“Chuck, I love you, I really do, but you and I both know that you may be plumbed like a man who’d be a great husband, but you’re not wired the right way. I mean…”
“Yes, I know what you mean,” Chuck said. “I’m queer.”
“Don’t say that like you’re ashamed of it. I really do wish you’d come out of the closet. It’s not as if it’s wrong. So, you’re like a minority of the human population, not the majority. Only cruel people have decided that there’s something wrong with it, okay?”
Chuck looked at her and shook his head in awe. “How can you be straight and have such a profound insight on life and still be only eighteen years old?”
“I’m either blessed or cursed. Take your pick.”
“Kind of like me?”
Grace’s shoulders slumped as she realized they had so much in common despite age, background, and current physical condition. “Okay, my ‘oh so not identical twin,’ you’ve helped me with everything else so far, I want to ask one more favor. And it’s a biggie.”
“Anything for you,” Chuck said aloud, hoping she didn’t hear the ‘Ah, shit! What now?’ gut response he had stifled.
Grace shut her eyes and paused. How could she ask? She imagined the words written on a blackboard in chalk and read them aloud, “I want you to take the babies and give them up for adoption.”
“Whoa! Wait! What? Huh?” Chuck sputtered. “I mean, you don’t want your own children?”
“Not now. Not with the way my life is.”
“Oh, no, no, no. You can’t just say, ‘I don’t want you because it’s not convenient. I’ll come back for you when I get my head on straight.’”
“You don’t understand…”
“Oh, yes I do understand,” Chuck said, his hands on her cheeks, forcing her to look him in the eye. “You are under the influence of a double dose of pregnancy hormones. You want out of this situation completely, to walk away from everything and get your perky little figure back so you can hit the road and find your long-lost Dusty. Well, I’ve got news for you. It isn’t that easy. This isn’t playable with the hand you’ve been dealt. These two babies will be loved and cherished beyond what ninety-nine percent of two-parent families can provide.”
“My mother will find a way to mess this up, no matter how careful you and the others have been. I feel it in my bones. I have to protect these little guys or gals. I’m not asking you to help me give them away because I don’t love them. It’s just the opposite. I’m doing it because I do love them. Please, I can’t reach out and find the right parents with Papa Doc, Silas, and my dad watching me. You’re sharp and have excellent taste. I have one request. I’d prefer a family from a lower-income bracket unless it’s a stellar man, woman, or couple who want to adopt, and then I don’t care. At least poor folks love each other for who they are, not what they have or will inherit.”
“You sound like you’ve been planning this for a while. Any other restrictions?”
“Other than the obvious: don’t let my mother know anything about me having twins.”
“So, since you’ve thought this whole thing out, how are we going to hide it from the men?”
“When the time comes, take me away, deliver them, and tell the guys that the babies died. I’ll be distraught no matter what. I’m sure you will be, too. We won’t have to fake anything.”
“You’re not leaving me much time for this. You know your blood pressure is sky-high. You shouldn’t even be at home.”
“If I was in a hospital, what would you be doing for me?”
“I told you. I’d take the babies early and hope for the best for them, all while trying to save your life.”
“What? You mean my life’s in danger?” Grace asked, stumbling toward the special lift recliner her father had bought for her.
“Isn’t that what I’ve been telling you?”
“No, it isn’t. So, if you want me to stop stressing, the first thing you have to do is take away my reason: the future of these twins. Promise me right now you’ll find homes for these two and not let the men know about it.”
“You know, for not being intimate, you sure have my balls in a vice…”
“Promise me or there’s no way I can stop stressing.”
“And you’re turning the handle, ready to emasculate me.”
“I’ll let up. All you have to do is say the word.”
“All right. I promise you I will find homes for your two babies and will not tell anyone about them.”
“Anyone, especially our dads and Silas,” Grace prompted.
“I promise. Cross my heart, hope to die, pinky swear and all that. Geez, Grace. Isn’t my word enough?”
“Yes, it is. I just wanted to watch you squirm.”
