Drawing The Line (Mistaken Identity Series)

by Sylvia Hubbard

  "Why did she kill Evan?"

  Onyx answered, "He must have known something about it and done nothing."

  She could tell these answers still didn't satisfy Andrew. Onyx felt nothing would until he knew what happened to Shane.

  "I'll stay on Avery's ass about getting in the house and get back in touch with you about it," she assured him. Touching the bottle of Jack Daniel, she said, "Don't worry, Andrew, I said I'll find her."

  That assurance calmed him. She could tell by his eyes and he even smiled to comfort her about his state of mind.

  ***

  Onyx and Andrew entered the house a day and a half later with Avery behind them. The sergeant was doing them a big favor and unfortunately that put Onyx in his debt t. Hearts hated owing people, but this one was worth it.

  “This was pretty much an open and shut case for us. Forensics team just did their second sweep, but just in case put these on.” Avery handed them gloves, covering for their shoes and a hat.

  Onyx tucked her tight ponytail inside her hat. "I'll look in the basement," she said to Andrew, passing him the gear to cover his hands and shoes, along with the hat. "Why don't you check the main floor and we'll look upstairs together? If it looks suspicious, give me a holler and don’t touch anything.”

  "What about me?" Avery said still with his protective gear on.

  "I didn't think you were here to work?" she said.

  "I might as well be of some help," he grumbled.

  "Check second floor."

  Andrew asked, "What are we looking for?"

  "Anything that can link Shane's last day to them," Onyx answered.

  The trio split up and Onyx proceeded down to the basement. Nothing had changed from the time she had last been here in the work area or Shane's room, so she proceeded to the washroom. Piles of unwashed clothing lay on the floor and water bugs were scurrying here and there, along with spiders and smaller insects that were feeding on the mildew that was present on some clothing.

  She saw there was a pile of just Budrick's dirty clothing and started skimming through the pockets despite the smell of them.

  She found several receipts from Home Depot in Southfield and tucked those in her own pocket.

  "Hey, up here!" Avery called out excitedly from upstairs. He waited until Onyx arrived beside Andrew, before leading them into what looked like a little boy's room. The place was a mess and Onyx had to admit, the only clean place in this filthy house was Shane's room.

  "This must have either been overlooked when we searched the place, or recently placed here afterwards." Avery knelt by the toy box and pushed some things aside.

  Onyx retrieved the purse from under the toys, but the bag was empty.

  Andrew immediately recognized the purse. "Shane had it when she was at the hospital,” he confirmed.

  "It’s in the surveillance video, Avery. I swear you boys are getting sloppy. Whatever was inside, is gone," Onyx said, but in the main part was a small pocket and she checked that area to retrieve a pawn ticket from Zeidman's on the east side of Detroit.

  Avery snatched the pawn ticket from her and tucked it in his inside an evidence bag. Onyx gave him a narrowed sneer, but didn't say anything.

  "You can tag along if you'd like," Avery offered with a flirting wink.

  "Never mind," she said not at all wanting to be in the officer's company for any length of time when she really didn't have to be.

  Andrew knelt to see if there was anything else they could find, but came up unsuccessful.

  "Why don't I check out the kid's house and you take Andrew to the pawn shop?" Onyx suggested, seeing the tension in Andrew's body. He looked ready to explode at any minute.

  They were so close, but Onyx had a feeling Andrew suspected they were running out of time. Whatever his gut was telling him, Onyx believed and she prayed they could find Shane in time.

  "I don't think that's a good idea to leave you alone," Avery said.

  "You've got an officer in your car waiting for you. Why don't you leave him here with me, and I promise if I find anything you'll be the first to know," she promised.

  "No, I want to stay here," Andrew insisted.

  Onyx pulled Andrew aside. "You should go, because I want to make sure whatever he finds out we also find out about it. I can find a lot more stuff, if he's not around," she assured him, but he still had that desperate look in his eyes. Reaching deep into her reserves of feminine emotions, she implored softly, "Please, Andrew. You'll accomplish more for her helping me this way."

  That swayed him to leave with Avery, who left the key to the place across the street.

  Soon as they left, Onyx told the officer she wanted to check out the Phillips’ place.

  He led her across the street. Onyx could tell he was fresh out the academy by his uncertainty of what to do once she was inside. She instructed him to just make sure no one came and bothered them and to stay by the front door.

  Upon walking in the front room, she smiled realizing Evan was a pack rat. The police would have definitely found something in here if they had bothered to look, but in their book, Evan had never been a suspect.

  She checked a table that looked as if it housed mail for the past year. The most recent was on top, but the more she dug, she found credit card bills of items bought in the past year that were from heating and cooling stores. This prompted her to go in the basement.

  She had to go through the kitchen in order to go in the basement and she carefully stepped over the dried blood surrounding the taped lines of the two ghosts that still seemed to be lying on the floor. Soon as she descended the steps into the basement, Onyx immediately suspected something because the place was clean. Spotless! There were lights on down there that no on bothered to shut off.

  Onyx was positive no one had checked the basement for anything because anyone smart enough would have instantly suspected something was amiss.

