by Kira Blakely
“Did you kill anyone?”
He took a deep breath at that one. “Only when it was a him or me situation, and I never initiated an offensive.”
“Are you done?”
He paused but nodded. “Yes, I’m done. They may not realize it, but I’m not going away again. I’m done with that life.”
“You’re sure?”
“I am.”
“Then I will trust you,” I said.
Chapter 31
Bolton
Tips of spring grass were beginning to emerge, and I was busily sewing up loose ends at the office. As ceremoniously as I’d left, naturally there were things I had to hand over to Kenny.
“You’re not going to tell me why you’re doing this?” Kenny asked.
“Buddy, we go way back, so you’ll respect it when I ask you not to ask. This is what I want, this is what Lilly wants, and she’s agreed to marry me.”
“No shit? Hey, man, that’s great!” He patted me on the shoulder. “You know you’re going to piss off Natalie.”
“Oh? Why this time?”
“Well, you’re not the only one who’ll be walking down the aisle, and she won’t like the idea that her spotlight will be stolen.”
“You’re getting married?”
Kenny nodded, and I hugged him. It was a joyous moment and a turning point in both our lives. “Do me one favor.”
“What’s that?”
“Let the sisters work it out. That’s not something I want in the middle of.”
“Agreed.”
We got back to the business of signing papers and handing over information. We both knew there would be storms brewing at home, and we were content to keep our heads and contributions in the business world.
This time I went through the office, getting and giving handshakes and hugs as I said goodbye to the staff who’d held me up during the darker times. I stopped with Beverly, who had been my right arm many times. “Don’t give up on me yet, Bev. If Kenny doesn’t treat you right, I might just have to start another business and hire you away,” I told her, and her sparkling tears highlighted the hug she gave me.
I left without shouting, but rode the elevator for what may be the very last time. I pulled out of my space next to the door in the parking garage and was about to pull out onto the street when my phone buzzed. It was a distinctive vibration I’d set long before, because it could only come from one source. I sucked in air. No! Not now! Not today!
“What?” I shouted into the phone, not caring who was at the other end. They were all in it together. I wanted them out of my life, and if it hadn’t been for Lilly, I’d have chucked the phone in the Ohio River right then and there. But that would only mean that they’d come looking for me in person. I couldn’t control when, where, or who I might be with.
“Hello, Bolt,” came her voice. Michele.
“Michele. Look, you’ll have to find someone else. I’m out, do you hear? I’ve told them that before, and I thought you and I had an understanding.”
“It has to be you, Bolt,” she said. “It’s not what you think.”
“I’ve heard that before,” I literally growled into the phone’s mic.
“No, I’m serious, Bolt. Do you remember about five years ago? Do you remember Dimitri?”
“Dimitri? He’s dead.”
“No, he’s not. I just learned of it, Bolt. You know I’ve been in negotiations. I don’t have to tell you that in this business, one makes, well, friends.”
“So?”
“So, I’ve just learned that Dimitri didn’t die in that explosion like we thought. He wasn’t even there. But he’s got it in for you, Bolt. He’s in the States, and he knows where you live. He’s coming for you.”
“What? Are you shitting me?” I was furious. After all that time, all those favors, and they couldn’t take out one lousy Ruskie who was on my trail? Who the hell had my back? “Do you know where he is?”
“You know I don’t. He’s not that stupid, but he’s there to get you, and he knows where you live. You’re not exactly a recluse, after all. Keep your eyes open, Bolt. It’s the best I can do. I’m sorry.”
She disconnected, and I could feel the fury climbing my neck. I had two choices. I could head home, tell Lilly we had to leave, and get her and the baby out. Or, I could call in a couple of favors and probably get Dimitri’s cell. I could lure him away, into some kind of trap. The problem with the second scenario was I might not be able to get him, and it would be time wasted. Even then, he might not come, knowing it would be a trap. And there was always the possibility he’d take me out, and that would leave Lilly on her own. I couldn’t do that. Only seconds had passed, but I’d already reasoned out the only plan possible. I practically sideswiped another car as I sped up the ramp to I-64, toward home.
