by Kathi Daley
“You did such a great job,” Mom said as Dad picked Harper up to prevent her from running into the street to get a closer look at the animals on our float.
“I wish I could take credit, but it was the staff who handled it from planning to execution. It’s pretty awesome, though.”
The front of the float looked like a park and featured stuffed dogs playing on the lawn and stuffed cats sitting on the benches, while the back was meant to look like a forest filled with creatures from bears to squirrels. Jeremy had done a great job designing something that truly exemplified Zoe’s Zoo.
The next float had been built by the staff at Bears and Beavers, a touristy type shop selling everything you could imagine that featured those animals. It replicated a small lake with a beaver dam with a single black bear drinking from the water.
“Here comes the high school group.” Ellie pointed down the street. Eli screamed with delight when the band marched by, followed by the float, which featured elves in Santa’s workshop. Levi, dressed as Santa, was sitting on a throne watching over his elves, all hard at work.
I felt another twinge in my abdomen as the float from Outback Hunting and Fishing approached. Feeling slightly dizzy, I decided I needed to sit down.
“I need to run to the bathroom,” I said to Ellie. “It looks like the parade is winding down. I’ll just meet you at the car.”
Ellie gave me an odd look. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Catherine’s just kicking me in an uncomfortable spot.”
Ellie smiled. “I remember those days.” She handed me the keys to her car. “If you get there first go ahead and get in. Levi has another set if we get there first.”
I took the keys. “Okay, thanks.”
The town had set out several porta-potties for the event that I had absolutely zero intention of using. A lot of the stores were closed during the parade, but most would reopen afterward. I figured Mulligan’s Bar and Grill would have stayed open throughout, so I headed in that direction. Not only would they have a clean bathroom but there’d most likely be somewhere to sit for a minute.
Fortunately, everyone was at the parade, so the place was empty. Even the bartender was nowhere to be found. I used the ladies’ room and was walking back to the door when another contraction gripped my body. There was a booth nearby, so I decided to sit down for a minute to wait it out. The pain was just beginning to dissipate when Cory Wood came in from the back room. I was about to say hi when I had the oddest feeling. Normally, I’d attribute it to Zodar, but I wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t just labor pains.
“Hi, Cory,” I said as he stopped a few feet from where I was sitting.
He turned in my direction, appearing surprised to see me sitting there. “Zoe. Why are you in here all by yourself?”
“Just resting.”
“I hear yah, man. It’s crazy out there.”
“Are you working at the bar?” I asked.
“Just for a couple of hours. The regular bartender is a friend of mine, and he wanted to take his kid to the parade, so I offered to cover. Easy way to make a buck. You’re the first person to come in since the parade began. Do you want a drink?”
“No, I’m fine. I just needed a place to sit for a minute.”
Cory pulled a packet of candy out of his pocket. “Skittles?”
“It seems you have quite the sweet tooth. Weren’t you eating M&M pancakes when Jeremy and I stopped by to speak to you?”
Cory shrugged. “What can I say? I have a fondness for small, colorful bursts of flavor. You ever find out what happened to Stella?”
I pursed my lips. “No. Not yet. But Sheriff Salinger has some leads.”
“Well, I hope you find the guy.” He started to walk away.
“Wait,” I said as an idea I hated to even explore popped into my mind. “Before you go, I do have one question for you.”
Cory slid into the booth across from me. “Okay, shoot. I think I already told you everything I know, but if I can help…”
“One of Stella’s neighbors said she saw you in the building late the night she died. After midnight,” I bluffed. “I didn’t remember whether you mentioned that when we spoke before.”
“What neighbor?” Cory asked, a tone of suspicion in his voice.
I paused. I didn’t know the name of any of the neighbors except Christopher, but it seemed risky to do any name-dropping.
“Who said they saw me at Stella’s?” Cory asked again.
I decided to stick with a vague reply. “I’m not sure. Salinger told me that one of the neighbors told him that they saw you at Stella’s on the night she died.”
“It’s seems odd you didn’t mention that before.”
“I didn’t find out about it until after we spoke. Is there a problem?”
Cory popped a handful of Skittles into his mouth. “No problem. If you must know, I went over there to apologize for the fight we’d had the night before. Like I said, we’d been friends for a lot of years. I didn’t want to leave it that way. We had a nice talk and mended fences and then I left.”
“I guess that explains it.” I started to get up. “I should get back to my friends. Have a nice night.”
I left the bar and headed toward the car. The Skittle I’d found under the chair and the freshly vacuumed floor suggested Cory had been at Stella’s on the night she died, that he’d spilled his candies and then someone had vacuumed them up. It could have gone down as Cory said—he’d shown up, spoken to her, and then left—but my Zodar was tingling. I felt sure now that Cory had been the one who’d killed Stella. But why? He’d said he’d been a friend of her brother and had known Stella for a long time. I knew he’d helped get her the job at the holiday store and he’d admitted to scooping Stella up and taking her home when he’d found her wasted at Lucky’s. On the surface, it seemed he really cared for her, so why was my gut telling me that he was the killer we were looking for?
