After squad meeting, she and Joe checked out a car quickly and went to work. The radio was busy, and they soon found themselves traveling from call to call, one end of their beat to the other. Neighbor disputes, noise complaints, and all-around bad tempers dominated the night. Carly forgot all about Caswell, Weaver, and Harper. It was close to three in the morning before things quieted down.
“He’s getting so big, he’ll be a linebacker, I’m sure,” Joe proudly bragged about his four-month-old son, Adam Joseph, or A.J. “Christy and I can’t believe how alert he is. He recognizes all kinds of things; it’s just amazing.”
“What are you going to do if he doesn’t like football? Maybe he’ll like tennis or golf,” Carly teased. She loved the fact that Joe was a devoted father, found it touching.
“Of course he’ll like football,” Joe continued, refusing to be baited. “His reflexes are great. He’ll be quick and strong.”
Carly laughed. “You are so funny. I guess it’s true what they say—that to a parent, the firstborn is like the only baby ever made.”
“Whatever.” Joe shrugged. “A.J. is just great, the best thing next to Christy to ever happen to me. I mean it. Wait till you have one of your own.”
“That’s not likely. I think a dog is all I’ll ever be able to handle.”
“You’d be a great mom.”
And Nick would be a great dad, she thought but didn’t say. Kids loved him. It was one area where they couldn’t be more different. Nick attracted kids like a magnet and was always able to entertain them, to get down on their level and elicit smiles and giggles, while Carly was never comfortable with children of any age.
“I sure wouldn’t want to be a single mom, so I better sort things out with Nick before I start thinking about kids.” She frowned in the dark, looking out the car window, remembering the morning swim session. Joe was driving, and the streets were empty. She tried not to think about Nick. Mentioning him now made her stomach flip-flop.
“I was afraid of that.” Joe looked over at her, genuine concern in his voice. “I told you last night. He’s still backing off?”
“I thought it was just his hip.” Carly sighed. “I just don’t get it. Two months ago, he was ready for remarriage; now I can’t even get him to eat lunch with me.”
“Is his hip improving?”
“I think everything is pretty much the same, no change good or bad. I haven’t asked Keith, and I’m not sure I want to behind Nick’s back. He’s just shut me out, Joe, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, I think I have an idea what’s bugging him, and I’d bet it’s not you.”
“Oh? Enlighten me.”
“See, the guy’s always been a jock. What’s he got, four triathlon gold medals from the Police and Fire Games to his credit? Not to mention the fact that he’s been the department’s Koga guru for as long as I’ve been here.”
Carly nodded and mentally slapped herself because she’d forgotten about Koga, the name of the system the department used for weaponless defense training. Nick had been the head instructor for years and loved it.
“Now he can’t even walk—much less train—like he used to,” Joe said. “And you’re training for that distance race, aren’t you? What’s it called, the Maui Channel Swim?”
“Well, yeah.” She chewed on a thumbnail. Competing in the open-water swim held in Maui every year had long been a dream. After the horrible events that had conspired to bring her and Nick back together, while Nick was in the hospital, he’d encouraged her to send off her application and was 100 percent supportive. He’d read up on how best to prepare for a swim that was likely to include jellyfish stings and a tough, unpredictable current. He was even researching the best boat and captain to hire as a support vessel. She realized that discussing a swim race would seem like a silly thing to most people, but to Carly it was a seed that blossomed in her heart—she and Nick planning something, to be together and to share something special. The way they used to do when they were married.
They rarely spoke of it now.
“But he encouraged me to enter.”
“That was before all his therapy problems. Look, I hate to say it, but I understand—he’s afraid he’ll be half a man.”
“I would never look at him that way!”
Joe hiked a shoulder. “Doesn’t matter. I bet that’s how he’s looking at himself. What if it was you, if something happened and they told you you’d never be able to swim again?”
Carly huffed. That thought had occurred to her earlier. She sometimes felt the need to be in the water as strongly as the need to breathe. A good, hard swim cleared her mind, filled her with energy and ideas.
