An Unexpected Gift (12 page)

He
liked her company and he had sought her out.

She
didn’t know what to say to him. Yet she could see by the look on his face that
he was evaluating her response.
Phew, that’s a relief to know
, didn’t
seem to cut it right now.  Now that she knew he was single again, once the
whole court case with Carl was out of the way, maybe they could find a way of
getting together. This thought bought her some sense of relief. 

Then
she understood why he had been so worried when she hadn’t turned up on time today.
“You thought Carl had done something to me?” she asked him, shifting
uncomfortably in her chair.

“Yes.
When you showed up late just now, I thought he might have done something
stupid.”

She
flicked the loose strands of hair that had fallen onto her face back behind her
ears.  She couldn’t find the right response to give him about his separation
from Marisa, even though she had the distinct feeling that what she thought
about it mattered to him. “I can’t believe the police still haven’t found any
evidence to tie him to the attack yet.”

“I’ve
asked a friend of mine to get the word out to Summers to keep away from you.”

Caitlin
caught her breath. He had been doing things in the background to ensure her
safety?

“Who
do you know?”

“A
friend. I called in a favor. Someone high up in rank. He’ll take care of it.”

“He’s
not going to do anything dodgy is he? Or get you or himself in trouble Daniel?”

“No
Caitlin, nothing like that.” He moved forward and placed his elbow on the
table. Caitlin had her fingers around the base of the wine glass and Daniel
reached out and stroked her fingers. She looked up at him and entwined her
fingers in his.  His blue Paul Newman eyes were fixed on her, keeping her
riveted in her chair so that all she could do was sit there and gaze back at
him.

They
sat in silence for a few minutes. The undefined parameters of their friendship
were shifting again. She thought that now might be as good a time as any to
tell him about the silent phone calls. “He’s been phoning me again,” she began.
His ears perked up at this.

“He
calls, I’m certain it’s Carl. And when I answer, there’s silence. But I know
he’s there. Then I hang up.”

“How
many times?”

“About
four or five.”

“When
did this start up again Caitlin?”

“A
few days ago.”

This
was what Daniel had been worried about, that Summers would be up to something.
No doubt he knew that Ryedon had been charged. Summers wasn’t a stupid man, he
would also know, Daniel was sure of it, that the police were onto him and knew
that Summers was behind the attack on Caitlin. There would be no reason for him
to lie down and take it all. Men like Summers fought back when provoked into a
corner. It was only going to be a matter of time before the police found
something on Summers, but he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

This
was what worried Daniel the most. He also must have thought that Daniel and
Caitlin were an item, if he had gone to the bother of damaging Daniel’s
property. Which meant that at some point he had followed Daniel home. If the
focus of his anger was Daniel, that would be alright. But this is what Daniel
feared the most. The main object of Summers’ anger was Caitlin and what he had
done to Daniel was only minor damage to property. It was stuff that didn’t
really matter.

What
mattered to Daniel now was Caitlin and he was fearful for her life.

“It’s
just as well that I got my contact to have a few words with him. If the calls
carry on, you let me know, Caitlin.” 

She
nodded her head but wondered what on earth Daniel could possibly do about them.

They
finished their drinks and Daniel was mindful that Caitlin had to get home on
time again.

“It’s
getting late again Caitlin.”

“And
it’s a Friday,” she responded swiftly. There was no reason to rush back home.
He didn’t have Marisa at home. He was single, she was single.

He
looked at her then boldly asked, “So do you want to maybe grab something to
eat?”

Surely
he couldn’t read her thoughts? “Would that be like a date then Daniel?” she
asked, her soft brown eyes meeting his piercing blue ones.

He didn’t have to think
long. “Maybe we could spend the evening not talking about Summers or the attack
or any other unpleasant things, huh?”

This was sweet music to
Caitlin’s ears. “Sounds good to me,” she replied.

They
quickly got their coats and headed out of the winebar, stopping outside it to
decide where to go next. Caitlin looked at Daniel, so very tall and smart
dressed up in his business suit. She tilted her head up to look at him. “How
about you tell me what you do for a living and stuff like that then?”

Smiling
he said, “Like a proper date then?”

The
thought filled her with eager anticipation. Caitlin’s smile lifted upwards and
outwards.

Looking
down at her he wanted to take her in his arms. He bent down and suddenly kissed
her lightly across her cheek. As he pulled his head back she moved in towards
him, tucking her head in under his chin and nestling against his warm chest.
“Thank you Daniel,” she whispered lightly.

“Thank
you for what?” he asked. 

“For
always being there,” she said.

He
cupped her chin gently with his hand and pulled it upwards, lifting her lips
until they met his. And then he kissed her, gently at first but the long held
longing gave way to passion that had been suppressed and was finally breaking
free. They kissed intensely, unable to break away nor wanting to. And when at
last they pulled away, it was with the knowledge that this was only the
beginning. He wanted more, as did she, but they knew it could and would wait.

They
walked briskly, keeping up with the crowds that walked fast past them in both
directions. “Where are we going Daniel?”

“Dunno,”
he said simply as they linked arms and walked down Kingsway, heading towards Covent Garden which was full of lots of restaurants.

Feeling
the cold night air hitting her face, Caitlin felt suddenly alive and happy
again.

“There’s
a nice little French bistro opposite the Royal Opera House  that I’ve
never quite managed to go to yet.” 

“Then
you shall go to that French Bistro tonight,” said Daniel in a mock fairy
godmother voice.

