Firstborn

by Carrigan Fox

  “I’m not Ray Walker. I’ve got my own bases covered. Don’t worry about me.”

  “I expect that you will handle things properly, Adam.”

  ***

  They were in each other’s arms and sleeping soundly when Will’s phone rang shrilly in the early hours of the morning. She flailed about, accidentally smacking him in the cheekbone with the back of her hand.

  “Ow!”

  “Sorry.”

  And then she had the lamp on while he fumbled for his phone. He was only on for a minute, mostly listening. Judging by the volume of the voice on the other end, something bad had happened.

  “What’s going on?” she asked as he climbed out of bed and into his jeans in an instant. “Where’s the fire, Will?”

  He shook his head at her in amazement. “Did you have another vision?”

  “No. Why? What’s going on?”

  “How did you know there was a fire?”

  She hopped out of bed opposite him and gathered her clothes off of the floor. “It’s a common idiom, Will. What’s happening?”

  “They’re burning down my office,” he finally responded.

  She grabbed a baseball cap from the top shelf in his closet and pulled it down over her messy hair before racing down the stairs after him.

  At the bottom of the stairs, he tossed a hooded sweatshirt at her. “It’s cold outside. Put this on.”

  By the time they got to the office, it was too far gone. While parts of the walls still stood, they were engulfed in flames. The fire department used their water to saturate the neighboring buildings in an effort to keep the fire from spreading down the block. The homicide detectives on the Huntley case were there and meeting with some men on the fire department. They later made his way over to Will to apologize for his loss and to ensure him that the fire investigator would be looking for signs of arson.

  “We’re just glad that nobody was hurt,” one of them finished.

  Will shook his head. “If they’d wanted to hurt me, they would have burned my home in the pre-dawn hours. This was a message.”

  “That’s a good sign, I think,” Jac confided after the detectives had returned to their fellow servicemen.

  “Why is that?”

  “Like you said, if they wanted you dead, they would have come to your house. That means that they still need you alive to identify the woman you’re sleeping with.”

  He glanced around at the crowd of people who had gathered around the building. “Lots of people here.”

  Jac looked around, too. “Most of them have seen me here with you. Logic dictates that I was at your home asleep with you when the call came in.”

  “Most of the town will know by noon today that we’re sleeping together. It seems this might have been a trap to draw you out…literally.”

  As though on cue, Jac felt sick to her stomach. Breathing through her nose, she reached into her purse for a piece of gum. He looked down and grinned. “At least you brought your gun with you.” He didn’t seem to notice the gray pallor of her face or the fact that she was swallowing excessive saliva to prevent vomiting. She didn’t need a vision or a doctor to tell her what was wrong. It was nearly morning and she was feeling sick.

  “Classic,” she muttered in disgust.

  “What’s classic?”

  “I’m feeling nausea,” she told him.

  “At the prospect of the town learning about your sexual prowress?”

  “No, Will. I’m experiencing nausea,” she repeated with more emphasis.

  A moment that should have brought them joy, instead brought a defeated look to his face. His shoulders dropped and he shook his head. “Now they’re coming after you, too.” He directed his gaze at her flat belly. “Both of you.”

  C

  hapter 14

  “Don’t be nervous. They really are wonderfully generous people.”

  She gave him a sidelong glance from the passenger seat. She’d believe that after she met them for herself and determined that they weren’t the elitists she half expected them to be.

  “Do you want to know something kind of funny?”

  “I would love to hear something funny,” she pleaded.

  “After that first day I met you, I was remembering how my mother had once told me that opposites attract. I remember laughing about how my parents are definitely not opposites. Then I imagined taking you to a family dinner and wondered what we would possibly all talk about.” He laughed loudly and took his eyes off the road to check her reaction. “You’re not laughing,” he pointed out.

  “Not funny,” she informed him stoically.

  It was another ten minutes of awkward conversation that finally gave way to him singing along with the oldies station and trying to help her loosen up. And then he pulled into his parents’ driveway. Making a mental checklist of the items he needed to review with his parents, he silently counted on his fingers. He had to first introduce Jac to his parents. Then he had to announce the engagement. He figured by the time dessert was served, they’d be ready for the baby announcement. His parents were old fashioned about a lot of things, but both of them were also romantics. They had married only seven months after they met. Their son had moved a bit faster, but when it’s right--and when he knocks her up in the kitchen against the refrigerator--it’s right.

  They were barely out of the car when the front door was flung open and a tall and wispy blond stepped out onto the porch expectantly. Jac observed that her son had gotten his good looks and his tall, lean frame from his mother. His shoulders and muscles must have come from the linebacker who now stood behind the woman with his hands on her shoulders.

  As they came up the walk, his mother greeted her son with a kiss on the cheek and Jac with a warm embrace.

  “Dr. MaCall, it’s so wonderful to meet you.”

  “And you, Dr. Archer.”

  “Meredith, please,” she corrected. “When Will called to tell me that he was bringing you over for dinner, I was so very pleased. I met your father many years ago when he designed the security and alarm system for the hospital. He was extremely charming.”

