“Me, too. I want to find something, anything, that will stop this. I’m out of things to try. I won’t give you a timetable, but you need to be prepared for what’s going to happen.”
Prepared for her son to die? How did that happen? Was there a class? An article? No one could help her deal with that impending loss.
“I wish you could just cut me open and take what you need from me,” she told him. “My bones, my heart, any part of me.”
“I know.”
But there was nothing any of them could do except wait for a miracle that might or might not come in time.
“DR. WALLACE, THANK YOU for inviting me to join you in your work.”
“Ah, yes. You’re welcome. Your work is most impressive.”
His colleague, a tiny woman with bright red hair and green eyes, smiled. “I’ve studied all your experiments. In graduate school, I duplicated several of them. It’s quite an honor for me to be here.”
Abram swallowed nervously. “Yes. Good. We’ll get going right away.”
“I know we can do this,” the young woman told him. She clutched a clipboard to her chest and walked purposefully away.
“Looking at them makes me feel old,” he said.
Linda rose and collected her notes. “She’s brilliant. We were lucky to get her. The fact that she’s a fan helps.” His assistant smiled at him. “You have a lot of fans. We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of researchers wanting to work with you.”
While he appreciated the fact that staffing would be easy, he was more interested by the respect and happiness he saw in Linda’s eyes.
“We will make this happen,” he told her.
“I know you will. Everything is different now.”
He considered her words. “Yes. You are right. This is a new beginning.”
One he hadn’t expected. He had a feeling of belonging, which he’d never felt before. A whisper of promise. The sense that perhaps he should have done this long ago.
“We are doing this now,” he told both Linda and himself. He only hoped he had not left the work too late.
“HOW ARE YOU holding up?” Linda asked from her corner of the sofa in the hospital’s waiting room.
Kerri sipped her herbal tea, then shrugged. “Okay. They’re keeping Cody until morning, then letting him go. I’ve ordered a temporary wheelchair that will fit in the trunk of my car and I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to afford a motorized one.”
Linda opened her mouth, then closed it. Kerri had a feeling she was going to offer money.
“Don’t go there,” she told her friend.
“I can’t help it,” Linda said. “I want to help.”
“You are. You got Dr. Wallace back on track. He’s working on a cure. I’m still holding out for something amazing.”
“Not just him.” Linda gripped her mug of tea tightly. “There’s a team. Brilliant minds are focused on Gilliar’s Disease. Hold on a little longer. We can beat this.”
“I know. At least, I tell myself that. I’m a little short on faith right now, but it will come back.” Kerri drew her knees to her chest. “I hate this. I hate that he’s here. I hate that it’s only going to get worse. I hate how much pain he’s going to deal with. And that I can’t fix it. I’m his mother. I should be able to make him better.”
Linda reached across the sofa and squeezed her shoulder. “You love him and you’re there for him. That means everything.”
Maybe, but it wasn’t enough. It didn’t fix anything.
“It’s my fault,” Kerri admitted. “I did this to him.”
Linda frowned. “You did what?”
“I broke the deal. The rules are simple—I know them, but I pretended it didn’t matter.” She swallowed and looked at her friend. “I let myself get involved with Nathan. For just a couple of days, but I know better. I promised I’d give up my life for Cody’s and when I stop, even for a moment, bad things happen.”
“You don’t really believe that.”
“It’s worked until now. He’s defied all the odds. The disease slowed, and he’s been able to live a relatively normal life. Then I get sucked into Nathan King’s pretty world and it all goes to hell. Do you know what I was doing while Cody fell in school? I was kissing Nathan and hoping for a whole lot more.”
Linda’s mouth twisted. “I’m going to let that pass for now, but later, when you’re thinking straight, I’m going to want details.” She set her feet on the floor and leaned forward. “Kerri, you’re my friend and I love you, but you’re crazy. You don’t have that much power. You can’t will Cody to be all right and having a few minutes of fun isn’t something you’ll be punished for.”
“You’re wrong. I know it sounds unlikely, but I believe down to my bone marrow that the reason he got a break was that I was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. My life for his. And I broke my part of the deal.”
“God doesn’t work that way.”
“Are you sure? Maybe there’s some twisted sense of balance in the universe. A life for a life. I’m ready to give up mine.”
“You’re allowed to be happy.”
“Why? Why should I get something I want when he has nothing?”
“Because your sacrificing doesn’t make him better.”
“Are you sure? Are you a hundred percent, swear-on-Cody’s-life sure?”
Linda opened her mouth and closed it. “I won’t swear on his life.”
“Me, neither. I blew it. I can’t change the past, but I can keep it from happening again.”
“Because your son is sick, you’re not allowed to care about a man?”
Kerri considered the question. “It’s not just Cody. What about Brian? I promised to love him forever.”
“You do love him. But that doesn’t mean you stop living. I hate being a cliché, but he wouldn’t have wanted that. You know he wouldn’t.”
“He would want me to do whatever it takes to keep his son safe. And if that means giving up everything for Cody, he would have expected me to do it.”
