Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

K yle balanced the two bags he'd carried home from Market Basket as he reached into his pocket to retrieve the key to his front door. He had stopped near the hospital for some essentials – he knew that he would need more groceries than the basic eggs, bread, milk, and coffee he'd just purchased. He imagined that a baby would need diapers, bottles, and wipes at the very least. He could go back out later, or tomorrow, after the stranger gave him an idea what her necessities were. He hadn't lived with a woman in a long time but did remember that Meghan's list was always longer than his own.

Kyle put his key in the lock and walked inside his home. He was immediately met with the scent of antiseptic cleanser. He stepped into the kitchen to find Sibby wearing yellow plastic gloves that reached her elbows, scrubbing the inside of his sink.

"You should be embarrassed of your sorry self," she said, never lifting her eyes from her task. "You were raised better than this, brother."

"I know, Sibby, I'm sorry you walked into this mess without me. It's been rough, you know, with the investigation and all."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Kyle. I'm sure the facts will bear themselves out. But that's no excuse for this mess, anyway."

Kyle closed his eyes, knowing his sister spoke the truth. "Sibby, you're right about the way I let my place go." He shrugged his shoulders and added, "but the truth remains. I fired my gun when there was no need. I'm willing to take my punishment. I just didn't think it would last this freaking long." He turned away, not wanting to look in her eyes and not wanting her to see the disappointment in his own.

Sibby lowered her voice. "Well, maybe now that you have company, you can put some effort into cleaning up around here. I wouldn't be helping you except for that poor woman out there. She told me what happened. She needs a quiet, clean place to rest until she can be on her way, and you and I both know that my house is always in a state of controlled chaos." She paused. "Who am I kidding? It's full out chaos most of the time. No matter. It's certainly in better shape than this." She spread her wet arms out wide, taking in the scope of the work she'd done in the kitchen. Then she asked, "Are you going to have her stay in your bedroom? You can sleep on the couch, or the pull-out sofa in your office."

Kyle's two-bedroom condo wasn't really designed for housing a long-term guest. He'd turned the smaller of the two bedrooms into a home office, with a sofa and a desk, bookshelves, and a small filing cabinet. There was a bathroom with a shower in the hallway outside the door. His bedroom had a king-sized bed with a modern, sleek mahogany wood headboard, a matching dresser and an ensuite bath with both a tub and a walk-in shower. There was a half bath outside of the living room, between the front hall and the kitchen. After Meghan left, he never really put all that much effort into decorating the place, but it was comfortable enough for him. When he was at work he could spend hours, even overnight shifts, away from here. In the weeks that he'd been home, all he'd done was trash the place. At least now he had good reason to clean it up some. He turned to his sister.

"I'll take it from here, Sibby. You go on home to the kids. Give them all a kiss from me."

"Well, you owe me some quality babysitting time for my work here today. Why don't you come for Sunday dinner. You know that mom and dad would love to see you as well."

He had to concentrate hard so that he wouldn't grimace at her suggestion. The idea of a loud Sunday dinner with his family would probably push him over the edge. He knew he'd face a round of questions about when he was going back to work, questions he still had no answers for. "We'll see, Sibby. Hopefully, I'll have this situation wrapped up by then."

"This woman is not just a ‘situation', brother. She may be a lost cause."

"It's not as bad as you make it sound, Sibby."

"Kyle. Have you gone mad? That woman has no idea who she is, or what happened to cause her accident. It doesn't get much worse."

"Sure, it does. I've seen it be worse many times over. Besides, I'm a pretty good detective. I'm certain I can figure it out and have her back on her way in a few days."

Sibby squared her shoulders and pulled herself up to her full height, which was a bit over five and a half feet. She smiled, her face brightening. "I'm glad you feel so confident. It's been a while since I've heard you sound that way."

"Thanks for pointing that out," he said with a large dose of sarcasm in the tone of his voice.

Sibby peeled off the gloves and left them to hang on the side of the sink to dry. "Listen to me," she began. "Give her a little time. She has the wee one to consider. You have no idea how much stress the poor woman is under. It makes what you went through look like a walk in the park. Believe me, I know. A child that age doesn't sleep through the night, and sleep deprivation makes you do crazy things. Help her out by letting her rest. A full eight hours of sleep will go a long way toward her recovery. I bet she'll remember more once she feels fully awake."

"I'll do that, Sibby. Thanks for the assist today."

"Of course. I'm always here for you, brother." She picked up her purse and slipped out the front door.

If Kyle was certain of anything, it was that his family would always have his back. They were a tight-knit bunch, and even when they overwhelmed him with their concern, he always had the knowledge that they'd do anything for him. He'd do the same for all of them.

He quickly put away the groceries, grabbed two large empty garbage bags from the box underneath the sink, and then made his way into the living room to check on his guests. The baby was still in the carrier, fast asleep, and her mother was dozing on his couch. Taking Sibby's advice, he was careful not to disturb either of them; he silently walked into his bedroom and began to clean up the mess he'd left behind.

An hour later, the garbage bags filled with the remnants of his life for the past month now tied and his remaining dirty laundry sorted, Kyle quietly peeked out into the living room. His guests were awake; the baby was happily feeding. He immediately felt like an intruder in his own home. He hadn't seen all that much, but he did get a glimpse at the rounded top of the stranger's breast. Her skin looked creamy and smooth, and he had to force himself to look away. It was such an idyllic and peaceful scene, so unlike his normal life; it stole his breath from him.

