He frowned as he relived the night in his mind. Had that phone call meant anything? He had never given it much thought before. Who had been on the other side of that call?
After getting off the phone they had eaten dinner. Or rather, he had eaten dinner while Paige picked at hers. After dinner she had insisted that she needed to run out for a quick errand. He had asked her if she wanted him to go with her.
Nathan looked into the mirror and his puzzled expression looked back at him.
She had seemed conflicted at the offer. Hadn't she? He could tell that part of her really wanted him to go with her and part of her didn't. What was it he had seen in her eyes that night? Sadness? Fear? Something, something hadn't seemed quite right, but he had ignored it. He had fooled himself into believing nothing was wrong. After all, why should anything have been wrong? She had been fine all day and most of that evening. It wasn't until after that phone call. Who the hell had that been? Had that been the reason for it all?
He clicked the keys and the pages flipped back and forth. Suicide. Murder-suicide.
Nathan felt sick to his stomach. The questions floating in his mind were maddening. He refused to even verbalize them, was angry with himself for even thinking them, but no matter how hard he tried they continued to whisper at the corners of his mind. Had Paige wanted him to go? Had she thought about having him come along and...and...
It was the sound of Paige's whimpering that drew him back from the past. Even with the door mostly closed he could hear her. He shut down the computer and returned to the other room. Paige had curled herself into a ball and was shuddering in her sleep. He climbed back into bed with her and she crawled into his arms instantly. Nathan kissed her gently on the head and her whimpering stopped.
"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you," he whispered to her sleeping form. "Not if I can help it. Not ever again."
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
Paige woke with a slip of a smile on her face. She curled against Nathan. He still had his arms wrapped around her. She looked up at him. He was sleeping, a scowl on his face. He obviously wasn't having pleasant dreams. Her smile faltered and was replaced with a frown. She wondered what this was doing to him, what she was doing to him. What must be going on in his mind? He was curled up in bed, comforting a woman who was the mirror image of his dead wife. That certainly couldn't be easy. He had definitely accepted the fact that she wasn't his Paige, but did that make things easier or harder?
She bit her lip as she thought. What were her feelings here? She knew she was feeling something for him. However, the way things were, she wasn't entirely sure she could trust herself. Her entire world was apparently a lie. Could her feelings be as well? And even if they weren't, was it possible they had any future together? Could he ever look at her and see only her and not his dead wife?
She almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of it all as the events of the previous night came rushing back. The news clippings she had seen last night spun around in her head. How could she have blocked them out? How the heck could she even be thinking about the prospect of a relationship right now?
"Because you need something positive to think about," she muttered to herself.
She felt Nathan stir at the sound of her voice and she silently cursed herself. She wanted to stay the way they were a little longer. She wasn't sure she was ready to face the coming day. She wasn't sure she would ever be ready. Wrapped in his arms, she could at least pretend to be safe and happy.
When she looked at Nathan again, she saw he was looking back at her. He gave her a little smile and she returned it as best she could, squeezing him tightly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
"That's okay," Nathan said. "I've been up and down all night."
Neither of them made a move to get up. They both realized that this could potentially be their last moment of relative peace for a while. Possibly forever. Paige kept her head on his chest and willed time to stop. She sighed when she felt him pull back the covers. She wanted to grab them and pull them back over them and hide away, but she knew she couldn't. If he was willing to face the day then she had no choice but to face it with him.
They took turns showering, Paige dragging hers out as long as she could. When she got dressed and joined him it was close to nine o'clock.
"Breakfast?"
She was tempted to say yes, if for no other reason than to stall, but she shook her head no and Nathan nodded. Neither of them felt like eating. Nathan sat on the edge of the bed, he had collected all the charged disposable phones and had placed them along with his cell phone on top of the laptop bag on the nightstand.
"Ready?"
She nodded, not trusting her voice and sat down next to him.
He picked up his phone and dialed the number from the paper. The first ring hadn't even finished before it was picked up.
"You idiot," the woman's voice practically screamed over the phone. "You called me from your own phone? Did you think I told you to get the others just for the hell of it?"
"I..I...uh."
Nathan was too stunned by the anger in the woman's voice to respond. On the other end of the phone he could hear the woman talking to someone else. "I knew this was a horrible idea."
"Should I call you back on one of the others?" He asked quickly, afraid she might hang up.
"No. If someone is tracking, then they already have a lock on this number now. You are going to have to be a lot smarter, a lot more careful. When you get off this call, that phone does not go with you. I am putting an awful lot on the line here and don't intend to get killed by your stupidity. Now listen carefully this is what you are going to do."
