He would have to thank his friend the next time they spoke. For now, he needed to get back to Hailey and get them both out of Paris. Whoever was here knew the identity that she had registered under at the hospital and she was in more danger than he had known. His heart raced at the prospect and he jumped into the car to get to the hospital as fast as he could while taking extra precautions to make sure no one followed him. This was a dangerous game they were playing and he was determined to win.
Twenty Nine
Hailey woke up as she felt her bed move. She opened her eyes to see a nurse moving around the room. She was so tired from the IV drip. She could barely keep her eyes open. She thought the nurse was going to take her vitals so she lifted up her arm for the blood pressure cuff. But instead of taking her blood pressure, the nurse gently placed her arm back on the bed and then put up the sides to the bed.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Charleston. Keep sleeping. I am just moving you up to your private room now. Rest is good for you and good for the baby.” The nurse touched her hand and maneuvered the bed into the hallway. They were going down the hallway for what seemed like forever until they reached the elevator. Hailey tried to stay awake by watching the lights pass by as they moved. But once she was in the elevator, the drugs took effect and she fell back asleep.
When Hailey opened her eyes again, she was in a private room. The nurse was gone and there was a lamp on in the corner of the room. It was the only light in the dark room and yet her eyes took a minute to adjust. Once her eyes adjusted and she was able to take in her surroundings, she was able to see a dark figure sitting. She figured Chuck must have come in while she was sleeping. She stretched and smiled. But once the figure moved into the light, her smile vanished.
“Hi there, Hailey. I just spoke to the doctor. I’m glad to hear the pregnancy is going well. It sounds like you had a bit of a scare but I’m here now to take you home. Once we get back, you’ll have the best of everything in Seattle. You’ll have better prenatal care than Michelle Obama could get.” Hailey couldn’t even form words in her mouth as she watched Chris Dalton approach her bed. He sat on the bed next to her and moved the hair out of her face and behind her ear. “Besides, we’ll be so happy, the three of us. This baby needs a mom, Hailey. Unfortunately, I’m sure you’ve heard the news that Erin is no longer with us. But you are my shining ray of hope. Together you and I can preserve her memory and raise her child.”
Hailey reached for the call button for the nurse but Chris saw the attempted and moved the button further other of reach. He grabbed her hand and rubbed it. With his other hand he flipped a switch on her IV. “I know it’s a lot to process right now, Hailey. But this will help you rest. You’ll feel better once you’ve had some sleep. Then we’ll be back home before you know it.”
Chris watched her succumb to the medicine and put a hand on her stomach. He was relieved to find that she was still pregnant. He was worried she would do something drastic when she heard the news about Erin. But he should have known that she would never be able to do something to Erin’s baby. She had loved Erin as much as Erin loved her. They were like sisters. Chris was unsuited to raise a baby alone. But if he took in Erin’s best friend and surrogate, he would just look to the public like a caring father and loving man who was doing everything in his power to keep his wife’s memory alive. And behind closed doors, he would make Hailey his. Just as he had wanted to do since the very first day that she moved into his house. This was turning out to be the perfect plan and he was amazed at his own brilliance.
Chris took out his cell phone. “Yes, I found her. I’ll text you the coordinates now. I’ve already spoken to the hospital administrator and made the necessary donations to secure access to the helicopter pad up top. I’ll have the nurse bring her and we’ll meet you up there. I want to be gone before she wakes up. And make sure you get rid of that guy who has been with her like a little puppy dog. I want him gone.” He hung up and touched Hailey’s stomach one more time. Yes, he was about to get everything that he wanted.
Thirty
Chuck parked in the hospital parking lot and raced inside. He stopped at the reception area to get Hailey’s new room number. Surely they had moved her into the private room by now. He waited for the receptionist to get off of her phone call and resisted the urge to hang up the phone for her. It wasn’t her fault that they were in this mess. Finally she was merciful in putting the phone down and turning to him.
