The Baby Thief (37 page)

“Get the syringe and give him the shot.” Grafton tried to bark out the words, but there was no strength to his voice. Carmichael hesitated, shifting his focus between Demauer and the ex-con.

“We have to get moving, for Christ’s sake!” The ex-con grimaced. He now sounded like he was in pain.

Carmichael spoke rapidly to Demauer. “It’s over, Liz. We’re not going to take Jenna’s ovary. You’re not going to shoot anyone. Give the gun to Zeke. We might still get out of here, but only if we leave now.” He turned and began to search the floor for the syringe.

At the mention of the ovary, Eric got his first glimmer of what was going on.

“But what if I don’t get pregnant?” Demauer’s voice was childlike, pathetic in its selfishness.

“Oh, shut up!” Carmichael bellowed without even looking up.

They spotted the syringe at the same time. Oh shit. It was now or never.

Eric lunged for the syringe, but lost his balance and fell. Adrenaline and will power brought him to his feet again. Carmichael was there, waiting to wrestle the syringe from his hands. Eric threw himself forward, aiming for the doctor’s left shoulder. Carmichael’s eyes widened in fright and he stepped sideways.

Not fast enough. The needle penetrated a muscle just below Carmichael’s clavicle. Eric pressed the plunger, then jumped back, taking the syringe with him. The drug was mostly spent, but it was the only weapon he had. Carmichael tried to speak, but no words came out. A moment later, he collapsed.

Eric whirled back to the operating table. Demauer still had the gun and Grafton was coming at him with the scalpel. Oh, God, not again. Eric’s heart pounded in his ears.

Grafton stumbled, then clutched at his chest. “Oh, fuck.” The man staggered forward, making a clumsy effort to stab at Eric. He missed and fell to his knees. “Doublefuck.” Grafton pitched forward, hugging himself in obvious agony before passing out.

Eric didn’t have time to rejoice. He turned back to Demauer, who now had the gun pointed at his chest.

“It’s over,” he pleaded. “The police are on their way.”

The woman seemed not to hear him. She turned to the operating table. Eric stepped forward. Jenna’s eyes were open.

“Put the gun down.” He tried to sound friendly. “I know you don’t want to hurt anyone. You’re a doctor, not a killer.”

Demauer didn’t hear him. She was talking to Jenna, begging to be understood. “I just wanted to have a baby of my own. All I needed from you was a couple of mature eggs. I know I should have asked, but I was afraid you’d say no.”

Jenna sat partway up, the sheet falling away. She seemed to be coming back from a far off place and was unaware of her own nakedness. Eric resisted the urge to rush toward her. Demauer was unpredictable, too close to the edge to be trusted.

“Who are you?” Jenna asked softly, looking up at Demauer.

“Can’t you see the resemblance?” The doctor smiled warmly, leaning toward Jenna as if they were good friends. “I know my hair is a lot shorter than yours, but we have similar faces. We have the same mother.” She touched Jenna’s hair. “If you can find a way to forgive me, we can be a family.”

“What do you mean we have the same mother? Don’t you work at the ARC?”

Eric watched Jenna struggle to comprehend. His heart went out to her. He now had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but she would probably never fully understand her sister’s actions.

“We’re twins.” Demauer smiled. “Not identical, but born at the same time and adopted by different people.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe your mother never told you. It’s so selfish.” The gun was down at her side now.

Eric moved cautiously toward the two women. Jenna saw him for the first time. “Eric?”

“Get back!” Demauer swung around, pointing the gun at his head. “This is between us. I may never have another chance with my sister, and if I have to shoot you, I will. Your life doesn’t mean anything to me right now, but Jenna’s forgiveness does.”

“All right.” Eric spoke softly, letting her know he wasn’t a threat. At this point, he really wasn’t. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold up, but he had the feeling Jenna was no longer in danger. His own safety was another matter.

“Are you the reason I’m here?” Jenna’s eyes darted from Demauer’s face to the gun.

“I won’t hurt you.” Demauer started to sob. “Not anymore than I already have.”

“But why?”