“Of course,” she said finally. “It would bug me, hurt me, but I can’t believe I’d shut him out like he’s shutting me out.”
“You’re not a guy.”
Carly said nothing as frustration bubbled up. Joe was right: Nick had always been a jock. It’s a no-brainer that his lack of mobility would frustrate him. But why did he take it out on her? And if it did become permanent, did that mean they didn’t have a chance? The thought froze her heart. I don’t want to let him go. I want him to snap out of it. But what if he can’t?
The emergency beep of their radio split the night and changed the subject. “1-Adam-7.”
“Adam-7,” Carly answered.
“Adam-7, respond to Memorial Hospital and copy the message being routed to your computer.”
“10-4,” Carly acknowledged, and she turned her attention to the computer and punched the message button.
Joe started toward the hospital. As passenger, it was Carly’s place to read to him what the computer said. But she stayed silent.
“What’s up? What are we going to?” Joe asked.
“Well . . .” She hesitated and turned to look at Joe as he cast a questioning glance her way. “It’s Christy. She’s been admitted to the hospital. They say she’s okay, but they don’t say what’s wrong.”
4
CARLY WATCHED THE COLOR drain from Joe’s face. He reached down and flipped on the emergency light and siren. Traveling code 3, they were at the hospital a minute later. Joe leaped from the car and Carly ran to keep up with his long strides. Sergeant Barrett, their supervisor, was waiting for them at the emergency room entrance.
“What is it, Sarge? What’s happened?” Joe frantically approached the sergeant.
“Calm down. It looks like some kind of allergic reaction. I happened to be here on a station stop when they brought her in, so I had dispatch call you.”
“When they brought her in? How did she get here? And why didn’t she call me?”
“I guess she felt bad enough to call for paramedics. They brought her and the baby in as a precaution. I can’t answer your last question. Try to relax. They’re in exam room D.”
“Thanks.” Joe bolted off into the emergency room.
“Is it serious?” Carly asked the sergeant as Joe disappeared into the hospital.
“I don’t know. I know the doctors are running around like they do when things are bad. Maybe you should go in there with him.” Sergeant Barrett looked at Carly with tired, worried eyes. Things were probably a lot worse than he let on to her partner.
She hurried after Joe.
“Do you know of any food allergies your wife may have?” an emergency room doctor questioned Joe outside a closed exam room door.
“No, to my knowledge Christy isn’t allergic to anything. Can’t I see her?” Joe was fidgeting with his gun belt, snapping and unsnapping his keepers.
“Yes, you can see her. They’re drawing blood right now; give them a minute.”
“Where’s the baby? Where’s A.J.?”
“He’s been taken to pediatrics. He seems fine, perfectly normal. But since your wife is still breast-feeding, we’d like to keep him for observation.”
Just then the door opened, and a lab tech rushed out with a rack of blood vials. The doctor motioned for Joe to go in while Carly stayed back in
the doorway. She wanted to be there if they needed her but didn’t want to intrude.
Christy was pale, and she smiled weakly at the sight of Joe. He bent down and kissed her on the forehead. Carly could hear Christy protest that she was fine, but her voice and appearance were anything but fine. She seemed weak and sounded weaker when she asked about A.J. Joe answered, but Christy appeared not to hear or understand what he was saying to her.
“Officer King?” Another doctor walked in as Joe was stroking Christy’s hair.
“Yes?” he answered but didn’t take his attention from his wife.
“We’re going to admit your wife, so she’ll be moved upstairs. Would you like to go see your son while we get her settled?”
Joe looked up from his wife’s face to the doctor’s, and Carly could see the indecision in his expression. “I hate to leave her, but I do want to see A.J.” He leaned down to explain to Christy what was going to happen. He kissed her one more time, then left her in the hands of the medical personnel.
“Do you want me to stay with her while you check on A.J.?” Carly asked.
