Hush (8 page)

“Well, what did you say to him?”

“I just told him I didn’t know where you were and that he needed to leave,” Erin explained to me over the phone.

“Did he ask to come in?  Was he pushy?”

“No, he didn’t ask to come in.  He didn’t seem angry or anything like that.  He just seemed concerned and a little desperate.”

“Erin, you were supposed to call me.  You weren’t even supposed to talk to him.”

“What the hell did you want me to do, Liv?  My car was in the driveway.  He knew I was home.  You still haven’t told me what you two are fighting about.  It can’t be that bad.  He looked more upset than anything.  He’s worried about you.”

He’s playing her just the way he played me.  It sort of made me nauseous to hear her defend him.   “It doesn’t concern you.  Honestly, it’s better you don’t know.  Was Red there?”

“Yeah.  It was the two of them.  He just kept telling me he wanted to talk to you.  He said he was really worried about you and wanted to know where you were.  I told him I didn’t know.  He asked if I’d talked to you and I told him I had, but you had been really short and vague and just wanted me to know you were okay.”

“Oh, Erin.  You shouldn’t have told him that.”

“He’s not an idiot.  He knows you and I talk nearly every day.  He would never have believed me if I told him I hadn’t heard from you in three days.”

“That’s why I wanted you to call me and not talk to him.  Then you wouldn’t have to lie.  I could have just told him to leave you alone.”

“It’s fine.  He left.  He asked me to call him if I heard from you and to try and find out where you are.  Have you even left the hotel since you checked in?”

I sighed.  “Not really.  I took a walk last night just to get some fresh air, but the hotel has a gym and a restaurant so I really don’t need to leave.”

“Olivia!  You’ve been there for three days!  You’ve got to get out of there.  You’re probably going crazy.  Why don’t you come over for dinner or something?”

I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me.  “I’m sure he didn’t believe you at all today.  He’s probably going to have someone watching your house.”  I said more than I should have. 

“What are you talking about?  You’re not a fugitive, Liv.  You’re his wife.  Why would he patrol my house?  That’s a little excessive, wouldn’t you say?”  Her tone reflected her mounting concern.

I sighed heavily.  I shouldn’t have even said that.  Something like that would just open up a can of worms and another conversation of Erin asking questions I couldn’t even answer.  “I know, I know.  I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have even involved you.”  I really shouldn’t have.  Her repeated nagging was becoming tiresome. 

“Well, that’s unavoidable.  I’m sure the first place he thought to look for you was my house.  He was probably just giving you some time to cool down before he came looking for you.  He was probably hoping you’d come home on your own.  Is it really that bad that you have to hide from him in a hotel room for half a week?  How long do you plan on staying there?”

“I don’t know.  I really don’t know.  I have so much to, there’s just, it’s hard to explain.  I don’t want to get you involved any more than you need to be so I just really can’t talk about it,” I snapped in frustration.

“That shit freaks me out, Olivia.  You’ve got to give me something so I don’t completely lose my mind over here.”

My patience was growing thin.  “Erin, please.  Stop asking or I’m going to stop calling.  I’m not going to tell you, I’m sorry.  I know you’re my sister and I’ll tell you everything when it’s safe, but take my word for it when I tell you it’s better not to know.”

There was a silence.  “Alright, well when you want to take me up on my offer, let me know.  You know where to find me,” Erin said shortly.

“Don’t be mad at me, okay?  I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night,” Erin said quickly before hanging up the phone.

I couldn’t blame her for being mad.  I would be just as frustrated with her if the roles were reversed.  It must be killing her to know Callem and I are in such a heated quarrel without knowing the cause.

I didn’t worry myself with Erin for too long because my biggest problem was Callem.  I’m sure he knew exactly where I was and it was only a matter of time before he came knocking on my door.  What was I going to do when that happened?  How far was I going to take it?  Would he get physical with me?  Would he make a scene in the hotel?  My stomach turned thinking about it.

