Escape with Me

by Janice Sims

  Worst of all, as he was being chased from the room by the mutt, out of the corner of his eye he’d spied the object he’d been looking for on the nightstand. Of course, she’d taken it off before bed as she’d done every night since he’d given it to her on their fifth anniversary.

  In spite of his failure to retrieve the locket, something inside of him exulted. She was still wearing it. Maybe that meant she hadn’t given up on him. Maybe it meant she still loved him.

  He got up now and went to stand in front of the bureau’s mirror. He’d lost a few pounds but his body still had the well-defined musculature of a runner. It was one of the things he and Lana had liked doing together. He was still movie-star handsome. Golden skin, curly blond hair, blue eyes, strong square-chinned face and dimples. Women often said that he reminded them of that Australian actor, Hugh somebody. Only his hair was much lighter in comparison to the dark-haired actor.

  He remembered the first time he’d seen Lana. She was a guest at a party at the home of clients who wanted to show off their newly decorated home. The couple, who was extremely rich, was also on his radar as potential investors. That night, after spotting Lana, he had forgotten all about his bank account and concentrated on getting her number. She was wearing a little black dress with sexy high-heeled sandals. Her legs were killer, as was every curve of her brown-skinned body. Her natural red hair fell in waves down her back. He’d walked over to her, knowing he was probably the best-looking male in the room, and said, “I would die happy if for one second I could be that dress you’re wearing.”

  He’d instantly known that no man had ever said anything so bold to her before. She looked at him in amazement. Then she’d laughed, and said, “What’s your name?”

  He looked himself dead in the eye in the mirror and smiled. “Soon, Lana, you’re going to be calling my name in the throes of passion like you used to.”

  He turned away from the mirror, and began pacing the room. First he had to figure out how to get that locket, because concealed inside it was the key to his future.

  * * *

  “Catch, boy!” Lana yelled to Bowser as he leaped into the air to grasp the Frisbee between his jaws. Landing, he twirled around in a crazy dance reminding Lana of the victory dance some football players executed when they made a touchdown.

  “He’s on fire.” Ten laughed at Bowser’s antics.

  Bowser trotted over to him and placed the Frisbee at his feet. Ten picked it up and sent it sailing high in the air. By the time it was arcing downward Bowser was under it ready to catch it. This time when he caught it, he rolled over with it in his mouth, sand covering his fur. Lana laughed. He was such a ham.

  It was Saturday afternoon, two days after their run. Ten and Lana were playing with Bowser on the beach several yards from the house while Aaron and his lady friend, Lana’s former English teacher, Miss Ellen Newman, were grilling seafood on the back deck. Miss Newman, as it turned out, was a good influence on Aaron. Lana was having a hard time not thinking of her as Miss Newman, even though she’d asked her to call her Ellen. It was also kind of weird seeing the suggestive looks passing between Miss Newman and her dad. Not that she assumed her father didn’t have a love life. She knew he did. She just felt uncomfortable knowing anything about it. Don’t ask, don’t tell was fine with her when it came to his affairs.

  Anyway, she thought, why am I wasting time thinking about my dad’s love life when I could be looking at that? Tennison Isles, special agent with the FBI, was a vision to behold in his swim trunks. He was all man. Broad, muscular chest, six-pack, biceps for days, and the legs, thighs and butt weren’t bad, either. He even had nice feet, large and perfectly suited to his big frame. She sighed. She had to force herself not to ogle the poor guy who, she was sure, didn’t think of her in that way. To him she was just a means to an end. He was there to see the assignment through and try to keep her safe at the same time.

  He’d told her this morning that he’d spoken to his supervisor, and the FBI was grateful to her for agreeing to help them capture Jeremy. They’d given him the go-ahead to pose as her love interest if it would help them reach their goal faster.

  They were to spend as much time together as possible and be seen in and around town enjoying themselves. Tonight they were going to the anniversary party of Bobbi Lee and her husband, Ronald, which was to be held at a popular restaurant in nearby Kitty Hawk.

