Hiding Out (28 page)

Wiping her eyes one last time, Haley straightened her shoulders, took a deep bolstering breath, and exited the stall.  The mirror showed the damage was minimal.  She only had red eyes and experience told her that those would disappear soon enough.  With renewed determination, she exited the restroom and walked to the nearest car rental counter.  Minutes later, she was reminded why she was taking back her life.  Despite having more than adequate cash to rent a vehicle, without a credit card, she still couldn’t.  Frustration mounted.  The drive would have been nice.  She could have used all of that quiet thinking time.  She could have, but now she’d never know.  Haley walked away from the rental counter and headed back toward the gate.  She heard her name being paged over the loud speaker.  Ignoring it, she trudged on as she tried to formulate a new plan.

In desperation, Sam had the pilot page her.  Nothing.  Their departure had been postponed the minute he realized that she might just not come back with him.  In his mind he tortured himself with scenarios of how it could have been different.  He could have been honest with her, completely honest with her the night before.  He could have never had Jake go poking around.  He could have told her to ignore the phone and just rushed her through the security check point.  If he had made any one of these choices differently, he wouldn’t be pacing outside of the private plane like he was now.

After waiting another thirty minutes, he collected himself.  “Well, I think it’s safe to assume she’s not coming.  We might as well take off,” he told the pilot.  Then he sat down in one of the comfortable leather seats and fastened his seat belt.  He declined offers for drinks, snacks, and meals.  All he cared about was Haley.  He didn’t know where she was or when or even if she was coming home.  Closing his eyes, he leaned back and covered his face with a hand.  What was going to be even worse was facing Neville and then Adam.  With a sigh, he asked for a blanket and pillow, then took a nap.

Haley booked a flight.  It was a close call.  She almost hesitated, almost chose differently, but she knew she was doing the right thing, that she had made the right choice.  There was an hour to kill before the US Airways plane would begin boarding.  Entering the gift store, she knew what she was looking for and quickly made her purchase.  She walked over to the Starbucks and ordered a Grande hot chocolate…with whipped cream…and chocolate syrup.  If they had offered her a cherry, she probably would have accepted that, too.  She was going to need all the sugar and caffeine and strength she could get.  Sitting at the table nearest the windows, she took a long swig from her cup, then opened the notebook, uncapped the pen and began to write.

Though she had avoided thinking of that fateful night for so long, she knew it was important to organize her thoughts, get the details together.  Her life had been comprised of carefully thought out decisions that did little to improve the outcome.  For once, she was going to act impulsively.  The last time didn’t count.  She ran for her safety that night.  As naïve as she was, she had known that it would take more than her word and medical records to take down a former senator’s son born into a family of lawyers. 

And so she sorted through the events of that night.  She thought about how David had disappeared on her about an hour before midnight.  Since Haley had been busy helping the hostess refill the snack table, she hadn’t given it much thought, but as it neared midnight, she started to seek him out.  She was upstairs in the estate home walking from room to room.  With the hundreds of people there, she had trouble scanning the crowded rooms, making it a very time consuming process.  Then Chase was by her side.  He had offered to help her look for David, but she had declined.  There was something about the way he was acting that made her very uncomfortable.  Still, he trailed after her.  And when they reached the dark distant end of the hall, he made his move.  Haley shuddered at the memory.  As she replayed the night in her head, she wrote a carefully detailed account.

Sam sat in silence the entire ride home.  He stared out the window.  He tried watching a movie.  It was the longest flight of his life.  And as they landed, the dread suddenly took hold.  He knew that the rest of the evening would prove to be rough.  Hell, if Haley never returned, the rest of his life would be rough, too.  Looking defeated, he walked down the steps and across the tarmac.

Neville opened the car door for him.  He sat.  Neville looked at him with that unspoken question and Sam simply shook his head.  Quietly, Neville shut the door and drove them back to the house.

When he arrived, Adam was lurking in the study, just waiting for him.  He hobbled out to the entry way and looked around.  He started to open his mouth, to question Haley’s absence, but Sam simply growled at him.  “NOT NOW.”

