The girl sucked in a breath and opened her eyes. She looked around, startled, and her fists were clenched as if she was ready to fight. She staggered to her feet but fell back against the cot as her legs gave out from under her. “What the hell is going on?”
A contraction twisted Paige’s belly, forcing her to pause before she could speak. “I wish I knew.”
Kat turned to the door. She pounded on it with her fist and started screaming.
“It won’t do any good,” Paige said. “I screamed for days when I first got here. No one ever came.”
Kat darted around the room looking for any way out. She was petrified and for good reason.
“You’re going to have to pull yourself together. Otherwise we’re both dead. That’s the only thing I’m sure of right now,” Paige said.
Kat took a deep breath and slowly sat down next to Paige. “I’m listening.”
“Garnet brought me here. I know we’re in Austin.”
“Who the hell is Garnet?”
“His full name is Danny Garnet. He owns the Second Chances bar.”
“Was that Garnet who was just here?”
“No.”
Kat blinked and shook her head. The drugs were wearing off. “I’ve heard that name before.”
“He’s very charming. Evil,” Paige offered.
Kat narrowed her eyes. “You’re Paige!”
“You know me?”
“I saw your picture. Everybody thought you ran away.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I thought I had all the answers. I was so stupid.”
Just that moment, the door slowly swung open. Neither girl had heard footsteps or voices. It was just open. The one prayer Paige had been asking for was answered.
Paige felt another contraction and closed her eyes, breathing in and out as she’d seen on a television show once. Finally when she could take a deep breath, she said, “I can’t leave. Get help.”
Kat stood, and after looking at Paige and ticking through her options, she pushed through the door and vanished into the hallway.
Faith saw the flicker of movement in front of the large glass window and realized it was Kat. She shut off her car and got out, locking it behind her. A part of her was annoyed with the kid for giving her such a scare. What the hell was she doing out here?
When the front door opened, Faith was halfway up the walkway. She saw immediately that something was wrong as the girl wobbled and dropped to her knees.
Faith raced up and knelt beside her, immediately searching for injuries. “Kat!”
“There’s a girl.” Kat gripped Faith’s arm. “She’s in the basement. Her baby is coming right now.”
Satisfied Kat wasn’t bleeding or injured, Faith helped her to her feet. Relief and fear collided as Faith struggled to keep her voice steady. “Can you make it to my car? It’s parked across the street.”
“I think so.”
“Sit in the car and lock the doors.”
“What’s going on?” Kat asked. “This is so messed up.”
Faith heard the girl’s screams coming from the basement. She pressed her keys into Kat’s hands and pushed her out the front door. “No questions. Don’t come back into the house.”
Kat nodded and then took a couple of halting steps forward, gripping the keys as she staggered toward Faith’s car.
Faith followed the sounds of the screams through the house into a kitchen and down a flight of stairs. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She followed the hallway toward the light that streamed out of the door. Faith ran to the open door and found Paige Sheldon lying on her back. She was drenched in sweat and gripping her belly. Panic radiated from her eyes.
Faith ran to her side. She then spotted the chain. Jesus. Hayden couldn’t get here fast enough.
“Paige, it’s going to be all right.”
The girl was silent as a contraction racked her body. When it finally eased, she was panting and pale.
Faith hurried to the small sink and washed her hands quickly before returning to the girl and lifting her knees, pushing up the folds of her loose skirt, and removing her panties.
“Paige, I’m Dr. McIntyre. Let me examine you.”
“Please,” she whispered. “It hurts so much.”
Faith had not delivered a baby since medical school, but she knew it would all come back to her.
“Paige, I want you to take a deep breath. When the next contraction comes, draw in another deep breath and push as hard as you can.”
The girl closed her eyes, bearing down as she cried and pushed. The top of the baby’s head crowned before the contraction ended and she collapsed back.
“You’re doing a great job. The next one is going to come fast, Paige. I want you to push as hard as you can.”
Tears streamed down Paige’s face. “I can’t!”
“Yes, you can. You don’t want your baby stuck in this godforsaken place forever. We need to get the baby born and get you two out of here.”
As Faith expected, the next contraction came even faster, and again the girl pushed and screamed.
