The Baby Discovery

Heedless of the consequences, Meg marched into the nursery, swept past the staff and opened the door where Mr. Broderick was being interrogated. All eyes swerved in her direction.

“Excuse me for interrupting,” she began, “but if you’re still thinking this man had any knowledge of Baby Doe’s situation prior to his finding the baby and bringing him to the ER, then you’re way off base, gentlemen.

“He’s the engineer who built that track where the baby was found. If he’d had anything to hide, he would never have admitted to finding the child there of all places.”

She struggled for breath. “I was here all night to observe him. He never went home. In fact I had to get him a cot because he was dead on his feet, but that didn’t matter to him. He hovered over that baby, talked to it, touched it— He willed it to live, officers.

“I haven’t seen most fathers show that kind of love or concern or devotion for their own offspring, let alone for a nameless baby someone had left out to die!”

By now she was trembling. “Why don’t you gentlemen get out there and beat the bushes to find the birthparents of that adorable little baby? You’ll probably discover it was a couple of terrified fifteen-year-olds who don’t have a clue about the sanctity of life!

“I’m telling you right now that if you charge this man with the crime, I’ll fight you every step of the way. When you hear what Dr. Tingey, the head of the ER, and one of the most powerful figures in this community, has to say about this matter, he’ll make mincemeat of you in court!”

Silence filled the room.

“Are you quite through?” one of the officers inquired in such a mild-mannered voice she wanted to scratch his eyes out.

“For now.” She was still bristling with rage.

His eyes held a mysterious twinkle. “That’s good, because we came to bring Mr. Broderick his jacket and let him know he’s no longer under suspicion. For one thing, his blood type isn’t the same as the blood type on the blanket.

“For another, fresh horse manure droppings along with the bloody droplets matching that on the blanket, were found in the snow at the end of the track where Mr. Broderick rescued the infant from certain death.

“We’re now looking for someone who rode a horse to that spot. Someone who couldn’t have ridden very far considering the baby had been born within the same hour of his being placed there.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Richins. We’ve been beating the bushes for the last twenty-four hours. Hopefully we’ll discover the person who did this and learn the identity of the mother before too much more time passes.

“Your breathtaking defense of Mr. Broderick has been duly noted and will go in the record.” He cocked his head. “If I’m ever in need of someone to stand up for me, I’ll know exactly where to come.

“Goodnight, Ms. Richins. Gentlemen.” He nodded to the others before he and his partner left the room. The door closed behind them with a click.

Meg wasn’t a person who blushed easily. But she felt heat sweep up her body into her face and hair.

Talk about resembling a red light globe—

The two dark-haired men stood there openly smiling down at her with their eyes as well as their mouths. She didn’t dare look at Mr. Broderick, but she could feel his intense gaze scrutinizing her.

“Ms. Richins.” He broke the silence with his deep voice. “I’d like to introduce you to my best friends, Dominic Giraud and Alik Jarman.”

They shook hands with her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said the one with the French accent.

“I wouldn’t have missed this,” the other man teased gently. “We flew out from Denver to offer our support.”

Denver? She’d thought these men were part of his crew!

“But obviously none was needed,” the Frenchman added silkily.

She tried looking anywhere else, but ended up meeting Zane Broderick’s penetrating regard. He wasn’t smiling.

“If the officers had come here to arrest me,” he began in a husky voice, “I’m not sure they would have carried out their objective after hearing your testimonial.”

He folded his arms. “You risked having to pay a fine, or worse, for harassing a police officer in the line of duty. A mere thank-you for your sacrifice doesn’t quite cover what you did for me just now.”

“I would have done it for anyone I felt was innocent,” she defended, hoping lightning wouldn’t strike her for that particular white lie. “I’m very glad you’re no longer under suspicion.”

His eyes darkened to an inky blue. “So am I. But until the baby is completely out of the woods, it’s a little too soon for the celebration I have in mind.”

Her heart wouldn’t stop hammering.

“He is improved though. Otherwise Dr. Parker wouldn’t have upgraded his condition. We can be thankful for that much.”

“I’m thankful you were there when the baby needed you most.”

The fervency in his tone caused her to avert her eyes. “Then we’re both thankful, because you’re the one who found him in time.” Feeling out of breath, she backed away from him. “If you will excuse me, I’m supposed to be on duty in the ER. I-it was very nice meeting all of you.”

Needing to be strong right now, she purposely refused to look at the baby as she hurried through the nursery. Midway across the room, Shelby stopped her flight.

“Wait up! I found out who those men in the other room really are. Donna was wrong about them being movie stars.”

“I know. They’re Mr. Broderick’s friends from Denver.”

“They’re a lot more than that!”

“I’d like to hear it, but I’ve got to get back to the ER.”

“I’ll walk you to the door. Get this— Dr. Silvano recognized them from a television appearance. The three of them are these fabulously weal—”

“Shelby?” Meg interrupted. “You’ll have to tell me later. Otherwise I won’t have a job.”

For many reasons, including a decent recommendation when she left the clinic in two weeks, Meg needed to get out of there and back to her own floor.

CHAPTER THREE

“ARE there any more barbecued ribs?”

“Sorry, Dom. We ate all seven pounds of them.”

Dominic shook his head. “You know something, mon ami? You missed your calling as a master chef.”

“Coming from an exacting connoisseur, that’s a real compliment.”

“It’s true, Zane,” Alik concurred. “Blaire’s a great cook, but nobody does ribs and baked beans like you.”

“Since you guys flew through sleet and storm to bail me out, I thought the least I could do was make it worth your while.”

“I’d say a certain beautiful nurse already did that.” Dominic grinned.