Caroline Cross - Operation Mommy

Except that Brady had told Helen there was a problem.

Alex ground his teeth against an urge to curse. He jerked the phone away from his ear, thought for a moment, hit the disconnect button and again pressed the speed dial. Once more the phone began to ring, although a quick glance at the dashboard clock, which read half past five, made it unlikely this call would be answered, either.

Two rings later there was a click on the line, and a recorded voice said cheerfully, “You have reached Aunt Frannie’s Nannys, quality domestic caregivers for young and old. We are not in at the moment, but if you’d like to leave a message, we’ll be happy to return your call.”

Scowling, Alex left his name and number. He turned south onto the dead-end road that led to his house above the coast, switched on the radio and tried to forget about everything but getting home as fast as possible. Pressing on the accelerator, he felt a grim satisfaction as the sleek sedan surged forward, only to have his stomach plummet some ten minutes later when he approached his driveway and found the electronically operated gate wide open.

Gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white, he stomped on the gas petal and shot through the opening, oblivious to the bright splashes of magenta, rose and crimson from the late-blooming rhododendrons that lined the long circular drive.

It took what felt like hours before he rounded the final curve. The house rose up in front of him, three stories tall, a glorious sight with its dark green trim and its rows of windows sparkling in the bright summer light.

Alex didn’t notice. He was too busy trying to swallow the fear that choked him as he saw the pair of emergency vehicles parked ahead. His gaze swung wide, taking in the carved double doors that led into the house. They were standing wide open.

He slammed the car to a stop, threw open the door and leapt out. Racing across the manicured lawn, he ducked around a Japanese maple, pelted up the shallow brick steps and slid to a halt in the marble-floored foyer. After the glittering warmth of the sunshine, the vast hall felt cool, dusky—

And quiet. Unnaturally, ominously quiet. “Brady! Nicholas! Michael! Hello—is anybody here?”

Silence. For the space of a heartbeat he didn’t hear a sound but his own labored breathing. Then he detected a faint tapping noise and a murmur of voices coming from overhead.

He bolted up the wide, curved stairway and along the railed balcony that overlooked the foyer, heading toward the children’s wing of the house. Whipping around a corner, he faltered as he approached the boys’ oversize bathroom and spied several uniformed men standing inside.

Oh, no. Had Nick been playing sock hockey, slipped and hit his head? Or maybe it was Mikey. Perhaps his youngest son had tried to wash and blow dry the hamster again, only this time had been electrocuted for his troubles instead of merely nipped. Or what if it was Brady? What if, despite all the warnings, Brady had attempted to put another smoke bomb together and—

He drew a deep breath. Get a grip, Morrison. You aren’t going to be worth zip if you keep this up . Reaching down deep inside, he tapped into the well of icy calm he had discovered when Allison died and shoved aside his panic.

By the time he strode into the bathroom, he had himself frigidly under control. “I’m Alex Morrison. Who’s in charge here? What’s going on?”

For an instant the room fell silent. The three firemen who were clustered around the wall on Alex’s left stopped talking, while a pair of paramedics standing a dozen feet straight ahead turned to stare.

And then the quiet was shattered by a trio of high, young voices. “Daddy!” four-year-old Mikey cried, his face lighting up as he raced around the half wall that separated the bathtub from the rest of the room and launched himself at his father.

“Daddy!” Six-year-old Nick’s voice rang with excitement as he pelted after his little brother.

“Daddy?” Brady popped around the corner to stare at his father in undisguised horror. “What are you doing here!”

Like Alex himself, all three boys had brown eyes and brown-blond hair. Mikey, slight and angular, had his mother’s sweet smile and sensitive nature. Nick was sturdy and round-cheeked, with a sprinkle of freckles across his nose and an easy-to-read expression. But it was Brady who drew the eye. Slim and reedy, with intent brown eyes and an engaging grin, he had more curiosity than a convention of rocket scientists, more energy than a fleet of nuclear submarines and more enthusiasm than a gymnasium of cheerleaders—a combination that attracted trouble the way flowers drew bees.

At the moment, he was staring at his father as if he were an escaped felon caught in a spotlight.

Alex gave the two younger boys a brief awkward hug, then peeled them off his pant legs as he focused on his firstborn son. “We wrapped up the negotiations,” he said slowly. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“But I’m not ready!”

“Ready?” Alex raised one eyebrow. “For what?”

Brady became instantly fascinated with the toe of his sneaker. “Well, you know...” he mumbled. “Stuff.”

Alex’s apprehension grew. He shifted his gaze to his middle son. “Nicholas? You want to tell me what’s going on?”

After a quick sideways glance at his big brother, Nick also developed a sudden infatuation with his feet.

There was a moment’s tense silence. And then Mikey tugged on his father’s sleeve and said clearly, “Shay’s stuck.”

Alex’s gaze softened as he stared down at his youngest child. “She who’s stuck?”

Brady sighed. “Not she, Shay,” he murmured.

“It was a mersion of missy, Daddy,” Mikey said earnestly. “She saved Bwutus.”

Brady sighed again. “Mission of mercy, Mikey.”

“Yeah!” Nick chimed. “Everybody knows that. Besides, it was your fault!”

Mikey’s lower lip trembled. “Was not.”

“Was too! If you’d just holded on to Brutus like you were supposed to, none of this would’ve happened!”

“ Who is Brutus?” Alex asked.

Mikey’s eyes flooded with tears. “He’s my g-gerbil. Uncle J-James sended him for my end-of-school pwesent. Brady gots a lizard and Nick got Ike and Spike. I got Bwutus. He’s my bestest fwiend.”

Alex’s mouth tightened. He made a mental note to call his younger brother James and ask him—again—to refrain from sending the boys any more pets.

Which he’d be sure to do after he got to the bottom of the current situation. “So what’s Brutus got to do with—”

“Pardon me, fellows,” a faint, disembodied voice interrupted. “But do you think you could save the discussion for later and get me out of here? Soon?”

Alex jerked around, telling himself the voice couldn’t possibly have come from the floor vent the way he thought it had. “What the—” He stopped in shock as the tallest of the fireman stepped forward, making it possible for Alex to see that the other two men were in the process of lifting the built-in clothes hamper out of the wall. “Is there someone down there?” he exclaimed in disbelief.

“Don’t worry, sir.” The tall fireman stuck out his hand. “Lieutenant Malloy, Port Sandy Fire Department. The lady—your child-care provider, we gathered from the boys?—says she’s fine. As far as we can tell, she only dropped about five feet before the bend in the chute stopped her.”

“I...see,” Alex said, his gaze riveted on the hole on the wall. Truthfully, he didn’t see at all. Try as he might, he not only couldn’t imagine tall, stately Mrs. Kiltz doing something so undignified, but he also found it hard to believe she’d actually been able to fit in such a narrow space....