Ladies' Circle of Murder (A Lacy Steele Mystery Book 8) (18 page)

“You can’t shoot a woman who’s having a baby!” Lacy exclaimed.

“Who says?”

“Uh, the law, but also every moral code in the entire world,” Lacy said.

“What do you want me to do? Shoot you and beat her to death with a board?” Celia said.

“Why would anyone want that? No, I was hoping you would have a heart and let us go so I can get her to the hospital.”

“I ran over my own mother and you want me to care that your sister is about to spawn? You really are a special kind of stupid.”

Riley was doubled over, moaning in misery. Celia was oblivious as she continued talking.

“All my meticulous planning. I covered everything, and then idiot Dan had to shift my car over to Bob who figured out it wasn’t deer damage on the grill. I offered to pay him off, but he wanted more. He wasn’t going to leave me anything to live on. So I took care of him, and then you came along.”

“What do you mean you took care of him? What did you do?”

“I crushed him with a car lift. I thought that part was fairly self-explanatory, even for you,” Celia said.

“But how? He was bigger than you? Did he lie down beneath the lift and wait patiently for you to drop it on him?”

“What does it matter to you? I bashed him in the head with a hammer and dragged him under the lift. Now answer my question: How did you figure it out? I mean, really, how? I’ve been following you for days, ever since you started asking questions about Bob. I saw you break in here and I called the cops to stop you from snooping, I watched you fall out of your pants, watched you run head first into my car, watched a cat have better luck with a ball of yarn than you, got tagged out by you, my own teammate, and you
still
figured out what was going on. How? Because from everything I’ve seen, you should have a helper dog to navigate everyday life with you, and yet here we are. And now I have to get rid of you both, you stupid, stupid child.” Rage rang like steel in her voice. Her hand tightened on the gun until her finger trembled.

Riley straightened suddenly and chucked a rock at Celia’s head. It hit hard between her eyes. “Dodge this, you old…Oh!” She groaned and doubled over again. Celia crumpled into a heap and stayed there. Lacy crept closer, but there was no need for caution—Celia was out cold and bleeding furiously from a large gash over her nose.

“You have better aim in labor than I do on a good day,” Lacy said. She took the gun from Celia’s slack fingers and returned to Riley’s side.

Her sister reached up and grabbed a handful of hair, yanking Lacy down to her level. “Ambulance. Tosh. Now.”

“Okay, ouch, okay. Let go of my hair.”

“I can’t,” Riley said.

“Why not?”

“Because it makes me feel better that someone else is in pain,” she said. Tears streamed down her face. Lacy’s eyes stung, too, but she figured she still had the better end of the deal. Awkwardly, she retrieved her phone and dialed 911.

“I can’t send an ambulance,” the dispatcher said.

“Are you kidding me? My sister is in labor, real, gross labor!”

“Detective Arroyo said you would say anything to get an officer there. I’m sorry, I’m just doing my job.”

“Actually, you’re not doing your job. Your job is not to be a toady for the detective division. My sister is having a baby, and I don’t plan to deliver it in the dirt of a mechanic’s lot.”

“I’m sorry,” the dispatcher said and hung up.

Lacy called back, and they had the argument again. “Forget it,” she said finally and tossed her phone into the dirt.

Riley started to cry. “I don’t want to have my baby next to a murderer,” she said, sniffling.

“You won’t,” Lacy promised her. She did the only thing she could think of; she went over the heads of the sheriff’s department. “Hello, State Patrol? I need an officer, it’s an emergency.”

The sheriff might have jurisdiction in the county, but the patrol had jurisdiction over the whole state. And while they usually left local crime fighting up to the sheriff’s office, they couldn’t resist a woman in distress. Jason had taught her that—he said staties, as he called them, were all boy scouts, even the women. Lacy knew it was true. The ones she had met were so clean-cut and by-the-book that they made Jason look like a hippie.

Ten minutes later a state patrol unit arrived and immediately called for two ambulances—one for Riley and one for Celia, who was still unconscious.

“Will the ambulance make it in time?” Riley asked.

“Don’t worry, ma’am, I’m trained to deliver a baby,” the officer said.

“Have you ever done it before?” Lacy asked.

“No, but I have a manual in my car,” he said, and Riley grabbed Lacy’s hair again.

