Baby Doll(55)
“Am I not being clear, Stuart? Should I speak a little slower?”
“Eve, we think one of the lab techs leaked the results of Lily’s blood test. Dr. Amari and I are already looking into it, and the person will be dealt with accordingly. It’s unacceptable. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? You think sorry is enough? Do you realize I have abortion protestors on my doorstep? They’re holding up dolls that look like aborted fetuses. They’re calling us baby killers. After all we’ve been through.”
“Eve, you have to understand—”
“I understand that I’m suing your ass.”
Eve hung up, her rage still boiling over. She’d slipped out of the motel this morning before Tommy woke, determined to avoid the awkward morning-after dance. Instead she’d arrived home to find the anti-abortion protestors camped out on her front porch. Some waved signs that read, DEFEND LIFE or I AM THE VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS. Others were crueler with coarse images and accompanying pictures of the devil. She’d immediately forgotten her embarrassment and called Tommy. He’d sent over more officers, but there wasn’t a whole lot they could do. The sidewalk and streets were public property, which meant these maniacs were free to gather and unleash their hate on her and her family.
She’d found Abby awake, sitting at the dining table, silently absorbing the crowd’s unrelenting hostility. Abby had said nothing about Eve’s early-morning arrival, and Eve didn’t offer up an explanation. Instead they’d both gone upstairs to check on Lily. She was sitting up in bed, watching Sky sleep. She refused to discuss the baby.
“I’ll figure this out. But I need some time.”
Eve agreed.
“Let’s go somewhere. We’ll wait until all of this blows over.”
But Lily wasn’t budging.
“That’s not happening. They won’t run me out of my house. We’re not going anywhere.”
So they’d spent the day in Eve’s bedroom, shades drawn, playing board games and watching movies, trying to pretend they weren’t prisoners in their own home. By nightfall, everyone had headed off to bed, hoping that tomorrow their lives would return to whatever counted for normal.
It was almost ten o’clock, and Eve decided that a hot shower might ease her aching muscles. She flipped on the hot water, and steam began to fill the room. She stripped down and stepped into the shower, hot water rushing over her body. She was overwhelmed and exhausted and feeling so much older than her fifty-one years. How foolish she’d been to think Lily’s return would be the end of all their troubles.
Eve stayed in the shower until the water turned cold. When she got out, she dried off and wrapped herself in her favorite old robe. She surveyed her bedroom. So empty, she thought. She could still feel the weight of Tommy on top of her, his arms wrapped around her. Alone in her room, her mind racing, her body ached for him. She grabbed her phone and texted, Thinking of you and the way you make me feel.
She waited for a response but the screen remained blank, mocking her weakness. Eve dressed in her old flannel pajamas and sank down onto the bed. She stared at her weathered, tired hands, at the veins and lines that appeared one day as if by magic. She was so damn scared about what the future held. She finally put her phone away and closed her eyes.
Sleep consumed her, a dark, voracious, and winged thing stealing her away from the crushing weight of her failures. But she did not dream. Not tonight. Tonight she fell into an exhausted abyss. She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, but she startled awake, a shadow moving toward her bed.
“Who’s there? What is it?”
“It’s me, Mom. It’s Abby.”
Eve’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she saw Abby, clad in a giant gray T-shirt and sweatpants, clutching her oversized belly.
Eve bolted upright and flipped on the bedside lamp.
“What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
Abby shook her head. “It’s Sheriff Rogers. He’s downstairs.”
Eve’s breath caught. Tommy was here?
“He’s with that woman from the FBI. They want to talk to Lily.”
It wasn’t about Eve at all. It was Lily. Her poor, sweet Lily.
More bombs. More shrapnel, Eve thought instantly. She stood and grabbed her robe, pulling it tightly around her.
Eve followed Abby down the stairs and found Tommy and Agent Stevens sitting across from an anxious-looking Lily. She was wearing an old Lancaster Day School sweatshirt, her arms wrapped around her legs in a protective pose. Abby stood awkwardly nearby, her hand resting on her protruding belly.
Tommy cleared his throat, his eyes on Eve.
“We’re sorry to bother you this early, but time is crucial.”
“He sent you here, didn’t he?”
Lily’s question startled everyone. A chill coursed through Eve’s body. Her daughter knew Rick Hanson better than anyone. She knew that he was up to something.
“I’m afraid so,” Sheriff Rogers said.
“That motherf*cker,” Abby said. “What does he want now?”
No one spoke for a long moment. Sheriff Rogers finally broke the silence.
“Rick Hanson confessed tonight to kidnapping and holding Lily captive for the past eight years,” Sheriff Rogers said. “He also confessed to fathering her child.”