by April Wilson
I smile at her, grateful. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now will you drink more?”
My abdomen seizes up, signaling another contraction. Lia’s eyes are on me, alert, and she reaches for her phone to check the stopwatch.
“Twelve minutes since the last one,” she says. “They’re getting closer. Let me know when this one stops.”
I force myself to pant through the contraction, like I saw in a childbirth video, and I try not to panic. It doesn’t hurt exactly. It feels like there’s an elephant sitting on me, which makes it hard to breathe. When the sensation finally subsides, I look up at her and nod. “Done.”
Lia’s phone vibrates with an incoming message. “Shane says there’s a paramedic on the way.” She pats my leg. “Good. The cavalry is coming. Now we need to find a way to get you out of here without alerting the morons downstairs.”
At the mention of Shane’s name, my tears start flowing again. “Stupid pregnancy hormones,” I say, wiping my face on the sheet.
“I know. They’re a bitch. That’s why I’m never getting pregnant. I refuse to do weepy or hormonal.”
I grab her hand and squeeze it. “I want you and Jonah to have a baby. Our kids would be cousins.”
Lia shrugs, but I catch the hint of a smile on her face. “Maybe I’ll adopt,” she says. “Yeah, adoption sounds really good right now.”
* * *
“Breathe, Beth!” Lia says, squeezing my hands. “Try to relax and breathe, like they do in the movies.” And then she proceeds to demonstrate, panting violently, like she’s just finished a full marathon. If I weren’t seized up at the moment with a powerful contraction, I would have laughed.
“Not funny,” I manage to eek two words past my clenched teeth, but just barely. Each contraction is worse than the one before, and each time they’re coming faster and lasting longer. This is happening so fast! I’m not ready.
Lia holds my hands throughout the contraction, squeezing my fingers so tightly that they’re numb.
When the contraction finally subsides, I exhale a slow, heavy breath and lower my sweaty head back onto the pillow. “It’s over.”
Lia releases my hands and checks her phone, undoubtedly looking for an update on when the cavalry will get here. How long has it been? But even when they arrive, they can’t get to us up here.
I close my eyes and try to rest while I can. The contractions are stronger and coming more frequently. This isn’t happening how I had envisioned it. And I guess this means I won’t be getting an epidural like I’d planned.
Lia starts pacing. This waiting is killing her, I know it. She goes to the window at the front of the building and gazes outside. “They’re here!” she calls over to me. “I see Jake and Cooper talking to Shane. Now we just need to figure out how to get them up here.”
She starts making another circuit through the attic, stopping to look out all of the windows, front, side, and rear. I can just see the wheels turning in her head as she tries to figure out a way for us to get out of this building without attracting any unwanted attention.
When she lingers by the door to the staircase leading downstairs, I get nervous. She can’t go downstairs again. It’s far too dangerous. The gunmen could see her, catch her, and then she’d be in the same predicament as the other hostages. “Lia! What are you doing?”
She gives me a dismissive wave, shushing me. Then she quietly opens the door and shines her skinny flashlight into the narrow stairwell, seeming to study the walls, the ceiling, the floor.
When she walks through the door, disappearing from sight, I get really nervous. “Lia!”
From my vantage point on the sofa, I watch her shine the flashlight against the walls in the stairwell. “What are you looking at?”
“Our way out of here,” she says, turning back to me with a huge grin on her face. She steps back into the attic room and closes the door. “We’re getting you help,” she says, as she keys something into her phone.
Chapter 15
Shane
The SWAT team from Blanchard arrives, and a swarm of activity takes place in the street outside the convenience store. They brought one armored vehicle with them and six tactical officers outfitted with full body armor and loaded with firepower. The apparent leader of the team converses with the deputies up front who have been attempting, without success, to negotiate with the gunmen. The coward at the door is still holding a woman in front of him as a human shield.
Along with the arrival of the SWAT team, two ambulances pull up to the crime scene perimeter, presumably on call for casualties.
