by Lesley Davis
“Why?”
“Because I’ve become so used to being with you, touching you, just sharing every day with you that I find I can’t imagine life without you beside me.”
Daryl swallowed hard. “We’re in trouble, aren’t we?”
“At the very least facing a severe dressing down should we get any more unprofessional,” Blythe admitted.
Daryl slipped her hand out from under Blythe’s and switched their hold. “I don’t care about being professional. I can’t imagine not being able to see you either, and that goes beyond this job we’re doing. I felt it the moment I set eyes on you in the DDU conference room.”
“Me too. What the hell are we going to do, Daryl?”
In answer, Daryl got up and purposely walked away.
“You’re going to see Claire now?”
“No, because I wouldn’t have a damn clue what to say to her because all that is filling my head and heart are thoughts of you. I’m going to go for a walk first and then see her.”
“Oh, Daryl.” Blythe rose to follow her.
“I’ll be back soon, I promise.” Daryl tugged Blythe to her and kissed her. Daryl traced the soft contours of Blythe’s mouth, memorizing the shape of her lips, the taste of her. She thrilled to the soft moans that whispered from Blythe’s lips and were breathed across her own.
“You come back to me,” Blythe whispered, her hands clenched tightly in Daryl’s shirt.
Always, Daryl promised silently and slipped out the front door before she put herself first and took what she desired most.
Blythe.
*
The Mayer/Benson home was like all the others in Cranston Heights—elegant in build and screaming wealth. Daryl tried to shake off her cop instincts that instructed her to burst in the door, gun drawn, and demand to be told where Claire got Matthew from. Who knew a normal life without the badge could be so hard to work around? She walked up the driveway and rang the doorbell. She heard footsteps and then Claire opened the door.
“Hey, Daryl. What can I do for you?”
Trying to look embarrassed, Daryl fidgeted on the spot. “I really need someone to talk to, and I don’t think I can talk about this with Blythe.”
Claire opened the door wider to allow Daryl inside. “What’s wrong?” She led Daryl into a spacious living room decorated tastefully but littered with a child’s toys. Claire caught Daryl looking. “You’ll have to excuse the mess. Cleaning up after Justin is a full-time occupation, and it falls to me today. Liz has taken him to visit his grandparents so I’m making the most of the quiet.” She gestured for Daryl to take a seat.
Daryl made a show of taking a deep breath then spoke. “We haven’t heard from any of the agencies yet, and I’m a bundle of nerves waiting. I have a feeling we won’t hear from the religious right, but I’d hoped that we’d be called for a second interview pretty much immediately.”
“These things take time. How long did it take for you to get your initial interviews?”
“Three weeks.” Daryl had been chomping at the bit having to wait to start their rounds of visiting the agencies. It lengthened the time of their operation, but there was little she could have done to change it. Knowing she was having to waste time waiting for appointments to be made when the missing children were all around her had driven her crazy. “I guess I just need to hear it from someone who’s been there, done that. I need assurance that we can do this and in the end get a child.”
“You and Blythe are a perfect match for adopting a baby. I’m no expert, but even I can see you’d make fantastic parents. You’ve seen Miller, right?”
“A few days ago. She was lovely and very professional. She’s the only one who made me feel comfortable in her office. I’m hoping she’s the one we deal with.”
“That’s who we went through. It was Mia who suggested her actually. Said there was a sympathetic agency looking to place children with gays and we should check her out. She said Miller went out of her way to find the perfect child for her clients, and she was right.”
Mia suggested? Daryl filed this away for later. “Perfect child?”
Claire hesitated for a moment. “In her second interview, she sometimes asks if there is something specific you are looking for, such as age, sex, coloring.”
“Did you ask for something specific?”
“We wanted a boy. He had to be a newborn or just a few weeks old, and we wanted my coloring. Liz said she wanted the child to look like I was the daddy.”
