He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, like a leaking balloon. “My father and I have been talking. My father has been keeping tabs on Andrew through some associates who know him. Andrew has been behaving extremely erratically. It seems that he is no longer the calculating man he was, but more...disorganized.”
“Ok, so he's disorganized. It sounds like he is suffering from some kind of breakdown, maybe.”
“Right. Andrew apparently doesn't shower much anymore, and...” His breathing started coming harder.
“And?”
He shook his head. “He has pictures in a room. Pictures of you. Of us. Like the People Magazine we were in. Our wedding notice. He took one of our wedding photos out of the house, and that's in the room, too. I'm sure you never noticed that it was missing. I did, though. I wondered what happened to it.”
I just sat there, listening to him. This was getting creepier by the second, but I somehow didn't feel the white hot feeling of fear that I should've been feeling upon hearing all this.
“There's something else,” he said.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. He labels the pictures. He labels them Cherry and Andrew.”
“Cherry? Like the tree?”
“Cherry like his ex-wife. My father sent me a picture of her on my phone.” At that, he got his phone and sent me the photo of Cherry, Andrew's ex-wife. I gasped a little. Button nose, freckles, red hair, roundish face, full lips. She was my doppelganger, if ever there was one.
“Ah,” I said. “Now it all becomes clear. It's not me he wants to kill, it's her.”
“That's the thing,” Ryan said. “She's already dead.”
“What? What happened to her?”
“She died of cancer a little over a month ago. My father thinks that her death is what caused Andrew to finally go off the deep end.”
“Let me guess. Things between them did not end well.”
“Of course,” Ryan said. “Dirty divorce. She got custody of the kids, and took him for everything he had, just about. It was one of those things.”
“And they got divorced when?”
“It was finalized in December of the year before last.”
“Right around the time that he started protecting me.”
“Yup,” he said. “You got it.”
The puzzle pieces were starting to come together nicely.
“So, she's dead. Yet he still wants to kill me?”
“Yeah. This is what my father has been able to piece together about this guy. Apparently, he started becoming unhinged right around the time that he was hired to protect you. Before that, there wasn't anything that was visibly amiss with him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have checked out, and my father would've hired somebody else for you,” Ryan said, while I lay on his chest, his heart pounding in my ears. “Then, after he, uh-”
“Raped me,” I said. “Go on, you can say it. I can take that word.”
“Right,” he said, and I could feel his muscles start to tense up as he talked about that incident. “Well, after that happened, Andrew started acting strangely. Not like now, but he started becoming paranoid acting. It's one of those things, though – because of what he used to do, he has a reason to be paranoid. You know the old joke – just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean that someone isn't out to get you.”
I laughed a little, trying to break the tension.
“Then, after Cherry died, he apparently had a full-on psychotic break. He's been hallucinating, hearing voices, and he thinks that Cherry is still alive. He thinks that you're Cherry, now. He thinks that it was Cherry that he, uh, attacked, and that it was Cherry who told everybody about it.”
My blood started to run cold. “So, he's crazy. Is that going to make it easier or harder for me to defend against?”
He drew a breath. “The good news is that he no longer has the ruthless, cold and calculating instinct that he had in his former job. The bad news is that crazy is, by its very nature, unpredictable. I could probably make chess moves with this guy in his normal state. Outsmart him. But the way he is now – who knows what's going to happen?”
“So, more difficult to defend against.”
“Yeah. I've thought about...”
“What? You've thought about what?”
“Nothing. You wouldn't approve.”
“Try me.”
“I've thought about having a hit put on him.”
I looked at his face.
He was dead serious.
“Huh,” I said. “A hit.” I thought about it for about five minutes, my head on his chest, him stroking my arm, neither of us saying anything. I finally said “not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all.”
“Really?” he said.
“Yeah. It sure would be nice to not have to worry about that shithead again.” Then I immediately regretted my words. Shaking my head, I said “No, no, no. I take that back. I can't put you in danger like that. You might think that nothing will go wrong, but what if it does, and you spend the rest of your life in prison? No. no. no.” If that happened, somebody would just have to finish me off. I don't think that I could survive a blow like that.
He sighed. “That actually was the reaction I was expecting from you. So, it's back to the drawing board. More target practice, and more looking over our shoulders constantly. The good news is, my father has tabs on him, so I know his movements for now.”
I just nodded. “Hey, let's not talk about this anymore. It's getting too depressing. What's going on with Nick?”
“Nick is finding out what it is like to live with Alexis, unfortunately for him. He always knew that she was unstable, but he never really got to experience the full effect of it. She apparently is desperate for a child, and he wants a vasectomy. He might be staying here for a few days while he waits for her to cool off. I hope that's ok.”
“Sure. Maybe he and Nat can get together and ride off into the sunset.”
“No. Been there, done that. Nat and Nick don't get along. Not exactly sure why, but I think it has something to do with Nick hitting on Nate.”
“Oh? What happened there?”
“Nate wasn't interested. Nick apparently was misreading the signals. At any rate, Nick and Nat have a sexual history as well, so when Nick made a move on Nate, Natalie was pretty upset about that. So was I, to be honest with you. Nick caused a lot of tension between himself, myself, and Nate for a long time with that stupid move.”