Chapter 32
Lilly
“Have you been out yet today, Mary?” I asked. “It smells like springtime! God, but I love that smell, and the storms that come with it.”
“No, I haven’t. To tell you the truth, I have a headache that won’t go away. I was hoping you could take the baby for a while and let me have a quick nap to see if that would help?
“Oh, of course! Why didn’t you say so before? Come here, Jinx. Come to Mama.”
I took him and could feel the strengthening muscles in his back as his head craned around to look at Mary. “Look at that,” I said. “He think you’re his mama.”
“No, no, all babies do that, honey. I’m going upstairs now. If it’s so nice, why don’t you wrap him up and take him outside in the stroller for a walk? Do you both some good.”
“You know, I might do just that,” I agreed and watched her go into her room, closing the door.
I carried the baby into the kitchen where I found Mrs. Polk making pies. “Where do we keep the baby food jars?” I asked, feeling foolish for not knowing. He’d been off my breast for almost a month, and I didn’t even know where we kept his food. I felt guilty and embarrassed.
Mrs. Polk tried to make me feel a bit better by saying, “Oh, we just moved it. It’s all in that cupboard next to the refrigerator,” she said, smiling. I nodded, chose a couple of jars and a spoon, and reached for his diaper bag that sat on top of the refrigerator.
“We’re going out for a little walk. Mary has a headache and went to lie down. She’ll be just fine on her own.”
Mrs. Polk nodded, the tip of her nose covered with flour from her baking. She wiped her hands on her apron and waved goodbye to Jinx.
“Bye, bye, Jinx,” she said. “Be a good boy, ye hear?”
A few minutes later, I was wheeling him in the driveway, both of us bundled up against the crisp air, but the sunshine warmed our faces. I was trying to decide where to go when I thought of Mr. Fred. I hadn’t been to see him in a long time, almost all winter. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t sure he’d ever gotten to see the baby, so I headed that way.
We went down the side road that led directly to the barns. I saw a couple of unfamiliar cars parked outside and realized that Mr. Fred was probably dealing with business. I’d heard Bolt mention something about buying or selling one of our foals. I didn’t know much about horses, so it was all a mystery to me. Jinx was cooing happily, his little hands swinging in the fresh air. I knew he would sleep well that night.
I never heard them coming. One moment I was bending to give Jinx a kiss and the next, something dark had been thrown over my head, and I was being lifted up and thrown over a strong shoulder. I heard Jinx squeal, and I started screaming his name. Then everything went black.
Chapter 33
Bolton
I drove as quickly as I could without alarming anyone into my drive. My keys in my hand, I unlocked the door and called out for Lilly. She didn’t answer, but Mrs. Polk came out of the kitchen, her face white with something. “She’s not here. She took the baby for a walk. I’m surprised you didn’t see them as you came in.”
I went cold inside. Anything that wasn’t normal was sus
picious. “Mrs. Polk, whatever you do, stay in the kitchen, you hear? Don’t answer the door or let anyone in unless it’s me or Lilly. Tell Mary the same thing.”
Her mouth opened, but I didn’t stay to explain. “Do it!” I shouted and left. “Lilly!” I called, walking around the house, but she didn’t answer. I spotted cars down at the barns and reasoned she might have walked down there to see Mr. Fred. I hadn’t gone more than two feet before Mr. Fred himself burst around the corner of the house and grabbed my arm.
“Bolt, get back!”
“What’s wrong? Is Lilly with you?”
“Someone took her and the baby, Bolt. I thought the car was the people from Covington, coming to look at the foal. I headed that way when I saw some guy in a heavy coat come out of the barn, and she was right there with the baby. He threw a bag or something over her head, shouldered her, and picked up the baby. She started screaming and then stopped. Thought I’d better come up here for reinforcements.”
