Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (79 page)

I found the salt and pepper in the cupboard along with some garlic powder and got down to work.

It was ready just as Ty came out of the shower. He was wearing some Hawaiian-style shorts and his hair was still wet.

“Better?” I said.

“Yeah.” He sighed.

“Sit down. You must be starving.”

He wolfed the omelet down in seconds without speaking like it was the best thing he had ever had.

I stared at his shirtless chest.

“Go ahead, get a good eyeful,” he said. “Take a picture even, because it might be the last time you see me this way. You keep taking care of me like this and pretty soon there’ll be a lot more of me to love.”

He slapped his stomach and smiled wearily.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get you to bed.”

***

He fell asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.

I lay there next to him, watching him breathe.

I thought about Paloma. I hadn’t seen the ghost at the club or around her tonight. But I couldn’t deny what I saw in her arms, inside her. There was a darkness there. A black energy, dark and thick and malevolent.

Paloma wasn’t crazy. I was somehow sure of it now. But I didn’t know what to do to help her.

It was 4:35 and I was still awake, the sky already lighting up, and the black feeling inside me grew with every passing minute. My mind jumped from Paloma to dark bodies of water waiting for victims. I thought about Ty in that water, how he could have just gone over the falls and could have been sucked away from me forever. I had come close to losing him, just like I had lost Jesse.

I thought about how it’s easy to feel like everything in front of you will always be there, rock solid, but how in reality it’s all just a terrible moment away from turning into dust.

I thought about Ty some more as I watched him sleep, about how brave he was to rescue someone he didn’t even know. And that was just the point. Someone needed help, and without thinking, he was there.

That was Ty.

I would love him as hard and as strong and for as long as fate would allow. Before we disappeared into that darkness Bruce Springsteen sang about.

I love you, Ty. I love you.

CHAPTER 31

Ty’s face was all over the local morning news. The TV report mainly focused on his daring rescue and didn’t say much about Paloma, other than she was an unidentified woman in the river who fell in the water above the spillway.

He looked good on the screen. Even tired and wet, he was poised and confident as he spoke to the reporter, telling him what happened. They looped the footage all morning.
The Bugler
even offered their coverage for free on their online edition.

I went out before Ty woke up and brought back some donuts.

“Hey, hero,” I said when he finally got up. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “I got some good sleep. I feel a lot better.”

He smiled and seemed back to his usual self, his energy light and happy.

I handed him the white bag.

“You’re trying to corrupt me,” he said, as he inhaled the first one, powdered sugar flying in the air and on his shirt.

“I’m trying to keep you alive. You need to carb up after last night.”

He put the last bite in his mouth as he grabbed his phone and keys.

“I’m walking over to get my car and then driving over to give my statement,” he said.

I told him that I was going to try and see Paloma at the hospital.

“Wait for me,” he said. “I want to come too.”

“Okay, I’ll just meet you back here.”

Just over an hour later I drove us over to the hospital in his truck, placing the bouquet of sunflowers I had bought on Ty’s lap.

“These are nice,” he said. “Cheery.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I hope they help. How was it talking to the police?”

“Fine. Told them the same thing again. They say they’re treating it like a suicide attempt. That’s what all the witnesses are calling it. They asked me, but I said I didn’t really know. I was just focused on getting her out of the river.”

We crossed the highway, turned down Eighth, and weaved through the back streets over to the hospital.

Ty sighed.

“I just can’t stop thinking about it, Abby,” he said. “I keep seeing her desperate eyes and angry face in my mind.”

I accelerated, making the light, and turning into the lot.

“She’s messed up,” I said. “I have to find a way to help her somehow.”

“Maybe you can’t. I don’t know. This isn’t up my alley, but she seemed so unstable out there. She needs professional help.”

“Maybe,” I said, not quite believing it.

I parked and we walked through the double doors of the hospital. I fought off the memories of the long nights I had spent there after my drowning. I just wanted to think about Paloma now.

