by Cate Beauman
“Expedited results should be in on Wednesday mid-morning.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
Julie signed her name next, and the woman picked up the package and left.
“Well.” Neve smiled, wiping the remaining black smudge from her thumb with a moist towelette. “I guess that was easy enough.”
“It was,” Julie agreed, but the fallout was going to be much harder to deal with. When Thomas pulled the Mercedes out of the mansion gates this morning, the media had swarmed their vehicle, and several reporters actually followed them to the testing center, fueling more chaos. Chase had whisked them into the building’s back entrance, but the effort made little difference. She and Neve still had questions screamed at them and microphones shoved in their faces.
She swiped a lock of hair behind her ear, not looking forward to reliving the experience in just a few moments. Chase was right: The media was going to eat her alive. Leila and Mindy had called her mere minutes apart as Thomas drove them into the city, letting her know reporters were knocking on doors and walking into the local businesses in Bakersfield, wanting the scoop on Julie Keller. And she was going home tomorrow to deal with the insanity alone.
“Are you ready?”
Was she ready? She pressed her lips together at the loaded question. She didn’t have any choice but to be. “Yeah.” They walked out into the waiting area, where Chase stood from his chair.
“We’re going out another entrance. Straight into a cab.”
Julie frowned. “What about the car and Thomas?”
“Thomas is already headed back. He’ll go home a different way.”
“A wild goose chase,” Neve said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry about all of this. I should have canceled the ball this year.”
She shook her head. “No, you shouldn’t have. You raised a lot of money for the Alyson Porter Foundation. So many children will come home because of your efforts.”
“Thank you,” Neve whispered.
“Come on.” Chase jerked his head toward a hallway. “They’ll be waiting for us, even with Thomas gone. There’s no way to avoid it. We’ll do what we did before. Heads down, walk forward, say nothing.”
They approached the glass door where swarms of news crews waited. Julie tossed Chase a weary glance. “I think they’ve multiplied.”
“They usually do. Let’s get out of here.” He opened the door and dozens of men and women started shouting questions.
“Are you Alyson Porter? What happened the night you were taken?”
Chase wrapped an arm around Julie and Neve’s waists as he maneuvered them through the pandemonium. “Let’s give the ladies a little space,” he shouted, pushing them forward. “Back it up. Come on. Let’s go. Back it up.”
“Neve, how does it feel to have your daughter back?”
A microphone appeared in front of Julie as one of ABC News’ reporters approached. “Julie, who changed your name?”
“Back up.” Chase shoved at the man’s arm. “Neve, go ahead and open the door.”
Neve opened up and slid in.
“Julie, were you abused?” The man continued. “Did your abductor harm you?”
She paused, making eye contact with the camera lens, wanting to tell them all to go to hell.
“Let’s go, Jules.” Chase pulled her around to the backseat.
She got in, sitting next to Neve as Chase piled in next, shutting the door.
“I don’t know how the hell I’m supposed to get us out of here,” the cabbie said.
“Give a couple of honks and accelerate,” Chase instructed.
“I can’t.”
“Punch the gas. They’ll move.”
Julie gripped Chase’s hand, staring straight ahead as the reporter’s question echoed in her head. Did your abductor harm you? Her mother had never harmed a hair on her head—her mother, who was her abductor. Miranda’s name was going to get slung through the mud, along with Gram and Gramps’s.
The cabbie gave several taps on the horn and moved ahead.
“Good. A little faster. As soon as toes clear the tires, gun it and take the first right.”
The cabbie gunned it and raced down the first available street. “Now what?”
“Take us to one twenty-five Cowen Drive. We’ll have an easier time getting in than we did out. I called for police presence.”
“A disaster,” Neve muttered. “Thank you, Chase.”
“No problem.”
Julie rested her head on his shoulder, exhausted after their long morning. How did he deal with this all the time: the crowds, the lack of privacy, people always in his face?
