by Kim Jewell
Chapter Thirty-four
Liz walked into the open door, approached her boss whose back was turned, his gaze fixed out the window. “Dr. Crain?”
He swiveled around, awakened from his pensive trance. “Yes?”
“I hate to interrupt you, but I thought you’d like to see this right away.”
“What is it?”
“Well, I was updating today’s charts and came across some data that didn’t make sense.”
“Whose chart?”
“Jade Hensley’s.” She leaned forward with the paperwork. “I just picked up the computer printout from the ultrasound you performed.”
“What, Liz?” She was acting meek. He hated meek.
“The measurements don’t match your notes.”
“How far off are they?”
“Um…”
“How far off are they?!” He also hated repeating himself.
“Dr. Crain, there are no calculable measurements on the computer report. Is it possible this data was logged into the computer under the wrong name?”
She was tiptoeing around him, not wanting to infer he had made a mistake in his notations.
“Let me see the report.” He held his hand out.
She opened the chart, flipped to the page with the digital reading. “Here, Dr. Crain.”
He studied them. The silence weighed in the room like a two-foot blanket of snow. Heavy. Quiet. Immobile. He flipped to the front of the chart, to the log where he had noted the measurements during the examination.
“This can’t be right. These reports must be mixed with another ultrasound analysis from this afternoon. Should be an easy fix. Just figure out what other patients had ultrasounds today.”
“That’s sort of the problem, Dr. Crain. No one else had an ultrasound performed today.”
“No one?” He found this hard to believe.
“No one. We had three deliveries, this initial appointment with Ms. Hensley, a pre-natal pap and two adoption consultations.”
“Show me the screen scans.” He impatiently gestured for the photo printouts from the computer screen.
She handed him four small squares of slick, black and white pages. Again, silence.
“This can’t be!” His face was filled with skepticism, disbelief.
“All due respect, Dr. Crain… You know I think the world of you-”
“Cut to it, Liz. What’s your question?”
She swallowed hard. “Where exactly did you get your measurements from?” She pointed to the notes on the chart.
“From the ultrasound.”
“But from this report, and these photos, there was no baby. What were you measuring?”
He shook his head, trying to clear it. “There was a baby on the screen during the examination. I swear to it.”
“I believe you, but…”
He looked down to the printed photos. “But there’s not one here in black and white.”
“No sir, there’s not.”
He ground his teeth in frustration, the heat already flashing to his cheeks. “Well Liz, I guess that’s the question of the century now, isn’t it?”
He slipped out of the office quietly. His work was done here. He would have liked to get his hands on Jade’s chart, copy it, but he knew Crain would be obsessing over it for hours now.
He’d been hopping today, trying to keep up with both sides. He saw Jade’s meltdown at the Dixon house. Was even starting to warm up to Sam’s mom. She was pushy, nosy, but wanted what was best for her kids and the others.
Once things calmed down there, he doubled back to see if there were any fireworks at Crain’s office. The entertainment today was thrilling, but he had to admit the chase was finally wearing on him. He was no closer to answers than he was a month ago.
He would eventually have to talk to someone, get some first-hand conversation. The question was, did he approach the shady doctor who was hell-bent to protect his secrets, or the posse of special kids hell-bent to expose him? Neither prospect was an obvious safe choice as far as he was concerned.
Chapter Thirty-five
This was the second time Clint had been jolted awake in the middle of the night. Tonight was different. His body wasn’t on fire; rather, his ears were being assaulted.
What is that noise?
He shook his head, his brain still disoriented. He looked around the room, heard running footsteps upstairs. It hit him.
The alarm.
He jumped out of bed, didn’t bother to pull a t-shirt over his head. He threw open the door to the basement and charged up the stairs. Rounding the entry to the kitchen, he almost slammed into Sam who was wild-eyed, sprinting from the direction of the living room.
“Where’d it come from? Did you check the doors?” Clint asked.
Sam shook his head. “Not all of them yet. Back door is fine. Lexi’s upstairs checking the windows.”
“Okay. I’m going to sweep outside.”
“Hang on! I’ll go with you. Help me finish inside first.”
“Right.”
It took them another minute or so to check the rest of the downstairs windows and doors. Once finished, Sam punched in the code at the main box by the front door to silence the alarm.
Clint looked up at Lexi who was standing at the upstairs railing. Dan and Marcy stood together outside their bedroom. The sudden quiet was just as startling as the alarm.
“Is everyone okay?” Clint asked. “Lexi, did you see anything upstairs?”
“No.” She started padding down the stairs. “All the windows are still secure. Nothing’s been broken.”
“Okay. Sam and I are going to check outside-”
“I’ll go with you,” Dan interrupted.
“No, Dad. You stay with Mom and Lex, just in case.” Sam waved him off. “We need to stay in groups. I need you in here to protect them.”
“I’m not sure about this, Sam.” Marcy was clearly rattled.
“It’s fine, Mom. We’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, Mrs. D. I’ve still got my powers. We’ll stick together.” Clint added sheepishly, “but do you have a flashlight I can borrow?”