One moment at a time.  That’s how I’ve been handling this since I left.  That’s how I’d have to keep handling it.  I walked to the door and secured the dead bolt below the door handle as well as the security bar, just in case.

“Welcome back boss,” Red said, as I strolled into the office Tuesday morning.  “How was Chi-town?”

He followed me into my office.  “It was a mess.  Those guys do not like me anymore.  They’re all in an uproar.  I want someone back there in a month to check on things again, preferably you because you know how I like it.”

“That’s not what I was talking about,” Red said slyly, slipping into the chair in front of my desk.  “I mean how was your doctor friend?”

I paused for a second.  “She’s in big trouble,” I finally said.

“You didn’t?”

“No,” I spat.  “No, Don Juan.  I didn’t sleep with her.  Doesn’t mean I didn’t want to and I’m pretty sure she was thinking about it.  She asked me to dinner both nights which was hard to turn down.  You forget the person you’re talking to when you’re with her.  You forget she’s just a baby.  She’s so,” I didn’t know where to start, but didn’t know why I was telling Red all this.  I felt like a crushing school girl.

“Holy shit, Cal,” Red mumbled.  “What are you saying?  This doesn’t have anything to do with Camilla, does it?”

I inhaled deeply.  “It’s so weird because all weekend I kept telling myself to keep Camilla out of my mind.  She looks so much like Camilla, but doesn’t act like or think like her.  She’s who I would’ve seen Camilla as now if Camilla was still alive, but looks like a twenty-one year old Camilla.  Does that make sense?”

“I think you were wrong when you said she was the one in trouble.  I think you’re the one in trouble.  You should see your face right now,” Red mocked.  “She may not know what she’s getting herself into, but you’re the one with the problems here.”

“You’re blowing this out of proportion.  It’s not that serious,” I corrected him quickly.

Red shook his head.  “Just keep telling yourself that.  But, look, seriously, if things get real between you two, you’ve got to pull the trigger and tell her.  You know that.”

I stared at Red for a moment.  He was right.  I knew he was right, but I wasn’t going to admit it.  It was one of the biggest reasons I didn’t get involved with women and it was the reason I’d have to stay away from Olivia.  Nothing good would come of it.

“Have you gotten any word from Carmine?” I asked, redirecting the conversation back to business.  Carmine was the contact for our new business venture in Minneapolis.  We were working out the kinks for zoning and permits with the city.

“Yeah, he sent over the paperwork Friday.  I told him to expect to hear from you today.  We’ve got some zoning issues to work out with the city, but other than that, it’s all in line to get the site up and operational,” Red explained.

I nodded.  “Well, keep me in the loop with the city.  One of us is going to have to make the trip out there to get things started.”

Red scoffed a little.  “And by one of us, you mean me.”

“I’ve got two senators coming into L.A. next week and they’re coughing up a lot of funds for my ugly mug so Minneapolis is all yours.  Have Grant fly you out there as soon as the mess with the city is cleared up and I don’t want you back until you’re comfortable letting those boys run the place by themselves.  Make sure everyone knows their shit, the way I like it.”

“And what about the overseas bullshit that I’ve been dealing with for the past couple of weeks?” Red asked.

I shrugged.  “I’ll take care of it.  It wouldn’t be a problem if you would have nipped it in the ass three months ago when I told you to.”

“My guess is we’ll need to make a trip out there soon, too.  Once we get all these drop-ins done, we should be set for a while,” Red said, ignoring my jab.

“I hate that we’ve got all these places to check in on all in a row like this.  We should have it all spread out more,” I groaned.  “Let’s push that trip out as long as we can.  We’ll do what we can from here for now.  The locals haven’t gotten involved as of yet so we shouldn’t have any major problems.  Simple fixes with a good kick in the ass will do for now.”

Red nodded.  “Need anything else from me, boss man?”

I shook my head.  “The city of Minneapolis and direct all foreign concerns my way.”

“Got it.” Red stepped out of the office.

