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  Scottie sank back in her seat with a relieved sigh. “What color is Noelle’s car?” she asked, realizing she had no idea what kind of car she was looking for.

  “She’s driving a ’05 Scion,” he told her. “It’s olive green.”

  “Not exactly a showstopper,” Scottie commented. For the most part, the road was filled with black, white and silver vehicles. “At least that’s in our favor. Shouldn’t be hard to spot.” The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she thought she saw the vehicle her partner had just described. “There. I see it,” she announced excitedly, pointing ahead. “She’s right in the middle lane. Step on it,” she ordered.

  “You would’ve made a great drill sergeant,” he said, pressing down on the accelerator.

  Several minutes later, still traveling on the sidewalk, Bryce was parallel to his sister-in-law’s vehicle. The moment he was, Scottie surprised him by getting out and running over to the olive green Scion.

  Turning off the ignition, Bryce got out on his side. “Wait up, damn it!” he called after her.

  Scottie was knocking on the passenger side of the Scion. When Noelle looked in her direction, Scottie saw that the woman was perspiring heavily. Scottie jerked her thumb up, indicating that she needed to unlock the doors.

  Looking as if she was in the throes of excruciating pain, Noelle felt around on the armrest next to her until she found the lock release button, then pressed down on it. The locks popped up. Scottie pulled open the passenger door just as Bryce came up behind her.

  Recognition flooded Noelle’s face. “Oh, thank God,” she cried. “Bryce, I think...the baby’s...coming. Did...you...reach Duncan?”

  “No, I couldn’t get through.” He looked over his shoulder. If he continued driving on the sidewalk, he could get his sister-in-law to the hospital. “C’mon, let me help you out of there, Noelle. We can drive you to the hospital.”

  But as Bryce leaned in from the passenger side, ready to slide his sister-in-law over, Noelle cried out in pain. He pulled back, concerned. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No... There’s...no...time. The baby’s...coming,” Noelle cried just short of a scream.

  Bryce felt a wave of panic wash over him. He’d been hoping to get Noelle to the hospital before it got to this point. “Now?”

  “Now!” Noelle cried, biting down on her lower lip to keep from screaming.

  Scottie moved her partner back. “Help me get her into the backseat,” she told Bryce. “She needs to lie down and there’s not enough room in the front to do what needs to be done.”

  Bryce looked at her. “You know what you’re doing?” he asked.

  “Praying mostly,” she answered. “C’mon, let’s do this.”

  Scottie crawled through the backseat, opening the door and waiting until Bryce picked up his sister-in-law. As gently as he could, he deposited Noelle in the back of her Scion.

  “Hang on, Noelle, I’m going to pull you back so you can lie down,” Scottie told her as she laced her arms around Noelle just below the pregnant woman’s breasts.

  “Okay,” Noelle panted, doing her best not to cry out as she was pulled along the seat.

  Once Noelle was lying down, Bryce looked at his partner. “Have you done this before?” he asked. “Because I haven’t.”

  “We both had training, right?” Scottie reminded her partner. Every police officer was taught the rudimentary steps involved in helping a woman give birth—then hoped never to be faced with that situation.

  Taking a look at Bryce’s face, Scottie made a judgment call. “Switch places with me,” she told him. “And while you’re at it, go get the takeout bags out of your car.”

  He stared at her, dumbfounded. “You’re going to eat at a time like this?”

  “I saw the server throw in packets of moist towelettes into the bags,” she told him. “It wouldn’t hurt to wipe my hands.”

  Bryce hurried to get the bags as Scottie got in the backseat to take his place.

  Looking down at Bryce’s sister-in-law, she saw the pain and fear in Noelle’s face. She knew it wasn’t possible to make her comfortable, but she tried to put the woman at ease, at least a little.

  “Hi, we haven’t been introduced. My name’s Alexandra Scott. I’m your brother-in-law’s new partner.”

  “Duncan...told...me...he...met you!” Noelle cried.

