Salvation

by Land, Alexa

  “I saw Grenzell and his men following you, so I came to warn you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I love you, Vincent.”

  He smiled at me and said, “I love you too, Trevor.”

  “That’s so touching I could cry,” dead-panned the officer that had arrested me. “You two are a regular Bonnie and Clyde. Or, you know, Donnie and Clyde.”

  “Were you throwing cat food at Grenzell and his men?” Vincent asked.

  “That or smallish cans of tuna.” He chuckled at that and shook his head in disbelief as he was led away from me.

  “Trevor!” I looked to my right. Dmitri and Jamie were jogging up to the building. A uniformed officer held his hands out, keeping them back. “Are you okay?” Jamie yelled.

  “I’m fine,” I yelled back. “Don’t tell me, let me guess. You two called the police, right?”

  “It was Jamie’s idea,” Dmitri yelled. “We were both worried about you!”

  “And the swat team?”

  “I guess that happened because we told them Grenzell and Dombruso were involved,” Dmitri said. I was almost out of ear shot, and he yelled, “We’ll call a lawyer and meet you at the police station!” Jamie apparently recognized one of the officers and went over and started talking to her. Since he was a former cop, it wasn’t too surprising that he’d know some of these people.

  I was loaded into the back of one of a dozen police cars that were parked haphazardly around the old factory. When my arresting officer, whose name tag said B. Bowen, got behind the wheel, I asked him, “What exactly am I being charged with? It’s not illegal to throw cat food.”

  “Throwing things at people does in fact constitute assault, but aside from that I have no idea what you’ll be charged with. We’ll take your statement at the station, and after that it’s my captain’s job to sort out what the hell was going down back there.”

  There was a lot of general mayhem at the police station. Grenzell was raising a big stink, demanding a lawyer and verbally abusing everyone in a twenty-foot radius. Vincent and I were brought into the station at the same time, but again taken in opposite directions. I was left alone in a small interrogation room for at least an hour, my hands cuffed to a metal table that was bolted to the chipped linoleum floor.

  Finally, the door swung open. I was surprised to see Rooster standing there, and even more surprised that he had a badge hanging around his neck. “So, is it Officer Rooster?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.

  He smirked at me as he took a seat across the table. “Funny. It’s Prashad. D.E.A. Do you want to explain to me what the fuck you were doing in the middle of the sting operation that I’ve been setting up for the last two fucking years?”

  “Wow, I didn’t see that coming,” I murmured.

  “What were you doing there, Dean?” he snapped.

  “I came to warn you and Vincent, because I saw Bobby Grenzell and two of his men following you. They got there before me though, since I was on foot.”

  “How do you know Bobby Grenzell?”

  “I don’t, but he has a personalized license plate on his BMW and my employer told me who he was.”

  “Your employer, the one who called the police? That would be Dmitri Teplov, right? As in Russian mafia kingpin Dmitri Teplov?”

  “Former kingpin. Now bar and grill co-owner,” I said. “And kingpin? Really? I don’t think you have all your facts straight. From what I heard, his uncle Gregor Sokolov was running the show, and—”

  “Stop talking.”

  “Where’s Vincent? What’s going to happen to him?”

  “Didn’t I just tell you to stop talking?”

  “I don’t care. I have questions. Dmitri’s getting me a lawyer as we speak, by the way, and this might constitute some sort of unlawful detainment. Just saying.”

  “Dombruso failed to mention that you’re a total smartass.”

  “I’m not. But I’m also not going to just sit here and let you railroad me.”

  He frowned and said, “No one’s railroading anyone. I came to get your statement. A member of the S.F.P.D. will be joining us in a moment.”

  “Does Vincent know you’re D.E.A.? Was he working with you, or were you setting him up?”

  A police officer came in just then, sat beside Prashad, and pushed a button on a tape recorder that was built into the table. He consulted a white notepad in his hand, then looked up at me and said, “State your full name for the record.”

  “Trevor Cody Dean.”

