Authors: Monique Miller
The Marrying Kind (19 page)
He wondered why Darrin was at Cameron's school. It looked obvious that Beryl was there to pick Cameron up, so there was no reason for Darrin to pick him up. So he looked back and forth from Darrin's car to Beryl's car. At one point he saw Darrin pick up his cell phone to make a call. Then through Beryl's transparent windows he saw Beryl answer a call.
After a minute or so, Beryl hung up the phone and Darrin also hung his up almost simultaneously.
Maybe they are supposed to be meeting or something,
Travis thought. But his intuition told him differently. So as Darrin sat and watched Beryl, Travis sat and watched Darrin.
Maybe they are supposed to be meeting or something,
Travis thought. But his intuition told him differently. So as Darrin sat and watched Beryl, Travis sat and watched Darrin.
The bell for school rang and the cars started their succession of pulling up to the school to pick up children. Travis got a brief look at his little boy as he ran to the passenger side of the car and got in. Beryl pulled off and headed out of the school's parking lot.
Darrin cranked his car up and followed Beryl. Travis cranked his car back up and followed Darrin. While Darrin made it a point to stay at least one car length behind Beryl, Travis did the same, keeping his eye on Darrin. He was starting to get the feeling that there wasn't any need to worry about trying to follow Beryl himself, because Darrin was already doing that. If he kept up with Darrin's distinctive Lexus, then Beryl wouldn't be too far ahead.
The fact that Darrin hadn't gotten out of his car or blown and waved to Beryl to let her know that he was waiting near the school made Travis think that Beryl had no idea he was following her. That coupled with the fact that Darrin was tailing her and making it a point to stay out of sight.
Within a few minutes, Darrin again pulled over on a side street and parked. This time Travis saw Beryl pulled up to a daycare center. The colorful sign in front of the building with pictures of cartoon-drawn children said TENDER LOVING CARE. It was Jayden's daycare center.
Beryl and Cameron got out of the car and walked toward the building. Just before getting to the front door of the center, Beryl stopped and pulled out her cell phone to answer it. Travis looked over toward Darrin's car. Again it looked like the man was talking on his cell phone and again after a minute Beryl hung up and Darrin did also.
Travis was getting a very bad feeling. Why in the world would this man be following Beryl? And why was he calling to check up on her when he could clearly see her from where he was parked? It might be worse than Beryl was thinking. Not only was this man trying to control Beryl and all of her actions, he was also stalking her.
Travis followed Darrin as Darrin in turn followed Beryl. Beryl continued to run errands, stopping to fill her car with gas and then making a trip to the grocery store. After all of Beryl's errands were complete, Travis followed Darrin and Beryl back to the house on Chamberlain Drive. While Beryl remotely opened the garage to pull into it, Darrin slowed down before getting too close the house. The man pulled over to the side of the street to watch and see that Beryl made it completely inside.
Once the garage door was closed, Darrin pulled off again, driving back out of the subdivision. Travis followed him. As he drove, Travis had to wonder if Beryl actually had an inkling that Darrin had been following her around. It wasn't like Darrin's car was inconspicuous. Travis had been following Darrin for a couple of hours and it didn't look as if the guy had a clue that he was being followed. But then again, what sane person would think that they were being followed all day by somebody?
Darrin pulled into the parking lot of a business building. The signage out front listed several businesses that were in the building. One of the businesses was called Excel Investing, Inc. Travis made the connection in his mind between Darrin's license plate, which read
EXCEL
, and the name of the office. Darrin got out of his Lexus, locked it, and entered the building.
EXCEL
, and the name of the office. Darrin got out of his Lexus, locked it, and entered the building.
Travis sat in his car, trying to figure out exactly what to do with all he had learned that day. He had learned many things. He now knew where Darrin lived and worked. He also knew that Darrin had a criminal record, and that Darrin was controlling and liked to stalk Beryl, in addition to being a nerdy-looking freak.
