by Beverly Long
She’d decided she couldn’t risk driving the Mustang again. Which meant that it would make no sense to return to the cabin with Rico. Instead, her best opportunity to use public transportation was right here in Torcak. She and Hannah could take a bus somewhere.
Where, she hadn’t quite decided.
But within the next couple of hours, she would make that decision. A lot depended on where the buses ran. She had her computer in her bag. But it did her little good. She wouldn’t risk turning on the Wi-Fi connection, in the event that someone would be able to trace her that way.
But this morning, on her many trips to the hospital lobby to see the aquarium, she’d seen an information desk staffed by a woman wearing a volunteer vest. Laura was counting on the fact that the woman, or whoever happened to be sitting in that spot when they got back this afternoon, would be happy to look up the bus schedule for her.
She slipped on her shoes. Rico was now sitting up in bed, pulling his own clothes on. “I’m going to check on Hannah,” she said.
He moved fast, getting to the door before her. He was wearing just his boxers. “Hey,” he said, sounding concerned. “Are we okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” she said.
“Because you’re acting kind of off,” he said, his dark eyes very serious.
“Maybe a little tired.”
“Right,” he said, not sounding convinced. He gave her another long look before stepping aside so that she could get to the stairs.
She practically ran up them. She’d been stupid to think that she could have a physical relationship with Rico without getting emotionally involved. She wasn’t wired that way. And now it was going to hurt because she knew it was going to be a bad surprise when he suddenly couldn’t find her.
Maybe she’d send him a note someday. An apology.
Just the idea of that was appalling. What the hell would she say?
Certainly nothing that would make any of this better.
Chapter 14
She checked on Hannah but the little girl was still sleeping. “Sweetie,” she whispered, sitting on the bed. “Time to wake up.”
The little girl’s long eyelashes, so like her father’s, fluttered. She smiled, showing her small white teeth. “Where’s Rico?” Hannah asked, proving that she, too, was going to feel the loss when they ran again.
“In the other room. We’re going to go back to the hospital.”
“Can I see the aquarium? And go to the cafeteria?”
For Hannah, the place was better than a theme park. “Of course,” Laura said. “Why don’t you get up, go potty, and then you can have a little snack before we go.” She’d seen some grapes and sliced cheese in the refrigerator last night when she’d helped clean up after dinner. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
When she walked out of the bedroom, Rico was standing in the living room. “She okay?” he asked.
“Great. I’m going to get her a snack. Would you like some grapes and cheese?”
“Sounds good,” he said.
He washed the grapes while she sliced the cheese. Then, probably because he couldn’t stand not having a vegetable, he also cut up a few radishes and an orange pepper.
When Hannah got to the kitchen, she had one arm around Ja-Ja and she threw her free arm around Rico’s knees. “I slept,” she announced.
He swung her up into his arms. “And you look beautiful,” he said. “Just like Sleeping Beauty.”
“Sleeping Beauty gets kissed by a prince. That’s why she wakes up,” Hannah said.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Like that?”
She giggled. “No. On the lips, Rico,” she said, as if he was a big old dum-dum. Then she demonstrated by giving Ja-Ja a big wet smack on the mouth.
He sighed. “Well, that proves it—I’m no prince. But you’re still a beauty.”
He was wrong, Laura thought, her throat feeling tight. He was a prince of a guy. A real catch. If they’d only met under different circumstances, in a different time.
She set Hannah’s plate down with a clatter. “Eat up,” she said.
Hannah chatted to Ja-Ja and to Rico. Laura managed to eat a few grapes and a piece of cheese. Ten minutes later, they were walking out to the garage. She had her purse but had left their backpacks behind. Rico would have wondered why she was bringing them along. They literally would now only have the clothes they were wearing. At least Hannah had Ja-Ja. She got the little girl buckled up in the back seat and took her spot up front on the passenger side. This would be the last time in Rico’s SUV, the last time it felt as if...oh, it was crazy to even think this way...as if they were part of his family.
She closed her eyes, willed the tears back. She would not cry. It would confuse Hannah and make Rico curious. She couldn’t afford either emotion from them.
She’d gone to his bed knowing it wasn’t going to have a happy ending. It was ridiculous for her to be disappointed now that she’d been right.
Neither she nor Rico talked on the way to the hospital. When he found his parking place, he got out as fast as his crutches allowed. He waited while she got Hannah out of the vehicle, then leaned in and reached for a black duffel bag that was behind Hannah’s seat. He looped the strap over one hand. “There’s some things in here I think my dad might enjoy.”
When they got to the waiting area, Charro was there by herself. She smiled at Hannah, then looked at Laura. “Did she sleep?”
“Yes. Thank goodness.”
“I was so sorry when my kids gave up afternoon naps. That hour was a real relief sometimes.”
It was dangerous territory to be talking about kids and habits and anything remotely connected to that. She’d only worked at Hannah’s school for three months, and prior to that, had very little experience with children. “I know,” she said.
“Is she in preschool right now?”