But they didn’t let us see her. The nurse at the desk just shook her head.

“Sorry,” she said. “No visitors.”

“But this is the guy who saved her,” I said.

She didn’t look at Ty and kept her eyes on the chart.

“She’s under observation. Only family can go in. But I can take those to her if you like.”

I handed her the sunflowers.

“Tell her Abby and Ty were here,” I said.

“Got it,” she said, finally looking up. “I’m sure she appreciates everything you did for her.”

We turned and walked back down the long corridor to the elevators, that hospital smell hanging in the air round us, almost making me gag.

“Wait,” a voice said from behind us. “Wait!”

A woman ran up, dressed in scrubs and holding our flowers.

“Hi,” she said, looking flustered and nervous. “I’m Paloma’s sister, Rosie.”

She looked a little like her but older, with small wrinkles around her puffy eyes.

“I’m Abby. Paloma told me you were a nurse. Nice to meet you. And this is Ty.”

“Ty,” she whispered.

Then she gave him a long hug, crushing the sunflowers between them.

“Thank you so much,” she said, crying softly. “For pulling her from the river last night. I don’t even know what else to say. Thank you seems so small compared to what you did.”

She took his hand and held it.

“I’m so grateful that you were there. It was a miracle.”

He smiled shyly and seemed a little embarrassed.

“I’m just glad she’s okay,” he said, looking over at me.

“How is she doing?” I asked.

She took a deep breath.

“She’s okay,” she said, lowering her voice. “She’s very tired. She’s been sleeping most of the time. She doesn’t remember anything about last night. She doesn’t even understand why she’s in here. It just breaks my heart.”

She started crying again.

“She’ll be okay,” Ty said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “She just needs a little time.”

“I hope so,” Rosie said. “She’s been acting so crazy this last week. Not at all like herself. When they called me last night, I have to admit, part of me wasn’t even surprised.”

“Crazy?” I asked. “How?”

“Moody. Angry sometimes. Paloma’s not like that. She’s always been very outgoing and friendly. A lively spirit. Lots of friends and always out, having fun.”

I nodded.

“Well,” she said, looking back down the hall. “She’ll be home tomorrow, if you want to stop by and see her. Or you can call me.”

She reached in her pocket and handed me a card.

“I better get back. Thank you so much again, both of you.” She took each of our hands and gave them a tight squeeze. “I don’t know how to thank you, but when things settle down I’ll think of something. God bless you. God bless you both.”

CHAPTER 32

“So tell me again exactly what happened last night,” David said as he sat down across from me. “And don’t leave anything out.”

I had already told him twice, but I didn’t mind repeating it. It was all I could think about anyway, and it was nice to talk about it instead of having it stuck in my mind. Lyle was up at the register, but there was no line and not much to do. I was struggling to stay awake and thought about seeing if I could go home early.

I laid out the story once again, everything I could remember, even the part about how Paloma fainted in the water.

“I was right over at Velvet when all this was happening,” David said. “Why didn’t you text me? We would have come.”

“It’s not like it was a party,” I said. “Anyway, tell me again what she said when she called you yesterday.”

“She was adamant about finding you. I mean, now that I can put it into context, she was out of her mind I guess.”

He stopped and was quiet for a moment.

“But she didn’t even try calling me,” I said. “And I know she has my number.”

“See?” David said. “Cray cray.”

“So you told her I was at Amber’s?”

“Yeah. I told her you were at a party over there, at a house behind the store. So she found you, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said.

I told him about her arms, how she had a fever, and how she just took off running.

“So do you think she’s a total whack job or what?” he asked. “Or does this have to do with her ghost?”

“I don’t know what to think. I have to talk to her, but they wouldn’t let us see her at the hospital.”

“Maybe Paloma just had too much to drink,” he said. “Or drugs. Remember that weird cannibal story in Florida about the guy eating the other guy’s face? Maybe it was like that.”

