“No,” Tom said.
Tommy started to whimper. Tom wrapped his other arm around him protectively.
“I’m only interested in the brat,” Butz said. “I’ll let her go as soon as I’m safely away. She’s just my insurance you don’t go calling the cops.”
“No,” Tom repeated over Tommy’s escalating cry.
“All right then, how about I shoot you in both legs?”
“You won’t shoot,” Tom said. “You won’t risk injuring the child. He’s worth too much to you and Shrubber.”
Butz cocked the revolver. He turned its barrel until it was aimed at Tom’s legs.
“At this range, I don’t even need to be that good of a shot,” Butz said with a nasty lift of his lips. “And I’m betting the judge here can move fast enough to catch the kid before you fall on your face. Let’s see, shall I am for the kneecaps or the thighs?”
“Tom, please do what he says,” Anne said, her voice calm, despite the flash of fear in her eyes.
“Better listen to her, preacher,” Butz said. “This gun’s got a hair trigger on it and I don’t feel real patient today.”
Tom was satisfied now that the gun was pointed away from Anne. “All right,” he conceded as he bounced the crying baby in his arms.
Butz smirked, his fleshy face full of triumph. It was the way Tom wanted the man. Overconfident.
Still, Tom had no doubt that Butz was ready to shoot, and would at the slightest provocation. Which meant that he was going to have to keep Anne and the baby safely out of the range of fire.
Tom started forward.
“Slowly, preacher,” Butz warned. “Don’t make me nervous.”
Step by step Tom advanced toward Anne, forcing himself not to look at her pale face but at the man who clutched her delicate shoulder so cruelly with his thick, sausage fingers. When Tom finally stood before her, he carefully unfurled Tommy from the crook of his arm into her waiting embrace.
“Now step back,” Butz commanded.
The instant Tom felt Anne take the baby’s weight, he leaped forward, kicking the revolver from Butz’s hand.
The gun discharged with a deafening noise as it flew into the air. Tom heard the expended bullet rip into the wall behind him. He grasped Butz with both hands and flipped the heavy man onto the floor. Butz landed with a crack of spine and a howl of pain.
Tom pressed his thumbs against the carotid arteries in Butz’s fat neck, squeezing them closed with enough pressure to render Butz unconscious. The heavy man went out without a peep.
Tom turned to Anne. “Are you all right?”
Her face was white with residual shock, but her lovely gray eyes were steady and calm. She held the now quiet Tommy tightly to her. “We’re fine. I’m going to call the police.”
“Better have them send an ambulance, too,” Tom said.
As she hurried off to the phone, Tom rolled Butz onto his stomach, whipped his belt off and secured his arms tightly behind his back. Then he picked up Butz’s gun, put it into his pocket and drew a thick braid from the living room drapes to hog-tie the man’s legs to his arms.
Tom worked quickly, not knowing how much time he had. Anne returned when he had secured the last knot.
“The police and ambulance are on their way,” she said. “Although I debated whether to even ask them to send an ambulance for this clown.”
When he heard the anger in her voice, Tom felt happy. It told him she had come through the scare fine. His fear for her had been so intense that he still felt its residue raining inside him. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and hold her close and never let her go. But Butz was moving beneath him on the floor, regaining consciousness.
Tom rested a knee against one of Butz’s kidneys, just as a precaution in case the big man decided to try to move. Butz strained against his restraints.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Tom assured him. The big man gave up.
“Was this stupidity your idea or Shrubber’s?” Anne asked with undisguised contempt.
“I’m not saying anything until I talk to my lawyer,” Butz said as Tom kept the man’s cheek firmly pressed against the hardwood floor.
“He’ll be in jail with you,” Tom told him.
“You’re the ones who’ll be in jail. That kid isn’t yours.”
“Bluffing is useless, Butz,” Anne said. “We know all about your part in procuring underage runaways as baby breeders for Shrubber’s wealthy clients. And when those girls in South Boston are picked up in a few minutes, you’re getting the book thrown at you.”
Butz’s one visible eye went wide with surprise at Anne’s words. Clearly the man was taken aback by their knowledge.
“Of course you don’t have to say anything,” Tom said. “But I bet Shrubber does.”
“You’re right, Tom,” Anne said. “He’ll probably claim he knew nothing about the girls being underage. After all, you were the one who found them, Butz. And went with them to the hospital. And took their babies from them. And got them pregnant in the first place.”
“I never impregnated them,” Butz quickly swore in his high, squeaky voice. “That was Shrubber and Faust. They took turns with the girls until they got them pregnant.”
Tom had to hold in his revulsion. “Except for Lindy,” he said.
“She was trouble from the first,” Butz agreed. “Wouldn’t let Faust or Shrubber touch her. Insisted Faust inseminate her with an embryo in this straw thing she brought to his office. Said they’d be glad because it was going to be a cute baby. That damn kid’s been nothing but trouble.”
“Why didn’t Shrubber just give the Kendralls another baby?” Anne asked.
“They only wanted Lindy’s kid. They’d already paid Shrubber half a mil for it.”
“Half a million dollars?” Anne repeated.
