“Of course, I will. Bye, Leese.”
That was a big worry off my mind. The next phone call I made was to doctor Figarrio’s office to find out if he was in this morning. Once I got my answer, I was ready to go.
“Are you following me today or are you disappearing again?” I smiled to let him know I was okay with whatever decision he made.
“You may not see me, but I won’t be far away. Try not to be in the doctor’s office very long. The faster we move from one place to the other, the less chance we have of a news van pulling up.”
“I’ll try,” I sighed. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen Doctor Figarrio. I hope he’ll listen to me.”
Driving toward downtown, I glanced up every few minutes to see if the Trans Am was visible. He was very good at staying hidden because I only saw him twice, and that is a car that wasn’t easily blended into traffic. I spent the remainder of my drive time thinking what I would say when I faced Doctor Figarrio. I usually could control my temper, but the closer I came, the hotter my anger kindled. How could he have been so ignorant, or worse, how could he have done this knowing what was going on?
I pulled into the doctor’s complex and went inside. The receptionist was someone new to me. “I need to speak with Doctor Figarrio.”
His cliental were the social elite and I could tell that the woman was assessing me by the clothes I was wearing. Her nose seemed to up turn as she asked, doubtfully, if I had an appointment.
“That isn’t what I asked you, now is it?” I’d never tried to be a social snob, but she was picking the wrong day to piss me off.
“Well,” she gave a snobbish sigh, still believing I was someone she could walk over, “He is in today, but his appointment schedule is full and we’re not accepting new…”
I leaned into the glassed opening and narrowed my eyes, “Get off your cushioned chair and go tell him that Annalisa Winslett is here to see him. I don’t care if he’s in the middle of examining the president. Do it now!” I growled out.
The chair was empty before you could say one-thousand-one.
There were plenty of open seats in the waiting room, but I was so infuriated I just stood there as patients stared. I folded my arms, waiting for the door to the hallway to open. If I was correct, it would open quickly.
The door jerked open as Doctor Figarrio’s startled face appeared. “Annalisa? Good Lord, where have you been? Your mother…”
I pushed my way passed him and headed straight back to his office.
He followed without further comment and closed the door behind us. “Annalisa, you’ve worried your mother into a…”
“That’s a lie and you know it. My mother knew where I was.” That wasn’t completely true, but she and I had talked before I vanished. “What have you been doing to her?!” My voice was bordering on out-of-control as my fury mounted.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“Don’t play stupid with me. You have been prescribing sleeping pills, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety and who knows what else. And, what makes it worse is that I know she didn’t ask you for all this, Robert did.”
“Robert has been concerned about your mother’s…”
“Bull-crap! Robert has been feeding her all possible combinations of the garbage you’ve been prescribing to screw up her mind, not to help her. He’s after her money and that is it.”
“Annalisa, I’ve been your doctor since you were five, and I’ve never done anything to harm you or your mother.”
“Well then you need to wake up, because that isn’t my mother tied up in the hospital. She has a list of meds as long as my arm. She is freaked out, and if you don’t drop off the drugs, she’s going to really lose her mind.”
“Annalisa,” he said, sounding stern and almost chastising. “Your mother attempted suicide. Robert is concerned for her well-being. She has to be taken care of in the proper…”
“She didn’t try suicide! How do you know Robert didn’t dope her up and slit her wrist for her? I imagine the only thing he’s upset about is that he didn’t cut deep enough! She told me she only remembered going to sleep and waking up tied like a dog in the hospital.”
“I’m treating what I know and what I see, Annalisa,” he seemed more sincere. I could tell I was wearing on his defenses.
“Doctor Figarrio, you aren’t helping her,” I stated, cooling my temper and realizing that Robert may have been manipulating more people than Mom and me. “You know my mom. This isn’t her. You’ve got to take her off all the drugs. Robert is the one behind all her problems, and I’ve all but got the proof in my hands. You’re the only one who can help her. I know right now she is like your billion dollar baby and maybe you’re thinking she’s gonna be your fricken retirement plan, but she is my mom!” I took a breath to stop my anger from rising back up. “You took an oath to help people, not just collect a fat paycheck while you watch them waste away. Do this for her, do it for me—do it for yourself because I know your conscience is about to eat you alive. You know this is wrong.”
“You’re father will…”
“Robert isn’t my father and after all he’s done he certainly isn’t my ‘dad’ anymore either. You don’t have to tell him; just make the medical decision yourself to let your patient surface from under all the drugs. You’re going to ruin her mind if you don’t. Give her a chance and see if I’m right. If she is just as crazy without all the meds, then you can do what you have to, but give her a chance.”
He patted my shoulder as he stood there, deep concentration etched across his face. “I’ll call the hospital right now and I’ll start reducing everything this morning. We’ll see what happens. Within three days I should have her off most of it. But,” he paused, looking very serious, “if Robert notices the reduction and doesn’t like it, he’ll just fire me and get someone else to do what he wants.”