  “Soup’s on!” yelled Aaron.

  Ten was rubbing sand onto the Frisbee in order to get the dog spit off of it.

  Bowser was watching with the hope that the human would throw the darn thing again. He still had plenty of energy left.

  Lana said, “Let’s go eat. I’m starved.”

  Bowser forgot about the Frisbee at the mention of the word eat. It was one of his favorites, right up there with play. He raced ahead of them as Lana and Ten began walking to the house.

  There was a breeze off the ocean, and seagulls flew above the foamy caps that the wind whipped up. The blue sky was crystalline. Ten looked at Lana whose hair was blowing in the breeze and realized that it had been a long time since he’d spent a more idyllic day. Earlier they’d gone for a swim and she was like a sleek seal in the depths, comfortable with the waves as they fought against them. He supposed living out here she had probably learned to swim as a toddler. It was like her natural element.

  Before sitting down to eat, Lana and Ten changed clothes, and Bowser had to be cleaned up too after his triumphant roll in the sand.

  Aaron put on some classic soul. While they feasted on grilled shrimp and salmon with garden salad, grilled eggplant, and corn on the cob, they listened to Otis Redding, Al Green, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Marvin Gaye and The Spinners.

  Lana and Aaron hadn’t told Ellen who Ten really was. Because other people in town like Miss Gladys and her husband, Henry, knew him as the filmmaker who was doing a documentary on Aaron, that remained his cover. She was also told that he was Lana’s new boyfriend. That information, to Lana’s dismay, made Ellen want to talk Lana up, and in a fit of nostalgia she started recalling Lana’s high school days. She had a good memory.

  “Lana was one busy young lady her senior year in high school,” Ellen told Ten. Ellen was in her early fifties but looked like she was in her forties thanks to a healthy lifestyle. She had smooth dark brown skin with red undertones, brown eyes, and wore her black hair in a short, layered cut that accentuated her heart-shaped face.

  She scrunched up her pretty face now as she seemingly had difficulty recalling exactly how busy Lana had been. “Let’s see, she was a cheerleader, was on the track team, was vice-president of the senior class; and what else...oh, yes, she was on the homecoming court.”

  Lana blushed. “I hated being bored.”

  “I was in ROTC in high school,” Ten said. “That’s about it.”

  “Always meant for the military, huh?” Aaron chimed in as he bit into a juicy shrimp.

  Lana gave him the evil eye.

  “I’m cutting down,” he said. “See? I only have a couple on my plate.”

  “Yeah,” Ten answered Aaron’s question, smiling. “It runs in my family. My dad was an army man, two of my brothers are marines, as I was, and two of my other brothers were in the army also. I have a sister who is also a marine. When they retire from the military they go into law enforcement.”

  “Really,” said Ellen. “They must have been surprised when you chose to become a filmmaker after you left the service.”

  “As a matter of fact, they still think I’ll eventually come around and become a policeman.”

  Lana lightly kicked him underneath the table. The amused gleam in her eye told him she knew he was having fun at Ellen’s expense.

  “Maybe they’re even hoping you might one day join the CIA or the FBI,” she said.

  Now Ten knew that Lana was enjoying the perform
ance as well.

  “Oh, I could never be a part of either one of those agencies,” Ten said. “Too much subterfuge and I hear they have to do reprehensible things in the service of their country, like kill somebody.” He gave her a pointed look.

  Lana swallowed hard as if she were sure he meant her.

  Ten nearly laughed but contained it. “I’m more comfortable with books, not guns.”

  Ellen looked at him with admiration. “That’s my area of expertise. Tell me, just off the top of your head, what’s your favorite book of all time?”

  Ten smiled in Aaron’s direction. “The best writer in America today is sitting right here at this table.”

  Aaron laughed as if what Ten had said were ludicrous. He cleared his throat and took a sip of his iced tea before saying, “You have my permission to name your favorite book besides my masterpieces,” he said.

