“Are you okay? You look pale,” his mother said as he sat back down and forced himself to eat another bite of casserole.
But he didn’t. He didn’t feel okay at all. Jake’s pulse thudded in his ears and the room swam. His throat felt funny, constricted. Suddenly, he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs.
Panicked, Jake clawed at his throat.
“Jake Hawthorne!” His mother frowned. “That isn’t funny.”
“Mom,” he gasped, and fell out onto the floor.
***
Catherine’s scream scared Nikki so badly that she nearly screamed herself. She and her therapist, Theresa, looked at each other, and then ran to the kitchen. Jake lay in the floor beside the kitchen table with a frantic Catherine hovering over him.
“I’m calling 911!” Darcy shouted.
“What happened?” Theresa asked. She was already on her knees beside Jake.
“He was eating, and then he grabbed his throat, like he couldn’t breathe, and fell onto the floor,” Catherine cried.
Theresa opened his airway and peered into his mouth, then peered at the angry red welts on his neck. “It looks like an allergic reaction. His tongue is swelling.” She jumped up and ran out the door.
Nikki fell down beside Jake and pressed her hand to his throat. His skin felt cool and clammy. His pulse was shallow.
“Jake.” Panicked, she grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Jake!”
Theresa ran back in, clutching something that looked like a fat, yellow ink pen. She pulled off the cap with her mouth and stabbed Jake’s thigh.
“EpiPen,” she said. “I’m allergic to bee stings. This will put epinephrine in his system, help counteract the swelling.”
Within seconds, Jake’s pulse beat stronger, faster, beneath Nikki’s palm and he began to stir.
“What’s he allergic to?” Theresa asked.
“Penicillin. But he knows that. He wouldn’t take—” Catherine said.
“What was he doing in the last few minutes?” Theresa glanced at the plate on the table. “Was he eating that?”
“Yes, but it’s just chicken casserole—”
“Wrap it up and take it to the hospital with you.”
Catherine hurried to do as she said.
“Nikki, what…happened?” Jake gasped, and tried to sit up.
Nikki heard the faint scream of sirens. “Lie back down, honey,” she soothed. “It’s okay.” She stared up at her therapist. “Thank you, Theresa. Thank God you were here.”
“I think I’m all right now,” Jake said.
“The epinephrine will last 15-20 minutes. Let them take you to the hospital to check you out. You might need another dose.”
Theresa let the ambulance workers in and told them what she’d done and what time she gave him the shot. Nikki rode in the back of the ambulance with Jake. Catherine and Darcy followed behind in Catherine’s car.
Sheriff Garrettson met them in the emergency room.
“I heard Jake’s address on the dispatch,” he asked. “What happened?”
“Oh, Matt,” Catherine said. “I’m not sure. He had some sort of allergic reaction after eating this.”
She handed the foil-wrapped plate to Matt, and he peered underneath it.
“What is that?” He made a face as he sniffed it.
Catherine gritted her teeth. “It’s chicken casserole.”
“If you say so,” Matt said doubtfully. “Yep, I’d imagine this dish could definitely land you in the emergency room—”
“Pardon me?” Catherine’s face flushed.
Darcy turned on her heel and walked away. Nikki quickly glanced at the floor. Matt continued, oblivious. “Poor kid had to be pretty hungry. Is that cornflakes?” He muttered something unintelligible, then said, “First, we need to find out who made this, if they’ll confess to it—”
“I did.” Catherine crossed her arms over her chest.
“You did what?” Matt repeated. He kept his face expressionless, but Nikki saw the twinkle in his eyes. Catherine must’ve seen it, too. She punched his arm.
“Would you be serious here?” she demanded.
Matt held up his free hand in surrender. “Okay, okay. So what is Jake allergic to?”
“Penicillin.”
Matt sniffed the dish again. “Could be that, or maybe some sort of poison. I’m taking it to the lab.”
His words stole Nikki’s breath as it sank in. A wave of ice washed away the strange calmness she felt on the way to the hospital.
