Kelley Armstrong - Broken

He fingered the straps on his bag. “I may be able to do more. I would have called later today. I have an idea where Patrick is hiding.”

“Where?”

“I’d prefer to check it out myself. Patrick and I may not be close these days, but I still consider him a friend. If he’s going to be brought in for questioning, I’d like to do it myself.”

We looked at each other.

“That may not be the best idea,” Jeremy said slowly. “We think he might have a larger role in all this than simply owning the letter.”

“If you knew Patrick-Well, it’s unlikely he has any involvement in this. But, as I’ve admitted, we’re no longer close, so I have to also admit that I may be mistaken. What I’m asking is that you allow me to bring him to a location I deem safe, with myself present at all times-including during questioning-to ensure that he has a representative there, and everything proceeds as it should.”

I bristled. “Proceeds as it should? If you’re suggesting we’re going to work this guy over-”

Jeremy cut me short. “If we saw clear evidence that Patrick Shanahan is responsible for this portal, and refused to help us close it, then we would indeed exercise methods of persuasion. No one’s arguing that. People have disappeared, one person has died and more are at risk. We’ll do what we need to, within reason, to close this portal.”

He stared hard at Tolliver, who finally dropped his eyes and nodded.

“Understood. If I can find Patrick, he’s yours-so long as I’m present for the questioning.”

Before Tolliver could leave, Jeremy said, “There’s one other thing I’d like you to do. A brief examination.” He nodded toward me.

“I’m fine. The baby’s kicking and-”

“Let him take a look,” Jeremy said, then lowered his voice so Tolliver couldn’t overhear. “You’ll feel better with a second opinion.”

Tolliver checked me out, then asked, “How far along are you?”

“About twenty-three weeks,” Jeremy answered.

Tolliver blinked, then nodded. “Yes, I suppose that wouldn’t be unexpected. What’s a wolf’s gestation period?”

“Nine weeks,” Jeremy said.

Tolliver took a tape from his bag, did a few measurements, asked me some questions, then leaned back on his heels. “Everything looks fine. This is the time, though, when you really need to be careful. I know, under the circumstances, easier said than done, but you’re well into your third trimester, or the equivalent of it.”

“Th-third trimester?”

“It’s impossible to tell for certain, but I’ve handled prenatal obstetrics at a few shelters, often with women who aren’t quite sure how far along they should be. I’d estimate you only have a few weeks left to go, but you’re healthy, and they’re doing fine-”

“Th-they?”

“The babies.”

I swung an accusing glare at Jeremy. “Bab ies ?”

Jeremy rubbed at a small smile. “I thought I detected more than one heartbeat, but I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure. All things considered, a multiple birth wouldn’t be unexpected…”

“Multiple? How…multiple?”

“Two,” Jeremy said quickly. He looked anxiously at Tolliver. “It is just two, isn’t it?”

Tolliver nodded.

“So I’m having…twins. We’re having-”

I looked around for Clay. He was out of bed and standing at my shoulder, grinning.

“News to you too?” I said.

He only nodded, still grinning, then pulled me into a hug. When I didn’t return the embrace, he looked down at me, eyes dimming.

“That’s okay, isn’t it? It’ll be extra work, but-”

“It’s okay,” I said as my heart thumped double-time. “Just…I think I need to sit down.”

Clay sat me on the bed while Jeremy grabbed juice from the minifridge. Tolliver probably thought we were all mad, but had the grace to just wait without comment.

Finally Jeremy asked, “But everything is all right, isn’t it? With the pregnancy? No obvious problems?”

“Nothing I can see. My only concern would be the timing. The less stress she has now, and the sooner you can get her home-” He stopped. “But I’m sure you know that already, which is why you’re so anxious to end this business. With twins, the possibility of early labor increases.” He looked at me. “Do you know the signs of labor?”

“We do,” Jeremy and Clay said, almost in unison.

I gave a small laugh. “They’ll fill me in.”

JEREMY INSISTED ON WALKING TOLLIVER OUT. AFTER PROMISING Clay I’d stick close to Jeremy, I tagged along, using the excuse of grabbing breakfast so I could speak to Jeremy without Clay overhearing.

When we reached the lobby, Tolliver stopped to answer his cell phone, and we stepped aside to give him privacy.

“I can see Antonio from here,” Jeremy murmured to me. “Go get something to eat. I’ll see Dr. Tolliver off.”

My cell phone buzzed. Rita calling to say that she’d confirmed Lyle Sanderson’s disappearance.

“Three people missing from one neighborhood,” she said. “Something’s going on. When I mentioned it in the newsroom, we laid bets on how long it takes someone to connect these disappearances to our dead girl from last night.”

I stopped walking. “You think there’s a link?”

“Hell, no. I’m taking criminology classes at the uni-figured it can’t hurt, right?-and from everything I’ve learned there, and working here, I can’t imagine a connection. On the one hand, you have people disappearing without a trace. No letters or calls to the press. Not even ransom notes. Then you’ve got this ballsy SOB who not only displayed his work in public, but did it within screaming distance of people. You could argue that he killed the others and didn’t enjoy it enough, so he went public, but that’s a big step to take so quickly. My opinion, at least.”

“Can I quote you on that?”

She laughed. “Like to see you try. Speaking of tips, I’ve got a few you can have. The crackpots are really coming out of the woodwork on this one. Just this morning we had a guy report seeing a walking corpse downtown.”

“The core is pretty dead these days.”

Rita snorted a laugh. “Unbelievable. Take a heat wave, add a health scare and people’s common sense takes a holiday. Zombies, killer rats, signs of the apocalypse…I’m just waiting for someone to say they’ve spotted sasquatches on Spadina. Or vampires in the Don Valley.”

I glanced over at the table, where Zoe was sipping a mimosa. “I’d believe vampires.”

“I’m sure you would. Listen, someone’s waving me into a meeting. Give me a call later. I want to get together before you leave town.” Her hand went over the mouthpiece as she yelled a muffled “hold on,” then came back to me. “Gotta run. You take care. And watch out for those vampires.”

“I will.”

As I hung up, I sensed something, and turned to see Clay coming up the steps.

“Back up to bed,” I said. “You heard the doctor.”

“Yeah, and he also said to eat. At this rate, I’d have starved before you brought breakfast.”

“Clay, please…”

He stepped beside me, hand dipping to mine. “I’ll go nuts in bed, darling. You know that. I’ll just take it easy.”

I hesitated, then nodded, and we headed over to the table, where everyone was laughing as Jaime regaled them with a story.

“-and I’ve seen fake tears before, but these were so bad the entire crew was snorting, trying not to laugh. So the woman’s wailing her heart out, practically rolling on the stage, and the ghost says-” She saw us and stopped.

“Is everything okay?” she asked Clay. “You look okay.”