Manhunt (21 page)

“You doing all right, Sunshine? I know this has to be hard on you. Jeremy says you’re staying with Christian and Sophie?” Nikki nodded. “I’m glad. You might want to think about putting that house on the market. I doubt it’s ever going to feel like a home to you again.”

“Where would I go? I can’t stay with Christian forever.”

“Sure you can!” Christian laughed. “Especially if you keep baking!”

Michael tried hard not to be jealous, not in a sexual way, more in a ‘I wish I was living with Nikki and eating her baking’ kind of way. It wasn’t working. The desire to be with her, even doing some mundane domestic chore, was too strong to not be envious of everyone else around her.

Nikki laughed and rolled her eyes at him. “Seriously, I don’t know what to do. They offered me my old job back at the grocery store, but considering I don’t remember ever working there in the first place, I’m not sure I’m ready for that. But I need to figure out something soon.” Nikki shook her head. “Never mind. You don’t need to hear this right now. We’ve got much bigger things to worry about. What does Wes say?”

“Well, jury selection begins in a week. He said that could take up to a week, maybe more. Then the trial will begin the week after that concludes. Their psychologist questioned me a little bit ago. She didn’t say much, but she did say I was fit to stand trial, which I already knew.”

“But what does he say about your case? Does he think you stand a chance?”

Michael sucked his lips in between his teeth for a moment before answering. “Of course I stand a chance, sweetheart. He’s going to explain to them that I am crazy in love with you, and in a fit of temporary rage, shot him in retaliation for his brutal attack on you, and to prevent him from ever hurting you or anyone else ever again. Hopefully the jury will see how beautiful you are and be sympathetic to my cause.” He caressed her cheekbone with his thumb and smiled at her. “How could anyone hurt someone so beautiful?” he asked somewhat rhetorically.

“That means Nikki will have to take the stand, right?” Christian asked, and Michael scowled at him and turned back to Nikki.

“He wants you to, but you don’t have to. There’s plenty of evidence to show what he did to you without you taking the stand. My dad will be a witness to detail your injuries, and there were pictures taken at the hospital. I told him I didn’t think he needed you to take the stand.”

“I want to,” Nikki said determinedly.

“Nikki...” Michael did not like this idea. At all.

“No, Michael. I’m going to tell Wes to call on me. I want to help you any way that I can.”

“No, Nikki, I won’t allow it.”

“Good thing it’s not up to you, then, huh?” Nikki asked pointedly.

Michael sighed. He only got 30 minutes with her, and he didn’t want to waste a single one of them fighting.

“She’s right. Even if Wes didn’t intend to call her as a witness, I’m sure the prosecution will subpoena her,” Christian added.

Michael bit his tongue, knowing he had lost this battle.

“So how’s the food here?” Christian asked, obviously trying to change the subject, for which Michael was grateful.

“Worse than hospital food. Seriously, I thought all those taxpayer dollars would at least afford me a decent cheeseburger.”

They continued the small talk until Deputy Slader tapped Michael on the shoulder and told him his time was up.

“Already?” he asked sadly.

“Actually, it was over 15 minutes ago. I got caught up with a buddy in the break room and lost track of time.” Michael raised his eyebrow at him questioningly, but wisely kept his mouth shut, nodding his head in silent thanks. “I’m Todd, by the way,” he said, holding his hand out to Nikki.

She and Christian both shook his hand and he turned to Nikki. “I knew your father, by the way. A bit gruff on the outside, but he was a good man.”

Nikki laughed at his description. From what she remembered, it seemed pretty accurate.

Michael gathered Nikki up in his arms and held on for dear life. Nikki melted into him and couldn’t keep her tears from soaking his shirt. He caressed her hair softly.

“Shh... No tears, Sunshine. It’s okay. It’s not so bad. Having you in my arms again, and knowing once you walk out that door, you’ll be safe and sound, it makes it all worth it.” He bent down and kissed her tears away. “I love you, Nicole.”

She chased his lips with her own and kissed him chastely. “I love you too.”

He very reluctantly released her and shook Christian’s hand. “Take care of her for me.”

“Will do. We’ll see you again in a couple of days.”

Michael nodded. “Hey, Christian? You’ve got keys to my apartment, don’t you?”

Christian nodded and he looked at Nikki.

“Why don’t you guys take a trip up there, see if there’s anything at my place that you might want to make you more comfortable. Take whatever you want, it’s not like I’ll be using it anytime soon.”

Nikki agreed rather noncommittally, and watched as Todd escorted him back out of the room. When he reached the door, he turned and paused, looking at her one last time before waving and disappearing as the door shut behind them.

*******

Once again, Nikki had to deal with the throng of reporters and photographers waiting for her and Christian to exit the building. It was no longer just the network and cable news channels. Now there were others, more aggressive, shouting all types of vile and vulgar things at them to try and get a reaction. Nikki could only assume they were paparazzi. Christian tucked her under his arm and she curled her face into his chest to hide as he pushed past anyone who got too close on their way to the car.

After they left, Christian stopped by the house to pick up Sophie, a few empty boxes, and the keys to Michael’s place, then the three of them headed for Philly and Michael’s apartment. Nikki wasn’t sure what the point was; she couldn’t imagine anything Michael might have there that she would want to take home. Christian just said he figured they could use the distraction. On the other hand, she was kind of excited, in a voyeuristic kind of way, to check out his apartment. She didn’t remember ever having been there, and Christian didn’t know if she had. Nikki found herself wondering what she would find, what tidbits of information she might garner from snooping around his place.