Excellent—a question she knew the answer to. “Yes, three mornings a week.” The daycare offered a preschool option to interested parents. But she needed to stop this before the questions got harder. “If you’ll excuse us, I promised Hannah another look at the fish in the aquarium. Give your dad my best,” she said, switching her gaze to Rico.
“Absolutely,” he said. He ran a hand over Hannah’s head. “Have fun.”
“Ja-Ja likes the yellow fish with the black stripes,” Hannah said, very seriously.
“Ja-Ja has good taste,” Rico said, just as seriously.
“Is that a compliment?” Hannah asked.
“Yes,” Rico said.
“Then thank you. Mama always said that we needed to say thank you when somebody gave us a compliment.” She ran to the window, looked up at the blue sky. “Did you see that, Mama?”
Nobody said a word.
Finally, Rico cleared his throat. “Better get to those fish,” he said.
Laura grabbed for Hannah’s hand and quickly walked out of the room. It was only a matter of time before Hannah said something that she wasn’t going to be able to explain or dismiss. It was good that they were leaving.
But her heart still felt heavy as she walked up to the information desk in the lobby. She kept one eye on Hannah, who she’d left across the lobby, some thirty feet away, with strict instructions to watch the fish and not move. She did not want the little girl to hear this conversation.
“Good afternoon,” Laura said to the volunteer who was a woman in her early sixties, her dark brown hair nicely styled.
“How can I help you?” the woman asked.
“I’m in need of some information about bus schedules from here.”
“Where are you headed?” the woman asked.
“California,” Laura said. After all, it was as far west as she could go. “But I’ve got some time and might want to do some sightseeing on the way, so I’m open to options as to how to get there.”
&
nbsp; “Fall is a lovely time to travel through the West,” the woman said. Then she smiled, casting her eyes over Laura’s head, toward the windows. “Once you get to a little lower elevation, the snow will disappear.”
Hannah waved at Laura and Laura waved back. The woman saw it. “Is that your little girl?” she asked.
“Yes,” Laura said, not wanting to give a long explanation. She looked at the woman’s computer. “Would you be able to pull up the bus schedules for me?”
* * *
Rico was not a private detective; he was a security expert. Two very different things. But the lines were merging as he stood in the hallway of the hospital, watching Laura converse with a woman at the information desk. Laura had her back to him.
This was the second time he’d followed Laura. The first time, he’d been intrigued by the direction she was driving and worried about Hannah. This time he’d been convinced that something was very wrong and that she was up to something. That phrase could cover a multitude of sins and he told himself that he was just being cautious, that he didn’t want her to do something that could harm his family. But in reality, he wanted to know everything about Laura. Wanted to prevent her from doing anything crazy.
Wanted to stop her from leaving. Because he was pretty sure that’s what she had in mind.
His phone buzzed and he considered ignoring it but then realized it was Seth. He’d sent a text to his partners about his dad yesterday and had heard back immediately from all of them, wishing him well. He suspected Seth was doing some follow-up.
“Hey, Seth,” Rico said, keeping his voice down.
“How’s your dad?” Seth asked.
“Came through surgery really well. Doctors are optimistic.”
“Good news, buddy. We’re thinking of you.”
“Thanks. Everything okay there?”
There was a slight pause. And that worried Rico because Seth rarely took time to think before he spoke. “What?” Rico demanded.
“Listen, man, I don’t know if I should even be bringing this up at a time like this, but something happened that just isn’t sitting right with me. I was in the office this morning and we got a call from a woman, said she was a friend of yours and needed to reach you. I told her you were out of the office but that I could get a message to you. She wanted to know where you were. Of course, I wasn’t giving out that kind of information and told her so.”
Rico listened, all the while watching Laura. The woman behind the desk keyed something into her computer and then both she and Laura looked at it. Then the woman printed something off and handed it to Laura. “Weird,” he said, refocusing on his conversation with Seth.
“You didn’t get some girl knocked up and now she’s hunting you down, did you?” Seth asked.
This was the Seth he knew and loved. “Pretty sure that’s not the case,” Rico said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I know,” Seth said. “Lots of nutcases out there. It’s just that... I really think it was Mora Rambeilla calling. There was no caller ID and I know that I only met her once, but she’s got kind of a distinctive voice and I’m pretty sure that I’m right. And she said something else, even stranger.”
“What?”
“She said it was important for you to be careful. And then she hung up, fast.”
He could not worry about Mora right now. And it didn’t make sense that she would have called the office. She had his cell phone number. She could have simply called him if she wanted to talk to him. He saw Laura walk over and stand next to Hannah for a few minutes while the little girl pointed out fish. They turned toward his hallway. “Thanks for the info, Seth. Got to go.” He hung up and ducked into the closest door.
It was the chapel. Appropriate, he thought. Maybe he should start praying that he could keep her from leaving. That she could trust him enough to tell him the truth.
After he was confident that they had the chance to pass, he eased open the door. Walked up to the volunteer at the desk. Leaned heavily on his crutches. Gave her his most charming smile. “How’s it going?” he asked.
