Hidden Legacy

FOUR

The blare of his phone jolted him from sleep hours later.

The clock said 7:12. The ringtone was the one he’d programmed in last night for Caroline’s number.

“Caroline?”

A muffled sound came through the speakers. He grabbed his jeans from the floor and tried to pull them on and not disconnect the call.

“Caroline?” This time the sound was clearer, though it was no less confusing. Was she throwing up?

“Jason,” she said, her voice raw and trembling. “Jason, something’s wrong. It’s Henry! He won’t wake up.”

Another round of retching followed as he scrambled to pull on his shoes. He grabbed his service weapon, his badge and his keys. As he unlocked the door to his Explorer, Caroline’s agonized voice burst through the phone.

“Come on, Henry. Please. Wake up!”

A crash followed her words. Then silence.

“Caroline!”

Father, protect her.

“Caroline!” She didn’t respond. The line was still open. He couldn’t bear to disconnect, but had she called 911? Was anyone else on the way? Why had she called him instead of Michael or Dalton?

He put the phone on speaker and grabbed the radio. He called the dispatcher, requesting an ambulance and backup. Then he called out to Michael and Dalton and told them to get in the house even if they had to break down the doors.

In the months since he’d returned to North Carolina, he’d been frustrated by his home’s nearness to the Harrisons’. Every time he drove past her driveway he knew he should call her. Every time he didn’t he felt guilty.

But this morning, he was thankful to be at the gate in two minutes. He punched in the code she’d given him last night and set the delay on the gate to keep it open for ten minutes. That should be long enough for the ambulance to get here before it closed. Then he sped up the drive. There was no unusual activity at Blake and Heidi’s. Nothing at Jeffrey and Eleanor’s, either.

He pulled up to her front door, slammed on the brakes and raced to the porch. The door stood open, and he could hear an ambulance screaming its way toward them for the second time in less than twenty-four hours.

“Caroline?”

“Back here,” Michael’s voice came from the hallway that led to Caroline’s room. “I think she passed out. I can’t get her to come to. The baby is breathing, but I can’t wake him up, either.”

Jason knelt by Caroline. Her face was ashen. Her breathing shallow. Michael was alternating between checking on her and Henry, while Dalton was fighting with the blinds on the window.

“Dalton, what are you doing, man?” Jason asked.

“Trying to get this stupid window open. I’ve seen this before.”

“Seen what?”

“Carbon monoxide poisoning. You said Caroline was throwing up, right? And the baby is out? It’s textbook.”

He was right. “Forget the windows. Let’s get them outside.” Dalton moved toward Caroline. “I’ve got her. Michael, get Henry,” Jason said. “Babies are most at risk.”

Dalton looked worried. “He doesn’t have a coat.”

“The cold isn’t our biggest problem right now,” Jason said. “Get him outside!”

He scooped Caroline into his arms and raced to the porch, Michael on his heels, holding Henry. As they stepped onto the porch, he could hear Dalton explaining the situation to the EMTs.

They didn’t mess around. They checked Caroline and Henry for CO levels. It took no time at all to determine they’d both been exposed to dangerous amounts. As an EMT strapped Henry into a harness on the gurney, another held an oxygen mask over his face.

Jason hovered near the chaise where Caroline lay on the front porch. Her eyes fluttered open and she clutched at his arm. “Where—”

The words were cut off as her body heaved. She turned away from him, and vomit hit the porch. All he could do was rub her back as violent shudders tore through her.

“Henry!” she gasped.

Jason held on to her. “It’s carbon monoxide, Caroline. They’re giving him oxygen.”

A flurry of activity caught his eye.

“Hey, little man’s coming around!” The young EMT didn’t try to hide her joy. “That’s right, Henry. It’s okay, buddy.”

“Hear that, Caroline? He’s waking up.”

“I want to see him,” she said, struggling to her feet.

“Whoa,” Jason said. “Do you think you can walk?” He scrambled around the chaise and put an arm around her. She was so focused on Henry, she didn’t seem to notice the condition of her pajamas. Her pants and T-shirt were flecked with the remains of her stomach’s contents.