“But Paloma wasn’t trying to eat someone.”

David broke out laughing.

“No, silly. They found marijuana in his system and they think he had a bad reaction to it.”

“Maybe,” I said.

“So how’s Ty doing? Did he recover? I saw him on TV. He looked hot.”

“Yeah, he’s all good,” I said.

“Abby Craig, between the two of you, it’s like you’re some superhero couple,” he said as he stood up. “Going around saving people. They’re going to have a movie about you two.”

Lyle laughed.

“I’d go see that movie,” he said.

“Oh, me too,” David said, raising an eyebrow and walking away. “Me too.”

***

I got a text from Kate asking if I could stop by the store on my way home from work.

I hated going into Safeway during the dinner hour. It was always crowded and full of exhausted, grumpy office workers. I grabbed a cart and weaved quickly down the aisle, throwing in items on my list. Milk, cereal, orange juice, bread.

I could hear Grace’s voice on the store’s intercom. She was one of the checkers I knew. She would always ask customers if they needed help to their cars. She would ask several times. It didn’t matter how old or young they were or their physical condition or how many or how few groceries they had.

“And do you need help out with that today?”

She repeated it so often that sometimes it played over and over in my head for the rest of the day.

“And do you need help out with that today?”

I walked down the pasta aisle and it made me sad, thinking about how I used to have a lot of time for cooking. I missed it. I thought about the dinner party and how nothing had turned out right. I was looking forward to next month, when I would have more time. This fall would be my return to the kitchen. Until then, there wasn’t time for anything other than Mondo pizza and pub burgers.

I turned down the next aisle and jumped, my heart almost stopping.

He was all the way down at the end, but I knew who it was. I couldn’t see his face, but it looked just like him. He was even wearing that stupid Real Madrid soccer jersey he wore on the island.

It was Jack.

He was pretending to look at something on the shelf, but I knew better. He was waiting. Waiting for me.

I didn’t stick around long enough to make sure it was him. I flew out of the store, leaving the shopping cart behind. Sweat collecting on my face. I rushed up to the Jeep and started it, eyes glued to the front doors of the supermarket.

I sped away.

CHAPTER 33

I parked the Jeep a few blocks away from home. My breathing was still ragged and erratic. I closed my eyes for a minute and thought about what I had seen at the store. What I had really seen. Truthfully, I couldn’t be sure it was Jack.

It didn’t make sense. Why would he be back here, in plain sight, when the police were looking for him? Jack was nothing if not cunning and calculating. This would be the last place he’d be.

I talked myself down. I was tired from lack of sleep and all the recent excitement. That was all. I must have imagined it.

I turned the key in the ignition and drove back to the store.

***

I called Rosie the next afternoon during my break. Paloma had been released. She was at Rosie’s. Her sister said that the doctors had given her some pretty strong sedatives and that she was still sleeping a lot. And that she probably would be for a while. I had asked if she needed anything and offered to stop by after work. But Rosie said no.

“I meant to ask you,” I said. “Did they find anything in her system?”

I felt a little uncomfortable asking, but I had to know.

“You mean like drugs or alcohol?” she asked. “No. There was nothing, Abby.”

“What did they say caused her fever?”

“Fever?” Rosie said. “She didn’t have a fever. All her vital signs were normal.”

She asked me if I could call back later that evening.

“It would be good for her to talk to a friend,” she said. “I would invite you over, but I think we better wait until she’s more rested.”

I called Paloma before my soccer game, but there was no answer.

It was drizzling and a cool wind was blowing. I looked across the field and studied the team we were going to play. They had gotten new jerseys and had a new name, but I recognized them from last season. It was going to be a tough game.

Tim hit me with a perfectly timed pass, which I took in full stride, and after making a move around two defenders, I cut in and took a hard shot to the left of the keeper and into the back of the net. Sam scored the game-winning goal on a bending free kick in the second half.