This time the baby’s head emerged enough for Faith to see that it had ink-black hair. “I need one more push. Your baby is almost here!”
Paige screamed as Faith firmly tugged on the small head enough for it to slip out until the face was fully exposed. She quickly swiped the baby’s mouth and opened its airway. “One more push and your baby will be born.”
Paige’s face was drawn with fatigue and pain. “I can’t. I’m so tired.”
“You can and you will. Now get ready. Let’s do this together.”
The girl gritted her teeth and pushed. This time the infant’s head, neck, and shoulders slid out enough for Faith to get a grip and pull the child the rest of the way.
“Your baby girl is here, Paige. You did a great job.”
Paige collapsed back against her pillows as Faith focused on the baby girl. She placed her on her side and rubbed her tiny back with her knuckles. The child’s mouth opened and let out a cry.
“Is she all right?” Paige asked.
“She looks good.” Faith turned the baby over. “Your daughter is beautiful, Paige.”
Faith laid the baby, still attached to her umbilical cord, on Paige’s belly and shifted to delivering the afterbirth, which appeared to come out whole. Later doctors could confirm this and deal with the minor tearing Paige had suffered. The girl was incredibly lucky considering the conditions and lack of prenatal care.
Paige continued to lie against the pillows, exhausted, making no move to hold the child. Faith didn’t have clean scissors to cut the umbilical cord and accepted she’d have to wrap the afterbirth with the baby and have the separation done by the paramedics. As the baby cried, she found a clean bath towel and wrapped her in it.
“Paige, I’ve got to get you out of here,” Faith said. Holding the baby, she fished her phone from her back pocket and dialed Hayden. He should have been here by now, she thought.
Paige looked up, glancing toward the door. She cried out and she shrank back.
Faith felt the presence behind her and, bracing, turned and saw a shadow of a man hovering at the threshold. He had a tight grip on Kat’s arm and was pointing a gun at her belly.
“Let’s go, Faith,” he said. “You and the baby, now. We need a quiet place to talk. I have a few questions for you.”
The voice sounded familiar, and when he stepped into the light, she knew she’d met him before. For a moment her mind scrambled to place him, and then she remembered the fundraiser. Fear snaked up her spine as she pictured his easy smile and hard eyes. She hugged the baby close. “I’ve seen you before. At the hotel.”
“Good memory.”
Faith thought about the smooth, friendly smile he’d presented to her at the hotel. He’d asked her out for a drink and then called her office. “That meeting at the hotel wasn’t random, was it?”
“Smart lady.” He pointed the gun at Paige.
She moved forward, quickly placing herself in front of the gun. “You don’t have to kill her. Just leave her be. She’s suffered enough.”
“And she’s seen me.”
Faith had no doubt he would kill that girl and never lose a moment’s sleep. She had to give him some kind of distraction or the girls would die. She raised her chin. “Macy Crow is alive.”
He stood straighter. “Is she?”
“She’s awake, and I talked to her,” she said quickly, knowing she had his interest. “She knows where the package is.”
“Does she?” His eyes sharpened with interest.
“If you kill them, I won’t tell you.”
He looked amused. “I can be persuasive.”
“Apparently not enough. You didn’t get Jack Crow to talk.” Faith was doing her best to unsettle him.
“I’ve learned a few new tricks since then.”
“You and I leave now, I’ll tell you where the package is.”
“Fair enough. Bring the baby. Like I said, I’ve learned some new tricks.” They stepped out of the room, and Faith, holding the baby tight, followed. He closed the door behind her, locking it, and then motioned for her to climb the stairs.
Faith’s mind was spinning. Hayden was close. All she had to do was buy a little time.
As she reached the kitchen, she started toward the front door.
“No. Back door.”
She pictured Hayden rolling up in the cul-de-sac, seeing her car, and being distracted long enough for this man to get away with her and the baby. And if she died, he would surely double back and kill the girls. The baby began to fuss. “Aren’t you worried about the neighbors?”
“Keep it quiet, or I’ll kill it right here.”
She put her pinky in the baby’s mouth, and it suckled. Blood from the afterbirth had stained her shirt and was now dripping on the floor. “The baby needs to see a doctor.”