by Peggy Webb
Rounds would be short, and he’d have time to meet Lily for lunch. He hadn’t been able to stop worrying about her since he’d seen her yesterday morning. She’d called him earlier to say they’d arrested the man who kidnapped Cee Cee. Just the sound of her voice told him she needed a friend. Thankfully, it had taken no convincing to get her to say yes to his invitation.
His pager went off. It was Adam Johnson, a colleague and lifelong friend.
“Jack, get down here to the ER as soon as you can.”
“What’s up?”
“The cops brought in one of the missing girls.”
“Cee Cee?”
“I don’t know. She has no ID, and nobody down here knows her. I told them you knew one of the girls, and they want to see if you can identify this one.”
As Jack hustled to the emergency room, he wished he’d asked the question that now burned through his mind. Was the girl gravely injured?
An eternity later the elevator spit him out on the first floor where he raced through the antiseptic green hallways to the controlled chaos of the ER. He was escorted to a cubicle where two Ocean Springs’ policemen waited outside the curtain.
“Jack Harper,” he said, shaking both their hands.
“Thanks for the help, doc.” They pulled aside the curtain.
What lay inside broke his heart. The girl was thin, covered by a sheet and a Maxi-Therm blanket. Her pallor was ghastly against the pillow, her face almost bloodless behind the oxygen mask. Her head was bald. Blue veins stood out on her eyelids and at the base of her neck, barely pulsing with life. Both arms were hooked up to IVs, and her left arm lay on top of the covers, folded across her chest, the bandage on her hand huge and obscene under the harsh lighting.
Seeing a young person in this shape always gut punched Jack, but seeing one he knew was twice as hard.
Though she was unconscious, Jack put his hand gently over her arm and leaned in close. “It’s Jack. I’m here now. You’re safe. You’re going to be all right, Cee Cee.”
He nodded to Adam, standing on the other side of the gurney with a trauma nurse, and both the men joined the policemen.
“The girl is definitely Cee Cee Cartwright,” he told them. “I’d like to be the one to call Lily Perkins.”
After they’d taken a quick statement from him, Adam briefed Jack on Cee Cee’s condition.
“They found her in an alley early this morning without any clothes. Apparently she’d been there all night in the cold and the rain.”
“Tell me she wasn’t raped.”
“No. Poor kid. It’s bad enough without that.”
“How bad?”
“She has street drugs in her system and moderate hypothermia. There are needle marks on her arm, and she’s lost a great deal of blood. You saw her shaved head.”
“Hair grows back.”
“Yes, but not fingers. Somebody had cut off the little finger on her left hand, an amateur hack job.”
The lasting impact of amputation, plus her captivity, on Cee Cee’s life made Jack want to pound something, preferably the man who had been arrested for taking her. And he couldn’t bear to think of Lily and Annie going through the shock of seeing what had happened to Cee Cee with only that wart on the armpit of humanity as their comfort. It was like asking the snake to watch over the Garden of Eden.
He called his office to make sure his nurse practitioner could see his afternoon patients, then moved to a quiet corner in the ER and called Lily.
Chapter Sixteen
When Lily’s phone rang, she was in the kitchen having a cup of tea with Toni. It wasn’t a planned meeting—Toni didn’t do that with her. Maybe not with anybody. It was another of those unexpected encounters where the two of them had simultaneously sought the comfort of a cup of warm tea in the only room in the house that could be considered even mildly cozy.
Lily glanced at her phone. “It’s my friend. Jack Harper.”
“The hunk from the party? I’d have made a play for him if I thought I had a chance.”
Days ago, Toni’s remark would have made Lily blush, or started her down the path of thinking the older woman was outrageous and inappropriate and every other undesirable quality you’d want in a mother-in-law. In spite of their differences, Toni had become her unlikely ally. Possibly because, so far, Lily had caught her in no lies. Maybe it was a low bar for friendship, but right now, it was the only one she had at the manor.
