The Encounter (4 page)

“Diana, I appreciate your concern, but I have a friend staying with us and he has been through some trying times. He was in the army and I think you can imagine what kind of things that he might’ve seen.” I wanted her to picture the scene in her head and maybe that would be enough to give my mystery man a grace period. “There’s no reason to raise the alarm and it’s probably a nightmare. He came back a little shaken but not stirred.” I received a chuckle in response to my little reference to James Bond. I was finding myself mimicking Tina, who had the uncanny ability to find humor in the most unlikely and serious situations.

“Okay, Cecily, I will give him a break this time, but please try to keep it down. My dogs are easily riled and I would appreciate a little bit of common decency.” We weren’t exactly friends, but we weren’t enemies either and I wanted to keep it that way. We saw each other on the street, made idle chitchat, but didn’t exactly offer to have each other over for coffee. Maybe one day that would change, but in the meantime, I wanted to keep on her good side and not make her do something that we would both regret.

“I’ll be home shortly and I will try to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.” We ended the conversation and I felt a bit of relief that I was able to defuse the situation before the authorities were called. She didn’t have to do that and she could’ve easily just made the call. The fact that she didn’t was putting her in good standing with me, although, I pretty much assumed that her calling me was her way of calling me on the carpet.

There was no way that I could stay for the rest of the day, but I’d already accomplished what I had set out to do, which meant that I could probably leave and nobody would bat an eye. “I just want to congratulate you again and it couldn’t happen to a better person.” Peter wasn’t exactly being magnanimous and I could see that it was hurting him inside to say these words to me. He was in line for my job when the time came to assign it to someone and he had always been jealous. “It’s nice to see that we won’t have to worry about our jobs and the ax that has been going around as of late. We have you to thank for that.” This had to be eating him up inside and he really wasn’t even opening his mouth, but instead was gritting his teeth and talking through the opening.

“I’m just glad that I could do my part and this was a team effort all the way. We all made this happen and with hard work and determination; there is nothing that we can’t do together.” I was acting like a good boss, when in reality Peter really didn’t have anything to do with this. In fact, he was trying his level best to derail this by any means necessary and he didn’t even know that I knew about his underhanded dealing. It was promised to him that he would get a manager position at a rival bank if he was able to make Mr. Brady see clearly to go to them instead of us. Somebody that I knew had told me what was going on and I quickly squashed it underneath my thumb. Peter had no idea that I was well connected in these circles and for him to try to do an end around was going to cost him long hours.

While everybody was still celebrating, I cleared my schedule for the rest of the day, but mostly I just had a couple of mortgage negotiations to conduct. In that regard, I was able to pawn them off on one of the other associates, who didn’t exactly balk at doing some hard work.

* * *

FOUR

* * *

It was a good thing that it wasn’t happy hour or rush hour traffic, because getting through the streets at this time of the day was a breeze in comparison. I did notice that there was a bigger presence of police officers roaming the streets than there usually is. They were most likely looking for my mystery man, who hopefully stayed out of sight and didn’t make any more noise to attract Diana’s attention. She might have been a busybody, a gossip and somebody that was used to making trouble for others, but she was my neighbor and I had to treat her with kid gloves.

Pulling up into my driveway, I looked down the block to see that she was peeking through the curtains, although she always does that and there isn’t much that goes on in this neighborhood that she doesn’t know about. The only reason why she didn’t know about my house guest was that I had driven into the garage before dragging him into the house and down the stairs. Subconsciously, I knew that she would be watching and I couldn’t exactly wave to her without her knowing that I knew that she was there.

“I was wondering when you are going to get home.” I turned to see Diana, her long hair and heaving bosom being kept in there by only sheer will alone. She liked to wear provocative clothing, which included halter tops that weren’t exactly accustomed to keeping the bountiful hills in their cage. Even now, I could see that her nipples were poking through the fabric and if I swung in that direction, I might’ve been able to feel something for her. “My dogs finally settled down, but whoever your guest is, I have to say that he has some serious issues that only a psychiatrist is going to be able to take care of. If all those days of watching Dr. Phil told me anything, it’s that your friend might have post traumatic stress disorder. The only cure is professional help and you should have him looked at as soon as possible.”

Standing to face her, I made sure that I wasn’t jittery or nervous, because that would only feed into her suspicion that something was wrong. “I appreciate your concern and he has been getting help, but you must know that this is not a quick fix. It’s going to take some major effort and long extensive sessions, which he has committed to. Unfortunately, the only place that he could get the help that he needed was here in this city and I thought it best that he stay with us until he was able to get back on his feet. I do hope that this isn’t an inconvenience.” I knew that Diana had a brother that was killed in action and she had a soft spot for veterans that were fighting the good fight.

“I sympathize with his plight and if there’s anything that I can do to help, all you have to do is ask and I will come running. These things need constant vigil and I do admire the fact that you are willing to put yourself out there like that. I can’t imagine this can be easy on Mike, but he is one of the good ones and I think that he will stand by you.” I’ve always known that she had her eye on Mike, always walking by here with her skimpy outfits and swinging her hips to indicate availability.

Pretending to go about my own business, I entered the house and went towards the basement, where I suddenly got this very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. The door was opened and I knew for certain that I had closed it on the way out.

It was then that I heard the shower running upstairs and I thought for a moment that Mike had gotten home early, but I didn’t see any sign of his car. Taking the stairs a couple at a time, I held onto the shiny wood banister, holding my breath and making my way down to the bathroom. The door was ajar, just enough for me to see his silhouette under the hot spray. The glass was frosted, so I couldn’t see all that much except for the obvious form and frame of the man. He was purposely staying away from the wound, angling his body so that the spray didn’t hit it directly.

