Destiny's Dream

by Delia Latham

  They found the patient sitting in a chair beside her bed, her wet hair bearing witness to a recent shower. She was snuggled into a fluffy robe, one Destiny had snagged while making a toiletry run at Karyn’s apartment. When they stepped into the room, she looked up with a welcoming smile.

  “Oh, thank God you’re here! Do you have any idea how boring it gets, just lying around doing nothing?”

  “Wow, you’re looking great!” Destiny hugged her friend, immensely relieved to see so much improvement.

  Karyn still looked bad—her face and arms bore bruises of every imaginable color, as her injuries healed in varying degrees of rapidity, but her attitude was bright.

  “I can’t believe you’re sitting up already.”

  “Then you have no idea how much I wanted a shower,” Karyn retorted, laughing. “And I feel so much better now that I’ve had one. It would have taken some pretty serious restraints to keep me in that bed. Hi, Clay!”

  “Hey. I’m glad you’re doing so well.” He moved around the bed and sank into a surprisingly comfortable-looking chair in the corner. “Now, if you ladies don’t mind, I’m going to sit right over here, out of your way, and let the two of you chatter as long as you want.”

  Destiny rolled her eyes. “Men!” She made a show of dismissing Clay with a wave of her left hand. “Karyn, I’ll dry your hair for you, if you’d like. I know I brought your blow dryer.”

  “No, thanks. It won’t take long to dry on its own. Besides…” She lowered her voice to a loud stage whisper. “I wouldn’t want the noise to keep Sleepy awake.”

  Destiny laughed. “Well, if you’re sure.” She perched on the edge of Karyn’s bed and eyed the other woman. “Any word from the police? They are still holding Marlon Shark, aren’t they?”

  “Yes. A detective called earlier to tell me he had confessed to everything, right down to the threatening phone calls to your house.” She frowned. “But kind of odd, though…they said he hasn’t stopped smiling. Just keeps looking at them like the cat that ate the canary, and wearing this stupid, secretive grin.”

  A flutter of unease tickled at Destiny’s stomach, but she squelched the inclination to fret. She had no intentions of letting that horrible man spoil this evening for her. Grabbing a loose tendril of hair with her left hand, she proceeded to twirl it around a finger while keeping an eye on Karyn’s face. “Wonder what that’s all about?”

  “Not a clue, but Clay’s mom seemed to have an idea.”

  “What?”

  Even as she choked on the word, Clay shot up out of his comfy chair and stood beside her. “When did you see my mother?”

  “She just left. I’m surprised you didn’t run into her as you came in.” Karyn gnawed her lip, her gaze moving uncertainly between the two of them. “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No, sweetie, of course not. It’s just that—” She cast a thoughtful look around the room. “—Claire’s been acting a little weird tonight. Was she alone, by any chance?”

  “Her friend was with her. Mr. Crane.”

  Destiny reacted to Clay’s low growl by tucking her arm through his and patting his hand. “I see. Did she say where they were going?

  “No, but she was asking a lot of questions. First she wanted to know about Cameron, whether he’d been to see me yet. I said no, and she asked if he’d called.”

  “Has he?” Somehow, Destiny knew the answer before Karyn shook her head, her dark eyes revealing extreme disappointment.

  “No.” The girl cleared her throat. “Then she started questioning me about Marlon.” Suddenly thoughtful, she added, “Remember the note he left yesterday? The one you and Claire were trying to hide from me?”

  “I remember.”

  “They both seemed particularly interested in that.” She giggled. “I’d love to think Claire came back because she liked me so well, but…I think it would be more accurate to say she came here to verify what she thought the note said.” Her amused grin told them she was not offended. “Oh—and to see if I had any idea where Marlon Shark lives.” At Clay’s ferocious glare, she hurried to add, “Which I don’t, of course.”

  Groaning, Clay ran a hand through his hair, leaving it in charming disarray. He held his hand out to Destiny. “We’d better go, sweetheart. I’m thinking my mother and her gentleman caller may be getting themselves into trouble.”

