Unbearable (27 page)

“Wait. Lilah has to pick up some curtains around six-thirty at the shop just around the corner. I bet she’ll give me a ride to Maggie’s.”

“I know she will. Check and make sure that’s still a go.” While he finished getting ready, I called Lilah from my desk. She was more than willing to pick me up, and since Cole had to work late, she offered to take me to dinner to celebrate my new freedom.

Booker rushed out of his office as I hung up. “I have to go. Are you coming?”

“Lilah’s going to pick me up. Are you sure you’re okay with me not going?” I slipped my arms around his neck.

“Yes. Go enjoy your sweaty yoga,” he teased. “I’ll stop by Seth’s on the way back.” He gave me a quick kiss and left.

I straightened the office and then made three phone calls, all extremely important. One to my mom and dad, and one to each of my siblings. After I hung up, promising to call them each again later, I grabbed my workout clothes and stepped into the bathroom to change.

When I came out, I wasn’t alone.

Chapter 32

“You alone?”

Startled, I stepped back. “What are you doing here?” No answer. I moved cautiously to my desk and gathered my purse from the drawer. I slipped my clothes inside and repositioned Booker’s gun on top.
Ridiculous, really. It’s not like Nikkolynn was a threat, but her demeanor bothered me. I glanced up at her again as she stepped closer to me. Her face was red and tearstained. She’d been crying.

“So w-where’s Booker?” she stuttered. She hugged herself tightly, her purse wedged under her arms.

“He left for the day.” The phone rang. I didn’t answer it. The office was officially closed. The answering machine could get it. My yoga time dwindled fast.

“Is he at home?” she pressed.

“No. He has a meeting in Syracuse.” I pushed my purse handle onto my shoulder and walked past her to the door.

“So, are you and Booker officially together?” she asked.

I angled back to her. I guess having run for the past four years, I’d grown weary of cowering. Or maybe I felt empowered because Garen was dead. Whatever the reason, I’d had enough of Nikkolynn. “Yes, we’re together. I love him.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Has he asked you to marry him?” She snugged her purse tighter.

“No. We’ve not discussed marriage. When do you leave for New York?”

She ignored my question. “I still love him.” Tears welled in her hazel eyes. “I keep hoping he’ll change his mind and give me another chance, but I’m starting to give up.” She wiped her nose with her hand.

My heart softened. “Nik, even if he doesn’t marry me, he’ll find someone eventually. You really should go to New York and start over.”

“I came to the same conclusion earlier today. In fact, I bought my plane ticket to New York already. I decided it’s best to leave town right away. Start over . . .” She burst into tears.

I patted her back and let her cry. “It’s going to be alright. You’ll find someone who will make you just as happy, you’ll see.” The poor thing continued to cry for several minutes.

She took a deep breath. “Loving him is like a disease, you know. And there’s no cure,” she said dramatically. I’d have laughed at the cliché if she didn’t look so sad. “But you’re right. It’s time to move on.”

I held open the door and she walked out and to the elevator. “I’ll tell him you stopped by,” I said as she pressed the button.

“No. It’s probably better you don’t. My flight leaves tomorrow. It’s time.”

I nodded as the doors groaned open. She stepped one foot inside and stopped. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she said, her eyes fluttering to keep back the tears.

“Once you get to New York, things will be much better, Nikkolynn. You’ll see.” She slipped inside the death trap and nodded weakly as the doors creaked to a close.

I hurried down the stairs to the basement. I only had fifteen minutes left. Bikram yoga was out. No way would the basement heat up before Lilah came. I’d have to do a hard and fast routine. Time for a little of my Lindsey Stirling addiction. I fished the CD from my bag.

“We meet again.” I jumped back at the sound of a man’s voice. I hadn’t expected to find anyone in the gym. A tall, nice looking guy approached from the treadmills, a brown towel around his neck, his hand extended. “Judging from the look of confusion on your face, I’m guessing you don’t remember me.
My name’s Devin. I’m the patent lawyer on the third floor.” He shook my hand. “I dropped some forms off for Booker to look over back in October.”

“I’m sorry. I’m terrible at remembering names.”
And apparently faces. I couldn’t recall ever meeting him before, let alone seeing him in the office.

“No problem. You were pretty busy typing up some documents.” He wiped his brow with the towel.