He held her tight as she shuffled toward the ambulance. “Are you sure—”

“I’m fine.”

He had to admit, for someone who’d been puking her guts out two minutes earlier, and unconscious three minutes before that, she seemed remarkably steady on her feet.

Michael and Dalton hovered near the gurney where little Henry was blinking groggily.

“Hey, baby,” Caroline said.

One of the EMTs took her arm. “Ms. Harrison, how are you feeling?”

Jason released her to the EMT and motioned Dalton and Michael over to the side.

“Did either of you see anything suspicious last night?”

“No. We walked around the house twenty times at least,” Dalton said.

Michael smirked. “Yeah, so we wouldn’t fall asleep.”

Jason couldn’t fault them for that.

“Dalton,” Jason said, tossing him the keys to his car. “Trunk. Grab the duffel bag.”

The kid ran in the direction of his car.

“What are you thinking, Michael?”

“Besides that you’ve got puke all over you and don’t seem to care?”

“Besides that.”

“Well, if that’s off the table, then I’m thinking maybe we know what our intruder was up to when he broke in last night. Since Caroline confirmed nothing was taken, we knew it hadn’t been a robbery. This might have been what he was after all along.”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m thinking, too.”

Dalton ran up with his go bag.

“Thanks, Dalton.”

“Sure thing.”

Jason peeked around the corner of the ambulance door as they loaded the gurney with Henry on it into the back of the ambulance. Caroline took a seat beside the gurney, and they strapped an oxygen mask to her face.

Jason patted her knee. “I’ll be right behind you.”

As the ambulance pulled away, Jason turned to Dalton and Michael. “I’m going to change. There’s no way this place doesn’t have at least one CO detector. Find them. Or find where they used to be.”

“Think they’re defective, boss?” Dalton asked.

“Something like that,” he said.

* * *

Caroline held Henry’s hand with one hand and her oxygen mask with the other as they made their way to the hospital.

Carbon monoxide poisoning?

How?

She had smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, motion detectors and who knew what other types of detectors, thanks to Heidi.

How could this have happened?

She looked at her pants. Then her shirt. Oh, no.

“It’s okay, Ms. Harrison,” the EMT said as she handed her a towel.

“It’s Caroline.”

“Hi, Caroline. I’m Lucy.”

Caroline tried to wipe away the worst of the spots.

“Vomiting is a good sign,” Lucy said. “It means your exposure level isn’t so bad that it’s started to affect your brain function.”

Caroline appreciated Lucy’s effort to make her feel better.

“It may be a good sign, but I’d really like some clean clothes,” she said.

Lucy adjusted the oxygen mask on Henry’s face. “I’m sure that cute cop will bring you some. Is he your boyfriend?”

Lucy’s words unleashed a new horror.

Jason. She’d thrown up in front of Jason. Why had she called Jason?

She knew why.

He’d programmed his number into her phone last night. Tested it before he left so it was the last number dialed and the first one to pop up when she’d frantically grabbed it.

But that wasn’t really why.

She’d called him because she knew he would take care of it. Take care of her. That despite the past thirteen years of awkwardness, he would come when she called.

He’d come.

And found her covered in vomit.

She glanced at her clothes again. Correction. Pajamas. The Duke pajamas she’d gotten for Christmas her senior year of high school, right after she was accepted.

She dropped her head into her free hand.

“You okay, Caroline?” Lucy’s concern popped her head back up.

“I threw up in front of him,” she said.

Lucy smirked. “He didn’t seem to mind.”

Caroline groaned.

“Don’t worry,” Lucy said. “We’ll get you some scrubs to put on when we get to the hospital.”

“Thanks.”

Caroline tried to pull her mind back to more pressing issues. Like how had this happened? Why?

What kind of sick person would be willing to kill a baby?

Because there was one thing she was sure of.

This hadn’t been an accident.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Caroline rested on the hospital bed in the small emergency department room. Lucy had come through with the scrubs. Henry was curled beside her wrapped in a tiny hospital gown. Both of them still wore their oxygen masks, but their CO levels had dropped significantly. The doctor had indicated he would run a few tests, but they’d probably be able to go home in a few hours.