“Jack, hello.”
“They’ve found Cee Cee,” he said. “Alive.”
Lily felt as if a boulder had lifted from her chest. Even when he told her the gory details and used the words barely hanging on, she still had the refrain running through her mind: She’s alive! She’s alive.
“I’ll get Annabelle and be right there!”
“We need to get a better handle on the situation before Annie sees her, for both their sakes.”
“Was she sexually assaulted?”
“No, but she’s in pretty bad shape. We’re working to stabilize her.”
Alternating between elation and fury, Lily pressed her fingers against her temples. “Okay. I’ll just wait about telling Annabelle. If I tell her now, there’s no way she’ll stay home.”
“I think that’s wise, Lily.”
After Jack hung up, she started telling Toni everything he’d said. It felt cathartic to share the excruciating details, to know she had another adult in this house who understood loss and the firestorm of emotions in its aftermath.
As she talked, the older woman’s face drained of color.
“Toni, are you okay?”
“Me? Even I don’t know.” She waved her hands. “Go to the hospital. Now.”
Lily didn’t say, Tell Stephen or Wait about telling Annabelle. For one thing, Toni was unlikely to take messages. But she was equally unlikely to repeat anything she heard. Lily had never met a woman who sparkled so much in public but kept her interior life so utterly private.
She arrived at the hospital in record time, her mind whirling in a million directions, her insides shaking. Jack was waiting for her at the entrance. She’d never been so glad to see anybody in her life.
“Lily.” He took her arm and hustled her toward the third floor. “Brace yourself. She’s barely regained consciousness, and the hypothermia has made her disoriented and confused. Don’t expect too much.”
“She can’t answer any questions, then?”
“Not yet.”
“Thank goodness, they’ve got the man who did this to her. I hope they put him away for a long time.”
When she saw Cee Cee, she had to hang onto Jack to keep her knees from buckling. The pale, wrecked child in the hospital bed was nothing like the vibrant teenager who had come to Allistair Manor to celebrate the holidays and Lily’s engagement.
Understanding her need, Jack moved with her toward the bed then stood quietly beside her. It struck Lily that in every crisis of her life, he’d been her rock. She couldn’t let herself think beyond that.
“Cee Cee.” She leaned close and put her hand on the girl’s cheek. “It’s Lily. You don’t have to talk. You’re safe.”
“Lily?” Cee Cee spoke between cracked lips, her words barely a whisper. Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps in the corridor made her cringe. Her glance darted around the room, and her breathing became rapid and shallow. “Run! He’s coming! He’ll take your blood!”
When the nurse came through the door, Cee Cee was thrashing while Lily and Jack tried to soothe her. The nurse shooed them outside.
Lily leaned against the wall, her hand over her mouth. If she took it off she might cry or scream or both.
“She’s young and resilient, Lily. She’ll improve faster than you imagine.” He squeezed her shoulder, and she nodded. “Wait right here. I’ll get coffee.”
It was Jack’s remedy for all problems, and most of the time it worked. He came back with two cups. As they sipped in companionable silence, Lily realized the coffee wasn’t his solution; i
t was the companionship, the solid assurance of knowing you could count on the person at your side. You could talk about anything and know you wouldn’t be judged or dismissed or belittled. You would be supported, uplifted and comforted. Always.
Suddenly, and with great clarity, Lily saw exactly what she was missing in her relationship with Stephen. A whole future of two-against-the-world. She would be doing them both a disservice to keep on pretending.
Jack put his hand on her shoulder. “Better now?”
“Yes. Thank you.” She took another sip of coffee. “What did she mean about him taking my blood?”
“She’s lost a lot of blood, Lily. Apparently, he took it.”
“But why? That makes no sense. And why chop off her finger?”
“I’m sure those are questions Yancy will ask the suspect.”