“I know that’s a risk, but I promise you, after everything is cleared up, you’ll still be our family doctor.”
“If you’re right, then I won’t hold you to that promise; I never meant to hurt your mother.”
“I think I know that now. Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me,” I choked.
“I know you love your mother, Annalisa. I’ll do what I can.” He opened the office door and we began the short trek to the reception area. “Is there some where I can reach you to keep you updated on her progress?”
This posed a problem. I didn’t actually know Micah’s phone number, but I desperately wanted to be able to be kept abreast on mom’s condition. “How seriously do you take your patient confidentiality?” I asked, watching the surprised look on his face. “What I mean is that no one—no one—can know where I’m staying. “
“I can assure you, Annalisa, the only person who will see your information will be me.”
I had serious reservations, and I knew Micah would be furious, but should Robert pull something stupid, I wanted the doctor to tell me. He handed me a small slip of paper and I wrote down the name of our motel and bungalow unit eight. “Just call the motel office and they’ll let me know to get in touch with you. I’m using a different last name, Gavarreen. Do you have a business card?”
He returned with a business card. “I’ve written my number on the back. Feel free to call me at home if you have any questions.” He reached out and gave me a firm hug. “I didn’t know the two of them were having problems or I’d have never…”
I laughed remorsefully, “Don’t feel bad, I didn’t realize how terrible things were myself until about a week ago. Thank you, again.”
I walked out into the lobby and started for the door, but came quickly to a stop. There were two television news crews sitting out in the parking lot. I grabbed my key and steeled myself for the onslaught.
“Miss Winslett, where have you been since August last year?”
“Were you involved in the shooting in Pensacola?”
“Did your mother ask you to come home?” On, and on they
came.
Questions pelted me like rocks as I pushed my way through the crowd. I could hardly pull the door to my car open for the press of reporters pushing their microphones and cameras in my face. I turned the key and edged my way passed the bodies and hit the street. I looked in the rearview and noticed one of the news vans was in pursuit. I could see a black Trans Am closing to cut between us and run interference for me, but (as much as I loved him) I really didn’t need him for this adventure.
I dropped the gears and made a right turn, hit the gas and took the next left. By the time I was out of the city limits, I lost the news van and Micah. The big problem now was my car. There were plenty of Porsches in Palm Beach, but seldom did you find one with my unique paint job—I called it gun metal gray, but it was such a superior high glossed paint that it was closer to chrome. I was going to stick out like a sore thumb and, once Sharon’s ‘boys’ watched the news, I might as well be driving a bulls-eye.
I made it to the bungalow, glad that the unit was far enough in the back that my car wouldn’t be noticed from the road. I closed the drapes and waited for Micah. An hour later, I heard the deep rumble of a familiar engine.
I peeped through the curtains when he didn’t come through the door after a couple minutes; it was immediately apparent what he’d bought in his extra hour. He was stretching a car cover over my Porsche; another was still wrapped and waiting on the hood of the Trans Am. As he worked to cover our vehicles, I warmed last night’s left over spaghetti and set the table for lunch. When he stepped through the front door, the first thing he said was, “I don’t think you needed me today, even I couldn’t keep up with you!”
I wanted a humble expression, but the smile had more muscle. I went over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I do need you; I can just out drive you.”
His mouth opened, but then he paused. “I’ve got nothing, you’re right.”
After lunch, we relaxed on the loveseat waiting for the twelve o’clock news. “You realize driving your car now is probably not the best idea? I need to pick up a rental for you, but I really don’t want you going anywhere else.”
I snuggled into him, curling my legs onto the seat. “The doctor said he’s going to start dropping Mom off her meds this morning.”
He kissed the top of my head, “So he listened to you. Did you tell him your suspicions about Robert?”
I nodded. “He said he didn’t realize they’d been having trouble.” I wondered if I should tell him about giving Doctor Figarrio our motel information and his last name, but that was an angry argument that I would rather not have today or ever, if possible. Robert wasn’t stupid and, if he was stopping by to observe her state of mind, he would notice that she was becoming lucid. I would be hearing from the good doctor, and then Micah would have reason to question how he knew how to get in touch with me.
The twelve o’clock news began and I was the top story. It was odd watching as I came out of the doctor’s office, dodging reporters and driving away in my car. The news van had footage as they tried, unsuccessfully, to follow me. I felt Micah stiffen when a good picture of him appeared as he cut in front of them in the Trans Am. To anyone else watching the broadcast, it would just appear as if a car in traffic managed to get in the middle, but to Sharon and her hired killers, that shot would be very significant, not to mention how very significant it would be to a group of individuals in Louisiana.
I looked up at his face and I could see how much it bothered him; his jaw line was tight and the muscles on his neck were showing. There was nothing I could say because what was done was done. I slipped my arms around his waist and squeezed gently. I put my head against his chest as the news continued discussing my family’s recent troubles.
“I’m sorry that I’m turning out to be such a problem for you.” I didn’t say it very loud, but I could tell that it stirred him from his state of aggravation. I felt his chin come to rest on the top of my head.
