Silver Dove (Silver #2)

by E. J. Shortall

  A few days after my shock announcement, Craig got us a private appointment to see a doctor to have the pregnancy confirmed. After a series of blood tests, pee tests, and height and weight checks, we were ushered into an ultrasound room for an early dating scan. It was decided that because I could have been anywhere from just a few weeks to three months along, they would try a general scan first. When Craig asked what the alternative would be and was told a probe would need to be inserted internally, he went as white as a sheet and very nearly had a fit. The normal scan was all that was needed, thankfully, showing up a healthy little blob that measured at eight weeks plus five days. I was surprised they were so specific.

  Aside from the pregnancy, life was moving along nicely. I was enjoying my job again, although I was feeling tired most of the day thanks to ‘Poppet’ zapping me of all my energy. Craig was busy at the office working hard on trying to expand operations further into Europe and he would often be there till late, or would work from home. He seemed distracted by something though and I just put it down to everything going on with the business.

  Finally I’d been able to put things behind me and was happy. We were happy.

  I had a twelve week appointment to get the results of all the blood tests, and to check how things were progressing. Craig had been called into a last minute meeting with some German businessmen who were in London and interested in what CAS Technologies could do for them. He couldn’t miss the opportunity of schmoozing with them and going in for the kill, so he reluctantly agreed to let me go to the appointment by myself. On the way to the doctor’s offices my phone rang in my bag and I grabbed it quickly before it tripped to voicemail. The number was withheld which caused a frisson of unease to wash through me. I had started getting these weird calls a week or so earlier. Every time I answered either the line went dead immediately, or I was greeted with silence. On a couple of occasions I heard laughing before the caller hung up. I shrugged off the first few calls, but when they became more frequent I had told Craig what was going on. He immediately flipped out and demanded my phone. Apparently he had people who could try and trace the calls. Obviously they weren’t doing their job properly, because even with a new phone, the calls continued.

  Answering the call I prepared myself for another bout of cackling laughter, or for the line to go silent. “Hello,” I answered nervously.

  “Hi, Pingu. Are you there yet?”

  I sighed with relief at hearing Craig’s voice and immediately relaxed. “I’m just walking up the road now. Why is the number coming up withheld?”

  “I just nipped out of my meeting. I’m on one of the sales lines, these numbers are always withheld,” he said as though it made perfect sense. “I just wanted to quickly check you were okay and say I love you. Call me as soon as you’re out okay?” He paused for a brief moment and sighed. “I feel bad. I wish I was there with you.”

  “It’s okay, Craig. You have important business to see to and this is just a routine appointment because we’ve already had the scan. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

  “It still doesn’t make it right, Ambs. I should be there with you, supporting you. What if-” I cut him off.

  “It’s okay, Craig. This meeting is important to you, I understand that. Besides, if you can charm them into signing up with CAS it will be a major boost to the company and a major boost to the financial stability for Poppet here.” Craig first and foremost cared about providing for both Poppet and me. He’d persisted that Poppet would have the best of everything and would never go without. I told him the only thing he or she needed was our love. Still, the reminder of his long term goal seemed to appease him somewhat and he let it slide, but not without telling me again how bad he felt for not being there for us.

  After we’d said our goodbyes and I promised, for the third time, to call him as soon as I could, I entered the doctors and checked in with the receptionist.

  The appointment went smoothly and the doctor was happy that everything was as it should be. My blood results all came back normal, and I even got to hear the baby’s strong heartbeat. I was taken aback when they informed me I would be having another scan to see how things were progressing. After the early scan, we hadn’t expected another one till much further into the pregnancy when we had debated whether or not we would find out if ‘Poppet’ was a boy or a girl. I had been sad that Craig hadn’t been able to come with me so we could share the moment together. He would beat himself up about not being there to see his child on screen again.

  As the radiographer pushed the ultrasound device over the gloop she had squeezed onto my tummy I stared at the monitor beside my head wondering what I would see. The previous scan hadn’t really shown us much, just a small dark blob in the middle of blur of grey and black tones. When she stopped and started pressing buttons on her machine, I blinked as though my eyes were deceiving me. On the screen in front of me as clear as day was a baby, two arms, two legs, ten fingers, ten toes. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever witnessed. My child, Craig’s child. I found myself reaching out to the screen and touching the image tenderly, totally mesmerised and more in love with another human being than I ever thought possible.

  “Pretty special sight huh?” The radiographer said. I couldn’t speak. “Everything looks good, Amber. Little one has a strong heartbeat and his-”

  “His?” I shouted looking over to her.

  She giggled. “Sorry, slip of the tongue. It’s far too early to determine their gender yet. What I meant to say is his OR her measurements show they are growing nicely.” She handed me a paper towel to wipe the gel off my stomach. “Would you like a copy of the picture?” I nodded eagerly. Craig would kick himself for not being there; at least I would be able to give him his first picture of his son or daughter.

  When I left the clinic it was still early afternoon so I decided to make the short walk to Craig’s offices to see him and tell him how things went. I was eager to show him the scan picture and couldn’t wait to see his face. I also hadn’t seen his assistant Margaret for a while and thought it would be nice to catch up. Her daughter had not long given birth to her third grandchild, a boy, and I wanted to see pictures and hear all about him.

