Chapter 3

When I finally arrived at the safe house, I closed my eyes and breathed a huge sigh of relief. On the whole drive up here, I had worked myself up to a near frenzy. I guess I had partially expected to find it demolished, or blown up or something equally cataclysmic. I was terrified that Perry had gotten Steve to divulge the location, but I should have known with DeeDee's life on the line, it wasn't likely.

There didn't seem to be anything amiss.

The house, a one-story A-frame, was just sitting there, shuttered windows intact, navy blue curtains throughout were closed; the whole place looked like a picture in some magazine. Even the lawn – green grass recently mowed and looking like a small oasis surrounded by towering California redwoods.

I felt my jaw clench as I took in the fresh coat of paint and several, obviously newer shingles on the roof. It was quite apparent that Steve had been planning this for some time, probably as soon as he learned Perry's court date. He must have suspected the state's case was shaky, even though we all knew he was guilty as hell.

Looking back, I saw the signs I hadn't paid attention to before. We hadn't been getting together on our weekends off; those weeks before the trial and before I had left for my temporary assignment he had seemed distracted and out of sorts. And then there was the time I called and DeeDee had said that he was at a home improvement store.

"Redecorating the kitchen?" I had asked, only half serious and not particularly interested.

I remembered DeeDee had paused before answering. "No."

Maybe she thought that I was in the know – that I was helping Steve set his little trap. Or did she really know what her husband was doing at all? I didn't push her at the time. Maybe I should have.

"Rick, are you going to tell me what's going on, or should I report this as a kidnapping?"

I jerked my head over. My cousin Linda was sitting next to me, arms crossed over her chest, her blue eyes flashing.

"Come on, Rick. I've been quiet the whole way up here – you're obviously upset about something; you keep looking back like you expect someone to be following us. Tell me what's going on. I think I deserve an explanation for letting you bring me up here – in my own car, I might add, and when I'm supposed to be working." She jabbed a finger at my shoulder. "You better hope that note you left in my office takes care of this."

My hands came up in what I hoped was an appeasing gesture. "Let's go," I said, climbing out of Linda's Jeep on shaky legs. "Someone needs our help."

I heard Linda sigh as she followed me. "Yeah, I kinda figured that part out, but would you mind filling me in on what kind of help. I mean, I'm pretty sure you brought me for my medical skills, since we never see each other except at family reunions."

I winced at her tone, knowing she was right. I had brought Linda out here to handle something I still wasn't quite ready or, in any real way, capable of dealing with on my own.

"Yeah, I need your help – professional help. The lady in here – is – was my partner's wife. Steve was killed a few hours ago." I huffed, trying to keep my voice steady. Articulating Steve's death sent a chill through my heart. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't know."

Linda stared at me, her head cocked to one side and her expression one of disbelief. "Well, I still don't see where I fit in. I'm not a grief counselor. Why don't you just take her back to L.A.?"

I gripped both of her arms and bent my knees only slightly so that we were face to face. "Don't you see – she's not safe. Not until we get the guy behind Steve's death! He's threatened her and me."

"What I don't see is what I'm doing up here. Am I the only doctor you know, personally?"

"No, " I said quietly, my gaze dropping to the ground. "You're the only doctor I know personally, that takes care of women."

Linda's mouth dropped open.

I sighed and let my hands hang. "She's pregnant. And if my memory serves me right, she's just about due."

Chapter 4

There was no reaction on Linda's part for several beats. "You want to run that by me again," she finally said.

"I haven't seen her in a couple of months," I mumbled, "but I'm pretty sure it's almost time."

"Then what in the hell are we doing four hours from the nearest hospital?" This isn't an episode from Marcus Welby! This is the 80's! We've got modern technology! If I wanted to practice frontier medicine I would have hauled myself out to some Third World country!"

My mouth opened but she never gave me a chance.

"Jesus – Rick – you didn't tell me that we weren't going back home! You didn't let me pack – hell – you didn't pack!"

I couldn't even look at her and she was getting more worked up by the minute. "There was no time! It's not safe, Linda. You don't know what kind of man this Lloyd Perry is. He's ruthless and I have no idea if he knows about this place or not."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, I hoped, before speaking again. "Fine. Then we won't go back to L.A. – we can head in the opposite direction. I don't know anything about this woman, what her prenatal course has been, what care she's had or not – what tests she's had and what those results might be. She could be high-risk for all we know. You say it's not safe to go home – well, I can assure you that it's not safe out here if I don't know anything about her."

I nodded in understanding. "Okay – but first let's just go in and see how she is." I hoped it wasn't too obvious how much I dreaded facing DeeDee McCall and having to tell her that her husband of less than two years was dead. I had never lost a partner before and too many to count notifications to families, that loved ones had been lost, hadn't made any of this any easier. My mouth felt desert dry, my hands were sweating and my heart was hammering so hard in my chest everything was a little blurry. I guess Linda picked up on it, because she took my hand and led me to the door.

There was no answer after several soft, then progressively harder knocks. I tried calling out to her, but the door remained closed. I jangled the keys in my hand, trying to remember which one was for the house. Hell, I hadn't been out here but twice and the last time was at least 8 months ago.

