Paula wondered if it was a case of unrequited love. She felt sorry for Linn if that was the case. It would be hard to work with someone you had feelings for if he loved someone else. Hard enough for a grown woman, to say nothing of a girl barely out of high school.
“So are you stuck?” Linn was apparently eager to change the subject.
“You can say that again. I’ve interviewed everyone I can think of and gone over my notes until I have them memorized. I can’t figure out what happened.”
“You’d think the hospital would know something. Maybe they do, and they’re just hiding it.”
“Believe me, I’ve been working that angle.” Paula had even tried to pull the affair trump card with Mr. Boccardi, but he wasn’t budging. Maybe he didn’t have anything to hide, or maybe he’d rather risk his personal reputation over his professional one. If the hospital was to blame, they could be in for a monstrous lawsuit from two families. No hospital wanted to be in the middle of all that controversy.
“Have you talked to all the nurses and doctors on duty?”
“All but two. One of them died, and one of them is too ill for an interview.”
Linn wrinkled her nose, and for an instant, Paula could see a reflection of Natalie’s baby, Grace. Sometimes it was hard to believe this young woman was the birth mother of her sister’s baby.
“That stinks,” Linn said.
“Tell me about it.”
“What about the other babies who were in the hospital at the same time?”
“The Morgans’ child was very premature, so that limits it to the premature babies who were in the NICU at the time. There were three children who were tested. All the preliminary tests were positive, meaning the parents were the birth parents of their children.
She’d been happy for those parents when she’d heard the relief and joy in their voices.
Yet the Morgans’ questions went unanswered.
“What about the ones who weren’t tested?” Linn asked.
Paula shrugged. “It’s the parents’ decision whether or not to have the child tested. I suppose the Morgans could take them all to court and try to make them, but I don’t think Deb and Steve want to do that.”
Linn’s eyes seemed fixed on the framed Dali print on the wall. “Yeah. I guess it would be hard to decide whether or not you wanted to know the truth.”
Paula wished the other families would have their children tested. It would be a simple way of finding out the truth, but not so simple if one of the families had the Morgans’ birth child. Then the mystery would be solved, but it would turn into a complicated web of rights. Would the Morgans keep Faith? Would they want visitation rights with the other child? And would the other family want custody of Faith or visitation rights with her?
Either way, the Morgans wanted answers, and Paula had promised to do her best to find them. Right now, though, her brain was mush from twisting around all the details.
“What are you studying?” she asked Linn, wanting to think about something else for a change.
“Communications 101. It’s just an elective, but it’s pretty interesting.”
“Do you like Loyola? And living in Chicago in general? It’s so different from Jackson Hole.”
Linn grinned. “You aren’t kidding. It’s like major culture shock, but in a good way. Know what I like best? I like how I can go anywhere and never run into anyone I know.”
Paula had begun to think she was the only one who felt that way. Her family thought she was crazy for wanting to escape what they called “a quaint little town.” Paula exhaled. “It’s nice to get away from the gossip too.”
“No kidding. That ‘everybody knows your name’ stuff isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when they also know your business.”
There were few secrets in the town of Jackson Hole, that much was true.
A yawn spilled out of Paula, and she decided to turn in for the night. She fell asleep with details of the Morgans’ story floating around in disharmony. Maybe her subconscious would solve it in her sleep.
* * *
It was still dark when Paula was startled awake by a sharp, shattering sound. Glass breaking.
In an instant she was sitting upright, although she didn’t remember doing so. The noise had come from the living room. Had Linn broken something? The clock read six fifteen. Linn would have left by now for her early class.
Paula crept out of bed, feeling her way through her bedroom, somehow afraid to turn on her light. When her hands grasped the softness of her robe hanging on a hook, she slipped it on.
As she opened the door of her bedroom, the light of a streetlamp filtered through the windows on the front side of the building. She stepped into the hallway and cold air smacked her bare legs. She shivered. Why was it so cold?
Her eyes went to the windows, and the sight made her feet go still. There was a gaping hole in the middle of one of the panes. The streetlight caught the jagged edges of the hole and glittered menacingly back at her. The African violet that had sat on the window sill now lay on the floor, spilled from the container, the dirt scattered around it.
Paula fumbled with the desk lamp and finally found the pull chain. Light flooded the room. Even while she blinked against its brightness, she scanned the room for what had come through the window. Surely not a bullet. The hole was too big, and she would’ve heard a gun go off. This was a nice neighborhood—not a slum where this kind of thing might be a regular occurrence.
Her eyes stopped on something in the shadowed corner by the entry closet. She walked toward the object, flipping on the overhead track lighting as she went. Her foot caught a piece of glass, and she bit her tongue.
After pulling the shard from the ball of her foot, she picked up the object. It looked like a ball of paper, but it was heavy, with a rubber band wadded around it.