  Taking my iPod out of my bag I pulled up the song that Craig had played at home the day after I found out I was pregnant. He hadn’t realised I was standing in the doorway watching him as he listened. Every emotion he felt played out across his face that day as he listened. The song said so much about his feelings and fears, and every time I listened to it after that I pictured him sitting on the sofa with his head resting back on the cushions lost in thought. So as “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed played in my ears I strolled toward Craig’s offices.

  I turned off the busy main road and down the quieter street that led down to Craig’s building on the edge of the River Thames. Suddenly arms wrapped around me and dragged me backwards making me scream. A hand slammed across my mouth, muffling my cries as my ear buds were ripped out of my ears. I heard a crash as my iPod hit the hard concrete floor. I fought and tried to wriggle free but a strong arm was wrapped tightly around my chest holding my arms immobile and with another hand over my mouth my head was held in place. I struggled to keep up with the backward motion and couldn’t turn to see where we were or who was there. All I could see out of my peripheral vision was a line of the backs of some garages.

  After several seconds we came to a stop and I felt hot breath near my ear as I trembled in fear. “You have taken what should have been mine, bitch.” The voice was low and muffled and I thought it was female, but I couldn’t be sure. “Now I’m going to take something important from you.”

  Pain sliced through me and I screamed behind the hand still over my mouth as a sharp sensation hit my abdomen.

  “You can let her go now” the voice said again but it sounded more distant. The hands holding me fell away leaving me in agony as I dropped to the floor. Another sharp pain took me by surprise as a boot made contact with my arm and then m
y already painful belly. Then it was gone. I managed to turn my head and through the fog that was quickly engulfing me I could just about make out the figures of a man and a woman as they walked away.

  The pain was intense, and I was shivering and cold but the fog was getting thicker and everything was becoming hazy. I tried to open my mouth to call for help but all that came out was a small screech. I willed my arms and legs to move but nothing would work. As the darkness swallowed me whole, I closed my eyes and thought of Craig and the way he looked that day listening to a song about his fears and joys of becoming a father.

  Craig

  “It was a pleasure meeting you gentlemen.” Now get the fuck out. I shook hands with the two idiots who had just consumed far too much of my time and saw them to the exit. How long did it take to decide if you would be interested in exploring further options with us? It wasn’t like I was giving them a ‘sign now or else’ deal. It should have been a quick meeting to brief them on our services and maybe draw up a proposal for them. Instead I had sat for three fucking hours talking over the same shit over and over again.

  “Margaret, have you heard from Amber?” I asked my assistant as I neared her desk.

  “Sorry, Craig, no I haven’t. Did she not call you?” I hadn’t checked my mobile phone because it was still sitting on my desk where I’d left it before the fools from Frankfurt had arrived.

  “I don’t know actually. I’ll go and check now.” Back in my office I closed the door behind me and heaved out a frustrated breath. I should have been with Amber. I should have left the meeting for Mitchell to deal with and supported my fiancée and child.

  Walking over to my desk I hoped that everything had gone okay at the appointment and that Amber had called. When I picked up the phone all that showed was a missed call from Max and another from an unknown number.

  “Hi, Pingu, it’s me. Are you still at the doctors? Give me a call when you get this. Love you.” Bloody voicemail, I hated it. I didn’t want to talk to a machine; I needed to speak to Amber. With another frustrated sigh I dropped my phone back on my desk and unlocked my computer to get on with some work. I hoped that Amber would call back soon.

  A short while later Margaret knocked on the door and walked in. “Priti just brought this up from reception for you. Apparently it was just left on the counter. Nobody knows who or where it came from. Do you want me to open it for you?” She held up a plain white envelope with my name written in neat script on the front and the words ‘Private and Confidential’.

  “No, it’s fine, just leave it there. I’ll open it in a minute. Did you hear from Amber?” I asked again, hoping she had maybe called the office number.

  “No, sorry! Have you tried calling her?” she asked with a frown, picking up on my tension.

  “Yeah, it just goes to voicemail. I’ll try again in a minute. Thanks for this.” I nodded at the envelope now sitting in front of me.

  I tried calling Amber four times and got voicemail each time. I began to feel uneasy. Something felt off. I just didn’t know what.

  I picked up the envelope and looked it over. I didn’t know what I was expecting to find but other than my name and confidential wording, it was totally blank. It must have been hand delivered because there was no post mark and no other indication of who might have sent it. Ripping along the flap I opened the seal and pulled out a plain white card. It appeared blank until I turned it over. All it had on it, in black type was “It can be mine now.”

  What the hell did that even mean? “It can be mine now?”

  I looked over the card and envelope several times for any indication of where it had come from, but of course there was nothing. I didn’t have time to be worrying about stupid shit like that so I tossed it aside and got back to work. I would deal with it later. Much later.

  “Amber, baby where the hell are you? I’m starting to freak out a bit here. You should have been finished at the doctor’s ages ago. Call me as soon as you get this.”