“So we could get the choice to specifically ask for a child that would favor either Blythe or myself?”
“Which I’m sure you’d want, yes?”
“Yes. I don’t want a child that wasn’t going to look like us. I want people to think this baby is naturally ours. Even though physically there’s no chance in hell of that happening for either of us.”
“You would have had the baby?” Claire sounded surprised.
“Both Blythe and I have faulty baby making equipment. But I’d have carried the child if I could have. Anything to give us the family we desperately want.”
“Geez, that sucks, Daryl. I never wanted to be pregnant. We found out the hard way that Liz would never be able to carry a child to full term. We spent thousands on sperm donors, but after her fourth miscarriage, I begged her to look into adoption. It was soul destroying and taking a toll on her health losing a child every time. Then Ms. Miller took us on her list and listened to what we wanted.”
“Was it that simple?”
Claire let the question hang in the air for a long time. She stared at Daryl then seemed to come to a decision. “What I tell you stays between us, okay? I trust you. You saved my son’s life and I owe you for that.”
Daryl wondered just what Claire was going to confess.
“I offered some serious money along with my list of what I wanted the kid to look like. I begged and pleaded for them to find me a match to make Liz feel whole.”
“Money no object?”
“He was worth every last penny, and Liz doesn’t know how much I sacrificed for him, so I need you to never talk about this in front of her or anyone.”
Daryl nodded. “My lips are sealed. I’ve got some shares I can cash in if I need to, and my dad has some offshore investments I’m sure he’d trade in for a chance at a grandchild. Money is no object for me either. I want a child.”
“Then when you get that second appointment make sure you impress on her that you’ll do anything to have a family. Liz was ill the day of our appointment so I got to plead my case alone. Liz wasn’t interested in the paperwork; she just wanted a child to love. Miller told me it would cost extra to get a specifically chosen baby, and I agreed to her price. I moved heaven and earth to get Liz her child and now he’s our life. We couldn’t love him any more if he was our own flesh and blood. He’s my son. I’d die for him.”
“Do you know where Miller got him?”
“To be honest, I never asked. When we got the call she had a child for us, Liz and I hightailed it down to the offices, signed the paperwork, and drove home in a daze with Justin between us.”
“Was there ever anyone else with Miller?”
“Another person? No, not that I can recall. Miller had Justin in her office, all his health records, and the adoption papers to sign. She did say she’d gone through one of her outside sources to get him so he wasn’t listed as being born in a local hospital.” Claire smiled ruefully. “To be honest, I wasn’t going to check the details. I didn’t see anything past the little boy in the basket. There could have been a whole squad of naked cheerleaders in there and I wouldn’t have seen them.”
“Did you give her the money there and then?”
“No, I had to take it the next day because there’d been a holdup at my bank. I handed it over to some woman who was waiting for me. That was the last time I was in there.” Claire paused for a second. “She was a strange woman. She wore sunglasses even though it was dark and dreary that day.”
D
aryl’s memory fired. “I think I must have met her briefly when we were there. She suffers migraines so she wears dark lenses.”
“I remember her because she looked so ordinary except for these big ass shades she was rocking. She reminded me of Elvis with his white aviator specs!”
Daryl laughed. “Yes, I seem to remember they did cover most of her face. She was very nice though.” A chill ran through her blood, but she tried to appear unconcerned in Claire’s presence. Is this our Good Samaritan? The woman in shades for migraines, when in fact, they could be the tinted lenses of the mystery woman’s description? “Everyone seems to be nice at that agency.”
“You need to press the point home that no cost is too high for you to be a mommy. They are like any business; they respond well to the dollar sign, but you’ll get what you pay for—a child that could actually be yours.”
“I want Blythe to hold our baby in her arms, and I want us to be a family at any cost. I’ll be sure to make certain Ms. Miller knows that.”
