Second Chances

by Phelps, K. L.

  "When was the fire?"

  Daniel turned and looked at Paige. "What?"

  "When...when did the fire happen?"

  "It was late August, the summer we graduated, but enough of your games."

  Paige buried her head in her hands again. "We aren't playing a game, Daniel. Please believe me. We don't know what is going on any more than you do. Please just listen. Until a few days ago I..." She threw up her hands and then climbed to her feet, her legs wobbling. "I don't even know how or where to begin."

  "Until a few days ago she'd didn't know any of this. Until a few days ago I thought I had buried Paige," Nathan said.

  Daniel looked over at him and Nathan nodded his head.

  "I was married to Paige. A Paige, not your Paige and apparently not this Paige."

  "What?"

  "I know, it makes no sense. I met, fell in love and married Paige Kendall a number of years ago. Last year she died. A few days ago I saw this Paige in the airport in Miami."

  "That's impossible."

  "I agree, but what is even more impossible is that she remembers almost everything my wife remembered. And as she just showed with you, she remembers stuff that your Paige remembered...experienced...whatever."

  "I don't get it. What are you trying to tell me?"

  "We don't know," Paige said. "We are trying to figure out what is going on. Who am I really? I am sorry Daniel, I did not come here to make you relive that horrible memory. Had I known..."

  "Had we known, I still would have insisted we come," Nathan said. "We have so few clues. A picture from her supposed college friend led us back to the school. A yearbook and a memory brought us to you. I don't know what we were expecting to learn from you, but...but it was the only straw we had to grasp on to."

  Daniel looked from Paige to Nathan. "So you didn't come here to get something out of me?"

  Paige shook her head. "Only information, which unfortunately you don't seem to have any of."

  "Sorry to disappoint you." He got up and stood next to Paige looking closely at her face. "You look exactly like she did bef...before."

  "I'm sorry."

  "No, no. Don't be. My final memory of her was...well less than pleasant. For so long I prayed for a chance to see her just once more as she was before the fire. I can't even begin to wrap my head around what you are telling me. I can't even say I even half believe you. But you look exactly like she did and for that I guess I am grateful, after all it is what I prayed for."

  "So...umm your daughter?"

  "Yeah, I named her Paige. I have a very understanding wife, who I love completely. But she knew what Paige meant to me. She was actually the one to suggest the name."

  "She's lovely, so is Jenny."

  "Thank you. I wish I had some answers for you or could help, but I haven't a clue how I actually could."

  "I wish you could too," Nathan said. "I'm not exactly sure where we go from here."

  Paige frowned.

  Nathan walked over and stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "We'll figure something out Paige. I'm sorry for putting you through all of this Mr. Perry."

  "Call me Daniel, please. I'm sorry I can't help."

  Nathan pulled out his wallet and removed one of his business cards and handed it to Daniel. "If you think of anything at all that might help."

  Daniel took the card and nodded before slipping it into his pocket.

  Nathan leaned in close to Paige and said, "I'll wait for you in the car."

  She nodded and waited until he'd left the porch before saying, "This is so strange. I have so many memories of us and they feel so real."

  "And they likely are real," he said, before adding, "for me."

  She nodded.

  "Well," he said.

  "Well."

  He smiled and it was genuine. A little sad, but still genuine.

  "Do you mind?"

  Paige knew what he was asking and shook her head. "Of course not."

  Daniel's arms encircled her and drew her in tight.

  "I loved you so much," he said, his voice barely a whisper and Paige knew he wasn't talking to her, not really. "Goodbye, Paige." He kissed her gently on the lips, a tear rolling down his cheek.

  "Goodbye Danny."

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

  They were just crossing over into Portsmouth when Linda's phone began to ring. Cameron looked at the caller ID and instead of a name or number was simply the phrase 'answer me'. He felt a twisting deep in his stomach at the thought of who might be on the other end. On the next ring the phrase switched to 'NOW!' and he knew he was right.

  "Cameron here," he said.

  "I take it you are aware that a woman named Doris Flanders shot and killed another woman named Sarah Mathews at Ocean View Estates. This wouldn't be the same Ocean View Estates where you've been housing one of your former employees, would it?"

  His voice was calm, almost icy and it chilled Cameron to the bone. His throat was suddenly dry and he was unable to respond. Linda looked questioningly at him, but knew better than to open her mouth.

  "This wouldn't have any connections to your recent problems, would it?"

  Cameron coughed. He felt his face flush as anger surged within.

  "You know damn well it does. You know damn well who those women are or you wouldn't have called."

  "Perhaps you are correct. However given the nature of the state of Rhode Island I would not be surprised to find there is more then one place called Ocean View. I was hoping I might be mistaken."

  "Bullshit. You are just trying to push my buttons. Are you monitoring me?"

  Dillinger's laugh only worked to further enrage Cameron.

  "Of course. I thought I made that abundantly clear last time we talked."

  "That wasn't how it was supposed to go down. Doris wasn't supposed to..."

