Gasping For Air 2 (Last Chance Romance Series)

by Abigail Keam

  “No problem,” replied Lillian, pouring another cup of hot water. She placed the mug with several tea bags in front of Masterson along with a plate of cookies. “I fell asleep reading.”

  “If it’s any consolation to you, the pool water looks good as new. The chemicals that you put in cleared the water. You can have it tested tomorrow, but I’m sure the red in the water was due to food dye.”

  “I could just brain Heather. She cost this hotel a great deal of money and trouble, not to mention getting me in Dutch with Eva.”

  “I don’t know Eva that well, but if Mike loves her, she must be a pretty good egg. She might be impressed with how well you took charge and corrected the problems.”

  “Or she might blame me.”

  Masterson took a sip of his tea. “She might.”

  “Any word on that boy yet, Officer Masterson?”

  “Call me Jim. Remember? I think we know each other well enough to go on a first-name basis.”

  Lillian didn’t respond but looked down at her fingernails. She needed a manicure.

  “I’m sure your wife will be unhappy about you spending your nights here,” stated Lillian. She blushed when she realized she was fishing for information.

  “Not married,” answered Masterson, reaching for a cookie.

  “Never?”

  “Once, but she called it off. Said she didn’t want to be a cop’s wife.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Why? I’m not. We would have been terrible for each other.” Masterson looked inquiringly at Lillian. “What’s your story besides the obvious?”

  “Went to college. Got a degree in accounting. Met a man. Fell in love. Got married. Had a daughter. Did not live happily ever after.”

  “Miss your daughter?”

  “I regret to say that my daughter turned out to be much like her father. Once she reached the teen years, we were never close. It makes me very sad, but it is what it is. If we had been on better terms, I might have stayed. I figured that I had only one life to live and I was not going to waste it on two selfish people, so here I am.”

  “You had the guts to leave. Some women don’t.”

  “Do you have any children, Officer . . . I mean Jim.”

  Masterson shook his head. “That’s been a regret, Lillian. Not having any children.”

  “You should find someone. You still have time to have children.”

  “What about you?”

  Lillian looked down at her empty mug. “I don’t think being married again is in the cards for me. I can’t even think of being happy one day. It’s all I can do to find the energy to work and prepare myself for the divorce.”

  “That’s pretty sad to hear,” responded Masterson. “I hope things change for you.”

  “Thanks.” Lillian looked at the clock. “I better get back to bed. I’ve only got a couple of hours before I have to open the office.”

  She got up and started toward her bedroom.

  “Lillian.”

  “Yes.”

  “Things will get better. You’ll see,” assured Masterson softly.

  “I hope you’re right, Jim, because I feel empty inside.”

  “You worry about your divorce. I’ll take care of your stalker problem.”

  “I would appreciate that.”

  “I’ve got your back.”

  Startled, Lillian turned and stared at Jim. “What I would have given to hear my husband say that to me and mean it. It might have saved our marriage.” Without waiting for a response, she entered her room and closed the door.

  Masterson thought Lillian was one of the saddest women he had ever encountered. He was determined to put an end to Salvador’s tormenting her.

  If only he could find him.

  26

  Officer Masterson took a short flight to Jacksonville and was in the school’s administrative office by 9 a.m. There was talk of privacy issues until Masterson waved his badge around and talked about getting a warrant.

  Reluctantly, the administrator gave Masterson Salvador’s address and class schedule. Masterson tipped his hat in thanks and after checking his watch discovered that Salvador should be in his first class.

  With map in hand, Masterson hurried to the biology building where Salvador should be learning about the reproduction methods of amphibians.

  He quietly entered the classroom and sat in the back of the large lecture hall looking for Jeremy Salvador. He didn’t see him.

  Distracted by Masterson’s rather ominous appearance, the professor asked Masterson if he needed something.

  “I’m looking for a Jeremy Salvador,” replied Masterson, looking at the faces of the students turning around in their seats to stare at him.

  The professor looked at his seating chart and then pointed to a young man slumped down in his seat, jacket collar high around his face. “Jeremy, would you be so kind as to go with this officer into the hallway so as not to distract the class any further?”

  The young man didn’t rise from his seat.

  Frustrated that his class was interrupted, the professor tried again. “Go on, Jeremy. The class needs to continue.”

  Reluctantly the young man rose from his seat to face Masterson.

  The only problem was that the young man wasn’t Jeremy Salvador.

  27

  “Let me get this straight,” snapped Eva. She had just gotten back from her honeymoon and was immediately confronted with a crisis. It put her off kilter. “A kid whom I’ve never met is stalking one of my employees and is interfering with the running of the Pink Flamingo to such a point that I am losing money.”

  Lillian hung her head in shame. “I’m so sorry. I should have told you, but I didn’t realize that Jeremy would take things so far.”

  Masterson butted in. “Most women don’t understand the danger they are in until it’s too late. All stalkers should be taken seriously. Jeremy is mentally unbalanced. Anyone who would fake going to college and then pays someone to take his place so he could continue his rampage of fear is very ill. I have an APB out on him right now.”

