“Just get here, bitch.”
The snarled words echoed and then nothing. Daniel plucked the phone from her hand. She stared at him. “Did you hear all of it?”
“Yeah, I did.”
Cecily rocketed out of his arms and groped for her discarded clothing. He watched her, his face blank and bland. “Querida, what are you doing?”
“We need to go back to Branson,” she said. “Nia needs help and that bastard wants to see me so get ready. We’ll have to fly. There isn’t time to drive back. C’mon, sugar, get dressed.”
Low-pitched, his voice sounded more dangerous than she’d ever heard it. “He doesn’t want to see you, Cecily. He needs to kill you.”
Right now, it didn’t matter, but Nia did. “You can stop him.”
He caught her wrist in his grasp and held it. “I can and I will, but you’re not going anywhere. I brought you here to keep you safe.”
Hysteria swirled within. She wanted to cry or scream or kick her feet against the floor like a two year old in a tantrum. Cecily’s stomach churned and a wave of nausea slowed her rapid actions. “Oh, shit,” she said.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I’m going to puke.” She moaned and did as her tummy turned inside out. No way would she make it down the hall to Luz’s bathroom, so she aimed for the wastebasket by the door. She heaved with force and each time she did, her body wanted to rip in two. Wretched noises accompanied each round and she figured everyone else heard her upchucking. Cecily dropped to her knees and hugged the trash can so she wouldn’t miss and make a worse mess. Daniel knelt behind her. His warm hand on her back steadied her. When she quit spewing, he helped her to her feet. “C’mon, I’ll take you to the bathroom now so you can rinse your mouth and clean up,” he said. “Then I’ll see if mom has something to settle your stomach.”
“I’m fine,” she said with a bravado she didn’t feel. Her legs wobbled and the round of puking left her spent. “It’s like before, just a gut reaction, sugar. I’m not sick or anything.”
Daniel mumbled something in Spanish and it was probably a good thing she couldn’t understand. In the restroom, he ran cold water and wet a cloth. With gentle hands, he wiped her face and hands. Then he offered her a cup so she could wash the bitter taste away. Someone tapped on the closed door and Luz asked something in rapid Spanish. Daniel replied in the same language and then added, “She says she isn’t sick.”
“I’m not,” Cecily said. “And I need to go to Branson.”
“You’re not going anywhere but to bed,” Daniel said. “I’ll go as soon as I can catch a flight. I’ll be back with your cousin, safe, before you hardly have time to miss me.”
“No fucking way,” she said. “It’s my cousin, it’s my mess. I’m going.”
His hands brushed her long braids away from her face, gentle as his eyes became dark steel. “No, querida, you’re not. I want you safe so you’ll stay here. He has to kill you or he’s aware you’ll prove he did the crime, not you. He’s got to get rid of you to get away with what he’s done. And I’ll be damned if I let that happen.”
Stomach still rolling, nerves on high alert, somewhere down deep Cecily realized he talked sense. The last thing she wanted to do was to fly, but she believed she should. And she needed to be at Daniel’s side. Intuition screamed warnings faster than she could process them. Flickers of her nightmare returned. Danger lurked in the shadows and waited to pounce. She might be in trouble, but Nia’s life was at stake along with Daniel’s. Some of the blood-spattered scenes she recalled in gory bits involved him. The one disturbing her most had been his unmoving hand sprawled out into a puddle of blood.
“I have to go with you,” she said. “Your mama’s right—there’s danger for you. I can’t stand not knowing what’s happening. I need to be there.”
His stern expression relaxed a fraction. “You can’t change whatever happens,” he said in a quiet voice. “No matter how much you might want to do it.”
“But I want to come.” Aware of losing ground in her battle to go along, Cecily began to cave. She loved him too much to fight and his compassionate caring eroded her will to argue.
“You can’t, not this time,” he said. “I’ll go and be back here tonight, tomorrow at the latest with your cousin. Then it will be over and we can get on with life. I’ve got you, querida, and I don’t intend to give you over to the grave. We’ve got a future, Cecily, and I’m not compromising it. Besides, you’re in no shape to go anywhere. You’ve lost all color in your face and you’re shaking worse than a wet dog. Whether its nerves or you’ve got a virus, you’re sick to your stomach. Please let me take you back to bed, clean up the mess, and go. We’re wasting time fighting about it when I need to be getting a plane ticket and heading up there.”