  “Well, then, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison,” Ten said without hesitation. “I think the theme of racial invisibility is still relevant today.”

  “Yeah,” Aaron agreed, “but for sheer power you can’t beat Richard Wright’s characterization of Bigger Thomas in Native Son. He’s a character I’ve never forgotten.

  “And if I’m correct Richard Wright was one of Ralph Ellison’s mentors.”

  “Bigger Thomas is a memorable character,” Ellen said softly. “But my most memorable character is Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Before Maya Angelou ever wrote that ‘Phenomenal Woman’ poem, Janie was a phenomenal woman.”

  “I totally agree with that,” Lana said, smiling at Ellen.

  “You’ve read it, Lana?” asked Ellen, obviously delighted.

  “Yes,” Lana told her, “but don’t make me write a paper on it. Some of the details are fuzzy after all these years.”

  Everyone laughed, and the conversation turned to music. Otis Redding’s “These Arms of Mine” began playing, and Aaron stood up and asked Ellen to dance right there on the deck.

  She happily got up, and they began slowly swaying to the romantic song.

  Aaron shot Ten an irritated look. “Get up and dance with my daughter, son. Life’s too short to let an opportunity pass you by.”

  Ten was more than happy to oblige. Lana looked up into his eyes, and grasped his hand. “Don’t let him bully you,” she whispered as he pulled her close against his chest.

  “Darling,” Ten said softly in her ear, “You’re way too tense. Relax. I’m enjoying being your suitor.”

  “Boyfriend,” she corrected him. “Suitor sounds so old-fashioned.”

  “Lover?” he said hopefully.

  “We haven’t gotten that close yet,” she countered.

  “But soon,” he said.

  “If you’re a good boy,” she said, smiling up at him.

  “But not too good,” he returned.

  Lana blushed to the tips of her ears. He was a good dancer. He didn’t hold her too tightly and didn’t step on her toes once. “For a big man you’re not bad,” she complimented him.

  “I’m good at quite a few things,” he said with an enigmatic smile.

  Lana felt it was in her best interest to change the subject. She was getting entirely too warm and it clearly wasn’t from the temperature, which had begun to lower with the impending sunset.

  “Did you all find any prints on the watch?” she asked. She’d given it to him yesterday to see if he could verify her suspicion that the watch belonged to Jeremy.

  “No results yet,” he said. “Probably by tomorrow.”

  Lana glanced in her father’s direction. He’d led Ellen to the far side of the deck where he was saying something in her ear that made her laugh.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Lana said softly. “Jeremy waited until I got here to break into the house therefore what he wants has to be something I must have brought with me. Not something he might have hidden here during a past visit as I had first assumed. It must be something he knew I would bring with me from San Francisco.”

  Her eyes were brilliant, alive with banked excitement as she looked into his. She stopped moving, and touched the locket around her neck. “He gave me this. I wear it everywhere. Could there be something inside of it besides the pictures that I’m aware of?”

  “Let me see it,” said Ten, stepping backward. He waited while she unfastened the clasp and placed it in his hand. The locket was gold and had an intricately carved image of a weeping willow on its face. When he opened it, on opposite sides of the hinge were photos of people he assumed were Lana’s parents. The one of her mother was obviously old and had a sepia tone. The shot of her father had been taken more recently. Ten turned the locket over in his big hands. Looking closely at how it was made. It was shaped like an egg. And it was heavier than he imagined it should be. Maybe it held a a hidden compartment.

  “Do you mind if I take it with me?” he asked Lana who was looking at him with a curious expression on her face.

  “Not at all,” she said.

  “It’s getting late,” Ten said. “I should go shower and get ready for the party. It starts at eight, right?”

  “Yes and wear something sexy,” Lana joked. “I want to show you off to my old classmates.”

  Ten gave her a sharp salute as he bounded down the back steps. “I’ll try my best.”

  Lana watched him go with a smile on her lips.