“That’s what Shrubber gets for the kids. I should’ve known Lindy wasn’t going to give up hers, insisting on picking out the father and all. But she played it so cool. And I figured I’d be there to watch her.”
“But she still got away,” Tom said.
“It took me three months to find her.”
“And when you did, you ran her off the road and killed her,” Tom said.
“No, I didn’t run her off the road.”
“You were seen, Butz,” Anne said.
“Okay, maybe I chased her a bit. But when she rounded that curve, she had to be going sixty. She just lost control and went sailing into that ravine. It was an accident. I swear.”
The doorbell rang at the same time a pounding sounded on the door.
“That’ll be the police,” Tom said as he got off Butz.
Tom expected Anne to hurry to the door. But she didn’t. She stood stock-still, staring at how clumsily he got to his feet. Then her eyes went wide.
“Tom, you’ve been shot!”
Tom took Butz’s gun out of his pocket and calmly handed it to her.
“Keep it aimed at him,” he said as he glanced at the bright red blood seeping from his throbbing side.
Then the white, dizzying waves that had grown so thick over the last minute finally claimed him and he collapsed over Butz into a deep, silent blackness.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“TOM, IT’S GOOD to see you awake,” the bishop said as he stood next to the hospital bed.
Tom blinked up at him, trying to bring his face into focus. “You here to administer last rites, Harry?”
“Nope, did that yesterday when they brought you in,” the bishop said cheerfully.
“I seem to have lost a lot of yesterday,” Tom admitted as he pushed himself into a sitting position, fighting the pain radiating from the tight bandage around his middle, and the fuzziness of his thoughts.
“Not surprising,” the bisho
p said as he made himself comfortable on the chair beside Tom’s bed. “You were under anesthesia for most of it. That bullet you took came close to boring a hole through a bunch of vital organs. It was a miracle it didn’t.”
Butz. The bullet. Anne.
“Where’s Anne?” Tom asked as the memories flooded back.
“The D.A. dragged her away a couple of hours ago,” the bishop said. “And I do mean dragged her away. She’s been here night and day making sure the hospital staff has been taking proper care of you. They’re all intimidated by her. She’s really something to watch in action.”
Tom smiled. “Yes, she is.”
“As I was saying,” the bishop continued, “you lost a lot of blood, but the doctors tell me you’re going to be fine. Just need some time to rest and mend.”
“Where did the D.A. take Anne?”
“They needed her at the arraignment for Butz, Shrubber and Faust. Which reminds me. Why didn’t you tell me what you two were into last Wednesday?”
“We weren’t even quite sure what it was at the time,” Tom admitted.
“Anne explained about the real circumstances surrounding the birth of the baby,” the bishop said. “Forgive me for having misjudged you.”
“You were only doing what you had to do with the facts you had. Where is Tommy?”
“After Dr. Bennett’s genetic confirmation came in yesterday, Anne asked me to speak with Jeff and Theresa Ballard. I dropped by their place last night.”
“Must have shocked them,” Tom said.
Harry nodded. “Thoroughly. But when it wore off they were quite pleased. It seems they were thinking of using their last embryo to round out their family. It was what they were going to discuss with Dr. Bennett at the appointment they gave up for you yesterday. They came and got Tommy here at the hospital early this morning.”
“How did Anne take it?” Tom asked.
“Very bravely, considering how much she loves the child.” The bishop looked at Tom’s face and shook his head. “No, she didn’t have to tell me she loves the little boy, any more than you have to tell me you love him. It was written all over both your faces the first time I saw you with him. Which is why it was so easy to believe that you and Anne were Tommy’s parents.”
Tom stared at the white wall of the hospital room, but in his mind’s eye he was seeing Anne’s face as she stood on the street, the tears spilling down her cheeks.
“Tom, I do need you to tell me something before the nurse comes in to kick me out so you can rest.”
“Whatever I can.”
“Did you marry Anne in order to remain a priest?”
“No, Harry,” Tom said quietly. “I married Anne because I love her with all my heart.”
“I thought as much, but I had to ask,” the bishop said. “Ever since Anne told me the truth and I realized you two had only known each other five days, I’ve felt very guilty for having pushed you into getting married so quickly.”
“Anne didn’t lie to you when she told you that day that I had already asked her to marry me,” Tom said.
“But she only accepted when I asked you to resign, is that it?”
Tom nodded.
“Now I understand why she was so glassy-eyed through the entire wedding ceremony,” Harry said with a troubled look. “And why she delayed so long in responding to my questions. Tom, I believe she was in shock. I doubt she was even aware of what she said.”
Tom didn’t like thinking that the bishop might be right.
“She’s a wonderful woman, Tom. And she made an enormous sacrifice for you that day. She obviously cares for you.”
“She loves me, Harry.”
“She certainly acts that way,” Harry said as he got to his feet. “I know these things can happen quickly sometimes. Still, you’ve known each other for such a short while.”
Tom heard everything the bishop was saying. And what he was implying.
“You’re a good priest, Tom. And a good man. I know you won’t try to hold Anne to vows she wasn’t really conscious she was making.”
