The Baby's Defender

by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

  “His partner called him,” Brennan said, “and he took off like his feet were on fire.”

  “I’m sure he’ll expect a detailed statement later,” West added.

  Cady did a double take at him and sucked in her lips to hold back a laugh.

  “What?” He spread his grimy arms and grinned at her, teeth gleaming white in a mud-streaked face. “Not tidy enough for you?”

  “Did I look like that?”

  “Oh, yeah” and “You know it” came out in sync from the men.

  Cady shook her head. “The only clean part of you is that white bandage around your head. You really need to let a doctor examine your wound.”

  “No need,” West said. “Bren is a pretty fair medic. How do you think we managed on the battlefield? Not very often we had a doctor in our back pocket.”

  Brennan nodded. “I got the med kit out of our company truck, disinfected the wound and threw in a few stitches where needed. Other than that, all symptoms of concussion have subsided. I can vouch that Sergeant Westley Foster has a very hard head.”

  The men exchanged grins, but Cady frowned.

  “If macho time is over, then I need to insist that an actual doctor examine you, West. You guys didn’t let me get by without professional attention when I had a little head bump.”

  “She makes a persuasive case,” West said to Brennan.

  “I’ll take you,” Cady said. “I need to go to the hospital and find out how my mother is doing, anyway. Brennan, can you stay with Olivia? She’s fed and changed and should sleep for a while.”

  The Kentuckian smiled. “I’m your willing nursery grunt. I hope she wakes up before you get back so we can have a little bonding time.”

  West rose. “I wouldn’t let you go to the hospital alone, anyway. Hannah’s out there somewhere. You won’t be safe until she’s caught.”

  “Surely she’s running as fast and far away from here as possible.”

  “We can’t assume that. Not with this woman. She’s obsessed.”

  “I agree,” Brennan said. “We’re not ready to sign off on this job yet.”

  “All right.” Cady lifted her hands in surrender.

  “But,” West said, “I’m going to make a quick pit stop at my house for a shower and change of clothes. Then we go to the hospital.”

  Cady groaned. “Fine, but make it quick.”

  “You have no idea how fast a soldier can shower.”

  “Even one as grimy as you?”

  “Especially one as grimy as me. Let’s go.” West led the way out to the Triple Threat truck, because her Blazer was still at the cemetery.

  Inside twenty minutes he was clean, and they were almost to the hospital.

  “We’ve had way too many visits to this place,” Cady said as the massive building came in view. “There’s such a great sadness in my heart for all the devastation that’s been wrought.”

  “You’re a tender soul in spite of all that you’ve been through. I admire that.”

  “But my family—”

  “Your family is not you. The way I see it, you have the start of a perfectly wonderful family with Olivia. Your future is a blank page that beckons you to write whatever you want on it.”

  “Wow!” She gazed over at him. As it had been doing lately, that strong, unique profile sent a zing through her heart. She quickly looked away. “That’s amazingly poetic.”

  “What? You don’t think an ex-soldier can have any poetry in him?”

  “I didn’t mean that at all. I meant I hadn’t considered my life from that perspective, and it took me by surprise. You constantly challenge and inspire me when I default into Eeyore mode. You’re good for me.”

  “I am, aren’t I.” The solemnity of his words seemed like a container for so much left unsaid.

  Cady studied him as he guided the vehicle into a parking spot. She would probe him for his deeper meaning if she didn’t so badly need to get inside the hospital and find out what was happening with her mother.

  They got out and headed for the emergency entrance. An ambulance idled near the door with a pair of EMTs chatting on the sidewalk next to it.

  “—never seen anything like it,” one said as they drew near.

  The other grimaced and shook his head. “To die in an underground crypt. The world just got weirder.”

  Cady’s heart leaped into her throat and she sprinted up to them. They cast astonished eyes on her.

  “Who? Who died in the crypt?” She gripped one of them by his scrubs shirt.

  The man raised his arms and tried to back away, but Cady’s grip was unbreakable.

  “Tell me!” She shook him.

  “Take it easy.” West’s gentle tones came from behind her.

  His hands reached around and helped her disengage from the hapless emergency medical technician. Both EMTs were gazing at her like she’d lost her mind.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, clapping her hands to her cheeks. “But I have to know. My mother was shot in our family crypt less than two hours ago. Is she—Is she—”

  “Dead?” One of them finished her sentence for her.

  “No,” said the other one. “We brought the GSW in an hour ago. She was in bad shape, but alive when we delivered her.”

  “GSW?”

  “Gunshot wound,” West said.

  “Then who did you just bring in?”

  “A Jane Doe covered in muck. They’re going to have to give her a bath to get a look at her and start the ID process.”

  The other EMT shook his head. “Yeah, well, I think the cops have an inkling of who she is, but they weren’t saying just yet.”

  Cady’s breathing came in short gasps. She whirled toward West. She had more than an inkling. “We have to check this out.”

  “I agree.” West’s warm, strong hand closed around hers.

  She gripped it like a lifeline.

  He looked toward the EMTs. “Which way is the morgue?”

