Chapter Fifty-One
Sawyer
Cameron had come to the hospital and was seeing Dylan again. He’d been there every day. I hoped I’d be released the next day. Three days felt like an eternity. We were allowing my parents to visit today. And I had been a nervous wreck on the inside. Dylan had been a little fussier, which I think might have been because of my mood. After nursing him and forcing myself to chill, Dylan had calmed significantly. Nursing was hard. I still had to use the bottle some, which only added to my nerves.
Kurt brought him to the changing area. “Oh, shit. Fuck!”
Kurt put one hand up to block the stream of pee coming from Dylan while holding him with the other. I giggled, then held my stomach. The C-section was still sore. At Kurt’s outburst, Dylan began to cry.
“Oh, you scared the little guy. It’s just a little pee, Mr. Rockstar.”
Kurt spit into one of the towels. “He got me good. I can taste piss, Sawyer.”
“Cuss muffs! We don’t want his first word to be one of your nasty little four-letter ones.”
Cameron shook his head. “You two really do deserve each other.”
Knoah and Garrick knocked on the door. They were going to stay with Dylan in the room next door while my parents were here. Honestly, he’d been a super baby through the night, only waking up every three hours or so to feed. I couldn’t believe it.
Cameron gave him a kiss on the head before Kurt put him in his bassinet and brought him next door, where Knoah and Garrick waited with the security team. As they left, he said, “I can’t wait to teach him how to play bunt ball in the backyard.”
Those were good memories. It was what I had to focus on from when I was child. “Oh, man. I’d forgotten how much I played that with Mattie. She always wanted to bat and run for both teams.”
We chuckled. “I think I may have given Monica baby fever.”
Something about her changed when she held Dylan. I noticed a yearning on her face. She’d left a little earlier to help with the house. The movers were taking everything today so it would be ready when I was released tomorrow. We’d be going home just as Kurt wanted, to our new home. Our first night in the house would include the entire family—even George.
“Oh, no. We’re not ready for a baby yet. Do not jinx me, Sawyer.”
“We’ll see. Dylan would love a baby cousin.”
Cameron pointed at me. “Stop it, Sawyer. That shit’s not funny.”
I whispered, “Our kids would be the same age.”
Kurt came back in the room. “Your parents are on their way. You sure you want to do this?”
No, of course I don’t want to do this. I was afraid of what the truth might reveal. We hadn’t talked since I’d learned Adriane was alive. And we were certain they’d enabled her to hurt me. If they were guilty, they deserved whatever came their way. Hopefully, the security team would find something as they searched some warehouse my parents had visited in the last twenty-four hours. The security team had been tailing them while I was in the hospital, hoping something came up. Seemed Sawyer’s parents may have slipped up.
“Yes. I’m ready.”
Steve and two other security men were in the private bathroom inside my hospital room. Another member of the security team had searched my parents when they arrived. The hope was we’d be able to talk and shed some light on what had happened. At the very least, we’d buy the security team time while they searched the warehouse. One condition of the meeting was they had to leave their cell phones in their car. If someone called to notify them, it would be too late.
There were a couple of knocks and Kurt opened the door. Mom peeked in, wearing her pink Suzy Homemaker cardigan. “There’s my girl. How are you feeling?”
The sugary sweetness sent chills up my spine. They were being fake. Of course. I worked to keep the hurt out of my voice. “Pretty good, considering.”
My parents looked around the hospital room. “Where’s our grandson?”
“My son is sleeping. I figured we could catch up. Have a seat if you’d like.”
They remained standing. “We were hoping to see Dylan.”
They were persistent. It was creepy. “Mom, he’s not here. I’d like to talk about Adriane. I think Cameron and I deserve an explanation.”
With straight shoulders, she addressed me. “Are you going to press charges?”
“Yes. She tried to kill me, my security guard, and our dog. How could I not press charges?”
My father’s face looked like it had been set in stone, and he said nothing.
Cameron stood. “Why? Why would you fake her death? I’ve tried to make sense of it, but I can’t. Then I come to your home, and you refuse to see me. Sawyer and I are your kids.”
Deep down, Cameron kept hoping my parents were good people.
My mother adjusted her purse on her shoulder. “Your sister was devastated when Sawyer murdered Mattie.” The hatred in her voice haunted me.
Kurt took a step closer. “Watch yourselves. This is your only warning.”
“I don’t think there’s anything else we can say on the matter.”
“I think there’s a lot. Were Cameron and I always just pawns in your games? Children of convenience?”
Dad scoffed and finally spoke. “You were a disappointment. We had hoped for more.”
Ouch. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying.
Kurt tilted his head to the side, listening to the security team through the earpiece he wore. “Well, looks like this meeting is over.”
They’d found something. I was glad I didn’t have to endure this any longer.
With a quick, sharp knock, the police walked through the door. “Christopher and Tonya Wade, you’re under arrest for accessory to attempted murder.”
I was left in a state of shock as the cops cuffed my parents. So was Cameron. They said nothing as the cops finished reading them their Miranda rights and walked them out. Moments later Steve and Joe walked back into the room.
Steve announced, “We got them.”
“What did you find?”
It had to be something big to get an immediate arrest.
“The connection to Amanda. Your parents. And we’ve got more on Adriane.”
“What exactly did you find to be able to bring charges against them?” I repeated, needing the details to pull this all together.
“Since your parents left the hospital the first day, we’ve been tracking them remotely because we figured they might be able to shake a tail.”
Yes, I knew this.
He continued, “After leaving here yesterday, they went to a warehouse that had belonged to Navarro at some point. When they left we set to work finding a way in without setting off the alarms. This morning, we cracked the security code.”
A warehouse? What would Dad need a warehouse for?
“And what did you find?”
Steve handed the phone to Kurt, who set his jaw. Turning my way, Steve said, “They had a delivery room set up with enough Pitocin to induce a large elephant into labor. Adriane’s things were there as well as infant boy clothes and baby paraphernalia. We believe they planned to take you, induce you into labor, and take the baby.”
I gasped, and Kurt grabbed my hand.
“Adriane was also connected to Jennifer and Amanda. At West Cedar, we found a computer with a chat that hadn’t been erased. In it, Adriane reminds Amanda to delete the chats so no one can trace them. There wasn’t much of the chat on that computer. But I believe the voices Amanda mentioned were actually Adriane’s. She’d sought people in this morbid fan group to use. There were several people she reached out to who weren’t susceptible. It was meticulous and thorough with the way Adriane vetted them.”
Adriane had always been a genius.
“Oh my gosh.” They’d planned to steal my baby. Is that what the message in the dressing room had been? A warning, in a sense?
Kurt and Cameron cursed as I sat there, stunned. I knew what needed to happen.
“I want to see Adriane.”
And I knew she wanted to talk to me as well.