My heart pounded as I ran back into the house and unlocked my office, pocketing three guns. I handed one to Mr. Fred outside and told him to conceal it and walk toward the barns calmly, just like he always did. “I’ll come, but inside the tree line. Don’t do anything courageous, Mr. Fred, but he’s not here to hurt her. He’s here for me.”
He reached the barn just steps ahead of me. I’d hung back for that reason, my eyes searching for clues and logistics as I approached. As I got close, I could hear Jinx wailing, but not a sound from Lilly. That made my blood freeze. I motioned Mr. Fred to go around to the other side of the barn and then hold up. When he was in position, I came out of the tree line and approached the barn from the back. At that moment, I heard two shots.
“Goddammit!” I yelled, running as fast as I could toward the barn. When I was ten feet away, the door opened, and a man’s leg emerged. I rolled to the ground and out of line of sight so I could catch him from the side or back. I raised my gun, and then checked it.
“Dad! Dad? What are you doing here?”
“Heh! Well, Bolt, about time you showed up.” He was holding a wailing Jinx.
“Dad, where are they? Where’s Lilly?”
“She’s inside.”
I didn’t wait for an explanation but kicked the door open, my guns in hand. A shaft of sunlight came through a skylight above the hayloft, and where it hit the floor, there were two bodies. Mr. Fred burst in from the side and we both froze at the sight.
There was a man and a woman. I leaped toward her, kneeling beside her. Rolling her over, I prepared myself for the worst.
It was Michele. Mr. Fred had rolled over the man who was obviously dead, shot through the head. He was moving along the perimeter of the barn, shoving aside feed buckets and bales of hay in his search. “Got her!” he shouted.
I got to her just as Mr. Fred lifted her up. I grabbed her wrist. She wasn’t dead. She wasn’t dead! I took Lilly from him and hurried out of the barn, just as Lilly was beginning to stir. The fresh air helped, and I slapped her wrists, kissing her at the same time.
“She’ll be OK,” my father said from his position on the tailgate of his truck. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it when I arrived, but there it was. “Just a little chloroform, I’m guessing. They weren’t after her, Bolt. They were after you… and me.”
“Bolt?” Lilly was calling my name. “Jinx?” she asked sitting up where I’d placed her on the grass.
“He’s fine, he’s fine. Are you OK?”
“My head hurts, but yes. Bolt, someone grabbed me.”
“It’s OK, sweetheart. It’s over. They’re…gone.”
“They? Who? Why? Give me my baby!”
“Now you just sit there a little longer till you get your head back. I’ve got the baby,” my dad spoke up.
“Here, I’ll take him,” I said, moving toward them.
“Nuh-uh-uh. No you don’t. This is the first time I get to hold my grandson. Not so fast.”
“Dad, no, he’s not—”
“Not what? My grandson? You’re full of shit, as usual, Bolt. Look at them eyes. He’s the spittin’ image of your mother. He’s got her eyes and nose. That baby is all Symington, son. Let’s hope he got a little of my gumption, though.”
I couldn’t have been more galvanized if I’d been struck by lightning. My father was right! Those were my mother’s eyes, my eyes. That’s why I’d taken to him so quickly. I just never let myself see it. I turned to look at Lilly, and she mustered a half smile and nodded. “I was going to tell you at our wedding,” she said weakly.
“I don’t understand, Dad. I heard shots.”
“Of course, you did. I pulled the trigger. Got the both of them.”
“But, Dad, that’s Michele Overton in there, Dad. She’s an American diplomat! You killed an innocent woman!”
“Like hell I did. She wasn’t one of us, son. She flipped a few years back, but we just hadn’t been able to prove it. But I’d gotten the goods on her, and she knew it. She got him, and they were comin’ for us.”
“You mean?”
He nodded and put the baby on his shoulder, patting him gently to calm his crying.
I turned around. “Mr. Fred, I’m going to have to ask you to leave us. There’s something private we need to talk about.”
“Aw, hell, Bolt. He knows, goddammit.”