  * * *

  How could one dainty hand in his turn this grim walk down hospital corridors into a stroll in the park? He was so far gone on this woman. The road signs in his life might just as well read Heartache Ahead. He loved her too much not to give her all the space in the world to find happiness. If their suspicions about the identity of the dead woman were correct, then the time to pull back from Cady lay dead ahead.

  No pun intended. The words trailed through his mind as he caught sight of a plaque pointing them in the direction of the morgue. They were getting close to finding a crucial answer.

  A pair of double doors sprang open ahead of them and Detective Rooney walked into the hall. At the sight of them, his expression registered surprise and then returned to its usual flatness.

  “News travels fast,” he said. “I was about to call you.”

  “We were here to check on Cady’s mother,” West said.

  His quick glance at Cady showed her face ice-pale and a muscle visibly twitching in her jaw. Who could blame her for grinding her teeth?

  “How is your mom?” Rooney asked.

  “We don’t know yet,” Cady spoke up. “We heard about the Jane Doe from the crypt. Is it her—my aunt?”

  Rooney’s gaze rested solemnly on Cady. “Would you like to see?” The tone was gentle and inviting, not pushy.

  “Please,” she said. “It would give me peace of mind.”

  “I thought as much.”

  West’s eyebrows climbed toward his scalp. Who would have thought Rooney could possess an ounce of sensitivity? But who was he to think badly any longer of a guy who had saved his life?

  The man led them through the double doors into a cool, dimly lit room where several parallel gurneys held silent and shrouded occupants. He took them to the nearest gurney.

  “Are you ready?” His gaze was on Cady.
>
  She nodded and he tugged back the sheet. The woman’s face was still grimy, but West had no trouble recognizing Hannah. Beside him, Cady let out a tiny cry and leaned into him. He put an arm around her shoulders.

  “It’s her,” she breathed out softly.

  “It’s over,” West said.

  “For you it is.” Rooney’s gruff tones had resurrected. He made a sour face. “For me, it’s on to the next case.”

  “What happened?” Cady said. “By the looks of things, she got caught in the tunnel collapse.”

  Rooney shrugged beefy shoulders. “When we found your mother on the floor of the crypt, she regained consciousness long enough to tell us how to open the secret door. We found this one—” he swept a hand over the body on the gurney “—only a short way inside. One hand was still clutching a remote control. We assume she used it to trigger the destruction of the tunnel.”

  “Couldn’t she have done that from outside the passage?”

  “Again, this is conjecture based on logic, but we assume the bomb didn’t go off like she intended. Maybe the range wasn’t right, so she went inside the passage to get closer to it. Then suddenly—kaboom!—and she didn’t make it out in time.”

  Cady reached out and touched the woman’s cheek, then jerked her fingers back. “So cold already. I’m going to work on forgiving her.” She looked up at West with pleading eyes. “You’ll help me, right?”

  West’s mouth went dry. How could he bear to hang around Cady long enough to help her with spiritual issues when his heart was already in shreds over her?

  A sudden chuckle from Rooney pulled his attention away from Cady. The man was heading out of the room. Arm still around her shoulders, West drew Cady toward the double doors after him.

  “Let’s go check on your mother,” he said.

  “And Darius, too,” Cady added.

  On the surgical floor, they were directed to a sitting room to await the outcome of May’s surgery. Barely had they stepped into the waiting area when a woman in full scrubs arrived.

  “Is anyone here for May Johnson?”

  Cady rushed forward and West followed.

  “Me,” Cady said. “I’m her daughter.”

  “Come with me.” The surgeon led them into a small anteroom and closed the door.

  West was practically holding his breath while Cady wrung her hands.

  The doctor turned toward them and smiled. “Good news. We were able to repair the internal damage, and with blood transfusions, antibiotics and proper bed rest, I expect she’ll make a full recovery.”

  Cady squealed and flung her arms around West. He wrapped her close, inhaling the fresh scent of her shampoo. Thank you, Jesus. His happiness for Cady couldn’t have been greater if it was his own mother who’d received the positive prognosis.

  The doctor opened the door, then turned and smiled at them again. “You and your husband look like you could use some rest. We’ll take good care of Mrs. Johnson while you take care of yourselves.” She withdrew and closed the door.

  West loosened his hold on Cady and she drew back, looking up at him.

  “Husband?” she whispered.

  West’s heart squeezed in on itself. At least she wasn’t pooh-poohing the idea as nonsense. He turned away, walked over to the window and gazed down onto the hospital lawn.

  “I have a confession to make,” he told her.

  “What is it?” Her voice came from directly on his six. He hadn’t heard her walk up behind him over the pounding of his own pulse in his ears. “I’ve sensed you’ve been holding something back from me. Don’t you know you can tell me anything?”

  West turned around and gazed down into her sweet, beautiful upturned face. “What I’m about to tell you comes with absolutely no expectations. I just need to say it. Then we never need to talk about it again.” He swallowed deeply. “I’m in love with you, Cady Long. God, help me, because I can’t seem to help myself.”

  For an eternity, she gaped up at him.

  “Say something...anything,” he prompted.

  “You love me?” Her words vibrated with an intensity that quivered in his bones.

