The Marine's Virgin Lover (8 page)

“Where are we going?”

Seth looked at her in the rearview mirror, “I was thinking to drive straight to the hospital. Brianna had a C-section and Trent said they planned on keeping her overnight at least.”

“More like two or three to be accurate. They won’t let her go until they’re sure she’s not going to have any complications.”

“I can’t wait to see her face. She’s never even held her daughter.”

Chelsea swallowed back tears, she couldn’t imagine the pain and distress the poor woman must be going through. “Could you call them and tell them we’re coming?”

Seth shook his head, “Already tried. I don’t have any service up here. I’ll try again once we reach the highway.”

Seth drove in silence for several minutes before asking, “So why’d you take this job?”

“I really don’t know. I didn’t want to at first. My sister is taking care of five-month old twins and frankly, I’m not real sure she can handle them on her own. She’s never truly dealt with her husband’s death, and I’m afraid one of these days she’s just going to crack. Anyway, she urged me to take it. She said I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to travel and I love babies. The rate Mr. Bresi offered was triple what I would normally make, and Rachel can use all the financial support I can give her. I was hoping that I would still be able to see her occasionally. I had no idea I would be living up in the mountains.”

“How did you get up here?”

“A limousine picked me up at the agency earlier today. I have to admit I was so caught up in looking at the vehicle, I didn’t even realize where we were headed until the driver pulled off the highway.”

“Were you scared?”

“Why would I be scared? I was hired to care for an infant. There’s nothing scary in that. And the driver was a perfect gentleman. In fact, Mr. Bresi seems like a nice guy. I just don’t get why he would do something like this?”

“His daughter killed herself three years ago. She was pregnant at the time and he blames Trent Coldwell for her and the baby’s death.”

“How did she die?”

“She ran her car off a bridge.”

“How horrible. Why would he blame Trent Coldwell, though?”

“I’m not really sure, but Trent and Serena were an item. Then, three weeks before her death, Trent called it quits. He’s never talked about it from what my business partner has said. Marco has blamed him and threatened revenge for years. I guess this was his way of acting on that threat.”

“Marco must have loved his daughter dearly.”

“I’m sure he did, but that doesn’t excuse his actions here.”

“No. I agree.” They both settled into a comfortable silence as Seth navigated the winding mountain road, coming closer to the highway each minute.

Finally, pulling onto the highway, Seth grabbed his phone again and was pleased to see he had full service. He tried to contact Shawn first, but it went straight to voicemail. Shawn had a bad habit of forgetting to charge his cell, and more than likely it was completely dead.

Next, he tried Maria, but when no one answered, he realized that it was after 7 o’clock and the office would have already closed for the night. Frustrated that he was unable to get through to anyone, he next tried his brother. Maybe Chance could run down Shawn.

“Chance?”

“Hey bro. Give me a minute. I’m……pulling……lot.”

“What? Chance, hey man, you’re breaking up here. Say again.”

“Hospital....call……,” and then the line went dead.

Cursing beneath his breath, he dialed Chance back and felt like screaming when it went straight to his voicemail. The world was conspiring against him today, and he had good news to share.

Calling Trent, he again was met with voicemail. The cell service in the hospital was sketchy on a good day, and today definitely wasn’t one of those.

“No luck?” Chelsea asked from the backseat.

“No. I had Chance for a minute, but then his cell cut out.”

“So now what?” Chelsea wanted to know. “Do we contact the police?”

Shaking his head, Seth replied, “No. The hospital didn’t release the name of the baby taken to help protect Trent and Brianna’s privacy. Our best bet would be to sneak back into the hospital. I imagine the media has the front entrances staked out.”

“Well I can guarantee we’ll draw attention if we try to walk right into the hospital with a newborn baby.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”

“So, what then?”

“I don’t know. Let me think for a moment.” Seth went through the various options and came up with the only available solution. They would have to get back into the hospital the same way Marco had – by helicopter.

Looking at Chelsea in the mirror once again, he asked, “You afraid of flying?”

