Long After Midnight

by Iris Johansen

  Kate stiffened, her gaze flying to Michael.

  He almost imperceptibly shook his head. No, he’d accepted her decree to go slow. It was probably one of Benny’s impulses to ask Joshua.

  “Sure.” Joshua glanced at Kate. “You coming too?”

  Kate shook her head. “I have work to do. I’d better go on home. You run along.”

  Joshua frowned uncertainly. “You sure it’s okay?”

  She squeezed his shoulder. “It’s okay.” She glanced at Michael. “Have him home by nine. It’s a school night.”

  “Right.” He looked over Joshua’s head at Kate. “Thanks. Come on, slugger.” He started across the grass toward the open field designated as the parking lot.

  Benny smiled and waved at Kate before falling into step with Joshua.

  Kate watched them go. Get used to it. Make it easy for Joshua. This is what divorce is all about. Someone usually gets left alone.

  Joshua was looking back over his shoulder.

  She smiled with an effort and waved at him.

  He didn’t wave back. He stopped in his tracks.

  He said something to Benny and came running back to her.

  “Did you forget something?”

  “I’m not going.” He jammed his hands in his baseball jacket. “I’m going home with you.”

  “Why?”

  He scowled. “I’m just going home with you. I’m tired of pizza.”

  He was never tired of pizza. “Benny and your dad will be disappointed.”

  “Maybe we’ll all go next time. Come on, let’s go home.”

  Benny and Michael were looking back at her. Michael shrugged philosophically, took Benny’s elbow, and turned away.

  Evidently she hadn’t handled this right. Joshua must have sensed her loneliness, and it had triggered that fiercely protective streak. She started toward the parking lot. “You’ll be bored. Why don’t you try to catch up? Benny was looking forward to seeing you tonight. You know you like her.”

  Joshua fell into step with her. “Sure I like her. She’s funny.” He looked straight ahead as they left the ballpark. “Dad likes her too, doesn’t he?”

  “Very much,” Kate said. “And that’s good. Your dad’s been lonely.”

  “You don’t mind her—” He stopped.

  “I’d be pretty selfish if I minded your dad being happy.” She stopped at the Honda and got out her keys. “And so would you. So why don’t you go to Chuck E. Cheese’s and have a great time.” She glanced over at Michael, who had settled Benny in the passenger seat of the Chevrolet on the far side of the parking lot. He slammed the door and ran around to the driver’s seat. “You still have time.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll stay with you.”

  God, she was tired of being noble. Why couldn’t Michael fight his own battles? One more try. “It’s really okay with me if—”

  She was knocked against the Honda with bone-cracking force.

  “Mom!”

  “I’m okay.” She reached out blindly to steady herself against the hood, then turned around toward Joshua, who was picking himself up off the ground. “Are you hurt? I don’t know what happ—”

  The door of Michael’s car was lying on the grass only a few feet from where they stood. The car itself was a mass of flames.

  “Michael?” she whispered.

  Joshua was looking at the flaming wreckage in bewilderment. “But where’s Dad . . .”

  And then Joshua screamed.

  “How you doing?”

  Kate looked up to see Alan Eblund climbing the bleacher steps. She drew Joshua closer and wrapped the blanket tighter around both of them. Cold. She couldn’t seem to get warm, but the blanket helped. Someone had given the blanket to them, she remembered dully. That’s right, Rory’s mother. She had gotten it out of her trunk. Kind. Everyone had been kind.

  Alan sat down beside her and said heavily, “You know how I feel, Kate.”

  Yes, Alan would feel as if he’d lost a brother. “Joshua needs to go home. The police wouldn’t let us leave.”

  “I know.”

  “He needs to go home.”

  “I brought Betty, she’s waiting in the car. We’ll take him home with us.”

  Her arm tightened around Joshua. “No.”

  “Listen, Kate, you’re almost in shock and so is Joshua. You can’t take care of him.” He paused. “And he shouldn’t be there when you tell Phyliss.”

  Phyliss. Oh God, she had to go home and tell Phyliss her son was dead.

