Chapter Twenty-Seven
Parkridge Drive, 6.00
P.M.
L
ori picked at her French fries. Chet wished she would stop worrying so much about how Chester acted around her. He was a child, still a baby for the most part. He would learn to love her. Maybe not as much as Chet did, but enough.
‘I’m beginning to think you’re not a big fan of Mickey D’s,’ he teased.
She set her plate aside on the end table and curled her legs under her. If their relationship ever ended, God forbid, he would never be able to keep that sofa. She looked so beautiful, so perfect on it. This whole place would never be the same without her.
‘Chester loves McDonald’s.’ She glanced longingly at Chet’s son, who was eating his French fries right off the coffee table, his attention on
Toy Story 3
. ‘I want him to be happy.’
Lori didn’t know it but she was thinking like a mother already. ‘Well, I have something that might make you happy.’
She perked up, the corners of her lips lifting into a smile. ‘A surprise?’
Chet nodded. Seeing her smile made his heart beat a little faster. ‘Chester, go get Lori’s present.’
Chester looked at his daddy and grinned. ‘’kay.’
The boy galloped off to his room.
Lori laughed. ‘What’re you boys up to?’
Chester ran back into the room squealing at the top of his lungs. He climbed onto the sofa next to Lori and stuck the white box with the pink ribbon in her face.
‘Sorry about the ketchup.’ Chet grimaced. His son had gotten ketchup all over the white wrapping paper.
‘It would probably taste about as good as those fries.’ She giggled. ‘Thank you, Chester.’
‘Open!’ he ordered, pointing a ketchup-stained finger at the present.
Pride swelled his chest so tight, Chet could hardly breathe. Picking out the secret gift for Lori and letting Chester be a part of surprising her was working. The boy was leaning against Lori, his eyes big with excitement as she opened the gift.
Chet prayed this would help break the ice between them.
‘Wow!’ Lori lifted the pearls from the case. ‘They’re beautiful.’
Chester reached up and touched the necklace. ‘Loowi’s su’pwise.’
‘Thank you, Chester. I love it.’
He smiled at her and Chet saw the tears glittering in her green eyes.
He couldn’t help himself. Chet got down on his knees in front of her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. ‘I love you, baby.’
She hugged him and he felt the dampness of her cheek against his face. Tears welled in his own eyes.
‘Me too! Me too!’ Chester squealed. He dove into the hug.
They laughed and hugged like one big family.
For the first time, Chester let Lori get him ready for bed. Chet watched from the door as she tucked him in.
She kissed his forehead. ‘Night, Chester.’
He yawned. ‘Night, Lo’wee.’
She joined Chet at the door, her face beaming. ‘Your turn, Dad.’ She tiptoed and leaned close enough to whisper in his ear, ‘Then I’m tucking you in.’ She left a kiss on his jaw and disappeared toward their room.
Chet ensured his boy said his prayers, gave him a goodnight kiss, turned out his light – leaving the room aglow with the Spider-Man night-light – and softly closed the door. Anticipation making him hurry, he headed down the hall.
In their room, candles flickered from every flat surface. The covers were turned back but there was no Lori on the bed.
He closed the door as quietly as possible and locked it. ‘Hey!’ he called out in a loud whisper. ‘Where are you?’
‘In here,’ she whispered back.
He started toward the bathroom door, felt something under his bare feet. She’d left a trail of rose petals on the floor. He followed the path and stalled at the door to take in the view.
More candles and a bottle of wine waited on the counter. Two stemmed glasses. And there was Lori, neck-deep in bubbles, in the garden tub. He’d figured that thing would come in handy when he’d added the shower to this bathroom and opted to leave the big-ass tub.
‘Climb in here while the water’s still warm.’
When he’d stripped off his clothes and slid into the water, he wasn’t surprised that she was naked but he was surprised that she was wearing her pearls.
‘You like?’ She pressed her hand to her throat, showing off the necklace.
He pulled her against him, aligning her body atop his. ‘I love it all.’
She kissed him until he gasped for breath. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured.
Then they stopped talking . . . stopped thinking . . . and focused on
feeling
.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Falcon Center,
Sunday, August 15, 10.00
A.M.
S
ylvia met him in the solarium-style lobby.
Dan took a long look around. Marble floors and soaring ceiling, and beyond the glass walls the lush gardens stretched for acres around the private clinic located just outside Birmingham. ‘Impressive.’
‘If you saw the check they get every month, then you’d really be impressed.’ She looked around the elegant lobby. ‘Too bad they couldn’t help her.’
