Jane’s reaction was a shrug and a sheepish look.
“Give me your cell number. I don’t want to keep calling Joe if I want to talk to you.”
“I don’t have a phone,” Jane replied.
“What do you mean you don’t have a phone? Everybody has a phone. Why don’t you have a phone? That’s crazy! What are you? Twenty-something and you don’t have a phone?”
“I just don’t. I don’t know…” Jane responded feebly as Joe waved his hand at her, flicking his wrist impatiently indicating he wanted the phone back.
“I ahh…I have to go. I think we have…like, work to do or…something,” Jane replied as she stared at Joe.
“Did he kiss you yet? What kind of work are you doing? Tell me about the reunion. Karen says you ran into Assface -” She could hear her ramble even though the phone was now removed from her hand as Joe placed it next his ear.
“Betty? We need to go. I’ll call you later,” he stated sternly but the expression on his face was clearly amused.
“Yes. Later. No, she can’t visit you today. We have stuff to do. No, I’m not going to answer that and get your mind out of the gutter. What? No Senior Center today. Can’t you find anywhere else to hang out? Stay away from those kids. They’re bad news. What did you just say to me? I’m not trippin’. I don’t even know what that is. What the hell? Please stop talking -” he huffed out. “Goodbye Betty. Yes, Betty. Ok…goodbye.” He pressed a button before laying the phone down on the table and fixing his gaze on Jane.
“She’s a nut. What did she want you to do?”
“Nothing?” she answered innocently.
“Right. You two should never be allowed to hang out. Like, ever. Sit down,” he ordered before grabbing his fork and digging into the mass of scrambled egg whites on his plate.
She complied immediately but didn’t grab a plate of food, instead she watched him closely.
“Where did you go last night?” she blurted.
He gave a shrug and placed the fork full of food in his mouth.
“Did you go back to your Mom’s house?”
“I went there this morning,” he stated after swallowing.
“Did you tell her?”
He nodded before digging into the mass once again.
“So…?” She waited impatiently for him to chew.
“She cried, but…she seemed relieved. Then she asked me why he couldn’t be around her and I had to make up some BS story about not wanting her involved. I left out the part where he was being followed. I hated to open that all up again, but she had to know, right?”
“Did you show her the note?”
“Of course not. She wanted to see it but I told her I didn’t have it with me, besides as soon as I told her, she believed me. The note you saw in your vision was the note he wrote her.”
“Did you tell her about the vision?”
“No! What if she told someone? It’s bad enough that Betty knows about your…talent.”
“You don’t think Betty will tell her at some point?”
“I told Betty to keep her mouth shut about you. I trust her, besides she thinks this ability of yours is some kind of parlor trick. She wants to take you to her Dry Cleaner – she thinks he’s overcharging her.”
“For real?”
“She’s your biggest fan. Now eat something before it gets cold.” He flicked his fork in the direction of the covered plate left on the tray.
“You said you went to Karen’s house this morning. Where’d you go last night?”
“You keeping tabs on me? Eat…” he commanded with a stern face that didn’t match his amused tone.
“Seriously -” she started before he interrupted her.
“You’ll find out soon enough. Now eat some food, we need to go shopping.”
“For what?” she asked.
“Eat.”
“Fine,” she ground out before lifting the metal cover, expecting to find more of what she’d become accustomed to these last few weeks.
A gasp of pure pleasure erupted from her throat.
Pancakes. Three of them. With…was that…sausage links?
Holy crap on a whole grain bagel…that was the sweetest thing.
“That’s for last night. Thank you for your help, by the way,” he tossed out nonchalantly.
She couldn’t answer. Her mouth was already full.
*****
Last night she hadn’t taken the time to fully appreciate the beauty of the hotel. The lobby was all black marble with a massive waterfall cascading down a wall into an infinity pool lined in the same black stone with tiny silver flecks that captured the light from above and bounced it like millions of twinkling stars.
