+18 - eps 28-32 - On the sixth installment of the Blackbird series, Cassidy sends Gillian and her team with Brock and Russel to Tampa, Florida, to look into the death of a girl while winter storm Jonas beats the East Coast. But this seemingly ordina...
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Brock hated Barnes when his phone buzzed. Gillian turned her speaker off and walked out to let him pick up the call. Hank shouted out to dinner a minute later, so Brock and Gillian joined the others just out of their phone conversations.
As soon as they were all sat at the long table, with full steamy dishes smelling as to wake the dead, Ron asked about the baby. So Hank explained the results of Irene's blood test.
"...according to her hCG levels—that's the short for what people call 'pregnancy hormone'—she gave birth three to four weeks ago."
"And she gave the baby away," said Gillian. "Closed adoption. Untraceable."
"Well, about that..." said Tanya.
"I know," replied Gillian.
"There was no baby seat in her car," said Brock. "Nor baby clothes in her suitcase."
"So we should assume the adoption tale is true," said Ron.
"Let's hope so," muttered Aldana.
"Did Cassidy tell you the real reason why Irene came to Florida?" asked Fred.
Gillian shrugged. Her tone showed she was just repeating Cassidy's words, which was far from implying she believed any of it. "He said the mother said Irene said that she wanted to visit a friend from rehab who moved here last year."
"And does Rehab Friend have a name?" asked Russell.
"Not that he knows of."
"How convenient," said Aldana. "Why didn't he tell you the truth right from the start?"
"It included the word 'rehab'," replied Gillian. "Her background story doesn't change the case facts, and we're here to solve her murder, not her past."
"'Friend' was enough instead of the lie about her brokenhearted road trip," said Ron.
She nodded with another shrug.
"Hate to say it, but Cassidy's right," said Hank.
"Unless Irene's friend has a taste for torture and murder," Russell replied.
"We still don't know why she changed her appearance," said Aldana.
"Any bit of her background story could mean trouble for the Senator if it goes public," said Brock.
"Really?" said Ron. "I mean, twenty-first century. An unwanted child given away and a season in rehab are regular stuff nowadays."
"Tea Party," said Fred.
"True. You're right."
"Still, the marks are there in her arms," argued Hank. "And the hormones are in her blood. Did they really think we wouldn't find out?"
"We weren't supposed to see the body," Russell replied.
Aldana turned to Gillian. "So what d'you wanna do, Reg?"
She shrugged yet again. "Let's play nice and do as we're told. Let's find the son of a bitch who killed Irene. And then we'll see if we consider the case closed."
