The birth certificate.
“That was in my room,” I growled.
“Maybe someone left the door open. And maybe I checked inside to make sure everything was safe and secure.”
He was obviously lying; I had locked my door before leaving, and Anthony’s birth certificate was inside my locked desk drawer. It would have taken some thorough snooping to find it.
I took a step forward without knowing what I was doing. “Listen here, you little shit—”
“No,” he interrupted. He took a step back, then steeled himself once more. “Youlisten tome, Captain Dahlkemper. The game is over. I know everything. That baby wassurrenderedhere. And you’ve been keeping him for yourself.”
“That’s not true!”
“Itistrue.” He tapped the birth certificate. “Because this girl? The real mom? I looked her up and called her. She confirmed everything. And oh boy, she was really surprised to learn that her precious baby wasn’t put in the California system.”
A coppery taste flooded my mouth. It felt like someone had just shone a spotlight on me, and there was nowhere I could run. The feeling was worse coming from Billy.
“Listen to me,” I said slowly. “You shouldn’t have called her. In Texas, they have sixty days to surrender a child, but in California it’s only three. She could face legal consequences.”
“Oh, I’m well aware of that,” Billy replied. “Shewasn’t, though. Not until I explained it to her. She got real scared then. Started crying. Ugly crying on the phone.” Billy let out a laugh like it was all a big joke.
My legs felt numb, so I pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and sat. “Okay. Let’s come to an arrangement about all of this.”
Billy scoffed. “What, you want to offer me anothercommendationon my performance review? Fuck that.” He pointed. “I want to wear your shoes. I want to be Fire Captain of this station. Resign and recommend me to be your replacement, and I won’t tell anyone about the baby you stole.”
My stomach turned. “Stole? You have no idea what’s going on. My sister works for Social Services. They’re overloaded and have no funding. Foster families are stretched thin. We’re holding the baby for a few weeks until things get better.That’swhy we’ve been keeping it a secret.”
Billy’s laugh was high pitched and manic, like a child who had just won a board game. “Don’t care! Only thing I care about is your position. Give it to me and I won’t tell anyone about your secret.”
The despair in my gut slowly transformed into anger, white and hot. I wasn’t a violent man. I spent my lifesavingpeople, not hurting them. But right then, I had the overwhelming urge to haul off and punch Billy. The fingers of my right hand ached to curl into a fist.
The desire was so strong that it scared me.
Billy leaned forward and patted me on the shoulder, a meaningless gesture after what he had just said. “Relax, Dahlkemper. If you really do care about that little blob, step down and give me your position. Should be an easy decision, right?”
He hopped up with a spring in his step. “Take a week to think about it.” He folded the birth certificate and placed it in his shirt pocket, then patted it through the fabric. “I’ll hold onto this until then. For safe keeping.”
Billy strode from the station, whistling a tune to himself.
“You okay, Chief?” Jordan asked a few moments later. He and Taylor were standing in the doorway.
I sighed and held my head in my hands. “Things just got complicated. Billy knows everything.”
33
Clara
I enjoyed the little routine we had gotten into. My three fireman boyfriends—that’s what they were, right?—left early. I hung out at Derek’s house a little longer with Baby Anthony, playing peek-a-boo with him on the floor of the living room. He wriggled and giggled and smiled as if it was the most fun game in the world.
“You and me both, little dude,” I said.
I was growing attached to him, I knew. He was starting to feel likemybaby. It was impossible to take care of a child for several weeks in a row and not feel that way, I guess. But I knew it was destined to end.
Until then, though, I would enjoy every second of it.
Around nine-thirty, I loaded up the car and drove Baby Anthony over to the station. As soon as we walked inside, I could tell something was wrong. A sour mood hung in the air like smoke.
“What’s going on?” I asked when I found them sitting in the kitchen.