Chapter Fifteen
The floral bouquet of lurid pinks, neon yellows, and bright whites accompanied in their wrapping by a small furry teddy bear wasn’t Rafe’s first choice for an undercover disguise to have her blend in. She cut a baleful look at Ashley beside her.
“Are you sure you don’t want to carry the flowers? They’d look more natural with you.” She wanted to be rid of the awful blooms and their sickly, cloying fragrance.
“No, thanks. You look awfully cute with them, and the teddy is a nice touch.” Ashley just tightened her hold on Rafe’s arm and led her down the length of a hospital corridor.
“Have you seen anything yet?” Rafe scanned the area for any kind of demon trace. For Rafe, demons glowed before her eyes. It was the lasting legacy from a demon who had been hell-bent on killing her. In human form or their natural vile skin, demons gave off a telltale glow that Rafe could see. It made her new demon hunting career easier and her normal life all that more difficult. “How many times do we need to walk the length and breadth of the maternity wing, Ash?”
“Just a little longer so I can get it memorized. Besides, Eli told me he’d join us in a moment or two.”
Rafe was thankful she no longer suffered the intense pain and blindness she had first encountered when meeting Eli. The angel, who was for all intents and purposes Ashley’s guardian angel, had glowed with such an intense bright white light that it had driven Rafe to her knees. Mercifully, he had helped her to be able to function in his presence. Rafe was still uncertain what exactly Eli had done when he’d put his hands on her head and miraculously altered something in her brain’s synapses. It left her in awe of him and carrying a healthy fear also.
Ashley tugged on her arm to gain her attention. “This is the room that houses the Baby Aid charity thing I told you about, where you get coupons and freebies. Something tells me she’s been here but not for a while.”
“Could it be she only trawls the hospitals when they need a certain kind of baby to fulfill an adoption?”
“Ooh,” Ashley breathed, mulling that over. “You mean like a specific kind of coloring or sex?”
Rafe nodded. “Personally, if I was going through the whole adoption route, I’d want a child that looked like us so there’d be a resemblance even if it wasn’t truly biological.”
“You’d want a kid that looked like us?”
Rafe leaned in close to Ashley’s ear. “We’d negotiate the demon blood bit, seeing as both of us have that magical, mystical thing going on.”
“I can just picture a little toddler looking like you with your brown hair.” She reached up to pat lovingly at Rafe’s slowly returning hair. “And with your beautiful dark eyes.”
Rafe chuckled. “Flatterer. We could go for a little blond kid with your blue eyes and the ability to get their own way no matter how much I say no.”
“You’ll never say no to me, Rafe. You have too much fun saying yes.”
The way Ashley breathed out that last word made Rafe’s insides quiver in response. “Fuck, the things you do to me, and could be doing to me if we were back in our hotel room and not walking up and down every damn hospital wing in the Heights.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” Ashley said, pushing Rafe down yet another corridor.
Eli silently made his appearance beside them. He wore his impeccable white suit and looked impossibly handsome with his blond hair fashioned just so. He was every inch the angel. Huge white wings were closed behind him and rested on his back. Thankfully, he was visible only to Rafe and Ashley and both made sure not to draw attention to the fact they were talking to someone no one else could see.
“She’s not here,” he said. “Or in the other hospitals.”
“Damn it.” Rafe gritted her teeth against saying something about wasting precious time and barely resisted the urge to throw the flowers aside. “I am not coming here every fucking day and staking out the maternity wing in the hopes someone pops a kid out so this demon can swoop in and grab it.”
“I don’t think it’s exactly working quite like that, Rafe,” Ashley said. “I think we need to talk with Blythe. I need to know where they are in this investigation.”
“What if they are no further than we appear to be?”
“Then I’m in for a long stay in Connecticut and you’re going back to feeding your own cat,” Ashley replied.
Eli made a show of plucking a hair from his sleeve. “Black cat hair on a white suit is not the accessory I was looking for.”
