Midnight Call (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (6 page)

The smell preceded Nadia as she came into the kitchen a few minutes later. Jackson noticed the grimace on her face and the way she held her arm away from her body. He laughed when he saw the dirty diaper and grabbed it from her.

“These immediately go outside. We learned that lesson the hard way. Believe me. The smell only gets worse the longer they sit.”

“I don’t think I have ever smelled anything as bad as that,” Nadia said, pointing to the offending diaper. “Not being mean or anything, but is she supposed to smell like that? Is that normal? Nothing I read online prepared me for that.”

Jackson zeroed in on Nadia’s statement about her reading online but decided to ignore it for the time being. So far she was being great with the baby, and that’s exactly what they needed. He decided to watch her closely for a while to make sure everything was working out.

“Trust me. We have the doctor on speed dial.” The doctor had practically threatened them with bodily harm if they woke him up at home again. Good thing he was a friend.

Nadia laughed, and it had to be the sexiest sound he had ever heard. It was deep and sultry, and Jackson could imagine hearing it after an all-night lovemaking session. Her voice would be hoarse from all the moaning and screaming she would be doing. Too bad she was off limits. Jackson frowned as he tried to adjust his now-too-tight jeans. It wouldn’t help if Nadia saw just how much she affected him. He carried their lunch over to the table and sat.

“Where is Addison?”

“I changed her and laid her down in the crib. She didn’t cry so I assumed that was okay. I can go get her if you want,” Nadia said as she tried to rise from the table.

Jackson grabbed her hand to keep her from getting up. “No, calm down. It’s okay. I was just wondering where she was. That’s all. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Nadia seemed to deflate as the tension left her. Jackson had a feeling she was not as comfortable around the guys or Addison as she let on. This wasn’t going to work if she wasn’t going to be able to relax around them. He had a feeling Nadia was worried she was going to do something wrong.

“Look, honey,” Jackson sighed. He still hadn’t removed his hand from her arm and began to rub. “This is only going to work if you are comfortable around us. If you are going to be living here with us, then we don’t want you walking around on eggshells. I tell you what. Why don’t we order Chinese for dinner later, and we can all get to know each other.”

Nadia nodded. “I would really like that a lot.”

Jackson was relieved when she smiled and sat back. The way she made him want to take care of her and make her happy, although he’d just met her, was scary. He had a feeling she was going to become very important, not only in his life, but his two roommates’ as well. If they weren’t careful, Nadia Cassidy would have them wrapped around her little finger just like Addison had in no time.

The sunlight streaming through the window woke Robert Hale out of blissful sleep. He wished he could turn over and go back to sleep, but the pain kept him awake. For the past two days, the only time he was pain free was when he was asleep. He blamed Sarah for everything that had happened to him. He couldn’t believe the bitch had disappeared on him. She had threatened to leave him many times over the years, and he had paid her no mind. She would always be there. She had nowhere else to go. Unfortunately, this time had been different. When he’d come home a month before, he was too drunk to notice most of her belongings gone. It took him almost a week of waiting to realize that she had actually done it. She had actually left him. Too bad he didn’t see it coming or he could have been able to do something about it. As it was, he had no idea how long she had even been gone.

Robert was in trouble now. He had been depending on Sarah’s paycheck to get him out of the bad situation he had gotten himself into. He figured Sarah would eventually come crawling back, so he didn’t even bother looking for her. He realized that was a mistake when a few of Mr. Porello’s bodyguards caught up with him a couple days ago. They had pretty much beaten the crap out of him and then given him two weeks to come up with the money he owed Mr. Porello. If he didn’t pay the ten grand he owed plus interest, they would take him to meet Mr. Porello. From the stories Robert had heard, those that were lucky enough, or should he say unlucky, to ever earn a meeting with the mysterious man were never seen or heard from again. Robert had no doubt that, if it went that far, the man would kill him.

Lying in that filthy alley bleeding and in pain, Robert vowed there was no way he would ever meet Mr. Porello in person. He would find Sarah and make her pay. If she hadn’t left him, he could have used her paycheck to get the money. All he had to do was place a small bet at the tracks. He had received an inside tip, and the bet would have been a sure thing. He would have made enough money to pay Mr. Porello back and replace Sarah’s paycheck without her ever knowing he took it.

Robert groaned as he eased out of the bed and shuffled to the bathroom. His life had come down to two weeks, and two days of that he had lost to being stuck in the bed in pain. He had to get up and get moving if he wanted to track Sarah down. The sad thing about the whole situation was that he would have won if he had been able to place that bet. The tip he’d received turned out to be true, and he would have had all the money he needed. This was all Sarah’s fault. When he found her, he was going to show her how it felt to be beaten for no damn reason.

After showering and getting clothes on, Robert left the house. He went to Sarah’s job at the restaurant first. The last time he’d seen her, she was leaving for work, so he figured this was the best place to start. Once he arrived, Robert walked up to a cute young waitress he saw working.

“Hi, miss, I was looking for Sarah. I was supposed to meet her here twenty minutes ago, but I am running a few minutes late.”

The waitress looked him up and down and frowned. His black eye and bruises on his face probably contradicted the black Armani suit he was wearing. He normally didn’t dress like this, but he had bought the suit on a whim with his track winnings a while back. He sometimes wore it to the track when he wanted to look big. He noticed that when the track workers saw the suit, they saw VIP and dollar signs. They went out of their way to treat him like royalty to get him to spend the money they thought he had. Now he wore it because he figured he would get people to answer his questions a lot easier if he looked important rather than a street thug. Evidently he passed the waitress’s test because she smiled and led him to the back.

“Are you a lawyer or something?” the waitress whispered when they were out of hearing range of the other people.

