“Oh, I see! How exciting for you two. Let me send this call to Harvey Stephenson. And congratulations, sir on the new baby. Did you have a boy or a girl?”
“We have a son. We named him Noah.”
“How nice. Okay, sir. You have a great day.”
I wait as the phone makes clicking noises then I hear a man’s voice, “Crawford, we were worried sick about you!”
“Well, you can stop worrying now.” I stop and think for a moment how some things do need to be worried about. “That’s not exactly true. I need you to worry but over other things. My accounts have been frozen. The CIA and FBI were all over my office building yesterday. What can you find out about that?”
“Have charges been pressed?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Hmm. Stay put and let me make some calls. Your accounts shouldn’t have been frozen unless charges had been filed. Even if we’re talking CIA and FBI. I’ll give you a call back. Please answer our calls today, Crawford.”
“I will. I just had to take a break from the drama to let the birth of our son take precedence in our lives.”
“The birth of your son? That’s why you weren’t taking any calls?”
“Yes, sir. We had us a six-pound baby boy yesterday.”
“Well, congratulations. What hospital are you in? Our office will send flowers and a gift basket.”
“We’re at home. The hospital wouldn’t let us in. They told us to go to the county hospital. My wife wasn’t keen on that, though. My wife and I know a midwife and we got her to come to our house to deliver the baby.”
“Lord have mercy, Crawford. I’ll get this straightened out ASAP! You can count on us.”
“Thank you,” I tell him then end the call.
I find the maid in the kitchen when I push the galley door open to walk in. “Oh, Mr. Crawford, can I get you anything? I’m not a great cook but I can make scrambled eggs.”
Biting my lip, I don’t exactly know how to tell her, she’s not going to get paid and she should leave. “Um, uh, Patsy, we’ve hit some stumbling blocks. I hate to get you to work if I’m unsure if I can pay you or not.”
She freezes as her mouth drops open. “Sir?”
“My accounts have been frozen by the government. I’m not sure how I can pay you for your work. So, as of right now, I’m sending you home. But I’ll let you know as soon as this gets straightened out, so you can come back to work. And, if it all does get worked out, I’ll pay you like you never missed a day. Okay?”
She shakes her head. “No, sir. That’s not okay. I will stay on. Even if you can never pay, I will stay on. You both need me more than you ever have. I won’t leave you in your time of need. I’ve been your maid for many years and you’ve been a generous and nice employer. Just because something has happened to your finances, doesn’t mean you will lose me as your housekeeper. So, how about some scrambled eggs?”
The galley door opens and Consuela steps inside the kitchen. “That won’t be necessary, Patsy. You can see to your work and I’ll see to mine.”
“I can’t let you ladies work for free,” I say as I look back and forth between them.
“I have faith things will work out and you will eventually be able to pay us again,” Consuela says. “And even if you can’t, that’s okay too. You need me now. And I’ll be damned if anything gets in the way of that.”
My heart pounds with their generosity and I grab them both and give them hugs. “You two are the best people I know!”
When I release them, I have to wipe tears out of my eyes. They both pat me on the back as Patsy says, “You go and take care of your wife and baby, Mr. Crawford. I’ll bring in breakfast to you both, once she has it prepared for you.”
Consuela goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of water. “Have Mrs. Crawford drink this while I get the rest ready. It’ll only take me a few minutes to whip up some omelets and toast for you two.”
I turn and leave the kitchen, still wiping tears away and wonder how I got so lucky. My phone vibrates in my hand and I look to see the damn CIA agent’s number. “Crawford,” I answer.
“I need to see you in our offices today.”
“No.” I’m not bending to these bastards!
“You can come on your own, or we can come get you,” he threatens me.
“Look, my wife had a baby yesterday. That’s why I didn’t answer your call. Furthermore, I gave you all the information you asked me to. I held nothing back. But you did. You held a lot back. Why the search of my building? Why freeze my accounts? My baby was born here, at our home, thanks to you.”