  "To gun down someone in broad daylight in front of witnesses? Is that what you are saying? Really, you didn't have that down as part of your grand clean up plan? That is very encouraging to hear since it means you aren't a total moron."

  "Screw you, Dillinger. I know you have something to do with all of this."

  "Until your screw ups, I had nothing to do with it. Now...now is a different story."

  "Don't even think of shutting me down."

  Dillinger laughed again.

  "Don't even think of trying to dictate to me, Cameron. I already told you that this was your mess to clean up. But if your actions are going to put the organization any more at risk of discovery...well I think you are aware of just how upset that would make some people. In which case, I am certain their directives would likely be very clear on how I should proceed."

  "We aren't at risk of exposure. Even if Doris decides she wants to try and talk her way out of it, there is nothing she knows that can be traced back to us. Believe me."

  "Doris Flanders won't be talking to anyone."

  "What?"

  "Gunshot to the temple. They found her body in her locked office."

  "She committed suicide?"

  Linda looked over at Cameron, trying her hardest not to appear shocked and bit into her cheek to stop herself from asking questions. She wished she could hear both ends of the conversation.

  "As far as anyone will ever know," Dillinger said and another chill ran down Cameron's spine.

  The blast of a horn startled Cameron and he almost dropped the phone. He looked into the rearview mirror and noticed cars behind him, then noticed he wasn't moving. He didn't remember taking his foot off the gas. He quickly hit the gas and the car lurched forward.

  "You had her killed?"

  Once more Dillinger's laugh echoed into his ear.

  "Of course not. You said it yourself, it was suicide."

  Cameron was well aware of what Dillinger was saying. He had suicided several people in the past.

  "Why?"

  "Not for you, I assure you. Given the level of incompetence with which you seem to be running this project of yours, I needed to
ensure that exposure would not extend beyond you."

  "I am handling things."

  "And doing a wonderful job. If you were handling things any better, they might have been able to get live footage of Sarah Mathews being shot for the evening news."

  Cameron turned off the main road and slammed on the brakes. Linda cursed as she was thrown against the seatbelt.

  "Fuck you, Dillinger. If you hadn't blocked my options, none of this would have happened."

  "Sure, just keep telling yourself that. When you finish enjoying your pity party just be sure that you handle your shit. If I have to sweep any more of your messes under the carpet, I may decide it might just be easier to sweep you up as well."

  Cameron opened his mouth to respond, but he saw that Dillinger had already cut the connection. He pulled his hand back getting ready to throw the phone, but then Linda was holding his wrist. He looked at her, anger raging in his eyes.

  "I don't have another backup, Cameron."

  He stared at her hand on his wrist, but she refused to let go until he nodded and she felt him relax a little.

  "You are right," he said after a moment. He took several deep breaths then added, "Thank you."

  "What was all that?"

  "Dillinger. He's just trying to screw with me."

  Linda shook her head. "That's not what it sounded like."

  "Well it was. Now let's get focused."

  Cameron looked at where he was and then stepped on the gas. Ten minutes later they pulled to a stop across the street from Daniel Perry's home.

  "Do you think we got here first?"

  Cameron shook his head. "No, if they left right after they exited the library then there is no way they wouldn't have been here by now. They must have gone already."

  "So now what? They couldn't have come to see them," she said pointing across the street to where two small girls were playing on the porch of the house.

  The front door opened and Daniel stepped out onto the porch, a phone to his ear.

  "No, I imagine they came to see him."

  "What for?"

  "I don't know. But the question is what do we do about him?"

  She looked over at Cameron.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well the question is, is he a loose end that needs to be cleaned up?"

  Her face went pale, as she looked over at the house. Daniel took the phone away from his ear. He seemed to frown at it then shook his head. A minute later he dropped it onto one of the porch chairs. The man looked up at the sky for a moment before turning his attention to the girls. A smile broke across his face as he watched his daughters playing. Linda sat in silence, watching Cameron. He was staring at Daniel and the girls.

  "I'm not killing any kids," she said.

  "You won't have to."

  The way he said it, chilled her.

  "Wh...what do you mean? Cameron, you can't kill those kids."

  "What? No. I just mean we wont have to hurt any of them. Look, had he been of any help then I suspect that they would have likely still been here when we arrived. We weren't that far behind them, right?"

  She was going to point out that his conversation with Dillinger had lasted longer then he realized, but feared that might make him reconsider his position on the man and his two daughters, so she merely nodded in agreement.

  "So where does that leave us?"

  Cameron was quiet for a minute while he considered the question. Linda was pleased, if not a little surprised by how calm he was.

  "Probably no better or worse than before. Jimmy can still track his phone. Seems to me they are on a wild goose chase and I believe I have had all the fun I can stomach. I think we will be bringing this little game of cat and mouse to an end very soon."

  CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

  Julie pulled off the highway onto the feeder road. A few minutes later she turned off onto a side road and then turned off onto another several minutes later. She finally pulled off onto a tree lined dirt road that brought them to a barn and a small farm house. The fields on either side of the house looked long neglected as did the house itself. A for-sale sign hung dangling by a single rusted hook from a post in front of the house. She brought the car to a stop behind the barn, completely obscuring them. In order for them to be seen now, someone would not only have to drive down the long road to the house, but also come around the barn. She was betting the odds of that happening were slim.

  She looked over at Jason. He was still staring out the window. She knew he was upset. He hadn't said more then a few words since she had insisted there was no way for them to help Paige. She knew part of it was that he was upset over that, but she also believe partly it was the effect of the compound she had injected him with. She knew he was likely struggling with the changes happening within his mind. Memories long buried were trying to surface and she was sure much of it was jumbled. Much of it, she feared, was likely never to return.

  "Jason? Would you like to get out and stretch your legs a little? It will probably help to keep exercising your muscles," she said, reaching out and touching his shoulder.

  He nodded, but did not turn towards her. He reached out and managed to open the door. He struggled to turn and lift his legs out of the car. She got out and moved around the front of the car and stopped. She knew he wanted to do this on his own and she was willing to let him try.

  He managed to get both feet out of the car and onto the ground outside. He attempted to push off the seat but only managed to raise himself a few inches before dropping back. He then attempted to grab the door frame and hoist himself into a standing position. He managed to double the height on his previous attempt, but the car was just too low to the ground to allow his weakened body to pull itself up.

  "Damn it."

  "It's okay, Jason," Julie said coming around the door to help him. "It will take time. You will get stronger. I know you will."

  She pulled him up and out of the car. He could see the strain in her face from the effort and silently cursed his weakness.

  "Thank you," he whispered.

  She hugged him tightly and he kissed her cheek.

  "Not just for today. For everything, Julie. I honestly don't know how you did it all these years. I don't know that I could have."

  "What are you talking about? Of course you could. Hell, what I have dealt with is nothing compared to what you've endured.

  "Really? You think so? I don't. I've been allowed to forget. So much of the time it was blissful ignorance for me."

  "That's total crap, on so many levels," she said, kissing him again. "How many hours, weeks, heck years did you struggle to remember things that just seemed a bit out of reach. That would be torture for anyone, but for someone of your intelligence? No, blissful ignorance doesn't sound right. Pure hell is more like it."

  He nodded, knowing he couldn't fool her. "Sometimes." He released her and took a few careful steps with his hand on the car for support, then let his hand drop from the car and took a few more.

  "See, you'll be running marathons in no time."

  He smiled and looked back at her.

  "I don't know about that. I never ran them before. Besides," he said, rubbing his right leg. "I don't think I would be up for that kind of punishment."

  "He had it set wrong, didn't he?"

  Jason shrugged and refused to look her in the eye.

  "Such a son of a bitch."

  Jason nodded.

  "So I walk with a limp. There are worse things. Besides, some women think a man with a cane is sexy."

  Julie laughed and walked over to him, hugging him tightly again.

  "You've always been sexy to me."

  "Thank you. Really, Julie, I don't have the words."

  "I wasn't about to abandon you, Jason. I love you, always have."

  She could see he wanted to say something, perhaps to speak of memories that were only partially there, but the words just wouldn't come.

  "Anyway, you keep exercising those legs. I need to change
these license plates to the real ones."

  Julie walked to the trunk and popped it open. She grabbed a small toolbox and pulled back the mat in the trunk and removed two Massachusetts license plates. She knelt down and began to remove the back plate, as Jason continued to slowly circle the car. She had managed to remove the back plate by the time Jason had reached the front again.

  "You had two different plates on the car?" He asked, laughing and shaking his head.

  She stood and walked around to the front, holding the plate she had just removed. She held the plate in her hand next to the one still attached to the front of the car. They were both Rhode Island plates. The numbers and letters on the plates were similar but not matching.

  "I figured that someone would report losing two plates, but might not notice if only one were missing. I tried to get them to match as close as I could, not that I thought anyone was going to pay that close attention. But I figured why risk it. When I was planning part of this caper, I was thinking I might use this car to get you from Ocean View. I figured there would be witnesses and it would help if people argued over the license plate details."

  "Smart thinking."

  "I don't know about that. I realized it made no sense to take this car. I was going to be identified as the one who took you anyway. Might as well use my normal car and then switch it out for this. If we got lucky and no one saw us switch cars then these plates were pointless, if however we were seen or picked up on the parking lot camera then these plates might throw them off a bit. They will be looking for these fake plates, not the real ones."

  "And this car can't be traced back to you?"

  "Nope. Paid for in cash and registered to Mrs. Rebecca J. Young."

  "Who?"

  "Me, or at least that is what my new documents say."

  "And who am I?"

  "Why Mr. Young of course."

  "So," he said with a smile. "This has all been an elaborate marriage trap?"

  She dropped the license plate, then hugged and kissed him.

  "You know it. Did it work?"

  He held her face in his hands, looking deeply into her eyes.