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Back The Surrogate Save as PDF
Chapters (65)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Part One
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Part Two
  39. Thirty-Four
  40. Thirty-Five
  41. Thirty-Six
  42. Thirty-Seven
  43. Thirty-Eight
  44. Thirty-Nine
  45. Forty
  46. Forty-One
  47. Forty-Two
  48. Forty-Three
  49. Forty-Four
  50. Forty-Five
  51. Forty-Six
  52. Forty-Seven
  53. Forty-Eight
  54. Forty-Nine
  55. Fifty
  56. Fifty-One
  57. Part Three
  58. Fifty-Two
  59. Fifty-Three
  60. Fifty-Four
  61. Fifty-Five
  62. Fifty-Six
  63. Acknowledgments
  64. About the Author
  65. About the Publisher

The cops ordered me to unlock the truck, then opened the door and unbuckled the kid. They lifted her out of the car seat, and she woke up, wailing and squirming. Ruth followed every step they took, standing a foot behind them. Asking, “Can I hold her, is she okay, where are you taking her?”

The female caseworker carried the kid to the van. Loaded her in and closed the door. She got in with the baby and closed the door, and we couldn’t see anything. All that tinted glass.

The male caseworker asked where we’d been, what’d been done to the child, and whether we’d given her any medications. Deena gave them the papers from the hospital. Then I went in the house and grabbed all the kid’s supplies. Brought those out and handed them over.

The cops told us what was going on. Ruth was upset and leaning on the white-haired man. He was watching and listening to the officers.

“The infant will be placed into protective care, most likely with a foster family, for a forty-eight-hour hold, and after that, all interested parties will have the opportunity to appear in court and make claims or assert any rights they have or provide any further information to the court.” The officer handed me and Ruth each a business card with a phone number circled on it. “Any questions, call that number,” he said.

The officers got in their vehicles and went down the driveway. The dogs barked. The rest of us stood there like statues. Watching until the cars turned onto the main road and were gone.

Fifty-One

Cally

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2002

Afternoon

After I found Ruth and sent her to Deena’s, a nurse guided me from the lobby back onto the elevator and up to my room. After she left, I felt an enormous wave of relief and hope. Vera helped me into bed, and Sam attached the pulse clip to my finger. I liked the feel of his hand touching mine. While I was gone, he said, he’d made small talk with the nurse, letting her believe I was down the hall on a walk. I was sure his charm hadn’t hurt, either.

Sam gave me a few sips of water. “Shouldn’t take risks like that,” he said.

“I had to,” I said, smiling because I’d passed on Deena’s address to Ruth, like it was a relay baton. Hopefully, Ruth would carry the next leg. If she could find Digger, she’d find the baby. I thought she might be able to stop him from doing whatever he was gonna do. Maybe convince him to give her the baby. He wouldn’t have listened to me. I prayed Nell was okay. She had to be okay.