Multiples Mystery

“Zac, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He smiled, then reached down to help her get off the low futon. She was spooked by the events of the evening and his warm hand just made her feel better. “You’re shaking.”

“It’s been a very long past few days.” She fought the urge to ask him to stay, but she had no right. He was already doing more than he probably should.

“I’ll swing by later, check in on you and the girls. Keep the doors locked.”

“Okay,” she said as a warm tear slid down her face.

He caught it on his fingertip. “Hey, I thought you didn’t cry.”

“I don’t. It’s the hormones. I have too many of them and they’re running amok.”

And then he dipped his head, kissed her cheek.

She stood looking after him, her fingers against the place where his lips had touched. Beneath the layer of fear kindled by Zac’s warnings, another feeling tried to break through.

She pushed it away….

Multiples Mystery

Alice Sharpe

This book is dedicated to mothers everywhere.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alice Sharpe met her husband-to-be on a cold, foggy beach in Northern California. One year later they were married. Their union has survived the rearing of two children, a handful of earthquakes registering over 6.5, numerous cats and a few special dogs, the latest of which is a yellow Lab named Annie Rose. Alice and her husband now live in a small rural town in Oregon, where she devotes the majority of her time to pursuing her second love, writing.

Alice loves to hear from readers. You can write her at P.O. Box 755, Brownsville, OR 97327. SASE for reply is appreciated.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Olivia Capri—She’s just given birth to four beautiful baby girls. Life should be brimming with hope, but the husband Olivia married after a whirlwind romance is missing. Where is he?

Zac Bishop—He’s loved Olivia from afar for more years than he can remember. His goal: make her love him back. First he’ll have to do everything he can to keep her alive.

Anthony Capri—A larger-than-life man with a mysterious past. Have his actions set in motion a chain of events that will jeopardize the lives of his wife and babies?

Faith Bishop—Zac’s sister, Olivia’s best friend, the quads’ unofficial nanny. A small woman with a big heart and a vital role to play.

Brad Makko—He’s the brother-in-law Olivia never knew existed. His revelations about his brother are terrifying.

Grant and Hugh Robinson—These aging brothers are furious Anthony Capri duped them and pretty sure Olivia knows all about it. How far will they take revenge?

“The Gamblers”—A misfit trio out to collect what’s owed to them, no matter which innocent gets in the way.

“Twitch”—Is he a harmless hanger-on, a hired gun or a man with a secret agenda?

Juliet, Sandy, Megan and Tabitha Hart—Olivia’s mother and sisters, the women she depends on.

Juliet, Brianna, Jillian and Antoinette Capri—The newborns Olivia and Zac will die to protect.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Chapter One

Olivia Capri gingerly swung her legs over the edge of the hospital bed and sat there a moment, fighting a wave of dizziness. Not bad and to be expected after two months of bed rest. She breathed deeply a few times, taking in the Seattle skyline through her window, preparing herself for the next move, the one onto her feet.

Where was Anthony? Why hadn’t he come? He’d been acting so odd lately, so distant…

She could not lie in that bed another moment. She’d been stuck in it for what seemed forever, a fate she’d suffered with good grace as every moment the babies stayed inside her body where they belonged, the better their chances of survival once they were born. But they were out now, all four of them, declared amazingly healthy considering they were premature, and tucked away in the Special Care Nursery.

She put her weight on her feet and stood slowly. The incision from the C-section made itself known and she winced, but it wasn’t that bad. She could handle it.

A sound at the door thundered in her anxious brain and she steadied herself by grabbing the bed rail. She looked up in time to find Faith crossing the threshold.

“What are you doing?” Faith said.

Olivia’s heart plummeted. She loved Faith like a sister, but hers wasn’t the face Olivia hoped to see.

“I’m going to go find my babies and then I’m going to go find my husband.” Her voice sounded kind of wavery, a surprise. “Unless maybe you’ve heard from him,” she added hopefully.

“Not a peep,” Faith said, closing the space between them in three steps. She gently took Olivia’s arm and said, “Get back in bed, you nut.”

