Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (37 page)

             
Personal revelations aside
, I was still human and a human
teenage girl at that
.
As
quietly as possible
I
search
ed
the bathroom for a hairbrush and some toothpaste
.
I needed to
apologize
for my earlier behavior and I’d be damned if I was going to face Gabriel with ratty wet hair and morning breath
.
I managed to find a comb a
nd raked it through my knotted
hair and used my finger and some toothpaste to attempt to brush my teeth
.
Having
finished those tasks I felt confident that I would not die of embarrassment before I had a chance to sav
e humanity, and I emerged from the bathroom with the white towel firmly knotted around me
.
Gabriel was
nowhere
in sight, but
lying
across the side of the bed I had slept on was a white terrycloth robe
.
I assumed it was for me to wear
,
and after glancing around the
room
I shrugged out of the towel and wrapped the robe around me
.
It felt nice, warm and soft and comforting
.
Once I made sure I was sufficiently covered by the robe
I went in search of Gabriel
.

No sooner had I stepped into the hallway then the glorious smell of bacon waft
ed
at me
.
My stomach grumbled in
agreement with my nose at the entic
ing aroma
.
I padded across the wood floor in my bare feet and descended the stairs into the kitchen
.
Gabriel stood at the stove, hovering over a pan of bacon
.
He looked as amazing as always, standing barefoot with a pair of distressed jeans and a plain white, t-shirt on
.
When he heard me enter the room, he turned and smiled
.

             
“Hey, hope you’re hungry
.
I’ve got toast in the toaster, eggs in one pan, and b
acon in the other. O
h
,
and there’s coffee in the pot.”

             
I walked up behind him
and wrapped my arms around him.
“You
’
r
e
perfect
.
Bacon and coffee
,
you know the way to this girls heart,” I joked as I grabbed t
w
o coffee mugs from the cabinet next to the stove
.
“But seriously
, I want to thank
you for everything
.
I’m sorry about the way I acted this morning.
”

             
Gabriel turned to face me.
“Michelle, you have no reason to
apologize
and trust me it took all the will power in the world for me to leave that bed this morning
.
You’ve been through a lot and it
’
s no
t over yet.
I just want to help you however I can.
”
He
laid a gentle kiss a
nd my forehead and
turned back to his multiple frying
pans
.

I poured us both
a cup
of coffee and added cream and sugar to each
of
our cups
.
We ate in silence, but not an
awkward
silence, rather
the
silence
of two people that were perfectly happy being in
each other’s
presence
and not having to say a word
.

After breakfast, as he washed the pans and I loaded he dishwasher, I as
ked him where he had gone earlier this morning
.
“I returned Cami’s car to in front of her house
.
I’m sure Alex knows we aren’t stupid enough to bring her here, but I didn’t want the car parked out front ether way.
”

             
I simply nodded;
it made
sense. A
nd then I wondered if
Ca
mi’s
parents had noticed she was missing this morning
.
How the hell were we going to get around
that
?
“W
hat are we going to tell people
about where Cami went
?
If it was just her parents I would say you could just persuade them into
believing
something, but not the whole damn town.
”

I was at a loss, not one idea that ran through my mind seemed like a viable option to explain Cami’s disappearance
.
Early
acceptance
into college
or
an
academic program would not fly
with
anyone who knew Cami
.
Rehab would have t
o
be paid for by her parents
, so that was out
.
Then it hit me
.
“We can tell everyone she went to New York to pursue a modeling contract
.
Cami’s definitely pretty enough to model and rash enough to just take off
.
All we have to do is leave her parents a note.
”
The plan seemed as good
of
an idea as any
.
Teenagers did rash things like run
away to New York all the time, and even better yet it was in
the exact opposite direction than she was actually headed. W
ith any luck
it would confuse Alex as well.

“I guess
that will work,
“ Gabriel replied as he continu
ed scrubbing the pan in the sink
.
“
Seems
as likely
of
a reason to disappear as any I can think of,” he replied
.

             
“Okay, well I guess I’ll come up with a note to leave in her car where her parents will find it
.
But before I do that, I have some phone calls to make.
”
I felt like I was finally taking control
of events
instead of just letting them happen to me and around me
.
I found my messenger bag by the front door, where Gabriel must have left it
,
and dug out my cell phone
.
I first called the coroner to find out what was happening with my father’s body
.
The doctor said he would be ready for the funeral home to pick-up after
two
this afternoon
.
I took a deep breath, hung up with the coroner, and before I could lose my courage called the local funeral home
.
Living in such a small town there was only one funeral home, so I didn’t have any decision
to
make
.
I spoke to a very nice man, who introduced himself as Ted
.
I explained the
situation
that
my father had died from a close range shot to the head
and his body would be ready for pick-up later this afternoon
.
I requested that he be cremated, since there really was no fixing the damage to his face
.
Ted asked if we would be having a viewing, and I faltered for a moment
.
I hadn’t thought that far ahead of myself, but I assumed that there would be guys at work that would want to pay their respects, it probably would look more suspicious to not have a viewing
.
I agreed to a viewing and made arrangements for a
small
gathering
.
I told
Ted that my father’s life insurance would cover the costs as soon as the paperwork was cleared, and he told me I would need to sign some paperwork allowing them t
o
pick-up my father’s body and cremate it
.

