Читать книгу Josh - Delores Fossen - Страница 10

Chapter Four

Jaycee felt the vibration of the blast and saw the fear and concern jolt through Josh. It went through her, too, and she wanted to go back and try to save the others.

But that could be dangerous for the women Josh and the others had already managed to rescue.

Plus, the woman stretched out across Marita, Blanca and Jaycee’s laps was clearly in labor. She was moaning and clutching her stomach. Jaycee had never been around anyone in labor, but she figured the woman was close to delivering.

Josh glanced at the woman, then at Jaycee. The worry and questions were still etched on his face, and she had to wonder what this was doing to him. Agents suffering from posttraumatic stress didn’t usually have an easy time in a gunfight.

Or the shock of something totally unexpected—like fatherhood.

But Josh had gotten a double dose of both today. Hopefully, he’d be able to keep it together. She hoped the same for herself, too. She didn’t have the nerves of steel that Josh had once accused her of having.

He’d accused her of a lot of things.

And sadly, most were accurate.

“Hang on,” Jaycee told the woman in labor when she made another of those loud moans. “You’re safe, and we’ll be at the hospital soon.”

Jaycee hoped that was true on both counts. Josh was certainly driving as fast as he could, and both of them were keeping watch for those guards. So far, no one was following them.

Including any of Josh’s cousins.

She prayed they hadn’t been hurt, or worse, in the explosion.

“What’s your name?” Jaycee asked the woman in labor. She’d need to give it to the doctor, but talking might also distract her from the pain. If that was possible.

“Grace Levitt,” she answered through a sharp breath.

“All right, Grace, just hang in there a few minutes longer.” Jaycee tried to sound calm. Failed miserably. But after everything she’d been through, she wondered if she would ever be calm again. Normal seemed way too far out of reach.

Jaycee put her hand on Grace’s stomach so she could feel the contractions and time them. Yet something else the doctors would want to know. And Jaycee felt a contraction almost immediately.

Grace clamped her hand on Jaycee’s shoulder. Her bruising grip was paired with more moans. Louder this time. And she lifted her hips. Jaycee didn’t have to tell Josh to hurry. He no doubt knew they might have to deliver this baby in the cramped space.

The contraction finally subsided. Jaycee didn’t have a watch, so she had to use the clock on the truck’s dashboard to keep time. Barely two minutes had passed before Grace had another contraction.

Josh’s phone buzzed, the sound shooting through the truck, and he managed to fish it from his pocket despite the fact that Marita was squished against him.

“Grayson,” Josh answered, sandwiching the phone against his ear and shoulder. There was still no relief in Josh’s expression, but thankfully at least one of his cousins was alive.

Jaycee couldn’t hear what Grayson was saying. Couldn’t tell if the news was good or bad. She could only wait and keep watch. They were getting close to the town of Silver Creek now, but that didn’t mean the guards couldn’t catch up with them and start shooting.

Josh finished talking with his cousin, but instead of telling her what was going on, he made another call.

“I’m calling the hospital,” he said to her, and he told whoever was on the other end of the line that he was en route with four pregnant women who needed medical attention.

Jaycee opened her mouth to say that she was fine, but she didn’t know that for sure. She’d been held captive for months, and even though she’d gotten plenty of checkups during that time, she couldn’t trust any doctor working for black-market baby brokers.

Josh finally finished the call with the hospital, put his phone away and took the turn toward town. Just as Grace had another contraction.

“The house blew up,” Josh relayed to her. “My cousins are okay. They weren’t hurt in the explosion.”

“But?” Jaycee asked because there was definitely a bad-news tone in his voice.

Josh didn’t jump to answer, but his jaw muscles were stirring like crazy. “The guards escaped with the other three women.”

Jaycee groaned. It was better than hearing they’d been killed, but it was still a major setback. “All the women who were staying in the house are close to delivering. Once they have their babies, the guards will probably kill the women.”

For once she was glad Blanca and Marita didn’t understand a lot of English, though both women had no doubt figured out what was going on. They’d all seen the guards leave with babies, but never once had they seen one of the new mothers walk out of the ranch house.

