Chapter 4

“What's that supposed to mean?”

Sharon's voice went hard, still accusing me of being petty and snide.

“Don't you know George's parents both died? You say something like this when he's at his lowest? Dragging up old grudges? Preston, are you even a man?”

I couldn't be bothered to answer her. I stayed silent and moved to hang up.

She realized I was about to end the call and screamed into the phone.

“My stomach hurts so bad! Preston, I'm not lying, it hurts so bad……the baby's in danger, you have to come right now. Don't you want the baby anymore? This is the child you waited four years for!”

She was crying like her heart was being torn out, shrieking and wailing, her sobs echoing through the whole room.

She'd been detained at the next checkpoint. She wouldn't be released until the R&D was completely finished, and there'd be harsh punishment waiting for her. For now, basically no one was looking after her.

I hardened my heart and told myself not to care. But one call after another came, begging for help, every voice message and text full of her wretched pleading.

I couldn't bring myself to leave it. I still cared about the child, and I was afraid it might turn into something we couldn't take back. So I got in the car and drove through the night to the next checkpoint.

Past midnight, a little after twelve, I finally got there. Before I'd even gone in, the moment I logged my report, my coworker on watch started ribbing me.

“Preston, your wife's a real handful. She was crying her eyes out calling you, wasn't she? Gave us grief for hours too! And just now some guy came in looking for her.”

“A guy?”

My heart dropped. I already knew who.

“Yeah, real anxious-looking, making a fuss about seeing your wife. And she was worked up too, carrying on like she'd kill herself if she couldn't see him, so we let him in.”

“How long ago?”

“Not long. Beat you here by ten minutes!”

My coworker let me through too. I walked slowly toward the room where Sharon was being held, and sure enough, there was a man pressed up against the security bars.

It was George.

Dressed all in black, a mourning band on his arm.

“Sharon! Where are my parents' bodies? Didn't you promise you'd get them shipped back for me? Now you don't even know where my parents' bodies went? How can you not pull off a single thing?!”

“George, don't panic. I already tricked Preston into coming to help. When he gets here I'll have him go find your parents' bodies.”

“If you couldn't handle it, you shouldn't have said yes! You'd make my parents suffer even in death? How can you be so vicious? If you can't do the job, don't put on a big front, okay? All you did was set me back.”

George went wild with rage. He suddenly grabbed Sharon by the hair, yanked her to the window, slapped her hard across the face several times, then wrenched her by the collar and slammed her head against the bars, every inch a violent lunatic.

The blows left Sharon dazed. It took her a long moment to come back to herself, blood at her nose and the corner of her mouth, and she stared at George in a stupor.

“You hit me? George……I got locked up in here because of you, and now I'm facing serious punishment. I'm pregnant and still running all over the place, just to get your parents' bodies shipped back, and you actually hit me?”

“So what if I hit you? You want me to pick a good day for it?”

George spat on the window in his fury, his words crude.

“Sharon, don't play the innocent little victim. You're the one who's married and still throwing yourself at me, wanting it both ways! You didn't get the job done, you made things worse, and a few slaps is letting you off easy!”

He let go, gave a hard shove that knocked Sharon to the ground, and strode off.

Sharon broke down sobbing, calling my phone again and again.

I watched George get far away before I stepped out of the shadows and walked slowly toward her.

Sharon looked up at me through her tears, her eyes red and streaked with blood.

“Save me! Preston, save me and the baby.”

Her voice came out weak, her gaze drifting downward.

Her pants were soaked red, and a pool of blood had spread across the floor beneath her.

“Preston! The baby……our baby……”