+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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Gillian knew she had to move fast. Else, Brock would catch up with her and try to resume their conversation—even though it'd been rather an argument. And the last thing she needed was discussing Balken with him.
So she helped Tanya to take Poole's CPU to the 101, told her to send an image of the hard drive to Kurt and then go to sleep. She hurried upstairs.
Just in time. Brock parked the SUV at the end of the driveway and walked into the house through the backdoor. He was almost at the 101 when he heard a door closed and locked upstairs. He confirmed it was Gillian's when he found Tanya alone in the 101. Of course Gillian had retreated out of sight. No wonder. He would've liked a drink before going to sleep, but they had only beer in the house. So he fixed himself a tea and went to his room, missing the good old Blue Label dusting up all alone back home.
Gillian wore her sleeping gear and sat in bed with her tablet. Connor had sent her Irene's handles and passwords for her alternate online accounts, and she decided to start with Instagram, since most young people posted their casual pictures there, and then shared them on other social networks.
Coffee. She would've killed for a coffee. But she wasn't about to risk stumbling onto Brock downstairs. She'd rather die of withdrawal syndrome. Well, maybe she didn't need to die? Maybe in a while, when going downstairs was safe?
The last picture Irene had posted made Gillian forget about Brock, coffee and even the storm howling outside her window. It was the girl with a bright smile by a road sign reading, "I-75 – TAMPA, 50". The footer read, "I'm coming to get you, baby!" And she'd hashtagged it #baby, #love and #soon.
So Tampa wasn't a random destination after all, like Cassidy had said at first. But it didn't look as if Irene had come to visit someone, either—like Cassidy had said later. The picture had about a dozen hearts. Meaning her Sybil persona wasn't all that secret. Gillian made a mental note to ask Tanya to look into those followers. Then she scrolled down, going back in time.
The next pictures, actually posted before the last one, had been taken along Irene's way from Richmond to Tampa, and the footer was always about being on her way, or closer, to get/find this person she called 'baby'.
Gillian scrolled further down, not pausing to read the comments. Until she found the last pictures of Irene in Richmond. Her suitcase and the shopping bags with baby clothes in the white Gol's open trunk. Irene's bright smile as she held a baby bodysuit, one of the shopping bags by her side in the car. It read, "Look what Momma got for you, baby!"
Gillian frowned, feeling the twitch in her belly. Was it possible that Irene had come to Tampa looking for her child? Then how come she still had her prolactin so high? The following picture answered that, a display of drugstore items for babies, like diapers, a pacifier, a colorful bottle. And a manual breast pump. The footer read, "Momma's ready for you!" With the repeated hashtags, #love, #baby, #soon. Gillian frowned deeper. Irene was manually extracting her milk, in order to be able to breastfeed her child later?
Dammit! They needed to find that baby!
She kept scrolling down. And she saw Irene had dyed her hair only two days before leaving Richmond, and the framed picture on her nightstand, portraying herself holding her newborn son in a hospital bed. All the footers spoke to and about her child, and her determination to find him.
On January 10th, Irene had posted a picture of a winter street through a second-floor window. "I'm gonna find you, baby. And then I'm gonna make him pay." Him? Him who? The baby's father? Her own father? Somebody else?
She was surprised to see a close-up on reddened eyes full of tears. The footer was, "I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!". It was dated January 8th.
Gillian kept scrolling, as she felt more and more upset. Soon she got to Irene's pictures with her newborn son. "No matter what they call you, you'll always be Liam to me." Gillian bit her lips as she went over the pictures of Irene in the hospital with her baby. The girl looked so happy with her child! She didn't look like somebody willing to give him away. Could it be that Irene's family had given the baby for adoption against her will? Crap! She needed any kind of clue that could help her find that adoption file!
She was so upset that at first she missed Irene's first post after giving birth. She got lost scrolling down and down. A picture of Irene in front of a full-length mirror, her arm around her huge belly. And then one of the girl lying in bed with an IV to her inner forearm. No footer, only hashtags: #nomatterwhat and #fightingformybaby. All of a sudden Gillian wished so bad she could question Irene's mother. After arresting the woman for some charge that would get her a life sentence.
She traced back Irene's pregnancy, and even watched very short videos from different ultrasounds. She needed to breathe deep at every new evidence of the girl's complete devotion to her unborn son. Then she realized she hadn't paid attention to the date of birth. So she scrolled up quickly.
A moment later, she was a blur of motion out of her room.
