Protecting Her Child (13 page)

T
he floodlights that usually spotlighted the estate grounds were off when Pete pulled into the long driveway and approached the house where a lone porch light cut through the darkness.

A late-model Cadillac sat in front. Doc Davis's car, no doubt.

Grabbing the insulated blood container and the lab test results, Pete raced to the porch.

Davis opened the door, a pale, slender man, mid-fifties. He stepped aside as Pete rushed into the foyer.

“I've got the lab printouts. Meredith's lost a lot of blood. Her hematocrit is down. Electrolytes are out of whack, and her white blood count's elevated.” Pete shoved the papers into the doctor's hands. “How's the baby?”

Davis shook his head. “I just got here.”

Pete started down the hall, heading for the guest room. “Follow me, doc.”

Davis grabbed his arm. “Eve wants to see you in the study first.”

“What?”

“It's important.”

Nothing was as important as Meredith and her child.

“I'll see what Eve wants. You check on Meredith.” Pete placed the transport container on the side table. “I crossmatched four units. Everything you need is in the box.”

“This way.” Davis motioned for Pete to follow him through the formal living room that led to the study.

Pete clamped down on his jaw, irritated by the doc's attitude. Meredith needed medical attention. This wasn't the time to be playing host. “I know the way, doc.”

“Pete, is that you?” Eve called to him, her voice strained.

No wonder. Harboring two fugitives on the run had to be affecting her. Not what she expected or wanted.

Not what Pete had wanted, either.

He stomped into the study ready to point Davis through the rear door that led to the back hallway
and the guest room. Every minute was critical for Meredith.

But he quickly saw the problem.

Eve sat at her desk, her hands on the keyboard of her computer.

She looked up at him over the monitor. Brow furrowed, face drawn. Fear flashed from her eyes.

“Peter, have you met Sam Collins?”

Big guy. Ponytail. The same man he'd seen with Dixie two nights ago now stood next to Eve, holding a gun to her head.

Pete stopped short. “Sa-muel. So you're Mule?”

“He's Dixie's father,” Eve corrected.

Pete shook his head. “Dixie's not his daughter.

She's his girlfriend.”

“My dead girlfriend, to be exact.”

“Was she too demanding? Is that why you murdered her, just like you murdered your wife?”

Collins sneered. “Meredith has a big mouth.” He placed his free hand on Eve's neck. “I told Hank and Javier to take care of you.”

Eve flinched, her eyes wide.

“Don't hurt her, Collins.”

He glanced at the blood on Pete's shirt. “Appears the boys did a little damage.”

“Yeah, but I'm the one left standing.”

Collins grimaced. His hand continued to caress Eve's neck.

She tried to pull away.

He gripped her hair and yanked her head back. “I told you to hold still.”

Time to calm things down a bit. Pete held up his hands. “Eve, it's okay. Do what he says.”

He looked at Davis. The doc glanced down at the tall stone figurine sitting on the coffee table.

Pete got the message loud and clear.

Distract Collins and Davis would grab the statue. Divide and conquer. With a little luck, it might work.

Although with the gun jammed into Eve's temple, they needed more than luck.

“What's with the computer?” Pete asked, hoping to deflect Collins's attention.

He smiled, his puffy eyes narrowing into slits. “Eve's sending a little money to an overseas account I have.”

“So that's what this is about. You want her money.”

“Which I could have had if my plan to pass Dixie off as her daughter had worked out.”

His hand returned to Eve's neck. “Only you needed a DNA specimen.”

“My…my lawyers demanded it,” Eve stammered, her voice thick.

“How'd you find Meredith?” Pete asked, buying time.

“Luck. A news article about her murdered husband ran a photo of the grieving widow.” Collins chuckled. “Wasn't hard to locate the loan sharks working that area of coastal Georgia. Hank and Javier were working for a man who's now in jail. Stupid fools. They spooked her. But then you were there that night at her beach bungalow, spying on us. The only things I found were a few quilt squares and the bill for her cell phone.”

“Once you had her cell number, you used a tracking device to keep tabs on her.”

Collins nodded. “Amazing, the technology you can buy online.”

“You told Javier and Hank we were at Sheila Hudson's home in Savannah. Meredith called a mechanic while we were there, which pinpointed our location. If you had a swatch of Meredith's hair, maybe even a blood specimen, you could submit them for DNA testing and claim they were from Dixie, proving she was Eve's daughter.”

“Only you ruined my plans.”

