Sara and the boys were equally relieved to have survived their first day back to school. We ate dinner and I listened to them vent about their days. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Jordan and Brock had just been released from prison. But only on a day pass; they’d have to go back tomorrow. Sara loved her job, but not the stress and aggravation that came with it.
After dinner, the boys headed off to do homework, while Sara and I cleared the table and cleaned up the kitchen. When we finished, we sat on the couch and each enjoyed a glass of wine, Mandy wedged between us.
“So, no surprises today?” she asked.
“No, thank god. And we were actually busy. It felt like a normal day at the office.”
“Normal, wow. That must be a new feeling for you,” she said with a smile.
“You have no idea.”
“Think it’ll last?”
“No. That’s the problem. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“What can we do?”
“Not much. I’ve been thinking about that. The FBI is out. William is preparing for my court date, and I don’t exactly know anyone that runs in Christina Escalante’s circle.”
“So we just sit around and wait for whatever she has planned next?”
“I’m open to suggestions…”
We both took a sip of our wine.
“Are you worried about the trial?” she asked.
“Worried doesn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling. William says the prosecution has a very strong case. Between the bank video, the pictures, the reports filed by the police, the witness statements… and, of course, there’s the money.”
“How are you going to explain that?”
“I can’t. A hundred-thousand dollars just magically appears in our bank account right around the time I kill Carlos Escalante? How am I supposed to explain that?”
“What does William say?”
“That the jury will view it as a payoff.”
“That would mean that you knew you were going to kill him when you walked into the bank that day. Who in their right mind would believe that?”
“Yeah…,” I replied, and shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
“When is the trial?” she asked.
“Three weeks.”
We both took another sip of our wine.
Chapter 65
Over the next few days, the office stayed busy. Things were hopping when I arrived Wednesday morning and we got to work. Everyone was smiling and happy, especially Vera and Alexis. The patients loved the savings they were getting and many of them assured us they would tell their friends.
We had very little time for chit chat. Vera and Alexis were busy up front and I was moving in and out of the exam room from patient to patient. I had just sat down at my desk to have a quick snack when Vera walked in and placed a chart in front of me. “Emergency visit. Eye infection, I think. She’s not on your schedule.” Before I could even respond, she was gone.
I let out a sigh and stood. So much for my quick break. I grabbed the chart off the desk and headed for the exam room. I turned the corner to head in, but stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw her: Callie Ann Hollis, looking as gorgeous as ever. The scent of vanilla and lavender teased me as I walked into the room. She wore a faded pink cloth mini-dress with buttons running down the front, the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, and grey thigh high boots. She’d left a couple of buttons open at the top, and there were several inches of visible thigh where the dress ended and the boots began. Her brown hair with auburn highlights was clipped atop her head, while several strands hung down loosely, framing her face before draping over her shoulders. She was still the sexiest woman I’d ever seen.
Her green eyes sparkled and she smiled when she first saw me, but her expression immediately changed.
“Oh my god, Simon, what happened to your face?!” she said, slowly rising from the exam chair.
“It’s nothing, really. A little accident. I’m fine.”
“A little accident? It looks like someone beat the shit out of you.”
“Yeah, well, you should see the other guy.”
“Good. I hope you got some shots of your own in.”
“Let’s just say his hands are probably still sore from hitting them against my face.”
“Oh, Simon…” she reached up to touch my face, but I casually sidestepped her reach.
“It’s okay. I’ll be fine,” I said and took a seat on my little rolling stool.
She returned to the exam chair. William’s warning about her reverberated in my ears.
“What’s going on? Why are you here?”
She appeared to be taken aback by the question, and I started to think I was the fool William believed I was. Her beauty had blinded me to the possibility of almost anything else, and now here she was… ready to play me again?
“I wanted to see you. To talk to you.” She looked down at her hands folded on her lap, before looking up at me and batting her eyelashes. “Is that okay?”
“Is that really the only reason you’re here?”
“Well, my eyes are fine, if that’s what you mean.”
“That’s not what I mean. I think you know that.”
“Simon…” she began.
“Never mind,” I said, cutting her off. I tossed her chart on the counter. I had no idea why she was here, but I needed to put an end to whatever this was.
“I’m actually glad you’re here,” I said. “I wanted to apologize about the last time we saw each other. I didn’t mean to hurt or upset you. You’ve been so amazing over the last few months and I’ve really appreciated having someone to talk to. Your understanding and support… you’ve been so incredible.”
She looked at me with a shy, almost embarrassed smile. She looked away and I couldn’t help myself from drinking in her body with my eyes. Her tan skin, her silky hair, her long legs, her voluptuous curves. When my eyes landed on her breasts, I noticed her nipples were pressed out against her dress and I could feel myself getting aroused.
Focus! We should really turn up the heat in the exam room.
