Layers Deep

by Lacey Silks

  “You look funny. Did Emma color your hair?” I asked like this was the most important question he had to answer at the moment.

  He took my hand into his. It felt nice and warm. “No,” he chuckled. “You’re on morphine. It can do that to you.”

  “How did we get away?”

  “Kendra threw herself at the gun Martinez dropped and shot them both.”

  “Kendra saved me?”

  “She saved you and you saved her.”

  “And you found us?”

  “It wasn’t me. I woke up and you were gone. I went to the bathroom and got your text. I didn’t expect the phone to ring at the same time and dropped it into the toilet. Kendra called Julian when I didn’t pick up. He tracked you through your implant – which we’ve removed, by the way.” It sounded like too much information to process all at once. I’d have to get him to repeat it all later.

  “I think I’ll have to kiss him again to thank him.”

  “Now, I hope that’s the morphine talking.”

  “Nope,” I shook my head. It hurt. “That’s all me.”

  “You’ll have to stand in line then. It seems Kendra doesn’t want to let her rescuer go. Julian’s been at her side the entire time. And I don’t really like you kissing other men.”

  My heart warmed. The two of them had found their way to each other after all, and Tristan seemed comfortable with that. Why did that feel like it was too good to be true?

  “Sounds like we’re all going to be okay.” The weight of my eyelids forced me to close my eyes.

  Someone knocked on the door and a small head popped in.

  “She awake yet?” Emma’s curious voice sounded.

  “Are you up for visitors?” Tristan squeezed my hand. His warm palm felt like a soothing heating pad. I wanted him to hold it forever.

  “Yes, please,” I lied. But I couldn’t say no to my favorite person in the world.

  Before Tristan acknowledged his little sister, she rushed to my bedside, holding a huge bouquet of daisies. I loved this girl.

  “I’ll let the rest of the clan know.” Tristan pulled out his phone and texted.

  Emma took a deep breath in and started, “We’ve been here every day, but Tristan kept shushing me away, saying you need your rest. I read in a book you should talk to people who are unconscious to make them feel like they’re still with us. He said I was saying too much nonsense and would make you confused, but I saw your eyes move and I knew you were listening.”

  As destructive as Emma’s honesty could be, as always, I found her comforting. My eyes closed for a moment, searching for the familiar sound of her voice.

  I heard Tristan say he loves you.

  My eyes flew open.

  “You do remember, don’t you?” Her eyes bulged like two grapefruits and her cheeks sprang upward.

  “I may have been dreaming,” I said hesitantly.

  She leaned in closer. “Everything I said was true. You have to believe me.” Her excitement was over the top.

  You’ll get better and move to the new house and I can finally be an aunt.

  “No, I think I was dreaming...”

  She opened her mouth, but my mom and Mrs. Cross rushed into the room, sitting down beside her. Emma didn’t like the attention stolen from her and frowned. Something told me this wasn’t everything she had to share. My little gossip girl would have to wait a bit longer to spill her secrets, though. And judging from Tristan’s expression, she’d have a heck of a time talking to me on her own again.

  CHAPTER 20

  That evening, after everyone left, the news from the doctor hit me like a brick wall. If it weren’t for the thick bandages around my head and mid-section, I think I would have run. I know I would have run. But the bandages hampered my ability to move.

  “The baby is fine,” Dr. Jaipers reassured me for the third time. “The bullet missed the vital organs. I’m more concerned about the stress level you may be under. From what I gather, you don’t exactly work in Neverland.”

  That’s right. I’d been knocked up by none other than Tristan Cross.

  “No, work is fine. Does anyone else know? It’s quite difficult keeping things from my family.”

  Had I just called Tristan family? He would be in less than nine months.

  “I assure you’re the only one. I’ve been waiting all day to speak with you privately.”

  “Good. I’d like to keep it that way. I just need to figure out what to do. How could this have happened? We were safe...”

  “Did you have sex?” Dr. Jaipers asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then I assure you, it can happen.”