Her tummy threatened to rebel again and her legs considered collapse. Her skin alternated from searing hot to cold. Dizziness made the room spin, the result of her intense spell of puking, but she felt icky enough not to argue anymore. “All right,” she said with a major sigh. “You win. I’ll stay, you go but you promise to be damn careful. And call me a lot. And bring Nia back in one piece, you hear?”
Daniel held her in his arms and nuzzled her forehead with his lips. “I promise all of it, mi corazon. Now, come back to bed while I clean up after you.”
Cecily nodded. “Okay, but I want to get dressed, not lie back down.”
The sour stench of her vomit almost undid her resolve. She thought she’d be sick again, but she held her nose as he removed the offending mess.
“At least you managed to get it all in the trash can,” he said as he carried it away. “I’ll be right back.”
Although the smell lingered, she managed to put on clean jeans and a fresh blouse in his absence. Cecily touched some lavender perfume to both wrists and the hollow of her throat to further banish the bitter odor. Fresh air from the window helped, too. By the time Daniel returned, she’d put on a little lipstick too and made the bed. His grim expression lightened a little when he saw her. “I thought you were going to lie down.”
“I can’t,” she said. “I’m too worried and nervous. And I want to go to the airport when you leave to say good-bye.”
He gathered her into his embrace and held her tight. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not.”
Some things she’d concede and others she wouldn’t. “I’m going.”
****
An hour later, around eight o’clock, Daniel had a seat on a plane leaving El Paso International at nine. Cecily sipped a tepid soft drink while he booked it online through one of the travel sites. He’d have a layover at Dallas-Fort Worth airport but could catch the connecting flight into Springfield-Branson Airport and arrive around four-thirty or five. “I’ll rent a car from there,” he told Cecily. “And I’ll get to Branson, take care of the situation, and come back.”
“You’d better,” she said. Dark foreboding gnawed around the edges of her heart. I don’t like this, not at all. “Want me to pack for you?”
Daniel shook his head. “I’m traveling light. There’s nothing I really need but thanks.”
“What if you need to change clothes?”
“I left a few things at your place,” he said. “Or I can buy a pair of jeans if I need them.”
Michael cleared his throat. “Are you ready? We need to go if you want to make your flight.”
“Yeah,” Daniel said. “Let’s go.”
Luz stood straight as a soldier at attention near the front door. Her lips pressed together in a tight line, her demeanor somber. Michael patted her shoulder as he headed out to his vehicle, but when Daniel approached, Luz opened her arms wide. He kissed her cheek and hugged her. Cecily heard their whispered exchange in Spanish but couldn’t grasp more than a few simple words. Even so, she understood the pain and worry clouding Luz’s eyes. Daniel followed his brother and Cecily paused. “We’ll be back in a little while,” she said to the older woman.
“When you do, we
talk,” Luz said. “By then you’ll know what you must do, chica.”
With no idea what she meant, Cecily nodded. She’d thought Daniel’s mom liked her but maybe not. “Okay, sure.”
At the airport the red brown hills loomed tall beyond the runways and dwarfed the large terminal. Michael dropped them both off near the arrivals entrance because there weren’t any parking slots near and time grew short. “Watch your ass,” he said to Daniel as they climbed out onto the pavement.
“I will.” Daniel leaned back into the truck to clasp his younger brother’s hand and then slung his arm across Cecily’s shoulders. “Let’s get this over with, querida.”
I don’t want to let him go. I can’t. But she walked into the airport with him, aware they must soon part ways. Cecily remained at his side as he picked up his ticket. She clung to his hand, unwilling to break physical connection. Over all the din of the busy airport, they heard the last boarding call announced for his flight. “Don’t you have to go through security?” Cecily asked.
“Yeah, I do. I’m not flying as FBI today and besides, I’d still have to go through the process. It’s time for me to go, Cecily.”