“From what I’ve heard about him, he was a much better man than that. And if you’ve found some happiness with Nathan—and I still want details—you’re a fool if you walk away.”
“Because he’s rich?” Kerri asked bitterly, knowing this was one time when money couldn’t help.
“Because you smile when you say his name. How long has it been since that happened?”
Not since Brian, Kerri thought, her heart aching. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I can’t do this. I have to live my life for my son. If I don’t, he’ll die.”
Linda didn’t answer, but Kerri knew what she was thinking. That Cody was going to die anyway.
NATHAN WALKED THROUGH the hospital, toward the pediatric wing. He did his best to ignore the smell of disinfectant and despair, along with the memories that returned as he stepped off the elevator.
He’d only spoken with Kerri for a few minutes the previous night. She’d told him that Cody hadn’t broken anything but that he would now be in a wheelchair. She’d asked him not to come by.
He’d planned on staying in Seattle, but somehow he’d found himself taking the limo up the mountain. If nothing else, he could have Tim drive them home.
He found Kerri talking with a doctor. She looked tired but still beautiful, Nathan thought as he watched her. Shadows darkened her eyes. There were lines by her mouth and a slump to her shoulders.
He waited until the doctor stepped away, then approached.
“Morning.”
She turned to him. “Nathan! You didn’t have to come. We’re fine.”
He knew that wasn’t true. “I can give you a ride home.”
“We have one.” She pushed her hair off her face. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean that to sound harsh. There’s just so much to do. I have to get Cody home, get his assignments from school, then get to work.”
“I can help with some of that.”
“I don’t think so.”
He frowned. �
�Since when?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Look, you’ve been really great and we both appreciate everything you’ve done, but this isn’t going to work.”
What the hell? “You’re giving me the brush-off?” He held back, reminding her that he owned her.
“This isn’t a good time. I can’t…” She swallowed. “What happened between us before. I can’t go there again. It’s too dangerous.”
It took him a couple of seconds to put the pieces together. “You blame me for what happened to Cody?”
“No. Of course not. I blame myself.”
“But I’m a part of it.”
“No. It’s complicated. Look, we have a deal and I’ll be there for whatever you want for the towers. Photo ops and whatever else there is. But nothing else. Nothing personal.”
He didn’t want her. He’d never wanted her. Okay, maybe she’d turned out to be more interesting than he’d first thought, but she didn’t matter. No one mattered.
“That works for me,” he told her curtly. “I’ll get out of your way.”
She reached toward him, as if she were going to touch him, maybe offer comfort. Which was bullshit. He was Nathan King. He played the game and he won. She was nothing.
“Thanks for coming all this way,” she said.
He nodded and started walking. Rather than wait for the elevator, he took the stairs and he never once looked back.
FRANKIE HAD TIMED her visit perfectly. She knew exactly when Nathan’s secretary left for lunch. Five minutes later, Frankie stepped out of the ladies’ room and made her way to her brother’s office.
She was shaking, which was better than crying. She’d already cried too much. That morning, she’d gone into work only to find out it was going to be her last day. She’d run out of time. It was over.
Terror gripped her. Without work, she had nowhere to go. It was only the realization that her future was a giant black hole of nothing that had propelled her to her brother’s office. Nothing else could have gotten her there.
Now, as she pushed the door open and stepped inside, she felt the fear fade away. There was only the certainty of being right and the knowledge that somehow she would make him pay.
Nathan sat at his desk. He was on the phone and looking out the window. He obviously hadn’t heard her enter. She stood on the plush carpet and stared at the man who had once been the person she loved most in the world. Years ago…when they’d been small. When they’d only had each other. Before Nathan had left her.
For a second there was only the blood spatters on the wall, but she pushed them away. She had to stay in the moment. She had to remember why she was here.
She looked around the room, taking in the beautiful oversize furnishings, the big desk, the fancy globe on a stand. It was one of those expensive ones with all the countries done in semiprecious gems. Except this was her brother. Maybe they were all the precious ones.
Carefully, quietly, she took the globe from the stand. It was heavy, but that was okay. She lifted it in her arms and threw it as hard as she could against the wall.
The impact was as loud as an explosion. Nearly as loud as a gunshot. The globe shattered, raining shards onto the carpet and leaving a sizable dent in the wall. Nathan turned slowly in his chair and looked at her.
“I’ll have to get back to you,” he said into the phone, and hung up. He stood. “Frankie. I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Doesn’t that make this fun?”
He walked around the desk. “How are you?”
“What do you care? You never have. But that’s okay. Because you’re a terrible man. I’m going to destroy you, Nathan. How does that feel, hearing that? I’m going to destroy you.”
“Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”
He wasn’t taking her seriously. She hated that! “Are you listening? I’m going to sue you. You’re not getting the towers. Not ever. You can’t have them. You have too much and I’m going to take it away from you.”
“Why, Frankie? You never cared about material things before.”
“I don’t care, but you do. You want your name so big and high. You want to be famous. But you can’t be. They won’t like it when your own sister sues you. People will talk. The newspapers will say things. You’re going to be in trouble.”