  There was a recently constructed sewing room and she looked over the vest design that was taped up on the wall. The home was quiet, but her ears piqued at the sound of a chime going off all the way from the grandfather clock in the dining room.

  Immediately after that, she heard some strange scratching coming from the furnace area and assumed it was mice. Going to the furnace, she could tell it was recently installed, but it looked awkward. Going around the unit, she didn't suspect anything and decided to check out the rest of the basement quickly before going back upstairs to tackle the mess.

  ***

  Shane automatically awoke when she heard the chimes and without even fully opening up her eyes, she scratched the twentieth mark in the ceiling of her prison and then dozed back to sleep. She was weak from no water and her back was having spasms. She knew she was in labor for the past two days, but she just wanted to sleep. She had eaten all her peanuts last night knowing there was nothing else to do, but hope her body didn't give out before they found the baby.

  'Please don't let the baby die,' she prayed as she let the darkness consume her.

  Chapter 45

  Onyx went back upstairs to the living room and began to slowly rifle through the stack of mail to see if anything came up that would catch her attention.

  She happened upon a heating and cooling magazine, and briefly riffled through it before tossing it in a pile of things she had looked over. After going through the pile for about five more minutes, something bothered her from that magazine and she picked it back up and slowly looked through it again.

  Stopping in the middle of the magazine was a replica model of the furnace she had just seen down in the basement, but this model didn't look exactly like that one. The one in the basement was very different. Picking up a steel bar that was leaning up against a closet wall, she took the magazine back down in the basement to find out why Evan's furnace was different than the one in the magazine.

  Standing in front of the furnace, she was very aware of the changes and the more she noticed the more her breathing increase. Moving over to the back of the
unit, which should not have even been there, she knocked the steel pole against the bottom and realized that the unit was not empty. Something was in there and it was big enough to fit a nice size plumped pregnant woman.

  Onyx didn't waste anytime yelling for the officer to come and help her dismantle the furnace with whatever tools they had at hand.

  ***

  The sound of something banging nearby awakened her. Shane cringed in fear. The last time she had been fully awakened like that was when she had heard gunshots, so now the banging nearby could only mean someone was coming to finish off the job.

  Yet with her being in one position for so long, and the spasms, she couldn't move. All she could do was moan and this seemed to prompt for whoever was out there to move faster.

  "Shane! Shane!" A female yelled.

  Shane wanted to yell back, but her throat wouldn't let her do anything except moan.

  Suddenly, a sharp pain came to her stomach and Shane was positive that wasn't urine running down her leg.

  "Shane, we're here to help you," the voice said.

  She found the will to speak. "Hurry! The baby's coming!"

  ***

  Andrew didn't know how he made it without causing a massive car wreck, but he arrived at Henry Ford Hospital and practically jumped out the vehicle. Avery had to grab the steering wheel and jump in the driver seat, because Andrew didn't even bother putting the vehicle in park before he was out of it and running in the emergency room. The baby was coming! That's all he had been able to hear from Onyx on the cell phone because it sounded as if she was also screaming in the back ground, but then Andrew realized Onyx was not the type of woman to scream and those sweet sounds were coming from Shane. His Shane!

  "Shane Watson," he said to the nurse at the desk.

  "She's in labor, sir. The father has already arrived," the nurse said.

  "Paul's here already?"

  "He just came in right before you."

  Andrew wanted to argue with the woman because he felt he had every right to be in there with Shane. Damn he just wanted to see Shane! He wanted to make sure she was alright!

  "What about the mother? Can you tell me if her condition was fine when she came in? Any bleeding? Anything?"

  The nurse called up someone. "According to triage records, she came in five centimeters dilated and dehydrated."

  Andrew's heart soared. "Can you please let them know I'm here?" he asked and gave her his name.

  She picked up the phone and called the room after a few seconds of discussion she hung up. "They've ordered you to come in, Mr. Watkins." The nurse handed him a visitor’s pass and told him the room number.

  An officer was at the doorway, and he allowed Andrew to enter. Onyx was there speaking quietly with the doctor, and Paul was sitting in a chair holding a lot of blankets in his arm.

  Andrew moved to the bed where Shane was lying. The nurse was just finishing tucking her in the bed.

  Shane's eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply. He caressed her face wishing for her to awake, but she didn't.

  "You just missed her," Onyx said coming on the other side of the bed. "She was exhausted, but they said she would be fine given enough fluids."

  Andrew couldn't take his eyes off Shane's face, but he heard every word Onyx’s every word. "What about the baby?"

  "Healthy," Paul said near him.

  Andrew realized that was what Paul was holding. The bundle was so small in Paul's arms, Andrew couldn't believe it was a baby, but when he leaned over his brother's arms, he could see a fat pale face looking up at him with Paul's deep blue eyes.

  "Where was she?" Andrew asked Onyx.

  Onyx began the detailed description of where they had hid her. Andrew sat amazed and even angered that they had been so close and not been able to locate her.

  "I think Trudy believed she was dead already," Onyx determined.

  Andrew didn't care. His Shane was here and he would never let anyone hurt her ever again.