He had to talk to Beryl and let her know what was going on. He called her cell phone hoping she would pick up since she was home without Darrin. The phone rang and rang. “Come on, Beryl, pick up.” The phone went to voice mail. He didn't leave a message. For a moment he thought about going over to the house, but had no idea when stalker Darrin would show up at his own home.
After an hour of sitting in his car and watching the building, Darrin finally emerged back out. Travis followed him straight to his home again and watched as the man pulled into his garage and closed it. He then wondered what was happening behind the closed doors.
Again, for what felt like the twentieth time that week, Travis sent a prayer up to the Lord. “Dear Lord and my Heavenly Father. Lord, Jesus, I come to you as humbly as I know how with the utmost sincerity. Lord, I need for you to continue to protect Beryl and my boys. There is an evil going on and it is threatening to consume them. But, Lord, I am pleading the blood of Jesus for their protection and I stand on your Word, knowing that no weapons formed against me, Beryl, or my sons will prosper.
“Lord, please guide me in what I should do to get my family out of the devourer's hands. He means them no good. Lord, I pray you will give me the strength to do what I need to do, and the wisdom and knowledge to handle this situation and lead my family to safety. I thank you, Lord, in advance for your covering and continuing protection. Thank you, Lord. Amen.”
With reluctance Travis pulled away from the curb and drove back home.
Chapter 26
Travis tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep. When his cell phone rang, he picked it up on the first ring. “Beryl?”
“Yeah, it's me,” she whispered.
“Oh, my Lord, are you okay?”
“Yeah, why? What's wrong, Travis?”
Travis had to keep in mind that Beryl was not privy to all the information he had learned the previous day. While she had some misgivings, they weren't concrete. He had to be careful as to what he told her and how he told it to her. The last thing he wanted was for her to freak out while Darrin was possibly lurking upstairs.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You got off the phone pretty quickly last night. I called you today and left a message,” Travis said.
“Yeah, I know. I've been nervous all day. I tried to do some sketching but couldn't concentrate. Every time I looked around Darrin was calling me. I got to the point that I hated to hear the phone ring.”
“It was a message about setting up a time to get the boys. I didn't really want to say anything else just in case Darrin checked your messages.”
“Thank you,” Beryl said.
“Beryl, are you sure you are okay?”
“No, I'm not,” Beryl said. “Travis, I got to thinking about the erased phone calls and my phone detail as well as a few other things that did not seem to really add up to me.”
“Yeah, and ... ?”
“Do you remember that I told you I got fired from my job?”
“Yeah,” Travis said.
“I was fired because a few events that happened all within a span of a week. First I got some complaints from customers who anonymously didn't want to leave their names. All three customers were male, supposedly. Then I made a major error on a report I submitted, which cost the company over a hundred thousand dollars.”
“Seriously?” Travis asked.
“Seriously. The only thing is that in all the years I worked there I've only had two complaints and they were because a customer wasn't pleased with the warranties on their products and they blamed me for it. I was justified in how I handled their calls and situations. And then all of a sudden I get three complaints in one week, from people who said I was rude to them. They said my name specifically. I was floored to say the least,” Beryl said.
“I bet you were,” Travis said.
“And I know the numbers on my report were right when I did it. I checked and rechecked all of my information. But the copy that I submitted to my boss had a comma out of place when it came to order history, which caused purchasing to order way more product than we needed.”
“Wow, over a hundred thousand dollars worth?” Travis said in disbelief.
“Yeah. I honestly don't know why a red flag wasn't sent up somewhere before the order went through. But anyway, that's beside the point. I know my numbers were right when I did the report. I worked on it at work and even took it home to run the numbers again. By the time I went to sleep that night I could probably recite the information contained in the report almost verbatim, and I know my numbers were right.” Beryl said.
“So what are you saying?”
“Someone changed the numbers on the report,” Beryl said.
“Do you think so?” Travis asked in disbelief as he wondered why someone might do that.
“Yes, and I am pretty sure I know who it was,” Beryl said.
“Who?” Travis was curious to know.
“Darrin.”
“Darrin?” Travis asked. He got a sinking feeling in his gut.
