“Be my guest,” Rick shrugged.
Within seconds, Cassie was back in bed with the word stay echoing in her ears from Steve shouting it at her. Through the closed door she heard laughter. The loudest laugh belonged to her husband.
When the outside door closed, Cassie crossed her arms and waited for the bedroom door to open. It did, but very slowly before she saw that same laughing husband look in with a smile still lingering on his face.
He walked to the bed, sat down and sighed, “Will I hurt you if I hold you?”
“I’ll hurt you if you don’t,” she answered.
The invitation accepted, Rick reached for her carefully. They held each other as if each was afraid of breaking something fragile. Her ear against his heart, Cassie felt soft thumping and not the horrible pounding she had felt the last time he held her. Rick rested his chin against her head as he usually did. Both had their eyes closed and were smiling.
“Is this over?” she whispered.
“Over,” Rick confirmed. Leaning back, he added, “I’m going to take a shower, I’ll see you in a minute.” Kissing the top of her head, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
Lost in thought under the hot water, Rick grinned.
“You keep smiling like that and you’ll drown,” Cassie laughed.
Quickly turning, Rick discovered Cassie standing beside him. Apparently she was becoming adept at sneaking up on him now. This time, however, he didn’t see it as a problem. Looking at her wearing only the small bandage, he raised his arms for her to step into his embrace.
They stood motionless, allowing the water to wash away the fears and memories of recent events. An amused and interested expression took hold of Rick when Cassie pressed herself close to his body. He ran his fingers up and down her back absently then stopped when he felt something he didn’t expect in the shower. Had he been kicked? Maybe kick wasn’t quite the word, but he definitely felt something other than Cassie’s body against him. Looking quickly at Cassie, he was met with a large smile from her and another kick from his child.
Cassie wasn’t sure if it was the water running over his face or if Rick had tears in his eyes, but it didn’t matter—if there were tears they were happy ones. While still holding Cassie close, Rick reached behind him and turned off the water. He then wrapped a towel around her and carried her to the bed. Facing each other with their bodies touching they enjoyed the feeling of their baby telling them they weren’t alone.
When the sun shining in on their faces woke them peacefully, Rick and Cassie spent their first leisurely morning together in what seemed like a lifetime. Both were hungry not only for food, but a casual beginning to the day.
On the beach, barefoot and holding hands, they smiled constantly. Remembering the feeling of the baby joining them in the shower brought more smiles and more discussions of names. Cassie told Rick the story of Kevin’s sister Erica, but said that name hadn’t been a consideration in the first place. Nor did she want Amy, Natalie, Joe or Greyson. The names of the people at the house were memories of something bad and she couldn’t hear those names again without the thinking of how things could have turned out for her and Rick.
“I want to go back to Greyson House now,” Cassie said after lunch. “I need to hear what went on there and about me misjudging Dr. Winthrop.”
“You didn’t misjudge him, Sass,” Rick said. “He knew of Dr. Miller’s involvement, but his hands were tied and he couldn’t do much about it. I’ll take you back so you can talk to him while the others are still there, but we leave right after you get your answers. I’m building you that house come hell or high water.”
“Our hell is gone now, Rick,” Cassie soothed, “Thanks to you.”
“My hell is gone, now,” Rick stroked Cassie’s hair. “Thanks to you.”
* * * * *
At three o’clock Rick and Cassie returned to Greyson House. Their friends were assembled in the main living area. Dr. Winthrop was also present.
“Well, it is about time,” Steve chirped.
“Sorry, unavoidably delayed,” Cassie said, tilting her head in Rick’s direction.
“Hmm, I’m sure it was more like avoidably detained,” Steve said, crossing the room. “Hey Ricky, I’m sorry about that crack I made yesterday. I’ve been afraid for both of you, hell, for everyone so long that I guess my humor has taken a nosedive.”
“You had humor?” Rick asked without sarcasm. “Forget it, Stevie, it’s over now.” Lowering his voice, he added, “I hope.”