“Matt!” she yelled. Glancing at Catherine and Darcy, she said, “I’ll be right back.”
Matt waited by the corner and Nikki jogged toward him.
Tears burned her eyes as she gasped, “Can I talk to you…in private?”
“Sure.” Matt frowned. “Just let me…” He held up the container and Nikki nodded. She stood outside the lab door, hugging herself, as Matt talked to a technician.
He stepped back outside and took her arm. “Nikki, are you okay?”
“No,” she whispered.
She shook so hard her teeth chattered as Matt led her to a waiting room. A group of people looked up as he opened the door and Matt gently shut it. He steered her outside to the small, enclosed courtyard and motioned to a wooden bench. A cold November wind gusted around them, but at least they were alone.
“There’s something I have to tell you. Something I should’ve told you yesterday when we found out this man was alive—”
Matt shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “What is it, Nikki?”
“I was afraid. Afraid Jake would hate me. It’s been so hard for him, and I can’t remember any of it.” She took a deep gulp of air and said, “My lover called me at the hospital. I think – I think I might’ve known he was trying to kill Jake.”
She burst into tears and Matt waited patiently as she struggled to relay the conversation through her sobs.
He studied her with kind, brown eyes. “You listen to me, girl. That conversation isn’t enough to incriminate you. The fact that you drove Jake’s truck that morning tells me that you didn’t know about the brakes. When he told you he was ‘taking care of things’, that could’ve meant a number of things, not just killing Jake.”
“Do you really believe that?” Nikki covered her face with her hands, and then dropped them. She jerked her head toward the glass doors. “What about this? If it was an allergic reaction like Theresa thought, how would this man have known if I didn’t tell him?”
“Hospital records. Or maybe a lot of people know. I haven’t asked Cat when Jake found out he’s allergic. It might be common knowledge in his circle.” He stared at his hands. “But I’m glad you told me about the phone call. Maybe we can trace something through the hospital switchboard.”
“I want to set a trap for him. Maybe if my lover believes I’m getting my memory back, he’ll contact me.”
Matt sighed. “Jake will never go for that.”
“He will if he doesn’t know.”
Matt held up his hands. “Just hold off for me until we get the lab results, okay? This could be some freak thing, a new allergy or something. It could be an accident.”
“The fire at Jake’s building wasn’t an accident.”
“This guy’s moving too fast, Nikki. We don’t have to smoke him out, he’s going to make contact regardless and it would be dangerous to toy with him.”
“He’s not going to hurt me. He’s trying to kill Jake, and I have to stop him.”
“Please, just give me time to figure out a plan. We need to be careful, okay? If you do something rash, it could put Jake in even more danger, okay?”
“Okay.”
He stood and held out his hand. “Now come on, I need to ask Cat some questions.”
They stepped back inside the corridor and Nikki nodded at the bathroom. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
She locked the door behind her and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Swollen, red eyes. Flushe
d cheeks on a pale face.
The face of a murderer?
Nikki splashed her face over the porcelain basin and then patted it dry with paper towels. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the stall and wondered if any of them would still be standing when this mess was over.
She gave them a wan smile as she rejoined them in front of the emergency room doors.
“Are you all right?” Darcy asked.
“Just a little shaken.”
Matt turned to Catherine. “Next question, who’s been in the house today?”
The women stared at each other and Catherine sighed. “Nikki had a houseful of visitors today. I couldn’t begin to tell you who was there.”
Matt’s sharp gaze traveled to each of their faces. “All of you, start making a list. When did you first realize Jake was allergic?”
“When he was five.”
“Who knew he was allergic?”
Catherine pressed a hand to her forehead. “I’m not sure. Not many people. Family, I guess.”
Jake stepped out of the emergency room, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. Nikki hurried over to him. Red welts marred the skin on his throat and chest.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
He exhaled and gave her a rueful smile. “Not so hot. Jittery.”
