11 Life and Death
Michael sat at the breakfast table and looked out at the grey sky. He had been living in his new home for four months and was finally getting used to it. He had stopped buying enough vegetables for five or six people, didn't have to have anything in his cupboards that he didn't like any more and could, if he wanted to, walk round in his socks all day, not that he would dream of doing so. Folding up the Daily Telegraph, and placing it on the table, the Englishman stood up and moved across to the French windows as a smile played across his lips.
He was going into town today, he had planned to anyway, but now he would see Jo, his sister, and her new baby. Steve had called him and said that right now it was family only being allowed to visit and for a moment he had felt disappointed, until he realised that he was included in that description. He would go shopping first; get something for the little boy and for Daniel too. He had been waiting, waiting to buy something for his first nephew but not wanting to do so just for buying's sake. Now he had a perfectly good excuse.
Michael needed to go to the police station as well, he had to speak to Jo, which, due to her change in circumstances, wasn't an option at the moment, so he was going to take all the evidence and leave it with Gilbert Sholte and then go to North Hollywood. He had engaged the assistance of Rae Yeager for various parts of the investigation he had undertaken, and she'd promised to get back to him, but there had been another murder since then, and she was very busy. He knew though that she wouldn't let him or her friend down and he wanted to speak to her in person, just for a few minutes.
Steve had told him that Jo had been taken into hospital because she had collapsed in the street after seeing Wayne, and that one fact alone worried him greatly. He had a feeling that all of the information he had found, which led in one direction, would, eventually, incriminate the Texan ex-police officer as well, unfortunately; so far, he had covered his tracks too well for any connection to be found.
Michael watched as a lone bird scratched around in one of his unmade flowerbeds and tried to work out why it was that Debbie had set up the credit card account in Jo's name. He was absolutely certain that it was her doing, but it seemed such a little thing, and he wondered whether she had been paving the way, doing something relatively innocuous to see if she could get away with it before moving on to bigger and, to her, better things.
He would suggest to Jo that she get all her financial accounts checked and double-checked to make sure that things were running as they should, but until she was back on her feet again he had no intention of worrying her any further than he was sure she already would be. Michael knew that she needed to find a new accountant following the death of Mr. Fox and with her financial reputation it was a task that couldn't be taken lightly. Those problems, however, paled into insignificance when Michael thought about the baby, and for a moment he was overwhelmed with concern as he pondered how his sister would cope with Jayden being in the NICU.
Despite himself though, the name brought a smile to his lips again, Jayden Daniel Michael Sloan. The feelings when he had been told the child's full name were almost indescribable. He knew that Steve's middle name was Michael, but the proud father had told him that, this time, they were honouring Jayden's uncle and brother, and the places they would have in the little boy's life.
Although he hadn't said anything to anyone he had wondered whether Jo would ever fully acknowledge his position in her family. Accepting the fact that her father had indulged in an affair, albeit before she was born, had been hard for her. Michael knew that she viewed her parents idealistically, they had, after all, died when she was only five, any memories of them were hazy at best, and generally romanticized. It would have been easy to put all the blame for ruining that at his door, but she hadn't, and now she had, with one simple act, shown him that he was, in her eyes, a Walters and he realised that he liked that, he liked that a lot.
ooo
Rae had sent Jesse off to work with precise instructions on the type of flowers to buy from the hospital florist, what to put on the little card and even what little card it had to be. He had taken it all in his stride though and, as they kissed on the doorstep, Rae enjoyed the fact that they could relax in each other's company again, do their jobs and come home to a happy family life, and she kissed him just a little more.
"Mmmm, can I stay home today?" Jesse pushed a strand of Rae's hair behind her ear and then smiled at her.
"Nope, not today, and anyhow I thought the ER would grind to a halt without you."
"Well, yeah, there is that, I guess, but you are just being mean!" Jesse tried a pout, enjoying the moment between them, and wanting it to go on a little longer.
"I know, which is what got me where I am today, now go, I have to get to work, I think it's gonna be a long day." Rae grimaced, knowing that there would be more newspaper articles for her to read, more calls to return as well as make, and suddenly she wished she could remain at home too.
"Well, don't stay too long past quitting time. If necessary bring it with you and do it here, I could even help." He paused and then ran a finger down her cheek, "I love you, Rae, I'll see you later."
"I love you too, take care."
Jesse kissed her once more, running his fingers into her hair and pulling her close to him. For a moment as they broke free he wondered how Jan had dealt with Susan, but it was a fleeting thought and he smiled again as he moved away towards his car while watching Rae wave before going back in the house and then he started the engine and drove slowly down the driveway.
The good mood drained from her a little bit as Rae leant back against the newly closed door and she paused for a moment. The house was now totally quiet. Vicki had taken the girls over to pre-school and Sally's and Rae had about a half hour to herself before she had to leave. She suddenly remembered that she had Texas's letters that she was going to read through again to help Michael with his investigation. With a smile she made her way into the breakfast room and powered up her laptop, this part of her day, at least, she would enjoy.
ooo
"I owe you an apology." The voice arrived in the kitchen before its owner and Mark turned to see Daniel walking towards him.