“Faith, I’m warning you—”

“Not even you can go through what you’ve gone through today and stagger on down the hall by yourself. I’ll get the nurse. Just get in bed and wait for a wheelchair.”

“The nurse won’t let me go until the doctor checks me over, and the doctor is in surgery.”

“Get in bed,” Faith said in her stern, brook-no-nonsense voice. She might be a petite woman—five-feet, almost nothing to Olivia’s five-feet-seven—but over a lifetime Olivia had learned when to take her friend seriously. She sat back on the mattress.

“I’m going crazy,” she said, “and my babies are all alone—”

“Hardly. Your mom and two of your sisters are down there driving the nurses wacko. When the two of us show up and Anthony arrives, we’ll outnumber the staff.”

“Don’t even say his name,” Olivia grumbled.

Faith pushed a wavy strand of wheat-colored hair behind her ear and said, “He’ll come. Something must have happened. Traffic, maybe. An accident. A fender bender.”

“A fender bender that killed his cell phone? You know he doesn’t go anywhere without that thing.”

Faith nodded. “I know.”

“He’d better be dead or I’m going to kill him.”

Faith shook her head. “You don’t mean that.”

Olivia did the unthinkable. She burst into tears.

Faith enfolded her in a hug and rocked her. “Sweetie, you’re scared.” She paused for a second before adding, “I talked to Zac today. He’s coming by later, we’ll get him to go look for Anthony.”

“I can’t bother Zac,” Olivia blubbered against Faith’s shoulder. “He’s a big-city cop now. Besides, he hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you.”

“I told him I was never going to talk to him again.”

“He’s my brother. I tell him that every two weeks.”

“And I don’t cry. You know I don’t cry.”

“I know. Come on, calm down, all these raging hormones are to be expected. Hey, I know something that will cheer you up. I have baby pictures. Want to see? They’re on my cell phone.”

“Of course I want to see,” Olivia said, accepting a wad of tissue from Faith and wiping her eyes. She took a few deep breaths. Faith helped her settle back on the mattress and pull a lightweight blanket over her bare legs.

Olivia sighed. Back in bed where she started.

What she wouldn’t give to gather up her new family and go home to Westerly. How was that for irony? She’d spent twenty-seven years trying to get out of the place and now all she wanted was to get back.

Perching lightly on the edge of the mattress, Faith fiddled with the phone. “Okay, here we go. I took them in order so you’d know who’s who.”

The tiny screen filled with the image of a very pink baby with its eyes squeezed shut. Olivia had named her babies weeks before, deciding on who got which name based solely on birth order. She’d asked Anthony what he thought and he’d agreed that was fine with him.

Had he looked bored with the subject?

No, she couldn’t think like that. It wasn’t fair.

“Jillian,” she whispered, her eyes brimming with new tears.

“She’s the biggest at four pounds, six ounces,” Faith said. “Look, she has your hair.”

“They all have my hair,” Olivia said lovingly.

“Think how family pictures are going to look,” Faith said. “You and the girls with long, black hair, and Anthony with a blond buzz cut.”

Olivia swallowed a lump as she scrolled down to the next photo. Another baby, not quite as pink, face not so scrunched. Olivia was glad to see the little wristbands each child wore—it was a fear of hers that she’d mix her children up, call them by the wrong name…She wondered if she’d ever feel secure enough to take the bracelets off.

“That’s Brianna,” Faith said.

“Three pounds, eight ounces, right?”

“You heard the doctor?”

“Yes.” A wave of frustration surged through her body. “Where’s my buzzer? I want to talk to that nurse—”

“Look at the rest of the pictures first. Then I’ll go find a wheelchair and we’ll break you out of this joint.”

“What would I do without you?” Olivia asked, glancing up at her friend.

“Founder on the rocks of disaster?”

Olivia smiled as she moved on to the next baby. This little doll looked like her sister, Brianna. The truth was, wearing just diapers and little stocking caps, they all looked more or less alike. Time would change that—maybe. No one was sure right now if they were all identical or two sets of twins or triplets and a single—there was no easy way to tell.

“And this is Juliet, named after your mother,” Faith said. “Look at her little nose.”