  * * *

  The place’s parking lot was packed. Music was blaring and the huge outdoor dining room was decorated with festive colored lights. Ten got out of his SUV and immediately went over to the passenger’s side to open the door for Lana, who was dressed in a beautiful white halter dress. Hand in hand they made their way toward the entrance.

  As soon as Lana and Ten entered the reserved dining room of the bar and grill where the anniversary party was being held, screaming erupted. Bobbi Lee and three other women came barreling toward her.

  Bobbi Lee reached her first, and hugged her tightly. “You made it.” Cheek to cheek, Bobbi Lee said a quick hello to Ten. Then she took Lana by the hand, and led her over to the waiting threesome.

  Lana didn’t have to be introduced to Gayle Evans, Anastasia Rojas or Siobhan O’Hara. They’d been on her cheerleading squad in high school. Gayle wore her Afro cut short and was as fit as ever. Anastasia looked close to nine months pregnant. But Siobhan had changed the most. In high school she had been about five-two at the most, now she was five-seven.

  Lana hadn’t seen Siobhan since their sophomore year more than twelve years ago due to her moving away before junior year. Now she was living in the area again. “Siobhan, you had a growth spurt!” was the first thing out of Lana’s mouth.

  The women laughed. “Pay up,” Gayle said to the other women. “I told you she’d be shocked by Siobhan’s appearance.”

  Siobhan, a brunette in a fitted dark pantsuit, smiled up at Lana. “You know, I’ve always envied your height.”

  “Yeah, but I had no idea you could increase your height just by wishing,” Lana cracked. “You look fabulous. You all do.”

  Each of them hugged her in turn. Then Lana introduced them to Ten. “Ladies, this is my boyfriend, Tennison West.”

  Bobbi Lee, who had already met Ten but hadn’t known Lana was seeing him, cried, “Well, all right, then!”

  Gayle, Siobhan and Anastasia didn’t try to hide their delight. Their eyes sparkled with interest.

  Ten had a feeling he was in for an interesting evening.

  “Welcome, Tennison,” cooed Gayle. Her eyes noticeably took all of him in, from the fitted black designer short-sleeved shirt that showed off his biceps and pectorals to the Levi’s that couldn’t hide his muscular thighs.

  “It’s a pleasure,” Anastasia said, peering up at him and moving forward to shake his hand while keeping one hand on her
distended belly. She licked her luscious red lips and smiled saucily.

  “Mr. West,” said Siobhan nonchalantly.

  Ten thought she would be the exception to the rule and not openly flirt with him as her two girlfriends had done. But she winked at him and made no attempt to conceal the gesture from Lana.

  “Enough of that,” Lana said, laughing. “We’re not in high school anymore.” She thought Ten deserved an explanation. “We made a game of flirting with each other’s boyfriends in high school, harmless of course.”

  “I’m married now anyway,” Gayle said, pretending to be put out by Lana’s admittance.

  “I’m married and, as you can see, about to pop,” Anastasia joked.

  “And I’m engaged,” Siobhan added. She held up her hand. On her ring finger was a five-carat diamond solitaire. “See?”

  Of course, there was more screaming.

  As the evening progressed the sexes naturally separated. The women sat around a large table and caught up with each others’ lives and munched on various finger foods and sipped from glasses of champagne, while the men gathered at the back of the room where there was a fifty-inch HDTV tuned to ESPN, ate greasy chicken wings and drank cold beer.

  Lana, sitting between Bobbi Lee and Siobhan, wondered when the split had happened. She missed Ten. She looked in his direction. He coincidentally looked up at that moment, and they smiled at each other.

  “New love,” Bobbi Lee said with a note of longing. “I remember the feeling.” Then her mood changed in an instant, and she said perkily, “What I want to hear about are all the celebrities you’ve worked with in San Francisco. Anybody we’d know?” The women looked at Lana expectantly.

  She laughed. “I’m not in Hollywood, I’m in San Francisco. Most of the people I’ve worked with have been professionals. I’ve done the occasional job for a star athlete but that’s as close as I get to glamour.”