“I see you’ve redecorated,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. The walls had been painted a sandy brown color. Floor length burgundy-and beige-colored drapes hung on each side of the French doors that led out onto the balcony overlooking the pool. Sheets of rain currently obscured the view.
“Yes, have you seen your room? You never got back to me, so I went ahead and had it redone, and while I was at it, I decided if I was going to be spending so much time in here over the next few months, I might as well enjoy it.”
Kyle nodded. “Have you started the chemo yet?”
“No, I put them off for a week,” she said with a dismissive gesture. She picked up the screwdriver and took a big drink.
“What do you mean you put it off?” Kyle asked.
“I wasn’t ready. If I’m going to be out of commission for a while, I wanted to have a little fun first.”
“You can’t just schedule it at your leisure,” Kyle said, the old frustrations with her arrogant attitude beginning to creep into his voice.
“I feel fine.”
“Just because you don’t want to admit it doesn’t mean you’re not sick,” Kyle said.
“Besides, it will be easier for me with you here now.”
There it was, the moment he had been dreading. There was no point in putting it off any longer.
“Janet,” he said with a sigh. “That’s what I’ve come to tell you. I’m not coming back.”
“What?” she looked at him incredulously.
“I’m being transferred to Quantico to train as a special agent.”
The offer had come as a surprise to Kyle. He had fully expected to be fired. Instead, in a typical political move, the FBI had decided to use all the publicity to their advantage. During one of the press briefings after the incident, the director of the FBI had stated, “Kyle Andrews is exactly the type of person we want helping to protect our country. That is why I am pleased to announce that Mr. Andrews will be transferring to Quantico to train as a special agent.”
While it hadn’t come about in the fashion he would have wished, Kyle knew this was his one shot. If he didn’t play ball and go along with them on this, he would never get another chance. Besides, he owed it to Lewis. He had accepted the offer.
“Well, just tell them you quit,” Janet said.
“I can’t.”
“Of course you can. It’s not like it’s the military.”
“Okay, I won’t. This is something I want. It’s important to me.”
“Oh, and I just guess that I’m not important, is that it?”
Kyle rolled his eyes. Here we go again, he thought. He wanted to tell her that she had never been there for him, that she had never cared about anyone but herself, but he knew that would only make things worse. Instead, he just said, “No, that’s not it.”
“After all I’ve done for you. And this is the thanks I get,” she said, the bitterness coming through loud and clear.
Kyle didn’t respond. Nothing he said would ever make her see things any differently.
“You ungrateful little bastard,” she continued. Even the drugs couldn’t rid the venomous tone from her voice. “I wish I had never had you!” she spat at him.
And there it was—the truth of the matter. She had never loved him and never would, no matter what he did for her. All she had ever cared about was herself.
Kyle got up and started for the door. He had felt bad about his decision before, but her behavior now actually made it easier for him. “Goodbye, Janet.”
“Get out!” she screamed, throwing the glass at him. It shattered against the wall and sprayed the fresh paint with vodka and orange juice, which ran down into the expensive carpet.
Kyle walked out without looking back.
Miss Vera was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.
“Are you okay, Mr. Kyle?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “Trust me. I’ve been through a lot worse lately.”
She nodded and then said, “I think you are doing a good thing. Miss Vera is proud of you.”
Kyle smiled. “Thanks, Miss Vera.” He put his arm around her shoulder. “Coming from you, that means a lot to me.”
“So what you do now?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t have to be in Virginia for another week. The bureau thought I deserved a little time off, and I’ve always wanted to learn how to sail, so I chartered a boat down in Cabo for a few days.”
Now it was Miss Vera’s turn to smile. “That’s good,” she said. “You have fun, and don’t you worry about your mother. I take good care of her.”
“I know you will. And thanks … for everything,” he said with one last hug.
Kyle stepped outside and headed for the car. As he did, he noticed it had stopped raining, the worst of the storm having already blown through.
And as the remaining clouds trailed away, he could see blue skies behind them.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to personally thank all of my friends and family members who read the early versions of my manuscript and who offered their comments, suggestions, and support. I would like to thank Sarah Valenzuela, my brother, Shane, my nieces, Courtney and Kiley, and I would especially like to thank my mom, Sandra, who read and reread it numerous times, always offering excellent comments and encouragement as I worked to improve it.
This novel would not be what it is if not for the excellent staff and students of SMU’s Continuing Education Creative Writing Department. The courses gave me a great understanding of what makes up a novel while they also taught me how to become a better writer through practice and honest critique. A couple of members of the staff I would like to thank specifically include Joy Scallon, who read a much longer early draft and encouraged me to push on as I neared completion, and most importantly, Suzanne Frank. Suzanne, an author herself, is the director of the creative writing department at SMU and has created an excellent program for both published and aspiring authors. Suzanne always offered honest, insightful comments and wasn’t afraid to tell me when something wasn’t working or when she thought that I could do better. Thanks Suzanne!
I would also like to thank Pat LoBrutto for assisting with the editing of this book and for helping me to cut it down from its earlier version.
Finally, I would like to thank each and every one of you who bought this book and read it. I truly hope you enjoyed it, and I would love to hear what you thought about it. I can be reached through my website at LanceHorton.com and ShadowDragon.info.
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