Slowly, Adam backed away.  Sam bounded up the stairs with his bags and collapsed in the chair.  He couldn’t stop staring at the bed.  He’d have to buy a new one.  There was no way around that.  He and Haley had not only slept in that bed together countless nights, but he had made love to her there for the very first time.  No way could he sleep in that bed.  Of course, taking over the guest bedroom was out of the question.  Adam was staying there.  And all he needed was for his brother to smell his weakness.  He had to get her back.  He had to, at the very least, know where she was and that she was safe.  He called her cell.  And when her voicemail picked up instantly, he knew the phone was off.  It wasn’t even dinner time, yet Sam was done for the night.

It was freezing in Philly.  Absolutely freezing.  And soon enough, Haley realized that she had nothing to wear.  At least she had the foresight to pack all of her money in her bag.  She glanced at the time and realized that since it was now nearing 5 o’clock on a Sunday, that didn’t allow much time for clothes shopping.  Sighing, she realized she would simply have to make it work.  Tomorrow promised to be a big day and she needed to look the part.  She could pick a hotel after that.  And with a plan in play, she set off for the nearest mall.

Chapter Thirteen

Sam woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t find a way to fall back asleep.  He had tried reading, a hot toddy, relaxing music, and even some of Haley’s Sleepy Time tea.  It was fruitless.  He wasn’t tired.  He was drained.  And he was probably a few more things he hesitated to acknowledge. 

Always a man of action, he packed up Haley’s belongings.  They used to all fit in the three duffle bags she owned, but since he had taken to giving her clothes and shoes and the occasional trinket, he had to throw in a couple of garbage bags as well.  And though he felt better initially, a result of not having to see evidence of her all over the house, he felt worse once he had to face Neville and Adam.  There was no way he would able to avoid those encounters two days in a row.  Impossible…no matter how early he planned to leave the house.

Neville was exiting the upstairs laundry when he nearly ran into Sam in the hall.  And since Sam was desperate to seem in control, and unmoved, he started to instruct Neville on the disposal of Haley’s personal belongings.

“Burn them, sir?” Neville questioned incredulously.  “Surely you don’t mean…”

“I know what I said,” Sam snapped.  “When I say burn them, I mean burn them.” 

There really was no place to burn them, but he didn’t need his employer knowing that.  And because he imagined that at some point or another Mr. Davenport would come to regret his hasty decision, instead he took the duffle bags and garbage bags down to the basement.  All the while that he worked, he worried over what had happened and where Haley had run off to.  Obviously, Mr. Davenport was not yet ready to discuss it.

Sam had barely survived his encounter with Neville when he ran into Adam in the kitchen.  He sighed loudly, an indication of his annoyance, a suggestion that he would be better left to his own devices.  Of course, Adam was impervious to these subtleties. 

“So, how’d it go, old man?”  Adam asked playfully.  “Did you finally tell her how you feel?”  He had to know what had happened, how everything had gone so horribly wrong.

Sam stiffened.  “Not entirely.”  He was about to deflect, he was about to leave the room, he was about to do anything but answer another question from his annoying little brother who was already one step ahead of him.

“What now?  What this time?”  The exasperation in his voice was obvious.  “And if you didn’t tell her and she didn’t run away in fear, then where the hell is she?”  He leaned on the counter and stared Sam down.

“Well, she had a migraine and it just wasn’t the right time.”  He started to explain away the entire discussion, or lack there of when Adam jumped in again.

“Then where is she?” Adam asked in frustration. “I think if you took a chance you’d find out she loves you, too.  Just be honest with her.  Be honest with yourself.”

“Honest, Adam?  Honest means I admit that I don’t think I can live without her.  And yet now…because she knows I’ve lied to her about her attacker, I may have to figure out how.  Honest means that I tell her I never want to let her go, not from my house, not from my life, not from the office.  But how do I tell her that when she’s not here, when I don’t know where she is, when she refuses to answer my calls and text messages?  Honest means that I reveal that I plan to build a life with her forever.  If I were to be truly honest, I’d be getting the Davenport Diamonds fitted for her right now.  Hell, if I were honest, I’d tell you that I’ve been looking for the right time to pop the question for some time now.”  Sam pulled his hand out of his pants’ pocket to show that he had the black velvet box in his pocket at that very moment.

