Deadly Silence

by Mary Stone

  “You excited? If the doc clears you maybe you can start doing some fieldwork again.”

  She swung her head to look at him, eyes wide in surprise. “You’d be okay with that?”

  “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

  Oh, now she understood. He was talking about the surveillance cases. Those were pretty cut-and-dry. All they entailed was sitting in a car, taking photos of the subject whenever he or she left the house. He didn’t mean cases like Elise’s, or the Spotlight Killer’s, or the real dangerous ones.

  And truthfully, as much as she loved working those cases, she couldn’t go back. Not now. She had her kids to think of. “I might take a few surveillance cases off your hands, but I think I need to concentrate on working from the house.”

  He gave her a doubtful look. “You’re not serious.”

  “Yeah, I am.” She met his look with one of her own. “We need to face the facts, Linc. Soon I’m going to have two babies here. And you’re sure as hell not going to breastfeed them, are you?”

  “No, but—”

  “You were right. My job, first and foremost, is being a mom. Nothing else matters. I’ve got to think of them. They need me.”

  He didn’t have time to argue. Right then, they pulled into the lot for Kylie’s OB-GYN. What a difference it was from the last time she’d been there. This time, Kylie jumped out and proudly walked into the office, her head up high, with Linc on her arm.

  She gave her name at reception but this time, as she looked around, she noticed quite a few single pregnant ladies, all sitting by themselves. They all seemed a lot braver than she had been.

  Linc stood fidgeting in the middle of the room, like he wasn’t sure if husbands were allowed to sit. Kylie grabbed his arm, took him to an empty pair of chairs, and handed him a copy of Outdoors magazine that she found in a rack.

  Instead, Linc seemed mesmerized by a large poster on the wall, indicating the size of dilation. Kylie grimaced at how big ten centimeters was, grabbed a copy of Allure, and studied the Fall Fashion Guide, which included a number of lovely and fashionable pieces that Kylie sure as hell wouldn’t be wearing that season. And look. Skinny jeans are in this fall. Go me.

  She closed the magazine in a huff and stroked her belly.

  Again, she reminded herself: Losing her figure, giving up the things she loved about her job, being confined to the bed for the next six months—all of it would be worthwhile, because it was for their babies.

  It’s all worth it, she told herself, looking up at that picture of the ten-centimeter dilation. All worth it.

  The door to the offices opened, and a nurse came out. “Kylie? Come on back.”

  Linc hesitated, but she took his hand and led him with her. “Hi. This is my husband, Linc,” she said, introducing him to the nurse as she took her blood pressure and weight. Kylie tried not to concentrate on the numbers, even though she was definitely heavier. Almost to the tune of ten pounds heavier. It’s all worth it.

  It was all the same as the last time, and Kylie felt so much more comfortable. “Now,” the nurse said, reading over her file. “You’ve already had your initial ultrasound.”

  She nodded. “Yes, but my husband wasn’t there for that. So this is the first one he gets to see.”

  The blonde nurse with the fair, ruddy complexion smiled at him. “You’re in for a treat,” she said, handing Kylie her gown. “You know the drill. The doctor will be in in a moment.”

  Kylie did as she’d done before, changing in the bathroom and providing her urine sample, then hopped up on the exam table. Linc shifted in his chair like a lost puppy, scanning everything as if he’d never been in a doctor’s exam room before. “How long you been coming to this place?”

  “Since my mom put me on birth control when I was sixteen,” she said casually.

  “Oh, yeah? Sixteen? And why did you do that?” He leaned forward, interested.

  “Forget it. My periods were all over the place, so I used birth control to regulate them. The end.” She grinned. “You were hoping for a hot and heavy story about my first boyfriend?”

  He hitched a shoulder. “Not really.”

  “Good. Because there isn’t one.” That wasn’t a lie. Kylie had always had a strong personality that frightened guys off, according to Rhonda. Even just a few years ago, she’d wondered if she would ever meet any guy who wouldn’t be intimidated by her, let alone the one. Looking at her stomach now, it was hard to believe that was not so long ago. She felt like she’d known Linc forever. “Besides, what does any of that matter?”