  She wished she could tell him his imagination was working overtime, but the clenching of her own gut said otherwise. He was right. They needed to find Claire.

  Bidding Karyn a hurried good-bye, they rushed outside, Destiny swallowing her disappointment that her friend hadn’t noticed the new sparkle on her left hand. It would have to wait until next time.

  At the car, Clay settled her in, then rushed around to the driver’s side and jumped in. As he backed out and pointed the vehicle back the way they’d come, he sighed. “So what exactly did that note say? I can’t imagine what my mother thinks she’s doing now, with Shark already in jail, but it sounds like she’s got some kind of wild hair about that note of his.”

  Destiny closed her eyes, trying to picture the scribbled lines in her mind. “He told Karyn to get well. He said he forgave her.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Can you believe that? He said he knew she’d learned her lesson, and that no one could stand between them now.”

  Clay rounded the next corner way too fast, and Destiny realized he and his mother shared the same insane driving style. She bit back a nervous giggle.

  “That’s it? It’s not saying anything special to me. You’re sure that was it?”

  “Just a second, let me think.” She focused once more on visualizing the note. “It was written on letterhead from Karyn’s office, which would have served as a clue that he was connected with her job—except that the police already have him. I keep thinking there was something else—oh!” The rest of Shark’s note flashed across her mind like a lighted marquee, further tightening the knot in her gut. “I remember now. He said no one could stand between them, and that he was taking care of that. Oh, Clay, this is not good!”

  Clay shook his head. “No, it’s not. Shark was up to something else. You have your cell phone?”

  “Yes.” She grabbed it out of her purse. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Call C.J. Tell him to pull whatever strings he has to pull to get Shark’s home address, and to call you back when he has it.” He screeched to a stop in front of Claire’s house and jumped out. She was listening to C.J.’s phone ring, willing him to answer, when Clay stuck his head back in the door. “Tell him to meet us there, and to bring the police with him.”

  Destiny's Dream

  26

  “What were you doing in your mother’s house?”

  The car’s headlights sliced through the darkness as they sped toward the address C.J. had provided. Neither of them was saying a lot. Destiny’s stomach had tied itself into a thousand knots, and she could only imagine what Clay must be feeling.

  “Watching television.”

  “What? While I waited in the car?”

  His attempt at laughter came out more like the bark of a sick dog. “Wanted to check out what she and Preston didn’t want us to catch them watching.”

  “Oh, that’s right!” Destiny stared toward his shadowy profile. “What was it?”

  “A video training course—Sleuthing 101, or something like that.”

  She sat speechless for a moment before groaning aloud. “Why didn’t I see this coming?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Claire got so excited—too excited—when we found that note in Karyn’s room. She told me not to touch it because it was evidence, and said something about her having a lot to learn. It made absolutely no sense. Clay, I’m sorry! I should have picked up on that.”

  “Why should you have? Destiny, none of this is your fault. My mother has a mind of her own.” He removed one hand from the wheel to place it over both of hers, knotted together in her lap. “Who would have thought sh
e would be playing detective at her age?”

  She laughed softly. “Your mother’s not an old woman, Clay. Maybe meeting Preston has awakened her to life again.”

  “Yeah, well,—this is a little too much life. Mom has no business gallivanting around the city playing master sleuth. She could get hurt.”

  Destiny said nothing. She understood his feelings, but Claire was still an attractive, healthy woman, and completely capable of making her own decisions. Like Clay, however, she was a little shocked that his mother had decided to become an amateur detective. Surely she had some inkling of how dangerous it could be.

  They pulled to a stop in front of a huge, triple-level house at the farthest end of a short lane. Peering out through the windshield, Destiny was struck by the depth of darkness. The moon, so full and beautiful while she and Clay walked in the foothills, now played hide-and-seek behind a cloud. But it was more than that. She glanced back the way they had come and realized the road boasted not a single street lamp. It was as if modern civilization stopped a few blocks back, and they’d driven right into the past, to a time when electricity had yet to be invented.