This was a part of his past he’d tucked neatly away. He didn’t want to remember. But today, he needed to do this for the family. And maybe for himself. Mostly, though, he was here for Nina. ‘She’ll do better in New York.’
‘Maybe. I appreciate very much that you came, Dan.’ Sylvia shrugged. ‘It will mean a lot to Father as well.’
‘I don’t know that seeing me will help.’ The screaming and the cold, hard muzzle of the nine-millimeter flashed in broken pieces through his brain. The tie he wore suddenly felt too tight. ‘But I’m happy to do what I can.’
It was the least he could do.
‘She loved you, Dan. As much as she was capable of loving anyone.’ Sylvia wrapped her arm around his. ‘You made her happy. I think those months with you was the only time in her adult life that she was really happy on a personal level.’
As she led the way, to her sister’s room he assumed, he couldn’t help asking the question that had burned in the back of his brain all these years. ‘You all knew she was . . . ill. Yet you never said a word. You let the whole thing play out. Why didn’t anyone warn me?’
Nina’s illness was the family’s deep dark secret. At the time she and Dan were married, Nina would go months without any symptoms of the schizophrenia. Then she’d go over the edge. The last time she’d almost taken Dan with her. The entire Baron family insisted there had never been an episode like that before. Somehow, Nina hadn’t been able to find her way back from that one. It was as if she’d locked herself away deep inside her head and refused to come out.
If he’d known, maybe he could have done things differently. Made sure he was home on time. Focused a little more on her needs.
But he hadn’t gotten a clue from anyone, including Nina.
That crushing sensation settled on his chest. He’d failed her. There was no one else to blame.
‘We thought somehow her love for you would be enough. That you were her savior.’
But he hadn’t saved her. He had come home that evening and climbed into the shower. When he’d come back into the bedroom, Nina had the weapon they kept in the closet for protection in her hand. She had screamed and ranted at him while he tried everything he knew to coax her into putting down the weapon. Finally, she turned it on herself but she hadn’t released the safety, buying him just enough time to take the weapon from her.
Sylvia paused outside an unmarked room. No numbers or names. This was an exclusive facility. Each patient was given as close to total anonymity as possible. She searched his eyes for a long moment. ‘Dan, whether you realize it or not, this is more for you than for Nina.’
He wanted to argue with her reasoning but he couldn’t find the words.
‘One day you’ll look back on this moment and be grateful for the closure. She loved you. She never meant to hurt you. None of us did. But more importantly, you didn’t do anything wrong. You need to forgive yourself and move on with your life.’
How could he forgive himself?
Sylvia rapped softly on the door, then opened it. Nina sat in a chair near the windows on the far side of the room. Her brown hair was shorter now. She was thinner, paler. But she was as beautiful as ever. His chest tightened with emotion. No matter that he had thought he was prepared for this; he wasn’t. Seeing her this way just reminded him of how badly he had failed her.
‘I brought someone to see you, Nina.’
Nina didn’t acknowledge her sister or Dan. No indication that she even realized they had entered the room showed on her face or in her posture.
He moved around in front of her and crouched down to her eye level. ‘How are you, Nina?’
As if she’d abruptly realized someone said her name, she looked at him without the slightest recognition. ‘It’s not time for my medication.’
Sylvia pulled up another chair and sat facing her. ‘You remember Dan. You’ve told me stories about when he would take you to dinner and a movie. You love movies, Nina.’
She turned to Sylvia. ‘Is it time for lunch yet? I don’t want the peas.’
Dan followed Sylvia’s lead and tried making conversation. If Nina understood anything they said or even who they were, she showed no indication.
She was gone. Just like that evening when she’d held his gun in both hands and tried to shoot, the woman he had fallen for and married was gone.
When the attendant came to take Nina for her walk, Dan said goodbye. Profound sadness shrouded him for all that she had lost. He hoped the miracle she needed would be found at the next clinic.
He turned to Sylvia and she seemed to visibly gather her uncharacteristically scattered composure. ‘Well, thank you again.’ She cleared her throat. ‘I’m glad you and Jess are coming to the barbecue. I didn’t want to leave her out. She’s actually growing on me.’
Dan managed a strained laugh. ‘Jess will do that.’
Sylvia squared her shoulders. ‘Be sure to mention to her that next time she has a jumper to call someone else. I don’t do jumpers.’
Dan walked Sylvia to her car, then climbed into his own. As he drove away, he realized Sylvia had been right. He had needed to see Nina again.
He might never be able to forgive himself for not being what she needed but he could acknowledge the fact that he had tried.
That was enough for now.
