“I’m glad we’ve got that settled,” she said. “There’s something else that’s kind of bothering me”
“Uh oh. What?”
“Maybe I imagined this, but there seemed to be a lot of security at the airport tonight.”
“Oh, that. It’s nothing, just the usual precautions.”
“It wasn’t that obvious in New York.”
“Do you promise you’re not gonna give me the ring back if I tell you?”
She gripped the phone tighter. “Please don’t play games. What is this about?”
“When I had the accident, the other driver was never found. My security people are just a little paranoid. They think maybe I could have been intentionally run off the road.”
“Why would they think that? Who would…?”
“I told you. My crew is paranoid. I don’t feel that way at all. It was a rainy night. The driver most likely was drunk or he lost control of the car and then recovered it. He was probably scared after seeing what he did and just kept going.”
“He? Do you remember seeing him?”
Exasperated, Julian laughed. “I just said he. It could have been a she. All I saw was a car.”
Nicole started to say something else but abruptly shut her mouth. His explanation was logical. It was another problem she was just going to have to learn to deal with—like Warren’s being a cop. She flinched at the comparison. It was the first time in a while that Warren’s death had entered her mind and she didn’t like the feeling.
* * *
Two weeks later, Trey was back home and well aware of the news. Julian stopped by in the afternoon, and following a few words with Nicole, he sought out the boy and found him sitting cross-legged near the stairs on the tiny patio deck, with his arm draped around Shane’s thick, furry neck.
“What’s up, amigo?”
The boy turned around, looked up at him and smiled slowly, his eyes partially obscured by the bill of his favorite baseball cap. Julian sat down on the top step near him and reached over to adjust the cap, but Shane turned abruptly and shoved his drippy nose squarely in his face.
“That’s just what I need, a snotty-nosed dog,” Julian declared, lightly shoving the animal’s nose away, wiping the side of his face with the back of his hand.
Trey laughed and Shane retaliated by licking him on the ear. From inside the condo, Nicole glanced out the sliding glass door and saw them together. She smiled and lingered for a moment.
“Just wanted to ask you something,” Julian said to Trey. “It kind of bothers me that I don’t really know how you feel about me and your mom getting married.”
Trey hugged the dog tighter, but studied him with intensely alert eyes.
“What I’m saying is that I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to make you forget your father.”
Trey blinked, and Nicole found herself eavesdropping even more obviously. She knew that Trey was happy about their announcement, yet she, too, had been aware that he’d suppressed his enthusiasm.
“I can’t read your mind,” Julian continued. “I sure wish I could, since you can’t tell me.”
But you can read my mind, Trey thought. I know you can. He was very happy that they were going to get married, because he wanted Julian to be his new dad, but he had been thinking about his father, the one the monster had taken away, the one whose face he hardly remembered except for the pictures hidden in his drawer. He wondered if his real father was sad about it.
“Your father will always be with you in spirit, just like I told you a while back, but since he can’t actually be here in person, I think he’d like to have someone else teach his son how to pitch a baseball, tune up an engine, whistle at girls and all that other cool stuff. What do you think, Trey?” Julian hesitated for a moment. “I might not be as good as the real thing, because I’ve never been a dad before, but I’m going to try hard.”
It’s okay, Trey wanted to tell him. He knew now that Julian had to be right about this—he usually was. I want you to be my new dad. He opened his mouth, trying to make the strange words come out, but there was only a rush of air. The monster had gotten a lot smaller in the last few days, but it was still stuck his throat. He had to let Julian know what he really felt in some way. He didn’t want him to think that being a dad was too hard and change his mind. Silently he reached over Shane’s back for Julian’s hand and it met his. The small hand and the larger one clasped tightly.
Julian grinned and prodded Shane. “Out of the way, dog breath.” Shane rose, shook himself vigorously, and stepped back. Julian pulled Trey close to him and yanked the hat down over his face. Laughing, Trey pushed it back up and swung a wild punch at him. Julian ducked and grabbed the child by both arms, pinning them while Trey laughed and struggled to free himself. Shane decided he could use some help and joined in the fracas, barking and nipping at Julian.
Nicole turned away now, moving back into the kitchen. Julian had obviously scored another point with Trey and she was grateful. Some things were definitely looking up.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Nicole surveyed the breakfast table. A cereal box was overturned, spilling its contents onto the fancy place mat. Milk puddled around the bowl Trey had been using, and a dozen or so miniature toy planes were lined up and poised for flight off the edge of the table into the wild blue kitchen yonder. A dusting of sugar surrounded Julian’s place and a brown ring of coffee formed at the bottom of his cup when she lifted it. Why were men of all ages such slobs?
She laughed to herself as she collected the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. It was Sunday morning and Julian had stopped by for breakfast. They planned to spend the whole day together, just schlepping around. At the moment Julian had gone out on a deli run with Trey.
