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Guarding Miranda

Page 23

by Amanda M. Holt


  Home.

  She was his home.

  He felt as though he were dreaming.

  If he was dreaming, he hoped never to wake.

  He brushed her lips with his. “I couldn’t have said it better myself...”

  Chapter Fifteen:

  It was late, the morning of July seventh, when the phone began to ring.

  It was barely eight thirty by the glance Brian stole at his watch.

  He answered the phone before it could fully wake Miranda. “H’lo?”

  “Brian, it’s me.” Russ Gundy.

  He likely wanted an update on how Miranda was doing, as Brian had not called him in three or four days...

  “Mr. Gundy.” Brian began, relaxing a bit in his seat. “How are things in ‘Cisco?”

  “Getting better by the minute, Brian.” There was near manic joy in the stout man’s voice. Brian pictured him on the other end of the conversation, in his study, red haired and smiling. “Is Miranda up?”

  “Naw, still in bed.” Brian glanced up the stairs at her closed bedroom door.

  He had left her side only an hour before.

  They shared a bed now, among other things.

  Having her all to himself was something he was going to enjoy immensely over the next two months...

  “I had expected as much.” Russ was clearly made impatient by her habit of sleeping in. “She’s still giving me the silent treatment, hmm?”

  “So far as I know...” Miranda was still upset with her uncle for having kept the true nature of Richard Alba secret for so long.

  She had told Brian that Russ had made a fool of her.

  She had forgiven Russ for sending Brain to watch over her but only just.

  Russ Gundy laughed on his end of the phone. “Well be a sport and get her ass out of bed to come speak with me, will you? It’s rather important.”

  “I’ve a feeling she won’t speak to you for anything less than the discovery of her shooter or a death in the family, sir.”

  “Well that just happens to be the nature of this call, Brian. The police believe they’ve found Barry – the man who shot Miranda!”

  “You’re kidding.” Brian was at once as relieved as he was devastated.

  His heart began to pound fiercely.

  If the police had indeed located Barry, then Miranda would be safe.

  Which of course was a good thing, on its own merit.

  On the other hand, that would mean that his services would no longer be required.

  There would be no reason for him to be here.

  So much for having her to himself for the summer...

  “No, I’m not. Get her up, will you? She has to be in San Francisco as soon as possible to see if she can identify the man.”

  “Just a minute.” Brian set down the corded phone and bounded up the stairs two at a time.

  His progress slowed as he reached the top and his heart began to feel the total burden of Russ’ news.

  He didn’t want to lose Miranda yet, so soon after beginning to discover what a truly beautiful person she was, inside and out.

  Once they got back to San Francisco, the hustle and bustle of the real world, what could possibly become of them?

  He would lose her, lose her to some wealthy financier playboy or some hotshot divorce attorney or gallery owner.

  The thought made his blood boil.

  He hesitated in the doorway, watching her at rest.

  She was an angel really, what with her long dark hair fanned out on her pillow beneath a face more beautiful than any he had ever known.

  Her skin, now the softest color of tan, glowed with health.

  Her mouth, slightly open, was pink lipped and peaceful.

  Miranda, oh sweet Miranda, he willed his thoughts to reach out to her, will you love me as dearly when we return to the San Francisco? Or will the flames of your love, once burning high and bright, whither down into soft embers, only to be snuffed out?

  A frown on his lips, he crossed the soft carpet of the bedroom floor and sat next to her on the king sized bed.

  He didn’t want to disturb her and yet, he had little choice in the matter.

  “Miranda,” he said, gently touching her arm. His fingers were trembling and he knew why. She stirred but did not wake. “Miranda, get up, love. There’s an important phone call for you on the telly downstairs.”

  One beautifully rounded green eye opened, peering up at him and then was joined by the other.

  “What?” She asked, her voice slightly hoarse, husky, sexy... “A phone call? Who?”

  “It’s your Uncle Russ.” He told her and became defensive at the glare she gave him at the drop of her uncle’s name. “He’s got some very important news for you, m’love. Seriously. You have to take this call.”

  Brian rose from the bed, as did she.

  “What time is it?”

  “Barely eight thirty.”

  “Then it must be important.” That meant it was six thirty in San Francisco. She yawned and walked stiff legged down the short hallway and then down the stairs, wondering what her uncle could possibly have to say to her at so early an hour...

  “Hello, uncle.”

  “Miranda! How’s everything in Waterhen?”

  “Fine,” she replied dryly, giving Brian an obtuse look for having wakened her for the call.

  Whatever the emergency was, her uncle seemed rather pleased about it.

  Pleased enough to exchange pleasantries with a niece who was still not the least bit impressed with his cloak-and-dagger methods.

  “I had hoped so,” said Russ, over the long distance line. “You haven’t begged me to send Brian away yet, so I thought that had to account for something.”

  “I’m enjoying his company. A lot.”

  “Brian said you were still giving me the silent treatment?”

  “I was.” Miranda was losing what little of her patience remained for her uncle. “Now really, Uncle Russ, what’s this call about?”

  “The police are half-certain that they’ve found the Barry character who shot you.” Russ disclosed the information with pleasure. “They need you to come in and identify him at your earliest convenience.”