“I wanted to have a baby. Just like you wanted to have a baby.” The doctor continued to cry. “But my ovaries don’t produce eggs, and I didn’t want to adopt.” She fought for control, wiping at her eyes with one hand. “I knew I was adopted, and my childhood was hell. Adoption wasn’t even an option for me. With all the advances in fertility treatments, I knew somehow there had to be a way for me to have a child from my own gene pool.” Demauer smiled softly. “Then you walked into the clinic.”

Jenna leaned forward, mesmerized. “How did you know we were sisters?”

“You looked so much like me, I compared our DNA.”

“And decided to help yourself to it?”

“It was selfish, I know.” Demauer bit her lip. “Can you forgive me?”

“Why should I? Do you have any idea what it’s been like for me here?” Jenna’s voice escalated, emotion pouring out in audible sound waves. “What is this place, anyway? And who is that creepy preacher guy?”

Demauer started to speak, then stopped suddenly. Her focus shifted to the wall behind Eric. He heard the door swing open.

Jackson, Schakowski, and two other officers burst into the room, guns drawn.

“Nobody move!” Jackson’s voice boomed against the stone walls. Eric sagged with relief.

There was a moment of silence, then Demauer’s gun went off, a booming explosion that shook the room. Eric dropped to his knees. Gunfire filled the room, a deafening cacophony of metal thunder. Demauer’s body flew back, her blood splattering the white walls.

Chapter 49

9:18 p.m.

Jenna refused to be admitted to the hospital. She had already been in the emergency room for hours, and dozen different doctors had examined her. Nurses had taken her blood, checked her vital signs, and cleaned her various wounds. The clearer her mind felt, the more desperate she was to leave.

“We need to run more tests, do a CAT scan. It’s important that you stay overnight for observation. You’ve had a combination of powerful drugs pumped through your system. There could be serious side effects.”

This particular doctor—Jenna couldn’t remember his name—was older and more intimidating than the others. She still had no intention of spending the night in the hospital.

“What would you do if you did discover a side effect?”

“We’d give you something to counteract it.”

“More drugs? No thanks.”

Jenna was worried about the long-term effects of what had been done to her, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie down in a hospital bed and let them stick an IV in her arm. They’d already determined her ovaries were fine except for a large cyst, which would be removed at a later date. That was all she needed to know for now. In the meantime, she wanted to get away from the hospital, away from the doctors and their poking and prodding.

“Run the tests if you have to, but don’t expect me to lie down for it. I may even sleep sitting up for a few weeks.” She laughed at her own intensity. Even though it felt good, she stopped herself, afraid the laughter would abruptly turn to tears. She didn’t trust her emotions, didn’t trust the doctors, wouldn’t trust her own mother if she walked into the room.

“I realize you’ve been through a lot but–”

“Forget it. Just do what you have to do and make it fast. I want to go home.”

“That’s what I keep telling them, but they won’t let me go either.” Eric rolled into the little room in a wheelchair. Jenna’s heart leaped into her throat. It was like seeing someone from another lifetime, someone she’d loved and thought she’d never see again. His smile was beautiful. A little less carefree than she remembered, but totally heartwarming. She wanted to throw herself into his arms but didn’t dare. He’d been seriously injured because of his determination to find her.

She forced herself to sound casual. “I hear you escaped from here once already, fortunately for me.” She had heard most of Eric’s story from the cops who brought her in and one of the doctors who examined her.

“Obviously, I didn’t get very far.” His expression was suddenly serious. “How are you, Jenna?”

“I feel like an alcoholic who has just sobered up from a two-week blackout. I’m weak, dazed, shaky, blank, and vulnerable.” Jenna shrugged. “But fine other than that.”

“Do you remember anything of the time you spent at the compound?”

Jenna remembered the crazy preacher/doctor’s eyes. She would never forget those piercing gray eyes. She remembered, fairly clearly, her conversation with Dr. Demauer, which seemed distinct and separate from the rest of her time in the basement. “I remember running through a field with a pretty blonde girl, but not much else. Who was she, by the way?”

“One of Carmichael’s followers.” Dr. Rubison cut in with the information. “Actually, she’s the daughter of one of his followers. Her name is Sarah, and she’s here in the hospital. He hit her with a dose of ketamine right after she helped you escape.”

“Is she all right?”

“She’s fine. They’ll release her soon. But this conversation can wait.” Dr. Rubison tapped the back of the wheelchair he’d opened for her. “Jenna needs to go upstairs for a CAT scan now.”

