Penalty Killer Ch. 8 (preview)

Here is a small preview of chapter eight. I need to dig one of my old journals out and find some notes to finish out the chapter.

Once again, the following preview is my personal work and it is NOT permissible to copy or change it.

The private lab was the epitome of scandal with dark tinted windows, a nondescript name, and neutral colored furnishings inside. There were very few cars in the parking lot, the sun brimming in the distance. I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Max fast asleep. I couldn’t see Marina but I assumed she was asleep too. There was no music on the radio and no conversation. A car pulled up next to us, and my heart started to pound so ferociously I had to concentrate on breathing just to keep from passing out. Cody, his eyes red and swollen, a full day’s worth of scruff coloring his jaw. Eyes closed for just a moment, I tried to forget how truly sorry and regretful he seemed.

“Do you think you can get Max? I’ll get Marina,” Kozlov grumbled when he saw Cody. I nodded, not really sure of anything except that I wanted to be anywhere else but here. I opened my door and went to the back seat for Max. The buckles of his car seat took some finagling but I managed to get them undone.

“Do you need some help?” Cody asked over my shoulder.

“If she needs help, I’ll be the one to do it,” Kozlov growled. He was already outside the car with Marina in his arms so I couldn’t see his expression but I imagined it just the same. Max barely acknowledged me when I pulled him from the car. My back ached and toting him around was doing me no favors, but I would keep that to myself.

I followed Kozlov up the pavement and to the door that Cody held open. This was excruciatingly embarrassing. My husband was not a jealous man, and this was not jealousy that made him dislike Cody. To him, it didn’t matter that Cody was helping us, hoping to stop Kip in his tracks. When he looked Cody I knew exactly what he saw; the man who had walked away, left me defenseless. The man who looked so similar to our daughter. That was what stung the most; seeing him in her face.

“Good morning! You have the six a.m. appointment don’t you? Let me show you back to the room and we’ll get started,” said a lady in a lab coat. She knew who we were, could see the recognition in her eyes. Well, she knew who Kozlov was anyway.

Max in my arms, I followed the woman, careful not to let my gaze wander to any of the other sleepy eyed technicians who were already sipping coffee at their respective desks. Elevator music barely buzzed from behind a closed door. The lab coated lady led us to the last door down the short hall and flicked the light on as she stepped inside.

“We’ll be right back. Do you have that paperwork filled out or do you need more time?” She stood to the side as Kozlov and Cody filed in behind me. The kids both twitched, Marina the only one waking enough to open her eyes and groan about the lights.

“Yes.” I shifted Max to my hip and reached for the paperwork in my purse. My back was aching, my pelvic muscles tightening with cramps. I handed the folder to her, our paperwork and various identification inside. Cody did the same. Now it was a waiting game, eerie silence with the muffled hum of music in the distance. I sat with Max on my lap, cuddled up against my chest. The smell of fruity watermelon shampoo was overwhelming so I tried to breathe in through my mouth instead of through my nose.

It took only a few seconds for the next technician to open the door, but it felt like half an eternity. Kozlov stood with a sleepy and grumpy Marina in his arms. Cody pressed against the wall, trying not to stare at any one thing too long. I knew he was fighting the urge to look at Marina, to study her face one more time. Maybe he was even fighting the urge to look at me, a son in my arms that didn’t belong to him. A happy family that he would never belong to. I wanted to feel sorry for him, but I too focused on something else, like the pattern of gray tiles on the floor.

“Doctor and Mr. Kozlov, I see we have a simple,” he paused, unsure of his wording in front of the children, “cheek swab today.”

I nodded, and Kozlov shifted Marina in his arms. The technician opened a new buccal swab, holding the long stem between blue gloved fingers. First was Marina. She was so sleepy she hardly put up any resistance at all and when the technician smiled at her and said she was all done, Marina closed her eyes and turned her face to Kozlov’s neck.

“I’ll take the kids out to the car,” he said, shifting Marina to one side as he leaned down for Max. Gennadi was not a very physically imposing man. He was tall and lean, but I never doubted his strength, even when we first met. Careful not to run into anything in the small space, he maneuvered between me and the technician, slipping out the door with both children in his arms. Though I was sure he wanted to get the kids to the car and out of the small room before either of them began to ask questions, I knew it was more about getting away from Cody. This was so difficult for him; much more difficult than he would ever admit to.

“Okay Doctor Paulson, your turn,” the technician said, another buccal swab in hand.

I stood, a wave of nausea and vertigo almost taking me to my knees. One hand against the wall and the other over my abdomen, I closed my eyes as the technician swabbed Cody’s cheek. This was ridiculous. Even when I was pregnant with Marina the symptoms were never so debilitating. If it kept up, I knew the Chief would have to restrict my surgeries.

“You’re pregnant?” Cody asked from his side of the room. His face was red, eyes swollen, but I saw no tears. Maybe, like me, he’d cried himself out through the night. That didn’t stop the sudden look of betrayal that swept over his face as I nodded.

© 2010 by Tracy Zavaleta as Common Law Literary Property