  “Is that so hard to believe?”

  “Yes.” A smile burst over her features. “I thought someone like Griffon—you know, with a hard-knock past—was the only kind of guy who could love me.”

  West gripped her shoulders. “You’re the sort of woman most men dream of loving—kind, honest, faithful, trustworthy, and let’s not forget, courageous in the face of all kinds of fear and danger. You’re beautiful, inside and out.”

  Tears welled up in Cady’s eyes and trickled down her cheeks. “I have something to say to you, Westley Foster. I—I think I love you back. At least I’m heading pell-mell in that direction.”

  “Do you mean it?” He dipped his face close to hers.

  “With every molecule of my being. Besides possessing the priceless gift of helping me laugh, you’re my handsome, intelligent, resourceful and brave personal protector.” She flung her arms around his neck.

  How could he even begin to describe his feelings as his lips claimed hers? Wonder? Joy? Jubilation? Yes, all the above and much, much more.

  EPILOGUE

  Eighteen Months Later

  Hand in hand, Cady and West stood on the sidewalk gazing at the Frank Heyling Furness home she had inherited. Contractors were going in and out of the front door with renovation materials, and painters were busy on the outside trim.

  Cady looked up at her husband-to-be and smiled. “I’m glad we let the property revert to the county historical society as a future museum. The place was really too much of a handful to be a private home anymore. This way, many people will be able to enjoy its grandeur and history. I think Great-Aunt Anita would be happy about that.”

  “We can bring Baby-bug here for a tour when she gets a little older and can appreciate it,” West said.

  Cady looked down at the stroller by their knees where a nearly two-year-old Livvy was observing with bright eyes a pair of butterflies flitting nearby.

  “And any other children we might have,” she added to West’s thought.

  “Yes, we’ll bring them all. The more the merrier.” West laughed and drew her hand to his lips.

  Cady thrilled to his warm kiss. How did she deserve to be so blessed? The answer was simple: she didn’t deserve it. No one earned true love like this. It was a gift of grace, pure and simple. She was coming more and more to understand that truth, both in her relationship with God and with West. He’d been right. Their future was a blank page, and with the Lord’s help, they were filling that page day by day with both weathered challenges and happy times.

  Together, they’d bought a lovely Victorian home not far from here that they were in the process of renovating themselves. And Cady was indulging her penchant for antiques in its furnishings. Besides being a full-time mom, she was also going to school to become a psychologist. It was a good career choice for her, considering her mother was now under her personal care. Though May would always display childish behaviors, time had evidently wrought enough healing in her mother’s psyche that she had been deemed sufficiently well-adjusted to live under supervision outside of an institution. Cady and West were building her a small suite of her own within their house.

  West’s business had taken off. Triple Threat Personal Protection Service had more clients than it could handle, and as a result, West had hired more personnel and was traveling less and less while he handled the logistics from the office. This situation suited Cady more than fine, seeing that tomorrow afternoon she would once again change her surname when she and West said “I do” in an intimate ceremony at the small, welcoming local church they’d begun attending.

  Cady would always love and remember Griffon, treasuring the time they’d had together. She and West were committed to bringing Livvy up to know
all about her biological father and to revere him. But West would be the one who would raise her. They were truly starting a new family legacy, one that would be healthy and strong and grounded in the Lord.

  West tugged on her hand, drawing Cady out of her reverie. They continued on their walk together, enjoying the spring greenery, colorful blooms, and the pleasant floral scents the warm breeze carried to them.

  Cady looked up at him and as always, that strong profile lent her heart an extra ka-bump. “You are going to be a great father.”

  “How do you think I’m going to do in the husband department?” He sent her a mischievous grin.

  She canted her head with a small smirk. “Hmm. I’m sure I’ll be letting you know.”

  West tilted back his head and bellowed a laugh. “I’m sure you will.”

  “But I know one thing.” She leaned into him. “I can hardly wait to find out.”

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Deadly Cover-Up by Kathleen Tailer.

  Dear Reader,

  It was my pleasure to finally usher Cady and West into their happily-ever-after. I hope you enjoyed the journey, and I also hope that certain aspects of the story ministered blessing or insight to your hearts.

  Families can be complicated—not always as complicated as Cady’s, but certainly with their challenges. Nevertheless, God’s plan for human life has always revolved around the mutual love, belonging and safety intended to be found in family groups. In fact, the family is so foundational that Scripture uses the family analogy to describe our relationship with all others who claim the name of Christ. No wonder the institution of the family has been under perpetual attack up to this present time! Even when it looked like Cady had lost all her family relationships through one tragedy or another, God called others into relationship with her to fill those roles. We can count on God to do the same for us, starting with Himself as our heavenly Father.

  West took his role of protector and defender of Cady and Olivia as a sacred trust delivered to him by God. Such courage and faithfulness do credit to the military credo and, even more significantly, honors the name of Christ. In a sense, all Christians are called to display such courage and faithfulness in ensuring justice and provision for the widow and the fatherless, i.e. all the defenseless. In so doing, we serve our fellow human beings, particularly those of the household of faith, and we glorify God.