Chapter Two
It was mid morning and Jack had barely made a dent in the stack of reports in his in-box. Still, things were running smoothly and, for that, Jack was grateful. He glanced at the recent Christmas picture of his family on his desk and smiled. Pretty soon there would be a new little face to add to the happy family smiling back at him. He looked at each of his kids in the photo. Sage was the light of his life. He couldn't recall her ever being so happy. She was thrilled that her parents remarried and was even more ecstatic when they told her about the pregnancy. She'd been such a huge help for Carly - always willing to do what ever she could to help out. JJ was thrilled about the pregnancy as well. He'd wanted to come back home and finish school in Oakdale, but with Jack and Carly's urging decided to return to boarding school and finish up his last year. Parker was also thrilled with the turn of events. His decision to go to the Academy had given him a drive to really start focusing on his final year in school and his grades were so improved that Jack couldn't have been happier. He was still apprehensive about Parker's decision. But Parker's confidence and determination made him prouder than he could ever have hoped to be. The thought of one day possibly working along side Parker was something Jack was looking forward to. Jack drew his eyes away from the picture and back to stack of papers waiting for his attention. He finished up the report in his hand and as he grabbed for the next one on top - a name on a file a few reports down jumped out at him. He immediately grabbed the file and scanned it. Julia Lindsey. Apparently there had been reported sightings of Julia along the Canadian border. But so far, all had been unconfirmed. Jack looked up from the file and called out to the desk sergeant.
"Hopkins!" Jack yelled getting to his feet. "Why was this file in with the other cases in my in-box? This should have been brought directly to my attention as soon as you got it." At Jack's outburst, several other officers turned their attention toward him.
"I'm sorry Detective, I didn't know," Hopkins apologized. "From now on, I'll make sure to bring anything related to this case directly to you as soon as I get it."
"See that you do. Dismissed." Jack looked at the other officers in the squad room, "Everybody back to work!" he said returning to desk. He cleared off all the other reports and went over the Julia's case file again. He scanned the report thoroughly. There wasn't any evidence that Julia was heading towards Oakdale. He thought for a moment and tried to rationalize things. Why would she possibly return at this point anyway? There was no reason for her to come back now. The last time he and Carly had heard from her was when she was trying to pass off a baby she'd kidnapped, as Jack's son. He'd become attached to the child and accepted it as his own, only to then have it be revealed that the child wasn't his after all. Just one more way Julia twisted his life into knots. He knew she was sick at that point, but he never believed her capable of kidnapping an innocent baby and using it that way.
Baby! Panic started rising in Jack's throat. What if Julia had somehow found out that Carly was pregnant? He wouldn't put anything past Julia as far as Carly was concerned. She'd tried to kill her twice before. The thought of anyone harming Carly made Jack's blood boil. He would never let anyone touch one hair on her head. And he certainly wouldn't allow anything to happen to their baby. Well that settled it. Jack would take extra precautions to make sure that Carly and his kids were kept safe. But how to go about it so that he didn't arouse any suspicion in Carly. That was his dilemma. He certainly didn't want to mention it to her. This pregnancy was going so well. If telling her about Julia were to cause her or the baby stress - he'd never forgive himself. Especially if all this worry was for nothing. Better not to mention it for now and take subtle steps to ensure everyone's safety.
Meanwhile, back in Milltown…
Sage had the day off from school and she and Carly were sitting in the living room going through all the new things they'd purchased for the nursery. Blankets, toys and clothes. Carly was thrilled that Sage was so happy about the baby. Sage was already talking about babysitting and changing diapers. She and Carly had become even closer since the pregnancy and it meant the world to Carly to have that bond with her daughter. They were trying to get everything organized when the doorbell rang. Sage jumped up and answered the door. "Package for Mrs. Snyder," said the postman. "I just need you to sign here." Sage signed for the package and thanked him as he left.
"It doesn't say who it's from," Sage frowned looking at the package. It wasn't very big - about the size of a shoe box and was wrapped in standard brown wrapping. She handed it to her mother.
"Well, let's find out what it is," replied Carly. She opened the package to reveal a box wrapped in pretty pastel colors with a card attached. She opened the card. It was a note simply saying Congratulations and nothing more. She looked at the box hoping for another hint as to who it was from but found nothing. She opened it and took out the beautiful silver baby rattle inside. She turned it over in her hand looking at the exquisite etching on the outside. She shook it and listened to the lovely tinkling sounds the bell inside made. "It's stunning. I wonder who it's from?" she said as she looked at Sage.
