by Aubree Lane
David answered on the third ring. “Not now, Annie. Marissa will call you tomorrow,” he said brusquely.
Annie could hear Marissa sobbing in the background and wasn’t about to let David get rid of her that easily. “Why is Marissa crying? What’s going on?”
David sighed. “Marissa is obviously upset. She will call you tomorrow and explain as much as possible. I know you’re worried, but we have to work this out by ourselves. Please don’t keep calling.”
She heard a shuffling on the other end of the line. When it stopped, it was Marissa’s voice that spoke to her. “Annie, call Terence. He needs you right now. His case has suffered a substantial setback.”
Fear swept over her. Hannah had obviously done something horrible, but why was it making Marissa cry? “What did Hannah do this afternoon, and what do you and David have to work out?”
“Ask Terence, he can tell you. I can’t.”
“Don’t do this to me,” Annie begged. “It doesn’t make sense. Why would you be this upset because Terence’s case tanked? What’s wrong?”
The line went dead.
“Talk to me, damn it,” Annie yelled into the receiver.
A day ago, Marissa forbade Annie from contacting Terence, now she wanted her to call him. There was an obvious connection between what transpired with Hannah today and Terence’s case, but Annie didn’t understand why it would bring Marissa to tears. Marissa was grace under fire. She never acted this way. This new development had to be catastrophic.
She grabbed her cell phone and called Terence. Her call went straight to voicemail. Undeterred, she fumbled through a stack of papers next to her telephone in search of the name of Terence’s hotel. It had been torture knowing he was so close. She had to seriously work on her self-control in order not to call him. She gave into her craving slightly by doing a little detective work of her own and tracked down where he was staying. At the time she thought she was being reckless, and she was nervous that Marissa would find out. Annie never dreamed her inquiries would end up being an act of insightfulness.
She found the info and called the hotel. The clerk answered and informed her that Terence did not wish to be disturbed and offered to take a message. Annie declined and hung up.
She grabbed her car keys and headed out the door.
Although Terence’s hotel was only a few miles away, it took forever to get there. She hit every single red light, and the people that weren’t driving entirely too slow were busy cutting her off. After several near misses, she pulled into the hotel parking lot, only to find it full. Just as she was about to give up and park across the street at a convenience store, she spotted a car pulling out at the far end of the lot. She gunned the engine and squealed her tires as she sped for the vacated slot.
By the time she shifted into park, she felt as if she had run a marathon, anxious, exhausted and maybe even a little dehydrated. Annie checked her note one last time to make sure she had Terence’s room number correct, then stepped out onto the shiny wet pavement, courtesy of an earlier downpour. She ran an erratic path to the entrance, dodging an array of puddles and potholes along the way.
Once inside, she headed straight for the elevator. An advertisement for the hotel lounge caught her eye. She made an abrupt U-turn and headed for the establishment. Terence didn’t seem like the kind of man who would drown himself in his sorrow, but she wouldn’t blame him if he made an exception now and then.
She loitered at the doorway and gave her eyes a chance to adjust to the dimly lit room. It was a slow night. The only patrons were a pair of older gentlemen seated at the bar and a rowdy group of about six or seven all squished together in one of the larger booths, raucously enjoying several pitchers of beer. The rest of the joint was empty.
Relieved and thankful that she wasn’t going to find Terence both drunk and upset, she made her way back to the elevator and punched the call button. Anxiously, she watched the light above the elevator door bounce from number to number as it passed by its corresponding floor.
The doors opened, and she stepped inside. As the doors began to close, panic grabbed hold of her gut and twisted. She jumped out of the elevator and back out into the lobby before the doors shut.
As the elevator headed up to Terence’s floor unoccupied, Annie couldn’t believe how childish she’d been. She looked around and found the desk clerk staring at her. In his blue uniform, he looked as if he should be piloting an aircraft instead of standing behind the counter of a cheap hotel. His observation of her insane behavior made Annie feel even more self-conscious and silly. Of course she should see Terence. She had to see him, if only to make sure he was all right. She wiped her sweaty palms on her trousers and marched up to the clerk.
“Excuse me, sir. Could you tell me where the stairs are located?” she asked politely. “I could use a little more exercise than this.” Annie pushed an imaginary call button with her finger.
He gave her a curious look, clearly not getting her joke, and pointed to the door directly across from the elevator she had just exited. Since it was in full view of the desk clerk, she realized she just committed herself to walking up the six flights of stairs to Terence’s floor. “Thank you,” she said, lowering her hand and jaunting off for the stairwell.
Usually walking up six flights would not have been a problem. Usually she was in relatively decent shape, but since returning from Hawaii, she had not resumed her typical exercise regime. Judging by the way her lungs were burning half way up, Annie realized her cardiovascular system was beginning to suffer from her lack of aerobic activity, and she vowed to get back on the treadmill as soon as possible. Not this week, though, there was too much going on. Maybe next week, after this crisis or whatever it was had passed.
Why was it always so hard to get into shape and so easy to lose it once you finally got there?
She pushed the handle of the heavy steel door on the sixth floor landing and stepped out into the corridor. She looked at the room numbers to get her bearings, and then headed left for Terence’s room.
