by Curry, Edna
Jolene flushed. “So, okay, we did end up much more than friends after a while, but not at first. He asked me to move into his really nice suite in the Top Notch Casino hotel—let me stay there for free. He paid lots of attention to me, took me everywhere with him, to fancy restaurants and casinos. We really lived the high life. It was fun, Candi.”
“So what went wrong?”
Jolene sipped her coffee and sent Candi a rueful smile. “I got pregnant. We’d used protection, but hey, nothing’s foolproof, you know? George was not pleased when I had morning sickness for months.”
“I can imagine. Pregnancy is a little too real for the night life set.”
“Yeah. His attitude changed from sweet and loving to tolerating and barely polite. I was really scared that he’d kick me out. I was unmarried and pregnant. What would Mom and Gram say? I’d messed up my life again.”
Candi frowned. “They’d have been embarrassed, but they love you. I’m sure they would have let you come home.”
Jolene shrugged. “Maybe. I wasn’t sure.”
“So you stayed?”
“Yes. George was gone a lot and didn’t take me with him much after I got big as a house. The last few months of my pregnancy, I barely saw him. Once in a while he’d have a couple of his friends in, but most of the time he went out alone. He always had business to take care of at some other hotel, or some friends would call and he’d go off gambling and drinking for hours.”
“Leaving you alone?”
Jolene sent her a wan smile. “It wasn’t so bad. He told me to use room service whenever I wanted to, so I did. And he had a cell phone I could call if I needed help. The hotel staff was always available too, of course.”
“But still, having a baby alone—.”
“Yeah, it was scary. He was willing to support me and was nice to me. He covered all the hospital bills and baby stuff, but I never had any cash of my own.”
“So he is Jessie’s father.”
Jolene nodded. “But he was never much interested in her. He wasn’t even around when I went to the hospital to have her. I called my doctor and one of the hotel staff called me a cab. But George came to visit, brought me flowers and even a diamond necklace. And he came and took me and Jessie home from the hospital.”
“So why did you leave George? Why all the secrecy? Why leave Jessie with me saying you were in trouble?”
Jolene shuddered. “How can I explain it? George and I quarreled a lot lately. The worst time was after I found the leather covered address book I made for Dad the last Christmas before he died. Remember when I was into burning designs into leather?”
“Yeah, I still have a billfold you made me. You put hearts and flowers all over it.” Candi sipped her coffee and smiled, remembering.
“Dad always carried that gift in his shirt pocket. He had all our phone numbers and stuff in it. I never saw him without it. So how did George get it?”
Candi frowned. “If they were friends, maybe Dad had visited him and forgot it at his place sometime?”
Jolene shook her head, reaching for a sip of her coffee. “George would have said so if that was what happened. Instead, he got really mad that I’d found the address book in his stuff and wouldn’t give it back to him. Why? I told him I only wanted it because it was something I’d made for Dad and Dad had liked it and carried with him. It even had a little note to me in it on a back page, reminding me of my eighteenth birthday party. He said it was one of his special memories.”
“That was a fun party.”
“Yeah.” She smiled sadly at Candi and brushed away a tear. “And it was my last birthday party with him. Remember he gave both of us shares of IBM stock?”
Candi laughed. “We thought it was the oddest gift ever. But he said it was time we learned about things that were important to our futures like investments. And that we’d get interested in learning about them if we owned some shares ourselves.”
Jolene said, “Yeah, but it didn’t work for me. Did you ever start learning about the stock market?”
“Yes, I did learn a bit about it. I started reading up on it and watched IBM’s prices in the newspaper. I even bought a few other stocks.”
“Oh really?” Jolene said, “I wonder what Dad ever did with those certificates? I mean, he didn’t actually give them to us, just told us he bought them and said he was putting them in a safety deposit box.”
Candi shrugged. “I asked Mom about them once after he died, but she said she didn’t know anything about them. None were ever found in his stuff. Maybe he had to cash them in. I mean, mom said he was broke a lot after he and Mom split up, so who knows?”
