Trouble Triangle (Tyler's Trouble Trilogy) (40 page)

My heart thumped, shaking my chest with each heavy beat. Cops at the door was never a good thing. Maybe I had been dating a drug baroness and didn't even know it. "Yeah, would you like to come in?" I stood to one side to let them in. "Holly, it's the police," I called out, but she would have already heard them.

I led them to the living room where Holly sat, still curled up on the couch where I had left her. She didn't seemed concerne
d, so maybe I was overreacting.

The cops sat down at my non-verbal instruction and I sat next to Holly, putting my arm around her.

"Sorry to disturb you, Miss Knight," Chan said, "but I'm afraid we have some bad news. You are the daughter of Reverend Cornelius Knight, correct?"

Holly’s lips quivered, shifting her gaze from Chan, to me, and back to him. She nodded.

"It's about your father. He was on a private jet en-route to Dallas. Unfortunately, the plane developed mechanical problems."

Holly dropped her chin toward her chest and shook her head.

Chan took a deep breath and continued. "The plane went down in an open field in Texas with twelve people on board. I'm sorry, Miss Knight, but there were no survivors."

She lifted her head. "No, you've made some mistake. I just spoke to him the other day. You must have him confused with Jimmy
Swaggart
or someone. Not Daddy. He can't be dead."

"I'm sorry, Miss Knight, but there's been no mistake."

"Daddy? Dead? It's not possible."

Chan and Como stood. "Sorry to bring the bad news. We offer our condolences. The media wants to break the news, but we had to notify the next of kin first. I'm sorry for your loss." He looked at me. "We'll let ourselves out." He nodded at me and they walked out, quietly shutting the door behind them.

Holly jerked in my arms as her crying moved to an uncontrollable state, she pounded my chest and kept crying out "Daddy." I sat stunned, trying to take it in that her dad was dead. I held her, resting the side of my face on top of her head.

I tried to comfort her by holding her tightly. I felt deeply saddened and upset myself. Her pain must have been a hundred times greater. My mouth moved but no words came out. There was nothing I could say that would ease the pain. We sat holding each other, not speaking - just
her crying. I wiped away some tears myself. Some were for Mr. Knight, but most were for
having to feel Holly's pain.

A crushing feeling swept over me as I realized that Mr. Knight would never know about or see his grandchildren. I could only pray that knowing his daughter was about to get married was enough to let him die a happy man.

Comforting Holly became my main role. She cried often and told me a lot of it was because of guilt. She didn't bear him grandchildren before he met his untimely d
eath and that really upset her.

I came around to her house after work
every day
. Passion had been put on the back burner while she came to terms with her grief. We sat on
her couch sipping orange juice.

Her eyes were red and the sparkle had disappeared. "I got a call from one of Daddy's assistants. The funeral's on Saturday."

"Saturday? That's our wedding day." I ran my hand through my hair. "Come on, babe, you're the next of kin. Surely you can set the date for after our wedding. Then we'll both fly to LA for his funeral, and you'll have a loving husband there for support."

"Sorry, Tyler." She stroked my leg. "Daddy's aides have gone to a lot of trouble to get this organized. People are flying in from all over the country, I can't just move the date."

Disappointment crept over me, but she did have a point. She'd been too distraught and too far away to make the arrangements herself. The Reverend's assistants planned everything which was probably for the best; sparing Holly more anguish.

"Okay, but I'll still come with you," I said.

She looked at me and stroked my cheek. "That's sweet, but I'm staying with my aunt and she only has a one bedroom apartment. I'll be okay."

No wedding or funeral. This really was a sad day, but I had to be strong for her sake. As much as I wanted to get married before anything else, I had to consider her sorrow and be compassionate. I tucked her under my arm and stroked her hair. "So, we'll reset the date when you get back then, huh?"

The side of her face rested on my chest as she stroked my stomach. "I suppose so. But, like there's no major rush now. We were just doing this for Daddy."

I put my finger under her chin and lifted it until our eyes met. "I wasn't. I really want to marry you, Holly." I searched her eyes but only saw pain.

She broke our gaze and gently rested her face back on my chest. "We'll see," she quietly whispered. Soon after, she fell asleep in my arms.

I sat still as she lightly snored resting against me. Why couldn't he have died after the wedding? Marrying Holly was what I wanted now more than anything. Not only for me, but I wanted the baby to grow up with a good father. It had become, like, really super important to me. I silently chuckled. My God, we really were suited for each other. Well, they say grief does funny things to people. I had to give her space and let her mourn. We'd have to talk about it when she came back. She'd be able to think clearer then.

#

I picked Holly up from the airport the following week and we went back to her house. I carried her suitcase in, put it in her bedroom, then made us some coffee and we sat at the dining table
.

Holly stirred some sugar into her coffee and stared into the cup. "It's was a beautiful funeral," she said. "There must have been 500 people there."

"Your dad would have been proud."

She sniffled and nodded. "Yeah, he was well loved. And Billy Graham gave the eulogy. It was wonderful."

I reached over and held her hand. "I'm pleased. So, now that he's been promoted to glory, have you thoug
ht any more about the wedding?"

She glanced up at me then cast her look back to her cup of coffee. "Why don't we leave it for a little while? I'm still upset and sad, and not up for a happy event just yet." She looked at me. "You understand, don't you?"

I didn't expect her to rip her clothes off and lay naked on the table screaming 'Make me Mrs. Chambers', but a little more enthusiasm wouldn't have gone amiss. "I'm trying to, but I really want to get married. You'll be showing soon and you don't want tongues wagging about being unmarried and pregnant." I opened my arms. "You want to be the pregnant Mrs. Chambers."

