“I couldn’t let Mandy be the only one to thank you properly, now could I?”
Chapter Fourteen
Nikki sat in the recliner as she usually did in the late afternoon, but today her left hand squeezed the sponge ball Nathan had given her. The cast had come off yesterday and, although the skin was pale and flaking, the hand looked better than she thought it would. Her fingers were stiff from lack of use, and until she worked them, she wouldn’t know how much dexterity she’d have. The slightly raised scar at the base of her ring finger stood out against the pallor of her palm, but the finger was warm, and she could bend it slightly. Another ring would hide it easily. She’d finished her exercises in record time today and could walk pretty much all over the main floor of the house with her walker. She could get to the bathroom and back again completely on her own, a personal triumph worthy of an Olympic medal.
She and Mandy had watched Cinderella earlier, and Angie had just taken Mandy outside for fresh air. Danny lay asleep in his basket beside Nikki’s chair. No one would know from their daily routine, that they were anything other than six people sharing a beautiful house in the mountains. She didn’t feel like a prisoner the way she had in the hospital. She felt safe and protected.
Snow had fallen again last night, nothing more than a light dusting to add to the six inches they had, but there was a front moving in from the northwest, and everyone was preparing for a storm. After attending to Nikki’s quickly decreasing medical needs, Cassie had spent a significant part of the day cooking and baking. The generator would keep the stove, furnace, and water pump working. It was fueled up, ready to go, with enough gasoline in reserve to keep them warm and toasty as long as necessary. Flashlights and candles sat ready to provide the light they’d need tonight if the electricity went out, allowing them to conserve their emergency power for essentials.
Nikki appreciated the way Jason made her feel like she was part of the team, keeping her informed about the preparations, even though her contribution to the cause was nil. He and Nathan put up outside storm shutters on the windows on the northwest side of the house. There were only two, one in the powder room and the other in the small office next to her room. Other rooms had indoor shutters easily closed as needed. A large sheet of plywood stood at the ready to cover the French doors if the weather was bad enough.
Thoughts of a storm that severe made her uneasy, but as Jason pointed out, if it came to pass, they were probably safer from The Butcher than at any other time.
They’d been in Colorado just over two weeks, and the case continued to move at a snail’s pace. According to Brad, there had been no special interest in Nikki Hart after the announcement that she’d been returned to the coma because of complications. The hospital continued to “treat” the dummy taking her place, and she was beginning to wonder if this was all for nothing.
Waiting for information was almost as frustrating as waiting for her memories to return. It was irritating to know so little about yourself, and yet remember other useless things so clearly. For example, she could recite the dialogue from The Wizard of Oz as they’d discovered when they’d watched the movie last weekend, but she didn’t know what size shoes she wore.
Thank God for Danny who continued to occupy Mandy and keep her from being bored. Jason had picked up a book on litter training a dog the day he’d brought the puppy home. At first, the idea had seemed odd, but realizing she wouldn’t have to take the animal outside at night or in foul weather appealed to Nikki. The pup was smart and had his new routine down pat.
She sighed and stared at the mountain rising behind the house. The last of the few trees on its rock face had lost their leaves and the skeletal branches swayed in the increasing wind. She could hear its whistling, and she shuddered. She disliked that sound. Maybe she’d ask Jason to seal off the window when he came back to check on her. He’d been gone all of twenty minutes—an eternity lately.
This side of the mountain was too rugged for anyone but the most intrepid climbers. Jason told her the other faces and their gentler slopes provided an ideal location for three popular ski resorts. Mandy came around the corner on her Nordic skis, Angie by her side. This was their third pass around the house, and the child was getting faster each time. She was a natural. She’d enjoy the thrill of a downhill run, the wind in her face. I must have gone skiing at some point in time. How else would I be able to picture it so clearly in my mind?
