Decision
made, Candy picked up her car keys and bolted toward the front door. Just as
she was about to close it behind her, the telephone rang. Sighing in relief,
she sprinted towards it. "Hello? Is that you, Gwen? Are you okay?"
"Candy?
What's goin' on? Where's my wife?"
Candy's
hand flew to her throat. "Oh my god, Sam. I never should have let her go
home alone. I'm so sorry."
"Candy
calm down. Where's Gwen?"
"I
don't know!" she cried. "I don't know!" Candy began pacing the
length of the floor as she recanted what she knew of her best friend's
whereabouts. "I thought it would be okay to let her go alone! It's a
drive-thru restaurant for pete's sake!"
"Candy,
listen to me. I am less than two minutes from
Mr.
Wok's
, alright?
Do
not go anywhere
. Lock your door, then call Detective Anderson
and tell him what you told me. I'm goin' after Gwen." Sam clutched the
steering wheel grimly. "Do you got that, sweetheart?"
"Yes.
J-Just bring her back, okay Sam?"
"I
will. And Candy..."
"Huh?"
"You
did a good job. Don't blame yourself."
* * * * *
"There's
no use in running, bitch. I'm gonna catch you." Devin's inhuman laughter
echoed through the alleyway.
Gwenyth
clutched her keys tightly in her fist as she dashed through the shrubbery of an
adjacent office building. It dawned on her that the jingling sound the keys
made no doubt gave her location away to Devin Green, but she wasn't about to
give up the only makeshift weapon she had on hand to silence them.
Gwenyth
knew that Devin was gaining on her. She could hear his triumphant laughter,
hear the heels of his boots clicking on the alley pavement behind her. Of all
the sections in and around Hyde Park, why did her jeep have to give out within
the confines of the sole deserted one?
The
clicking of Devin's boot heels drew closer and closer until Gwenyth was certain
she would be overtaken at any moment. She was tiring, her energy was rapidly
depleting. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold him off for much longer.
And
then something extraordinary happened. Something she hadn't been expecting at
all. Something rather ordinary as life goes, but that something gave her energy
she desperately needed. The life within Gwenyth moved for the first time.
She
could feel it, that tiny little being she and Sam had created together, letting
her know that it was there and that it needed its mama to keep going. It was as
if the baby was telling her that she simply couldn't give up at this point.
With
a burst of renewed energy, Gwenyth dashed through the shrubbery of another
building and found herself running down a side street with houses situated in
it. Now if only she could make it to one with a light on before Devin made it
to her and her unborn child.
Gwenyth
clutched her belly with her hands and ran as fast as her legs would carry her.
Please dear God, she prayed, just let someone be home.
* * * * *
A
million and one memories flitted in and out of Sam's mind as his Mercedes
barreled down the streets of Hyde Park. The ice-cream cone he'd bought Gwenyth
when she was five years old. The jersey he'd thrown her way after he'd won the
big high school game—the jersey his wife still wore at times. The way she
smiled. The way she laughed. The strawberry scent of her beautiful, tawny hair.
The sound of her climaxing when they made love. The way she'd rub her belly and
smile down at their unborn child.
Sam
had never felt so helpless and desolate in his life, as he felt right now. The
people at
Mr. Wok's
had said she'd left half an hour ago. Gwenyth wasn't
at home, she wasn't at Willy and Verlene's, and she wasn't at Candy's. The
remaining possibility was not a pleasant one.
Sam
backtracked once more, taking the side roads he assumed Gwenyth would have
taken on her way back from
Mr. Wok's
. At the next left, he swerved his
Mercedes into an alley, then brought it to a screeching halt.
Gwenyth's
jeep. Gwenyth's
abandoned
jeep. Parked next to an abandoned white sedan.
Sweet
Jesus.
Sam
threw the gear into reverse and peeled out of the alley.
* * * * *
Gwenyth
could hear Devin's shrill, unnatural laughter. It was hollow and taunting and
far too close. He was gaining on her again. He was gaining on her and there
wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. And yet she kept moving.
On
some surreal, abstract plane, it occurred to Gwenyth that whenever characters
in the movies and in books are faced with similar situations, their lives
always flash before their eyes. She wished something like that would happen to
her now. It would give her something peaceful to dwell on instead of the
unadulterated terror that she felt. She had nothing left in her. Her tired body
was operating on pure adrenaline, on a primal instinct of survival. But even
adrenaline could only run so long.
The
sounds of a car tearing down the street brought Gwenyth's chin up. Though still
at a distance, there was something vaguely familiar about that car. It almost
looked like—"Sam!" Tears pooled in Gwenyth's eyes as she waved her
hands frantically at the oncoming Mercedes. "Sam!"
The
Mercedes peeled to a grinding stop a moment later and Sam jumped out of the
car. "Gwen!" He sprinted towards his wife at top speed. "Baby,
are you okay?"
Gwenyth
threw herself into Sam's arms and buried her face against his chest. "He
was going to hurt me!" she sobbed. "I almost didn't make it!"
Sam
recognized that his wife was hysterical and for good reason. He also
recognized, however, that Devin was getting away—again. "Baby get into the
car and call the police." He swatted her toward the Mercedes. "Do as
I say now. Go on!"
Gwenyth's
teeth clamped down hard on her lip as she watched her husband chase after Devin
Green. The sounds of police sirens blared in the background, drawing closer and
closer with each heartbeat.
Just
a few seconds later, Sam caught up with his wife's stalker. Gwenyth had no idea
whatsoever what Sam was doing to him, but the sounds of Devin's screams carried
through the dimly lit street. Gwenyth closed her eyes and cried softly. She
almost hated herself for enjoying it.
Almost.