“Knock, knock,” Jason’s soft voice preceded his head peering around the door. A smile lit his features. “You look so much better,” he said.

“Thanks a lot.”

His face fell. “No, I didn’t mean... I mean—”

“I’m just giving you a hard time.” Which she shouldn’t do. He’d been amazing today. “I’m sorry. I can’t thank you enough. I’m sorry about your clothes.”

His smile was tender. “You can throw up on me anytime, Ms. Harrison.”

She groaned.

“I’m afraid your phone didn’t survive.”

His words pulled the unpleasant memory to the surface. “I’ll get another one. I was thinking about an upgrade anyway.”

He smiled. “Well, it isn’t a new phone, but maybe this will cheer you up.” He placed a small bag beside her on the bed. “I hope you won’t get mad.”

She peered into the bag. “You brought me clothes?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry if I upset you.”

Poor guy was meeting himself coming and going.

“I was just trying—”

“I could kiss you!”

Jason’s head flew up, his eyes meeting hers, his eyebrows arched in that quizzical look she remembered so well, his lips shockingly close to her own.

“I mean—”

He laughed. “I know what you mean.”

Did he?

Did she?

A nurse bustled in, laptop in hand, to check vitals and O2 sats. Jason stepped outside to give them some privacy and she was thankful for the interruption.

What was going on with her? He’d left. He didn’t want to stay in North Carolina forever and she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. And while she understood his reasons, she had to admit she’d harbored the hope that maybe she would be enough of a reason to stay.

But she hadn’t been.

Just because he was home now didn’t mean he was home for good. He would be busy for the next several years helping care for his dad. When the inevitable came and duty wasn’t tying him down anymore, would he bolt?

History said yes.

The nurse left and Jason returned. Henry had dozed off by her side, and everyone had agreed to let him sleep.

“We need to talk.”

“Okay.” Could he tell how his presence messed with her?

“Your CO detectors didn’t go off.”

Oh. He wanted to talk about that. Of course he did. It was his job. So why had her heart sunk at his words?

“I noticed that.”

“Your water heater was tampered with. The level of CO in the house was significantly higher than it should have been.”

Her heart sank further. “Not an accident.”

He shrugged. “If you hadn’t caught the intruder, it would have looked like an accident. The tampering isn’t obvious. Just a loose vent. The gas company guys apologized all over themselves. Said they couldn’t understand how it happened.”

“But they don’t know about my visitor.”

“Exactly.”

“So what happens now? Can I go home? Should I go home?”

Jason couldn’t meet her gaze.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

He shifted from one foot to the other and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Don’t get mad, but I called your brother.”

“Great. He’s probably already called Mom and Dad.” Caroline exhaled. “I didn’t want them to worry.”

“Like they wouldn’t want to know?”

She glared at him, hoping he could feel her displeasure burning from her retinas. “What did Blake say?”

“He tracked down Heidi.”

“That didn’t take long.”

“I gather they have a system of some sort.” He frowned at her. “Speaking of which, why did you call me?”

Heat flooded her cheeks. “I knew you were minutes away.”

“Why not go to your front porch and yell at the officers sitting in your driveway?”

He wasn’t going to let this go, was he? She didn’t have a good answer.

“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” she said. “I was afraid to leave Henry and I was afraid to get too far away from the bathroom.”

He studied her longer than was comfortable, and she knew he hadn’t fully accepted her response. Time to change the subject.

“So you spoke to Heidi?”

“Yeah. She said she’d call a friend. He’s not far from here and he’s going to come give your place a once-over. She doesn’t want you to stay there until he’s done.”

Awesome. Heidi’s definition of once-over probably meant pulling up the floors and tearing out the walls.

“I was able to convince her that we have things under control, but I won’t be surprised if we wind up with some random FBI agents popping in and out.”

Caroline blew out a breath. “I guess I should thank you again.”

