by Cate Beauman
Julie pulled a tissue from her purse, following Elaine’s lead. “I don’t want to be sad today.”
“I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
“I know.” She shoved the damp tissue away. “Tell me about you. How have you been?”
Elaine took a steadying breath. “Busy. Very busy, which is actually a good thing. It’s helped me keep my mind off of losing Neve. I used to see her every day.” She scoffed. “You just said you don’t want to be sad.”
“It’s okay. I know how close you were—how much she loved you and appreciated all that you do.”
“That’s nice of you to say.”
She cleared her throat, hoping this was the right time to bring up her next thought. “I wanted to talk to you about the Alyson Porter Foundation.”
“Oh?” Elaine drank more of her water.
“I know you and Neve worked closely on that. I’d like to get involved, however I would be most helpful.”
“You would?”
“Absolutely,” she said, nodding her head. “Neve has done so much good. So many kids have come home because of the work all of you do.”
“I would love to welcome you aboard.”
She smiled. “I was talking to Abigail Quinn and Sophie McCabe—kind of spinning ideas—”
“Abigail Quinn the fashion designer? And her jewelry designer friend?”
Julie nodded. “Chase works with their husbands. The three of us had lunch a couple days ago.”
“Rubbing elbows with the rich and famous.” Elaine winked.
“Abby and Sophie are so nice and knowledgeable and adorable with their baby bellies.” She smiled wistfully.
“Uh oh. Chase better get a ring on that finger of yours, or we might be throwing you a baby shower before a wedding shower.”
Julie laughed. “I’m ready for both. For all of it. I’ve been ready for ten years.”
“Well it’s right here for the taking.”
“It is.” She shook her head. “But we got off track.”
“That’s okay. Go on.” Elaine gestured with her hand.
“Abby and Sophie had a bunch of great ideas, since they work so closely with the Stowers’ Houses.”
“That’s wonderful.” Elaine leaned farther in. “I would love to hear all about it.”
“I don’t want to step on any toes.”
“Don’t be silly.”
The waitress brought over their soup and sandwiches, setting plates and bowls in front of them. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Julie caught a whiff of the steam, smiling as their server walked away. “Mmm. This smells wonderful.” She lifted her spoon and cautiously sipped the dark golden broth. “Good—very good, but not as good as the French onion Neve and I had in Boston.”
“Neve and I found that place one day after a shopping date years ago. That was one of our favorite spots.” She sampled the soup. “It’s pretty tasty.”
Julie’s cell phone beeped with an incoming text. “I’m sorry. I should check this.”
“Go ahead.”
Julie looked at her screen, smiling.
Is everything okay?
Everything’s perfect, she typed.
“From Chase?” Elaine asked.
“Yes. He’s checking in and making sure everything’s all right.”
“Of course we’re okay. Two girls enjoying a nice lunch.” She shook her head with a roll of her eyes. “Men. Although Chase doesn’t strike me as much of an Alpha male.”
She hit “send” and looked at Elaine again, sighing. “He’s not. Someone tried to run me off the road yesterday. I almost crashed into a guardrail on one of the overpasses.”
Elaine’s eyes went huge as she set down her spoon with a clatter. “What? Honey, are you okay?”
She nodded, suppressing a shudder with the memory. “I’m all right—just a little jumpy.”
“I’ve heard that road rage is a big thing around here.”
“We don’t think it was road rage.”
Elaine frowned. “Then what was it?”
She sighed again. “We’re not one hundred percent sure, but Chase thinks someone isn’t too happy that I’m Alyson Porter.”
Elaine’s brow creased farther as she shook her head. “I don’t understand. You were taken twenty-five years ago.”
“Yes, but the person who orchestrated the kidnapping might be trying to hurt me now that they know Alyson Porter is back in the picture.”
“Dear God.” Elaine pressed her fingers to her temple. “Chase called me last night asking questions… How long has this been going on?”