“What?” he asks.
“Don’t act as if you give a shit. When you froze everything, even the insurance wouldn’t pay. So, thanks a ton. As far as you talking to me anymore, you won’t be. You can call my lawyers. Or better yet, sit tight and let them call you. I’ll forward them your number, asshole!” I end the call and don’t feel much better but at least I told him what I think about things.
Texting my lawyers the number, I let them know they need to call the prick. Going to our bedroom, I put the phone in my pajama pants pocket and take the water to my wife, who’s nursing our son.
“Water, yes,” she says as I sit on the bed beside her and open the bottle for her, holding it up to give her a drink as her hands are all tied up with feeding the baby.
“Consuela is here, making us breakfast. So is Patsy. I told them both to go, that I wasn’t sure if or when I could pay them for their work.”
“Let me guess, they both said they’d work anyway,” she says with a smile. “Both of those women are so good. When we do get things straight, they’re getting new cars!”
“And then some,” I say as I agree, their loyalty should be greatly rewarded.
“He’s eating better than I thought he would. Even though there’s not much coming out. Margie said it would be like that for up to three days. I think I have enough cash in my purse for us to take him to the pediatrician today. I think if you call and tell them what happened, they’ll get us in.”
With a nod, I go and get her purse off the dresser. “I found a whopping sixty bucks in my wallet. Damn my habit of carrying so little cash.” I open her purse and find three hundred in it. “Good, you have enough for the visit, I bet. I’ll make the call.”
“Once he’s through eating, I’ll put him down and you can watch him while I take a much-needed shower and get ready to go,” she says as she gazes at Noah. “He’s just so adorable!”
With a laugh, I say, “That he is, baby. Just like you.”
Taking the card from the pediatrician we picked out, I make the call. “It’s a Child’s World Pediatrics,” a young-sounding woman answers the phone.
“Hi, my name is Ryker Crawford. My wife and I came in for a visit a few weeks ago. We picked Doctor Wang to be our baby’s pediatrician. We’d like to make an appointment for him as quickly as possible. He was born yesterday evening.”
“Sure. What hospital are you in and I’ll send him over?”
“We weren’t allowed to have him where we had planned. We’ll come to you. Just give us a couple of hours to get there. And what’s the cost for the appointment? We have limited cash.”
“I’m looking at your file and money doesn’t seem to be an issue. Would you care to explain what’s happening, to me? Perhaps I can help you in some way.”
“Our accounts have been frozen. I have my lawyers working on it and I’m sure they’ll clear things up. But for now, we have a little over three hundred dollars to our names. And I’m not sure how long we’ll need to make that stretch. But our son comes first. So, whatever the payment is, we’ll make it.”
“Can I call you back? I need to ask the doctor some things.”
“Sure. Talk to you soon.” I end the call and find Gia smiling as she looks at our baby.
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders, so I walk over and sit down next to her and run my hand over our son’s head as he sucks away at his
mother’s breast.
“Don’t worry, Ryker. Everything will work out.”
As I touch our son and my wife leans her head on my arm, I feel the weight lift, like magic. “I hope so. Never, in my wildest dreams, did I see this coming. I thought I’d never have money issues. And for them to occur at the same time we bring our kid into the world, is insane.”
“You know, it’s teaching me things, though, Ryker. I was afraid to give birth anywhere but a hospital with all the capable doctors and nurses. Painkillers and all that stuff. But I did it. With a bit of help, mind you, but I did it.”
“You did do it.” I kiss the side of her head. “I’m so damn proud of you, Gia. You have no idea.”
“And I’m proud of you. Ryker, you were right there every step of the way. Helping me and helping our son to get out into this world.” She sighs as our son falls asleep at her breast. His mouth opens and his head lolls back a bit.
“So, here we are, a couple of people who are proud of one another. I suppose things could be worse,” I say then feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. “It’s the pediatrician’s office.”
“Answer it,” she says. “Hopefully they can give us a couple of hours to get ready and get there.”