“Yeah, well, when it’s delivery time, I’ll get my payback. I’ve only delivered twins once. I have to tell you, the mother looked most uncomfortable.”
“I’m sure you’re understating the event. If it’s at all possible, knock me out.”
Ring! Ring! Ring!
“Saved by the bell. Let me answer that. Don’t run away,” Chuck said.
Grace put a hand on each arm of the recliner as if to get up, then changed her mind and settled back into the chair. “Couldn’t even if I wanted.”
“Hello. She what? Oh, tell me you’re pulling my leg. How close is she? How did she find out? No, I didn’t tell a soul, either. Okay. I’ll go to plan B. I don’t want to say it in case this line is tapped. Hey, I gotta scoot. Oh, and thanks in advance. Bye.”
“Who was that?” Grace asked, her finger now pressing the chair lift button, rising up.
Chuck ran his fingers through his hair, exasperated and confused, not knowing what to do first. He looked over at her. “Yes, get up. Shoot, you don’t even have time to change clothes. I’ll grab the keys and your bag while you make your way to the garage. I’ll help you get in the ambulance. You can ride in the front, can’t you? I don’t want you in the back alone.”
“You’re babbling, but that means the shit has hit the fan. Yes, I’d rather ride in front.”
Chuck snatched his keys from the rack in the kitchen, dashed into Grace’s room and grabbed her overnight bag, and was at the pantry door to the garage by the time she had reached it. “Watch your step.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Not until we’re on the road.”
“Crap. That means my mother found out, right?”
“I wish you weren’t so perceptive sometimes. Yes, but we have it under control. Come on, let’s go. I don’t know how much time we have.”
He opened the passenger door of the ambulance, threw the overnight bag behind the seats, scooted the seat back a couple more notches, then offered her a hand up. After trying three times to hoist herself up with the grab bar, she admitted defeat and asked, “Help, please.”
Chuck boosted her fanny up and over, into the seat. “Seatbelt,” he said, offering the extended buckle to the now breathless woman. She tucked the nylon strap under her belly, then leaned back and tried to catch her breath. Chuck ran around the ambulance and jumped in, his nervous energy practically radiating as sparks.
Grace bit at the cuticle of her fingernail as Chuck strummed on the steering wheel, both anxious for the garage door to hurry up and open. As soon as there was clearance for the rooftop beacons, Chuck stomped the accelerator. Backing off the gas, he carefully negotiated the curves of the long icy driveway, slowing to a crawl at the bottom of the hill, looking for other vehicles. There weren’t any. Victoria wasn’t around. He stopped ten feet before the gatehouse and put the ambulance in park.
Grace started to chew on her finger again, thought better of it, and tried to put her hand under her armpit. When the seat belt got in her way, she settled on interlacing her fingers and resting them on her belly. “Damn! Why did you stop? And where did you say we’re going?”
“The first thing I want to do is see what happened to the guard.”
“W
ait. You mean my mother’s not here? I thought that’s why we were hightailing it out of here.”
“Dad’s security team has a truck they use. Can you see any vehicles around here, because I can’t?”
Grace twisted in her seat and looked out her side window. “Nope. Nothing here. Maybe the guard went out for a pizza or something.”
Suddenly, a light flipped on inside the gatehouse and a broad-shouldered man with dark curly hair pulled back in a queue stepped outside. Grace didn’t know who the usual guard was, but the uniform this man was wearing was at least two sizes too small, the few buttons that were fastened, strained.
“Good evening, sir,” he said. He paused then looked through the driver’s window, squinting past Chuck to check out Grace.
Chuck leaned forward, doing his best to block the man’s view. “What happened to Caleb? I thought he was working tonight.”
“Who? Oh, Caleb?” the replacement guard said to Chuck with a slight French accent. “Yes, he had a stomach pain and chose to leave. The agency sent me over,” he explained, then looked behind Chuck to check out Grace again.
Chuck took his foot off the brake, driving forward slowly as he spoke. “No worries,” he said, denying the guard the chance of seeing more of Grace than he already had.
