Chapter 24
Four Months Later (December)
CONNOR
When my phone rings with a call from Laurelyn Patrick, I’m on high alert in an instant.
Answering immediately, I say, “Hey. What’s wrong?”
The last I knew Trick and Laurel were going to an office Christmas party.
If something went wrong while they were celebrating, an overdose comes to mind.
My brain vetoes the idea immediately. Trick would never do blow when he’s out with his pregnant wife.
As far as I know, he hasn’t touched the stuff since he got together with her.
“Hi, C. Trick’s in police custody. I have to give a statement, too. There was a gunman. We’re both all right…”
A gunman at an office party? What the fuck?
Laurelyn sounds breathless, which makes me frown. Trick will be really pissed if the cops upset his pregnant wife.
“Trick said to call. Will you come?”
“Yeah, of course. I’m on my way.”
“C?”
“Yeah, baby, what’s up?”
“I may be in labor. Could you ask Zoe if she’ll come, too? If they don’t release Scott in time, it would be nice if I had a friend at the hospital.”
For fuck’s sake.
“We’re on our way.” I tap the mute button and call for Zoe who’s in the middle of a virtual meeting with her business mentor.
“Okay, great.” Laurel takes an audible breath. “I’m… sorry. Hard to catch my breath. I need to talk to these officers.”
Zoe appears in the media room doorway with a confused look. I’ve laid down the law plenty of times that there’s no yelling from room to room. Now I’m doing it myself, so of course she’s wondering what the hell’s going on.
“Let me talk to the cop, Laurelyn.”
Zoe’s brows shoot up, and she walks in to stand next to me.
I tap the mute button. “Get dressed, baby. We’re going to Boston.”
After a moment, there’s a male voice. “This is Sergeant Melton.”
I unmute the phone. “Yeah, this is Connor McCann, a friend of Scott Patrick’s. Sounds like his wife is in labor and needs to go to the hospital now. If you need a statement from her, take it at the hospital, or better still, in a few days, when she’s recovered from giving birth.”
Zoe turns and bolts from the room to get ready.
“In labor?” the cop scoffs. “She didn’t say.”
“Yeah, well, I’m saying it.”
After a beat where he’s probably looking her up and down, he sighs. “We’ll get someone to transport her.”
“Good. Give her back her phone.”
“Hey,” Laurelyn says, her voice strained but calm. “I heard. Thank you, C.”
“No problem. Text me the name of the hospital. I’ll bring Zoe to you before I do anything else.”
“Scott might need a lawyer. He really—”
“Don’t worry about Trick.”
If Trick’s been arrested for killing a gunman, it means the cops aren’t treating it like a righteous shooting. In that case, the less said within their earshot, the better.
Not that I want Laurelyn to worry about that, and neither would Trick.
“I don’t really want to leave without him,” she says.
“Trick is fine, Laurelyn. I guarantee it. The only thing that will cause him to lose his cool is if anything happens to you or his new son.”
“You’re right. I just hate to. He would never leave us behind… especially at a moment when we should be together.” She makes a small sound of discomfort that causes me to grimace. “But it’s safer for the baby if I go to the hospital, so I will. If you see him before I do, C, tell him we’re okay.”
“I will,” I say, hoping that I’ll be telling him the truth.
Ending the call, I meet Zoe at the front door.
After I usher her to the Rover and get us on the road, I call our big gun lawyers and tell them to get their asses to Boston.
After what happened with Rachel three months ago, the last thing I want is for Trick to be detained longer than necessary while Laurelyn is in the middle of having his kid.
LAUREL
The thing I adore about Zoe is that she has a lot of experience promoting calm during stressful moments.
When she arrives, I’m dilated to nine centimeters. She drops her coat on the couch and stalks straight to me and takes my hand.
“We hit traffic,” she whispers, pushing the hair back from my face.
“It’s okay,” I say between breaths. “I want to wait for Scott, but I don’t think I can. This is so much faster than the last time.”
“All good,” Zoe says soothingly. “Just listen to your body.”
Pain radiates through me, and I feel the urge to push. “It’s time. Right now.”
“All good.” Zoe turns and signals the nurse. “The baby’s coming. If you need to call someone, please do.”
A little laugh escapes. “Your voice is better than a lullaby.” Another contraction hits. I sink my teeth into my lower lip and grab the sides of the bed to position myself better. The need to push is profound, and I give in to it.
The young doctor I met earlier sails into the room as the nurse adjusts the bed. They move quickly, which is good because the baby moves just as fast.
One second, I’m pushing. The next, he’s left my body.
I lean forward until I hear his little cry. Exhaling, I lean back. He’s okay.
Zoe leans in their direction and nods. “He’s perfect. Beautiful, just like you guys. Congratulations.”
They cut the cord, wipe him down, and get his weight. Then the nurse puts his identity band on his ankle and swaddles him.
“Scott will be upset he wasn’t here,” I whisper. “They should’ve let him come.”
“Here he is, Mommy,” the nurse says, handing the baby to me.
“Hi, Finn,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes. He’s so cute.
I kiss him, wishing Scott and Sean were here.
The doctor leaves, and the nurse arranges me in a more comfortable bed.
The door opens a few minutes later, and Scott enters. He’s still wearing his tailored navy sharkskin jacket over a black knit shirt and navy trousers. If I didn’t know he’d been in police custody, I wouldn’t.
“Hey, babe.” He kisses my cheek and looks down at the baby. “What are you doing here, little man?” Scott’s finger strokes the baby’s head lightly. “You’re not due for three more weeks.”