“They all have little noses and rosebud mouths,” Olivia murmured. They were all exquisite.

“And last but not least, Antoinette,” Faith said.

“Named after her father,” Olivia said, touching the two-inch screen with a fingertip.

They were so impossibly defenseless. They would need time and care to catch up to their full-term peers, time and care to grow strong and robust, and it would be up to her to see they got it.

Where did that thought come from? Anthony would show up. Wouldn’t he?

A jolt of white-hot anger cut through her worry. Anthony should be with the babies right now, watching over them when she couldn’t, caring about what happened to them, instead of leaving it all to Olivia’s family and friends.

Shame immediately followed the anger. What if he really was lying hurt and battered somewhere? What if he’d tried to come? What if someone had attacked him, robbed him, left him to die—what kind of beast was she?

The door opened again and both women tensed, but it wasn’t Anthony who walked into the room. Zachary Bishop, Faith’s brother, looked from one anxious face to the other and stopped dead in his tracks. “If this isn’t a good time—”

“Come on in, Zac,” Faith said as she slipped off the bed. His smile of greeting for his sister faded as his gaze sought out and held Olivia’s.

Unlike petite Faith, Zac was tall and rangy, with straight brown hair cut shorter than usual, intense blue eyes and a broken nose that had healed crooked in an interesting way. A faded scar ran diagonally across his chin and another bisected his left eyebrow, both remnants of a drunken brawl he broke up his first year as a Deputy Sheriff back in Westerly.

But he wasn’t a deputy anymore. He was a Seattle cop, a position he had taken while she and Anthony had been on their honeymoon. Still, she’d be willing to bet he was the same old Zac underneath the fancy new suit, a man of swift action and few words.

“How’s the new mother?” he asked, and to her relief, his voice sounded the way it always had. Maybe they could put the past behind them and be friends again.

“The truth? I’m going a little stir-crazy.”

He produced a quartet of pink roses from behind his back and handed them to her.

The simple message of the flowers touched her more than the huge bouquets that lined the shelf, sent by everyone she knew and some people she didn’t. “One for each baby,” she said softly, fingering the blushed petals. Meeting his gaze again, she said, “Thank you, Zac.”

He nodded.

“Have you seen them?”

“Briefly. I had to wave a badge to get into the place. Security is tight. They’re cute but kind of tiny, aren’t they?”

“They’ll grow,” Faith said.

Zac nodded. No one spoke for several seconds. In the past, the three of them had talked over the top of each other half the time. To fill the void, Olivia said, “How do you like your new job?”

“It keeps me busy,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, jingling keys or loose change.

“How about living in Seattle?”

He shrugged. “It has its moments.”

Faith said, “My brother, the big talker.”

“Well I think it must be very exciting,” Olivia said. “Lots more happening here than in Westerly. Are you on a big case?”

“Actually, things are in flux.”

“What does that mean?” Faith asked.

“It means things are in flux.”

“Zac!”

A fond smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he stared at Faith. “You haven’t changed a bit since you were ten years old.” With a shift of gaze to Olivia, he added, “Neither have you. You’ve both always been too nosey for your own good.”

“You’re one to talk,” Olivia said softly, but he apparently heard her and again their eyes met.

“Touché,” he said. “Okay, you guys win. I’ll talk on the condition that what I say stays in this room for now.”

Zac groaned as Faith mimed zipping her lips. He stared them each in the eye and said, “Sheriff Knotts got caught stealing marijuana from the evidence room.”

Both women blinked before Olivia said, “Our Sheriff Knotts? Bobby Knotts of Westerly?”

“The very one.”

“How does a crooked sheriff in Westerly tie in to your job in Seattle?” Faith demanded.

“Knotts has been asked to resign immediately pending criminal investigation. Half the sheriff’s department is implicated. Since I left some time ago, it’s been decided I’m the one guy who knows the ropes and isn’t tainted by Knotts.”

“Dad is going to be dancing in the streets,” Faith said. “You’re moving back to Westerly!”

Zac nodded.

“That’s great,” Faith gushed.