Jaycee suspected they were being carted out in body bags at night.

“Grayson and the others are looking for them,” Josh added.

Though it was the only thing they could do, it didn’t seem nearly enough. The women were very pregnant and were no doubt being forced to run and do other things that their bodies and babies might not be able to handle. The guards wouldn’t care a flying fig if the escape led to the women’s deaths. They only cared about getting their hands on the babies so they could be sold like cattle.

“After we get Grace to the hospital,” Jaycee murmured, “I want to help find them.”

Josh made a sound. Definitely one of disapproval. “Going off half-cocked hasn’t worked well for you or others in the past, has it?”

That stung. Because it was true.

Jaycee choked back her own moan. Barely. And just like that, the memories came.

All bad.

The old mixed with the new from her captivity. Five months ago, she’d been conducting her own investigation into some money laundering and hadn’t been aware the operation already involved several undercover agents. Jaycee had only wanted to catch the piece-of-slime launderer who’d killed two women who happened to stumble upon his operation.

Instead, Jaycee had endangered the agents.

Josh had been shot and had nearly died during surgery. There’d been no nearly for his partner, Agent Ben Sayers. He’d been killed.

Someday she might learn how to live with that.

Might.

But for now it was just more bad memories added to the new ones from being held captive. She hadn’t been beaten, but only because it could have caused her to miscarry. However, she’d certainly been slapped a few times and threatened daily. And yet the slaps and the threats hadn’t been the worst of it. The worst thing had been not knowing what the abuse would do to her baby.

Grace moaned again, causing Jaycee’s attention to snap back to the woman. Another contraction, and this one seemed even harder and longer than the others.

“We’re almost there,” Jaycee told her.

No lie this time. The town of Silver Creek was just ahead, and next to the sign for the city limits was one for the hospital. Josh went in that direction, and it was less than a minute before he pulled into the E.R. parking lot where there was a team of medics waiting for them.

The moment Josh stopped the truck, Jaycee hurried out. Blanca and Marita, too, so the medics could get to Grace.

“There’s less than a minute between her contractions,” Jaycee told them, and they got Grace on a gurney and whisked her away.

Jaycee was about to follow them when she found herself being placed on a gurney, too. The medics did the same to Blanca and Marita and wheeled them through the hospital doors. Josh was right there, hurrying along behind them.

“The doctor will be with you soon,” a nurse said, and she put Jaycee into one of the E.R. cubicles. The nurse paused and looked at Josh. “Stay with her until I can get someone in here.”

Josh nodded, though Jaycee was sure that staying with her was the last thing on earth he wanted to do. He no doubt wanted to check on his cousins or go after those escaped guards and missing women.

Anything that didn’t involve having close contact with her.

She heard Grace’s moans fading. Not because the woman had gotten quiet. But probably because she was being taken to Labor and Delivery and out of earshot. Jaycee hoped that she’d deliver a healthy baby and that she could soon put this nightmare behind her. Jaycee wished that for all the captives. Especially for those three who hadn’t been rescued.

Soon, very soon, the quiet closed in around them, and because the room was small, Josh had no choice but to look at her.

Correction: he looked at her pregnant belly.

She saw the questions in his eyes. The doubts. Not about the baby’s paternity. He was right about that—she wasn’t a liar. Even though she had considered it. Briefly. After all, she was the last woman on earth who Josh would want carrying his child, and for a fleeting moment she’d wondered if he might want her to lie.

“I really did intend to tell you about the baby,” she repeated, trying to answer some of those questions in his eyes. “I was worried that it’d cause you to blow a gasket or two, but I would have told you.”

He nodded.

That was his only reaction. He certainly didn’t deny that he would have been seriously upset to hear the news months ago. But then, Josh wasn’t a liar, either.

“When’s the baby due?” he finally asked.

“In four months.”

Nine months after their weekend together in San Antonio. Their only weekend together. Yes, it’d been good.

Darn good.

But their last morning together, she’d seen that look in Josh’s eyes and known he hadn’t been looking for anything other than a short-term hookup. Old baggage, no doubt, since Josh had a love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation. So Jaycee hadn’t given him an out and walked away.