Jason entered the room with two cups of coffee in his hands, and she smiled. He spent most of his time with her whether he was on guard duty or not. They’d developed an easy-going friendship she’d miss when this was over. Deep down, she knew she’d like to see their relationship evolve, but Jason went out of his way to keep things professional. The only time his guard slipped was when he held her after she’d had a nightmare. In those moments, he became her guardian angel, protecting her from the demons in her dreams.
She reached for the mug, brought it to her lips, and sipped.
“Thanks. You make a damn fine cup of coffee. A husband who can make good coffee is rare.”
She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. Whatever possessed me to blurt that out?
Jason laughed awkwardly. “Well, it’s the only culinary skill I have, so I wouldn’t be much of a prize. How’s the hand?”
Nikki breathed easier. She really had to keep a tighter rein on her wayward thoughts. Considering Jason as husband material was a fantasy. She’d watched too many of Mandy’s happily ever after movies lately. She was beginning to think there could be one in the future for her.
“Not bad. It’s stiff, and the ring finger is in almost permanent salute position, but it’s better than I expected, actually. I’m just glad that damn cast is off. I think I was starting to rot under that plaster.” She chuckled. “It’s the brain that’s frustrating me and this stuff.” She indicated the computer print-outs he’d brought in earlier. “The more information Greg discovers about Thomas, the more confused I get. Why would Nadia have married him in the first place? I can’t believe my grandfather would’ve thrown us out of the ancestral home. I was his heir. Nothing makes sense.” She sipped her coffee.
“On that, we agree.”
“That doll is as puzzling as everything else. If they went to such lengths to erase my father from my life, why let me keep it? Maybe I had a high holy fit like Mandy did the other day when she couldn’t find it. People adopt children all the time, so why the secrecy?” She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.
“Maybe you should ask your mother. She’s bound to have a reason for what she did. She was alone and lonely, he was a friend of your dad’s—maybe they fell in love.”
“And maybe pigs fly. I saw the way he treated her—as if she didn’t have a mind of her own. Well, at least I know I have good instincts about people. There was something about him I didn’t trust from the moment I saw his picture.”
But there was something I didn’t trust about you either, so perhaps my instincts aren’t infallible.
“I’ll be the first to admit that man is a nasty piece of work. He’s controlling, manipulative, and likes to throw his name and his money around. He buys power and respect.”
“And apparently does so with my money. He’s as crooked as the alders in Alticane, Saskatchewan. Don’t ask me how I know about them, I just do. It’s possible I painted them.” She pointed to the papers again. “According to the forensic accountant’s report, it looks like dear old step-dad has definitely pilfered money from my trust fund—$2.5 million to be exact.”
“Wow! That’s not chicken feed. What are you going to do?”
“Well, I suppose if I were a good daughter I’d let it fly and ask nicely that he not do it again, but I’m not feeling in the least bit daughterly. I want to have his ass thrown in jail. I can have him extradited to France and charged there. I don’t know what French prisons are like these days, but I seem to remember a movie where a con man got sent to Devil’s Island.”
He chuckled. “Pap
illion. I saw it, too. The French closed that prison in 1953.”
“Too bad,” Nikki said. “Well, I hope they have some place equally unpleasant to put him.”
“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” Jason laughed, and she could swear there was discomfort in its tone. “You go for the throat.”
Confused, she lifted the mug to her lips once more. “Do you think Nadia knows about this? The last time I saw her, she looked spaced out.”
Jason shook his head. “I wouldn’t think so. He’s not the kind of guy who’d discuss business with a woman.”
She noticed how hard she was squeezing the ball and put it down. Nathan had said not to overdo it, and she was definitely straining her hand.
“It looks like the skiers are on their way in,” Jason said. “I’ll go and help Angie. Troy wants to do a wide perimeter sweep before the storm hits. No one’s going to be able to stay outside tonight.”
He leaned toward her, and Nicki thought he was going to kiss her. He seemed as surprised by his action as she was. He quickly took the empty coffee mug from her hand and hurried from the room. She’d have welcomed that kiss.