  “Is this your first baby?” Scottie asked, trying to find something to get the other woman’s mind off her pain.

  “No...my...second,” Noelle answered, breathing really hard.

  Scottie smiled at the woman, searching for something to say. “They say the second one’s easier.”

  “They...lied!” Noelle cried out, arching her back to the point that she nearly tumbled sideways off the seat.

  “Here, this what you want?” Bryce asked, handing her all the packets of wipes he’d found in the bag.

  “Yes.” Taking one of the packets, Scottie ripped it open with her teeth. Taking out the small, folded wipe, she unfolded it and quickly passed it over her hands, then dropped it on the floor.

  “How far apart are your contractions?” she asked Noelle.

  “They’re...not,” Noelle cried, fisting her hands on either side of her as she arched her back again, trying to rise above the pain.

  “Okay, that’s good,” Scottie told her, doing her best to sound encouraging. “That means you’re almost home free.” She turned toward Bryce. “Get in on the other side of the car and prop Noelle up so she can push better when I tell her to,” she instructed.

  This whole thing felt surreal to him. “She’s going to push?” he heard himself asking numbly.

  She sympathized with him. There were a million other places she knew he would have rather been. He wasn’t the only one, she thought.

  “I don’t think the baby’s ready to waltz out on its own, so, yes, Noelle’s going to push. Move,” she ordered, snapping Bryce out of the momentary trance he was in.

  Coming to, Bryce hurried around the vehicle and got in on the other side of his sister-in-law. He saw that Scottie had already folded back Noelle’s dress and made her as ready as possible. Getting right behind her, he raised Noelle’s shoulders slightly, keeping her at an angle. Suddenly he felt her going rigid.

  “Scottie?” he questioned, looking up at his partner.

  Scottie’s attention was completely focused on the woman about to give birth. “Okay, Noelle, you look pretty dilated,” Scottie told her. “I guess this is showtime. Ready?” It was a rhetorical question. “Push!”

  Noelle did as she was ordered while Scottie counted up to sixty under her breath. When she reached it, she ordered, “Okay, stop pushing!”

  “Why?” Noelle panted. “Is...the...baby...here?”

  “No, not yet.” In her own way, she felt as exhausted as Noelle did. Waiting, Scottie counted up to sixty again, this time silently. When she reached sixty, she said, “Okay, Cavanaugh, prop her up again,” she told him. Smiling at Noelle, she said, “You know the drill, Noelle. Push!”

  Grunts and cries of anguish accompanied Noelle’s pushing. So much so that she barely heard Scottie cry, “Stop!”

  When the order registered, Noelle collapsed against Bryce, who drew back just enough to let her lie down again. Concerned, he looked at Scottie, silently asking her if there was a problem.

  Scottie just shook her head, dismissing his question and praying she was right.

  “Okay, again, Noelle. This time push as hard as you can.”

  “I ammmm!” Noelle shrieked, screwing her eyes shut as she bore down and pushed again with all of her might.

  They went back and forth like that two more times with Noelle growing progressively weaker. She was exhausted beyond words and thinking she was unable to give anything more.

  “Last
time, I promise,” Scottie told her. “Give this your all.”

  Noelle shook her head, a tear escaping out of the corner of her eye. “I...can’t.”

  “Yes, you can,” Scottie told her fiercely. “You can do this, I know you can. C’mon, Noelle, that baby wants to be here with you. Push!”

  As she gave her pep talk, Scottie was vaguely aware of the sound of sirens in the background. Hopefully, someone had gotten a call through to the police despite the downed cell towers and power lines.

  She wanted to look up to see if there was an actual ambulance in the area, but she couldn’t. Noelle’s baby was finally coming on the scene and she couldn’t draw her eyes away, afraid that if she did, something would go wrong at the last moment.

  “Just a little more,” Scottie coaxed. “One more little push. You can do it, Noelle. Your baby wants to join the party.”

