Deadly Expectations (67 page)

“Yes,” I answered.
 
The cut on my back ached and so did my foot and stomach from walking around before lunch.

“I’m going to get Marie home … then I’ll be back,” Keith said.

“See you Marie,” I said.
 
She waved.

“Who’s looking after Bee?”
 
I asked Ray after Keith and Marie were gone.
 
Patrick stayed behind.

“Denis is taking care of her.
 
He knows what to do.
 
He won’t be on his own with her for long,” Ray answered.
 
“Now let me see what you did.”

I sighed and lay back down with my head at the foot of the bed.
 
“You came all this way for that?”

“No.
 
Where does your stomach hurt?”

“Its better today already … my foot and back hurt most.”
 
I showed him and he pressed around with his fingers.
 
Then he looked at my foot.

“I didn’t think you could do that kicking a guy there,” Ray mumbled.
 
“Nothing broken.”

He peeled the bandage off my back to get a look at it too.

“Jeez Kiddo, I thought you knew better than to let that happen to you.”

“Andre’s not used to fighting with long hair … he didn’t think it would have to stay out of reach.”

“
Hm
,” Ray said as he poked at the cut.
 
“How deep was it?”

“Deep enough … not into the muscle.
 
I had to get rid of the clothes she was wearing.
 
It bled almost down to her shoes,” Paul told him.

“Okay,” Ray said and put a new bandage on it.
 
“Are you taking her back tomorrow or am I?”

“What?” I asked.
 
Nobody said anything about going home.

“I think it’s time we headed back Anna,” Paul said.
 
“Ray can fly home with you because he needs to get back to see to Bee and I’ll drive the truck.
 
I’ll be a day behind at the most.”

I shook my head.
 
“We’re not splitting up Paul.”

“You fly her home … I can take the truck back,” Ray said.

“Ray … you don’t understand.
 
I’m not leaving Paul behind and I’m not getting on a plane.”
 
I wasn’t angry about it.
 
They wanted me where Ray was and felt I was vulnerable staying in hotels.
 
What they didn’t understand was how dead set I was against flying.

“Anna, please …” Paul begged.

“I’ve had that dream of the crash as long as I can remember and I know its coming.
 
You saw it in the mirror.
 
I’m sorry Paul, there’s nothing that will ever get me in the air.”
 
I told them.
 
“And besides, Patrick might have questions for me.
 
Right Patrick?”

But Patrick wasn’t helping.

“Last night you showed me what would happen and you were bang on.
 
Right down to you getting cut.
 
You should be somewhere safer … not a big mall filled with strangers.”

“Wait,” Paul said, “you knew he would hurt you?”

I glared at Patrick.
 
He looked away.

“I did … but I also knew I’d be standing at the end of it too.
 
So did Patrick.”

Paul’s hand was over his face rubbing his eyes.

“You want something for pain Anna?” Ray asked.
 
He looked like he was on Paul’s side.
 
I couldn’t tell if he was trying to change the subject or was trying to avoid getting drawn in to whatever trouble I was in.

“Yeah, but I’m still half flying from whatever the other thing was Paul gave me and I don’t want to sleep any more today.”

“Okay,” Ray said and he gave me a shot of something.

“Doesn’t it come in pills?”
 
I asked.

“I can’t get someone who’s unconscious to take a pill.”

He was right about that but not everyone was unconscious.

I wasn’t.

It was almost time for dinner so we started walking down to Keith’s restaurant.
 
Ray and Patrick talked quietly the whole way there.
 
I held on to Paul’s elbow since whatever Ray had given
me
was making me wobbly.
 
I wasn’t happy that Patrick told Paul I knew going in I would get hurt.
 
I’d managed to convince Patrick it wasn’t a big deal and I’d be fine.
 
Now I seemed to be the only one who wanted me around.
 
I had gone from wanting to go home this morning to refusing to leave.

I sat between Paul and Ray at the table.
 
My usual place back home at Paul’s.
 
I hadn’t realized how homesick I was and wanted to be back as soon as I could as long as it didn’t involve flying.
 
My place would do but Paul’s would be better.

They were all drinking as soon as we sat down and well on their way to drunk by the time dinner was over.
 
I had to get Patrick away from Ray before he was too far gone to give him the rest of my fingerprints in case Paul planned on sedating me and taking me straight back in the truck tomorrow.

“Patrick, can we talk a few minutes?”
 
I asked him.

“Sure Anna,” he said but he didn’t get up.

“Over there?”
 