Steve nodded and returned to his place on the couch next to Lori. Martin stood in front of a window that faced the sea. He seemed lost in thought, Cassie observed before spying Kevin. He was sitting on a bench next to Elena, but not close enough to be misunderstood by one of the girls at the house. It was apparent that Drs. Winthrop and Stanton knew who these people were now, but had wisely decided to keep the truth from the girls and volunteers.
Kevin had glanced up as Rick and Cassie entered, but looked away when Cassie saw him. He’s avoiding me, she thought sadly. She didn’t want to embarrass him, but she also needed for him to understand that she wasn’t upset with him. Moving quickly across the room and stopping in front of him, Cassie leaned forward just enough to take his hand and pull him to his feet. He didn’t resist, but he still wouldn’t meet her gaze. Without waiting for permission, Cassie wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed as hard as she could in her condition.
Kevin didn’t react at first, then he slowly he put his arms around her and rested his forehead on her shoulder. “I’m sor—”
“I almost got you killed by sending you away with that man, Kevin Williams, don’t you dare say you’re sorry to me. We’re alive and we did what we came to do. This place is history. Focus on that.”
Kevin straightened up and now he did look at Cassie. “This place isn’t closing. It’s a long story, but they really do help people. You weren’t wrong in your finding Winthrop to be a decent guy either.”
“I hope you keep that opinion too, Erica,” Dr. Winthrop said. “Or rather, Cassie, as I’ve been told your name really is.”
Cassie turned to look at the man. He’d been kind to her and all the girls, but still, he worked in a place that was known to sell mothers and babies. And the death of Dr. Miller confirmed the knowledge of such involvement by both Winthrop and Stanton. However, she was there to get answers and just maybe her first impressions of this man hadn’t been wrong. In his office, Cassie sat next to her husband, but as Kevin stayed at a distance from Elena, Cassie did the same with Rick.
Dr. Winthrop fumbled with his coffee cup. “I’ve already explained this to your friends, Cassie, and now I’ll tell you so you’ll understand why Dr. Stanton and I cooperated with Dr. Miller. As you know this house was started decades ago as a place for young women to receive care while pregnant. And for most of that time it did just that. The trouble didn’t begin until several years ago when I met Dr. Stanton. I found him to be one of the most compassionate individuals I ever encountered, but unfortunately he’d made some non-medical mistakes early on in his career and it cost him his license. I convinced him he could work here and I’d get his license reinstated. I got the new certificate, but I’m afraid it is under an assumed name. Dr. Stanton is an excellent doctor though, and I never once doubted his ability to properly care for our young mothers. And we did and do care for all of our girls.”
So far so good, Cassie thought bitterly. You were a humanitarian right up until you decided to throw the baby out with the bath water. Rick felt her tense up and placed his hand on her back.
Dr. Winthrop also noticed Cassie’s expression and knew she wouldn’t be an easy customer to sell what he was peddling. He would try anyway. “All went well for a very long time. Then Dr. Miller came to town. At first he was kind and helpful, but after a while his actions became less desirable. To make a longer story short, Dr. Stanton and I discovered Dr. Miller was taking newborn infants from their mothers. He would take a y
oung mother in labor to another location, telling her that her situation was urgent and she needed special care. Then he’d tell her that her baby had died, when in actuality he had sold the baby to a couple who wouldn’t be able to adopt legally. That in itself was inexcusable, but by then Dr. Miller knew the full extent of Dr. Stanton’s situation. Again, I’m not making excuses, but we depend heavily on private donation to compensate for the mediocre assistance we get from the state. If a scandal hit Greyson House, I knew we would be closed down and then a lot of young mothers and babies would suffer.
“He had us against a wall and he knew it,” Dr. Winthrop continued. “Dr. Miller was cunning. He even made sense in a strange way. He said the babies would be raised by loving parents and quickly pointed out that most of the girls here would be giving them up for adoption anyway. So I allowed him to continue in the hopes that he’d leave the majority of the babies alone. Eventually, however, a couple of the mothers disappeared and then I got scared and asked him to leave. Before I realized what was happening, Conrad Miller had put together another operation and we were at his full mercy. This is hard for me to talk about because there is no excuse for what Dr. Stanton and I did. All I can say is that we were acting in the best interests of the majority.”