"So
that bastard was actually related to the former Senator Green?" Candy
accepted a glass of wine from Marc, then plopped down onto the sofa next to
Gwenyth.
"His
brother." Gwenyth shook her head. "I still can't believe it. All this
over some freakin' photographs."
"Not
just any photographs," Marc added, "but extremely famous
photographs."
Gwenyth's
head shot up. She turned her bemused gaze onto her husband's handsome friend
and future business partner. "I suppose the black bar the Miami Herald
placed over Devin's groin was a tad on the small side, but I wasn't the one who
actually put it there."
"God
I feel so guilty," Candy admitted forlornly. "The pictures were all
my idea to begin with."
"Don't
do that to yourself, Can, because it isn't worth it. The man is behind bars
where he belongs." Sam pulled his wife onto his lap and made her stay put.
He wouldn't let the woman out of his sight for a long, long time. At least not
until he was totally over this. Like when he was dead. "I for one am just
glad this is all over with." He lowered his face to meet Gwenyth's lips
and nipped at them lovingly. "And that the hospital gave my wife and child
a clean bill of health."
Marc
raised his wineglass in salute. "Hear, hear."
"There's
something I don't get." Candy shook her head thoughtfully, her violet eyes
expressive as she turned toward Marc. "How is it that you never put two
and two together and figured out that Devin was Larry Green's brother?"
Marc
shrugged. "At work, Devin always went by his mother's maiden name of
Coltrane."
Gwenyth
made an indelicate snort. "Apparently good ole Larry wasn't as dumb as I
thought. The police said that the former senator was very aware of the fact
that his brother's connection to
NAM
would hurt him in the polls,
so he convinced Devin to go by a different last name." She glanced up at
her husband and shook her head. "What a lying coward. It wasn't that he
disapproved of his brother's connection, it was that he knew he wouldn't get reelected
if it was found out."
"Which
is exactly what happened," Marc pointed out pragmatically.
Candy
giggled. "Thank god." She raised her wineglass toward Marc for a
toast. "And may Devin Coltrane Green stay behind bars for the rest of his
unnatural born life!"
"Hear,
hear."
Candy
clinked glasses with Marc then turned to face Gwenyth and Sam. "Does
anyone mind if I use the events of this night as the basis of my next
book?"
The
others groaned.
"Oh
come on," Candy protested, "I can see it now." She raised her
hand as if reading from a flashing neon sign lit up on Broadway. "The
handsome, dashing hero rushes out into the night to save his beautiful, beloved
heroine."
"You
think I'm handsome and dashin'?" Sam cleared his throat and sat up a
little straighter. "I can see where you'd believe that."
Gwenyth
rolled her eyes and groaned. "Let's not get carried away."
Sam
quirked a pompous brow. "Oh? And
you
don't think I'm handsome and
dashin'?"
"Well,"
Gwenyth teased, "you have potential."
"Potential?"
Gwenyth
threw back her head and laughed. Just teasing Sam felt good—it was, after all,
something she never would have gotten to do again if he hadn't saved her from
Devin's clutches in time.
Gwenyth
wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and smiled brilliantly. Gazing into
the eyes of the man she'd loved for over twenty-one years, the man she knew
she'd love for the rest of her life, she admitted without a qualm, "I
can't imagine a more perfect man to base a hero on."
"Merry
Christmas, Sis."
"Merry
Christmas, Bro."
Gwenyth
kissed Harry on the cheek, then waved him inside where the others were
gathered. She noticed immediately that he had enough presents with him to put
Santa Clause to shame. "Where's Monique?"
"Monique?"
Harry shook his head, wondering why his family always asked after her, much
like one would a lover. "She couldn't come along this year. Her family is
spending the holiday in Europe."
Gwenyth
nodded as she took her brother's coat. She still held a hope that Harry would
eventually see Monique as more than just an ever-efficient assistant. "The
gang is in the family room. Go on in there and I'll join you in a minute."
"Who
all is here?"
"The
usual." Gwenyth shrugged. "Sam, Candy, Marc, Granddad and
Grandmama." She grinned. "I wanted Brian to come, but he had prior
obligations."
Harry
snorted. "Is he still hunting Candy?"
"Relentlessly.
She hasn't been caught yet, but I can feel her resistance chipping away
daily."
"Good."
Harry chuckled. "They deserve each other." Turning the topic, Harry
gestured toward the family room where he could hear animated laughter and
boisterous singing coming from. "So is my nephew in there too?"
"Of
course." Gwenyth smiled, the way she always did whenever the subject of
her son came up. Sam teased her a lot these days, insisting that she had turned
into one of those annoying parents that whips out pictures of their kids and
shows them to everyone they meet.
Not
that Sam was any better. They had both fallen head over heels in love with
their little boy the moment they'd laid eyes on him. And whenever Sam teased
his wife too mercilessly, she would simply remind him of the time in France
when he'd whipped out a picture of the inside of her uterus and showed it to
anyone who cared to see, and quite a few that didn't. "I believe Sam and
Granddad are showing Jackson the finer points of Christmas cookie eating."
Harry
made a show of licking his lips. "I think I can be of some
assistance."
Gwenyth
shook her head in amusement as she followed her brother into the family room.
"I've got presents!" Harry shouted. "Lots of them!"
Everyone
cheered. Sam stood up to give his brother-in-law a great big bear hug. "We
miss you around here, Bro. Marc and I are almost hopin' you lose the next
election so you'll be back in Tampa in time to open up the restaurant with
us."
"Oh-ho!
Never say that!" Harry hugged Sam back, then did the same to Marc.
"Oh, and congratulations on making it to the finals this year, Sam."
"Next
year we're takin' the World Series. I can feel it."
Marc
nodded. "That's what Brian says too."