Moments later, another two SUVs pull up to the police barricade, and I see my guys spill out of the vehicles. Jake, Cooper, and Sam head straight for me, behind the Escalade. Cameron Stewart, Killian Deveraux, and Jason Miller, the medic, quickly disappear behind the convenience store to do reconnaissance.
As I watch the guys approach, my phone vibrates with an incoming message from my sister.
Lia: Dude! The interior walls up here are bare wood planks. If you can get into the attic of the adjacent building, you can pry the planks off the frame and access this attic. Easy peasy. Get your asses up here. Things are progressing quickly!
The guys hunker down with me and Jonah beside the Escalade. Jake appears focused and ready to rumble. Cooper looks fit to be tied. He’s absolutely seething, and I know he wants to rip me a new one over this debacle. Well, he’s going to have to wait.
“I know!” I say when Cooper glares at me, cutting him off before he can say I told you so. I glare right back at him, daring him to give me shit. “I know I fucked up. I don’t need you throwing it in my face. The only thing that matters right now is getting Beth and Lia out of that building.”
“Sit rep,” Jake says, taking charge as he pointedly moves in between me and Cooper. He hands me an ear comm piece.
I insert the comm device into my ear and attach the throat mic to my shirt collar. Then I give him a situation report, rattling off what we know so far to everyone on our team, what we know about the gunmen and the hostages. I tell them Beth and Lia are ensconced up in the attic over the convenience store, and that Beth is in labor.
Cooper’s eyes narrow at me, and I swear to God he wants to beat the living shit out of me. Fine. He can get in line. I’m sure Tyler will fight him for the privilege when he gets here. And then I’m sure I’ll have Sam to contend with at some point, not to mention Beth’s mother and my folks. The list is endless.
“Lia says the wall separating this building from the adjacent one is made of wood planks. If we can get up into the attic next door, we can pry the planks off the frame and slip through to the room they’re in. Then we can evacuate them through the adjacent building.”
Cooper and Jake both crane their necks to see past the hood of the Escalade at the Italian restaurant next door.
Sam and Cooper take off, heading for the alley behind the building.
“That’ll work,” Jake says, nodding. Then he activates his throat mic. “Guys. Meet me behind the Italian restaurant adjacent to the convenience store. I think we’ve identified our entry point.” Then Jake addresses me. “I’ll go talk to the restaurant manager. Once we have access to their upper floor, we should be to our target in no time.”
Another text comes in from Lia.
Lia: You guys had better figure something out quick. Her contractions are coming closer.
Fuck.
Me: We’re working out our evac plan now. Hold tight.
Lia: We need the paramedic up here NOW dammit.
My stomach sinks at the thought of Beth giving birth up there.
I can’t stay out here any longer. I’ve got to get inside that attic. I look at Jonah. “I’m going in with them. You stay here, out of the line of fire. If things get hairy, seek shelter across the street, in the hardware store or the diner.”
Jonah nods. “Don’t worry about me. Get up there. Beth needs you.”
Just as I’m about to m
ove out, Jonah grabs my arm. “Tell Lia I love her, and I’ll see her soon.”
“I will.” I study Jonah, who’s been a tower of strength throughout this whole ordeal. He’s maintaining his cool, but I know it has to be difficult for him. In the short time they’ve been together, he and Lia have become inseparable. She’s his whole world now.
I make a wide sweep around the vehicles parked in front of the convenience store to access the rear of the buildings. Two of the SWAT team members are guarding the rear door of the convenience store, but they let me pass with a curt nod when I flash them my McIntyre Security Inc. identification. I’m sure they’ve already seen our tactical team disappear inside the rear of the adjacent store. Fortunately, they’re giving us a wide berth and not interfering in our activities as long as we don’t interfere with theirs.
I continue along the alley past a row of reeking trash dumpsters and a mountain of empty cardboard boxes to the back door of the restaurant, where Sam is standing guard.
At my approach, Sam opens the door and points up a back staircase. “Go up the stairs, turn left. You can’t miss them.”