  Miranda’s face hardened with upset.

  Had Barry been found?

  So far as she was now concerned, Richard had probably gotten what was coming to him.

  But the assault upon her person was not forgiven with near so much ease.

  She answered, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “There’s a noon hour flight leaving Dauphin for Winnipeg,” Russ was quick to inform her, “And a direct flight from Winnipeg to San Francisco at three. Shall I book the flights for the two of you?”

  Miranda blanched at having to rely on her uncle’s organizational prowess.

  “Certainly,” she said tersely, glancing at the clock. “But as soon as this business is finished, I’ll have you know that I intend to return to Waterhen, for the rest of the summer.”

  “So you’re enjoying it out there?” Her uncle queried.

  “Immensely,” she glanced at Brian, who seemed immersed in thoughts that were proving difficult.

  A feeling of dread settled on her like a heavy weight.

  If they had found Barry, what was to become of them?

  Would Brian…?

  “I thought you would,” came her uncle’s cheery reply. “I’ll have a car pick the two of you up at the airport, when your flight comes in tonight.” He chuckled. “I don’t suppose my thoughtfulness will warrant a thank you?”

  “Thank you,” she replied begrudginly. “I’m saying good-bye now, Uncle Russ.”

  “I’ll call your cell and let you know which counter to pick your tickets up at,” he said, in parting. “Good bye, dear.”

  Miranda put the phone back into its cradle with force.

  “I’ll forever be under his carefully placed thumb,” she groaned aloud, looking at the clock. “I have to shower and pack and-”

&n
bsp; “Miranda?” There was such vulnerability in his voice, Miranda half expected to see him in tears.

  “Brian, what is it?”

  Never before had she seen him look so devastated, so forlorn.

  Incredible sadness darkened his stormy eyes as he formulated the words in his mind that he was to speak.

  “When we get back to San Francisco, if they have found Barry, if you’re safe now, then... what becomes of us?”

  “We continue seeing each other,” she hastily replied, meeting his wary gaze with honesty in her own. “That is, if you still want me after this vacation from reality.”

  Brian’s heart swelled with emotion.

  He stepped forward, captured her in his large hands and brought her to his chest.

  “Of course I still want you, Miranda. I can’t imagine a life without you in it!”

  She kissed him with hope in her heart.

  “Good,” she told him, as finally, they parted. “Because I have no intention of losing you.”

  It was raining when they finally landed at the San Francisco International Airport, some five plus hours after departing Winnipeg.

  Their baggage collected, greetings with their driver exchanged, they were soon on their way to Fifteen Micmac Crescent, their pit stop where they would pick up her Uncle Russ before continuing on to the precinct where Barry The Jester Anderson was being held.

  The police precinct turned out to be a far more handsome building than Miranda had been expecting. What with its tall wide white columns supporting an overhang inlaid with a lion’s head medallion, it looked more like an ornate library than a cop shop.

  Distracted by her task here, without further thought on the matter, Miranda left the hired car and strolled up the steps with Brian leading the way, ever vigilant.

  Where the exterior of the building had been quiet and serenely so, the interior was quite the opposite, alive with activity.

  Here were officers coming and going, some with handcuffed company, others with manila folders or steaming cups of coffee in hand.

  Uniformed and plain clothed officers spoke animatedly into telephones and to each other.

  Miranda could almost smell justice at work here...

  Deeper into the belly of the organized insanity of the place, Miranda and Brian discovered a number of scantily clad women sitting on a low bench.

  Their flashy, trashy garb clearly identified their line of work, these were prostitutes.

  They whistled and cat called at Brian as he walked by them, annoying him and irritating the Hell out of Miranda.

  “Hookers,” said Brian, who gave a noncommittal shrug.

  They finally found the office of the man they sought.

  Lieutenant Clay Lauderdale was the heavyset man who had interviewed Miranda countless times while she had been in the hospital, the man who was overseeing her case.

  Now the portly bald headed officer had a felon to show her.

  “Miss Fowler.” Lauderdale’s dour face lit up slightly at her arrival. He seemed the type of man who was always frowning, so when he cracked a smile for her, she couldn’t help but smile back. “If you’ll follow me, we’ll get this over with quickly.”

  Brian waited outside the screening room while Miranda herself was lead into its dimly lit confines.

  It was a small room, with no table and no chairs, its only notable feature being a wide panel window looking into another room, where a short line up of six men was being assembled in orderly fashion.

  “Don’t worry,” said the Lieutenant. “They can’t see you. Tell me if you recogni-”

  “Number three.” Miranda replied, cutting him off.

  Her heart was pounding in her chest.

  Even without benefit of a ski mask to jog her memory, she could tell that it was him.

  There was the tattoo on his right arm, of a snake coiled around an anchor, just as she had seen it the night Richard was murdered and she herself shot.

  The man’s cruel brown eyes were the same.

  There were the twisted yellow teeth in his mouth as he swore at the officer minding him in the other room.

  One of the front ones was capped with gold, just as she remembered.

  His size and build were as she remembered, too.

  She was not surprised to see that he had greasy brown hair...