“Darrin was there with me that night. I had fallen asleep on the couch and he encouraged me to go ahead to bed. My computer was still on when I went to sleep. The next morning Darrin had lovingly set all of my things by the front door for me and had even fixed me some breakfast. I didn't really think anything else about it until just recently,” Beryl said.
“Are you serious?” Travis asked in disbelief.
“I am. And I know I can't prove it, but I really think he sabotaged my report. A mistake like that was sure to get me fired. And now ...” Her voice trailed off.
“And now he has come in to save the day for you. He's moved you up here to Silvermont and is taking care of your every need,” Travis said.
“I am beginning to think I was set up,” Beryl realized.
“Me too,” Travis agreed.
“But why?” Beryl said. “And why me?”
Travis had some ideas, but again didn't want to get Beryl too riled up. “Beryl, do you trust me?”
“Huh?”
“I mean do you really trust me, when it comes down to it? Do you know that I would never intentionally do you or the boys any harm?”
“Yes, Travis.”
Travis thought about it. It was Friday and if they didn't act today they'd have to wait until Monday to activate the plan that was quickly starting to form in his head. “I am going to tell you something and I want you to just trust me. Don't ask too many questions, just trust me. I'll explain everything else later.”
“Okay,” Beryl said. He could tell she was resigned to the thought.
“Tomorrow, as soon as Darrin leaves the house, I want you to gather any and everything that is important to you and put it in the trunk of your car. Important papers, mementos, and things like that. Not everything will fit. You are going to have to leave most of your things behind,” Travis said.
“Huh, what? What do you mean? What are you talking about?” Beryl asked.
“Trust me, Beryl. Don't ask so many questions,” Travis said.
“Okay, okay,” Beryl said.
“Not everything will fit, so think about all the things that will fit and stuff them in the trunk. Don't try to pack anything in plain sight in the car that Darrin will see. You got that?” Travis asked to make sure Beryl was listening to everything he was saying.
“Yes, I got it,” Beryl said.
“Okay. Go about your regular routine tomorrow, picking up the boys and all, and go back home.”
Beryl began to speak. “How do you know what my regularâ”
Travis cut her off. “Listen, Beryl, Darrin might wake up at any time.”
Beryl stopped talking to listen again.
Travis continued, “After you have been home for about twenty minutes I want you to call Darrin at work. Not on his cell phone. Call him at work to make sure he is there. Ask him something you would normally ask him. The main thing is to make sure he is actually at work.”
“Okay,” Beryl said.
“Once you have confirmed he is at work, then you put the boys in the car and you leave and take them out of there. Drive to 122 Sycamore Street; it is where I live. There will be a key under the front doormat. Get the key. Open the door and the garage from the inside and park your car in there and close the garage back down.”
“But Travisâ”
Travis cut her off again. “Beryl, did you get all that?”
“Yeah, pack in the morning, go about my regular routine, make sure Darrin is at work, and leave.”
“Yes, leave and go straight to 122 Sycamore Street. There will be a key for you. And then wait for me until I get there,” Travis said.
“Darrin will have a fit if he comes home and doesn't find us there,” Beryl said.
“Beryl, do you hear yourself? Why would Darrin have a fit?”
“Because he ... he ... he just would. He wants to know where I am at all times,” Beryl said.
“Do not, under any circumstance, call him after you have pulled out of that driveway or answer any of his calls.”
“I don't know, Travis,” Beryl said.
“Well I do know, Beryl.”
“What if Darrinâ”
“Don't worry about Darrin. I will take care of him. Please just trust me on this. Can you do that for me?” Travis asked.
“Yes, I can do that,” Beryl replied. Travis could hear what sounded like relief in Beryl's voice.
“Okay, good. Now go ahead and go back to bed before Darrin wakes up. I'll see you tomorrow evening.”
“Okay,” Beryl said.
“And, Beryl, if anything goes wrong, call me.”
“I will. Bye,” Beryl said.
“Bye, Beryl,” Travis said.
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