“Did you call Tosh?” she asked.

“I’m doing it right now,” she said. She pressed his number and didn’t give him time to say hello before she started to talk.

“If you want to see your child arrive in person, you’d better be on a plane right now,” she said and hung up. Riley’s grip on her hair hurt too much for niceties.

While they waited for the medics, Lacy gave her statement about Celia. The officer had to write it down for her. She was still bent sideways, her hair firmly in Riley’s grip. He was just starting to take pictures of the scene when the first ambulance arrived. One of the medics helped uncurl Riley’s fingers from Lacy’s hair so they could load her inside.

“You’re going to be fine now,” Lacy assured her.

“Don’t leave me,” Riley pled. She reached for Lacy’s hand and crushed it between both of hers.

“I don’t think I’m allowed to ride in the ambulance with you,” Lacy said.

“Sure you are,” the medic said.

Lacy shot him a dirty look.

He gave her a cheeky grin in return.

“I think the officer might need to hear my statement again,” she tried.

“I have what I need. I’ll call you for more later,” he said.

The emergency personnel of the world were clearly conspiring against her.

 “All right, I won’t leave you,” Lacy promised, although she wanted nothing more than to run away and hide. Seeing Riley in so much pain was hard enough, but soon there would be too many other things she didn’t want to see or hear.

Her sister retained a death grip on her hand while the medics hooked her up to oxygen. They asked Lacy rapid-fire questions, ones Lacy had a hard time answering in the confusion of the moment. Did Riley have gestational diabetes? Had she lost any blood? Was this her first pregnancy? On and on the questions came while Riley moaned and crushed all the bones in Lacy’s right hand.

“Is she going to make it to the hospital?” she remembered asking at one point.

“Sure, this could go on for hours,” one EMT said, and Riley started to cry once more.

“He was kidding,” Lacy said, and she felt on the verge of tears, too. This was terrible. Why would anyone in her right mind have a baby? Riley also appeared to be changing her mind about the whole thing.

“I don’t want to do this,” she said, her words muffled by the oxygen mask.

“It’s going to be all right. We’re almost at the hospital and they’ll give you drugs, pretty, pretty drugs,” she said.

“This far along, they probably won’t,” the helpful EMT said.

“What is wrong with you?” Lacy snapped. “Shut up.”

Riley cried harder. Lacy smoothed her hand over her forehead. “This part will be over quickly, and then you’ll have a beautiful, wonderful baby. And soon we’ll know if it’s a boy or a girl. The suspense has been killing me.”

Her sister smiled a little, so she kept talking, describing all the ways life would be wonderful once labor was over and the baby had arrived. The words poured out; she had no idea what they were. At one point she might have promised that the baby would potty train itself and never cry. Riley didn’t seem to mind. She settled down, stirring only when another contraction hit.

They arrived at the hospital. Lacy sagged in relief. Finally, she could push her sister onto capable hands and have done with it, but Riley had other ideas.

“Don’t leave me alone,” she pled, her soft brown eyes red-rimmed and luminous with unshed tears.

“I’m here for the duration,” Lacy promised. She had to use the bathroom, but that was a small thing compared to the pain Riley was in. And the EMT was right; her labor was too far along for an epidural. Rather, they told her they could give her one, but it might slow labor. Riley was against anything that might draw out the process, so she opted to go without, despite the dizzying amount of pain.

“Is Tosh coming soon?” she asked between contractions that were now a minute apart.

“Yes,” Lacy assured her, although she hadn’t heard from him in more than an hour. She hoped that meant he was wheels up and would be there soon, but she couldn’t be sure. The weather was foggy and icy in Chicago. Had he been grounded? She hoped not.

Their mother arrived soon after.

“Hi, honey, how’s it going?” Frannie asked.

“It hurts,” Riley said, tearing up all over again.

“I know, but when it’s over, you’ll forget all about it. I promise,” Frannie said.

“I don’t ever want to do this again,” Riley said.

Frannie laughed. “I bet you’ll change your mind.”

“I don’t ever want to do this once,” Lacy said.

“Wait until the baby comes and tell me how you feel,” Frannie said.

“Is Dad coming?” Riley asked.

“He’s on his way,” Frannie assured her.

“And Grandpa?”