  “You’re sure?”

  “Certain.” Her left shoulder began to ache, in the way it often did when she was recalling the night of the shooting. “That’s him. That’s Barry.”

  “Just to be certain,” began Lauderdale, “I’ll have each of the men in that room say something. What was it Barry said to you that night? Goodnight, princess?”

  “He said say goodnight, princess.” Miranda corrected him.

  Her legs threatened to buckle under her as she looked again at her shooter.

  He seemed to be staring right at her, through her even.

  Memories of that tragic night came rushing back to her...

  Say goodnight, princess...

  Miranda shivered.

  She longed for the warmth and protection of Brian’s arms.

  She could sense him, waiting outside the room.

  There was a small comfort in that.

  “It’s him.”

  “But just in case.” The heavyset lieutenant spoke into a microphone: “Officer Blake, could you get each of the suspects to say say goodnight, princess?”

  The officer on the other side of the glass partition, monitoring the suspects, did as he was instructed.

  One by one, they said the phrase.

  But then it was Barry’s turn.

  He was not as cooperative as his companions.

  Barry’s face turned redder and redder the longer he hesitated in saying the phrase.

  He stared with hatred in Miranda’s direction, nothing but that potent hate in his eyes.

  Finally, Barry spoke and the voice was as Miranda remembered, “I know you’re there, bitch.”

  His gaze shifted, to Miranda’s left.

  Now he was glaring at the wall behind her, seeming to try to guess where she was standing.

  “It ain’t over yet, bitch!” He swore at the wall. “It ain’t over yet.”

  She could bear no more.

  “I told you, it’s him,” she told Lauderdale firmly. “Without a doubt in my mind. Number three is Barry. The man who shot me.”

  “I’d figured as much, Miss Fowler. You’ve just identified Barry The Jester Anderson.” Lauderdale seemed pleased. “Good job.”

  “Can I go?” She asked.

  She dared not look back at Barry.

  “Certainly.”

  She left the room in haste, looking for Brian as soon as she crossed the threshold.

  He was there, waiting for her with open arms.

  It seemed to surprise him to find angry tears in her eyes.

  “Shh, love, it’s over now.”

  “It was him.” Despite the shock of her uncle’s gasp, she rushed into Brian’s arms, buried her face in his chest and accepted the kisses he planted on her temple.

  She shuddered again, a dull ache forming where the bullet had torn through her flesh.

  “It was Barry.” She was crying freely now.

  Tears of release.

  Tears for her near-death experience.

  Tears of relief…

  “Shh, love, shh.” Brian rubbed her back as he held her close, wishing there was more he could do. “They’re going to put him away. For a long, long time.”

  “Brian?”

  “Yes my love?”

  “Can we just leave this place, like now?”

  “But…” Russ was having difficulty processing what was happening between his niece and the protector that he himself had appointed to her. “But…”

  “I’ll explain later Russ,” Brian told the awestruck man. “Let’s go flag us a taxi, love.”

  * * *

  Brian’s home was far smaller than that of the Gundys but far more cozy
than Miranda was accustomed to, with all the modern conveniences a bachelor like him could want.

  A row house on Portola Drive, it consisted of two narrow stories and a basement.

  Bedroom and bathroom upstairs.

  Living room, tidy gourmet kitchen and dining room on the main floor.

  A basement full of work out equipment and laundry appliances, with a punching bag in one corner.

  Miranda ended up spending the night, crying into his shoulder, laughing at his jokes. They made love on his waterbed long into the night and she fell asleep in his arms, content to be there and nowhere else.

  She woke up with him at eight the next morning and she drove back to Micmac Crescent after sharing a breakfast hour with Brian at Denny’s.

  It being a Wednesday morning, her Uncle Russ wasn’t home but Lynn and her Aunt Nancee were.

  “Where did you spend the night?” Nancee asked her over tea. “We were worried about you.”

  “I was... at Brian’s,” she said, glancing at Lynn for her reaction.

  The red head feigned indifference.

  “Lucky you,” Lynn replied, only the slightest tell of jealousy in her voice.

  After tea and fielding the Gundy women’s questions, Miranda went up to her room and unpacked the souvenirs from her overnight bag.

  She had left her large suitcase and its contents, in Waterhen.

  She had every intention of retrieving them at her leisure.

  A leisure that might last well into September…

  She brought the birch bark biting artwork downstairs and presented them to her aunt and cousin.

  “Why, thank you, Miranda, how thoughtful.” Nancee reflected on the story that went with the piece of art. “To think, this beautiful art might be lost forever!”

  “Real birch bark bitings!” Lynn was thrilled. “I’ve heard about them and I’ve always wanted to see one up close but never – thanks, cuz.” Lynn hugged her. “Thanks a lot.”

  “I didn’t get anything for Uncle Russ,” Miranda confessed, bashful. “At least, not yet. Do you know if he still likes soapstone carvings? I saw a few nice ones that would suit either his study or the cabin itself.”

  “You were rather cross with him, weren’t you?” Asked her petite blond Aunt.

  “I still am.” Miranda gave her a wry grin. “With good reason.”

 

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