“Um, it’s nice to see that you are up on your feet, but what exactly do you think you’re doing?” I certainly didn’t want to put him on the spot, but he did leave the comfort and safety of the basement.

“I woke up and didn’t exactly know where I was, but then I remembered your soothing words and how you told me that I was at your place to recuperate. I didn’t think that you would mind that I took a shower and shave and it does make me feel a little bit better.” He turned off the taps and slid open the door with me turning around quickly in order to stop myself from seeing anything that I shouldn’t. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know that you were that way, and I guess growing up in Europe has made me less than bashful. My name is Chance Steadman. I thought it was only fair that I told you my name, since I saw yours on the correspondence by the front door. It’s nice to meet you, Cecily, and I only wish that it was under better circumstances.” Without the growth of beard, he was very handsome and I could see that there was a lot of life lived in his eyes.

“Just put a damn towel on and we can’t have the neighbors seeing you running around buck naked.” I really wasn’t concerned about the neighbors, as I was more concerned about what I would do if I saw him in the buff. He had definitely gotten underneath my skin and now he really did look like the quintessential bad boy. “I got a call from my neighbor that said that you were screaming and I’m gathering that you had some sort of nightmare.”

“Cecily, I wish that I could tell you, but I really don’t remember much of anything. This whole thing has been a whirlwind and I don’t know if I’m coming and going.” I hazarded a glance at the mirror and saw that he was wrapping a towel around his waist. I only got a brief peak at the V shaped torso and was kicking myself that I didn’t turn any quicker. “I don’t suppose that you could fill in some blanks for me, because the last thing I remember is that I was sleeping quite soundly in my apartment. Then I wake up here with what appears to be a bullet wound that somebody cauterized and then sewed up. I do have some recollection of cauterizing the wound, but it’s like a hazy memory in the back of my mind.”

He opened the door wider and emerged through the steam with droplets of dew on his chest. I couldn’t help it and I stared at his body, taking particular interest in what was making its presence known underneath the towel.

“Um, you bumped into my car and were mumbling something about a Trojan Horse that was coming.” He got this same far away look that Tina got, but he was in some sort of trance. “Are you still there?” I waved my hand back and forth in front of his face, until he finally blinked back to reality.

“Yeah, I’m here and I was just thinking. I thought that was a myth or some kind of legend, but if you say I was saying that, then it means it’s real. I need to get to a phone.” I still had my cell phone in my pocket and seeing that I didn’t take off my coat, I reached in and retrieved it. He snatched it from my grasp and began punching numbers, before getting this sick look on his face.

“It’s dead.” He passed it back to me and made his way to the nearest land line. Picking it up, he once again looked at me with concern. “I’m only getting a dial tone.”

“That could explain the telephone workers in the area. They must be having problems with the line and I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” The bandage was showing some red and he was holding his side and peering out the window through the lacy white fabric. He turned abruptly and the towel came loose and fell at this feet. My eyes traveled up and down his torso and our lips were so close that I could feel his hot breath.

It felt wrong looking at him like this, especially when I had a boyfriend that was caring and responsible. I didn’t want to have these feelings, but they were unavoidable and I was starting to think that he was feeling the same thing. “I… I... I don’t have time for this, even though I wish I did.” Bounding upstairs, I waited where I was by the door, wondering why he was getting so bent out of shape over a simple lack of telephone reception.

He came back down, zipping up his pants and pulling his dirty red and black plaid shirt over his chest. “It’s one thing to have a land line go dead, but it’s an entirely different matter altogether when cell phone reception goes dead at the same time. I think they might be jamming the signals in the area, just so that I can’t call out to get help. For the time being, I think we’re going to be roommates and I do hope that that’s not going to be an imposition.” His strong, confident attitude was very attractive and he had the body that made my panties stick to my skin.

“Don’t you think that you might be going a little overboard? This is probably just your paranoia and I can’t blame you for feeling like this after everything you’ve been through.”

“Cecily, as long as I stay out of the public eye, I should be able to weather the storm, but only if I can trust you to keep me hidden.” His pleading eyes were easily able to sway my opinion, but then I heard an engine coming to rest in the driveway.

Looking out the window, I saw that Mike had returned home a little earlier than expected. He reached inside and pulled at something in the back that was just out of my vision. It looked like he had groceries and was going to actually cook for the first time in a long time.

It was possible that I had gotten under his skin this morning with what I said about his lasagna and I think he was going to surprise me when I got home from work with something romantic and unpredictable. It was the small gestures that gave him points, but they had been rare in the last few weeks. He was my best friend and taking that to the next level was the best thing that I had ever done. Even though, I missed him greatly and that I thought that we were losing each other slowly to our careers, I still could feel that slight tug seeing his face every morning when I woke up.

“Cecily, I gather that’s the boyfriend and do you think that my being here is going to be a problem?” I really didn’t get a chance to answer him, because this black sedan rolled to the curb and two men in black suits got out approaching Mike at his car. “Friends of yours?”

“No, I’ve never seen them… wait… the one on the right seems familiar.” It was then that I flashed on the guy standing at the hospital. It was no coincidence that he was here and he and his partner were obviously looking for Chance. “Oh no… they are coming in here.” Panic had gripped my throat and with each step towards the front door, I began to wonder just what kind of trouble Chance had gotten himself into. It was then that I saw the telltale bulge inside their jacket and when they moved just the right way I could see the handle of the revolver tucked underneath their arm.

“Damn, I can’t get caught, but I have no weapon and I doubt that you have a gun in the house.” Mike was turning the door handle and the two men were now releasing their weapon behind him. He had no idea what they were doing and I could see them both looking up and down the street to make sure that there was no one watching.