THE

FIX-IT

MAN

A YEAR ZERO BOOK

by

Donald Wells

Published by Year Zero Publishing

Visit Donald Wells’ official website at

thebooksofdonaldwells.blogspot.com

for the latest news, book details, and other information,

or contact the author at yearzeropublishing@gmail.com

Copyright © Donald Wells, 2012

e-book formatting by Guido Henkel

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ALSO BY DONALD WELLS

SEX POEMS FOR VIRGINS

(A Poetry Compilation)

THE MANY AND THE ONE

(THE FIRST BOOK IN THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

SINS & SECOND CHANCES

(THE SECOND BOOK IN THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

T H E   F I X - I T   MAN

DRY ADULTERY, WET AMBITION

(THE THIRD BOOK IN THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

DROPPING MY SHORTS

(a collection of four short stories)

OF TONGUE AND PEN

(THE FOURTH BOOK IN THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

AS A SOUL, MOLESTED

(A Poetry Compilation)

ALL GOOD THINGS…

(THE FIFTH BOOK IN THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

This book is dedicated to…

well, you know who you are.

THE

FIX-IT

MAN

PART ONE

1

“Hey mister, can you fix a broken heart?”

I was bent over the workbench in my grandfather’s fix-it shop when the bell over the door tinkled the arrival of a customer. I straightened up and swiveled the stool around to look at her.

She was just a girl, early teens, with large expressive brown eyes and long, curly, honey brown hair. In her arms, she held a red plastic clock molded into the shape of a heart.

She gazed around the shop and then looked back at me, seated behind the counter.

I smiled at her. “Somebody broke your heart?”

She answered with a shy grin. “I meant to say clock, can you fix a clock?”

I waved her over to the counter. “Let me take a look at it.”

She watched me carefully, as I examined the clock.

“You’re not the fix-it man, are you?”

“You mean my grandfather? It’s his shop, but I can fix things too.”

She sent me a doubtful look. “How old are you?”

“I’m sixteen, how about you?”

“I’m thirteen‌—‌and a half.”

“Well Miss Thirteen and a half, do you have a name?”

“My name’s Felicia, what’s yours?”

“I’m Johnny, Johnny Faron.”

The clock’s backing was held in place by several pieces of pliable metal strips, as I began bending these back, she put her hand on mine.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Your clock’s not working because its movement is dead, the part that makes the hands move. It’ll only take me a minute to fix it.”

She removed her hand. “Okay, but be careful.”

I walked to the end of the counter and swung the gate open.

“Come on back here and watch me work, in fact, you can help.”

She walked behind the counter timidly, eyes darting about, taking in all the parts and pieces of work yet to be fixed.

I picked her clock up from the countertop and moved it to the workbench; afterward, I dragged over another stool and motioned for her to sit.

As she climbed atop the stool and looked at all the tools hung on the pegboard behind the bench, it suddenly struck me how beautiful she was. Although still prepubescent and thin as a twig, there was no doubt that she would someday be stunning. She had even and symmetrical features with more than a hint of a Hispanic heritage, while her long limbs gave clues of a growth spurt yet to come.

However, her clothing was old, worn, and judging by their ill fit, undoubtedly hand-me-downs from an older sibling. Her jeans were dirty and the cuffs rolled up, while the yellow sweatshirt she wore was streaked with grime and had a small tear near the collar. Her right sneaker had a rip in its canvas top and was tied with a shoelace a different color than the one on her left foot.

I had grown up poor and knew what it looked like, but this was different, this girl was not only being raised poor, but neglected. Sometimes worn-out clothes are all you have to wear, but there’s never an excuse for dirty.

I pointed to a set of drawers on her left side. “Open that third drawer from the top.”

She slid the drawer open and revealed an assortment of clock mechanisms. I picked out one that looked to be the right size and she handed it to me. After removing the clock’s backing, I loosened the cap nut that held the hands to the clock and began taking it apart.

The expression of distress on her face made me smile.

“I know what I’m doing Felicia, if you pay attention next time you’ll be able to fix it yourself.”

“Uh huh,” She said, while watching me intently as I removed the old works and put the new mechanism in its place.

“You really like this clock, don’t you?”

“It was my mom’s; she died last year, cancer.”

“I’m sorry. Both my parents died last year too, a car accident.”

She looked into my eyes momentarily, giving me a look of sympathy, and then she went back to watching my hands work.

“So who’s raising you now, your dad?”

“Yeah, my father’s still alive.” She said, her voice neither happy nor sad, but just reciting a fact.

When I had it all back together, I reached into a drawer on my right and grabbed a new AA battery. I stuck the battery in its place and the clock’s second hand immediately began to move.

Felicia’s smile lit up the shop as she held the clock in front of her.

“You really fixed it!”

As I put the tools back in their slots, she reached into her pocket and took out a wad of dust covered tinfoil, this, she proceeded to unfold and reveal several one-dollar bills.

“How much do I owe you?”

“Well, normally it would be about ten dollars, but… seeing as how you helped and all, I guess it’s on the house.”

“You mean free?”

“Sure,”

She gave me a suspicious look. “You don’t want no money?”

“No, but whenever your heart’s broken you have to come see me, okay?”

She smiled again, like daybreak after the darkest night.

She stuck her money down deep into her pocket and walked to the door, while virtually hugging her clock.

After opening the door, she stood there for a long moment and stared back at me.

“Thanks for fixing my mom’s clock Johnny.”

I gave her a smile of my own. “Anytime,”

After Felicia left, I wandered over to the display window and watched her walk off down the street.

It was February 14th, St. Valentine’s Day, and although I didn’t realize it at the time, that clock wasn’t the only heart she carried away with her that day.

2

My grandfather’s shop was located in Castle Ridge, Pennsylvania.

It sat on a triangular corner lot. My great-grandfather had once worked with Henry Ford, and in 1914, he opened one of the first few gas stations in the state. During the gas crisis of the 1970’s, his son, my grandfather, took out the pumps and opened his fix-it shop by converting two of the station’s four service bays into a storefront. The other two bays were still used for car repair, and that was where the business saw most of its profit.

After my parents died, I came to live with my grandfather in his tidy two-bedroom apartment above the shop. I had been raised in South Philly and moving to a small town like Castle Ridge took some getting used to, but my grandfather and I never had a cross word between us.

Quite frankly, I idolized the man. He was hands down the best mechanic alive and I had learned most of what I knew of auto and appliance repair from the summers I’d previously spent with him.

* * *

I was putting a rebuilt carburetor in an old Monte Carlo, when Captain Healy pulled his green unmarked police car into the lot. I sighed. He was checking up on me again.

A few months before my parents died, I was arrested for stealing a car. I had won the car in a drag race, but it turned out that the kid who lost it wasn’t the car’s rightful owner. My dad got the mess straightened out‌—‌and me along with it‌—‌but I did do a couple of days in juvie for car theft and underage driving.

Captain Healy had grown up with my dad and now seemed to consider himself my Dutch Uncle.

The man was always full of fatherly advice and seemed devoted to keeping me out of trouble.

When I first moved to town I got in a couple of fights at school with farm boys who wanted to see how far they could push the city kid. Those fights and my car theft rap put me in the running for the town’s unofficial bad boy.

Healy walked over and leaned against the Chevy’s fender.

“What’s new Johnny?”

“Not much Captain, how about you?”

“I got a couple of Phillies tickets for Saturday, thought you might like to keep me company.”

I stared at him and, despite myself, I grinned. As much as I tried to dislike him, I couldn’t.

“That sounds good Captain, but I’ll buy the beer.”

“Beer huh? Funny Johnny, real funny,”

As I grinned over the engine at him, I heard someone call my name from across the street. I looked over and saw Felicia walking by with her friend, Janey. I sent her a wave and she smiled back at me and kept walking. I then looked over at Healy and saw a concerned expression on his face.

“What’s that look for? I’m not allowed to have friends?”

“She’s a cute kid, but a little young yet, huh?”

“I’m not chasing after her, she’s just a friend. I fixed a broken clock for her a few months ago, that’s all.”

“And you pay her to do little odd jobs around here and you buy her food once in a while and, if I’m not mistaken, I saw you two together at the Town Picnic last week.”

I stood up from under the hood and wiped my hands with a rag.

“You do see a lot, don’t you Captain?”

Healy raised his hands in peace. “I’m not trying to get in your business, she’s a cute kid and you’re only sixteen yourself; it’s her father, Dominic Delgado, he’s one mean son of a bitch and I don’t want you mixing it up with him. He’s beaten the crap out of more than one of his daughter’s boyfriends.”

“Felicia’s had a lot of boyfriends?” I asked, and inwardly cursed myself for the wounded tone I heard in my voice.

Healy must have heard it too, because he grinned at me as he answered.

“No, I wasn’t talking about your little friend. I was referring to her older sister, Mona, she’s a whole other story altogether.”

I went back to work tightening the bolts on the carburetor, the ratchet wrench making its little clicking sounds.

“I don’t know Mona.”

“She dropped out of school last year, but forget her, It’s Dominic I want you to steer clear of, if he found you with Felicia, innocent or not, he’d hurt you. He likes to hurt people, and he’s good at it. In fact, it’s his job, he’s a leg breaker for a Philly loan shark.”

I straightened up to my full height of six-foot-three, looking at Healy eye to eye.

“I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, you’re a big kid and I know your father taught you how to box, but do me this one favor, if you run into Dominic keep your cool and walk away, okay?”

I nodded. “Will do,”

Healy climbed back into his car and lowered the window.

“The game starts at one-thirty on Saturday. I’ll drop by around noon and pick you up.”

“Sounds good Captain,”

“My men call me Captain, how about calling me Bill from now on?”

I only called him Captain because I knew it irked him when I did it. I stared at him for a second before answering.

“See ya around Bill.”

He tapped his horn twice and drove off just as my grandfather walked out of the shop, while cleaning his glasses with his shirttail.

My grandfather was in his late eighties, and with many a past decade spent leaning into engine compartments, he walked slightly bent over, but even at his age, he rarely missed work due to illness and was as strong as men half his age.

He greeted me with a smile. “Was that Billy?”

“Yeah, we’re going to a Phillies game on Saturday.”

“That’s nice of him. I’m glad you two are getting along; him and your dad were like brothers growing up.”

I went around to reach in the window of the Monte Carlo and started the engine. The car purred to life and kept a steady hum.

“You can call Mr. Stevens and tell him his car’s ready.”

“Will do,” My grandfather said, he then pointed to the workbench along the right wall. “What’s that doohickey?”

I walked over and showed him my latest creation, a modified two-barrel carburetor I had tried out on the Chevy.

“I can’t get the flow right, the engine kept cutting off.”

“You really think you can get a car to travel a hundred miles on a gallon of gas?”

“More than that, I hope.”

“Maybe you should give up on trying to adapt carburetors and fuel injectors and consider the entire engine.”

“Yeah… maybe you’re right.”

“I wish I had the money to send you to college boy, you’re too smart to be a grease monkey your whole life.”

“I don’t know, a grease monkey and fix-it man named Henry Ford once changed the whole world, maybe it’ll happen again.”

My grandfather put his hands on my shoulders and stared at me, a proud twinkle in his eyes.

“That it might boy, that it might,”

3

Bill and I were driving back from a Flyers game the following January, when we spotted the trucker throwing up on the side of the road.

We were about five miles from town on a desolate stretch of County Road that had no lights, but glowed softly from the full moon reflecting off a blanket of snow that had fallen the previous day.

The trucker finished his regurgitating and ran out to flag us down. Bill stopped the car and asked the man a question.

“What’s wrong buddy, are you sick?”

The man looked nauseated, but he shook his head no while pointing at the sparse woods that lined the highway.

“A, a girl, oh Lord Almighty… there’s a dead girl lying out there.”

The man explained that he had stopped to relieve himself, and as he was about to leave the cover of the trees, he spotted something twinkling in the moonlight. He went to investigate and found the body of a naked girl, stabbed countless times.

The sparkle the man saw came from a gold bracelet on the girl’s wrist.

After explaining to the man that he was a cop, Bill proceeded to handcuff him to the side of the truck.

“Damn it officer, do you have to handcuff me?”

“I told you. It’s only until after I see the body, for all I know you’re the one that dumped her out there. And if you are, I sure as hell don’t want you sneaking up on me. I’ll be right back.”

I grabbed Bill’s arm. “What about me?”

“Stay with him.”

“Well, what if he didn’t kill the girl but whoever did is still out there?”

Bill thought on that for a moment. “Maybe you’re right. I could use a second set of eyes, but stay behind me.”

Bill grabbed a flashlight from the car and we headed toward the trees. He took us through the snow on a slanted angle, so as not to trample the crime scene. It didn’t take us long to spot her. Whoever dumped her here wasn’t trying to hide her; in daylight, she would have been visible from the road.

She was young, blond, maybe a year or two older than me, but probably still in her teens. She may have been beautiful, but her features were sliced into ribbons of bloody scraps. She must have died in great pain. As we got closer, we could see that there was little blood near the body and that whoever had done it, must have murdered her somewhere else.

We saw only one set of shoe prints, these ended ten feet from the girl’s body and then took off in the direction they had come from, they must have belonged to the trucker. There were no shoe prints near the body, but, curiously, we did spot tire tracks in the snow on either side of her that looked as if they belonged to a pick-up truck or maybe a van.

As I fought to steady my stomach, Bill whispered, “Goddamn it, not another one,” and began leading the way back the same way we’d tracked in. When we got back, Bill released the trucker from the cuffs and called the crime in to the state police.

About an hour later, we resumed our drive back home.

Bill turned on the radio out of habit and then turned it off in disgust. Neither one of us felt like music.

“I heard the other cops talking.” I said. “Something about a serial killer?”

“Yeah, that poor little girl is the fourth one dumped in two years. All of them were blondes and all of them were pretty and all of them were slaughtered and left in a field like garbage.”

Bill gripped the steering wheel hard, his voice tinged with anger as he drove faster than usual. He couldn’t have kids of his own, because his wife, Cindy, was unable to bear children due to a childhood accident, and I had learned from my grandfather that Bill always took a special interest in cases involving children.

“Who… what kind of person does something like that, and why? Was she raped?”

“We don’t know about this one yet,” Bill said. “But the others showed signs of sexual assault.”

I shook my head. “There are some damn sick people in the world.”

Bill swerved the car onto the shoulder and stared at me.

“There are sick people in the world, the broken ones. I don’t know whether it’s poverty, abuse, drugs, some freak of genetics or the tooth fairy that made them the way they are, but there are broken people out there who seem determined to shatter and destroy anything decent they find. That girl back there, she’s never going to get married or raise a family or have a career, hell, maybe she was snuffed out before she even got the chance to fall in love. Remember that Johnny, life can be damn short sometimes. Your own father, my friend, he never even got to see forty because some damn drunk smashed into him. Cherish life John. Don’t take it for granted. When you find someone to love, and you will, you hold onto her with both hands and treasure every second.”

I returned his gaze. “I will Bill, I will.”

He clapped me on the shoulder and then pulled back onto the road; ahead I could see the lights of the town.

“Have you ever been in love Johnny?”

“No, I guess not, you know, I’ve been out with a bunch of girls, but sooner or later I get bored or they get bored and we break up.”

“What about the Delgado girl, Felicia? She sticks to you like a tick, seems whenever I stop by she’s there in the garage handing you tools while you work, or sweeping up the shop.”

I shrugged. “It’s not like that with us, she’s just a friend.”

“You know it’s funny, but I once knew a girl like her who used to follow this guy everywhere, she even started following him when he went out on dates with other girls. Finally, he had to tell her to leave him alone, that he wasn’t interested in her like that.”

“How’d she take it?”

“She ignored him and kept hanging around with his group. It drove him crazy. After high school, she moved to Philadelphia. A month later, the poor guy missed her so much that he followed her there. It wasn’t too long after that, that they were married and had a kid.”

“That’s funny, so what was her name?”

He turned his head and grinned at me.

“You used to call her mom.”

4

I was out back behind the shop, working a speed bag, while Felicia sat on the rear steps and watched me, and I admit it, I was showing off. I spent five minutes making the bag dance, and at the end, I hit it so hard that I sent it flying off its swivel base, to land in a corner of the yard.

Felicia laughed and clapped her hands. I bowed at the waist and then walked over to sit beside her. She offered me some of her soda and I took it and swallowed about a third of it, when I passed it back, I noticed that she sipped from the bottle without wiping it off first.

