CHAPTER 35 - MAKING A MOVE...A STUPID ONE, BUT A MOVE
MASTER BEDROOM - THREE HOURS LATER
BRIAN
He squirrels under my chin. “You have a Bump.” I whisper and he goes still. Then the blankets are thrown off and the light switched on.
“Really?!” He cries and stares down at his stomach. “I can’t see it.” He looks disappointed.
“Go and look in the mirror from the side. It’s tiny…but I know it’s th…”
“Oh my God! Sunbeam!” He whispers as he stares at his reflection. “There you are! That’s not a food baby. That is Sunbeam!” He strokes our Bump before he clambers back in bed and into my arms.
“Why am I showing so soon? Do you think something is wrong?” He voices my fears.
“No, but let’s call for an appointment tomorrow just to be sure.”
“Okay. Night, Hotrod.”
“Night, Spitfire.”
MICHAEL’S APARTMENT - SAME TIME
MICHAEL
I have torn this place a-fucking-part and I can’t find it! Where the hell did I put it?! Think! Think! I sit down at the table and try to marshal my furious thoughts! How dare they ship her off like she’s a parcel?! Her voice as she told me what they had done was heartbreaking. She apologised time and time again and they still sent her, and without anything to give her entertainment! Which reminds me... I head to my laptop and boot it up. Ten minutes later, I have bought her a tablet and booked a hotel near the school. Now all I have to do is find that fucking document!
MEL AND LINDSAY’S HOUSE - SUNDAY MID-MORNING
BEDROOM
LINDSAY
I bite my lip as Mel is stalking furiously round the room as she listens to whomever she is talking to. She jabs the phone to finish the call and then holds up her hand. She takes a couple of breaths before rejoining me back in bed.
“That was Ernie. It seems that Poor Little Orphan Annie was on her phone to someone, telling them that we had been virtually abusing her! We sent her to military school with nothing but the rags she was in, no tablet or anything of comfort and she only just managed to sneak her phone passed us!”
“Oh, for the love of fuck! Who did she call?” I wring my hands.
“They don’t know. But when she came back to the dorm, she was looking very pleased with herself.”
“Wait! Itemised billing!” I gasp and scramble for the laptop. “When is the bill cut off date?”
“Tomorrow...no, Tuesday.” She replies frowning.
“So that call would show up by end of today, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes. I suppose so. I...oh very clever, my flaxen haired beauty. Very clever indeed!”
“When you live with an attorney, you pick up a thing or three!” I giggle.
DR CHARLES FOSTER’S OFFICE - EARLY AFTERNOON
BRIAN
“...so we just wanted to check that everything is okay?” I finish, having explained why we’re here.
“Okay. Let me get prepped and we can have a look at…”
“Sunbeam.” We say at the same time.
“Yes, Sunbeam.” He grins at us and ten minutes later, there is a little Beam on screen. “Absolutely fine, progressing nicely. So do you want to know?”
“Know what?” I ask as I clean up Justin’s stomach.
CHARLES FOSTER
“What you’re having, of course. We can tell now but…”
“Yes.” “But what?” They say at the same time.
“It will involve this.” I pull out a very long, but very thin needle and Brian blinks at it.
“And you would do what with that?” He whispers.
“Through the belly button and into Beam to...shit! Nurse! Nurse!” I shout as Brian collapses in a dead faint.
Twenty minutes later, he opens his eyes and looks up at Justin from his lap. “You didn’t…”
“No. While I managed to stay conscious, I did throw up just after you fainted.”
“But do you want to know?” He asks quietly and I feel like I am intruding on a moment of sweetness.
“I think Sunbeam is a boy. With Kendi, I didn’t show and neither did you with Kemi. So it stands to…”
“I think you are right, but come back for your regular appointment in a month and I can tell you for definite. In the meantime, you both have nothing to worry about. Keep doing what you are doing.”
“Will you have to…” Brian points at the needle still on my desk.
“No. The growth of the fetus in male pregnancy is the same as in female pregnancy. Although a male womb thickens quicker, so the bump is noticeable sooner. Justin being slender also contributed to the early bump, but fitness in male pregnancy helps to ensure a healthy fetus. Males have a higher rate of miscarriage than females, so a healthy diet and light exercise can help reduce the risks and give your Sunbeam a fighting chance.”
“Wow.” He turns to Justin’s stomach. “Keep fighting Beam, we want to see you.”
TAYLOR RESIDENCE - WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
OFFICE
NYA
I am almost shaking with fury! Mel is sitting in front of me seething, and from what she’s told me, Jenny has made them out to be like the Child Snatcher for fuck sake!