Then her thoughts turned darker. He had lived there for years without her? Had he been with other women there? Had he ever had a live-in girlfriend? Heck, for all Nikki knew, he might have left some girl waiting for him when he took off to murder Sebastian and kidnap her. Nikki got herself quite worked up even thinking about what his life might have been like. It bothered her that she remembered next to nothing about that time in her life, and consequently knew absolutely nothing about that time in his, outside of the brief snippets she’d learned during their trip.

By the time they pulled up to the apartment complex, she was a wreck, wringing her hands and biting her lip, pulling off every lose bit of dried flesh from her chapped lips with her teeth. Sophie looked back to let her know they were there and just laughed.

“Well, at least you weren’t worrying about Michael that whole trip!” she teased.

Nikki just stuck her tongue out at Sophie in jest. Nikki followed Christian and Sophie to the front door, where a doorman was waiting to open it for them.

“Whom are you here to visit?” he inquired politely.

Christian produced Michael’s keys. “We’re friends of Michael Brennan’s. We’re just here to pick up a few things from his apartment.”

The doorman’s expression saddened at Michael’s name. “Mr. Brennan is a good man. He didn’t do the things they say he did, I just know it. You tell him that Doug is rooting for him, won’t you?”

Christian nodded and the girls smiled at the kind man.

Once they took the elevator to the 23rd floor, Christian led them to the left. It seemed as though there were only four apartments on this floor, based on the fact this side of the elevator only had two doors. Christian opened the first door they came to and stepped back to allow the ladies to enter first.

Sophie motioned to Nikki. “After you.”

Nikki entered with great trepidation, only to smile widely. The apartment was warm and cozy, decorated in classic reds and browns, and right above the plaid, overstuffed couch was a large, square, sepia photograph of Nikki and Michael as children. They were both sitting in the grass, Nikki in a white sundress, Michael in shorts and a white t-shirt with a turtle logo on the front. Nikki’s long hair blew behind her softly in the wind, and she was smiling at Michael as he offered her a dandelion. Even at such a tender age, you could see the love Michael had for her in his eyes.

“His mother took that picture,” Christian informed her, in case her memory failed her. “I was there, in the background. She had walked outside to let him know I had arrived for a play date, and when she saw ‘how cute’ you two looked, she ran back inside to get her camera, but not before giving me strict instructions to stay quiet and ‘not ruin the moment’,” Christian made air quotes and laughed. “So instead, I eavesdropped. Michael was telling you that you were his best friend and he loved you and that one day he was going to marry you. Then he picked that dandelion and gave it to you.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. I was quite upset about it, actually. Pounced him and knocked him on his back about 30 seconds later,” Christian chuckled nervously.

“Upset? Why?”

Christian shrugged, embarrassed. “I dunno. Jealous, maybe? Although jealous of what, I couldn’t tell you. Maybe because he called you his best friend when I thought that was my title? Maybe because you two loved each other so much at a time when I didn’t feel like anyone would ever love me? Or maybe I wasn’t jealous at all, who knows. Maybe I was just a four-year-old boy who was tired of listening to sissy stuff and decided to balance it out with some good, old-fashioned roughhousing.”

Sophie and Nikki enveloped Christian in a group hug. “We love you. We’ve always loved you,” Nikki told him with confidence. His beaming grin at that showed her it was just what he needed to hear.

Nikki released him with a kiss on the tip of his nose before strolling without purpose around the apartment, her fingers running along every surface she passed. The apartment was perfect for him. Actually, it was perfect for her, too. She loved the decor, the layout of it, the exposed brick on the wall with the window. She loved how it felt like Michael. The pillows on the couch even smelled like him, and everywhere she looked there were tokens reminding her of his everlasting love for her. She never wanted to leave.

Nikki hadn’t planned on actually taking anything from the apartment, but eventually she found herself putting a few things in a box. Some pictures, one of the pillows from the couch and another one from his bed… that kind of thing. She was so excited when she found the Care Bear t-shirt in a chest by the foot of his bed, along with many other mementos of their life together, that she had to take it with her. She also, after much mental debate, decided to take his laptop computer so she could do some research on cases like his. She also wanted to use it to view the pictures they’d had taken of them at Disney World.

Nikki fell asleep in the backseat on the way home. Her dreams were dark and violent, filled with flashes of red, the smell of copper. She woke up in a cold sweat, unable to piece the snippets she remembered into anything cohesive.

Chapter 19

“These are the people who are going to decide my fate?!” Michael whisper-shouted to Wes as the third group of potential jurors made their way to the jury box for questioning.

They’d already listened to a haggard-looking man who said with conviction that police don’t arrest innocent people, a seemingly love struck young woman who said she wished she had a gorgeous boyfriend who’d kill for her, and an admitted gang member who did not feel he could listen to policeman’s testimony ‘without prejudice,’ citing a time when he’d been the victim of police brutality.

The current group included a Goth girl who had died her hair to look exactly like peacock feathers, right down to the eyes, an elderly woman who fell asleep while waiting for her turn to be questioned, and a young, well-dressed gentleman who, unfortunately, was a golf buddy of the judge and had to be excused. Things were not looking good.

“Don’t worry, Michael,” Wes leaned sideways towards him and whispered back. “We knew it might be hard to find an impartial jury with all the media coverage of your case. I considered requesting it be moved to another district, but it’s being heavily covered on network cable, CNN and the like. It wouldn’t have mattered where we went. Judge Stone is good at what he does, and so am I. We’ll get the right people up there. Have faith in the system,” Wes said pointedly.