“How are you doing?” he asked close to her ear.
“Good.” She smiled.
He stared into her eyes, bringing her knuckles to his lips, and she knew he could tell she was lying. “We’ll be home soon.”
She nodded, relaxing against him as much as she could, absorbing the comfort of having him close just as his phone started to ring.
“Let me take a look.” He leaned to his side, grabbed his phone, and tensed as he looked at the screen. “Hello,” he answered. “This is Chase. When? I can make that happen. Okay.” He hung up.
She sat up. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Fine. I’m going to have to head out for a little while though.”
“Oh.” She nodded, even as her stomach sank. Her last afternoon with Neve and Chase, and he was going to work.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said absently as his thumbs raced over the screen.
“Okay.” What else could she say?
Several minutes passed in silence, and they pulled through the gates while half a dozen officers kept reporters at bay. The cab disappeared behind the fortress of trees, leaving the media behind.
“Thanks for your help.” Chase paid off the cabbie, and they got out. “Let’s get you inside,” he said to Julie. “Then I need to go.”
She frowned, trying to read the intensity in his eyes. “How long do you think you’ll be gone?”
“A couple hours—three, maybe four.”
“Yeah. Sure. Go do what you need to do.” She turned, starting toward the door.
He took her hand, pulling her back to face him. “Jules, we’ll do something tonight.”
“Definitely.” But she was already losing him to the world he’d left behind.
He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and jogged to the rental, got in, and drove off. Just like that, he was gone.
Neve settled her arm around Julie’s shoulders. “It’s already after three. How about a late lunch?”
Her world was turning upside down again, and she was helpless to do anything but hold on for the ride. “I’m not all that hungry.”
“Honey, have you told him how you feel?”
Swallowing, she shook her head. “I don’t see the point. The past couple of weeks—having him back has been great, but this right here…” She gestured to the tail end of the car disappearing past the line of trees. “That’s our reality.”
“Love is never easy, but it’s worth the work.” She pulled Julie closer. “How about movies in my room? We’ll ask Ferra to make us brooding food.”
Her brow furrowed. “Brooding food?”
“Sure. Something full of fat and starch followed by something full of fat, starch, and lots of sugar—probably chocolate too.”
Julie grinned. “I think that sounds good.”
Smiling, Neve winked. “Me too.”
Chapter Thirty-five
Chase sat across from Donnie Dorman for the second time in less than forty-eight hours. He kept his face blank while Donnie stared at him across the table and played with his beard. Minutes ticked by in tense silence before Donnie folded his hands and leaned back in his chair. Chase leaned back as well, the picture of calm, waiting for Donnie to get down to why he’d called. “Anytime you’re ready,” he said.
“I saw the paper this morning. Grabbed it right up off the cart. Gotta
keep up with what’s going on outside these fucking walls.”
Chase nodded.
“Looks like Alyson Porter is back.”
“So you’re ready to talk?”
“I said it looks like. You got any proof yet?”
He crossed his arms and settled in, growing more comfortable. Donnie had a solid two days to mull over Rule Thirty-Five. People always talked when it benefited them. “It’s coming.”
“You get me a deal.” Donnie leaned in. “My memory’s starting to come back.”
“Who’s Helen?”
Donnie grinned. “You’ve been busy.”
“Who is she?”
“Name rings a bell, but it’s foggy.”
Chase leaned in this time. “Don’t fuck with me, Donnie. You called me here.”
“You get me proof the DA’s willing to agree to a reduced sentence—significantly reduced—and I’m sure things will start coming back to me.”
Chase narrowed his eyes and rubbed his hand over his jaw, letting Donnie know he was mulling it over. “How do I know you won’t forget again? How can I be sure you’re not full of shit right this minute? I’m the free man here. I can get up and walk whenever I want. I’m finding the information on my own.”
“But you came, didn’t you?” he snickered.
He shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? You can make this easier. Everyone wants the easy way, but I’ll take the hard road if that’s all I’ve got. But let me make myself real clear, Donnie.” He leaned closer, lowering his voice, making certain Donnie knew he was done dicking around. “You’re on my radar. We both know you’re in this up to your fucking eyeballs. If I find what I need before you decide you wanna add your two cents, I’ll make sure you never see the light of day without barbed wire in front of it.”
Donnie smirked. “Confident.”
“Damn straight.” He eased back, trying his best to appear calm as he battled frustration. “This case. Guys like you, you’re child’s play compared to what I used to hunt, so I would start thinking real quick about whose side you’re on. I’m leaving tomorrow.” He noted the quick flash of panic in Donnie’s eyes.
“So this is all bullshit? You were just fucking with me?”
“No. I want something. I want proof that I’m not wasting my time.”
“There was talk that the kid wasn’t supposed to live. That was part of the agreement, or so I’ve heard.”
His blood ran cold. “You were going to kill Alyson Porter?”
Donnie shook his head as he held up his hands in front of him. “I wasn’t gonna do jack shit. I had nothing to do with any of it. I’m talking about rumors.”
He scoffed. “That’s all you’ve got? Shit, Donnie, I could make something like that up.”
“She was worth more dead than alive, according to my sources.” He smiled. “She probably still is.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means she should watch her back, and you should get me a deal, because my memory’s gone foggy again.” Donnie stood and walked over to the guard, spreading his arms and legs for a pat down.
He wanted to call him back and ask more questions, but he recognized the game he and Donnie were playing. The tables had turned. Donnie now held the winning hand. If he wanted the rest of the information, the DA was going to have to come through with a reduced sentence.
Standing, he moved down the hall. He needed to talk to Neve, even Ferra and Thomas to see what they knew about Helen. He and Julie still needed to have a conversation—not what he wanted to do on their last night together. Time was running out, and the answers weren’t becoming any clearer.
He pushed through the door, exiting the way he came, and zipped up his coat. The air had cooled considerably over the last couple of hours. He got behind the wheel and turned over the ignition, staring at the rows of barred windows as he replayed his conversation with Donnie. She was worth more dead than alive. She probably still is.
Was Donnie fucking with him? He clenched his jaw as his gut screamed no. Was Alyson’s kidnapper still close? Miranda was dead; Donnie was behind bars. What about Helen? He reversed and drove out of the parking lot, wanting to get back to Julie.
~~~~
Julie grabbed another ice cream truffle from the bowl as she lay next to Neve beneath plush covers, watching Sense and Sensibility. She bit into the dark chocolate coating and the frozen vanilla and caramel center and moaned. “These are so good. I can’t believe Ferra made them.”
“She’s a dream in the kitchen.”
“Mmm,” Julie agreed as she popped the rest in her mouth. The early evening had passed in a pleasant blur of cheese and veggie paninis, greasy kettle potato chips, and sinful chocolaty treats. It was easy to pretend that her life wasn’t a complete mess and forget that the press hovered just beyond the gates in the dark, waiting for their next headline. “This is my favorite book.” She gestured to the movie playing on the flat screen across the room. “A true classic.”
“It’s a good one.” Neve helped herself to another truffle.
“Chase and I read the novel the summer before we had our falling out.” She rolled to her side, facing her new confidant. “We sat in Gram’s hammock under this grouping of shade trees by the pond every afternoon, plowing our way through the dreaded summer reading list. Except it wasn’t so dreadful lying next to him, listening to his sexy voice tell me a story while our skin brushed in such close quarters.” She grinned, resting her head on her bent arm. “The night we finished the book, we went to Sal’s for Pizza. Chase drove Nana’s beat-up Oldsmobile to the lake. We spread out a blanket and shared a medium pizza with our favorite toppings—like we had a million times before, but something was different. He’d been looking at me strangely—longer, more intently—for days.” She chuckled, remembering how she’d puzzled over his smoldering stares. “We were talking about something—I think John Willoughby’s wretched character—and he leaned over and kissed me.” She laughed. “I dropped my pizza. I wasn’t expecting it. Then he leaned in again, and I kissed him back.”
