by Tiana Cole
Alan stood, his anger boiling over. He’d spent all he had on getting this deal. The fancy hotel room, the meals and drinks, were all on his credit card. And he was out the thousand dollars he’d given that bitch. That had been a waste too.
“You are making a big mistake,” he said. “James Andrews is a crook.”
“As I said, I haven’t chosen him. I’ve only rejected you.”
As he went out the door, the image of James Andrew’s smug face was strong in his field of vision, fueling his anger. That bastard was winning again; once again he was taking away Alan’s chance to show what he could do, to take his rightful place. After what happened in Singapore he couldn’t just ask for his job back. Even if he hadn’t punched out his boss and left ahead of assault charges, he wouldn’t tuck his tail between his legs and crawl back, whimpering.
He pounded his fist into the elevator, wrinkling the sheet metal. The pain in his knuckles was satisfying. Pain was good. And pain was better when you inflicted it.
He considered hitting the wall again, but decided to save his energy. He knew what he needed to do. And this time things would end differently.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Deja woke to find herself in bed with James. The warmth of his body was reassuring. She was happy because they were getting along, and ecstatic because when they’d gone to the hospital, she’d learned that the doctor had found a grant that would pay for the treatment. They were all ready to go when she and James arrived.
They’d sat waiting for hours, and when the doctor came out to meet them, they learned the treatment had gone brilliantly. Barbara had a long road to recovery ahead of her.
“She’s weak, but with her spirit, and a little help…”
“She’ll have more than she can stand,” Deja promised.
With the world suddenly a brighter and more cheerful place she’d felt better than she had in a long time. James ordered a marvelous feast from room service, and afterwards, had surprised her by being affectionate. This wasn’t the comforting affection he’d shown her when she had her nightmares, but a lavishing, overwhelming passion that was all about her.
She’d been delighted to be swept up in such attention. If it was just for that one night, so be it. And for that night, James was everything she could ever hope from a lover.
Now, as she sat up, and surveyed her surroundings, her stomach turned upside down. As she made a dash to the bathroom, Deja couldn’t believe that her stomach was acting up again. It was over a week since she’d drank too much, and she’d taken care of herself ever since. But here she was bent over the toilet again. It hardly seemed fair. James had bounced back in a day. Maybe she had some kind of flu bug.
“Are you all right?” James called through the door.
“Please leave me alone. I’ll be out in a while.” Her illness embarrassed her and she couldn’t stand him to see her in such a weak state. Better to send him away.
“I’ll be in the living room. Call if you need anything.”
When she’d emptied her stomach, she felt better, and she brushed her teeth until the bitter taste was gone.
What a terrible way to wake up from a lovely evening.
When she came out of the bathroom she put on a robe and wandered into the living room where James and Kieran were chatting. They glanced up at her, stopping their conversation. “Are you all right, Deja?” James asked. “It seems like you are spending a fair amount of time in the bathroom. At least when I was sick we knew why.”
“I think I must be fighting off a flu or something. Fortunately, whatever it is, it’s mild.”
As James started to say something, his phone rang. “It’s Shen Liang,” he told them, and answered the call. He listened, then looked puzzled. “Certainly,” he said, and held the phone out to Deja. “He wants to talk to you.”
Deja took the phone with trepidation.
“I apologize for not getting your phone number so that I could call you directly,” Liang said.
“I don’t think this is a problem,” she said. “I’m done with secrets.”
“I was wondering about your sister. How is she doing?”
“Quite well. Yesterday she got the new treatment. A doctor from UCLA was able to get a grant to pay for it. The doctor said everything went as well as they hoped and they expect her to recover.”
“A grant. How fortunate for her. That’s excellent news.”
A suspicion crossed her mind. “Was it you? Are you behind this mysterious grant?”
“Me? No, I’m afraid I can’t take credit for such a good deed, although if nothing else came up for you… Besides, it isn’t fair to pry into such generosity. If the person wanted you to know, then they wouldn’t go to such lengths to hide their identity.”
“But if I don’t pry, I can never can be sure I’m not being rude to the one person in the world who truly deserves my gratitude.”
“I can offer a simple solution to that problem. If you treat everyone with gratitude, show your thanks on your face, then you will manage to thank the correct person eventually.”
She laughed. “I like the way you think, Shen Liang.”
“I admire you as well, Mrs. Andrews.”
Once again, he held out the reminder that she was a married woman. “I think you are trying to tell me something.”
“No. What could I tell you? I simply wished to inquire after your sister.”
“Have you met her yet?”
“No. That she is so important to you is enough for me to care about her well-being.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I admire you, of course.”
“Well, whatever your reasons, I thank you.”
“And is there any decision about your future, now that you aren’t planning to spend your days watching your sister die?”
“About us? We haven’t come to any decision yet. We’ve been focused on Barbara’s situation.”
“Of course. Will you call me if there is any change? I know you have my number.”
“Change? I’m not sure what sort of change might interest you.”
“About you, and your future.”