Harry left then so that Tom could rest. But Tom didn’t rest. He lay in the hospital bed for a long time thinking about the bishop’s words and wrestling with the new pain they brought.
* * *
“YOU’RE LOOKING BETTER,” Anne said as she entered Tom’s hospital room that afternoon, carrying an enormous basket of fresh fruit and a casserole dish.
“Better than what?” Tom asked as he grinned, so happy to see her that he forgot all about the pain in his side.
“Better than being covered in blood,” she said matter-of-factly as she leaned over the hospital bed and planted a light kiss on the day-old whiskers on his cheek.
She smelled of fresh air and flowers, and her soft lips were a touch of heaven.
After setting the fruit and casserole on the side table, Anne sat on the edge of the bed near his uninjured side. “I know you’re probably tired of people asking, but how are you feeling?” Her eyes were soft and searching.
“Fine, now that you’re here.”
Anne seemed self-conscious and looked away, gesturing to the casserole dish. “The casserole is from Burt and Lori Tubbs, the basket of fruit from Cooper’s Corner’s vestry.”
“How did they get here?” Tom asked.
“Fred brought them with her a little while ago when she arrived to take Butz into custody and transport him back to the Berkshires for arraignment there.”
“Lindy?” Tom asked.
Anne nodded. “Scott Hunter found green paint on the side of Lindy’s car. He also located the garage where Butz took his car to be repaired after Lindy’s crash. That’s where it was that day he and Shrubber arrived at the Church of the Good Shepherd to try to take Tommy away from you.”
“He rammed her VW with his van,” Tom said.
“Of course, Butz is still claiming it was an accident and he only meant to scare her. But Hunter has a good case against him and I feel confident he’ll make it stick. Which still doesn’t make me feel any better about the deal the Suffolk County D.A. cut with Butz.”
“What kind of deal was that?” Tom asked.
“Butz has agreed to testify against Shrubber and Faust and hand over the names of all their wealthy clients in exchange for the D.A. reducing the charges against him for shooting you.”
“I don’t mind, Anne.”
“I mind,” she said, fire flashing in her eyes. “I want to see him hang. He almost killed you, Tom!”
There was a fierceness in her voice that Tom adored. “Not to worry, I’m fine. Be out of here in no time.”
She shook her head and sighed. “And you’re not even mad at him. You are a damn saint.”
Tom gently imprisoned her hands within his. “If he had hurt you,” he said in a deadly soft voice, “I’m afraid you would have seen just how far from a saint I really am.”
She looked at him with such a complex mixture of admiration, understanding and tenderness that his soul ached.
“Hunter released Lindy’s body for burial,” Anne said after a moment. “Her mother refused to claim her. I told him I would.”
“Thank you, Anne,” Tom said. “We’ll have services for her as soon as we get back to Cooper’s Corner.”
She looked down at their entwined hands and a small frown creased her eyebrows. He wanted to gather her into his arms and kiss away that frown. But he didn’t. And it wasn’t because of his injury. It was because he couldn’t forget Harry’s words.
I doubt she was even aware of what she said.
“The bishop tells me you had a long talk,” Tom said in the calmest voice he could manage. “He says he knows now why you were so glassy-eyed during our marriage ceremony. He also believes that you didn’t hear anything that was said that day.�
�
“I was married before. I know how the ceremony goes.”
“But you don’t remember ours, do you?”
She raised her eyes to his. “It doesn’t matter, Tom.”
“It matters to me. I made vows to you that day, Anne. Solemn vows. You need to hear them.”
“There’s no reason. I don’t intend to hold you to them.”
“Anne, when I make vows, I hold to them. It doesn’t matter what others intend.”
She frowned down at the rings on her finger. “Don’t, Tom.”
She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Was it because the baby was still between them?
He stroked the soft palm of her hand. “A prayer in our ceremony asked that the husband and wife have the grace to recognize and acknowledge their fault when they hurt each other, and to seek forgiveness. Forgive me for Tommy.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” she said, still looking down at the rings. “You kept quiet about the specifics of his conception because you had no choice. You can’t be less than who you are—for any reason, for anyone.”
Her words, delivered with such simple eloquence and honesty, filled him with profound relief.
“I know you love Tommy, too,” she continued as she lifted her head and looked at him. “It has to be just as hard for you to give him up.”
There was understanding in her eyes, and the steely strength that was such a big part of her. And a heart-wrenching sadness.
“Giving him up was the right thing to do,” she added. “The only thing to do. And Jeff and Theresa will be wonderful parents to him. It’s just—” She stopped suddenly and her eyes shimmered with imprisoned tears. “Tom, he cried when Theresa took him this morning.”
Tom squeezed her hands gently as her sorrow touched his soul. “We’ll get through this, Anne. Together, we can get through anything.”
“No, Tom, not together,” she said. She pulled her hands away and took off the rings he had given her. She held them out to him. “You weren’t meant for a life without children.”
Her words were so earnest, so heartfelt they made his heart sigh. He no longer cared whether she’d been conscious of the vows she’d made to him. It didn’t matter. She understood them. She was showing them to him.
Cradle and All Page 24