The Champagne Sisterhood

by Chris Keniston

  What? That made absolutely no sense. Anna glanced at Kat out of the corner of her eye.

  Nibbling on her lower lip, Kat seemed to be contemplating some complex formula. A glimmer of understanding flashed across her face and she nodded. “Of course. Tom was the reason she couldn’t conceive. I should have thought of that sooner. I’m sorry, Mark.”

  Thought of what sooner? “What are you talking about?” she asked Kat.

  “The Fulfillment.”

  “As in the book by LaVyrle Spencer?”

  Kat nodded. “It makes so much sense now.”

  “No it doesn’t.” Anna’s voice rose with irritation.

  “Yes it does. Think about it. Mary Gray had been married for seven years and couldn’t conceive. In 1880 Minnesota they didn’t have a whole lot of options, so her husband left her alone for a few days with his brother hoping she’d get pregnant.”

  “I know the book, but Mark isn’t Tom’s brother. And even if he were, Tom would never stoop to using his brother like a stud bull, with modern technology all he’d have to do...” The last words caught in her throat. “Oh, God.”

  She got it. There hadn’t been a hot torrid affair. No lying and sneaking around behind Tom’s back. No duplicity. “Oh, God,” she repeated softly.

  “They’d been trying for years,” Mark said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Tests, minor surgeries.”

  Anna nodded. She knew all that. Oh, God.

  “Finally they turned the tests to Tom. Why they didn’t do that first off, I don’t know. I guess originally when they found Barb’s tubes were blocked they just assumed that was the problem.”

  He hadn’t cheated, lied. Dear God, she’d hit him. So stupid. She should have known. She should have trusted him. Trusted Babs. “I’m so sorry. So very very sorry.” Squeezing her eyes shut, she stumbled, almost falling into the nearest seat.

  “You okay?” Kat asked, sitting on the arm of the chair.

  “Mm.” Anna nodded. Oh, Babs forgive me.

  Kat gestured for Mark to continue.

  “Things went on for a while longer. Nothing seemed to work. They considered adoption. Even tried. The wait for babies is excruciatingly long and the red tape for foreign adoptions can be mind-boggling.” Mark paused, wet his lips, swallowed hard. “When they first mentioned they were considering artificial insemination I thought it was a great solution. You have a full description and medical history of the donors. It seemed the perfect answer for them if Barb could get pregnant.”

  “But...” Kat asked when he hesitated a little too long.

  “Tom wasn’t totally convinced. He feared somehow, somewhere the unknown father would reappear to claim his paternal rights or worse, twenty years down the road their child would meet and fall in love with a half sibling. Tom commented if only he still had a brother. Next thing I knew his expression reminded me of one of those stupid cartoons where the light bulb appears over the character’s heads. He stared at me as though I’d turned to gold. Then it hit me what he wanted.”

  “Oh, God. I’m so sorry,” Anna muttered again. She couldn’t seem to form any other words.

  “At first I thought I was misreading him, but the more I thought about it, I realized it was a good idea. Barb only asked one thing of me.”

  “Only one?” Kat mumbled more to herself.

  Mark either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore the comment. “To promise never to tell anyone the child wasn’t Tom’s. No matter what.”

  “And you did.” Finally Anna had something else to say.

  Mark nodded. “As far as I was concerned, the baby was Tom and Barb’s child. It was an easy promise. I already have nieces and nephews. I knew I could love this child the same way.”

  “But you gave up your own flesh and blood.” Kat looked totally bewildered.

  “I didn’t see it that way. Sure, I’d love to raise kids of my own, but I don’t want to bring them into this crazy divorce-ridden world. I want my kids to grow up the way I did, with a full-time mom and a loving dad. I’m convinced Barb is, was a dying breed. I knew the baby would have everything I wanted for her. More than I could give her. And as ‘Uncle Mark’ I’d have still been a part of her life.”

  “Are you nuts!” Furious again, Anna jumped to her feet and slammed her hands against his chest, shoving him back. “How could you do that to us?”