  “It doesn’t. I have been wondering, though. If you were on birth control, how did you end up pregnant?”

  It was a good question.

  “In a word…antibiotics. Remember how we were supposed to use a secondary form of birth control after I got sick a few months ago?”

  He stared at her blankly. “You were?”

  Oops. Kylie scanned her brain. Had she even told him? God, was this all her fault?

  As she was mentally berating herself, Linc shrugged, grinning. “Just because you’re having kids doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice any of what makes you, you.”

  Was he quoting her now? Was he making fun of her? She got the feeling that he would take the pregnancy in whatever way it had happened, like he’d been wanting kids a lot more than he’d let on.

  Before she could ask about that, Dr. Ling came in, a big smile on her face. “That’s true! Wise man!” She extended her hand for him to shake, and Kylie introduced them. “It’s important not to lose our identities because of our kids. Sometimes we think we need to shut off a certain part of our lives to avoid hurting our children, but that’s not the case.”

  Kylie’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, a mother who quits her job to be a stay at home mother. There’s nothing wrong with doing that, but some mothers are very fulfilled in their jobs and need to get out of the house. There’s nothing wrong with not spending every waking moment with your child, and it might actually be good for them because when a mother’s at her best, doing what she loves most, a child senses that.”

  “Oh,” Kylie said.

  “We were just discussing whether Kylie should return back to her regular job once she gets cleared off bed rest,” Linc put in.

  “Well, that depends. Do you love it?”

  “I do, but it’s kind of dangerous,” she told the doctor. “And well, I guess I should first see if I’m cleared before I’m even worried about that.”

  “Right.” The doctor snapped on a pair of gloves and sat on a chair, wheeling herself close to Kylie. She performed the exam, every once in a while nodding that everything was all right, and then it was time for the ultrasound. “Scoot on over here, Dad, so you can have a front row seat.”

  Linc stood up and moved to the other side of the table, scooping up Kylie’s hand as the ultrasound tech squirted the warm gel on Kylie’s stomach. Then, she gently put the paddle up against Kylie’s abdomen, moving it along her side. Kylie squirmed a little, watching as the image slowly appeared. She gasped. “Is that…oh my gosh, they’re so much bigger. They actually look like humans now.”

  Dr. Ling laughed and went through everything they were seeing. The babys’ heads, an arm, a few feet, confirming that everything was on schedule and developing normally. No problems. Once that was determined, Kylie kept her eyes on Linc. He was completely rapt, and at one time she thought she saw him blink a tear out of his eye.

  After Kylie had sat up and wiped the goo off her stomach, the doctor looked over her chart and smiled. “I think you should be able to go ahead and take yourself off bed rest. Light exercise. Not too much stress. There’s no reason to believe you can’t have a normal pregnancy from here on out.”

  Kylie and Linc smiled at each other. “Great,” Kylie said. “That means I can go to my friend’s wedding? Dance a little?”

  Dr. Ling nodded. “Sure. When is it?”

  “In about a month.”

 
; “That should be okay. Just like with everything, take it easy. Don’t overdo it, and you should be fine.”

  Linc laughed. “No breakdancing.”

  Kylie snapped her fingers. “Darn.”

  He leaned over and whispered, “See? Everything’s going to be great for them. I’m telling you.”

  She would do everything possible to make sure that everything was good for them. That was her job. But just how much of her identity would she have to give up in order to do that?

  She didn’t know.

  And she didn’t know if it mattered anymore, anyway.

  She gazed at the ultrasound picture the tech handed her.

  Bean One and Bean Two were certainly bigger. Growing stronger day by day.

  Whatever I have to do, it’s worth it.

  26

  Linc sat, dressed in his best suit, next to Kylie, at Rhonda and Jerry’s six-month anniversary party. They’d gone all out and rented out an enormous, screened, outdoor gazebo. He kept pulling on his collar, wishing he could go home and shed his jacket and tie. The late September heat was unbearable.

