by Debra Doxer
Alison looked at me for a long time. “Your father told you this?”
I shook my head. “The documents were my mother’s medical records from the trial. He left them for me to find. I think he wanted me to know why he did it if he ever got caught.”
She and Drew exchanged a look as Alison sat down again. “I’m glad. Did he also tell you how he found the trial?”
“No.”
“He heard about it from me. I learned about it at a charity event Tom and I went to. It was to raise money for cancer research being hosted by the consulate general of the Chinese embassy. Some of the Chinese doctors we met were talking about this trial and how hopeful they were about it. I asked Tom to look into it with your mother in mind.”
My mouth fell open, and she smiled kindly at me.
“Tom spoke to some people and learned they were having promising results with a new drug,” she continued. “They were taking a different approach, something about using the body’s own immune system, and the side effects were less severe than with current therapies.”
Alison reached out to pat my arm, her touch that of a reassuring mother. “A lot of people were trying to get into that trial, and most were turned down. When Tom inquired about letting your mother participate, he didn’t have much hope. He was surprised when they said yes so quickly. But then they added a condition. We had no idea who in the government was funding the trial, but whoever it was knew who Tom worked for. The condition was information. Classified information from the organization.”
I sat perfectly still in my chair, not wanting to move or talk or even breathe and possibly miss something. “What did Tom say?”
“He refused, and at first we didn’t know whether we should tell your father about the clinical trial or not. But in the end, Tom thought Sebastian should make that decision for himself. He said if I were sick and he could do something to help me, he’d want that choice. So he told your father, and we all know what Sebastian chose to do.”
My heart filled with sympathy. My father had been put in an impossible position. “Did my mother know about any of this?”
“No. She only knew that he’d found her a new doctor. She started going to an office in Claymore for her treatments. She didn’t know that office had been set up especially for her by the doctors running the trial, or that your father was passing secrets to them each time he took her there. The treatment couldn’t save her life the way we hoped, but it did extend it. We had her with us a little longer because of it, and I’m fairly sure your father thinks it was worth it.”
Tears were running down my cheeks again, and I used my napkin to wipe them away. “He does,” I said firmly because I knew it was true. “But he’s paying for it now, and so am I.”
Alison’s eyes filled with compassion. “I’m sorry, Candy. I wish there was something we could do.”
“Is there something? Isn’t there some way to help him?”
She eyed me regretfully. “We can’t help your father. All we would do is expose ourselves. He made his choice. He knew there could be consequences.”
I shook my head, not wanting to accept that.
“You can’t tell anyone,” Drew said, leaning over the table in my direction. “Everything you heard tonight has to stay in this room.”
“Candy,” Alison said gently, “did the people who took your father talk to you? Are they asking you questions?”
I eyed her steadily while my stomach dipped. “Yes, but I pretended not to know anything.” The truth was, I didn’t know anything when I first spoke to Victor and Jonah, but that wasn’t the case anymore.
“If they talk to you again, you still don’t know anything. All right?” she asked. “Knowing your father, I’m sure he’s told them nothing himself.”
My gut twisted because my only hope of helping my father was gone. The Hoyts couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything. “Do you know what happened to the clinical trial? Is it still going on?”
“When we went to the same benefit this year, I heard the drug finally got approved in China. With the connections they had, that’s not surprising. It’s still not widely available, though.”
Biting my lip, I didn’t know if that was good news or not. “Can anyone go there and get treated?”
She eyed me curiously. “I suppose.”
I cleared my throat. “Because since I saw my mother’s files, I’ve been thinking about a friend of mine. He has cancer. He’s had it for a while, and the doctors aren’t very hopeful.”
“I’m sorry,” Alison said.
I nodded. “Do you know how I could find out about getting the same treatment for him?”
She shifted in her chair, and her gaze bounced away from mine. “I could try to find the information for you. If you can get the treatment, it’s sure to be expensive. Can your friend afford to travel to China and pay for a costly drug therapy?”
“I don’t know.” I bit my lip at the thought because I didn’t really think so. “But whatever you could find out would be helpful. If there’s another option, I’d like him to know about it.”
She nodded sympathetically, and then she stood and urged me to stand too so she could hug me. I let her, putting my arms loosely around her while her floral perfume tickled my nose and my hopes for my father sank to the floor.
After releasing me and giving me an encouraging smile, she began clearing the table. When I tried to help, she put her hand on my shoulder. “You’re going to be okay, Candy. You have us and your aunt and cousins. I know it’s hard now. I know you miss your father, but it will get easier. I promise.” With a kind smile, she walked into the kitchen carrying a pile of dishes.
“You know,” Drew said as he stood up. “If it were me, I’d stay far away from anything related to your father, especially drugs made in China.”
I said nothing in response, but I noted his lack of empathy. For some reason, it didn’t surprise me.
When Alison came back in and told us we should go into the living room and catch up, Drew grinned, happy to be free from dinner cleanup as he held his hand out to me.
I stared at it for a moment because we weren’t close like that. We didn’t hold hands, or maybe we did because I took it and let him lead me over to the sofa in the living room. My thoughts were elsewhere, though, tangled up in all I’d learned tonight.
