Chapter Twenty-Five

Catching up on her work had swallowed up all of Angela’s time the last few days. On the bright side, she’d been too busy to watch the clock until this morning’s doctor appointment. The downside was she hadn’t been able to stop at the shop to see Billy since the day at the bay.

At least they’d spoken on the phone. Usually for only a few minutes. Last night she hadn’t wanted to hang up. She’d had to cancel dinner plans with Lexie to show property at the last minute. Before going to bed, Billy had called. They’d exchanged childhood stories that made her laugh and a couple of times almost cry. Adam had found excuses to stay with Billy at the shop. Billy hadn’t come right out and said he was worried about the boy, but she knew he was. After almost two hours on the phone, he’d asked about this morning’s appointment and offered to come with her.

The offer had been tempting. But in the end, she knew it would only make her nervous knowing he was sitting out in the waiting room. So now she sat, feet dangling off the side of the exam table, waiting for the doctor’s verdict and trying to figure out why Billy was so thoughtful and considerate and concerned and yet insisted on remaining a not-quite-anonymous but at least distant donor.

“How are you feeling?” Dr. Mary McCarthy closed the door behind her.

“Good. Fine. Okay.”

The doctor laughed. “As long as you’re sure.” Angela nodded and realized how silly that sounded. “I’m glad to be driving again.”

“And now you want to know when you can have sexual relations again?” The woman actually said that with a straight face. No blushing, no blinking, no bashfulness. How the heck did doctors do that? “Well…”

“That’s usually the first question I get asked after a procedure like this. Let’s take a look.”

Propping her feet up in the stirrups, Angela lay back while the doctor tapped her side, her belly, and poked and prodded.

Finally, with a quick pat to Angela’s knee, the doctor removed her gloves and tossed them aside. “You can get up now.”

Anticipation ran circles in her stomach. Would she be getting the all clear to make a baby or at least try, or had the procedure failed?

“Don’t look so worried.” Dr. McCarthy pulled a stool close and sat. “Everything looks pretty good.”

Angela wondered if there was a higher rank of good and very good, or should she just be thankful she didn’t fall into the okay or not-so-good category.

“I’m not a fan of delaying an attempt at conception any longer than necessary,” the woman continued. “Once you get your first period, you’re free to have intercourse.”

Intercourse. That’s what she had planned. Sperm donation through intercourse. Not making love. Not even sex. Intercourse. “When should I expect my period?”

“I suspect any day now. But keep in mind, conceiving may take awhile. I don’t want you to panic if you don’t get pregnant on the first try.”

Angela nodded. Intellectually she knew this might not be easy. Getting pregnant could take time. More than one attempt. Even for people without fertility issues. Her mind wandered back to walking on the beach and talking on the phone with Billy, and emotionally she wondered if not getting pregnant right away would be so bad. The answer was easy—no. Having more time with Billy could only be a good thing. The harder question was, could her heart take it?

* * *

A whole blasted week had passed since Angela’s visit with her doctor, and Billy had only managed to see her for all of ten minutes as she ran in and out of the shop a few days ago. If Lexie hadn’t needed to borrow something and Angela dropped it off, he wouldn’t have seen her at all.

Last night he’d been damn tempted to drive over and check up on her. And wasn’t that damn stupid? She didn’t need checking up on. And he didn’t need to be hovering. But the truth was, what he’d begun to think of as D day for do the deed was coming up fast. One day very soon, like a bad made-for-TV movie, he’d get a call telling him it’s time and have to drop everything and run.

To make matters more confusing he’d been kicking around a stupid idea and wished to hell he could bounce it off someone before mentioning it to Angela. The clock over the cash register told him it wouldn’t be long before Nick and Jonathan returned from the morning dive. If he told Nick what he and Angela were planning and shot the idea by him, what’s the worst his friend would do? Laugh at him? Yell at him? Gag him, bind him, and drag him to a shrink?

Raking his hand through his hair, he pushed away from his desk and walked out to the pool. Lexie was in the midst of another junior dive class. Who knew there were so many interested kids on the island? Adam Deluca popped into his mind. The last couple of days, Magnolia and the kids had taken a break from water activities. Nothing any of them said could get Adam in the water.

And who was Billy to say anything? He wasn’t getting in the water either. But it wasn’t fear of the water that kept Billy on dry land. This was about respect. And payback. None of what happened to Tom Deluca was Adam’s fault. So how the hell was he going to get the kid back in the water before things went too far?

Lord knew there were plenty of people in this world who never set foot in a swimming pool or the ocean, and they lived happy, fulfilled lives. But that wasn’t Adam Deluca. The kid had been a fish. And Billy’s gut told him Adam would make a damn fine sailor. Shit.