“But,” I went on, “I’m married. And I love my wife. I just can’t give you what you want.”
Her smile waned, but she had a look in her eyes that told me she was not ready to throw in the towel. She leaned in toward me and said, “It’s not what I want, Simon. It’s what we both want.”
Without warning she reached out and grabbed me between the legs, feeling my arousal. “See?” she said seductively, with a smile so provocative, it almost caused me to give in to her.
I went to push her hand away, but before I could, she tightened her grip and squeezed. The pain was so intense my eyes watered and I shouted out in agony. She released her grip, jumped out of the exam chair, and kicked me hard in the chest, knocking me backwards out of my rolling chair, and onto the floor.
“You really don’t get it, do you Simon? You must be the dumbest asshole I’ve ever met!” she shouted, and I hoped no one outside this room could hear us.
She stood over me, and I was even more confused. What didn’t I get? As I contemplated the meaning of her words, I found myself staring up at her gorgeous and shapely legs. From this angle, I was able to follow them all the way up, under her dress, until they met at her…
“Simon! Are you listening to me?!”
Her sharp words snapped me back to the present, and I realized I was still on the floor.
“I’m sorry, Callie Ann. I really am. But I don’t think we should see each other anymore. Personally or professionally.”
She looked down at me, not saying a word. The blank expression on her face worried me, but then she smiled, adding to my confusion. Then she laughed.
“Oh, Simon,” she said. “You think this is over? This isn’t even close to being over.” She leaned down an
d pointed a finger in my face. “In fact, it’s only just beginning.”
Her green eyes bored into me and suddenly I was terrified. She looked crazy. I had no idea what she meant or what she would do next, but I knew it wasn’t good. Visions of Fatal Attraction flashed through my head and I swallowed hard.
Before I could say anything, she let out a blood curdling scream that scared the crap out of me and sent a chill up my spine. She yanked the clip roughly from her hair and threw it to the floor. She tousled her hair, tore the top of her dress, exposing her bra and ample cleavage, and let out another scream. “No!” she screamed. “Please!... Stop!” She grabbed my small stool and tossed it against the wall with a loud bang.
It all happened so fast, I could only watch, stunned. I knew it was happening, but it felt surreal. As I lay on the floor, she gave me one last wicked smile and said, “Today is just getting started.” She yanked open the door, slammed it against the wall, and sprinted out, fake tears streaming down her face. The other patients in the waiting room were already on their feet having heard the screams. Callie Ann darted by them, shouting, “The doctor tried to rape me!” and ran out the front door.
Not sure what else to do, I just sat there, propped up on my elbows, on the floor of the exam room. I struggled to wrap my head around what had just happened. Then I heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. What now? I turned over my shoulder to see Vera and Alexis standing in the doorway, looking down at me. Their faces said it all.
I collapsed onto my back, and stared up at the ceiling. It wasn’t bad enough that people thought I was a murderer. Now they would think I was a rapist too.
Today is just getting started.
What was that supposed to mean? I asked the question, but I really didn’t want to know the answer.
Chapter 66
The rest of the afternoon did not improve. The patients waiting in the lobby had left, and somehow, the phone already seemed to be ringing less. I wasn’t sure how that was possible until Alexis showed me. In the short time since she’d left the office, Callie Ann had already taken to the internet. She posted a selfie showing her torn dress and disheveled hair, and told everyone I was responsible. She posted that I sexually assaulted her. Her picture had already been shared over a hundred times.
Today is just getting started.
Vera and Alexis didn’t know what to say as we closed up the office for the day. I wondered if they were questioning my character. After all these years, they couldn’t possibly believe Callie Ann’s story, could they?
I wanted to apologize to them for landing us in yet another mess, but what had I done? None of this was my fault. And frankly, I’d gotten tired of apologizing for things that were happening to me. We locked the doors, said our goodbyes, and I left them with, “Don’t worry. I’ll handle this.” By the looks on their faces, I wasn’t very convincing.
I drove home and looked forward to seeing Sara and the boys. I was pretty sure my day would top theirs.
Wrong again.
When I walked into the house, Mandy greeted me as enthusiastically as ever, but other than her chirps of excitement, it was quiet. When I got to the kitchen, Sara was sitting alone at the kitchen table, and it was obvious she’d been crying. In front of her, spread out across the table were what looked to be eight-by-ten glossy photographs. Of what, I couldn’t tell until I got closer, and my heart stopped.
They were pictures of Callie Ann and me together. In some, we were talking and laughing, innocently enough. In others, we sat unusually close to one another. The pictures sitting directly in front of Sara were the most damning. They appeared to have been taken from just outside the private reading room at the coffee shop where we regularly met. There were shots of us sitting side by side, of me with my arm around her, wiping away her tears. Even pictures of when Callie Ann kissed me. Though it had lasted only a moment, the pictures were incriminating beyond words. Anyone looking at these pictures would assume we were having an affair, and I was pretty sure that was the idea.