  Mark’s eyes widened with surprise.

  “You were going to let me raise her! Me!” With one stiff finger she poked at him again. “You didn’t say a damn thing. We were nervous. We were scared. She hated me. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I made a promise.”

  “A promise. A promise? Those murderers want custody of your daughter, but you made a promise, so you just let them take us to court. For God’s sake, they’ve got visitation rights!” Anna shouted loud enough to be heard back in the Bronx. Several heads turned to stare in her direction then quickly turned back. Her fingers curled into fists at her side. How could he stand back and let that happen? She wanted to slug him with everything in her.

  “I wouldn’t let that happen. I told Sid everything that first day in his office. We ordered the DNA testing right away. We’ve been waiting for the results. Sid got the confirmation this morning, called me about it a few minutes ago. The Prescotts have signed away any rights to Marcia. You won’t have to deal with them again.”

  “What do you mean, me?”

  “She needs a mother,” he said calmly, too calmly. “Barb was a good mother. Nothing mattered more to her than what was best for Marcia. She trusted you. I trust you.”

  “You are crazy!” Anna’s cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She almost ignored it, but pulled it out instead and read the caller ID. “What?”

  At that moment the speakers echoed above. Code Rainbow. Code Rainbow from pediatrics. The rest of the announcement faded into a single long mumble.

  Mark lunged to catch her when her knees gave out from under her. “What’s wrong?” Anna handed him her phone. Putting the phone to his ear, he listened, nodded, grunted, and nodded again. “We’re on our way up.”

  “What is it? What happened?” Kat’s voice wavered with the same fear Anna saw in her eyes.

  “Marcia’s gone. They think she’s been kidnapped.”

  Code Rainbow. Code Rainbow.

  “Poor baby. I’ll take care of you.”

  Marcia lay perfectly still.

  From pediatrics. Female infant. Last seen with adult Caucasian female.

  “Not much of a description.” The woman smiled, snuggling the limp child to her breast. “Don’t you worry. I won’t let you get sick ever again.”

  Staff took up positions everywhere, in the halls, by the stairs, by the elevators. People carrying large bags, bundles, gifts, were thoroughly searched. Police were already on the pediatric floor questioning everyone with a pulse.

  “Can you remember anything else?” the officer asked.

  “No. I’m sorry.” Erin wrung the teddy bear in her hands. “Most of the time her back was to me.”

  “No birthmarks, tattoos?”

  She shook her head. “I was worried about the baby, wasn’t really paying attention to the nurse. As I told the other officer, she’s average height, maybe five five, five six. On the thin side. Her hair’s brown, dark brown, long, past her shoulders. I was wondering why she didn’t have it tied back away from her face, but I never actually looked that closely at her face. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re doing fine. If you remember anything else, anything at all, if she was she younger, older, dark skinned, light skinned, find me and tell me.”

  Erin nodded at the officer as he walked away to interview the parents in the neighboring rooms.

  “I’m so sorry.” Erin sniffled, trying to hold back more tears. “I just wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t know.”

  Kat ran a hand along Erin’s back to soothe her. “It’s not your fault.”

  Anna threw her arms around Erin. “How could
you know? Don’t blame yourself.”

  “I knew something was wrong. I just knew it and I ignored it.” She pulled away from Anna’s embrace. “What good is it having this damn gift if I don’t know what to do with it?”

  “You warned us she was sick. That was worth something,” Anna said. “E. Coli kills. If I hadn’t been thinking about what you told us, we could have waited too long to bring her in like Becky’s parents did. None of this is your fault.”

  Mark glanced at his watch. “How long has it been?”

  “No more than fifteen minutes,” Dr. Gibbons answered.

  Fifteen minutes. Anna’s eyes flew to the round clock over the nurses’ desk. Only fifteen minutes. A stabbing pain seared her side and reminded her she’d run out of antacids. “Do you think they’re still in the building? I mean, they’ve had more than enough time to get out.”

