and trying to get him on her side? Was she really as innocent as he'd assumed? He struggled to find the French to express what he needed to say. "I don't know, He'd. I don't think I'm the right person to ask."
"I need your advice. You've been here yourself, you know what it can be like."
Alex took a deep breath, wishing he was anywhere but here. "What about your friend, this Jackie? Will she lie for you?"
"She won't want to be a suspect anymore than I do. Yes, she will lie."
"Who knows?"
"About us?" She shrugged. "Nobody, I think."
"But you can't be sure?"
"You can never be sure."
"In that case, I think you have to tell the truth. Because if they find it out later, it will look much worse." Alex rubbed his face again and looked away. "I can't believe we're talking like this, and Mondo hardly dead."
He'd pulled away. "I know you probably think I'm cold, Alex. But I've got the rest of my life to cry for the man I loved. And I did love him, make no mistake about that. But right now, I want to make sure I don't take the blame for something that was nothing to do with me. You of all people should understand that."
"Fine," Alex said, reverting to English. "Have you told Sheila and Adam yet?"
She shook her head. "The only person I spoke to was Lynn. I didn't know what to say to his parents."
"Do you want me to do it for you?" But before He'd could reply, Alex's mobile chirped cheerfully in his pocket. "That'll be Lynn," he said, taking it out and checking the number on the display. "Hello?"
"Alex?" Lynn sounded terrified.
"I'm here at the house," he said. "I don't know how to tell you this. I'm so, so sorry. He'd was right. Mondo's dead. It looks like somebody broke in?
"Alex," Lynn interrupted him. "I'm in labor. The contractions started just after I spoke to you before. I thought it was a false alarm, but they're coming every three minutes."
"Oh Jesus." He jumped to his feet, looking around in panic.
"Don't freak out. It's natural." Lynn yelped in pain. "There goes another one. I've called a taxi, it should be here any minute."
"What?what?
"Just get yourself to the Simpson. I'll meet you in the labor suite."
"But Lynn, it's too soon." Alex finally managed sense.
"It's the shock, Alex. It happens. I'm fine. Please, don't be scared. I need you not to be scared. I need you to get in your car and drive very carefully to Edinburgh. Please?"
Alex gulped. "I love you, Lynn. Both of you."
"I know you do. I'll see you soon."
The connection broke off and Alex looked helplessly at He'd. "She's in labor," she said flatly.
"She's in labor," Alex echoed.
"So go."
"You shouldn't be alone."
"I have a friend I can call. You need to be with Lynn."
"Shite timing," Alex said. He thrust his phone back in his pocket. "I'll phone. I'll come back when I can."
He'd stood up and patted him on the arm. "Just go, Alex. Let me know what happens. Thank you for coming."
He ran from the room.
Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Dirty streaks of gray began to materialize in the sodium-smudged city darkness. Alex slumped on a chilly bench by the Simpson Memorial Pavilion, tears chapping his cheeks. Nothing in his life had prepared him for a night like this. He'd gone beyond tiredness into an altered state where he felt he'd never sleep again. The emotional overload was such that he no longer knew what he felt.
He had no recollection of the drive back from Glasgow to Edinburgh. He knew he'd called his parents at some point, had a vague memory of an agitated conversation with his father. Fears tumbled headlong through his head. All the things he knew could go wrong. All the things he didn't know about that he was sure could go wrong with a baby at thirty-four weeks' gestation. He wished he was Weird, so he could place his trust in something less fallible than the medical profession. What the hell would he do without Lynn? What the hell would he do with a baby without Lynn? What the hell would he do with Lynn without a baby? The portents couldn't be worse: Mondo lying dead in some hospital mortuary; Alex not where he should be on the most important night of his life.
He'd abandoned the car somewhere in the Royal Infirmary car park and managed to find the entrance to the maternity wing at the third