Firestone (26 page)

“
And give up my parental
rights?” Jeraine asked. “No way.”

“
What parental rights?”
Tanesha asked.

Jeraine scowled at her.

“
You’re talking about a
child, a life, a human being,” Tanesha said. “Not a property or a
business. If he’s happy where he is, and you’d just mess that up,
why not leave him there?”

“
They don’t want that,”
Jeraine said. “I’d stop paying then.”

“
Have they asked to adopt
him?”

“
A couple times,” Jeraine
said. “They want to set up a trust for him. I’d pay into the trust,
and he’d get it when he grows up.”

“
Who gets the money now?”
Tanesha asked.

“
His mother,” Jeraine
said.

Tanesha nodded. They settled into eating
again. Jeraine’s chicken was good. She took a bite of chicken and
gave him a smile. He gave her a sly smile in return. She
nodded.

“
What?” Jeraine
asked.

“
I went to see Sandy
today,” Tanesha said. “Today, she’s trying to end this thing in her
life. This detective guy killed her mother. The police also think
he was behind most of what happened to her as a kid. I mean the guy
she thought was her father was a perv,
but . . .”

Tanesha shook her head.

“
Anyway, she’s down there
right now, trying to end this thing,” Tanesha said. “Heather took
Blane to the hospital about an hour ago. He’s doing everything in
his power to get well, to heal, from his horrible traumatic life
and this horrible disease. Both.”

Tanesha nodded.

“
Even Jill’s facing her
fear that the twins aren’t right and trying to deal with things so
they’ll have a better life,” Tanesha said. “Jake and Aden are
working all the time at Lipson to make up for not having state
contracts. Everyone’s pitching in. Right now, all of my friends are
risking everything to move on in their lives.”

“
I’m doing my brain
exercises and treatment and therapy
and . . .”

“
Right,” Tanesha
said.

For a moment, their eyes held.

“
You think I should talk
to her parents about giving them custody,” Jeraine said.

“
I think it’s time to end
all this confusion in our lives,” Tanesha said. “Let’s get custody
of Jabari and be done with Annette. Let’s sort this out with
Jeraine Junior so there’s no confusion. Let’s just end this
stuff.”

Jeraine gave her a slow nod.

“
But not us?” he
asked.

“
Don’t be dumb,” Tanesha
said.

He laughed, and she grinned.

“
How ’bout I think about
it?” Jeraine asked.

“
We go to court on
Monday,” Tanesha said. “Let’s decide by Sunday.”

“
Okay,” Jeraine
said.

“
Okay?”

“
Okay,” he said. “I’ll do
it. If it’s the right thing for my son, I’ll do it.”

Tanesha smiled.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:51 p.m.

Heather looked up from
her
5280
magazine. She glanced at Blane to make sure he was all right.
He had settled into his hospital bed, and was reading
Master and Commander
by
Patrick O’Brian. Since everything had to be sterilized before it
came into his room, Aden and Sandy had bought him an e-Book reader.
Jacob and Jill had bought every book in the
Master and Commander
series to fill
the ereader.

Heather sat in an armchair near the bed. The
private room had a fold out couch for her to sleep on. The chair
was more comfortable than the couch. She went back to looking at
the magazine.

A few minutes passed and she looked up
again.

“
Are you okay?” Blane
asked.

“
I
just . . .” Heather scowled and nodded. “You
remember how Abi said I wielded the power of love.”

“
I remember thinking she
was right.” Blane grinned.

“
I
just . . .”

“
What?”

“
I can’t shake the feeling
that Sandy needs me,” Heather said.

“
She has all those big
guys!” Blane said. “I don’t want to diminish you or your amazing
capacity to love, but . . .”

“
No, I know,” Heather
said. “I thought the same thing.”

Heather scowled and looked off into
space.

“
I
just . . .” Heather shook her head. “But I must be
wrong.”

“
I’ve never known you to
be wrong,” Blane said.

“
What are you talking
about?” Heather asked. “I’m a total worry wart. Every little
thing . . .”

“
This is different,” Blane
said. “Isn’t it?”

Heather nodded.

“
If I weren’t in here,
what would you do?” Blane asked.

“
I’d go there,” Heather
said, and instantly wished she hadn’t. “But I want to be here with
you, and . . .”

“
You should go,” Blane
said.

“
But . . .”

“
They’re going to put me
to sleep in a few minutes,” Blane said. “I’ll be here sleeping. You
can go, check things out, and tell me all about it.”

“
But . . .”

“
You have to promise me,
though,” Blane said.

“
What?”

“
You have to be safe,”
Blane said. “You won’t risk yourself in any way. If you see
something, you’ll call the police right away, or better yet, call
Alex. You have her number?”

“
On my speed dial,”
Heather said.

“
What?” Blane shook his
head and looked confused.

“
From when she was so
sick,” Heather said. “I just kept it because . . .
she’s like the most important person I’ve ever met.”

“
Besides Val the movie
star?” Blane asked.

“
You know what I
mean . . .powerful,” Heather said.

“
I do,” Blane said.
“You’ll call Alex?”

“
I won’t risk myself or
our baby,” Heather said. “I would never risk our child.”

“
Good,” Blane said. He lay
back and picked up his book. “See you later.”

Not fooled by his act, she waited. He looked
at her.

“
Why don’t you call me
when you get there?” Blane asked. “You can video what’s going
on.”

“
We’ll do it together.”
Heather smiled.

“
Like everything,” Blane
said.

“
I’ll be back tonight,”
Heather said.

“
Then I’ll see you later,”
Blane said.