“I’m never careless, and that was a stupid mistake. I can’t believe I…”
I could hear his heart rate increasing and felt his body becoming hard like stone as the muscles tensed, and he left his sentence unfinished. Then I felt his arm circle around me and he began to relax, the breathing slowed and the muscles softened.
“It’s not your fault, none of this is. Leese, you realize, now that I know where Jack and Ricky are staying, I need to take care of them as soon as possible and I’ll have to leave you for a while when I do.”
“I want to go with you,” I said, pulling back and looking at him.
“NO!”
“But what if you need me?”
No, Leese, this is what I do. I just have to make sure I get them when Sharon isn’t around. I can’t take a chance of her getting in the cross-fire. That would be a serious mistake to take out someone in another family.”
I pushed myself upright, “Then why can this D’Angelo guy put a hit on you?”
He gave a long slow sigh and began explaining that he would be considered as being insubordinate. He accepted a job and was obligated to complete it. “You don’t go back to the mob and say you changed your mind. But, they guard everyone under their umbrella of protection. We aren’t allowed to simply pickoff someone in the family because we want to—it’s got to be ordered from higher up.”
“So you’re saying that even though you’re criminals, you still have a code or rules that you go by.”
“Right. Every organization has to have rules and consequences for not following those rules.”
“Can you ever get out?”
“Sure, it’s easy; just get killed.” He was being sarcastic and yet I could tell there was an underlying serious note.
“Without getting killed, can you get out?” I was hoping he would say yes, because, besides helping my family, I wanted to know I had helped him change his life.
“It’s not easy and they make it so lucrative that most people stay to keep up their lifestyle.”
“But it isn’t impossible.”
“Why are you grilling me on this, Leese?” He was starting to get that annoyed tone.
“I was just hoping, I mean after everything is finished, you could start over.”
“When this is over, for once, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“If you didn’t have to do this… If you could choose a new life, would you stay here—with me?”
“It’s like you said, I’m too old for you. We’re two different worlds.”
I wasn’t prepared for him to use what I said to his parents against me. “I didn’t mean that, I just didn’t want you to know what I was feeling for you. You’re not too old for me and you can choose, if you want to.”
“You don’t want someone like me, Leese.”
I started to rebut his statement, when he asked me to let him finish.
“You and I have been acting like a pair of kids playing house. This isn’t me, Leese. I’m not this way. The things I’ve done would make you sick.”
“But you want to change. You said you wouldn’t let me give up on forever; you wanted to prove…”
His hand clamped over my mouth. “Stop it. I would like you to get a chance at forever, but I can’t be the guy. I’ve figured that much out.”
I couldn’t hold back when he said that, and the tears began to silently slip down my cheeks onto his hand. He took it away from my mouth to wipe my tears.
“You,” I choked, “are the one. I really am in love with you. Can’t you believe that? Can’t you understand that what I feel for you is the truth?”
“I should have never let us get this far,” he said just above a whisper. “I just keep making the wrong choices with you.”
I wondered where those choices began and I had to know the answer, but I couldn’t look at him when I asked. I placed my head back against his chest.
“If I hadn’t run away that first night,” I asked, remembering the expression on his face the night that he stood in the living room buttoning h
is shirt over his freshly bandaged wound. “What would have happened?”
“It didn’t happen, that’s all that matters.”
I could hear the pain in his response and I knew he didn’t want to continue, but I had to know. “We wouldn’t be here right now, would we Micah? You wouldn’t have all these problems if I hadn’t left that night.”
“I don’t think of you as a problem.”
“But I am. Would you have killed me if I hadn’t gotten away?”
“Are you sure you want to know this?”
I nodded and slowly looked up into the beautiful, disturbing face. He pushed me back against the arm of the love seat, his hand gripping at the base of my throat with the slightest pressure. The eyes were getting that empty stare as he held me there. I suddenly felt so small and frail as his mass dwarfed me.
“If I had gotten my hands back around your slender neck, I decided to choke you until you passed out, again. I would have raped you and then put a gun to your temple and killed you. You would have died that night if you hadn’t stolen my car. Now do you understand the kind of person you keep saying you’re in love with?”
“Yes,” came my whispered reply.
“Good,” he answered with a blank expression.
“But, I still love you, Micah.”
His whole body slumped. “You’re crazy…”
“I know that, but I can’t change the way I feel; you are the one. If we, by some miracle of God, make it out of this, I want you to be my forever.”
He laughed bitterly and shook his head as if there was no way that could ever, under any circumstances, happen. “If something changes, you’d be better off to completely forget about me and find someone else.”
“Close your eyes,” I asked.
“Why?”
“Please, just for a minute, I want you to do something for me.”
“Don’t kiss me, Leese.”
That stung. “I’m not going to kiss you; just close your eyes.”
Reluctantly he obeyed.
“For just a minute, I want you to think about someone else. Ryan is the only man I can think to use for this…”
01 Untouchable - Untouchable Page 27
