5 Big Bunny Bump Off (13 page)

“
Why did they continue with the plan when they realized Blakely hadn’t left?” Pappy asked.

“Doug insist
ed that they didn’t know he was still on the premises. He thinks Blakely must have been in the bathroom during the time the men came in and made their way down the hall. At some point Blakely must have heard them, because he showed up during the operation. Doug said that when they first heard Blakely coming, they hid. Blakely saw that the door to the security room was open and went inside. The gorilla went to the door of the security room, Blakely saw him and started toward him, and the gorilla shot him. At that point they all ran.”

“This is like the plot
of a really bad movie,” Pappy commented.

“I hear y
ou,” I agreed.

“I get why this Arthur recruited Doug
, because he could get into the bank and disarm the alarm, but why did Doug recruit Frank?” Nick asked.

“According to Doug
, Frank provided the guns, as well as some surveillance equipment.”

“So all Salinger needs to do is work backward,” Pappy realized. “If Doug was recruited by this Arthur
, then Arthur will know who recruited him, and that person will know the identity of man number one.”

“That’s the plan,” I confirmed, “but as of this afternoon
, Arthur was nowhere to be found.”

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to contact costume rental shops in the area
to see who rented a Darth Vader or gorilla costume,” Hazel suggested.

“Perhaps
, but Doug said those costumes looked really professional. Like movie costumes.”

Movie
costumes.
Suddenly I knew exactly who I needed to talk to.

Unfortunately, Dirk, like Arthur, seemed to have flown the coop. I went by his house, but his housekeeper told me that he was out of town and wouldn’t be back until late that evening at the earliest. I thought about mentioning the costume angle to Salinger but decided to wait until I’d had a chance to speak to Dirk. If Salinger questioned Dirk, it would find a way into the news even if Dirk was innocent. I wanted to have a chat with the man, get a feel for his degree of guilt or innocence, and then figure out my next move. I knew how much Dirk valued his privacy and didn’t want to be responsible for a media storm if it turned out that he wasn’t involved in the scheme, as I thought.

After stopping off at Dirk
’s, I headed to the Zoo. Mom had agreed to sit with Sophie again, and I really needed to get caught up on some paperwork. Since Sophie seemed to love Mom and was also comfortable with Dad’s dogs, I decided to take Sophie to Mom’s place and bring Charlie and Lambda with me to the shelter. Mom suggested that I stay for dinner when I came by to pick up Sophie, and I agreed.

I
was pretty sure Mom was interested in adopting Sophie after she gave birth. Maybe it was the shared pregnancy discomfort, but Mom seemed quite taken with the little dog. Dad already had two dogs, but the house they shared was large and would easily accommodate Sophie, should Mom decide to keep her. I considered suggesting that Mom just take her now, but given the fact that she was about to deliver her own little bundle of joy, I didn’t want her to have to deal with puppies.

“Thank God you’re here,” Jeremy greeted me at the door the moment I arrived.
“I just got a call from Gina. She’s at the hospital.”

“You’re going to be a dad.” I smiled.

“Yeah, I really am.” Jeremy grinned back “But I really have to go. We have three adoptive parents picking up pets today. The files are on the counter. And someone from the Forest Service is coming by to check on the cub from the car accident.”

“Go, just go
,” I encouraged. “I can handle this.”

“Thanks.” Jeremy hugged me one final time and was out
the door.

Later that afternoon, I was beginning the final feeding of the day, as well as the final exercise session for the dogs, when the phone rang. “Hey, Jeremy. Is Morgan here?”

“No
, she isn’t. It’s a disaster. It looks like Gina is going to have to have a C-section and I’m totally freaking out.”

“C-sections are quite common,” I
said, trying to comfort the nervous father-to-be.

“But I didn’t plan for a C-section. I planned for a quick and easy natural birth.”

“There’s nothing quick and easy about first babies.”

“Now you tell me. What am I going to do?”

“I don’t think you have to do anything. I’ve never had a baby, but I’m pretty sure the doctor and mom take care of everything.”

“You don’t understand.” I could hear Jeremy pacing as he spoke. “A C-section is an operation. It requires a hospital stay. I can’t afford a hospital stay. I could barely afford a natural delivery. What am I going to do?”

“I’m sure they’ll work out a payment schedule.”

“You think so?”

“I seriously doubt they’ll repossess the baby. Everything will be fine.”

“Everything doesn’t feel fine. I’m afraid I made a huge mistake. What made me think I could be a single father at my age?”

Uh-oh.
“Listen, give me twenty minutes and I’ll be there, and we can figure this out together. In the meantime, just breathe. A long breath in, a slow breath out.”

I called Levi
, who agreed to come by to finish locking up for me, since I was alone at the Zoo that afternoon. Tank was scheduled to come in later for the overnight shift but wasn’t available for another three hours. Levi also said he’d drop Charlie and Lambda off at the boathouse so I could go directly to the hospital. I washed up as best I could—after all, I’d been cleaning pens and I was heading to a hospital—then headed out of the door.

“How’s she doing?” I asked
Jeremy less than twenty minutes later.

“I don’t know. They’ve been in there a long time. Too long.” Jeremy looked like hell.

“I’m sure everything’s fine. What exactly did the doctor say?”

“He said the baby was too big and Gina was too small for a natural birth. Gina totally freaked when she realized she might end up with a scar.”

“I’m sure the doctor will take her career as a swimsuit model into account and be extra careful.”