Six hours later, he’d been shot.

And they’d learned about her rogue investigation that had collided with Josh’s authorized one. If she had thought for one second that other agents were involved, she would have backed off. Of course, she hadn’t asked a lot of questions when she’d gone after those money launderers and killers. Jaycee had only been thinking about justice.

Josh kept staring at her. Kept those questions in his eyes. She wasn’t sure what he expected from her. Wasn’t sure he’d tell her if he knew. But after all these months of being held captive, Jaycee had had time to figure out what she would say to him if she ever got the chance.

Well, now here was her chance.

“Look, I don’t expect anything from you,” Jaycee firmly stated. Giving him another out that he looked like he desperately needed. “I just wanted you to know because, well, because.”

No reason to get into her old baggage. Or tell him that her own mother hadn’t told her birth father that she was pregnant with Jaycee. Not until it’d been too late anyway. Jaycee had never had the chance to know her dad, and even though he was a less-than-stellar person, she’d sworn she would never do that to her child.

Even if the pregnancy was unplanned, like this one.

Josh’s mouth tightened. His nostrils flared a bit. “It’s my baby. Expect something.”

That didn’t sound like an offer of child support or shared custody.

It sounded like a threat.

And maybe it was.

Josh hated her. But she couldn’t go back and undo this baby, and even if she could, she wouldn’t. Though Josh might not believe her if she told him, she loved this baby with all her heart and would do anything to protect it.

“Expect something?” she repeated.

“Yeah,” he snapped. And that was all he said for several moments. “Don’t expect me just to walk away. I slept with you knowing there could be consequences, and I’m man enough to accept it.”

She lifted her shoulder, ran her hand over her stomach. “But you probably didn’t expect this consequence. We did use protection.”

And clearly something had gone wrong. Jaycee had had a lot of time to think about every detail of that weekend, and while becoming pregnant had been the last thing on her mind, Josh was right. Sex, even safe sex, could make babies. And in this case, it had.

She waited to see if he intended to say more about consequences and expectations, but he didn’t. He just kept staring at her and looking far better than he should have. His good looks weren’t something he worked at. They were just there. And even now, she felt that little tug that she always felt when she looked at Josh.

Even when he was glaring at her.

“How are you?” she risked asking. Normally it was a polite, rote question, but this time, she truly wanted to know. And she figured he wouldn’t want her to know.

“Fine,” he snapped.

Translation: he was not going to talk about this. But she had five months of catching up to do.

She glanced at the badge clipped to his rawhide belt. “You left the FBI?”

“For a while.” His jaw muscles went crazy again. “I’m on a leave of absence.”

“Because you’re recovering from the gunshot wounds,” she finished for him.

He made a sound, a rumble deep in his throat. No doubt a back-off warning. But Jaycee didn’t listen to that warning. “You’re a deputy sheriff?”

He nodded.

Getting information from him was like pulling teeth. “Well, the job seems to suit you.”

The clothes, too. She’d known about his cowboy roots but had usually seen him in a suit or his undercover outfits. Now he wore jeans, a black T-shirt and boots. He had his Stetson in his left hand as if he’d always carried it there.

“Something wrong?” he asked. Definitely not a friendly question. “You’re looking at my clothes.”

Actually, she’d been looking at the man in the clothes, but it was best to keep that to herself. “I want to thank you again. If you hadn’t discovered where the baby farm was—”

“I didn’t discover it.” His words were clipped. Almost angry. But Jaycee got the feeling that this particular anger was aimed at himself and not at her. “I got lucky, that’s all. But I didn’t get lucky enough to save those other women that the guards took.”

No. But maybe that’d be remedied soon if the sheriff could find something at the now-destroyed ranch. Yes, it was a long shot, but it was the only shot they had unless the woman in labor could give them some much-needed answers.

Before Jaycee had a chance to rile Josh further with more questions, a nurse came back in. According to her nametag, she was Lillian Renfrew. She took Jaycee’s blood pressure and temperature—both were normal. That was a good start, and Jaycee hoped everything else proved to be normal.

