The Baby Thief (33 page)

“Two is perfect.” David’s smile was patronizing. “It doubles your chance of becoming pregnant without really risking a multiple birth. I always transfer two.”

“You’re still angry at me.”

“No, Liz.” David sighed. “I admit I was. With only four embryos to work with, it seemed foolish to go ahead without me. But it’s your baby, your decision.”

“Are the embryos ready for transfer?”

“Definitely. Are you ready?” He gazed at her strangely.

“Of course.” The Valium had helped. Elizabeth was no longer trembling, but she still had a bad feeling. “What if I don’t get pregnant this time? What if we have to wait through another cycle?”

“We can’t!” David looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Did you forget that a reporter witnessed the abduction and my picture was in the paper? Sooner or later someone will recognize me, and the police will come to the compound. We have to get Jenna out of here as soon as possible.”

“This is my only chance.” Elizabeth whispered to herself. David was right about the risk of keeping Jenna. Even though she trusted him to keep quiet about her part in this if he was arrested, she had no such faith in Zeke. He was the type to testify against them to save himself.

“Are you still planning to drop her off in front of the mission in Portland?” Considering recent developments, Elizabeth thought that might be too risky. Portland wasn’t far enough away. Considering what Jenna had been through, Elizabeth would feel better if they left her in front of a hospital. Dumping her sister like unwanted trash would be the most shameful thing she’d ever do, but there was no other way. Except for missing a week a week of her life, no harm would come to Jenna.

David hesitated, apparently having second thoughts of his own. “I was thinking a mental hospital might be more appropriate.”

“Is the ketamine causing brain damage?” Elizabeth was horrified by the thought.

“I don’t think so.” David looked grim. “The abduction and confinement could be traumatic for her even without a conscious memory of it. I want to make sure she gets the psychological help she needs.”

“You’re a good man, David.’

He shook his head. “I’m not so sure.”

“We’ll talk about it more later. Let’s do the transfer now.”

“All right. Do you want a tranquilizer?”

“I already took a Valium. I’m fine. Is Rachel going to assist?”

“Not unless I need her.”

David moved into action, gently but deftly placing the embryos into a large drop of culture medium, then transferring the fluid into a very small catheter tube. Elizabeth undressed from the waist down. David had seen her naked hundreds of times, yet today she felt exposed and vulnerable. It was the damn gray brick walls, she thought irritably.

Elizabeth climbed up on the examining table and wedged her feet into the stirrups. Even after dozens of pap smears and a series of pelvic exams by fertility specialists, she still hated having her private parts so openly displayed. The fact that it was David wielding the speculum made little difference.

Elizabeth took long slow breaths. The Valium was wearing off, she realized, because the voices were back. Faint cool whispers, like wind sifting through the cracks.
Whore slut bitch whore
. Ralph’s harsh voice dominated John’s gentle taunts.
Cold frigid thief
…

The pinch of the catheter tube against her cervix distracted her for a moment. Some women would call it painful, but not Elizabeth. She counted slowly to thirty, expecting David to tell her any moment that the tube was in. Instead, he began to press against her uterus from the outside with his free hand.

“What’s wrong?” Elizabeth sat forward, alarmed. The chatter in her head picked up volume.
Barren whore thief barren slut thief
…

“Your uterus is tipped. I think I need a more flexible catheter.” He pulled the speculum out, and Elizabeth felt her muscles relax.

“How long will this take? Should I put my feet down?”

“I’ll just be a minute, but go ahead. I want you to be comfortable.”

“Bring me another Valium.” Elizabeth put her feet down and closed her legs, feeling instantly better. She told herself not to worry. David was a uterus man. The transfer would turn out fine. An embryo would implant. The overwhelming need for a cigarette would diminish. The voices would go away when her life got back to normal.

David returned with the Valium and a glass of water. Elizabeth swallowed just enough of the water to wash down the pills. The well water at the compound tasted metallic to her. Her stomach growled in response to the meager offering. Elizabeth realized she hadn’t eaten anything that day.
Unfit mother unfit whore
. David was right. She’d have to start eating better when she was pregnant.