  The evening held a definite chill, but it wasn’t the cold that made her shiver as she stepped out of the car. It was something in the air. Something…malevolent.

  Clay pointed across the street and Destiny nodded. She’d already spotted Claire’s old sedan pulled right up into the driveway. Odd that she would have availed herself of someone’s personal parking space, rather than leaving her car on the street. Perhaps the house was abandoned, but it was hard to tell. Dusk had come and gone several hours earlier, yet not even one window on the entire street glowed with light.

  “C.J.’s not here yet.” She realized she was whispering, and wondered why she felt it necessary.

  Clay nodded back the way they had come. Headlights swung toward them as a vehicle veered off the broader road and headed their way. “That’s him now.”

  He opened his trunk and pulled out a couple of flashlights. “Here, take this.” He shoved one into Destiny’s hands but eyed her, his jaw set. “You stay right with me, understand? Do not roam off by yourself. We go in, we find my mother, and we get out.”

  “Yes, sir!” She saluted, but he didn’t smile, and Destiny chided herself. How could she joke when he was so worried? She laid a hand on his arm. “Clay, she’s OK. We’ll find her. Everything will be fine.”

  “Of course it will.” C.J. appeared at her side, carrying a flashlight of his own. “Don’t be such a gloom and doom type, bro. Mom knows how to take care of herself. She’s tougher than you and me put together.”

  “Of course she is. So what are you doing here, then?”

  “Hey, Destiny said those were your orders. You know me; I do as I’m told.”

  Clay snorted, and Destiny bit back a grin. Her Gallagher wasn’t in the mood for his brother’s banter.

  “Look, you’re probably right.” Clay’s clipped tones brooked no argument or interruption. “We’ll just go in there and get her and Crane and come back out. But you never know what kind of situation she might have walked into. Shark’s in jail, so I’m not worried about him. But we don’t know for sure that he lived alone. Someone else could be here.”

  C.J. nodded, all traces of merriment erased. “I know, bro. I’m with you.”

  “Where in tarnation are the police?” Clay glared down the road.

  “I say we don’t wait for them,” C.J. offered. “That’s our mom in there.”

  ****

  “It was a bit anti-climactic.” Destiny finished her recounting of the previous night’s escapade to a wide-eyed Jenna. “After all the worry and hype, Claire called Clay before we even made it into the house. Can you believe that?”

  Jenna grinned. “What did she say?”

  “First she said, ‘Just hush up and listen.’” She glanced up at her sister with a wry grimace. “She knows her son pretty well. Then she told him to grab a pen and rattled off the address. Of course, she had no idea we were standing right out front.” She used her fingers to make quotation marks in the air and spoke in a voice as close to Claire’s sweet tones as she could manage. “‘Please get here as quickly as you can, dear. There’s a nice young man handcuffed in the basement, and I don’t think Preston and I can get him free without a little help.”

  Jenna laughed. “Oh, I love that woman. She’s incorrigible!”

  Destiny rolled her eyes. “You don’t know the half.”

  “So what happened then?”

  “Well, the police showed up just as Clay rang off, and they pretty much took over. You should have seen Claire’s face when we all came marching in there two minutes after she’d hung up the phone. It was hilarious—and absolutely priceless.”

  Jenna settled back against the white sofa in her living room. “How is Cameron doing?”

  “Well, he’s sore all over, and he has a touch of pneumonia.” Destiny shuddered, remembering the dark, rat-infested basement where the young man spent nearly forty-eight hours in chains. “If not for Claire and Preston, he might have starved to death down there—or been attacked by those filthy rats when he got too weak to fight them off. Something tells me Marlon Shark would never have said a word. He would have enjoyed knowing Cameron was trapped in that dark hole with no chance of getting out.” Her voice wavered, and a chill gripped her body. “Every house on the street, except Shark’s, was empty. Someone said a new freeway is going through there soon. Jen, it could have been months before anyone found Cameron’s body.”