  Dr. Gibbons shook her head. “No. The hospital is locked down. No one can get out of this place without our knowing it.”

  “What I want to know is how the hell they got her out of pediatrics in the first place?” The tight flicker of the muscles in Mark’s jaw belied the smooth calm in his voice.

  “Whoever did this knew enough about hospital procedure to cut off her security bracelet. Otherwise alarms would have started blaring when she tried to leave the unit,” Dr. Gibbons answered.

  “Are you saying you think it was someone on the staff?” Erin asked, her hands still twisting the tiny stuffed bear like a piece of boardwalk taffy.

  “Or at least someone who’s been here enough to have learned the system.”

  Anna’s gaze fell to the tortured teddy bear. “You don’t think?” she muttered.

  “What?” A tall, blond officer had just finished questioning a huddle of nurses nearby and came to stand next to Mark. “Think what?”

  “She’s been here almost every day since Marcia left PICU. She would know the procedure.”

  “She?” the officer asked.

  “Becky’s mom. Sally.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  “Oh, Anna...” Kat said on a sigh. “You don’t really think?”

  “It would explain a lot.”

  “The woman struck me as borderline catatonic.”

  “Exactly. Except the last couple of days she seemed almost...normal. Maybe she’s been planning this.”

  The officer looked to Erin. “Could it have been her?”

  Erin shook her head. “I don’t know. I never met the woman.”

  “I can’t imagine,” Dr. Gibbons said. “But we have her address and phone number.”

  “I’ll need that info.” The officer turned, making his way toward the nurses’ desk.

  Anna slipped an arm around Erin’s waist and kept her eyes on Dr. Gibbons and the policemen crowding around the nurses’ station like ants on sugar. To her, everyone seemed to move in slow motion. The clacking of the keyboard sounded as though the computer were inside a far away tunnel. The static hum of police radios buzzed around her. Scratchy voices called out names, descriptions and sputtered numbers and codes she didn’t understand. Her stomach clenched, her throat tightened. This was any mother’s worst nightmare.

  What felt like an eternity later, Dr. Gibbons came scurrying back. “They’ve got patrol cars on the way to Sally’s house and Ted’s office. If she did manage to get out of the building, which I doubt, we’ll know soon if Sally’s got her. At least if it is Sally, we can be sure she won’t hurt Marcia.”

  “Can we?” Mark asked. “I mean isn’t she on some pretty heavy meds? They’ve been known to make people do irrational things.”

  “Oh, Lord, no.” Erin covered her mouth with her hand, too late to stop the words from escaping.

  “Don’t start painting horrible pictures,” Dr. Gibbons tried to reassure. “If Sally’s taken Marcia she’s looking to replace Becky. She was a good mother. I really don’t think she’d hurt her.”

  Letting out a long breath, Anna took a step back and wiped her open palms on the side of her skirt. Staring down the hall, she searched for someone, anyone, to come marching toward her with Marcia in their arms. “This is taking too long.”

  She didn’t hear Mark move. Didn’t realize he’d stepped up behind her until his warm breath blew softly against her neck. Gently his hands descended on her shoulders. She could feel the hesitancy in his touch and then slowly the warmth and security his nearness always brought spread through her.

  “It’s a big hospital. Give them a little time.”

  “What if she’s already out and it’s not Sally?” Anna leaned against him, resting her back on his broad chest. She needed strength, support, she needed him. And she desperately needed to have Marcia back, safe and unharmed.

  “Don’t do that to yourself,” Mark whispered in her ear. “The kidnapper was discovered right away. They’ll find her.”

  From where she stood, Anna could hear an increase in communication from the police radios. Her heart beat in double time when the same blond officer who’d spoken to her earlier jogged in their direction.

  When she realized he was shaking his head, her stomach slid to the floor. “Oh God. No.”

  The young officer blinked, momentarily taken back by her reaction, then he must have realized what she’d been thinking when he quickly said, “No, ma’am. We haven’t found her yet.”