“A few days. I thought I was having some bad luck in Newton with the allergic reaction, but my EpiPen went missing, and I fell down some icy stairs that shouldn’t have been icy at all.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” She looked around, her eyes full of alarm. “Should you even be here? By yourself?”
“Chase’s friend followed me. He’ll follow me home later.”
“Dear God,” she said again. “Sugar plum, this is awful. Have you called the police?”
“Yes. I’m trying not to make too big of a deal out of it.”
“Sugar plum, this is a big deal.”
“I know.” She rested her hand against her queasy stomach. “And it’s terrifying. There’s a woman Chase keeps mentioning, but I wonder if it might not be…” She shrugged.
“You’re thinking Noah,” Elaine finished for her.
She nibbled her lip, nodding. “He hates me.”
“Honey, I’ve known Noah his whole life. He’s a bitter man. His life hasn’t been easy. But even so, I can’t imagine him hurting anyone.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” she said, even though she wasn’t, and played with her soup. “All I can do is leave the police work up to Chase and the FBI. I just want this over.”
“Of course you do.” She rubbed her hand up and down Julie’s forearm. “We both do. This whole situation is awful.”
Julie lifted her sandwich, trying to find her appetite, and set it back down as Elaine winced. “What?”
“I’ve lost track of time.”
Julie glanced at her watch, realizing an hour had already slipped by. “You need to call a cab.”
Elaine shook her head. “I can’t leave you here when you’re having so many problems.”
“I’m going to be fine.” She picked up her phone. “In fact, I’m going to text Reed and let him know I’m ready for him to head back this way.”
“It still worries me. I know you’re in good hands with Chase, but I feel responsible, like Neve would want me to be sure you’re okay.”
“I promise I’ll be all right. Chase and I won’t have it any other way.”
“I don’t feel right—”
She rested her hand on top of Elaine’s. “I wouldn’t feel right if you missed your well-deserved vacation.”
Elaine held her gaze for several seconds. “Okay. Let me set this up while you talk to Reed.” She selected a number on her phone. “Yes. I need a cab to pick me up at The Beach House. As soon as possible. LAX.”
Julie’s phone beeped again. She looked at the message Chase sent.
Off to my last meeting. Call if you need anything.
Have fun, she replied. Then she found Reed’s contact information, sending him a text. We’re wrapping up lunch.
Be there in about twenty minutes, he answered.
“An hour?” Elaine looked at her watch. “I don’t have an hour. There must be something—” Frowning, she huffed. “Is there another service—a limo, anything at all? Yes, please check.” She rolled her eyes as she looked at Julie. “They put me on hold while they transfer me to another cab company,” she whispered. “Yes. I need a ride to the airport. The Beach House restaurant to LAX.” She closed her eyes. “If an hour wasn’t going to work with the last company, ninety minutes certainly isn’t either.”
Elaine needed to leave now if she was going to make her flight. “I can tak
e you,” Julie whispered.
Elaine shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
“You’ll be with me. I can have Reed meet us at the airport. We’re only a few stoplights away. That seems pretty safe.”
“Let me try another company first.”
She shook her head. “We’ll be together.”
“I don’t know,” Elaine hesitated, looking around the room again.
“We’ll be okay. Chase said as long as I’m with someone, it’s fine.”
“Okay.” Elaine nodded. “We’ll karate chop anyone who’s foolish enough to mess with the two of us.”
She smiled. “Let me call Reed.” She selected his number in her directory.
“Hello?”
“Reed, this is Julie.”
“Traffic’s a little backed up, but I’m on my way.”
“We’ve actually run into a little snag. Elaine can’t get a cab. I was going to drive her to the airport. I figure since we’re so close, you could meet me there.”
“I’d like you to wait. We’ll get her to her plane.”
She looked at her watch. “She has less than an hour to board. What if we get started and I plan on meeting you inside by the security checkpoint. American Airlines. I’ll have Elaine with me the whole time.”