"You really do want this, don't you?" She studied my face, seemingly to check my sincerity value.

I took her hand in mine. "More than anything."

She patted my hand. "Okay, we'll go see that Noah guy and see when he can book us in."

"I love you," I said. We
leaned
in and kissed.

#

We saw Brother Noah at the weekend and set the date in a fortnight's time. Excitement engulfed me knowing we were back on track and in two week's time I'd have a wife to care for.

I didn't see as much of Holly as I would have liked over the next week. She said she had a lot to do, but not to worry because we'd have the rest of our lives together. I accepted it and tried to give her the last of her non-marital space.

With Holly busy, I found myself spending more time with Mark drinking beer in our room when he wasn't out with Lori.

"Four more days before the big day then?" Mark commented.

"Yeah, I'm really excited. I'm glad you made me ask her out. She's fantastic."

"I remember you weren't saying that after the first date. She used to drive you crazy, remember?"

"I just didn't know her well enough when I said that." I put a cigarette in my mouth. I pulled it back out and looked at it.

"What's up with you?" Mark asked.

"You know what?" I put the cigarette back in the pack. "I think I'm going to quit smoking for Holly and the baby. I probably shouldn't smoke around them." After crumpling up the pack, I threw it in the trash can.

He whistled. "My-oh-my. What has Miss Holly created?" He tilted his head to one side, then the other, looking at me. "I don't believe it. It's almost human."

I flicked the back of my hand at him. "Hey, man, would you do me a favor?"

"Long ago…I would have just said yes without asking. But knowing you as I do now, depends what it is."

I took a swig of beer. "Would you report me to the Master-At-Arms for sleepwalking? Tell him I've been doing it for months, but you didn't want me to get kicked out. Now you realize I'll be going to a ship in six months, and you don't want me walking off the back of the ship in the middle of the ocean."

He fixed his gaze on his beer. "So basically, you want me to lie to a military cop." He looked at me expressionlessly.

"I wouldn't have put it like that, but yeah."

He turned one side of his mouth up into a smirk. "So you want to get medically discharged, but not that worried if I face a court martial for perjury." He shook his head, smiling. "Okay, maybe I was a little hasty comparing you to a human. I know I've lied to your girlfriends for you in the past, but I wasn't really putting much at stake personally. This is a different matter. Sorry, pal, you're on your own with this one."

"Oh, come on. It's not hurting anybody."

Mark stood up, walked to the door and opened it. He stood half in the room and half out, l
ooking back at me. "I said no."

Lying on the bed, I thought about how I would start this sleepwalking thing on my own. I drifted off to sleep and didn't wake until time for work the next day.

#

Around ten o'clock, Watkins told me to report to the division officer. Walking to the building, I thought about seeing Holly, which sent shivers through my body, even if I couldn't bend her over the desk and give her one.

When I got to the office, she wasn't there. I gave up waiting for her after a few minutes and knocked on the division officer's d
oor.

"Enter," a voice called out from the other side.

Lieutenant Johnson sat behind his desk. He stood up.

"Petty Officer Chambers reporting as ordered, sir."

He extended an open hand to a chair at the side of
his desk. "Sit down, Chambers."

This was strange. He usually yelled at me while I stood at attention, but I sat as he instructed. He looked at me gently, standing by the side of his desk.

"Petty Officer Chambers, I'm afraid I have some bad news." He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "I just got a call from the Red Cross this morning." He looked away. "Your mom lost her battle with cancer yesterday. I'm sorry."

I almost smiled. "That's not possible."

"I should have asked more when you told me. If I had known it was pancreatic cancer, I would have insisted you go home and see her when you told me about it."

I looked at him, my eyes partially closed. "What on earth are you talking about, sir?"

He pulled up a chair and sat opposite me so our eyes were level. "Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed late. The person seems to die very quickly from it, but probably had the cancer for quite some time before it being discovered. I'm sorry."

"No, Lieutenant, this can't be right. There's been some kind of mistake. She didn't have cancer. I mean, she recovered. They got rid of it. She's fine. Really." Tears pooled in my eyes. "I just spoke to her last month. No, sir, she's fine. Really."

"I've drawn up papers for emergency leave. If you need some money, go to dispersing and they'll advance your pay so you can get to the mainland and back. Take the rest of the day off and start making your plans to get back home for the funeral." He stood, making it obvious that was my cue to leave. "I'm sorry for your loss."

My body went completely numb. I managed to stand and shuffle out of his office. Holly was back at her desk and called out to me as I trudged past. I don't remember walking to my dorm, but I found myself lying on
my bed staring at the ceiling.

I did this
. I killed my mom all because of a stupid lie. Maybe I secretly wished it on her. She kicked me out of the house; Maybe she deserved it.
NO!
Don't think that. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have been such a shit. She was a good woman, cursed with a shit husband and a shit
son. The pain was so great it managed to cut its way through the numbness. Maybe I wasn't numb because I also carried the distinct feeling of guilt. I wanted to be numb, but felt terrible things I didn't want to feel. Why did I ever say that?

My mind raced for several hours until someone knocked on the door. I didn't want to see anyone, so I ignored it, but they didn't go away. Annoyance forced me out of bed and I flung the door open.

Holly came in and threw her arms around me. "Tyler, I'm so, so sorry. Sit down." She led me over to the bed and we sat on the edge. "How tragic." She put her arm around my shoulder.

"I did it. I killed her." I rocked back and forth, staring at the floor.