It was summer, July 4th to be exact, and every once in a while the staccato pop of firecrackers would sound off in the distance.

“I’m going to a cookout later, do you want to come?” I asked.

“Whose cookout is it?”

“My friend Bill, you know, the cop? He and his wife Cindy invited me and my grandfather over.”

“They won’t mind me being there?”

I glanced at her sideways. “Bill said I could bring a date.”

“A date?”

“That’s what he said.”

She smiled at me. “I’d love to go, but first, let me run home and change my blouse.”

“Cool, I’ll take a shower and pick you up at two.”

“No! I’ll meet you back here.”

I reached over and took her hand, noticing for the first time that she was wearing red nail polish. She’d been doing that a lot lately, wearing polish and lipstick; her wardrobe had improved considerably since she’d started babysitting. Now that she had money of her own, she could afford to wear clothes that weren’t ready for the rag bin. She’d also grown a few inches this year and begun developing curves. It was getting harder for me to think of her as a little girl.

“How come you never want me to come by your house?”

“It’s my father.”

“What about him?”

“He doesn’t like company… and he drinks.”

“I’ve heard about him. Bill says he’s the town’s tough guy.”

She grew angry. “My father’s nothing but a bully. He hits my sister sometimes and he used to beat my mom up all the time.”

I took her by the shoulders. “Has he ever hit you?”

She shook her head no and I let her go.

“He grabs my wrist too hard sometimes and leaves a bruise, but I don’t talk back to him like Mona does. My sister’s not afraid of him, she just keeps yelling back until he hits her, and then she leaves the house for a few days while he cools down.”

“If he ever hits you, you let me know, okay?”

She shook her head no vigorously. “He’d hurt you Johnny, he’s very strong and he’s even bigger than you are. I’ve seen him beat up men until they begged him to stop.”

“If he scares you, come here; don’t stay in the house with him.”

“He’s hardly ever home, when he’s not working he spends most of his time at the racetrack, or at the bar down the street.”

I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m sorry you’ve got such a crappy home life baby.”

She laid her head on my shoulder. “At least I’ve got a good friend.”

* * *

After Felicia left to go home and change, I spent a little time with the weights. I was on my back, bench-pressing, when a shadow fell over me. I secured the weight in its cradle and stood up to find a girl standing there, a very sexy girl. She was wearing a pair of white shorts that showed off her long legs, while her large breasts practically spilled out of a red knit halter-top. Her curly hair hung about her beautiful face like a mane, a face that greatly resembled Felicia’s.

“You must be Mona.”

“Why must I?”

“Because you look like your sister,”

She stepped closer. I was shirtless and sweaty from my workout, wearing only a pair of cut-off jeans and sneakers. She ran a hand over my torso, squeezing my pecs and tracing a fingernail along the ridges of my abdomen. When she was done, she licked the beads of sweat from her fingers.

“Are you fuckin’ my little sister Muscleman?”

“Felicia and I are just friends.”

She laughed. “Sure you are, and what about Sara Tyson? Are you and she just friends too?”

“I’ve gone out with Sara, so what?”

“Sara says you’re damn good in bed, and I bet my little sister thinks she’s your one and only.”

I sighed. I could try and convince her that Felicia and I were just friends, but what would be the point? Her mind was already made up.

“What’s this visit all about Mona?”

“I’m just lookin’ out for my sister. I don’t want to see her get knocked up, and I know she’s too dumb to use birth control, I on the other hand…” She reached into a back pocket and brought out a small foil package, it was a condom. “I’ll make you a deal, stay away from Felicia and I’ll fuck your brains out anytime you want.”

I looked her over, lingering at her breasts, feeling an ache. I really did want her, but there was something in her eyes, that spoke of damage. Also, in her own weird way I thought she was trying to be protective of Felicia, altruistic even, by offering herself in place of her sister.

“It’s no deal.” I said.

“She’s just a kid.”

“I would never hurt your sister.”

“You really like Felicia, huh? Then you’ll love me.”

Mona reached out and unzipped my jeans and I slapped her hands away and zipped back up.

“If I ever want any I’ll let you know, okay?”

She gave me a look of pure hate.

“Oh I see, you only like ‘em young.”

She turned and marched away from me. She then spun around and made me a promise.

“Stay away from my sister, or I’ll make sure that somebody beats the shit out of you.”

And then she was gone.

I toweled off and went upstairs to take a hot shower, as I washed off the sweat, thoughts of Mona’s breasts popped into my mind. I reached down and turned the faucet handle until the spray ran cold.

5

After a harsh winter and a drenching spring, summer turned out wonderful.

It was the 17th, of August, and since late June, we had seen little rain and low humidity, with temperatures in the eighties. I was in Atlantic City, walking along the boardwalk with Felicia and her best friend, Janey Winslow.

It was a Sunday, and also, Janey’s sixteenth birthday.

We had spent the day playing video games and just generally goofing off.

Janey wore her brown hair in pigtails that reached to the small of her back and they were the only things about her that said girl and not woman. She was five-ten and had the curves of a lingerie model.

I pointed to a bench along the railing, and the three of us settled upon it and gazed out at the ocean. Down on the beach were hundreds of people relaxing, strolling, building sand castles, and even several daring souls on surfboards, braving the waves of the Atlantic.

Janey sat between me and Felicia and slumped back on the bench.

“I wish I hadn’t run out of money. I really wanted to get that camera at the Grab-It game.”

The ‘Grab-It game’ was a metal claw that dipped into a glass case full of toys and trinkets. Janey must have already spent twenty dollars trying to win an eight-dollar disposable camera.

I reached in my pocket and brought out a ten.

“Here, have fun,”

Janey blinked at me. “You’re serious?”

“Sure, happy birthday,”

Janey grabbed the money and stood up. Before leaving, she bent over and kissed me on the cheek.

“Thanks Johnny, be back soon.”

As Janey ran off to try her luck, Felicia got off the bench and stood at the rail.

“You like Janey a lot, don’t you?” She asked.

“Sure,”

Felicia then made a sniffling sound and took a deep breath.

“You could have taken her out alone if you wanted, you didn’t have to drag me along too.”

I sat up straight. “Whoa, when I said I liked Janey, I meant that I like her, not like like her, you know? She’s just a friend.”

Felicia turned and stared at me. “Am I just a friend too?”

I patted the bench. “Come here, please?”

Felicia sat beside me. I brought out my wallet and took a picture from it, a picture of my parents.

“That’s my mom and dad.”

She took the photo from me. “What were their names?”

“Ray and Hannah,”

“Hannah, I like that name, it’s pretty, and she was pretty too, but you mostly look like your dad.”

My dad was a mechanic, at least part-time; he spent most of his time trying to become heavyweight champ.”

“He was a fighter?”

“Well, he thought so, he had the skills, it’s just that you’re either born a great fighter or you’re not, he wasn’t. We never had much money because my dad was always chasing his dream, instead of working as a mechanic. My mom used to clean houses just so we could pay the bills.”

“You sound like you were mad at him.”

“I loved my dad. It’s just that, even as a kid I knew that what he was doing wasn’t right. He should have worked harder at giving my mom a good home before he worried about being a fighter. But it was his dream and my grandpa says dreams can own you as much as you own them.”

Felicia gazed into my eyes. “Do you have a dream?”

“Yeah, I want to build an engine that can get a hundred miles to the gallon. It’s probably impossible though, hell, maybe I’m more like my father than I know.”

“You’ll do it someday.” She said, as if stating a fact.

“You think so?”

She nodded, while smiling at me.

I pointed to the photo. “Notice anything about that picture?”

Felicia inspected the photo. It showed my parents sitting together on a bench, on a boardwalk, this boardwalk. She turned and looked at the building behind us.

“This is the same bench! We’re sitting on the same bench.”

“Yeah, it was taken on their first date, they were eighteen.”

She handed me the picture and I placed it back into my wallet.

“This bench is special to you, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t give Janey that money because I like her; I gave Janey that money to get rid of her for a while, so we could be alone on this bench, just like my parents were.”

Felicia smiled shyly at me and then lifted her head up towards me; as I leaned down to kiss her. Suddenly, there was a teddy bear in front of my face and Janey was leaning on the back of the bench.

“Look what I won!” She said, and showed us her prize. Along with the bear, she had also won her camera.

Janey ran around to the front of the bench and took aim. “Smile!”

I put my arm around Felicia just as the picture was snapped.

“That’s gonna be a great photo.” Janey said.

Felicia and I grinned at each other; then I took her hand and got off the bench.

“Why don’t we go home now?” I said, and the girls agreed.

As we walked along, I put my right arm around Felicia and hugged her to me, as we headed to my car.

“Thanks for taking us to Atlantic City Johnny, I had a great birthday.”

“You’re welcome Janey, we had a good time too.”

Felicia rested her head upon my chest as we strolled along and I knew that something had changed between us.

I had always dated a lot, drifting from girl to girl like a bee flitting from flower to flower.

I looked down at Felicia, as she smiled up at me, and I knew that she wouldn’t be, couldn’t be, just another girl, that when we began it would be forever.

I was eighteen and the thought of never being with another woman should have sent me running in the other direction, but instead, I hugged Felicia just a little tighter and trembled with joy at what the future would bring.

6

Felicia and I were in the park, enjoying an impromptu picnic of chilidogs and fries.

It was late September, but the temperature was still mild and we had an hour to kill before our movie started. We were seated by the lake, watching the ducks drift about lazily in the water, leaving trails among the clouds reflected upon its calm surface.

Felicia had turned sixteen just about a week ago, and the little ragamuffin whose clock I’d fixed, was now a nattily dressed young lady whose figure caught the eye of nearly every male in town. She spent the summer babysitting and working as a cashier at the supermarket and, as far as I could tell, all of her money went to buy clothes. Today’s outfit was a pair of designer jeans with a red blouse that revealed a hint of cleavage. My eyes drifted to that spot quite often as I sucked down my chilidogs.

“Are you still seeing Karen Willis?” She asked.

I stared at her for a moment before answering. She had never before asked me about the girls I dated.

“We broke up weeks ago; she’s with Todd Baylor now.”

“Oh,” She said, and went back to picking at her fries. A few moments later, she asked a second question.

“So… who are you seeing now?”

“No one, but I got a girl in my sights.”

“Do I know her?”

I smiled at her, as I brushed a stray curl back from her face.

“You know her very well.”

“How come you never asked her out before?”

“She thinks of me as a friend, maybe that’s all she wants from me.”

She smiled to herself and then turned toward me on the bench.

“This girl, whoever she is, maybe she’s had a thing for you for a long time.”

“Maybe,” I said, while savoring our little game.

Then she said, “Ricky Hasbro asked me out yesterday.” and stared at me, looking for a reaction. I froze, just as I was about to toss my last piece of chilidog into my mouth. I glared at it then and threw it back into the empty bag.

“Hasbro? That big blond guy with the red corvette? He’s on the football team, right?”

She smiled, “He’s the quarterback.”

My appetite had now fully deserted me and I gathered up my fries and shoved them into the bag.

“So, when are you and Hasbro going on this date?”

“We’re not. I told him no.”

I turned toward her, our lips only inches apart.

“What if I asked you out?”

“We’re out now in case you haven’t noticed.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Johnny?”

“What?”

“If you don’t kiss me I’m gonna hit you.”

And so I kissed her. It wasn’t technically our first, we had shared little pecks lately, but it was the first time a kiss… promised more than a kiss. After we separated, she turned backwards and leaned against me. I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin atop her head.

She said. “So, where do we go from here?”

“To the movies,”

I felt her stiffen in my arms. “You know what I mean.”

“Have you ever…”

“No, but I know you have, and I will, whenever you want me to… I’ll sleep with you.”

I sat her up and turned her around towards me until her eyes were gazing into mine.

“No pressure, okay? Whenever you’re ready, I love you baby, sex isn’t gonna make that any truer.”

She beamed at me. “You love me?”

“Hell yeah,” I said, and kissed her.

From our right came a shrill voice. “Felicia, what the fuck!”

Felicia flew off of me as if she had been catapulted.

Walking towards us was her sister Mona, walking beside Mona were three guys that had burnout written all over them, the shortest of the three was smoking a joint, while the other two passed a can of beer back and forth.

“What were you two gonna do, fuck right here on the bench?”

“Don’t be so crude Mona.” Felicia said. “We were only kissing.”

Mona stood before me. “I thought I told you to stay away from my sister, Muscleman.”

“Actually, you offered to sleep with me yourself.”

Felicia grabbed my arm. “She did? When?”

“It was a while ago; she stopped by the shop and introduced herself.”

Felicia jabbed a finger at her sister. “He’s my boyfriend. Stay away from him and mind your own business.”

Mona smiled. “Maybe I’ll make him my business.”

One of the burnouts behind her spoke then, the biggest of the three.

“You want us to teach him a lesson Mona?”

Mona’s smile grew wicked. She grabbed Felicia by the arms and pulled her clear of the bench.

“Kick his fuckin’ ass Dillon.”

The little one came at me first, the one with the joint. I shot up off the bench and caught him hard under the chin with an elbow, his lights went out and he staggered back into the other two, they simply stepped aside and let him fall to the ground.

Now the big one came at me, the one Mona had called Dillon.

He was nearly as tall as me but a good twenty pounds lighter. He sent a couple of swooping lefts my way that I easily ducked and then I hit him with a right uppercut that closed his eyes. I watched him fall, then felt a hard blow to my left kidney, it staggered me and I turned to face the third guy. I could tell this one had boxed before, as had I. We circled each other for a few seconds, before he tried a combination on me that I easily blocked. He had solid skills, but slow hands. I let him land a couple of punches on my stomach and then I sent three quick jabs into his face. His hands fell to his sides and then he joined his friends, sprawled in the grass.

Felicia struggled free of her sister’s grip and ran over to me.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine… they weren’t—” Someone was running up hard on my right. I turned to face them, and as I raised my fist, I realized it was Bill Healy. He must have been in the park running, he wore a pair of black cotton shorts and a blue tank top, his dark hair was damp with sweat. He looked at the three lying on the ground and then at me. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have said it was pride I saw in his eyes.

“Fighting again, huh Johnny?”

“They came at me Bill.”

He nodded. “I saw most of it. I was jogging on the other side of the lake when it started.”

He bent over and checked on the three burnouts. The bigger ones were coming around, but the little one was still out.

Bill stood and stared at Mona, a sad look of disappointment on his face.

“This looks like your work.”

Mona spread her arms in innocence. “I didn’t do anything! When the fighting started, I just grabbed my little sister to get her out of the way.”

He looked at me. “Do you want to press charges on these three?”

“No, hell it was just a little scuffle, they won’t try it again.”

Bill smirked. “No, I bet they won’t.”

The little one on the ground moaned and sat up suddenly.

“What the fuck happened?”

Bill leaned down and spoke to him. “You and your buddies got your asses kicked, that’s what happened; now get up and get out of here before I arrest you.”

The three staggered away, amid muttered curses.

Mona followed after them. When she was twenty feet away, she turned around and stared at Felicia.

“I’m gonna tell daddy all about your boyfriend.”

Felicia paled. “No, please? You know what he’s like.”

The smile returned to Mona’s face.

“Oh, honey it’s for your own good, and daddy’s gonna love him, you know he likes it when they fight back.”

And then she swiveled around and walked out of the park.

7

After the fracas in the park, Felicia and I went on to the movies, but to this day I couldn’t tell you what the film was about. We spent most of our time whispering and kissing in a corner of the top row.

My hands were all over her, but her bra stayed fastened and I mostly explored above the waist. She was still a virgin and the last thing I wanted to do was pressure her.

And God, how I wanted her, the intensity of my desire startled me. I had been with more than a few girls, but I had never ached for any of them the way I now ached for Felicia. I guess it was because she was special. I loved her, and I had never been in love before.

After the movie, we went back to the shop and upstairs to the apartment. I ordered a pizza, and after we ate, we sat on the sofa to watch TV. Again, we started kissing, but this time I weakened and slid a hand inside her bra to cup her left breast.

I whispered in her ear. “You’ve never seen my room, have you?”

She whispered back at me, in a voice hoarser than my own.

“What about your grandfather?”

“He’s at a convention in Atlantic City; he won’t be back until Monday afternoon.”

“Johnny…”

“Yes baby?”

“Show me your room.”

