by Sarah Biglow
Kalina blew out a slow breath as the doctor examined her. Chris’s grip was steady and present, making some of her irritation dissipate. He was here for the important part.
“Everything looks ready, so I’m going to need you to start pushing when you feel the urge, Kalina.”
She had no idea how she was supposed to know but apparently the rest of her body was in tune with what was happening because a few minutes later her knees were raised and her chin was pressed to her chest.
“Nine. Ten. And relax,” her doctor instructed.
Kalina lay back against the pillow, beads of sweat moistening her upper lip. “How much longer?”
“You’re doing great.” Chris brushed a strand of sweaty hair out of her face.
“Push again.”
Kalina bore down and this time she could feel something change and move. She was so focused on the push she didn’t register the sounds of encouragement around her.
“One more big push like that and I think we’re going to have our baby,” her doctor prompted.
She pushed one last time. The haze of the experience fell away as a wail filled the room.
“Our baby girl cried,” Chris said.
Kalina turned to look at him and saw tears streaming down his cheeks. Her husband clearly didn’t care that he was sobbing. He made no attempt to wipe them away. Instead, he released his grip on her hand and accepted the tiny, squirming baby wrapped in a hospital blanket. He settled their little girl on Kalina’s chest.
“Welcome to the world, little lady,” Chris whispered and stroked the baby’s cheek.
“What are you going to call her?” Kalina jumped a little at the sound of her sister’s voice.
“Nina Elise.”
“That’s a beautiful name.”
Chris’s attention diverted from the baby for a split second as his phone buzzed. “I’ll get it later,” he said.
“Take it. You’re still working the case.”
“He’s not going anywhere.”
“Chris, please just answer it.”
He bent and kissed Nina’s head before stepping out into the hallway. With his back to her, Kalina couldn’t see his face. But his shoulders tensed and his back went rigid. Whatever was being communicated wasn’t making him happy. The nurse took Nina from Kalina’s arms.
“Where are you taking her?” Kalina’s tone came out more desperate than she’d intended.
“To the nursery. Your husband is welcome to come with me.”
“He’s busy. AJ and I will go and keep an eye on her,” Jillian offered.
The panic that had begun to tighten Kalina’s chest subsided. At least someone would be watching over her daughter. Chris ended his call just as the nurse, Jillian and AJ walked by.
“What’s wrong?” Kalina asked when she saw his face.
“Bethany Fairfax is here demanding to see her son.”
“What are you going to do?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe you should talk to her.”
“I don’t know what good it will do. I mean I’m fairly certain she didn’t have anything to do with Paige’s death.”
“But she kept Patrick from his parents. Even if he wanted to stay that’s got to be illegal.”
“It will be a hard charge to prove. And the Fischers are dead now. They aren’t going to agree to file anything.”
“But you have to do something.”
He held up his hands. “I get it, Kal. Calm down. I’ll talk to her and see what happens. You rest.”
“I don’t want to rest. I want to know what happened.”
“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll talk to Bethany and let you know what happens if you promise to stay here and rest for a while. You just had a baby.”
“Fine.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kalina fell into a light doze as soon as Chris left. She only awoke when she felt a hand on her arm. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she saw Jimmy standing over her.
“What is it?” Her tongue felt thick.
“Ms. Fairfax wants to speak with you.”
Kalian dragged herself into a sitting position as Bethany Fairfax entered the room looking solemn. Her eyes were rimmed red from crying.
“Congratulations,” Bethany said.
“Thanks. What did you want to talk to me about?”
Bethany pulled a chair over to the edge of the bed and sat down. Her shoulders sagged and her mouth turned down at the edges. “I’ve spoken with Captain Harper. I realize now what I did was wrong and I’m going to take responsibility for it. I just wanted a child of my own so badly and when Patrick turned up on my doorstep, I took it as a sign. I loved him like my own but I see now he was broken.”
“You knew how Paige treated him then?”
“He’d wake up from nightmares about her.”
“Why didn’t his parents do anything about it? I know Lois Hendrix kept the secret but surely they had to realize something was off.”
“After they became parents they realized neither of them were very good at it. So they just got a nanny and said that was that. They played the grieving parents well enough but I don’t doubt for a moment they were relieved when they were gone.”
“I still don’t understand why you needed to tell me all of this.”
“Logan needs to admit to what he’s done but he won’t talk to the police and I made a decision a long time to ago not to force him to be Patrick anymore. But he liked you. Maybe you could reach him.”
Kalina looked to Jimmy. “The captain’s already approved it. He’ll be there with you.”
“I’ll try.”