  “Is your suit all right?” Kylie asked him.

  “I’m wearing it, so no.” He hated wearing a suit. The last time he had was for Jacob and Faith’s wedding, and before that, his own wedding, and he’d been so mesmerized by his wife at each event that the discomfort he felt hadn’t registered in the least.

  Kylie, though? Tonight, she was glistening. Glowing. She was wearing an older dress he’d seen on her before, but she looked simply stunning, with her long dark hair falling down her back. For the past few months, other than wearing a bridesmaid dress for Faith, she’d been wearing nothing but pajamas, her hair up in a ponytail, so he’d almost forgotten how magazine-cover gorgeous she could be.

  She had the tiniest little round baby belly, and he couldn’t stop wanting to pat it and caress it and the rest of her. And she was smiling, completely in her element, socializing with every person she came in contact with.

  If the heat was bothering her, one wouldn’t know it.

  The only indication was when she fanned her face with her napkin and checked her phone. “It’s hot, and I’m starving.”

  Linc laughed. At least some things never changed.

  No sooner had she finished her sentence than piano music began to play, and waiters and waitresses came out carrying trays of food. They served the honored couple first, and Jerry looked at his bride the same way he’d looked at her on their wedding day.

  Rhonda was smiling, looking just as in love. It seemed as though all the Hatfield women were glowing tonight, because Kylie’s mother looked more beautiful than ever. She was wearing a pale pink lace dress, her blonde hair done up with loose tendrils that floated around her face as her husband of six months got up to make a toast.

  “At my age, I have to take every opportunity to celebrate,” he said, and the guests tittered at this explanation for the elaborate party, before he went on to describe how much he loved his wonderful wife.

  Next to him, Kylie began to sob quietly. “Pregnancy hormones,” she explained.

  Linc took her hand. “It’s all right. You don’t have to explain. You go ahead and cry. It’s nice to see your mom so happy.”

  “Can you believe it! Six months went by in a flash,” Rhonda said after the meal was done, rubbing Kylie’s tummy. “How are my grandkids?”

  “They’re good. Mom, you look as beautiful today as you did on your wedding day.”

  Her mother stood, gazing at Kylie’s growing belly.

  Kylie looked behind her at the guests. Rhonda had invited more people than Linc and Kylie had invited to their wedding; a lot more. In fact, Linc had no idea who most of these people were.

  She shifted uncomfortably. “Uh. Mom? You should probably greet the other guests, don’t you think?”

  “Oh! Right!”

  A million years later, Rhonda picked up a glass and tapped it with a spoon to get the attention of the guests. “If you don’t mind,” she said to everyone. “I’d like to take a few minutes to say a couple words.”

  Kylie leaned over to Linc and said, “She has never said just a couple words in her life.”

  Linc smiled. The same could be true of Kylie. Since the shooting ordeal, Kylie had gotten a little bit of that spirit back. She’d focused herself entirely on the babies, because that bullet that narrowly missed her was a wake-up call to her that she needed to.

  But for the past few weeks, he’d been wondering if she had been going overboard. She was dutifully grinning and bearing all that boring surveillance work and background checks, but he could see the life go out of her eyes every time she sat down at the computer. He had to wonder whether once all the excitement of babies and weddings was over, she’d be left feeling unfulfilled? Would he and the babies be enough for her?

  Rhonda said, “I would like to thank each one of you for coming to our anniversary party and making our second special day even more special. We’re beyond happy that all of you could be here with us. Six months ago, I made my dreams come true by marrying the love of my life. Not only did I become a wife to the most wonderful man, I’m also going to become a grandmother next year, as my lovely daughter is expecting twins!”

  Rhonda presented Kylie, who was sitting across the table, sipping water. She swallowed it in a gulp as everyone gasped and applauded for her. She nodded and mouthed the words, “Thank you,” then looked at Linc and rolled her eyes. “Oh, my god. So embarrassing.”