  Eva looked at Mike for guidance. “What do we do, babe?” she asked. “I don’t want this around Jenny.”

  “I’ve already packed my bag and am looking for a new place to live,” whispered Lillian.

  “I think that is best for now,” declared Eva. “But . . .” she looked at her husband for guidance.

  Mike, in turn, looked at Masterson. “What do you suggest, Jim?”

  “I agree with Eva that Lillian should live someplace else until this is over. Her being here just brings negative attention to the Pink Flamingo,” advised Masterson.

  Lillian’s heart sank.

  “However, I think I have a plan that might draw Jeremy out and put an end to this nightmare for everyone,” uttered Masterson, looking at Lillian’s crestfallen face.

  “Don’t worry, Eva,” lamented Lillian. “I won’t ask for my job back. I know I have put you in a horrible position.”

  Eva bit her lip in consternation. “When this is over, you can have your job back, but I just can’t put Jenny in the crossfire while this is going on. She is over here too much. This Jeremy could get on the property without our knowing and do something to her.”

  “I agree,” replied Lillian, her heart sinking. “You must protect your family.”

  “But I don’t want to leave you out in the cold either,” revealed Eva. “It’s just that Jenny and the Pink Flamingo are my first priorities.”

  Mike turned to Masterson. “You said you had a plan. What is it?”

  Masterson gave a big grin. “I’m going to lay a trap and use Lillian as bait.”

  Lillian looked around at everyone’s expectant faces and said, “Oh, great. I hope this doesn’t leave me dead in some alley.”

  Masterson looked tenderly at Lillian. “Not on my watch.”

  Mike glanced at Masterson and then looked at Eva with his eyebrows raised. The thought occurred to him that his good friend and football buddy
might be going soft on a woman. Mike grinned.

  Must be something in the water.

  28

  “It’s not much,” offered Masterson. “Eva and Mike bought the building a few months ago and haven’t had time to do any remodeling.”

  Lillian looked around the outdated and dirty apartment. “Beggars can’t be choosy. Is anybody else living in the building?”

  “There are four units, but no one else should be on the property unless it is Mike or his man, Juan. Only the four of us have keys.”

  “Four of us?”

  “Yes, I’m staying here until Jeremy is caught.”

  Lillian shook her head. “I don’t know about that. I’m starting to feel suffocated.”

  Masterson’s expression looked hurt for a second, but then took on a neutral appearance. “I can understand that, but with luck this won’t last much longer. Just go on with your life as usual. Keep your plans. I’ll be at the office during the day. It seems Jeremy likes to stalk at night, so that’s why I’m staying here, unless you want to call this off. However, my staying here was a stipulation of Mike and Eva’s.”

  Lillian shook her head. “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I’m not, you know. It’s just I seem to be so much trouble for everyone. Maybe I should leave the Keys.”

  “I thought you had made the decision to make your life your own. Don’t quit because of a little bump in the road.”

  “You call this a little bump?”

  “Sure. People face all sorts of unpleasant things. Be grateful that you don’t have cancer or you’re homeless or mentally unbalanced like Jeremy, or that your husband beat you so badly that you lost the will to fight.”

  “When you put it that way, I feel like a crybaby when I should be grateful,” uttered Lillian. “I’m not ready to quit the Keys. I’ll do exactly what you say. I want to stay. I love the people here and the weather is nothing to complain about either.”

  Masterson grinned. “Just wait until August. You’ll be singing a different tune then.”

  Lillian returned his smile.

  Masterson’s heart skipped a little beat. He picked up their bags. “Come on. Let’s get settled in.”

  29

  Lillian did some compulsory cleaning, but not deep, deep cleaning. She was under the impression that each apartment was going to be gutted and then remodeled. Cleaning would be a waste of time. Otherwise, she would have washed the walls, windows, and floors. As it was, the bathroom and the kitchen sparkled under her direction but that was all.

  She bought an air mattress for the bedroom, and paper plates and plastic utensils for her meals.

  Following Masterson’s instructions, she parked her car in the back and always came through the back entrance. She hung blankets over the front windows and never looked out of them. She never approached her apartment’s front door unless she heard the secret knock. Then she would look in the secret peephole that Mike put in for her. Her mail was sent to a P.O. Box at the main post office.

  Masterson did all the shopping for her and unless she went to work at Aussie Jack’s or to the battered women’s support group, Lillian didn’t leave the apartment. She was starting to go a little stir crazy.

  Night after night both she and Masterson waited for Jeremy to make some sort of move but nothing happened. No weird mail, no hanging around the apartment, no bothering her car, and no sabotage at Aussie Jack’s.

  Lillian could tell that Masterson was getting impatient.

  “I thought surely he would follow you here from Aussie Jack’s and do something. That’s why Mike put up all the surveillance cameras.”

  “Maybe he saw the cameras and was scared off.”

  “Only an experienced person could detect where we put those cameras. They are very well hidden.”

  “Perhaps he’s moved on?”

  Masterson rubbed his chin. It was a gesture Lillian noticed that the officer did when he was agitated. “No, he’s on the Keys.”

  “Can you arrest him then?”

  “On what? We have no proof.”