  “He is the best,” Jac agreed with a smile.

  Will watched the introduction with a terrified smile, praying that Jac hadn’t noticed the initial greeting from his mother. He had already mentioned casually that his parents had wanted him to marry a doctor, and he didn’t want Jac to call them out for projecting. And then she did it again.

  “Say hello to Dr. MaCall, honey. This is Will’s father, Dennis,” she introduced.

  “Please, call me Jac,” she suggested, eyeing Will discreetly.

  “Absolutely not. It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a distinguished guest in our home.”

  “Mom, she’s not a doctor. She’s just Jac.” He glanced apologetically at her and then corrected himself. “Not just Jac. She’s my Jac.”

  Meredith Archer raised her eyebrow for a moment at the protectiveness of her son. He had obviously fallen for her; and he couldn’t have chosen more wisely. “Of course she’s a doctor, Will. I read her bio on her father’s company website. She’s still on the board of trustees.” She looked at her son and then at Jaclyn with a hint of confusion in her eyes.

  “You Googled her?” the elder Dr. Archer asked with disbelief. “For crying out loud, Mare, give the boy some credit. Did you run a full background check on her, too?”

  Will’s face was flushed with mortification.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. A woman of her credentials would win any mother’s blessing.” Then she backpedaled, just like her son would have done. “I don’t mean to suggest that your credentials are your only qualities of value. You seem like a delightfully warm woman.”

  “What credentials?” Now it was Will’s turn to be confused.

  His mother proudly rattled off the details of her bio to her husband, completely oblivious to her son’s confusion. “She graduated from MIT with a double major in Philosophy and Physics. It’s definitely an odd combi
nation, but well-rounded without a doubt. She graduated with honors in the top of her class and went on to finish her PhD in record time, also in Physics. Dr. MaCall is one of the more prominent physicists who specializes in theoretical quantum physics.”

  Will stared bug-eyed at his future wife, wondering when she had contacted his mother to play this joke on him.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jac,” his father greeted with a bear hug.

  Will remained speechless through dinner, to the point where his mother finally questioned him. “Will darling, you’re unusually quiet tonight.”

  “I am afraid that is probably my fault, Meredith. Will and I have had a bit of a whirlwind romance and probably have not gotten to know each other as well as we should. He was unaware that I, too, have a PhD.”

  “One might think that you deliberately misled me,” he accused through a tight smile.

  “I couldn’t tell you. It was far too much fun listening to you remind me repeatedly of your own PhD.”

  His mother burst into a cackle. “Priceless! He does do that!” she cheered.

  “When I first told him that I owned a new age shop and specialized in crystal meditations and healing, I explained that I help people get in touch with their subconscious and intuitive health. I dared to suggest that it wasn’t much different than what he did. He got all bristly and said, ‘I have a PhD.’” Jac reached over to pat his hand to placate him.

  “And you stuck around?” his mother asked with a grin of affection at her son.

  Jac laughed. “Are you kidding? That was when I fell in love with him.”

  Will shook his head in disbelief. “A double major from MIT and a PhD, as well? Is there anything else that I’m missing? Or should I ask my mother to print her Google search results?”

  “I dabbled a bit, too, with engineering and computer sciences. I thought it was a good idea given that I was being groomed for my father’s business.” She turned her attention to his parents to explain, “MaCall Securities prides itself on having the most up-to-date technology when it comes to security for its clients.”

  “And the philosophy and quantum physics?” he pressed.

  “Well that’s my passion of course.” When he still appeared unclear, she explained, “Quantum physics is a theoretical study not of matter, but the power of the mind, essentially. It’s the study of energy and how our observations dictate how that energy behaves. Our consciousness is the basis for reality. But we only observe a small portion of the world with our conscious mind. Our subconscious is much more observant, but most of us are unaware of how to willingly tap into the subconscious, which allows us a stronger influence on the world and events around us.”

  Having suddenly realized that everyone was watching her, she paused.

  “And studying the power of the mind and tapping into your subconscious is definitely your specialty.” Will looked up at his parents, “Jac has visions.”

  His dad immediately looked skeptical, his mother curious. “Premonitions?” she asked.

  Jac shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal of it when his father was already uncomfortable. “Not always. Sometimes I can tap into the energy of a room where something has already happened. Other times I get a vision of something that has not yet happened.”

  “That’s actually how we met. I have a bit of a situation, and I wanted to keep you out of it. But security is also one of Jac’s specialties.” He smiled at her and took her hand. “Who knew that I was going to marry a genius with such diverse talents and interests.”

  “Marry?” his mother perked up even more.

  “I think it’s best if we explain everything to you. From the beginning,” he added. “Jac has urged me to do so, for your own safety if nothing else. I told her that your scientific minds would struggle with it, but she’s certain that you’ll be just fine, given that you’ve raised such a fine son.”

  “From the beginning, Will,” his father ordered. “And bear in mind that your mom is a bit sensitive to discussions about your safety.”