  He laughed. It was probably just as embarrassing as when Linc’s family took them out to his father’s Asheville Legal Association’s annual dinner at the country club last week. Linda, who adored her daughter-in law, couldn’t stop touching Kylie’s belly with great excitement. His father, who was chair of the ALA, had gotten up to give a speech to the lawyers present, and had somehow managed to squeeze in words about how his “lovely family members and family members-to-be were present.” Then he’d gone on to say that his youngest son and daughter-in-law were expecting twins, garnering more applause than the rest of his, rather dull, speech.

  Kylie had blushed but was absolutely pleased. Linc and his father had never seen eye to eye, and Jonathan Coulter had never been one to praise his son. That was about the closest he’d ever come to it.

  When the speech ended, Kylie grabbed Linc’s hand and led him to the dance floor. “Come on,” she said. “I need to trip the light fantastic and shake off the embarrassment.”

  As they made their way around the tables, people stopped and congratulated them. At the dance floor, a slow song was playing. She wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “Figures. She tries to make an event that’s supposed to be all about her, all about me, and of course, it’s when I look like a sack full of potatoes. Lumps everywhere.”

  “You make a very attractive sack of potatoes,” he said, nuzzling her ear. As he did, it was no longer her breasts pressing against his chest, but her belly against his lower abdomen. When her head fell to rest against him, he whispered, “You really do look beautiful.”

  She tightened her arms around him and sighed.

  He wasn’t sure if it was a sigh of contentment, or boredom.

  “Are you happy?” he asked her.

  She looked up at him. “Of course. Why?”

  He shrugged. “Because I’m worried about my wife. I want her to be happy.”

  “Well, I am.”

  “I don’t know about that. I see you when you’re working. You’re not as…Kylie as you used to be. Yeah, you look happy, but I can’t help thinking you’re missing something.”

  She eyed him suspiciously. “I have everything I need.”

  “Yeah. But what about the things you want?”

  She shrugged. “They’re the same.”

  He spun her on the dance floor. “I don’t know about that,” he said. “What about your job?”

  “I like my job.”

  “No you don’t. Not anymore.”

  She frowne
d. “Why do you say that?”

  “It used to be something you lived to do. Now, I don’t know what it is. You look at the computer day in and day out, like you want to kill it. And if that’s the case, why do it? I can make enough money for both of us. I’ll just pick up more seminars.”

  “Is that what you want me to do? Give up my job?”

  “No. But I don’t know if it’s something that will keep you happy five, ten, twenty years from now.”

  “I’m happy, Linc. And not everyone loves their job. I’m fine.”

  He wanted her to. He loved the way her eyes lit up in a way they only did when she was on a big case. They were on their way to an argument, and he didn’t want to ruin this perfect night, so he let it go.

  They danced for a couple more slow songs, and by then, dessert was being served. As they made their way off the dance floor, Kylie looked up and nudged him. “Now, it’s nice to see him, but I know he wasn’t invited.”

  Linc followed her line of sight to the open doors, where Jacob was standing, face grim, holding his hat in front of him and searching the crowd. “Shit. You think it’s bad news?”

  Kylie nodded. “Why else would he be here? But all my family’s here. I hope nothing happened to your family?”

  He sat her down at their table and went to meet his best friend. Jacob waved as he approached. “There you are. Sorry to bother you here. I called you a couple times but then I remembered you said you’d be here.”

  “Everything okay? My family all right?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sure, sure. This has nothing to do with them. But I just wanted to let you know that we were called to the scene of the Sunset Diner about an hour ago. Seems that Elise went out back to have a cigarette and someone shot her.”

  “What? Is she okay?”

  “She’s at the hospital right now. Critical. But after Kylie’s involvement in the case, I thought I’d let you know.”

  Linc’s eyes drifted across the dance floor to Kylie, who was sitting in her chair, watching them intently. He turned his back on her so she wouldn’t see the worry on his face. “Let me guess. The guy got away.”