They
stood at the corner of Kingsway, behind a huge crowd waiting for the traffic
lights to change. The loud roar of vehicles charged past them then slowed down
abruptly as the lights changed. Daniel and Caitlin headed down Queen Anne Street when Caitlin suddenly remembered that she needed to make a phone call.  

“I
forgot. I need to call Kerrie and tell her I’ll be late.” She hit the speed
dial and held the phone to her ear as she and Daniel walked quickly down the
narrow road, caught up in the current of people all walking the same way,
heading towards Covent Garden.

As
they crossed over again, Daniel glanced over his shoulder to check the oncoming
cars while Caitlin was still busy on the phone.

“I’ll
tell you later,” she hissed. Kerrie could be
so
annoying. Not that
Caitlin blamed her on this occasion. Although she hadn’t said it in so many
words, she had managed to indicate, using their code language that she was out
with Daniel for a meal. She knew Kerrie would be waiting up for her whatever
time she got home.

Something
about the vehicle that was parked silently on the road worried Daniel. 
Cars weren’t allowed to wait here because even this side road into Covent Garden was extremely busy. He had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right and the
hairs on the back of his neck stood up slowly. While Caitlin was trying to get
off the phone from Kerrie, Daniel tried to remember what Caitlin had said about
Carl. He had never seen Carl before and he tried to remember if she had
mentioned that he was blond. Which might have explained why she had frozen in
terror on the night of the attack when she first saw Daniel. The thought came
to him as suddenly as he realised that there was a blond haired man sitting on
the driver’s side of the maroon vehicle parked up on the side. He was sure it
had turned into this road only after they had. 

He
had barely put two and two together and they were just about to cross the road
again, when the sudden revving of the engine sent alarm bells ringing in his
head. There was a sudden surge of people who walked past obliterating his view for
a split second and then he saw the car lunge towards them at rocket speed. He
saw the angry glare of the bright headlights turned on high to blind him and
heard the angry engine, loud and throbbing. With lightning reflexes, he shoved Caitlin
quickly, throwing her out of the way.  

But
not before the car clipped him on the side, just skimming past the right side
of his hip. He felt a sharp, excruciating pain shoot down his right leg and
then he buckled and fell onto the pavement.

The
first Caitlin heard or saw that anything was wrong was when Daniel roughly
pushed her onto the pavement. For a split second she was completely dazed and
confused. Her mobile phone went flying and a second later, Daniel collapsed on
top of her, as a car careered past them at breakneck speed. There was a lot of
screaming after that and as she turned to look at Daniel’s face, she saw that
his eyes were closed. When she shook him, and tried to move his body off her,
her hands were filled with blood. That was when she let out a scream so loud,
so guttural and so stricken with fear, that everyone nearby stopped immediately
in their tracks.

She
checked his pulse. He was still alive. “Daniel!  Daniel!  Wake
up!  Wake up!” she screamed out the words over and over again.

A
crowd had formed around them. Vaguely she saw a police officer approaching her
and he quickly radioed for help. She remembered him telling her to stay still
and not get up. She watched detached as he put Daniel in the recovery position.

As
a police officer shone a torch their way, she saw that the ground all around
them was drenched with blood. Feeling weak, her gaze fell on the huge pool of
blood that was slowly spreading out from beneath Daniel’s body. And that was
when she started to shiver uncontrollably.

The
pain in her wrist was nothing compared to the dread she felt when she came to.

Her first thought was
that she was back in hospital again.

Her second thought was
that Daniel was dead.

She
sat up in the cranked up hospital bed. A nurse nearby heard her and came over.
“How are you feeling?” she asked tenderly.

Ignoring her question
completely Caitlin asked, “How’s Daniel. Is he alright? Can I see him?” All in
one breath as if all were affirmative.

The older woman placed
her hand gently on Caitlin’s shoulder.
Don’t tell me anything I don’t want
to hear.

“He
had a very bad accident,” she began gently.

I know, I was there.

Caitlin
looked at her steadfastly, not daring to blink in case she missed anything. Her
heart was beating faster and she dared not breathe. “Tell me he’s going to be
fine.”

Just then DCI Osborn
appeared at the nurse’s side. “He’s going to be fine, Caitlin. Just fine. I’ll
take it from here nurse if you don’t mind.”

The
nurse nodded her head and turned away not before saying to Caitlin. “You’ve had
a very bad fracture on your wrist and you need to rest up. You’ve had quite a
shock this evening.” Turning to the officer she said, “Not too long please.”

DCI Osborn beamed her his
most loveliest smile.

“Daniel,
how is he?” asked Caitlin impatiently. She had a sinking feeling in her heart.
Not
now, please don’t let anything happen to him. Not after all we’ve been through
to get to here.

“He’s
fine Caitlin. He’s alive. He’s got a badly broken leg and concussion. But he’ll
live.”

The immediate relief
flooded over Caitlin’s face and she burst out crying.

“There,
there,” soothed DCI Osborn. This woman had been through a nasty couple of
months. He wished there had been more that they could have done to protect her
but thankfully nobody had been fatally injured.

That
brute was under lock and key and he felt sure they would be able to hold him
until this particular case of hit and run and attempted murder got to trial.

Caitlin
wiped away her tears with her good hand. “I’ve called your parents and your
flat mate,” said DCI Osborn, pausing long enough for Caitlin to acknowledge
this as she dried her tears.

“From
witness statements it appears that Carl Summers drove the car into you but Daniel
pushed you to safety. In doing so he ended up taking the brunt of the injury
himself.”

At this Caitlin burst out
crying again.

“Sorry,”
she blurted, sniffing and wiping her eyes with the tissue he handed to her. “I
want to see Daniel now please.”