Before her insecurities made a roaring comeback, she raised her fist and knocked. Terence didn’t answer. She knocked again and called out his name, still no answer.
Confused, she backed away from the door and headed towards the elevator, disappointed that she had bolstered all that confidence for nothing.
Just as the elevator doors were about to close she heard her name. A hand shot through the closing doors and pulled them apart.
Terence stood in front of her. He looked awful. His hair, short as it was, was a mess, and his eyes were wild with distress.
She reached for his hand. “I don’t know what’s happening, but if you want to be alone, I’ll understand.”
He shook his head and reached out to squeeze her fingers. “Come on back. I was on the phone with Lena. I’m glad you called out, or I wouldn’t have opened the door.”
His hand was cold. The few times they had touched, with the exception of Alexander’s funeral, Terence had always been much warmer. Annie clasped his hand and rubbed furiously to get the blood circulating through his fingers once more.
He gave her a weak smile and led the way back to his room. His accommodations turned out to be small and shoddy. There was a tiny sitting area with two rickety chairs crammed in one corner, the bathroom was located in the back and a large bed covered with an inexpensive floral bedspread filled the majority of the remaining space.
“It’s chaos at the office,” Annie said, trying not to shudder in repulsion at his chosen lodgings. “I spoke to Marissa and David a while ago, and they were very upset.” She gave him a sad smile. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
He motioned for her to sit on the bed while he grabbed the sturdiest looking chair and sat down.
She repressed another shudder. It wasn’t just this hotel. It was all hotels. Annie hated them. She felt as if she were visiting someone else’s dirt. The rare times she was forced to stay in one, she would bring her own sleeping bag and place it on t
op of the bed, but this was no time to be squeamish. On her second attempt, Annie successfully seated herself on the edge of the bed and was grateful that Terence hadn’t noticed what a feat it was for her to accomplish that simple act.
“I didn’t see this coming.” He ran his fingers through his uncombed hair. Terence closed his eyes and sucked in a ragged breath. “This is really hard for me to say, but I guess I don’t have a choice.” He took in another breath and blurted out, “I am probably not Erika’s father. I’ll take a paternity test tomorrow, but Marissa and David are pretty certain they know who Erika’s real father is.”
Annie’s first instinct was to jump up in protest, to reassure Terence that there must be some kind of mistake, but the look on his face made her stay put. He needed her comfort, not a bunch of empty words of hope. Marissa would have made sure of her facts before informing her client of such devastating results of their investigation. But their investigation hadn’t revealed this information. Hannah had.
Annie couldn’t sit still. She stood up and paced the small room. She must know something that would help. Something else was going on. Marissa was far too upset for this to be just a hiccup in a case.
What was it Marissa said? Something happened between her and Hannah that Annie didn’t know about, and just now on the phone, she said it was all related. Or had she? Annie wished she listened better.
Her mind whirled. It was working too fast for her to formulate any clear conclusions. She forced herself to slow down and pull her fragmented thoughts together. Something nagged in the back of her mind. If only she could grab hold of it.
Slowly the pieces came together. It wasn’t what Marissa said, but David. He stated that he and Marissa had to work this out by themselves.
The memory of the first time she and David Crandall met came flooding back. Something always disturbed her about that evening, and she had never entirely forgotten it.
Marissa had thrown a surprise birthday party for her father and brought David home for him to meet. Marissa had begged Annie to ditch school for a few days and come home, too. She wanted David to meet the whole family and had insisted that when she said, whole family, that it included her. Annie declined about a thousand times before she booked a flight home to surprise them all.
Her plane was delayed in Chicago, and she didn’t arrive until after the party was in full swing. The moment Annie walked in the house she felt something was off. The room was full of happy well-wishers, but there was an undercurrent of tension. She felt it in Larry when he hugged her, and again in Marissa when she finally found her hiding out in the kitchen with the new beau she’d told Annie so much about. Before they noticed her presence, Annie overheard Marissa whisper sharply to David that she didn’t want to talk about something. The moment they realized they were no longer alone, their solemn demeanor changed, and Marissa began a cheerful commentary on everything Annie missed.
At the time, Annie assumed Larry hadn’t hit it off with David any better than she had, but in retrospect she knew that wasn’t true. Larry and David had always had a close relationship and whatever had bothered Marissa that evening had blown over ages ago. There had never been a reason to revisit it, until now.
Annie racked her memory for more details about the party. Hannah was in attendance, but Marissa wasn’t in the mood to put up with any of her crap. The typically gracious hostess ended up in a vulgar conversation where she and Hannah slung slimy innuendo after slimy innuendo at each other in hushed angry tones before Annie was able to steer Marissa out of the room. Over her shoulder, she saw David with a grip on Hannah’s arm escorting her somewhere far away from Marissa. The separation only lasted a few minutes and a short time later Hannah found her way back to the party.
Marissa refused to talk about what made her come unhinged, but Annie caught her, on more than one occasion, glaring in Hannah’s direction.