“Maybe it's time that Nick move on and find somebody who doesn't know any of you guys.”
“That's what I told him. He liked Alexis because he thought she understood him. She does understand him, but she's also demanding and wants her way. I just hope that she is stabilized and on her meds, otherwise, she's going to be coming over here. There's no room at the Inn over here, with us, Nick and Natalie staying here.”
I took a deep breath. “Do you, uh, do you.”
“Do I?”
“Do you want Nick to, uh, be with us sometimes? I mean, not all the time, but periodically?”
Ryan was quiet. He finally said “Yes. But I know that you're not comfortable with it, so I don't really want it for that reason. I would never do anything that might jeopardize us again. We just got back together.”
It was my turn to be quiet. “I would do it. I want to make you happy.”
At that, he kissed me passionately. “You make me happy. Just by being in my presence.” He was hard again, and, as he entered me, he said “let me show you just how happy you make me.” And, for the next few hours, this is what he did – showed me how happy I made him.
Chapter Fifty-Four
It was certainly interesting having Nick stay with us for those few days.
Interesting in a good way, for Nick was the one who finally got Nat out.
“Hey, Nat,” Nick said. “What's taking so long for those DNA test results to come in?” Ryan had gotten the promised court order several months before, immediately after I moved back in.
She looked embarrass
ed. “I don't know. The wheels of justice turn slowly sometimes.”
“Uh, huh.” Then he looked at Ryan. “You believing this nonsense?”
It just occurred to Ryan, apparently, that the results should've already been in. Like myself, Ryan's mind had been 1,000 miles away from many important things, as we were focusing on Dalilah, my shooting ability, and finding out information about Andrew. “Yeah, Nat,” Ryan said. “Maybe I need to call the judge and find out about that.”
“Oh, allright. You caught me. The DNA letter actually came in about a month and a half ago. I've been too nervous to look at it, so I didn't say anything about it.”
Once again, it took Nick's bluntness to make things come about.
“Well Nat,” Ryan said. “Let's see the letter. Come what may, things will be fine.”
I really didn't believe that. Little Christopher looked like Nate, so I thought that the results would show that Nate was the father, not Ryan, but if that wasn't the case, then I didn't know how Ryan would handle it.
Let alone how I would handle it.
At that, Nat went to her room, and came back up with a letter in hand. With shaking hands, she gave it to Ryan to open. He did so, unfolding the paper. Then he smiled a huge smile. “Ha. I knew it. I knew it from the start. Christopher is not my child.”
Nat burst into tears. I think that she, herself, always knew as much, deep down. She just never wanted to admit to it.
“Well,” Nick said. “Looks like you no longer have an excuse to stay here. Let me go downstairs with you and help you pack your bags.”
Nat looked sorrowfully at Ryan and me. I went over to her, and put my arm around her. “It's going to be ok, Natalie,” I said. “Your husband wants you back. Your child should be with his father. We'll always be friends, but I think it's time to call it a day.”
“I'm so sorry, Iris,” she said. “I really caused a lot of problems with my actions.” Then she turned to Ryan. “I'm sorry to you, too, Ryan. I love you. I've always loved you. That's all I could see. But, I hope that all of this will eventually blow over, and you and Iris can come and visit Nate and me sometime soon.”
To this, Nick said “Yeah, they'll be getting right on that.”
I shot Nick a look. He's so insensitive sometimes.
All the time, really.
“Shut up, Nick,” Natalie said. “Ryan and Nate have been friends for a long time, and I hope that they will always be friends.”
“We will, Nat,” Ryan said. “But you and Nate have a lot of patching up to do, so let's just say that we won't be seeing you guys anytime soon. Do you need transportation home?”
Nat nodded.
“Ok,” Ryan said, calling Tim, his pilot. “Tim,” Ryan said. “Can you charter a flight today, in about two hours or so?” Ryan paused. “Good, thank you.” Then he turned to Nat. “Done.” Then he called Daniel to come and pick her up to give her a ride to the airport.
At that, Natalie went downstairs to pack her bags to prepare to leave. She came back up, kissed all of us goodbye, then waited for Daniel to come and get her so he could take her to the airport. Daniel arrived after about a half hour, and Natalie was gone. Just like that.
“Damn,” Ryan said to Nick. “You certainly have a way of getting things done.”
“You just gotta be firm and unwavering. Natalie's like Alexis in a lot of ways. They're both like children, and you need to treat them that way.”
“Well, thanks,” Ryan said. “I owe you one.”
“Speaking of children,” I said, hearing Dalilah calling for me through the baby monitor. I went upstairs to get her.
I came back downstairs with her, and she saw Nick and reached for him. “Uncle Nick,” she said, as Nick took her from me. She put her little hand on Nick's nose and smiled. He laughed back. “Wow, she is a Gallagher. A Whitney, really.”
“Yes,” Ryan said. “She's artistic and brilliant like my mother and father. But I see a lot of Iris in her as well.” Indeed, it looked like her hair was going to be red, which was probably going to be the only major thing that she inherited from me.
