Part 44 (1/2)
Charles still looked grim. ”There's bad in him. I know it.”
She touched his arm. ”Listen to me. Steve was what I call a wild child-disobedient, impulsive, fearless, bursting with energy-wasn't he?”
Charles smiled ruefully. ”That's the truth.”
”So were Dennis Pinker and Wayne Stattner. Such children are almost impossible to raise right. That's why Dennis is a murderer and Wayne a s.a.d.i.s.t. But Steve isn't like them Steve isn't like them-and you're the reason why. Only the most patient, understanding, and dedicated of parents can bring up such children to be normal human beings. But Steve is is normal.” normal.”
”I pray you're right.” Charles opened his billfold to replace the photo.
Jeannie forestalled him. ”May I see it?”
”Sure.”
Jeannie studied the picture. It had been taken quite recently. Steve was wearing a blue-checked s.h.i.+rt and his hair was a little too long. He was grinning shyly at the camera. ”I don't have a photo of him,” Jeannie said regretfully as she handed it back.
”Have that one.”
”I couldn't. You keep it next to your heart.”
”I have a million photos of Steve. I'll put another one in my billfold.”
”Thanks, I really appreciate it.”
”You seem very fond of him.”
”I love him, Charles.”
”You do?”
Jeannie nodded. ”When I think he might be sent to jail for this rape, I want to offer to go instead of him.”
Charles gave a wry smile. ”So do I.”
”That's love, isn't it?”
”Sure is.”
Jeannie felt self-conscious. She had not meant to say all this to Steve's father. She had not really known it herself; it had just come out, and then she had realized it was true.
He said: ”How does Steve feel about you?”
She smiled. ”I could be modest....”
”Don't bother.”
”He's crazy for me.”
”That doesn't surprise me. Not just because you're beautiful, though you are. You're strong too: that's obvious. He needs someone strong-especially with this accusation over his head.”
Jeannie gave him a calculating look. It was time to ask him. ”There is something you could do, you know.”
”Tell me what it is.”
Jeannie had rehea.r.s.ed this speech in the car all the way to Was.h.i.+ngton. ”If I could search another database, I might find the real rapist. But after the publicity in the New York Times, New York Times, no government agency or insurance company is going to take the risk of working with me. Unless...” no government agency or insurance company is going to take the risk of working with me. Unless...”
”What?”
Jeannie leaned forward in her lawn chair. ”Genetico experimented on soldiers' wives who were referred to them by army hospitals. Therefore most or all of the clones were probably born in army hospitals.”
He nodded slowly.
”The babies must have had army medical records, twenty-two years ago. Those records may still exist.”
”I'm sure they do. The army never throws anything away.”
Jeannie's hopes rose a notch. But there was another problem. ”That long ago, they would have been paper files. Might they have been transferred to computer?”
”I'm sure they have. It's the only way to store everything.”
”Then it is possible,” Jeannie said, controlling her excitement.
He looked thoughtful.
She gave him a hard stare. ”Charles, can you get me access?”
”What, exactly, do you need to do?”
”I have to load my program into the computer, then let it search all the files.”
”How long does it take?”
”No way of knowing. That depends on the size of the database and the power of the computer.”
”Does it interfere with normal data retrieval?”
”It could slow it down.”
He frowned.
”Will you do it?” Jeannie said impatiently.
”If we're caught, it's the end of my career.”
”Will you?”
”h.e.l.l, yes.”