by Debra Webb
“She’s about the same age as Chester, wouldn’t you say?” Chet offered.
Lori nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking. The pediatrician who examined her estimated four years. But she’s so small.”
“She is.” He picked up the photo of the child. “Did you notice how much she looks like the chief?”
“The blond hair and the brown eyes.” Lori nodded. “Yeah, it’s a little creepy.” She studied Chet then. “Do you think Jess thought about that? I mean, they don’t share any facial features really but the coloring is so similar.”
“I’m sure she considered that Spears had picked the little girl because she has blond hair and brown eyes. That has to be really freaking her out.” He grabbed his beer and downed a satisfying gulp. “It’s bad enough when an adult is missing or murdered, but it’s hell when it’s a kid.”
Lori put her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his cheek. “I’m sorry. I’ve been feeling so sorry for myself I didn’t stop to think how this business with Chester must be hurting you.” She searched his eyes. “You know Sherry made a smart move, right?”
He nodded, albeit reluctantly. “Yeah. I should have been the one to suggest the move. I was too busy being a cop to notice my own child was in danger.”
“I see how it is.” Lori took his face in her hands and made him look her in the eye as he had done to her a moment ago. “Now who’s blaming himself for something he couldn’t possibly have foreseen?” She let him go, leaned back in her chair, and crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s okay for you to feel bad because you aren’t perfect but not me? Ha!”
He held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. We both need to cut ourselves some slack.”
“Maybe,” she suggested, “we need a long soak in our nice garden tub before climbing into that comfy bed we haven’t made love in for the past two nights.”
He lifted her onto his lap and decided this was a good time to tell her his news. “I had a break today while you and Cook were reviewing video footage and Hayes was off with the chief interviewing that crazy homeless dude.”
Lori shuddered. “He tried to reenact what Matthew Reed did to that FBI agent.”
“Sounds like,” Chet agreed.
Lori had been abducted by Spears’s deceased protégé, Matthew Reed. He’d held her for days, tormented her relentlessly, including making her watch as he tortured two other women, one didn’t survive. Lori almost died as well. The bastard had used her greatest fear against her—the fear of drowning. Spears loved using his victims’ fears to torture them. Chet hoped he got just five minutes alone with the guy before he went to hell.
“What did you do during this break?” she asked, curious.
He’d been waiting for the right moment to share this news with her. Might as well be now. “I made the appointment for the surgery. Two weeks from today.”
Lori’s face lit up. “He thinks it can be done?”
Chet nodded. “He does. Since it’s only been three years, he says there’s a very high chance of success. I’ll be off work for a few days, but as soon as he gives the go ahead we can start trying to make a baby.”
Lori stilled. “You want to start right away?”
Chet held his breath. Hoped this wasn’t going to be a sticking point. “Sometimes scar tissues forms and closes things up again. The surgeon says it’s important that we try right away. The first year is crucial.”
“Wow.” Lori looked away. “I’m not sure how I feel about that schedule.”
He didn’t want to rush her, but she needed to understand the hurdles they were facing. Sherry had insisted on the vasectomy after Chester was born, and Chet had done what he hoped would save his marriage. But it hadn’t. He prayed that desperate decision wasn’t going to cost him the woman he loved now.
“We don’t have to if you’re not ready,” he assured her. “I can put the surgery off. The problem is, the longer I wait before I get it reversed the lower the odds of success.”
“I didn’t realize we’d be up against a timeline.”
“I’m sorry,” he offered. The words echoed impotently around them.
She got up, leaving the warm place she’d made in his lap. “I’m beat. Maybe I’ll just shower and hit the sack.”
Chet reached for his beer. So much for lightening the mood with what he thought was good news.
8
10:30 p.m.
Amanda Brownfield drew in a lungful of smoke and held it for as long as she could before exhaling into the night. “Mmm.” There was just about nothing on God’s green earth tasted as good as a cigarette after sex.
The ground shifted beneath her with his twisting and squirming around. “Be still,” she screamed! She worked harder at staying put, digging in her heels and pressing her butt harder into the dirt. She thought about using the Taser again but she was pretty sure it wasn’t gonna be necessary.
He was just about done.
Weatherman was calling for rain tomorrow. The dirt would pack down all nice and neat then. She stared at the bright glow of cherry at the end of her cigarette. She could toss this thing into all the dry underbrush and burn this whole place down once and for all.
What did she need with this hellhole now anyway? She had bigger plans.
The ground beneath her stopped moving.
She smiled. “Good boy,” she murmured. “You just go right on to hell where you belong.” She dragged in another deep draw from her smoke. Oh yeah, there was just about nothing else that tasted as good as a cigarette after sex.
Except maybe having one after killing a no good son of a bitch like the one she’d killed tonight.
Amanda laughed as she wiggled her bottom against the loose dirt. She’d forgotten how much fun this could be.
9
UAB Women & Infant Center
Tuesday, August 31, 10:32 a.m.
Jess waited in the examining room for Dr. Fortune to return. The labs were out of the way and the exam was over. The requisite paper gown was properly disposed of and she felt comfortable again in her red suit. Her life was so out of control that it felt good to wear a power color. Especially today. There was no more pretending this wasn’t real.
