What You Wish For

by Fern Michaels

  “It means I’ve been so busy with the promotion I haven’t had time to call,” Daniel lied.

  “What’s your salary now?”

  “Certainly far short of what your firm pays you, Mother, but I stand to be the next CEO. It all takes time.”

  “It certainly does where you’re concerned. Amy made her first million by the time she was twenty-five. Because I got into the workforce late, I was thirty-eight before I made my first million. Your father is still working on his as we all know. When do you think you’ll make yours?”

  “Soon,” Daniel lied again.

  “How’s your wife, Daniel? She didn’t send a Christmas card last year, or a birthday card. I was offended. Are you two having marital problems?”

  “Certainly not. Actually things couldn’t be better. I would have thought you would be in touch when you heard the news.”

  “What news? Are you having a child?”

  “No, Mother. Helen and I inherited Isabel Tyger’s fortune. It was on all the news stations, although for certain reasons I can’t go into, Helen was referred to as Nancy Baker. How could you have missed hearing that? I’m surprised Amy didn’t mention it. Every brokerage house in the country has been after us.”

  “I think I did hear something about that. What exactly does the word fortune mean, Daniel?”

  “It means around three hundred million dollars plus real estate. That kind of fortune.”

  “And you inherited it all. That’s the funniest thing I ever heard. Why would somebody like Isabel Tyger leave you and that little trailer-park bitch you married all that money?”

  “She was grateful for my help, and she adores Helen. We now have a yacht and a private jet not to mention a whole fleet of cars. There’s a house in Switzerland, one in Hawaii, one in Aspen, and a villa in Spain. Chew on that, Mother. Where’s Dad?”

  “I see. Perhaps you’ll be so kind as to send me a copy of the will, Daniel. You always were a liar. I have no idea where your father is. He’s probably outside watching some of his nightblooming flowers. I’ll tell him you called.”

  Daniel listened to his mother’s trilling laughter before the connection was broken.

  “Fuck you, Mother,” Daniel muttered.

  Once Isabel Tyger’s money was his, he would buy a helicopter and set down on his mother’s lush front lawn. That should set her back on her ear. Damn, that’s exactly what he would do. She’d be laughing out the other side of her face if he did that. His sister would sneer at him, her face full of jealousy. His father . . . Well, his father would look at him with his sad eyes and worry that the helicopter would ruin the grass.

  Daniel turned off the heater and cracked the window to squint through it. The shelter had gone dark in the past few minutes. That had to mean everyone had retired for the night. He frowned. Nine o’clock was too early to go to bed. For the past week the lights hadn’t been turned off till ten minutes past eleven. Just enough time to turn on the late news to get the day’s headlines and weather. Then it was lights out.

  Something was different tonight. No chink of light showed through any of the blinds on the upstairs windows. The light next to the front door was out also. Darkness, as he well knew, could be an enemy or a friend. In this case he rather thought it was going to be Helen’s friend.

  He thought about the three-car garage and the sensor lights overhead. Would they go on if the garage door opened? Not likely. There was probably a switch inside the garage that turned them on and off manually. He’d seen three different vehicles enter the garage, a van, a smaller car, and a 4 x 4 that had driven in four days ago. None of the vehicles had left the garage in the last twenty-four hours.

  He wondered what he would do if all three vehicles left at the same time going in different directions. Which one would he follow? He snorted. The last vehicle, the 4 x 4, the Pathfinder. They were so obvious they were pathetic. Didn’t they know who they were up against?

  He waited.

  “Helen, this is a mistake. I know it as surely as I’m standing here. Right now you have nothing going for you. It’s snowing out, you’re recovering from a virus, and. there’s someone out there waiting for you in the darkness. Is there anything I can say to make you change your mind?”

  “No, Julia, there is nothing you can say.”

  “Will you at least give me a clue, a hint, as to where you’re going so I don’t worry? Remember, you have all of Miss Tyger’s money at your disposal. Dip into that. I wish you’d fly to California.”

  “I would never fly these dogs in the cargo hold. I’ve heard too many horror stories. I can’t tell you because I don’t know.”