  For the next hour and a half I answered all of their questions to the best of my ability. I was pretty sure they realized I was totally clueless about halfway through, but kept going anyway for good measure. Finally the police officer stood up and said, “Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Dean.”

  “Am I under arrest?”

  “We’re releasing you to Agent Prashad’s custody.”

  The officer unlocked my cuffs and I shook out my arms and rolled my stiff shoulders to loosen them up. Prashad came around the table, grabbed me by my upper arm, and led me out of the room and into the main part of the station.

  “What happens now?”

  Prashad glared at me as he released my arm. “I’d love to charge you with obstruction after interfering like that, but I know it wouldn’t stick. Get out of here before I change my mind.”

  He really didn’t have to tell me twice. I turned and headed for the front of the station, where I found Jamie and Dmitri waiting for me. They were talking to an officer in uniform that I recognized, and I said, “Hey. Shea Nolan, right? You were at Kieran and Christopher’s wedding.”

  “Right. I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Trevor. You helped with the cake catastrophe, that was nice of you.” Shea grinned at me.

  I turned to Dmitri and asked, “Have you seen Vincent?” He shook his head.

  “Tall guy with dark hair and glasses?” Shea asked.

  “Yeah, that’s him.”

  “He’s still answering questions.”

  “I’m going to wait for him,” I told my companions.

  “I wouldn’t suggest that,” Shea said. “I really doubt he’s going anywhere tonight.”

  Jamie took my arm. “Let us drive you home, Trevor. My cousin Shea will call me if there’s any news about Vincent.” I argued for a while before finally relenting and letting them lead me from the station.

  I didn’t say much on the drive across town. I was worried about Vincent. When we’d almost reached my apartment, I remembered that my phone was off and pulled it from my pocket. I held down the on-button, and when the screen lit up, I saw that the message icon was blinking. When I dialed voice mail, I was surprised to hear I had seventeen messages. The first message began playing.

  “Trevor, where the hell are you?” Melody sounded frantic. “I think the baby’s coming!”

  Chapter Seventeen

  I drew in my breath and speed-dialed the cellphone I’d given my cousin shortly after she’d returned to the city. She answered on the first ring by screaming into the phone, “Where the fuck are you, Trevor?”

  “Melody, are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not okay! I’m in fucking labor! It hurts so fucking bad!”

  “Where are you?”

  “In our apartment.”

  “What? Why aren’t you in a hospital?”

  “Because the baby started coming, you weren’t answering your damn phone, and I really didn’t want to give birth on a fucking city bus!”

  “Mel, I’m so sorry. I was in a police station and my phone was off. It’s a long story. I’m really close, just hang on.”

  She let out a high-pitched shriek and yelled into the phone, “Hang on? How the fuck am I supposed to hang on? What do you want me to do, cross my fucking legs?”

  Jamie had gotten the gist of the conversation and stomped on the gas, his old VW van groaning in protest as he shifted gears. In another minute I was wrenching open the rusty panel door in front of my building, be
fore the van even stopped moving. Dmitri leapt out with me and Jamie yelled, “I’ll be up as soon as I find parking!”

  Dmitri and I raced into the building and sprinted up the five flights of stairs. I dropped my keys twice trying to get the door unlocked, yelling in frustration. Finally I flung it open and raced to Melody’s side.

  She was on her little bed, drenched in sweat and swearing like a sailor. As soon as I reached her, she grabbed my hand and almost crushed it in a death grip. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go,” she ground out. “I was supposed to be in a hospital with drugs! Lots of drugs! I never signed on for this natural childbirth shit! Nobody but a crazy person would do this without drugs. Nobody!” She screamed again and fell back against her sweat-soaked pillows.

  Dmitri meanwhile was on the phone with someone, who apparently was giving him childbirth advice. He hurriedly unfastened his wristwatch and held it in front of his face, and counted the seconds between screams. Melody let out another shriek, and Dmitri relayed the information to whoever he was talking to.

  Jamie burst through the door just then. He was holding an armload of beach towels, a backpack, and a big first aid kit, his expression fairly panicked. His phone was sandwiched between his shoulder and ear.