“Why make up a story about Dixie when Meredith was Eve's real daughter?”

Collins's eyes narrowed again, but this time he wasn't smiling. “As if she would have given me
anything. She was ungrateful, even though I did everything for her.”

“You locked her in the basement. In closets. Not the way most folks treat their children.”

Eve gasped. She turned to face Collins, her hands clenched and poised to strike the man who had hurt her child.

The distraction was just what they needed.

Davis grabbed the statue. As he swung at Collins, Pete shoved Eve into the corner for safety.

The statue missed its mark and dropped to the floor.

Collins fired.

Davis grabbed his chest and fell backwards onto the couch. A gush of crimson spread across the plush velvet cushions.

“Don't move.” Collins turned the gun on Pete, then motioned Eve back to the keyboard.

She shook her head and stood flush against the mahogany sideboard, her hands clutching the knob on the drawer. “I…I can't think straight.”

Pete glanced at the monitor. Eve hadn't completed the transfer of funds.

Not wanting her near Collins, Pete stepped toward the computer. “I'll do it.”

Pete looked at Eve. He nodded ever so slightly, trying to reassure her. “What's your password?”

“Your birth date, followed by your middle name. Lowercase, no spaces.”

He tapped in the code. The file opened.

Checking the figures, he quickly realized that while the funds in the account were insignificant compared to Eve's total assets, Collins would be able to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

“You won't get away with this,” Pete warned.

Collins chuckled. “I'll be in the islands before the police even know I'm out of the country. From there, I'll just keep going.”

And kill all of us before you leave here, Pete thought.

He saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and turned ever so slightly.

Oh, dear God, no.

Meredith stood in the entryway, her good arm propped against the doorjamb for support.

“I won't let you hurt anyone else.” Her voice was weak but filled with accusation.

Collins sneered. “My lovely daughter.”

“Who ran away from you when you killed your wife,” Pete said, once again hoping to distract him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Pete saw Eve open the top drawer and pull out the .32 caliber revolver she kept in the house for protection. She raised the
revolver and fired. The bullet pinged against the fireplace.

Pete lunged for Collins's gun. It went off, grazing Pete's shoulder.

Ignoring the pain, he grabbed Collins's hand. They fought for control of the weapon.

Eve fired again. The bullet hit Collins's arm. Blood streaked his shirt.

Too close for comfort. “Hold your fire,” Pete yelled.

He smashed his fist into Collins's gut. The guy hardly flinched.

Collins grabbed Pete's arm and twisted. Pain ricocheted through his body.

Pete broke free. Collins stooped to retrieve the gun, but Pete kicked it across the room.

Meredith slithered down the doorjamb, groping across the floor with her hand.

Hearing her moan, Pete turned. Collins caught him off guard with a jab to his injured left side.

Gasping, Pete doubled over.

Collins reached for the stone statue and raised it over his head.

Pete had to stop him.

He charged.

“No!” Eve screamed. She aimed the revolver.

Meredith's fingers wrapped around Collins's gun.

Collins swung the statue. Two shots exploded, ripping into his chest. Air rushed from his lungs.

The statue fell from his hands and shattered. Slowly and deliberately, Collins crumpled to the floor.

Pete raced to Meredith's side. She lay in a pool of blood and water.

He touched her cheek. “Meredith?”

Her eyes were closed, her face pale as death.

“C
all 911!” Pete screamed to Eve. He knelt over Meredith and felt for a pulse. Weak. Too weak.

Eve fumbled with the phone, tapped in the digits and relayed the information when the operator answered. “Emergency. Send an ambulance.”

“And the police,” Pete prompted.

Meredith's skin was white as chalk. She'd lost so much blood.

Pete raced into the hallway and returned with the insulated container in hand.

Every army medic knew how to start an IV and administer meds and blood, which was what Meredith desperately needed.

He ripped open an alcohol swab, cleaned her arm and inserted the IV needle, relieved when he hit the vein on the first try.

Within minutes, he had the unit of blood dripping
life back into Meredith. Would it be enough to save her?

Please, God.

Eve knelt next to him on the floor, wiping her hand over Meredith's brow.

“Oh, Lord, save this precious child of mine,”
she prayed over and over again.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Pete opened the door and led the police and emergency personnel into the study, hastily explaining what had happened.

He pointed to Meredith. “She may have adrenal tumors that could increase her blood pressure during delivery. Her water broke. She might be in labor.”