I looked at up at Sara and I struggled to breathe. I felt my world crashing down on top of me. After everything that had happened, my family was all I had left. Sara and the boys were the last good thing in my life, and now it seemed that too was slipping away. I got weak in the knees, and put a hand on the chair in front of me to keep my balance.
“Sara...” I began.
“Don’t even,” she cut me off.
“I can explain…”
“I’m not interested in your explanations, Simon.” Her words were cold, and I could hear the hurt and disappointment in her voice.
“Where did you get those?”
“Where did I get these?!” she snapped. She grabbed a picture of me kissing Callie Ann and waved it around in the air. “You kissed another woman, and you’re asking me where I got these?!”
“I just…” I stammered. “Where are the boys?”
She sighed with frustration. “I sent them to their rooms. I didn’t want them to see these.”
There was a yellow manila envelope on the edge of the table that had been torn open on one end. I picked it up and turned it over in my hands. There was no postage and no return address. Only “Sara Spero,” handwritten on the front in block print. Someone had placed this in our mailbox. I looked at the envelope more closely and spotted a small C in the upper left-hand corner. I had a pretty good idea who was responsible for the pictures.
“Please leave, Simon.”
“What?”
“I can’t look at you right now. I want you to leave.”
“Sara, we need to talk about this.”
“Maybe. But not right now. Just go.”
“But…”
“Simon, you need to do this for me. If you still love me—”
“Of course I still love you. How could you even say that?”
She glared at me, visibly annoyed that I cut her off.
“If you still love me, you’ll go to the bedroom, pack a bag, and leave. I need some time.”
“Sara, please. Don’t do this. You know who’s behind this. Don’t let her tear us apart.”
“So you’re saying Christina forced you to spend time with this woman? To hold her, to kiss her?”
“If you’d just…”
“Just go.” She turned away and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
I wasn’t sure what else I could say that wouldn’t make the situation worse. I put the envelope back on the table and walked slowly to the bedroom. Mandy bounded along beside me, oblivious to what was happening. I threw some things in a small duffel and headed for the door. Mandy jumped up and down, hoping to go with me. I crouched down to her level and kissed her on her furry head.
“Not today, princess. Stay here and take care of Mommy. She needs you right now. I’ll see you soon.”
With tears in my eye, I closed the door behind me and stood on the front porch, not knowing what to do or where to go. I trudged over to my car, still in disbelief, tossed my bag in, plopped into the driver’s seat, and closed the door. I sat there for a moment, staring blankly into space, then slumped over the steering wheel and wept.
Chapter 67
“Are you kidding? Are you kidding with me right now? You got Fight Clubbed?!”
“I’m glad you find this amusing, William.”
He guffawed and chortled until he was red in the face.
“I’m sorry…” he said between snickers.
“This is serious, William. I’m completely screwed. My life is over, and Christina is to blame.”
William composed himself and his face turned to stone. “Simon, I told you from day fucking one she wasn’t going to let this go. But you didn’t believe me. No one believed me. Not you, not Detective Lawton, and certainly not that fucking prick Stamper over at the FBI.”
“Well, what did you expect me to do?”
<
br /> “I told you exactly what to do. Run. Remember?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I remember. It wasn’t a very practical solution then, and it’s still not one now.”
“Fine,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Then you have two options. You can sit around and wait for her to keep fucking up your life…”
“What else could she possibly do?” I interrupted. “I’ve already lost everything.”
“That’s what you think. You have no idea what she’s capable of.” He pulled a cigar from the humidor atop his desk and pointed at me with it. “And don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.”
I nodded. I really didn’t want to know what else Christina could do. Sara was mad at me, but she was still alive. We all were. I knew she still loved me, and if I tried hard enough, I was sure she’d take me back. Or hoped she would, anyway. I needed her and the boys. My life would be nothing without them. I couldn’t sit around and let her take them from me.
“And my other option…?” I asked.
“Get Christina out of your life. Forever.”
“Sounds great. How do I do that?”
“Are you really this stupid, Simon?”
“That seems to be the popular opinion these days…”
William lit his cigar and sat back in his chair, staring at me. “Do you really not get what I’m saying here?” he asked, seemingly sure if I was feigning stupidity or if it was genuine.
It took only a moment for his meaning to click.
“Are you kidding? I’m an optometrist not a hitman. I don’t just go around killing people.”
“So what. You did it once. Do it again.”
His words jarred me. What was he saying? Did he know more than he had let on? I still hadn’t told him everything.
“Did it once…?” I asked.
“Yeah. You took a life to protect your own. Do it again. To protect yourself and your family.”
“Right. Because that worked out so well the first time. You don’t even want to know the nightmares I’ve had because of it. Carlos routinely haunts my dreams.”
Shot Down Page 18