  “Are you saying you don’t have a plan?” Julia asked, outraged.

  “That’s what I’m saying. Daniel expects me to have a plan. He’s trying to outthink me.”

  “Why didn’t you call California and ask to have Miss Tyger’s plane flown here? That way the dogs could have flown first-class. At least you’d be safe, for God’s sake.”

  “Julia, thanks for being a friend and thanks for tossing out the rules where I was concerned. I’ll be forever grateful. Don’t worry about me. I’ll call when I can. You don’t really think Max will let anything happen to me, do you?”

  “I know he’ll do his best.”

  “I will tell you one little secret, and it will make you feel better. That package you gave me. It was from Arthur King. I asked him to get me a gun. The kind I learned to shoot back in California when I was in the shelter the first time. Those defense courses Boots made us take will come in handy. I did okay on the shooting range, too. I’m not a lamb going to the slaughter, so wipe that look off your face. If I don’t take charge now, Julia, it was all for nothing. I want my life, and I’m the only one who can get it back. Time to go.”

  “Promise you’ll send that belly chain.” Julia grinned.

  “I promise,” Helen said solemnly.

  “Then go with the angels, Helen.”

  Helen watched with tears in her eyes when the two dogs allowed themselves to be hugged. “Come on, into the truck.”

  “Julia, I’m going to need a few minutes. Don’t open the doors until I flash my lights, okay?”

  “You got it.”

  Arthur King sighed when he hung up the phone. “Helen left the shelter, Gerry, and it’s snowing in New Jersey. I think she’s on her way to California. Don’t get excited. It’s just a guess on my part. I think she’s going to try and lure Daniel back here. This is where it started, and this is where she wants it to end. When it’s all over she can call Sam and tell him she’s free. I think she’s viewing it as something she has to do herself with no help from anyone. Who are we to say otherwise? We don’t walk in her shoes. I think Boots was right about her. She’s a hell of a person. The few times Daniel let me meet her, I liked her. My wife liked her, too.”

  “Have you heard anything from the lawyers about Helen’s problems?”

  “They’re working on it. It’s costing some big bucks because we made it a top priority, and everyone is walking the papers to where they have to go instead of using the mails and waiting weeks for responses. If I’m right, and Helen is heading here to California, it will take her four or five days. We should know something by then. When this is all over, Gerry, what are we going to do?”

  “Something that counts. Something Izzie would approve of. You know, meaningful,” Gerry said. “I’m hoping Helen will let us help her with what she’s going to be going through with Izzie’s estate. In the end I think she’ll accept because she’s good at heart, and she’ll want to make things better for other people if she has the chance. It’s just a guess, but I’m hoping. I do know one thing, though, Artie, she will never let this inheritance come between her and Sam Tolliver.”

  “I wish I knew what the hell she was up to and how she thinks she’s going to outsmart that bastard. Lookeee here, Gerry, we have an e-mail from Sam Tolliver.”

  Artie pushed his glasses upward as he read the e-mail addressed to Ge
rry and himself.

  “Okay, this is it. Call him and tell him what’s going on. I don’t care if you give him the address of the shelter or not. Call Julia and warn her that he’s going to be coming by.”

  “It’s late, Gerry.”

  “It’s not that late. Do it, Artie. Do you have his phone number?”

  “Yeah, he gave it to me in that first e-mail.”

  “Call him.” Gerry handed Artie the portable phone.

  “Arthur King, Mr. Tolliver. I’m sorry if I woke you. Oh, you weren’t asleep. That’s good. I have something to tell you. Listen carefully.”

  At the end of the conversation, Artie held the phone away from his ear so Gerry could hear Tolliver cursing a blue streak.