I rose off the sofa, still holding her in my arms. As I turned toward my bedroom, the downstairs’ buzzer rang.

“Fuck!”

Felicia jumped out of my arms. “What if it’s my father?”

I shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to face him sometime.”

As we walked down the stairs to answer the door, Felicia patted her hair back in place and tucked in her blouse. I put an eye to the peephole and saw Bill staring back.

I looked over at Felicia; her face was white with fear.

“It’s okay, it’s just Bill.”

I opened the door and he smiled at us.

“Hi Johnny, Felicia, mind if I come in?”

I exhaled nosily. “As long as you’re here, come on in.”

He hesitated in the doorway, as he read my face.

“I’m interrupting something, aren’t I? I’m sorry, I’ll call you later.”

Felicia reached out and took his hand.

“Don’t leave. Johnny’s just being rude. We were only watching TV and… I should be getting home.”

I stared at her. “What do mean you’re going home? What about…?”

She gave me a quick peck on the lips. “We can watch TV tomorrow night, say around seven? I’ll even make dinner.”

I grinned. “Tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow night, for sure,” She said. She then walked out the door while sending us a little wave. “Goodnight Johnny, Captain Healy,”

I sent her on her way with a smile and then closed the door.

Bill was grinning. “She’s really turned into a beautiful girl.”

“What’s so damn important?”

“She said she’ll see you tomorrow… for TV?”

I told him, “Shut up.” and led the way up the staircase.

We sat on the sofa, and a moment later, Bill lifted a cheek and plucked something off the cushion. It was a rainbow colored barrette in the shape of a butterfly, one of Felicia’s. It must have fallen off while we were petting.

Bill held it up and smiled.

“Is this yours or your grandfather’s?”

I snatched it from him. “Give me that. By the way, your timing stinks.”

His face lost all humor, as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a set of photos.

“Maybe my timing was perfect.”

He laid the pictures on the coffee table and I could see that they were mug shots, 4” x 6”, full-face and profile, and not of a pretty face.

“That’s Dominic Delgado,” Bill said.

I picked up the full-face shot and stared at it. The man was in his late thirties, a broad, swarthy face with a bulbous nose and mean narrow eyes set wide above reddened, pockmarked cheeks. I tossed the photo back on the table.

“Thank God Felicia got her looks from her mom.”

Bill jabbed a finger at the pictures. “If you see him coming, run the other way. I know you’re a strong kid and I know you can box, but this man will hurt you like you’ve never been hurt before.”

I stood up. “I won’t run. I can’t. I’m gonna have to face Felicia’s father sooner or later.”

“There is a way around that.”

“How?”

“Don’t see her anymore.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Listen, she’s a sweet girl and a stunner, but there’s a world full of girls who—”

“I… I love her Bill. As far as I’m concerned she’s the only girl.”

He fell back against the sofa in despair. A moment later, he looked up at me, smiling.

“You really love her?”

“Yeah, I think maybe I always have.”

“And does she love you?”

I opened my mouth to say yes, and then hesitated.

“She’s never said it, has she?”

I plopped down on the sofa. “I know she loves me.”

This time Bill stood up, after pacing a bit, he spoke.

“Johnny… Felicia, her and Mona, they’re damaged kids. That house they grew up in was toxic. They grew up watching their father smack their mother around on a regular basis.”

“She’s told me about that.”

“During my rookie year, my partner and I responded to a domestic disturbance call. It was Delgado. When we arrived on the scene I saw that four squad cars were already there. I asked my partner why so many cops had responded and he told me it was because the last time they had been there it took six of them to put the cuffs on Delgado.

“When I went into the house, Delgado was already cuffed and lying on his stomach on the living room floor. Huddled in a corner of the room with the kids was his wife, Elizabeth. She was a beautiful woman, but not that night. One of her eyes was bloodied and swollen tight, she had a tooth missing in the front and her bottom lip was nearly torn off. In her left arm she hugged Mona and in her right was Felicia. I’d say Felicia was maybe two-years-old then. As horrible as Elizabeth looked, the most frightening thing she did that night was speak. From where he laid on the floor, Delgado kept telling his wife how sorry he was and that he loved her.

“Over and over again he said ‘I love you Lizzy, I love you Lizzy,’ and as we were carting him away, through that torn lip and battered face, Elizabeth Delgado wheezed out the words, ‘I love you too Dom.’ That’s the definition of love that Felicia grew up with.”

I stood and offered Bill my hand. “Thanks for telling me that story. I think I needed to know that about her.”

“But you still won’t give up Felicia?”

“No, and I’m going to teach her a new definition of love.”

“Do me a favor, if you ever do tangle with Delgado…”

“Yeah?”

He gripped my hand tighter, as his eyes burned into mine.

“Beat the living shit out of him.”

8

The next day was Sunday, and with the threat of Delgado in the air, Bill stuck to me like a pimple. We were in bay number 1, putting a timing chain in an ‘89 Coupe De Ville when I heard a car speed into the lot. I scrambled out from beneath the engine and watched as Mona jumped out of the back of a new Lincoln Town Car. She walked toward me pointing.

“That’s him daddy, the muscleman in the overalls.”

Dominic Delgado opened the driver’s door and removed his bulk from the car. He was a big one all right, at least six foot six and two forty, with only his beer gut preventing him from being all muscle.

I heard Bill curse behind me, and then watched Felicia emerge from the rear of the car. I sent her an encouraging smile and saw only dread reflected in her face. At that moment, all I wanted to do was hold her.

Delgado pointed at me. “This the kid Mona?”

“That’s him daddy, but he’s no kid, he’s already out of high school, I guess he just likes ‘em young.”

Delgado smiled, as he looked me over. “He’s a big one, good; I haven’t had a workout in a while.” Then he spotted Bill and the smile left his face. “What are you doin’ here Captain?”

“What’s the problem Delgado?”

“This dude here has been fuckin’ my youngest, she’s only fourteen.”

Felicia spoke then, in a hesitant voice, barely above a whisper.

“I’m sixteen daddy, and we haven’t been… doing what you said.”

Delgado turned and screamed at her.

“Shut the fuck up!”

I walked up to him and stood a foot apart. He reeked of whiskey, cigars and ignorance.

“I know you’re her father, but don’t ever shout at her again.”

He looked me up and down. “You really think you’re hot shit don’t you?” His hands closed into fists, but then he glanced back at Bill and unclenched them. “This kid’s a friend of yours, ain’t he?”

“Almost like a son,” Bill said.

Delgado took a step toward me; he leaned in and spoke in a whisper.

“Your cop buddy ain’t always gonna be around. The next time I see you I’m gonna beat you bloody.”

“Or vice versa,” I said.

That sent him into peals of laughter that ended in a hacking cough, when he was done; he shook his head at me.

“Oh kid, I can’t fuckin’ wait. Hey, Healy you better tell this boy ‘bout me. Kid I am the fuckingest badass this town’s ever knew, nobody’s ever kicked my ass and let me tell you, some shitkicker grease monkey like yourself ain’t likely to be the first.”

He swaggered back to his car and climbed behind the wheel, as Felicia got in the backseat with her sister. It broke my heart to watch her drive away with him.

Bill walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I know you’ve never seen him fight, but what do you think?”

“I think if Felicia and I ever marry, family get-togethers are going to be hell.”

“I’m serious; do you think you could beat him?”

I turned and stared at him. “You almost sound like you want me to fight him.”

He hung his head and sighed.

“It’s going to happen. Neither one of you will back down and I can’t always be by your side.”

I waited until he raised his head again, and our eyes met.

“I can beat him Bill. I swear I won’t ever start it, but as God is my witness, I’ll finish it. I’ll beat him and I’ll beat him good, for Felicia.”

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

“That’s from Shakespeare, right?”

“Yeah, it’s a line from A midsummer night’s dream.”

I cocked my head. “I don’t know; this feels more like Romeo and Juliet to me.”

Bill got a sick look on his face.

“I always hated the way that one ended.”

* * *

When seven o’clock came and went I was sure Felicia was standing me up, but at 7:22 the bell rang. I went downstairs and opened the door to find her smiling at me. She was wearing a new blue dress and looking like an angel.

I smiled back at her while opening my arms, and watched in dismay as her face crumbled and she fell against me, sobbing. I helped her up the stairs and we settled on the sofa with my arms about her. Moments later, her crying lessened. I gave her a soft kiss on the lips and asked what was wrong.

“Everything’s wrong, my whole damn life is wrong.”

“If this is about your father—”

She exploded off the sofa, angrier than I’d ever seen her.

“Everything’s about my father! First, he comes here today and threatens you and then when we get back home, he and Mona start screaming at each other. She was teasing him, asking why he was scared of Captain Healy and she knows daddy hates him.”

“Why does your father hate Bill?”

“He tried to help my mom once. When I was about seven, he took us to a women’s shelter.”

“But your mom went back to your father.”

Felicia wiped away fresh tears.

“Yes. She kept saying how much she loved my father and how he doesn’t mean to hit her but that sometimes he just can’t help it and… oh the hell with it.”

“Baby… you do know that what your parents shared wasn’t love, right?”

“You’re wrong. My mom loved him. She knew what he was but she loved him anyway. Her parents even disowned her when they married.”

“Disowned her? People still do that?”

She shrugged. “They did back then.”

“How did you get out of the house, did you have to sneak out?”

She gave a humorless laugh as she sat on the sofa again.

“Mona and I don’t have to sneak out. My father’s almost never home and when he is, he’s usually asleep. You saw him, he doesn’t even know how old I am, hell I’m not even sure he knows my name, whenever he talks about me, he calls me, ‘his youngest.”

“How long can you stay?”

“There’s no rush, daddy went to Philly and Mona’s off God knows where. Oh, and I’m sorry but I couldn’t cook dinner, the power’s off, daddy must have forgotten to pay the electric bill again.”

I took her hand. “Are you hungry? We could go over to the diner.”

“I’m not hungry. I just want to be alone with you.”

She kissed me and I held her close and breathed her in. She smelled like life, like joy, like forever.

“I’m ready Johnny… I want to be with you.”

I brushed her hair back from her face. God, how I loved her hair, it was soft and curly and never seemed the same fusion of red, brown and auburn two days in a row. Remarkable brown eyes gazed from a face, whose beauty, the most gifted poet could never do justice.

I had cherished her for years, early on as a surrogate big brother, later, morphing into friend, and recently I dared to assume the role of suitor. Now I stood on the verge of lover and felt a quiver pass through me.

“I love you Felicia and I will love you until the day I die.”

She opened her mouth to reciprocate. “Johnny I lov… I…”

I smiled at her. “I know baby. We don’t need words.”

And then I lifted my wounded womanchild and carried her to my bed and we made‌—‌we made our way through that night, that first night, and emerged into a dawn of new beginnings.

9

The next day, Felicia skipped school and I kept the closed sign hanging on the shop door. We stayed in bed past noon, then, hunger roused us from our bliss and, after the best shower of our lives, we went into the kitchen, where I watched Felicia make breakfast.

“Mmm, that omelet was delicious.” I said.

“This is our first meal together; at least it’s the first meal I’ve cooked for you.”

I grinned at her. “You’re forgetting that homemade pizza you made me, the one with the Spam and raisin toppings.”

Felicia made a face. “Don’t remind me.”

“It was good. I ate the whole thing.”

“I was only thirteen then, I’m a much better cook now.”

I reached across the table and took her hand. “You’re a much better everything,”

Noises came from downstairs and I heard the door open.

I smiled, “My grandfather’s home,”

Felicia looked around uncertainly. “Should I hide?”

“No, he’s cool, don’t worry.”

My grandfather walked into the apartment with a suitcase in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.

“Johnny, why is the closed sign still on the door, are you sick?” He asked. Then he spotted Felicia.

Now, the old man had seen the two of us together for years, mostly around the garage and fix-it shop, but also in the apartment. Felicia and I together was not a novelty to him. Yet, the old fox now gave the two of us and the room a careful scrutiny, and then smiled a knowing grin.

“Hello there young lady, how are you today?”

Felicia sent him a nervous glance. “I’m fine Mr. Faron.”

Grandpa said, “Um hum,” and then he shined his smile on me.

“You look sleepy son, you getting enough rest?”

“I’m good grandpa.”

“I don’t know, you look tuckered out to me.”

Sometimes he could be a mean old man.

“I’ve never been better. How was your trip?”

“Fine, fine, it was nice to see my old friends again.”

“Old friends? I thought maybe you had spent time with a new friend this weekend.”

His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. “What do you mean?”

“Mrs. Parsons, the widow across the street, you remember her, you spent three hours fixing her toaster last week, a house call wasn’t it?”

“So?”

“So I heard from her son that she went to Atlantic City this weekend, I thought that maybe you had run into her somewhere, you know… by accident.”

Sometimes I could be a mean young man.

“You don’t miss much, do you boy?”

“It runs in the family.”

He put down his bag and his wine and sat beside Felicia.

“Has my grandson been treating you right?”

“Yes Sir.”

He patted her hand. “He’d better, or he’ll surely answer to me. Now I’m gonna leave you two alone and take a nap, the trip wore me out.”

“The trip did, huh?”

He said, “Watch it boy,” and headed for his room.

Felicia whispered across the table.

“Was he really with Mrs. Parsons this weekend? How old is he?”

“He’ll be ninety in November.”

“And he still… you know?”

I shrugged. “We Farons are a hearty breed.”

10

Life was so good over the next few months that I damn near forgot Felicia had a psycho for a father.

When my birthday arrived in October, my grandfather surprised me with a used Harley, a black 1998 Softail, which he had personally restored.

Felicia and he must have been in cahoots, because her gift just so happened to be a new leather jacket.

I felt like the Fonz.

Felicia and I spent every spare moment together. And God bless my grandfather, because he made himself scarce on a regular basis in order to give us privacy.

Spending time at Felicia’s house had never been an option, but now, with her father’s threat of violence hanging over us, I didn’t even dare stop at the corner to pick her up, just in case Delgado showed up unexpectedly.

I saw her father twice since he made his threat, once, when he slowly rolled pass the shop and made a gun gesture at me with his thumb and forefinger and the second time, a few weeks later, when he stood across the street, leaning on his car, staring at me.

Perhaps he thought he was being a master of psychological warfare, but my grandfather thought he was getting set to come over and stood guard in front of the shop with his ancient .45 Colt. Delgado laughed at the old man, but he got back in his car and drove off.

It’s a good thing. My grandfather would have shot him had he laid a hand on me.

* * *

It was three days before Christmas, one of those rare December gems when the temperature climbs high above the freezing mark, and Felicia and I took full advantage of it. We packed a picnic lunch and rode the Harley up into the hills. Felicia loved the Harley, and on an isolated dirt road, I gave her a riding lesson. She was a natural, handling the bike with ease.

Later, after a short hike to a secluded spot in a sun-filled meadow, we gorged ourselves and then laid on a blanket to talk.

“Johnny, have you ever thought of having kids?”

“Baby… this wouldn’t be your way of breaking news to me, would it?”

She gave me a puzzled look, but then she took my meaning.

“No silly, I’m not pregnant. I just wondered if you ever thought of having children.”

I stroked her cheek. “Not until I met you.”

“How many kids do you want to have?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never really thought about a number.”

“I want at least five, maybe even six.”

“Six?”

“I’d love to be the mommy to a bunch of kids, to keep them safe, to spoil them. I’ve never really wanted a career; I just want to be a mom.”

“You want to give someone what you never had growing up.”

She looked thoughtful. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

“With six kids, we’d have an awful lot of grandkids someday.”

She grinned at me. “We’d have an awful lot of grandkids someday? That wouldn’t be your way of asking me a question, would it?”

I held her close. “I can’t imagine marrying anyone else, but maybe you’d better finish high school first.”

“I knew I was going to marry you the day you fixed my clock. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“I just thought you were a cute kid.”

She rolled on top of me, while pulling the blanket along, so it hid us from view, then she kissed me deeply on the mouth.

“Do you still think I’m just a cute kid?”

“I think you’re the love of my life.”

I felt her hands fumble with my belt.

“Let’s practice making those babies.”

* * *

The next day was D-Day‌—‌Dominic Day.

My grandfather and I were busy working in the shop, when my phone rang. I answered it and heard Felicia speak in a whisper.

In the background, I could hear a man yelling amongst a woman’s high-pitched screams.

“Johnny, Johnny I think he’s going to kill her.”