“What? No, I mean I don’t think so.”

“Good.” Seth made the requisite phone calls and arranged to have the company chopper pick he and his companions up at the Mother Cabrisi shrine. It was located several miles outside the city, and had a fully functional helipad. He would leave his car parked there and have someone drive him out to retrieve it later. Right now, he had a precious present to deliver to Trent and Brianna.

Chelsea had never ridden in a helicopter and was still undecided about whether or not the experience was one she would like to repeat. It was extremely noisy, and her little charge was very upset by all of the commotion. She tried feeding her a bottle, but the little girl just screamed louder as formula dripped down her chin and onto the blanket beneath her.

Seth had given her a set of headphones and feeling him tap her arm and gesture to her ears, she put them on, “Is she okay?” Seth asked her.

Chelsea nodded, “She’s just really upset. The noise and everything….”

“We’ll be at the hospital in about fifteen minutes. Sure beats navigating the traffic, huh?”

Chelsea laughed, “Yeah. I hate driving in the traffic. That’s the one thing I miss most about New Mexico. We never had much traffic, rush hour or otherwise.”

Seth smiled at her, “Look out your window. That’s the hospital over there. The pilot’s going to set us down on that big ‘X’ on top of the building. Wait for me to come around and help you out, okay?”

Chelsea just nodded. She was so out of her element. Seth acted as if flying in a helicopter was an everyday occurrence to him. She was curious about the man beside her. He seemed to have a vast amount of resources at his disposal, and listening to him talk she guessed he had military training as well. He carried himself a lot like her former brother-in-law had.

She hoped that after they arrive at the hospital she would have the opportunity to contact her sister. She didn’t want to worry her, but guessed that the police might end up holding her for questioning, and with Mr. Bresi currently out of the country, she wasn’t sure how long that might take.

Seth watched Chelsea and wondered at the worry he saw fill her eyes. Was she worried about the landing? Getting her attention again, he told her, “Hey, don’t worry. I’ve flown with this pilot plenty of times. He knows what he’s doing?”

Chelsea nodded her head but the worry didn’t leave her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just wondering what’s going to happen once we get to the hospital. Do you think I could call my sister before the police arrive? She’s going to be so worried when this all hits the news.”

Seeing the tears form in her eyes, Seth scooted a little closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “Stop worrying so much. No one said anything about calling the police. If my guess is right, Trent’s going to want to deal with this himself.”

“But…. I don’t understand… won’t the police have to be called in?”

“I don’t know. I’ll speak with Trent. He’ll want to keep his and Brianna’s name out of the papers so maybe there’s another way to work it. Besides, Marco’s the one who stole the baby, not you.”

“Yeah, but I was caring for her. Doesn’t that make me an accomplice or something?”

Seth smiled at her and shook his head, “No. It doesn’t. You didn’t know what Marco had planned, right?”

Chelsea shook her head, “Certainly not. In fact, if I’d known what he was doing I wouldn’t have accepted the job.”

Seth squeezed her shoulder again, “See. You have nothing to worry about. In fact, you’re the hero here. Without your cooperation, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this much today.”

Chelsea blushed at his praise and then looked down to see the baby staring up at her with her big blue eyes. Chelsea reached out and lifted one of the tiny hands, marveling at the tiny perfection of her fingers and hands. She was thrilled that the baby was being returned to her mother, but a part of her was also sad. She loved the feel of holding a baby in her arms and wondered if she would ever know the joy of holding her own child, or forever hold the babies of others.

Bending over, she placed a gentle kiss on the baby’s forehead, whispering to her, “You are so precious. Your mommy and daddy are going to be so happy to see you. Just you wait and see. You’re going to have such a special life.”

Seth heard Chelsea’s words and they reached right into his soul. In a little over six hours, she had fallen in love with the little girl she held in her arms. He heard the longing in her voice and vowed that after this situation was resolved, he was going to take her someplace and get to know her a little better. He wasn’t quite sure what it was about her that spoke to him, but he wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him by. Maybe she was what he had been looking for.