“I guess, though I think he would have told me if he’d had to cash them in. We were always pretty close, you know.”
“You were closer to Dad than I was,” Candi admitted. She’d always resented that, but hadn’t known how to change it. She’d never been happy with her parents’ divorce. But then, what daughter did like her parents to split up? And every kid of divorced parents she knew fantasized about them getting back together again; to restore the complete family. It seldom really happened.
“Anyway, that was our last party together. After that, I was in school or something and he was in Las Vegas working. Driving a stupid limousine for rich guys like George.” Jolene’s face crumpled and she ducked her head to dig a tissue from her purse.
Candi blinked back her own tears and reached across the table to lay a comforting hand on Jolene’s. “Dad seemed to like that job, Jolene. He told me he did.”
Jolene sniffed and nodded. “Yeah, he said he did. And he seemed happy when I visited him.”
“How odd that George wouldn’t want you to have a keepsake from your father.”
“I thought so, too. He acted like I wanted it to spite him instead of ’cause it was something from Dad. But I hid it and kept it anyway, even if he was mad. I nearly always had to give in to keep the peace when we fought,” she said, putting her sleeping baby back into her carrier.
“So you put up with George for a safe place for you and Jessie to live.” Candi hated to think that her baby sister had had a hard time lately. She wanted to fix things for her, as she always had.
Jolene twisted a lock of her long blond hair around her fingers. “Yeah, I stayed. He was seldom around the suite anyway after Jessie was born. He just ignored her and said he hated hearing her cry.”
“So, he didn’t want the baby.”
Jolene shrugged. “He never said. But I’d made up my mind to leave him as soon as I could. I only waited a few months until Jessie was big enough to travel and to stay in daycare, and I’d recovered enough from the birth to be able to go back to work.”
“So why don’t you just move back with Mom or Grandma now? Or me? I wouldn’t mind. Grandma’s house is big and there’s enough room in my apartment, too, when I move back there later. You could take care of Jessie and I could write.”
Jolene looked panicked. “No, I can’t do that. They’ll find me there. George knew Dad. They can track my family.”
“Talk to me, Sis. What’s going on? Why are FBI agents following you around?”
Jolene shrugged, looking scared again. “I swear I don’t know. I wish I did. I think George’s friends are into something illegal. And George is mad that I hocked the nice diamond necklace he gave me. Maybe it was stolen or something?”
Candi rolled her eyes. “You think?”
“But he gave it to me, so it was mine, wasn’t it? He always had lots of money, so how was I to know I shouldn’t hock it? He found out somehow and phoned about it when I was packing. He was so mad! I didn’t dare tell him I was leaving. I just left him a note saying I was going to visit Mom and got out of there fast.”
“Oh, my goodness.” Was that what George was angry about? That the police could trace some stolen jewelry back to him through Jolene? Luke had mentioned jewelry thefts.
Jolene was saying, “I took some cash he kept in our room, too. I feel I was entitled to so
mething after being his girlfriend for almost two years. Besides, he should be giving me child support even if I leave him, shouldn’t he?”
“Definitely. The courts would order him to do that.”
Jolene nodded. “But getting court ordered child support takes lawyers and time and I didn’t have time. I had to have cash to leave and I didn’t have any other way to get it.”
“That was dangerous, Jolene!”
She nodded. “I know. I thought if I said I was going to visit my mother, he wouldn’t be too mad. I didn’t dare tell him I was leaving him for good, or where I was really going. But someone followed me, so he must have had someone watching me at the hotel.”
“How do you know that? Maybe whoever followed you was only Luke, that FBI guy who came to see me. He said he’d been watching you. He saw you drop off Jessie.”
Jolene looked thoughtful. “Maybe.”
Candi said, “Maybe George won’t bother to find you. If he wasn’t nice to you, maybe he’s happy to be free of you and the baby?”