He winked, and her breath caught. “You may not be thanking me when you hear the rest of our plan.”

“The plan?”

“I thought you could hang out with my mom and dad while you’re waiting for your house to be cleared.”

Caroline fidgeted. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? It looks like someone is trying to kill me. I should probably go to a deserted island, not hang out with your parents.”

“Nonsense.” Jason didn’t seem as worried as he should be.

“I can’t put your parents at risk. If anything happened to them—”

His hand on hers stopped her. “I’ve already talked to them. They understand what’s going on, and they want you to come. Mom says she hasn’t seen Henry in far too long.”

“But—”

“Caroline. Dad’s still a good shot.”

She dropped her head in defeat. “I wasn’t thinking that at all.” Jason’s dad had been a sniper. ALS would eventually rob him of the ability to hold a rifle, but at this point, he could probably outshoot 98 percent of the population.

“I know you weren’t. He’s been cleaning his rifle since I called. He’s ready for anything. And whoever is after you would have no reason to expect you to be there.”

“Jason, I go to your parents’ at least once a month.”

“Heidi and I discussed that, but your visits are random and not something anyone would be able to use to target you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

FIVE

At 1:00 p.m., Jason loaded Caroline and Henry into his car.

“Where’d you get the car seat?” Caroline strapped Henry in with practiced moves.

“Michael. He brought it from your house.”

Caroline didn’t respond. Had he upset her? “He was still there, so I asked him to grab it so we could get the little guy home.” He pointed to a bag in the backseat. “He grabbed a bunch of clothes and diapers, too.”

“That was very thoughtful.” She laughed, a harsh sound with no humor in it. “To think that this time yesterday my biggest worry was if I’d allocated enough to the college fund I set up for this little guy.” He saw the muscles in her jaw working overtime. “And now, I’m praying I can keep him alive until his second birthday.” Her voice cracked on the last word, but when she looked up at him, no tears had broken free. She closed Henry’s door. “You ready?”

“Almost.”

He opened the passenger door for her. “There’s one thing I’ve learned from combat.” Her eyes filled with curiosity and concern. “You can’t keep anyone alive.”

She slumped in defeat and slid into the seat. He closed the door and leaned into the open window. “I’m not saying we don’t do everything we can, but you have to let go of this feeling of accountability. You couldn’t have kept Stephanie alive, and ultimately you can’t keep Henry alive. Or yourself. Or me. Or anyone else you care about.”

“Is this little speech supposed to be making me feel better? ’Cause it’s not working.”

He gripped the door. “It is supposed to help, actually. We can walk confidently into the next day, not because we’ve figured everything out and have thwarted the bad guys, but because we know the One who knows what they are up to. We walk confidently because we know He will help us.”

Caroline looked away from him and spoke, so low he barely heard the words. “He didn’t help Stephanie.”

Ouch. A little help here, Father?

He walked around to the driver’s seat and took his time buckling in. She continued to stare out the window as they pulled away from the curb.

“I lost friends in Afghanistan.”

Her head whipped back to him. “I’m sorry.”

The things this woman could make him do. He didn’t talk about Afghanistan. Ever. But here he was talking about his darkest times. “When you head out on a patrol and you don’t know if you’ll be back for dinner, you have to dig deep to find the strength to follow orders and do your job. But when your friends don’t make it home for dinner, you have to look outside of yourself to find any meaning in it.”

Caroline sat ramrod straight beside him. He could barely tell if she was breathing.

“While God is Sovereign, we also live in a fallen world. One where wars happen. Where evil men come after babies.” He couldn’t keep the disgust from his voice. “We have to trust He is working all things for ultimate good.”

Even as he said the words, his mind flashed to his dad. The grim future he faced with grace, dignity and undaunted faith.

“I don’t know why God allowed any of this. For Steph to fall in love with a guy who apparently got mixed up in some shady stuff. For her to get pregnant and leave the guy. For her to die. For her to leave you her baby. And now for someone to want either you or Henry, or both of you, out of the picture.”

Caroline took an audible breath but didn’t interrupt him as he continued.