  Chapter 46

  Shane watched in joy as Paul carefully put the diaper on the baby, which they had named Paul John Watson. She chuckled because when Paul picked up the squirming robust infant, the diaper fell right off and PJ (which everyone called the baby) decided to relieve himself on Paul's shirt.

  Paul looked over at her for help and she came over to the lowered changing table to correct the error.

  "Are you sure you haven't done this before?" he asked watching her hands intently.

  She giggled. "I used to change Derrick and Donald's diaper all the time."

  "Good, I don't feel so bad." He put a blanket over the wet spot and rubbed his forehead looking extremely tired.

  "Are you okay?" she asked concerned finishing up PJ.

  Paul beckoned for the baby with his hands and held the boy close. "I'll be fine, Shane."

  She knew this was a lie, but a good lie. Since she had come from the hospital three weeks ago, she saw her husband's health deteriorating at a great speed. Paul had lost over fifty pounds and his legs were useless to him. He used the wheelchair to move around and he was almost losing the ability to use his hands.

  The baby's presence in the house was truly wonderful for Paul's health. It was as if PJ had given Paul a new lease life, but PJ couldn't stop what was evident. Her husband and friend was dying.

  "Rochelle said I would find the two of you in here," Onyx said.

  Paul was very happy to see the woman, but Shane had not gotten use to her presence. She was grateful to the long legged lean woman for rescuing her in time, but Shane had a feeling Onyx was too nosey.

  "You did receive my payment for your services?" Paul asked.

  "Yes, I did," Onyx said. "Thank you for the tip, Mr. Watson."

  "How can we help you?" Shane asked placing PJ in his crib for his afternoon nap.

  Onyx pulled out an envelope addressed from the hospital giving Shane a wary look. "I went a little bit above and beyond the call of duty for you sir. I would like to speak to you alone."

  Paul frowned. "Whatever you have to say to me you can say it in front of my wife. I keep no secrets."

  Onyx looked at Shane for a brief moment as if to scare her, but when Shane didn't bother to move, she said, "I thought you should know the baby's blood type."

  The room was strangely quiet as Paul looked back at Shane who was gripping the back of his chair tightly.

  Paul spoke calmly. "I don't think I care for you to know my son's medical history."

  "Well, sir, I doubted the validity of your son's-"

  He cut her off angrily, "The validity of my son's parentage was none of your business. I paid you to do one job."

  "My main concern is my client's interest. Whether you tell me what you want or not, I did feel my job was not complete until all your interest were satisfied," Onyx said in her defense.

  "Or maybe you were just nosey," Shane said.

  At that moment, Andrew appeared at the doorway carrying a dozen lilies. "Is everything okay?" he questioned noting the tension in the room.

  His eyes immediately held Shane's who wanted to run and jump in his arms, but with Onyx being there she knew she had to control her emotions. Shane hadn't seen him in so long she was almost breathless at the sight of him. He had stayed away during her recovery and she had only received flowers at the hospital and when she had gotten home.

  Shane was even angrier because with Onyx present there, none of them could talk freely in the house they were so use to being free in.

  "Ms. Heart has overstepped her bounds and gotten PJ's blood test results," Shane explained tightly.

  Andrew frowned seriously. "Why Onyx?" he questioned.

  Shane would have gladly answered that knowing the reason by the way Onyx looked at him. She had never known what jealousy was like until she heard Andrew say Onyx's name.

  "I thought Paul would be interested," Onyx explained.

  Andrew took the envelope from Onyx and tore it open.

  Shane could have cringed
at that moment if Paul was not holding her hand tightly.

  Andrew seemed to take forever reading the paper over and over. "When did you get this?" he demanded to know of Onyx.

  "Today," Onyx confessed.

  Andrew carefully closed the letter and turned to Shane and his brother. "I'll walk Ms. Heart to the door while Shane looks this over. It's her right to know." He gave the envelope and letter to Shane kissing her knuckles tenderly with a promise to return shortly in his eyes.

  Before leaving out with Andrew, Onyx said, "If you really feel I've overstepped my bounds, Mrs. Watson, I do apologize."

  Soon as the door was closed behind Andrew and Onyx, Shane opened the letter and read it out loud.

  "In the matter of the blood test on the infant Paul John Watson the second, test results showed that Paul J. Watson the first is the father by ninety-nine percent."

  Paul gasped and practically snatched the paper from her. He read the paper over twice and then looked up at Shane confused.

  "That night?" he asked in a whisper.

  She smiled knowingly and nodded.

  Tenderly Paul took her in his arms and pulled her into his lap.

  "Paul you'll hurt yourself," she said worriedly protesting.

  "No, I won't," he reassured her. "Thank you, so much, Shane."

  "For what?" Shane asked modestly, resting her head on his shoulder.

  "For giving me what I've always dreamed of Shane. I knew you were special when I first laid eyes on you." Softly he nuzzled her lips and held her close.

  "Thank you for choosing me."

  “Once I’m gone-“

  She cut him off looking up at him, not wanting to hear this. “Please Paul, don’t talk like that.”

  Tenderly he kissed her. “I have to be realistic Shane. I love you too much not to be. Just let me say this.”

  Nodding reluctantly, she allowed him to say what he had to say.