There was something strange and unsettling about the day, but Nicole couldn’t quite figure out what it was. She could only assume that it probably had something to do with her nerves. April was not that far off, her whole family knew about the engagement now, and plans were being made. Allyson was elated. Her parents were baffled by the suddenness of it all, but they were not opposed. Julian’s family was a different story, of course. He had told her that he didn’t care what they thought, and therefore he wasn’t even going to tell them until the last minute. The only one who mattered to him was his aunt and she was happy for them, and planned to attend the wedding. Nicole wished there was more harmony on his side, but she was determined not to let the negative aspects get to her.
One thing really was bothering her, though; she was worried that once they were married, Julian would see her exactly as Warren had, an ice princess. What if making him wait for marriage backfired and he realized that she wasn’t worth waiting for at all? She bit her lip and cleaned the surface of the table. I guess I’m really going to have to perfect my acting skills now, she thought.
There was an undeniable difference, though. She actually did have strong physical desires when she was around him, so strong that it sometimes scared her. It had never been that way with anyone else before. Maybe, just maybe, the acting wouldn’t have to be so pronounced.
She mulled this over as she gathered up Trey’s toy airplanes and carried them to his room. Sunlight streamed through the open curtain, bathing the whole room in a blinding yellow glow, highlighting the unmade bed and his dirty clothes lying on the floor. Frowning, she dumped the model planes into the open toy box, and knelt to pick up his clothes. She had told him so many times to put them in the hamper and could not understand why it was such a difficult task.
As she was about to leave the room, her breath caught in her throat. The pictures were back on top of his dresser. She hovered over the gold-rimmed photograph of Warren in his police uniform, staring out at her with distant eyes, and then her attention shifted to the family photo, with her smiling on the left, Warren on the right, and the then chubby, two-year-old Trey sandwiched in the middle. Barely breathing, she bent down and opened the bottom drawer. The shoebox was still there, but ther
e was nothing in it. Closing the drawer, she returned to her own room and found the news clipping of the funeral back in the place where she had originally filed it, as if no little hands had ever taken it.
* * *
“Check out that Lamborghini,” Julian said as he observed the flashy yellow sports car in front of them. “Is that cool or what?”
Strapped in the backseat, Trey leaned forward and nodded his agreement.
“I think we should have one. I’ll take you out on some back road and let you drive it.”
Trey beamed in anticipation, then turned to look at the traffic behind them. There were not a lot of cars on the road yet because it was still early. Sometimes he liked it that way, but there was something funny about this morning. Trey wasn’t quite sure what it was, but he didn’t like it. Anxiously he glanced at Julian and saw that he was watching the road in front of him. He didn’t seem to think there was anything funny. Trey turned around again, straining against the confines of the seat belt and noticed that there were more cars in back of them now. He counted three.
Behind the number three car was some kind of van that was bigger than their Explorer. Trey unbuckled his seat belt and turned completely, pressing his nose up against the back window. The van was really dark colored and it was creeping along. He could not see the driver. Worriedly, he poked Julian in back of the neck and pointed.
“What?” Julian asked. He glanced in the rear view mirror and noticed the cars behind him. He didn’t see what Trey saw. “I guess everyone’s waking up now,” he said. “Put your seat belt back on, please.”
Reluctantly, Trey fastened the belt again, but he kept his head turned. One of the cars disappeared down a side street and now there were only two cars in front of the van. He still could not see the driver.
Julian signaled and began slowing the Explorer down. “I’m gonna stop in this store for a minute to get the paper. Wanna come?”
The words echoed in Trey’s brain—they were words he’d heard before spoken in some other time, some other place. His heart started to beat really fast and his mouth got dry. His throat felt like it was on fire.
Julian glanced at Trey and noted that the boy was staring out the rear window, transfixed by something.
“Okay, you just wait here a sec. I’ll be right back.” He swung the Explorer into a vacant spot, pocketed the keys, and opened the door.
Trey watched the two cars pass and the van move closer. It was moving slowly. The windows were dark. He could see it clearly now and suddenly he knew why there was no driver. It was because the monster was behind the wheel and he did not want to be seen. Panicking, Trey watched Julian step out of the car as if he were sleepwalking. Immediately the monster roared to life. Its red dragon eyes gleamed and the horrible yellow fangs flashed in the sunlight.
A scream built up in Trey’s throat and stuck there. No!
Julian turned to shut the door.
“Daddy!” Trey screamed, the sound of his own voice shattering the deadly roar of the monster, hurting his own ears. “Daddy!”
Julian heard the piercing yell and whirled around just in time to see a large, black van barreling down upon him. With split second reflexes, he seized the partially open door of the Explorer and leaped, catapulting himself over its hood, landing on the sidewalk. The sound of smashing metal rang in his ears as the van sheared off the Explorer’s door and went careening madly out of control into a power pole.
“Trey!” Julian yelled.
Trey leaped out of the car and raced to his side. “Don’t die!” he screamed, throwing himself on top of Julian who was still stunned. “No! Don’t die!”
Julian grabbed onto Trey and held him tightly while the child sobbed hysterically.
“You talked!” Julian shouted deliriously. He felt a surreal and bizarre sense of elation.
