by Peggy Dulle
An hour later I still didn’t have any answers.
Maury knocked on the office door, “Dinner’s ready, Liza.”
It was a great meal.
“Tom loves to cook, but I think he’s got some competition in you,” I told him.
“He does? That’s great, maybe we can swap recipes,” Maury said as he spooned more grilled asparagus onto my plate.
After dinner I went back to the office. My phone rang while I was musing over the board.
“Hi, Jordan.”
“Sis, we’ve got a problem.”
“What’s the matter?”
“I can’t find Dad!”
“What do you mean you can’t find Dad?”
“I tried calling to find out if they would move up his court date like we talked about and I was told that he has been moved to a secure location and they won’t give out his location. I’m a damn assistant DA in New York. I am not a security risk.”
“Does that mean he won’t be coming to my wedding?” I could hear the panic in my voice, but couldn’t calm down.
“I don’t know, Liza. I’ve made a dozen more phone calls and the best I can piece together is that there have been several attempts on Dad’s life.”
My stomach started to congeal into a hard lump. I figured they were after me because they couldn’t find Dad.
Jordan continued, “One of his bodyguards was shot and they moved him to another location. And then they found a bomb at the new location. They think they’ve got a leak somewhere and since they don’t know where, they’re shutting all communication down.”
“I have a dad. I am not walking down the aisle of my wedding without him.”
“I agree, Liza, but I don’t know what I can do. I’m being blocked every time I try to get to him. Rumor has it that there was another bombing attempt, but nobody will give me any details.
I could feel my pulse racing and my breath becoming shallow. A panic attack was coming and neither Tom nor Kenny were anywhere in sight.
“I’m going to burn up the phone lines and every favor everyone in the country owes me, Liza, but I will get Dad to your wedding!”
“Thanks,” I squeaked out between breaths.
She hung up and I turned the board back around. I didn’t want Maury to see it. I knew what was coming. I sat on the floor of the office, put my head in my hands, and rode the upward wave of the panic attack. In my mind I saw my wedding without my dad, then his funeral because they got to him, his being shot or being blown up. I would be an orphan again. All the images swirled together and drove the panic attack higher, until the images faded out and all that was left was darkness.
Chapter 25
“Stretch!” I heard someone yell, but the blackness swirled through me like a wave of nothingness. I didn’t have anything to grab onto to pull myself up and out of the pit.
“Liza!” I heard Kenny’s voice, as if it were in a tunnel miles away.
“Come on, baby. Hear my voice. Come on. Crawl out.”
I didn’t know how to get out. Usually, Tom, my dad, or Kenny was there to keep me from sliding down this far into the abyss. This was ridiculous. I could hear myself thinking all of this, but the darkness was still there. It was like sitting in the bottom of an endless pit with slippery sides. Every time I tried to climb out, I slipped back down. The images of my dad swirled back into my head, and I plummeted further downward.
And then – bam! I was wide awake, soaking wet, and standing in the shower, fully dressed with Kenny.
I blinked my eyes. “What the hell am I doing all wet?”
Kenny pulled me in close and wrapped his arms around me. He was soaking wet, too.
“Kenny?”
“Hi, Stretch,” he whispered into my ear.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and held tight, anchoring myself to him.
What felt like an hour later, but was probably only minutes, I heard Maury ask, “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine, Maury,” Kenny told him.
I leaned my head away from Kenny, but still couldn’t open my eyes, but I managed to say, “It’s okay, Maury. I’m fine.”
“You didn’t look fine to me,” he bellowed. “I still think we should have called 911.”
A while later I started to shiver.
“Let’s get you out of these wet clothes, into something warm and into bed, Stretch.”
Okay, I should have protested, but I couldn’t. My body felt as if it had run a 10K marathon, maybe two of them. Kenny picked me up and carried me out of the shower.
As soon as I was dry and warm, I slid back down, but this time it was into sleep.
I was awoken by Tom’s loud voice.
“Get the hell out of that bed!”
“No!” Kenny shouted back. “She needs to anchor herself, and I was here. You weren’t!”
I heard Tom stomping across the floor. He would physically pull Kenny out from next to me and probably throw him across the room.
I felt the struggle between the two men.
“Stop,” I whispered.
The jarring stopped, and I slowly blinked my eyes open.
“Stretch, look at me,” Kenny said.
“Liza,” Tom said.
I closed my eyes again. No matter whom I responded to, the other would get their feelings hurt. One was my best friend and the other a man that I loved with all my heart.
The bed dipped and cold air brushed against my wet hair. I shivered. Then I was warm again and back asleep.
I woke up to murmuring voices. Tom was behind me, but Kenny was in the room, too.
“Has she ever suffered one this bad before?” Tom asked.
“Once,” Kenny said.
“When?”
“We were swimming at a lake, and I was fooling around in a canoe, making her laugh.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Tom added.