“Felicia what’s wrong?”

“He’s beating her, he’s beating Mona the way he used to beat mommy, oh Johnny he’s going to kill her.”

I screamed into the phone. “I’ll be right there baby!” I shouted to my grandfather as I ran toward the door. “Delgado’s gone nuts! Call Bill and have him get over there!”

“Wait for him boy, wait for Billy.”

“I can’t! Felicia needs me.”

I jumped on the Harley and rode into traffic without even looking. After swerving to avoid a semi, I rocketed toward Felicia’s house. I was so intent on getting to her that I nearly spilled the bike in their driveway, by attempting to hop off of it before it stopped.

The house was a two-story colonial with missing shingles and hanging gutters, an eyesore on an otherwise decent looking block of homes.

I leapt over the six wooden steps that led to the porch and found the front door locked. Then I heard Delgado yelling.

“I’ll cut the damn thing out of you!”

There was a half-moon of glass in the top of the door and I looked through it to view a scene of horror.

Delgado stood with a long-handled screwdriver in his raised hand, while his daughters cowered on the floor at his feet. Mona was on her back and Felicia was on top of her, apparently trying to shield her sister from her father’s crazed wrath.

Delgado pushed at Felicia as she clutched onto Mona.

“Get the fuck out of the way or I’ll slice right through you.”

Mona, for her part, was also pushing at Felicia, desperately trying to shove her little sister out of the way.

“Felicia run. Run!” She cried.

Mona managed to kick Felicia back out of harm’s way, just as Delgado thrust the screwdriver downward, jamming the blade of the tool into Mona’s stomach. He left it there and stood, while glaring down at his handiwork.

Mona screamed out in agony as blood poured from her wound. Felicia sprung to her feet and began beating against her father’s chest, while crying.

“Leave her alone, damn it leave her alone!”

As Delgado raised his hand to slap her, I stepped back and slammed a heel into the door. The wood splintered from the lock and I rushed inside, entering a room cluttered with scattered side tables and an overturned couch.

Felicia looked at me with a mixture of dread and relief, while Mona simply kept staring at the screwdriver jutting from her blood-soaked abdomen, she also had a bleeding lip and a welt rising under one eye.

Delgado turned and grinned at me.

“This must be my lucky day.”

I pointed to the door. “Baby, grab your sister and get the hell out of here.”

“What about you?”

I shouted to Felicia, “Move!” and tossed my head toward the open door.

I had taken my eyes off Delgado and the fight nearly ended before it started. He caught me on the chin with a jab that rocked me and sent me stumbling backwards through the doorway. I was back on the porch and off balance, but regained my equilibrium, just in time to avoid Delgado as he torpedoed out of the house and sent a left uppercut my way. I countered with a series of jabs that backed him up and gave me a position away from the stairs.

He came at me quick, jabbing away, trying to back me against the porch’s railing and I remember thinking that a man with a beer belly should not be able to move that fast, but fast he was.

A foot from the railing, I duck under a right cross and came up behind him to deliver a blow to his left side. He let out a grunt and then turned to face me.

At that moment, in my peripheral vision, I caught a glimpse of Felicia and Mona leaving the house. They went down the stairs and Felicia guided Mona to rest on the sidewalk, near my bike, the screwdriver still protruding from her stomach.

Delgado and I stood a yard apart and he glared at me with an arrogant self-confidence born of a hundred victories.

“I’m gonna cripple you kid. I’m gonna beat you so ugly that my youngest ain’t ever gonna want to fuck you again.”

I shouted, “Her name is Felicia!” and hit him on the side of his jaw with a hard left. It was like hitting a block of ice. I immediately felt my hand go numb, but was rewarded by the sight of him flexing his jaw.

Delgado caught me on the chin with a swooping overhand left that weakened my knees. I moved in on him and began pummeling that beer gut of his with a flurry of rights and lefts. He head-butted me and I retreated a few steps and shook my head. Blood oozed from a nasty cut over my brow and streamed down my face. I tilted my head slightly so the blood wouldn’t drip into my eye and went back at him. I feigned a left jab and then caught him squarely on the nose with a right that broke the cartilage and sent blood gushing. He made a snorting sound and then spit blood at me.

“Aaaaggg, you broke my fuckin’ nose.”

I opened my mouth to respond, and he hit me on the side of my jaw with a right that was so hard it dislodged a back tooth. I made a gagging sound as it slid down my throat on a trail of its own blood.

Then, the air filled with sirens, as four police cars and an ambulance skidded to a halt in front of the house. As the ambulance crew ran to help Mona, Bill jumped out of the lead car and headed toward the steps.

I thrust my palm out at him. “Goddamn it no! He’s mine!”

Bill winced at the blood covering my face and soaking the front of my sweatshirt. Two officers started to step pass him, and he put out an arm to stop them.

“Let’s let Mr. Faron finish his citizen’s arrest.”

One of the cops gawked at him. “Citizen’s arrest?”

Bill glared back. “You heard me.”

The cop shrugged. “Whatever you say Captain,”

Delgado used the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe blood from his face and then put up his hands. I sent a tentative jab at his head and he slipped it and feigned a right while landing a left into my stomach. I landed three straight jabs onto that busted nose and he yelped in pain. I then moved in close and began pounding away at his gut, and while I was doing that, he hit me continuously in the right ribs with short, hard bursts.

I felt something in my rib cage give and my hands faltered for a second, that’s when Delgado brought a forearm up under my chin. He slammed me up hard against the house, cutting off my air. My vision blurred and I flailed out at him, but my blows were growing feeble. I landed a lucky punch on his Adam’s apple and he released me and wheezed a bloody spray across my face.

We stood there, glaring at each other, both of us trying to get our breath back, as the steam from our gasping mouths mingled together, to form a white cloud in the cold December air.

Through the mist of our frosty breath I saw something flash in Delgado’s eyes then, a mixture of fear and disbelief. Somewhere in that warped brain of his lurked the thought that he just might lose this fight.

He was so damn right.

I lunged at him with a cry on my lips and hit him squarely in the mouth with a left. Again, my hand went numb. Hitting the man’s chin was like hitting an engine block. But I kept pummeling him. He made feeble attempts to prevent me and tried to land a low blow at my crotch, but I turned my hip in time to block it and went right on pounding.

That’s when I felt my hand break. The fracture made me wince and gave him an opening. He raised a fist to strike me in the face, but, as he let the blow fly his right knee faltered and he fell to the floor. The punch glanced across my chest and I looked down into his eyes and saw a fading light. With my one good hand, my right, I attacked him.

Where the blows landed, I couldn’t say, because I was acting on animal impulse. The beast within sensed the kill, and shoved me aside to assail its quarry viciously.

“Enough! Enough!” Bill shouted, as he pulled me off Delgado’s prostrate form.

I collapse back into Bill’s arms on the blood-spattered floor of the porch and watched, as Delgado’s limp carcass began sliding backwards down the steps, his head bouncing with a hollow thud upon each step. He settled at the bottom and slowly opened his unfocused eyes, and then he turned his head and slobbered several bloody teeth into a cluster of weeds.

Delgado’s neighbors had come out of their homes and gathered to watch the fight, they cheered now at the man’s defeat.

Felicia dashed past her father and embraced me.

Bill went down the stairs to stand over Delgado. He bent down and smiled at him.

“What was that you once said Delgado? Oh yeah, that you were the fuckingest badass this town ever knew. Well, not anymore you piece of shit, not anymore.”

Delgado turned his face from Bill’s gaze and began crying.

Bill shook his head in disgust. “Typical fucking bully,”

And then two of the other cops flipped Delgado over and cuffed him.

11

If I had felt like crap, it would have been a step up.

I was sitting atop a treatment table in Castle Ridge Hospital as the doctor finished applying the cast to my left hand. The cut on my forehead was closed with stitches and my face was turning different shades of purple. The ribs on my right side felt as if they were in splinters and even my good hand was swollen. Top all of this off with a headache and a painful section of gum, where a tooth had been knocked out, and you can pretty much say I was a mess.

And I had won the fight!

Just as the doctor was leaving, Felicia walked into the white-walled cubicle and I draped an arm around her.

“How’s your sister?”

“They say she was very lucky, the screwdriver missed anything major, but, she was pregnant and, and she lost the baby.”

“I’m sorry.”

“He, my father, he meant to kill it, he punched and stabbed her in the stomach to try and kill his own grandchild.”

“Bill said your dad’s going to jail, once he’s well enough.”

Her face darkened. “He can go to hell for all I care. He killed an innocent baby with that screwdriver and he nearly killed Mona too.”

“She saved you. She pushed you out of the way just in time.”

“She wants to see you.”

“Mona wants to see me, why?”

“She didn’t say, maybe to thank you. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up.”

I kissed her. “I was so scared for you baby.”

“You were scared for me? Look at you! My father nearly killed you.”

“He’s worse off than I am; Bill says he has a cracked skull.”

“I was so happy when he was lying there, crying, so glad that for once he was on the wrong side of a beating. Is that bad? To enjoy seeing someone get hurt, does that make me like him?”

I hugged her. “No. It just makes you human.”

* * *

Before leaving the hospital, I stopped into Mona’s room.

She had her own stitches and a broken pinky on her right hand. She waved me over to the bed and I sat in the chair beside it.

“You look like shit.” She said.

I smiled. “You should see the other guy.”

“I’ll see him soon enough.” She said, and for some reason, the way she said it made me uneasy.

“Felicia said you wanted to talk to me?”

“I want to ask you somethin’.”

“Go ahead.”

“My sister, you’re not just bangin’ her, are you?”

“I love her Mona, and it’s not just sex, believe it or not the sex only started weeks ago.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.”

“She loves you too, you know. I heard her talkin’ to her friend Janey about you and it was like she was talkin’ about Jesus. ‘Johnny can do this and Johnny can do that, Johnny can fix this and Johnny can make that.’ You’re like her fuckin’ hero or somethin’.”

“Thank God I won the fight; I’d hate to let down my only fan.”

“I want you to do somethin’ for me.”

“You’re kidding, right? Or have you forgotten that you’re the one that sicced your father on me in the first place.”

She smiled then and, with her puffy, discolored lip, it looked hideous.

“I’m sorry about that, but I thought you were just usin’ Felicia. If I’d known you really gave a shit about her I wouldn’t have fucked with you.”

“So what’s this favor?”

“Take care of her. Take care of my baby sister, she’s gonna need someone.”

Again, an uneasy feeling crept over me, but I chalked it up to the stress of the day and let it go.

“I’m going to take care of your sister for the rest of my life, count on it.”

“I will.”

I rose from the chair and walked to the door, before leaving, I offered condolences for the loss of her baby. I also asked a question that I feared the answer to.

“Mona, this baby, what I mean is… your father, has he ever touched you or Felicia in a way that… well… sexually?”

“No, he’s not a freak that way. But I’ll tell you somethin’ that you should know, I’m not the only one he likes to hit, every once in a while he’ll haul off and smack Felicia for no good goddamn reason.”

“That’s not what she’s told me, she said he only grabbed her wrist too hard sometimes.”

“Do you remember last summer, when Felicia had the flu and stayed inside for over a week?”

“Yeah, so?”

“That’s how long it took for the bruises to fade.”

I closed my eyes in pain. She’d been keeping things from me, trying to protect me.

“I should have fucking killed your father.”

“Yes, you should have.”

“So long Mona, and thanks for the talk.”

I was almost out the door when she called to me.

“Hey Muscleman!”

“Yeah?”

“I wish I’d found you first.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered if you had, sooner or later I’d of met your sister and dumped you for her.”

“Um hmm, but we would’ve had a hell of a good time before that.”

My eyes roamed over her body, even the shapeless hospital gown couldn’t hide her curves.

I sent her a wink. “Maybe in the next life,”

12

When I got down to the lobby, I saw Bill and Felicia talking to a woman I didn’t know.

She turned out to be a Miss Danvers from child welfare. With both her father and sister in the hospital, Felicia would be returning home to an empty house. Miss Danvers said that the law mandated that Felicia be taken to a state facility, until adult supervision could be found.

Felicia protested. “I’ll be fine at home by myself, I’m sixteen, not six.”

Bill spoke up. “I’ll supervise her, me and my wife.”

Miss Danvers shook her head in disagreement.

“I’m sorry Captain Healy, but your home is not a recognized facility, if it were up to me I’d agree, but my hands are tied.”

“You’re talking about a rule, where there’s a rule, there’s someone who can make an exception to the rule.”

“The only one I can think of would be the commissioner of child welfare, Alan Chambers.”

Bill pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through a list of names. A few moments later he had Alan Chambers on the line, apparently, they were friends. After a short talk with Chambers, Bill handed the phone to Miss Danvers. She handed it back moments later with a smile.

“It’s settled. She’ll go home with you until after the holidays, but Commissioner Chambers said I have to do a site inspection first.”

“Have you eaten Miss Danvers?”

“Well, actually no, Captain Healy.”

“Good, then you can stay for dinner as well.”

Felicia gave Bill a hug. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome honey.” He opened his cell phone again. “Now, let me break the news to my wife.”

I took Felicia aside. “It’s been a hell of a day.”

“Johnny what’s going to happen when my father goes to jail?”

“I don’t know, maybe they’ll let you live with Bill and his wife.”

“Oh, I couldn’t do that. It’s enough that he’s letting me stay at all.”

“You must have some other family, somewhere.”

“No, my father is always bragging about how he swam across the Rio Grande at twelve and never looked back, and my mom’s family threw her out when she married daddy. I don’t know how to find them.”

Bill walked over. “I do. Years ago, when I took your mother to the shelter, she asked me to contact her younger sister. I bet I still have her name in one of my old notebooks, if I recall, your aunt was living in New York State.”

“I have an aunt? I never heard of her. Mom never spoke about her past. I think when her family disowned her, she disowned them right back. Did you ever find my aunt?”

“I did. But when I told her that your mother went back to your father, she never showed up or called again.”

“I’d love to meet her, and God I hope she’s normal, it’d be so nice if someone in my family was normal.”

* * *

While Bill worked on fixing the broken front door at Felicia’s house, Felicia went through her room, gathering enough clothes for the next few days.

She looked around. “I may never live here again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think of it, if daddy goes to jail, the state’s not going to let Mona raise me, she’s not much older than I am.”

“Still, she is legally an adult.”

Felicia smiled at me. “Have you met my sister?”

“I know, but she cares about you, maybe this will make her grow up and for once do the right thing.”

The next day, Christmas Eve, I got that idea out of my mind.

As we opened gifts and drank eggnog with Bill and his wife, a call came in saying that Mona had just killed her father.

13

Dominic Delgado was buried on New Year’s Eve.

When Felicia’s mother died, her father had pre-paid for a plot, so that someday he’d be laid to rest beside his wife. As far as I knew, it was the only remotely loving act he had ever performed.

It certainly saved Felicia trouble and expense. She was still facing a healthy dose of both however, because her father died intestate. The house, such as it was, was paid for, and would eventually be sold to cover her father’s debts.

After looking through Dominic’s scant financial records, Bill figured that the debts and assets would more or less even out.

Bill had also located Felicia’s aunt, a Mrs. Sophie Thorne, a widow. Mrs. Thorne said that she would contact Bill again after she talked with the child welfare people.

Mona was now a fugitive wanted for murder.

A maintenance man was working on a broken toilet and Mona surreptitiously acquired a screwdriver from his tool cart. She then went up to her father’s room and jabbed the screwdriver into Dominic’s left side while he slept, rupturing his heart. Mona soon exited the hospital and has not been seen or heard from since. Live by the hand tool; die by the hand tool, I guess.

Although I was taken aback by the violence of her act, I was not stunned by its actuality. Dominic Delgado had sown the seeds of this bitter crop for years.

* * *

Felicia and I were in the cemetery, along with Bill, and her friend Janey Winslow. My grandfather offered Felicia his sympathy, but said he’d be damned if he was going to the funeral of a man who had tried to beat me to death.

Felicia cried at graveside and I was pleased to see that she could still weep at her brutal father’s passing. The girl had a compassionate heart and it made me proud to love her.

Janey’s mom parked her catering van along the ribbon of blacktop that meandered through the cemetery, the name of the diner they owned, Winslow Diner, written across the van’s side.

Janey gave Felicia a hug and a kiss on the cheek and headed down the hill, brown pigtails bouncing as she ran along.