"Oh, and why is that?" The smile on Mark's face was instant and broad; he loved his grandson with all his heart, and to have him stay with him was giving him great pleasure. He indicated with his hand before Daniel replied, and the boy sat at the breakfast table and looked out over the sand.
"When we talked the other night, I blamed you and the hospital for not being able to do enough, but I was wrong. You saved Jayden yesterday and my mom, medicine didn't kill either of them, it kept them alive."
"Yes, it did, thankfully. And he seems to be a strong boy; I am far less worried about him than I thought I would be. You know medicine is advancing all the time, I read an article only a week or so ago about some tests that a doctor in New York thinks might be able to pinpoint when an expectant mother could have problems with pre-eclampsia, but in advance, about a week or so in advance in fact."
"So what would that have done in Mom's case?" There was an interest in Daniel's eyes which Mark knew wasn't false, the boy really wanted to know.
"Well, we could have had her admitted earlier, got her on to the drugs not only for her but for the baby too, it may well be that we could have prolonged the pregnancy, I don't know by how long but any time at all would have been good."
"Do you think it could help Mom if she has another baby?" Daniel looked up as he heard his grandpa laugh. "What?"
"Daniel, do me a favour, ok?"
"Sure, anything you want."
"Don't ask your mom if she is gonna have any more children, not yet at any rate, she's likely to throw a bed pan at you!" Mark swallowed down the last of his coffee and then smiled, "You better get some breakfast, or you'll be late for class."
"No, Grandpa, not today, you can't make me go in today, I want to see Mom, and Dad, Jayden too, please, Grandpa, please." Daniel was astonished; it hadn't occurred to him that he would have to go to school.
Although he tried to appear stern, tried to look as if he was at least thinking about sending him, Mark knew he was failing miserably and so he nodded, "Yeah, you can stay with me today, I'll call and let them know, but you tell your dad, ok?"
"Yes, Sir, whatever you say." Daniel knew he would agree to anything, he needed to see that his family was fine, then he could go back to school after the weekend and know everything was all right with his world once again.
ooo
The nurse had shooed him out of the room as soon as she arrived, and Tabitha, following along behind, hadn't invited him back in. Feeling a little superfluous Steve had made his way to the NICU where he felt very strange. Here too he was, in many ways, superfluous, there was nothing he could do medically for his son, and he found the room intimidating and scary, but he realised that by being there, by talking to him, watching over him, he was doing something that no one else could do, just as the doctors were, as the machines were, he was there being Jayden's dad and instead of feeling redundant he suddenly felt very important indeed.
When he arrived in the NICU, a young man he didn't remember seeing the previous day was sitting, alone, next to a small baby, maybe a little bigger than Jayden and Steve smiled at him as he made his way towards his own crib.
"Hi." His voice was slightly muffled behind his mask, and wondered whether he had been heard.
"What? Oh, sorry, hi." The young man, no more than twenty, maybe twenty-two, Steve reckoned, looked up and a smile, hidden by his own mask, almost reached his eyes.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, yeah, just a little scared, is all."
"I think that goes without saying in here." Steve didn't sit down, but he checked on Jayden before he moved over towards the other young man. "My name's Steve Sloan, and … well, this is a good hospital, y'know."
"Yeah, I know, but she is just so tiny, and, I guess you can understand how helpless I feel."
"I do, but hang in there, it's all any of us can do." Steve suddenly felt awkward and he turned to walk back towards his son.
"Thanks, Steve, apart from you no one except a nurse has spoken to me yet, I've been here for," the young man checked his watch, "almost four hours so far, how about you?"
"Oh, since yesterday, yesterday sometime." The hours had, he realised, all merged into one, if it hadn't gotten dark he wasn't sure if he would even know that the day had changed.
Jayden was lying in the same position as he had been when Steve had left the previous evening. The little hat was still on his head, the bandages still covered his eyes, and the tiny, but huge looking, diaper still made his legs seem as if they would never carry him. Steve knew he was quite tall, at six feet two inches, and Jo was about five eight, so he guessed that Jayden would be tall too, right now he looked so small, so frail, that even though he had enjoyed planning for his baby's future when he had been inside his mother, Steve was suddenly too frightened to even think about tomorrow.
ooo
There were eleven daily newspapers on Rae's desk when she arrived and she knew that the following week there would be magazines too. With a groan she sat down and, for a moment or two, just looked around her. She needed a tidy, organised desk, otherwise her life didn't work the way she wanted it to, and right now she didn't have a desk, she had a small dumpster.
"Coffee, one black coffee, with sugar and a rubbish bag, then I need to clear up … and stop talking to myself." Rae looked at the dirty cup on her desk and realised that she hadn't washed it the previous evening. Consigning it to the wastebasket by her feet she made her way over to the refreshments table, got herself a drink in a new mug and then grabbed a couple of brown bags from a drawer before returning to her very own little dumping ground.
"Wow, what happened to your desk?" Cheryl had come into the room and looked in astonishment at Rae's part of the room. "Even Steve's is cleaner than yours."
"Oh that's it, insult me when I'm down!" Rae looked over and sure enough her partner's desk was neat and tidy. "It's all these phone messages, newspaper articles, and heaven knows what else. I'm gonna go find me some back up."
"Well, I'll help you. What do you have?"
