Finding Sky (A Nicki Valentine Mystery Book 1) (29 page)

Slowly, I lowered my hands and made the “shhhh” sign to everyone else. Then I surveyed my immediate surroundings. Beside me was the table with lubricant and gloves. If only it had something like a syringe. I scanned cabinets and drawers, all labeled with unhelpful medical terms, until I spotted something familiar, metal, a little pointy, and definitely uncomfortable. I’d never seen one up close, but I’d experienced its torture:
the speculum.

In that blessed moment, Marcus distracted GT with a question.

“How’d you find me here?”

I hoped GT would take a moment to brag.

“Was easy to follow a stupid fuck like you,” he cackled. I slid open the drawer, lifted the largest speculum I saw, and marveled at its gun-like shape.

“I got somethin’ for you to tell your boys,” Marcus told GT.

Me too
, I thought.
Tell all the boys.

Screams erupted as GT fired, leaving an unmistakable hole in Beth’s hospital bed. I jumped onto the chair and, with every ounce of mama bear in me, shoved the speculum at his temple, brought it back up again, and speculum-whipped his face.
How’d that exam feel?
I thought as GT’s gun dropped from his hand and he looked at me in terror.

Marcus and I jumped on the pistol at the same time. Within seconds, he picked it up, raised it, and chased GT into the hall, which was easy, since GT was dazed and wobbly. Then, without hesitation, he shot GT in the leg. Sometimes it pays to be a badass.

With GT down and Marcus in charge, I turned back to Beth. She was breathing hard, and Grandpa was hooking her up to a monitor.

“She was already in labor,” he said. “Now she’s over the edge.”

“She’s not having the baby here, is she?” I asked. He didn’t answer. I ran out of the room, past Marcus holding GT at gunpoint, past GT bleeding on the floor, past empty rooms, all the while checking my cell phone, which had no signal.

Just as I got to the “employees only” door, it burst open, and in came the police.
Finally.
Someone else must have called them.

I froze in place and explained where to go. Two officers stayed behind, asking questions and reporting to their colleagues. They already knew about Beth. Apparently they’d tracked her cell phone signal here. She’d tried making calls when she went into labor, but the reception was awful. Almost immediately, I saw paramedics removing her on a stretcher.

“Is she okay?” I asked frantically.

“She’s fine, ma’am,” a female paramedic reassured me. “She and this baby are gonna do great.”

“Is there anyone I can call for you, Beth?” I yelled through the fray.

“They won’t let Marcus come.” I doubted they’d let me go either. “Call Diane at First Steps,” she said. “Tell her I want April. I don’t want to be alone!”

Beth was out the door, so I turned to an officer. “Where should I say they’re taking her?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. He looked unsure about telling me anything. “The closest hospital is Westridge.”

Done.

Beth’s words haunted me as the police insisted I answer their questions.
I don’t want to be alone.
All this time, I’d feared her isolation, and now that I could do something about it, my hands were tied.

At least I could provide them with Beth’s medical records, which the agency had given Kenna, and I’d kept in my case file. While retrieving them from the van, I noticed several gangish-looking dudes in the backs of police cars. Apparently GT had brought backup. I tried not to make eye contact.

Once the police were sure I was physically okay and being truthful (giving them George’s number seemed to help, as did the story Rob the mailman had called in), they escorted me to the hospital. I’d already called First Steps and April’s house, where Jen screamed with joy and said she’d call April, who was out with a friend. The woman I spoke with at First Steps had been elated too. Thank God they had an overnight answering service.

My final call was to Kenna, who picked up on the first ring, drowsy and afraid of what she’d hear. Late-night calls were typically bad news, but tonight was the best possible exception.

“Beth’s okay!” I said in a restrained yell. “She’s still pregnant, and she’s going to deliver the baby in West Virginia.” The background was too complicated to explain, so I simplified it. “She was with her grandparents after all. I don’t know if you should come or not. Call the adoption agency right now and see what they say.”

Kenna let out an excited yelp, thanked me, and promised to call back.

“I’ll be at the hospital,” I said, “and I won’t leave until everyone’s okay.”

“She’s doing fine,” a young, female OB reassured me when I asked about Beth. “She’s having regular contractions, and her water broke earlier, so this baby’s on the way.”

“Wow,” I said. “I know she really wants someone with her. How is she doing emotionally?”

“She’s okay. The nurses are taking good care of her. I’ll let her know you’re here.”

“She barely knows me,” I said. “But tell her April’s on the way.”

“I will. She’ll be fine. She’s a brave young lady, that’s for sure.”

I couldn’t agree more.

April arrived an hour later with Jen, and they were ushered to Beth’s room immediately, but not before April whispered to me, “I was on a date when you called.”

“I’m so proud of you,” I whispered back.

I never heard back from Kenna, and when I called her, I got no answer. Instead, I saw her beaming face next to Andy’s when they arrived in the maternity waiting room, where I sat with other families awaiting news.

“Surprise!” Kenna told me with tears in her eyes, arms extended. “Beth wanted us here!”

Any residual tension escaped with sobs I couldn’t hold back as we hugged.

“This is the best news I’ve ever gotten,” I blubbered. I smiled at Andy over her shoulder. Was a miracle really going to happen for them? Now, like Kenna, I couldn’t accept it until I knew it was real.

“We have to go,” he said. “She’s waiting for us.”

“Next time I see you, you might be parents,” I said. I couldn’t stop the tears, but I had to stop talking. “Go! Go!”

I watched Kenna squeeze Andy’s hand as he pushed a button to gain entrance to the delivery rooms.

“Take pictures!” I called.

Andy pulled a digital camera from his pocket and waved it at me.

