Chapter 17

The knock on my door had me on my feet, reaching for my gun before I was even fully awake. A quick glance back at the clock showed me that it was almost four in the morning and I cautiously made my way over to the window. Keeping my back flush against the wall, I pulled the heavy curtain just enough to see the door. It was Jackie; holding a brown bag and two Styrofoam cups. He knocked again, just as I opened the door.

"You alone?" I asked quietly, even as I scanned the area behind him.

"Yeah." He stepped past me and I checked once more to be sure. The parking lot was almost deserted; one of the street lamps was out, but I didn't see anything suspicious, so I quickly backed in and shut the door.

"So, what have you got on Perry?" I asked, moving over to the sink to splash cold water on my face. I could hear Jackie empty the sack behind me. When I turned around, he had set out subs and a small pile of napkins.

"Dig in," he offered, even as he unwrapped one of the large sandwiches. I did so, reluctantly, not overly optimistic that I was going to like what he had to say.

"Talk to me," I mumbled, between bites, too nervous to really savor the homemade subs, but knowing I had to eat something.

Jackie took a sip from his cup before answering. "Perry's on the move," he told me. "The cops have pulled out all the stops and I think they've raided any place Perry's even rumored to have been at. Figure they've called in every marker they've ever had with their informants and just about placed a fucking net over the entire city." He took another bite, before continuing, letting his words sink in. His next words were a shock.

"You know, there's a lot of money being offered for his capture."

"By who?" I asked, intrigued.

"Your uncle. Steve McCall was family and he was your partner. And the family didn't like hearing that you had been threatened as well." Jackie eyed me closely.

I was stunned. For several minutes we ate in silence while I digested what he said and I didn't like how it made me feel. "Yet we still don't have him." I said flatly, though I was raging on the inside. Surely he hadn't found DeeDee. I truly didn't know what I would do if I got back to the house and she wasn't there.

Jackie shook his head. "Vanished like a ghost or something. Got to be hiding out somewhere."

(God, please don't let it be with DeeDee and Linda,) I thought desperately.

I couldn't waste another minute. I needed to get going right away. Jackie told me to take the Suburban he had ridden up in and after I was safely on the road, he'd call for someone to pick him up. After thanking him profusely, I got myself together and drove off.

The drive back to DeeDee and Linda was a mental blur. After almost forty-eight hours of emotional highs and lows, the physical demands and the lack of sleep were combining to take its toll. I didn't know how much longer I could keep this up. I felt completely drained, almost numb. A glance at the rear-view mirror confirmed that I wasn't looking so good, with two days growth on my face, bags under blood-shot eyes and a sickly pallor on my skin.

I was exhausted, worried beyond belief and my fears that I was being followed competed with my terror that Perry was up there waiting for me.

Over. I needed this to be over. I swallowed back a wave of nausea and pressed on.

As I drove, I tried to figure out what I could do to locate Perry; wondering if I was going to have to set myself up as bait, because using DeeDee was completely out of the question. There was no way I would ever consider that.

Pulling into the driveway several hours later, I was nearly paralyzed by the sense of déjà vu all over again. It was like a cruel joke, history kept repeating itself. Once again I was nearly overcome with the fear of what I would find at what had been considered a "safe house". After Steve's murder, I had arrived here with no way of knowing if he had given up DeeDee's location and now I had to dread the possibility of finding her dead all over again. And not just DeeDee this time, but Linda and baby Olivia.

Chapter 18

I don't actually remember leaving the Suburban and walking to the front door, but somehow I managed it. I do have a very clear memory of Linda cautiously opening the door and then throwing herself at me with a cry of pure joy. My own relief was almost painful when I saw she was safe and then DeeDee came in, carrying Olivia and smiling brightly. My knees threatened to give out and I think Linda was actually supporting me until I caught my breath.

"So everyone's all right?" I finally managed to ask, looking at them anxiously.

Linda watched me with worried eyes and led me to the couch, where I gratefully sat down.

