Free Ultimate Fear (Book 2 Ultimate CORE) (CORE Series) by Kristine Mason Page B

Wayne wasn’t like his daddy. He’d never raise a hand to her or their son. Yes, she’d try her hardest to keep this new baby and raise him to be a good man. Besides, she and Wayne were both thirty-six. She couldn’t keep bringing new babies into her house every three years. Goodness, what would people think if she was forty-eight and the mother of a new baby? She giggled. They’d think she and Wayne were grandparents.
    Grandparents . Now that had a nice ring to it. After this next baby, she’d have to wait another eighteen plus years before having a grandbaby to love, but by that time they’d be nearing retirement. Maybe they’d even have a vacation house or be going on fancy cruises.
    Yes. Moving to Chicago was going to end up being their best decision yet. New baby, new job, better money and opportunities. First things first, she needed that new baby. The apartment shouldn’t be a problem, and she’d already lined up a few to visit on Sunday. If those didn’t work out, they’d stay at a cheap motel outside of the city until they found the right place, which might not be a bad thing. After all, traipsing around Chicago, looking at apartments that would likely need serious bleaching, wasn’t healthy for a newborn.
    Praise the good Lord. She couldn’t wait to hold that baby boy.
    Soon. Very soon.
    By this time tomorrow, God would grace her with the son she was meant to have. The boy’s mother would suffer, which was a shame. Missy Schneider couldn’t have predicted her no good husband would’ve upped and left her—nine months pregnant, with no steady income and a failing business to run. To keep her head above water, Missy would probably spend what little money she had on her dog breeding business rather than the child she was due to deliver any day. She and Wayne could give the baby what he needed. A stable home, Christian ethics and the proper love and care he deserved.
    Too bad Missy bred Labradors. If it was a smaller breed, she’d love to snag a pup for Wayne. He’d been itchin’ for a dog, but puppies were a lot of work. Plus, the apartments they were planning on seeing didn’t accept dogs. Later, when they were settled in a new city and state and had bought a home, she’d surprise him with a puppy. Maybe a hound like the one Wayne had had when he was a boy, before his evil father had broken its neck to punish Wayne for not doing his chores.
    Remembering how broken up Wayne had been, how he’d tried to hide his tears and be a man—at ten—had all of her happy thoughts about their new baby turning into outrage. No child should have been treated as badly and inhumanely as Wayne had. But that was in the past and, as she pulled into her driveway, she needed to remain focused on the immediate future.
    With the exception of what they’d need should they find themselves shacked up in a motel for longer than planned, most of the packing was done. She did have a little cleaning to do in order to make sure they received the initial deposit on their rental home, but she’d do that after the man who’d offered to buy her Honda came by. Wayne didn’t know she was selling her car, and she hoped he wouldn’t be angry that she hadn’t discussed it with him. But she’d rather have the extra cash and, living in Chicago, they wouldn’t need two cars.
    She grabbed the Walmart bags from the car and hauled them into the house. When she dropped them on the linoleum, the dissecting kit fell out of one of the plastic bags. She picked it up and thought about the tattooed cashier’s brother. The boy who’d planned on dissecting a hamster had grown to be a surgeon. How about that, she smiled. The tools in the kit certainly weren’t surgeon quality, but they’d do the trick. Unlike Wayne, she’d never been squeamish when it came to blood. Delivering a child was messy business. Although she’d been scared out of her mind when she’d gone into labor with Elton, she remembered the blood. And the