Ten minutes later—after a quick wash in the bathroom and some fresh clothes—Kalina sat in another hospital room staring at Logan Fairfax handcuffed to a bedrail. He was still in the clothes he’d been wearing when Jimmy arrested him. He wouldn’t meet her gaze and his face was set in a stony mask. So unlike the little boy she remembered.
“Logan, my name is Kalina. I knew you when you were younger. Do you remember me?”
“I’ve got no idea who you are, lady.”
“No, I guess you wouldn’t. But Patrick would, isn’t that right?”
His face twitched, as if he wanted to acknowledge who she was but a part of him wouldn’t let him. She supposed that was the truth; that he’d developed another personality to protect himself from his sister’s abuse, even the memories.
“Patrick, I know you can hear me and I know you were a good kid. You just had a lot of bad things happen to you.”
He turned and his face had relaxed. The ghost of a smile was on his lips and his eyes shone with unshed tears. “I remember you now. You read to me that summer.” His voice had gone up several octaves. The little boy really had never grown up.
“Yes. I did.” She reached out to take his hand gently in her own. “Do you mind if I just talk to you for a little while?”
“OK.”
“I know it’s scary to talk about but can you tell me what happened on the boat? A lot of people were really worried about you.”
He chewed his lower lip. The inner war began again but, based on his expression, Patrick was still in the driver seat. “Paige wanted to go out on the boat. I told her it was a bad idea without Mom and Dad or Lois. But she didn’t care. She wanted to go and she made me come too. She pinched me really hard”—he touched his upper arm—“until I said I’d go.”
“I’m sorry she hurt you. Do you remember what happened once you were on the boat?”
“We took it out into the water but the current was too strong and it pushed us away from the beach. We got all turned around and then she started laughing. She thought it was a game. She dared me to jump off the side of the boat. I told her I wouldn’t and then she pushed me. The next thing I know I’m on a beach.”
“And that’s when your Aunt Bethany found you?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you so much for telling
me that.” Kalina released her grip, anticipating a change in his demeanor when she asked her next question. “Do you remember meeting Paige again recently?”
Logan, the stony-faced protector, returned. “I knew it was her the moment I met her.”
“Did you reach out to her on the dating site?”
“No, she found me. I let her think she was winning me over. Like we had a connection. Hell, I even let her kiss me on the first date. Had to drink a lot to get that image out of my head.”
“What made you decide to kill her?” She caught Chris out of the corner of her eye, watching the progress. Bethany had been right. She was able to get him to open up.
“She laughed and grabbed my arm. Stupid bitch. I knew then she hadn’t changed. She could put on nice clothes and call herself Verona but she would always still be Paige. I couldn’t let her hurt him again. And so I convinced her to go on a trip to the beach. I didn’t tell her where until we got there. She thought it was a joke until I showed her our graves. Right next to our parents. I made her admit she knew who I was right before I killed her.”
“They died last year.”
Logan grinned. “They never saw it coming. I had to work up to that one though, find the right way of doing it so they wouldn’t know who it was. After all, they never really saw him growing up.”
Chris stepped into the room and motioned for Kalina to leave. “You did great. Thank you.”
She expected Logan to protest as she left when Chris began reading him his rights but he looked resigned to his fate. Much like Bethany had. They’d been carrying the weight of the family’s tragedies for too long and now it was being lifted. Kalina wound her way through the hospital to the nursery and found Jillian and AJ standing watch over Nina’s bassinet through the window.
Jillian looked over and smiled. “What happened?”
“We solved the case. Paige lured Patrick out on the boat that day and pushed him overboard. He spent the last year planning his revenge on his parents and sister.”
“That’s messed up,” AJ said.
“It is, but at least now we know the truth. And now Chris and I can focus on being parents.” She waved to her daughter through the glass. “But I think we’ve solved our last case.”
FREE DOWNLOAD
Sign up for my newsletter and get Toil and Trouble – A Geeks and Things short story for free. You’ll also be first to know about my latest releases and promotions.
Find out more here: www.sarah-biglow.com
Also By This Author
Geeks and Things Cozy Mysteries
Toil and Trouble
Pains and Penalties
Forgive and Forget
Debts and Debtors
Have and Hold
Saints and Sinners
Stand Alone Titles
Unplanned
Archangel Rising: Volume 1
About The Author
Sarah lives in Massachusetts with her fiancé. She is a licensed attorney and spends her days combatting employment discrimination as an Investigator with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.
She is a self-professed TV junkie and in her spare time (what’s that?), she runs a TV recap blog with her best friend (and sorority sister), Jen.
You can connect with Sarah on Twitter @SBiglowWrites or by joining her newsletter on www.sarah-biglow.com
For those TV-obsessed souls, you can head on over to the recap blog: www.more-tv-please.com. You can also follow the blog on Twitter @MoreTVPlease and check it out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoreTVPlease.
