Firstborn (15 page)

“What are you doing?  You’re in the middle of business hours and I imagine you have patients coming.”  She pointed a finger into his chest playfully.  He bent lower to nip her earlobe. 

“I don’t see anyone for another hour.  I didn’t want to be interrupted in the middle of my marriage proposal.”

“Very convenient, Dr. Archer.”

“Some have called me brilliant.  I do have a PhD, you know.”

She laughed.  “One would think that
would get old, but I think that proposal just earned you a bonus of a lifetime of PhD reminders before I grow tired of it.”

***

“Hello.”

“How much information did you get on Jaclyn MaCall when you were doing recognizance
on her to determine if she and her visions might be useful?”

The tone of the voice on the phone was insistent with a hint of urgency.  “John?”

“Focus, Adam.  Jaclyn MaCall?”

“Oldest daughter of Joseph MaCall of MaCall Securities Consulting.  She has been getting visions since she was a teenager.  She has a younger sister.  Her mother died when she was young.  After graduating from college, she came home and went to work for her daddy’s company for two years before opening up her own shop.  Sh
e sells crystals and weird shit.”

“Where did she go to college?”

“MIT, actually.  She’s a bit of a genius.  Multiple degrees.  She double majored in Philosphy and Physics and minored in Computer Sciences and Engineering.  Then she finished her PhD in Physics with the majority of her work in theoretical quantum physics.”

“And she owns a shop selling crystals?”

“Apparently.”

“What made you back down off of Jaclyn MaCall?”  His tone was definitely official sounding.  Something had happened.
  Adam considered refusing to share additional information until John was more forthcoming.  But in the past, power struggles had not gone over well with John Rundstrom.

“She was a little too competent.
”  He hesitated for a moment, expecting ridicule or condescension from the other man.  When Rundstrom remained mute, Adam continued, “Aislin seemed a better mark.  More compliant.  What’s going on, John?”

“
Jaclyn MaCall is the one we’ve been looking for.  We thought she was working his security detail, but it turns out she’s wormed her way into his bed.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve seen the read-outs from the text messages myself.  And he charged an engagement ring to his credit card last week.  My sources tell me that she’s in his bed at this very moment.”

Rundstrom’s resources never failed to impress Holt.  “
You can’t blame the man.  She’s a hot piece.”

“She’s smart, too
, as you’ve confirmed.  I already had most of that information, but I just wanted to check in to make sure we hadn’t missed anything major.”  Of course he already had that information.  A man like John Rundstrom, a man with the power and wealth and influence of John Rundstrom, would have made sure he had the information himself before asking someone under him for details.  It had been a test of Adam’s loyalty and competence.  “I need you to take care of this, Adam.  Take care of both of them.  And be discreet, won’t you.  As it is, the local police have a dead Ray Walker, which could end up leading them to your front door.”

“
I’m not Ray Walker.  I’ve got my own bases covered.  Don’t worry about me.”

“
I expect that you will handle things properly, Adam.”

***

They were in each other’s arms and sleeping soundly when Will’s phone rang shrilly in the early hours of the morning.  She flailed about, accidentally smacking him in the cheekbone with the back of her hand. 

“Ow!”

“Sorry.”

And then she had the lamp on while he fumbled for his phone.  He was only on for a minute, mostly listening.  Judging by the volume of the voice on the other end, something bad had happened.

“What’s going on?” she asked as he climbed out of bed and into his jeans in an instant.  “Where’s the fire, Will?”

He shook his head at her in amazement.  “Did you have another vision?”

“No.  Why?  What’s going on?”

“How did you know there was a fire?”

She hopped out of bed opposite him and gathered her clothes off of the floor.  “It’s a common idiom, Will.  What’s happening?”

“They’re burning down my office,” he finally responded.

She grabbed a baseball cap from the top shelf in his closet and pulled it down over her messy hair before racing down the stairs after him.

At the bottom of the stairs, he tossed a hooded sweatshirt at her.  “It’s cold outside.  Put this on.”

By the time they got to the office, it was too far gone.  While parts of the walls still stood, they were engulfed in flames.  The fire department used their water to saturate the neighboring buildings in an effort to keep the fire from spreading down the block.  The homicide detectives on the Huntley case were there and meeting with some men on the fire department.  They later made his way over to Will to apologize for his loss and to ensure him that the fire investigator would be looking for signs of arson.

“We’re just glad that nobody was hurt,”
one of them finished.

Will shook his head.  “If they’d wanted to hurt me, they would have burned my home in the pre-dawn hours.  This was a message.”

“That’s a good sign, I think,” Jac confided after the detectives had returned to their fellow servicemen. 

“Why is that?”

“Like you said, if they wanted you dead, they would have come to your house.  That means that they still need you alive to identify the woman you’re sleeping with.”

He glanced around at the crowd of people who had gathered around the building.  “Lots of people here.”

Jac looked around, too.  “Most of them have seen me here with you.  Logic dictates that I was at your home asleep with you when the call came in.”

“Most of the town will know by noon toda
y that we’re sleeping together.  It seems this might have been a trap to draw you out…literally.”

As though on cue, Jac felt sick to her stomach.  Breathing through her nose, she reached into her purse for a piece of gum.  He looked down and grinned.  “At least you brought your gun with you.”  He didn’t seem to notice the gray pallor of her face or the fact that she was swallowing excessive saliva to prevent vomiting.  She didn’t need a vision or a doctor to tell her what was wrong.  It was nearly morning and she was feeling sick.

“Classic,” she muttered in disgust.

