Page 98 of Under the Radar

I was surprised how even my voice sounded. “We received a call about a disturbance in the home.”

To my shock, a wide grin split his face. “You could say that.” He turned. “Helen!” he called. “Come see what you’ve done now!”

Lights behind me indicated my backup had arrived, and to my utter surprise, he began to laugh. “Oh, she’s really caused trouble.”

A woman waddled down the hall. Waddled was the only word to describe it. She was hugely pregnant. She was tall and pretty, although she was covered in some sort of dust. She looked abashed. “Oh boy.” She looked at the man holding the door. “Did you invite her in?”

“I was waiting for her partner, but yes, please come in,” he said dryly. “I am sure you want to check and make sure everything is all right.” He smiled again. “I’ll let my wife tell you the story.”

My backup was an officer I knew, and we walked in, our hands on our holsters. The woman was quick to speak. “You won’t need those. There is a simple explanation. I assume Ruby next door called you. Warren was about to go over and tell her what happened so she didn’t worry. I guess she heard.”

“Heard what, exactly?” I asked.

“Come into the kitchen.”

I followed her and her husband, and my eyes widened at the mess I saw. “What happened?”

Helen smiled, looking embarrassed. “I had a craving. I was making a snack, and Warren was teasing me. I got distracted, and the grease caught fire on the stove. He yelled at me to turn off the burner, and he ran for the fire blanket. But I dumped salt on the flames. Then the smoke detector started. It startled me and I jumped. The baby kicked and I yelled. Warren was trying to get the smoke detector to shut off, and I waved a tea towel to help.” She began to giggle. “Except it caught on the pot rack, and I tugged too hard. It was loose, and I pulled it out of the ceiling, and all the pots and utensils crashed down. I screamed. Warren yelled.” She shrugged. “Ruby called you.”

Jesse—Officer Owens—began to chuckle. I looked at the mess. Pots, pans, and utensils everywhere. The pot rack hung, lopsided and swinging from the ceiling, one hook keeping it in place. The ruined snack was still puffing a little smoke on the stove. I could see now that Helen was covered in flour, no doubt from when the pots fell into the bowl of whatever her planned snack was. Warren stood next to his wife, slipping an arm around her. “Oh, Helen,” he murmured. “You troublemaker.”

She laughed again, then her eyes went wide. “Oh God!”

We all heard it, and we all looked down. “My water just broke!” Then she grabbed his arm. “And here comes a contraction.”

“Of course it did,” Warren murmured. He looked at us. “Are we good here? I need to get her bag and get her to the hospital.”

“I’ll drive you,” I offered.

Helen looked behind her. “The mess,” she gasped.

Her husband kissed her. “I’ll clean it later. We have to meet our girl now.”

She smiled at him, her love brimming in her eyes. “Our girl. Yes.”

He guided her to the table. “You sit, and I’ll be right back.”

She smiled at me. “I’m so sorry to cause you all this trouble.”

“No. It’s fine. I’m glad it was all a mistake.”

She nodded. “Warren would never hurt me or even get mad at me. He’s incredible. He was trying to get me to stop cleaning, and he was going to take me for fritters at Zeke’s.”

“Oh, those are good.”

“Better than what I was attempting to make.” Her eyes went wide. “Oh, another contraction.”

“Those are fast,” Warren said, coming into the kitchen. “I called the doctor. He’ll meet us there. I got you a clean shirt to wear.”

Jesse returned. He’d called in the report and talked to the neighbor. He spoke to me quietly. “You take them to the hospital. I’m going to stay here and see if I can rehang that pot rack. The neighbor is going to come over and help clean up.”

“Great idea.”

He grinned. “I know what life with a newborn is like. They don’t need that added stress. It’s quiet out tonight aside from this unexpected call.”

“Yeah. I’ll do a couple drives in your area.”

“Thanks.” He paused. “You okay, Hannah? You look really pale.”