Shielded In The Shadows

When she realized her thoughts were going in circles that only made her dizzy, she tried to focus on work. On the fact that Jayden Powell had agreed to keep a tight watch on Bill Heber. He’d never said whether or not he’d suspected Bill capable of hurting Suzie again, but he’d shown no surprise when she’d told him what she knew. She was looking forward to a relatively quick arrest, as the probation officer found his client breaking the terms of his probation. Not that Bill seeing his ex-wife was one of those terms. Suzie wasn’t getting a restraining order—or even admitting that Bill was hitting her again.

And Emma knew why. The woman didn’t trust the system to protect her. Because the system had screwed up on her—Emma had screwed up—and Bill had walked free the last time.

Suzie hadn’t trusted them enough to let them know if Bill had threatened her again. Hurt her again. The High Risk team hadn’t been fully formed back then. Who knew what hell Bill had put her through before he’d been arrested on a completely different, but probably related charge?

He’d broken into Suzie’s home. She hadn’t known it was him and had called the police. Their investigation had pointed straight to Bill and this time there had been an eye witness...

The door opened. Heart pounding, Emma met the compassionate gaze of the woman standing there, trying to read her results written in those eyes.

Was she pregnant?

Here she was, contemplating her own motherhood, all while thinking about a woman who’d lost a baby to her husband’s cruelty. How could she consider bringing a child into such a world as hers?

And yet...how could she not? There was so much good love in the world—who better than someone like Emma to create some more of it?

The doctor was washing her hands.

Did Emma already have family forming?

Was she irrevocably changed? And alone with the responsibility?

“So?” she asked when the doctor didn’t immediately announce the news.

“Let me look,” she said and walked to the computer screen attached to a rotating arm from the ceiling and started typing.

Oh. My. God. More waiting. Would they haul her to the emergency room if she passed out in the doctor’s office? She couldn’t afford to miss her afternoon appointments.

Click. Click. Click. She got that the lovely woman standing there in the white coat had to type passwords. That her information was protected. But come on...

Was she?

Was she!

“The test is negative...”

She wasn’t.

That was good, right? A relief. No more middle-of-the-night panic attacks about having a child alone. She was glad, really. Had probably been acting prematurely.

So why were there tears pouring down her face?

* * *

Emma had herself firmly in hand by the time she walked into the Santa Raquel probation office just before closing that afternoon. She’d put her own personal wants back into the secret place inside her, and was just focused on getting help for Suzie, who had lost her chance to have a family.

Jayden Powell had asked to see her case files pertaining to Bill Heber, as well as the jury poll after she’d lost the case. While she dreaded reliving that horrible time, she would do whatever it took to keep Suzie safe from the fiend Emma’d failed to put away.

Jayden was the way, and the more he knew about Heber, the better able he’d be to recognize tells: those little things a person did that gave them away. Like a gambler who always chewed his lower lip if he had a good hand.

His door was closed. She could hear voices coming from inside, figured his last appointment of the day—one he’d told her about—was running over. With her folders clutched to her chest with both arms, she leaned back against the wall. The hall was sterile. Deserted. Most doors closed with lights out. She’d known that would be the case, too.

What she hadn’t known when she’d agreed to the nearly dinnertime appointment in a day that had been fully booked for both of them, was that she’d be attending the meeting not pregnant.

Sadness engulfed her again, as it had been doing in large waves on and off since she’d seen Dr. Mobin. The second the doctor had said the word “negative,” her heart had grieved.

The door opened and an older woman in a long, colorful skirt, loose, light green flowing top, and flip-flops came out and moved quickly toward the exit. If she saw Emma, she didn’t acknowledge doing so. When Emma glanced back at the doorway, Jayden was standing there. Watching her.

“You ready?” he asked, giving her a smile that was probably professional and warmed her sad heart anyway.