Nick sat down on a chair with Dalilah on his lap. He addressed both of us. “What can I do to help with this Andrew situation?” he asked.
“Uh, let me talk to Iris alone, ok?”
“Sure,” Nick said. “I'll be downstairs if you need me, ok?”
“Thanks, buddy,” Ryan said. Nick headed, with Dalilah, to the downstairs area that housed the game room, the wine cellar and two bedrooms. Then Ryan addressed me. “I need to talk to you about something important.”
“Ok,” I said, already dreading this.
“I've been trying to find the best time to tell you this,” he said, then hesitated slightly.
I started to feel the ice cold feeling of fear creep through my veins.
“Anyhow, I know that this is probably the very worst time for this, but...”
“Go on.”
“There's another trip I need to take for the bank. We're in merger talks with another bank that is headquartered in New York City. I am going to be gone for a week.”
“New York. That's great. It'll give you a chance to maybe see Nate and see if you guys can patch things up there.”
“I thought about that. Nat doesn't know about this trip, of course, so I'm not sure that calling Nate while I'm there would be such a great idea. It might be too much of a distraction. But that isn't the point, here. The point is that I need to make sure you're safe while I'm gone. A bodyguard is out of the question, of course.”
I suddenly knew what idea he had for me. “You want Nick to stay here while you're gone, don't you?”
“I was going to ask him, but only after I talked to you.”
“Nick, is he trained like you are, with weapons and that?”
“Yeah. He's an excellent shot himself.”
“Alexis isn't going to care about this?”
“Alexis doesn't have a say. I don't think that they're going to stay together anyhow.”
I sighed. “If he'll do it, sure. What's Plan B, though?”
“I stay here. The problem with that is my job wouldn't exactly be happy with me about this. This is an important merger that we've been working on for awhile. But I can't leave unless I know that you're in good hands. And Dalilah, too. Both of my girls have to be safe.”
“Ok.”
At that, Ryan went downstairs to get Nick.
“So, what's the big secret?” Nick asked upon coming up.
“I need to go out of town next week,” Ryan said. “And I wanted to know if you could stay here with Iris and Dalilah.”
“Sure,” Nick said without hesitation. “Hell, it'll get me out of the house and away from cray cray, so that's a bonus. But anything you need, buddy, you got it.”
“Now, you have to know that there might be a time when you're going to have to face down Andrew. So, you're going to have to be on high alert and packing all the time that you're here.”
“I know the drill,” he said.
“Good,” Ryan said.
I felt relieved that Nick could stay here with me, but I also felt a sense of sadness and loss that I would have to spend a week apart from Ryan. Ever since I’d been back, I'd felt a need to be with him always, so a week away would be horrible.
But I sucked it up, and prepared for Ryan’s leaving and Nick’s staying.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Ryan left on an early Monday morning, after making love to me several times. I tried to banish the thought that our lovemaking had an urgency because both of us were afraid that we wouldn't see each other again. But it was in the back of my mind. What if Andrew came for me that week, and I just never saw my beautiful husband again? Or my beautiful child? I mean, I guess that I wouldn't know differently, because I'd be dead. But, still, just the thought of not seeing him again frightened me.
Nick, for his part, chose to work from home that week on a drafting project. I was grateful to have somebody around, and the fa
ct that he was handy with weapons was a definite bonus.
Not having Ryan around that week gave me a chance to focus all my energies on Dalilah, who was stringing together more words every day. At just under seven months old, she was talking better than an average 2-year-old, which was amazing to me.
“Daddy go away?” she asked, after Ryan kissed her goodbye and told her to be a good girl.
“Yes, baby, daddy is going to be gone for a week. He'll be home Saturday.” That was one good thing – he was only going to be gone for a business week, not a calendar week.
“Uncle Nick stay here?”
“Yes, Uncle Nick is staying here. Now, what would you like to do?”
“Draw,” she said. “With paints.”
I gave her some of her water colors, which were the kind used by elementary school children in the little white tray. I mixed up the water with the little disks in the tray, and gave Dalilah some art paper and a brush. I got a set for myself, and Dalilah and I lay on the floor, side by side, painting all morning long. Dalilah was becoming more sophisticated with her paintings and drawings – she was able to draw dogs, cats, birds, flowers, trees, houses and bumblebees. For my part, I was able to draw little stick figures, and I colored them in different colors. My houses and flowers were less sophisticated than my tiny daughter's, as were my dogs and cats.
One thing was for sure – Dalilah got her artistic bent from her father, not from me.
We worked quietly downstairs, while Nick was working in Ryan's office upstairs. I could hear him talking on the phone to clients, which gave me a sense of security, just knowing that somebody was around. I had to admit that I missed Nat, because she always kept me company while Ryan was at work. Now it was Nick's turn. I wondered if there ever would come a time when I wouldn't need a babysitter anymore.
The first few days with Nick were fine. We started to become tentative friends, after having gotten off on the wrong foot when we first met, because Nick didn't think that I was good enough for Ryan. Not sophisticated enough, not worldly enough, and not attractive enough. He pretty much confirmed all my own insecurities with his attitude towards me in those days, so I really didn't like him.
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