  Michael was dead. Fresh pain washed over her, raw and piercing through the shock.

  Alan turned to Joshua. “I know you want to be with your mom, but she needs to be alone with your grandmother for a while. Betty’s waiting outside the gate. Will you let her take you to my house?”

  “No.” Joshua’s arms tightened around her. “I’ve got to stay with Mom.”

  Alan looked at Kate.

  She wanted to keep on holding Joshua, to try to make everything all right. But how did you go about making the sight of your father being blown to pieces go away? Joshua would need her more when the numbness wore off. She nodded. “I’ll be okay, Joshua. Please go. I’ll pick you up in a few hours.”

  “But what if—” He reluctantly released her, stood up, and started down the steps. He stopped and whirled on Alan. He said fiercely, “You take care of her.”

  “You bet,” Alan said gravely.

  They both watched him as he descended the stairs.

  “He saw it?” Alan asked.

  She nodded. “We were both in the parking lot.”

  “He’s taking it well.”

  “The hell he is. He couldn’t stop shaking for an hour.” She shivered. “And neither could I. What happened, Alan?”

  “We think it was a car bomb wired to the ignition.” He put his arm around her. “He started the car and . . . boom.”

  “A car bomb,” she repeated. “Who?”

  “Michael was a narcotics detective. You know the risks. We were closing in on a big operation. The Bochak combine had made threats to both of us.” He shrugged wearily. “Or maybe it was someone he fingered in the past. I’ll look into both possibilities. I hope we’ll know more when the lab boys get through going over the car.”

  She felt sick as she remembered that blazing funeral pyre. “I don’t see how there could be anything left to go over.”

  “You’d be surprised. Michael came to these games every Tuesday?”

  She nodded. “And Saturday.”

  “So, he had a routine going? Someone watching him would know he was going to be here?”

  “I guess so.” She shook her head dazedly. “It seems impossible. At a Little League game? It shouldn’t have happened here. How did they plant the bomb? There were people coming and going all the time.”

  “Except during the last innings of the game. No proud parent is going to walk out on his kid. The parking lot would have had to be deserted for only a short time. It doesn’t take long for an expert to rig a bomb.”

  “But there were other cars around . . . kids in that parking lot. For God’s sake, Joshua almost went with them in the car.” She had to stop to steady her voice as that horror overwhelmed her. “It’s a wonder someone else wasn’t hurt. Whoever did this must be some kind of monster.”

  “No doubt about it.” He looked away from her and the next words came awkwardly. “According to the witnesses, there was a woman in the car.”

  “Benny. Benita Chavez. She worked at GeneChem.”

  “Did she have family here?”

  That’s right, Benny’s family had to be notified. Poor Benny. Kate felt a flare of guilt that she wasn’t as devastated by Benny’s death as she was by Michael’s. Benny had been young and full of life. She had a right to be mourned.

  “Miss Chavez’s family,” Alan prompted.

  She tried to remember. “No, she had an apartment of her own here, but she mentioned that her mother lived in Tucson. I don’t know the address.�
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  “We’ll find out from GeneChem.” He stood up. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”

  Home to face Phyliss. She got to her feet, her gaze going to the parking lot that was ablaze with blinking lights from the police cars and coroner’s van. She didn’t want to see that coroner’s van at closer range and she didn’t want to see the hideous wreckage of Michael’s car again. “Where are you parked?”

  Alan instantly understood. “You won’t have to go back out there. After we checked out your car, I hot-wired your Honda and pulled it around to the other side of the ballpark. I’ll have a squad car follow us.”

  “Thanks.” She squeezed his arm. “Thanks for everything, Alan.”

  “No problem.” He hesitated. “The reporters got here the same time I did. I’d advise you not to take any calls. They might upset you.”

  “More than I am already? I doubt it. But I’ve no desire to talk to the press.”

  “There may be innuendos. . . .” He sounded uneasy. “You know, divorced wife . . . new girlfriend.”