• • •
It started to snow heavily just after Nikki and Mandy finished their supper. Despite the shuttered windows, she could still hear the howling wind, and it set her nerves on edge. She was restless and jumped at the least little noise.
Mandy had fallen asleep watching Sleeping Beauty, and Jason picked her up. “I’ll carry her into the room for you and ask Cassie to get her ready for bed.”
“No, that’s not necessary. If you carry her in, I can settle her. She’s already in pajamas. Cassie’s leaving next week. Nathan will stay on to help you, but her back’s really bothering her, and I can manage quite a lot on my own now. If I get into a fix, Angie can help. I’m not sure how well we’ll eat with the chef gone, but I’m hoping I can help out. If I don’t remember how to cook, I can at least follow a recipe. Go, I’ll follow you in.”
Nikki was pleased to see she made it to the bedroom only moments after Jason although her “sprint” down the hall left her winded. Maybe she wasn’t as fit as she thought she was, but there was no way she’d admit that.
With one hand, Jason pulled down the blankets on the cot and laid Mandy on the mattress. He pulled up the covers and stepped aside to allow Nikki to get closer to the small bed. Danny made three quick turns in the basket at the foot of the bed and settled down near her. The dog was never any more than a few feet away from his mistress, but if Mandy wasn’t around, he shifted his loyalty to Nikki.
“I wonder what we’ll do for sleeping arrangements once we leave here.” She placed Benji in beside Mandy, kissed her on the forehead and straightened.
“Do you want to call it a night, too?” he asked. “I know the storm has you antsy.”
“It isn’t the storm per se. It’s the wind. It bothers me for some reason.”
He reached out and touched her arm. His eyes, more gray than blue tonight because of the gray-striped sweater he wore, were full of sympathy.
“I think that’s a memory. The wind was whistling loudly that night.”
She swallowed and nodded. “I suppose that explains it.”
“So do you want to go to sleep or are you game for a round of gin rummy?”
“I’m not ready for bed, and I don’t really feel like cards, but can we just sit and talk?”
“Sure. You can leave the walker here. I don’t mind carrying you.”
“That would be great.” The comfort of his arms, even doing this basic thing, was what she really needed now.
He set her on the sofa. A few minutes later he came back with two glasses of wine and handed her one before taking the seat beside her.
“So, what’s on your mind? Is it that stuff you learned about Thomas earlier? I made a call to Ivan and he’s contacting the estate’s lawyers.”
“It’s not that. Mandy asked me where we were going to live when this was over. She wants to go back to Larosa. She misses her friends. Thomas and my mother wanted me to move in with them in San Francisco, but I put the kibosh on that. The problem is I don’t know what to do. If I move back into the house, which the jerk tried to sell on me, I may recover my memories, but I’m not sure I can do it—live in the house knowing what happened there even if I don’t remember it.”
Jason ran his hand through his hair as if he were debating something in his head. When he put his hand down, he put his arm around her and pulled her close. She tried not to read anything into it other than a gesture of comfort.
“Larosa’s a great place to live. I grew up there and my brother’s the sheriff. He doesn’t have any children yet, but he coaches Little League. Danny played, you know. He wasn’t the next Babe Ruth, but he enjoyed it.”
She sniffled.
“Damn, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, oh God, no. It’s a wonderful thing to know. Before all I could do was picture him the way he was in those photos, but now I can see him in a little ball uniform with a bat on his shoulder. You just made him real to me.”
She kissed his cheek and pulled away. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass him. “Tell me about my house.”
He swallowed and when he spoke his voice was gruff as if he’d been touched by what she’d said.
“Your house is one of the few original houses in town. When the government flooded the land to create Lake Sonoma, your home ended up on the shore. It’s a big place—two stories—with one of those wraparound verandas. It had an attached garage and you had an art studio at the back of the house off the kitchen.”
“Sounds nice. I think I’d like it. I love the idea of being near the water, and if I start to paint again, which I’m itching to do, a studio will come in handy.”