He backed up into his bedroom, stepping into the shadows so that he wouldn't disturb them, waiting for a signal that it was safe to return to the living room. When he heard a distinctive burp from the baby, he took it as a sign that the coast was clear.

He loudly cleared his throat and shuffled the garbage bags to make her aware of his presence before he walked into the living room.

"Hello, ladies," he said, happy to see that her chest was covered once more. "I'm glad to see that you're both awake. Are you hungry?" he asked.

"This one just ate," she said, continuing to prop the baby on her lap, rubbing the child's back, "but I am famished."

"I can make an omelet," he offered, "with toast and tea."

"That would be lovely," she said. "Can I help you with that?"

"No, I've got it. You just rest here with the baby. It won't take me long."

"Would you mind holding her first for a minute? I really must use the bathroom."

"Of course. Let me have her," he offered.

The woman passed the baby to Kyle, and he gently lifted her up to his chest, where she gave him another loud burp.

As she stood, she said, "I guess you were right when you said you were good with babies. You made that look easy. Now, if you could just show me the way…"

"Oh, of course. There's one over there."

He pointed toward the half-bath, and she went off in that direction. Kyle walked with the child still resting on his chest and made his way to the kitchen. He nimbly opened the refrigerator, carefully balancing the baby as he pulled out the eggs, butter, and the milk container, placing them on his now clean counter. Then he reached up over the gleaming surface and pulled down a frying pan from one of the hooks on the rack above it. He knew better than to try and make the eggs while he was holding the baby, so he sat down on one of the stools and took a good look at the child in his arms.

She was perfect. Round cheeks, wide blue eyes with specks of gold around her irises and fine, light brown hair with red highlights, the beginnings of a curl right at the base of her neck. Her small hands were clasped together, giving her the look of one more serious than her age would indicate; her wrists had little ringlets of fat that looked like the sweetest sort of bracelet. Suddenly, a small stream of milk escaped her mouth, and he reached across the counter for the clean towel Sibby had left there to wipe it away. She laughed, and his heart melted. It had been a very long time since he'd felt anything other than despair; this little girl was the opposite of that.

The woman returned from the bathroom at that very moment. "Oh," she said. "Sorry. She has a bit of reflux. Sometimes it makes her crabby, but you must have the magic touch. Here," she motioned to him. "I can take her."

Kyle reluctantly handed the baby to her mother. "Interesting that you can recall that detail."

"Mother's instinct?" she remarked sheepishly.

Maybe, he thought. Then he said, "You know, we've got to figure out both of your names. I don't know what to call you."

"True… I wish I could remember more. Maybe it will start to come back to me soon?"

"We can hope so. In the meantime, I can make a call and get whatever things you had in the trunk of that car brought over here."

"How do you know where they took it?"

"I'm a detective with the Boston police department." Or at least I will be again soon, he thought.

"Oh, right. You mentioned that at the hospital. I'm still so foggy," she said with a shrug. "It would be helpful to have my luggage. Maybe seeing my things will unlock this mystery."

"I hope so. Let me do that now. Then I'll make us something to eat. Excuse me for a minute." He walked into his office, grabbed his cell phone from his back pocket and opened his contacts, hitting his partner's name and listening to the call connect. He smiled as soon as the sound of Devon's voice filled his ear.

"My man!" Devon exclaimed. "It's so good to hear from you. What's shaking?"

"Not that much, buddy. I'm still waiting on Internal Affairs. I feel like my whole life is on hold."

"Word on the street is that you're gonna be cleared. It's just a matter of time and the completion of the necessary paperwork. Tons of paperwork."

"Yeah, well, it can't happen soon enough. But for today, I need a favor. I called in a car accident early yesterday morning and now I need some help identifying one of the victims."

"You're not on the clock, man. What do you mean?"

"I know, I know, it's a crazy situation. The woman driving the car was knocked out and can't remember her name or who she is, let alone where she was going or if she had any emergency contact information. I think that all her identification is still in the car, which was towed to the South Street pound. Any chance you could drive over there and then bring her belongings over to me at home?"

"Why would you want her stuff? What's going on, Kyle?"

"She's here, with me. She had nowhere else to go. Besides. I've got nothing going on right now. I think I can help her, plus this is the kind of distraction I need right about now."

"Do you? "You've got some strange lady in your house? I don't like the sound of this, man. My spidey senses are tingling."

Kyle smiled to himself. Devon said exactly what he'd been feeling himself. Something weird was up, but everything happened so fast with this Jane Doe, and he hadn't had a chance to think it all through yet. What Kyle did know was that he'd really missed his partner and their antics more than he'd realized. He replied, "Then you're truly not going to like the rest of it. She has a baby with her, too."

"Oh, like that's not a red flag or anything."

Kyle could hear Devon's chair scraping backward on the worn linoleum floor of the precinct.

"Don't go anywhere, and don't let her leave. I'm on my way."

"Thanks man. I owe you a pitcher of Sam Adams." He stepped into the kitchen and pulled a frying pan out of one of the cabinets with a loud thud.

"You don't owe me anything, Kyle. But let me be sure that I heard you right. You're telling me that you have a woman in your condo and that she has a kid? ‘Mr. I've been burned and never getting involved again' is playing house? Geez . This I gotta see for myself. I'll be there as soon as I can."