“Hello.”
“Mr. Crawford, this is Angie, the nurse you just spoke to.”
“Hello, Angie. Did you get us an appointment?”
“No, sir. I have the doctor coming to you. He’s bringing a nurse with him and everything he needs to make sure the baby is in good condition. If, for any reason, he feels the hospital is the best place for his patient, he will bring you all in and place you in the hospital.”
“Will they accept us?” I ask as I doubt they will.
“Yes, he said he’ll use his personal money to make sure his patient is well taken care of. Not to worry, sir. He’ll take excellent care of him. He’ll be there in an hour and a half. We have your address on file. Thanks for choosing us to take care of your baby, Mr. Crawford.”
“No, thank you! Bye now.”
“What?” Gia asks as she looks at me.
“He’s coming here. He’s helping us. Gia, this is more than I could’ve ever asked for.”
“Seems, with this little bundle of joy, came a bunch of miracles too.”
We kiss our son’s little head at the same time then each other. Seems, miracles can happen!
GIA
The sun is shining brightly as I sit in the backseat with Noah, who’s resting comfortably in his car seat. Ryker’s driving us into town for the meeting between him, his lawyers, and some government officials who think they have enough evidence on someone in the company to prove Apollo Engineering was part of the scam about the Mars mission. A preposterous accusation, in my opinion.
Ryker told me that I should stay home. The baby’s only a week old. But I wasn’t about to let him face this without me by his side. As he pulls into the parking lot of the law office the meeting has been scheduled at, I find myself getting a little nervous about things.
I brought a bottle of breastmilk, I pumped earlier. Just in case the baby wakes up hungry while we’re here. Ryker parks and gets out of the car, coming around to my door, he helps me out first, then reaches in and gets the baby’s car seat out and grabs the diaper bag.
“Hold on to me, Gia. I know you haven’t regained all your strength yet.”
I take hold of his arm and lean on him a little. He’s right, I do feel a bit weak. “Thank you, Ryker. You’re so thoughtful.”
“You and Noah are my world, Gia.” He opens the door and lets me go in first then comes in and nods for me to take his arm again. The smile that covers my face goes clear to my soul. It was no mistake that I met this man. It was no mistake that he found me.
When we step off the elevator on the third floor of his lawyers’ offices, I find a couple of men in dark glasses and black suits, standing in front of the main door to the suite of offices. When we walk between them to go inside, I can’t stop myself and say, “You look proud to be working for such a corrupt agency that would pull down hardships on innocent people. Bravo, boys.”
Ryker snickers as he opens the door for me. “Don’t worry fellas. I got the door. No need to offer any help here,” his words are heavily laced with sarcasm.
“Being gentlemen must not be part of their training,” I say as I step inside as Ryker balances the bulky car seat in one hand and opens the door with the other.
Neither move a muscle as Ryker kicks the door closed. The receptionist hurries to us. “Oh, my! Can I see him?”
Ryker pulls back the blanket, showing off our handsome son. “This is Noah Ryker Crawford.”
“What a little cutie,” she gushes. “Follow me. They’re all waiting on you.”
She pauses at a small fridge in the hallway. “Anything to drink before I take you in? We have a little bit of everything.”
“I’d love a soda,” I say.
Ryker shakes his head. “A couple of waters, please. No caffeine for Momma.”
“I forgot.” I kiss his cheek. “Thank you for remembering.”
“It’s my job as Dad.” He smiles at me and kisses the tip of my nose.
The receptionist smiles as she gets the waters then leads us to the meeting room. “You two are adorable.”
“Thank you,” I say as I love it when people say things like that about us. I too think we’re adorable.
When she opens the door, we find three men obviously, lawyers as they’re all wearing expensive suits. And two men obviously, government agents who have on suits that look as if they came from JC Penney’s.
She places the bottles of water on the table where we’re supposed to take seats at, then excuses herself and leaves.