The safe house had been all Steve's idea. He was married, he was a homicide detective in L.A. and he wanted to know that he could protect his wife if need be. He told me that not even DeeDee knew about the place, about four hours outside the city limits in the hills. I shrugged my shoulders at the time and basically said sure – what the hell, right?

Personally, I would have used the place as a mini vacation spot, but Steve was adamant, insisting that we never use it except for emergencies. I wonder now, if he knew something that I didn't.

Because this looked like a bona fide emergency to me and I never saw it coming. Steve had somehow gotten DeeDee up here, with their baby probably due any day now, and left her alone, intending to take care of Lloyd Perry once and for all. Instead, Steve is dead and I'm the only person who knows where his pregnant wife is. He must have really thought his plan was foolproof to have left her with no phone and no car. I had to tamp down my anger at being kept out of the loop and subsequently leaving DeeDee in such a vulnerable position.

Every second that the door didn't open was another second for my heart rate to increase and my mind to conjure up a reason that she didn't answer.

Finally I located the right key and quickly opened the door. I cautiously poked my head in and looked all around. Everything looked neat and tidy. No dishes lying about, no papers, no books. One of the two table lamps was turned on. The house had electricity from a generator, but no TV reception. A small radio was on the side table. With my gun in my right hand, I motioned with my left for Linda to stay behind me as I stepped inside.

My senses were on high alert as I moved towards the bedroom. I paused to glance over at the kitchen. The lights were off and the dining room was dark as well. When I got to the hall, I could see that the back bedroom light was on. I heard a small moan.

Throwing caution to the wind, I holstered my gun and ran towards the sound. I burst through the door that was partially ajar and skidded to a stop at the sight before me. DeeDee was sitting in a rocking chair, both hands on the armrests, her head dipped low and her shoulders hunched over her swollen belly. She was dressed in loose fitting maternity pants and a blouse that accented the roundness of her pregnancy and I could hear her breathing, deep and a little ragged. I couldn't help but gape.

"DeeDee?"

She didn't look up. She seemed to be in a trance or deeply focused. Linda stayed behind me, but I could see her assessing her patient. For a moment, nobody moved and then DeeDee seemed to relax, her breathing seemed easier and her hands moved to caress her belly.

She turned her head and fixed me with eyes that were full of pain. "Steve's dead, isn't he?" Her voice had an odd cadence to it and I couldn't tell if she was asking or telling me.

Chapter 5

I felt her words and her eyes like a physical blow to my own stomach. Unable to speak, I simply nodded. She stared at me for a moment and then turned away to stare out the window, but I did catch the tears in her eyes that were starting to fall. I guess she must have known something was going on with Steve, but it didn't look like we'd be discussing it anytime soon.

I knew I had said she was due to deliver soon, but to see the size of her, knowing she was tiny to start with, was a shock. Her belly had expanded to a size I wouldn't have thought possible and oh, I how I wished I had kept in contact with her.

Linda stepped around me and moved to kneel at DeeDee's side. "Hello, Mrs. McCall, my name is Dr. Linda Walsh. I'm Rick's cousin. He asked me to come here to see if you needed some help."

DeeDee bit her bottom lip, struggling not to cry, unable to look up.

Tentatively, Linda reached out to place her hand on DeeDee's. "When did your water break?"

I was about to ask how in the hell she knew that, when I spotted a wet towel at DeeDee's feet. (Oh, shit,) I thought. I wondered how much time we had until she delivered and if we were going to make it to a hospital, or were we going to be doing this sans hospital.

DeeDee let her head fall back, as she took another deep breath. "I don't know what time it was. I haven't been able to wear my watch, because I have a lot of swelling and there's no clock here. A while, I guess." She paused to look around the room. "Steve obviously put a lot of thought into this place – how could he forget a clock?"

I started to wonder if she was in some kind of shock – why was she worried about a clock?

I could see she was about to say more when suddenly, she grimaced and resumed her death grip on the armrests.

"Start timing, Rick," Linda ordered me. "She's having contractions and I need to know how long they are and how long in between."

With a glance at my watch, I fumbled for my pad and pen as I listened to Linda coach DeeDee through the obviously agonizing pain. I couldn't believe this was happening. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Steve was supposed to be with her, not me. I should be at home, or at work, anywhere but out in the middle of nowhere watching my dead partner's wife give birth to their child.

I listened to Linda talk DeeDee through it, encouraging her quietly until finally DeeDee let out a long, shaky sigh.

"Rick, can you go get my bag, please. Mrs. McCall – "

"Just call me DeeDee."

"Tell me about the contractions."

"They don't seem very regular. I just had two, but before it had been quite some time."

Quickly, I stepped outside, my mind in turmoil.

I got the feeling that Linda wanted some privacy, which was fine by me. This was starting to turn into something very personal and go to a level of intimacy that I was unprepared for and not especially comfortable with. I mean, I'd never even seen the woman in a bathing suit and now all this!

I couldn't understand what in God's name Steve had been thinking. Mostly, I was angry that he had not let me help with Lloyd Perry. I guess I was supposed to be the backup, but I was his partner, damn it! I should have been with him, not hiding in the background.

I stepped outside and paused to take a few deep breaths.

(Get a grip,) I told myself brusquely. (Just make sure you keep DeeDee and her baby safe. Finish what Steve couldn't.)