Jolene gave a tiny smile. “I wish. I hope he’s glad I’ve left and will leave me alone. But I don’t think so. I’ve seen how furious George gets when someone crosses him.”
Candi reached out a hand to her sister. “Come back with me. You can stay with me while you straighten this out with the FBI, Jolene. Luke seems okay. I know he’ll help you get free of these guys.”
Jolene gasped and her eyes widened. “No. You don’t understand. They’re really, really mad at me and they’re out to get me. I don’t even know why, for sure. But this goes way back to Dad somehow, I think.”
Candi frowned. “To Dad? What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure. George made some remarks…Oh, I can’t explain all that now. Trust me, Sis. There’s a lot more involved in this than you know.”
“Yes, but the FBI can help—”
Jolene stared at the hallway to the mall. “That guy out there looks familiar. Are you sure no one followed you?”
Candi turned to follow Jolene’s gaze but saw no one. “What did he look like?”
Jolene shrugged. “Short, with a baseball cap pulled down over his face. He’s gone now. Maybe it was my imagination. I have to go. I’ll call you later.”
“Please, Sis, come back with me.”
“No, I can’t. Just take care of Jessie for me. And please, be careful. I’ll be okay.” She leaned down and kissed Jessie, then picked up her purse. “Give me a few minutes to get out of sight before you leave, just in case someone is watching your car, okay?”
Candi glared at her, but nodded agreement. “So you’re in trouble, on the run and asking me to bail you out again, is that it?”
“I’m afraid so, Sis. At least it’s not literally bailing me out this time. See you later, Sis.” She gave her a quick, very tight hug, and hurried off.
Candi sighed, watching her hurry out of the café. No, she wasn’t in jail this time. Not yet, anyway.
Chapter 7
As though she’d sensed her mother leaving, Jessie woke with a loud wail. Candi spent some time feeding her and taking her to the restaurant’s ladies’ room to change her.
She walked down the hallway to the market and picked up a few grocery items in case Luke doubted her story. She needed them anyway. No point in wasting a trip to the mall.
Before she reached the checkout, Luke appeared beside her, a scowl on his face.
“What was so damned urgent it couldn’t wait until I could go with you?” he growled.
Although she’d expected him to follow her, Candi flinched at his angry tone. Her pulse sped up as she floundered for a reply. The older lady in line ahead of them turned and gave them a strange look. Luke didn’t seem to notice.
“I needed female supplies,” Candi improvised, pointing to her basket, which did hold those items as well as groceries.
Luke flushed, but she couldn’t tell whether it was from anger or embarrassment. Good. That old trick had always worked with Dad. She swallowed back tears at the thought. Those weird remembrances of her late father had an odd way of sneaking up on her without warning.
“How did you know where I’d gone?”
Luke flushed and didn’t reply.
“You bugged my car, too, didn’t you?”
Luke gave a quick nod, picked up Jessie and waited for her to finish her transaction. Steaming, she turned back to write a check for her purchases.
He strode out to her car with her. His car was parked beside hers. The fresh spring air was cool against her skin in spite of the bright sunshine. His worry affected her, causing her to scope out the area around them, to see if anyone was watching them.
He strapped Jessie in her car seat and turned to where she stood beside him. Before she could step back, he reached out a hand and grabbed her chin, tipping her face up to his so she couldn’t avoid looking at him. “We’ll discuss this at home. We’re too exposed here. I’ll follow you.”
She stared at him, her skin burning from his touch. Why was he so angry? She and Jessie were fine, weren’t they? She hadn’t seen anyone she knew or even anyone who had seemed to notice them. Before she could answer, he dropped his hand, got into his car and started it, waiting for her to do the same.
With a sigh, she drove home where he once again took Jessie and followed her into the house. After activating the alarm, he went to the window and watched the street for a few minutes. She frowned at him. Surely he was overreacting? Maybe his job required him to be over-cautious.
Shrugging, she carried the sleeping baby to her bedroom to finish her nap and then put away the items she’d bought.