“Knows? Knows what?”
“How about her?”
“She knows, too.”
“Well, then, come on up to the house, and let’s take this baby inside. I need a brandy,” he growled, and before I could stop him, he climbed behind the wheel of his truck and started the ignition, Jinx on his shoulder.
“Hold on there,” I said, running toward him.
“Get in back, dammit. I’ll drive slow. Got a baby on my shoulder, don’t you see that?”
I stood there, helpless and confused, but I helped Lilly up, and the three of us sat on the tailgate as Dad drove over the field up toward his house. As soon as he stopped, Lilly jumped off and took Jinx from him.
Once everyone had calmed down and we were sitting in Dad’s great room, he began to talk. I realized I hadn’t been in the house since my mother died. It felt strange.
“Son, you’re not worth a damn as a spy, I can tell you that,” he said, and I immediately bristled, but I kept my seat.
“Why do you think your mother and I quarreled so much? She never wanted me to leave, said it scared her. So, I let her go with me sometimes, when you were real little. You and her stayed at a resort while I’d go in, and when I was done, we’d see a little more of the world and then come back. Why the hell do you think they came to you when you were finishing college? You think they just pulled your name out of a hat?”
“They told me it was the languages,” I said, feeling like a schoolboy.
“Sure, they did. They tell everybody something. Nobody in his right mind would do what we did. Yeah, the languages helped, came in right handy, tell you the truth. But you were my son, and that gave them two of us to hold over one another’s head. I’ll bet you Michele told you something dirty about me, didn’t she?”
I nodded. “Said you and she had an affair.”
He laughed, downing his drink and pouring another. “Figured it was something like that. She always had a hankerin’ for me, but hell, I had your mother. Who in his right mind would lose that?”
“You mean…?”
“You thought I had other women, didn’t you?”
“But…”
“Yeah, that was part of the cover. They had to make me out to be one helluva son of a bitch. Nobody worries about a drunk listenin’ in. Problem was, I played the role too good. As you can see,” he held out his empty glass as testimony and immediately refilled it.
“So, you’re telling me you’ve been working for them since I was a kid?”
“Before you came along. That’s how I met your mother. It was a ball for some French damned nobility. I was all dressed in Marine blues and she, well, she was wearing t
his soft yellow dress that fit her in all the right places. But it wasn’t that—it was the way she held herself, the way she laughed, and how she charmed anyone who came close. I wanted her. I wanted her for myself and to bring her back here and give her a life any woman would dream of.” He took a slug. “Well, I brought her back, and she had a good life, I guess. As good as she could bein’ married to me.”
“Dad,” I started.
“Nope! Don’t say a word. I know what you think of me, and most of it I deserve. I’m a mean drunk, son, but she never gave up on me. She never did. Called me her hero, she did.” His voice trailed off as his eyes looked out somewhere else, where memories live.
I stood up and pulled Lilly and the baby to a stand. “Let me carry my son,” I said, and Lilly smiled and nodded, handing me Jinx.
“His name is Jackson Bolton Symington,” by the way,” she said softly.
I turned in amazement. She nodded. “You never asked.”
I took my woman and my son home.
Epilogue
Lilly
I married Bolt and Natalie married Kenny in the backyard at the farm. It was the day after Derby Day, and his father stood up for Bolt. Natalie stood up for me, and I for her. It seemed we’d finally found a peace between us.
Mrs. Polk was a guest, as was Mary, and of course, Mr. Fred. There were a few others, but we wanted it small. It was so complicated, and there were, of course, so many secrets they couldn’t be told.
Bolt and his father found a kind of mutual understanding they could both live with. There was so much forgiving to do that I think they called it a draw and wiped the slate clean.
Bolt, Jinx, and I bought our motor home and headed west. We visited all the normal tourist sites and many more places off the map. We settled on Oregon, eventually. It was cool and damp, but green, and I could stand on the bluff of our property and look out over the ocean. It was a good place to raise children. After all… Jinx was going to have a sister.