“The doctor wants you to have an ultrasound,” the nurse said, and she started to wheel Jaycee out of the cubicle. However, she stopped when Josh followed them. “You can wait outside.”

“He’s the baby’s father,” Jaycee volunteered when Josh didn’t budge or say anything. “If he wants to come, I don’t mind.”

It was another risk, saying that out loud, but Josh kept the same expression that he’d had since they arrived at the hospital.

He was one angry, confused man.

“I want to see the ultrasound,” he insisted, not like an argument but more a declaration of war.

Nurse Renfrew nodded and took them to a room in another hall. There was a tech waiting for them, a middle-aged woman with brunette hair, and she didn’t waste any time hiking up Jaycee’s scrub top all the way to her breasts. The scrub pants came down too, all the way to her panty line.

Even though Josh had seen her stark-naked, this seemed way more intimate.

“You don’t expect anything from me?” Josh mumbled under his breath. And he repeated it, using that same “declaration of war” tone.

Oh, so that was what was still eating away at him. Jaycee tried to make eye contact with him, but the tech moved between them and squirted some cold goop all over Jaycee’s stomach.

“I’ve heard you say plenty of times that you weren’t looking for marriage or a family,” Jaycee reminded him.

The tech finally went back to the other side of the gurney. Josh’s and Jaycee’s gazes met.

Collided, actually.

“I wasn’t looking to be a father,” he stated, enunciating each word as if she were mentally deficient, “but I’m not running from it, either. That’s my baby, and he or she should expect everything from me. Because he or she will get just that—everything.”

He stopped, muttered some profanity. Rubbed his forehead. And got his teeth unclenched. “I’m glad you made it out of there.” His voice was a lot softer than before.

“Yes. Thank you for saving me.”

He nodded, and she hoped that meant they’d reached a tentative truce. No time to linger on it, though, because the tech started moving the wand over Jaycee’s stomach. She immediately saw something.

Maybe the heart beating.

The images weren’t very clear so Jaycee didn’t know exactly what she was looking at, but it was her baby. And she hadn’t expected that seeing all those blurry images would pack such a wallop.

“Is the baby okay?” Josh asked.

Jaycee was glad he had said that because her mouth was suddenly bone-dry, and her heart was pounding. She was terrified that this ordeal had been too much for her precious child.

“Everything appears to be okay. Good, solid heartbeat. Good movement.” The tech stopped, volleyed glances at both of them, her attention finally stopping on Jaycee. “How much did your doctor tell you about the pregnancy?”

Oh, God. Just like that the fear returned. “Is something wrong? I had other ultrasounds, but they kept the screen hidden from me. Did they do that because something’s wrong with the baby?”

The woman shook her head. “I don’t think anything’s wrong.” She glanced at the screen again. “But the doctor will need to see the images and talk to you.” She paused, cleared her throat. “Some people just don’t want to know the sex of the baby, and sometimes we can’t tell. This time, we can.”

The relief came as fast as the fear. Nothing was wrong.

“Do you want to know the sex of the baby?” the woman asked.

“No,” Jaycee said at the same moment that Josh said, “Yes.”

“I’ve just had too many surprises today,” Jaycee added. “I’d like to hear it at a time when I’m not about ready to jump out of my skin. But you can tell him,” she said to the tech. “I’ll just cover my ears.”

Jaycee did. Closed her eyes, too. And when she opened them, she couldn’t detect a darn thing from Josh’s expression.

“I’ll show the ultrasound to the doctor,” the tech said, turning off the machine. “Someone will be in shortly to take you back to the E.R.”

The tech had hardly made it out the door when Josh’s phone buzzed. Just like that Jaycee was reminded of the three missing women and the nightmare that wouldn’t end until they were all safe.

Josh looked at the phone screen. “It’s Grayson,” he told her. And he clicked the speaker function.

“How are the women?” Grayson asked.

“One’s in labor. The other three are being checked out now.”

“Good. Stay there with them, and if they’re feeling up to it, get statements from them. I’m trying to get a CSI team out here ASAP.”

Josh shook his head. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure.” Grayson paused a heartbeat. “But we found something.”