“Let me guess. That wasn’t the regular guy and you smelled a rat?” Grace asked as they pulled away.
“Worse,” Chuck growled as he drove onto the access road to the highway. “That was André.”
“Who’s André? Oh, wait. You mean the man my mother was having sex with? How do you know what he looks like?”
Chuck glanced over at her – grimaced but didn’t say a word – then returned to watching the road.
“Chuck?”
“Okay. I was curious. I skimmed through one of the videos before I locked them away.”
Grace giggled. “Well, he can’t have been that impressive if you know what his face looks like…”
Chuck’s somber face of embarrassment cracked and three seconds later, he was laughing along with her. “So, it looks like the best hung Canadian in town may have caught a glimpse of your pregnant body. I doubt that he took a second job as a guard, especially if he’s making as much per session as your dad says he is. I’d say Victoria’s either conned him into getting blackmail information on you or he was here to try to kidnap you. Since the regular guards are nowhere to be seen, I’d say he either bribed someone to stay away or he has the regular guy tied up somewhere.”
“I sure hope it isn’t worse than that. You don’t think he’d kill anyone, do you?”
“I doubt it, but then again, I tend to think the best about everyone. I’m PollyAndy, remember?”
“Well, since my dad said he cut my mother off, I wouldn’t put it past her to have taken out a life insurance policy or two on me with her as beneficiary…”
Chuck reached over reflexively to protect her, one hand on the steering wheel, the other on her left arm that was resting across her belly. “You don’t think she’d really do that, do you?”
“Chuck, you didn’t see the way she looked at me when she was fingering that wine bottle, ready to rape me with it and blame it on my boyfriend. I don’t think she cares about anyone other than herself.”
“We have to get you out of this town. Time for Plan C. Sorry, but we’re going to have to let our guys worry for a while. We may have a mole or rat or someone’s wiretapped the house. Right now, it’s just you and me, kid.”
Grace glanced at her side mirror again, noticing the distinctive headlights getting closer and closer. “Not exactly. I think there’s a Jaguar on our tail. I’m sure there’s more than one in the area, but this one’s a classic.”
“Your mother’s?” Chuck asked, checking his mirror to verify.
“Yup. How many people do you think would tailgate an ambulance?”
“Hold on, Grace,” Chuck said, reaching up to flip on the siren and rotating beacon. “It’s time to clear the roads ahead and hope your mother can’t corner worth a damn without studded tires.”
Grace reached out and grabbed the door and his armrest. “Let’s go, Mario!”
Chapter 10
The Shootout
“Crap!” Chuck steered into the spin, but the heavy, awkward, and boxy vehicle still wound up slipping off the road, pointed in the wrong direction.
“Is she still following us?” Grace asked.
“I don’t know. I lost track of her. If she is, she has her headlights off.” He put his hand on the door handle, ready to open it. “Wait here. I want to see if I have enough room to turn around and get us out of here.”
“Be careful,” Grace said.
“Always.”
Using a flashlight, Chuck looked under the ambulance and saw that he hadn’t high-centered it. He could put it in reverse and – if he got enough traction – get back onto the road, make a three-point turn, and be pointed in the right direction in less than a minute. If he hadn’t looked first and just driven forward, he would have been stuck. A screwed sitting duck. “Glad I trusted my instincts and checked.”
Crunch! Crunch!
Chuck switched off the flashlight and froze at the sound of the icy ground breaking apart under approaching footsteps.
Pop! Pop!
He dropped to the pavement, away from the silenced gunshots, his back pressed close to the ambulance.
Click! Slam! Thunk, rumble. Omph!
“Get in and drive!” Gracie shouted to him from her window.
Chuck sprang to his feet and jumped in, ready to stomp on the gas, then remembered to back up first or be stuck. He grunted as he turned the steering wheel hard, making do with a two-point turn, back onto the road with an emotionally charged and frantic getaway. He watched the side mirror as he sped away. The stunned thin person on the ground rose slowly, waving a fist in rage, any words absorbed by the crackle of studded tires and road noise as he sped away.
