Karen squeezed Zach’s hand. “Maybe she was hurt about the breakup.”
“I doubt she has a black eye or a mark on her record that shouldn’t be there. Things weren’t right with Tracey and me for a while. Our breaking up had little to do with you. Now Becky is back with her abusive parents and we’re forced to sit here and wait for others to watch out for the girl. Nolan is frantic, worried sick about his girl and their child. And all for what?”
“Oh, honey, I don’t know what to think,” Janice said.
“We need to band together,” Michael told them. “Karen and I had planned the divorce before we arrived here. That will go on as scheduled. In the meantime, she’s going to need our support.” He waved a hand in Zach’s direction. “And you’re going to have to have her back. The media is vicious. They’ll dig…more than ever before now that there is an apparent love triangle.”
Zach’s arm moved over her shoulders. “We’ll get you through this.”
“This is damn strange, Mike.”
“I know it is, Dad. Be confused, yell…do what you have to. Just keep the truth between us.”
“You want me to lie to our family?”
Michael shook his head. “No. Tell Hannah, Judy…hell, Rena already knows. But what business is it of anyone else? It’s not like I’ve had any visitors in LA since I’ve moved away. No one else needs to know squat.”
Sawyer paced the edge of the room. “Damn kids today.”
Michael glanced at Zach, rolled his eyes.
“C’mon, Janice. We should get home before the press corners our daughters.”
They stood with Janice. Karen watched as Michael and Zach both hugged and kissed her good-bye. She turned to Karen, pulled her aside. “If you need anything, call.”
“Thank you, Janice.”
“I can’t pretend to understand. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
Karen looked over her shoulder at the men watching her. “Me, too.”
Sawyer wasn’t as forgiving with his words or his actions. He stormed from the room and expected his wife to follow.
Once the three of them were alone, Karen fell into the sofa, depleted.
“Remind me to never do that again.”
She expected the men to sit and laugh with her; instead, they stood staring at each other.
Karen glanced between the two of them.
“What?”
Zach crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you not telling me, Mike?”
Had she missed something?
Zach continued. “Karen is too amazing for a platonic relationship for over a year.”
Karen swung her gaze to Michael.
Silence hung in the air.
“You’re right.”
Zach opened his mouth, then closed it.
“I’m gay, Zach.”
Zach uncrossed his arms and dropped his jaw to his chest. “Well damn.”
After the police took their statements, Judy returned to Rick’s rental car and called Gwen on Rick’s cell phone.
“Rick?” Gwen answered with her polished accent.
“No, it’s Judy. Rick is still talking to the police.”
“Oh, dear. What’s happened?”
Judy explained what they’d walked in on, and how the Applegates were nowhere to be found. “I don’t even know where to look.”
“Perhaps Karen will have an idea…or Nolan.”
“Are they out of jail?”
“Yes. Let me speak with them and I’ll call you right back.”
Judy hung up and watched as Rick walked past the flashing lights on the police car and across the street. “We’re free to leave.”
“I’m not sure where we should go. Seems wrong to just walk away and let the police handle what they’ve already mucked up.”
Rick rubbed his jaw with a sly smile on his face. “Not ready to give up the adventure, Utah?”
The urge to roll her eyes was strong, but Judy refrained and gave her head a little shake instead.
“I just happen to think we’re considering the entire game while the police are only picking one team. Becky’s with two very misguided parents and probably scared to death. But she’s not stupid. She ran away once, she’ll do it again.”
Rick’s playful smile slid into something more thoughtful. “How might a teenage, pregnant girl run from parents who are on the run?”
Judy closed her eyes, thought of how it might feel to be surrounded by parents who might think they’re doing the right thing, but weren’t. “Eventually I’d make my captors think I’ve complied…became weak.” Judy pictured a rest stop…a bathroom…“Then I’d use a simple task, like going to the bathroom or needing food, and then make my escape.” Judy opened her eyes and saw Rick staring at her.
“Pregnant women need to pee a lot.”
Judy brought both hands to her face. “God, poor Becky.”
“Hey.” She felt Rick’s hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find her.”
The phone in her pocket rang. She answered to hear Karen’s voice. “Judy?”
“It’s me.”
“Where are you?”
“In front of Becky’s parents’ home.”
“No clue as to where they went?”
Judy sighed. “No.”
“Any chance the neighbors saw anything?”
Judy glanced around at the few people that had managed to work their way to their front yards to watch the activity. “Even if they did, what could they say…the car drove east…west? All roads lead to the freeway. Where they went from there is the question.”
“The hairdresser? Petra.”
“Yeah, what about her?”
“She’s the only person in town that I can think of to ask.”
“She cuts hair, Karen.”
“Oh, Judy…you need to know that hairdressers are the next best thing to a bartender in a small town. If anyone knows anything…it will be Petra.”
With the phone to her ear, Judy moved from the car far enough to open the door and let herself in.
Rick jumped in the driver’s seat.
Judy pointed ahead of them. “Turn left,” she told Rick. “I hope you know what you’re talking about, Karen.”