"I picked up a murder yesterday, old guy, concentration camp survivor I think. I have a possible ID on him and I'll run his prints today. I want to work on that, I could do with a break from Dominic Little."
"Let me go through these, highlight the articles you need to look at, will that help?"
"That would be wonderful, thank you." Rae smiled and felt relief flood through her.
Cheryl picked up the top paper and scanned the front page, immediately she could see one section that related directly to the case with two editorials indicated below it. Deciding that she didn't want to know just how big a job she had volunteered for Cheryl gathered all the newspapers together and then hauled the lot over and plonked them on her own desk. She then grabbed an empty chair with arms and rested them on the seat, once that was done she too got herself a hot drink and began to look through the daily edition on the top of the pile, hoping that she would be done by lunch time.
For a few moments Rae watched as Cheryl organized herself, and then she turned her attention back to her desk. She piled all the telephone messages into one, not too tidy, or stable, heap and then began to read through the internal mail which had also be sent to her. It all related to the Red Rose killings except one, a message from Amanda caught up in the wrong pile, telling her that she had a positive ID for their corpse.
Apparently Albert Hardy was seventy-six years old, and Rae again felt the sadness of the previous day return as she thought of how he had finished his life. She knew that not everyone was lucky enough to go to sleep one night and never wake up again, but she also knew that no one should die by violence and she would try her hardest to find out who had ended Albert's days in such an awful manner.
Logging on to her computer Rae checked for any extra mail that had come into her personal in-box and then went onto the Internet, opened up a search engine, and waited, not too patiently, for the 0.10 seconds it took to find her 1,480,000 hits for Auschwitz. Then, as she slowly drank her coffee, she immersed herself in a world of horror that she hadn't visited since her school days.
ooo
"The nurse said it would be ok if I came in, just for a little while." Daniel had a mask and gown on and for a second Steve didn't recognize him
"Don't they do that in a smaller size?" Steve looked at the blue outfit and smiled behind his own mask, for the first time his eldest son looked undersized to him. Height-wise it was just fine, but Daniel was still filling out and it hung off his shoulders.
"Oh ha ha."
"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" Steve raised his eyebrows as he questioned his son.
"Nope, Grandpa said I could have the day off." Even with the mask on Steve could picture the triumphant smile on Daniel's face and he shook his head, his dad was putty in the boy's hands, just as he would be with Jayden.
Daniel looked down into the crib and was instantly silent, his grandpa had told him that his brother would look small, and strange, not like the new babies that you saw in books, but even with the warning he was shocked.
Steve had, so far, kept his fear far enough under the surface that he could at least sit and be with his son, but the emotion in Daniel's eyes was almost too much for him and for a moment he had no idea what to say or do, then, acting on instinct alone, he moved his own chair so that it almost touched that of his eldest son and enjoyed the closeness as they sat and watched together.
The silence continued for almost ten minutes before a nurse came over and gently touched Steve on the shoulder.
"Mr. Sloan, we need to check on your son."
"Oh, I'll go see Mom then." It was as if Daniel had been waiting for an excuse to leave the NICU and Steve, seeing the plea in the boy's eyes, nodded his head and watched as he looked one more time at his brother before making his way over towards the exit.
"So, Mr. Sloan, have had any contact with your son yet?" The nurse, who had the name Belinda on her badge, smiled as she spoke.
"What? No, I mean … he's so small, I can't do that … can I?" His heart was suddenly thumping and his mouth was dry, he wanted desperately to place his hand on his baby, but he was too terrified to even think about it.
"Have you touched him at all?"
"No, I've just sat here." He knew he was shaking his head, but he didn't seem able to stop the movement. "What should I do?"
"Go over and wash your hands and arms, there's a sink right there, then once you're clean come back and we'll initiate first contact." Belinda smiled as she spoke, hoping to lighten the mood a little and then stood and watched as the handsome, but extremely nervous, man in front of her changed from shaking his head to nodding it and made his way, albeit a little shakily, towards the part of the NICU she had indicated and then she began to check the baby's vital signs.
"Ok, I'm clean; at least I think I am, should I wash again?" Steve made his way back over to Jayden's crib, making sure that he didn't touch or brush against anything as he did so.
"No, no, I'm sure you've washed up just fine. There are a few things that need to be done, and I thought that we could do them between us, you being a doctor's son and all."
"Me? But … what?" Steve stopped talking, not having any idea what he really wanted to say and in the end just nodded his head again, knowing that this nurse must think him a bumbling idiot.
"Ok, first of all we are gonna change his diaper, weigh it, and clean him a little." Knowing that Steve hadn't yet touched his son Belinda had decided that she would let him help her perform what were, to her, simple tasks as a first step. Carefully, not saying another word to add to her helper's panic Belinda pulled back the sticky tab on one side of the diaper before turning to Steve. "So, think you can do the other one?"
Steve again just nodded; he didn't have any words to describe the feeling of doing something for his son for the first time. He felt warm and soft to his touch and as he finished easing the tab back he brushed the tips of his fingers against the skin of his son's tummy. The job was over far too quickly and as Belinda carefully lifted Jayden to finish the first part of the task Steve looked down at him and wished with all his heart that he could take him in his arms and hold him forever.
ooo
Rae had determined that Albert Hardy had been put to work in one of the concentration camps of Auschwitz because of the tattooed number on his arm. Those prisoners who had been killed immediately had not received the infamous brand, which remained with them for as long as they lived; neither had those held at other camps such as Belsen.
