And then they told me.
“He can’t do that!” I said bitterly. I was holding the baby to my chest protectively, as if I could shield him from it all.
“He can, and he is,” Derek replied in a hollow voice. “The question is: what do we do about it?”
“What about handing him—the baby—over to Social Services as soon as possible?” Jordan suggested. “If the baby isn’t here, then Billy’s accusation won’t hold any weight.”
“Like flushing a bag of weed down the toilet before the cops barge in?” Taylor said. “Dude.”
Jordan grimaced. “Aw, man. I didn’t mean it like that.” He took a step toward me and put his hand on the baby’s back.
Derek shook his head. “Handing him over to Social Services now won’t accomplish anything. Billy has the birth certificate. He would still report me, and I’d lose my job anyway.Andthe baby would be placed in a piss-poor foster family, and his mother would be prosecuted for abandonment. It’s the worst of all possible scenarios.”
I could see the determination in his eyes, and the pain from his own childhood. No matter what happened, he wouldn’t let Anthony grow up the same way he did.
“It’s blackmail,” I said weakly. “That’s illegal. You should turn Billy in to the police.”
“As tempting as that sounds, it would reveal what we’ve been doing with the baby,” Derek said. His handsome face was more grim than ever. “There’s a reason blackmailworks.”
He stood and looked at each of us. “No matter what I do, I lose my job. If that’s going to happen, then the least I can do is ensure the baby goes to a good home. I’m going to give Billy what he wants. I’m going to resign.”
Jordan hunched over the kitchen table, fingers gripping the wood so tight it looked like it might snap. “Billy Manning isn’t a leader. He would make a terrible captain.”
“I don’t disagree,” Derek said, patting him on the shoulder. He waited until Jordan looked him in the eye before continuing. “But we’re out of good options. Which means we have to choose the least-shitty one.”
Jordan hung his head in defeat, eyes clenched shut. Finally he nodded in acceptance. The two of them hugged, clapping hands on backs, and then Derek embraced Taylor.
“I’m so sorry,” I said to Derek. To my surprise, he gave me a smile.
“I knew this was a risk when we took this little guy in.” He pinched Baby Anthony’s cheek. “Maybe we should’ve kept him at my house the entire time, and taken the risk of future legal trouble.”
“Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve,” Jordan said, putting a hand on Derek’s back. “We did the best we could with the information we had at the time.”
The mood was funereal. It felt like someone had died, and we were all just starting to come to grips with it. When I spoke, my throat was tight with emotion.
“What happens next?”
Derek grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. “Billy gave me a week to decide, but I’m assuming he’ll want an answer when second-shift takes over on Friday. I intend to keep working until then. It’ll give me time to figure out the paperwork involved, and back-filling Billy’s position once he’s promoted…”
He trailed off at a noise by the front door of the station. Not quite a knock, but more than just the wind blowing.
“If that’s Billy…” Derek growled.
We all paused, listening for more noise. A car door closed, and then a car engine rumbled. It grew quieter as it disappeared.
We all went to the door to check it out. Derek opened it wide and looked outside in both directions. The street was deserted.
“Chief!” Taylor said. “There’s a note on the door.”
Underneath the door knocker was a crisp white envelope. There was no writing on the exterior. Taylor snatched it away and ripped open the letter inside.
“It sayswe need to talk,” Taylor read out loud. “There’s a phone number underneath. That’s it. Signed by someone named Melanie.”
Derek gave a start. “Did you say Melanie?”
“Who’s Melanie?” I asked.
The color was draining from Derek’s hard face. “Melanie is the name on Baby Anthony’s birth certificate. It’s hismother.”