Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            “Just a nursing assistant,” Liza told her, then leaned in again. “The other two are FBI. They’ve been looking for Eden for a very long time.”

            “Thank God,” Hayley breathed. “Is Cameron okay?”

            “Cameron is fine. Just worried about you. How far apart are your—”

            Hayley screamed again, her stomach rippling from the contraction.

            “That answers that question. Three minutes. Let me see how dilated you are. Oh!” she said a minute later. “I see the head. You’re about to meet your baby. I understand she’s a little girl?”

            “Yes. Jellybean.”

            Liza grinned. “All right, then. On the next contraction, I want you to push.”

            She moaned at the next contraction, but pushed like a champ. The contraction passed, and Hayley panted in silence, readying for the next.

            The curtain parted and Tamar returned. “Everyone is getting food. They are so happy.”

            “And Graham?” Hayley asked.

            “The lady, Tara? She’s taking care of him. He’s dehydrated and hungry, but she said that Liza should stay here and that she would handle it.”

            “Tamar, can you sit behind Hayley? Help her remember to breathe during the contractions.”

            Fifteen minutes and five giant pushes later, Liza held a beautiful baby girl with a pair of very strong lungs. Liza had to do some deep breathing of her own, but her eyes still filled and tears still fell. “She’s perfect,” she said to Hayley. “Beautiful. Ten fingers and toes.”

            “Let me help you wash her,” Tamar said. From a box she retrieved a clean towel and filled a bowl with water and cleaned the baby with such tenderness that Liza cried some more.

            “You’re almost done,” Liza told Hayley as Tamar put the baby in her mother’s arms. “One more giant push.”

            She was dealing with the placenta when the curtain was ripped aside. Liza smelled the boy before she saw him. “Holy God,” she coughed. “What did you fall into?”

            “Don’t worry, I’ll stay over here,” the boy said, his voice squeaky high and raspy at the same time. “God, Hayley. You did it. You really did it. She’s okay?”

            Hayley looked up from her baby and smiled. “She’s perfect.”

            The boy grinned, his face dirty and tear-streaked. “Hey there, Zit.”

            Hayley shot him a mock glare. “One more time, Graham, and I swear.”

            “Do you have a name picked out?” Liza asked.

            “I have one in mind,” Hayley said. “I want to check with Cameron first.”

            Liza sat back on her heels. “You could have done this without me, Hayley. This was as simple a delivery as they come. But I need to get you out of here, so I’m going to tell them that you need a hospital, okay? For now, just lie here and relax. You earned it. And Uncle Graham, if you can wash up—I mean squeaky clean with soap and water—you can hold your niece.”

            “He volunteered to empty the toilet pots,” Tamar said quietly. “He stunk so bad that the leaders didn’t bother him. That’s how he set up the computer.”

            Liza looked over her shoulder at the empty doorway. Graham was gone, the curtain drawn. “Oh. Now I feel bad. I mean, he can’t come around the baby that dirty, but . . .”

            “It’s okay,” Tamar said. “He’s a good boy, and smart. He knows about germs.” She hesitated. “Will you take everyone who wants to leave?”

            “Transport is on its way,” Liza replied, and Tamar nodded but didn’t look as happy as Liza expected. “Do you want to leave?”

            “Yes, but . . .”

            Hayley looked up at Liza. “She doesn’t want to leave her son. Rebecca stole him. She stole Tamar’s baby. Don’t let Joshua tell you that it’s hers.”