Tom’s comment didn’t slow Kenny; he continued without missing a beat, “The front of the stupid canoe got caught under a tree branch, and I went under. My leg got caught, and it took me quite a while to get loose and get out. When I came up, she was out cold on the edge of the water. I was scared to death because I couldn’t wake her up.”
“I’m surprised someone didn’t call 911.”
“No one was there but her and me.”
“How’d you get her to come around?”
“I walked into the water with her. The shock of the cold brought her around just enough so I knew she’d be all right. Then I wrapped her in both of our towels and made her warm and waited.”
“Just like this time?”
“Yeah, it took several hours, but eventually she came back to me.”
“You undressed her this time?”
“Yes. Last time she was wearing only a swim suit but this time she was fully dressed. I needed to get off the wet clothes and get her warm.”
“Thanks for putting on her pajamas.”
“Stretch hates to sleep without her pajamas,” Kenny said.
“And the fact that you know that is quite unsettling to me,” Tom admitted.
“I know lots about Stretch. We don’t have any secrets from each other.”
“Do you know what brought on this attack?” Tom asked.
“I don’t have a clue. I was coming in to have some of Maury’s great food, and he was on the phone with 911. I told him to hang up because I knew how to help Stretch.”
“I’m surprised he listened to you. I wouldn’t have.”
“I knew that Stretch wouldn’t want the San Ramon Police Department to know she collapsed after a panic attack. After all, she’s taught some of their kids.”
“That’s true.” I felt Tom nod.
I finally felt awake enough, so I opened up my eyes.
Kenny saw it first. He sat in a kitchen chair at the foot of my bed. He smiled and said, “Good morning, Stretch.”
“Good morning,” I stretched.
“I’ll leave you now.” He stood.
When he turned to leave, I said, “Wait.”
“What?” He turned back and looked at me.
I crooked a finger at him to indicate that he should come closer.
He came around the bed, squatted down, and said, “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.”
“Good.”
“I love you, Kenny,” I said. Tom’s body stiffened next to me.
“I love you, too, Stretch.” Kenny kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll be around today, so when you feel up to it, let’s do something fun.”
I nodded, closed my eyes and snuggled back into Tom, and as I drifted back to sleep, I heard the two men talking.
“God, she loves you,” I heard Tom say.
“She loves you more,” Kenny replied.
“No, it’s not more,” I felt Tom shake his head.
“Really?”
“No, it’s just different, and as much as I hate to admit it, she really loves you. I’ve never seen two people as close as you two. It’s like you were twins separated at birth.”
Kenny laughed.
“There is a spark in her eyes when she’s around you that I’d never seen before. With you around, it’s like she’s complete. It’s hard to explain.”
“I can explain it,” Kenny said, and I felt him settle down to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Please do,” Tom’s voice was tentative, as though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.
“You remember I said that we met on the seventh day of high school?”
“Yes.”
“I actually saw Liza on the first day of school. The bus that brought me to school was late, as it often was, and I went to the office for a slip to get into my first period class. Liza and her mom were there getting Liza registered for school.”
“She’d been home-schooled before that, right?”
“Yes, her mom was a teacher, and Liza and Jordan spent most of their time with their dad at one ecological rally or another. I think Liza has been to more protests than any person involved in the civil rights movement.”
“Why do you think they didn’t just keep home-schooling her through high school?” Tom asked.
“That’s easy.”
I shifted on Tom’s chest, so I could hear better since I would like to know the answer to that question, myself.
“Liza and I were in first period history together, and I watched her for the first week of school. She never smiled and never made eye contact with anyone, not the other kids or the teacher.”
“Liza was introverted?” Tom asked, disbelief evident in his voice.
“She was more than that. She was totally withdrawn. I don’t know the psychological mumble jumble, but my guess would be that losing her best friend, Sandy, taught her not to put herself out, not to find another friend because she could lose it so easily. My own background taught me to live life in every second because it can all be taken away or beaten out of you in a moment.”
“You both dealt with your own kind of loss in opposite ways.”
“Yes.”
“But you found each other?”
Kenny laughed. “At first, I considered her a challenge. I wanted to make her look at me, to smile and maybe even to laugh. It took me five locker changes to get the locker near hers. It was just dumb luck that it was the top locker that I couldn’t reach. When I asked her to get a book for me and called her Stretch, one corner of her mouth tilted up ever so slightly, and I was hooked. I wanted more, and so we became inseparable. I would do something stupid, and she would smile, and, eventually, she laughed at my antics. Then pretty soon she was right next to me being stupid, too, and we laughed together. It was glorious fun!”
“She does have a beautiful smile and a contagious laugh,” Tom admitted.
I finally drifted off to sleep as the men continued to talk. I never knew Kenny orchestrated our lockers being next to each other, but I am glad he did. And it’s amazing, now that I look back on my life, Kenny was right. I was afraid of losing another friend. It was just easier not to get something that you might lose.
