The Texan’s Bride(58)
The doctor pulled down his mask. “It’s the baby’s heartbeat. We’ve stopped the labor but the baby is still in distress. Now we wait and pray.”
Cadde couldn’t take his eyes off the monitor, the little beeps and the uneven line that signaled their baby was still alive. “Jessie, look.” He pointed to the screen. “There’s our baby’s heartbeat.”
“Oh, Cadde.” Tears slipped from her eyes.
“Shh.” He cradled her face.
Cadde knew they’d injected something into the IV to relax Jessie. She slowly closed her eyes. He reached for his phone to call Chance. For the first time in his life he truly needed a connection to family. He needed support. After he’d told Chance what had happened, he called Rosa and Felix to let them know how things were going. Then he laid his face against Jessie’s and watched the monitor.
Jessie woke up. “Cadde.”
“I’m here.” He kissed her bruised face. “I’m watching the fetal monitor.” They both stared at the machine and Jessie dozed on and off.
Cadde was beginning to hope the worst had passed when the monitor shrilled and nurses ran in. He gazed at the blips as they became slower and slower and then a solid line slashed across the screen. A nurse turned it off.
No!
“No!” Jessie screamed. “No, no!”
He caught her face and held it, his forehead against her. “Cadde, make them turn it back on. Cadde,” she begged, and his heart broke into jagged tiny pieces.
The doctor rushed in. “We have to get her to an operating room.”
“No.” Jessie began to fight and he had to hold her down.
“I’m sorry, Cadde,” the doctor said as politely as he could. “The baby didn’t make it.”
“Cadde.” His name echoed around the room with a chilling effect. The nurse injected something into the IV and Jessie went out. Then they quickly rolled the bed from the room. Cadde stood there as if someone had ripped out his heart. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t do anything but feel the pain.
Their baby was gone.
Jessie.
Chance walked in and pushed him into a chair. “Cadde.”
“The baby died,” he said in a voice that seemed to come from deep in his gut.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry.” Chance looped an arm around his shoulder. “Where’s Jessie?”
“In the operating room.”
“I’m sorry, Cadde…”
“That lunatic killed our baby. There are bruises on her side and on her face. The bastard must have kicked her.” He stood in an angry movement because he could no longer remain still.
Chance patted his shoulder. “The police are outside. Do you feel like you can talk to them?”
“Damn right.” He hit the door and found two deputies in the hallway.
“Have you caught him?”
“We have an All Points Bulletin out on Vernon Lynch. We have someone at his house and at his work-place, but, no, we haven’t located him yet.”
Cadde pointed a finger in the deputy’s face. “You find him or I will.”
Chance laid a hand on his shoulder. “Cadde.” He wanted to knock it away. He didn’t need sympathy. He needed them to find Vernon Lynch.
The other deputy pulled a small notebook out of his pocket. “We spoke to Rosa Delgado and she said the man didn’t break in. Mrs. Hardin must have let him in.”
“She thought it was me,” Cadde yelled. “I talked to her about five minutes before.”
“Does she know Mr. Lynch?”
“Jessie counsels his wife, trying to get her out of that abusive relationship. I don’t know why Lynch targeted my wife or felt a need to destroy her. Or how in the hell he got our address.”
“I can answer that,” a woman said.
Cadde turned to look at a woman he’d never seen before. “I’m Fran Turlock from Rachel’s House. I’m so sorry, Mr. Hardin.”
“Do you know anything?” was all he could say.
“After I heard what had happened to Jessie, I called Nina and she confirmed what I feared for a while now. She’s obsessed with Jessie. She wants to look like her, wear nice clothes like her and have a loving husband like her.”
“How does she know anything about Jessie? Isn’t everything supposed to be private? First names only?”
“Yes, but with the media and the internet it’s very hard to keep that privacy.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“When Roscoe Murdock died, there was a photo of him and Jessie in the paper. Nina recognized her and began searching on the internet for anything she could find about Jessie. She had a folder full of information on Jessie and Vernon must have found it after he was served divorce papers.”