“Got it!” he said. Good, because in Kenna’s hands, it would be useless.

Hours later, when I thought I might pop with anticipation, I saw the OB-GYN walking toward the elevator.

“Wait,” I said. “Is Beth okay?”

Andy and I had been texting, and I knew the time was near.

“She’s wonderful. Mother and baby are doing great.” Goosebumps rose along my arms and legs. The baby was born! “Do you know boy or girl yet?” she asked.

Did
I
know? “No,” I said. “What is it?”

“I’ll let them tell you.”

The next message from Andy was one I’ll save forever. It was Kenna holding a baby girl, smiling next to the most loving and generous woman I’d ever meet: Beth.

Sky Bethany Moore,
said the caption.
7 lb. 10 oz.

Another text arrived minutes later, apparently dictated by Kenna.
Sky loves her Aunt Nicki and her cousins very much. See you soon!

Epilogue

In the month since Sky entered the world, GT had been released from the hospital and charged with gang participation, attempted murder, use of a firearm while committing a felony, and brandishing a firearm, among other things. His DNA matched the stray beer can at my house.

During the time Dr. Rush and Beth spent together, she’d demanded to know why her birth certificate was odd. Eventually he’d broken down and confessed the truth. A comatose patient at Asheleigh Manor had become pregnant, clearly the victim of rape. Instead of reporting the crime, he and his aunt had gone to great lengths to cover it up. Mrs. Rush, RN, had helped.

When the baby was born, they placed it with an infertile couple: Beth’s parents. Sonja and her husband Bob took her home to Virginia, believing the birth certificate Dr. Rush provided was real, and that one of his office patients had chosen adoption.

They also followed Dr. Rush’s terrible advice not to tell Beth she was adopted. The fake birth certificate worked for years, but Dr. Rush got worried when the DMV needed it for Beth’s driver’s license. So he confessed to her parents, and they lied to get a new one, using the excuse that Beth had been born at home. Dr. Rush begged Beth and her parents not to tell anyone. His job and life would be in jeopardy. Beth’s parents could lose her. Now that he was protecting Beth, couldn’t she protect him, too?

The staff at Asheleigh Manor only cooperated because Rush and his aunt told them to, purporting that Beth couldn’t afford medical care, and that they were doing a community service by allowing her to stay there, closely monitored. With their jobs at risk and devotion to Dr. Rush, it was hard for anyone to say no.

Dr. Rush confessed to everything except pushing Edith down her stairs. He was arrested and then investigated for a myriad of crimes, the least of which was falsifying a birth certificate—a felony in itself. Edith had fully recovered and called me several times with gardening tips. She didn’t remember why she fell.

Most importantly, Beth had visited Kenna, Andy, and Sky, signed adoption papers with Marcus’s cooperation, and started working on reconciliation with her parents. First Steps arranged for intense counseling to help with the discovery that she was illegally adopted—even encouraging her to wait to relinquish custody of Sky. This baby was the first biological relative she’d met, they told her, and it was natural for that to affect her decision.

But Beth remained steadfast, saying she’d proceed with or without First Steps. So the agency conceded. Beth was temporarily staying with April, who said she would come out to her mom when it felt right. Beth was sorry for being angry with April, but when she needed to trust April most, she felt betrayed. And in leaving April in the dark, she thought maybe it protected her from harm.

I thanked Mom constantly for her help—so often that she eventually corrected me.

“I love spending time with the kids,” she insisted. “It’s a gift to
me
.” I believed her.

So when Dean asked me out for celebratory drinks with George and Steve, I accepted, and she babysat. And when George and Steve left after the first toast, I had a good feeling—either from the champagne or the idea that Dean might have encouraged them to go. Or both.

“You have three weeks left in PI class, and your first case is already solved,” he said with a friendly nudge.

“I know,” I said, dizzied by his turquoise gaze, glowing smile, and edible-smelling aftershave.

I hadn’t solved the case alone, but I’d taken a literal stab at protecting Beth’s life, and I was humbled to know it had earned Marcus’s respect and strengthened Beth and Kenna’s bond.
Without you
, Kenna said,
Beth might not be here
. We knew what that meant, and it was too unthinkable to discuss.

Dean and I were side-by-side in a restaurant booth, just where we’d been when George and Steve left. He hadn’t moved an inch, and I was more than fine with that, as long as I had fresh breath and something to say.

“This could be the start of something big,” he continued, raising his glass a second time.

“Why not?” I concurred. “To big things!” Oops. That was an inappropriate toast. I wasn’t feeling myself. Or maybe I was
too
myself. Too comfortable. Was that good or bad? I didn’t know. I tried not to care.

Dean laughed, and I joined in.

“I haven’t studied as much as I should have,” I admitted. “And I missed one class. I’ve got some catching up to do.”

Jack, Sophie, and I had been so obsessed with blond, blue-eyed Sky that other cares faded into the background. All we wanted to do was join in Andy and Kenna’s bliss. Just hearing Sky’s name, Kenna knew, reminded me of Grampy and peace. It reminded her of beauty and freedom.

“I’ll have to tutor you then,” Dean said. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” I tried to focus. “Tomorrow is camp for the kids. They have a recital at three, and I have to be there.”

“How about before the recital?”

“Nothing much” was my answer.
Laundry
was the truth.

“Great,” he said, setting down his champagne. “Let’s make it a date. Meet me at the academy for lunch, and I’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing. This time I’m buying.”

“I’m a vegetarian,” I reminded him.

“I know,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

“For once,” I said, “I’m worry free.”

I looked into his eyes for a long moment until they closed.

“Perfect,” he whispered before he kissed me.

And it was.