“She called Michael.” She sighs.
“What good will that do?” I ask and pour her a brandy and pray.
“I don’t know, but he’s her fucking champion and hero at the moment!” She inhales the brandy and then shakes her head. “Sorry didn’t mean to unload, but Lindsay is freaking out that child services are going to come calling even though we did everything right. “
“This is child services we are talking about. If he had called them then they would be here or there by now. We know how he likes to embellish. Go back to work and try not to fret. Easy for me to say, I know.”
“Have you ever wanted kids, Nya? I mean of your own?”
“God, no! Far too selfish.” I laugh.
“You are one of the least selfish people I know.” She gently rebukes me.
“Why thank you, milady! Now offski goski. And tell Lindsay not to fret, everything is going to be fine.” I kiss her on the cheek and now that she is gone, my full rage is let loose. That little fucking yuckamucking madam! I am so fit to be tied that I sweep the papers across the room and know I need to spar. As I head to my room, I pause and think. Why hasn’t he called child services? What could have her looking smug...and then it hits me! I turn back to the office and dig amongst the debris that is my desk and find my phone.
“Pick up! Ted! Sorry didn’t mean to holler. Listen, Jenny has been playing the abused card to Michael and he’s not called child services on them. What do you mean so? Think my darling Teddy, think! If he’s not called child services then that means...bingo! Call Ernie and tell him to do nothing when Michael comes a-calling, and I mean absolutely nothing, except copy the document. Okay, later sweets.” I sigh in relief as the net is starting to close tighter.
KINNETIC
TED’S OFFICE
TED
When I finish talking to Ernie, I know what needs to be done and call Reed to get the number of his friend. He orders me to come down immediately, but I make a stop on the way.
PRECINCT 57 - 20 MINUTES LATER
INTERVIEW ROOM 6
NORBERT
I look across at my Captain and former partner, James Orion, and while I told him about the beating so that was summarily dismissed, I didn’t tell him about anything else. And now he is just looking at all the people assembled, including one shellshocked Brian Kinney.
“Fuck me, Kinney. I knew Novotny wanted you but this? To try and do this? Are you absolutely sure? I need absolute surety on this.”
“We’re sure.” Ted tells him and once again, looks across at Brian. “But what we need is for him to turn up with the documents as that proves the clinic part. How he would explain the money part is down to him, but we need him to produce that document.”
“Correct.”
“I am going to kill him.” Those are the first words that Kinney has spoken since he got here.
“No. You are going to sit down and listen. I’ve never liked him and now, I want this guy. I hate what he said about Kemi; I watched her arrive in this world for fuck sake! I didn’t get my hand almost broken and thus incurring the infamous Kinney Death Glare for you to stormtroop in and fuck it up.”
“I wasn’t that bad!” Brian protests.
“I was prepared to shoot you to get you to let go!” He glares at me as I snort with laughter at the memory. “But in all seriousness, we need you all to act normally. Let us do this from now on. Nothing, do absolutely nothing. I mean it Kinney, nothing!”
“He was going to…”
“But he didn’t get the chance. Take heart from that and move forward. Don’t look back on what might have been.” He clears his throat. “The other problem we have is the blackmail part.”
“Yeah, how do we square that circle and not have the Reed brothers brought down with him?”
“Power surge, for now?” Ted looks across at Kenya.
“Power what?” Orion asks.
“No, won’t work. It’s too far back and he’s been on him for 5 years.”
“Five? Five fucking years?!” Brian explodes.
“Brian, please!” Ted shushes him and the room goes quiet.
“Call the note in!” Blake suddenly shouts.
“How does that save the Reed brothers?” I ask.
“You beauty!” Kenya shouts. “Laptop!” I slide mine across to her and she pulls out her phone. “Hey Dad, want to shoot a fish in a barrel?” We all look confused as she speaks rapidly to her father while smiling and nodding.
“The rest of the class needs to be caught up, though I suspect you’ve been hunting.” Brian drawls and then Ted starts to smile.
“In English! I hate it when you speak finance!” Emmett snarks.
“Reed has not asked for money; Dad has not asked for money. So what do you do when you are an arrogant, lucky wank job, who thinks he’s gotten away with shit?” She continues to type on the laptop as she speaks. “Gotcha, you ratshit fucker! I got you! There!” She points at the screen and we all crowd around.
“You spend money that you really, and I mean really, shouldn’t.” Ted growls and takes her phone that was nestled in her neck. “Earl, it’s Ted. Call it in please, call it in now!”