A shiver crept over her flesh, and it had nothing to do with the cold air seeping through the gap in the window.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Paula removed the thick bands, and a rock the size of her fist fell with a thwack on the wood floor. She smoothed out the piece of notebook paper.
Drop the story.
Three words, typed in Courier New 12 point. She dropped the paper, not wanting to touch the thing. She looked at the window and followed the course the rock would have taken across the living room. It had knocked the plant off the sill, and her Bon Appétit magazine had slid off the table, so the rock had probably landed there before sliding across the floor.
She rose from her spot on the floor and pulled her robe tight. She should call 911. It took a few minutes to find the cordless phone, but once she did, she placed the call and was told to wait for the police.
Drop the story.
The words were beginning to sink in. They had to refer to the Morgan story. There was nothing else she’d worked on that would stir up such feeling.
Someone was threatened by the Morgan story. And that meant someone knew something.
Unless it was someone from the hospital trying to scare her off. Or someone from work trying to scare her off.
Her thoughts went back to the weird notes she’d received at work. Was it some deranged fan? But why would he want her off the story? The police would want details. They’d want to know who could be responsible, but it could be any of a dozen different people. Was she safe here in her apartment?
Two hours later it was that very question that drew David’s concern.
“I’m coming out there.”
She’d heard this tone before and knew he’d be on her doorstep ASAP, the cost of the plane ticket notwithstanding. Even so, she argued. “David, I’m surrounded by neighbors, and there are three locks on the front door. I’m fine.”
“I’m coming, Paula.”
She wasn’t due to go home over the weekend, so it would be a treat to see him. Besides, maybe it wouldn’t hurt for him to get a taste of the Windy City. He might find that he liked it, and that would solve all kinds of
problems.
“What did the police say?” She could hear him drumming his blunt fingers on the Corian countertop.
“Oh, you know. The usual ‘We’ll look into it.’ ” They hadn’t been overly concerned—or very reassuring for that matter.
“You need to get the landlord to replace the window. What are you going to do in the meantime?”
“One of the cops got a piece of plywood and put it up for me.”
“Macho cop meets damsel in distress?”
That’s exactly what it was, or so the young policeman had seemed to think. “I already called Mr. Finley about the window, and he’s going to get a replacement as soon as possible.”
“Are you sure you can’t pinpoint this incident to one or two people? Surely the stakes are highest for certain people on this story.”
Paula pulled on her blazer, then slid her feet into a pair of navy heels. “Like I told the cops, David, it could be any number of people. The ‘Switched at Birth’ story involves a lot of people: parents, the hospital, the doctors and nurses. It could be anyone who feels threatened by it.”
The tapping stopped, and she could almost see David rubbing the bridge of his nose where his glasses rested. “Maybe you should drop the story.”
“I’m not giving in to a little threat.” She couldn’t believe he even suggested it.
He sighed into the mouthpiece. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
She smiled at his quick capitulation. “I guess I can’t blame the man for trying.”
“Especially when he’s the husband. And the one who’s very much in love with his wife.”
“When you put it like that, you’re absolved of all blame whatsoever.”
“I thought you’d see it my way.”
He told her he’d arrange for a flight that evening. She tried halfheartedly to talk him out of coming, but he didn’t budge. It wasn’t as if he could do anything, and he couldn’t stay in Chicago forever. But he seemed to feel a need to be there to protect her, so who was she to argue?
* * *
David tightened his scarf around his neck. He’d arrived at O’Hare an hour ago, and now he and Paula walked along Lake Shore Drive. Out on Lake Michigan, lights from a handful of boats twinkled like stars in the night sky. To the west the lights from the downtown buildings cast a glow in the sky that circled the city like a giant halo. Even in the cold darkness the city had a certain power.
“This is like a different world,” David said.
“It’s even better during the week. Of course, the traffic is something to get used to, but the energy . . . Man, I love the energy here.”
“I’ll bet it makes tourist season in Jackson seem lame.” He’d been to big cities before, mostly for conventions and seminars. But he rarely left the huge hotels and convention centers long enough to get a taste of a city’s culture. He evaluated the high rises along Lake Michigan and wondered what the condos sold for. A real-estate agent could make a killing here.
She took his cold hand and tucked it into the pocket of her coat. “Everything here is driven. Everyone striding around with purpose.” He watched her shake her head. “There’s just something about it.”
Her auburn hair shone under the streetlights. The wind picked up the straight strands and tossed them all around. The cold air had tipped her nose a delicate shade of pink, and he thought she looked more beautiful than ever. He wanted to stare at her for the next five days.
“What?” She was giving him that coquettish grin he loved.
“I’d forgotten how beautiful you are.”
Her grin widened. “I’d forgotten how romantic you are.”
“That settles it. We’re just downright wonderful.”
She laughed and nudged his shoulder. “I was telling Linn about you yesterday.”
“What’d you say?”
“Fishing for compliments?”