“Well,” he shook his head, “you’ll probably have to build a new one. Thomas had that section of the house torn down the week after the attack. He had it rebuilt, but I have no idea what he changed. The last time I spoke to Rick, he told me your father had the whole main floor gutted, but he’d left the upstairs alone.”
Nikki felt her temper rising. “Is there no end to that man’s meddling?”
Jason shifted his position slightly so he could look at her. “You know, he might have done you a favor.”
His unspoken words were loud and clear. It might be better in this case to let sleeping dogs lie.
• • •
“The last thing I want is a germ-carrying animal in my home. They need to be cared for, brushed, walked—there’s no end to it. That boy needs to understand he can’t have everything he wants. You spoil him.” There’s anger in his voice, and she cringes.
“But he misses his old friends. It’s hard starting a new school mid-year.”
“And whose idea was it to send him to public school? Yours! The boy needs to learn life is what you make of it. I fought and clawed my way to get where I am today. You were treated like a princess. Well, in the real world, there are no princes, only ogres.”
“He has a name,” she cries. “For God’s sake, Danny’s only eight years old. Can’t you be more understanding, more flexible? He’s your son.” The scene dissolves.
The sound of breaking glass wakes her. She gets out of bed and walks down a long, dark hallway. Fear grips her. She hates the dark. The wind whistles, further upsetting her. She can hear the branches slapping against the side of the house. A redness glows at the end of the hall. She sees a door, but the closer she gets to it, the harder it is to walk. Exhausted, barely able to take the final steps, she reaches her destination and turns the knob.
Light spills from the open refrigerator. Blood and roses cover the floor. A demon stands over a lump of rags. He beckons her to approach, but she tries to pull away. She doesn’t want to see what he stands over, but he reels her in as if she’s a fish on the end of a line.
The lump, now a faceless child, sits up, its head flopping over awkwardly. The slash on its face where a mouth should be opens.
“Mommy, why did you let me die?”
She screams, but no sound comes from her throat. Tears pour down her cheeks. The monster turns its attention on her, a pair of shears in its hand, the diamond in its ear glittering in the red light . . .
• • •
“Nikki, Nikki, wake up.”
She opened her eyes, and great racking sobs shook her. He touched her sweat soaked hair. This was the third nightmare she’d had this week.
“I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re safe. It’s just another bad dream.” He reached for her hand. “My God, you’re frozen. Move over.” He climbed into bed and pulled her against him spoon-like. Her teeth chattered, and she sobbed as if her heart were broken.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
His arms encircled her, and she put her hands over his. “Don’t leave me. When you’re with me, the monsters stay away.”
Jason pressed a kiss to her head. “I’m not going anywhere. Go to sleep. I’ve got you.”
Nikki closed her eyes, and he listened to the steady thump of her heart. Outside the wind howled with all the fury of a Colorado winter storm. He should get up and help Troy and Angie, but Nikki needed him, and this is where he’d stay.
He couldn’t deny his attraction to her any longer. Every instinct told him this could only end badly, but he was the moth to her flame. She was a fighter. She’d fought to survive and continued to fight each day to regain her independence. He’d had two serious relationships, both linked in some way to his job, and they’d ended in the deaths of the women he cared for. Could he take another chance with Nikki? If anything happened to her, it would kill him. They were both broken. Maybe they could help one another heal. Things would be different this time. No one else would die on his watch.
• • •
By the time Nikki woke up, the room was empty. It seemed unusually dark until she remembered the wood covering the windows. She turned over, saw the indentation in the pillow, and frowned. She’d had another of her nightmares, one she couldn’t remember beyond the fact it had left her emotionally drained. This wasn’t the first night he’d held her in his arms until she fell asleep once more. She was grateful he never mentioned that fact nor the dreams the next day. She didn’t want to dwell on those terrifying events, and he was just being a friend by helping her through them.
On His Watch Page 18