  After a longer pause, as the news sunk deep into my heart, Dr. Jaipers continued, “You have options, Ms. Green. If you’d like me to send someone in to talk to you, I can.”

  When he suggested abortion my world collapsed, and my hands flew to my stomach, protecting my unborn baby from the outside world. And at that moment I knew I would never consider terminating the pregnancy. Even if Tristan wanted nothing to do with us, my choice remained the same. Oh, my God! Tristan! How would he react? Would I just push him away? Would I add another scar to his heart by tying him to something he didn’t want? That’s what had happened with Kendra. She wanted more, he wasn’t ready, and she stabbed him. Not that I’d stab Tristan. I’d walk away, no questions asked.

  “No need,” I said to the doctor. “Please make sure my medical records are only available to me. My family likes to be nosy.” And that was the understatement of the year. I’d be lucky if Tristan hadn’t gone over my files himself already. Had his mom been a nurse at some point too? It wouldn’t have surprised me.

  My head throbbed and I felt my blood pressure spike. The machine I was hooked up to began beeping like crazy.

  “You need to relax, Ms. Green. If you want your baby to be well, you’ll listen to me,” the doctor said.

  And on command, I took a deep breath in, exhaled, and the machine calmed.

  “Push the button if you need anything,” he said before leaving.

  As soon as he left, another thought rammed into me. Did Emma know? I clearly remembered her speaking while I was semi-conscious, saying she’d be an aunt. And if she knew, had she told Tristan? Why hadn’t he said anything? Had he decided to run? Perhaps he was already figuring out a way to break our ties.

  There was only one way to find out. I picked up the phone and called the best detective in town.

  CHAPTER 21

  Emma peeked into my room, and I waved my hand eagerly for her to come in. She sat at my bed side, all giddy at being called to come alone and make sure no one was aware of her absence.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “How are you?” She beamed. That was the shortest greeting I’d ever gotten from Emma.

  “Anyone with you?” I asked.

  “No. I forged a note and cut school. If anyone finds out I’m gone, it won’t be until this afternoon. And my parents will call my cell first. I have a back-up plan if they do.”

  Of course she did.

  “You know, your brothers will hire you on the spot one day. And if they don’t, they’ll have to deal with me.”

  “No worries. I have enough blackmail on them to last a lifetime. They won’t have a choice but to hire me. So?” She grinned, waiting for me to spill the reason I’d called her. I think I preferred the more talkative Emma to the inquisitive one.

  “So, how is Tristan? Has he said anything to you, you know, about me?” I pried.

  “Nothing. He’s been busy dealing with Kendra and some new stuff going on at work. They’re re-organizing the departments, and he’s been working fourteen hour days, then he visits Kendra, and you, and then he sleeps in his office.”

  “How do you know he sleeps in his office?” I asked.

  “I heard Mom saying he’s been stressed. Was he supposed to say something about you?”

  She didn’t miss a beat. Emma was almost jumping up and down in her chair, her knees s
haking and her smile beaming. Oh, my, she really did know about me, didn’t she? But how?

  “There’s some stuff I think I remember you saying when I was unconscious.”

  “Yes?” Emma’s shortest answer ever.

  I took a deep breath in. “And I want to know whether you really said it, or whether it was my imagination—”

  “—it wasn’t your imagination.” She cut me off in a whisper.

  “You really know?”

  “You mean that you’re pregnant?” she squealed.

  My eyes flew open. “Yes, how? Have you told Tristan?”

  “No. This is the biggest secret I’ve had to keep in, like, forever. I thought you’d tell everyone by now. Mom has been asking why I’m so quiet and whether I have boy troubles. But honestly, who cares about boys when I’m going to be an aunt. Oh, my God, I’m so happy!” She rammed into me with her full weight. My ribcage ached. “I can’t wait until I’m an aunt, and when Tristan finds out—”

  “—he can’t find out. At least not yet. And I need you to try to keep the secret from him for a bit longer.”