“Who or what just happened?” he asked.
“That was my mother. She fired two shots into the window, so I slam-opened the door and knocked her ass down.”
“What?” Chuck leaned forward and looked over at her but the dashboard lights were too dim for him to see if any damage had been done. “I can’t see. Did she hit you? How bad?”
Grace kept a tight grip on her right upper arm with her left hand. “Yes, she hit me, but I don’t know how bad it is. I’m afraid to look. I’m sure I’ll live but it hurts like hell.”
“Here, put pressure on it with this.” Chuck grabbed the sweatshirt hanging behind him and tossed it to her. “And if it hurts, that’s a good thing. The ones you don’t feel are the really bad ones.”
Grace adjusted the bulky sweatshirt so it was against the two holes in the window, blocking the freezing air and also pressing against her wound or wounds. “Okay. I got this. So, to distract me, please tell me what Plan C is. And keep talking.”
“I’m going to take you to a friend I met in an online chat room. That’s an internet thing if you don’t already know.”
“So, have you met him in person before. I assume it’s a guy and not a girl.”
“Yes, he’s a guy; you’re the only girl in my life. We’ve kicked it up a couple notches, exchanging real names and pictures. I checked him out thoroughly. Actually, I’ve talked to him on the phone a few times, too. As in, I called his office and asked to speak with him, using my Chat Room username the first time. He’s a decent guy, has a practice in New Hampshire, and most importantly, he’s discreet.”
“Pardon my naivety, but what does that mean? Is it a gay thing?”
“We’re both still in the closet, but that’s not what I mean. It means he can treat your bullet wound and not report it to the authorities.”
“You mean, my mother is going to get away with shooting me?” Grace asked, her voice ending on a high note of frustration.
“Do you want to go to the police and press charges? You do know that you and your huge pregnant belly would be
thrown into the spotlight immediately, right? Everyone would want to know what’s been going on in the life of Victoria Stillwell’s missing daughter. Being an unwed mother may or may not make a difference to many but having a wife who shot his daughter might just mess up your father’s business big time.”
“Okay. Let’s keep him out of this for now. Besides, if it’s known I’m pregnant, I’ll pretty much have to keep the babies. I’m still positive that they’d have a better life away from me. Even more so now that their grandmother is a felon, that she tried to murder her own daughter. The twins would never live down that stigma.”
Grace shuddered, then realized it wasn’t just the emotions causing a chill. “Can you turn up the heater? I’m cold.”
“It’s like a hundred degrees in here… Oh, crap. How much blood have you lost?”
“How in the hell should I know? It’s not as if I have a meter running on this thing. Shit! I can’t even see it.”
Chuck reached over, ready to turn on the lights, then stopped at her screech. “Don’t! What difference does it make? We’re going wherever we’re going as fast as possible, right? One or both of us is going to freak out if I’ve lost too much blood. We can’t do anything about it anyhow unless you have a pint of blood in the back and can pump it into me and drive at the same time.”
“Grace, sometimes your logic amazes me. Just chill and leave getting there to me. At least, we don’t have a tail anymore,” Chuck said, quickly glancing into the side mirror to confirm.
“I just hope the door broke her nose and blacked an eye or two. So much for honoring my mother.”
“Well, look on the bright side: at least you still have one good parent left.”
“All right, PollyAndy. Let’s pass the time talking about something else. Tell me about your cyber lover.”
Chuck sighed in resignation. He’d share anything with her to keep her mind off her dilemma. They had over a hundred miles ahead of them, and a winter storm was coming in. It was going to be a long night.
***
Chuck looked over and saw the conversation had stopped because Grace had fallen asleep in mid-sentence. He reached over and touched her cheek. Warm and dry, her breathing regular. According to the road signs and odometer, he only had twenty miles to go. He pulled the cellphone out of his front pocket, flipped it open, and started punching numbers.
The Set Up (Triplets: Three Aren't One Book 1) Page 10