  She stared at him, shocked. “You said Michael’s death was drug related—”

  “Sure,” he interrupted. “But you know how reporters are always digging, looking for an angle. I’ll handle them for you. Just don’t answer the phone.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ll turn off the ringer,” she said grimly. “That’s all Joshua would need.”

  “We’ll watch over Joshua.” His hand on her elbow was firm but gentle as he helped her down the bleacher steps. “You just take care of yourself and Phyliss.”

  Kate stared at the front door.

  She didn’t want to go in. If she went in the house, she’d have to see Phyliss and tell her—

  Alan opened the passenger door. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  She nodded. She had to get out. She had to go in the house. Someone had to tell Phyliss. Someone who loved her and had loved Michael.

  Michael . . .

  Oh God, don’t fall apart now. “Thanks, Alan.” She got out of the car and walked toward the house.

  Michael laughing, Michael passionate, Michael angry.

  Michael proud and tender at the hospital when Joshua was born.

  Michael alive.

  She could feel the tears running down her face as she opened the front door.

  Phyliss was watching TV. “Good game?” she asked without turning around.

  “Phyliss.”

  Phyliss’s head jerked around. “Kate?” She saw Kate’s face and jumped to her feet. “What’s wrong? Joshua?”

  “No.” Hold on tight. Don’t break down. She had to get the words out. She moved across the room and took the other woman in her arms. “Not Joshua, Phyliss.”

  “I keep remembering him as a little boy,” Phyliss whispered. “His first day at school. Christmas . . .” Tears flowed down her cheeks. “Isn’t that silly? I can’t think of him as a grown man. All I can think of is that little boy.” She closed her eyes, her face twisted with pain. “They killed my little boy.”

  “Phyliss . . .” There wasn’t anything Kate could say to ease her agony. She could only hold her and weep with her and try to make her feel that she wasn’t alone.

  It was hours later when Kate was able to leave Phyliss and go to Alan’s to pick up Joshua. He was tearless and silent on the way home. Shock? If it was, she would have to deal with it tomorrow. They all needed to go to bed and try to rest.

  She didn’t get Joshua and Phyliss settled until nearly midnight. Finally she was able to close the door of her own room behind her. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. The hurt was still raw and burning though the tears had been exhausted.

  Or maybe not.

  She could feel her eyes sting as the desolation washed over her again.

  Michael . . .

  “We have to go back to the house now.” Kate gently nudged Phyliss away from the open grave. “Some of Michael’s friends are dropping in to see you and pay their respects.”

  “Yes.” Phyliss still didn’t move. “It’s not fair. He was such a good man, Kate.”

  Kate blinked back a hot rush of tears. “Yes, he was.”

  “We didn’t always agree, but even when he was a kid he tried to do what he thought was right. That’s why he became a policeman.”

  “I know.”

  “And they killed him for it.”

  “Phyliss.”

  “I’ll shut up. I’m making this hard for you.”

  “Talk all you please. Just come away from here now.”

  Phyliss looked around her and said dully, “Yes, everybody’s gone, aren’t they? Where’s Joshua?”

  “Alan Eblund and his wife took him back to the house.”

  “I always liked Alan.”

  “We should go too. I’ll bring you back tomorrow.”

  “In a minute.” She looked back at the grave. “You go back to the car. I want a little time alone to say good-bye to my son.”

  Kate didn’t want to leave her alone. Phyliss had held up wonderfully during the three days since Michael’s death, but Kate could tell she was very delicately balanced. “I’ll wait.”

  Phyliss’s gaze never left the grave. “I don’t mean to be unkind, Kate. You’ve been wonderful to me, but I don’t want you here right now.”

  Kate flinched and then nodded jerkily. “I’ll wait at the car.” She strode away from the grave and down the path toward the cemetery gates, eyes stinging. Phyliss hadn’t meant to hurt her, but the hurt was there. Hurt and guilt. Phyliss was right. She didn’t belong. Michael was her first love, the father of her child, and she had let their marriage splinter. She should have tried harder. She should have listened instead of gotten angry when he—

  A hand encircled her wrist and she was jerked behind a huge oak tree bordering the path.

