Excellent Let the cards fall where they may..... Contest Entry and Winners : You're Caught! by Begin Again      What Kind of Friend Are You? Contest Winner

A massive winter storm hit America's eastern seaboard over the weekend causing hundreds of flight cancellations at airports up and down the coast. Waiting for boarding to begin, I prayed Mother Nature would repeat her performance, anything to stop me from getting on Flight 891 to Los Angeles.                                     * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Three hours earlier, having called for a taxi, I grabbed my carry-on bag and hurried outside when I heard a horn blasting. Much to my chagrin, it was my best friend, Heidi. She insisted on driving me to the airport. Of course, I'd argued that no one expecting a baby in two weeks needed to be behind the wheel of a car when the roads were treacherous, but she'd refused to change her mind. Luckily, our trip was uneventful and we arrived at the airport with time to spare. Instead of dropping me at the terminal doors, she pulled her car into a parking space and stopped. That's when I knew something was wrong. "What's up, Heidi? Why didn't you just drop me off?" "I have something to tell you. It's about the baby?" Her face would have been a good poster picture for Fright. My mind went wild, imagining the worst. "Oh my God, nothing's wrong, is it? So help me if that bastard husband of yours has gotten you upset or hurt you in someway, I'll kill him." There was no love between her husband, Sam, and myself. From day one, I saw through his good looks and charm, but Heidi swore she loved him, needed him, regardless of his past. After dating him for three weeks, they showed up at my house to announce they'd been married in Vegas. Eight months later, my opinion of her husband had only deteriorated. "Candice, stop. We only have a few minutes and I need to tell you something before you go to L.A." "Okay, I'm listening." My nerves were sending electrical shots throughout my body. Her lower lip trembled. Her eyes darted everywhere except straight at me. Finally, she took a deep breath and whispered, "The baby's not Sam's." She dropped her eyes toward her stomach. She'd spoken so softly, I wasn't sure I'd heard what she said. "What did you say?" A cold chill ran down my spine. This time she raised her eyes, looked directly at me, and spoke clearly, "Sam isn't the father." Her words had the same effect as if she'd sucker punched me in the stomach. I couldn't breathe. My best friend was about to deliver her first child any day and she was just now telling me her husband wasn't the father. "Heidi, if this is a joke, it's not funny." She'd pulled some outrageous jokes in the past and I was actually praying this was one of them. "It's not a joke." "How long have you known? Does Sam know? Who's the father?" Questions started tumbling out of my mouth as I tried to scour my brain for some clue to this mystery. "It's a guy I met when I volunteered during Katrina. Things just happened. After our three-week stint, we went our separate ways. He lived in Houston and worked as a pilot." "What about Sam? Does he know?" All I could do was shake my head in total amazement. "No, I met him the weekend I came home and three weeks later we were married. I didn't even know I was pregnant." She seemed calmer, more in control of the situation. "How do you know it's not his?" Disbelief screamed at me. "When I thought Sam had cheated on me only two weeks after our wedding day, I borrowed pills from my mom, just to calm my nerves. After I found out I was pregnant, I told the doctor. They did an amniocentesis just to be on the safe side. The test showed it was impossible for Sam to be the father." She took a big gulp of air before continuing, "We were getting along better. I wanted things to work. I didn't tell him." For the first time in my life, I was dumbfounded. I had no idea what to say or think. We sat silent for several minutes and then Heidi suggested I had better go or I'd miss my flight. Regardless of my prayers, Mother Nature hadn't accommodated me and I boarded Flight 891, destination Los Angeles.                                 