“It’s all I have.”
“I’ll call you back.”
Judy clicked off and directed Rick to Main Street. It was Sunday and therefore quiet. They parked alongside the curb and Judy jumped out and ran into Petra’s salon.
A woman sat in the chair gabbing while Petra cut.
One look and Petra lifted her scissors from the woman’s hair and smiled Judy’s way. Her eyes drifted beyond her to Rick and the smile grew bolder.
“Hey?”
“Uhm, Petra…can I talk to you a minute?”
The conversation didn’t need extra ears.
Petra glanced around at those in the room and then she excused herself for a moment.
They stepped outside on the deserted sidewalk.
Judy cut right to the facts. “Karen suggested I ask you where the Applegates might take Becky.”
Petra’s tiny smile slid into a frown. “Is she OK?”
Judy shook her head. “I doubt it. Her parents have her…they have several hours’ head start.”
Petra looked at her shoes while the scissors in her hand tapped against her palm. “There’s no family here…not that I’ve been told about. But he has a sister…north.”
North? Great! Like the entire country was north!
“Before Salt Lake…I remember the name being that of a person.”
“Isn’t every town that of a person? Even Hilton?”
“No, not a surname. A first name. You’d remember a town of Judy.”
Oh…
“My phone?” Rick reached out his hand and Judy handed him his phone.
A few seconds later, he opened up a map and blew up the state until he scrolled through the towns one by one.
Petra shoved close as the three of them glanced at the small
screen.
“No…no…wait. There. Jeremy. That’s it. Becky’s aunt lives in Jeremy.”
Judy squeezed Petra’s arm. “Thank you.”
Petra smiled as Rick and Judy jumped in the car and headed toward the highway.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zach would have liked nothing better than to crawl into bed and erase some of the day’s images from his mind, but it didn’t seem that was going to happen. After his brother’s revelation, Zach had stood stunned while the pieces of their life snapped into place. It all made sense now…the relationship between Karen and Michael, how they appeared to be close but not intimate…even when they kissed Zach realized he’d seen the same behavior from his brother while performing in his films. Even Mike’s exodus from Hilton, the need to alienate himself from his family to protect his lifestyle made sense now.
Zach couldn’t deny the weight that had lifted off his shoulders when he learned that Karen and Mike had never been intimate. To know there would never be the wedge between him and his brother was a relief.
Karen unwrapped from his side and pushed off the couch. “I’m going to shower before everyone comes back,” she said.
As much as Zach wanted to join her, he decided to use the time alone with his brother for a much-needed talk.
Karen disappeared into the bedroom suite, leaving Mike and Zach with each other.
“She really is amazing,” Mike told him.
“She worries about everyone else before herself.”
Mike ran a hand through his hair, stared at the floor. “I was pissed at first…when she told me about you two. But then I realized that I couldn’t pick out a better man for her than you.”
The vote of confidence warmed Zach to his soul. “I’m not sure what to say.”
“Just tell me you’re not fucking with her. That there’s something more than a sexual itch.” Mike stared at him now, all humor and smiles long gone.
“If we were only an itch, I think we would have both found someone else to scratch it. Wanting my brother’s wife has torn me up for weeks. Karen knew the truth and it killed her, too.”
Mike nodded. “She a strong woman, Zach…but there are parts of her that are painfully vulnerable. Security is important to her and the fear of being abandoned has deep roots.”
“You’re talking about her parents.”
“She told you about them?”
“Yeah. The bastards.”
Mike rubbed the back of his neck. “Makes you appreciate our overbearing relatives.”
For a moment they were silent, both lost in their own thoughts.
“Mom and Dad will understand…about you.”
Mike stood and walked toward the window. “I’m not ready to tell them, Zach. Hell, I wasn’t ready to tell you. But I didn’t want Karen to have to keep this from you. She’s already given me so much.”
“Who else knows?”
“Not many people. Rena figured it out. Karen’s core friends, those you’ve met. No one in Hollywood.”
“That has to be hard on you.”
His brother shrugged. “Not really. Having Karen in my life has given me a place to vent. I’m going to miss that when she’s gone.”
“She’s not gone.”
Mike glanced over his shoulder. “You saying you’re ready to move out of Hilton? Because I don’t think Karen living in LA and you living in Hilton is going to work out for very long. Not to mention you can’t protect her from that far away.”
“I’ve been itching to get out of Utah for a while,” Zach explained as he stood and walked to his brother’s side. “If Karen wants to open a sanctuary for runaway kids, she’s going to have to be close to a big city. Kids don’t run away to Hilton.”
Mike turned toward him now. “You’re really serious about her.”
“Yeah. Yeah I am.”
Mike swiveled back to the window. “I’m going to be in Canada for weeks on end. I’ll encourage Karen to stay at the house…hell I’d give it to her if I thought she’d take it.”
“She didn’t want the car.” Thinking of the McLaren made Zach smile.
“Make her keep the car, would you? Such a sweet ride.”
Zach smiled and nodded.