“Don’t die,” Trey echoed again, his arms tightly wrapped around Julian’s neck, afraid to let go, afraid to look.
Julian remained on the ground hugging the hysterical child until he began to smell the thick acrid scent of smoke in the air. Shielding Trey’s face against his chest, he turned to look. A few feet away, the van that had nearly killed him was on fire and a crowd was gathering. He heard the wail of sirens.
* * *
What’s taking them so long?
Nicole felt an eerie premonition of dread as the phone rang. Her hands shook violently as she picked it up.
“Don’t get upset,” Julian said. “We had a little…er…accident, but Trey is fine and so am I. Could you come pick us up right away.” He gave the street address.
She was there in record time and met them a block ahead of a nightmarish scene of flashing lights and fire and emergency apparatus. Julian was holding Trey, whose face was buried against his chest. Nicole sprang out of the car and ran to them. Julian enfolded her in his embrace, looking slightly disheveled and a little shaken, but there was something very wrong with the picture. He was smiling.
“Great news,” he declared.
“What!” she cried out, staring at him as though he’d gone completely nuts. “What’s so great about it?”
“He…don’t…die,” Trey murmured haltingly, reaching out to her. It was barely a whisper, but the childish voice was the most incredible sound Nicole had ever heard.
“Trey,” she stammered, fearing she’d imagined it. “You…you talked.”
“I almost got killed,” Julian interrupted. “But Trey yelled and saved my life.” He tried to sound nonchalant. “Let’s go home. I’ll have to go back and answer some questions for the police, but right now we’ve both had enough.”
Nicole quickly picked up on his psychology. Trey really had spoken and Julian did not want to exaggerate the fact, fearing it would deter him. There was also the other pressing issue—if they remained on the scene, people would realize who he was and they would be bombarded by the notorious press, another nightmare for Trey that had to be avoided at all costs. She took the child from him, embraced him tightly, and they quickly got into the car.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked Julian as she drove. “Maybe we should stop at the hospital.”
“No,” he assured her. “I’m fine.”
* * *
At the police station, Julian, Luis, and Elena were informed that the driver of the van had been identified as ex-employee Gretchen Lindquist. She had been trapped in the burning van and subsequently died of her injuries.
In the trash at her rented room, the police had discovered hundreds of photographs of Julian, photographs taken without his knowledge—in the pool, on the tennis court, walking—photographs that went back at least eight years and continued to the present. Among the evidence were the remains of the last note she’d written him, the one he’d torn up and thrown away.
Julian stared vacantly at all the confiscated pieces of the mad puzzle, realizing that Gretchen had been the real stalker all along. She had left a suicide note and had planned to kill herself after killing him. He recalled that the same day he’d had the accident, Luis had informed him that she had quit her job. The tire treads on her van matched the skid marks found at the scene of the accident.
Elena was uncharacteristically speechless, while Luis simply could not get beyond it and kept repeating, “My God, my God,” over and over again in Spanish. Julian wished he would just shut up, but it was devastating to realize that someone could build up an obsession to such an extreme that it could destroy their own life as well as the lives of others. On the other hand, there was the undeniable sense of relief that the nightmare was over.
“I trusted her,” Elena said as they got into the waiting limousine.
“She’s gone,” Julian said. “Let it go.”
“That…that psychopath almost killed you.”
“Because of Nicole’s son she didn’t.”
“You didn’t tell us that part before,” Luis said. “What did he do?”
“He yelled in time for me to get out of the way.”
Elena looked puzzled. “I thought he was mute?”
“Not anymore.”
He had the urge to tell them about the marriage plans right at that moment, but he remained silent. Enough had happened that day and he wanted nothing more than peace and quiet and to be alone with Nicole and Trey.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“You know, I’m really gonna miss you and Trey living here,” Allyson said three weeks before the wedding.
“Really? I thought you would be glad to get rid of us,” Nicole teased.
“Actually, I am glad to get rid of you. It’s Trey and Shane I’m gonna miss.”
“Gee, thanks.” Nicole looked at her suddenly. “What do you mean about Shane?”
“What do you think I mean? He’s Trey’s dog now. Poor Shane would be miserable without him.”
“You never told me…”
“Aww, come on. Julian won’t mind. He’s got a huge place, horses and everything. What harm can one tiny little German shepherd do?”
“Ally, I know you have some ulterior motive for giving Shane to us. What is it?”
“Well, it’s not really ulterior. It’s just that Marc’s allergic to dogs.”
Nicole laughed. “Marc? You are so bad, just can’t wait for us to get out so you can move that man in. Wait till Mom finds out.”
“He’s only moving in temporarily, and Mom better not find out from you.”
“My lips are sealed.”
* * *
Nicole and Julian jointly decided that Trey would have a private tutor for the rest of the school year, but the next year he would be enrolled at the prestigious Harmon Academy. In the meantime he was seeing a good speech therapist every day. He didn’t seem to be having any repercussions from the latest trauma, but Nicole spent a great deal of time talking to him, feeling him out, making sure she didn’t see the need for another round with a child psychologist.
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