Hannah acted as if she didn’t have a care in the world and appeared to be having the time of her life. When the horrid woman finally said her goodbyes, she draped her arms around Larry and planted a big wet kiss on his unwelcoming lips, then did the same with David. Marissa turned red with fury, or had it been green with jealousy.
Annie didn’t like where her line of thought was taking her. Had David and Hannah been the source of Marissa’s distress? Had something happened between them? Had Hannah managed to screw Marissa in the most despicable way possible? Had she seduced David? It certainly sounded like something Hannah was capable of, but was David? Could David have cheated on Marissa? Not now, but what about back then when their relationship was still in its infancy? They were so young, and Hannah was... Hannah. Could David be Erika’s father? It would explain why Marissa was so upset. The theory made too much sense to ignore.
Annie groaned and plopped down on the edge of the bed. “I think I know who Erika’s father might be.”
“Who?” Terence asked through his grinding teeth. “I’ll kill him.”
She instantly began to backpedal. “I’m sorry. I honestly don’t know a thing. But if I were you, I’d want to kill Hannah. She’s the one who has been lying to you. If my guess is correct, this guy didn’t know anything about Erika and has been duped just as horribly as you.”
Terence frowned and rose out of the chair. He shook his head and began to pace the same path Annie just relinquished.
“I don’t know what I feel right now.” He picked a pillow off the bed and flung it across the room. “I’ve been stuck in this crappy room for too long. I’ve hardly seen Erika. I haven’t been able to talk to you. Then when I finally get some news, this is what I hear!”
Annie grabbed his arm and pulled him next to her on the bed. There wasn’t anything she could say to make him feel better, so she cradled him in her arms and forced herself not to flinch when their bodies sank into the mattress. With a mighty effort, she concentrated on the pain Terence was feeling and what she could do to help him, instead of what nasty creatures might be lurking below.
She held him tight and made soft cooing sounds in his ear. Annie stroked his back, and after a while he relaxed in her arms. Then sometime in the middle of the night, they both fell into an exhausted sleep.
• • •
Annie woke the following morning with a raging headache and itching all over. Terence had one arm draped over his eyes and was snoring softly. She gingerly crawled out of bed and dug in her purse for some aspirin and an antihistamine. Annie found a semi-clean glass in the bathroom, filled it with tap water, and swallowed the pills.
The aspirin were loaded with caffeine, and she knew going back to sleep was no longer an option. Annie couldn’t stay much longer anyway. She had to get to work.
Annie sat in the wobbly chair and watched Terence sleep as the aspirin worked its magic. She was emotionally drained and wished she could go home. Unfortunately, that was not a luxury she could afford. Mrs. Barrington was on the warpath again and demanding her undivided attention. She had graciously given Annie one more chance, and Annie didn’t want to push her luck any further with the wealthy and influential woman.
Reluctantly, Annie got up and dragged herself to the bathroom. She picked out the cleanest smelling towel and hung her crumpled outfit on a hook on the bathroom door. She hoped the steam from the shower would undo some of the damage.
After her shower, she put the clothing back on, certain they were infested with millions of microscopic organisms. With no other alternative, she did what was necessary in order to go out in public.
Deciding ignorance was bliss, she bypassed the mirror, unwilling to confirm exactly how bad she looked. Annie scribbled Terence a note apologizing for having to leave and left him the number where she could be reached.
Out in the parking lot, she stopped and surveyed the hotel. In the light of day, it looked even more depressing. Annie didn’t know how Terence could stand to stay in such an awful place. He hadn’t made her stay in a hotel when she was in Hawaii. She smiled and quickly decided to invite him to stay with
her.
Selfishly, she wondered what kind of mourning period he needed before she could put the moves on him. Then she wondered if he even needed one.
Chapter 8
The clock had stopped moving. It was well past ten and Annie had not heard from Terence while Mrs. Barrington had called three times insisting that Annie make an appearance.
Phoebe poked her spiked head into the office. Annie took one look at her assistant and couldn’t help but laugh. “What have you done to your hair?”
Phoebe stepped inside with a hurt expression on her face. “Don’t you like it?”
“You aren’t fooling me for one moment,” Annie scolded. “You’re trying to get out of coming with me to Mrs. Barrington’s.”
Phoebe grinned. “Did it work?”
“Sorry, we’ll be headed over there shortly. So hit the bathroom and try to look a bit more conservative.”
Phoebe flopped into Annie’s chair and casually thumbed through a magazine. “I will if you will.”
Annie bit the bullet and looked at her reflection in the window. “Do I look that bad?”
“You look like you didn’t make it home last night,” Phoebe replied with a wink. “Did you have a good time?”
She turned away so Phoebe wouldn’t see the blush of her burning cheeks. A good time was not how she would describe the time she spent with Terence, but while in his shower, she hoped he would wake up and join her. Deciding a change of subject was in order, Annie asked, “Do you know if Marissa and David are in today?”
“What’s going on? Everyone is being so mysterious.”
“Sorry, I don’t have a clue,” Annie informed her gossipy assistant. “And if you hear anything, you are not to repeat it. As a matter of fact, I expect you to squelch any rumors you might hear. Do I make myself clear? Whatever is going on, it’s hurting people I care about.”