  “What about what he did with Heather at the Last Chance Motel?”

  Masterson shrugged. “We have just her word that Jeremy put her up to the prank and then arrest him for what–criminal mischief for putting a lizard in your bed and red dye in the pool? A good lawyer would have him out in ten minutes and then sue the police department. We’ve got to get him on something more serious.”

  “I’m so sorry to have you waste your time on this,” said Lillian.

  Masterson grinned. “That I don’t mind.”

  “But it’s taking you away from your life . . . your home.”

  Masterson shrugged. “A lousy apartment and a life of TV dinners every night.”

  “No family or special friends?”

  “Like I said before–came close, but no cigar.”

  Lillian looked away, but not before she noticed that Masterson smelled really nice . . . clean and fresh, but masculine. Her stomach fluttered a little. “I’m glad you’re here with me. I don’t know what I did with my evenings before we came here.”

  Masterson smiled. “Why don’t we go out to Marathon? I know a nice restaurant where we can get a huge lobster and watch the sun go down. I’ll have you back by ten.”

  Lillian, bored at being cooped up, jumped at the invitation. “I would love that, but only if I get the tab,” she insisted.

  “Have it your way,” grinned Masterson. “I don’t mind if a lady pays.”

  Lillian grabbed her purse and joined Masterson in the back parking lot.

  He opened the car door for her.

  Lillian stood stationary, as a man hadn’t opened a car door for her since her college days. She stood wondering what he was doing until she recognized the courtesy being offered. She almost giggled at the pleasure of it.

  Getting in the car, she did a quick inspection. Her legs were shaved, her dress was clean, her pedicure looked great in her new sandals, her makeup looked flawless in the side mirror, and her hair was reasonably combed. Lillian realized she hadn’t looked this well groomed in a long time. She let out a long sigh of satisfaction.

  Looking concerned, Masterson asked, “What’s wrong?”

  Lillian gave him a bright smile. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” She felt the ocean tug at her. “Let’s go. I want to see water. Miles and miles of bright blue water.”

  “Your wish is my command,” crooned Masterson as he put the car in gear and pulled out onto Highway 1.

  30

  Lillian was contently sipping her after-dinner coffee, watching the sun go down in the bay. “This is such a lovely place,” she purred, “and dinner was wonderful. I don’t know when I have enjoyed such a meal.”

  “Been a long time?”

  “Yes. Very long time.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  Lillian put down her coffee cup. “There’s not much to say after what I told you. I fell in love with a nice man whom I thought was Prince Charming, and he was for a very long time until he started drinking, and then the hitting started. I believed that one day he would lose total control and kill me in a fit of rage.”

  “Why didn’t you report him or leave earlier?”

  “He made the money and I loved him.” Lillian stared at the water. “I really loved him. Then he hit me one time too many and I stopped loving him. I mean the love died in an instant.”

  Lillian took another sip of her coffee. “I guess if I had been honest with myself, I would have recognized that my love was dying bit by bit each day but I was busy. Busy with house cleaning, busy with the yard, busy with car maintenance, busy paying bills.”

  “Busy with life,” interrupted Masterson.

  “Yes, I made myself busy so as not to notice my own emotional state,” Lillian nodded in concurrence.

  “What about your daughter?”

  Lillian glanced at the water. “Unfortunately, she inherited both of her parents’ bad qualities. And I spoiled her. Our relationsh
ip is mostly my fault.”

  “Can it be mended?” asked Masterson, waving to the waitress.

  Lillian held up her cup for the waitress to top off. “I don’t know.”

  “And your daughter is safe from your husband?”

  Lillian nodded. “Absolutely. I never would have left if Bob were dangerous to our daughter. She’s his princess. He would never hit her. It would kill him.”

  “I see this so often. A good person goes off the correct path and starts taking his frustration out on a member of the family. Anger and fear do not mix well with alcohol. It’s a combination for disaster.”

  “It certainly destroyed my family,” concurred Lillian.

  “You did the right thing getting away from your husband. Later, after all the heated emotions calm down, you can contact your daughter and mend things.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on,” Lillian smiled.

  “Lillian.”

  “Yes?”

  Masterson rubbed his chin. “I don’t mean to pry, but have you filed for divorce yet?”

  “Yes. I filed a week ago. Bob talked to my lawyer and he has agreed, so the process has started.”

  Masterson stared at Lillian as he tried to measure his next words.

  Lillian could feel the heat rise to her face. Few people looked at her so intently. It made her feel uneasy and excited. Those butterflies in her stomach were churning again.

  “I was wondering if you . . . or when you got your divorce . . .” Masterson trailed off.

  “Yes?”

  Masterson looked away.

  Lillian could see that his face was flushed.

  “I was wondering if you would . . . perhaps you might want to . . .”

  “What is it, Officer Masterson?”

  “Jim. Remember, I asked you to call me Jim?”

  “I’m sorry. What is it you were wondering, Jim?”

  The color of Masterson’s face turned back to normal. “Nothing.” Masterson stood as the waitress handed him the check.

  “I’m going to get that,” reminded Lillian, taking the check from Masterson.