I pointed at the table in the corner.

He got up reluctantly and followed me over.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked.
 
“I’m sorry I said that about you getting hurt but I was really worried about you and I want you to be somewhere safer than here.
 
You just let him take you into the hallway and pull a knife on you.”

“I’m not mad Patrick.
 
Like I said it’s what I do.
 
I wanted him to try and hurt me to trigger a jump away.
 
It’s not easy for any of you to accept.
 
It just turns on and I can’t stop myself.
 
I know they want me dead so what else can I do?”

I waited a few seconds before continuing.

“Anyway that’s not why I wanted to talk.
 
I want to give you the rest of the fingerprints I have.
 
The divide in loyalties between Paul and Keith feels like it could be permanent and I don’t think your group will rejoin with Paul’s next time.
 
You’ll still be close but Keith and Paul have both matured as leaders.
 
Keith will need you to know what I know and Paul will have his father next time.”

Patrick nodded.
 
He understood.
 
“I can’t read loyalties … even with Ray here I can’t feel any difference between him and Keith’s men.
 
I won’t tell them that you think that but I think you’re right.
 
It makes sense for me to have the prints if we do split.
 
It won’t be a split like that other line but the whole group has gotten way too big especially when the mates start turning up.”

“Patrick … I think the mates are just behind in age.
 
You’re all in your thirties.
 
Marie and I are so much younger.
 
You might find more yet.”

He smiled.
 
“I hope so.
 
It’s been a long time since there were children.”

We got down to work.
 
It took almost half an hour and a lot of sneezing but I was able to introduce him to all the others back at Paul’s house.

“I’m sorry,” I told him when we were done.
 
“I’ve kept you from Ray.
 
I think our line is well represented tonight.”

Patrick laughed.
 
“Yes, we are.”

I lasted a couple of hours after dinner but then had to go back.
 
Ray took me.
 
He said he had something else to discuss.
 
When we got back to the room I asked for something to help me sleep so he gave it to me.
 
I didn’t want nightmares when I was alone and now that I knew how I would feel in the morning it wasn’t so bad.
 
Ray would fly back alone tomorrow as long as I promised to try and stay out of trouble and let Paul and Keith look after things.

Ray took a map out of his bag.
 
It was the logging roads around my house.

“I found it in your junk room,” he explained.
 
“I need to know where he is.”

“Why?” I asked.
 
I didn’t think he’d be found so soon.

“He cut you Anna.
 
If someone finds him soon your blood is on his knife.
 
Denis is going to go and get it and make sure that there is nothing else that could get you into trouble.”

I marked the spot on the map for him.

“I didn’t want to ask you over the phone,” he said.
 
“You never know with cell phones.
 
We’ll destroy the map after Denis cleans up.”

“I should have thought of that … I was just focused on getting back here.
 
Otherwise I would have had to walk for miles out of the bush in the dark until my phone worked to call you.”

“I was a little hurt that you were in the neighbourhood and didn’t stop by and say hello,” he laughed.
 
“Alright … you rest up and I’ll see you in the morning for a check-up before I fly back tomorrow afternoon.”

I changed into pyjamas and he tucked me in.
 
Whatever it was he gave me was working.

“Ray, can you please ask Patrick to keep an eye on me here?
 
You have to tell him I asked or he won’t do it.”

“He can do that from there?” Ray asked.

“He’s very good,” I told him and drifted off.

Chapter 49

Ray slept on the foldout couch in our room.
 
I passed on a shower since I was still woozy from whatever he gave me the night before but my back felt better.
 
Paul was stirring by the time I was dressed so I got out the rest of the Advil and ordered up breakfast for me and coffee and juice for them.
 
I kept the curtains closed and sat on the bed to wait quietly for room service.

“Anna … Sugar,” Paul whispered.
 
He didn’t sound very good.

“Hey.
 
Sshhh,” I told him.
 
“Coffee is coming.
 
I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that man was here?”

I understood now what bothered him most about the other night.
 
He doubted my trust in him again.
 
Or still.
 
The same reason he was so angry with me when I returned from finding Pilot.
 
For Paul nothing was more important between us than trust.
 
I lay down facing him, my face close to his blanket covered head.
 
He must be hurting if he wasn’t taking it off yet.

“This isn’t a trust problem Paul,” I said softly.
 
“I don’t consider everything when they’re around … I get more focused on finishing them off than I do about getting help.
 
But I don’t get in over my head.
 
I think about your safety … not your feelings.”