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * During the past thirty minutes, my fork and shrimp salad danced a continuous minuet around my plate. My stomach was tied in knots as I tried inconspicuously to watch my best friend's husband exchange spit with a five-hundred-dollar-an-hour escort date. I wondered why he bothered registering at the hotel because if he groped her much more the act would be completed right here in the restaurant. Bile filled my throat. Regardless of what Heidi had done, I hated him and men like him. I tensed as Sam stood, wrapping his arm possessively around the dark-haired woman, guiding her through the tables. I waited until they'd entered the hotel lobby and walked toward the elevator before leaving my secluded spot. As the elevator door closed, I left the restaurant. "Candice." A tall, ex-football quarterback waved. I recognized his friendly face and quickly walked over to him. "Joe, what a pleasant surprise." Having lived and worked in Los Angeles, I had many friends still in the area. "I was in the office when Tom got your call. I volunteered to --" A small radio clipped to his belt beeped. Slipping it off the clip, he answered, "Go ahead." "Suspect has entered and is under surveillance." "Candice is with me." "Great! Tell her it shouldn't be long now." The radio went dead and Joe's pearly whites gleamed at me. "You heard him. The trap's about to snap." Ten minutes later, Sam was escorted out of the hotel by the Los Angeles Vice Department, wearing a shiny pair of silver bracelets. He'd been arrested for solicitation and after confiscating six plastic wrapped squares of heroin from his suitcase, he was also charged with drug possession with the attempt to deliver. Having worked in the department for six years, I'd called my ex-boss and explained the situation to him. Knowing Sam's habits of contacting one of the escort services whenever he visited L.A, it was easy to use one of their undercover operatives. As soon as he handed her the money, the team moved in and made the arrest. Score one for the home team. Six hours later, I landed in New York, facing the strong possibility of losing a friendship. After claiming my luggage, I grabbed a cab and gave the driver Heidi's address. I rang the doorbell and waited. My palms were sweaty and I was nursing a major headache, but I needed to be the one to tell Heidi about Sam. After ringing the bell again, she opened the door. "Candice, why didn't you call? I would have picked you up at the airport." We exchanged hugs and I followed her into the front room. "Can I get you something to drink?" She waved her water bottle at me. "We're on a restricted beverage diet, but I'd be happy to get you a glass of wine." "No, I'm fine, thank you. How are you feeling?" I was nervous, knowing what I had to say. "I'm great. The doctor says the baby is full term. You might be Auntie Candice any day now." We laughed and shared a few minutes of small talk. "Heidi, Sam was arrested today for solicitation and drug possession." I waited for her reaction. "Candice, you're suppose to be my friend." Her voice was filled with anger. "It had nothing to do with our friendship, Heidi." "Of course, it did! You called in a favor in order to make Sam pay for his cheating." "My department suspected Sam of drug dealing for some time. He was a smart operator and we couldn't nail him. When he went to Los Angeles, I knew he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation and I saw an opportunity for us to catch him, hoping he'd have drugs in his possession as well." "I'm about to have a baby. How could you do this to me?" Tears flowed down her face, and for one moment, I actually felt sorry for her. "At the airport, you told me the father of your baby was a pilot from Houston. Was his name Anthony?" I watched as her face went from sadness, to disbelief, to something akin to panic. "How'd you know his name?" Her hands were trembling now. "Anthony works for United Airlines and is based in Houston. A group of pilots volunteered during Katrina." "But that doesn't explain how you know Anthony." "The father of the baby you are carrying is my step-brother. When you told him about having a friend working Vice in New York, he contacted me to see if I would ask around the department if anyone knew you. See, Heidi, in those few short weeks, he'd fallen madly in love with you." "Why didn't you tell me?" I couldn't believe she still didn't understand. "By the time I knew about it, you were married and I thought you were pregnant with Sam's baby, so I kept my mouth shut, hoping you'd be happy." "I want you to leave, Candice. Get out of my house." When I remained seated, she screamed at me, "Get out, now!" "I'm afraid I can't do that, Heidi. When I landed, I notified the team that Sam had provided detailed information regarding his supplier." I shivered as she slumped backwards in the chair. Fear was written all over her face. "You wouldn't!" She spat the words at me. "The arresting officers are waiting outside. You'll be taken into custody and held under guard at a medical facility until after you deliver the baby." Tears glistened in my eyes. "What about my baby?"  "Anthony will make a great father." I stood and walked to the door, letting New York's finest arrest one of the biggest drug suppliers along the East Coast. What Kind of Friend Are You? Contest Winner Recognized

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