I sighed loudly into the phone.
“I’m only seventeen
,
can I still sign the paperwork?” I asked
.

There was a long pause over the phone and then Ted spoke, “ Is there no one else?” he asked
.

“No, I’m any only child, so was my father, and my mother has be
en hospitalized, she isn’t well.
” I
let the last word hang in the air, hoping the phrasing would say everything I didn’t want to
.

“I see,” was Ted’s response
.
“You can come down and sign, but you will need to contact someone about your situation
.
I understand you are close to turning eighteen, but you still have seve
ral
weeks where you are not yet considered a
n
adult.
”

I thanked Ted for his help and advice, and told him I would be by later that day
.
I pushed the end call button on my touch screen and tossed the phone back in my
messenger
bag
.
I needed to go home, I needed to locate the name and phon
e number of our family’s lawyer.
I
also
needed to call my father’s work, I’m sure they missed him today
.
I looked down at my attire. There was no way I was
going anywhere in just a robe
.
I turned and made my way up the stairs
.

I found my shirt and panties on the bathroom floor where I had discarded them on my way into the shower, and after looking around I found my muddy jeans in the laundry bin
.
I had a
moment’s
guilt over throwing my clothes on the floor while Gabriel had put them in the hamper
.
I pulled the still damp denim up my
legs;
I had one more thing to do before I left to return home
.
I went back down
stairs and pulled some lined notebook paper from my bag along with a black pen, I then thought better of it and du
g
around till I found a purple pen
.
I walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen island across from Gabriel
.
He was sipping his third cup of coffee and apparently trying to give me my space to make the calls that needed to be made
.
He looked up at me as I entered the room, with a questioning look
.

“I have to write Cami’s goodbye lette
r so I can slip it into her car
on my way home.
”
He simply nodded and returned to his coffee
.
I looked
back down at the white paper in front of me and tried to think of a way to word this letter that wouldn’t end in Cami’s parents filing a missing person’s report
.

Twenty-five minutes later I had a
copy, which
I hoped would do the trick
.

Dear Mom and Dad,

       
I’m sorry to leave this way, but you always said opportunity knocks once so you better
be
listening
.
I was at the mall two days ago and there was
an
open casting call for models ages fifteen to twenty-one
.
I decided to audition and guess what
?
They liked me!!
The agency offered me the opportunity to come to New York and take some head shots
.
I’m sorry to take off like this, but I knew if I told you first you would insist that I finish high school
,
and probably college
,
too before I pursued this
.
I just couldn’t help it I had to go
.
I didn’t want to liv
e the rest of my life wondering
what if
.
I hope you understand. Don’t worry,
I’ll be in touch
.

Love
y
our daughter,

     Cami

I looked down at the purple ink
a
n
d
the curving handwriting I
had
used to make the note look like Cami’s
.
It
was
bubbl
y
and excited like Cami, and offered as little information as possible
.
I purposely didn’t give an agencies name in case her parents called to inquire about her, but I gave a place
. A
lthough New York was a big
,
scary city, it was only two hours away and Cami had been there multiple times to shop or see a show
.
Her parents would be worried, but hopefully not panicked
.
I would have to get Cami to call them in a few days
;
that is if I heard from Cami
.

I folded the paper in thirds and headed for the front door
.
I paused to sl
ing my bag over my shoulder and Gabriel came around the corner into the hall
.

“Where are you headed?” he asked.

I held up the letter in my hand
.
“I have to drop this into Cami’s car window and then I have go home
.
Find some paperwork and make some more calls.
”

“Okay, let
’
s go,” he said
,
pulling his brown leather jacket on
over his white t-shirt
.
He
bent down and pulled his black converse sneakers fro
m the hall closet and began putt
ing them on
.
I arched my eyebrow at him quizzically; surely these errands didn’t require two people
.
“If you think you are going anywh
ere alone with Alex out there wa
ndering about
,
and
two other
horseme
n still on
the loose, you
’
r
e
out of you
r
mind.
”

“Out of my mind
,
huh
?
Yeah, the thought had occurred to me,” I replied
.
Gabriel swung his arm over my shoulder as we stepped out into a gloomy, rainy afternoon
.