I then pointed across the tombstones, to a site far on the other side of the cemetery, where a large service was being held, gathered about the mourners were TV camera crews.

“What’s going on over there? It looks like a celebrity died.”

Bill released a sad sigh.

“That must be the Tate girl’s funeral, she’s the latest victim of the serial killer that murdered the girl we came across that night we were driving home from Philly.”

“You mean that monster is still killing?”

“There’s a Task Force after him, but so far they’re having no luck.”

I put my arm around Felicia. “You don’t go anywhere alone until they catch him, you hear me?”

She smiled. “As long as I have you, I don’t want to be alone.”

“She’s safe.” Bill said. “He only kills blondes. The youngest was fifteen, the oldest, twenty-two,” Bill then stared over at the Tate funeral. “Those poor, poor people,” He whispered.

I hung my head in disgust. “So much pain and waste,”

We stood solemnly by the grave and gave Felicia a few moments to say goodbye to her father.

All three of us soon looked up as a limo parked and three men got out.

Two of the men were large, about my size; they were in their twenties and dressed in matching black tracksuits. The third man was average and much older, maybe sixty. He was well-dressed in a suit and overcoat and walked between, yet slightly ahead of, the other two.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Bill unbutton his suit jacket and slide his hand close to the holster on his belt.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“That’s Tony Scaggaretti, part of the Philly mob,”

As I stepped in front of Felicia, Scaggaretti gestured behind me.

“Hello there miss, but would you be Dominic’s daughter?”

Felicia stepped out from behind me. “Yes.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I was your father’s boss; I’m Anthony Scaggaretti. I’ve come to pay my respects, and maybe, to do a bit of business.”

“What kind of business?” I asked.

He turned his attention on me. “I take it by the bandages and bruises that you’re the one who beat up Dominic?”

“I am.”

“Well then, my business is with you.”

“Bill, get Felicia the hell away from here right now.”

Scaggaretti laughed. “Whoa, you got me wrong kid, you and your cop friend here. I’m not out for payback if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Bill spoke up. “How do you know I’m a cop?”

Both Scaggaretti and his men laughed this time. Scaggaretti then nodded toward Felicia.

“I know you’re a cop the way I know she’s a girl, it’s written all over you. Now listen, the reason I’m here is to make the big guy a job offer, after all, I need someone to take Dom’s place.”

I stared at him, incredulous.

“You want me to be a leg breaker?”

He shrugged. “It’s mostly thumbs and arms really.”

“Thanks,” I said. “But I’m more of a fixer than a breaker.”

“Damn shame, I really need someone out here in the sticks to make sure the yokels pay.” His face softened then, as he looked at Felicia. “Any word on your sister, kid?”

“No, but they say they expect to catch her soon.”

Scaggaretti reached into an inside pocket and brought out a business card, he then wrote something on the back of it and handed it to Felicia. “That’s my lawyers in Philly, Jameson & Jameson, they’re topnotch. I’ll call and let them know you’re coming by for a consultation, from what I hear, your sister is going to need a damn good lawyer.”

Felicia smiled at Scaggaretti. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You know, I knew Dom for over twenty years and I didn’t even know he had a family. If I’d known about the abuse, it would have stopped, believe me, one way or another, it would have stopped. When you see your sister, tell her I said she’s got stones, goodbye.”

As Anthony Scaggaretti and his men turned and walked back to their limo, Bill pointed to the business card.

“What did he write on the back?”

Felicia read the card. “He only wrote one word and then signed it, it says, ‘Anything!”

No sooner had the Scaggaretti limo left, than another one appeared. A man in a gray chauffeur’s uniform hopped out of the driver’s seat and swiftly made his way around to the back passenger compartment. As he opened the door, a woman stepped out. She was in her mid-thirties, pretty, with a nice figure and very well dressed. She gazed in our direction, then she stepped aside and a young man joined her.

He was GQ all the way. He wore his dark hair medium length, was clean-shaven, and tanned even in winter, there were movie stars that would have envied his looks and he walked with an athlete’s gait. For just a moment, I wondered if he was the woman’s boy toy, but that thought quickly left my mind, as the couple drew closer. The man had an air about him, of authority, of being in control, of arrogance and privilege. I took an instant visceral dislike to him that disquieted me. I was usually not one to prejudge.

As for the woman, when she was closer I could see a resemblance to Felicia and knew that this must be her Aunt Sophie.

The woman gave Bill an appreciating look and then smiled.

“Are you Captain Healy, Sir?”

“Yes Ma’am, and I take it that you’re Sophie Thorne?”

She said, “Yes.” and then stared at Felicia. “Oh my God, you look so much like Elizabeth.”

Felicia step forward and returned Sophie’s stare. “You look like my mom too.”

“I’m your Aunt Sophie, Felicia, isn’t it?”

“Yes and thank you for coming to my father’s funeral,”

Sophie glared down at Dominic’s grave.

“I wouldn’t have crossed the street for that man. No dear, I’m here for you. I’ve come to take you away from this dreadful little town and home to New York.”

14

The five of us stood by the grave of Felicia’s father, amid an uneasy silence.

Felicia gave me a troubled look, and then spoke to her aunt.

“Aunt Sophie I’m happy to meet you, but Castle Ridge is my home, I’ve lived my whole life here.”

GQ stepped forward.

“Hello Felicia, my name is David Thorne. Has anyone ever told you that you are exceptionally beautiful?”

Felicia looked about nervously at everyone for a moment and then blushed.

“Thank you Mr. Thorne… but yes, Johnny, my boyfriend, he tells me that all the time.”

She took my hand then, but I could tell that Thorne’s attention had flattered her, and why not, he looked like a male model.

“Excuse my manners,” Sophie said. “Felicia this is David, my late husband’s nephew. David decided to come along with me to see you; his school is only a few miles from here, Hobbes University.

At that moment I thought, These people have some serious money.

Hobbes University was touted to be, at least academically, in a class with Princeton and Harvard. It was also ridiculously expensive, and exclusive. Hobbes accepted less than a thousand students a year based solely on scholarly achievements. I looked at GQ David with new eyes. Not only was he extremely good-looking, but he must also possess an intellect to match.

Sophie stared at me. “What happened to you? You look as if you’ve been in a train wreck.”

“Aunt Sophie, Johnny is the one who stopped daddy from hurting Mona, he beat daddy in a fight.”

Sophie gave me a sour look. “Another brawler, Felicia I really hope you’re not like your mother, she was always attracted to the basest types.”

Bill came to my defense. “It’s not like that Mrs. Thorne. John is as decent as they come, if not for him, Mona may have been more seriously hurt, or even killed.”

Sophie’s face softened and she reached out and squeezed Bill’s hand.

“I want to thank you for all you’ve done. Years ago you helped my sister, and now my niece, you’re a very kind man.”

“It was my pleasure. Felicia is a very special girl.”

“What about my other niece Captain, have you arrested her yet?”

“No Ma’am, we’re still looking.”

“If you find her, tell her to expect no help from me. Murder is heinous, even against an animal like her father.”

David stepped closer to Felicia.

“Have you ever been to New York City?”

“Once, when I was little, my mother took us to the circus.”

“When you come home, I hope you’ll allow me to show you around.”

“I… I guess.” Felicia said, and again she blushed.

GQ was after my girl, no doubt about it. The two of us would have to have a talk soon.

“We’ll stop by your house, to help you gather your things, and then we’ll be on our way.” Sophie said. “You’re going to love our estate in Hudson Valley, Felicia, it rests on thirty acres and has a horseback riding trail, by the way, do you ride?”

Felicia stammered out. “I… I…no… but Aunt Sophie, I can’t leave today, it’s too soon, there are things at the house I need to do, also a friend of daddy’s offered to pay for Mona’s legal fees. I have to meet with a lawyer to set things up.”

Sophie sighed amidst a smile.

“Perhaps I am rushing things. I’m just so happy to meet you. I think you’ll love it in New York and I hope the two of us become friends.”

Felicia went to her aunt and hugged her. “Thank you for taking me in. I know you don’t have to do it and I’m very grateful.”

Sophie gave her a squeeze. “You’re welcome dear. Why don’t we do this, take a week or two here to settle things and then you can come and live in New York.”

Felicia smiled, “That would be good.”

“Yes,” Sophie said, while speaking only to me, with disdain in her eyes. “It will give you a chance to say goodbye and put everything in this town firmly in your past.”

15

Days later, Felicia spoke with a lawyer named Tori Jameson, and if Tori and GQ David ever became a couple, they’d make Ken and Barbie look like Fred and Ethel.

Tori Jameson was in her mid-twenties, blond, blue-eyed and tall. She was an incredible looking woman and knew it, knew it and used it to her full advantage.

Still, as she escorted Felicia and I down the corridor that led to her office, I watched with amusement as Tori frowned, annoyed at the behavior of her male colleagues, who craned their necks and widened their eyes to watch Felicia walk by.

Apparently, Tori was not used to being in the presence of a woman whose beauty surpassed her own.

Despite the law degree, the fact that Tori’s name matched the name on the building led me to wonder if she was just daddy’s little girl playing in the family business.

Her corner office on the twentieth floor was tastefully done in a modern style, and granted a stunning view of downtown Philly.

Felicia and I sat across from her with a glass-topped desk separating us, and watched while she read Scaggaretti’s card.

She then looked up at Felicia.

“I’m sorry for the loss of your father and your sister’s troubles.”

“Thank you.” Felicia said.

Tori then stared at me. “Faron? That wouldn’t have been shortened from say… Faroni, would it?”

I grinned. “I have nothing to do with Mr. Scaggaretti. Felicia is my girlfriend and I’m just here to keep her company.”

Tori Jameson looked me over, her eyes drifting down through the glass of her desk to take in all of me.

“You have a very nice voice Mr. Faron, kind eyes too.”

“Thank you.”

She then buzzed her assistant. “Carol, please step in here for a moment.”

When Carol, a thirtyish Asian woman appeared, Tori gestured toward Felicia.

“Please take Ms. Delgado to conference room four and have her fill out a client sheet.”

I rose to follow Felicia and Tori motioned for me to stay.

“Mr. Faron, please wait here. There are a few questions I’d like to ask you and it would save time if I did so while Ms. Delgado is filling out her forms.”

Felicia hesitated in the doorway, looking quite uneasy about leaving me alone with Tori Jameson. “I’ll be right back Johnny.”

I smiled at her. “Okay baby,”

As Felicia left the room, Tori signaled her assistant to lock the door as she was leaving, and then we were alone.

Tori got up and took the client chair that Felicia had just vacated. She was wearing a black silk skirt, and as she crossed her legs and faced me, her hemline rose to mid-thigh, a very sexy and shapely thigh.

“Did you really beat up Mr. Delgado?”

“Yes.”

“I defended him once on an assault charge. He was collecting from a man, when the man’s two friends objected, soon after that, the man and his friends were treated for serious injuries at the local ER. Mr. Delgado would not have been an easy man to beat.” Tori reached over and squeezed my biceps. “You must be very strong.”

I sent her an ‘aw shucks’ shrug as I said. “My strength is as the strength of ten because my heart is pure.”

She leaned back in her seat, a surprised look lighting her beautiful face.

“My my, poetry, I guess we’re not all brawn after all.”

I sat quietly. She wasn’t done yet and I thought I’d let her get to it in her own time.

“How old are you Johnny?”

“I’m nineteen,”

She shook her head. “So young, so much energy and staying power, so much to learn… and be taught,”

“I think you told Felicia you had questions for me?”

“Yes, after you take her home, could you be back here by five?”

“I could, but why would I?”

She smiled at me brilliantly. “I leave work at five.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,”

She suddenly looked bewildered. “What?”

“Nothing personal, but Felicia and I are serious.”

“I’m sure she’s a yummy snack, but I’m offering you a gourmet meal.”

I laughed in her face then. I shouldn’t have, but I did.

She turned a variety of red and got up to stand at the window with her back to me.

Tori was silent for a few moments, then, she took a deep breath and a swipe at her eyes before turning around and asking me a question.

“That quote, what poem is it from, do you know?”

“Sir Galahad,”

She gave a slight shrug. “Is it just something you’ve memorized?”

“Sir Galahad was written by Lord Alfred Tennyson in 1834; Galahad was a knight of King Arthur’s round table and also reputed to be the son of Sir Lancelot. Tennyson later revised the poem in 1842 by cutting a stanza, something about Galahad’s invincibility, but I don’t recall it verbatim right now, sorry.”

That bought me a smile.

“I take it you read a lot?”

“I prefer it to TV,”

Tori retook the seat behind her desk.

“What are you reading now?”

“Anna Karenina, among others,”

Tori gave a little laugh. “That’s my favorite book.”

We sat gazing across the desk at each other in silence.

A moment later, there came a knock at the door. Tori reached to a corner of her desk and pressed a button to unlock the door, and then Felicia was escorted into the room by her assistant, and retook her seat.

Tori spent the next few minutes being a very businesslike lawyer with Felicia, while making it a point not to look in my direction.

As we were leaving, she called out my name.

“I enjoyed our chat, well, most of it.”

“It was nice meeting you Ms. Jameson.”

“And you as well Mr. Faron,”

* * *

In the elevator, Felicia was full of questions.

“Why did she want to talk to you alone? And why was the door locked when I came back? She came on to you didn’t she?”

“She flirted some,”

“I knew it! I could tell by the way she was looking at you.”

Once we were in the car, the questioning continued.

“Did you think she was beautiful?”

I laughed. “Baby, that woman is nearly in your league, but I have no interest in her. I love you, period.”

“She was beautiful, elegant even; I guess I was a little jealous.”

“Then we’re even, I didn’t like the attention you were getting from David the other day.”

She grinned. “He was handsome. I’ve only seen men who look like him in the movies.”

I had just placed the car in gear, but now I shut off the engine and stared at her.

“When you move to New York State we won’t be seeing each other as much, Westchester County is a fair distance away.”

“I was thinking about that Johnny, why don’t you move to New York too? You’re the best mechanic around; you could get a job there easy.”

I made a helpless gesture. “My grandfather, he’s spry for his age, but I can’t leave him alone.”

She looked as if she were about to cry.

“You’re right. It’s just that I’ll hardly ever see you.”

“I’ll see you every weekend and in less than two years you’ll be eighteen and can live where you want. We’ll get through this baby.”

She gave me a playful punch in the stomach.

“Stay away from women who look like Tori Jameson; I don’t want you tempted.”

I kissed her. “God hasn’t made the woman that could tempt me from you.”

* * *

We arrived at the Thorne Estate on a drizzly Saturday afternoon. I was driving an old Mustang that I had tinkered with, and as I calculated the distance to gas ratio, I was pleased to see that I had barely used a quarter of a tank. Before my altering of the carburetor and fuel pump, the trip would have eaten up well over half a tank.

I had been obsessed for years with finding a way to increase gas mileage and at last it looked like I might be on to something.

I made a mental note to write down what I’d done to achieve the increased efficiency when I got home. I was a great tinkerer, but a lousy record keeper and if I’d finally achieved progress, I’d better make sure I knew how to duplicate it.

Felicia’s things had been sent ahead, and so she only carried her purse as we exited the car. As I grabbed my overnight bag from the trunk, Sophie pointed to it.

“What’s that for?”

“Johnny’s staying overnight and heading back tomorrow; is that all right?”

“No, that is not all right. I don’t know what was going on in Dominic’s house, but in this home, sixteen-year-old girls and their boyfriends do not sleep under the same roof.”

Felicia gestured at the house, which was huge. I figured it must have at least eight bedrooms.

“But Aunt Sophie, there’s so much room.”

“No dear, I’m adamant about this.”

“Felicia,” I said. “It’s okay. I’ll stay at a motel and come back tomorrow.”

“But it’s silly, Johnny.”

I smiled. “Your aunt’s just looking out for you baby, it’s no big thing.” I wanted to defuse this. It wouldn’t help any for Felicia and her aunt to have an argument first thing out of the box.

Felicia nodded. “Okay,”

Aunt Sophie turned her gaze on me. “That fight you had with Dominic, was it your first?”

I sighed inwardly. “No Ma’am.”

“Have you ever been incarcerated?”

“I spent two days in a juvenile detention center when I was fifteen, the police thought I had stolen a car, but I hadn’t, after they realized their mistake, they released me.”

Sophie frowned at me. “I see.”

Felicia spoke up for me. “Aunt Sophie, Johnny’s a very good person.”