Men and women in expensive suits wandered around the cavernous lobby, some talking in groups others walking from point A to point B. Her eyes scanned the room, echoes bouncing from the bustle of activity until something caused her to double back and capture her focus. A banner. A large Chrysler symbol was emblazoned on it as well as some text – a Conference of some sort.
“Are you coming?”
“Yeah.” She quickly walked toward him avoiding faces, keeping her gaze directed at the floor lest she make eye contact and then…who knew…
The revolving glass doors were in a constant whoosh of movement and her feet hurriedly carried her toward them before her stomach dropped.
“Jane?” A man’s voice. Somewhat familiar. No. Very familiar…
Of all the dumb luck…
She kept walking after the slightest of missteps.
“Jane? Wait! Jane?” Heels were clicking. A hand was clamping on her arm. Oh God…please don’t let it be…
Him.
“I… thought that was you. Jane?”
She couldn’t speak. For some stupid reason her mouth just didn’t want to move. Her eyes shot to the hand holding her arm. It was removed immediately. A pair of shoes, no, boots came into her line of vision. Joe was standing next to her. This was awkward.
“How…it’s been so long…you look…well, I mean…really well. How are you?
She opened her mouth but nothing came out. She still couldn’t look up.
“Jane?” Joe’s voice this time. He sounded somewhat concerned.
“Hi. I’m Jim, and you are?”
“Joe,” she heard him respond. “Jane? Are you Ok?” she could hear through the sudden buzzing of her pulse through her head.
Again she tried to speak but it came out as a croak.
“Jane? You’re starting to worry me. Say something,” Joe’s voice urged.
She took a calming breath and looked up quickly; catching the golden hued eyes that mirrored her own.
“Fucker.”
She turned on her heel and stomped toward the revolving doors, walking in almost immediately before stepping onto the sidewalk beyond. She turned and continued her hurried gait toward…nowhere really. Her mind was racing and her feet were doing their best to catch up. She kept her pace brisk as bodies shuffled to avoid her. Somewhere in the distance she could hear her name being called but her feet kept up their ridiculously fast walk. Of all the dumb…
“Jane? Babe…stop.” A hand was clasped around her upper arm and her body was swinging before her other arm was grasped to steady her.
“Look at me.”
Her breath whooshed out but she kept her eyes affixed to his boots. They were nice boots. Black - probably expensive. They were sharp and stylish but not sissy boots. Kind of rugged, with really well-done stitching…
“Jane? Eyes up. Look at me.”
“I don’t want to…”
“Hey! She speaks! Other than to call that dude a ‘fucker’, that is. Who was that?”
“Nobody” she mumbled, counting the stitches where the sole met the upper.
“Jim…?”
“Can we just go? Don’t we have shopping to do for some mysterious…whatever? Can you just drop it?” She finally lifted her eyes to his. Joe’s face was definitely throwing off some co
ncerned vibes and that was nice and all, but really this wasn’t something she felt like discussing.
“Just tell me. Who is Jim? Jim -”
“Hamilton. Jim Hamilton. That was my dad. I don’t wanna talk about it. Don’t mention him again. Let’s go.” She shook off his grasp and turned, walking in the opposite direction.
“Jane?”
“Don’t wanna talk -”
“That’s fine. But…you’re going in the wrong direction, hon!” he yelled after her.
She quickly swung around and walked past him, avoiding eye contact.
“Let’s go.” She gave her fingers a snap as she marched past him.
*****
“That’s not a mall.” She eyed up the building in front of her as he clicked and unlatched the seat belt for her.
“I made a call. He can fit you in for a few minutes. Out you go,” he ordered as he opened the door on the driver’s side.
“Who? Who is he and what the hell are we doing here? I’m not stepping foot out of this car until you tell me.” Her arms were crossed in front of her chest.
“You’ll find out,” he stated before stepping out and closing the door. She watched him as he walked around the front of the car and opened the passenger side door.
“Out.”
“No. Not until you tell me.”
