Fury was clear in her voice. Holly had been forced to tell her what had happened with Mike and, like any devoted grandmother, Eileen wanted nothing more than to rid the world of him.
“I know there’s no comparison between them, Mom. I do. But it doesn’t change the fact that Sam isn’t old enough to be their father.”
“Maybe not in years. But he is in maturity. Holly, I think you need to take a little more time to think this through. If you don’t, I’m afraid you’re going to look back someday and realize that you made the biggest mistake of your life.”
Holly was pretty sure her mother meant one of the many biggest mistakes she’d made.
~~~~~
“Room service,” Ed called out, rapping sharply on the door.
“What?” Mike asked, opening the door a crack. “This joint doesn’t have room service.”
“It does tonight.”
In a quick move, Ed rammed his shoulder against the door, throwing them both into the room. Sam stepped in behind him, closing the door quickly. By that time Ed had Mike by the throat.
“Who are you?” Mike demanded, gasping for a breath. Ed loosened his hold marginally.
“That isn’t important. What matters is that we know who you are, and that you are trying to extort money that doesn’t belong to you from a friend of ours.”
“I knew that little witch couldn’t keep her mouth shut!” Ed slammed him against the wall.
“Watch your mouth. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to, scumbag. You weren’t very discreet when you made your request. Holly has more friends than you know. And we all look out for her.”
“I just bet you do,” Mike sneered. “She got a little business going on the side, does she?”
Sam, filled with rage, brought his fist back, but Ed caught it before it could connect with Mike’s face.
“Hold on there, partner. Let’s see if we can reason with Mr. McGinty first, okay? Time enough for that later.” Ed brought his nose close enough that it was almost touching Mike’s. “Can you be reasoned with?” Mike shrugged.
“Depends on what you want.”
“We want you to give Holly a call. Tell her you’ve had a change of heart, and you’re sorry. Tell her you’re leaving town, never to return.”
“Drop dead.”
“Oh, someone might be dropping dead, but it won’t be us.” He reached into his coat and withdrew his pistol. Mike blanched.
“You’re not going to use that,” he said brazenly, though a bead of sweat appeared on his upper lip, giving lie to his brave front. Ed looked back at Sam, nodding his head.
“You were right. He is going to be difficult.” He managed, in one swift move, to turn Mike so that his arm was twisted up behind his back, saying to Sam, “Go open the trunk.”
“Wait,” Mike stammered, as Sam made to move toward the door. “Just wait a minute, okay?”
“Wait for what?”
“You don’t want to do this,” Mike said, his voice shaking. Ed laughed.
“Don’t we? You show up after all these years. You threaten our friend. You threaten her kids. Of course we want to do this.”
“You’ll never get away with it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, boy.” Ed slammed him against the wall again, Mike’s face taking the brunt of the impact. “We will. You know why?”
“W-why?”
“Because we know how to hide bodies so they’ll never be found. Hey. Don’t you think that would make a great song?”
“I think it’s already been done,” Sam drawled. “Twice, in fact.”
“Oh well. It was a thought.”
“So, am I opening the trunk or not?”
“Sure. He’s just stalling. Let’s get this over with so I can get home in time for the news.”
“Wait!” This time Mike was definitely panicked. “I’ll make the call. Just stop, okay?”
“Hmm. You think he means it?” Ed asked.
“I don’t know. Could be he’s just scared and looking for a way to get us out of his hair.”
“No, I mean it. I’ll call her.”
“And I suppose that after you make the call you’re going to have to leave town in a hurry, right?”
“Yes- No- What do you mean, leave town?”
“I mean pack your bags, get in your car, and let us follow you to the Iowa border. Because you have this sudden desire to head west, don’t you? Like to California or something.”
“Uh- Yes. As a matter of fact I do.”
“I thought that might be more to your liking. Figured you hated Michigan, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay. I guess we’ll just have to take you at your word then.” He jerked him across the floor and threw him on the bed. “Call her. You know the number, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Mike was rubbing his arm and looking murderous. Sam picked the phone up and shoved it into his chest.
“Dial it. Now,” he said through gritted teeth. He wanted to beat Mike McGinty to a bloody pulp so bad he could taste it.
“It’s busy,” Mike muttered, replacing the receiver. Ed tapped him on the shoulder with the barrel of the gun.
“Keep trying.”
Bracing herself for his voice, Holly wrapped her arms around her waist and stood there staring at the machine. It didn’t register immediately that it was Mike’s voice she was hearing. Mike’s voice saying he’d been a jerk and that he knew he wasn’t entitled to any of the money from the sale of the restaurant. That the boys would always be safe from him because he was leaving the state for good.
And then he hung up. After two days of terror, he was going away. Her knees refused to support her, and she sank into the rocking chair and burst into tears.
~~~~~
“It’s going to be a really long night,” Ed sighed as they pulled into yet another service station. “His bladder must be about the size of a walnut.”
“I think he’s doing it just to tick us off,” Sam muttered.