Sure, why not?
“Yes I’m a lawyer. Sarah needed my services and asked me to meet her here today. She said she would be working today,” Robert said, playing along. The look on the waitress’s face told him he wouldn’t find Sarah there today.

“I’m sorry, sir. Sarah isn’t here. We haven’t seen or heard from her in about a week. We are all really worried about her though. I just hope there is nothing wrong with her or the baby.”

Baby? What baby?
Robert wanted grab the waitress and shake her to get her to tell him what the hell she was talking about. “Sarah didn’t tell me she had a baby,” he said calmly, like it didn’t matter to him.

“Oh, not yet. She was pregnant, but she hadn’t had the baby the last time I saw her.”

Robert didn’t think the waitress could have shocked him anymore if she’d tried. Sarah was pregnant? Is that why she’d left him? Was the baby even his? Yeah, he had no doubt, if she was pregnant, the baby was his. Sarah was not the type of person to cheat. How had he not noticed she was pregnant though? Robert had to find out.

“What’s your name, sir? I will tell Sarah you came by if I see her.”

Robert left without acknowledging the question. He didn’t need the waitress alerting Sarah that he was looking for her. He stopped when he was down the sidewalk from the restaurant. He needed to think. If Sarah was pregnant, she was going to need money to raise the baby. Robert didn’t think Sarah would just leave her job without telling someone unless something was wrong. If something were wrong, the first place Sarah would go would be the hospital. He didn’t know how far along she was or even if it she was truly pregnant, but Robert figured he had nothing left to lose by checking the hospital for Sarah. With more energy and hope than he’d had in the past couple days, he turned toward the hospital.

As he walked, Robert had time to think about his life. It said something that a woman he’d lived with for six years was able to hide something as important as a pregnancy from him. What did that say about him? He was slacking. In the past, nothing like that would have ever slipped past him. He knew he was not the best person in the world, and based on the situation he was in now, he had no choice but to admit he had a gambling problem. Okay, not necessarily a gambling problem, but he did need to lay low for a while. What really got to him was the fact that, if Sarah was really pregnant, she was willing to keep him away from his child. That would never happen. He had no need for a baby, but it was the principle of the matter. There was no way he would let Sarah take something of his away from him. If the baby was his, maybe he could find a way to make things work in his favor. He would let Sarah have the little rug rat, but she would have to pay him to make him go away.
Ten grand plus interest sounds like a reasonable amount to me.

Robert’s first task when he arrived at the hospital was to make his way to the nursery. He didn’t stop to ask for directions, so it took him a few wrong turns to find it. He didn’t want anyone to know he was there until he came up with a plan. Because of this, he tried to stand out as little as possible.

When he arrived at the nursery, he stood staring at the window watching all the babies. None of them looked like him at all. Red hair was a dominant gene in his family, and none of these babies had anything resembling that. Robert had no doubt that any child of his would have his looks. It was possible that Sarah hadn’t even had the baby yet, if she was truly pregnant, but he wanted to make sure. He stood there a few more minutes trying to come up with a plan. He knew there was no way he could just walk up to a nurse and ask for information. They would never tell him anything. Robert needed a way to find out what he needed to know without drawing attention to himself.

After a few more minutes of staring, Robert made a decision. He got back on the elevator and quickly went to the gift shop he’d passed on the way up. After getting balloons and a stuffed bear, he headed over to the nurses’ station and tried to put his most innocent expression on his face. Although he knew there wasn't even the slightest chance of him getting information from one of the nurses, he had to try. Sometimes the easiest route was the best.

“Hi,” he said, smiling when the nurse looked up from what she was doing. “I'm a friend of Sarah Burrows. I was told she was here. I've been out of town for a few days, so I came as soon as I got in this morning.”

The nurse looked up at Robert and narrowed her eyes. He knew what she saw. A guy that looked like he just got done being tortured. If she only knew. He stood there like he had every right to be there and waited until the nurse got finished. After eyeing him from head to toe and then eyeing the balloons and bear he carried, she sat down and punched something in her computer. The expression on her face let him know Sarah was definitely there or had been there. He just needed to figure out a way to get the nurse to tell him where she was now.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have a Sarah Burrows here.” The nurse looked back down at her charts, dismissing Robert.

“Listen, ma’am. I just spoke with Sarah the other day, and she said she was headed here because she was having pains and thought she might be in labor. Now like I said, I was out of town. I rushed here as soon as I could, but I’m worried about her because I can’t get in contact with her. If you have any information about where my fiancée is, I would greatly appreciate it if you would tell me.” Robert let one tear flow down his face, effectively putting the cherry on top of his little performance.

It wasn’t hard to come up with the tears because his ribs were screaming in pain at the moment. He hoped the nurse would take pity on him when she saw him crying, and it seemed to be working. The nurse sighed and laid her charts down. She typed something on the computer again and then looked up at him.

“I’m sorry, sir, but Sarah did check in a few days ago, and it looks like there were complications with her pregnancy. I’m sorry to inform you that she didn’t make it.”

Well damn. That was the last thing he expected to hear. She hadn’t made it. Now what was he supposed to do? He needed Sarah to help him cover his debts. Without her, he was as good as dead. This was just like something the bitch would do just to spite him. He hoped she was rotting in hell.

“The baby survived,” the nurse said, trying to comfort him, mistaking his silence for sadness or shock.

What was he supposed to do now? He didn’t care if the little brat survived. Robert had no use for it unless it could magically sprout money. He needed Sarah for his plan to work, but maybe he could make it work without her. How many people wanted babies and couldn’t have them? Well, Robert had one, if he could find it, and he was pretty sure he could find someone willing to pay to have it.

“Where is my baby?” Robert said, trying to sound as heartbroken as possible. He deserved an Oscar for the performance he was putting on.