Nothing Ordinary, M J Marlow [ebook and pdf reader .TXT] 📗

she said sternly. “I couldn’t relax,” Annie said. She rubbed her back. “I’ve been having back spasms…” “How long and how often,” Gillian broke in, looking alarmed. “You should have said something sooner, Anneke.” She looked over at Nan. “Go get Walter and have him meet us at the Clinic.” “I’m fine, Gillian,” Annie protested as her sister-in-law took her towards the Clinic. “Oh!” she cried as another spasm hit her hard enough to take the breath from her. “It’s too soon, Gillian!” She cried out in shock as her water broke just before they got to the stairs. Gillian kept her going and Annie had to grab the table in the surgery to keep on her feet as pain rolled through her again. “That hurts!” “Of course it hurts, Anneke,” Gillian shook her head at her. “You’re going into labor.” “It’s too soon,” Annie shook her head and felt the fear strike her. She looked at Gillian. “The baby isn’t due for weeks yet.” She whimpered as another pain struck her bark, hard enough to drive the air from her lungs. “All right,” she frowned as she gasped in the air, “the baby is ready. But I’m not!” “Just relax,” Gillian said as she got Annie to remove her clothes and get on the table. She got Annie a gown and helped her put her legs in the stirrups before she went to fill a needle. “Hopefully this will help you deal with the pain.” “I don’t want to have my baby here!” Annie cried as Guthrie burst into the room. “I want James! My husband should be here!” she screamed as Guthrie came to hold her hand and murmur encouragement to her as the labor progressed. She shook her head and tried to push him away. “Go away! I don’t want you here!” “Calm down, Anneke,” Guthrie said calmly as he got a wet cloth and wiped her face gently. “I’m here to help you.” “Make it stop!” she screamed, as the pains got steadily worse. “It’s killing me!” Gillian gave her another shot and she calmed but remained locked to what was happening. She lost track of time as the labor continued. All she knew was pain and Guthrie’s calm voice encouraging her. She passed out from the pain and he brought her out of it back to the pain and the pressure. And then she screamed as the baby entered the world with a cry of rage. She fell back, empty and exhausted. “You have a son, Anneke.” Walter looked up as someone knocked on the door. The man standing there did not look happy. He kissed Annie on the forehead. “I’ll be back later to help you name him, darling.” Guthrie went with the man and they went outside. He held out the binoculars and Guthrie trained them at the spot the man indicated. They had company and he knew what they were after. He’d been expecting this and he already had the plan in place. “Take the women to the clinic, Morris,” he said as he lowered the binoculars. “I’ll be back.” Anneke was nursing her son when the women filed in as the alarm bell rang. The sounds of gunfire made several of them whimper in fear, but she felt a strange contentment. The rescue had finally come and this time she had a reason to go with them. She stroked her son’s cheek and smiled. Then there was only the yelling. Gillian looked out to see the men being cuffed and herded into a group. “Open up,” a man’s voice demanded as he pounded on the door. “No one is going to hurt you, ladies.” “What do we do?” Nan whimpered as she leaned against Anneke. “They’ll take us away from here! They’ll make us go home!” “No, they won’t,” Anneke soothed her. “You’re not doing anything illegal here.” She looked at Gillian. “Go out and tell them the girls aren’t leaving. This is their home!” Gillian nodded and opened the door. She slipped out and one of the other girls barred it behind her. Gillian saw her brother in cuffs and knew the game was over. It was time to do what Annie had asked her to do and see where that led. “The girls aren’t coming out,” she told the man standing at the foot of the stairs. “This is their home and they won’t leave it.” “They don’t need to leave,” Jeffrey assured her as he stepped forward. “We’re here for Anneke Owens. Have her come out.” He watched Gillian turn and knock on the door. She went inside and returned with Annie who was holding her newborn son to her breast. ”Annie!” “Hello Jeffrey,” Annie smiled and met his eyes calmly. “You’re just in time to meet your nephew, Karl Leonard Owens.” She looked over at Walter and saw the cuffs on his wrists. “You’re arresting Doctor Guthrie?” “There is an outstanding warrant for his arrest, Annie,” Agent Taylor told her, “for conspiracy to commit the murders of Karl and Monica Weber and Barnabas Weber and your kidnapping.” “No,” Annie shook her head and went pale. She looked at Guthrie. “He didn’t kill them,” she whimpered. “He wouldn’t…” She fell silent as he met her disbelief with a mere nod. “Why?” He did not answer her and he did not look sorry either. “Walter? Tell me why!” “To get to you,” Taylor told her. Guthrie glared at her but she was past caring. Marcy looked at her and she could see the girl was breaking. “Your grandfather was told that his family would die if he didn’t turn the files over to them. When Guthrie heard you had survived, he amended the demands…” “He had his lawyer tell my Grandfather,” Annie finished, “that he would either hand over the files or I would be taken from him.” She looked at Guthrie then. “You had him shot because he refused, didn’t you?” Guthrie remained silent but she knew the