“What if he didn’t work alone? What if somebody else is out there who helped him? The man whose picture I saw didn’t look capable of getting by with kidnapping one girl, let alone seven.”
“The police did a great job of finding Cee Cee and nabbing the suspect. I’m sure they’re covering all angles.”
“Until we know for sure, I don’t want her to be alone, especially at night. I’m staying with her.”
“The police are setting up round-the-clock guards at her door.”
“I don’t want her alone in that room. I want her to know she can reach out and touch somebody who is watching over her. I want to be there if she calls out. She needs that, Jack.“
“You can’t do all this alone. And what about Annie?”
Lily shook her head. She wasn’t thinking clearly, and she didn’t know when she ever would again. “I’ll clone myself?”
“The world would be a better place with two of you, but since I don’t see that happening I’ll get a sitter before I leave. The hospital has a list.”
“That would be amazing. I’ll pay, of course.”
“I’ve got it. Don’t worry about it.” He studied her. ”If you’re sure you’re okay, I’ll do that now. Then I have to get back to my practice.”
“Go. I’m fine. I’m going to sit with Cee Cee a while, and then I’m going home to talk to Annabelle. She’s a strong girl. She can handle this. I’ll just tell her she can’t come here until Cee Cee is strong enough.”
“Her vitals are improving rapidly. By the time you get home, I think it will be safe to let her come.” He gave her a quick hug. “I’ll call you, Lily…to check on you and Annie.”
She watched until he was out of sight, then she slipped back into the room where Cee Cee lay-- still, now--her face too white against the pillow, her eyelids moving rapidly as she dreamed. What was she seeing? The monster who took her? The horror of being held captive? Or was she dreaming of the way her life was before she fell into the hands of evil?
Lily would have to call Leola and let her know her foster daughter had been found. It hurt her to think the woman probably wouldn’t even care except for the check Cee Cee represented.
Lily pulled the chair beside the bed and took Cee Cee’s hand. “This is Lily. I’m here and I’m going to keep you safe.”
By the time she left the hospital, Cee Cee was awake again, a little more lucid but still far too fragile to answer any questions about what had happened to her after she’d vanished.
There had been no further calls from Detective Yancy, but two officers in uniform were now stationed outside Cee Cee’s door. As Lily drove back to Allistair Manor, she could only speculate that the detective was trying to piece together the puzzle of how Cee Cee could disappear and then turn up in an alley in Ocean Springs, naked and broken.
Graden opened the door to the manor, looking no less formidable now that the suspect in custody moderated Lily’s suspicions about him. As she hurried past to the staircase, she decided he was one of the reasons the manor felt so cold and impersonal. She could spend the rest of her life changing colors and curtains, but no cosmetic improvements would fix the basic flaw of Allistair Manor. It held no warmth, no sense of family, either in the furnishings and decorations or the people.
She couldn’t imagine why she’d ever thought it did.
She felt cleaner after a quick shower and a change of clothes, but it wasn’t that easy to rid herself of the vision of Cee Cee. The physical damage was bad enough, but it would take years to overcome the emotional damage.
Lily made a call to Stephen’s office where the formidable Glenda Jane informed her that he and her daughter were together in his office, and he did not wish to be disturbed.
“You tell my daughter I’m coming with news about Cee Cee. If Stephen doesn’t want to hear it, that’s fine with me. The only wish relevant at the moment is mine.”
She hung up while Glenda Jane was still sputtering.
There now. That felt good.
By the time she was back in her Jeep, Lily regretted her burst of wicked glee. Still, she was human. And she was finally getting back the spunk she’d had before she accepted a ring that now appeared to have been designed to take away her sense of self and turn her into an obedient bit of arm candy, Stephen’s ideal of the perfect third Mrs. Allistair.
She parked her Jeep, but before she could get the door open, Annabelle was racing down the steps, her face a wild mixture of emotions.
“Mom! Have they found her? Please tell me she’s okay and not dead!”