As I sat there half listening to Drew ask me if I wanted to watch a movie, reality slowly sank in. Victor wanted to know exactly what information my father had passed to the Chinese. After what I’d just learned, that the Hoyts had left my father on his own and walked away, I knew the Hoyts didn’t know. It wouldn’t surprise me if the only person who did know was my father, which meant I couldn’t give Victor what he wanted. Despite Jonah’s claim that he would smooth things over with his father, I wasn’t so sure.
“You’re one of those people,” Drew said.
I reined in my thoughts. “One of what people?”
“The kind that attracts trouble.”
I frowned at that.
“Good thing I like trouble.” He grinned slyly.
I rolled my eyes. “For future reference, saying ‘you’re one of those people’ is almost always offensive unless you’re pointing to a group of Mensa members or fashion models.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “But it got your mind off whatever you were thinking about.”
Reluctantly, I smiled.
“I’m sorry about what happened with your father, Candy. I really am.”
I swallowed, my emotions close to the surface. Maybe Drew wasn’t as insensitive as I thought. “Thanks.”
“So, who’s this friend of yours? The one who’s sick.”
I pulled in a shaky breath. “Theo. He’s my best friend, actually. I know him from Ryberg.”
Drew twisted to face me, resting his arm on the back of the couch, which put his hand near my hair. “Are you sure you want to open all this up again? Drugs made in China, and doctors who secretly work for the government?”
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“But if the drug got approved, none of that’s an issue anymore. You can travel anywhere and get treated for anything you want if you can pay for it.”
Drew shrugged. “To be honest, you’re asking a lot of my mother, and she’s already done so much for your family.”
My brows slammed down. “She seemed okay with it.”
“She’s a good person. I’m sure she’s okay with it, but when my father finds out, he might not be so okay. They already took your father. We don’t want them looking at us next.”
His point was valid, even more valid than he knew, but his delivery was blunt and felt purposefully mean.
“I just don’t want you to get your hopes up,” he said, backtracking when he saw my hard expression.
My hopes? They were hardly up at the moment. I sat forward, moving farther away from his hand resting on the couch behind my head.
“Candy, look.” That same hand moved to my forearm. “I’m worried about my family. You can’t blame me for that.”
I looked down at his hand, wondering if I was being too hard on him.
He lightly squeezed my arm. “Now that you know everything, you can talk to me about it whenever you want. We should hang out more. I used to be your best friend, remember?”
I gave him a half smile I wasn’t feeling. Hanging out with Drew wasn’t my priority, and my best friend position was already filled.
His blue eyes focused on mine as he slid closer to me on the couch. “Being all alone in your house must be hard. I can’t believe both your folks are gone now. I can’t imagine how that feels, but I want you to know, I’d be happy to come over if you need some company.”
My smile disappeared. Each time Drew spoke, it felt like he was sticking a knife into me and coating the hole he left behind with sugar.
Jonah’s words of warning about Drew rang in my head, causing my discomfort level to rise. “Thanks,” I said, even though I had no intention of ever needing his company.
Jonah thought Drew might exaggerate his ability to help my father in exchange for getting into my pants, but I didn’t think Drew was smart or devious enough to think of that. He was giving off signals that he wanted in my pants, but he was trying to play on my emotions to accomplish it, making me feel bad and then offering to comfort me. Really, all he was doing was creeping me out.
“So,” he said, pointing toward a stack of DVDs piled beside the television. “Action, adventure, comedy? I’m thinking you could use a comedy tonight.”
I was thinking I wanted to go home. “I’m tired, Drew. I’m gonna go.”
His lips turned down.
“I’ll just thank your mom for dinner before I leave.” I stood up and smoothed down my skirt.
Drew got up too and took me by surprise when he pulled me into a hug. I stood there stiffly, withstanding it. When the hug went on too long, I pulled away and smiled stiffly at him before I said good-night and used all my self-control not to speed walk out of the room.
***
As I drove home from the Hoyts’, I thought of all the things I’d learned about my father since he’d been taken away. So many secrets revealed, and they only reinforced what I instinctively knew about him. He was hard and ruthless, but also selfless and capable of great love and goodness. He was a man worth saving. I just had no idea how to do it.
My heart was heavy as I pulled into the driveway and pressed the button on the visor to open the garage door. Light from inside spilled out onto the thin layer of snow coating the driveway. After pulling inside and closing the garage door, I moved slowly, feeling weighed down as I got out of the car and unlocked the door to go inside.
The nervous energy I had earlier gave way to emptiness. Now what? I asked myself, and the answering silence was frightening.
Turning the lights on as I walked, I went to the coat closet beside the front door, still feeling the chill from outside as I slid my purse down my arm so I could take off my coat.
It was then I realized something and went completely still, except for my heart, which began running a race. I’d set the alarm before I left, but when I came in just now, the warning beep hadn’t sounded.
“How was dinner?”
I screamed as I whipped around in the direction the voice had come from. There was Victor, sitting on a chair in my living room with his legs crossed casually.