  Jenna scooted close and took her hand. “But God was watching out for him, Teeni. He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”

  “They’re keeping him in the hospital for observation for a couple of days.” She managed a shaky smile. “But I don’t think he minds. He’s down the hall from Karyn, and she spends every waking moment at his side.”

  “Oh, that’s so sweet!” Jenna heaved a wistful sigh and placed a hand over her heart. “All this young love! It makes me miss the newness of romance.”

  “Well, you know how to stir the embers, girl! Dr. Bob doesn’t stand a chance when you decide to light a fire.”

  Jenna smiled, her gaze resting lovingly on a photo of her family. “Yeah, I know. And I didn’t say I missed romance—just the newness of it. Bob and I have a stronger flame burning now than we did when we first fell in love.”

  “OK…uh, I’m sure that’s wonderful, and I’m thrilled to know it, but—” She covered both ears and scrunched her eyes tight. “Let’s not go there, Squirt. Keep your flames to yourself.”

  “Trust me, I will!” Jenna jiggled her eyebrows. “You’ll find those things out on your own soon enough.” Dropping her gaze to Destiny’s left hand, she grinned and clapped her hands. “I still can’t believe you’re wearing Clay’s ring, Teeni! I’m so thrilled for you—for both of you.”

  Moving her hand back and forth to watch the play of sunlight on her diamond, Destiny smiled. “Thanks, Jen. So am I.”

  “So what now? Are our senior detectives hanging out a shingle or what?”

  “I don’t think so. They’re excited about having found Cameron, but Claire said she doesn’t think she needs quite that much stimulation on a steady basis. Let me tell you, though—there was one moment when I thought her excitement might be a little too much to handle.”

  “When was that?”

  “Remember I told you the police said Marlon Shark hadn’t stopped smiling?” Her sister nodded, and Destiny continued. “Well, an officer called late last night specifically to tell Claire that it wiped the sick grin right off Shark’s face when they told him they were adding kidnapping and malicious assault to the string of charges they already had against him.”

  “Good!” Jenna’s hard voice spoke of her lack of concern for Shark’s feelings. “He would have let Cameron die down there, and never said a word.”

  Destiny nodded. “But still…the man has a soul, Jen. We need to pray for him.”

  “Are you craz
y?” Jenna’s eyes flashed green fire. “After what he put you through? And what he did to Karyn and Cameron? I don’t think I could bring myself to pray for him, even if I wanted to—which I don’t!”

  Destiny pulled her sister into a warm embrace. “Jen, I love that you love me so much. But let’s not forget what Mama taught us.” She hid a grin, noticing the obstinate set to her sister’s lips. “Come on, say it with me. Matthew 5:44—Love your enemies, bless them that curse you.” She nudged Jenna, and smiled when the soft voice joined hers. “Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

  “OK, so I’ll pray for the jerk.” Jenna gave her a tight smile. “Now, if the Sunday School lesson is over…?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m all done.”

  “Then come with me to pick up the girls. I can’t wait to tell them they’re going to be in your wedding.”

  Destiny's Dream

  27

  “You don’t have to do this!” Clay’s eyes resembled two miniature storm clouds. “That man has no right to ask it of you.”

  Shark had been in jail for two days. They were settling gratefully into the knowledge that there was nothing left to fear from him. But an officer had called earlier in the day, at the request of the inmate. He wanted to see Destiny.

  She drew the brush through her hair one last time then pulled it back into the familiar high ponytail. She tossed the strap of her bag over her shoulder and stepped close to Clay. Sliding both hands behind his neck, she pulled him close and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

  “Gallagher. I’m not afraid to talk to that pitiful human being. He’s behind bars, where he can’t hurt anyone.” She leaned into his chest and allowed her gaze to roam over his handsome face. “Besides, you’ll be right there with me. What harm can it do to grant him the audience he requested?”