Page 74 of Not the Bodyguard's Widow
“We make them follow the wrong car. The only problem is finding doubles for you and Alex.”
Elle looked up from her latest book. “You only need one good one. From a distance, both Adam and Alan pass as Alex. I’m close enough to Kimberly’s height that with a wig and a small pillow, I could be a decoy.”
Predictably, Alan frowned, but everyone ignored him.
“From a distance, I can pass as Kimberly too, but up close, my wrinkles would ruin it.” Mom patted her cheeks.
Dad leaned over and kissed Mom. “What wrinkles?”
“The ones you need to put on your readers to see.” Mom kissed him back. “So we have two decoys.”
“Where to do this, then?” asked Alex.
“The mall,” Dad said. “Saturday is always crowded. Melanie, break out your costume kit and see what we can do about duplicating Kimberly. We leave here in three different cars. Elle goes to the mall with Adam and Kimberly in the truck, Melanie and Alex in Adam’s SUV, and Alan in his car alone. Andrew and I will monitor things. We need to see if we flush out more tails.” Dad handed out the assignments. “At the mall, you’ll go to a changing room. Elle and Melanie will be transformed into Kimberly, who will be transformed into a different woman. Then you’ll play musical cars and fake brothers. Alex, when it’s clear, you leave in Adam’s SUV with Kimberly and head to C&O’s hangar, and we fly you two back to Indiana. I’ll dispatch another team there with your truck as soon as I can. My guess is they don’t know where you came from, only that you arrived in Shipshewana, and that limits our safe-house options. Kimberly, you are doing a home birth, correct?”
“Yes, the doctor cleared me for it right after we returned from California.”
“Good. That will keep you out of any computer databases.” Dad took notes on his tablet.
Mom came back in with Elle. The wigs and clothing were close enough. Mom also carried three identical Cubs baseball caps and sets of sunglasses. “Yay for sunny July days. Now, boys, shirts are a problem. I don’t know that we have three matching shirts in the house.”
Adam raised a hand. “I have a package of gray T-shirts in my car.”
“Perfect. Only Alex leaves in the gray shirt.” Dad pulled up the mall map and marked the various parking areas. Mom pulled Kimberly aside and showed her how to put on the blonde wig, then gave her a different shirt to wear. All the women put their costumes in various department-store shopping bags.
Mom and Alex left first. The men in the car didn’t follow them.
Adam left with Kimberly and Elle, the tail on them before they exited the subdivision.
As planned, they met in the second-floor restrooms. Alex waited for the texts indicating that the two groups of impersonators had left before meeting Kimberly in a children’s clothing store around the corner from the bathrooms. At first he didn’t recognize her in her baby-pink blouse and blonde wig. They made a purchase and left through the mall’s parking garage in Adam’s SUV.
Forty minutes later, they were in the small jet owned by C&O and flying back to Indiana. Kimberly leaned back in her seat and breathed deeply.
“Is everything all right?”
“I don’t know. I think it’s stress. And Braxton Hicks contractions. I probably shouldn’t be flying.”
“As soon as we land, I’ll call Mrs. Capps.”
Kimberly clutched his hand. “Can you also call for a few quiet days?”
“I’ll do that.” Alex put his arms around her and held her close.
27
Mrs. Capps finished her examination.“Everything looks good. There are no contractions now, and nothing indicates actual labor. However, you need to stop gallivanting all over the place for a few days. Watch some movies. Read a few books. If you were Amish, I’d tell you to knit, but only in a reclining position.”
Kimberly sat up. “What about painting?”
“All hunched over your easel? No. In the recliner in the front room, yes.” Mrs. Capps put her stethoscope back in her bag. “I will tell Alex to pamper you as much as possible.”
“He already does.”
Mrs. Capps pulled a piece of paper from her bag. “There is a birthing class this Tuesday and Thursday night at the community center. You two need to come. If you can’t make it, there is a way you can see it online.”
Kimberly followed Mrs. Capps out to the living room, where the midwife repeated the instructions to Alex.
Alex closed the door behind her. “Anything I can do for you at the moment?” The softness in his eyes reminded her of his words last night.