Meredith was the first to be placed on a stretcher and rolled to a waiting ambulance. Davis was hoisted into a second emergency van. Although critical, he was expected to live. Collins wasn't as lucky.

Eve crawled into the ambulance with Meredith and looked back expectantly for Pete.

“We need to talk to him,” the officer in charge told her before the doors closed. Both ambulances drove off, their sirens wailing in the night.

Pete relayed the events of the last couple of days. The interrogation progressed rapidly, thanks to the lieutenant's grasp of the situation.

“From the looks of your injuries, maybe we should call another ambulance,” the officer said when he had the information he needed. “The least we can do is give you a ride.”

Pete accepted the offer. Grabbing Meredith's bag from his Jeep, he slipped into the back seat of the police sedan.

The flashing lights parted the traffic and moved Pete quickly to the E.R. entrance of Atlanta's large trauma center.

“She's been taken to L and D,” the E.R. receptionist said, pointing him toward the elevators. “Looks like you need a doctor as well.”

Pete ignored her comment, pushed the U
P
button on the elevator and got off at labor and delivery.

He found Eve in the waiting room, head resting in her hand. Pete touched her shoulder.

She looked up, her eyes red and rimmed with tears. “A nurse said she'd let me know. So far I haven't heard a thing.”

Pete eyed the swinging double doors and the D
O
N
OT
E
NTER
sign, indicating the delivery area.

He stepped forward and pushed through the doors.

A nurse peered out from one of the labor rooms. “You can't come in here.”

“Meredith Lassiter,” he said. “Her mother's waiting outside. Any word on her condition?”

“We'll let you know when the baby's born.”

“Keep close watch on her blood pressure. I told the EMTs, but they may not have passed the information on. Meredith could have Von-Hippel Lindau disease. Adrenal tumors would be a complication. Can you let her doctor know?”

The nurse nodded before she disappeared back into the labor room.

After reassuring Eve, Pete stepped into the men's room, startled by his own reflection in the mirror. Dark rings of fatigue circled his eyes. His brow was drawn, his face covered with dirt. A yellow bruise had started to form on his swollen cheek.

Forget his shirt and pants. Torn, bloodied, wrinkled. He needed a hot shower and some new clothes.

Instead, he splashed cold water on his face and washed up with the antiseptic soap from the wall dispenser.

The cleaned-up version didn't look much better.

His side ached and his arm could use a stitch or two.

All that would be handled later. Once Meredith was out of danger.

Returning to the waiting room, he sat next to Eve. “Any sign of the nurse?”

She shook her head. Her fingers fiddled with the
edge of her blouse. “I just found my daughter, thanks to you. I can't lose her now.”

“She's a fighter, Eve.”

“What about the baby?”

Two months ahead of schedule. Not the best situation, but Meredith was in the right place.

Surely, everything would work out.

Unless the adrenal tumor caused her blood pressure to spike. Had the nurse transmitted the information?

Maybe he should step back into the unit and talk with the doc one-on-one.

Pete rose as the swinging doors opened.

“Meredith Lassiter's family?” the nurse called.

Pete nodded, trying to read her expression.

“Meredith would like to see you.” The nurse glanced at the bag sitting next to Pete's chair. “You can bring her things back.”

He reached for the bag and helped Eve to her feet. They followed the nurse, not knowing what to expect.

“How is she?” Eve asked.

“You're her mother?”

“Yes, that's right.” Eve stole a sideways glance at Pete.

“She's being transfused with a second unit of blood,” the nurse explained as they walked. “The E.R. said she got one on the way to the hospital.
That raised her blood count. The doctor ordered two more units.”

“And her blood pressure?” Pete asked.

“Actually, it's a little low.”

Which meant adrenal tumors hadn't been a complication.

Pete let out the breath he'd been holding. “Thank the Lord.”

Eve grabbed his hand and squeezed.

The nurse pointed them toward a room on the left of the corridor.

Pete held the door for Eve, then followed her in. Both of them stopped at the foot of the bed. Meredith's bandaged arm lay propped up on a pillow. The unit of life-giving blood slowly dripped into the vein in her other arm.

Her dark hair swarmed over the bed, contrasting sharply with her face, pale as the white sheets.

Her eyes were closed, and for a moment Pete feared the worst. Was she breathing?

“Meredith?” He stepped closer and touched her hand.

She opened her eyes. Her brow furrowed.

Did she recognize him?

“It's Pete,” he prompted, then pointed to the foot of the bed. “Eve's with me. We wanted to see how you're feeling.”