Nathan listened intently. Her words echoed in his head. She was angry, but she was also scared. He had no clue what was happening, but the woman on the other end definitely felt her life could be in extreme danger. And if hers was, then certainly so were theirs, which just helped cement the feelings he had since first seeing the website last night.
When the woman finished talking she didn't ask if he had gotten all the information, didn't ask if he needed it repeated or if he had any questions, the line simply went dead.
Nathan sat there for a moment looking at the phone.
"So?" Paige asked after a minute.
He stood up and looked around the room.
"Grab what you need or want. I have a feeling we won't be coming back here."
She wanted to ask him questions, but she knew he likely wouldn't have the answers she was looking for.
He watched her as she rose from the bed and went over to her two suitcases. She opened them both and looked at the clothing. She pulled out her Harvard sweatshirt and nothing else. She grabbed her purse, moved her hand up to her chest and placed it against the cross and then turned to Nathan.
"I'm ready."
He dropped is phone on the bed and then deposited the disposable phones into his laptop bag and did a quick look around the room before nodding.
"Okay let's go."
"Where to?"
He walked over to her and took her hand.
"Back to the library."
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
"Wake up," Cameron said as he nudged Linda away from his shoulder.
She blinked her eyes and smiled when she saw Cameron next to her. She reached out to him, but stopped when she realized she was sitting in the car. She knew she was no longer dreaming.
"What time is it?" she asked, noticing how bright the day had gotten. It had still been dark at five when she'd woken Cameron to take over the watch.
"A little after nine. Jimmy just reported that he intercepted a call. They are going back to the school. Whoever they are talking to is paranoid as well and she told him to ditch his phone. So we need to be on top of our game."
"Did he get a recording of the call? Can he tell who it is or where it came from?"
Cameron looked across the street, watching each car.
"He said it was a poor connection. It was a fem
ale voice, but he couldn't tell who it was. He said he'd run it through some of his programs and see if he could clean it up. He traced the signal but the call hadn't been long enough to get an exact position, just a general location. The signal disappeared after the call ended. So whoever it was either disabled the battery or or broke it."
"Where was it coming from?"
"Just over the bridge, Jamestown."
"Do you think it was Julie?"
He turned and looked at her, his expression blank.
"What makes you think that?"
"Well, I don't know. Things go wrong with Paige and then she grabs Jason and runs. Seems too much to be coincidence, doesn't it?
"Honestly," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't know. I can't see her risking anything for Paige. I just assumed that she saw my distraction with this situation as an opportune time to make a run for it. She is well aware of how I would view her desertion and I would think her sole focus would be on putting as much distance between us as possible. I am still annoyed I didn't see her actions coming. She will rue the day she ever stepped out of line."
A chill of fear and excitement raced through Linda.
"Who else could it be?"
"I don't know. And that is what bothers me most. I sense Dillinger's hand in all of this. He's been against this from the start. His actions in the last few days show he's more than willing to interfere. Of course he's done it in a way that shifts everything on me."
"So you don't think it's Julie then?"
"I don't know, but I would love it if it were. We could wrap this entire thing up and get back to work. If they lead us to Julie and Jason..." He trailed off into silence, a grin spreading over his face.
"Cameron, there."
He followed Linda's finger and cursed. He started the engine and jerked out into traffic. He cringed when a car slammed on its brakes and horn. He hoped he hadn't drawn the attention of his prey.
"Relax," Linda said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Won't do any good if you spook them. You said that Jimmy told you they were going back to the school, so we know where they are going. Hang back a little. We are going to get them."
He nodded and let off the gas a little. She felt some of the tension ease.
Less then ten minutes later they were pulling into the small parking lot of the library. They parked as far away as they could while still being able to see the other car. After a minute or two they saw Paige and Nathan get out. They stood talking over the roof of the car for a moment and then headed for the library.
"Do we follow?"
Cameron shook his head no.
"Can't risk it. We need to know where they are going. Now that he isn't carrying his phone, we can't track him."
"What if they are meeting here, in the library?"
"That's a possibility, but it just doesn't feel right. No, I think our best bet is to keep with the car. They will come back to it eventually and like I said, we can't afford to lose them. I just wish I was better at tailing. We lose them now and I think that will be it."
They lapsed into silence for a minute. Linda pursed her lips and thought.
"Did you see the lights flash when they got out?"
"What?"
"Did you see the tail lights flash?" she asked again.
"What...why?"
"Did they lock the car when they left it?"
"I don't know. I didn't notice. Why?"
Linda smiled and opened the car door.
"I have an idea."
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Nathan took a final look around the room before shutting the door and joining Paige. They rode down the elevator in silence and then walked out to the car. She hesitated before getting in.
"I guess there is no turning back now," she said.
"Do you want to?"