“Bonjour. Bienvenue à l'hôpital. Puis-je s'il vous plaît obtenir le nom de la personne que vous êtes en visite aujourd'hui?” She looked up at him and waited for his response. It took him a minute to realize that she was asking for Hailey’s name to look up the room number. His French was good but it was hard to concentrate on translation when he was just anxious to get to her and know she was save.
“Je cherche la chambre de Mme Emily Charleston, s'il vous plaît.” He tapped against the counter anxiously and hoped that she would hurry up. She had a concerned look on her face and typed something into the system again. He could not figure out what was taking so long. Shouldn’t she be able to just type in the name Emily Charleston and have a number pop up?
She looked up at him with a quizzical expression. “Je suis désolé, monsieur. Mais Mme Charleston a été libéré il ya une demi -heure.” He pushed back from the counter and took a minute to process this information. Hailey had been released half and hour ago. The doctor had planned to keep her overnight. That’s why he sent her away. Or was he part of the plot? No, more likely he was just paid handsomely to do the bidding of whoever Dalton sent. He never should have left her. He was such a fool. He went against his training and thought only about the fact that he was failing in love and now Hailey was going to suffer the consequences.
Chuck ran back out to the car and got the satellite phone from trunk. He pulled out and was careful to check for anyone following him. He saw a helicopter take off from the helipad on the roof of the hospital and with a sinking feeling in his gut he knew that Hailey was on it. He found a place to park in relative darkness and dialed John back in New Mexico. He picked up on the second ring.
“Chuck, is everything okay?” John knew that if Chuck was calling at this time that it was not a social call.
“He has her, John. That bastard Dalton took her from the hospital. It’s my fault. She was having Braxton Hicks contractions and the doctor told me to run home for supplies. Damn it!” He hit the steering wheel. “There’s a helicopter taking off from the roof of the hospital now and I think she’s on it.”
John cursed under his breath and Chuck could hear Maggie asking what was wrong in the background. “Okay, tell me what you need.”
Chuck outlined his plan. He knew the helicopter would take them to an airport to catch a flight back to the United States. No doubt Dalton was confident enough in his own abilities to control those around him that he would take Hailey straight back to Seattle. If Chuck went straight to the airport now and took a private plane, he might be able to beat them there. He rushed to the nearest airport and hoped that John would be able to come through with the necessary arrangements. Hailey’s future depended on it.
Thirty One
Hailey began to stir and Chris looked over at her. It had been quite a hassle to get her in the helicopter and then from the helicopter into the private jet. But it was worth it. They were headed back to Seattle and everything was falling into place.
Hailey opened her eyes and realized she was no longer in the hospital. She sat up and realized she had been asleep on a couch on a private jet. Well, at least that meant that the motion was real and not just her having a bad reaction to the medicine. Had Chuck come to get her and decided they needed to leave? How did she get here? Her memory was very fuzzy as she was trying to fight her way out of the fog caused by the medicine. She held her stomach and was relieved to feel the baby kick. But that was where her relief ended. Hailey looked up and saw that it was Chris, not Chuck, on the plane with her.
“Oh,
good. I’m glad you’re awake.” Chris put down the documents he was looking at and turned in his chair towards Hailey. “We’re still a few hours out from Seattle but I’ve called ahead to make sure your room is ready for you. I also took the liberty of having the housekeeper purchase some maternity clothes in your size. You’re blossoming into motherhood and it’s time you have some clothes that reflect that.”
Hailey shook her head. “Donate the clothes then, Chris. I am not going to live in Seattle with you. You killed my best friend.” Hailey knew it wasn’t smart to confront him but she had to do something. She could feel the tears in her eyes and turned aways so that she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She heard him get up from his chair and come sit on the couch next to her. She looked up and he handed her a folded piece of paper.
“What is this?” She took the paper but didn’t open it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see what was inside.