History had been a subject that Rae had enjoyed at school and had continued to read for relaxation ever since. Martin also enjoyed history and since he had moved into the apartment at Oak Place they had been swapping books on a regular basis.
Albert Hardy had a social security number, and Rae had been astounded to find out that he was still working. A call to his employer had given her the details of his home address, and his bank, as well as the address where he worked, which strangely seemed to be in the same building where he lived. All of them would need to be looked into, and Rae planned to travel around a little after lunch and work though as many of them as she could.
She was just about to head out and get herself a quick bite to eat when she looked up to see Michael coming towards her.
"Hi, what can I do for you? It is me you've come to see isn't it?" Rae indicated the chair in front of her desk and was relieved that she had been able to get it back to its usual tidy and functional state.
"Yes, Detective, it is you I've come to see." Michael sat down and looked around him, he had never been in this part of the police station before, and he was interested to see where it was that Steve worked.
"I began to read through those letters again this morning, are you sure they have to do with all of the problems Texas had?"
"I have no idea, Madam, but somehow I get the feeling that Mrs Walters would not have kept them if she hadn't felt that they were of some value, and I don't mean monetary value this time."
"Mrs Walters, you mean Texas's grandmother, right?" Rae saw Michael nod his head and continued. "So why couldn't she have looked into the matter herself?"
"It would have been beneath her to have done so. And before you ask, a private investigator would have been out of the question also. Mrs Walters was extremely conscious of her position in society, and would have done nothing which might have, in any way, jeopardized that."
"Oh, I see. Well I guess I can go back through the records and find out what happened to the people in the letters. That might help, although as I don't know what I'm looking for I probably won't realise when I find it."
"Very good, Madam, thank you."
"Michael, it's Rae, even here, I am more than happy for you to call me by my first name."
The Englishman tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement and then made as if to stand up, but paused when Rae spoke again.
"Have you got anywhere with the investigation into who took out the card in Texas's name?"
For a moment there was silence as Michael considered how much to tell the woman in front of him. But in the end he remembered that his sister had instructed him to discuss it with her best friend and so he began to speak.
"I feel that all the evidence leads to Mrs Walters contacting the credit card company."
"Mrs Walters? You can't mean her grandmother this time … are you talking about Debs?" Rae looked incredulous for a moment but then began to think. She knew that both Texas and Michael had never liked the young woman, even going so far as to call her Miss Prissy Knickers, Daniel hadn't liked her either from what she had heard. Rae hadn't spent very much time with Debbie, and so didn't feel qualified to make a judgement herself.
"Yes, Madam, uh, Rae, that is who I mean. But I have no concrete evidence that I can present to anyone. However, the dates when the card was applied for, and also activated, fit in with visits to LA made by Mrs Walters."
"I know that Steve spoke to the Financial Crimes Division about this. It's identity theft, but I don't know, it doesn't seem … I guess she is so rich that this looks like small potatoes to me." Rae ran her hand through her hair; she had puzzled over the crime ever since Michael had given her the details. She knew that her friend was wealthier than she could ever understand, and to set up one credit card account puzzled her.
"I agree with you, Detective, but I wonder whether Mrs Walters was just testing the waters shall we say?" Michael saw Rae grimace at his joke, which he hadn't realised he'd made, and then continued. "My sister, as you know, is exceptionally prosperous, and I am concerned that there may be other things going on that we haven't, as yet, discovered."
"Well, I don't think that we can do anything more until we talk to Steve and Texas. I guess that the other partner at the accounting firm is taking care of her finances for now, and Cheryl is looking into the murder itself. All we have is a gut feeling that the two things are linked, but I have to say I don't see how they can be anything else."
Michael shook his head and then stood up. "I must let you get on with your work, Rae, but thank you for listening, and for reading through the letters again. I am going to the hospital now, if there are any messages I can pass on for you?"
Rae smiled, "Thank you. Just tell Texas that I will see her as soon as I am allowed, and if you see Steve tell him that the department runs just fine without him."
"Very good, Madam, and thank you once again for your time." Michael walked out of the squad room and, as Rae watched him leave, she wondered whether he would ever stop talking like a butler.
ooo
"There, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" Belinda wrote the last set of notes on her chart and then looked back at Steve. She was amazed to see that he seemed choked up and gently taking him by the arm she steered him over towards a quiet part of the NICU where they could talk privately.
"Mr Sloan?"
"I'm sorry, I …it's been a stressful couple of days, and then when that alarm went off, I … I thought." He stopped talking; suddenly voicing his fears was beyond him.
"You thought that it was something you had done, and that he was going to die right in front of you, yes?"
"I … I guess it happens to you all the time, but … oh, God, I don't know if I can do this. He's so small, and I'm just a big dumb cop." He had tears in his eyes now, as he fought to regain control of his own emotions, and his hands were held in tight fists, "All I have to do is sit here, why is it so hard?" The alarm had scared him witless, but Belinda had just reached over, reset the machine and then gently placed a hand against Jayden's back until he was relaxed again. If she could do it why couldn't he?