“Gina is going to kill me. And she should.” Jeremy got up and began pacing again. “I made her do this.”

“You didn’t make her. It was her choice.”

“Maybe
, but I persuaded her to do it. Now she’s in surgery and my baby could be in danger, and I have no idea what I’m going to do when I get home with such a tiny person. I’m sure she’ll have to be fed, and then there are the diapers to consider. I’ve never changed a diaper. And what if I do it wrong and she gets a rash? Or colic? I hear babies get colic.”

“I thought Ellie was going to stay with you for a few days until you got on your feet.”

“She said she would, but with her sandwich shop just opening, I hated to ask. She seems really busy.”

Jeremy had a point. Ellie’s shop opening the same month Jeremy’s baby was born wasn’t ideal. Still
, I was sure Ellie would help out as much as she could.

“How abo
ut Jessica? She’s been as excited about the baby as anyone. I’m sure she’d be delighted to help out.”

“She did offer.”

“Okay, so we’ll call her and set something up. Trust me, you’re going to be a great dad.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“I have no idea how I’m going to feed a baby
and
make payments to the hospital.”

“How about we worry about one thing at a time
? For now, let’s make sure Morgan gets born and everyone is okay, and then we can worry about feeding and diapering her, and only then will we worry about the hospital bill.”

Jeremy stopped pacing and sat down next to me. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly
, as directed. It seemed what I’d learned in the birthing class I was taking with Mom was good for all sorts of things.

“Okay,” he said. “We’ll take this one step at a time. And thanks.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

“Mr. Fisher
?” A nurse I didn’t recognize came into the room. “Your daughter is healthy and waiting to meet you.”

“And Gina?” Jeremy stood up.

“Sleeping, but she’ll be fine. She’s asked not to have contact with the baby beyond this point, so we’ll need to discuss what’s to happen next. Do you have help once you get home?”

Jeremy looked at me.

“He does,” I answered. One way or another, I’d make sure of that.

“Then I don’t see w
hy Morgan can’t go home on Sunday. We’d like to keep her a couple of days to monitor things. She had a tough time of it, but it looks like she’ll be fine. You can stay with her for as long as you’d like. The nurse will show you how to feed and diaper her.”

Jeremy sighed with relief. “Thank you so much.” He turned and looked at me. “Do you want to see her before you go?”

“Of course I want to see her. It’s okay?” I asked the nurse.

“I don’t see why not. Both of you
, please follow me and I’ll show you where to wait. A nurse will bring her out to you.”

“Wow, she’s so beautiful,” I
whispered as Jeremy sat on the edge of a bed in an empty room and nervously held his new daughter. “All that dark hair and those chubby cheeks.”

“She really is something.”

“I don’t want you to worry about anything,” I assured Jeremy. “I’ll make some calls and make sure that someone will be there to help you for the first few days. I’m sure Ellie will be happy to stay with you and help when she’s not at work, and if for some reason Jessica can’t help out during the day, I’ll find someone who can.”

“Thanks
, Zoe. Do you want to hold her?”

Did I?
She was so tiny, and I’m such a klutz.

“She won’t break,” Jeremy assured me.

I held the tiny baby in my arms and gently rocked her back and forth. She was absolutely the most perfect baby I had ever seen. She was warm and soft and smelled so good. I started to imagine rocking my own perfect baby . . . and then she started to cry. I handed her back to Jeremy and resolved to wait on childrearing for a very, very long time.

The moment I entered my mom’s new home to pick up Sophie she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me down the hall to one of the spare rooms. “Look what Sophie and I did,” Mom said proudly.

Lying on a blanket in the corner of the room was Sophie with four adorable little puppies. “You and Sophie did this all by your selves?” I teased.

“Well, Sophie did most of it,” Mom admitted. “But I helped, and when you didn’t answer your phone, I didn’t panic.”

It was odd
, but in spite of Mom’s worldly experience, in this instance I felt like the parent congratulating the child. Mom had traveled extensively and was well versed in many things, but it was clear by everything I’d discovered in the past few months that her comfort level with childbirth—or, in this case, puppy birth—and childrearing were completely outside her comfort level.

“Good for you,” I complimented.
“Where was Dad during all of this?”

“In the living room. We decided we didn’t need a repeat of the fainting incident.”

“Good call. Where is he now?”

“He went to pick up some dinner. A
ren’t they perfect?” Mom really did seem like a proud grandmother. “When I realized that Sophie was in labor, I moved her in here and made sure she was comfortable. And then, when the first puppy started to come, I sat next to her and reminded her to breathe. I thought I was helping her, but it turns out she was really helping me.”

“How so?” I asked.

“I hate to admit it, but the closer it’s gotten, the more scared I’ve been about Harper’s birth. I know she’s not my first, but you were born so long ago, and I was so hopped up on drugs that I don’t remember a lot about it. During the past few weeks, I was really beginning to doubt my ability to do it naturally this time, but then I watched Sophie as she panted and relaxed through the contractions, and suddenly, I knew exactly how childbirth is
supposed
to be. I’m not scared anymore. I really feel that Sophie showed me what to do better than weeks and weeks of classes.”

“I’m glad.” I hugged Mom. “I guess we should find a box or some way to transport these little guys back to my house.”

“Can they stay?” Mom asked.

“Are you sure? You’re going to be having your own baby in a couple of days. Are you sure you want to take care of puppies as well?”

“Sophie seems to know what she’s doing, and somehow her presence calms me. If it gets to be too much, we can move them later.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want.”

“It really is.”