“I’m sure he is dear. Now come inside, I’m anxious to show you around.”

Before we took another step, David raced into the circular driveway in a new Porsche. It made my restored ‘76 Mustang look like a beater. He emerged from the car wearing tennis clothes and carrying a trophy. He had a lean build, yet his muscles were hard and well defined, but his arms and legs were hairless, as if he shaved them for some unknown purpose.

David walked past me as if I weren’t there and gave Felicia a hug that I thought lasted much too long. I decided that I wouldn’t have a talk with him after all. I would simply beat his brains out.

Sophie greeted him with a warm smile. “David, you’re just in time, I was about to give Felicia a tour.”

He offered Felicia his arm. “I’ll take that job.”

Felicia smiled shyly, but then she slipped her arm through his and off they went. I felt a pang of jealousy and asked Sophie a question.

“This David, he doesn’t visit you very often, does he? I mean, Hobbes University isn’t exactly a hop, skip and a jump away.”

Sophie smiled at me. “Oh, you misunderstood John, last week David was simply visiting a former classmate; he’s been out of school for months now.”

“So where does he live?”

Sophie’s smile grew wider, gleeful even.

“Why David lives right here, in fact, his bedroom is directly across from Felicia’s.”

And with that, she sauntered off.

I knew right then, that when I got through pummeling David, I would send a swing or two Sophie’s way.

16

I was miserable that weekend.

Felicia and I barely spent a moment alone and Sophie missed no opportunity to pair her with David. On Sunday, I overslept in my motel room and didn’t arrive back at the house until after breakfast, giving me even less time to spend with Felicia.

When Sunday evening came, I reluctantly trudged out to my car with Felicia and prepared to say goodbye.

“I’m going to miss you so much.” She said.

“Me too, but I’ll be back on Saturday.”

Her face clouded. “About Saturday…”

“What?”

“Aunt Sophie is going to Boston to visit friends of hers, and she wants me to come along, I’m sorry.”

“Let me guess, David will be going too.”

She smiled at me. “You’re jealous.”

“No baby, I’m worried. I don’t want to lose you and I’m not afraid to say it. Look at this place‌—‌it’s a mansion, complete with boy gigolo.”

“David is just being nice, nothing will happen, I promise.”

I stared at the ground.

“I hate this! I just want to take you home with me.”

She hugged me. “Someday, someday we’ll spend every day together.”

We kissed and talked a while longer, but inevitably, it was time for me to leave. She reached up and removed a charm from around her neck. It was a cheap, little gold trinket in the shape of a heart that I had won for her in a carnival game, when she was only thirteen.

She placed its chain around my neck. “I want you to keep this safe until I come back to live with you in Castle Ridge.”

I kissed it. “I can’t wait to give it back.”

I started the engine and watched as tears flowed down her cheeks. She gave me one last kiss, a hard, hungry offering that would have to last me nearly two weeks.

I drove away from there, watching her grow smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror, as I fought to hold back my own tears.

* * *

I was eight miles from home, on County Road, lost in thoughts of Felicia, when it happened.

The fire started in the carburetor, but spread quickly, before I could pull off onto the shoulder. Within three minutes the car was completely engulfed and sending a steady stream of black smoke into the starry sky.

After calling the fire department, I stood there on the side of the road and thought about the last thing I saw, before bailing out of the car. The gas gauge,

I ran the calculations in my head and realized that I had achieved a burn rate of approximately seventy miles per gallon.

Now, if I could only figure out how to do it without destroying the car.

17

Over the next six months, Felicia and I only saw each other a dozen times.

Aunt Sophie seemed to always have a weekend getaway planned under the guise of bonding with her niece. I thought of them as deliberate attempts to keep us apart.

It was now July, and with school over for the year, I’d hoped that Felicia and I could spend more time together. I had worked like a demon during the spring, in order to be able to take off a few weeks during the summer, and spend them with Felicia.

Aunt Sophie, of course, had other plans.

“California? For how long?” I asked.

“Until Labor Day, Aunt Sophie is going to a spa out there and then we’ll also do some sightseeing, Hollywood and such.”

We were seated on a swing on the wide porch of the Thorne Estate. I had come up to surprise her with a weeklong visit and she informed me that she would be leaving for California in two days. I felt sick. I was seeing less and less of her and also getting the impression that it mattered less and less to her.

While my days were filled with long hours of work and loneliness, Felicia’s days were packed with the excitement of a new school and new friends, of expensive weekend getaways and shopping, of horseback riding, and of David, ever-fucking-present David Thorne.

“Baby, how are we supposed to be together when you’re never around?”

She looked at me, eyes misting.

“I know, I’m sorry, it’s my aunt. She just wants me to go everywhere with her and she’s been so nice to me, really, she treats me like I’m her own daughter.”

“And how does David treat you?”

She hesitated a moment before speaking.

“He wants me. He’s not crude about it or pushy, but he’s told me that he cares about me.”

“And how do you feel about him? Is there anything you want to tell me?”

She gave me a hurt look. “I’m not sleeping with him and I won’t. I only want to be with you.”

“Do you love me Felicia? You never say it.”

“My father said that word to my mother every time he beat her. I told myself a long time ago that I would show love, not say it.” She took hold of me and kissed me. “Take me back to your motel room. I want to be alone with you. I want to be alone with you and forget that we’ll soon be apart.”

I had ridden the Harley this time, and as we prepared to ride away, David stepped in front of the bike, standing beside him was a guy with curly red hair worn like an afro; he stood only about five-four and was flabby, with a pasty, freckled face. Like Thorne, I took an instant dislike to him. There was an aura of disdain to his demeanor.

“Where are you two going?” David asked.

I revved the engine on the bike. “None of your damn business,”

The other guy spoke up. “Is this the white trash boyfriend David?”

Thorne smirked. “For now Jerry, just for now, Felicia, you know Sophie doesn’t like it when you take off and don’t tell her where you’re going.”

“Johnny and I are just going for a ride.”

Thorne smiled at her tenderly. “All right, I’ll see you later.”

Thorne’s friend, Jerry, reached over and grabbed the handlebars of my bike.

“Tell me something, Johnny is it? How much do you make?”

“More than I spend,”

“It’s just that I’ve got a bet going with David here, that I piss away more on tips in a month, than you make in a year.”

“Generous are we?”

“No, just filthy rich, I bet I also get more pussy than you. Women love money. Isn’t that right, Felicia?”

I turned off the bike, jammed down the kickstand and stood before Jerry. His eyes grew wide as he tilted his head back to take me in.

“I smell the liquor on you, so I’ll just warn you first. Go play your games somewhere else. I am not in the mood.”

Thorne pushed Jerry toward a customized black van that had chrome spinner hubcaps. “Go on and wait for me in your van Jerry.” Thorne said, and then he smiled at me. “I apologize for Jerry; sometimes he’s a little crude.”

Felicia took my hand. “Let’s go Johnny.”

Before I got back on the bike, David gestured me aside to talk.

“Did Felicia tell you about our California trip?”

“Yes.”

“It’s going to be so much fun. I can’t wait to show her the beaches, but it’ll be just the two of us then, Sophie hates the sand. I suppose I’ll keep Felicia amused somehow. But, I don’t want to keep you, go off and have fun with her, enjoy it while it last.”

“It’ll last for the rest of our lives.”

He gave me a condescending grin. “Of course it will,”

I fought the urge to punch him in his supercilious face, and then I got back on the bike and took Felicia away from there.

* * *

Three months later, as I was closing up the garage, I had a visitor, David Thorne.

He walked in just as I was cleaning my hands and looked around in distaste.

“I don’t know how you can work in this grease pit all day.”

“Tell me something Thorne, what exactly is it you do all day? That is, when you’re not trying to seduce my girlfriend.”

“I manage my family’s wealth. My great-grandfather grew wealthy in the demolition business. I still own an interest in the company, but my father shifted most of our assets into real estate before I was born. I’m worth over eighty million dollars.”

“And managing money, that takes all day?”

“Hardly, I also dabble in the theater, financially speaking, I’ve backed a number of off Broadway shows. Artistic types are so much more interesting than you blue collars.”

“Why the hell are you here?”

“We need to talk.” He said.

“There’s a bar down the street, we can walk there.”

We walked the short trek in silence. When we entered the bar, nearly everyone greeted me and we settled in a back booth.

“You seem very popular.” Thorne said.

“Felicia’s father was sort of the town bully, when I beat him; I became kind of a local hero.”

“Small fish, small pond,” He said.

“Did you come here to insult me?”

“No, in fact I have an offer for you.”

Our drinks came, a coke for me and a club soda for Thorne, we grew silent until the waitress left.

“What’s this about an offer?”

“One hundred thousand dollars, one hundred thousand and all you have to do is break up with Felicia.”

“I’d sooner hack off my feet with a rusty saw.”

“I want her Faron. Take a good look at me. I’m every woman’s wet dream. I’m rich, young and handsome, how much longer do you think she’ll be able to resist me? Take the money, you’ll only be profiting from the inevitable. You two will break up and I’ll have Felicia.”

I took a long, deep breath and slowly released it, keeping my anger in check.

“If you’re every woman’s dream, then why do you want Felicia? If you can have any woman, then, why this one?”

“Haven’t you noticed?”

“What?”

“Her submissiveness, her pliability, she comes from a home where her father was such a dominant figure, that she learned to keep a low profile and go along to get along as they say. Sophie tells her to do something and she does it, it will be the same way in her marriage. I want a wife like that. I need a wife like that.”

As David spoke, I felt my skin crawl. Despite his shiny exterior there were some dark and creepy things flowing beneath the surface.

I leaned closer. “I have an offer for you.”

He laughed. “What could you possibly have to offer me? I’m worth a thousand of you.”

I said, “Your life.” as I felt a coldness seep to the surface, that I didn’t know I possessed.

“My life? Let me guess, if I ever hurt Felicia you’ll kill me, blah blah, etc, etc.”

“Yes, I will kill you.” I said. And I meant every syllable of it.

He smiled at me as a conspiratorial demeanor came over him, he then leaned closer and his voice dropped to a whisper.

“Have you ever really killed anyone?”

“You would be my first.”

Thorne straightened in his seat again.

“I’m not going to hurt Felicia. I’m not some brute like her father. I just value submissiveness in a woman; it’s such a rare trait these days.”

“Stay away from her!”

“A quarter of a million dollars, Faron, let her go and I’ll give you a quarter of a million dollars.”

“Thorne, there’s not enough money on God’s green earth to make me—”

“One million then, a million fucking dollars, all yours,”

I stared across the booth at him and realized he was serious. He was willing to give me a million dollars to break up with Felicia. I fell back in my seat, stunned.

“Oh my God, you really do love her.”

Thorne looked distressed by the very idea.

“I don’t love her. However, I do want her, and I want all of her. That won’t happen as long as you’re in the picture.”

“Thorne, David, Felicia and I are in love. If you really care about her, you’ll back off and leave her be.”

“A million dollars Faron, take it or leave it.”

“Go fuck yourself Thorne.”

He grinned, while looking at me as if I were something he once flushed.

“I’m not going to fuck myself; I’m going to fuck Felicia. Count on it. Sooner or later I’m going to fuck her senseless and make her forget all about you, you pathetic, grease-coated, loser.”

I lost it then. I plucked him from his seat like so much garbage and dragged him outside to the curb, where I began hitting him. I wanted to fight him. Not with psychological games about Felicia’s wounded psych or in the arena of wealth, where I was sorely lacking; but to defeat him on a level I could understand and on which I had rarely been bested. But the son of a bitch wouldn’t fight back, would not even raise his hands to defend himself. I struck him twice and then screamed at him, as he lay on the ground.

“Get up! Get up and fight.”

He smiled at me through a bloody lip. He then turned his head and spoke to his friend Jerry, who was standing under a streetlight, a camera phone in his hand.

“Did you get it?”

“Hell yeah,” Jerry said. “I caught the entire assault on video, right from the moment he yanked you out of the booth. I guess he didn’t want the hundred thou, huh?”

I stood there with my mouth agape. The bastard had set me up. And now, not just the other bar patrons, but the entire street was watching us.

“Hey Faron,” Thorne called to me. “What are the odds that Sophie will let you see Felicia after this?”

Bill soon appeared with two other cops and asked me what happened.

“He baited me over Felicia and I fell for it, that’s what happened.”

“Did he strike you John?”

“No, it was all me, he provoked me, but it was all me.”

Bill looked at me, a sick expression on his face. “John…”

“I know, I’m under arrest,”

18

I was booked on an assault charge and bailed out by my grandfather. The charge was serious, and with filmed evidence, irrefutable.

I never saw the inside of a jail cell, but instead, spent my time in custody in Bill’s office talking to Felicia on the phone, trying to explain.

Thorne had called Sophie first, telling her his version of the story. As we talked, I could tell that Felicia was crying, although she tried to hide it.

“Aunt Sophie wants me to never see you again; she says that you’re too much like my father.”

“But you know better than that, don’t you?”

“Of course, and don’t worry, I’m trying to calm her down, just let me work on her.”

“I’m so sorry. Thorne baited me and I went for it. He wants you Felicia; he wants you and he’s not going to stop pursuing you.”

“I can’t believe he drove all the way there to see you.”

“He offered me money to break up with you.”

“Really?”

“You sound flattered.”

“I’m not, it’s just that girls practically faint when they see him and he’s so interested in me, it’s… I don’t know…”

“It’s sick is what it is. He says he wants you because he thinks you’ll be a submissive wife.”

“He said that? What does that mean?”

“That you’ll do what he wants, whenever he wants it.”

“That sounds like my mother, but Johnny you’re wrong, he must mean something else. David would never hit me. He wouldn’t even defend himself against you.”

“Baby, I’m not wrong, please, there’s something off about him, stay away from him.”

“That’s a little hard to do; we live in the same house.”

* * *

Three days later, I received my second unexpected visitor of the week, Tori Jameson.

She walked into the fix-it shop and gazed around.

“This place is absolutely awful, wall to wall crap.”

She was wearing a gray business suit that somehow accentuated her curves instead of concealing them, her perfume smelled luxurious and she looked even better than I remembered.

“What brings you here?” I asked.

“You do. You need legal help. I’m volunteering.”

“Why?”

She walked over and inspected me.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you without bruises. Nice, but then, I liked what I saw last time too.”

“What are you doing here Tori, really?”

“A peace offering, I think we got off to a bad start.”

I grinned at her. “Am I really the first man to say no?”

“What do you think?”

“I think I’ll decline this offer too. I think it comes with a catch.”

“Let me help you. I saw that video on the Internet and you really do need legal help. You’re facing possible jail time.”

“I have a lawyer.”

“Who, some local yokel? Thorne’s lawyer will eat him up. This is Pennsylvania; my family has practiced law in this state for six generations. With my help, you’ll never see a day in jail.”

I thought it over and she was right. “Thank you, I accept.”

“By the way, your girlfriend never called me again, what’s the status with her sister’s case?”

“Mona just disappeared; no one has seen her in nearly a year.”

Tori moved closer. “You should know, I don’t work cheap,”

“So, what’s this going to set me back?”

“Dinner, no wait, ten dinners, payable when I say so,”

I squinted suspiciously at her. “They sound like dates.”

“Take it or leave it, big boy.”

* * *

I took it. And in fact, I paid off dinner number one that night.

We ate at a local Italian restaurant. After discussing the case, we talked about ourselves.

Victoria “Tori” Jameson was the youngest child in a brood of seven from her father’s third wife. When she was conceived, her father just happened to be married to his fifth wife, currently he was on number eight. She had twenty-one siblings and half siblings ranging in age from forty-one to sixteen months, she didn’t even know all of their names.

To make matters even more confusing, all of her uncles and aunts had also been married several times each, and two of her uncles were now married to women that her father had previously married. Her aunts and uncles had combined to produce an additional sixty-eight children.

“Where do you hold Thanksgiving, in Madison Square Garden?”

She smiled. “We’re rich John; we have homes bigger than the Garden. But what about you, any brothers or sisters?”

“I’m an only child of parents who had no siblings. Other than my grandfather, I’m the last of my line.”

Her eyes flowed over me.

“You look like a model that should stay in production, are you and The Child planning on having children?”

“The Child?”

“Patricia, Melissa, Morticia, whatever her name is.”

“Her name is Felicia.”

