Her Only Son (9 page)

“So he’s a smarty pants.”

Tessa giggled. “Yeah, a smarty pants.”

“How old is he?”

“I’m not sure, but from what I hear he’s in his early thirties.” Tessa nudged her again. “You’ve got the hots for doc man.”

“I don’t know what I’ve got, but it sure feels good.” She nudged Tessa back. “Now I have two people I can look forward to seeing while I’m here.”

“There you go.” Tessa stood. “I’m sorry to push you out, but I have to work in the file room at the clinic today.”

“The clinic I just came from?”

“The same. If I run into hot doc do you want me to say hi for you?”

She gave Tessa a sarcastic look. “Oh, yes, please do.”

Tessa laughed. “I’ll just give him a little ‘Hey, hey’, as I walk by.”

“Yeah, let’s not.”

Tessa walked her to the door. “I’ll stop by your room tonight when I get done. We can hang out and watch that movie or something.”

“Sounds great. I’ll see you then.”

Tessa walked into the clinic and down the hall that lead to the file room. She had to walk past the doctor’s private offices as she did and couldn’t help but slow down when she came to Dr. Rayner’s. He was standing with his back to the door looking over some type of document. She smiled to herself and mumbled, “Girl’s got good taste.”

When she entered the file room, another girl was walking out.

“Hey, Tessa. They had me working on a huge project that needed to be copied, so I didn’t get to the files.” She pointed to a huge pile of participant files. “Sorry to leave all those for you.”

Tessa groaned and walked toward the pile. “No problem. What else do I have to do today?”

The girl laughed and threw a “Have fun” over her shoulder as she walked out.

Tessa spent about a half hour putting participant files in the file cabinet. She grabbed the next one on the pile and stopped. She looked at the name again. Sloane, Tessa. She thought,
why is my file out? I haven’t had an appointment recently?

She opened the file and the form on the top caught her attention. As she read over the page, her heart stopped. She looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was there and rushed to the copy machine, making a copy of the form. She closed the file and stuffed the copy in her purse. She went to the file cabinet and put her file away, along with the others that had yet to be filed.

She sat for a second and tried to catch her breath. One of the nurses walked by the file room and saw her holding her stomach, breathing heavily.

“Tessa, are you all right?”

The nurse caught her off guard and she jumped. “Yes, I’m sorry. I just get winded so easily now days.”

She walked in and manually checked Tessa’s pulse. “It’s a little elevated. Why don’t you take off and get some rest. Someone else can handle the remainder of the filing.”

“I’ve got most of it done, but I’ll take you up on that offer.” As Tessa stood she felt a bit dizzy, but tried not to let it show.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Tessa took a deep breath and stood up straight. “Yes, I’m better now, thank you.”

“You let us know if you need anything.”

“I will.”

The nurse left and Tessa grabbed her purse. She had to talk to Kinsey immediately. She was going to need her help.

Chapter Fifteen

Keith sat in a small bar on the outskirts of Chicago sipping his beer. He’d spent the weekend in a hotel trying to figure out his next move. The guilt over Brianna’s accident was starting to eat him alive and he didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to do this job. Hakon was out of control and getting worse with each passing day.

He came up with a few ideas of how to get out of his chosen profession, but the consequences would be bad for him. He could walk away and never speak to Hakon again. Never take another phone call and never chase down another recruit for the program, or he could personally tell Hakon he was done. Both would result in Hakon’s fury and it wouldn’t end well.

For now, he decided to lay low and drink beer. He was worried about Kinsey. He knew her family and Sheila would be safe as long as Kinsey continued to do what was expected of her. He didn’t feel she’d do anything to put them in any more danger.

He took another sip of his beer and stared at his phone. There was one decision he was sure of, and he looked up the number to the hospital were Brianna was being treated. He dialed the number and when they answered, he asked for the billing department. This was the least he could do. He was, however, the reason she was there.

Tessa couldn’t get to Kinsey’s room fast enough. She was out of breath by the time she reached her door and pressed the buzzer several times. When Kinsey opened the door, Tessa pushed past her, panic overriding all logic.

“Tessa! What’s wrong?”

Tessa held up her hand and tried to catch her breath. “Give me a second.”

Kinsey rushed over and helped her to the couch. Once she had her seated, she got her a glass of water.

“Here, drink this.”

Tessa took a small sip and set the glass on the coffee table. When she looked at Kinsey, tears were beginning to roll from her eyes.

“They’re planning on terminating my pregnancy.”

Kinsey looked shocked. “Why? How? You’re six months pregnant!”

Tessa’s hands were shaking as she pulled the pieces of crumpled paper from her purse. “Here.” She handed them to Kinsey. “Read this.”

Kinsey cupped her hand over her mouth as she read. “Oh, my god, Tessa!” She looked up and saw the sheer panic on Tessa’s face. “How can they do this?”

“They don’t have any control, Kinsey, don’t you see? They have to do what they’re told.”

Kinsey looked down at the form again and the truth of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks. “The rape. This child is the result of Hakon’s rape.”

Tessa took a deep breath. “He knows, Kinsey. Somehow he knows and he’s trying to cover it up. Do you think it’s possible they can tell the child I’m carrying isn’t a product of the insemination procedure?”