To keep the voices at bay, she focused on what David was doing. First he selected a different catheter and gently transferred the embryos to the new tube. Then he inserted a new syringe into the catheter. Elizabeth put her feet back in the stirrups. This was it. In a matter of minutes, the babies would be in her body. She would be almost pregnant.

Twenty minutes later after a fair amount of cursing and sweating, David exclaimed, “It’s in place. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Here goes.” He gently pushed on the syringe, expelling the embryos from the tube into the top part of her uterus. Elizabeth blinked back tears. Slowly, David removed the catheter, then the speculum. He immediately took the tube to a microscope, examining it carefully to be certain both embryos had been dislodged into her uterus.

“Well?”

“I hope you’re ready for twins.”

Elizabeth laughed with relief. Twins she could handle. “Come over here.” She wished she could get up and throw her arms around David. Not yet. It was important to stay still as long as possible, giving the embryos a chance to implant.

Chapter 42

Monday, Nov. 6, 1:12 p.m.

Jenna struggled to consciousness through a thick fog. She felt desperate to be awake but didn’t know why. Her eyelids were heavy and wouldn’t stay open for more than a few seconds at a time. Gradually she became aware of being in a hospital room, of pain in her abdomen. Had she had her appendix removed? She didn’t remember coming to a hospital. She didn’t remember being sick or hurt. Her mind was blank.

Frightened, Jenna tried to sit up. Restraints kept her down. What was going on? She forced her groggy brain to think. The last thing she remembered clearly was the night Geronimo’s had been robbed.

No. She remembered talking with Eric at the café. But who was Eric? More important, why was she in restraints? Was she dangerous to others? Or suicidal? It all seemed so unreal. Even the room didn’t seem real. Small, with plain gray tile and no windows.

An image of a dark-haired man in a surgical mask pushed its way through the fog. The crazy preacher/doctor. Who was he, and why did she call him that? Jenna’s head pounded with the strain of remembering.

This was not a hospital. The understanding came out of nowhere, but Jenna was as certain of the fact as she was of her own name: Jenna Lynn McClure. With the understanding came terror. She was a prisoner. Someone had operated on her, and it was unlikely they had removed her appendix. The pain was centrally located around her uterus.

What had been done? Why her uterus? It wasn’t terribly painful, just tender. Then it hit her. Jenna squeezed her eyes shut in horror. Had he planted something in her uterus? An embryo, she corrected herself. Another woman’s child.

Even in her drugged condition, the irony of it wasn’t lost on Jenna. Her desire to have a child was painfully fresh. It had been part of her everyday thoughts for years. Now it could be happening. But why her? Why like this? None of it made sense.

It meant that she might be kept alive for a while. The thought of spending nine months strapped in that sterile room was horrifying. Reflexively, Jenna tugged on her bindings. They seemed to give a little. She pulled harder.

And met resistance.

She tried the leather foot straps, pulling up, then sideways. Like with her wrists, there was a little more slack, but not enough to make a difference. Jenna worked at it until she was exhausted.

She lay spent, tears sliding off her face, listening to the steady rhythm of her heart.

“Hello.” A pretty blonde girl stood in the doorway, looking timid.

“Hello.” Jenna felt strangely nervous. Who was she? The woman she was carrying a child for? She seemed so young.

The girl moved into the room, closing the door without a sound. She had the most beautiful blue eyes and pale unblemished skin. She seemed to move without sound or effort. Until she spoke, Jenna thought she might be an angel.

“What’s your name?” Her voice was as light as her presence.

“Jenna McClure. Who are you?”

“Sarah Roberts. But nobody around here uses last names.”

Jenna felt a glimmer of hope. There were other people here. “Where exactly am I?”

“You’re not one of the Sisters, are you?” Sarah lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Who are the Sisters?”

“We belong to the Church of the Reborn. If you’re not a Sister, why are you here?” The girl’s expression went from confusion to concern.

“How should I know? Look at me!” Jenna lifted her wrists as much as she could, displaying the thick leather straps. “I’m a prisoner. I’ve been operated on without my consent.”