  “That’s not going to be easy. I’ve been keeping way too many secrets lately. It just gets so confusing sometimes who I should be telling what story or truth. I don’t know...”

  “I’ll let you help with the baby name.”

  Oh my gosh, did I just say that?

  Her eyes doubled in size. “Really?”

  “Yes, but you need to make sure Tristan doesn’t check my medical records.”

  “That’s impossible. You know he will. I’m surprised he hasn’t already. He really does have a lot on his mind.”

  “Emma, you’re the best investigator in this family. If anyone can make sure the papers don’t say what we both know, it’s you.” I squeezed her hand and looked at her as if we were sorority sisters ready for battle. “It’s me and you, Emma. I really need to tell him at the right time. You know how easily your brother scares off. If you want to be a real aunt, you’ll do this for me.”

  “True, but I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit.”

  “Baby name, Emma.” I reminded her.

  “Okay, okay.”

  “How did you find out, anyways?”

  “The doctor was talking to the nurse when your blood work came in. You lost a lot of blood. People don’t really notice when kids are around. And after she asked about the baby, I double-checked the papers when they weren’t looking and the rest is history. You’re not far along. A couple of weeks, I think. They said they hardly caught it themselves.”

  “Did anyone else hear?”

  “No, I’m sure I’m the only one.”

  “Good. Are you up to the challenge of falsifying some medical records?”

  “Peanuts. It’ll be done before the end of the day.”

  “Thank you, Emma. You know, I thought of you as my little sister the moment I met you. Whatever happens, I’ll always think of you that way.”

  She leaned in to embrace me. For the first time in my life, I imagined that’s what it would be like to embrace my little Emma.

  “I’m thinking Betty,” she said, still holding me. “For the baby. Or Barney if it’s a boy.”

  What had I gotten myself into?

  CHAPTER 22

  Emma kept her promise and didn’t breathe a word of our secret. Now it was up to me to spill the news to Tristan. It had been three weeks now since the shooting. I was released from the hospital two days before, and until then Tristan had visited me every day, caring for every single one of my needs. Thankfully I had one of those pregnancies without morning sickness, and Tristan was clueless I was carrying his child. The doctors did a lot of blood work on me to ensure the drugs Martinez gave me wouldn’t affect the baby. They said they’d need to do more tests as the baby developed, but given my health history, the prognosis was positive.

  Needless to say, I had to call Emma to help with the medical records a few more times. And by now I owed her naming my next two children after this one. What can I say, she drove a hard bargain.

  Now back at my apartment, I pinned my hair up. A few loose strands fell to the sides. Mrs. Cross had removed my extensions and dyed it back to my natural auburn tone, for which I was grateful.

  I examined myself in the mirror. The hospital stay had taken its toll on my body mass. My cheeks were sunk lower than usual. The waist band of my suit could slip over my hips without zipping, although I was sure that area would fill up pretty soon. My muscles were non-existent; it was as if they’d disintegrated. I’d been told it would take another month at least before I could get back to my normal exercise routine, one appropriate for a pregnant woman, and up to a year to get back in shape. Yes, like that was going to happen. Field work was definitely out of the question before I gave birth, so I was curious what my first day on the job in an actual office of Cross Enterprises would be like.

  After driving me home from the hospital and insisting I stay at his apartment, Tristan hadn’t been here. I wasn’t sure I could stand being around Tristan at his home and keeping this big a secret from him so I insisted at moving back in with Laura. He’d texted that things came up at work and that he’d see me at the office on my first day.

  Kendra was at a private clinic. Julian took care of her stay there, which made me happy and Tristan confused a little. At least that’s what it looked like to me. He’d been acting strange and distant the past week. I wondered whether his feelings for Kendra had begun to surface. I knew he’d been visiting her every day; he’d told me so. I wasn’t the jealous type, and after all, I owed Kendra my life.

  Our lives, I said to my baby in my mind.