She thought for a moment and then shook her head no.
"I have to know."
He nodded his agreement. He had to know as well.
"Then hop in and let's get this show on the road."
She slid into the car and buckled up.
Nathan wanted to say something inspiring, but nothing came to mind. He was as nervous as she was. In the end he simply started the car and they drove away from the hotel.
They pulled into the library parking lot and Nathan killed the engine. They sat in silence for a minute or two. Finally, he sighed and gave her a reassuring nod, then got out, slinging his bag onto his shoulder. They stood by the car looking over the roof at each other.
"Maybe it's just me," Paige said leaning against the car. "But does it feel like a million years since we were last here?"
"I was just thinking the same thing. Ready?"
"Let's get this over with."
He smiled at her determination. They met at the front of the car. He took her hand and together they walked toward the building.
The library was busier than the last time they had come. Students were buzzing about all over. Some cramming for tests, others doing research and a fair number just socializing. They walked with purpose to the stairs and climbed to the second floor. Once they reached it, Nathan pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and read it. He'd memorized it back at the hotel, but still his mind insisted he check the instructions once more.
They walked to the last bookshelf in the far corner of the room. He knelt down and pulled out the third book from the right. It was a slim book of poetry. He flipped through it until he reached page ninety-six.
"Very cute," he said mockingly.
"What?"
"The Road Not Taken," he read. At the bottom of the page was a slip of paper, he pulled it out and returned the book to the shelf. He opened the paper and saw seven numbers.
He pulled one of the phones out of his bag and flipped it open. Looking at the screen he saw only a single bar.
"Let's go outside. Reception isn't that great in here. And something tells me that woman on the other end wouldn't deal well with a dropped call."
Paige agreed and they made their way out to the front of the library. He rechecked the phone and saw he now had three bars.
"Better?"
"Yeah." he said and punched in the number.
The phone rang once before being picked up.
"You left your phone back at your hotel?"
"Yes. We did exactly as you asked."
"Is anyone following you?"
"Not that I have noticed."
"Have you been looking?"
Nathan decided it was best if he were honest and said, "No."
He heard the woman cursing on the other end.
"Do you think I am playing a game?"
"You didn't say anything about..."
"Are you kidding me? That website and me yelling at you about the phone wasn't enough to tell you how serious this is?"
Nathan was silent, his face red.
"Okay, we are going to do this the long way then. Are you ready? Because you get these directions only once."
"I'm ready."
He listened intently to the woman. When she finished talking the line went dead before he could say anything.
"Well?"
Nathan looked at Paige and sighed. He closed the phone, dropped it on the ground and then brought the heel of his foot down on it. Around them a few of the students looked and pointed. He ignored the stares and whispers, picked up most of the pieces and then walked over to the trashcan by the entrance and tossed the them in.
"She wanted to know if we were being followed. I told her I didn't think so, but I hadn't been watching. That seemed to piss her off. She says we are going to do this the long way and gave me another location."
"Of course she did."
"What?"
"She was going to give us another location no matter how you answered. Come on, she obviously is setting this up so she can see whether or not we are being followed."
"Obviously?"
"Sure. Don't you watch movies?"
"What?"
&nb
sp; "You know, like in kidnapping movies. The guys demanding the ransom always make the people go through a series of phony drop areas to make sure they aren't being followed."
"And you think that is what this is?"
Paige nodded.
"And this was obvious to you?"
Paige laughed. "Of course. You did just smash a perfectly good phone, didn't you?"
"You know I did."
"Why do you think we had to pick up so many?"
Nathan blushed again.
"I think," she said, "that we are in for a long day."
"Well then let's get going."
He took Paige's hand and they walked back to the car.
"So where to now?" she asked when they were both buckled in.
"Second Beach."
"Really?"
Nathan nodded.
"Do you think she has been watching us since this all began? I mean the library and Second Beach, we've been to both already."
"Maybe or maybe they just knew Paige so well," he said as they pulled out of the library parking lot. "They know what she knew. So they kind of know what you know and might be picking places based on that."
"Maybe."
Nathan glanced into the rearview mirror.
"Keep your eyes peeled for anyone following us."
"Had someone told me that I'd actually be told to be worried about being followed a week ago, I'd have said they were crazy."
Nathan managed a weak smile, his eyes looking at the rearview mirror again.
Paige shivered as they pulled into the beach parking lot a short time later.
"Nathan, I just had an incredibly creepy thought."
"What is it?" he asked as he brought the car to a stop.
"What if that woman on the other end of the phone is Paige, or rather another Paige."
He sat in silence for a minute before saying, "Holy crap. I am not sure I can even get my mind around that."
Second Chances Page 28