“Anchors Aweigh” blaring from his pocket dragged his thoughts back to the here and now. “Yeah?”

“My, my, don’t we sound friendly.”

“Sorry, man. Got a lot on my mind.” Billy turned away from the pool.

Luke “Brooklyn” Chapman heaved a sigh. “You’re about to have a lot more on your mind. One of my people managed to get a hold of the NTSB’s preliminary reports on the crash investigation. The FBI has been keeping it buried. Deep.”

“FBI…”

“Standard procedure to call in FBI when a crime is suspected. It wasn’t an accident. The plane was tampered with.”

Billy whistled and stopped half way to his office. “You sure?”

“No doubt. Which would explain the undercover op to transport the kids to Hawaii.”

“You think whoever tampered with the plane would come after the kids?” Every hair on the back of his neck stood at full alert. Damn.

“There’s no telling. I’ve got my best people on this twenty-four seven, but we still don’t have a handle on the details.” Brooklyn heaved another sigh.

Billy didn’t like the sound of all that heavy breathing. He wanted to sigh himself. Instead he dropped into his desk chair. “But you’ve got an idea?”

“Yeah. But I want to be sure.”

“Do we need to call in some extra eyes for the kids?”

“I’ve got a guy on Mrs. Deluca. I’m working on moving my men around. Free someone up for the kids until we can evaluate if we need more. Anything suspicious so far?”

Billy shook his head even though his friend couldn’t see him. “No. Nothing at all out of the ordinary.”

“Good. I’ll let you know as soon as I—”

“No. I can cover the kids.” Expect the worst might as well be his middle name these days. But he knew who to call. Lord help him. The guys might resent the hell out of him, but they wouldn’t say no to protecting a couple of kids.

“Looks like Mrs. Deluca had more sense than we gave her credit for. Can’t ask for more than you and Nick, two of Uncle Sam’s best. As soon as we get more info, you’ll hear from me.”

The familiar pain throbbed in his bad leg. Uncle Sam’s best. Maybe Nick, but not him. Not any more. “Thanks, man.”

Brooklyn chuckled. “You may not say that when you get my bill.”

Billy winced. He could only imagine what that bill would be if Brooklyn actually charged his full rate. “Later.”

Opening the drawer, he pulled out the invitation he’d successfully ignored until now. The wedding wasn’t scheduled for another two weeks, but the bachelor party was only a week away. Some of the guys might be in Honolulu by now. All it would take is one call.

Slowly, as though handling a precious artifact, he fingered the messages Lexie had conspicuously placed on his desk over the past few weeks. The air in his lungs thickened. Drawing in a fresh breath seemed harder than it had been only a few minutes ago. He could do this. It wasn’t for him. It was in the best interests of the children. Good kids. He could do this.

Swiping at the phone, he tapped in the numbers and waited.

“Borden here.”

“How’s it hanging, LT?” Silence. Billy sucked in a lungful of air. “I need your help.”

* * *

“You’re shitting me.” Nick tossed the broken regulator on his desk and collapsed into the chair. “Basically the guy was a glorified real estate agent. I’ve been racking my brains the last hour wondering why in the hell anyone would want to kill him.”

“Maybe the intention hadn’t been to kill him.

Only scare him.”

“And something went wrong?”

Nick hitched a shoulder in a casual shrug.

“Shit happens.”

Wasn’t that the truth? Billy had the scars, and

Joe had the widow, to prove it. “I’ve spoken with Maggie.”

“Did she know?”

He nodded. “She knew.”

“And she didn’t tell us?” Nick sprang to his feet. “What if whoever messed with the plane decides he wants to mess with the kids? Did Miss Household Manager think she was going to be able to protect those kids on her own?”

“She’s agreed to meet with us. Tonight. At my place. In order not to alarm the kids, we thought to make it a little dinner party. Do you and Kara have any plans?”

“If we do, we’ll change them.”

“I thought it would help to invite Lexie and Angela.”

“Good idea. The more the merrier.”

“Jim Borden will be there, too. He’s flying in from Honolulu this afternoon.”

“Why does that name sound familiar?”

“We were on the same team that day.” He didn’t have to say which day was that day. It was simply understood. “He’s stationed at Pearl now. Getting married in a couple of weeks.”

Nick bobbed his head. “Right. He’s been calling.”

Yeah. He had. “Tonight at six. In the meantime, I’m heading over to check out the Deluca condo.”

“I’ll cover here.”

“Thanks.” Billy pushed to his feet. If whatever mess Tom Deluca was involved with reached Kona shores, his responsibility for Adam and Bethany was going to prove to be a hell of a lot more than a technicality.