Heather grabbed her bag and ran out of the
hospital. She jogged across the street and got into her car. Biting
her lip, she focused on two wishes. First, she hoped that she was
wrong. And second, she hoped she made it there in time.

~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 8:11 p.m.

“
We haven’t seen or heard
him today,” Colin said to Sandy.

Sandy was gathering her things together to
head to Seth’s house. Raz was standing in the doorway to the back
alley looking out. Seth was settling Rachel into the baby sling he
had over his shoulder.

“
Isn’t that a good thing?”
Sandy asked. “Maybe he was scared off.”

Colin nodded, but Sandy could tell that he
didn’t think Detective Red Bear was scared off. She glanced at Raz
and Seth.

No, these men thought Detective Red Bear was
going to try to take her. Soon.

Sandy swallowed hard and nodded. She looked
at Raz. He didn’t look concerned. She glanced at Colin. He gave her
an impish grin as if he lived for this kind of thing.

“
I’m ready,” Sandy
said.

Raz turned and smiled. She stood right
behind him and Colin stood right behind her. Seth stood to the
side.

“
We’re going across this
small parking lot to our vehicle,” Raz said. For some reason, his
Queens. New York accent was more pronounced tonight. “You can see
that our friend Chris is driving.”

The large, very white man in the driver’s
seat raised his hand to wave at her.

“
Got it?” Raz
said.

“
I’m ready,” Sandy
said.

Her voice trembled so much that Raz turned
to look at her. She smiled at the handsome man. Raz took a step
forward, and Sandy followed him. Colin came out to her left and
Seth to her right.

Her cell phone rang inside the shop.

“
Shit,” Sandy
said.

“
What happened?” Seth
asked.

“
I left my phone in the
shop,” Sandy said. “I don’t really need it, but my kids and Aden
and . . .”

“
I’ll get it,” Seth said.
“Where is it?”

“
On my station,” Sandy
said.

“
I’ll be right back,” Seth
said.

“
We’ll hold,” Raz
said.

Seth nodded to Raz and slipped back inside
the shop.

Sandy was looking inside the shop when she
heard a sound. Not a quiet sound like you hear on TV, but not quite
a gunshot sound. She turned toward where the sound had come
from.

Raz dropped to the ground.

Colin fell next to her.

And Sandy knew.

She was in real trouble.

Sandy stepped back. Out of the corner of her
eye, she caught sight of someone dropping down from the roof.
Something hard and cold pressed into her back.

“
You’ll do what I say,” a
man’s voice said.

“
Yes, detective,” Sandy
said.

“
Good girl.” Detective Red
Bear put his hand on her shoulder and pressed the handgun further
into her back. “Close the door to the salon.”

Sandy slammed the door.

“
Lock the deadbolt,” the
detective said.

Seth wouldn’t be able to help her if she
locked the door. She hesitated just a moment and the detective
fired a shot into the wall. The broken plaster sprayed Sandy. She
yelped and raised her hands to keep the plaster from hitting her
face. She felt blood form from a scratch made by a shard.

“
Do it,” the detective
said. “I know all about the O’Malley curse. Lock him in
now.”

Sandy could smell the fear and desperation
on the man. She locked the door. He grabbed her arm and yanked her
around. The big guy in the SUV held a handgun pointed in their
direction.

“
I will not hesitate to
kill her,” Detective Red Bear said to the driver of the car. “Her
replacement is inside the shop.”

The big guy didn’t lower his handgun.

“
I don’t care if the baby
is raped,” Detective Red Bear said. “We have twenty guys who paid
in full to watch it happen. But I bet you care?”

Horrified, Sandy shook her head at the big
guy. The big guy tossed the handgun out of the SUV.

“
Stay there,” the
detective said. “If you leave the car, I will kill her. If you
press on the accelerator, I will kill her. With her dead, you can
guarantee that I will use the baby. The fate of the child rests
solely with you.”

The big guy took the keys out of the SUV and
tossed them out with the weapon.

“
Good thinking,” Detective
Red Bear said. “I’m going to take this nice young lady down the
alley. If you even move an inch, she dies.”

The big guy didn’t move.

“
I’ve got nothing to lose,
and you know it,” the detective yelled.

The big guy nodded. Sandy gave the big guy a
terrified look. As if to say that he’d come get her, the big guy
nodded to her.

The detective pushed her from behind, and
Sandy stumbled. The detective fired at the SUV. The big guy ducked
as the window rose. The bullet hit the door with a thunk. Another
shot hit the window.

“
Shit,” the detective
said, under his breath. “Bulletproof.”

He rammed the hot metal into Sandy’s back
and put his hand on her shoulder again.

“
Get their weapons,” the
detective said.

“
Whose weapons?” Sandy
said.

“
Theirs!”

The detective pushed her to where Raz was
lying. Sandy took the revolver from Raz’s hand. She gave it to the
detective.

“
Check his side holster,”
the detective said.

Sandy pulled Raz’s jacket back.
“Nothing.”

“
Do this one,” the
detective said.

Sandy went to Colin. She didn’t see any
blood, so she thought Colin might have been faking being knocked
out. She took the gun from his hand. The detective searched Raz and
found another gun. Then the detective kicked Raz a few times in the
ribs. Sandy screamed.

“
Shut up,” the detective
said.

He slapped her across the face, and Sandy
fell. She landed on her hip and stayed there to catch her breath.
He checked Colin. He found another handgun and a knife. He kicked
Colin a few times before he grabbed Sandy and pulled her to
standing.

“
Go,” the detective
said.

Sandy was too scared to move.

“
I will not hesitate to
kill you,” the detective said. “Thanks to you, I have nothing to
lose.”