Her life was never going to be the same. She’d survived starting over in her career and moving back home after more than two decades. No reason she couldn’t handle parenthood.
Moments from now the doctor would waltz in for the doctor-patient pep talk. Jess’s bag was full of pamphlets and a prescription for, as well as a sample pack of, prenatal vitamins. She was good to go.
Except her head was spinning. She had flipped through the pamphlets for the first few minutes of her wait, one of which showed the stages of development in pregnancy. She shouldn’t have looked. If she’d been worried before about taking care of herself for the baby’s benefit, she was outright terrified now.
Okay, moment of truth—how did anyone in her right mind do this? There was so much evil out there. So much uncertainty. Giving herself credit, it wasn’t as if she’d planned to get pregnant. One or two missed pills had set the stage.
Forty-two and she’d made a sophomoric mistake. She was far too old to accidentally get pregnant. Jess closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. Her sister was going to be over the moon as soon as she had a nice long laugh over how Jess came to be with child. Children had not been on her ten-year-plan much less next year’s calendar. She wasn’t even married or engaged—well, not technically. Dan had made it clear he wanted to get married, but there hadn’t been a proposal or ring.
Jess sighed. How had her life grown so complicated in a mere six weeks? Before returning to Birmingham, work had been her life. She hadn’t needed anything else to fulfill her. Who needed the white picket fence and kids? She’d had a stellar career with the Bureau—okay so maybe she’d blown her stellar record a week or two before coming home. She’d had the respect of every agent with whom she’d ever worked until that last week or two. Prior to that, she’d had nothing to worr
y about but catching the bad guy—the solitary goal had defined her.
On some level, she couldn’t deny that coming home had made her see what she had given up… what she was missing. Whether by subconscious design or dumb mistake, here she was with diapers and childcare and doctor visits in her future. Her eyes went wide. They needed a new house. The apartment was fine for the two of them, but it wasn’t going to work after this child was born.
Would Dan want to build in his old neighborhood? Jess would never in a million years fit in with the Brookies of Mountain Brook. She would always be the girl from the other side of the tracks. Well, she had made friends with Sylvia and Gina. It wasn’t that anyone else had the ability to make Jess feel inferior. Her accomplishments spoke for themselves. The problem was some people would always see her as an outsider as Katherine Burnett did. Would that change when she became a Burnett too?
Jess sagged with the weight of it all. Friends and neighborhoods were the least of her concerns. Two women were missing, Rory Stinnett and Monica Atmore. Victims of the sociopath obsessed with Jess. Dan had become one of his primary targets. And she was his ultimate target no matter that, for now, Spears appeared to be content playing with her.
How did she protect the child she carried? Or the people she loved?
Thankfully, the doctor showed up at that moment. Good thing, otherwise Jess might have worried herself into a panic attack.
Dr. Fortune smiled. “You’ve been reviewing the pamphlets.”
Jess frowned. She’d already stuffed them all back into her bag. “How did you know?”
“The look of panic on your face is one I’ve seen many times.” The doctor settled on the stool next to the small wall mounted desk and considered the tablet she carried. She tapped a few keys. “It’ll be a few days before all your labs are back. I’m not so concerned about the Wilson’s disease since you don’t have any symptoms. We’ll know soon enough if there’s anything to worry about there.” She typed a note into Jess’s record.
Her sister had recently been diagnosed with Wilson’s disease after some scary symptoms. Thank goodness, they caught it in time to reverse the damage and get her on the right track. The disease had caused her body to not properly metabolize copper. The subsequent build up wreaked havoc on her organs.
“Is there a due date I should put on my calendar?” Jess ventured, her pulse fluttering like hummingbird wings.
The doctor laughed. “There are a lot of dates you should put on your calendar, but based on your last menstrual cycle, we’ve calculated your due date as April twentieth. A little later we’ll do an ultrasound that’ll confirm that date one way or the other.”
April twentieth. Jess had about seven months and three weeks to get prepared for motherhood. Goose bumps tumbled over her skin. Not nearly long enough!
“You may continue to have the same bouts of the nausea you’ve been experiencing for a few more weeks. Generally, when you reach the second trimester that subsides.”
Second trimester. Okay. “Is there anything I should be concerned about moving forward?”
Dr. Fortune closed the record. “We’ll put you on the routine pregnancy schedule and I’ll see you again next month. Take your vitamins, keep a healthy diet, and get plenty of rest. Your body is working extra hard right now, it needs sufficient down time. There are a few more tests we’ll want to do a little later related to your age, otherwise, that’s it.”
Her age. She was old. Jess wilted a little bit more. “Thank you, Doctor.”
Fortune paused at the door. “I meant to ask, is the handsome gentleman outside the father? He could’ve come in with you, you know.”
Jess didn’t need a mirror to know that red had rushed up her cheeks and all the way to the roots of her hair. “No. No. He’s a detective on my team.” No need to go into all her other troubles with her obstetrician. “My… the father couldn’t get away from work.” She chewed her lip. That excuse made Dan sound as if he didn’t care so she quickly added, “He’ll be here next time.”