“Go ahead and get started. I’ll try to catch up with you. Make sure you stay with Elaine.”
“I promise I will.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye.” She hung up and smiled. “Reed’s going to meet us. I’ll just let Chase know what’s going on.”
Taking Elaine to the airport. Reed’s a few minutes behind. We’re going to meet at the security checkpoint.
“There.” Julie put her phone away.
“I appreciate this.” She put two twenties on the table and hooked her arm around Julie’s shoulders as they stood. “Let’s get to the airport so you can find your friend.”
They walked out to Chase’s SUV, put Elaine’s carry-on in the trunk, and settled in, turning right out of the parking lot.
“We’ll have you there in no time,” Julie said, even as she slowed for the first light among the four rows of bumper-to-bumper traffic. “This is crazy. I’ve never seen so many cars—not even in Boston.”
“Well, it’s a huge city on top of it being the holidays.”
“You know you could stay here with us—with me and Chase instead of going to Hawaii. We have a guest room. There’s not much in it, but we could figure something out.”
Elaine smiled. “That’s very sweet.”
The light turned green, and she accelerated. “I don’t like the idea of you waking up on Christmas alone.”
“I don’t want to intrude.”
She shook her head. “You wouldn’t be—”
“Maybe I’ll invite a hunky cabana boy back to my room on Christmas Eve.” She winked.
Julie grinned, more than certain Elaine could have her pick of any man she wanted. “The offer’s open if you change your mind.”
“Maybe I’ll take you up on it next year.”
“I hope you will.” She put on her blinker and edged over a lane to the right as they made their way through the next intersection. “We would love to have you.”
“Perhaps you’ll have a little one in the guestroom by then.”
Hopefully so. She had every intention of ditching her birth control as soon as she and Chase discussed it. “We’ll buy an extra comfy pullout couch.”
“It sounds like you have a cozy little place.”
Her lips curved. “It’s small and sweet—perfect.”
“When you get your inheritance, you can upgrade.”
Julie shook her head, hating the idea. “I’m not going to fight over money with Noah, and I don’t want to change. Money changes everything.”
“Maybe you could add on a room or two.”
“That might be a possibility.” She glanced in her side mirror, spotting a cop car a couple car-lengths behind before it turned, and she relaxed her tensed shoulders. She and Elaine were together, and all seemed to be fine, but she looked forward to meeting up with Reed and going home to Chase.
“I would love to see your home.”
“We’ll have lunch at the house next time.” She looked to the rearview mirror, ready to switch lanes again, and gripped the wheel tight as she spotted the navy blue vehicle. “Oh my God,” she shuddered out with a rush of dread. “The car. It’s right there.”
“What?”
“The BMW that followed me.”
“Are you sure?” Elaine whipped her head around to stare out the back window.
Swallowing, she nodded. “I’m positive.”
Elaine faced front. “I’ll call the police. Don’t stop. Go through the yellow light.”
Julie pressed on the gas, making it into the intersection as the yellow light turned red. The vehicle followed. “He’s—he’s still there.”
“Okay. Okay.” Elaine rifled through her purse. “I’m making the call right now. Try and weave in between those two cars up ahead. Maybe we can lose them.” She tapped unsteady fingers against her cell phone screen. “I’m dialing now.”
Julie darted another glance into the mirror as the vehicle turned left with the next light. “Don’t. Don’t call, Elaine.”
“What? Why?”
She sat back, her shoulders sagging. “The car turned.”
“Oh. Oh, honey.” Elaine rested one hand against her heart and the other on Julie’s shoulder. “You just scared a decade off my life, and I don’t have that many left.”
Her cheeks burned bright. “I think I just scared a few off my own. I’m so sorry. When I’m done shaking, I’m sure I’ll be even more embarrassed than I already am.”
