The blast was instantaneous. Deafening. The bullet slammed into Livingston's leg. He howled in pain, but even that didn't stop him. He turned the gun toward her.
Just as Jared dove at him.
The men collided and went sprawling. Rachel heard herself scream. They were right at the edge of the roof. The left side of Jared's body was dangling in the air.
"Jared, be careful!" she shouted.
Livingston levered himself up and brought back his arm so he could fire at Jared. It was a mistake. A huge one. The maneuver off-balanced him. Livingston reached for Jared to try to stop himself from falling.
He dropped the gun.
His hand grasped at the air.
And he plunged over the side.
It took Rachel a second to understand what had happened. Moving back out of harm's way, Jared looked down and shook his head.
"It's over. Livingston's dead."
"Over," she repeated. It was really over.
Still on her knees, Rachel tossed the gun aside and went to Jared as fast as she could.
At the same time, Jared scrambled across the floor. They met halfway, and he hauled her into his arms. "What you did was stupid. God almighty! You never should have gone at Livingston like that. He was armed, and he's a killer. You could have died."
Rachel pulled back and pressed her hand to his mouth. "I'm all right. You hear that? All right. You're the one who's hurt. And it wasn't stupid. You would have done the same thing in my place."
She could also tell that Jared wasn't prepared to hear the truth. Maybe later he'd listen to reason. For now, Rachel settled for a quick kiss and helped him to his feet.
"Come on. Let's take the baby and get you to the hospital."
She made eye contact with Agnes and said a quick prayer that the woman would cooperate. Rachel didn't want to fight any more battles right now, but if necessary, she would.
"I'm sorry," Agnes muttered. "I'm sorry for everything."
Agnes's hands were shaking when she walked to them. She held out the baby and put him in the crook of Rachel's arm. Without releasing her grip on Jared, Rachel took her son, pulled him to her and held on tight to both of them.
Chapter Twenty
It was a scene as close to perfect as Jared figured he'd ever see. Rachel and his son napping peacefully on the bed next to him.
He sat up a little, wincing at the tug of the stitches in his shoulder, and just watched them. Unable to resist, he touched his finger to his son's cheek. Ben opened his eyes for a second and then nestled back into his mother's arms.
Jared smiled. Only a new father would consider that tiny event to be a miracle.
The doorbell rang, but he was so happy, it was hard to get riled even by an interruption.
"It's Captain Thornton," Tanner called out a moment later. "Should I let her in?"
Okay. So Jared had been wrong. He could get riled. He'd been out of the hospital only a couple of hours and he didn't want to share his homecoming with anyone, including but not limited to, his ex-boss. In fact, he'd planned on thanking Tanner and sending him on his way as soon as Rachel woke from her much-needed nap.
"This won't take long," he heard Thornton say.
In other words, she was trying to barge her way past Tanner. While it might have been fun to hear Tanner try to stonewall her, this was a meeting he probably should get out of the way.
"Let her in," Jared answered.
As he'd known it would, the sound of his voice woke Rachel. Her eyes were still ripe with sleep when she lifted her head and looked in his direction. The sleep, however, soon cleared, and she smiled at him.
Another miracle.
Jared managed to plant a kiss on her mouth before the captain appeared in the doorway. She stood there a moment and studied them.
"Well, well, Dillard. You've gone all domestic on me. Looks good on you. Both of you," she added, nodding a greeting at Rachel.
"I didn't expect you today," Jared said quickly.
"Yeah. But it couldn't wait."
Dressed in a dull gray pantsuit and wearing her usual sensible shoes, she propped a shoulder against the doorjamb. There were a lot of compliments he could pay the captain. Good cop. Hard worker. Loyal. But fashion sense wasn't something that readily came to mind. And she wouldn't have considered that an insult.
"The chief's pressing me for an update on your condition. I'm supposed to check your boo-boos and give him a report."
Jared eased back the side of his shirt so she could see the bandage. "The boo-boo should be healed in a couple of days."
"Weeks," Rachel corrected. "The doctor said weeks."