“You mean with James? Yes, I’ll do that.”
She handed the phone back to James, who was giving her a strange look, as if he’d just figured something out. He talked with Liang briefly then hung up.
“He met with Mr. McCabe the other day.”
Kieran leaned close. “Has he decided anything?”
James shook his head. “Apparently he told Alan he isn’t in the running any longer, and he didn’t take it well.”
Deja giggled. “Does that mean you get it?”
Hearing that news, the hope had shot through him briefly. “Not necessarily. He says he’s still considering his options, looking at some puzzle pieces. But seeing that he told Alan he was out of the picture and hasn’t said that to me, I have to assume I’m still being considered. His main message was that he only really called to find out about how Barbara was doing.”
Kieran scratched his head. “How did he find out about her?”
“I told him. The last time we met, I explained everything.”
“Was that wise?”
“Damn if I know. It seemed right though, and I’m glad I did. It saves me worrying about what he might know or not know.”
Kieran stood. “Well, there don’t seem to be any legal ramifications to any of that, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go to my room for a bit. I need to call my office and check up on a lot of boring things my interns and subordinates are supposed to be handling in my absence.”
Deja pointed at her door. The door to the room she hadn’t even been in the last night. “You can use my room, if all you need it to avoid the distraction of us nattering on.”
Kieran smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that very much.”
“It’s a dreadful commute to his own room,” James said, faking sympathy.
“It saves waiting for elevators going back and forth to
my room.”
“He hates elevators,” James said.
“Hate is too strong a word. Let’s say that I prefer to avoid them.”
“Because you hate them.”
Kieran winked at Deja. “Your husband is a stubborn man.”
“He tells me that’s one of his better qualities.”
He grinned at James. “I’ll be in the lady’s bedroom making calls. Order another bottle of Irish. Yours is empty again.” He smiled. “In the lady’s bedroom…I like the sound of that.” Then he left.
She could see the confusion James was feeling. She knew he had to wonder why Shen Liang wanted to talk to her directly. Obviously Liang hadn’t chosen to tell him about her visit. For the moment it was all right if that was their little secret, and it seemed that it had been productive, or at least not damaging. She didn’t want to give herself undue credit. All she’d done was try to atone for her ill-advised actions.
It pleased her that Liang had sounded honestly delighted to hear Barbara was getting her treatment and poised to recover. She suspected it meant something to him in a way she didn’t understand—yet. And then, she let her thoughts about Barbara getting well again push any doubts about her own future out of her head. That would play out on its own.
* * * *
Deja watched James pace the room. Even in their short time together, she’d learned to expect that when he was struggling with his thoughts.
“What’s eating at you?” she asked. “Can I help?”
“Maybe you can. When I met Liang the last time I was aware that something was different in his attitude.”
“Of what?”
He sank back down in a chair. “I’m not sure, exactly, but regarding me, us. And certainly about Alan McCabe. And now, him calling and wanting to talk to you surprised me.”
“He seemed interested in my opinion on how things were going, with Barbara, with us.”
A knock on the door interrupted them, and Deja glanced at James. “I called down and asked them to send up a snack.”
She nodded. “You relax. I’ll get it.” She went to the door, opening it wide, expecting the room service trolley. Instead, Alan barged into the room.
“You fuckers,” he screamed. “You got to Liang somehow and poisoned him against me.”
James jumped to his feet. “Alan, what the hell are you talking about? If Liang was angry with you, it isn’t because of anything I did.”
“Not you, asshole.” He turned on Deja. “You did it, you bitch. You double crossed me. I warned you about that. I knew you were trouble. If I’d known you would go spill your guts out to that Chinese bugger…”
“What?” James looked at Deja. “You talked to Shen Liang?”
It was all coming out now. Why not finish it? “I did.”
“When?”
“After I confessed the truth to you, I went to see him. I told him everything. I had to. What I did affected him too—the things Alan got me to do. He deserved to know the truth. I didn’t know if it would make a difference or not—”
“It made a difference, all right,” Alan roared. “You and your fucking truth screwed me over big time.”
James stepped toward him. “I think you’d better leave now, Alan.”
Alan reached in his pocket and pulled out a small automatic pistol, pointing it at James, squarely at his chest. He stopped in his tracks. “No way am I leaving until I’m ready to leave, and I won’t be ready for that until I see you suffer first.”
Deja’s pulse pounded, roaring in her ears loudly enough to mute the sounds in the room. She could see James talking, speaking to Alan. Alan was shouting. And he waved his gun, that silvery automatic, gesturing with it. At James, at her.
Alan moved into the center of the room, still shouting. Suddenly her hearing cleared. “I’m going to make you watch this bitch die slowly, and then I’ll kill you.”
“It’s a business proposition, Alan,” James was saying, his voice steady, calming. “It isn’t worth killing someone for.”
“You fucking coward,” he roared. “No guts to face me directly, sending a woman to do your dirty work.”