She sipped her drink. “If you say so,”

“Hey Tori,”

“Yes?”

“Bitchy doesn’t become you, you know?”

She grew quiet and took another sip of her drink. A moment later, she spoke.

“How is Ms. Delgado these days, well I hope.”

“She’s incredible as usual, but there’s a creep after her.”

“What do you mean?”

I told her more about my conversation with David Thorne.

“He really said that, that he wants her because she’s submissive?”

I nodded. “There’s something bad about him, something rotten. Like there’s a violence lurking under the surface.”

“But, he didn’t even fight you back.”

“That’s what scares the hell out of me.”

“In what way?”

“Maybe his violence is only directed at women.”

19

When all the dust settled from my run-in with David, Felicia had managed to get Sophie to agree to once a month, one day visits, that would take place on the Thorne Estate.

There would be no concerts or movies, no rides on my motorcycle, no trips to my motel room and, consequently, no sex.

My first post-fight visit took place on Christmas Day and I endured Sophie’s caustic remarks about my character with silence. Although we were seldom left alone for more than a few minutes, I was still spending the day with the woman I loved and life didn’t get any better.

A massive snowfall occurred on my next scheduled visit in January and shut down the highways. Sophie balked at rescheduling it, and so my next opportunity to spend time with Felicia wasn’t due until tomorrow, on Valentine’s Day.

Although I talked to her nearly every day by phone, Felicia and I were slowly drifting apart, the conversations were growing shorter and we were finding less to say to each other.

She rejected my assessment of Thorne being dangerous, saying that I was just jealous of him, but that I had no reason to be, that David was just a friend. I reminded her that the two of us had started as friends.

On the legal front, Tori had called an uncle who was a friend and former classmate of the judge handling my case, and as a result, I had been given a year’s probation and no jail time.

She had already used up nine of her ten dinners and number ten was about to take place to celebrate the end of my case.

It was Friday night and I was seated at the bar in a Cuban restaurant on Walnut Street in Philly, waiting for Tori to arrive.

I was dressed in my best suit, which is to say, it was the better of the two I owned. Tori had made the reservations and warned me that it would be a little pricey. Pricey was fine, she had kept me out of jail for hitting David, while my first lawyer had predicted that I would be lucky to do only six months.

Tori appeared wearing a red dress that made me want to found a religion in her name. It was slinky, it was short and it was crafted to reveal. I immediately became aroused, which I assumed had been her intention.

She knew of my chaperoned visits with Felicia, and had undoubtedly deduced that sex was not a part of them. In fact, Felicia and I had not made love since her seventeenth birthday in September, and after five months with no sex, Tori could have shown up wearing a suit of armor and I would have been stimulated.

Tori wanted me, yet, whether it was from a genuine interest or because I had once turned her down and was viewed as a challenge, I couldn’t say. This was to be our tenth and final dinner and it appeared that she was going to try for an eleventh.

I had already decided there would be no more dinners.

Although I liked Tori a great deal, it was hard to think of her as a friend only. She was just too beautiful a woman not to want to bed, and although I loved Felicia with all my heart, I also knew better than to tempt fate. After all, I was only human.

Tori smiled brightly as she approached me at the bar.

“Hello John.”

I looked her up and down. “May I just say Tori‌—‌Good God Almighty!”

She laughed. “I’m glad you noticed.”

“Me and every man in here, what will you have to drink?”

She ordered a mango martini and after our table was ready, we sat and ordered dinner. After the waitress left, Tori reached over and took my hand.

“I’ve missed you.”

“I just saw you in court yesterday.”

She stroked the back of my hand with her thumb. “I know.”

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

“Make what easy?”

“Saying goodbye, these dinners can’t continue, I’m with Felicia,”

“You were with Felicia, you two lead separate lives now; you just haven’t realized that yet.”

I stared into her eyes. “Felicia could live on Mars and I would still love her, I will always love her. I’m not naïve, I know Thorne is chipping away at her night and day, whispering in her ear and that someday she may answer that call and sleep with him, and I’ll tell you right now that I would forgive her. She is the love of my life and if she’s less than perfect, then, it would just make her a better match for me.” Next, I disengaged my hand from hers and sat back.

Tori reached into her purse and brought out a tissue, which she used to dab at her eyes.

“I don’t want this to end.”

“These dinners?”

“You, being with you, you’re the only one that sees me John. To every other man I’m a thing, a beautiful thing to fuck. You’re the only one I know who actually listens to me. Our last dinner, you spent an hour asking me about my childhood, about growing up in my grandmother’s bakery. You’re the only one I’ve ever told that story to. Most men would have paid the check and bedded me. We sat at the bar after dinner and talked for hours. You can’t tell me that you have no interest in me, that you don’t feel something.”

“I care about you Tori, I do, which is why I can’t see you again.”

“Then I’ll call you and we’ll talk on the phone.”

I threw a hand up in the air uselessly.

“What would be the point?”

“Contact, continued contact, damn it John, you’re not the only one that can fall in love you know.”

The waitress returned with our appetizers, fish tacos. I waited until she left to speak.

“Tori, what you just said… did you mean that—”

“I love you. I know it’s crazy, that we barely know each other and that you’re in love with someone else, but that’s the way things stand damn it.”

I stared at her in dismay. I had not seen this coming at all. I thought she saw me only as a potential conquest, not as a potential mate. I was both flattered and horrified.

How do I explain to Felicia that another woman is in love with me? Had I led Tori on? Had I enjoyed her company so much and been so flattered by her attention that I sent out the wrong signals?

Tori took my hand again. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For blurting out my feelings, look at the way I’m dressed. This was supposed to be a night of seduction, not confession.”

“Please don’t apologize for loving me; I’m more flattered than you know.”

“So now what?”

“There’s only one answer I can give you… goodbye.”

She began crying again. “Can I at least call you?”

And although I knew it was wrong, I answered.

“Yes.”

20

It was Saturday, Valentine’s Day

With the temperature in the low sixties, amid bright sunshine, I decided to ride my Harley to New York. I stopped to use the men’s room at a rest area and a headline in a newspaper vending machine caught my eye.

PLATINUM STRIKES AGAIN - FOURTH GIRL GOES MISSING

It was attention grabbing, but what most garnered my interest were the accompanying photos. All four of the missing women were blond and young. The police had named their unknown abductor PLATINUM, because the missing women were all blondes.

I bought the paper, intending to show it to Bill when I got back to town. The murders of blondes that had occurred around the vicinity of Castle Ridge had ended more than a year ago. The Task Force that had been assigned to solve them had disbanded thereafter, but I knew that Bill had made the case a sort of hobby and was determined to see it solved.

In all, there had been eleven girls murdered in Pennsylvania, their bodies dumped by the side of the road like trash.

I knew the New York case was different because no bodies had been found, yet I thought the fact that all of the victims in both cases had been blonde was significant.

I had not spoken to Felicia in two days, which was unusual, also, I had left numerous messages and texts on her phone and she had not returned any of them.

That was unprecedented.

I drove up the long, winding drive of the Thorne Estate and was pleased to no end to see that David’s Porsche was absent.

It was not surprising. He had been steering clear of me since our confrontation and the few times that we were together in the same room, had not spoken to me, but only glared in malice.

I parked my bike in the circular drive, and reached into my saddlebag, for the heart-shaped box of chocolates that I had brought Felicia.

When I started toward the house, I thought it odd that she had not yet run out to greet me as she always did, but then I spotted her, sitting alone on the front porch swing with her head cast downward. I approached her slowly, knowing something was wrong, very wrong. When I was five feet away, she looked up at me with reddened, tear-filled eyes and whispered four words that altered our lives forever.

“I slept with David.”

21

As my heart shattered, I took a seat beside the woman I loved.

She began sobbing harder and I simply sat and waited it out. It took a few minutes, but she got herself under control enough to speak.

“It happened two days ago, I fought it for so long, but this time I gave in and we had sex in his room.”

I said, “I don’t need details.” and was surprised by the timbre of my voice, of the anger in it.

“I’m so sorry Johnny. I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me.”

I stared into her eyes.

“I could never hate you; I love you. But, what I need to know now is… do you love him?”

“David? No, I don’t love him. I’m attracted to him physically, I always have been, but I don’t love him… I…I only love you.”

I gawked at her, incredulous.

“You say the words now, after sleeping with another man?”

“I’ve always loved you, since that first day I walked in the shop with my mother’s clock. I’ve always loved you and I always will.”

“But? Why do I hear a but?”

“Things are different, we’re different. Don’t you feel it? We’ve hardly seen each other in over a year and I’ve changed, I’m not the little girl that used to hang around the shop. I’ve been to Europe, I have new friends and there’s someone else who loves me now, David.”

“He’s said that he loves you?”

“He said it the first week I was here, that he loves me, cherishes me and someday wants to marry me.”

“I’ve said the same things baby. You’re my life.”

“A life you barely see. Can you really tell me that things are the same with us?”

“No, but they can be again. When you turn eighteen you can live anywhere you want. You can move back to Castle Ridge and we’ll get married.”

“What about my Aunt Sophie? With Mona gone, she’s my only family and she’s done so much for me. I can’t leave her. She’s not… she’s not as strong as she likes to appear, she needs someone around her.”

“She’ll have David.”

“David can’t take care of her, not emotionally, she’s very needy.”

I suddenly realized what she was really trying to say.

“You’re breaking up with me, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

I got down on my knees then, down on my knees before her and I didn’t give a damn who saw me there.

“Don’t do this, I, we, we can fix this, fix us.”

She kissed me softly on the lips.

“Oh Johnny, there are some things even you can’t fix.”

We stayed like that for what seemed like forever, me on my knees before her, clasping her hands in mine, not wanting to rise, because rising meant leaving, and leaving her was not something I knew how to do.

“Don’t do this Felicia, don’t throw us away.”

“I’m staying in New York; I’ll be starting college in the fall.”

“You made up your mind about this weeks ago, hadn’t you? Sleeping with David was just a way to make it final.”

She took my face in her hands. “I love you. I want you to be happy, find someone else, someone worthy of you.”

A moment later, I realized I was standing. I had no memory of ever rising.

I looked down into her tear-streaked face. “I will always love you, and whenever you need me, I’ll be there.”

“I love you too. I don’t know why it took so long for me to say it, but it’s true, I love you, and I’m so sorry I betrayed you this way.”

I stared into her eyes for what might be the last time, and then I turned and walked away. A moment later, I realized that I still carried the box of chocolates with me. In my angst, I had crushed it under my arm. I walked back and handed her the mangled, heart-shaped box.

“We began with a broken heart on Valentine’s Day; I guess we’ll end with one as well.”

She took the box from me while crying anew, and I went from that place of heartache.

I made it a mile down the road before my tears threatened to blind me and I swerved the bike onto the shoulder, turning my back to the rushing traffic, and cried like a baby for the first time since my parents died.

* * *

I rode around aimlessly for a while that day, thinking about Felicia, about life, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with mine now.

I arrived home shortly before midnight, and as I climbed the stairs, I noticed a light coming from beneath my grandfather’s bedroom door, which was ajar.

He was probably sitting up reading, as was his habit before going to bed. I gave a gentle tap, and when I received no answer, I entered.

The walls of his room were covered in books; most of them first editions passed down from his father and mixed with those he had collected, and also some of my own.

He was seated in his favorite chair, across from a similar chair with a chessboard between them, that we managed to put to use about once a week. I rarely beat him.

An open book lay in his lap and his chin rested on his chest, as if he were asleep, but, he was not asleep.

I felt his wrist, and the cooling flesh told the story, before his absent pulse could give voice.

I settled across from him in the other seat and for the second time that day, I cried.

He had been ninety-one. He once told me that he had thought himself a lifelong bachelor until, at the age of forty-two, he first laid eyes on my grandmother. She had been only nineteen when they met, and he had wooed, seduced and married her within a month.

Maybe that was the secret; marry them the moment you realize you’re in love.

He and my grandmother had been married for thirty-nine years before she passed away of lung cancer. They had raised my father, had suffered through two miscarriages and had kept the family business running. He had lived a good, long life.

I gazed across the chessboard at my grandfather and felt not just grief, but also envy. For with Felicia gone, I knew that when my time finally came, that I would welcome death, welcome it with eager, impatient arms.

22

Tori called me the next day and I told her about my grandfather’s passing.

I did not mention that Felicia had broken up with me. I had not yet accepted it myself, and was far from even entertaining the idea of starting another relationship.

“I want to come to the funeral.” She said.

“You never even met him.”

“Will Felicia be there?”

“No.”

“Then I want to be there. I know he was important to you and you shouldn’t be alone.”

“No one should be alone, it sucks.”

“Yes John, yes it does.”

“The funeral is on Thursday, come to the shop at noon and we’ll go together.”

“John… are you all right? Something is off in your voice.”

“I miss my grandfather, that’s all.”

“How was your visit yesterday?”

That did it. I started to lie to her and found that I couldn’t speak. I became overwhelmed with emotion every time I thought I might never see Felicia again.

“John… are you still there?”

I exhaled loudly and found my voice. “I’m here.”

“What’s wrong? Really, please don’t be afraid to tell me.”

I let it out in a huff. “Felicia dumped me.”

“Yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“And then you came home to find…”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“No, please, I’m not ready for—”

“I’m not coming there to fuck you John. I’m coming there to take care of you.”

* * *

And she did. She came that day.

That night she slept on the sofa and never so much as hinted that we should sleep together.

Over the next few days, we talked often, easily, and she did something that amazed me‌—‌she baked. I looked about my small kitchen and counted a dozen pies.

“I can’t believe you baked all this.”

“I’m a world class baker, my grandmother made sure of that, and you mentioned that a lot of people would be coming to the funeral.”

I took her by the hand. “Thank you, and thank you for not pushing.”

“You’ll come to me when you’re ready.”

“What if I’m never ready?”

She kissed me quickly on the lips. “You will be, in time.”

* * *

The funeral was large, and afterward, we gathered at Bill’s house. He and his wife Cindy had offered it for the gathering.

Bill led me into his study and shut the door.

“Tori’s nice,”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to let her in?”

I smiled wanly. “I don’t think there’s room in there for two of them.”

“You have to let her go. Felicia’s moved on, you should too.”

“How do you stop loving someone Bill?”

“You find someone else to love, just like she did.”

I grew angry. “Felicia doesn’t love Thorne.”

He put up a hand. “I’ll drop it, for now. By the way, thank you for that newspaper story on PLATINUM. I contacted the New York State Police and they say that they haven’t found a trace of any of the five girls.”

“Five? I thought there were four?”

“A fifth one went missing on Saturday, this one lived in the city.”

“Jesus! Thank God Felicia’s not blond.”

“John… are you going to be all right?”

“No. Any other questions?”

He sighed. “Let’s go back out to the gathering.”

* * *

Janey Winslow stopped by to see me about a week after Felicia and I broke up. I was surprised. She was Felicia’s best friend and I thought I might now be persona non grata to her. It had not been a good day and I had drunk quite a bit while sitting in front of the TV, not really watching, but thinking of Felicia. Janey and I sat together on the sofa and she asked how I was.

“Felicia is out of my life, that’s how I am.”

“She’s feels so guilty. She says she doesn’t love him, if it helps any.”

“Janey, maybe we shouldn’t talk about her.”

She started to get up. “Let me make you some coffee.”

I grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the sofa.

“I’ve got a better idea.” I said, and I kissed her, a big, sloppy, drunken kiss.

Janey put a hand on my chest and pushed me away.

“I like you a lot, and it’s tempting, but I’m not going to be your revenge.”

I said, “What do you mean?” but I didn’t look her in the eye.

“You know what I mean.”

I glanced up. “Maybe I should have some coffee after all.”

“Good idea,”

She made the coffee and then we sat and watched a game show.

“That woman at the funeral, is she your new girlfriend?”

“Tori is just a friend.”

“That’s what you think.”

“What’s that mean?”

She grinned and shook her head. “Men are so naïve.”

“Hey Janey,”

“Yeah?”

I leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. “Thanks for being my friend too.”

* * *

The apartment was quiet without my grandfather.

He had left me the shop and garage, along with a piece of land that bordered County Road. He had purchased it back in the Sixties when the rumor mill said that County Road would be transformed into a superhighway that would stretch all the way to Ohio. The project never took place and my grandfather had spent the intervening decades renting the land out to a farmer.

Tori left me the night of the funeral and returned to Philadelphia. She never asked me for anything and I sent no offers back. She called me often, but never visited.