“It’s nice to meet you, again.” Still jittery, I took a deep breath and worked my way to the mats, setting my purse next to the weight rack. Devin came over and picked up his water bottle from the floor near my purse.
Garen’s dead. It’s over. Relax
. I turned and smiled.

“Book tells me you’re the best secretary to walk the earth.” He took a long pull from his bottle.

“He exaggerates,” I assured him.

“Not so sure about that. The docs he’s faxed me from his office are flawless. You do good work.” He wiped his brow again. “I’d better get going. It was nice meeting you again.”

“Same.” I smiled as he headed for the door.

“Hey, if you ever get tired of working for Booker, the door’s always open. The secretary I have now is a nightmare.” He grimaced. “Thankfully she’s temporary.”

“Your regular secretary quit?” I did my best to make small talk, not wanting to come across as rude or snobby.

“Yes. And like I said, this one’s . . .” He frowned.

“Why not hire another one if she’s so bad?”

“She’s my mom.” He chuckled heartily. “She’s filling in until I can find a new one. And trust me, I’m looking.” He waved and left.

I rushed to the sound system and put in my CD, cranking up the volume since I was the only one in the gym. I ran through my short routine, finishing with a few minutes to spare. I’d arranged to meet Lilah here, and since she hadn’t arrived yet, thanks to the latest snowstorm I’m sure, I went through a few dance moves. I felt free, for the first time in years. To celebrate, I attempted a triple pirouette, something I’d not done in years. I fell flat on my face at the sound of my name.

“Hello, Terese.”

Chapter 33

Booker

“I’m gonna be late.” It didn’t help that it grew darker by the minute as snow clouds filled the sky. It began snowing about ten miles ago and steadily grew worse. I looked at the clock on the dash. “I’m supposed to be there in thirty minutes.
Yup. Definitely gonna be late.” Now would have been the perfect time to put the overpriced car to the test, but with the snow I didn’t dare. I reached for what I thought was the windshield wipers, flipping the turn signal on instead. “Crap.” Nothing was where I was used to it being and it drove me nuts. I flipped a few more levers before the wipers came on.

I relaxed into my seat. “Give it some time. You’ll get used to it,” I counseled myself. I thought back to Tess’s face when she learned about Garen. The elation in her eyes, the ear-to-ear smile. It felt good knowing he’d never bother her again. Honestly, the scum wore on me, too. I’d had more than one nightmare of walking into work or in the gym and finding Tess dead, beaten to death by Garen.

“Stop torturing yourself, Gatto,” I grumbled. The entire car filled with the ringing of my phone. The salesman set up the Bluetooth for me. I smiled and pressed the answer button on my steering wheel.

“Gatto, here.”

“Booker, it’s Brent. Just wanted to update you on the Garen Johnson case.” Brent’s voice sounded loud and clear over the car stereo.
Nice
.

“Go ahead.”

“The information we got wasn’t accurate.”

“Meaning?” I immediately lightened up on the gas pedal.

“Meaning it was the clerk that was shot and killed. Johnson escaped in a stolen late model gray sedan with a dented front fender. I’m still working on getting a license plate number for the car.”

I slammed my hand on the steering wheel. “Are you even sure it was Johnson?”

“I checked the surveillance tape myself not more than ten minutes ago. He looks a little rough around the edges, but it’s him. We have him on tape admitting to the clerk he was Johnson. I’m sorry, Booker. We’ll keep looking. The good news is that the weather in Buffalo is terrible, and it’s heading to Port Fare. It’s highly unlikely he left the area.”

“It’s snowing pretty badly here, too. Thanks for the heads up, Brent.”

I debated calling Tess at the office. “She’s probably in the basement doing her sweaty yoga,” I mumbled to myself, fighting the uneasy feeling in my gut.

But I needed to call someone to go check on her, to let her know the truth, just to be safe. “Seth,” I mumbled. I pushed what I thought was the call button and somehow ended up turning the flashers on. After trying a few more buttons, I pulled over and called Seth the old fashioned way. I punched his number in on my cell.

“Hi, Book. Are you out in this nastiness?” he asked.

“On my way to a meeting in Syracuse,” I explained. “I need a favor. We got news that Garen’s been caught.”

“Awesome,” he replied.

