Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 128307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
After dumping the useless instruction manual onto the bed next to Macy’s thigh, I set to work on assembling the crib and changing table. As I work, my mind drifts to Samuel and the plea bargain he received from a recently appointed ADA.
Our hunch about his deal was right, but the name was hidden in the files. It has to be someone big, someone with enough influence to manipulate the system.
Macy and I worked together on the possible candidates for hours after dinner. We reviewed the details and attempted to piece together the puzzle. Macy’s mind is sharp. It is always working, even when she’s supposed to be resting.
I admire her determination, though I also worry that she is pushing herself too hard. Alex said Kailany didn’t engage until the week of delivery. Although Macy is strong and will make it through any obstacle thrown at her, I don’t think she wants her son spending his first few weeks of life in a neonatal intensive care unit.
Air whizzes from my nose when Macy’s giggle reaches my ears for the second time in the past ten minutes.
“I’m sorry.” Her apology is a strategy to miss the daggers of my riled glare. “But I’m reasonably sure you’re attaching the crib’s base to the changing table’s legs.” I don’t object when she scoots across the mattress this time. Her ass is still indenting the mattress, and that’s close enough to bed rest when a colleague is swimming in waters way out of his depths. “See? These are the legs for the changing table…”
Macy and I work in unison over the next several hours. Building the crib and changing table is similar to the steps we take when piecing together a hard case. It’s just a puzzle we complete in three hours instead of over several years, and she does all the legwork from her bed.
Stepping back from the assembled crib and changing table, I say, “What do you think? Boyish enough for a future linebacker?”
Macy twists her kissable lips before inspecting the crib from afar. “I think it’ll take fifteen weeks of overtime to pay you back, so he’ll need a high-paying job to help his momma out.”
She’s dropped multiple hints about repaying me. I’ve not accepted a single one.
When I spin to gather up the boxes and plastic the crib and changing table came in, I catch Macy mid-yawn. She looks exhausted yet continues to demonstrate exceptional acting abilities.
Her ploy lasts two seconds. That’s how convincing my stern gaze is to people skirting the truth. “Fine. I’ll go to bed earlier than my grandparents.”
When she climbs under the sheets and groans about not being able to find a comfortable position, I wish I could stay like I did last night. The only reason I don’t is because I don’t trust myself. I’ve been playing the role of excited daddy-to-be and devoted husband so well today that more than once I’ve forgotten that just because you hope something is true doesn’t mean it is.
I also need to put some hours into Cameron’s case before guilt swallows me whole. My sole focus today has been on Macy and ensuring her son doesn’t arrive until as close to his due date as possible, but I can’t forget the reason I’m miles from home. Macy, Cameron, Kendall, and more women than anyone could ever comprehend are counting on me to solve this case. I can’t let them down.
“You good?” My two words break through a final sigh rustling between Macy’s pursed lips.
After waiting for her to nod, I say goodnight and switch off the light. I leave the door open, not wanting anything in my way if she spirals into her guilt again like she did earlier today.
I hate that my gifts upset her, when all I wanted was to make her feel worthy, but I also understand.
The paperwork Macy was working on before the baby equipment arrived rustles when I plonk my ass onto a single armchair. I spread them out on the coffee table before reviewing the reports Macy had mentioned before the delivery driver interrupted us.
It is odd that Cameron’s kidnappers dumped the van within an hour of her abduction. It’s not typical for an entity like theirs to do that. It’s usually done when faking a death, like the ruses Tobias regularly ran when he needed to place a witness into a protective detail better than witness protection. But no matter how often I run the theory that Cameron’s kidnapping was staged through my head, I can’t remove Cameron’s panicked face when she clung to me from my mind, so the thought never lingers for long.
Cameron was abducted, and it is my mission to find her.
I just need to squeeze a few more matters into my already bulging schedule so I can keep the promise I made to Macy when a tear trickled down her cheek a second after her son’s healthy heartbeat rang throughout the ultrasound room.