Ashes(83)

       
         
       
        



"I do trust you," he stated firmly, needing her to know that it was true. "You're the only person that I trust." His demon also trusted her, and that was a major thing.



She smiled. "Good. Now which color do you prefer?"



He pointed to the soft yellow strip of paint. "That one."



She smiled. "Me, too. Great minds think alike. Hey, Rodgers should be here in half an hour."



"I know. Why do you look so nervous? I thought you'd be excited to have another scan."



"I am. I'm just worried he'll tell me that the baby's still smaller than it should be."



He stroked her upper arms. "I'm sure everything will be fine."



"I hope you're right."



A short while later, the doctor was setting up his portable ultrasound machine in their living room again. "Nice tan. I heard you went on vacation. Lucky you. Tell me, Harper, how have you been?"



Sitting on the sofa, she replied, "Fine. I don't feel drained anymore. I'm eating fine. Having a couple of cravings, but nothing weird."



"Any back pain yet?" he asked.



She jiggled her head. "A little. It's not so bad."



"Sadly, it will get worse. What about the baby?"



"It's hyper. Never seems to sleep. We feel its mind sometimes."



His brows lifted. "Really?" he asked, seeming impressed.



"It reaches out by itself," said Knox. "It first happened three weeks ago."



"Interesting," Rodgers drawled. "Lie back. Let's take a look at the baby."



Like last time, Harper lay back as he moved a handheld probe around her gel-covered, lower abdomen. The baby didn't seem to like it any more than she did, because it kept kicking at the probe.



Rodgers chuckled. "It doesn't like me poking and prodding, does it?"



Knox watched the screen, fascinated as the baby wriggled around. It was bigger, and its features were more distinct. It now looked like an actual baby as opposed to a peanut with a head. "Well?" Knox asked the doctor. "Is everything okay?"



"Everything seems absolutely fine," replied Rodgers. "The baby is still a little small, but it's clearly not behind in its development. Babies don't usually psychically reach out until the twenty-third week." 



Knox stroked a hand over Harper's hair. "Why do you think it's still smaller than it should be?"



The doctor pursed his lips. "It could be due to any number of things. The baby isn't small enough for me to be worried; its size is just something we need to monitor. Now, I'd like to do a few tests." He held out a little tub to Harper and smiled. "Pee for me."



Harper reached out to grab the tub, but then she froze as Knox's face hardened. She could feel the echo of a telepathic conversation, knew he was speaking with someone. When he finally met her eyes and she saw the anger there, she said, I'm not going to like this, am I?



It's Pamela and Rupert.



Talia's parents?



He nodded. They're dead.



Knox blinked. "Stabbed to death?"



"Several times," said Keenan. He gestured at the uniformed officers that were urging the growing crowd to step away from the crime scene tape as he added, "The cops might have thought that it was Talia's dealer, looking for her parents to pay whatever she died owing him. But he has an airtight alibi – he's dead, too."



"When did that happen?" asked Knox.



"Last week. It was a gang territorial dispute that went too far." Keenan paused. "I know you probably suspect the kid has something to do with the attack on Pamela and Rupert, but it was pretty vicious, Knox. It would have taken someone with more strength to have made the knife penetrate so deeply. I don't think it's something a kid could have done."



"It can't be a coincidence that Talia's parents were killed." Knox glanced at the house, where a continuing flow of people were passing in and out – some were clearly forensic analysts while others were likely police officers. "How many times were they stabbed?"



"Both were stabbed in the chest six times."



"And McCauley's six years old." Knox could imagine what Harper would make of that. He'd left her at the mansion, where the doctor could finish running his tests. As they hadn't yet announced the pregnancy, she'd needed to stay home. The last place he'd want her to be was a crime scene anyway.



"I agree that it seems like the kid is somehow connected to this, but I truly don't think that he has the strength it would have taken to subdue them and cause such injuries."