“What are you doing here?” I asked breathlessly, placing my hand on my chest as if that could slow my heart down.
“I came to hear about the dinner you had at your friend Drew’s house. Or didn’t you intend to tell me about it?”
I looked around the room, hoping Jonah was here too somewhere.
“It’s just us,” Victor said with a hint of a smile.
My adrenaline surged at the thought of being alone here with him. He was dangerous; every cell in my body felt it. How did he know about the dinner? Had he been watching me?
“I’m tired,” I said, hoping he couldn’t hear the tremor in my voice. “I was going to call Jonah in the morning and tell him.”
“Then I saved you the trouble.” Victor stood up. He was a giant, and he obviously intended to use his stature to intimidate me.
When he walked in my direction, the instinct to flee was intense. I doubted I could outrun him, but I couldn’t just stand here and wait for whatever he intended. My body begged me to move. My legs itched to run.
Panic shot through me as I reached toward the door. My fingers curled around the brass knob before I yanked the door open and raced outside.
After leaping down the front steps, I didn’t turn to see if Victor was following me. I just ran as fast as I could across the street, my boots slipping on the ice and my purse banging against my hip. Once I reached the neighbor’s front yard, I heard heavy footfalls behind me and knew Victor was chasing me. Blood raced through my veins as I pushed myself harder.
It was still early in the evening and most houses had some lights on, making it easy for Victor to see me. I needed to get into the shadows, and when I reached the next house, I climbed over a tall snow pile, jumped down the other side, and ran across the yard toward the dark house next door.
The muscles in my legs were screaming along with my frantic thoughts as my feet sank deep into the snow and I yanked them back out again, but I couldn’t slow down. I kept pushing, and I didn’t stop running until I finally reached the shadowed darkness of a backyard.
Crouching behind a trash can, I listened for Victor, but other than my own heavy breathing and the whistle of wind moving through the trees, the night was quiet. Every now and then I heard the voices of the people inside the house I was hiding behind. But I didn’t hear anyone approaching, and wondered if Victor had followed me at all or if I’d been paranoid. If he had run after me, he surely would have caught me.
There was no sign of danger, but I stayed behind the trash can until the adrenaline drained from my body and the lights on my right glove started to flash, indicating the battery was wearing down. Thank goodness I’d still had them on when I ran. I also had my cell phone in my purse, not that I had anyone to call.
I wished Theo or Lorraine lived closer. Either of them would have dropped everything to come get me. If I called Lea, she would ask me so many questions it wouldn’t be worth it. Drew wasn’t an option. That left only one person. Jonah.
I wondered if Jonah knew that his father had come to my house tonight to talk to me. That Victor broke inside, waited in the dark, and then scared me half to death.
I had to take off my glove to pull my phone from my bag and make the call. Stepping away from the house, I moved toward some bushes in the back so the owners couldn’t hear me, but the phone just rang. Jonah didn’t pick up.
Muttering in frustration, I tried to tap out a text instead, but my fingers were already so cold, it wouldn’t work. Just as I was going to give up and call Lea, the phone vibrated in my hand. It was Jonah calling me back.
“Everything okay?” he asked when I answered. I could hea
r the shock in his voice at receiving a call from me. Since I’d learned the truth about him, I hadn’t called or texted him at all.
“No. Not really. There was a surprise waiting for me when I got home tonight. Your father.”
There was silence at first. “What did he want?” Jonah asked warily.
I hesitated, but I had to tell him. His father would anyway. “I had dinner with the Hoyts. He said he came to hear all about it.”
There was nothing but breathing from his end.
“He scared me, Jonah. I ran. Now I can’t go home because he might still be there. Even if he isn’t, he could come back anytime he wants.”
“Where are you?”
I didn’t reply at first because I wasn’t sure how many houses down from my own I was.
“Candy, I can’t help you if I don’t know where you are.”
I closed my eyes as the cold penetrated my body, making me shiver. “I’ll meet you at the Quick Mart. I need some coffee.” I hung up quickly so I could get my glove back on my hand.
Now that I knew Jonah was on his way, I gradually made my way toward the street. I cut across another neighbor’s backyard first, and watched the road for a long time before I stepped out onto the sidewalk. I didn’t see anyone around as I walked swiftly through the neighborhood all the way to the Quick Mart.
There was one other customer inside, and a short, stout guy behind the counter who nodded and smiled at me as I walked into the brightly lit convenience store. Still jittery, I looked up at the round mirror mounted near the ceiling that provided a view of the entire space. To my relief, the only other customer didn’t look anything like Victor, but he did look a lot like Bruce Willis. He was tall and wore a wool cap. His face was hunched down beneath his flipped-up collar as if he didn’t want to be seen.
Satisfied Victor wasn’t lurking in the aisles, I went straight for the coffee machine. I pulled off my gloves and stuffed them into my pockets before dispensing the steaming liquid into a paper cup. After adding lots of cream and sugar, I was paying for it when the bell above the door rang and Jonah walked in, looking a slightly out of breath.