“Sure, dear.” She pulled one out of the laundry room closet.
“Thank you,” Clint said, putting his large hand on her shoulder. “We’ll be right back. I’ll be with Sam the whole time. It’ll be fine, Mrs. D.”
And with that, the two boys sprinted out the front door. The cloud-covered sky made for a murky, dark night. Clint shone the light on his watch.
4:28 a.m.
“What are we looking for, Clint?”
“I’m not sure. It feels like a storm is brewing. Best case scenario, the wind blew a limb into a window, jarring the trigger, setting off the alarm.”
“And the worst case?”
“Worst case… Evidence that someone tried to break in.”
They never broke stride as they talked. Each poked in and out of the shrubs along the house, around the flower beds and trees, looking for anything out of place. In the back, all of the patio furniture appeared undisturbed. Sam scanned the ground for footprints while Clint checked the wiring and floodlights attached to the security alarm.
As they rounded the last corner, the garage end of the house, Clint’s flashlight caught a glint of something hanging from the doorknob which led to the garage.
What the…?
Sam saw it at the same time. They sprinted to the door and looked down. Dangling from the outside knob was a set of keys, one still lodged in the keyhole, the door cracked about four inches.
“Look at the footprints, Sam.” Clint pointed down into the snow. Two distinct sets of prints showed. The first led up to the door. The second retreated.
“Looks like whoever it was walked up, but ran away. I’ll be they didn’t expect the alarm.”
Sam looked back at the keys. “I don’t recognize that key ring. Is it yours?”
“Nope. Your mom gave me a spare to use while I’m here, but I put it on the ring with
my other keys. I’ve never seen those before.”
“Me neither.” Sam grabbed the keys and pulled the door securely shut, checking to make sure it was locked again.
“You wanna tell your parents about this?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
“Dude, your mom looked tense, your dad wasn’t much better. I can’t see any good that comes from telling them yet. Not until we have some answers.”
“We’ll find answers? You think?” Sam’s eyebrows raised skeptically.
“Hell yeah, we’ll track down the bastard. Don’t you want to find out who just tried to break into your house in the middle of the night?”
“Yeah. Sure do.” Sam put the keys into the pocket of his athletic shorts.
“Me too.” Clint reached up, plucked a large branch out of the oak tree next to them and laid it down beside the door they were standing at.
Sam nodded his understanding, wordlessly approved. He looked down at the six-foot-long limb, as thick as his leg and let out a jealous, guttural sigh. “You know I’m gonna have to chop that up later. Couldn’t you have picked something a little smaller?”
Clint grinned. “Sorry. Got a little carried away.”
“We better get back in.”
“Yeah, right.”
Inside, the scene was much as they left it – quiet, filled with tension. Marcy had a tea kettle on the stove, its steam whistle the only sound in the room. Dan was standing behind her, rubbing her shoulders in comfort. Lexi was pacing between the front windows, waiting for the boys to return with news.
When they did enter, she pounced on them. “Well? Did you find anything?”
Sam filled her in silently while Clint redirected the parents with the phony explanation. “There’s a limb lying down next to the garage door. The wind must have blown it down, hit the door, which triggered the alarm.”
Marcy exhaled. She poured herself a cup of chamomile tea, clearly trying to calm herself into a couple more hours of sleep.
Dan watched Sam turn the alarm back on, then looked up at Clint. “Are you sure there’s nothing to worry about?”
“Yes, sir. I’m pretty sure there’s no danger here.” Not exactly the whole truth. I did see the retreating footsteps, so I know there’s no threat here. At least for now…
After about twenty minutes of persuasion, Sam and Lexi finally talked their parents into going back to bed. Marcy said she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but the gang wanted a little alone time to talk about what just happened and how best to handle it.
Settling into the family room downstairs, Clint held out his hand to Sam. “Let me see them.”
Sam took the key ring out of his pocket, tossed them across the room. They clanged together as Clint caught them in his left hand.
“Six,” he said, looking into his palm. “We already know one of these is your house key. I wonder…”
Clint leaned over, grabbed the jeans he had taken off the night before. Reaching into the pocket, he pulled out his own key ring. Comparing the keys from his set to the new ring, he flipped through until he had a match.
“This key,” he said, holding up his own set, “is the one your mom gave me for the house. Here’s the match on the other ring.”
“Do you have a Sharpie in your backpack?” Lexi asked.
“Yeah, I think so. Good thinking.” He smiled at her, understanding her intentions. Taking the black marker from the front pocket, he labeled the match “Dixon.”
Turning back to his own keys, he pulled out his own house key, merely on a hunch. Flipping through the mystery set, he paused when he found the match. His face went white. “Son of a bitch.”
“What?” Sam answered.
“This one’s for my house.”
“Oh. Well, crap.” Sam stood up, walked over to inspect the keys. Holding them against each other, he nodded in agreement when the grooves matched exactly.
Clint silently marked the second key “McKay” and exhaled heavily. “Well, who do you think these belong to? Lexi, what are you doing?”