“I assume Mom called him,” Frannie said.

“And Jason?” Riley asked.

“I haven’t had a chance to call,” Lacy said.

“Go call.”

Now that she could leave, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. For the last few hours, she had been the caregiver. It was harder to hand over the reins than she would have imagined.

“Mom will stay while you’re gone,” Riley said.

Lacy nodded and left the room. Her fingers shook as she pushed the button for Jason’s number. So much had happened. It was almost midnight. She was exhausted. How could she explain everything?
Remember how you asked me to be safe? Well, I sort of pushed my way into a murder investigation and almost got myself and Riley killed. Then my pregnant sister saved me, and now she’s apparently turning inside out.

He didn’t answer. The call went to voicemail, and everything came out in a rush.

“Jason, Celia murdered Bob Hoskins and almost killed us, but we’re fine except Riley’s having the baby, and it’s the worst thing I’ve ever, ever seen and I want to go somewhere and hide, but what kind of rotten person leaves her little sister alone in labor, and I don’t think I want kids anymore and I love you so much, bye.”

She hung up and went back to the labor room.

“Is Jason coming?” Frannie asked.

“I got his voicemail,” Lacy said.

Frannie pressed her lips together. “What, Mom?”

“He should be here. This is a time for families.”

Her mom considered Jason family? Or was she simply trying hard to find fault with him for something beyond his control? “He’s almost done with his class. He’ll be home tomorrow,” Lacy assured her.

“What if I’m still in labor then?” Riley asked, near panic.

“You won’t be,” Frannie assured her. “It’s going to be over soon.”

“How do you know?” Riley asked.

“Because you want to give up. You always want to give up, and then the end arrives.”

“Is that what happened when you had us?” Lacy asked.

“I had some fairly strong words for your father about what he could do if he ever thought he was going to touch me again,” she said.

“What did Dad say to that?” she asked.

“He laughed. I kicked him. Hard. And it felt good,” Frannie said. She smiled, but it was a sad sort of smile.

“Mom,” Lacy started, but Riley sat up and clutched the sides of the bed.

“The baby is coming. Mom, go get the doctor.”

Frannie scurried out of the room without a word. Lacy sat by helplessly, unsure what to do. What if her mom didn’t find the doctor? What if it was like on television and she had to deliver the baby? She hadn’t watched enough
Grey’s Anatomy
to prepare her for that. And on TV it was always breech or twins or something else that required a last minute emergency procedure. 
Pleasenopleasenopleaseno,
she silently prayed.

A minute later, her mother returned with a nurse and Tosh. “Look who I found,” she announced cheerfully.

Tosh rushed to Riley’s side and kissed her while the nurse made her inspection. Lacy stared hard at the clock and tried to block out everything else in the room.

“You’re right, girly,” the nurse said. “This baby is ready to roll.” She looked up and took stock of the room. “We have one too many visitors. Someone has to go.”

Lacy stood, but Riley grabbed her hand. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’ll go,” Frannie volunteered, and Riley didn’t hail her back.

Lacy stared forlornly at her mother’s retreating back. When she pictured this day, it was always her mother and Tosh in the room. Lacy had been prepared to pace in the waiting room with her grandparents and father. Never in a million years had she guessed that Riley would want her there for the main event.

“You’re sure you want me to stay?” she asked, but Riley was beyond conversation at that point. The nurse settled her in position just as the doctor bustled in.

“It’s a beautiful night to have a baby,” he said. “Everybody ready?”

No,
Lacy thought, but he probably hadn’t been talking to her.

What followed next was like a beautiful nightmare. At one point everyone in the room was screaming, either in agony or encouragement. An hour and multiple later, the baby was born. Lacy had taken an active roll in the birth process, holding whatever part of Riley needed support, wiping sweat and tears, but when the baby arrived, she stepped back and let the family be. She watched with awe as two became three and a new family was formed. The moment between Riley and Tosh was too raw, too intimate. She pulled off her scrubs and eased away, sure that she wouldn’t be missed now.

Her family was waiting outside. She gave them the news and shared hugs, cheers, and tears, but she was numb inside. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy; she was ecstatic. But she hadn’t had time alone to process her feelings and put them into place. She needed a quiet place to think, and all would be right with the world again.