  Scottie realized that there was a tear sliding down her cheek despite her best efforts to contain her own emotions. But then, it wasn’t every day she got to witness a miracle happening.

  And then, after what felt like forever, a muffled cry filled the air.

  With trembling hands, Scottie supported and eased the newest Cavanaugh out into the world.

  They did it!

  “Congratulations, Noelle. You have a beautiful son,” Scottie told her, holding the small, brand-new life in her hands.

  It was hard to say who cried more, Noelle, Scottie or the baby who had just entered the world. The baby was louder, though.

  Chapter 9

  Tamping down the emotions that were welling up and running rampant within her, Scottie looked over Noelle’s head at her partner.

  “I need your shirt, Cavanaugh,” she told him. “We have to wrap the baby up in something and it’s either your shirt or your jacket.”

  “Shirt it is,” Bryce volunteered. It was the less costly of the two items since his jacket had set him back a bit.

  He quickly shed his jacket and stripped off his shirt, holding it out to Scottie.

  With the baby in one arm, she managed to wrap the infant up in Bryce’s light blue shirt and then pass the newborn into Noelle’s arms.

  “Ten fingers, ten toes. Perfect,” Scottie pronounced, smiling warmly at the woman.

  Exhausted, Noelle beamed at her son. Then, looking up, her eyes swept over the two people who had come to her aid. “Thank you,” she told them, emotion brimming in her voice.

  “Hey, you did all the work,” Scottie pointed out, raising her voice so she could be heard above the sound of the approaching siren. Within moments, the ambulance finally reached them.

  Scottie backed out of the vehicle, suddenly aware of the dull ache shooting all through her body as a protest because of the position she’d had to assume to help Noelle.

  Her place was immediately taken by one of the two EMTs. They had come in response to the 9-1-1 call one of the nearby motorists had been able to make.

  “Looks like someone did all our work for us,” the taller of the two EMTs said. “Now, let’s get you and your baby to the hospital.”

  Stepping out of the way, Bryce waited for the attendants to get Noelle and her baby onto the gurney.

  “Bryce?” Noelle’s voice was reedy as she tried to get a better view so she could see him.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll be right behind you,” he told his sister-in-law as the EMTs pushed her gurney right past him.

  “Somebody’s got to call Duncan—and Lucy,” Noelle reminded her brother-in-law as the EMTs loaded her gurney onto the ambulance.

  “Consider it taken care of,” Bryce promised, raising his voice so that she could hear him. The next moment, the ambulance doors were closed.

  Experiencing a flood of emotion, Bryce turned toward Scottie, who was standing right next to him. Impulsively he pulled her to him in a one-armed embrace.

  The next moment, still dealing with overwhelming emotion, he gave in to what he was feeling and kissed her. Hard.

  Caught completely by surprise, Scottie was stunned. A cry of protest instantly rose to her lips, but died just as quickly, melting into the atmosphere as something else came to take its place. Something hot and overwhelming.

  A liquid smile felt as if flooded all through her.

  For a second she allowed the feeling to settle in as she sought to get her bearings. And then, coming out of her trance, she pushed Bryce back, away from her.

  “What was that for?” she demanded, doing her best not to pant.

  Rather than being annoyed or taking offense, Bryce was grinning ear to ear. “For being there,” he answered. “C’mon, let’s go before some enterprising young cop decides to give us a ticket for driving on the sidewalk.”

  “Don’t Cavanaughs trump everyone else?” she asked, hurrying back to his vehicle with him.

  “Not always,” he answered. Getting into his car, he started it up.

  “You’ve got one uncle who’s the chief of detectives, another uncle who heads the day shift CSI unit and one uncle who used to be the chief of police. Who in their right mind would give a Cavanaugh a ticket?” she asked as if it was a foregone conclusion that the answer was “no one.”

  “You’d be surprised,” he answered.

  * * *

  They followed the ambulance the two short miles to the Aurora hospital. As Bryce drove his car, she continued to try to reach Duncan’s cell phone.