  “It wouldn’t have done you any good to go there. We all have to respect Helen’s wishes. I’m sorry about your house. If that’s the worst thing the son of a bitch does, we can all live with it. She knows how to shoot the gun. She is very good at self-defense. The Pathfinder is new so she won’t have car trouble. She has the dogs. I think, and this is just a guess or maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, but I think she’s headed here to California. Get a map and try to figure out the route she would take. I’m going to give you the address of the shelter, but you won’t find out anything we don’t already know. I’ll call Julia now to tell her you’ll be coming by. This is the first time in the history of the foundation that we’re okaying a visit like this. We’re doing it against our better judgment, Mr. Tolliver. It is my personal opinion that you’ll be wasting your time going there. Our advice is to try and figure out the route Helen would take and head out. Her car is a hunter green Pathfinder. The license plate is LMB-465. Daniel Ward is driving a silvery-looking car and no, we don’t know the make of it nor do we know the license-plate number. I understand it’s snowing there, so Helen will be driving carefully. Daniel Ward, on the other hand, is a Californian and isn’t familiar with snow. Tell us what you’re going to do, Mr. Tolliver.”

  “I’m going to strangle the two of you when we finally meet up. I don’t care how damn old you are. You got that? I’m going after her. You should have called me sooner. I thought she was okay and would stay put when I saw those belly chains with the gizmos hanging off them. Even the dogs were wearing them. That’s what I’m going to strangle you with after I engrave your names on those doohickeys that hang below the belly button. We’re wasting time here, King. I’m outta here. You damn well better hope she’s okay because I am holding you personally responsible. You got that?”

  “Yes, Mr. Tolliver, we have it. Godspeed.”

  “Godspeed?” Gerry hissed.

  Artie shrugged. “They always say things like that in the movies. It seemed appropriate. He’s going to strangle us with belly chains that have our names on them. What the hell do you suppose that’s all about? He said he knew she was all right when he saw the belly chains. We are old. If we weren’t old, we’d be able to figure that out, Gerry,” Artie said fretfully.

  “Maybe we should have told him sooner.”

  “The rules say no. We never broke them before. As it is, we’re going to have to account for this.”

  “To whom? We’re it, Artie.”

  “That’s true. I’m tired. What is a belly chain anyway?”

  “Maybe it’s something Helen sells on the Internet. Check it out, Artie.”

  “Uh-huh,” Artie said later, his gaze glued to the screen in front of him.

  “Oh, my goodness,” Gerry said. “The dogs are wearing them. What do those little round circles say?”

  “One says Helen and one says Sam.”

  “That’s what Tolliver meant by Helen being all right. She must have added this . . . item recently as her way of letting him know she was okay. It makes sense,” Gerry said. “We might be old, but we aren’t stupid. Don’t forget to mention this the next time we have a communiqué from Mr. Tolliver. Maybe he’ll think twice about strangling us.”

  “We need to stop being so damn flip. This whole thing is serious beyond anything we imagined. The worst part of it is we have no control. All we can do is sit and wait and pray Helen knows what she’s doing. What do you think Izz would be doing if she were here?” Artie asked.

  “The same thing we’re doing. Waiting. Her money would be on Helen.”

  “We wait then,” Artie said.

  23

  Toasty warm inside the Pathfinder but definitely uncomfortable with her heavy, winter jacket, Helen turned around to look at the dogs. “Look, it’s just for a little while. We’re going to get this thing settled once and for all, and I’m the one who is going to be doing the settling. It’s the best explanation I can offer.” The Lab growled his displeasure. Helen shrugged. “It is what it is,” she murmured.

  Helen glanced down at the road map on the front seat next to her. Arthur King had been as good as his word. Before she left the shelter, she had marked the exact same route she’d taken when she left the shelter in California to drive to New Jersey. As long as she could read the road signs, she would be all right. At some point, her memory would kick in for the highways she’d used on her trip east that first time so long ago.

  Helen strained to see the road ahead through the windshield. It didn’t look like the white swirling snowflakes would do anything serious. There was no accumulation on the ground, and the farther south she drove the warmer the ground would be. The only problem was, she was only going as far south as Washington, DC, at which point she would head west. From that point on, the weather would be anyone’s guess.