The baby cries his high-pitched newborn cry, and Scott shakes his head. “Yeah, I know I’m late. But at least you’ll have a helluva ‘on the day I was born’ story.” Scott strokes my hair. “How are you, Laur?”
“Fine.” I smile. “Glad you made it. We tried to wait for you. Or at least one of us did.”
“Looks like the backup team did fine though. Thanks, Z.” Scott gives Zoe a hug.
“He was impatient to see what was going on,” Zoe says. “I guess he takes after his dad.”
Scott chuckles. “Maybe so.”
“I’m gonna go out and tell Connor everything’s fine,” she says.
“Good. Thanks again,” Scott says.
Zoe gives me a quick kiss on the cheek as she strokes the baby’s cheek. Then she slips out to the hall.
“Are you okay, Scott?”
“Yeah. Except I’m pissed I didn’t get here in time.”
“You didn’t really miss anything. It was so fast this time. I barely pushed.”
“Glad it was easier at least. Last time was rough. Eleven hours of labor. No meds.” Scott rests his palm gently on the baby’s head.
“Then a second pregnancy right on the heels of the first, and now you have him on this crazy night.” He shakes his head.
“You’re really strong, Laurelyn. I’m a lucky man. Thank you for him.”
I lick my lips as more tears threaten. “You’re welcome.” Emotions are hard to control at the moment because I feel so lucky, too. “We love you.”
ZOE
Connor sits on a sofa, sending text messages when I approach. He starts to rise, but I put a hand out for him to stay where he is and drop onto the spot next to him.
“She’s great,” I say. “And so is the baby.”
“Did Trick make it in time?”
“No, but nearly. I think it’s all right. Laurelyn was so composed. And it went really quickly.”
C puts his arm around me and I lean against his side.
“What happened at that party, C?”
He sighs. “You know, Trick always says that trouble finds him no matter what he does. I used to shrug that off as a bit of Irish superstition, but I gotta say, Z, I’m starting to think he’s not wrong.”
“Hmm.”
“Apparently, the party was going great. Just a bunch of computer people, you know, having food and a few drinks. Trick speaks computer, so he was talking about software and all that. Until now, Laurelyn’s coworkers assumed he was an IT guy like them.”
“He’s been kind of undercover?” I say, surprised. “That’s probably fun for him. He likes games.”
C smirks. “A couple hours into the party, a guy comes in looking for his estranged wife. They’re in the midst of a bitter divorce apparently.
The guy spots his wife, pulls out a gun and fires wildly.
Trick was on the steps. He likes that vantage, so he gravitates to it even when he shouldn't need to be in a shooting position.” C shakes his head.
“Laurelyn was only ten feet from the person who took a bullet. Good thing she wasn’t the one talking to the guy’s wife at the time. ”
I shiver. Laurelyn and their beautiful little boy… tonight could’ve ended so differently for our friends.
“Chaos erupted. People tried to scatter, and the guy tried to take aim again, but he never got off a second shot. That’s Trick. A lone shooter gets one shot, if that.”
“Did anyone other than the gunman die?”
“No. The person who got shot is stable apparently.”
“Trick’s a hero. He saved that gunman’s wife and who knows how many others.”
“I’m sure. No one else was armed. If Trick wasn’t there, the shooter would’ve emptied his clip. Odds are someone dies. Maybe more than one.”
“The police suck for not letting Trick leave the station sooner.”
“Indeed.” C squeezes me in a side hug. “I’m really glad we made it in time for you to be with Laurelyn.”
“I didn’t do anything. She was fine, C. Incredibly so.”
“I’m sure she was, but she didn’t want to be alone. I could hear it in her voice.”
“I bet that’s true. I’m glad I could be here.” Leaning my head on his shoulder, I say, “I’m also glad I got the Jellycat from London early.”
“The what?”
“The baby’s stuffed animal. Jellycat stuffed toys are the best ones. We got Sean a super cute elephant. Trick said Sean sleeps with it all the time and, now that he’s walking, he drags it with him everywhere. Trick named the elephant Elgin. The family calls him Elgie.”
C laughs. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Trick named a stuffed animal?” he says skeptically.
“Yeah, he did, C. When a guy can do a Die-Hard reenactment at his wife’s office party, he doesn’t need to prove he’s tough and cool anymore. He’s allowed to be cute with his little boy.”
“Hmm.”
“So since Elgie is such an important part of the family, we had to get the new baby a Jellycat, too.”
“When you say we…?”
“Yes, C, you and me. It’s on the card. From Uncle Connor and Aunt Zoe. Trick and Laurelyn still have Sean’s newborn Happy Birthday card.”
Connor laughs again. “What’s the new one’s animal? A giraffe named Jerry?”
“No, it’s a dragon. And I don’t know his name yet. That’s up to them,” I say with mock gravity, enjoying C’s interest and amusement.
“I assume we got Anvil’s kids some, too?”
“We did. Irina’s not much of a stuffed animal person. Her bunny sits on the dresser reading a book. But it is a book that Aunt Zoe and Uncle Connor bought her, so that works out. It’s too soon to tell yet whether Makayla will be big on stuffed animals or not. I’m keeping my eye on things.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m having the best time shopping for them, by the way.”
“Clearly,” he says dryly.
“They deserve all the presents. C Crue babies are the cutest.”
The C Crue founders and their loves have cameos in His Prize, Ruthless Heart, and the Knights of Wrath books. In fact, all the contemporary romances are interconnected.