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The next few days are busy at the office and I’m also growing kind of sad that Elise will be leaving in a day or so for her maternity leave.
“You tell me if you need any help,” I tell her. “I know a lot about this baby stuff.”
She laughingly reassures me, “You’re as bad as Lucas. I felt a cramp yesterday and he flew into a panic mode.”
“He really cares about you,” I note.
Elise looks unsettled. “He’s been a very good friend to me.” Her voice lowers as she admits, “Honestly, he’s given so much support through all this that I can’t help but be grateful.”
“He’s a good man,” I say slowly.
She doesn’t meet my eyes. “He is. Yours isn’t bad either.” She’s smirking now.
I feel the blush creep up my cheeks. “I have to go.”
“Of course, you do.” She laughs. “You go do your job.”
I show her my middle finger.
She roars with laughter. Shaking my head, I enter the elevator.
Caleb is on the phone when I enter the office and I hand him a muffin, seating myself on the edge of the desk. He tears a bit of it off and pops it into his mouth, rolling his eyes at me indicating that the person on the other end is boring him. When the call ends, he leans upwards and captures my lip. “Hi.”
“Hello,” I murmur into his mouth. “How was your meeting?”
“Dull. Where’d you get the muffin from?”
“Stole it from Duke. Apparently, Tracy made him lunch. She never makes me lunch,” I complain.
“So, you stole his? Shame on you.” Caleb stuffs more of the muffin in his mouth and grins around it.
“I stole it for my man,” I deadpan. “I committed a crime for you. The least you can do is appreciate it.”
He’s laughing silently at me, and it occurs to me that he does it more and more now, laugh. A wave of tenderness surges inside of me and I kiss his cheek.
He’s about to say something when my phone suddenly starts ringing.
I glance at it to see Elise’s number on the screen. I answer it, “Elise, what—?”
“I’m in labor! Oh, God, the baby’s coming!”
“What – Okay, hold on! I’m coming down!” I close the phone, and look at Caleb, my blood thundering. “Tell Duke to bring the car around. Elise has gone into labor!”
“I have a meeting in five minutes. I’ll let Lucas know,” Caleb tells me.
I nod and text Duke in the elevator just to be sure.
> His response is rather odd when he tells me to meet him behind the alley and then we can pick up Elise. It makes no sense, but I hurry into the lobby where Elise is looking pale. “All right. I’m getting Duke! We’ll bring the car around and go straight to the hospital! I’ll be right back!” I hurry out and run towards the back alley, not questioning the strangeness of Duke’s request. Why he wants to meet me at the staircase entrance for the underground garage is beyond me.
It’s only when I enter the alley and I see Duke leaning against the wall, his hand clutched to his stomach, blood leaking from him, that I realize something is really, really wrong.
He looks at me and cries out hoarsely, “Kendall, run!”
19
Caleb
I stare at the documents in front of me, confirming my suspicions. Kendall’s birth certificate, her family history.