I charge up the stairs and reach a landing where Cooper is waiting for me. He motions me through a door that leads into a storage room.
“On the far side,” Cooper says, pointing across the room.
But it’s unnecessary. I can see Cameron and Killian working on the far wall. Jason Miller is standing nearby, loaded down with medical gear as he waits for access to the other room.
Cameron and Killian work together as they systematically pry six-inch wide wooden planks off the building’s ancient wooden frame. Thank God this building predates modern building codes, or this would have been a whole lot harder.
Jake is organizing a small arsenal of automatic weapons, handguns, and other tactical munitions, including flashbangs and hand grenades. They clearly came prepared for all contingencies.
Cooper comes up behind me and lays his hand on my shoulder, undoubtedly offering an olive branch. “I spoke to the restaurant owner, explained the circumstances. He’s fine with whatever we need to do. I told him we’d reimburse him for all damages.”
I nod as I wait impatiently for the guys to create an opening in the wall big enough for us to get through. Fortunately, the studs are placed far enough apart on these old buildings that we’ll be able to walk between them once the planks have been removed.
“What’s the plan?” Cooper says, including Jason in his question. “We get them out and transport Beth to the nearest hospital, right?”
“That depends on how far along she is in the delivery process,” Jason says. “If she’s close to pushing, we may not be able to move her. She’s better off delivering here than in a moving ambulance. We can get hot water and clean towels from the restaurant downstairs, and I brought a full med kit. Since the baby is premature, we’ll need a NICU transport. They’ll have specialized equipment that he might need.”
I nod and look to Jake.
“I’ll call it in,” he says, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
“How about she delivers in a fucking hospital?” Cooper says, getting in Jason’s face. “There are two ambulances parked out front. We can use one of those to transport her to a hospital right now, before she gives birth.”
I lay my hand on Cooper’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze as I ease him back. “Let’s wait and see what we’re dealing with.”
Lia appears suddenly on the other side of the wall, her face visible through the narrow gap between two boards. “Any time now, guys,” she says, clearly sounding strained and more than a little breathless.
“We’re working on it, Lia,” Cameron says calmly, as he and Killian pry a second board loose and quietly lay it on top of the first. In all the years I’ve known him, I’ve never seen Cameron lose his cool.
A quiet cry comes from the darkened room behind Lia, and she turns and bolts back to where she came.
When the third board comes down, opening up a two-foot wide gap in the wall, I’m the first one through and across the narrow stairwell to enter through the door on the other side.
The dimly lit room is filled with discarded furniture and boxes, and it takes me a few precious seconds to locate the girls in all this clutter.
It’s not until I get closer that I can make out Beth’s shape lying on the sofa. Lia and Beth are holding hands, and Beth is straining upward, her chin tucked close to her chest. She’s grimacing silently, her face flushed a deep red, her teeth gritted in soundless distress.
“Jason, get in here now!” I say, trying to keep my voice down. “Cameron, Killian, guard this stairwell. Cooper, I need you with me.” There’s no question in my mind about where this child will be delivered. Our baby is going to be born here.
Cooper follows me through the opening, and he’s right on my heels as I make my way through the discarded furniture across the room to Beth.
“Breathe, Beth,” Lia is telling her in a low, firm voice, as she stares hard into Beth’s wide eyes, holding her attention by sheer force of will. “Breathe.”
Dropping to my knees on the wood floor beside the sofa, I reach for her, brushing back her sweat-soaked hair. She’s burning up. “Sweetheart.”
She turns to stare at me with wide, frightened eyes, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. Her jaw is clenched tight, and she’s obviously holding back cries of pain. My heart slams in my chest. My own eyes prick with tears as I put my arm around her to support her.
My throat tightens, making speaking difficult. “Oh, God, baby. I’m so sorry.”
“Not. Your. Fault,” she gasps.
Yes, it is. It’s my job to protect her, and I fucked up royally.