“No. It was a mistake. He’s still out there somewhere and he’s killed a clerk. But Tess thinks he’s dead.” I turned on what I hoped was the defroster. I hadn’t noticed my short, shallow breaths until the windows clouded over. “I think she’s downstairs working out,” I said. “Would you mind running over there and making sure everything’s okay?”

“Book, Mags and I are on our way back from Buffalo. The roads are a mess. I’m afraid it’s going to be a while before we reach Port Fare, but we’ll check on her when we get back. How is she getting to our place if you’re in Syracuse?”

“Lilah. In about thirty minutes.” I shoved my hand through my hair. “Don’t worry about it. I’m overreacting, as usual.”

“Maybe Lilah can go over early?” Seth suggested.

“Right. Thanks. Drive carefully,” I said.

“You, too.”

After he hung up, I called Lilah. It went straight to voice mail. I dropped my head against the headrest, willing my stomach to calm. “Call again in a few minutes. Maybe she’s busy with Sofia,” I counseled myself.

I pulled back onto the freeway and headed for my meeting. Five minutes later, my phone rang again. It was the client in Syracuse cancelling our appointment because of the weather. Worked for me. I got off at the next exit and got back on again, this time heading for my office, and to Tess.

Snow now packed the road, making it dangerous to go very fast. I should have gotten the stupid Lexus. The Jag was too light and slid everywhere in the snow. “Calm down, Gatto,” I told myself for the hundredth time. Until today, no one had even seen Garen. Chances of his showing up in Port Fare today were pretty slim. And yet the hairs on my neck stood on end. I couldn’t do it again. I couldn’t live through another murder of someone I loved. I punched the gas pedal. I had to get to Tess.

When I started across the overpass, I hit a patch of ice. My car spun in three circles, hit the guardrail, and ricocheted into a snow bank.

“Great. You don’t even know if she’s in danger, you madman.” I got out of the car and inspected the right rear fender. Ruined. That would cost me a pretty penny. I hadn’t even owned the car for twenty-four hours.

A couple of teens in a suburban pulled up behind me. A blue and orange checked hat popped out the unrolled window, followed by a head covered in bushy blond hair. “Hey, man, need some help?”

“That’d be great. Thanks.” The blond guy, who introduced himself simply as Fred, helped me push the car back onto the road.

“Dude, this is a nice car.” He tugged his hat over his beet-red ears and circled the Jag, shaking his head. “Too bad about the fender, but it doesn’t look too bad. The body seems to be intact.”

“I hope it runs.” I said, brushing the snow off my pants.

“I’ll wait for you to try before I leave.” He shook my hand and jogged back to his suburban.

“Thanks,” I called after him. I got in and started the car without a hitch. I waved to Fred, and started back to Tess.
She’s going to laugh when she sees what I did to my new car.

I slowed my pace, not wanting a repeat of what just happened. I was close now, maybe ten minutes away. I called Lilah, this time she answered.

“Lilah, I’ll pick up Tess.”

“Good. I didn’t want to take Sofia out in this storm. Arizona girls and snow don’t get along,” she said. “Perfect timing, too. I was just about to walk out the door.”

As soon as I hung up, traffic came to a dead stop. I looked down the freeway and spotted red and blue flashing lights ahead. Now Tess would be waiting for who knows how long. I almost called Lilah back, but decided to give Brent a call instead. He’d probably be out in the storm anyway, dealing with emergencies.

“Hey, Brent. Booker again. I need a favor.”

“Sure thing.”

“Tess is at the office alone and I’m stuck behind an accident on the four-ninety. Can you swing by and make sure you don’t see Garen or the gray sedan around? I know it’s a long shot that he’s in the area, but just want to be safe.”

“I drove by your office not more than five minutes ago. The parking lot was completely empty except for a couple of vans for the satellite company. The parking lot hasn’t even been plowed yet.”

I released a long breath. The satellite vans were stored there at night. Tess was safe. “Thanks, that makes me feel much better.”

“No prob. Got to go. We’ve had six accidents in town already. We’re swamped. You’d think people would know how to drive in this stuff, having lived here their entire lives.” He chuckled. “Take care.”

“You too.” I leaned back and scrubbed my jaw. “She’s safe.”

They cleared the accident quickly and I was on my way within ten minutes. I drove directly to the office.

Next to the satellite vans, a lone car sat in the parking lot.

A late model gray sedan with a dented front fender.