“What?” he asked. “What’s happened?”
She brushed past him as she returned to the conference room. The board members had the look of guilty children who’d been throwing spitballs while the teacher had been down to the office.
Pickens stood behind her chair. “I’m afraid we’ll have to reschedule,” she said evenly. “Something has come up that demands my immediate attention.”
She tossed her phone into her bag and left the room, passing her office and heading straight for the stairs. The elevator could take forever, especially if a patient transfer was under way. Once Agnes was out of the building, she had her phone out again, brought up a contact, tapped it.
It rang nine times before someone answered. “Yeah?” A man, sounding both surprised and annoyed.
“Gill, we’ve got a problem with Marla,” she said.
“Jesus, when don’t we,” her husband said. “Hang on, let me just . . . Okay, I was with a client. What’s happened?”
“She’s done it again. She’s taken another baby.”
“Fucking hell,” he said.
“I’m on my way.”
“Let me know what you find,” Gill Pickens said.
“You’re not coming?”
“I’m right in the middle of something,” he said.
“You’re unbelievable,” she said, and dropped the cell back into her purse.
Agnes wondered what, exactly, Gill was really in the middle of. More than likely, some slut’s legs.
EIGHT
David
I ran after Bill Gaynor as he sprinted toward my car. Marla had worn a blank expression up to now, but as Gaynor charged in her direction, her face changed. Her eyes widened with fear. I saw her glance down, probably checking to see that the car’s back door lock was set. Then she scooped Matthew into her arms and held on to him tightly.
“Matthew!”
“Mr. Gaynor!” I shouted. I reached out, tried to grab his shoulders to slow him down.
Gaynor spun around, tried to throw a punch, and in the process tripped over his own feet. As he hit the lawn I stumbled over his ankle and hit the ground next to him. I scrambled over before he could get up, leaned over him, and said, “Just listen! Listen to me.”
All I really wanted now was to keep Gaynor from hurting or frightening Marla. I wanted to bring some calm to the situation, as unrealistic as that might sound. Only moments earlier, Gaynor had found his murdered wife in their home, and he had every reason to be acting the way he was. But I was afraid, in his state, anything could happen.
He brought himself up to a sitting position, then launched himself at me. Two broad palms against my chest. I went flying backward.
He was on his feet in a second, and heading toward the car again. When he got to it, he was moving so quickly he had to brace himself. His outstretched hands hit the top of Marla’s door, and the car rocked. He reached down for the handle, yanked on it, but found it locked.
Marla screamed.
Gaynor yanked on the door handle two more times, maybe thinking he could bust it open.
“Go away!” Marla shouted.
Gaynor shielded his eyes with his hand long enough to peer through the window and get a good look at the baby. He made a fist and banged on the glass. “Open the goddamn door!”
Marla screamed a second time for him to go away.
I was to the car now, fumbling in my pocket for the keys. I’d be able to unlock the doors as quickly as Marla could lock them, but I wasn’t sure that doing so was a good idea. Marla and the baby were better off in that car, at least until the police arrived.
“Matthew!” Gaynor shouted. He ran around to the other side of the car, but before he could reach the back door, Marla leaned over awkwardly, baby still in her arms, and locked it, too. He yanked on the handle a second too late.
“He’s mine!” Marla yelled, her voice muffled by the cocooning effect of the glass.
A woman who’d no doubt heard all the commotion was coming out of a house on the other side of the street. She took two seconds to take in what she was seeing, and ran back inside.
Make the call, I thought.
Gaynor banged on Marla’s window twice with the flat of his hand, then decided to try the driver’s door.
Shit.
Marla hadn’t been able to reach into the front to lock that one.
I raised the remote, hit the button, but I was too late.
Gaynor got the door open and dived in, putting his knees on the driver’s seat so he could reach into the back. As he lunged for Matthew, Marla freed one hand and slapped at his arms.
“Stop!” I shouted. “Stop it!”
I wasn’t sure which of them I was yelling at. I just wanted everything to stop before anyone got hurt.
I got behind Gaynor and put my arms around his waist, tried to pull him back out of the car. He kicked back at me, catching me on the front of the leg, below the knee. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but I kept my hold on him.