Sarah closed her eyes and her lips began to move. It took Jenna a moment to realize the girl was praying. “You don’t believe me? Lift my nightgown and look at my lower abdomen. They did something to me. Made an incision, I think. Why? Tell me, do you know why?”

Sarah opened her eyes and blinked back tears.

“Go ahead, look at it.”

Gently, Sarah pulled off Jenna’s blanket and rolled her nightgown up. “Who did this?” she whispered, glancing over at the little window.

“The crazy–” Jenna stopped, not wanting to alienate the girl. The guy could be her father… or husband. “I don’t know. I can’t remember anything.”

“It looks like a laparoscopy.”

“What’s that?” Jenna had to know, though part of her wanted to scream, Just untie me and get me out of here! This girl was her last chance, and she didn’t want to blow it.

“It allows a doctor to see inside your reproductive system. It’s used for cyst removal and egg retrievals.” Sarah spoke calmly but looked quite upset. “None of this makes sense, but if you don’t want to be here, then no one should keep you against your will.” She reached for the strap on Jenna’s left wrist.

Jenna bit her tongue to keep from shouting with joy.

A minute later she was standing, waiting for the dizziness to pass before she could move. Her legs felt weak and threatened to buckle. She experienced a sense of deja-vu, as if she’d tried this recently. Yet it seemed dreamlike and unreal. “I need your help, Sarah.”

“What should I do?” The girl kept glancing at the door, but her expression was confident, at peace with the decision she’d made.

“Put your arm around me and get me out of here.” Jenna felt like a baby, standing on her own for the first time, excited, yet frightened and wanting to grab the nearest thing for support.

Sarah moved quickly to Jenna’s side and threw an arm around her shoulders. Jenna slipped her arm around Sarah’s waist and together they moved toward the door. Jenna’s pulse raced. She expected the preacher/doctor to block her path any second.

They stepped out of the little gray room into a larger clinic area. Voices, a man and a woman’s, came from the next room. Sarah put her finger against her lips, indicating Jenna should be quiet. A swinging door with a small window separated the rooms. Sarah moved quickly toward a set of double doors to the left. Jenna struggled to stay with her. She was disoriented, and her heart hammered so hard she thought it would explode.

As they scurried down the hall, the euphoria of escaping was overshadowed by the fear that a strong hand was about to grab her shoulder from behind and drag her down. Sucking air in short frantic breaths, Jenna climbed the rough stone steps at the end of the hall, supported by Sarah, the angel who’d come to rescue her. The journey seemed unreal, a frantic ending to long nightmare.

With each step, her legs grew stronger, responding with the conditioning of dozens of miles of roadwork. At the top of the stairs, Jenna let go of Sarah’s waist. They entered an open area, also made of gray stone, with a circular tower in the center. Two women in long drab skirts sat on a wooden bench talking, while a baby crawled on the floor at their feet. They glanced up, startled, as Jenna and Sarah burst into the room.

“This way.” Sarah tugged at Jenna’s shoulder, leading her down the narrow corridor before she could look around. Curious, but terrified of being caught, Jenna didn’t look back.

Sarah led her into a large kitchen, bright and warm and cozy with the smell of baking bread. Sarah didn’t even slow down, but Jenna was hit with a wave of homesickness so powerful it felt like a physical blow. She would have given anything to be home in her own kitchen baking low-fat apple cobbler and sipping Italian coffee. The group of women seated at the table peeling potatoes looked up in surprise.

“Sarah? What’s going on?” An older woman called out as they hurried past.

“Pretend you didn’t see us,” Sarah yelled without turning back.

They pushed into a small mudroom filled with boots, jackets, gloves, and hats. Moving through another swinging door, they entered the largest greenhouse Jenna had ever seen.

The brightness made her blink. Beyond the sheets of translucent plastic fifteen feet above her head, the sun was a fireball in the sky. Jenna wondered how long she’d been underground. The tangy smell of tomatoes and basil filled her senses and made her stomach growl.