Carefully, not knowing if she should or not, Belinda placed an arm around the man in front of her. Although he didn't know it, she was very familiar with who he was and what he did for a living. She had seen him countless times on the television, had seen him in the ER and ICU but had never treated him.
"It's hard because you can't do anything, well much of anything, but as each day passes and Jayden gets stronger you will be able to do more. In fact, although you won't believe me right now, in a month or so you will be doing all those tasks by yourself, and you will enjoy doing them too."
Steve shook his head, but already he knew that he wanted to touch his son again, wanted to feel the soft almost paper thin skin against his own, and he realised what Belinda said was true.
Swallowing down his emotions he looked at the woman beside him, he knew he had seen her before, and he found a smile from somewhere. "I'm sorry, and thank you." He reached up and squeezed her hand as it rested on his arm, "I want you to show me how to do things properly so that I can help my son."
"It will be my pleasure. Now, look, there is Doctor Isherwood, go see her, listen to what she has to say about your little boy, and I'll see you later." Belinda gave him a gentle push and Steve made his way back over to Jayden's crib, his heart pounding once again, but with a slightly more positive feeling about the future.
ooo
"Thank you, Jesse, they are just beautiful, please thank Rae for me, as well." Jo wiped a tear from her cheek as she spoke and Jesse moved closer to her and, as the tears came thick and fast, he held her to him and let her cry.
It was five minutes before Jo moved away from her friend and again wiped her eyes. "I am so sorry."
"No problem, Jo, but do you want to tell me what's the matter?"
"Everythin'. I feel so helpless, so stupid, an' I just want to see my baby, but that scares me too."
"You know all of those emotions are perfectly normal, well maybe apart from stupid, I'm not sure why you would feel that." Jesse had taken Jo's hand into his own and was gently stroking the back of it. He knew that Steve was with Jayden, and he had seen Daniel heading in there too. He also knew that Doctor Isherwood had visited Jo, and he wondered whether his friend had been this upset with Tabitha.
"I feel such a failure, I was supposed to keep my baby safe an' secure for nine months, an' I could only just manage a fraction of that, I have killed one chil' an' I almost did it again."
"Jo, you managed, as you put it, twenty eight weeks and six days, I checked on his progress as soon as I got here this morning, he had a quiet and uneventful night, he's getting all the medication he needs to help his lungs mature, he will be fine, it'll be a long struggle, but trust me, it will all be worth it." Jesse smiled, when he looked at Eliana the pain and heartache of the first year of her life faded away, she was happy, full of the joys of spring, and he knew that she would delight him her whole life.
"Now, I want to check your stitches and then we need to get you out of bed, you've been in there far too long."
"What, no, Jesse, I can't do that." Jo was horrified, her whole body felt as if she had been hit by a truck, and she certainly didn't feel up to leaving her safe warm cocoon.
"Jo, Honey, we've only left you this long because you lost consciousness after Jayden was born and we wanted to monitor you constantly at rest for twenty-four hours. Well, those hours are up, and I am going to help you sit in your bedside chair. Let me just see how the wound looks this morning."
Jesse smiled at her, Mark had been going to get his daughter-in-law out of bed, but he had been called into a disciplinary hearing as soon as he arrived at the hospital, and had left a message that he would like Jesse to do the job instead.
Carefully Jesse moved the sheets back and then lifted Jo's nightdress and she felt herself begin to blush and wish that it was someone other than her best friend's husband doing this. He gently touched the area and then, once he had made both her and the bed neat and tidy again, he nodded and smiled.
"That's fine. Now, we'll take this in stages, ok?" He didn't wait for her to say anything, knowing that, as far as Jo was concerned, it wasn't ok, it wasn't ok at all. "First you need to shuffle up the bed so that you are in a sitting position."
Jo just looked at her friend, the fear she felt almost overwhelming her. She saw him smile his infectious smile though and gradually she nodded her head and, carefully placing her hands behind her, pressed her palms into the mattress and pushed herself backwards. The pain she felt was all encompassing, she was sure that her stitches and staples were going to come away and unable to stop herself Jo cried out.
"Arghhh, no, Jesse, no, I can't."
"Yes, you can, Jo, it's important that you get moving, for one thing, and for another how can you go see Jayden if you can't get out of bed?"
She nodded through her tears, and gradually removed her hands from her stomach where they had rushed as the pain started. Gritting her teeth she pushed down on the mattress again and this time did move a little way up the bed.
"There you go, see, I knew I was right."
"No wonder your wife pokes her tongue out at you." Jo growled at him, but then, as the wave of pain and uncertainty passed, she again moved a little further and gradually, over the next five minutes or so, she made her way into a more upright position.
"Wow, that was great; I thought it would take way longer than that." Jesse smiled at her and then leant over and gently kissed her cheek.
"Now, see that chair, the blue comfy one? That's what we're aiming for. Then Doctor Isherwood will come see you and report on what she found when she saw your son and then you will go and see for yourself."
Jo just nodded, the anxiety and fear were back with a vengeance and she had to consciously swallow them down as Jesse carefully pulled the bed sheets back.