  As far as a plan went, this one out-and-out sucked, big-time. She smiled when she realized it was Sam’s favorite expression. She couldn’t think about Sam. Sam was the prize at the end of the road. If she ever got to the end of the road. What was her game plan? To drive away from the shelter and hope Daniel would follow her. Then what? Stop so she could accost him? If necessary, pump a few rounds into him and then call the police. She’d do some jail time, get out, and get on with her life. Stupid, naive thinking at best. Incredibly stupid and incredibly naive at the worst. She wasn’t capable of shooting anyone, and she knew it. She wouldn’t do well in prison without Lucie, and Sam would never want a jailbird for a wife. The gun was a scare tactic, nothing more, and she knew it in her heart. Daniel, on the other hand, would shoot to kill. Daniel loved guns and was an expert marksman. Back in San Jose he’d had an impressive gun collection he liked to brag about. She’d hated it, and she hated polishing the cabinet and cleaning the glass panels. How often he’d threatened her with one of the guns. Once he’d held one of them to her temple and removed the safety. She’d fainted right on the spot the moment she heard the ominous click. He’d kicked her clear across the room that day when she came to. Impressive and terrifying. Daniel had impressive, terrifying collections of a lot of things. She wondered where all those collections were now. Probably in some pawnshop somewhere.

  She was glad now that she had slept the better part of the afternoon in preparation for driving all night long. She felt alert, and the two thermoses full of coffee would ensure that she stayed alert. If Daniel was following her, and she was certain he was, he’d wait till she stopped to use the bathroom or to get gas before he pounced. Daniel liked surprises as long as he wasn’t on the receiving end of the surprise. When you were in control, a surprise could throw you out of control, and that was something Daniel would never allow to happen.

  She thought about the silver car her husband was driving and what kind of capabilities it had. She was almost certain it would be no match for the Pathfinder. Daniel knew diddly about snow. She didn’t know much herself, but Sam had taught her tricks about driving in snow, tricks she hoped she wouldn’t have to put into use.

  I should have asked Arthur King to send Boots’s plane. She could still do that if she wanted to, but it would have to be readied and that could take as much as a day or two. A flight plan and all kinds of things to throw kinks into a plan. Either she was going to accept the inheritance or she
wasn’t. There would be no half measures. The Pathfinder didn’t come under the heading of accepting the inheritance. The Pathfinder was an instrument to right the foundation’s screwup by having her declared dead. Her backbone stiffened. “Either I do it on my own, or I don’t do it at all,” she mumbled. “Daniel Ward is my problem. No one else’s problem.”

  Helen slowed the Pathfinder as she approached the toll booth that would lead her onto the New Jersey Turnpike. She reached for the ticket. “Ma’am, can you see a silvery-looking car behind me?”

  The attendant craned her neck. “No, miss. I can’t really see in all this swirling snow. Is something wrong? Do you want me to call one of the troopers?”

  Helen looked at the lapel pin the woman was wearing. Tyree Pullen. She wondered what kind of name Tyree was. So different from plain old Helen. “No, that isn’t necessary. I thought I saw someone I knew a while back. It’s possible he passed me earlier, and, like you said, it’s hard to see in this swirling snow.”

  “Drive safely. The weather forecast isn’t exactly rosy.”

  “I will. Have a nice night and stay warm.”

  The attendant nodded and raised the barrier. Helen barreled through, trying to see the cars in the rearview mirror as they approached the ticket booth. All she could see were headlights and swirling snow. She steered the Pathfinder to the right lane and settled down for the long drive to the last exit, where she would pick up Interstate 95. Both dogs were sound asleep. There was just enough traffic to give her a sense of security. She sighed, her shoulders relaxing.

  It was going to be a very long night.

  Julia Martin knew what she was doing was foolish, even dangerous. Following Helen Ward was going to get her bounced right out of the program. Calling in one of the volunteers, saying only that she had somewhere to go, was never going to work. As if she really cared at this point. Meeting Helen Ward, breaking all the rules, and helping her was something she was never going to regret. “It’s time for me to make my own way. I’ve lived behind bars, locked doors, and walled gardens long enough. I want to breathe again. I want my life back, too,” she murmured as she turned on the radio and cracked the window.