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“How far along were you?”
Makenzie’s eyes watered as she blinked to try and push the tears away. “Nine months.”
Heidi’s heart broke. “What happened?”
“He didn’t want a grandbaby.”
“Your step-father?”
The nod was slight, but it was enough of an answer.
“Do you know who the father of the baby was?”
“Not him.”
That was a blessing, whether Makenzie knew it or not. Still, it left a lot of questions that needed to be answered. Heidi was pretty sure they’d be talking for months to get out everything that had happened. “All right. The nurses are going to have to come in here and do a rape kit. Do you want me to stay with you for that?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Heidi remained with her through the examination. She stayed with Makenzie for hours until she was sleeping soundly and calm. Stepping out of the hospital room for the night, Heidi walked straight to her car. The entire drive home, tears ran down her cheeks. The horrors Makenzie had recounted certainly only touched the surface of what had happened to her. The biggest of those being the birth of her baby boy, and she had no idea where he was.
He’d been stillborn, which Makenzie knew was going to happen after her stepfather had beaten her into labor. Then he’d left her alone to deliver by herself before returning and taking the dead baby. She’d named him Isaiah.
As she pulled into the driveway at her house, Heidi had to force her legs to move to get out of the car. When she got into the living room, she collapsed onto the couch in the fetal position and could barely move. She checked her phone, finding a text from Ann. She did the only thing she could and dialed.
“Heidi?”
Tears streamed down her cheeks again after she’d just gotten them to stop. Her voice hitched. She couldn’t even form a word.
“Heidi. What’s wrong?”
“I just… Ann…”
“What happened?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” Worry etched every syllable in Ann’s voice. “You’re not. What’s going on?”
“New case.”
“I’m coming home.”
“No.” Heidi brushed her fingers over her cheeks, trying to strengthen herself. She could do this. She didn’t need Ann to give up her weekend away just because she couldn’t handle her job and life. She was stronger than this. “No, I’m fine.”
“You’re not. I can come home. I made sure to stay close just in case.”
Guilt swarmed Heidi’s belly. She’d thought Ann had stayed close just because, but to know it was because of her? That was nearly too much. She wiped her eyes, the tears stinging now as they dried. “I’ll be fine. I just… I needed to hear your voice.”
“Talk to me, then.”
Heidi sighed. “She… it’s so similar, Ann. I don’t even know how to describe it.”
“Similar to what you experienced?”
Heidi nodded before she realized Ann couldn’t see her. She forced out a “Yeah.”
“Honey. Please, I’ll come home.”