Sam answered first. “Best guess: Crain. Who else would want access to us?”
Lexi looked up from her cell phone. “I’m texting Leesha and Jade. Figured it would be rude to call this early, but we need to see their keys too. My guess is two of those belong to the Conway and Hensley houses.”
“When you hear back from them, let them know we’ll meet at my house to talk about this,” Clint said. “No sense in tipping off your parents yet. Besides, I need to get over there and check to see if anyone’s been in, poking around.”
“Do you have the alarm set?”
“Yeah.”
“And no calls from the security switchboard?”
“Nope.”
“Have you talked to your dad recently?” Lexi asked gently.
“Last night. He’s fine. I’ll call him here soon, once it gets a little later, just to check in.”
“Okay.”
Chapter Thirty-six
Come on, come on. Dad, pick up the phone. Clint paced the room, listening to the ringing in his ear. Pick up!
“Hello?”
Finally! Why is he out of breath? “Dad? It’s me. What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Oh hey, Clint. Yeah, I’m fine. Just left my phone across the hanger. I didn’t think I’d get to it in time. What’s up?”
He exhaled. “Oh, nothing. I was just touching base. How’s work going?” Calm yourself. Act normal.
“It’s fine. Busy. The manager here is pretty sharp, but we keep getting interrupted by stupid stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, nothing important. We had a two-seater that blew its engine, needed fixed. And lots of people in and out, just slowing us down. No big deal. Hey, what’s up with you? Have you got your grades yet?”
“No, not yet. I just checked the mail again. They should come any day now.”
“Everything going okay at the Dixon’s?”
“Yeah. All’s fine here.”
“You sure? You sound weird. Have you had any problems I need to know about? You haven’t seen the doctor, have you?”
Oh great. He’s panicking. “No, Dad. Everything’s fine. I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Okay… Are you still crushing on Lexi?”
“Dad, please. You can’t talk teen.”
“Sorry. I’m just trying. Seriously though, do you like her?”
“Yeah, I like her.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“So…” Hank’s sigh was loud, even through the scratchy cell connection. “What are you doing about it? Does she know you like her? Does she like you back?”
Clint paused for a minute, thinking. “Yeah, Dad. She likes me too. But it’s complicated.”
“Why? What’s so complicated?”
“Well, it’s Sam.”
“I thought you and Sam got along well.”
“We do. He’s just weird about his sister. Kind of protective or something.”
“Oh.”
“Plus, it’s strange with me in their house right now, being cooped up all together. Maybe it’ll be better once I’m back home. Get a little distance from Sam. When are you coming home, Dad?”
“He’s really breathing down your neck?”
“Yeah, a little.”
Clint shifted uncomfortably in his seat, leaned back to check the window. He’d been at his house for an hour now, searching for signs of entry and he knew the rest of the group would arrive any minute now. The last thing he wanted was to be caught talking about Lexi when she walked in. Or worse yet, when Sam walked in.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back, pal. Soon, I hope. A week or two, maybe. We don’t know when we’ll be finished, not with all the delays we’ve been having.”
“Can’t I just move back home? I need to clear my head.”
“No, Clint. I want you staying with Marcy and Dan while I’m away.”
�
�You don’t trust me?”
“I trust you fine, son. It’s the other people in the world I’m having a hard time with right now. I feel better knowing you’re with someone, being watched, taken care of.”
A flutter of pain hit Clint’s chest as he tried to remember the mother he had all but forgotten. Life would have been so much easier if his mom was still around. More comfortable. Not her fault, she didn’t mean to leave them so early. Cancer has a way of inflicting pain on more than just its victims.
“All right, I’ll stay,” Clint sighed, snapping himself back to reality. “But please come home soon, all right?”
Truth be told, Clint was probably more worried about his dad than the other way around. He didn’t like him so far away. It left him feeling out of control, not that he could really control anything Crain did.
“Sure, bud. I will as soon as I possibly can. So, why are you guys meeting at our house today?”
“Um, I just wanted to come over and get the mail, some clean clothes. Plus, it feels like we’re always camping on Sam’s mom.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t mind.”
“No, I know she doesn’t, but anyway…” Clint glanced out the front door. “Hey, Dad, they’re here. I’m gonna let you go.”
“Okay, pal, no problem. I’m glad you called. Good to hear your voice. I miss you.”
“Yeah, you too Dad.”
“I’ll call you later on tonight to check in.”
“Sounds good. Talk to ya then.”
The line went dead.
It wasn’t until he woke up the next morning that he realized he’d left his keys in the door. The alarm had startled him and he ran off in a panic. He’d left his truck keys in the ignition since it was the middle of the night and so was able to get out of the neighborhood as fast as he could.
After he snuck back into his own house, he lay in bed for hours, his heart pounding from the close call, wondering when the Dixons had put in an alarm system. Did they know he was tracking them? Is that why the extra precaution?
Why hadn’t he tripped it before? He’d been there at least a half a dozen times, but always during the day, and rarely had he even needed to use the stolen key.