“Jane? Step out of the car now or I will drag you out and I will carry you in and you can kick and scream if you like and no one will think that’s weird. Not here. Trust me on this.” His arm was propped up on the top side of the open door as he glared at her.
“Whatever,” she finally breathed out. A name plate was fastened to the light brick façade of the building. Lawyers, doctors, financial consultants…all manner of names and businesses and none of it made sense.
“I thought we were shopping,” she stated as she stepped out into the cool, blustery air.
“Later. Just do this one thing for me? Please?”
“What?”
“You’ll see. And be good. And…keep an open mind, Ok?” he asked as his hand reached for and grasped hers gently. She allowed herself to be pulled toward the double doors of the building as her eyes scanned down the list of 10 names on the placard.
He opened the door and held it for her as she took a tentative step in, her gaze sweeping the small lobby, noting two hallways jutting out from either side and a wide staircase in the middle of the room.
“This way,” he stated as she felt herself pulled toward the hallway to the right.
Glass walls were situated on either side offering views of waiting rooms before he stopped at one and opened the door for her.
“Dr. Michael Stopcynski, MD” was engraved in the glass next to the door.
“You’re taking me to a doctor? I feel fine. Why are you taking me to a doctor?” she asked in a low voice as he led her inside.
A very young, very pretty brunette looked up from her desk and her wide blue eyes widened even further as soon as she caught sight of Joe – or at least it seemed that way to Jane.
“Hi, Joe,” she seemed to gasp. Her eyes were fixed on him; raw appreciation was just oozing from this girl. Jane didn’t even bother looking at Joe’s face for his reaction. Why? Because knowing Joe the Oblivious, he probably had no clue…
“Here. You sit tight for a second. I need to talk to Mike real quick Ok? Here,” he dropped a magazine in her lap after leading her to a chair.
“Can I go in?” he asked the woman but didn’t wait for an answer before knocking on the door beyond her desk and walking in, closing it behind him and leaving the two women alone in the small waiting room. Jane’s eyes immediately drifted down to the Sports Illustrated in her lap. She fingered the front page, debating on whether or not to get up and grab a different magazine or better yet, get up and hightail it out of the waiting room.
An uncomfortable silence seemed to permeate the small area and she had the distinct feeling she was being watched. Her eyes slowly lifted and yes, yes she was being stared at or rather stared down. The woman’s frown and narrowed eyes pretty much told the whole story, but there was something more…something that was causing Jane’s vision to tunnel as their eyes refused to part from each other. Oh damn…
*****
“And where is this Jane?”
“Sitting outside. I just wanted to give you a head’s up on her. I mean, you’ll probably figure it out but I don’t want you to be shocked.”
“Are you kidding? You know who my patients are. Nothing shocks me anymore,” the middle aged man stated with a slight smile. That was true. Dr. Mike was Joe’s Psychiatrist and probably about half of the Detroit Police Force. Even Marcus had come to him before…
“So tell me about Jane.”
“She’s beautiful,” Joe blurted out.
This caused the older man to straighten in his seat. “Yeah? Show her in -”
“I mean, that’s not what I mean, I don’t even know why I said that. She’s crazy -”
“Most women are. I’ve been married twice, remember?”
“No! I mean, she…has a problem controlling her mouth and she doesn’t think she should live anymore because…she thinks she just makes people miserable…because of her mouth. Right? But she’s not so bad. She’s just kind of…screwed up, and maybe you can talk to her and set her straight? I don’t know. She hasn’t seen her Dad for six years and she ran into him this morning. Do you know what she did?”
“What?”
“She doesn’t say shit to him for a few really awkward minutes and then finally, she calls him a ‘Fucker’ and walks away.”
“Maybe they have a bad history with each other or something.”
“No. You should’ve seen him. He cared. He did, I saw it in his face. She’s convinced her folks didn’t want her and I only have half of the story but it really bugs me. I mean, I could never imagine being that way with my folks. I don’t get it.”