“I had a feeling you might be a little reluctant to return with me so I had the doctor do a small test while you were sleeping. Notice the bandage on your stomach?” Hailey touched her stomach to find there was indeed a bandage. “That is from the amniocentesis that was performed. This document proves the DNA match to show that baby is mine, proving you are just the surrogate. That means you have no parental rights and legally have to give me that baby once you give birth. Erin’s baby.” Hailey opened up the paper to see that it did in fact show exactly what Chris said.
“I know what that baby means to you, Hailey. I know how much you miss Erin. That baby needs you as much as I need you.” Hailey looked at him in disgust. “I know you don’t trust me. That’s fine. I’m prepared to offer you a deal. If you will come back with me to Seattle and live with me and the baby, I will personally assure you that no harm will come to you or the child. I will give you free reign to raise Erin’s baby as you wish and preserve her memory.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then, frankly, once I inherit Erin’s estate, I won’t have much use for the baby. And in a big house like that, accidents can happen. Especially with careless nannies. It would be such a tragedy for both mother and child to expire within so soon of each other. Luckily, I have a fantastic publicist who can make me come out of it as the mourning widow and father. Seattle’s hearts will bleed for me.” The smirk on Chris’ face made Hailey sick to her stomach. But she knew he was right. He could easily just dispose of the baby. This was Erin’s baby. It would be like losing Erin all over again.
“And if I agree? Then what happens. It won’t look good to your supposed adoring public if some young woman suddenly is living in your house, pregnant with your child.” She handed the piece of paper back to Chris.
“Hailey, darling. You haven’t been watching the news, have you?” Chris laughed in a way that scared her. “Let’s put it all out there. I told Erin what I needed from her. When she disagreed, I made sure she was out of my way. Instead of hating me, the public adores me. In fact, your face has been pasted all over the news as the surrogate mother of my child who bravely tried to fight off Erin’s killer and then fled to save the baby. I’ve been the desperate, despondent widow and father desperate for the public’s help to find the woman pregnant with my baby and bring her home safely. That’s how I found you. One of the nurses at the hospital had a penchant for American news websites and recognized your photo and called the tip line. I’ll look like a hero who flew across the globe to rescue you and bring you home.”
Hailey was trying to find a way out. Something that would convince Chris that it was in both of their best interests for him to just let her go and take the baby with her. Then Chris’ phone beeped to signal a text message.
“I left something behind, Hailey, when we left Paris. A man that has a background that highlights his penchant for inflicting pain. He is tracking your little paramour as he tries to follow us to rescue you. If you agree to my terms, I’ll let him live. Otherwise, I’ll signal to my friend here that he can make your friend Chuck his plaything until his appetite for blood and torture is satisfied.”
Hailey looked into Chris’ eyes and knew that she had been beat. “Okay. You have a deal.”
Thirty Two
Chuck’s plane landed and he jumped into the car that John had waiting for him on the tarmac. He looked at his watch and figured that he had about a half an hour head start if his calculations were correct. He plugged the address that he had found online for Dalton’s mansion into the GPS system. He raced onto the interstate and was dismayed to see that it was starting to rain. He used the windshield wipers to beat away the rain so he could see where he was headed without having to slow down his pace. Losing his pace could mean the difference between life and death for Hailey and the baby.
Chuck parked about three houses down and moved into the alley behind the Dalton house. He carefully counted the houses to make sure he was sneaking into the right mansion. With his knowledge of Dalton’s wealth, he was sure there would be at least one or two staff members in the house, either a housekeeper or a maid of some kind and maybe a cook. He needed to make sure he could enter the house without alarming anyone or setting off an alarm.
He snuck into the backyard and peeked through the windows. He saw a woman in the kitchen wiping down the counters. He pulled out his cell phone and found a YouTube video quickly of a baby crying. He pressed play as he through the phone into the bushes. As Chuck predicted, the woman stopped cleaning and came outside to see what the noise was. When she opened the door and ran outside, Chuck snuck in behind her and left her to find the baby sounds. After a few seconds, the video stopped playing and the woman shrugged and went back inside.