Cooper moves around to the back of the sofa, and Jason appears beside me, setting his medical kit on the floor and gently nudging me aside. He opens his kit and begins pulling out an assortment of medical instruments, starting with a blood pressure cuff, which he hands to me. “Put this on her left arm, right above her elbow, and cinch it tight.”
Beth gives out a low moan, sounding pained and afraid, then sinks back onto the damp pillow, her chest heaving as she draws in air. Seeing her like this breaks my heart. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. She should be in a hospital, getting the best medical care possible, not giving birth in a dusty, sweltering attic.
Once I get the blood pressure cuff on her, I lean close, pressing my lips to the side of her head. “Sweetheart, I’m here,” I murmur quietly, stroking her hair. My heart hammers in my chest, and I feel almost paralyzed with fear.
I don’t know how to help her. For the first time in my adult life, I don’t know what to do. I make it my number one job to make her life as easy as possible, free from fear and strife, and now she’s in agony and I’m helpless to fix this.
She lifts her hand blindly, as if searching for mine, and I take it, cradling it against my chest. “Shane. I’m scared,” she whispers, her voice barely audible. “It’s too soon.”
“I know, baby. I’m here now, and so is Cooper. And Jason. We’re going to take good care of you, I promise.”
Cooper leans over the back of the sofa and brushes Beth’s hair away from her damp face. “We’re here, kiddo,” he says, his voice low and tight. “Everything’s going to be all right.”
After taking Beth’s blood pressure, Jason takes her temperature by swiping a wand across her forehead. Then he pulls on a pair of sterile gloves. “Hi, Beth,” he says. “My name’s Jason Miller, and I work for your husband. I’m going to help you deliver your baby. Is that okay?”
She glances up at him, and then at me.
“Jason’s a medic, sweetheart. He’s delivered babies before. He knows what he’s doing.”
“Okay,” she says.
Jason gives her a reassuring smile. “I need to check your cervix, okay? To see how much you’re dilated.”
“Okay.” Beth nods, looking wary.
Jason looks at me, as if asking permission to touch my wife. I nod curtly.
“Do what you need to do.”
Lia moves back to give Jason room to work, hovering at the far end of the sofa. Her gaze remains locked on Beth. I’ve never in my life seen Lia so worried.
Jason discretely lifts the sheet from the lower half of Beth’s body, exposing her bare thighs and hips. She has a loose top on, but she’s clearly bare below the waist. I hate seeing her exposed like this, but it can’t be helped.
He reaches between her thighs. “I’m going to touch you now. Can you open your legs more?” His voice is very low and gentle, very professional. “I’m going to check your cervix.”
“You’ve done this before?” Cooper demands, glaring at Jason. “Delivered babies, I mean.”
“Yes, sir,” Jason says, his concentration remaining on Beth as he moves his hand between her legs. “I worked ten years as a paramedic after serving as a medic in the Army. I’ve delivered over a dozen babies in the field.”
Cooper makes a grunting sound, but doesn’t reply, instead watching Jason’s every move like a hawk.
I study Jason’s expression as he examines Beth, looking for any indication of what we’re up against. Beth closes her eyes and turns her face toward mine, her nose brushing mine as she whimpers quietly.
Jason meets my gaze, his expression carefully neutral. “Nine centimeters.”
“Which means what, exactly?” I say.
“It means we’re having a baby. Soon. I’m sorry, but it’s too late to move her.”
Chapter 16
Shane
Jason glances up at Cooper. “Tell the guys to bring up a pot of boiled water and some clean towels. I’ll need a basin, plastic or metal, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s clean, and a trash can.”
Cooper reaches down to caress the top of Beth’s head. “I’ll be right back, kiddo.”
Jason helps Beth lower her legs, and then he covers her with the sheet. “Beth? Have you felt an urge to push yet?”
She shakes her head. “No.” Her voice is little more than a rasp. “I feel a lot of pressure on my abdomen. When the contractions start, it’s hard to breathe.”