I just said?”
“It’s Natasha. I ... never mind. I’m sorry.”
Elizabeth paused and then said, “A woman problem maybe I can handle. What is it? Are you okay? Jesus, I didn’t mean to come down so hard on you. Your voice...”
“I’m worried that Natasha is in danger.”
“Your job?”
“Yes.”
It was seven o’clock when Jack arrived home.
Natasha met him at the front door and said, “What the hell is going on? Why did you hang up on me?”
“I was at the hospital. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t ... oh, Jesus, it’s my fault,” replied Jack.
Natasha was startled by the tone of his voice but more shocked when she looked at him. Grief and anguish carved deep etches into his face. It was obvious he had been crying. She forgot her anger and hugged him, then held his hand as she led him to the living room and sat him down on the sofa to face her.
“Talk to me,” she said softly.
The words poured out. Everything that had happened within the last three hours. When he was finished, Natasha placed one hand on his shoulder and said, “You mean you still don’t know that Jimmy is going to be okay?”
“No. I’m sure he’s not. Even if they manage —”
“Nobody has told you!”
“Told me what? What are you talking about?”
“Jimmy is going to be okay. I was going frantic. Had to find out what was going on so I called the hospital and spoke with someone I knew. Danny and Susan are in shock, but Jimmy seems fine.”
“No, he can’t be. It’s not possible. He was underwater over half an hour. His brain will be ... if he lives ... he’ll be...”
“No, we don’t think so. He is alive and not showing any signs of neurological damage.”
“It can’t be. I was told he —”
“Let me speak. Normally, drowning suffocation causes a lack of oxygen resulting in death in only a few minutes. An exception to this rule appears in victims who have been suddenly submerged into ice-cold water, resulting in the slowing of body functions while diverting blood only to the heart, lungs, and brain. Some of these people have survived without any physical damage for up to an hour underwater. It’s known as the mammalian dive reflex. If someone gradually becomes hypothermic then this reflex does not apply.”
“But Jimmy is just a baby!”
“Babies are born with the mammalian dive reflex. They naturally hold their breath when submerged. Also, being less than three months old means his blood is still oxygen enriched from being in the womb.”
Natasha embraced her husband. She felt the moisture on her neck from his eyes. The telephone rang and he tried to move to answer it. She held him a moment longer before relenting.
“Jack. CC here. Just to let you know that it sounds like O’Reilly’s baby is going to be okay.”
“I know.”
“How did ... oh yeah, your wife.”
“How are they doing?”
“Pretty shook up. Got two guys providing security for them at the hospital. We’ll stash them at a motel later. Everyone else in your section is being warned to be cautious. In the meantime, who do you know with a British accent that is psycho enough to do this?”
“A British accent? Nobody. I can’t think of anyone.”
“Susan said that one of the guys spoke with a British accent. He also knew she had you over for dinner last week.”
“He what?”
“Yeah, commented to her that he was going to kill her baby because she fed you Yorkshire pudding.”
“How did he know that?”
“That’s what I’m asking you. Who knew what you had for dinner that night?”
“Nobody. She invited me when I was leaving the funeral and I went straight...” Jack paused. The funeral! The annoying wrong number calls ... the green van with the open window ... I never saw anyone enter it after the funeral ... sitting inside ... waiting...
“Jack?” asked Connie.
“Someone with a British accent called me a couple of times at the funeral for Holly’s husband. Said it was a wrong number. That was when Susan invited me. I think she said then what we were having!”
“You sure?”
“Positive. Tell me you were there doing your thing?”
“I was. Videoed everyone I could see who attended. Meet me at my office.”
Jack hung up, then looked at Natasha and said, “I want you out of here. Go out to the farm. Take next week off work. These people are murdering people I’m connected —”
“Jack, I can’t. I’ve got patients to look after next week.”
“Aren’t you paying attention? Everywhere I look or go people are getting murdered! Three nights ago I saw a guy get his brains blown out! Today someone tried to kill Susan’s baby because she fed me dinner! Can you believe it? Dinner! I can’t take this anymore! I’m not losing you, too!”
Natasha looked at him calmly, then said, “I didn’t hear about someone losing the contents of his cerebellum.”
Jack sighed, then said, “Okay, that one doesn’t count. Just bad guys killing bad guys. But this other stuff ... Danny and Susan. Someone did that because they’re ... they were my friends. I want you someplace safe until this is over.”
Natasha shook her head and said, “Jack, you should have looked in a mirror when you came home tonight. You need me. We’re a team. I’m not leaving you alone while —”
“If I need help, I’ll get someone. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t include you. You don’t invite me in to assist with your patients. I need to have a clear head. If I’m worried about you then I might make a mistake.”
Natasha thought for a moment, then in a whisper said, “You’ve made your point. Call your sister, I’ll pack.”
“She’s expecting you. I’ll stay and then follow you until I know you’re not being followed. I’ll call you as often as I can.”
Twenty minutes later, Jack and Natasha embraced and kissed each other in the underground parking lot beside their respective cars.
Natasha looked at Jack and said, “I know you desperately want to catch who did this, but ... I’ve
