“Don’t you dare throw that,” Derek warned, “or I’m giving you bathroom cleaning duty for the next month!”
“Hello?” called an unfamiliar voice.
All four of us froze.
“Someone’s in the station,” Jordan whispered.
“Hell—hello?” came the voice again, drawing closer. “I need some help…”
I grabbed the baby carrier and hurried toward the bedroom hallway. I put Baby Anthony down and peered back around the corner into the kitchen.
A man wearing padded bike shorts and a cycling jersey hobbled into the room. One of his legs was scraped up and red, with blood trickling down his ankle. He was cradling his left arm, and his face was twisted with pain.
The three firemen rushed to help him sit down. “Sir, what happened?”
“My tire had a blow-out,” he replied in a shaky voice. “I hit the pavement pretty hard. I didn’t want to call an ambulance since I was only a block away, to the west—” He started to point with his wounded arm, then let out a cry of agony and let it go limp again.
Taylor grabbed a med kit out of the other room and began cleaning up the man’s leg. “How’s your head?” Derek asked him.
“Helmet took most of the impact, but I still hit it hard. My ears are kind of ringing. I thought I heard a baby squealing when I came through the door.”
“No babies here,” Taylor said, deadpan.
Jordan unclipped the helmet and gently removed it. “Might need to give you a concussion test. Just to be safe.”
Derek took the man’s arm and gently straightened it. “Arm’s broken. We’ll need to call an ambulance after all.”
“Aw, man,” the guy said. “I’m sorry to bother you, then…”
“No worries,” Jordan said. “We’ll take good care of you until they get here.”
Derek glanced over at me and raised his eyebrows.That was a close call.
I retreated to the bedroom with Baby Anthony before the ambulance could arrive.
25
Clara
I fell asleep quickly that night, but I woke in a cold sweat not long after. I’d had a dream where we got caught. Baby Anthony was taken away from us and Derek lost his job. Billy Manning took over as head of the station, and for some reason—with nonsensical dream logic—I had to remain at the firehouse and do whatever he told me.
I panted in bed while catching my breath. I wish I could dismiss it as a silly dream, but the danger of getting caught was very real. Not just because of the cyclist who wandered into the station, but because of Billy himself. Nothing good could come from him knowing I was at the station with a baby. Eventually, the story might unravel.
I rolled over and expected to see Baby Anthony asleep in his bassinet—which Derek had bought on the same trip when he got the car seat—but the bassinet was empty. It took me three long seconds to realize what I was looking at.
The baby is gone.
I flew out of bed in a panic and rushed down the hall. It took all of my willpower not to scream at the top of my lungs, to warn everyone that the baby was missing.
I skidded to a stop in the living room. Derek was sitting on the couch, holding Baby Anthony against his chest. The baby rose and fell with the bigger man’s breathing.
Relief washed over me as I took in the sight. And once again, my heart went out to Derek. The way he cared for the baby was so beautiful.
He glanced over at me. “Why aren’t you sleeping?” he whispered.
I walked over and sat on the edge of the couch. “I should ask you the same thing.”
“Stress,” he replied softly. He gently put his hand on the baby’s back. “I was worrying about this little guy.”