“The house is secure…less media can get in while we’re going through the divorce. You can both stay there for as long as you like.”
Zach placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I have your back. No matter when and if you tell Mom and Dad…I’m there for you.”
Mike nodded and offered a sad smile. “Thanks. I needed to hear that.”
The door to the suite opened behind them and Gwen, Neil, and Nolan walked in. From the expression on Nolan’s face, Zach knew something was wrong.
“What happened?”
“Becky called.” Nolan’s hand shook as he lifted his phone in the air.
From the door to the bedroom, Karen stood with a towel to her hair. Her fresh clean scent drifted Zach’s way and called to him.
“Is she OK?”
Nolan shook his head. “She was crying so hard I couldn’t understand her.”
“Where is she?”
Gwen placed an arm around Nolan’s shoulders. “She didn’t say. Something about a truck stop, hiding.”
Neil had his cell phone to his ear. “Where are you?”
“Is he talking to Rick?” Karen asked.
Gwen nodded. “I think we should notify the police. They must realize the danger Becky is in by now.”
Karen nodded at Zach’s side. “I think so, too.”
Neil moved away from them as he told Rick what they’d learned. “She’s hiding in a storage closet of some sort. I have no idea which truck stop. No, she won’t. Call…right.” When Neil hung up, he addressed them.
“Rick and Judy are en route to Jeremy.”
“She could be at any truck stop.”
“Becky didn’t give you any hints?” Karen asked Nolan.
“Just that they’d been driving for a couple of hours.”
Zach looked at Neil. “We need a state map.”
Judy and Rick circled the lot of the second truck stop twice before pulling the car into a parking spot.
They walked side by side into the convenience store that accompanied the gas station and restaurant portion of the truck stop. “I’ll check out the bathroom first.”
Rick scanned the patrons as they walked by and said little. The man had a strange way about him, Judy decided. He had this perpetual smile when he was talking to her, and a look of killer intensity when he was concentrating.
He walked her to the door of the ladies’ room and turned his back to the wall to wait for her. He must be a bodyguard of some sort. The man had the expression don’t fuck with me, glaring at anyone who looked. And who would? Only the completely stupid would mess with the man.
Judy checked each empty stall and waited until every woman had left the room before moving on.
“Not in there.”
“Neil said a supply closet.”
“Let’s take a look around for her parents. If we see them, then we know she has to be here somewhere.”
“Or they may have left her,” Rick said.
They started in the restaurant, telling the waitress they were looking for friends. The search came up empty and they moved to the back of the truck stop. There were services for drivers ranging from an on-staff chiropractor to shoe shining. Not that Judy could think of truck drivers wearing shoes that needed shining. But that’s how these stops rolled. There were places for a girl the size of Becky to disappear everywhere.
Across from the bathroom, Judy scanned the store. Like her own personal shadow, Rick stood beside her. From the corner of her eye, she noticed someone who looked a lot like Mr. Applegate ducking behind a bookcase. Instead of being obvious, she moved in front of Rick, hiding her face and pretending to pick lint off his jacket.
His stellar smile took her breath for a moment as he looked down at her.
“Over my ri
ght shoulder, behind the bookcase…” she whispered.
He leaned down to hear her.
Rick lifted a hand to her hair and played with it while looking where she suggested.
“Tall, skinny…wearing a plaid long-sleeved shirt.”
“Dark brown hair?”
“Yeah.”
She lifted her purse from her shoulder and removed a compact. “Is he watching us?”
“He’s glancing this way, but seems to be reading a book.”
Judy lifted the mirror until she was able to locate the man in question. When he lifted his head from the book in his hand, she froze. “That’s Becky’s dad.”
She snapped her compact shut, looked into Rick’s green eyes. “She’s here somewhere.”
“He keeps looking over here.”
“He probably recognized me.”
Rick jolted suddenly, moved Judy to the side. “Call the police.” Then he was gone, running into the store.
She turned in time to see Mr. Applegate run through a back door and Rick follow.
She dialed 911 and ran toward Rick.
“Nine one one, please state your emergency.”
“I need the police. I’m at the Millroad truck stop and there’s a man here holding a girl against her will.” Judy wasn’t sure what else to say to the woman on the phone. “Hurry.”
“Is this man armed?”
“I don’t know.” Judy burst through the back door to see Rick tackling Mr. Applegate to the ground. As she thought, Rick only had to sit on the man to get him to comply. “Hurry.”
Judy lowered the phone from her ear. “Becky?” she called at the top of her lungs. “Becky?” The people in the store looked at her as if she were crazy, but Judy kept poking her head into back doors and calling Becky’s name.
“Hey, you can’t go back there.” An employee tried to stop Judy from walking into the storage room but she walked through the employee-only door anyway.
“Becky, it’s Judy…you can come out now.”
“Hey, miss. You can’t be back here.”
Judy looked at the fiftysomething man and frowned. “Becky?”
The room was small and didn’t have a scared teenage girl hiding within the boxes, so Judy kept moving.
The Weekday Brides 04 - Single by Saturday Page 25