“Don’t worry about it, sugar plum.” Elaine squeezed Julie’s shoulder. “We’ll look at those last couple of minutes as a little aerobic activity—heavy breathing, hearts racing, sweating.”
Despite the terror of the last few moments, Julie laughed. “Thanks.”
“Don’t think anything of it.”
~~~~
Chase walked down the hall with his travel itinerary for his upcoming trip to Iraq in hand. For the most part, he was ready for the seven-day assignment in one of the most dangerous provinces in the country, but now that Julie was here and her situation was what it was, he didn’t want to go. The trip was two weeks away, and plans had been made for Julie to stay with the Cookes while he would be gone. She enjoyed the kids and Sarah and Hailey’s company, but being overseas left him uneasy—like Julie being out and about on her lunch date left him on edge. Until they had Helen or whoever the hell hated Alyson Porter behind bars, he wouldn’t be able to relax.
He sat down at his desk, looking at his watch, waiting for Reed or Julie’s text to let him know they were on their way back to the office. Julie decided to take Elaine to the airport, which he wasn’t crazy about, but Reed texted him a few minutes ago, confirming he was almost to LAX.
Rubbing at his jaw with his sense of restlessness, he picked up one of Alyson’s half-dozen baby books he’d brought to work with him and studied the pictures—as he’d done every free moment he could get. For hours last night, he’d played through the old home movies Julie took from Newton, starting from the time of Alyson’s birth to the final footage the Porter’s had captured days before she disappeared, but there hadn’t been much to work with. Most of the material was taken by Neve or Jay and starred their children enjoying exotic vacation destinations or playing in their playroom.
He steamed out a breath as his frustration grew. Perhaps Helen wasn’t a family friend after all. Maybe she’d worked for Porter Pharmaceuticals, but he’d done his homework there too, backtracking ten years prior to Alyson Porter’s existence through the short list of Porter Pharmaceutical’s disgruntled employees. The company had taken care of its workers. Even Noah was known to be good to the people who worked for him. There was no one named Helen, nor had there ever been anyone who fit her descr
iption on staff. Only two women had been fired between 1980 and 1990 and neither fit her description nor had lived anywhere near Newton at the time of Alyson’s abduction. It was more than plausible that Helen wasn’t even the woman’s real name, but that’s what they had to work with for now.
He turned the page and stopped abruptly, frowning as he noticed a sliver of someone’s finger along a picture’s edge. He looked closer at the two others on the page, noticing the same thing in the top right corner of the shots. He flipped pages and saw it again and again—at least a dozen times. The constant observer. Why hadn’t he spotted this before?
He flipped through the photographs again. “Almost every one,” he murmured. The same person took the pictures. He studied the photos for the umpteenth time, closer, slower, stopping on one of the few four-by-six shots that didn’t have the small smudge of peach-toned flesh. Noah and Ally smiled while they sat in Jay’s lap. Thomas and Ferra, much younger, laughed in the background. Neve could have been behind the camera.
He moved to another. Neve, Noah, and Ally smiling at a Fourth of July parade. Had Jay taken it? He moved to yet another and stared at Neve and Julie grinning at each other during her third birthday party as someone captured the moment. Several people stood around, smiling at them—Becky Maglio, Aaron Dubois with his hand on his children’s shoulders, and a dowdy woman with brown hair far in the background.
He turned the page and went back to the picture that kept catching his attention. There was something about that woman—something slightly unsettling about the way she stared at Neve and Alyson. Her eyes. What was it about those eyes that seemed so familiar? “Who are you?” He picked up his phone and pressed a button, connecting him to Ethan’s office line.
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to scan you a picture. Can you blow it up for me? The face. I want a good look at the brown-haired woman’s eyes.” He scanned the photo and attached it to an e-mail as he spoke.
“Give me five minutes.”
“Thanks.” He hung up, impatiently waiting for Ethan to work his magic with his state-of-the-art equipment. He texted Julie again, growing uncomfortable by the lack of communication.