  “You found us,” Dmitri said.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t too hard. I just followed the screaming.” He dropped all his stuff and asked, “How far apart are the contractions?”

  Melody screamed again, and Dmitri looked at his watch. “Ninety-five seconds.”

  Jamie relayed that information into the phone, and listened to what the person on the line had to say. Dmitri asked him, “Did you call an ambulance?”

  “Better, I called my mom. She was a nurse before she had kids and still volunteers in the pediatric unit at the hospital. My dad’s driving her here. Who’d you call?”

  “My sister Lena and her wife. They’re on the way, too. I figured they’ve had babies, they know how all of this works.”

  Within minutes, the apartment started filling up with Nolans and Teplovs. Apparently calling one of them was the same as calling the whole family. A woman with cascading dark hair was first to arrive. She was holding hands with a tall, elegant African American woman. “Hi,” she said to Melody, “we’re Lena and Marley. We heard Jamie and Dmitri were acting as midwives so we rushed right over, because that should not happen. Don’t you worry, sweetheart, you’re going to get through this just fine.”

  Jamie’s parents were the next to arrive. Mrs. Nolan took charge of the situation while her husband hung back by the door. He looked a bit panic-stricken. “Did anybody think to call a doctor?” Mr. Nolan asked. “For the love of God, we need a professional up in here!”

  A pretty young woman I remembered from the wedding swept into the apartment and exclaimed, “Oh, we do not need a doctor, Dad! Childbirth is the most natural thing in the world!” Melody let out a horror movie scream just then, and Maureen went pale and added, “Although a pharmacist may have been an idea.” She had a big bag slung over her shoulder, and Tippy the terrier stuck his head out, took one look at the woman in labor, and retreated back into the bag.

  Another half a dozen women arrived over the next twenty minutes. It was more than the little apartment could hold, and people were spilling out into the hallway. A contingent left and came back a little while later, loaded down with shopping bags. A Teplov sister whose name I’d forgotten announced, “We got diapers, wipes, baby blankets, bottles, formula, and a few other things for the baby. If we forgot anything, we can run back out to the twenty-four hour drug store.” Given how much stuff they were carrying, it looked like the baby would be set until college.

  “We also bought every camping lantern they had, it’s so dark in here. Help me set these up,” her twin sister said, giving some of the shopping bags to the crowd, who immediately got busy lighting up the place. She added, “On a more practical note, we also bought a lot of wine.” They handed out plastic cups and passed around bottles of merlot to the crowd, even giving glasses to my neighbors, a few of which had assembled out in the hallway when they’d heard the commotion. Jamie’s dad didn’t wait for a glass. He tipped back the bottle of wine that had been passed to him and slammed down most of its contents.

  At 1:16 a.m., the baby was born. A cheer went up from the crowd as Melody, pale, exhausted and sweaty, caught her breath and blinked back tears. I grabbed her in a hug and told her, “You did it, Mel. You did it!”

  “It’s a boy!” Mrs. Nolan announced. She cut the cord efficiently with someone’s pocket knife that had been sterilized in rubbing alcohol, then dried the baby off and wrapped him in a little blue blanket. She started to hand the baby to Melody, who pointed to me before curling up on her side and pulling the last dry beach towel over herself like a blanket.

  The tiny, beautiful, perfect little baby was put in my arms as my heart swelled in my chest. He was pink and wrinkly with lots of black hair, his eyes squinched shut, his tiny hands balled up in fists beside his cheeks. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life, and I knew right then that I’d do absolutely anything in the world for this boy. I was overcome with the most powerful surge of love I could have ever imagined, and I made a silent promise to him right then and there to always cherish him and keep him safe forever.

  “What are you going to name your son, Trevor?” Jamie asked, putting his arm around my shoulders.

  My son. I thought I might actually burst with joy at the sound of that. I took a long look at the baby and said softly, “I’d been thinking about that. I considered a bunch of different names, but now that I see him, I kind of think...I think he looks like a Sam. What do you think?”

  Jamie beamed at me. “I think that’s a great name.”

  “Melody, what do you think? Do you like the name Sam?” I asked.

