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She felt something break within her. Something tender and fragile.
Oh. Dear. God.
Sprawled on the last two steps, rattled to her core, she spied her husband careening around the corner to the kitchen. He was at her side in an instant, on his knees and hovering over her. “Oh, God, Nikki, are you okay?” His face was a mask of worry, his anxious eyes scanning her features.
Was she? She blinked. Moved slightly. Testing her arms and legs. “Yeah, I think so,” she said, though she wasn’t certain.
“Your shoulder?”
“It’s . . . it hurts,” she admitted as her head cleared, and she knew in that instant her shoulder wasn’t the problem. Nor was her back, nor her arms or legs. No . . . oh, please . . . no.
“Thank God.”
She heard his voice as if from a distance.
A deep, clawing sadness took hold of her soul as she recognized the feeling of wetness between her legs. She had trouble finding her voice. “I think you’d better call Dr. Kasey,” she said, forcing the horrid words past her lips.
“Dr. Ka . . . Oh, no,” he whispered, letting his gaze slide down her body. “You mean . . .”
She followed his gaze but knew what she’d find. A crimson stain was blooming on her nightgown, visible where her dressing gown had parted. “Oh, Jesus, Nikki.”
“Call her,” she said again, more forcefully, even though she was certain it was too late.
There was no baby.
Not anymore.
CHAPTER 9
Two days later, Reed was at the station. He tossed back the cold dregs of his coffee and threw the disposable cup into the trash near his desk. The door to his office was slightly ajar, and he heard the buzz and hum of activity from the outer hallway. Someone was laughing. He thought it sounded like Van Houten’s deep rumble as it faded away.
It was nearly five, the shift would be changing soon, and voices and ringing phones carried over the wheeze of the air-conditioning unit that was struggling against the thick Georgia heat.
Though the flood waters from the storm had receded and most of the power had been restored, the city of Savannah was still in the midst of a major cleanup. Emergency crews for the city and electric or cable companies continued to work around the clock. The streets had been cleared of debris for the most part, but now the roadways were filled with vans from the media, or trucks for the road crews or construction companies and insurance adjustors assessing the damage.
Getting through town was still a challenge.
But then, what wasn’t?
Reed considered another cup of coffee, then discarded the idea as it was late afternoon, bright sunlight visible through the grimy window.
He rotated the kinks from his neck.
Because of the hurricane, the police department was stretched thin.
Losing an officer, especially a detective of Morrisette’s caliber, didn’t help. She’d been a good cop. A dedicated cop. A do-anything-for-justice cop. The department missed her. Hell, Reed missed her.
He glanced over at Morrisette’s empty desk and frowned, a hollow feeling in his gut.
It would ebb in time.
He knew that.
But for now there was a distinct void in his life.
More than one, he thought sadly as he remembered the panicked early-morning drive to the hospital with Nikki, her face white as chalk, the deep regret and aching sadness in her eyes despite him saying over and over again, “It’ll be all right, Nikki. Hang in there. It’s all gonna be all right.” He’d known differently, of course, as he’d punched the accelerator and sped through the near-empty streets, the Jeep’s emergency lights flashing on the short, frantic trip to the hospital. He’d slid a glance in her direction. “We’re gonna be okay.”
Nikki had seen through his lie and nervously cracked the window. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be ‘okay,’” she’d admitted as he’d