"Ok, let's take a quick look at this wound, again, just to prove to you that there has been no change." He carefully moved her nightgown and this time the embarrassment wasn't there, she let him do what he had to, and even managed a smile as he finished.
ooo
The search warrant for Albert Hardy's small apartment hadn't taken long to obtain, neither had the one to gain access to all his financial and personal records, and Rae, after tidying her desk once again, had made her way a couple of miles down the road to see his bank manager.
The man's name was Humphrey Battle, and Rae was amazed to see that he fitted her mental picture of him almost exactly. He was a large middle-aged man; he had a short, neat, haircut and wore a blue pinstriped suit. The waistcoat was stretched to the very limit by a large waistline and she was sure that, as he sat behind his desk, all the buttons were going to go pinging around the room.
"So, Detective Yeager, what can I do for you and the LAPD today?" His voice was low and precise and despite herself Rae smiled.
"You're from England."
"Guilty as charged, Detective, although it's a long while since I've been there."
"Me too, although I try to get home at least once a year but it's been a while since I managed it. I would guess at Yorkshire from your accent."
"And you would be correct again, Lass."
"Now that's something I've never been called!" Rae ran a hand through her hair, "although I've learnt a few new names since I've been here."
"That I can imagine, so, what is it tha' wants?" Rae smiled despite the seriousness of the situation as Mr. Battle's accent came across loud and clear.
"You have a customer called Albert Hardy, or you did, he was found murdered yesterday, I have a warrant here to gain access to his private papers and see his financial details." Rae slid the official documents across the desk and then waited as Mr. Battle perused them.
"Well, they all seem to be in order; I'll get everything brought in here, shall I?"
"Thank you, that would be very helpful."
The papers, which had taken longer to find than to read through, showed that Albert Hardy had been a conscientious man at least where his finances were concerned. He received a monthly pension and a small weekly wage, paid all his bills by cheque regularly; either each week or each month, and also saved $110 every month in another account. That account had a little over $45,000 in it and Rae wondered what it was he had been saving for. There was also a safety deposit box, and in there Rae had found an identity card, an out of date German passport, a current American one and a yellow star, which she knew all Jews had to wear in pre-war Germany. There were also some faded photographs of a smiling happy family, and some slightly more recent ones of a young man with the Empire State building behind him, also smiling for the camera, presumably in his new land. The final item was a brown envelope, which contained a marriage certificate, a death certificate and a third certificate showing that Albert Hasdai had been granted American citizenship.
"I guess he changed his name from Hasdai to Hardy, what we would call Anglicised it. I'll need to take all of this with me for a while, I'll give you a receipt, and I'm guessing that you will freeze his account."
"Yes, I'll do that immediately; I didn't know Mr. Hardy, but I will make sure that everything is tidied up this end as it should be."
"Thank you, Mr. Battle, I doubt if any of this will be needed as evidence, if we pass it on directly to his next of kin I'll let you know."
They shook hands then and, as Mr. Battle put the official receipt into the now empty file of Albert Hardy, Rae left the room and made her way back to her car.
ooo
Steve had listened to Doctor Isherwood tell him pretty much what Belinda had already relayed to him as they carefully checked Jayden over between them. He nodded his head and tried to look at her as she spoke but found that his gaze kept returning to the small form of his child, now swaddled up in a blanket inside his incubator.
Belinda had noticed, when the alarm went off, that Jayden had been far more receptive to touch when there was nothing else happening, he hadn't been agitated at all when Steve had placed a cupped hand over his little head, and she had carefully wrapped him in a soft blanket, putting him back almost in the foetal position as she did so. One little hand had escaped the confines though and was peeking out from the top of the nest he was now resting in, and it was that more than anything which held Steve's attention.
"I said that your wife should be ready to receive visitors today, and she will definitely be able to come and see her son. Would you like to go and tell her the news or should I?"
"No, no, I'll go, it's just … I …" He paused, not sure that his words wouldn't sound silly to this highly officious woman.
"It's just that you don't want to leave your son alone. Lieutenant, he won't be alone, he has his nurse, Belinda, she will keep an eye on him while you are gone, and Doctor Travis was going to see your wife, I'm sure he will be only too pleased to come and sit with Jayden for a while." Tabitha smiled then and her face and demeanour softened as she did so.
"I'm sure he will, thank you." Steve smiled back and then made his way out of the door and along the hallway. It wasn't until two nurses had murmured 'doctor' to him as they passed that he realised he was still wearing the mask and gown.
ooo
Jo had felt so many different emotions as she sat in the comfortable chair by her bed that, for a moment, she had leant her head back and closed her eyes as she tried to recognize and come to terms with all of them. The movement though pulled on her stomach and she instinctively covered it with her hands once again.
Jesse was making some notes on her chart, and so she concentrated on her breathing, trying to regulate it and stop the heavy beating of her heart at the same time. Everything had happened so quickly, it was only two days since she had gone shopping, buying all the lovely things for Jayden and his nursery, she'd had no inclination that he was about to put in an appearance at that time, and the pleasant hours she had spent seemed a lifetime away.
Jo resolutely pushed the image of Wayne out of her mind, she couldn't cope with thinking about him right now, all she wanted to do was gather herself together so that she could go and see her baby. Or at least she thought she did, there was a part of her, and not that small a part, which wanted to just stay right where she was and let Steve stay with Jayden. But she needed Steve, and although she thought he was with their son she didn't know for sure, and that too unnerved her.