Adam’s eyes widened.  “The Davenport Diamonds.  Wow.  That is serious.”

“I’m serious.”  Sam sighed.  “I love her in a way that I have never loved anyone before, never will love anyone again.”  He ran his fingers through his hair.  “Is that honest enough for you?”  He growled in frustration.  “Honestly, I’m scared to death right now.  Not knowing is killing me.”  With that he walked from the room without so much as a mug of coffee to show for his efforts.

Waking early, Haley had dressed in her running wear, gone down to the hotel fitness center and run until she thought she might collapse.  She wanted to seem relaxed and controlled when she went to sit down with the DA this morning.  Somehow, she imagined this would prove to be an incredibly long day.  After a hot shower and a hot tea, she sat down and turned on the cell phone.  She hesitated to think of it as hers.  In truth, Sam paid for it, just like he paid for every other aspect of her life.  It didn’t matter that she earned it. 

The apple symbol lit up the screen and moments later she realized that she had missed four phone calls and twelve text messages.  Not surprising, they were all from Sam.  Every single one of them.  That made sense.  The only other person who had her number was Ellen.  And as much as she wanted to reach out, she couldn’t talk to either of them. 

After nearly a year of running, Haley was ready to face her past, ready to build a future.  And though she knew he would support her if she but said the word, gave him any indication as to her whereabouts, Haley refused to risk it, refused to take a chance that he would come rushing in trying to save her like he always did.  Looking at her screen saver, a picture of Sam as he slept, she smiled and prepared for the challenge before her.

When Haley walked into the DAs office, she was surprised to be seen so quickly.  She was equally surprised to discover that she wasn’t nearly as nervous as she expected to be.

“Can I get you something to drink?” The DA asked as they sat around the conference table in her office. 

“Water would be nice,” Haley said.  She had a tendency to get cottonmouth when she was nervous.

A bottled water was brought to her.  And the conversation started.  It was pretty much what was expected.

“Now, Miss Daniels, you are aware that this isn’t really the order of things, correct?”  The woman leaned back in her chair, laced her fingers in her lap and waited to see what the response was going to be.

“Yes, I am aware of that.  I’m also aware that after I bring charges against a person, the police then have to see if you are going to prosecute the case.  And in this situation, I thought that I should skip right to the top.  If you believe we have a case after we talk, I’m sure you can have an officer come here to take my statement, don’t you think?”  It was Haley’s turn to lean back calmly in her seat.  It was practically a game, but at least the game was one that Haley knew how to win.  He who speaks first loses.  She had nowhere to be.  She could stay there all day with her water and a mask of serenity that she had cultivated covering her face.

The DA studied her a moment.  She saw a woman that was educated, intelligent, and best of all confident.  She could be an unflappable witness for the prosecution.  Slowly, deliberately, she leaned forward and picked up a pen.  “Okay, let’s see what you have.”

The conversation lasted several hours.  They went over the medical records that Haley had with her.  They went over the statement that she had written out the day before.  And as she had anticipated, a detective was asked to come and take her official statement.  There were questions galore…all of which she had anticipated.  Why had she waited so long to come forward?  Were there any witnesses that could be called?  What was her motivation for coming forward now?

“Simple,” Haley said in a voice that never wavered.  “I’m tired of hiding.  I’m ready to reclaim my life.  And…”  She took a deep steadying breath.  “I’m certain that Chase has tried to silence me.  Only instead of hitting me with the car, he hit the man who pushed me out of the way.  A friend.  The brother of my employer.  And I hope, since that friend lost a month of his life while in a coma and now is only walking with the assistance of a cane, and may never fully recover…well, I hope he can be prosecuted for that in New York as well.”  She rubbed her hands together for a moment.  The fear had chilled them.  “I don’t want to live in fear any more.  That means facing my attacker in court.”