“Maybe it’s none of your business?”
“Jane is my business. She’s not worthless. She’s…wonderful.” Did I just say that? “I mean, she’s not as bad as she seems to think she is. She needs help. You could help her.”
“I can try. I have a ten o’clock, so I have twenty minutes, but we’ll see. Maybe if she’s open to this, we can schedule something later on. Bring her in.” He shrugged and indicated the door with a flick of his wrist.
Joe stood still.
“She has this thing, ahh…try to make eye contact with her -”
“What?” The doctor’s face registered a slight amount of concern.
“Yeah, it’s hard to explain -”
“So…is she shy or something?”
“No. She’s definitely not…shy. She’s just…different.”
“Joe? That tells me absolutely nothing. Bring her in, please? Time’s wasting here…” He indicated the door with a nod of his head.
“Ok. Make eye contact -”
“Joe?”
“Yeah, yeah…Ok.”
Deep breath. Here goes…
He opened the door in time to see the brunette receptionist jog toward the front door, open it and run out, her face scrunched up and…was she crying? He took a step out of the office and watched her through the glass wall as she hurried down the hall.
Jane stood up, her eyes wide as she stared at Joe.
“What did you do?” he whispered fiercely.
“Nothing.” She gave him a slight shoulder shrug and an innocent look as his eyes flitted from the glass wall back to her.
“Come here,” he stated briskly and she complied without hesitation.
He grasped her upper arm and brought her close, his grip maybe just a tad too tight as he bent his head to whisper in her ear.
“Whatever you see, just keep it inside, hold your hand over your mouth…whatever, just don’t say it, Ok?”
“Joe? Bring her in…” they could hear from inside the office.
“Why?” she whispered back.
“Just…I’ll
tell you later. Do you think you -”
“Joe? I don’t have all day,” the Doctor’s voice interrupted him.
His eyes looked up toward the open door and back down to Jane. He seemed somewhat flustered.
“Be good,” he commanded with an intense stare.
“What does that mean?” she whispered as her eyes darted to the opened door.
“Joe?” the Doctor’s voice seemed impatient now.
“Come on,” he breathed out as he led her toward the door and into the inner office.
“Dr. Mike? This is Jane. Jane? Dr. Mike.” He led her to a chair in front of a rather nice looking middle aged man.
He stood up from behind a rather impressive looking desk and gazed at the woman in front of him. He offered his hand automatically; his face was a mixture of awe and something else…what was that? She wondered as she shook the offered hand. He didn’t let go. Not until Joe cleared his throat somewhere behind her.
“Wow. I mean…hey there. Have a seat, Jane.” The Doctor indicated the seat behind her with his hand. “Joe? You can wait for her in the lobby, if you don’t mind,” he stated without taking his eyes from her face.
She wasn’t just beautiful. She was stunning. Gorgeous…compelling, sexy as all get out. She had the best lips; like they were sculpted from the finest porcelain. Her face, her eyes…. Damn, but they were so unusual and…
“I’d rather stay, if you don’t mind,” Mike could hear somewhere beyond the woman he couldn’t take his eyes from. She, on the other hand, was looking anywhere but at him. Curious…
“I do mind. Run along. I need to talk to Jane alone,” he stated in a low voice.
“I need to stay. I insist on it. She needs my support,” Joe stated firmly.
A slight squeeze could be felt on her shoulder; more of a comfort squeeze, not a warning squeeze. Her eyes darted from the desk before her to the Diplomas on the wall behind him. Dr. Mike wasn’t a Doctor, at least not the type she was thinking…he was a Psychiatrist. Joe took her to a Psychiatrist. Her eyes immediately narrowed as she jerked her shoulder from his grasp.
“Joe? Is there some reason why you feel compelled to stay?” the Doctor’s gaze shifted from Jane to Joe; suspicion seemed to scrunch the lines in his forehead.
“No, just that she would probably be more comfortable if I were in the room -”
This Guy Kills Me Page 28