“Happy,” she said, attempting to smile.

Joy coursed through him, pushing away the fear. “And the baby?”

“They're cleaning her up.”

“Her?” Pete gripped her hand more tightly. “The baby's okay?”

“The doctor said I didn't have to worry about anything.”

The door pushed open, and a different nurse rolled an incubator into the room. “Five pounds, two ounces and seventeen inches. Everything checked out fine. Seems you were closer to term than you thought.”

She glanced at Pete's stained clothing and handed him a scrub gown. “Put that on if you hold the baby.”

He slipped the protective covering over his shirt and pants.

The nurse picked up the swaddled baby and compared Meredith's armband to the tiny information tag around the infant's ankle. Satisfied that they matched, she placed the baby in Meredith's arms and left the room.

Pete gazed down at the most beautiful baby he'd ever seen. Tiny button nose, rosy cheeks and a bow of a mouth that trembled ever so slightly into a smile as if she were dreaming of something sweet.

“Oh, Meredith, she's perfect.” Eve rubbed her hand over the baby's arm.

Noticing the bag Pete had placed near the rocking chair, Meredith said, “I've got a blanket in there. Would you pull it out?”

He unzipped her tote and found the quilted fabric folded at the bottom, recognizing the heart and cross pattern that matched the scraps he'd seen in her ocean bungalow just a few days before and also on the quilt Eve had covered Meredith with just hours earlier.

He handed the blanket to Meredith and smiled down at the healthy baby she'd just delivered. At this moment, it seemed as though they had always been a part of his life.

Eve touched the fabric. “It's the same cross-my-heart pattern I created for your baby quilt before you were born.” She looked at Meredith, waiting for some explanation.

“Hazel Collins saved the quilt you made for me. When times were bad, I'd lay my head on the fabric, imagining I was laying my head on your lap.”

Tears welled up in Eve's eyes. “I'm so sorry I gave you up for adoption. Especially to someone as terrible as Collins. When I think about how he treated you—”

Pete wrapped his arm around Eve and rubbed her shoulders.

Meredith reached for her hand.

“I'd do anything for my baby.” Meredith looked down at the infant in her arms. “And I know you did what you thought was best for me.”

“Sometimes things don't work out the way we plan,” Eve whispered, her voice filled with emotion.

“Except they have. I wanted you in my life. Now you are and will be forever.” Meredith looked into Eve's eyes, noting the brown mark that mirrored her own. “You'll always be in your granddaughter's life as well. If you don't mind, I'd like to name her Eve.”

Meredith held the baby out to Grandma Eve, whose tears turned to joy as she took the tiny bundle into her arms. “Nothing could make me happier.”

The glow of pride and love on her face said even more than her words. Eve carried the baby to the rocker, where she held her close and hummed the sweet strains of a lullaby.

Meredith reached for Pete's hand. “Thank you. You saved my life and my baby's life. You also reunited me with my mother.”

“Everyone needs a family,” he said.

“What about you, Pete?”

He raised his brow.

“Eve loves you dearly. It's evident every time she looks your way.”

“I don't deserve her love.”

“When I ran away from Collins, I had to accept the Lord's love into my life before I could begin to love myself. Only then could I love another.”

“Your husband?”

“Pete, you're the one who has shown me the true meaning of love—sacrificial love. You placed my needs and the needs of my baby over your own. You're an honorable man of worth.”

Pete stared down at her, this petite powerhouse of a woman who had been through so much. She'd been wounded and almost died. She'd fought off Collins and overcome the pain of her past to accept her mother's love.

So unassuming. So focused on others.

“I've never wanted anything as much in my life as to keep you and the baby safe.”

She squeezed his hand. “I used to think I'd make a life for myself without having to rely on anyone else, but I learned that's not what I want now.”

He stepped closer.

“Now, I know how important the love of another person can be.”

Pete's heart swelled. He looked down at Meredith. He'd come full circle from the kid who had felt abandoned, just as Meredith had, to a man who had everything his heart desired…a woman to
love, a new baby and a doting mother who cherished them all.

He thought of the disease that threatened Eve and could have been passed on to Meredith and her baby. Surely, the Lord would honor their prayers to give them more time together.

“We've only just begun to know each other,” he said to Meredith. “But we've got a lifetime ahead of us.”

“Yes,” she whispered, drawing him close until their lips touched. At that moment, the baby cooed in Eve's arms.