Marie Ferrarella - Cavanaugh's Secret Delivery

He had caught the one-time college student on a possessions charge and managed to flip him when Gomez said he had current intel he could trade. It turned out to be good information. Better than Dugan had thought, at first. So good, apparently, that it had wound up costing his confidential informant his life.

“I don’t think he did know what he was doing,” Dugan said thoughtfully, referring to what Jason had said before he called Kristin. “I think that he thought it was all going to go his way and turn out the way he wanted in the end.”

Looking at the black body bag, Jason shrugged. “Nothing we can do about it now.”

“Except catch the son of a bitch who killed him,” Dugan pointed out, saying the words with such a passion it caused Jason to look at him uncertainly.

“Yeah, there’s that, too,” Jason agreed, trying to lighten the mood. “Hey, I really didn’t roust you out of the arms of some nubile young woman?” Jason asked, curious.

“Actually, I had just finished delivering a baby when you called me,” Dugan answered, turning away from the body.

Rather than say anything, Jason just started to laugh. “Yeah, right.”

“No, I’m serious. When you called, I had just finished delivering this woman’s baby and there was an ambulance on its way to take her to Aurora Memorial,” Dugan said, mentioning the name of the closest hospital to that particular place, which was also known as the best one in the county.

Jason began to laugh again, but this time, his laughter was very short-lived. He paused, looking at his partner. Dugan wasn’t even smiling. Dugan usually smiled by now if he was putting him on.

Jason eyed his partner. “You’re serious.”

“You already asked me that,” Dugan pointed out. In the back of his head, he couldn’t help thinking that one life had just ended while another life had just started. He supposed that was what real life was all about, but somehow, it still didn’t really feel like things equaled out.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think—damn, a baby,” Jason repeated, shaking his head and grinning. “So? How did it feel?” he asked.

“Well, it all happened so fast, I didn’t have time to think or feel anything,” Dugan admitted. “And by the time I could, I was already on my way to the scene of the crime.”

“And she’s no relation? Not a girlfriend or a...?” Jason let his voice drift off as he looked at Dugan, waiting for the other detective to fill in the blank about the woman’s relationship to him.

“No, not a girlfriend or a...” Dugan repeated. “I was going toward my car when I heard this unearthly scream. I looked to see where it was coming from. This woman was sitting in her car, looking like she was about to pop at any second.”

“So you delivered the baby?” Jason asked, as if he was trying to wrap his head around the whole scenario.

“Well, I started out to do that,” Dugan answered. “But she actually wound up delivering the baby on her own for the most part.”

“Wow.” Jason shook his head, envious of the experience. “All I did after I left the bar tonight was finish up the puzzle I was working on for the last week and a half,” he admitted quietly. “You going to go there now? To the hospital?” Jason prompted when Dugan just looked at him blankly.

“No, not until we file all the paperwork on this,” Dugan answered. “He was my CI.”

“Nobody else knows that yet,” Jason pointed out. “You don’t have to do that part right now.”

“ I know that,” Dugan said pointedly. “But I will. It’s only right.”

Jason sighed, shaking his head. “Are all you Cavanaughs such sticklers for honesty when it comes to crossing your T’s and dotting your I’s?” the other detective asked. “Don’t any of you ever kick back?”

“Not where it counts,” Dugan answered, then added with a grin, “Lucky for you.”

Jason laughed. He saw the point. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Okay,” Dugan said, taking a breath and telling himself that they were going to need a fresh start here. “Let’s see what we can find out about this murder. Before homicide starts horning in on our case.”

Jason looked almost hangdog. “So much for going home tonight.”

Dugan paused to look at the other detective. “Hey, you called me, remember?”

Jason looked resigned—for now. “I guess I’ve got nobody else to blame but myself for being here,” he replied. Then his eyes glimmered a little. “But even so, I can still try to put the blame on you for my sleepless night.”

Dugan laughed. “Okay. Whatever floats your boat, Nguyen.”

* * *

Dugan didn’t get to the hospital that morning. Nor did he managed to get there the whole day. The investigation into Gomez’s murder kept him and Nguyen busy.

It wasn’t until the following morning that he finally managed to scrape together a little time for himself. He used it to swing by the hospital.

On his way over to Aurora Memorial Hospital, he decided to give himself a total of fifteen minutes there. Twenty at the most.

Despite the fact that it was only eight in the morning, finding somewhere to park was a bit of a challenge—at least, if he wanted to park somewhere close to the front. The hospital always seemed to be busy.

He wound up parking toward the very back of the lot. Because he was short on time, he decided to sprint. He told himself that a quick sprint would be good for him. It was either that or drive around a few times until someone decided to free up a spot and leave. He didn’t have time for that.

The city had too many people, he thought, getting out of his car. Used to be, according to his uncles—at least, the ones who had been born in this city—that Aurora was so small it hardly warranted a hospital at all, much less two.

It had been a huge deal when the second hospital, Aurora Memorial was finally opened. At the time, the hospital was half the size it was now and there had been empty beds on occasion. But that was because the city hadn’t done all the growing that it had of late. Back then, it was more like a one-horse town than a city.

He smiled to himself. According to his uncles, there’d been three lights down the main drag. One at one freeway, one at the other and one that was halfway in between.

There’d been cows here instead of all these people, and crime had been almost nothing. Now the cows were gone and crime was on its way up, although he and the rest of the Aurora Police Force were definitely trying to do something about that.

Okay, this is supposed to be your downtime, Dugan, remember? No shop talk, just a nice, quick visit. Something to remind you that you’re capable of doing good deeds once in a while and you’re not just a police detective, but a human being as well.

Approaching the main doors, Dugan waited until they sprang open. He preferred opening his own doors, but progress seemed to have other ideas, so he waited. Once the doors had pulled apart, slowly, he walked into the hospital.

The last time he had been here, everything had looked different. But the hospital had gone through a new wave of building again, or modernizing, as it were. For one thing, the lobby didn’t look the way it used to.

It took him a moment to get his bearings. Looking around, he finally spotted the information desk. Relieved, he approached the two people who were sitting there—a man and a woman—looking more than a little bored. They both came alive when they saw him.

“May we help you?” the attendants asked almost in unison.

“I need to get to the maternity floor,” Dugan told them.

“That would be the third floor,” the young woman said, smiling at him.

As he began to walk away, the male attendant called after him. “If you give us the patient’s name, we can tell you which room she is in. It’ll make it go faster for you.”