“Oh, God, sugar,” she said. Tears stood in her eyes although she willed them not to flow. “I want to say so much and can’t think of anything to say except I love you.”
“Te amo,” he said. He stood facing her. “I’ll be back tomorrow if not tonight.”
“Take care,” she whispered. “Call me, all the time or I’ll go crazy.”
“You won’t but I’ll call when I can,” he said. “Kiss me and I’ll go.”
Willing, she took a step closer and their mouths fused together with furious need. They matched and fit together, she thought, two halves of one whole. Until Daniel, she’d never known love could be both joy and sorrow, a sharp-edged knife. As they kissed, Cecily touched his hair, her fingers combing through it as if she could commit each strand to memory. She caressed his cheeks, stroked his arms, and then just held him. The kiss became communion and a blessing.
Daniel stoked her inner desire with his lips but deeper. He drank from her and she gave all she had. Before he released her, his arms tightened around her and she drew strength from his love. “Go,” he said. “Michael will pick you up and take you back to Mama’s house. I’ll call you and I love you. Adiós!”
“Bye,” Cecily whispered. “I love you.”
He squared his shoulders and left her in the lobby. She couldn’t follow but watched him although he never glanced back. Cecily’s heart ached as she watched, eyes blinded with tears she didn’t try to stop any longer. It isn’t good-bye forever, it’s not. He’ll be back tomorrow and I’ll run to meet him. He’ll wrap me up in his arms and I won’t let him stop. It’s going to be fine. Her bravado provided courage to take the first few steps back through the lobby, but she stopped, stricken with a sudden image in her head. Daniel, face down on the floor, blood puddled beneath him and Nia screaming, mouth open wide, eyes staring.
Panic built up, pressure within her chest until Cecily thought she’d burst open. She paused and leaned against the wall, dizzy and sick to her stomach with the impact of what she’d seen. It’s not real. It’s just because I’m so scared. It won’t happen. Her wild thoughts rushed through her mind with the force of hurricane winds, but she knew although it hadn’t happened yet, it might. She never saw visions or whatever the hell you called this shit often and when she did, sometimes things came true, sometimes they didn’t. But when they didn’t, she caused change. I’ve gotta change it now. I have to—I can’t lose him. I won’t.
Luz wanted to talk, she remembered. And recalled too that Daniel had said something about Luz’s having psychic gifts. Maybe she’ll have answers. Together we can figure it out unless she wants to chew me out for bringing danger to her son. She doubted the last—Luz appeared to like her. Spurred with a combination of determination and hope, Cecily found her stride and strolled outside to where Michael, as promised, picked her up.
She didn’t say much on the ride back to Luz’s as her thoughts wandered. She missed Daniel already. Part of her mind winged across the wide open skies with him and she imagined the view from the jet’s windows, the blue punctuated with puffy clouds. Although she’d never tried before, Cecily attempted to cut loose her thoughts to see if they could find him, like a homing pigeon. Maybe she imagined it, but she swore she sensed him, believed she tuned into his mind. Something of his personality touched her and lingered the way a favorite aroma might. He’s tense and afraid, but he won’t show it. He’s wound tight and he’s becoming lethal, something I’ve not seen in him before now. And he loves me, he’s thinking about me.
After blowing mental kisses his way, hoping he might somehow be aware, she stared out the truck window. Michael made an effort to talk and although she answered each question he used as a conversation starter, Cecily didn’t elaborate and they fell silent. She hoped he didn’t mind—she liked him but he brought out long latent bashful qualities she thought she’d shed with adolescence. Queasiness still made her stomach uneasy and her concerns preoccupied her mind.
When Michael turned into his mother’s drive, Luz stood in the open front door, a sentinel on watch. Her serious expression didn’t lighten when they approached, but she stepped back so they could enter. “Daniel’s on his way, then?” she asked.
“Yes,” Michael said.
“Are you going home today as planned?”
“No, Daniel asked me to stay until he returns,” Michael said. “I’ve got the time so I told him I would, to help you and Cecily with anything you need.”