He held up one hand. “I haven’t accepted yet. I don’t know if I want to be interim sheriff. I’m not sure I want to move back to Westerly.” He glanced at the flowers in Olivia’s hands and turned to his sister. “Would you mind finding a vase for the flowers?”

“You’re getting rid of me. No, I don’t mind. Back in a moment.”

“Don’t forget to steal a wheelchair,” Olivia called after her.

Faith nodded, then cast her brother a quick look. “I need to talk to you before you leave.”

Olivia looked Zac over as he stared after his sister. At thirty-five, he appeared to be in his prime, the boyish mannerisms gone, replaced with easy sophistication. However, under that big-city gray suit she knew beat the heart of a small-town lawman, a man who knew his place in the scheme of the universe. Not for the first time, she wondered what had driven him to leave Westerly.

It couldn’t have been their fight. Something like that wasn’t important enough to drive a man away from his family and friends and his career.

As if attuned to the direction of her thoughts, he looked down at his feet, then into her eyes. “I wanted a minute alone to apologize to you, Olivia.”

No need to ask for what.

“I shouldn’t have spoken to you like I did. I had no right.”

“No, you didn’t,” she said. “And on my wedding day, too, Zac. That was just plain mean.”

“Yeah. Anyway, I’ve always thought of you as a little sister, like Faith, but you aren’t.”

“No, I’m not. You telling me I absolutely could not marry Anthony Capri was totally out of place. Frankly, even if you’d been my brother it would have been going too far.”

“I know that now.”

“You really upset me.”

“I’m sorry. Am I forgiven?”

She stared at him a second, then smiled. “Of course you’re forgiven.” She’d missed him. She was ready to let that unfortunate day go. Like Faith, Zac was as good as family, and family had to forgive and forget, otherwise there’d be no one to spend holidays with. “Are you really thinking about taking the sheriff’s job and coming back to Westerly?”

“That depends on you,” he said.

She furrowed her brow. “Me?”

“And Anthony. I wouldn’t want to make either of you uncomfortable.”

She said, “I’ve never told Anthony what you said about him that day, Zac. What would that have accomplished? You take the job if you want, too. I think Westerly is big enough for all three of us.”

He nodded once. “Fair enough. So, do you know what Faith wants to talk to me about?” He glanced around the room before adding, “Where is Anthony, anyway?”

“That’s what she wants to talk to you about,” Olivia said, leaning forward to reach the water glass. She’d pushed the tray too far away, however.

Apparently taking pity on her feeble attempts, Zac handed it over with questions burning in his eyes. She gave him the flowers and he set them on the tray. “Did he leave already?”

She wanted to say, Yes, he left a few minutes ago. He’s the most devoted husband on the planet. You were totally wrong about him.

“He didn’t come,” she admitted, busying herself taking sips of ice water.

“He didn’t come?” Zac repeated, stepping closer. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. I don’t know why. I’m worried sick, of course, but he didn’t come or call or…anything.”

“Maybe he’s been in an accident.”

“I thought of that. Faith said we should ask you to do something, but I don’t want to be a bother.”

He took the water glass from her hands and set it back on the tray next to the flowers, then hitched his hands on his waist and stared down at her. “When was the last time you saw him or talked to him?”

“The day before yesterday.”

“And he knew about today’s scheduled births?”

“Yes.”

“Did he plan to be here?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Could he have forgotten?”

“I don’t see how, though I know he’s in the middle of a deal—”

“Like the one he drummed up in Westerly? What was it, a chain of snowboard and ski shops? He talked the Robinson brothers into investing, right?”

“He put in money of his own, too,” she said. “He’s quite wealthy.” She didn’t know why she added that last part, except that Zac looked so smug.

“Must be that Harvard education of his.”

“Or the fact that he invested in Midas Touch Computers before anyone else did. Jealous?”

He held up both hands as though backing off. “Sorry. You have to admit, though, the man is larger than life. Navy pilot, Super Bowl champion…He’s done it all.”

Zac could just not help himself. When it came to Anthony’s exploits, give Zac enough rope and he’d hang himself. Determined to keep the peace of their newly repaired friendship, she said, “Yes, he has.” Actually, after weeks of misgivings and a morning spent cursing his absence, it almost felt good to defend her husband. Oh, God, maybe he really was hurt and she was being a raging, selfish bitch.