I picked up my phone on an impulse, dialing a number.  “Rick, I need some work done on Dr. Olivia Reinbeck.  R-E-I-N-B-E-C-K.  Middle unknown.  Send the information directly to me, no one else.  How long?  Great.”  I hung up the phone.

I knew if there was anything I needed to know about Olivia, I’d find out from Rick.  He’s the best at digging up dirt, which is why I’d been working with him for so long.  I wasn’t expecting to find anything, other than what she’d already told me about herself.  I didn’t peg her for a liar and she hadn’t given me any reason to doubt her.  The control-freak in me just liked to have all my ducks in a row, in case anything were to come of this.

Trouble, trouble, trouble.

I found myself pacing around my living room, waiting for a pair of headlights to hit my house.  The food was done and getting colder by the minute.  I moved back into the kitchen, meticulously turning wine glasses and straightening silverware for the meal when I heard a car door shut.

“It’s about time,” I snapped as Erin let herself in the front door.  She smiled widely and met me for a hug.

“Sorry, you know me, Mrs. Punctual,” she said sarcastically.  “Smells fantastic in here.”

We sat down at the table and dug in to the chili I had whipped up.  “You were there for nearly three days and you didn’t do any shopping?” Erin asked about my trip to Chicago.

“I was at the conference for nearly eight hours both days.  I didn’t have much time to shop, but would have loved to.  You and I are going to need to take a trip out there.  It was actually a lot of fun, just being in an urban jungle like that.  Closest to New York City I’ve ever been.  It’s completely different from walking downtown L.A., I don’t know what it was, but it was fun.”

“And how was that Callem guy?” Erin asked before taking a bite of her cornbread.  “Did he show you around the town or did he have one of his other guys do it?”

“No, it was him,” I explained.  “He was really nice,” I said simply.

Erin looked at me sideways, not buying it.  “What does that mean, ‘he was nice’?” she asked mockingly.

I shrugged.  I was a horrible liar.  I was even worse at being intentionally vague with my details.  I knew she’d see right through it.  “It just means he did a wonderful job transporting me.”

“He’s not Jason Statham, and if he were, I’d demand you to introduce me.  What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing is sacred when you’re around,” I said smiling.  “I think, I don’t know, I might, but I couldn’t.  It doesn’t make any sense.  I just, you know, it’s one of those things that you, well,” I stammered, pushing some beans around my bowl.

Erin stopped eating to watch me struggle.  She finally held up her hands, clanking her spoon against the side of her bowl.  “What is happening here?  Are you trying to tell me you’ve got a crush on this guy?”

I shifted my weight in my chair uneasily.  “I don’t know.  I just can’t stop thinking about him.  It’s so strange.  I’ve had crushes before, but with those, I just wanted to stare at the guy all day or I just wanted to hear him singing or something.  With Callem, it’s different.  I want to know about him.  I want to know where he comes from and what his interests are and what makes him happiest.  I think there’s something wrong with me.”

“So you have to be sick now to be falling for a guy?”

“Erin, he’s thirty-six.  He’s fifteen years older than me.  He could be my father.”

Erin turned her head.  “Oh come on, no he couldn’t.”

“Teen pregnancy is on the rise.  It’s not just the mothers who are teens.”

“Calm down, Doc.  He’s not old enough to be your father.  Okay, theoretically he is, but that’s not important.  That’s why you think there’s something wrong with you.  You’re working yourself up over this for no reason.  There’s nothing wrong with an age difference.  It’s perfectly normal and happens around here all the time.”

“Yeah, for women who want to sit on their asses their entire lives and have everything handed to them,” I spat.

“That’s no true at all.  Look at Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas.  Besides, you’re not one of those women.  You’re independent, making mad loot for a twenty-one year old.  You don’t need a man to support you.  The fact that he’s loaded too is just a perk.  It’s not like you’ve been searching for a sugar daddy to sweep you off your feet.  You just so happened to meet a nice, successful man, who is a little bit older than you.  What’s the big deal?  Are you afraid of what people would think, because I don’t think anything of it?”

