Lisa Jackson - Wicked Game

“I’ll have to add that to the insurance report,” Tim said to Hudson. “Thanks for reminding me.”

In a foul mood, Hudson pushed thoughts of Tim aside as he drove home. Ignoring the calls from reporters on his answering machine, he spent the rest of the day caring for the livestock and fixing a broken gate. The physical labor of forking hay into mangers, shoveling manure from the stalls, and replacing hinges and broken boards gave him time to think and sort things out.

He tried to remember more of what she’d said in their last phone conversation, but there didn’t seem to be anything there that meant anything. He knew her user ID and password, so he switched on his computer and flipped through her unread and “kept as new” e-mails. There weren’t a lot of them. And none of them had to do with the story she was working on. Less than an hour later, he logged off in frustration.

Maybe the only way to learn something was to follow in her footsteps, like she’d followed in Jessie’s.

His cell phone chirped at the same moment he heard tires crunching on his gravel driveway. He answered the phone, then glanced up the stairs, where Becca was working on her own laptop, getting some overdue work done for her job. “Hello?”

“Hey, Hudson. It’s Zeke. I’m just pulling into your driveway.”

“Yeah? What makes you come out here?”

“Just wanted to talk to you.”

“Come on in. Door’s open.” He hung up and yelled, “Zeke’s here.”

When she didn’t answer, he headed upstairs and caught her coming out of the bathroom, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “You all right? Zeke’s just pulling up. He wants to talk to me.”

Becca grimaced. “I ate something that didn’t agree with me. I’ll be right down.”

“Okay.”

Hudson clambered back down the stairs and Becca watched from the upper rail. She’d just lost her dinner. Food poisoning, or…pregnancy?

Too soon to know, she told herself with a flutter of anxiety in her already nervous stomach. She couldn’t think of it. Couldn’t hope. Yet elation was building, a sudden, blinding certainty that ran down her nerves like electricity.

No. No. Oh, please…yes!

It took her a few moments to collect herself, to quash her growing thrill and put it in perspective. This was way too early. If it was true, she was barely a month pregnant. But then, she’d known immediately last time she was pregnant as well.

Oh, God, let it be true!

By the time she joined them, Hudson and Zeke were in the kitchen. Hudson was in a chair, but Zeke was standing. Becca’s head was full of swirling thoughts and it was all she could do to even wonder why Zeke had suddenly stopped by.

“I just got back from the police station and McNally. I went home but I couldn’t stay there.”

“What’s wrong?” Hudson asked, frowning.

Zeke hesitated, clutched his fingers around the back of an empty chair, then rocked back on his heels. “The DNA proved I’m Jessie’s baby’s father.”

“What?” Becca asked softly and Hudson stared at Zeke like he was speaking a foreign language.

“The body has to be Jessie’s,” Zeke went on raggedly. “It has to be, because I didn’t sleep with anyone else…except Jessie…at that time.”

“You slept with Jessie,” Hudson repeated. Zeke’s gaze implored his friend’s, but Hudson was having trouble shifting gears.

“You can hate me, man. I wouldn’t blame you if you did! She was just trying to get back at you and I was a fucking idiot. I don’t know. I don’t have any excuse. She was just hot and I wanted her. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry!”

Becca’s pulse shot into the stratosphere. Her mind was a jumble of pieces of information. Jessie’s baby wasn’t Hudson’s. Zeke slept with Jessie. Hudson’s best friend slept with his girlfriend. Jessie’s baby wasn’t Hudson’s!

“Who killed her?” Hudson asked in a strangled voice.

“I don’t know, man. Not me.”

“Did you know about the baby?” Hudson demanded.

Zeke shook his head. “No way. I just thought she ran off, maybe because we were screwing. She was messed up. So was I. I’m sorry.”

“Do you think she knew?”

“About the baby? It was, like, a few months along. That’s what McNally said.” He turned blindly to Becca. “Girls know that stuff, don’t they?”

“Yes,” Becca said weakly.

“I don’t think she knew I was the father. I mean, you and her…” Zeke struggled for words, his gaze on Hudson, who’d gone unnaturally quiet. “You were together during that time?”

There was a long silence. Zeke’s anxiety and torture over wondering what Hudson was thinking and feeling filled the room. Becca felt light-headed and sank onto one of the kitchen chairs. The past consumed the present. You’re not pregnant, she told herself. You just want it so badly your subconscious is making you think you are.

But you haven’t used birth control, have you? Haven’t thought about it!

Hudson’s cell phone rang and Zeke and Becca both visibly jumped. He pulled it from his pocket and checked the Caller ID. “It’s Mitch,” he said.

“Maybe I should go.” Zeke looked to Hudson for confirmation, but his friend had turned his attention to his cell. Becca nodded to him. There wasn’t much more to say, and Hudson was clearly still processing.

Zeke hesitated, but when he heard Hudson say, “Hey, Mitch, what’s up?” he left, shoulders hunched, through the back door.

Becca glanced over and saw Booker T.’s empty water dish. She wondered when Hudson was going to put it away. The dog wasn’t coming back.

But maybe there’ll be a baby…

Hudson listened for a few moments, then said into the phone, “Why don’t you just tell me, Mitch? I don’t think anything could surprise me now. If you know who killed Glenn, just say it. And don’t tell me it’s Jessie, because I just learned those bones are definitely hers. Yes. For a fact.” His gaze met Becca’s and he said into the receiver, “That’s right. Jessie did not send the notes because she’s dead.” He listened a little longer, then half sighed and said, “You’re at the garage? How long are you gonna be there?” A pause. “Sure, I’ll stop by.” He shrugged to Becca as he hung up.

“Mitch is working late at the garage and wants me to stop by so he can talk to me about who killed Glenn.”

“All your friends are suddenly into confessions,” Becca murmured.

“You still feel sick, or do you want to go with me?”

“I’m okay. I can go. Think it’ll be all right with Mitch? Maybe he wants to see you alone.”

“To hell with that. I want to be with you.” He pulled her into his arms. She hugged him so hard he started laughing.

“Are you all right?” she asked, her face pressed into his chest. “After what Zeke said?”

He exhaled a short breath. “Y’know, I’m almost relieved. Thinking the baby was mine, and I never knew…pissed me off. I’ve been really mad at Jessie-and she’s been dead for twenty years! She never told me. I don’t know how to explain it, but I was goddamned mad at her.”

“I understand.” A whisper of fear swept over Becca’s skin. She’d kept that same secret herself.

“I’m not mad at Zeke. I would have been at the time, but a lot’s happened and I just don’t care.” He stroked her hair. “And I believe Zeke. He didn’t know she was pregnant. I don’t know why she was killed-maybe she just ran into the wrong person-but I don’t think it has anything to do with the pregnancy.”

“Neither do I.”

“Are you ready to go see Mitch?” he asked.

She curled her fists into his shirt and said, “Would it be bad of me to say, ‘not just yet’?”