  “Then what’s wrong?” Her heart now firmly lodged in her throat she was amazed she managed to get the words out.

  “We found Sally Drummond at home. Alone. Her husband’s at work. He knew nothing about it. Mrs. Drummond had been sleeping. Apparently she’s taking some strong medication.”

  “Then we’re at square one?” Mark said.

  “I’m afraid so. But we haven’t finished searching the premises. The hospital locked down so quickly there’s every possibility the perp is still in the building.”

  The radio crackled to life once again. Names and numbers that meant nothing to Anna were broadcast for everyone to hear. The officer raised a finger to excuse himself and walked away.

  “So.” Kat pushed away from the wall and threw her hands up in the air. “We’re back to having no idea who took Marcia or why?”

  “I should have paid more attention.” Erin crossed her arms in front of her, crushing the small bear to her chest. “She seemed so efficient. Like she’d done this every day of her life.”

  “What do you mean?” Dr. Gibbons asked.

  “She had that soft, soothing, calm the scared parent voice. Without hesitation she walked directly to the IV and injected the contraption. Her hands were steady, she seemed calm, experienced.”

  “Then we should be looking for someone with a nursing background,” Dr. Gibbons glanced toward the empty room. “If she touched any of the machinery, we might have her fingerprints on file. The hospital does background checks on most of its employees now.”

  “I don’t think she did. The police asked me that, but they brushed for prints anyway.”

  “We’ve got a lead.” The same officer came running back up the hall. “They found the crib and an IV bag along with a discarded set of scrubs.”

  “Where?” Mark’s hold on Anna’s shoulders tightened ever so slightly.

  “Service elevator.”

  Dr. Gibbons’ brow furrowed in a frown.

  “The orderly who called for it isn’t sure, but he thinks it started from the basement. We’ve got men covering it now.” The policeman gave her a crooked smile. “I don’t think it will be long.”

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Following on the officer’s heels, Mark stopped at the stairway door and turned to Anna.

  “Same place as you.”

  Kat, Erin and Dr. Gibbons formed a single file line behind her. Mark shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Dr. Gibbons pushed past the three friends. “Marcia’s my patient. She’s had her IVs removed and given heaven only knows what drug. I’m coming too.”

  Mark couldn’t very well a
rgue with that. Raising his arm higher on the door he held open, Dr. Gibbons slid underneath and hurried down the stairs after the policeman. “You three wait here.”

  “No.”

  He wasn’t sure which one had said it, but the next thing he knew he was spinning around and all three ladies had slid past him and were making time down the stairs.

  “Not so loud.” Mark ran after the women. “You don’t want to announce we’re coming.”

  At the bottom of the stairs they were met by two additional officers. “We’ve got three guys approaching from the north stairwell too,” one of them said. “Laundry area is to the east.”

  “Any signs of them, yet?” The blond officer asked.

  “Nope, Dixon and Phillips only beat us by a couple of minutes. They’re starting with refuse recycling in the back.” The policeman flung a thumb over his shoulder, pointing behind him.

  Blondie turned to the huddled group of concerned adults. “You stay here. All of you. We don’t know what we’re up against. If we need the doc, we’ll send for her. In the meantime, we don’t want to force the kidnapper’s hand.”

  The words sent icy chills down Mark’s spine. What had his silence cost his daughter? Tom and Barb were the only parents she’d ever known, but they were gone. They counted on him. “I let them down.”

  Anna stood, arms wrapped around herself. “We both did. If I’d let you explain instead of assuming the worst, one of us would have been there with Erin. Babs wanted me to know the truth. I knew that, and I still wouldn’t listen to you.”

  Her words slowly sank in. “What do you mean, she wanted you to know?”

  “I found a note. I told you.”

  “No. You told me you were upset because Barb thought she needed to wait till you weren’t too busy to talk to you.”

  “Because she wanted to tell me the truth.”

  “You never said that part.” Indignation crept up inside him. All his struggles and doubts were for naught. Barb wanted to tell Anna the truth. “You should have told me.”