I reached Ellie’s van, opened the passenger door, and slipped inside, then pulled out my phone to call Salinger. He didn’t answer, so I decided to leave a message. “Hey, Salinger, it’s Zoe. I think I know who killed Stella. I haven’t worked out the why yet, but my gut…”
I paused as the driver’s side door opened. My smile faded when I realized it was Cory and not Ellie who’d entered the vehicle.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Something about our conversation struck me as strange. I realized it might behoove me to follow up.”
“Strange how?”
“It was just a vibe. When I saw you were heading to the parking area and not back to your friends as you said in the bar, I thought I should follow to see what you were up to.”
I felt my heart begin to pound. “I was tired and needed to rest. There’s nothing strange going on.”
Cory reached over and took the phone from my hand. He clicked it off, then tossed it out the window. “I heard you on the phone with the sheriff. I’m afraid it wouldn’t be in my best interest to let you finish that call.”
Cory grabbed the keys, which I’d left on the center console. He slid them into the ignition and started the van.
“What are you doing?” I screeched as he pulled out of the parking lot and on to the highway. A contraction gripped me and I gasped as the pain seared through my body. Cory stared intently at the road, not seeming to notice. “Where are you going?” I asked when Cory didn’t answer.
“I don’t know. Stop talking. I need to think.”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I don’t know anything. Please stop the car. I think I’m in labor. I should get to the hospital.”
Cory remained silent as he kept his eyes on the road ahead of us. I didn’t know where he was driving, but I had a bad feeling about it. Another contraction gripped me as he maneuvered around a tight curve that caused me to slam into the door on my right side.
“I didn’t kill her. At least not on purpose,” Cory eventually said in a voice so soft I coul
d barely make out his words. “Stella wasn’t an easy person to love,” he continued when I didn’t reply. “She had such a beautiful spirit, but she seemed to forever be heading for the ultimate high or the deepest low. She never could find and maintain any sort of balance in her life.” I saw a tear slide down his cheek. “I tried to help her. I really did. When she lost her job I helped her find a new one, and when she was passed out in her own vomit I cleaned her up. She said she wanted to change and I thought we might have a future together, but it was just an illusion. All those nights when I thought she was at Narcotics Anonymous meetings she was out prostituting herself with men she met online.”
“I guess that must have made you angry,” I said after a moment.
“It did. But I still loved her.”
Cory had slowed the van as he’d begun to express his feelings. It might be a good idea to keep him talking. “So what happened?”
Cory frowned but didn’t answer.
“I can tell you really cared about Stella. Maybe I can help.”
“How can you help?” Cory demanded.
“I’m not sure, but Sheriff Salinger and I are friends. He’ll listen to me, but first you need to tell me what happened.”
I didn’t think he was going to tell me the rest, but after a moment he began to speak again. “As you already know, Stella and I argued on Thursday night. I was usually able to maintain my calm when dealing with her because she was a fragile little thing, but that night I lost it. I never touched her except to force her into the car, but I said some mean things. I knew I’d hurt her and wanted to apologize, so I went over to her place the next night. She was totally wasted. Pills, booze, the whole nine yards. It suddenly hit me that she was never going to change. She was never going to be the woman I needed her to be. I started yelling and she started crying. She slapped me and I shoved her. She fell and hit her head. I was going to call 911, but when I realized she was dead I panicked and ran.”
He pulled up in front of a cabin that had been built on a large lot just outside of town. “Where are we?” I asked.
“My place.”
Cory got out of the van and walked around to the passenger side door. “Get out,” he said.
“Why? What are you going to do with me?”
“I don’t know; just get out.”
I wanted to resist, but I was in no shape to engage in a physical altercation, so I did as he said. Cory told me to sit in a chair near the door, then used the cord from the miniblinds to bind my hands to it. Another contraction, the strongest so far, gripped me as he headed down the hallway. It seemed to me he’d gone into what must be his bedroom.
“Not now, baby,” I whispered to Catherine. There was no way I wanted to give birth while tied to a chair in a filthy cabin with a man who very well might be planning to kill me.
A few minutes later, he came out carrying an overnight bag.
“Are you going somewhere?” I asked as another contraction caused my entire body to stiffen.
“I need to get out of town while I still can. Don’t worry; my roommate will be home in about four hours. He’ll set you free. Just relax in the meantime.”
“I think I might be in labor. I don’t know if I have four hours. Please, you have to let me go now. I won’t tell anyone what happened with Stella.”
“Good try, but you already told me you aren’t due for a few weeks. Four hours will fly by if you just relax and stop fighting the ropes.”
“But…” I said as the door slammed behind him. I heard the engine of the van come to life as he sped away.
I took several deep breaths, trying to steady the panic that was building inside. I’d been in sticky situations in the past and this was a mild predicament compared to some of them. Four hours wasn’t all that long to wait. I was fairly comfortable and just needed to relax.
And then another contraction tore through my body. I panted through it and then looked at my watch. I’d been having contractions for a while now and they seemed to be getting both harder and closer together. When the next one gripped me, I realized they were now only three minutes apart.