  Bryce was just pulling into the hospital parking lot when she finally, on her fourth attempt, managed to get through to his brother.

  “Cavanaugh.”

  His voice sounded strangely like Bryce’s. Without announcing herself, she said, “Detective Cavanaugh, you’re the proud father of a baby boy.”

  “Who is this?” Duncan cried.

  “You probably don’t remember me,” she told him. She caught the side-glance Bryce gave her. “This is Alexandra Scott. We met last night at Malone’s. I’m calling to tell you that your wife was just brought to Aurora General.”

  “I’m on my way!” Duncan cried, abruptly terminating the call.

  Smiling to herself, Scottie tucked her phone away and got out of the car. “Mission accomplished,” she told Bryce.

  “In more ways than one,” he said, leading the way into the hospital lobby.

  Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Scottie wasn’t directly behind him. She was hanging back.

  “C’mon,” he urged, beckoning her forward. “You’re part of all this now.”

  She wasn’t sure how he meant that, but she supposed this was not the time to lag behind. With a shrug, Scottie picked up her pace.

  * * *

  “You know,” the heavyset nurse said, putting her hands on her hips as she surveyed the large group of Aurora police detectives and officers that had descended on the maternity floor, “whenever there’s this large an influx of Cavanaughs, it’s because one of you had been shot and you’re keeping vigil.”

  A longtime veteran at the hospital, the head nurse shook her head as she tried her best to herd family members into the waiting room.

  “I know.” Andrew Cavanaugh smiled broadly at the nurse. “This is much better. Celebrating a brand-new life coming into the world,” the former chief of police enthused. “Just think of all the possibilities.”

  The nurse shook her head. “I’m just thinking of trying to get through the next few hours, until the end of my shift.” She pursed her lips as she looked at the clusters of law-enforcement agents and their spouses who had filled the general area. She raised her voice. “I suppose it’ll do me no good to remind all of you that it’s only two allowed at a bedside at any given time.”

  In response, Shamus Cavanaugh—Andrew, Brian and Sean’s father and the recognized patriarch of the clan—hooked his arm through the nurse’s and beg
an to lead her down the hall, back to the nurses’ station.

  “Why don’t I tell you about the first time I decided to get involved with law enforcement?”

  The nurse made one futile attempt to resist. “Mr. Cavanaugh—”

  “Anyone ever tell you that you’ve got really beautiful eyes, darlin’?”

  Scottie, standing next to her partner, overheard his granduncle as the older Cavanaugh led the woman away. “Does that kind of thing actually work?” she asked Bryce, referring to the line the older man had just used on the nurse.

  “More times than you would think,” Andrew answered, joining them to stand in front of her and Bryce.

  Scottie had turned to see who was talking to her. Before she knew it, she was caught up in what could only be described as a huge bear hug. For a moment she felt like her breath had been siphoned out of her lungs.

  “I hear you helped Noelle deliver her baby,” Andrew said, setting her down. “On behalf of the entire family, thank you,” he pronounced warmly.

  Surprised, Scottie found herself automatically returning the embrace, which was even more surprising. It wasn’t like her. By nature, she’d stopped being a hugger a long time ago and now she’d been embraced twice in the last hour.

  “How did you know?” she asked, mystified by the chief’s greeting. Bryce had remained with her the entire time, so he couldn’t have said anything to the man. So then how...?

  “Word gets around,” Andrew chuckled. “Besides, there’s not much I don’t know when it comes to my family,” he assured her. More family members were coming into the waiting area. “You’ll join us for the celebration?” It sounded like a question, but Scottie had a feeling that her answer was a foregone conclusion. Didn’t anyone ever say no to any of these people?

  “What celebration?” Scottie asked him cautiously.

  When Andrew Cavanaugh smiled, the years vanished and he looked very much the way he had when he was an active police chief. “The one we’re having as soon as Noelle and the baby come home from the hospital.”