  Perhaps now that Kendra had been saved, his priorities had shifted? As much as I didn’t like the idea, it was still a possibility. Everything inside me twisted at the thought, and I pushed it back.

  “You look sexy,” Laura said from the couch. She had taken a day off just for me, helping me get ready. “Skinny, but sexy.”

  “Do you think he’ll like it?” I asked wondering whether I should have bought jewellery to go with the outfit.

  “What’s not to like? Are you going to be okay working a desk job?”

  “I don’t have much choice.” For more than one reason, I said in my mind again. I’d been doing that a lot ever since I found out about the baby. It killed me I couldn’t share the news with my best friend. I wanted to, but having Emma find out before Tristan was bad enough. I really wanted him to be the first one I’d shared the news with, so unfortunately Laura had to wait until I told him. Revealing my pregnancy to Tristan took a bit of planning, and I’d finally worked up the courage to do it today. I’d been a chicken up until this point, trying to figure so many things out in my life, hoping for the best, but as always, expecting the worst. My mother had finally moved to an apartment nearby. Tristan said Wright would never come near her again, which to me was the second best news in over a decade. The first one was, of course, finding out I was pregnant, even if I didn’t realize it at first.

  “Has he said what you’ll be doing?” she asked.

  “No,” I shook my head. “He just wanted me to come to the office. My official return date is in two weeks, when the doctor clears me for work.”

  “Then why get dressed up so fancy?” She looked at her watch. “Aren’t you going to be late?”

  There was something odd about the way Laura was behaving today. As if she couldn’t wait for me to leave. Was she expecting a new boy toy on her day off while I was gone?

  “I’m going into Cross Enterprises.” And that should have been enough of an explanation.

  “Right. Well, you slept with the boss. That ought to get you to the top,” she winked. Laura seemed nervous this morning. Either she had a new fling she wanted to talk about or some other secret I wasn’t privy to just yet.

  Before I got a chance to ask her, someone knocked on the door. Biting my lip, I opened it wide, expecting Tristan to greet me with his sexy dimple and that lopsided smi
le when his scar lifted. Instead, a middle-aged gentleman stood in the door wearing a suit. My phone buzzed. A text from Tristan flashed on the screen.

  T. Cross: Charlie works for me. He’ll take you to the office this morning.

  I frowned. It wasn’t like Tristan to be so impersonal.

  “Good morning, Ms. Green.”

  “Charlie, I presume?” I shook his hand.

  “Yes, ma’am. Are you ready?”

  I turned to look back at Laura and mouthed, “‘Ma’am’?”

  She giggled.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  After the formalities, it took thirty minutes to get to Tristan’s office. Charlie was an experienced driver, and the traffic world I lived in didn’t exist for him.

  “Have a good day.” He held the car door open for me.

  “Thank you, Charlie.”

  The Cross Enterprises lobby reminded me more of a hotel than an investigations firm. White leather couches and tables filled with magazines were spread in between green plants and trees. The sleek-cut side-tables were suitable for a doctor’s office, yet fitted this room just as well. Soft music played overhead. It was as if the company wanted to camouflage its existence, and I had to say it accomplished the task. After registering downstairs, I took the elevator up to the thirty-third floor.

  Upstairs, the single receptionist pointed down the hall. “Mr. Cross is waiting for you, Ms. Green,” she said to me as soon as I stepped off the elevator. “The double door at the end of the hall.”

  I took a deep breath in, hugged my purse under my arm, and aimed a confidant walk down the hall. Exactly how confidant I felt was another question.

  In my purse I had packed a small box with tiny white booties. I’d leave it on Tristan’s desk and let him figure it out. It’d probably be much easier than telling him because I was sure my voice would not cooperate today. It was now or never. I’d gotten myself ready for any reaction. I’d practiced my speech over and over again. Once he opened the package, I’d tell him I could do this on my own and understand if he wanted to wash his hands clean of any responsibility.