truth. “You bastard!” she hissed at him and held her child closer. “All this time you have had my families blood on your hands!” She was ill at the thought of those same hands on her body. She sank down to the ground and sobbed as her heart broke. “Sie ruchloser bastard! Sie sollten sterben für, was Sie zu ihnen taten; für, was Sie mich antaten!” “Mrs. Owens,” Marcy crouched down and laid her hand on Annie’s shoulder; “Bedeutet dieses Sie sind bereit, gegen Ihren Ehemann zu bezeugen?” “Er ist nicht mein Ehemann!” Annie snapped as she glared at Walter. “I will testify against him willingly!” “Anneke!” Guthrie growled a warning as he saw his control over her slipping. “You don’t know what you’re saying.” “I know exactly what I am saying,” Annie snapped at him. “For the first time in months, I know my own mind! I am not letting you or anyone else tell me what to do! You are a murderer and I am going to see you pay for it!” Guthrie came at her and he was held back by two of the agents. Annie got to her feet, her face calm and impassive as she turned her back on the man and walked away. Marcy followed her, worried about her state of mind. She caught up to her at the clinic. Annie was sitting on the steps, rocking her child and sobbing. “How could he do that?” Annie asked her as she struggled to hold it together. “My family is all dead because of that man!” “Not all of them, Annie,” Marcy said gently as she nodded to the baby. “You have a new member right there in your arms.” Annie looked at her in gratitude and they sat together and watched as Guthrie and his sister were taken away. The other residents of the compound were let loose, they were not guilty of anything illegal. The authorities had come for Guthrie, not them. Marcy helped Anneke into another car and they drove away from the compound. Jeffrey sat next to her his concern for her and delight in the birth of his nephew cocooning her in peace. “I want the bitch dead,” Guthrie told his lawyer in a low hiss as he was waiting at the arraignment. “She can’t live to testify.” “Consider it done, sir,” the lawyer nodded. He did not tell the doctor that he already had his orders. Guthrie was being cut loose. He would not be alive to stand trial. His superiors had other plans for Anneke and they did not include her death. 16 Annie went to join Marcy in the living room of Marcy’s home in Leavenworth when there was a knock on the door. Marcy got up from the couch and went to see who was there. She opened the door and Jeffrey walked in. Annie let him hug her but she felt empty. The feelings of betrayal and guilt were uppermost in her mind. “It’s okay, Streudel,” he smiled at her kindly. “I understand. You’ve been through a lot and you need to deal with it first.” “You’re too good for me, Jeffrey,” Annie said as she stepped away from him. “You should find someone who can love you as you deserve.” “I have, Anneke,” Jeffrey replied as he kissed her gently. He looked over at Marcy and saw her blush under his regard. “But she understands that my sister needs me to stand by her until she heals.” Annie burst into tears and he pulled her back into his arms. “It’s all right, Annie. I’m here for you now.” “If anything happens to me, Jeffrey,” Annie said softly as she nestled against him, “please make certain my son gets to his father.” “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Annie,” Jeffrey said fiercely. “Ever!” He jumped as someone pounded on the door and Marcy went to answer. An MP was standing there looking very solemn. “Captain? What’s wrong?” “Captain Owens,” the MP frowned. “I need to take you in for questioning. There is some very troubling evidence leading us to believe that you murdered Walter Guthrie.” “Walter is dead?” Annie choked. She sank down on the couch. “He was shot while he was being transferred from the jail in Sheridan, Wyoming to the airport,” the MP nodded. He looked at Jeffrey. “By someone with highly specialized skills.” “You can’t honestly believe Jeffrey would…” Annie looked at her lifelong friend and went white. “No,” she shook her head and turned to the man. “It’s not true! Jeffrey would never murder anyone!” “I hope you’re right, Annie,” Marcy told her. “But the MP still needs to take him in.” “It’s all right, Streudel,” Jeffrey said after he kissed her and stepped away. “I don’t have any reason to refuse.” “Molly and Taylor are coming, Annie,” Marcy told her. “Guthrie’s sister has been released and she has been overheard making threats against you. The MP will stay here with you until they arrive.” She nodded to Jeffrey and they left the house. They didn’t say anything to each other on the drive to his uncle’s office. Marcy still could not believe that Jeffrey had anything to do with the murder but the evidence was piling up against him fast. “You might want to call a lawyer, Jeffrey,” she said as they walked into the commander’s office. “I’m an innocent man, Captain,” Jeffrey told her. “Why should I worry?” He saw his father waiting and the look on his face told him something was very seriously wrong. There was a JAG officer seated next to him. “It’s that bad?” “It’s that bad,” Owens nodded. “This is Major Arthur Camden. He’s the lead investigator.” “I’ve already been accused?” Jeffrey sank down in a chair and looked at his father. “You know I didn’t do this, sir.” “You went to Bayer’s home, Captain,” Camden said to him, “and got into an argument with Mrs. Owens.” “I did not,” Jeffrey