That and the knowledge that Jess was waiting for him.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
St Francis Church, 3.00
P.M.
J
ess had watched in morbid fascination as Dan’s cousin’s firstborn was christened. The child hadn’t screamed as much as she’d expected and she was really a beautiful baby. The christening gown was Irish and handmade. According to one of the ladies she’d overheard, it had been in the mother’s family for several generations.
Afternoon refreshments were being served in the gardens, and thankfully it wasn’t hot enough to melt what little makeup she was wearing off her face. Jess munched a cookie, homemade no doubt, and wandered through the gardens. The service had been lovely. Dan had looked so handsome and so excited to be named the baby’s godfather.
Mostly Jess was in shock over how she hadn’t been able to take her eyes off the baby. It was like she needed to see every wiggle and stretch.
She was just freaking out. That was all it could be. By her calendar she should be on her period by now. Could she be pregnant? Not likely. She was probably worrying for nothing. Worst-case scenario, if there was no period by Tuesday she would take one of those high-tech tests that were supposed to give immediate results. She’d figure the rest out from there.
Her heart bumped into a funny rhythm at the thought.
Just stop, Jess
.
She scanned the garden for the beverage table. Where was that lemonade she’d heard everyone making a fuss over?
‘Well, don’t you look lovely today?’
Dread settled like a big rock in her belly. Jess turned to face Dan’s mother. The queen. The woman who was sure Jess would never in a million years be good enough for her one and only boy. The thought of having this woman as grandmother to her future children was all the reason Jess would ever need to remain childless.
‘Katherine.’ Jess drummed up a smile.
‘They were talking about you on the news yesterday.’ Katherine nodded, her expression somber. ‘You solved a triple homicide and exposed the truth about a murder more than a decade old. Gracious.’ She set her silk fan to fluttering. ‘Too bad you couldn’t prevent that young man from jumping. His family is devastated. Just devastated.’
That was Katherine’s specialty. Always find the negative in everything except her own actions.
‘Oh.’ Jess waved her off. ‘But think how much money I saved the taxpayers. No trial, no having to house and feed the poor guy. Why, I just feel he did us all a huge favor.’
‘Well.’ Katherine cleared her throat. ‘Better luck next time.’
She strolled away before Jess could dredge up a fitting response. Just as well. She was Dan’s mother. She couldn’t exactly box her up and ship her to Siberia.
Jess found the lemonade and had herself a nice tall glass. Whoever had organized this little party had fabulous taste. No plastic or paper cups for this crowd. No sirree. The real thing. Crystal stemware and delicate little bone china plates.
Dan came up behind her and whispered in her ear. ‘We can escape now, if you’d like.’
‘I would like that very much.’
Jess left her glass on the nearest table and hurried with Dan to his SUV. As soon as they were out of the church parking lot, she relaxed.
‘My little goddaughter is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen,’ he bragged.
‘She really is.’ Cute and cuddly and smelling all like baby powders and lotion. Normally Jess was allergic to those smells but not today.
‘How do you feel about that?’ He glanced at her. ‘Kids, I mean.’
They’d had this discussion about twenty years ago and agreed that careers and financial stability should come first. At this point both those arguments were out the window to some degree.
‘I think there has to be a committed couple first. Babies need two parents.’
‘I get that.’ He maneuvered the needed turn. ‘But do you want children someday?’
Generally she would argue that the window was closing on that opportunity but she opted to keep her mouth shut on that topic. Mainly because she got the feeling he wanted kids. She’d seen the look on his face in that church when he held that tiny little human.
‘I’m not opposed to having children. Obviously you want to. I saw the twinkle in your eyes back there.’
‘I do. Absolutely.’
Her throat got a little tight. Was he saying that there was no hope for them unless she wanted to have children?
Wow. She hadn’t considered there was a shelf life on where they were just now. If she dallied too long, she would be out of the baby-making business and it sounded like that would present an issue.
Unless the baby-making had already begun.
Don’t be ridiculous, Jess. You’re not even late yet
. At least not according to her pill pack.
‘I went to see Nina this morning.’
Nina? He couldn’t be talking about the crazy Lopez woman who had kidnapped her. She was on house arrest out in LA. Wait, wait. He was talking about
Nina
. His second wife. Sylvia Baron’s sister. The senator’s daughter.
Like she didn’t know that and wasn’t dying to hear more.
‘You never told me anything about her, remember?’
‘It’s a long and sad story.’
She shifted in the seat and faced him. ‘We have all evening.’
He nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll tell you everything and then you’ll tell me everything about Wesley.’