She raised herself to a sitting position. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, she leaned over and put the baby in his arms.
"I'll give you and the captain some time alone."
Before Jared could tell her that he didn't want her out of his sight, Rachel brushed a kiss on his cheek and the baby's before she disappeared into the adjoining bathroom.
"Cute kid," Thornton said, walking closer. She peered into the blanket. "I heard the doctor gave him an a-okay. And he doesn't seem to be any worse for wear. He's sleeping like a baby."
"Are you just going to stand there and toss around bad clichés?" Jared asked.
"Nope. Guess it's time to toss something else at you." She sat on the foot of the bed, reached into her pocket and pulled out his badge. She dropped it next to him.
Jared looked at it and then her.
"What?" she barked. "Did you expect me to polish it or something before I gave it back to you?"
"No. But I did expect you to give me some grief about what I did to find my son."
"No grief. Livingston and Esterman put Rachel and you through more than anyone should have had to go through. Still, you owe me. I'm talking about working patrol on New Year's Eve with all those drunks barfing all over your shoes."
He pretended to look very unhappy about that, but it was a small price to pay for what he'd gotten in return. "Thanks."
"Yeah, yeah. What can I say—I'm a sap for a guy holding a cute kid. Brings out all my maternal instincts." She stood and ran her fingers over the baby's toes, which were peeking out of the blanket. "You fed him a bottle and burped him yet? I hear they like to spit up all over the place during that little maneuver."
He tipped his head toward his wounded shoulder. "Hard to do much of anything with this."
"Wuss," she grumbled. But she did it with a wink and a smile. Thornton went to the bathroom door and tapped on it. "By the way, Rachel, you should hear this next part."
Rachel came out. She'd changed her clothes and was wearing one of those thin floaty dresses that went to mid-calf and skimmed along her body. Jared smiled to let her know that he liked her choice of fashion—and that later, he'd enjoy getting her out of it.
"The jury's back on Esterman," Thornton explained. "Thanks to your testimony, Rachel, he's a goner. Life in prison without the possibility of parole. And after browsing through Livingston's computer records, we've managed to round up all their little henchmen. And the final blow—Agnes McCullough will turn state's evidence so she can spill her guts about anything and everything else. That should put a cap on this Esterman-Livingston fiasco."
"And what about Sergeant Meredith?" Rachel asked.
"Ah, the scum sucker. Well, he's behind bars, where he'll stay because Agnes can pin Merkens's murder on him. I hate dirty cops. Hope he gets a cellmate who feels the same way and isn't afraid to show it." Captain Thornton waved goodbye. "Enjoy your new family. You two deserve it," she added before she closed the door.
"We do deserve it," Rachel agreed. She walked closer and glanced down at the badge. "Did you two work out everything?"
Jared nodded. "How do you feel about that?"
"I'm pleased." She lifted the baby from his arms and gently placed him in the bassinet next to the bed. "I know the danger will always be there. It's part of who you are. I still don't like it, but I'll accept it becaus
e I love you. And because I know that badge will never mean more to you than what we have right here."
His response wasn't automatic, not some rote words to accommodate the moment. Jared pulled her to him and looked into her eyes. "You are…everything to me. Everything. My hope. My happiness. My future. I love you, Rachel."
The tears came immediately. Smiling, she tried to blink them away. "Just my luck. I wait years to hear you say those words just the way you said them, and I start crying."
"Let's see what we can do about drying these tears."
He ran his fingers over the tiny buttons on the front of her dress. "Considering my injuries, I think sex against the wall is out. Let's try for something equally satisfying but a lot less dangerous. And we might want to do it soon, before Ben wakes up for a bottle."
"But what about Tanner?"
Jared looped his good arm around her and pulled her onto his lap. "He'll have the good sense not to come anywhere near this bedroom with that door shut."
"You're sure?" She smiled. Kissed him. And helped him with the buttons.
"Absolutely. Now, hush and have your way with me."
She did.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8686-7
CONFISCATED CONCEPTION
Copyright © 2003 by Delores Fossen
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Table of Contents
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Confiscated Conception Page 16
