Broken (Otherworld 6)

A moment's hesitation, then Clay nodded and motioned for me to cover the exit.

I watched him stride through the exhibit entrance, then ducked in the exit and stopped to get my bearings. In any other gallery today, this would have been a simple matter of looking down the empty hall for the first sign of life. But there were quite a few other people here, most under the age of five, as if parents were taking advantage of low attendance at the museum to give their preschoolers as much face time with dinosaur bones as they could want.

Children raced along the corridor, under the snouts of the looming beasts as their parents sat or stood in twos and threes, chatting and laughing. The noise level, replete with choreographed booms and shrieks, made listening for Rose impossible. Sniffing was also out of the question--the old and well-loved gallery was overpoweringly ripe. So I had to look for her...which would have been much easier if the lights weren't cranked down to simulate primeval darkness.

I walked down the center of the hall, my gaze drifting from side to side, only registering life-forms four feet and taller, which cut the prospects dramatically.

I hit a stroller barricade and murmured an "excuse me," my gaze still focused ten feet ahead. Someone caught my arm, and I swung back, hand balling into a fist...then realized I was about to deck a smiling woman holding a baby.

"Sorry," I murmured. "Excuse me--"

"When are you due?" she asked.

"Due?"

She motioned to my stomach. I looked down, and for a split second stared at my jutting stomach, wondering "where did that come from?" before my brain slammed back on track.

"Oh, ummm, soon. Excuse--"

Another woman in the group let out a squeak. "Oh, my God. See, I'm not the only crazy one." She laid her hand on my arm. "Lee was just reminding me about last August when I was--" She motioned to my stomach. "That huge, and whining about the heat."

"I warned you, never get pregnant at Christmas," the third woman said. "As romantic as it might seem, it isn't nearly so nice eight months later, when it's baking hot and you're carrying an extra twenty pounds." She looked at me. "Am I right?"

"Er, uh..." I struggled for something to say, something other than: excuse me, I have a homicidal zombie to catch.

The women were all beaming my way, ready to welcome a temporary addition to their clique, and I realized just how much I was not going to be "moms and tots" playgroup material. Had I already doomed my child to life as a social misfit? A father who'd never coach Little League...a mother who'd never host PTA bake sales...an entire family whose idea of an exciting summer getaway was chasing down zombies? Which reminded me...

"Excuse me--" I began.

"Oh, speaking of warm, show her the sweater set."

The first woman, the one with the baby, lifted a paper from her stroller and held it out. On it was a picture of a matching knit sweater, booties and hat.

"That's...cute," I said, scanning over their heads for Rose. "Great idea for winter. Maybe I'll buy one. Now if I could--"

"Buy one?" The second woman laughed. "It's a pattern. For knitting. Old-fashioned, I know, but it's a great way to relieve stress."

Knitting? I stared in horror at the outstretched pattern, mumbled my excuses and finally squeezed through, hurrying back to less terrifying pursuits.

I rounded the corner at the same time as Clay came barreling around the other side. We stopped, twenty feet apart, looked at each other, then searched the gap between us, our lips forming a silent curse--probably the same curse.

We strode forward and met in the middle.

"She didn't get past me," I whispered.

"Me neither. It's not crowded or dark enough to have missed her circling back."

I looked for potential hiding places, but the layout was simple--too simple to misplace an entranced toddler, let alone a woman. Then I remembered the stroller barricade.

"I was stopped," I said. "Back there. The hall was blocked. Maybe, when I got through, if she was right on the other side, in the shadows or something..."

"You could have missed her. Probably not, but..."

"We should check."

The strollers were still there, the women now talking to a pair of preschoolers. Their faces lit up when they saw me again.

"Oh, is this your husband?" one said. "Lucky girl. I can never get mine anywhere near this place."