  It had been well over two hours since Amber should have been finished at her appointment and I was beginning to worry that something had not gone well. It was just like Amber to run off if things didn’t go as expected. But when she wasn’t answering her phone I had no way of knowing. I considered phoning the clinic to find out if she was still there or what had happened. I only had about an hour’s worth of work I had to get done in the office, though, so I decided to plough through it as quickly as possible. I would then go home and find out what was going on.

  “Craig Silver,” I growled into my phone when it rang a minute later. In my distracted state, I hadn’t even taken any notice of who was calling. Silence. “Who the fuck is this?” These calls had gone beyond a joke, if that was even the intention behind them. I’d had enough and needed to get to the bottom of them.

  “It can be mine now,” a voice said and then the line went dead.

  A chill swept over me when I realised they were the same words from the card I’d received. I grabbed the card and looked it over again, expecting to find an answer that hadn’t been there before. But of course there was nothing.

  “Mitchell,” I growled into my phone a moment later. This had to end now. The tech guys needed to trace these calls or I would fire the fucking lot of them. If I had to speak to them again I was going to lose it, so I planned to hand it over to my number two. “Those lazy bastards in the lab have done fuck all and if they don’t get to the bottom of these calls I will fire each and every one of them… No, I don’t give a shit… No, they are paid to do what I fucking tell them to do. I’m telling you to tell them they better sort it out or they will be in the unemployment line first thing Monday morning. And while you’re at it, call Scott and ask him to get his lot to check CCTV for someone suspicious leaving an envelope at reception… I mean it Mitch, I’ve had it.” I slammed the office phone down on the cradle and leaned back in my chair dragging my hands through my hair. I didn’t have proof but I had an idea who was behind the calls. They had started back in January after Ben had told me who was behind James’ death. I had started my own investigation into Aleisha and her brothers and that’s when the calls started. Proof was needed though. I couldn’t do anything without evidence that they were behind it all.

  I was standing at the window, staring out at the Thames, when my mobile rang again a minute later. This time I checked the caller display. “I swear to fucking God, if these calls don’t stop, when I find you I will fucking kill you.”

  “Mr Silver?” a deep male voice asked.

  “That’s me,” I replied, momentarily confused that somebody had spoken.

  “Mr Silver, are you the fiancé of Amber Merchant?”

  A sick feeling invaded my stomach. “Yes. Who is this?”

  “Please, forgive me Mr Silver. My name is Doctor Woodrow. I’m calling from Charing Cross Hospital…” My eyes widened and terror shrouded me when I put two and two together. “Amber was brought in to us earlier this afternoon having been found unconscious and bleeding…” I stumbled back and dropped down onto the corner of my desk. Amber? Hospital? Bleeding? Unconscious?

  “Mr Silver, are you still there?” I realised I had dropped my phone and hadn’t responded to the doctor.

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “She is stable now Mr Silver, but you might want to be here for her.” I nodded, knowing he couldn’t see me. What had happened? Why was my baby in hospital?

  The doctor continued talking but I wasn’t really listening. I was in shock, confused.

  “Goodbye Mr Silver. See you soon.”

  I needed to get to Amber, she needed me. Grabbing my jacket and keys I ran out of the office without looking back.

  “Craig? Craig, what’s wrong?” Margaret shouted from behind me as I ran down the corridor.

  “I don’t have time now Margaret,” I shouted over my shoulder. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t have time to explain.

  “Craig, stop!” Margaret yelled. My step faltered and I stopped. Margaret had never raise
d her voice before, not even when I kept changing important details for a contract she was typing up for me. She was ever the consummate professional.

  “What’s happened?” She asked more calmly coming to stand beside me. I quickly explained to her what I knew about Amber and that I had to get to the hospital to be with her.

  “You can’t drive in this state, Craig. Let me take you. And before you go all macho boy on me, I won’t take no for an answer. Amber needs you in one piece, not lying in a bed next to her.” I groaned and sagged back against the wall. She was right. I wasn’t thinking straight. If I got in the car, I would be putting myself and others in danger.

  Five minutes later we were in Margaret’s car weaving through the busy evening traffic. With every minute that passed, as I looked out at the world zooming past, my fear increased. What if it was really bad, what if the unimaginable happened?

  Margaret pulled up outside the main entrance and asked if I would be okay. I honestly didn’t know. Until I was holding Amber in my arms and knew that she was okay I didn’t know what to think or feel. I told her I would be fine and would call her if I had any news.

  After checking with the main reception which ward Amber was on, I walked off in search of it. Hospitals always seemed so much bigger when you were in a rush, there were too many people and too many walls standing between me and my Pingu.

  “Can I help you sir?” A young nurse greeted me from behind a counter as I walked in the ward.

  “My fiancée, Amber Merchant is here.”

  “And you are?”

  I sighed, fighting back my annoyance. “Craig Silver.”

  She clicked on her mouse while looking at her screen. I didn’t have time for this, I was terrified of what I would find when I got to Amber, but needed to be with her. “That’s right. Dr Woodrow is looking after her. Take a seat and I’ll get the doctor for you.”

  “I don’t need to see the doctor. I just need to see Amber.”