  Her heart leaped with fear as a hard callused palm covered her mouth.

  “Don’t scream.” The voice was hoarse, masculine. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  She didn’t scream. Instead she sank her teeth into the hand pressed to her lips. At the same time she kneed the bastard in the groin.

  He grunted with pain. “Christ.” He sank against her, but his hold didn’t loosen. “Listen to me.”

  “Let me go.”

  “Just listen to me.” He pushed her back against the tree, glaring down at her. “And, by God, if you knee me again, I’ll strangle—” He drew a deep breath. “I didn’t mean that. I’m not going to rob you or rape you. I just had to—”

  “My God,” she whispered, staring up at him incredulously. “But you’re dead.”

  “I would have argued that with you a minute ago. Until you almost killed me with that knee,” Noah Smith said.

  There was no doubt about it, she realized dazedly. He was dressed in jeans and a gray sweatshirt, not a business suit or yachting outfit. His left cheek was bruised, there was a cut at his hairline, and his hands were bandaged. But the man standing before her was definitely Noah Smith. “You jumped out at me. I thought you were going to—” None of that was important. “What are you doing here?”

  “I have to talk to you.” He scowled. “And I couldn’t get near you, dammit. Do you think I wanted to lurk in a graveyard like some kind of ghoul? You weren’t answering the phone and your house was crawling with cops and well-wishers.”

  She was jolted out of the shock that held her immobile. “I have to get back to the house. I don’t know why you’re—”

  “I won’t take long.” He spoke quickly. “I want you to meet me at the King Brothers Motel on Highway 41 tonight. Room 24. Come as soon as you can get away. I’ll be there all evening. Bring your son and pack enough for an extended stay.”

  “Why should I do that?”

  “To save your life.” He paused. “And maybe your son’s life too.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “You’re crazy.”

  “Park your car around the corner from your house and be careful when you leave. If you see anything st
range, go back in the house and call me.”

  “Take Joshua? My son is mourning his father’s death. I’m not dragging him out of the house on a wild-goose chase.”

  “Okay, leave him. We’ll try to go back for him. It might be safer for him anyway. Just come yourself.”

  She shook her head. “Why doesn’t anyone know you’re alive?”

  “I’ll explain that to you tonight.”

  “Explain it now.”

  “Because I want to stay alive,” he answered simply. “And I want you to stay alive.”

  “But I have nothing to do with you and your problems.”

  “You have everything to do with me.” He paused. “And our problems are showing a remarkable similarity. My plant was blown up. Your ex-husband’s car was blown up a day later. According to the papers, the police said if you’d followed your usual custom, you and your son should have been in that car.”

  “Michael was murdered by drug dealers.”

  “Was he? I think he was an innocent bystander. You were the target.”

  “Bull.”

  “All right. I know it sounds crazy unless you know—Let me think.”

  “I can’t waste any more time. My mother-in-law will be—”

  “Okay, I’ve got it. According to the newspapers, the timer that set off the bombs at my plant was Czechoslovakian built. Ask the police about the timer that destroyed your ex-husband’s car.” He glanced beyond her. “Someone’s coming. I’ve got to go. Don’t tell anyone you’ve seen me.” He released her wrists and stepped back, his gaze holding hers. “And come tonight. I’m not lying. I’m trying to keep you alive. You’ve got to live.”

  He turned and walked away quickly.

  She stared after him. The man must be totally insane.

  “Who was that?” Phyliss was standing beside her, her gaze on Noah Smith’s retreating back.

  “Just someone from the lab expressing his condolences.” The lie tumbled out before she had time to think. Why was she protecting him? His story was a wild hodgepodge of crazy—

  “He looks familiar.” Phyliss was frowning. “Have I met him?”

  She was too upset and confused to deal with Smith or his story. She had no intention of going to him tonight, and there was something distinctly fishy about his not wanting anyone to know he had survived the fire. Still, the raw urgency of his appeal had shaken her.