Toni Burgess, Claire, and I drafted behind the sheriff, through the weed garden, along the fieldstone path, and up the creaking steps to the deck and the front door.
Keene knocked and called out, “Sandy, open up. It’s Buck.”
The door cracked open.
A woman’s voice said, “Go away, Buck. We’re not hurting anyone.”
I said, “Sandy, I’m Sergeant Lindsay Boxer, and this is Dr. Claire Washburn, SFPD. We just want to talk to you.”
“Call me on the phone if you just want to talk to me.”
“We want to see the baby,” Claire said. “Make sure he’s okay.”
Sheriff Keene shouted at the door. “What is this, Sandy? What have you girls done?”
“We haven’t done anything wrong, Buck. Just back off. Unless someone has a warrant, get off our property.”
“You can’t send law enforcement away. You’re making a mistake, Sandy,” Keene said.
“Someone is. Go away. Don’t make me say this again. You’re trespassing.”
I’d had enough of this. I took a half step back, then put my shoulder to the door and rammed it wide open. Claire and the sheriff barreled into the house after me.
“Subtle,” Claire muttered.
“As a jackhammer,” I reminded Claire, and that’s when I saw the woman who had been standing behind the door. She was wearing coveralls and a long-sleeved pink T-shirt. Her face was pretty and her hair was long and brushed to a shine. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties.
She had a baby under a blue blanket over her left shoulder. It was a wriggling newborn.
Was this Avis Richardson’s baby?
All I knew for sure was that he was alive.
And then I noticed that Sandy had a 9-millimeter handgun pointed right at my head. And from the look on her face, I knew she wouldn’t hesitate to use it.
Chapter 79
“BUCK, GET THE HELL OUT of here!” Sandy shouted.
“I’m not leaving,” he said, “until you put down that gun and tell me what the hell is going on. That is your baby, right, Sandy? You were pregnant. I saw you —”
“Aw, geez, Buck. Don’t ask, don’t tell. You ever heard of that?” said the girl with the baby over her shoulder.
“What are you saying? You were lying to everyone? You were faking your pregnancy? Toni? Jesus Christ. How could you two do that?”
Sandy put the barrel of the gun underneath her chin. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. All of you. Get out. I’m not kidding,” she said. “And I’m not lying either.”
The blood left my face. Coffee climbed into my throat.
“Sandy,” Keene said. “We’ll help you. This isn’t the way.”
“It’s my way. Now, get out, get out, get out!” she shouted.
The baby was crying now, real hearty wails.
My mouth went dry. So many ways for this to go wrong and I never even imagined it this way. I said, “You’re not in trouble, Sandy. We just want to talk about the situation. Buck, let us have some privacy. Please.”
“Toni, talk some sense into her, damn it,” the sheriff said to the woman in the biker’s leathers. “I’ll be waiting outside.”