Daniel had come into the room as she was making her way from the bed to the chair, he had gently placed an arm around her and she had been glad of his touch as she took her three or four faltering footsteps. Now he was sitting on the bed, not saying anything, but looking at the Polaroid photos of Jayden that Steve had taken and left on her nightstand the previous evening.
"So, what d'you think of your little brother?" She had regained her composure now, outwardly at least and the question floated easily between them.
"He's tiny. You … well, you seemed so big, I guess you were making room for him to grow."
"Yes, I guess I was. But what d'you think of him, Jesse, you too, you've both seen my baby, what's he like?" Jo swallowed as she finished speaking, the unfairness of it all trying unsuccessfully, for now at least, to overwhelm her.
Jesse looked up from the chart and smiled, "Honey, he's beautiful, somehow when they are as small as he is they are even more of a miracle than when they are all plump and bouncy."
"He looks so fragile an' frail, in the pictures, like he's gonna break if we even think about touchin' him."
"Yes he does, but trust me, if you touch him with love, and are careful not to over stimulate him, he won't break, instead he'll grow and flourish under your care."
Jo didn't answer, she just nodded her head and wiped away a tear, but then she smiled as she saw her husband come into the room.
"Steve!"
"Hey, Honey, how're you doing?" He was in front of her in an instant, immediately on his knees so that he was the same level as her, and then as he leant in and kissed her gently on the lips the emotions got the better of her again and she began to cry, softly at first, her warm tears splashing onto his shoulder.
"Daniel." The voice was just a whisper and the young man turned to see Jesse indicating that he should leave the room with him. "How about we go back and see your brother for a little while?"
"Ok, sounds good to me." Daniel gently rested his hand on his dad's back, just for a second and then he left the room, hoping that he wouldn't be as scared when he saw Jayden this time.
Steve stroked his wife's hair and let her cry. He had read the book that she had bought him about having a baby and knew that her hormones would still be playing up, maybe even more so because of the way that Jayden had come into the world. He knew that anything he said would make no difference to her tears and so he kept quiet and still, except for the slow regular movement of his hand and let her cry herself out at her own speed.
Finally she moved back and smiled a watery smile. "Thanks."
"Any time. Now, how are you feeling?" He looked at her, concern evident in his blue eyes as he searched her face for the answer to his question.
"I don't know. I tried so hard, Steve, I did everythin' that Mark an' Jesse told me to, why did this have to happen?"
"Honey, I know you did, but you didn't tell anyone when you had headaches, or when your vision blurred, and you surely didn't tell me you'd seen Wayne, all those things had a part to play in Jayden coming early."
"So, you're sayin' that the pre-eclampsia, everythin' is my fault?" Her voice rose and she tried to move out of his embrace, but Steve wouldn't let her.
"No, I'm not saying that at all, and I certainly didn't intend to say anything about it right now, Jo some people have a tendency towards this condition, others don't. It's no one's fault. With David you weren't lucky, this time we have been, but he needs his mommy, Doctor Isherwood is gonna come see you in a minute and then you and I can go to the NICU together."
"You promise, you promise that we'll go together? I don't think I can do this alone." The tears threatened again then and Steve pulled her closer to him, feeling her tense up as he did so.
"Jo, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"
"No, no, I'm just tender is all. Actually, I'm more than tender, but gradually it will get better. Hug me again, I've missed you bein' able to get this close."
He chuckled then, and moved towards her again, kissing her tenderly on the lips as he did so. "I love you, and from now on everything that we do for our children we will do together, ok?"
She just nodded, even though the fear was still there, it had receded a little as he entered the room, and Jo knew that as long as he was with her it would never take a strong hold on her again.
ooo
The apartment block where Albert had worked was a depressingly dingy place. There was a fire escape making its way from side to side in a zig zag pattern up the back of the building which caught her eye as Rae parked her car, and she counted five landing areas where she could see doors leading out to the metal stairways.
Walking past the row of dumpsters Rae made her way towards the sidewalk and then in through the front of the building. The area wasn't a crime scene so nothing was cordoned off and Rae suddenly realised that she might have a problem getting into the small office that she could see at the end of a dark and depressing hallway.
The door though, was open and, pulling on a pair of latex gloves, she began to look through the desk that was just inside the door. There was a notice board on the wall to the right of her and glass windows along the front of the office so that anyone sitting in there could see whoever entered the building.
Rae knew that most buildings didn't have a permanent custodian or caretaker any longer, and she wondered why this dismal abode had benefited from Albert's attentions. The drawers didn't contain very much; a couple of novels, both well thumbed, a packet of gum, two boxes of matches and a tin of tobacco and the papers to make roll up cigarettes. There was also a black book about the size of a five-year diary and Rae took it out, leant back in the chair and opened it at the first page.
January 15thMrs Bates complained about John Royal again. I've been and had a word, he says he'll keep the music down, but I know I'll be there again by the end of the month.
January 19th
Mrs Everson left her bath running, she flooded the room, ruined the carpet and wants to know if the insurance will pay out! I got her the forms but I'm not holding my breath.