“Very good. What can I help you with?”
“My wife was just down here and she spilled some coffee on the printout you gave her. I was wondering if you could reprint it.”
“I think that shouldn’t be a problem,” she said. “I remember exactly what it was.”
After a few clicks, her printer was whirling. “Here you go,” she said.
“Thanks so much. You’ve been really helpful.”
He kept his game face on until he was several feet away. It was a bus schedule. A damn bus schedule. And a map of how to get from the hospital to the bus depot. He’d been right. She was planning to sneak away.
He was a conflicted mess of anger, sorrow and hurt. And for unknown reasons, it made his ankle hurt worse than usual. As if that was the weak link in his body and that’s where any attack would be felt the most.
When he got back to the intensive care waiting room, she was calmly sitting in the chair, chatting with his mom about his dad’s recovery. He wanted to interrupt, demand an explanation and keep demanding until her cage was so rattled that she started talking.
But he couldn’t do that without getting a whole lot of questions from his mom and from Peter, who was unexpectedly in the waiting room. After the man had finished his free lunch, he’d made a big deal about having lots to do at home. What the heck was he doing back here? Besides drinking a cup of coffee?
Rico was tempted to ask him who had paid for it. “Where’s Charro?” he asked instead.
“With her dad,” Peter said.
His dad could now have two visitors at a time. Why wasn’t Peter with his wife? Rico was instantly suspicious that the man had been badgering his mom for something but when he studied his mom’s face, there was nothing there that made him think she was upset.
He couldn’t worry about what Peter was doing at the hospital. He had much bigger things to focus on. He took a chair next to Hannah and asked the child about the picture she was coloring.
Laura would make her move. And he hadn’t quite decided what he was going to do about it.
He didn’t have long to wait. Twenty minutes later, Laura stood. “I told Hannah that if she was good today, that we could get some new coloring books,” she said. “Would you mind if I borrowed your SUV and ran to the store?”
“Of course not,” he said. He stood, fished his key fob from his pocket. Handed it to her. Silently congratulated himself when his hand was steady. “Do you need directions?” he asked.
She waved a hand. “I saw a little shopping center a few blocks south on our way in today. I’ll probably just go there. Maybe she and I can walk around a little, get a change of pace.”
“Good idea.”
“Hannah, get Ja-Ja,” Laura said. The doll had taken a chair in the waiting room. “We’re going to run a few errands.”
“Will I get a treat?” Hannah asked.
“If you’re good,” Laura said.
It took the little girl a few minutes to get her things gathered up. During that time, Laura stared at the television, as if the latest polling numbers on the president’s popularity were the most important news she’d seen in some time. Finally, she squatted down and helped Hannah with her coat and mittens.
Then she stood. Finally looked at him. Gave him a smile that was just a little shaky. Had he not been watching for it, he might have missed it. “See you later,” she said. And then she turned and started walking so fast that Hannah had to run to catch up.
Peter stood up. “I was just going, too. I’ll walk with you,” he said.
Rico could tell that Laura wanted to say no but that she was too well mannered. “Great,” she said. She waved to his mom.
He waited until the two of them vanished from the end of the hallway before turning to his mom. “I’m going
to check on Charro and Dad.”
He made it to his dad’s room in record time. Stuck his head in and got his sister’s attention. Motioned for her to join him in the hall.
“What?” she asked, clearly disturbed.
“I need to borrow your car,” he said. “Give me your keys.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain later.”
She stared at him. “This has something to do with Laura.”
He nodded.
“Oh, fine,” she said. She pulled them out of her jeans pocket. “What should I tell Mom?”
“Tell her that I had something to take care of and that I’ll be back later.”
“You really like this woman, don’t you?” Charro asked.
He was afraid to admit it when it appeared that he was losing her. “Now’s not the time,” he said.
“I suppose not,” she said.
“By the way, Peter left.”
“Peter?” She sounded surprised.
“Yeah, he was in the waiting room with Mom when Laura and I got back to the hospital.”
She looked confused. “I didn’t know he was coming back. I’ve been with Dad for a while.” She looked irritated. “It’s fine. I’ll catch up with him later.”
He was never going to understand his sister’s marriage. He moved quickly down the hallway.
“Rico,” she called after him.
He turned.
“Be careful,” she said.
He held up a hand in acknowledgment. At the end of the hallway, he waited impatiently for an elevator. Once he was out of the hospital, he ran, as well as one could on crutches, to his sister’s car. Be careful. Well-intentioned parting words. But like a Ping-Pong ball, thoughts were bouncing around in his head. Iterations. Fragments.
Careful. Care. Take care. Treat with care. Care too much.
Maybe she doesn’t care.
He felt dangerously out of control, as if care was asking too much of him.
He jumped in and was already pulling out of the lot as he buckled his seat belt. He didn’t need the second set of directions that the volunteer had printed. He’d looked at the route and was familiar enough with Torcak to know another way.