“Am I using the right bait?” He loved playing with her. He’d missed it. They had lost months to make up for, and he didn’t mind working a little overtime.
“Anyway, Linn has this project for her communications class. She’s interviewing people about communication in marriage and asked if we’d participate. I told her yes. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Will I get to sit beside you?”
“The whole time.”
“Deal.” He reached over and pecked her on the lips.
The look she gave him made him want much more than a quick kiss.
Suddenly he didn’t want to be on Lake Shore Drive, surrounded by dozens of people. He wanted to be alone in her apartment. “What time did you say Linn would be getting home?”
She tugged him back the way they’d come. “Come on . . . we only have two hours.”
* * *
The five days together passed in a blur, and as David shoved the last of his clothes into his suitcase, he found himself reluctant to leave Paula. They’d eaten at fancy restaurants, taken a carriage ride through downtown, and cuddled on the couch. They had even visited a church together on Sunday. A lady there recognized Paula from the news.
The landlord replaced the broken window. David took a taxi to Kmart one day while Paula was at work and bought a bag of potting soil for the plant that had been overturned and a security latch for her door. He’d installed it before she returned home. Later that night Paula repotted her plant and set it back on the window sill. With the window fixed and the plant back in place, everything probably looked just as it had before the incident. But David couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to come.
Now, as her arms wrapped around him from behind, he wished he could stay another five days.
“Don’t go.”
Though the tone was teasing, he knew she meant the words. It was unlike Paula to express her need of anything. Her self-sufficiency was one of the first things he’d been attracted to, but a man liked to be needed every now and then.
He turned in her arms. “I wish I didn’t have to.” But he had a business to run, and it wouldn’t run itself. He’d already taken off more days for this trip than he’d ever taken off at JH Realty. There was no telling what kind of a mess he’d return to.
She sighed and snuggled against his chest. Her perfume teased his senses, conjuring thoughts that couldn’t materialize in the time they had left.
“I wish I could drive you to the airport.” Her fingers caressed his back, then trailed upward to play in his hair.
“It’s OK.” He should have timed his departing flight so it didn’t coincide with her work. If he’d known how reluctant he’d be to leave her, he would have given it more thought.
“You’ll remember to use all the locks at night?”
“David.” She rolled her eyes.
Even though there’d been no additional threats, he worried about her. She tended to think she was invincible, and that could lead to carelessness.
“Linn’s here too,” Paula said.
“You’re going to have some teenybopper protecting you? That’ll be the day.”
“Just trying to reassure you. I’ll be fine, you know. I’m on the third floor, so what are they going to do? Kidnap me and haul me down three flights of stairs?”
His muscles tensed at the notion. “Don’t even joke about that.”
The thought of losing Paula now tore him in two. He didn’t know he could love someone this much, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.
“I’ll be fine. Except for missing you like crazy.”
“The feeling is mutual, baby.” He pulled her to him and kissed her, letting his lips linger over hers for a fraction longer than he should have, given the direction of his thoughts.
When he ended the kiss, Paula turned her green eyes on him in a way that captured him.
“Did you mean what you said during Linn’s interview on the tape?” she asked.
“Absolutely. You are definitely a messy.”
She gave a mock glare and whacked him on the arm. “Not that part. You know, the part
about love being a choice. And how you would choose to love me every day, regardless of what happens.”
There it was in her eyes again. The vulnerability that was so unlike Paula. Maybe she’d never trusted him enough before to make herself vulnerable to him. That she did now made something stir inside of him.
He brought his hand to her face and let his fingers glide over her smooth skin. “I meant every word.”
An emotion flickered in her eyes—relief perhaps?—then her lips curved and her cheek rested against the palm of his hand. “Oh, David, I love you so much it scares me.”
Even though he’d had the same thought, he reassured her. “There’s nothing to fear. This is good. Right.” He punctuated each sentence with a kiss.
“I know. I’m being silly.” She backed away and straightened her collar. Her suit fit her like a glove, and he couldn’t help but admire her curves.
“Keep looking at me like that, and I’m going to make you miss your flight.”
“Promises, promises.”
She walked him to the door, and he kissed her quickly. He was cutting it too close. They said good-bye, and as he crossed over the threshold, she smacked him on the backside.
“I’ll get you back for that,” he said, taking the first step down.
“I’m counting on it.” She leaned smugly against the doorframe.
David knew in that moment he’d rather spend the rest of his life in Chicago with Paula than in Jackson Hole alone.
CHAPTER
TWENTY
Linn had no more than taken off her coat and slid out of her boots when she realized she had left her book bag at work. It had all her books, all her notes, her schedule, and everything she needed for school the next day. She’d left the sociology book out on the break table where she was studying, and her book bag was sitting in the chair.
“Shoot!” She stood helpless by the front door, wondering what to do. Glancing at the clock, she saw that the coffee shop was closed by now. Her first class was at eight fifteen in the morning, and it took almost forty-five minutes to get there by bus.