Chuck was careful to sneak out of the kitchen and into the hallway before the woman could see him. He remembered what Hailey had told him about the house and continued down the hallway until he found the door to Dalton’s office. He quietly slipped in and closed the door behind him. He turned on the light and quickly went through the papers on Dalton’s desk, taking pictures of everything he found. There had to be something there that would help bring Dalton down. Chuck heard footsteps approaching in the hallway and quickly turned off the light switch before moving behind one of the tall leather chairs.
Dalton moved into the office and flipped on the light. He sat down at his desk and began to organize the papers on his desk. “Chuck, I believe that’s your name, come on out please. It’s been a tiring day and I am anxious to get to bed. I have an early morning tomorrow with the press and I’d like to be done with this if you don’t mind.”
Chuck wasn’t terribly surprised that Dalton knew he was there. He hadn’t tried very hard to cover his tracks since arriving in Seattle because he was more concerned about getting to the house before Hailey. He came out from behind the chair with his gun cocked and aimed at Dalton’s head. “Hello, Mr. Dalton. Where’s Hailey?”
Dalton refused to acknowledge the gun level with his head. He seemed awfully calm for an unarmed man alone with a very angry former SEAL. “She’s here. I presume she is getting reacquainted with her room right now. I did have some upgrades put in while she was away to make her more comfortable with her pregnancy. Nothing but the best for our Hailey. Perhaps I should call her in. I am sure she is the reason why you are here.”
Chuck moved the gun to indicate that Dalton should pick up the phone. “Call her. Let me see that she is safe.” Dalton complied. He pressed the speaker button on the phone and requested the housekeeper send in Hailey. Then he went back to organizing his paperwork.
“I’m sure you had ample time to take plenty of photographs but I’m sure once you speak to Hailey it will all be for naught. We have come to an arrangement. You’ll see that your weaponry is not necessary here. Hailey is here of her own free will. Ah, here she is now. Come in, darling.” Chuck turned to see that Hailey was in face coming into the room. She seemed sad but not scared or worried. Dalton stood up and went to Hailey with Chuck’s gun still trained on him. “Hailey, I will give you five minutes alone to say goo
dbye to Chuck here. Then it is time to send him on his way.” Hailey nodded and Dalton left the room.
Chuck put the gun back in his waistband and ran over to her. His hands and eyes quickly searched her body for any sign of harm. “Hailey, are you okay? What is going on here?” He pulled her to him and hugged her, wanting to never again let her go. But after a few seconds, Hailey pushed him away.
“Chuck, let’s sit down.” She took one of the big leather seats and indicated for Chuck to take the other. “I know you aren’t going to like this but I have to stay here with Chris. It’s the only way to protect the baby. He has documents proving the baby is his and can legally take it after the birth. He’ll dispose of it like he did Erin. I can’t let that happen. But he promised that if I agree to live here willingly, he will let all three of us live, you, me and the baby. I can’t turn that down. I’m sorry but the decision has been made.”
Chuck was devastated. This couldn’t be how it all ends. They were supposed to win. The good guys always do in the books and the movies. Their lives together were supposed to be just starting. How could he lose her? There had to be a way out of this.
“I understand why you think that, Hailey. But I’m not going to stop working on getting you out of here. I love you. I want a life with you. I’m not going to let Dalton use you and then throw you away as he sees fit.” Chuck stood up. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to convince her to come with him tonight. Dalton had scared her too much to believe that they could get away with it. But he would figure out a way to free her of this nightmare permanently. He went to her and kissed her passionately and walked out of the office. He knew if he looked back, he wouldn’t have the strength to leave.
Hailey heard Chuck’s words and hoped he would instead forget her and not make Chris feel like she wasn’t living up to the agreement. She didn’t want Chris to have any reason to go after Chuck. She loved him enough to live this life to keep him and Erin’s baby safe.
Last Chance Baby Page 8