“Mr. and Mrs. Crawford,” one of the lawyers says with a nod. “I’ve never met you, Mrs. Crawford. It’s a pleasure.” He leans over to shake my hand. “Call me Pat.”
“Hello, Pat. Nice to meet you.”
He shakes Ryker’s hand and greets him as the other two lawyers introduce themselves to me. Harvey and Leon are the other two. The government officials have yet to speak. They’re looking down at their files.
Harvey gestures to them as he takes his seat. “Allow me to introduce you both to Agents, Booth and Danner. They’re from the CIA.”
The man he pointed to when he said, Booth, stands up. “Let’s get these proceedings under way. I’m not a man who dallies about with things.”
“Great. Time is pretty critical to us too,” Ryker says.
Danner stands up too. I suppose this is a tactic used to dominate the room. He adds, “Good, then here’s the first question we have for you, Mr. Crawford. When you took over the CEO position of Apollo Engineering, is it true you ousted a man who was your grandfather’s right-hand man for the last ten years of his life?”
“Frank Holiday?” Ryker asks. “Is that who you’re talking about?”
Danner jots down his response as he nods. “Frank Holiday was the man your grandfather had told many people would be taking the CEO position when he was no longer viable to do the work. You swooped in when your grandfather became ill and took that over. No formal vote was ever made by the board. Is, that right?”
“Not a written vote. The vote was spoken and the secretary has the notes from that meeting, stating everyone’s oral vote,” he says.
“And how does this pertain to you freezing our accounts?” I ask.
Ryker places his hand on my leg and looks at the men too. “Yes, how in the world does that justify such an action?”
“The money you’ve made by being the CEO of that company should’ve been Frank Holiday’s. He’s given us information on you that had us justified in freezing those accounts,” Booth says. “You see, he told us about overhearing you and Damien Markov talking one late night at your office. He told us about you and Damien meeting at a hotel while he was in town. He told us about the booster agreement.”
“I have no idea what he thinks he heard. Markov and I are
not into anything unethical,” Ryker says as he sits up straighter. “He and I had a few conversations that might have seemed odd but that was because he and I were fighting over this woman, right here.” His thumb hooks at me. “Not that it’s anyone’s damn business.”
“Mr. Holiday has written a statement that says he overheard you and Markov talking about setting up the whole scam and finding others who wanted the same thing to happen,” Booth says. “And it’s odd that only you two had the implants removed. His story is that you and Markov did that to ensure you two would be left here and the others would get on that shuttle and blow up, leaving you two the top space industry leaders. Making it so you two could get to Mars first. Something you both craved.”
“You couldn’t be more wrong about any of that,” Ryker says. “We were going to die, if we had to, to stop the whole thing. You can ask anyone.”
“We did ask them all. The other men in your team,” Danner says as he tosses out four pieces of paper. “These are your team members’ statements. All had ideas that you and Markov were in on something together. All had distrust for you two.”
“There was no reason to,” Ryker says. “Markov and I have a history, is all. That may have been why they thought the things they did.”
Booth takes a seat as he says, “Holiday thinks you’ve always had a plan to win the race to Mars. He’s told us, in his statement, that you’ve had the plan to be on the first mission since before your grandfather passed away.”
“That’s not a crime,” Ryker says.
“Stealing the CEO position is,” Danner says.
One of the lawyers clears his throat and I look to see Pat holding up one finger. “The position wasn’t stolen. I’m sure we can get the notes from that meeting to prove that.”
“The files have been confiscated,” Danner says as he looks at the file in his hand then he takes a seat too. “And here’s what we found, no file that says anything about the meeting your client is claiming took place. We didn’t find one shred of evidence that any type of vote was taken. And that too makes Crawford seem suspect of being one part of the mastermind behind this murder plot to kill off the competition. With Markov’s help, he nearly killed those men. We’ve been instructed to strip him of his office as CEO of Apollo Engineering.”
Rockstar Untamed: A Single Dad Virgin Romance Page 127
