As she entered the clearing in front of her home, the first thing she noticed was a big, dark SUV parked in front of her cabin. The driver, the big nameless man with the ball cap and hair that curled beneath it was leaning against the passenger door. When she pulled up, he straightened and slipped his thumbs in his front pockets. She recognized him and the vehicle at once. This was the big guy who’d stopped by Doc’s several weeks ago, and what flashed through her mind was “someone’s pregnant.” Then she took note of his sidearm—a big gun, with straps holding the holster to his thigh. But his hands stayed away from it.
In a place like this, she was never sure how to feel about a person toting weapons. If she’d seen this in the city, she’d have ducked for cover. But out here, it didn’t necessarily mean anything. She could play it safe and make a run for it, though she didn’t handle the Hummer so well yet. Besides, the man had already approached her in the clear light of day to ask about a delivery. She pulled up, keeping her headlights on him, and he seemed to straighten expectantly, stepping away from the SUV. She opened her door and stepped out. “What are you doing out here?”
“That baby’s coming,” he said.
No matter what the circumstances, the same thing seemed to happen to her when she heard that—she stopped thinking of herself and began to concentrate on the work at hand, the mother and child. “That was pretty quick,” she said.
“No. I was pretty slow,” he said. “She kept it to herself for a long time and I didn’t realize she was this ready, this—look, I need you to come. To help.”
“But why are you here? Why didn’t you go into town, to the doctor’s office? I almost didn’t come home tonight…”
“Lucky for me you did. I couldn’t go to town, couldn’t run the risk of someone wanting to come with you, or someone telling you not to come with me. Please, let’s go.”
“Where?”
“I’ll take you,” he said.
“No. I’ll follow you. I’ll just go inside, make a call and—”
He took a step toward her. “We can’t do it that way. It’ll be better for all of us if you don’t know exactly where you are. And really, it has to be just you.”
“Oh, gimme a break,” she said with a short laugh. “You expect me to get in that car with you? Without knowing you or where we’re going?”
“That’s the general idea, yeah,” he said. “She thinks she’s doing this alone, having the baby. But I’d rather you come with me, in case… What if there’s a problem? Huh?”
“I can call Doc Mullins, maybe he’ll go with you. I don’t make a habit of getting in a vehicle with a stranger to be driven to some mysterious birthing…”
“Yeah, I wish it was mysterious. I wish it wasn’t happening, but it is. I don’t want to have to do this at all—but I also don’t want anything stupid to go wrong that we could prevent. I don’t want any unnecessary trouble. You should probably be there. In case.”
“This your baby?” she asked him.
He shrugged. “Yeah, could be. Probably.”
“I don’t even know there is a baby coming. I’ve never seen the mother,” Mel said. “What if there is no baby?” she said.
He took a tentative step toward her. “What if there is?” he asked.
She looked around her. It was obvious if he wanted to hurt her, he wouldn’t need to take her anywhere. He wouldn’t even need to draw that weapon. They were completely isolated. He could take ten short steps toward her, whack her across the jaw and it would be done.
He spread his arms wide. “I just have to keep the place covered. It’s a place of business, all right? Could we please go get that baby born? I’m not kidding, it freaks me out. She says she’s been hurting all day. And there’s blood.”
“A lot of blood?”
“What’s a lot? Not puddles, but enough to make me get in the truck and come for you. Pronto.”
“You have a gun,” she pointed out to him. “I hate guns.”
He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. “Protection for you,” he said. “I’m just a businessman, but there’s some crazy people stuck out there in the woods. I’m not going to let anything happen to you—that would make my life way too complicated. I don’t want any attention from the sheriff. We really gotta go. There’s a baby coming. Real soon.”
“Oh, shit,” she said. “Don’t do this to me.”
“I’m doing something to you? I’m asking. That’s all. I want to get a baby born without anything stupid and wrong happening to the baby or the mother. Get me?”
“Why didn’t you just take her to the hospital?” she asked him.
“She works for me, okay? And she has warrants. They ID her at a hospital and she’s going to jail. You can’t take care of a baby from jail. That’s why it’s gotta be this way.”
“Look, go get her and take her to town, to Doc’s. We’ll do it there and no one will ask any questions about—”
“I’m telling you, there isn’t time!” he shouted. The look on his face was desperate and he took a pleading step toward her, arms wide, palms out. “It’s gonna happen soon, and we’re almost an hour from her! We might not make it as it is!”
She took a deep breath. “We should take the Hummer…”
“Can’t,” he said. “Can’t leave my vehicle here in case someone comes looking for you and finds only my truck. Sorry.”
“I’ll get my bag,” Mel said, reluctantly.
She grabbed her bag out of the Hummer and got in his SUV. He held a black sash in his hand. “You should blindfold,” he said.
“Get real,” she answered. “I’m not doing that. Hurry up. If she’s been hurting all day, just hurry up.”
“Put it on. Come on.”
“So I won’t see what? Where we’re headed? I’m from L.A., buddy. I’ve been here three months and I can hardly get myself to town in the daylight along these mountain roads. It’s pitch black. Just move it—I’m never going to be able to tell anyone where we went.” And more softly, “Besides, I wouldn’t. The only thing that would make me do that is if I needed to find you, or her, to save a life.”
“This some kind of trick?” he asked.
“Oh, please. Now stop scaring me. I might panic and throw myself out of the car, and then where would you be?”
He put the SUV in gear and peeled out of the drive and headed east. “I hope you’re not lying to me, setting me up. Because after this is taken care of, you don’t have to see me again. Unless…？”
“Setting you up?” She laughed. “Did I come to your house? You want to just get this baby born on your own?” she asked him.
“I never did anything like this before,” he said, his voice solemn and serious. “If I’d known there was a baby coming, I would’ve taken her somewhere. Somewhere out of this county. But I didn’t know. Just do your thing, I’ll pay you, and we’ll be done. Okay?”