The doctor gave a nod. “See you in a month.”
Jess didn’t move for a minute after the doctor had gone. When she’d awoke this morning, she wondered whether this baby would be a boy or a girl and if he or she would have blond hair and brown eyes like the little girl left on the street yesterday.
Maybe she would drop by and check on the child. Make sure she was okay. It would give her something to do besides going back to the office before meeting Lil for lunch. Jess stood, smoothed her skirt, and walked to the door. She hesitated, her hand on the lever. In her entire adult life, this was the first time she’d ever wanted to do anything else more than she wanted to go to work.
Not a good sign.
Redmont Road, 11:20 a.m.
The home was a nice one in a very good neighborhood. The lieutenant followed Jess up the sidewalk. Mrs. Wettermark had called ahead and informed the family that Jess would be stopping by to see the little girl. Wettermark had insisted the child was fine, but Jess would feel more comfortable when she saw for herself. It was foolish really. If the case investigator said she was fine, then Jess should accept her word. Somehow, she couldn’t.
She pressed the doorbell, listened for the chime, and then waited. Inside a dog barked. Judging by the deep boom it was a larger one. She supposed it was nice for kids to be around pets.
Was that something else she would need to pencil into her life?
Sheesh. To be so small, kids came with seemingly endless requirements.
She glanced back to the street and noted the BPD cruiser waiting patiently for her next move.
“You were on the news again this morning.”
Jess glanced at the detective standing next to her. “I’m thrilled.”
Hayes chuckled. “According to the reporter, the station’s getting tons of mail in support of you. They’re calling you a city treasure.”
A laugh burst from her lips. “If that’s the case, I am woefully under paid.”
He grinned. “You aren’t the only one. The whole team should be getting hazard pay for protecting a city treasure.”
“Need I remind you that this treasure is perfectly capable of—?”
“Taking care of herself,” he finished for her.
“Don’t you forget it either, Lieutenant.” Jess held her head high and her shoulders back. Being pregnant didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of doing exactly what she’d always done—for now anyway.
The door opened and a woman with one kid on her hip and two more clinging to her legs filled the space. Growling, a big black Lab poked his head between her and the door.
“Quiet, Samson!” the woman ordered. The big Lab dropped his head and backed away. The woman looked from Jess to Hayes and back, then smiled as if she were the happiest woman on earth.
Jess couldn’t see how that was possible by any stretch of the imagination. She flashed her badge. “I’m Deputy Chief Harris.”
“Karen Graham.” She backed up to open the door wider, the children and the dog moved in time with her as if the steps were a carefully choreographed routine. “We’ve been expecting you. Mrs. Wettermark sent me your photo.”
Jess appreciated Wettermark’s quick work. She’d expected to have to wait outside until Mrs. Graham confirmed Jess was who she said she was.
“Thank you.” Jess followed her inside. Hayes closed the door and caught up. The interior of the house was just as nice as the exterior. “You have a lovely home.”
“Thank you. We bought the house for the kids.”
Jess hoped she had erased the frown that had formed on her forehead before the woman noticed. “How many children do you have?”
“Since we couldn’t have any of our own,” Karen smiled at the toddler in her arms, “we decided to buy a house big enough for all the ones who needed a family and didn’t have one.” She turned that smile toward Jess. “We take care of the children until a permanent home is found or they’re returned to their parents, so there’s always lo
ts of coming and going around here.”
“That’s an enormous sacrifice.” Jess glanced into the family room to her right where three more children played.
“It is,” Karen agreed, “but we love it. Would you like to see her now?”
Jess nodded. “I would.”
Karen ushered the children tagging along with her into the family room with the others. Then she led the way to the dining room. “She doesn’t feel comfortable with the other children yet so I’m letting her draw at the table.”
“Why don’t you wait here, Lieutenant?” No need to overwhelm the child with another stranger.
“I’ll check in with Detective Wells. Give her our location.”
Jess left him to it and followed Karen into the dining room. The enormous table seated twelve. Jess was fairly certain she’d never seen a table this large in anyone’s home. The Grahams had gone all out.
The little girl sat in one of the big oak chairs, her attention on a length of drawing paper draped over the end of the table. A pile of crayons next to her, she continued to draw without even glancing up.
Jess walked over to the table. When the little girl still didn’t look up, she said, “Remember me?”
The little girl looked up then and, incredibly, she smiled. It wasn’t much of one but a smile nonetheless. Jess pulled up a chair next to her. “That’s a very pretty picture. Is that you?” She pointed to the smaller of the two stick figures.
The little girl nodded.
Jess indicated the larger figure. “Is that your mommy?”
The child shook her head and then she pointed to Jess.
Surprised, Jess gestured to the figure again. “That’s me?”
The little girl nodded.
“You see this big thing.” Jess set her black bag on the floor. “I take it everywhere.” She pointed to the drawing. “If that’s me, I need my bag.”
The little girl picked up a black crayon and drew a square, that wasn’t exactly square, next to the larger stick figure. She looked up at Jess for approval.