As Joe considered the question, the doctor spoke up. “You might be in the way. It’s best if you stay with Officer King until we get her upstairs.”
Carly nodded and followed Joe out of the emergency room and up to pediatrics. Christy’s pale face floated in her mind and increased the knot of worry in her stomach.
Upstairs, A.J. looked normal. A nurse was feeding him, or rather trying to feed him, from a bottle. His cry sounded healthy and frustrated. Joe quickly stripped off his uniform shirt and Kevlar vest and took his son. It was a strange, warm sight, the large man in uniform pants, gun belt, and white T-shirt holding the small, squirming baby. She noticed the dots on the little blue sleeper A.J. wore were actually tiny badges. Christy must have made it for him—it looked so unique. Carly brushed back tears, overwhelmed by a flood of emotion and worry. The baby settled down and took the nourishment offered by his father and was soon asleep.
Joe rocked the baby gently. “He doesn’t like the bottle, so you have to work to make him take it,” he explained to the nurse. “I need to go check on my wife. She should be upstairs by now. What will happen to A.J.?”
“He’s only here for observation. So far, he’s in perfect health. We won’t keep him longer than twenty-four hours.” She smiled and took the baby from Joe, laying him gently in a crib.
He thanked her, and Carly could see some tension leave his body. She stayed quiet and walked with Joe to the elevator. He didn’t bother to put his uniform shirt or vest back on but rode up holding them in his hand. Christy was up one floor.
“You okay, partner?” Carly asked the pensive, anxious man.
“I don’t know. They’re being awfully vague, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, but they really don’t seem to know.” Carly was at a loss for words. Her own instincts about the whole situation filled her with dread. The feeling was punctuated when they reached Christy’s room. She’d lost consciousness.
Carly and Joe watched as she was hooked up to all manner of machinery. Carly closed her eyes and prayed for her partner’s wife and her friend, prayed that a reason would be found for the sickness and, most of all, for a solution.
The doctor danced around Joe’s inquiries and said a specialist was on the way. He advised Joe to go home and get some sleep, but Joe refused. With the heart monitor beeping slowly but regularly in the background, Joe handed Carly his gun belt, vest, and uniform shirt and asked her to take them to the station.
“Just ask one of the guys to put them in my locker. Can you bring me my street clothes?”
“Sure. I’ll be back quick.” She accepted the items and left her worried partner holding his wife’s hand.
It was just beginning to get light as Carly drove the patrol unit to the station. Sergeant Barrett told her she could log out even though it was an hour before EOW. While some sergeants were sticklers, insistent that officers never log out a minute before EOW no matter what, Barrett was flexible with early outs. Carly knew before she asked that he’d likely say yes. As she turned in the shotgun she and Joe had been issued at the start of their shift, then signed off their log and changed out of her uniform, she fought a hill of worry threatening to bury her. The urge to talk to Nick was strong, but when she looked at the clock, she knew he’d still be in bed. She decided to wait about twenty minutes and call him when she returned to the hospital. She prayed again, not knowing where Joe and Christy stood with God, but certain he was the right source to go to in the situation.
5
NO CHANGE. Those two chilly words greeted Carly when she returned to the hospital. Though she hadn’t been gone that long, she’d hoped the hospital would have been able to determine whatever it was Christy had and at least come up with a plan of attack.
Joe could only shake his head as Carly handed him his clothes. A specialist was there running more tests but still being vague. The bottom line was that no one knew what was wrong with Joe’s wife. However, everyone’s manner said there was an urgent need to find out. Christy was declining. A.J.’s continued good health was the only positive news.
Officers crowded the hallway offering help. It was one of the things Carly liked best about being a cop. You were part of a family. The blue line always rallied around its own.
“You’ve got quite a cheering section going,” Carly said.
Joe smiled faintly. “Yeah, a couple of guys even volunteered to go get my car so I don’t have to worry about it later.”