Luke waited until she returned to the dining room. He grabbed her arm before she could sit at her desk.
“Oh, no,” he said. “You’re not going to start working now. Not until you give me some answers.”
She pulled her arm free and lifted her chin. Frustration tightened her gut. “I don’t have to answer to you. I resent being treated like a prisoner.”
He glared back. “You deactivated the alarm and snuck out on purpose to avoid me. You know I want to stay with you and Jessie. What if someone had followed you and hurt her?”
She felt the blood drain from her face, but objected, “Stop being so bossy. You’re trying to scare me. Nothing happened.”
“This time,” he said through his teeth. “Next time you may not be so lucky. Now where did you go? Or should I say, who did you meet? It was Jolene, wasn’t it?”
She nodded, giving in with a sigh. “She called me on my cell phone and wanted to talk and see Jessie. I tried to get her to come back here with me, but she’s too scared. She thinks George and his friends will find her if she’s with her family.”
“Damn it, didn’t you tell her she’d be safer with us than out there on her own?”
Candi looked at him. “I tried! Don’t you know you don’t tell Jolene anything? She’s done things her own way no matter what anyone else said most of her life.”
Luke shook his head in disgust. “I don’t understand her reasoning.”
“Neither do I.” She dropped into the chair at her desk and booted up her computer. “But I don’t know how to change her.”
In a softer tone he asked, “Did you eat anything?”
“No, we just had coffee. Jolene was in a hurry to leave again.”
“Then come and eat something. You can’t work on an empty stomach.”
“Fine.” She rose and he took her into his arms and kissed her. Surprise gave way to warmth as pleasure seeped over her. He deepened the kiss and traced her lips with his tongue. Finally he drew back and looked at her.
“You scared the hell out of me when I woke up and found you and Jessie gone,” he said, smoothing back her hair. He leaned back and gazed into her eyes, then kissed her again. “Don’t do that to me again, okay?”
“Okay,” she murmured in a shaky voice. Why had he kissed her? She didn’t want to get involved with him. She needed to focus on getting her work done. No
distracting hunks allowed, damn it.
She pulled out of his arms and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll just have a quick bowl of cereal. I have to work.”
***
Jolene stopped at the corner drugstore and bought scarves in a variety of patterns and colors, a different style of sunglasses and hair dye, then hailed a taxi.
She was sure they were still watching her. Candi had said they’d tried to kidnap Jessie and even searched Gram’s house. They probably thought she’d do anything they said if they had her daughter. And if she involved Candi or her mother, they’d go after them next.
What if they caught her? Who would take care of her baby? How could she protect Jessie? If she got a lawyer, could she legally protect her? Mr. Thomas, the lawyer her mother had used to settle her father’s estate came to mind. Yes, that’s who could help her. She gave the driver directions and sat back to think.
No one seemed to pay any attention to her as she stepped from the cab and entered the tall professional building. Running her finger down the directory discreetly posted on the inside wall, she found the office number for Mr. Thomas and rode the elevator. A woman sat at a desk in the outer office, which served as a waiting room. It was furnished with several soft chairs and small tables with magazines. Soft classical music played.
At first, the secretary refused to let Jolene see Mr. Thomas, but Jolene burst into tears and the woman relented. She pressed a buzzer and spoke to him, then said, “He’ll see you for a few minutes as soon as the client he’s with leaves.”
“Thanks,” Jolene said, wiping her eyes with the back on one hand. “Could you give me a sheet of paper and an envelope, please?”
With a long suffering sigh, the woman reached into a drawer and handed her the items. Jolene took them and went back to the outer waiting room. She sat at the small table there and agonized over what to put in a note to Candi. Opening her purse, she took out the key she kept hidden there, wrapped in in the note, put it into the envelope and sealed it. She wrote Candi’s name, address and phone number on it. She added, ‘to be opened only after my death’ and signed her name, then sat down to wait. Tears welled up, making her throat feel thick. She closed her eyes against them.