“You can’t hurt me.”
“Want to bet?” Anger burst into life. “I can destroy you, Nathan.”
He leaned against his desk. “Frankie, I want to help. Maybe if you talked to a doctor.”
She laughed. “So you can say you fixed me? I’m not going to give you the pleasure of that.”
“I’ll be there for you.”
“No, you won’t. You were never there. It was all a lie. You said everything would be okay and it wasn’t. It wasn’t and you didn’t come home and I was alone.”
Her eyes burned with tears she blinked away. She could still remember what it had been like—being so terribly alone and afraid.
He took a step toward her. “I’m sorry. I should have come back.”
“You didn’t want anyone to know the truth. That’s why you stayed away.”
He nodded slowly. “You’re right. I was a kid and I…”
“I was younger,” she screamed, hating him, wanting to destroy him. “I was younger and I was there. I was there.”
He took another step toward her. She backed up.
“Stay away,” she told him. “Don’t touch me. I hate you. I’ll always hate you.”
“I’m sorry about that, too.”
“You don’t care about me. You don’t care about anyone. But you do care about your stupid tower. Stupid like you.”
He studied her for a long time. “Will destroying this make up for anything?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t care about that. It doesn’t matter.”
“Frankie, you need help.”
“Not from you. Don’t pretend to be nice.”
“I’m not nice, but I do want to help you.” He hesitated, then said, “You’re my sister.”
“No,” she whispered. “Not anymore. Not for a long time. You’re nothing to me, Nathan. Nothing.”
“That’s not true. If it was true, you wouldn’t be here. I can get you help. Please, Frankie, it doesn’t have to be like this.”
There was something in his voice. Something that made her remember a long-lost summer night. Their father had been drunk and screaming. She’d been afraid, so afraid. Nathan had taken her outside and sat with her while the screaming went on and on. He’d held her, rocking her.
“Make it stop,” she’d begged him. “Make it stop.”
“I can’t do that,” he’d told her. “I can’t, but I know it doesn’t have to be like this. When I get older it won’t be like this ever again. You won’t have to be afraid. I promise.”
She’d believed him because she’d been young and stupid and he’d been her big brother. But he’d been wrong…about everything.
Weariness washed over her. She turned and left his office. In the foyer, she gave in to the tears, only to realize too late that she wasn’t alone. A tall, thin man sat on the sofa, flipping through a fashion magazine. He was familiar. She made it a point to know most of the people in Nathan’s world. But she couldn’t put a name to the face.
The man stood. “Are you all right?”
She nodded as the tears fell. “It’s just…” And then she remembered. Lance something. He was dating Tim, Nathan’s driver.
She walked over to the chair by the sofa and gave in to the tears. “My brother is unreasonable. He’s always thought he knows best and he’s wrong. I know he’s wrong.”
“You’re Nathan’s sister?” Lance sounded surprised.
Frankie nodded and sniffed loudly. “We’ve been fighting. About that woman he’s seeing. I know she’s just in it for the money. He’s going to be hurt and I don’t know how to stop that from happening. He won’t listen to me. I’m just his dumb baby sister. I’m just so worried.�
�
Lance sat across from her and took her hand. She hated being touched and desperately wanted to pull back, but this was for a greater good. If she could just get something on Nathan, anything, she could take it to Grant. She could get what she wanted.
“You don’t have to worry,” Lance told her. “Kerri’s okay.”
“She’s got you snowed, too.”
“Not my type. But I know her. She’s adorable. She’s got a sick kid—Cody. He has what Nathan’s son had.”
Gilliar’s Disease? Frankie shuddered. “So she’s using that to get to Nathan?”
“No. You’d have to know Kerri. She’s totally focused on her son. She and Nathan are just friends. She’s actually helping him out with a project. He gave money to research and now she’s helping him with…” Lance pressed his lips together. “With some things. I can’t really say what.”
How could someone like Kerri help Nathan? A single mom with a sick kid? And why would her brother have given the money in the first place? It wasn’t like Nathan at all. Unless…
There were times when her mind was a dark and scary place and there were times when it was as if a light went on and chased away all the shadows. This was one of those times. She saw exactly what had happened and how Nathan was using the woman, just like he’d always used people.
She smiled at Lance. “You’ve made me feel a lot better. Thank you.”
“I’m happy to help.”
He probably was, she thought gleefully. Sucker. She stood and waved, then left the foyer. As she rode the elevator down, she pulled out her cell phone to call Grant at the newspaper office. The destruction of Nathan King had begun.
CHAPTER TEN
KERRI HEARD the rumble of a truck on the street but didn’t think anything of it until the vehicle came to a stop in front of her house. She glanced out the window, saw it was a rental and was prepared to ignore it until she caught sight of the driver. As Tim was about the biggest man she’d ever seen, she spotted him right away.
Her focus shifted back to the rear of the truck as she wondered what on earth could be inside. If it was a pony, it was going straight back, she told herself, because making a joke was easier than dealing with the guilt that had flickered at the edge of her consciousness ever since Nathan had shown up at the hospital.
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