Tuesday Tales: From a Picture

Welcome back to Tuesday Tales. This is picture prompt week. I continue with The White Dahlia, but since I’m working on the book more consistently, the story is moving ahead more quickly. To put this scene in context, Beth and Al are now working with the FBI on this case. They’ve confirmed that Al’s missing wife, Sylvia, was indeed one of the victims. Now, they’ve received another piece of critical information. Here’s the picture I chose.

Enjoy!

“The x-rays arrived from Kansas. The bone remodeling matches the injuries Rachel sustained six years ago, confirming the identification. Dr. Smith says they tapped her for bone marrow—there were a few small bone scars—and Rachel has given birth. She found a series of shotgun pellet-sized marks along the inside of the pelvic bone. They’re caused by tearing ligaments during childbirth and are a permanent record of the delivery. The doctor can’t tell me when she gave birth or even how many times, but she hopes to have more soon. It may have been to collect stem cells found in the placenta which would be worth a small fortune. God alone knows what may have happened to the child.”

Beth paled so completely that Al thought she would pass out.

“What’s wrong, Beth?”

She licked her lips, and he knew she was going to lie to him.

“I was just thinking he could sell the baby on the black market,” she whispered. “Before we realized that the child who’d been taken in Baltimore was actually one of the Harvester children, we suspected she might’ve been taken by a black market human trafficking organization.”

“Bullshit! There’s something else, something you aren’t telling me.”

She stood and walked over to the coffee machine, her hand trembling so much she could barely pour the hot liquid into her mug.

“Talk to me, Beth. What’s going on here?” He took the mug out of her quivering hands, undone by the tears brimming her eyes.

“This may be my worst nightmare,” she whispered. “I have to be certain we’re not making the evidence fit the theory rather than the other way around. If Rachel was drawn into the sex trade as you suspected, she wouldn’t be the first one to get pregnant.”

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.