“And they’re releasing you?” Nikki finished buttoning his shirt.
“Yeah. I’m okay.”
Matt asked him a series of questions and then cautioned, “Don’t eat or drink anything unsealed until I get the results from the lab. Could be some freak thing, but I don’t believe in taking chances – so don’t eat any more of your mom’s cooking.”
Catherine’s elbow caught him squarely in the midsection.
“Justin always told me you were a rotten cook, but I figured he was trying to console me for stealing you away like he did.”
“Stealing me away!” Catherine rolled her eyes. “Please.”
Matt gave her a woebegone look from underneath his bushy eyebrows. “Bet you don’t snore either, do you?”
“I most certainly do not!”
“I had it all worked out,” Matt told Jake. “I told everyone Cat was secretly dating Barry Roberts big brother—”
“—who was a boxer in the navy,” Catherine interrupted. “I’ve never forgiven you for that.”
“Cat, darlin’, we were fourteen!” Matt protested. “I had to scare off all the competition.”
“Yes, well, it worked,” she remarked. “I didn’t have a boyfriend for nearly two years and couldn’t figure out why the boys avoided me.”
Matt cackled and rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I paid Barry Roberts five dollars to back me up on it, and it worked, too, until Justin Hawthorne blew the whistle on me and began dating you himself.” He looked at Jake and said, “I never did pay that son of a gun back for telling on me, but your daddy nearly cost me a kneecap. I invited myself to sit with Cat at lunch that day, and the next thing I knew, she kicked me under the table so hard it brought tears to my eyes. She said ‘Barry Roberts sends his regards’. I limped for a week.”
“Served you right,” she said.
“Then you go and marry that old dog, Zeke, before I had a chance to ask you out.”
“You had three years. I don’t recall even one invitation to dinner.”
“Would you have said yes?” he asked quickly, and she laughed. “Never mind, don’t answer that. I need to talk to Jake’s doctor. I’ll call or drop by when I find out anything.”
Nikki and Jake sat in the backseat of Catherine’s car on the way home.
She pressed her face against his chest and murmured, “Your heart’s beating so fast.”
“They gave me another shot in the emergency room. That one really juiced me up.”
On the way home, Darcy compiled a list of people who’d been at the house. When they pulled into the driveway, she handed it to Jake and asked, “Are you still going to work tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” Catherine and Nikki protested, but he said, “Have to. I still have that meeting.”
Catherine glanced at them in the rearview mirror. “I’ll be here in the morning. Eight o’clock okay?”
“You don’t have to come that early,” Nikki said. “I hate that you have to come at all. I know you have better things to do than baby-sit me.”
“Don’t be silly, dear. I don’t mind. What time do you leave for work, Jake?”
“About a quarter till eight.”
“But I have memory therapy from nine to ten and physical therapy right after. Someone will be here with me until 11:30, and then I’ll have to get a shower. There’s no sense in you having to just sit there all that time.”
“Noon, then?”
“That’ll be fine.”
“I’m going to the grocery store right now. Zeke’s probably wondering where I am by now, so I’ll stop by the house and make him go, too.”
Nikki waved goodbye as Jake rearmed the security system. She followed him into the living room.
“Whew, what a day.” He flopped onto the couch and smiled at her. Patting the couch beside him, he said, “Come here.”
Nikki sat beside him and Jake pulled her into his arms. As she listened to the steady thump of his heart beneath his soft, flannel shirt, it hit Nikki how close she’d come to losing him today. How this whole mess was her fault. Tears stung her eyes as she said, “Tell me how we met. When we met, when we first fell in love. I want to know everything about us.”
***
Jake grinned, pleased that she wanted to know. “We met on a Friday night, nearly three years ago. A couple of friends and I were going to the late show at the theater. We were standing outside, waiting for the first show to clear out when I saw you coming out. You were the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything but stare at you. You caught me staring and elbowed one of the girls that was with you. Then you walked right up to me.”
It had been so cold that night, but Jake scarcely noticed.