Neve smiled. “That’s very sweet.”
She nodded, laughing again. “I was so nervous. He was so handsome—even back then, and I had no idea what I was doing. My heart pounded, and I got this tickle in my stomach.” She pressed her hand to her belly. “I still do when he kisses me.”
Neve laid her hand on Julie’s. “That sounds very special.”
“It’s one of my best memories. I had such a huge crush on him that summer. Nana brought him home from the airport like she did every June when vacation started. He got out of the car, looking so different—built, broad and man-like. My hormones went all wonky, but I didn’t think he felt the same way until he laid one on me.” She sighed wistfully. “Everything was so simple then, but we’re not seventeen anymore.” She rolled to her back and grabbed another ice cream treat, biting it in half as her light mood dimmed.
“Things have a way of working themselves out. Always, Julie.”
She sat up, crisscrossing her legs. “But that doesn’t mean they work out the way you want them to.”
“No. Sometimes they don’t. But sometimes they do.” She touched Julie’s nose in that somehow familiar gesture.
“Did you do that when I was little? Touch my nose like that?”
Neve blinked, staring at her. “Yes. To you and Noah both. Another time when things were different.”
“You picked me up when I hurt my arm.” She brushed her fingers along her scar beneath her sweater. “Noah and I were trying to get one more taste from the bowl, and I fell off his back. You hugged me and told me everything was going to be okay.”
Neve pressed her lips together as her eyes filled. “You remember.”
“Not much.” She shook her head, sad that she didn’t. “Not as much as I want to.” For days she’d wanted to forget her past; now, she was eager to know the life that had been stolen from her. “Flashes mostly—of the park, the scent of your pe
rfume, but I can recall the way you held me as vividly as I can my first kiss with Chase.”
Neve plucked a tissue from the box on her side table, blotting at her cheeks. “That’s a gift all in itself. Something to share.”
She nodded as footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Chase peeked his head in, knocking on the doorframe, his eyes locking with Julie’s. “I don’t want to interrupt. I just wanted to let you know I’m back.”
“Did you get accomplished what you needed to?” Neve asked.
He nodded. “I’m hoping I can have a couple minutes of your time in the morning.”
“Sure.”
He looked at his watch, then at Julie. “I have a couple of things to finish up. Good night.” He stepped back and walked away.
“Good night, Chase,” Neve called after him. “Jay used to look at me like that. With all that want in his eyes.” Neve shut off the TV. “Go to him.”
Julie frowned. “I thought you and I were doing the hot tub after the movie.”
“Tonight’s your last night together.” She pulled the covers off of Julie. “Go to him.”
Hesitating, she glanced toward the empty hallway. “I don’t want to say goodbye.” She swallowed as her voice thickened and looked at Neve again. “As soon as I walk into that room, Chase and I will start saying goodbye.”
Neve sat up and scooted forward, placing her hands on Julie’s shoulders. “You’re different people now—older. You’ll find your way.”
She shook her head as her heart ached. “I’m not so sure. For ten years—”
Neve touched her chin, stopping her mid-sentence. “Don’t let another ten years go by without giving him the words.”
She nodded.
“I’ll see you in the morning at breakfast?”
“Yes.” She started to the edge of the bed and stopped. “That night when you grabbed my arm at Food and Stuff, I wanted nothing more than for you to go away. I didn’t want any of this to be true.” She gestured with her hand to their surroundings. “But now I think it’s pretty amazing that I have two moms.”
“Oh.” Neve blinked, sliding her fingers down Julie’s hair. “I’m very proud of my little girl. You’re grown and you were gone for so long, but you’ll always be my little girl, Julie.”