It was almost two-thirty in the morning. He’d missed making his nightly call to Holly. And he was stuck in the car following an extortionist wannabe across the state of Illinois. He watched Mike pull up near the door of the building and sprint inside. The grin he flashed their way served to annoy Sam even more than he already was.
“Well, as long as we’re here, I think I’m gonna hit the head. You want some coffee?”
“Yeah. Make sure you wash your hands first.” Ed rolled his eyes as he opened the door to get out.
“Yes, Mommy.”
Alone in the car, Sam let his head drop, resting it against the window and closing his eyes for a moment.
How had his life turned from something so wonderful to something so miserable? He missed Holly so much he literally ached with it. Missing her voice on the answering machine tonight had been harder than he’d have believed possible. Nearly three weeks now, and she still didn’t want to see or speak to him. Everyone had been wrong. She wouldn’t get over it. Nor would she forgive him for what she considered a lie on his part.
But this had been exactly why he hadn’t told her. As long as she hadn’t known, everything had been fine. Better than fine. Perfect, though that seemed like such an inadequate description of what they’d had.
Squealing tires brought him out of his reflections in time to see Mike peeling out of the parking lot and headed away from the freeway. He sat up and started the car, ready to take off after him, only Ed wasn’t back yet. And even though he hustled out within seconds, by the time they hit the road, Mike McGinty had seemingly disappeared. Sam parked on the shoulder and slammed his fist into the steering wheel.
“I can’t believe we lost him.”
“Well, his taking off to the south is a good thing, though. It’s still heading away from Michigan,” Ed pointed out. He didn’t sound as confident as Sam would have liked.
“You think he’ll keep going then?”
“I don’t know. We scared the tar out of him.”
“Yeah, I could tell by the smirk on his face going into the station that he was petrified.”
“My guess is he figured he had one on us and that’s why he grinned, Sam. Trust me, we scared him at the motel. If he’s smart, he’s not going to risk having to deal with us again.”
“I hope you’re right.” A sick feeling in his stomach told him they hadn’t seen the last of Holly’s ex-husband. But he didn’t know if that was something he could put his trust in or not, having had zero experience in dealing with trash like that.
~~~~~
He’d given up. He hadn’t called. After eighteen days, he’d had enough. Holly changed position in her bed, something she’d done about a hundred times throughout the past few hours. She couldn’t get comfortable. Mostly she couldn’t turn her thoughts off long enough to fall asleep.
She’d known he would get tired of her one day. And it was a good thing it had happened so quickly. It would help her to get on with her life, not getting any more of those incessant phone calls. And it proved to her as nothing else could have, that she’d been right. That her decision had been a good one.
It just didn’t feel so good at the moment. In fact, it felt really bad. But she would heal. Her heart would mend.
“Maybe if I live to be a hundred,” she whispered to herself. Maybe by then Billy would forgive her, and Zack would have stopped tiptoeing around her, so quiet and subdued that it broke what was left of her heart.
The rest of the night was a long one. Thank God it was Saturday, because if she’d had to go in to McGinty’s, she would have bawled like a baby. As it was, when she gave up the pretense of trying to sleep, it was all she could do to drag herself down the stairs.
But she had to. The boys would be up soon, and she needed to get waffle batter mixed up and bacon frying. Life might be falling apart around her feet, but she had to make it as normal as possible for them.
“Good morning,” she greeted Billy, who stumbled into the kitchen a short while later. As had become his habit, he only scowled at her on his way to the stool by the sink. “Do you want me to help you get a glass of water.”
“No.”
Holly had thought that life would be easier when her youngest son started talking to her again after nearly two weeks of silence. Except his curt one word answers, to direct questions only, were almost worse than not talking. Because she could hear his anger, and his pain, which hadn’t diminished at all. If anything, he was more miserable than he’d been when they’d left the bonfire.
“Is your brother awake?”
“Yes.” He took a couple of swallows, set the glass beside the sink, and headed to the living room.
“Okay. Breakfast will be ready in about fifteen minutes.”
Breakfast was the same sad affair that it had been for the past eighteen days. No one seemed inclined to talk, leaving Holly the chore of trying to converse alone. Zack, bless his heart, did try, but he was grieving the loss of Sam, too, and didn’t seem to care.
“Mom?” They were clearing the table when his hesitant question came.
“What, sweetie?”
“Um-” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, avoiding eye contact with her.
“What is it, Zack?” she asked gently. “You know you can talk to me about anything.”
“Well-” He turned around so that he was facing away from her, his head hanging down. “I- I signed me ’n Sam up for the lock in a long time ago, and my teacher said he needs my permission slip on Monday.”
“Oh, Zack-” She’d forgotten all about it.
“I know Sam probably won’t want to go with me now and, maybe you could write Mr. White a letter or something.”
“Zack-”
It was to be the first time he could actually participate in a father-son activity, and Holly could have wept at the disappointment he was feeling. She swallowed hard. She knew for a fact that the scout meeting was still the highlight of their week, because of Sam. And she knew that he was still treating them as though nothing had changed. Maybe-
“If you still want to go, I could…call Sam and see if he’s still interested in taking you. Would you like that?”