‘You know everything about Wesley,’ she argued.
Dan cut her a glance that challenged her statement.
‘All right,’ she agreed. ‘We’ll get that out of the way too.’
At least they weren’t talking about babies anymore.
As he drove along the quiet Sunday afternoon streets, he told her about how he’d met Nina at a fund-raiser for her father’s bid for reelection to the senate. Nina had been an up-and-coming attorney and they’d hit it off. He’d bypassed thirty and decided it was time to try the marriage thing again.
Jess knew that feeling, only hers had come at forty. Wesley had just been in the right place at the right time. Or maybe not since they’d divorced barely two years later.
By the time Dan parked in her driveway, Jess understood why he’d been reluctant to talk about that particular marriage. She was glad he finally had. She also understood Sylvia a lot better. No wonder she made it so difficult to get to know her – or to want to, for that matter. The kind of dark and painful secret her family had been keeping made opening up difficult.
‘You had no idea about her mental illness?’
‘None.’
Just went to show that even growing up in a community and thinking you knew someone didn’t mean you really did. Geez Louise.
‘I’m sorry. That was really awful for you.’ The idea that he had come so close to being killed by someone he trusted so completely was terrifying.
He parked next to her Audi. ‘Maybe she’ll get the help she needs in New York.’
‘Maybe so.’
He sounded so sad when he talked about her. Ten years was a long time to grieve. When they’d gotten out and headed for her stairs, she ventured into that sensitive territory. ‘You do understand that what happened wasn’t your fault?’
‘I have my moments,’ he admitted, ‘when I can see how it wasn’t.’
‘We’ll have to work on that.’
As they climbed the stairs to her door, her cell started that annoying clang. She dragged it from the clutch purse she’d carried to the christening and was surprised to see a Virginia number. ‘Harris.’
‘Jess, this is Patricia Lanier.’
The real estate agent who had the contract on her house. Hope dared to rear its head. ‘Patricia, great to hear from you. Do you have news for me?’ Besides the possibility that her house had burned to the ground or been blown up?
‘I do. We have an offer for full asking price.’
That was way better news than she’d dared to hope. ‘That’s great.’ On the landing, Jess turned to Dan and gave him a thumbs
-
up. ‘What do we need to do next?’ Getting that mortgage payment off her back would be a tremendous relief.
‘I’ll fax you the necessary papers and we’ll set up a closing date.’
‘Thank you so much!’
‘Congratulations! You’ll be hearing from me again soon.’
Jess ended the call and let out a whoop. ‘We have a full asking price offer on my house!’
‘Sounds like a celebration is in order.’ He leaned down and picked up a package that waited at her door. ‘You expecting something?’
‘No.’ She hadn’t ordered anything. But she just might start when that mountain of debt was lifted from her shoulders.
The package was a priority box from the post office. Medium size.
Their movements seemingly perfectly choreographed, they stared first at the package, then at each other.
‘We should check this out before we open it.’
She wasn’t going to argue.
Dan set the package back down and they returned to his SUV. He called a bomb tech and an evidence tech. And for the next forty-five minutes they waited.
If Mr Louis was home, he never came outside. Even so, she kept getting that creepy-crawly feeling she experienced when someone was watching her. Each time she looked around, there was nothing. No one.
Finally their backup rolled in.
Bomb tech found nothing. The evidence tech lifted a number of fingerprints but those could be a postal worker’s. No suspicious residue on the outside and nothing inside that posed a hazard.
The bomb tech opened the package and shook his head. ‘Looks like a scarf.’
A scarf? Who would send her a scarf?
The answer to that question slammed into her brain.
No
. She shook her head as if that would make it so.
No. No. No
.
With a gloved hand, Dan lifted the silk scarf from the box. Beneath it were three wallet-size photos. All three were female. All three were brunettes. All were gorgeous. No names or markings on the front or back of the photos.
The air seemed to avoid filling Jess’s lungs even with her heart pounding a hundred miles an hour. This was wrong. He never sent photos. This couldn’t be . . .
She felt the cell phone in her purse vibrate. As she was digging for it, Dan was already getting Gant on the line.
Jess stared at the screen and the bottom dropped out of her stomach.
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe . . . let’s play, Jess.
‘Spears?’ Dan demanded.
The floor seemed to shift under her feet. She closed her eyes and tried to steady herself. Gant had warned that he suspected Eric Spears was back in the country. She had sensed he was watching her . . . had known this moment was coming . . . but none of that knowledge made this any easier.
She nodded in answer to Dan’s question. ‘He’s back. And one of these three women is about to become his next victim.’