“What’s classic?”

“I’m feeling nausea,” she told him.

“At the prospect of the town learning about your sexual prowress?”

“No, Will.  I’m experiencing nausea,” she repeated with more emphasis.

A moment that should have brought them joy
, instead brought a defeated look to his face.  His shoulders dropped and he shook his head.  “Now they’re coming after you, too.”  He directed his gaze at her flat belly.  “Both of you.”

“Don’t be nervous.  They really are wonderfully generous people.”

She gave him a sidelong glance from the passenger seat.  She’d believe that after she met them for herself and determined that they weren’t the elitists she half expected them to be.

“Do you want to know something kind of funny?”

“I would love to hear something funny,” she pleaded.

“After that first day I met you, I was remembering how my mother had once told me that opposites attract.  I remember laughing about how my parents are definitely not opposites. 
Then I imagined taking you to a family dinner and wondered what we would possibly all talk about.”  He laughed loudly and took his eyes off the road to check her reaction.  “You’re not laughing,” he pointed out.

“Not funny,” she informed him stoically. 

It was another ten minutes of awkward conversation that finally gave way to
him singing along with the oldies station and trying to help her loosen up.  And then he pulled into his parents’ driveway.  Making a mental checklist of the items he needed to review with his parents, he silently counted on his fingers.  He had to first introduce Jac to his parents.  Then he had to announce the engagement.  He figured by the time dessert was served, they’d be ready for the baby announcement.  His parents were old fashioned about a lot of things, but both of them were also romantics.  They had married only seven months after they met.  Their son had moved a bit faster, but when it’s right--and when he knocks her up in the kitchen against the refrigerator--it’s right.

They were barely out of the car when the front door was flung open and a tall and wispy blond stepped out onto the porch expectantly.  Jac observed that her son had gotten his good looks and his tall, lean frame from his mother.  His shoulders and muscles must have come from the linebacker who now stood behind
the woman with his hands on her shoulders. 

As they came up the walk, his mother greeted her son with a kiss on the cheek and Jac with a warm embrace. 

“Dr. MaCall, it’s so wonderful to meet you.”

“And you, Dr. Archer.” 

“Meredith, please,” she corrected.  “When Will called to tell me that he was bringing you over for dinner, I was so very pleased.  I met your father many years ago when he designed the security and alarm system for the hospital.  He was extremely charming.”

“He i
s the best,” Jac agreed with a smile.

Will watched the introduction with a terrified smile, praying that Jac hadn’t noticed the initial greeting from his mother.  He had already mentioned casually that his parents had wanted him to marry a doctor, and he didn’t want Jac to call them out for projecting.  And then she did it again.

“Say hello to Dr. MaCall, honey.  This is Will’s father, Dennis,” she introduced. 

“Please, call me Jac,” she suggested, eyeing Will discreetly.

“Absolutely not.  It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a distinguished guest in our home.”

“Mom, she’s not a doctor.  She’s just Jac.”  He glanced apologetically at her and then corrected himself.  “Not
just
Jac.  She’s my Jac.”

Meredith Archer raised her eyebrow for a moment at the protectiveness of her son.  He had obviously fallen for her; and he couldn’t have chosen more wisely. 
“Of course she’s a doctor, Will.  I read her bio on her father’s company website.  She’s still on the board of trustees.”  She looked at her son and then at Jaclyn with a hint of confusion in her eyes.

“You Googled her?” the elder Dr. Archer
asked with disbelief.  “For crying out loud, Mare, give the boy some credit.  Did you run a full background check on her, too?”

Will’s face was flushed with mortification.

“Don’t be ridiculous.  A woman of her credentials would win any mother’s blessing.”  Then she backpedaled, just like her son would have done.  “I don’t mean to suggest that your credentials are your only qualities of value.  You seem like a delightfully warm woman.”

“What credentials?”  Now it was Will’s turn to be confused.

His mother proudly rattled off the details of her bio to her husband, completely oblivious to her son’s confusion.  “She graduated from MIT with a double major in Philosophy and Physics.  It’s definitely an odd combination, but well-rounded without a doubt.  She graduated with honors in the top of her class and went on to finish her PhD in record time, also in Physics.  Dr. MaCall is one of the more prominent physicists who specializes in theoretical quantum physics.”

Will stared bug-eyed at his future wife, wondering when she had contacted his mother to play this joke on him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jac,” his father greeted with a bear hug. 

Will remained speechless through dinner, to the point where his mother finally questioned him.  “Will darling, you’re unusually quiet tonight.”

“I am afraid that is probably my fault, Meredith.  Will and I have had a bit of a whirlwind romance and probably have not gotten to know each other as well as we should.  He was unaware that I, too, have a PhD.”

“One might think that you deliberately misled me,” he accused through a tight smile.

“I couldn’t tell you.  It was far too much fun listening to you remind me repeatedly of your own PhD.”

His mother burst into a cackle.  “Priceless!
  He does do that!” she cheered.

“When I first told him that I owned a new age shop and specialized in crystal meditations and healing, I explained that I help people get in touch with their
subconscious and intuitive health.  I dared to suggest that it wasn’t much different than what he did.  He got all bristly and said, ‘I have a PhD.’”  Jac reached over to pat his hand to placate him. 

“And you stuck around?” his mother
asked with a grin of affection at her son.

Jac laughed. 
“Are you kidding?  That was when I fell in love with him.”

Will shook his head in disbelief.
“A double major from MIT and a PhD, as well?  Is there anything else that I’m missing?  Or should I ask my mother to print her Google search results?”