“By selling babies?” Cassie hissed. “How can you justify that, Doctor? Or was it because those babies were unexpected in the first place that you didn’t think anyone would care about them.”
Rick pulled her back against him hoping to calm her. She stayed against him for a moment and then sat right back up looking intently at Dr. Winthrop, waiting for him to explain further.
“You’re right,” Dr Winthrop admitted. “There is no way to justify any of this, but there’s something you don’t understand. We have a sister house for young mothers in Arizona. When I found out Dr. Miller was into something very large-scale, I needed to find a way to stop him.” He bowed his head and exhaled loudly. “Dr. Miller had connections, big connections, but we never knew who. All we did know was that he was a friend of Malcolm Williams of Williams Pharmaceuticals. That was what had made him so valuable to us in the first place. He could obtain medical equipment and the like for us at no cost. You must keep in mind that Dr. Miller started out helping us. Then he changed. I don’t know exactly what was offered to him, but he had power.”
Dr. Winthrop sighed deeply, the pain evident in his face. “I knew by then what he was doing, of course, but his offer kept the majority of our girls and babies safe. If I had blown the whistle on Dr. Miller, it would have meant the possible deaths of many innocents. He’d threatened that if I told anyone there would be a dreadful fire at both houses. Our house was filled to capacity then and the one in Arizona is larger and houses approximately fifty girls. I couldn’t take the chance that he would make good on his threat.”
Everyone had sat quietly as the doctor explained. Cassie realized they’d heard this story before and that’s why no one asked questions now. Well, she hadn't heard it before.
“You couldn’t have looked for help?” she asked sharply. “You have to know there are people out there who handle these things.”
“We did look for help, Erica—excuse me, Cassie,” Dr. Winthrop answered. “And we tried twice to expose him and his partners, but both times those trying to infiltrate were caught. One of them was a poor young woman who thought she could help by posing as a pregnant girl. It was out of state, so we didn’t know her, but since she wasn’t really pregnant when she joined the household she was soon found out and they…killed her.” A tear glistened in the corner of his eye.
Cassie felt sick. She leaned back against Rick and stayed next to him. Rick’s arm tightened around her. “No more, babe. I’ll tell you the rest another time.”
“I want to hear all of this nightmare,” she whispered to Rick, then turned to Dr. Winthrop. “Finish it.”
Dr. Winthrop looked to Rick for permission then continued. “I told you, there is no excuse for what we did. But after that girl died because of our efforts to stop things, it was decided that although the practice was cruel, it was better to cooperate rather than risk any others dying. We do save more lives here than you realize. And the young girls are looked after very carefully—you know that from your experience here. I’m not asking you to forgive me, but you must understand that, as the cliché goes, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few.”
Oh yes I do understand, Doctor, Cassie thought to herself. How did things get so bad in a world where the future held all hope?
Dr. Winthrop stood. “I’m grateful to you and ‘Joe’ for your involvement because it ended this for us. But I can’t apologize for saving lives by turning my back on others. I didn’t like it, but it became necessary.”
“Dr. Winthrop!” a voice rang through the house. “Dr. Winthrop—oh, sorry.” Amy had rushed into the office full of people before realizing anyone else was there. Seeing Cassie, her eyes brightened. “Erica, you’re back!” She ran to Cassie, completely missing the fast removal of Rick’s arm from around his wife. “I was so scared when you were bleeding, are you okay? Joe told us you went to the hospital to get stitched up. Can I see the stitches? Are they really gross?”
“Amy, did you come in here for a reason?” Dr. Winthrop asked gently.
“Oh yeah,” Amy said surprised that the doctor now stood behind her. “Dr. Stanton just examined me and guess what? I’m having twins! Can you believe it? Everyone else only has one baby and I have two.”