Zack turned around slowly, watching her face closely. Holly knew if he saw any trace of the misery she was feeling, he’d tell her no. So she smiled as brightly as she could, and hoped it was enough.
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“No, not at all. Why don’t you go watch some cartoons while I finish up here, and then I’ll give him a call.”
“You won’t feel real bad?”
“No. I’ll be fine. Now go, okay? I’ll let you know what he says after I talk to him.”
Her hands shook as she loaded the dishwasher and wiped the table, counter and stove off. She’d never lied to her sons ever. But then maybe it hadn’t been a lie. She wouldn’t feel bad. She would feel horrible. And she would be fine, compared to other worse things that could happen. But she didn’t even want to think about what could possibly be so awful that it would make this situation seem fine.
CHAPTER 12
He could hear the ringing from what sounded like a tunnel. A long tunnel. Squinting an eye open and glancing at the clock told him that it was just past nine o’clock. He’d been in bed for about forty-five minutes. He reached out and tried to find the phone, finally pushing the talk button on the fourth ring.
“Hello?” he mumbled, blinking rapidly to try and clear his vision. He didn’t hear anything on the other end and would be furious if this was a prank call. That in mind he said irritably, “Hello?”
“Sam?” He recognized her voice instantly, sitting bolt upright in bed.
“Holly?” he croaked, running his hand through his hair.
“Yes. It’s me,” she told him reluctantly. “I’m calling for Zack.”
“Zack?” Oh he wished he’d gotten more sleep. Any sleep. What was she talking about?
“He reminded me that he’d signed the two of you up for the lock-in at school this Friday. He has to turn his permission slip in Monday morning and-” She sighed deeply. “He wanted to know if you were still interested in going with him.”
“Going with him? Uh- Yes. Of course I’ll take him, Holly. I promised. And I keep my word.” He could have kicked himself. He hadn’t intended to say that. Not like that. All he needed was to make her angry by reminding her that she had broken hers to him.
“I’ll let him know then,” she said, her tone clipped. “Thank you.”
“Holly, wait. I’m sorry. Don’t hang up.” He tried to think of something, anything, to keep her on the line. “We’re going to need sleeping bags.”
“I think I have some in the garage somewhere. I’ll dig them out and see if they’re still in decent shape. If they are, I’ll get them washed.”
“Where in the garage?”
“Up in the rafters, if I still have them.”
“You shouldn’t be climbing around up there.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Look, I’ll come over in about half an hour and get them myself.”
“No, Sam, I don’t-”
“I’ll see you in a little bit.”
Much as it hurt, he quickly disconnected the call, and turned the phone off so she couldn’t get through if she tried calling back. Then he jumped out of bed and got dressed in record time, dashing into the bathroom to brush his teeth and comb his hair.
~~~~~
Holly was afraid she might fall apart, in a million pieces all over her kitchen floor. She wanted to run away from home. Or crawl in her bed to hide. She didn’t want to see Sam. It was hard enough to listen to his voice and not throw caution to the wind. But to actually have to see him again, face-to-face- Well, that was just asking too much.
She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, breathing slowly and deeply to try to calm her nerves. All she managed to accomplish wa
s to make herself lightheaded.
“Stop it,” she told herself firmly. “You’re an adult, start acting like one.”
After all, Charlotte wasn’t that big. She was bound to run into him at the grocery store, or somewhere else, before she moved home. She wouldn’t be able to panic or have a breakdown out in public, so she needed to be able to control herself for the few minutes he would be here.
Right.
This was doable.
She took another deep breath, wiped her palms on the legs of her jeans, and walked purposefully into the living room.
“Sam still wants to take you,” she managed to say with a tight smile, her voice neutral. “He’ll be here in just a little while to see if we still have those sleeping bags.”
“Sam’s coming?” Billy demanded, the first time he’d actually initiated any sort of conversation since the night of the bonfire.
“Yes he is.”
“Yippee!” he shouted, jumping up from the floor and dancing around.
“He won’t be staying, Billy.” Holly hated to burst his bubble, but she couldn’t let him believe it was anything other than what it was.
And if Sam had any hopes that it would be more than just that, she wouldn’t waste any time in setting him straight either. Nor in letting him know that he couldn’t do this again. It wasn’t fair to the boys, not to mention either one of them, to drag things out. It just hurt too much.
“But-”
“I’m sorry, Billy. He’s only coming to see about the sleeping bags for the lock-in Friday night. That’s all. And then he‘s leaving.”
“I hate you,” he muttered, throwing himself back on the floor and scowling at her. Zack, she noted, just looked at his lap.
“Whatever,” she finally sighed, not sure what else to say to him. He probably did hate her right now.
“I’ll be in the kitchen,” she told them both, turning to make her escape.
“Mom?” Zack’s soft voice stopped her.
A Hero For Holly Page 17