  “It doesn’t matter what I think,” she muttered, her back to me. “You’re adopting him. It’s your baby, not mine.”

  Gradually, the crowd cleared out until just Dmitri and Jamie remained with Melody, the baby and me. I sat against the wall between Jamie and Dmitri and cradled Sam carefully in my arms, giving him a warm bottle of formula that one of the sisters had prepared for me. She’d also shown me how to diaper him, then helped as I dressed him in a little one-piece pajama and wrapped him securely in a blanket.

  The door to the apartment was still wide open, and I heard steps running down the hall a moment before Vincent appeared in the doorway and froze in place, staring at me. “Oh my God, Trevor,” he said. He came into the apartment and dropped to his knees in front of me. “Jamie’s cousin Shea told me what was happening. I’m so sorry I missed it.”

  I smiled at him and whispered, trying not to disturb the baby, “I’m so happy you’re here. I want you to meet Sam.”

  Vincent smiled at me, then looked at the baby. “He’s perfect,” he said softly.

  “He really is.”

  He cupped my cheek with one hand and said, “Trevor, I don’t want you to raise this baby alone. When I said I wanted to be with you every step of the way, I meant it. I love you more than anything, and I want to marry you and raise this child with you.”

  I smiled at him and turned my head to kiss his palm. Then said gently, “I love you too, Vincent. We’re not ready for marriage, though. It’s just too soon.”

  He caressed my cheek. “But I want to help you.”

  “And you can.”

  “I know my timing’s off, you must be so tired and overwhelmed after the night you’ve had. Will you think about it and talk about it with me in the morning?”

  I smiled at him and nodded, and he sat cross-legged in front of me and watched the baby nurse, his face full of wonder. Sam finished the bottle, let out a tiny burp, and fell right asleep. “He’s the best baby ever,” Vincent whispered.

  “You’re right, he is.” I put the bottle down and took Vincent’s hand. “I’m so glad you’re here. I didn’t know if they’d let you out tonight.”


  “I was never under arrest, I just had to answer a lot of questions for the S.F.P.D. They weren’t supposed to be part of the mix tonight. I’ve been working with the D.E.A.,” he said, “as an inside man. They came to me twenty-seven months ago with a whole stack of incriminating evidence linking my family to a range of illegal activities, and made a deal with me. If I helped them bring down the key players in the heroin trade in San Francisco, they wouldn’t press charges against Dante, who they’d identified as the head of our family. I had to swear I wouldn’t tell anyone, or the deal was off. I’m so damn relieved that it’s over now and I can finally talk about it.”

  “I knew it!” I exclaimed, then lowered my voice when the baby flinched a bit. “I knew you weren’t a criminal.”

  “I have broken the law, on more than one occasion. But I never did anything to hurt others, and I sure as hell never sold or distributed drugs.”

  “I totally misjudged you,” Dmitri told him. “And I really should have known better, because everyone used to misjudge me, too.”

  “Based on what you knew of me,” Vincent said, “I really don’t blame you.” He held his hand out and said, “No hard feelings?”

  Dmitri shook his hand and agreed, “No hard feelings.”

  “Well, I think we should head home,” Jamie said. “Everyone could use some rest.”

  “Thank you so much, both of you,” I said as Dmitri kissed my cheek, then pushed himself to his feet. “You’re amazing friends, and I’m so grateful for all you did tonight.”

  “It was our pleasure,” Jamie said with a smile. “I can’t wait until it’s our turn to be parents. Hopefully we won’t be too far behind you.”

  After they left, Vincent and I curled up on my little bedroll with the baby between us and watched him sleep. We looked up at the same time, staring into each other’s eyes. It was such a perfect moment, so full of love and so blissful. I didn’t think anything could ruin my happiness.

  Someone knocked on the door a minute later, and Vincent got up and answered it. I didn’t recognize the worried-looking young African American guy that stood there crushing a baseball cap in his hands. “Um, hi. I’m looking for Melody Matthews. I’m not sure if I heard the apartment number right when she called me, she was kind of screaming at the time.”