“I do know He’s not confused or surprised, and He will help us.”

“I want to believe that,” she said. “I really do.”

He reached over, palm up. Would she take it?

She stared at his hand for a few moments, then laced her fingers through his. A long-dormant piece of his heart started throbbing. “I’ll believe for both of us until you get there.”

She squeezed his hand and turned to stare out the window. He assumed she didn’t want him to see her face. Which was fine. He still had her hand in his, and he kept it until they pulled into his parents’ driveway.

His mom was waiting for them, wearing a grin that stretched from one end of the front porch to the other. She bounded down the two steps and had Caroline wrapped in a bear hug before he could get around the car.

“Sweet girl, let’s get you and your precious one inside. There’s a bite in the air.”

Caroline laughed. “Mama Drake, you would say there’s a bite in the air if it was seventy degrees outside.”

Caroline had Henry out of the car seat, and his mom grabbed him. “There’s my handsome man. Henry, you’ve put on at least five pounds since you were here last. Let’s get you some cookies so we can keep those numbers going!”

Jason trailed behind his mom and Caroline. His dad leaned against the porch rail, watching the procession. Their eyes met and he knew what his dad was thinking.

Could feel his mom’s joy.

They’d always loved Caroline. Always dreamed of the day he’d bring her home as so much more than a friend.

Pretty sure they’d never imagined the time he’d bring her home along with her baby as the victims of a crime in need of protective custody.

But looking at the two of them—his mom cooing and his dad helping Henry give him a little fist bump—he wondered if they cared what the circumstances were.

She was here.

He was here.

For now.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Caroline left Henry in Mama Drake’s capable hands and stepped onto the back deck. A tiny, screened room where at any time Mama Drake might have a pie cooling, a pitcher of tea that wouldn’t fit in the fridge, or even a slow cooker bubbling with her famous mac and cheese.

Today, a pound cake tempted her from a pretty plate, and Caroline snagged a slice.

Jason had always been embarrassed about his home. Starting in middle school, he always wanted to go to her house instead of having her come to his. He’d started apologizing about the lack of channels on the TV or the lack of options in the kitchen.

Caroline wasn’t so naive not to understand why. No, the Drakes weren’t as well-off as her parents. But it hadn’t mattered to her ever. The Drakes’ home was always warm and welcoming, and while Caroline loved the sprawling home she’d grown up in, there was a coziness about the Drakes’ tightly grouped rooms that couldn’t be duplicated in five thousand square feet.

Jason hadn’t seen it that way. He’d make little comments about money or status. If she dared to indicate that those things weren’t important, he’d ask her how often she’d tried to live without them.

She’d refused to apologize for the life she’d been born into. They weren’t wealthy by national standards, but they had more than most. Her parents had always stressed how fortunate they were compared with the majority of the people on the planet. She’d been trained to be thankful, and to feel a sense of responsibility to help those less fortunate.

But she’d never seen Jason as less fortunate. Their homes hadn’t been similar in size, but they’d been similar in environment. He had two parents who loved him. Granted, there were plenty of problems with his birth father, but after his mom met Papa Drake, he’d always had a warm, clean home filled with light and laughter. A home she’d always been welcomed in. A place she’d never felt like she had to perform or pretend in. She didn’t blame Jason for wanting more, but she wished he could see how much of what truly mattered was already here.

Caroline leaned against a porch support and closed her eyes. She had to pull it together. Had to find a way to make some sense of this mess. Someone wanted her dead. Why? How could she protect herself and her son?

“You okay?”

She turned at Jason’s words and found him watching her through the open kitchen door.

“I didn’t hear you.”

“I know.”

“How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to see you swipe my dessert.”

She laughed. “There’s plenty more.”

He joined her in the small space. “What’s on your mind?”

She stepped toward him and caught herself. What was she doing? This was a bad idea. She could not let herself get emotionally entangled. Not with anyone, but especially not with Jason Drake. She’d gone down that path.

She knew how it ended.

She knew how much it hurt.

Caroline rocked back on her heels. “Just trying to figure out what’s going on.”