      
      
      
      
      
*****

Chance exited the elevator onto the maternity ward and made his way towards the Coldwell room. Entering with a rap of his knuckles on the door, he saw Trent sitting beside Brianna in the bed, both of them looking at something on his phone.

“Hello?”

Trent glanced up and smiled when he saw Chance enter. He had only been working with Shawn and Seth for a few months, but was already an integral part of their business. “Hey man. Tell me you have good news.”

Chance smiled at Trent and then addressed Brianna, “How you holding up, momma?”

Brianna gave him a tremulous smile, attempting to put on a brave face, “I’m hanging in there. Have you found her yet?”

“Not exactly. I just came from the house where we think the nurse who was hired to care for your daughter lives. Her sister was there and said that Chelsea, that’s the nurse’s name, promised to call her tomorrow and tell her where she was staying.”

“Tomorrow? Couldn’t she call her today?” Trent demanded. Tomorrow seemed like a lifetime away.

“She already tried. The sister has her phone turned off. Rachel’s supposed to either call me tomorrow or have her sister call me. Anyone heard from Seth? He tried to call me as I was entering the hospital but the reception was bad. I tried to call him back but the call wouldn’t connect.”

Trent pushed his hands through his hair and stalked to the window. It was getting dark outside and his daughter was out there somewhere, with a stranger.

“Trent?” Brianna queried, worried that Trent was ready to explode. He had been so strong for her today, but she knew that his inner alpha male was screaming to get out. Unfortunately the man who deserved to encounter that part of Trent’s personality was an ocean away.

Chance watched Trent and sympathized with his attempt to control himself. Trent was a very powerful man and used to making things happen in his time frame. Being at the mercy of others had to be hard to swallow on his best day.

“I haven’t heard from anyone for several hours now. Shawn stopped by here and told me that Marco definitely left the states alone. He also said that Seth was checking out a lead on a potential residence Marco had nearby. Maybe Seth was calling about that?”

“Maybe,” Chance agreed while nodding. In fact, he just bet that was what Seth had been calling to tell him. “Maybe I ought to find someplace in this hospital with cell service and see if I can get him back. Last time I talked to him he was getting ready to approach the residence on foot to see if he could confirm your daughter’s presence there. He might have been calling for backup.”

Brianna looked so hopeful he prayed he wasn’t going to be the one to disappoint her with bad news. “Go up to the roof. There’s an atrium there that should have a clear signal,” Trent offered.

“That’s a good idea. I’ll head up there and then come back down after I know something. Hang in there you two.”

Just as he was heading out the door, he heard Brianna call him back, turning he asked, “Yes?”

“Her name’s Faith. We named her Faith.”

Chance felt his heart melt, “That’s a good name honey. A real good name. Let me go call Seth and I’ll be back shortly.” Looking at Trent, he added, “It’s going to be okay. I feel it.”

“I hope so,” Trent and Brianna both said at the same time, laughing slightly as they realized what had happened.

Chance left the room and headed for the rooftop, hopeful that things were about to change. Trent and Brianna deserved all the happiness a new baby could bring. He aimed to help them achieve that.

Shawn checked his phone to see if the battery had charged back up, grinning when it turned on. “See, I told you it would charge up fast.”

“You need one of those little chargers you carry in your pocket, then this wouldn’t keep happening,” replied his wife Janet.

Shawn had retrieved her from Coldwell Enterprises an hour ago and run her home to change clothes and grab a bite to eat. Currently, they were heading back to the hospital to be with Trent and Brianna. Janet wasn’t sure what help she could be, but she cared for both of them and wanted to be there to offer moral support if nothing else.

“So you keep telling me. Let’s go,” Shawn stated as he headed for the garage, checking to see if he had any messages as he went. Seeing that Seth had tried to contact him several times, he tried to call him back, but the call wouldn’t go through. Pocketing his phone, he decided to try again before they entered the hospital. Maybe he was just out of cell service right now.