“Even if they can, how do they get away with that?”

“I don’t know, but according to that form,” she slapped it with her hand, “the child I’m carrying is to be terminated. It says I’m having a girl.”

“But how are they going to do it?” Kinsey flipped to the second page. “It says a Dr. Hartman is to take over your care. Was there anything else in your file?”

“I didn’t have a lot of time to read through the other forms regarding the termination procedure, but I know they’re planning on injecting me with something during my next check up that will cause a miscarriage. I, of course, am not supposed to know that. They’ll probably say it’s some kind of injection for health reasons.”

“Then they can say the miscarriage was a fluke.” Kinsey paused and remembered her conversation with Dr. Westcott. “Maybe the other doctors don’t know what’s going on. They may truly believe they’re injecting you with something beneficial.”

Tessa pushed herself off the couch and starting pacing. “Or they won’t have anything to do with it if this Dr. Hartman is taking over my care. What am I going to do? I understand this child is the result of a rape, but I don’t want her terminated.” She paused as the tears came pouring out. “I want to keep her, Kinsey!”

“When is your next appointment scheduled?”

“This week. I only have a few days to figure out what to do.” She started pacing again. A thought came to her. “I have to escape the compound.” She looked at Kinsey with fresh hope in her eyes. “I can escape.”

Kinsey shook her head. “How in the hell are you going to do that?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’m going to figure it out. I don’t have any other choice. They’re not going to kill my daughter.”

By the end of the night, Tessa had come up with her plan of escape. She was going to volunteer to work in the cafeteria where there were delivery trucks in and out all day. She had to find a way to hide in the back of one of the trucks so it could remove her from the compound. The second tricky part was getting out of the truck once outside the compound with no one seeing her. From there, she’d find her way back home to Texas. It wasn’t the best plan, but it was all she had and she only had a few days to do it.

Kinsey wasn’t convinced it would work. She could probably get into the truck, but getting back out would be the hard part. “It’s not like you’re fast on your feet right now.”

“I don’t have a choice, Kinsey. I can’t think of any other way and I have to get out of this compound.”

As if on cue, Tessa’s cell phone rang. She looked up at Kinsey when she saw Dr. Westcott’s number on the screen.

Kinsey nodded. “Answer it.”

Tessa pressed the button and put the phone to her ear. “Hello.”

Dr. Westcott’s voice sounded cheery as usual. “Hello, Tessa. I was calling to see how you’re feeling. One of the nurses said you weren’t feeling well when you were here earlier.”

Tessa tried to keep her voice from shaking. “Oh, thank you, but I’m feeling better now. I was just a little winded, that’s all.”

“Well, just to be safe, why don’t you come see me tomorrow afternoon?”

Tessa shot a worried look in Kinsey’s direction. “No, I’m sure I’m fine. Don’t I have an appointment later in the week? I’ll just keep that one.”

“I think it’s better you come see me tomorrow. The nurse said you looked pretty pale and your heart rate was a bit elevated. Let’s not take any chances, Tessa. If you’re coming down with something, we should try to catch it now.”

All the blood drained from Tessa’s face.

“Tessa, are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here.” Her hand was shaking so badly, Kinsey had to help her hold the phone.

“Fantastic. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, say….” there was a short pause. “…around 3pm? Just to make sure everything’s all right.”

Tessa felt numb and when Kinsey looked at her, her eyes were a blank stare, and her response was slow. “Yeah…sure. 3pm sounds good.”

Tessa dropped her phone without disconnecting the call. Kinsey grabbed the phone to make sure the line was dead. Tessa leaned back against the couch and for a second, Kinsey thought she was going into shock.

“Oh, my god, Tessa, keep it together. If you go into shock on me, I’ll have to alert Dr. Westcott.”

This snapped Tessa back and she looked up at Kinsey. “I’m fine. I just need some sleep.” She spun around and pulled her legs up on the couch. “I can sleep here tonight, right?”

Kinsey placed one of the throw pillows under her feet. “Of course. Is there anything else you need right now?”

Tessa shook her head. “Just some sleep.” Tessa closed her eyes.

Kinsey watched her arms go limp. It was like all the fight had drained from her. She sat in the chair across from Tessa and watched her sleep.

She cursed Hakon and his bullshit Operation Vala program. She cursed Dr. Westcott, and even Dr. Rayner, for agreeing to work for such a repulsive agenda. If they did know what was going on, how could they live with themselves? How could they go to sleep every night knowing what they were doing? They were about to terminate a completely healthy pregnancy, all because a madman placed the order.

She didn’t know how, but once she was out of this program, she’d find a way to make Hakon pay. One way or another, he would regret the day he chose her for his program.

Tessa woke at 3am and it took her a second to remember where she was. When reality settled in, she sat up quickly and it made her dizzy. Her mind was racing and her thoughts were jumbled.

I have to get away.

She sat for a moment and ran through her plan once again. She knew a truck would be making its first delivery at 5am.

I have to get away.

She stood, grabbed her purse, and slowly walked to the door. She felt like she was floating, but at the same time her entire body felt like lead.

I have to get to the truck.

She opened the door and walked into the hallway. Everything seemed hazy and she felt herself slipping in and out, but she remained focused on her goal, the delivery truck outside the cafeteria.