“I know you wouldn’t think anything of it,” I said.

“Not unless he was looking for a sugar momma.  I would put a stop to that shit real quick,” Erin jumped in.

I smiled.  “I get it.  Thanks.”

“So what are you going to do about it?  Are you going to wait for him to make the next move or are you going to suck it up and do something about it?” Erin asked.

That was a good question.  What was I going to do about it?

A long soak in the warmth of a bath was more refreshing than I had anticipated.  My skin felt stripped of the scum I’d been carrying with me for the past week.  I was starting to get cabin fever locked up in this hotel room.  I needed to get out but I didn’t have anywhere else to go.  I had to have things finalized and legalized before I’d feel comfortable stepping out into the fresh air again, and not under the cloak of nightfall.

I was about to occupy myself with a personal manicure when there was a knock at my door.  A knock said a lot.  The knocking of the hotel staff was between four and six quick knocks that were followed up with an identifying call through the door.  Erin had only been by once and she knocked with vigor, longer, harder knocks.  These ones, they were different.  They were hesitant, but audible.

I looked at the clock.  It was too late for Erin and I hadn’t called down for anything.  This was probably the visitor I’d been expecting; the one I knew all along would be coming.  The one I’d been dreading.

I slid off the end of the bed, waiting for a reaction to the unanswered knock.  I took a few steps closer to the door, my still damp hair sticking to my cheek.  The visitor knocked again.  “Who is it?” I asked as I approached the door.

“Livy?” Callem’s voice spoke from the other side of the door.

My chest seized.  It was him.  I slowly peaked through the peephole at him.  He didn’t look aggressive, if that was an emotion translatable through the owl-eye peephole.  I could see a pair of feet on the other side of the hallway, but nothing more of the figure, though I didn’t have to see all of him to know it was Red.

“Liv, will you let me in?”  Callem spoke again when I didn’t answer.  “Please, honey.  I’ve been worried sick about you.”

“Go away,” I spat quickly.  “I don’t want to see you.  Just go away.”

“Don’t be like this.  We need to talk.  Can’t you at least open the door?  Huh?  Do we have to do this through the door?”

“Please go away and take Red with you,” I said, standing my ground.

I watched Callem shift his weight on the other side of the door before looking back at Red for a moment.  “Look, Liv, there’s a lot you and I need to talk about.  I want you back home.  If you’d just listen to what I have to say--”

 I cut him off.  “I have a lawyer,” I paused.  “I’m filing for divorce, Cal.”  I waited, letting my words sink in.  I didn’t know what kind of reaction I’d get out of him.  “You and I can talk when your lawyer has the papers.  Until then, I have nothing to say to you and I don’t want to hear anything you have to say to me.”

“Liv,” Callem said quietly.  “Don’t do this.  Don’t get the lawyers involved.  You and I can work this out.  Please, just think about what you’re doing before anything becomes official.”  I didn’t answer.  Callem propped his hands up on the frame of the door and hung his head.  “Olivia, please just open the door.  Please, baby.”

“Go away, Cal, or I will call security,” I barked through the door.  “I am not opening this door and I am not having this conversation.  Go.”  The barrier between the two of us gave me a false front of courage.

Through the peephole, I watched Callem fight with himself, pacing lightly.  He kept coming back to the door as if he wanted to say something else; as if there were words that escaped him each time he opened his mouth.  He rubbed his head impatiently.  I could even hear him sigh heavily.  “Just think about this long and hard before you do it, Liv.  Are you doing what’s best?  Are you doing the right thing?  I still love you more than you…” his voice faded as he hung his head again.  “I love you.”

With that, he walked away, disappearing out of sight.

I stepped back from the door and my hands were shaking.  He hadn’t gotten violent or pushy.  He hadn’t raised his voice.  He hadn’t threatened me.  He was just as Erin had described him; a desperate man, worried about the woman he loved and I hated him for that.  It was all a front to lure me back into his trap.

And now, that trap was as deadly as ever.