“Please, Catherine. You need to wait, baby. I don’t see how you can come into the world while I’m tied to a chair. Please, please, wait a while longer.”
Tears streamed down my face as another contraction grasped me. I was never going to make it. The contractions were coming closer together. I had to find a way to get out of this chair. I pulled at the ropes, but Cory had tied them securely. I felt as if my body was being ripped apart as another contraction took hold. I screamed, although I knew there was no one to hear. I was sure I’d pass out from the pain when the front door flew open.
“Catherine’s coming,” I shouted to Salinger, who was untying the ropes around my hands.
“Don’t worry. We’ll get you to the hospital.”
Salinger picked me up and carried me to his squad car. He placed me gently on the backseat, then turned on the lights and sirens and sped toward the hospital. He must have called ahead because there was a nurse with a wheelchair waiting when we arrived. Once I was settled into it, Salinger grabbed my hand. “You’re in good hands now.”
“Cory Wood killed Stella. He’s in Ellie’s van.”
“I figured that much out. Zak, Ellie, and your mom are on the way. I’m going after Cory.”
Salinger leaned forward and hugged me. Okay, that was a first, but I hugged him back before he jogged back to his squad car and drove away.
“Let’s get you inside,” the nurse said. “It looks like your baby is determined to be here for Christmas.”
After a quick exam in the emergency room they took me directly to delivery.
“Zak. My husband. He was on his way. He should be here. I need him to be here.”
The doctor looked at one of the nurses. “See if you can track down Mr. Zimmerman. And hurry. This baby is ready to be born.”
The nurse left to find Zak and the doctor began to explain everything that was going to happen and what he needed me to do. “You’re going to begin to have the urge to push, but don’t do it. Not yet. I just want you to pant and try to relax through the contraction.”
Relax? Was this guy kidding me?
“Okay, here comes a big one,” the doctor said. “Pant and relax.”
The panting was doable, the relaxing not so much, but I tried. The doctor was doing something down there, but I couldn’t see his hands, so I wasn’t sure what was going on.
“You can push with the next contraction,” the doctor said.
“Zak. He should be here.”
“On his way,” one of the nurses said.
“Okay, now,” the doctor said. “Push through the entire contraction.”
I tried to do as the doctor said, but midway through, the push turned into a scream. I felt someone grab my hand and squeeze it tight. The pain was overwhelming, and I found my energy waning, but I could hear Zak’s voice in my ear, encouraging me to hang in there just a little longer. I took a deep breath and pushed again.
“I have her now; pant,” the doctor said as I felt Catherine slide from my body.
“Is she okay?” I asked as I tried to both relax and pant.
“She’s perfect,” Zak said in my ear.
I felt a drop of moisture on my shoulder. I glanced behind me to find tears streaming down my big, strong husband’s face. I wanted to say something, but I was too exhausted to form words, so I just smiled. Zak smiled back and then he leaned over and kissed me gently on the forehead.
“Would you like to hold your daughter?” the nurse asked a few minutes later.
“Yes.”
The back of the bed was raised, and the nurse handed me a still-wet baby wrapped in a white sheet. I cradled her in my arms as tears began to stream down my own face.
“She looks just like I imagined she would,” I whispered as Zak shifted slightly so he was sitting by my side instead of at my head.
Zak wrapped his arms around both of us, and togethe
r we sobbed in happiness and relief.
Chapter 11
Sunday, December 24
I woke to the feeling of someone licking my face. I slowly opened my eyes to find Charlie next to me. It was still dark, so I knew it must be early, but Zak’s side of the bed was empty. I glanced at the bassinette to find it empty as well.
“Zak?” I called softly so as not to wake the rest of the family.
“I’m here on the sofa.”
I climbed out of bed and slipped on my robe. I crossed the room to find Zak sitting on the sofa of our seating area with Catherine sleeping peacefully in his arms.
“She was a little fussy and I didn’t want to wake you.”
I sat down next to Zak and laid my head on his shoulder. The room was lit by only the flames from the fireplace and the lights from the tree Zak had placed in the corner. Charlie jumped up onto the sofa next to me and laid his head in my lap. We’d decided to let Charlie get used to Catherine before we introduced her to the other resident animals, so Marlow and Spade were sleeping with Alex and Bella was sleeping with Scooter and Digger.
“Do you think she’s hungry?” I asked as I marveled at the perfection that was our daughter.
“No. She needed to be changed and then she went right back to sleep. Based on the schedule the doctor gave us, she isn’t due for a feeding for another hour. You should try to get some sleep. We have a busy day ahead of us.”
I pulled a blanket over me and snuggle up closer to Zak. Charlie shifted as well, so I was surrounded by the comfort of those who loved me the most. “I love this. Sitting here with you and Catherine and Charlie in a dark house on Christmas Eve. It feels absolutely perfect.”
Zak turned and gently kissed my lips. “It is pretty perfect, isn’t it?”
I fixed my gaze on Catherine, with her thick head of dark hair and deep blue eyes. If the painting I had seen was accurate, the ancestor Catherine was named for had been a beautiful woman. Tall and regal with dark hair, blue eyes, clear pale skin, and a smile that seemed to light up a room.