She was headed right toward him, like something out of a dream in her clingy, tangerine-colored sweater and tight black jeans.
Feline.
The word jumped into his mind as he watched her walk, lithe and feline, moving as gracefully as a panther. Her beautiful face flushed pink from the cold, but she didn’t wear a coat. Jake’s chest felt painfully tight and it took him a moment to realize he was holding his breath.
Then, suddenly, there she was, close enough to touch, close enough to perfume the cold air around him. She was flawless, exquisite, and Jake knew he was lost when she reached out and took his hand.
“Are you married?” she asked, and he shook his head, unable to speak. His friends whispered to each other and Jake felt their envious stares.
“Good, because I’ve decided that I’m going to marry you one day.” She smiled then, a brilliant smile that made her eyes sparkle like pale green gems. Still holding his hand, she whipped a pen out of the little purse slung across her shoulder and uncapped it with her teeth. She stretched out his palm and scrawled
Nikki
555-4238
“You’ll be needing that.” She wrinkled up her pert little nose and grinned at him again. Jake was dumbfounded, stricken by her beauty and boldness. She strolled back to her giggling friends, leaving him struck mute in her wake.
***
“I did that? I walked up to you and told you that I was going to marry you?” Nikki asked in astonishment.
Jake laughed. “Yes, ma’am, you did.”
“What did you think?”
“What did I think? I thought I was in love. If you’d have just asked, I would’ve married you right then, right there. That was the most miserable movie I ever sat through, and I didn’t watch any of it. I sat there with my hand stretched out in front of me so I wouldn’t smear the numbers, but I already had it memorized. I couldn’t wait to get out of there and call you.”
She smiled and glanc
ed over his shoulder toward the mantel. Jake saw her gaze snap back and her smile disappear. He was already turning to look when she said, “The lavender rose. It’s gone.”
Chapter 8
November 7
Nikki locked the door behind her therapist and punched in the alarm code, proud that she didn’t have to look at the numbers Jake had taped on the back of a photo frame. She clutched the rail and climbed the stairs on rubbery legs. The session on Jake’s treadmill had left her weak.
Upon entering her bedroom, she crossed over to the bed and flopped down. A couple glances at the clock later, Nikki forced herself to get up and head to the shower. Catherine would be here soon and Nikki had things to do. After she cleaned up, she planned on tearing the place apart to try to find some clue to the stalker’s identity. That was how she thought of him. The stalker. Not her lover, not anymore. The only man she wanted was her husband.
It took Nikki longer than she thought it would to shower. She felt so drained. She’d just finished buttoning her top when she heard Catherine call out below.
“I’m in my bedroom!” she yelled back down. Nikki stood with her hand on the folding door and stared in dismay at the crammed closet.
What did one person do with so many clothes?
Silk shirts, leather jackets, designer gowns…it seemed hard to believe all this stuff was hers. Deciding to start at the top, Nikki began tugging a box down from the top of her closet.
Catherine rushed over to help. “Nikki, dear, what are you doing?”
“Sheriff Garrettson told us that we should look for clues to find out who this man is, so we can stop him. I hope I kept something that might give us a clue to his identity.”
“I see,” Catherine said. She sighed and then patted Nikki’s hand. “I wish that neither of you would ever have to know, that you could just put this thing behind you.”
“Me, too,” Nikki replied. “I wish we could just move on with our lives, but I don’t feel like this man is going to let us. I can’t let him hurt Jake. I couldn’t stand to see him hurt any more because of me.”
“Nikki, I never thought I’d say this, but I’m so happy you and Jake are working things out.”
Nikki sat on the carpet and began poking through the contents of the box. It contained old photo albums. She opened the cover of one and stared down at a picture of Jake wearing a Santa hat. He had his arm slung around her, and they looked so happy. “I can’t imagine why I would’ve done this. He’s been so wonderful and I couldn’t ask for more. I wouldn’t even believe I had an affair if he hadn’t told me I confessed it.”
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