We stopped by Cami’s car first
.
No one was home at her house
.
Her parents had probably seen her car out front and assumed that she was
in her bedroom
asleep where she belonged
.
I
slipped
the note into the driver side,
through the crack in the driver’s side window where the window never rolled completely up
.
I
stared at the note
for
a moment and then spun on my hee
ls and headed off towards my house
.

As Gabriel and I arrived
in front of my house, I stared
from the sidewalk
at what I us
e
d
to think of as home
.
It just looked like a house
now;
this was no longer my home
.
I walked up to the front porch and
pulled down the caution tape that the police had strung up
.
I used my key and pushed open the front door
.
The cleaning crew had been there earlier and locked the door behind
them;
I had left the house unlocked when I left last night
.
I was glad that the mess in the kitchen was gone, but I still wanted to get in and out of the house as quickly as possible
.
I avoided the kitchen all together, and turned and headed down the hallway towards my father’s office
.

I immediately began pulling open drawers and folders
,
searching for the paperwork I needed
.
It didn’t take long, my father was a ve
r
y organized
man
, and I quickly found the lawyer
’
s number and my fa
ther’s life insurance information
.
I then made my way into my room, and began to pack myself a bag
.
I paused in the middle of folding a pair of jeans and glanced over my shoulder at Gabriel, w
h
ere he stood propped in the doorway
.
I stood and prepared myself to ask a very difficult question
, one I should have asked before I started packing my bag
.
Gabriel stood and cut me off
before I could ask.
“It
’
s fine Michelle, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
”
I
stared into those gra
y eyes and was so thankful that he made things so easy
.
I went back to packing
.

As I pulled the front door shut I looked back over my shoulder
.
This wasn’
t my
home anymore.
Alex had ruined it
,
contaminated every happy memory with one bloody, red ruin of a nightmare
.
I had changed my clothes, found the paperw
ork I needed, packed some thing
s
I’d need
,
including
some photos, and the stuffed penguin Cami had given me for my thirteenth birthday
.
Nope everything I needed was packed in my bag or stood next to me
.
Alex had hoped to break
me, but all he had really done was give me something to fight for
.
Hell hath no fury like a teenage girl scorn
.

Chapter 20

Ecclesiastes 9: 1-5 “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.”

The following weeks ran by in a combination of determination and numbness
.
The fall weather had turned gloomy and it seemed appropriate to my mood and situation
.
I waited for Alex to make a move, I waited for there to be backlash from Cami’s disappearance, I waited for someone to discover that my mother was not institutionalized but missing, I simply waited
.
As I waited I held determination and hatred for Alex in the pit of my stomach, in my bones, and in my heart
.
I would not go and seek him out, but I waited and prepared for war
.

My memories ran together in a dull, gray
recall
.
I was talking to a lawyer who was throwing around terms like emancipated minor
.
I was filling out paperwork to
inherit
insurance money that my father was t
o
o young to leave me
.
I was talking to the funeral home attendant who smiled to
o
much for his job
.
I was standing alone next to an urn dressed in an uncomfortable, itchy black dress
.
I was shaking calloused hands of weathered men I had never met but knew my father, and fin
al
ly Gabriel and I were spreading my father’s ashes at his favorite fishing pond on a cold November evening at sunset
.
The past few weeks had
pass
ed by in a dreary parade of desolation
.

I had moved in with Gabriel and we were coexisting easily together
.
We shared a bed but not each other
. Cami called one
Saturday morning to tell me they were in Colorado and that Aunt Karen was taking good care of them
.
She was still pretending to be my mother’s nurse, but Cami said that mom was coming around
.
She still wasn’t fully in this world, but her lucid moments were becoming more and more frequent
.
I told Cami to call her parents, and she had
.
She told me
later they had been mad, but
said they didn’t even seem surprised
.
I felt sad for her, she was an only child of two parents who expected nothing from her, and she was capable of so much greatness
.

The lawyer had managed for the court to approve me
as
an
emancipated minor, since my only surviving parent was clinically insane
and the only family I had lived in Colorado
.
There was talk
of sending me to live with my
a
unt, but since
I would be eighteen in a month
they decided to let me be my own problem
.
I was given ownership of the family house, savings, and my father’s life insurance
.
I used most of my father’s life insurance
to pay
for his viewing
and cremation, as small and
unlavish
as it was it still cost quite a bit
.
The house was for sale, I didn’t want it, and I was using the family savings to survive for now
.
Gabriel took care of most things, but neither of us was employed and we needed things like food, coffee, and embarrassingly enough toilet paper
.
I had asked him ho
w he had paid for things before
and he had given me a knowing look
.
Apparently he wasn’t just an
angel but a thief, persuasion or
no persuasion.
I felt bad just taking stuff
.
I know it was something he did to survive, but I felt better just forking over the cash
.