  “I don’t know,” Jac disagreed. “We women tend to be stronger than you men give us credit for.” She smiled at Meredith across the table. She loved Will more than anything, but she desperately wanted this woman’s support and friendship.

  “Well, I suppose it all started when this militant group learned that my firstborn child would some day save the world,” Will began seriously.

  His parents gawked at him and Jaclyn burst into a fit of giggles.

  “Jesus, Will. And you guys say that women are dramatic. You could kind of ease into the story.”

  He pouted a bit. “Then you tell it,” he challenged.

  And so she did.

  ***

  The following evening, Jac convinced Will to take her to an outdoor concert in the park. She argued that nobody would dare attack him in such a public place. They enjoyed hamburgers on the grill and visiting with various customers of Jac and patients of Will.

  Jac had left the engagement ring at her home, still unwilling to publicly announce the engagement to bring on the attention of the men who wanted Will and his unborn child dead. Nevertheless, she was perfectly aware of the attention she was receiving. Every man who eyed her drew her focus and her scrutiny as she made a mental note of their physical description, asked others for their names, and made plans to compare her mental list to the list from Detective Wilson.

  The detective, in the meantime, was focusing on the fire investigation. They had determined that it was definitely arson, but they had no evidence that would point to a particular person. Wilson was quietly following and investigating Holt, but did not yet have any conclusive evidence of his involvement. Even Aislin had admitted that he seemed to be lying low, his weekly poker games now a thing of the past.

  The truth was that Jac was getting tired of living in fear. She wanted to draw out these enemies so that she could go on the offense, rather than living every day on the defense, waiting for them to come after them again. Her pregnancy was early enough that nobody could tell so far. But she also was hesitant to even get confirmation from her doctor for fear that word would somehow get to the militia.

  So if the concert in the park was too public for an attack, great. And if they wanted to come after her here, then let them come. She shrugged her shoulders and adjusted her cropped jacket to make sure that her shoulder holster was hidden.

  “Is that really necessary?” Will had asked as she slipped her gun into the holster that afternoon at his house.

  “It certainly can’t hurt, can it?”

  Will now tapped his fingers on her leg in time to the music and sipped from his bottle of beer, the gun against her ribs forgotten for the moment. He turned to her and grinned, enjoying himself more than he had when he’d had to tell his parents that someone wanted him dead.

  The Drs. Archer had handled it very well, all things considered. And they’d been thrilled to learn that their son was engaged to marry Jaclyn MaCall and that she was pregnant with their grandchild. Nevertheless, both Will and Jac had been exhausted when they had finally arrived at his house, too exhausted to do much more than turn out the light and collapse into his bed.

  The morning after the concert, Jac was lying in bed and listening to Will brew his coffee. Inspired by Meredith, Jac had spent hours after the concert Googling the various men on the list from Detective Wilson. She had printed pictures and information that she could find, including addresses and phone numbers. If they wouldn’t come to her, she would go to them. Even the threat of exposure would be enough to make most of them back down, she hoped. The reality was that it probably wouldn’t be that easy. Will had heard her come to bed after two o’clock in the morning and decided to let her sleep while he wandered downstairs to make coffee.

  She heard him opening and closing cabinets and running the cold water for the coffee maker. The sounds of pots and pans banging brought a smile to her face as she said a small prayer for bacon and eggs.

  Then she saw h
im as clearly as if she had been standing on the front porch, watching him walk down the driveway to his black SUV. He didn’t turn to say goodbye, assuming she was still up in bed asleep. Instead, he pressed the button on his keyless entry and lifted the door handle. Before climbing into the vehicle, she saw him lift his shoe to examine the bottom and heard him curse the wad of gum stuck on his heel. As if in slow motion, the entire vehicle suddenly transformed into a fireball, consuming both the SUV and the doctor who stood in the open doorway.

  Jac bolted upright in bed and raced down the stairs. While she had hoped to find Will in the kitchen fixing breakfast, she saw that he had left a note on the counter.

  Gone for doughnuts.

  She cried his name and sprinted to the front door, the bottom of one of his old t-shirts riding up over her bare legs and hips and she tore open the front door and burst out onto the front porch. Will looked up in surprise as he pulled open the car door. His smile faded to a look of confusion and then fear as Jac launched herself off of the front porch and across the driveway, barely grabbing enough of Will to knock him to the ground as the world exploded around them.

  They crawled across the grass together, Jac folding herself in his arms and calling his name repeatedly. She feared that he had been scorched a little or even deafened by the sound of the explosion. She touched his face while he watched his burning SUV in disbelief.

  “You died,” she cried.

  He shook his head and shushed her, hugging her to his chest as hard as he could. “I’m fine. We’re fine,” he assured her.

  They sat together watching the fire in horror until she was able to suck in a shuddering breath.

  “You can’t save me like that anymore,” he argued. “You’ve got the baby to think about.”

  “He needs his father, too,” she argued. “He’s strong and he’s fine. Besides, if Aislin saw the vision, then it’s going to happen. And she saw me, too. So the baby and I will be fine.”

  “How did you know?” he asked, not really needing an explanation.