parson doodled on a scrap of paper on his desk as he spoke.
"That's not a bad idea. I think she'd be up for that. I don't think she'll leave her brother's side for that long. Is it possible to let her use a laptop to access them?"
"Actually, I figured she wouldn't be able to come here, and if I get caught with her on the system I'd be fired, so I've started to make a folder of pictures and names so that she can look through them. I'm not even halfway done, but I have at least a few hundred she could look at when she's ready. I can drop them off at the hospital anytime."
"Actually, I'm just leaving work. Have you eaten?"
Parson glanced at the clock, seeing it was after five. "No, I was just about to leave work myself."
"Would you like to grab dinner together? There are a few new developments I need to discuss with you as well," Beau said.
"Um, that would work great. Where can I meet you?" Parson was surprised by the offer, but excited to get the information to Beau for Lisa to look at, and spending an hour or two with Beau wasn't going to be a hardship. He was attractive and intelligent.
"Black Bear, just down the street from the hospital? How long do you need?"
Parson was already shutting down his computer. "I can be there in about a half-an-hour."
"Perfect. I'll get us a table. I'll see you there." Beau hung up.
Parson gathered his things, making sure he left nothing behind that might give away what he was up to. Sharing any information outside the agency would get him in huge trouble, but there was no way he would trust the agency to follow up on any of this. Knowing his boss, if they heard there were children being used for sex parties, they'd want to bury the information, afraid of the black mark it would leave on the agency if the public found out.
As he drove to the restaurant, he wondered what the new information was. He had received more reports from the police earlier in the day. They were hard to read, but it was nothing he hadn't already expected. He had yet to see the medical reports, but he'd heard enough to know pretty much what had happened.
His thoughts turned to Beau, wondering how much he could trust him. His gut told him that Beau wouldn't cause him problems at work, in fact, it seemed Beau had as many issues with CPS as he did. After all the things that Beau saw come through the hospital doors, he wasn't surprised.
He'd looked up Beau's name on the internet, surprised to find that he was the son of one of the richest men in the world. Beau didn't give off the usual personality of someone that came from money. Parson knew money well and did everything he could to avoid those who had it. His own family was the worst. His father was nowhere as rich as Beau's, but his family did rank among the richest in the state, and that was bad enough.
He was also pleasantly surprised to see Beau worked with a lot of charities and also volunteered his time often. It said a lot about the man. Coming from that kind of money, Beau probably didn't even have to work, yet Parson was finding that Beau seemed to put in not only his hours at the hospital, but many times, at other places when he wasn't working.
He didn't see any information about Beau's social life. He'd expected to find information about a wife or girlfriend, but there was nothing. Parson had looked hard for it too, curious about the man he found attractive and interesting. It was as if Beau didn't ever date. While that was possible, it was unlikely. With his looks and family money, he would have to be one of the most eligible bachelors in the world.
The man was a mystery, and even though it shouldn't matter, it only made Parson want to learn more about him. So far, all of their conversations had been about the case, but he hoped tonight at dinner to see a bit more of the man underneath the doctor's coat. He wanted to see the real Beau Maddington, not just the doctor.
It was probably unhealthy to feed his curiosity. Surely, the man wasn't gay or it would have made the news. Then again, if he was straight that should have made the news and it hadn't. There was just no information on Beau except for his professional and family life. It was odd.