Lily could have kicked herself. “Oh, honey. No!” She wrapped her daughter close. “She’s alive. I should have said that on the phone.”
Annabelle couldn’t quit crying long enough to say anything. Lily rubbed her back and soothed her with the kind of crooning sounds she used to make when her daughter was a baby.
“They found her alive?” It was Stephen, standing on the bottom step, watching them with the polite interest of a stranger who had happened onto an emotional scene in the park.
Or so it seemed to Lily. But then, she had her stinger out, and might not be the best judge of character at the moment.
“They did, Stephen. She’s in the hospital with hypothermia and a few other injuries.” The circumstances of Cee Cee’s discovery were hers to share when and if she chose. Lily would not take away what little dignity the child had left by turning the details of her rescue into a tabloid moment.
“Is she going to be all right, Lily?”
“Yes, the doctors think so.”
“I’m glad, darling. That’s such a relief.”
A week ago she’d have been thrilled by his endearment and his sympathy. She’d have walked into his embrace and reveled in the feel of his arms around her.
“Yes, it is. I hope you don’t mind if I steal Annabelle for a while. She needs to see for herself that Cee Cee is okay.”
“That will be good for both girls. I’ll see you this evening.”
“Yes. In the library. I need to talk to you.”
“Of course, darling. I look forward to it.”
Did he really, or was this just another one of his polite statements that meant exactly nothing?
As she drove back to the hospital, she prepared her daughter for the obvious—the shaved head, the missing finger, the mental confusion.
“Right now, all we need to do is assure Cee Cee that she’s safe.”
“I understand, Mom.”
Annabelle held herself resolute, her expression determined. Sitting on the other side of the Jeep holding onto her composure, she was more mature than Lily had ever seen her.
Life does that, gives us lessons that allow us to learn and grow. The tragedy is that some of them are brutal and come at an unspeakable cost.
Chapter Seventeen
Graden had lit the fire in the library, and Clive was already there when Stephen arrived. He loaded the CD player with his favorite selection of symphonic music by Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Ravel then took his usual seat opposite his grandfather.
“I don’t know why you look so smug.” Clive pulled his lap robe higher, as if he’d not been able to get
warm since the day he’d caught a chill coming to the nursery in the pouring rain. “Everybody in this house is in rebellion.”
“Everything is under control.”
“I’d like to see that with my own eyes. Toni’s off the rails. Lily’s late, and she’s been acting strange lately.”
“Forget about Toni. She’s always done as she pleased. And Lily’s at the hospital with Annabelle. She’ll be here soon, but she called to say Annabelle’s spending the night.”
“The hospital?”
“Yes. They found Cee Cee.”
“How’d that happen?”
“It’s too long a story to tell right now.” Stephen got up and poured two brandies, then handed one to Clive.
“What’s this? Are you starting a new tradition?”
“No, but we have much to celebrate.” There was no sense waiting for Lily and a cup of hot chocolate. “Since they found the girl, Lily’s finally back in a good mood. In fact, tonight we’re going to talk about the wedding.”
“It’s about high time.”
“Everything is back on track and moving along exactly as planned.” He swirled his brandy, smiling at his own future. “By this time next year, you’ll have a beautiful great grandson to help you celebrate Christmas.”
“That’s my boy. I’ll teach him everything I know.”
“Bravo, Clive.” Toni stood in the doorway, clapping, her face a mask of tragedy and smeared mascara. “Does that include driving him crazy the way you did Wyler?”
“Toni, stop it!” Stephen leaped out of his chair and led her to the sofa. “Sit down and behave yourself. You’re drunk.”
“Not drunk enough. Be a dutiful son and pour me a brandy.”
Stephen did as she asked, but only because it was easier than arguing with her. When she took the glass, brandy splashed over her red sweater. She seemed not to notice or care.
“Does Lily know she’s about to be wed and bred, then discarded like the rest of us Allistair wives?”
