Ben had ignored rule number three, having unprotected sex with Jamie’s mother, getting Lane pregnant BEFORE the wedding. Sure, they were engaged at the time, but that wasn’t the point. Then right after Mom and Ben became engaged, Ben had told Lane he needed a break. Jamie still didn’t know what that had been about. Ben and his Mom had spent more than a month apart. And, when they got back together, they told the Kids that Lane was pregnant, and got married that same night. Ben might be the only father he’d ever known, but when he thought about the whole thing, it irritated him more than a little.
During the summer, Jamie had tried to ask Ben, if he was sleeping with his Mother. Ben had told him that it was really none of his business, that he loved Lane, and that he was in this for the long haul. Jamie could tell from the way his mother and Ben behaved when they were together that they were in love. He hated to admit it, but Ben was right. It wasn’t exactly his business what his Mother did. But, all of that was beside the point. She was his Mother and since he was the only Parker Kid still at home, it was his job to protect her. Ben had told the Parker Kids for years that their mother was too trusting and naïve and that they needed to watch out for her. That was all Jamie had been trying to do when he’d talked to Ben.
The elevator doors opened. Tanner walked out and Ben ushered Lane inside. He kissed her hand. “I’ll be up as soon as I talk to Tanner.” Ben looked at Jamie who nodded back as the elevator doors closed.
Ben looked at Tanner. “We need to get the crime scene techs inside that Jeep. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say someone covered the steering wheel and maybe the door handles with peanut oil. Either it entered his system that way, or he ingested it somehow. Jamie said Justin keeps an epipen in his glove compartment. He was probably trying to get to it when he passed out. I’ll talk to John and Joan Harper. I may need you to reach out to someone on the force. That rookie cop really botched this up.”
Tanner nodded. “I’ll grab some dinner and wait to hear from you. I think I’m going to head back to the parking lot so I can keep an eye on the vehicle. Call me after you talk to the parents. Let me know what you want me to do. If someone tried to kill the kid, that’s just sick.”
“No argument. Good thing that Jamie was there.” Ben pushed the button for the elevator. “Call me if there’s anything hinkey at the school.”
Ben rode the elevator to the intensive care floor. The elevator doors opened and Ben found Lane and Jamie sitting in the waiting room with the Harpers. John Harper stood as Ben walked into the room. He extended his hand to Ben.
“Thanks. The doctors say he’ll be fine, but only because he got to the hospital when he did. From what Jamie told us, we have you to thank for that.”
Ben shook John Harper’s hand. “It’s true my investigator opened the Jeep, but I think we have to thank Jamie. He called 9-1-1 and me. John, Joan, I want to ask you a couple of questions.” They sat down.
“Both my investigator and I noticed a faint smell of peanuts in the Jeep. I think you need to file a police report and we need to get the crime scene techs to impound the Jeep and go over it.”
Joan Harper looked at Ben, and he could see the confused horror on her face. “You mean you think someone did this to Justin on purpose?”
“Joan, it certainly appears that might be the case. I just think we need to cover the bases. The crime scene techs can check for residue of any kind of nuts in the Jeep. They can dust for fingerprints. If someone did this on purpose, we need to find them.”
John Harper patted his wife’s hand as he nodded toward Ben. “Is it something you can do for us?”
“Roy Tanner is my investigator. He’s retired from the Kansas City, Missouri police force. I can have him reach out to a friend and get the ball rolling, but the police will want to talk to you, and of course to Justin when he’s up to it. In the meantime, Tanner went back to the school. He’s keeping an eye on the Jeep. If you give me the keys, we can drop them off to Tanner on our way home.”
Lane stood and hugged each of the Harpers. “I’m so glad that Justin is going to be all right. You have our numbers. Call us any time if you need something.” She smiled. “I mean it. Any time. Do you need someone to stay with the younger kids while you’re at the hospital?” Lane knew that Justin was the oldest of four and that the youngest was maybe ten or eleven.
Joan shook her head. “My parents are at the house with the younger kids.” She smiled. “Besides, you have enough on your plate.”
The whole world knew Lane was pregnant. Last month the paparazzi had been following her daughter, Jess Parker, around because she had been cast in the coveted role of playing twins Kate and Kit Hart in the Harts in Time trilogy. Jess had blurted out Lane’s pregnancy to an ex-girlfriend of Ben’s and the video had gone viral.
Lane smiled and motioned to Ben and Jamie, “Yes, but I’ve got these two to take care of me. Seriously, if you need anything, call.”
The Harpers gave Ben the keys to Justin’s Jeep and the Parker-Bellini family left the hospital. The high school was on the way home from the hospital and so Ben drove there. Ben always held Lane’s hand in the car and he gave her hand a little squeeze as he got out of the SUV to talk to Tanner.
Jamie leaned toward the front seat, “Is this how it is when you and Dad are on a case?” Over the past few months, Lane had stumbled over two dead bodies; she’d been kidnapped, and had been threatened with a gun.
Lane laughed. “Ben and I are not on a case, if anyone is on a case, it’s Roy Tanner.”
Jamie gave his head a slight shake. “I’m going to go listen to Dad and Mr. Tanner.” He said as he opened his door and got out of the SUV.
Lane leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. She had her 12 week pre-natal appointment and ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow. She was so glad to be moving into her second trimester. She’d had terrible nausea during the first trimester, but thank God, she hadn’t done actual vomiting. Her obstetrician had accurately predicted that the first trimester of her pregnancy was going to sap her energy. Now that she was entering her second trimester, the nausea was gone and she was hoping the fatigue would soon subside as well. She had planned to talk with Ben tonight about the ultrasound. Often the gender of the baby could be determined during an ultrasound. She wanted to be surprised and find out the old-fashioned way, when the baby was born. But, she didn’t know what Ben’s thoughts were. After all, this was her fourth pregnancy, but it was Ben’s first. Since missing the first appointment, Ben had come to every subsequent appointment with her, which wasn’t always easy given his trial schedule; and because it was a high-risk pregnancy, she’d been seeing the doctor every two weeks instead of once a month. She heard the doors open and good-byes being exchanged. She opened her eyes.
Ben took one look at her and could see how tired she was. He looked at the digital time displayed on the dashboard. It was nearly 10:00 p.m. and past her bedtime. He reached for her hand and lifted it to his lips.
“Sorry it took us so long. Let’s get you home and to bed.”
“Is everything okay? Did Tanner get someone to come pick up Justin’s Jeep?” She asked quietly.
“Yes, everything’s fine. Tanner made the call and he’ll wait here until the techs come for the Jeep.”
Ben started the SUV and drove toward home. Lane leaned her head against the window again and was asleep before they left the parking lot. Ben felt helpless, just as he had as he watched her sip water and nibble crackers before she got out of bed. He couldn’t imagine the guilt he would have felt if she had ever actually vomited in the mornings. She had been so tired during the first trimester. One weekend a couple of weeks ago, she had spent most of Saturday in bed. He told her that day that he felt guilty and then he’d said it was his fault that she was pregnant. She had looked at him and laughed. “I think I was right there, with you, Dad,” she’d said and then she’d told him he was being ridiculous.