Deja tried to think of what she could do. Alan stayed far enough away from them that there was no chance for them to grab the gun. He was big enough that she had no hope of wrestling it from him, but if she could get it knocked aside, James would have a chance to jump him without risking getting shot. She couldn’t stand it if he got shot. It would be her fault. Alan was going crazy because she’d told Shen Liang the truth. It was that simple. Now she had to stop him. Somehow.
As the men talked, with Alan shouting, she circled, moving further from James. At some point Alan wouldn’t be able to focus on them both.
Aware at some level that he was being out flanked, Alan turned, backing further into the room and moving further away, more out of reach. As he shifted his stance to face one and then the other, while shouting something she wasn’t hearing, she saw the door to her room open a crack. Kieran’s face peered out.
She moved more to her left and toward Alan. “What the fuck are you doing, woman?” Alan shrieked. “Get back in front of me where I can see you both at the same time.”
She moved closer, and Alan backed up, closer to Kieran. “It’s okay, Alan. This is a misunderstanding, that’s all. We can sort this out. I certainly don’t want you to shoot me, and you don’t want to go to jail, so why don’t we discuss some options?”
“Options?” He spit the word at her.
James edged forward and Alan turned toward him. “Don’t you fucking try anything or I’ll blow your kneecap off. In fact that might be a good idea anyway. A way to start the fun.”
Deja took a breath and moved toward him again. As he turned, the door came open. Alan saw something out of the corner of his eyes and whirled around, just in time to catch the downward motion of an empty bottle of Irish whiskey across his forehead. He crumpled to the ground, and James stepped over to kick the pistol into a corner of the room.
Kieran stood over Alan, holding the bottle. “Now do you see why I always tell you it’s vital to keep a bottle of good Irish whiskey close by?”
“Obviously it’s good to have your lawyer close at hand as well.”
“That’s not covered by your basic retainer, I hope you realize.”
“For once I won’t bitch about the extra charges on my bill.”
As Deja went for the house phone, Kieran grabbed her arm. “No worries, darling. I called for the police myself before I decided they were taking a mite long and I needed to become a superhero in my own right.”
“You did carry out a well-organized defense, Super Kieran.”
He winked. “And that was some fancy footwork you two did getting him over within my reach.”
“Shen Liang told me I need to find a balance between work and dancing,” James said. “I don’t think that’s what he had in mind, exactly, but it makes his point.”
Deja laughed. “A balance between work and dancing? I like that man.”
James smiled, and she felt her stomach churn. “Oh God,” she moaned.
“What is it?”
She sat down and tried to relax. “Same old thing.”
There was an urgent pounding on the door and Kieran opened it to admit the police. “Everything’s more or less under control,” he said, pointing at Alan. “He isn’t a good dancer. We might need paramedics.”
* * * *
By the time the cops and paramedics had done their paperwork and left with Alan, Deja was throwing up again. “It’s the shock,” she said. “The sudden appearance of a pistol pointed at me is upsetting.”
“It could be something more serious,” Kieran said. He sounded unusually serious. “Acting as your attorney, I called the front desk. The house doctor is on his way.”
Deja laughed. “That’s a strange form of legal advice.”
“Once again, above and beyond the service provided by my lesser competitors.”
While they waited,
James carried her into her room and put her on the bed. “You lie here, and take it easy.”
“I can’t tell when I have to go into the bathroom again.”
He got the empty ice bucket and handed it to her. “No need to jump up and run to the bathroom if your stomach starts to turn. If you need to throw up do it in here. I’ll empty it and wash it out.”
The doctor arrived and seemed happy to be doing something. He sat in a chair by the bed and took Deja’s pulse, then put a hand on her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” James asked anxiously.
“She’s sick,” the doctor said. “Just a guess, but that’s why you called me, right? Still, even a medico as skilled as myself needs to actually examine the patient before coming up with a diagnosis, much less prescribing a brilliant cure.” He smiled at Deja. “I’ll need to take your medical history and then I’ll take your temperature. Between us we will figure out what’s making your body unhappy,” he said cheerfully. He turned to the men. “You two are in my way. Please go in the other room while I check her out. Go. Go.”
In the living room, James paced in front of Kieran as they tried to get some perspective on things. “Alan flipped. I wonder what that does to your stock with Shen Liang?” Kieran asked.
“It’s hard to say. I was getting the impression that nothing Alan said or did made any difference one way or the other. He said he didn’t care for Alan, and that he was out of the picture. With me, he’s been trying to piece together a puzzle that represents my character.”
“How would he do that?”
“I’m not entirely sure. But I do know he was looking for clues, wondering if I would demonstrate some heretofore hidden strength of character. Shen Liang has been fascinated by what I would do about Deja, and her sister.”
“Well the sister is handily taken care of.”
“Our secret.”
“Yes. But what will you do about Deja?”
He laughed. “I have no idea.” He walked back and forth then stopped. “The thing is, I think I love her.”
“Well, from a legal perspective, staying married would save one hell of a lot of paperwork.”