The next time I woke up, I felt better. Tom was still spooned in behind me. I stretched again, turned and said, “Good morning, Tom,”
He smiled and said, “If you wanted to see me, you didn’t have to scare me to death to get me to come.”
I chuckled and said, “Did Maury or Mrs. Crasten call you?”*
“Maury called when Kenny made him hang up from starting to dial 911. I didn’t know what you would want, but figured Kenny knew you better than me, so I told Maury to let him help you.”
“God it was awful.”
Tom brought his arms around me and pulled me close. “Can you tell me without bringing it on again?”
“I think so. With you here, I’m grounded here.”
I felt Tom take a deep breath.
“There have been several attempts on my dad’s life, his bodyguard was shot, and he might not make it to the wedding. Jordan can’t find him,” I could hear my voice elevated with the last four words.
“Shh, it’s okay.” Tom ran his fingers through my hair, settling me, then he continued, “I’ll make some calls and see what I can do.”
I pulled back and said, “Thanks.”
We held each other for a while as I settled myself down again. This was ridiculous. I wondered if there was some medication that I could get from a doctor that would help these attacks. They must have something that I could take if no one was around and I needed to stop an attack.
“Are we going to stay in this bed all day?” Tom asked, then pulled me closer. “It’s not that I mind, but if we are, the two people in this bed have too many clothes on.”
I giggled and snuggled in tighter with him. He planted little kisses down my neck, around my collarbone, and then up my neck to my lips. Tom ran his hands down my shoulders and to the small of my back, pulling me even closer.
“Are you sure you’re up for this, Liza?”
The words I had used earlier to describe Tom came into my head: loving, gentle, and respectful. How did I get so lucky to find him?
I tilted my head up so I could look into his eyes. “I love you, Tom Owens, and I’m always up for it with you.”
Tom smiled and we brought our lips together. An hour later, I was back in the shower and Tom was there with me.
It was eleven o’clock before we came out into the kitchen. There was a note on the table from Maury.
Liza,
I want to talk to you about your panic attack. I need to know what to do next time. There are some fixings for crab cakes in the refrigerator for lunch. I’m sure Chief Owens knows what to do with them. See you next Wednesday.
Maury
“Crab cakes?” Tom’s eyes widened.
“Maury’s a great cook,”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Tom said, opening the refrigerator and pulling out an entire cookie sheet filled with crab cakes. They were already breaded and ready for frying.
“I know you’re a big eater, Liza. But why are there so many?”
“Maury feeds everyone.”
“All the agents come inside and eat?”
“Yes.” I called over to Kenny’s house.
Kenny answered the phone with, “You okay, Stretch?”
“I’m fine, Kenny. Thanks for coming to my rescue last night.”
“That’s my job, Stretch. What would you like to do today?”
“I’m not sure, but Maury left crab cakes.”
“Me and the boys will be right over.”
While I’d been talking to Kenny, Tom got out one of Maury’s frying pans and was adding some olive oil to the pan.
A few seconds later, Kenny, Bill and Brandon walked through the front door. Kenny was dressed in shorts, T-shirt, and sandals. Bill and Brandon were both in jeans and white polo shirts. They looked like twins. Was this the FBI casual attire?
When Bill and Brandon saw Tom, they hesitated.
“What?” I asked.
“What?” I repeated my earlier question.
Kenny leaned in and whispered, “It really isn’t protocol for the guys to come in and eat every meal. They’re supposed to be on duty, not sitting in your kitchen and eating all of the time.”
“Oh. Another silly FBI rule?”
“No, it’s a cop rule. We’re not supposed to fraternize with the people we are supposed to be protecting.” Tom’s voice was curt and clipped; he was in Chief of Police mode.
“They’re not fraternizing, they’re eating. Every person has to eat, right?” Kenny asked, not fazed by Tom’s tone or attitude, not one little bit.
Tom frowned but let it go.
The crab cakes were wonderful and went well with Maury’s homemade tartar sauce and coleslaw.
There wasn’t much conversation at lunch. Bill and Brandon ate quickly and left.
When Kenny finished, he extended his legs, crossed his ankles and said, “What are we doing today, Stretch?”
“Are you sure you’re up to going out?” Tom asked me.
“If she’s up to sex with you, she’s up to going out,” Kenny said.
I felt my face blush, Tom scowled and Kenny laughed and rolled his eyes at both of us, and continued, “The last time you suffered an attack that bad we went to Great America and rode roller coasters all night.”
“No.” Tom’s voice said he wouldn’t take an argument, either.
“Okay,” Kenny said slowly, then leaned forward and whispered to me. “Is he always this controlling?”
I nodded, but smiled.
“We’re not going to a place with that many people. It will be too hard to protect Liza,” Tom explained.