“Good, I’m glad they’re here. Make sure you don’t hesitate to ask if you need something. Now, go change. I’ll hang out till you get back.”
Joe nodded and stepped into the bathroom. He emerged in fresh clothes a few minutes later. “Thanks for being here,” he said. The circles under his eyes were as dark as the stubble on his chin.
“No problem. Is there anything else I can do?”
He shook his head. “I think I’ll be fine. Christy’s parents are out of state, but mine should be here soon. I just wish the doctors could tell me something.”
“When your parents get here, try and get some sleep. You can’t help anyone if you faint from exhaustion.” Carly hoped she sounded more like a big sister than a mother.
“I know. Right now I can’t close my eyes; stuff is happening too fast. In a little bit I’m going to sit with A.J. for a while. They said if he stays the same, I can take him home tonight. I’d rather take them both home, but I’ll settle for A.J.”
“Is there anything you need me to get for you—a razor, maybe? Or lunch?”
Joe rubbed his chin and shook his head. “One of the guys is bringing me a shaving kit, and I’m just not hungry right now.” He flashed a rueful smile. “I say that knowing my mom will feed me. She thinks food fixes everything.”
“Sometimes it does. You know how I feel about pizza.”
At that Joe smiled. It was good to see that he could. Carly put a hand on his arm.
Just then his mom and dad arrived. Joe turned and hugged them both. Carly said hello, then listened while Joe explained the situation to them. They had questions, but Joe had no answers.
She waited for an opening and got his attention. “I’m beat. I’m going to go home and take a nap. Call me if anything changes or if you need anything at all, okay?”
“I will. Thanks again for everything.” He grabbed her in a hug. She left him at his wife’s side, bracketed by his parents, and prayed the doctors would find an answer for Christy soon.
I’m exhausted, she thought as she drove out of the hospital lot. Probably so exhausted I won’t be able to sleep. I’m glad it’s the end of the week for us and we don’t have to work tonight. All week long, between Nick and the heat, I haven’t gotten much sleep. Saturday was also a therapy-free day, so she didn’t have to worry about rushing to the rehab center. She hit Nick’s number, and it rang once before she was directed to voice mail.
“It’s me. Give me a call
when you get a chance.”
Keyed up and positive she couldn’t drop right off to sleep, Carly decided to stop at her mom’s before going home for a nap. The fact that she considered her mother’s house a desirable destination was proof that their relationship was better than it had ever been. As Carly struggled with Nick, knowing that she could talk to her mom about it and lean on her was a bright spot in her life. They used to butt heads about any and every little thing, but when Carly found faith, they reconnected. Now they were in sync, and she found that her mother was dear and wise counsel.
Mom’s house was still in the process of being remodeled after the fire that destroyed the front half four months ago. A corrupt cop had tossed a Molotov cocktail through the window in an attempt to scare Carly away from an investigation. Carly relished the reality that he was safely behind bars and her mother hadn’t been hurt in the attack.
No workers were present today, but the waiting-to-be-stuccoed frame of the living room stood as a reminder of the work in progress. Carly blew out a frustrated breath as she did every time she came by. The remodel was taking so long, she worried her mother was being taken advantage of. But her mom wasn’t worried, so Carly kept her mouth shut.
Since two bedrooms, one bath, and the kitchen were inhabitable, Kay chose to stay in the house while the living room, one bedroom, and one bathroom were being redone. Carly found her mother out on the back patio under an umbrella, drinking iced tea with the next-door neighbor, Jack, and using sign language to discuss projected plans for the remodel.
“Morning, Mom.” Carly waved at Jack.
His greeting was a smile and a nod.
“Good morning. What a nice surprise!” She stood and gave Carly a hug. “What’s wrong? Did something happen at work?”
I don’t have to say a word; she always knows. “Not at work, but something happened to Christy.” Carly told her mother all she knew about Joe’s wife, which wasn’t much. Kay listened and signed for Jack.
Abducted Page 3