Rae flicked thought a few more pages, none of the entries was more than a couple of lines, there were some days which had three or four entries, other days which had none, but it seemed that Albert had noted everything down. With a sigh Rae put the book to one side; she knew that she would have to go through it, read all the entries, just in case. Maybe, she thought with a smile, maybe she could get Jesse to read it, or at least some of it.
She turned in her seat, the notice board she had glanced at before now held her full attention and she saw various business cards pinned there. They contained the addresses and telephone numbers for electricians, plumbers, pizza delivery and a diaper cleaning service all jostling for position next to the days of the week the garbage was collected, who to call in case of an emergency requiring the intervention of the rental agent, and a plethora of taxi cab cards.
Albert had lived in a small apartment right next to his office and Rae had picked up the key for that from the rental agent, making an appointment to go back and speak with the manager the following morning. As she had left their offices she had realised with a rush of disappointment that her Saturday was going to be eaten into again, and it was supposed to be her weekend off.
Unlocking the door Rae went inside and quietly closed it behind her. She didn't know what she had expected to find, maybe an apartment from a forgotten age, or something tatty and threadbare, it was neither of those things.
There was a brown three piece suite with two chairs and a sofa, a small coffee table with another two dog-eared novels on it and a TV guide open to Wednesday's programmes. A square pine dining table with four matching chairs took up the far end of the room along with what she would call a sideboard that had a lamp on one end, a portable TV the other and three photo frames containing pictures of smiling people in the middle which she collected together and put on the dining table.
Rae opened the doors on the sideboard to discover a game of Scrabble, two packs of cards and a cribbage board. There was also a German to English dictionary, a travel guide to Israel and a copy of The Tanash which Rae knew was the Old Testament. The two drawers between the cupboards contained tablecloths and cutlery along with three birthday cards, all saying to Dad, which she kept out, an envelope with 'paid bills', and another with 'unpaid bills' on the fronts, a folder containing bank statements and check books as well as an address book and again they were added to her pile of things to take with her.
Leading off the living area was a kitchen with a counter used as a tabletop that had two bar stools underneath it. Rae guessed that Albert had been more nimble than he looked.
The kitchen was clean and tidy, nothing was left out on the work surfaces, the clean dishes were draining and the carpet looked vacuumed. Rae pulled open all the drawers in turn but found nothing except what she would expect to find in a small kitchenette.
Rae checked that there were no signs of Albert having any pets which would be left unfed and then moved back through the living area and into the bathroom. Despite the sadness of the situation she couldn't help but smile as she looked around. Again the room was clean and tidy, but it was so obviously a man's room. There was one bar of plain white soap in the sink, and a tube of toothpaste and a brush in a beaker. Another bar of soap rested on a plastic oval dish by the tub. Along side it was a bottle of green coloured shampoo and a washcloth. There was one roll of toilet paper on a holder and another one still in the wrapper on the floor to the side of the toilet. Next to that was a bottle of bleach and a toilet brush. There was nothing else, apart from a towel, in the entire room.
The bedroom was also sparsely furnished; there was a queen-sized bed with a highly patterned quilt over it. The nightstand had a set of three drawers and Rae pulled the first one out and began to go through the socks she found there. At the back of the drawer she found a small, snub-nosed .38 revolver, unloaded, that she rested on the bed, but nothing else.
The middle drawer had a number of pairs of not too white underwear and some vests in it and the box of ammunition to go with the gun. The bottom drawer had a set of overalls and a chequered shirt in it. Rae wasn't sure why they had been put by themselves, but she guessed that maybe Albert used them for decorating or something and didn't want them mixed in with his other clothes.
There was one wardrobe, single door, and she opened it to find three pairs of pants, one empty hanger, four shirts and a dog tooth check jacket with leather patches on the sleeves. Underneath there were three pairs of shoes, two brown and one black.
With a sigh Rae looked around at what Albert had collected in his seventy-six years, or at least the years he had been in America, it didn't amount to very much. There was one photo in the bedroom, it was older in style than the ones she had picked up in the living area and Rae had a feeling that it was Albert's late wife. She rested the frame on the bed next to the ammunition, stretched slightly before looking around once more and then got down on her knees to look underneath the bed.
In her time Rae had seen and found some disgusting things under beds, but thankfully she realised that she wasn't going to add to her collection today. There was one pair of carpet slippers resting just about where you would get out of bed, but out of sight, and that was it. A film of dust was apparent across the mossy green carpet, but even that wasn't as bad as some she had seen.
The search had taken her a little over an hour, there was no huge pile of bills to go through, just the envelopes she already had, no answering machine tape to listen to, very little personal stuff at all, and Rae gathered up her things with a feeling of sadness washing over her. She would take them back to the car, lock them in the trunk and then come and knock on doors for a while, to see what she could find out about Albert from those who, presumably, knew him quite well, his tenants.
ooo
He had seen the new car in the parking lot and wondered who it belonged too, but never in his wildest dreams had he thought it would be that cop. Carefully he moved the curtain back and watched as she placed some things into the rear of her vehicle before locking it and re-setting the alarm. If she put the alarm back on then she wasn't leaving, wasn't finished with her business here and, feeling the knife resting in his pocket, he wondered whether that business would bring her to his door.