"Yeah – we're fine. We've just been worried about you."

I slumped further down in my seat as Linda and DeeDee joined me, one on either side. My eyelids wanted to close, but my gaze settled on baby Olivia and a small smile came to my lips.

"Are you okay?" Linda pressed.

"Just really tired," I sighed. Actually, I felt like I'd had three heart attacks over the past two days and my head ached with a pain that seemed intent on taking up permanent residence behind my eyes. (But yeah – I was just peachy.)

I filled them in on my talk with Tom, Jackie and Captain Cain. "Cain's waiting for us and I think it's probably for the best. I don't want any of our families involved any further."

Linda nodded. "I agree, but don't you think it's a bit strange that no one has seen or heard this Lloyd Perry since – " she broke off abruptly, mindful of DeeDee.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Biding his time, I'm sure."

DeeDee placed one hand on my arm. "Why don't you go get cleaned up; we'll get everything together so we can head out." The concern in her voice was touching and it made me feel better just hearing it.

"And this time, I'm driving," Linda stated, her tone letting me know that there was no room for argument.

Which I had no intention of doing.

Chapter 19

The shower left me feeling almost human again. My original clothes had been washed and it was good to be back in them. There was no razor to be found so the newly grown facial hair would have to stay for now. I rubbed my hands across it, staring at myself critically. "Scruffy", I decided, would be the best way to describe my reflection.

Afterwards, we all had an early lunch and Linda slipped me some Advil that I gratefully accepted. I found myself staring at little Olivia, nestled in her mother's embrace and I thought that even in the twenty-four hours since I'd seen her; she looked different. DeeDee caught me staring.

"It's like she's changing every few minutes," she said wistfully.

"And you're going to be there every step of the way," I reaffirmed my earlier vow.

"Here, why don't you hold her," and before I could protest, she carefully placed Olivia in my arms and scurried to the bathroom, unable to hide her tears.

'Was it something I said?" I looked over at Linda, stricken at the thought that I'd upset DeeDee.

Linda shook her head. "Post-partum hormones are raging. Sometimes referred to as 'baby blues'. Don't worry – it's not you. You'd probably get the same reaction no matter what you said – good or bad."

I nodded, and looked back down at Olivia, not entirely convinced. I shifted Olivia in my arms so that we were facing each other and we kinda stared at each other. Her beautiful bluish-green eyes and the shape of her head were both perfectly round and the downy soft hair seemed to have a mind of it's own laying in all different directions around her face.

Not unexpectedly, I fell in love all over again, staring down at her, wondering how she'd look in six months, a year, or five years. I imagined her learning to ride a bike, playing dress up, going to her prom and suddenly I was flooded with the desire to be there. Seemingly out of the blue, I wanted to step into her late father's shoes.

I huffed silently, shaking my head ruefully at such an idea. (Yeah, okay, I just walk up to DeeDee, say, 'I hope it's okay with you if I make myself Olivia's new dad'.)

Without conscious thought, I took hold of Olivia's hand, stroking the silky soft skin over the tiny fragile bones. (I must really be going over the deep end,) I thought to myself. (Single guy to instant dad in just two days. Yeah – that's gonna happen.) I reminded myself, that I couldn't be Olivia's dad without taking care of her mother as well.

DeeDee

I took a deep breath. This was all so sudden. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, our lives had been turned inside out. A part of how we defined ourselves no longer applied. Steve's partner? Nope. I was a cop with a dead partner and a killer on my tail. DeeDee was no longer a cop's wife, but a single mom and widow to boot. Heavy duty stuff and I just wasn't equipped to deal with it right now.

First things first. Let's get out of here. I'd try and deal with living the rest of our lives if we could just survive the here and now.

Linda had taken every pillow and cushion that she could find and padded the back of the Suburban for me. As I situated my large frame in the cramped quarters, I decided that as tired as I was, it was as good as a five-star hotel. Thankfully, I had written down the instructions for Linda, because I was dead to the world before we made it to the main highway.