“I see,” Zac said, and by the tone of his voice, he saw a lot more than Olivia was comfortable with.

“I know he wanted to be here,” she insisted. Liar. Tell him the truth. Tell him you think what really happened is your husband got cold feet and ran away, that he was willing to risk millions in investment dollars rather than face you and four babies.

Zac said, “I heard you guys are building a house out by the point.”

“Yes.”

“Is that where he’s been living since you started bed rest here?”

“No, he stayed in my old place in town in order to hurry the contractors along so we could take the babies home as soon as possible.”

“When will that be?”

“Not long. The doctor wants them here until they each reach four pounds. Two were born over four pounds and two aren’t far away. But they’ll probably lose a little weight before bulking back up, so it’s kind of a day by day thing.”

“Where did he stay when he wasn’t in Westerly?”

“He has a suite at the Marina Inn here in Seattle.”

“The Marina Inn. Nothing but the best, huh?” He raised a hand again and shook his head. “Sorry.”

“You just can’t help yourself.”

“I’m trying. Okay, that’s enough to start. I’ll drive over to the hotel. Try not to worry, I’m sure something unexpected came up.” He stared deep into her eyes, then he smiled the old familiar Zac smile.

She caught his hand. “You’ll come back? You’ll tell me what’s wrong even if it’s—unpleasant?”

“What do you mean ‘unpleasant’?”

“Like he’s hurt or…I don’t know. Missing, maybe.”

“I’ll tell you whatever I find out.” He stared at her a moment longer, and then he leaned down and brushed her forehead with his lips.

“I’ve always valued our friendship,” she mumbled as their eyes met.

“I know,” he said softly, and then he was gone.

ZAC FOUND FAITH by the nurses station, holding a slender vase in one hand and gripping the countertop with the other. She was talking to a nurse on the other side. The colorful smock the nurse wore looked a lot cheerier than either woman’s expression.

Faith shook her head as he joined her. “It’s no use, rules are rules. Olivia is going to have to wait.”

Zac turned to the nurse. “Have a heart.”

“As I told this lady,” the nurse explained patiently, “we’re waiting for Mrs. Capri’s doctor to give the okay. He’s been called into emergency surgery. When he has time, I’m sure he’ll release her.”

“She’s a new mom. There’s no real reason for her to have to wait. She’s a very fit young woman who’s been athletic her whole life. Let her call the shots of what she can and can’t do.”

“Not without—”

“I mean, how would it sound,” Zac mused, “if the press got wind that the new mother of quads couldn’t see them?”

The nurse’s eyebrows rose. “Maybe you have a point,” she said. “It doesn’t do to be a slave to rules.”

“I agree with you,” Zac said with a smile.

“I’ll go take her vitals and if everything checks out, I’ll get a wheelchair.”

“Excellent,” Zac said. “Thanks.”

He and Faith watched the woman hustle down the corridor toward Olivia’s room, snagging a vitals cart as she passed one. Faith said, “That was smooth.”

“Maybe she could sense I was ready to shoot her if she didn’t cooperate.”

Faith grinned. She was short and willowy with a pale complexion and pretty, girl-next-door looks—the opposite of Olivia, who was tall and graceful with dark, exotic beauty. Faith was a teacher by trade, patient and good-tempered by nature, a homebody. Olivia could be impulsive and restless. Faith dated regularly, though she’d yet to find the love of her life. Olivia kept men at arm’s length, always too busy planning for the day she could strike out and see the world. That is, that’s what she’d been like before Anthony Capri came along.

“Is Juliet Hart still in with the babies?” he asked.

“No, I just saw her. She left Olivia’s sisters to look after things while she arranges a press conference. She wants to make sure the babies hit the state news before Olivia takes them back to Westerly. I think she’s afraid they’ll fade into obscurity before she gets her moment in the sun as the grandmother of the state’s newest quadruplets.”

“I wanted to ask her if she’s heard from Anthony.”

“She hasn’t, I asked. Olivia told you about him?”