“Is she okay?” Rafe asked, knowing that her cat couldn’t have been in better hands than a bona fide angel, but still anxious enough to ask.
“Yes, she’s fine. She’s been fed, watered, her litter box is fresh, and she’s been petted. Oh, and we also played with the squeaky mouse she likes best.” Eli released a long-suffering sigh, but the curving of his lips gave him away. “Felines are very soothing. I like the purring especially. It’s restful.”
Rafe had to smile at the look on his face. “Thanks for doing this, Eli. I know it goes above and beyond your calling.”
He just nodded then turned to Ashley. “Are you certain you need to bring this matter to the attention of another human?”
“It’s Blythe.” Ashley emphasized her name. “I’ve worked with her before, and she’s Rafe’s best friend. I think we can trust her on this. I have to believe we can.”
“Be mindful of where the truth is revealed, Ashley.” Eli folded his arms.
“If this demon is stealing children then I don’t care who finds out what the world harbors from hell.”
Eli just regarded her. “Everyone is moving into place. You have more eyes and ears covering this territory now, and they are all at your disposal.”
Rafe pulled out her phone and found Blythe’s number. “Does this mean I can text her now and we can stop pacing the hospital floors like lost souls?”
“Speaking of which,” Eli said as there was a flurry of activity around one of the areas they were walking through. Rafe watched as a doctor and nurses crowded around the seat of an obviously dying man who hadn’t been given a bed in time. For a moment, the old man looked out at them blindly. His tired eyes widened then his features relaxed into the most beautiful smile ever to grace a haggard face.
“Go in peace,” Eli whispered.
Rafe watched as the flurry around the man halted and the doctor pronounced him dead. A nurse ran to get a gurney so they could remove him from the waiting room. Rafe regarded Eli intently. “Tell me you don’t moonlight as the Angel of Death?”
“No. For one thing, he wears much sharper suits,” Eli answered, completely straight-faced. “For that man, I merely eased his mind so he could let go. He’d had a hard life; his afterlife will be much easier.” On that note, Eli disappeared, his job obviously done for now.
Rafe didn’t know how to comment so decided not to. She let Ashley lead them out of the hospital. She passed a young man searching through his wallet and counting his change outside th
e gift shop. “Here, save your money.” She pushed the flowers and teddy bear into his arms and hastened out the building with much relief. It hadn’t been so long since she’d had her own stay in the hospital. Just stepping inside one had made her feel sick to her stomach. She could only remember parts of her stay after being attacked, but she knew she was never more relieved than when they released her. She drew in a big lungful of air as they stepped back into the sun.
“Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t want to go into the hospital I’ve been dragging you around?” Ashley asked her softly, looking at Rafe with concern.
“We were investigating a lead. Those places just don’t have happy memories for me.”
Ashley crowded in close and slipped an arm around Rafe’s waist. “I wish I’d known you then. I’d have visited every day and then stayed all night disguised as a nurse.”
Rafe chuckled at the thought and pictured Ashley in a not so stereotypical nurse uniform and was thankful she couldn’t read her mind. Though judging by the cheeky grin Ashley was giving her, she began to wonder. “That might have made my stay in the hospital so much more enjoyable. But we weren’t destined to meet just then obviously.” She leaned into Ashley’s body. No, you had to come save me from another brush with death thanks to that demon.
“Call Blythe. Set up a meeting with her at our hotel room where we can have privacy to talk. We need to know what her DDU has found out about my case.”
Rafe laughed softly at Ashley’s proprietary tone. “Listen to you. My case. You two can fight over territory all you like. Count me out of that. I wouldn’t know who to bet on for being the most stubborn.” Rafe began texting Blythe on her private number. “I’m telling her to come alone too. No point pulling her undercover buddy in on this.” She sent the message off, suddenly excited about seeing her.
“Look at you, all smiley at getting to see your BFF.” Ashley bumped her with a hip. “Are you looking forward to seeing Blythe, sweetheart?”