“Good,” Luz replied. “I made a list for the supermarket, some things I need. It’s on the kitchen counter with some money. Could you go now?”
Michael’s eyes widened and Cecily understood why. Luz’s tone sounded crisper than burned bacon. “Sure, I can. Cecily, would you like to come too?”
Before she could open her mouth to answer, Luz spoke. “No, I need to talk to her. She’s staying, you’re going. Hasta la vista, mi hijo.”
His mouth dropped open. “Mama, is something wrong?”
“No,” she said, her blue eyes blazing with electricity. “But there will be if I don’t talk with Cecily. Go on, son.”
His expression changed and he resembled Daniel more than Cecily thought he could. Without another word he hustled into the kitchen, retrieved the list, and headed back out the front door. Luz sank into her recliner and motioned for Cecily to sit on the couch.
She did and they sat without speaking until the sound of Michael’s truck faded into the distance.
Luz turned her piercing gaze toward Cecily. She appeared to be fierce but not angry. “So, now, we talk. I think maybe you know what about.”
Consumed with fatigue, nerves frizzled, and nursing an upset stomach, Cecily met the older woman’s eyes without flinching. “Daniel.”
“Si,” Luz said. “He’s heading into danger, maybe even death, but I don’t think I’m wrong to say you feel it, too. You look as worried as I am, maybe even more. I know you’re together, but you love him, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do,” Cecily said with some of her normal bravado. “And, I have a bad feeling. I even had something like a vision at the airport.”
“And you had a nightmare last night before the phone call.”
“I did,” she said. She hated to even think about the awful, jumbled images. Remembering brought cold chills.
“So we have to change what can happen, together.” Luz’s voice carried a quiet calm but beneath it, Cecily sensed a raw, basic fear. “You know what you have to do, don’t you?”
Her own anxiety notched up from simple to complex, from low level to high alert. “No,” she said in a choked whisper. “I don’t. I hoped maybe you could tell me.”
Luz sat up straighter and leaned forward. “You need to go to him, to Daniel. You have to be there. It’s got to be you.”
Icy tingles moved down her spine. “I wanted to go
with him, but he said to stay here.”
“I know. He had to go alone and so do you. If you don’t, I’m not sure how everything will happen, but it won’t be good, not for your cousin and not for my son.”
Cecily believed it. Terrible truth resonated through her body. “I’ll go. I’d do anything for him.”
“I know,” Luz said and tapped the center of her chest. “I knew it here when I saw you.”
As willing as she was to go, the logistics seemed difficult. “How will I get there in time when he left so much earlier than I can?”
Blue eyes, hard as sapphires, stared. “You used to travel a lot, didn’t you, when you were a rich man’s wife?”
She had—but someone usually handled all the arrangements. Most of the time, Johnson Hamilton, evil asshole, had. “Yes but I didn’t book the flights. I can go online, I guess, and try.”
“It’s done,” Luz said. “I may not be educated and I’ve never been rich, but I booked you a flight direct to Chicago, then another to Branson airport. You’ll arrive in Branson two hours after Daniel reaches Springfield, but it seems like he’ll have to drive to get there. You’ll be a few miles from your store and you’ll make it in time.”
Amazed at the woman’s confident handling of the situation and calm presentation, Cecily gaped, stunned speechless. Not only were she and Luz agreed action must be necessary, Luz set everything into motion. The faint hope she’d felt when she tapped into Daniel’s consciousness or believed she did expanded and grew. “So when do I leave?”
“Soon as Michael returns to drive you to the airport,” Luz said. “It wasn’t much of a list. There’s something else you need to know.”
“What is it?” Cecily found her feet and stood up.
“My Comanche grandmother gave me a knife a long time ago, when I was a child,” Luz said. “It was old then, handed down from one generation to another in our family. I gave it to Daniel when he first became an FBI agent. He should still have it and I think it’s with his stuff in Branson, maybe at your house. The handle is made of a deer’s antler and the blade is stone, flint-knapped. Before you go to your shop, you need to go get it. Do you know the knife I’m talking about?”
Pink Neon Dreams Page 20