The room was deathly silent. Then, to the surprise of everyone Martin started laughing. He had absently stared out the window the entire time Dr. Winthrop had been speaking, but what Amy just said must have struck a nerve or at least his funny bone. Once he began laughing, the tension broke and most everyone in the room smiled.
“Sweetheart, that’s the best news I’ve heard in ages,” Martin said walking to Amy and hugging her. He looked at Cassie. “This girl and her babies have a future now, Erica. Concentrate on that and not matters we can’t control.” He raised his eyebrows high to emphasize his meaning.
Amy looked up at Martin with a confused expression. “I’m going go tell the others, but I had to tell you first, Dr. Winthrop. If it hadn’t been for you, I never would have lived long enough to have my babies.”
“What do you mean, Amy?” Cassie asked before anyone else could. This knowledge hadn’t been discussed previously.
“Oh, nothing much,” Amy said happily. “He just stopped me from jumping off the bridge. He told me I was important enough to live and that I should think of the baby and not be scared and that he’d look after me. And he did too, because now I’m not dead.”
“Thank you for telling me first, Amy. Go tell the others, now,” Dr. Winthrop said. With Amy gone, he turned back to Cassie. “We do what we can and hope for the best. Maybe someday you’ll understand that.” He turned to Lori. “Shall we continue with the lists?”
“Sure,” Lori answered. Walking to Cassie, she knelt in front of her and smiled. “He really is a good man, Cassie. He saved more lives by doing what he did. I know it’s a hard concept, but so is this world. Try to understand that.” Standing back up, Lori left the room with Dr. Winthrop.
“I still don’t understand a few things,” Cassie said. “What about the couples who disappeared the other night? And that first couple that Rick found, didn’t they know Dr. Miller was the one behind everything?”
“No,” Rick answered. “The kid told me he had followed a car that night when he saw the baby being removed. If he had recognized one of the doctors he would have told me then. As far as the other couples,” Rick shook his head, “I don’t know what happened to them. I’m thinking maybe they left on their own the night that girl had her baby. That was the only time I wasn’t out there to have seen anyone leaving.”
“Natalie,” Cassie said softly. “The girl’s name is Natalie. Is her baby all right? Kevin, have you heard anything?”
“Yeah, Dr. Winthrop said he’s doing fine,”
Kevin looked up. He had tears in his eyes.
“Dr Winthrop,” Cassie said disgustedly. “What about the money in the envelope? And—” her eyes shifted toward Kevin.
“My father?” he asked.
“Kevin’s dad wasn’t involved,” Martin answered. “His only connection was his friendship with Dr. Miller, who had made arrangements for medical supplies. Williams Pharmaceuticals had simply written to Dr. Winthrop to assure him of future donations.”
“And Luther?” Cassie asked. “How’d he get out of jail and why didn’t we know about it? Don’t tell me he slipped through the cracks.”
“No, he didn’t slip through the cracks,” Rick acknowledged. “He walked right through them. He owned people, Cass, and he used them. We’ll check it all out, but I don’t think we’ll find much. You knew what Luther was like as well as we did. Scum rises and he was on the top.”
“There are just answers for everything, aren’t there?” she quipped. “So that’s it? Everything here just goes back to normal and no one goes to jail? Dr. Miller might be dead, but he wasn’t working alone. Luther was planning on taking over the operation, but from whom? Who else besides Dr. Miller was involved? Where are those people?”
“We don’t know yet,” Martin said. “Answers are going to take a while with Dr. Miller dead, but we’ll find everyone who was involved and punish them, I promise.”
Cassie’s brow knotted. “What about Luther’s attorney, Shelly Bancroft? Luther said she’s the one who alerted him to Kevin’s connection with this place, which is how he found me. And she must have been instrumental in helping Luther escape. Is she going to jail?”
“I doubt it,” Rick said. “One thing Shelly is very good at, it’s covering asses. Whether it’s hers, Luther’s or other clients’, she knows how to do it. You just said it, she only alerted Luther to this place, she wasn’t involved with it. And with Luther not involved, either, there’s not a damn thing to bring up against Shelly. Believe me, if there was a way I could take care of her, I would.”
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