Jenna ignored the doctor and kept her eyes on Eric. Before she had a chance to ask him how he ever found her, a tall, dark-haired man in a dark suit was escorted into the room by a nurse.

Eric grinned. “Hey, Jackson. Just the man I wanted to see.”

“Don’t even talk to me, Troutman. You went way over the line between brave and stupid.

Jenna sensed these men were good friends.

“I know.” Unaffected by the harsh words, Eric turned to her. “This is Detective Jackson. He’s the man who saved us both.”

“Thank you.” Jenna had a million questions, but Eric beat her to the big one.

“So what does Carmichael have to say?

The detective shook his head. “What you’d expect. That it was Demauer’s idea. That she and Grafton forced him to go along, threatening to expose Carmichael’s medical practices to his major contributors if he didn’t do the egg transfer thing, whatever it’s called.” Jackson made a scoffing sound. “Carmichael claims they planned to let Jenna go. He says he would never hurt anyone.”

Jenna didn’t believe it for a minute. She would have died in that basement if Eric hadn’t shown up.

“Carmichael has been running a little test-tube baby clinic out at the compound for years. The plan, according to Carmichael, was to let Jenna go after messing up her memory with drugs.” Jackson turned to Eric. “But you saw them grab her that day by the park and you put those composite drawings in the paper.”

Eric groaned.

“Grafton apparently got scared and decided to kill you. Carmichael claims he didn’t know anything about that action. He says he tried to keep Demauer from killing both of you.” The detective rolled his eyes.

“It’s true.” Eric looked grim. “I hate to admit it, but he did try to get Demauer to put down the gun.”

Jackson was suddenly all business. “I’ll need a detailed statement from both of you whenever you’re feeling up to it.”

“I can’t believe that woman was my sister.” Jenna still couldn’t get over it. She’d been thinking about Demauer nonstop since she’d left the compound. What terrible things had happened to her sister to make her so desperate? Why had their real mother given them up? There were so many questions she might never have answers to.

“Did anyone call my mother? To let her know I’m all right?”

A dark look passed across Eric’s face. Jenna braced herself for bad news.

“I don’t think she ever knew you were missing.”

There was a long silence. Jenna’s mother had always been a mystery to her. At least now she knew why. She let go of the hurt and laughed out loud for the first time in ages.

“It’s probably a good thing. If she and Eric had both been looking for me, I would have been killed for sure.”

Eric’s cheeks blazed. “Hey, I meant well.”

The doctor cleared his throat. “I hate to rush this, but I was scheduled to go home hours ago. Let’s get this CAT scan done now.”

Jenna slid off the narrow hospital bed into the wheelchair. Might as well get it over with. Find out all the bad news at once. Then she would put her life back together, one step at a time.

“When are you getting out of here?” She looked back at Eric’s beautiful blue eyes.

“Tomorrow.”

“Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“I don’t know.” He grinned like a kid trying to keep a secret. “You stood me up last time we made a date.”

“Give me another chance.”

“All right. Where do you want to go?”

“Geronimo’s. I have some unfinished business there.”

“Pick you up at six?”

“Can you drive with your injuries?”

Dr. Rubison lost his patience and started pushing her wheelchair out of the room.

“I’ll hire a limo.” Eric beamed at her as she rolled by. “We have a lot to celebrate.”

Jenna had to agree. “It’s a date.”

Chapter 50

Wednesday, July 3, 2:22 p.m.

“Do you think she’ll look like me?” Jenna asked out of the blue.

“You mean, will you look like her?” Eric knew he shouldn’t give her a hard time. In less than an hour, Jenna would be meeting her biological mother for the first time. He couldn’t help it though. Jenna was so serious, and he had such fun teasing her.

“Whatever.” She gave him a phony piercing look.

“I think you’re lucky to have found her after all these years. Who cares what she looks like?”

“I don’t, really.” Jenna laughed. “I’m just nervous.”

Eric loved it when she laughed. Her whole face brightened, and he could forget for a moment what she’d been through.

“Hey, I’m nervous too.” He reached over and stroked her hair. They were driving west through Colorado to the town of Pueblo. After spending a day or so with Jenna’s birth mother, they would head for various parts of Illinois to see his family.