However, over the next several months, I did venture to Philly occasionally to have dinner with her, just dinner. The loneliness may have driven me to see her, but I still harbored hope and kept my distance.

At last, the day arrived, Felicia’s eighteenth birthday.

I still held on to the faint chance that Felicia would come back to me when she could, when she was legally an adult and could make her own decisions, chose her own place of residence, follow her own heart.

It was Tuesday, September 15th and I was in the fix-it shop, keeping myself from going insane by working on my pet project, an engine.

I had long since decided that if I was ever going to achieve greater gas mileage in an engine, then, I would have to design my own. I sat in the shop all that day, working on the computer, putting different designs and specifications into the engineering program I was using and getting absolutely nowhere.

And through it all, I watched the door, waiting, hoping, praying, that Felicia would return to me and that I would be freed from purgatory. As the hours went on and the sun set, I felt my despair intensify and knew that my chances of leaving purgatory were indeed improving, for I would soon be in hell.

Felicia was not coming back.

Around ten, I opened a bottle of wine and closed my laptop. I then spent the next two hours watching the clock, sipping the wine. Midnight approached. At four minutes before twelve, I heard a car door open and close in the parking lot, and watched as a figure approached the shop door, a female figure.

I had left the door unlocked and she entered now without knocking and spoke to me.

“She’s not coming John.”

“I know Tori.”

“I’m here John.”

“Yes, goddamn it, yes you are,”

And I went to her and held her.

And to my ceaseless wonderment… she took me to heaven.

THE

FIX-IT

MAN

PART TWO

23

Although Tori lived nearly an hour away in Philly, she still spent so much time in Castle Ridge that we were essentially living together.

I had never lived with a woman before, and was amazed at the amount of accoutrements, accessories and paraphernalia that Tori possessed. She also kept her apartment in Philly, but rarely slept there and whenever I asked her why she kept the place, she would say only one word: Felicia.

As the weeks turned into months, I realized that I was falling in love with Tori. At first, it terrified me.

I still loved Felicia fiercely, and although Tori lay beside me in bed at night, more often than not, as I drifted to sleep my last thoughts were about Felicia.

How is she? Had she fallen in love with Thorne? Did she still love me? Had she ever really loved me?

Yet, despite my love for Felicia, I came to love Tori as well.

On Christmas morning, under a sprig of mistletoe, I took her in my arms and said the words for the first time. “I love you.”

Tori cried and said it was the best present she had ever received.

The first year we were together she commuted to work, but the long hours of traveling back and forth were wearing on her and I knew she needed a change.

While she was on a weeklong trip to Chicago on Jameson & Jameson business, I, along with Bill’s help, renovated the upstairs living quarters over the shop.

I took the bedroom that had been my grandfather’s and turned most of it into an office. I tore down one wall and moved it in five feet to expand the kitchen. I then replaced all of the old appliances with restaurant quality equipment. Along with a range, I also added a large double oven for baking.

Tori baked when she was nervous, she baked when she was sad and she baked when she was happy. Tori baked. I came to see that it was her hobby and also a way for her to relax.

My garage customers were being spoiled with free cupcakes and donuts and all types of pastry on a regular basis.

With aid from her assistant and friend Carol, I equipped the new office with what Tori would need to telecommute. Carol said that now Tori would probably only have to make an appearance in Philly once a week.

* * *

Tori arrived home from her trip and I followed her upstairs with her luggage.

She stopped abruptly in the doorway and stared about.

She whispered. “What did you do?”

“I’ll give you the tour.”

After showing her the improvements, we settled on the new sofa and drank wine. She seemed less animated than usual and I wondered if perhaps something had gone wrong on her trip.

“No, nothing’s wrong.” She said, as her face grew more serious.

I took her hand. “Honey, what is it?”

“You,”

“Me?”

“Yes you, you love me, don’t you?”

“Yes I love you, I tell you all the time.”

“But this, this is something a man does when he’s in love, a gesture like this.”

“You still doubt me, don’t you, still doubt us? That’s why you keep that apartment in Philly.”

She snuggled against me, hiding her face.

“Tell me something John, and please, please give me the God’s honest truth. If Felicia Delgado walked through that door right now and wanted you back, would I still have a home here?”

I hesitated, moments of silence where I was caught between wanting to lie to her and wanting to lie to myself.

“…Tori… I—”

“That’s why I keep my apartment in Philly.”

I never mentioned her apartment again.

* * *

We were together for three years before she took me to a family gathering. I had begun to wonder if she was ashamed of dating a mechanic with only a high school education. She was from a family of lawyers and had grown up privileged. Now she lived with me over a garage and fix-it shop. I guess I couldn’t blame her if she was reluctant to have me meet her family, but it bothered me some, and a week before Thanksgiving I finally broached the subject. She was livid.

“You think I’m ashamed of you?”

“No, but I do wonder why I’ve never met your family.”

She reached into the pantry and grabbed a bag of flour, and then slammed it onto the table.

“They haven’t even met me yet.”

“What? What’s that mean?”

“My Uncle Bruce hosts Thanksgiving every year. We’ll go to his home in Rittenhouse Square and you can meet my family.”

“Great, I look forward to it.”

She shook her head while beating eggs hard enough to kill the chicken that laid them.

“Ashamed of you? Where do you‌—‌never mind, we’ll go meet my family.”

* * *

On Thanksgiving, we arrived at a large brick townhouse on Delancey Place, and the door was opened by an old man in a pinstriped suit, who I took to be the butler.

Tori handed the man a golden card with an intricate pattern embossed upon it and he placed it into a glass jar by the door.

We joined a large gathering in the massive living room, which was blaring with Christmas music and jam-packed with children of all ages, running amongst numerous groups of adults, who were shouting to be heard amid the chaos.

From across the room, someone called out, “Barbara!”

It was a middle-aged woman with blond hair, in fact, most of the people in the room had blond hair and many had the same general features as Tori. It was an exceptionally good-looking group.

Tori waved to the woman. “Hello Aunt Belle,”

I whispered, “Barbara?” as we walked over to join the woman.

“Aunt Belle, this is my boyfriend, John Faron.” Tori said.

Aunt Belle smiled at me and then tapped the shoulder of a man I took to be her husband.

“Dear, say hello to Barbara and her friend Mike.”

I corrected her. “My name is John.”

Aunt Belle looked confused. “What dear?”

“My name is John and this is your niece, Tori, Victoria.”

“You’re mistaken dear, this is Barbara.”

Aunt Belle’s husband spoke up. “No no, she’s Kelli, Barbara is Kyle’s kid; you know, the one that went to rehab.”

Aunt Belle now studied Tori carefully.

“Oh, I’m sorry Kelli, I thought you were Barbara, you two look so much alike. Well, anyway why don’t you and Ken go get a plate and eat something, we’re doing buffet style this year.”

“Thank you Aunt Belle.” Tori said.

I pulled Tori aside. “They can’t all be like that.”

She sighed. “Wanna bet?”

I would have lost. Within the space of one evening I heard Tori referred to as Kelli, Barbara, Deanna, Jackie, Sara and Jill.

For the most part, they seemed to want to call me Mike.

We were not alone in being misidentified. I turned out to be one of fourteen boyfriends that various members of the Jameson clan had brought to Thanksgiving dinner and, at the end of the night, we all agreed that the family was in sore need of nametags.

As we were walking to the car to drive home, Tori talked to me.

“Now you’ve met my family.”

I took her hand as we walked. “Were they always like that?”

“Yes.”

“They… they really don’t know who you are, do they?”

She stopped walking, and appeared to be fighting back tears.

“I could disappear and they would never miss me. That card I gave to the butler, it’s the invitation. One year I gave it to a friend of mine, Marta, and told her to go in my place. The next time I saw Marta she said that everyone took her for a family member or someone’s new girlfriend, but no one thought that she didn’t belong there, after all, she had a card. Once… once even my mother called me by my sister’s name all night; there’s just too damn many of us and between the numerous divorces and marriages, we all just blend in, we children that is, we’re sent off to boarding schools for years at a time and before that, we’re mostly raised by nannies or servants. We just blend in to the whole and grow it a little bigger and a little more impersonal each year.”

We reached the car and I leaned back against it.

“Honey, I’m sorry that your family is so… disjointed?”

“I know what you’re thinking, ‘Poor little rich girl,’ right?”

I took her in my arms. “They don’t see you, do they?”

She began to weep. “No, no one sees me.”

“I see you.”

She began crying harder. “You do, don’t you?”

“I see you and I love you, don’t ever forget that.”

She said something unintelligible then, that I couldn’t make out.

“What was that?”

She smiled through her tears.

“I said thank you… Mike.”

24

Tori and I had been together for nearly five years when it happened.

I had designed and built an engine that I hoped would deliver at least a hundred miles to the gallon. It was essentially built from junk. That is, I had searched every auto graveyard from Philly to Pittsburgh to find the parts I needed, and had also gotten several pieces of my own design made from hand drawn blueprints, at a tool and die manufacturer.

I put the finishing touches on my latest creation and then stood in front of bay number one and stared in at it. It was a Mustang, candy apple red.

For some reason, I always used Mustangs. Other than the one that burned out from under me on the highway years ago, I had built four other versions of what I hoped would be the little engine that could.

All four failed in some catastrophic manner, and left me wondering if maybe I shouldn’t have gone to engineering school after all. But there were also successes, each failure reached a new level of miles to gas ratio before meeting its fate, and each dead engine taught me something new.

Tori walked out of the shop and hugged me from behind.

“Is this the one?”

I shrugged.

“I’ll find out soon. I just put the gas in the tank, but I’m afraid to start it up. This one took over two years to design and build and if I’ve failed again, it could burn up in minutes.”

“Do you realize what will happen if you ever do it, how revolutionizing the Faron Engine would be?”

I raised an eyebrow. “The Faron Engine?”

“I named it.”

“A hundred miles to the gallon, it’s always been my dream, and if I’m right about this one, it’ll surpass that.”

“John, you’ll be famous, you’ll win a Nobel Prize.”

“I’d rather go to dinner, how about giving me a few minutes to get cleaned up and I’ll take you out.”

She kissed me. “Sounds like a date.”

She went back inside to change, and as I closed the garage door, Janey Winslow walked across the street from her parents’ diner. I could never look at her without thinking of Felicia.

I knew that Janey kept in touch and often visited her, but other than small bits of news, she volunteered little about Felicia. All I knew was that she and Thorne were still together.

“What’s up Janey?”

She beamed as she showed me her ring.

“I’m getting married, and you and Tori are invited, the invitations are in the mail.”

“Congratulations, I assume you’re marrying Chris Roberts?”

“Of course, we’ve only been dating for three years. It’s about time I’d say, wouldn’t you?”

I thought of Tori. We’d been dating far longer than that.

Janey put her hand to her mouth and grimaced. “Damn, did I just say the wrong thing?”

I smiled at her. “No, and I’m happy for you.”

“Johnny… Felicia’s coming; she’s coming to town for my wedding.”

“…Okay,”

“She’s coming alone Johnny.”

I just stared at her. Not knowing what to say, not wanting to do or say anything that Janey might relay back to Felicia.

Janey gestured down the block, towards the diner.

“Well, I’ve got to get back to work.”

She was at the curb when I called to her. She turned and looked back at me with an inquiring gaze.

I couldn’t help it. I had to know.

“Does she ever… ask about me?”

“Yes, but she never wants details, she says they might break her heart. Goodbye Johnny, see you at the wedding.”

* * *

Over dinner, I told Tori about Janey’s wedding, and about Felicia.

“We don’t have to go.” I said.

“Oh yes we do. It’s time you found out which one of us you really love.”

“I‌—‌never mind.”

“You love us both. That’s what you were about to say, isn’t it, that you love us both?”

“Yes, but I’m here with you, not her.”

She smiled bitterly. “Not by choice,”

“You act like I’m going to jump Felicia the moment I see her.”

“We’re going to that wedding John, and I hope to God she shows up.”

After we returned home, I decided to stop putting off the inevitable and take the new engine for its test drive. However, when I opened the door of bay number one there was a surprise waiting for me‌—‌nothing.

The Mustang was gone, stolen, and with it, the Faron Engine.

25

I handed Bill the note. It read: I’ll bring it back. I swear!

It was the following morning. After finding the car gone, I then discovered the note duct-taped to the wall. I explained to Tori what had happened and then I took off on my Harley in search of the car. After riding around for hours without luck, I went back home and waited all night for the thief, um, borrower to return. Don’t ask me why; but I believed the note. I really believed that whoever took the car intended to bring it back.

Bill smiled, “It’s not signed.”

“I noticed that.” I said.

The last year had not been Bill’s best. His wife Cindy had recently died of cancer; she was only forty-five.

One morning, Cindy Healy asked her husband what he wanted for breakfast, when he answered bacon and eggs; she said fine and began cooking. Bill had been reading the paper and only looked up when he smelled the peculiar odor. Instead of bacon, Cindy was dutifully frying up one of her slippers.

Two days later, they found the tumor in her brain and nine arduous months later, she was dead. He and Cindy had been together since high school, but now my friend found himself rambling around a three-bedroom home all by himself.

The only thing that kept him sane was his work.

A few years ago, while on a second honeymoon in London, Bill came across an article in the newspaper about a pair of unsolved murders; both of the victims were blonde.

He immediately thought of the PLATINUM case here in the states and made a call to the New York strike force that was hunting PLATINUM.

The cop on the other end of the line, a Lieutenant Garner, informed Bill that they knew of the London murders; however, they discounted them as being victims of PLATINUM because the bodies had been left in plain sight, whereas in the New York cases, the victims simply went missing. Bill agreed that there were inconsistencies, but reminded Garner of the eleven blonde women killed years ago here in Pennsylvania. He then asked Lieutenant Garner if anyone had compared F.D.R.T tests on the London and Pennsylvania victims.

Lieutenant Garner said he never even heard of an F.D.R.T test. Bill then informed him that a Fragment Detection Radial Trace test was an innovative way to compare microscopic metal fragments, such as from a knife. The test was the equivalent of a ballistics test for firearms and boasted a 99.4% success rate.

A month later, Lieutenant Garner called Bill at home in Castle Ridge and told him that the F.D.R.T test indicated that the same weapon had been used on one of the earlier Pennsylvania victims, as well as the London victims.

This proved that one killer had been active for many years. What it also proved was that the killer had changed his M.O. The earlier victims had been raped before being hacked to death, the latest, the two London victims, showed no signs of sexual assault.

This baffled the police profilers and spawned the new theory that there may be two, possibly even as many as three people killing, raping and abducting blond women.

To date, in New York, thirty-nine women have gone missing without a clue as to what happened to them, all of them blondes. Because of his help, Bill now acted as a peripheral member of the PLATINUM strike force and was the team’s Pennsylvania liaison.

“Do you think the thief knows the car is special?” Bill asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t see how, you and Tori are the only ones that even knew I was building it, besides, I don’t know if it works yet, and it could be dangerous. I mean, it truly is an experiment. It could get a hundred miles to the gallon or it could catch fire and burn.”

“Well, if it burned you would have found it last night.”

“I guess, so what should I do now?”

“You’re already doing it. You called the cops, me. Now I’ll put it on the hot sheet and hopefully you’ll get it back.”

I winced. “Hopefully?”

Bill gave me one of those looks he used to give me when I was a kid, and I braced myself for a lecture.

“John, you say the car might be a quantum leap in fuel efficiency and yet you kept it in an unlocked garage. What’s wrong with you?”

“I usually lock the door, but I got distracted when Janey dropped by. But you’re right, it’s just that I’ve failed so many times that I’ve learned not to get my hopes up, so I tried not to think of it as special.”

He squinted at me. “But it is special, isn’t it?”

I grinned. “Bill I think this time I’ve done it. I’ve run the numbers on the computer and unless my inputs are wrong, she’ll run a hundred miles to the gallon in her sleep.”

“Good God, think of the possibilities. You would revolutionize every phase of travel worldwide, if such an engine could be mass produced there would no longer be an energy crisis, and pollution would be a fraction of what it is now.”

I let loose a loud sigh. “I’ve got to get that car back.”

* * *

I still couldn’t sleep, so Tori talked me into going to a Sixers game to get my mind off the car, and Bill was tagging along.

We were just leaving town when we saw the police lights flashing. It was the Mustang. It was already loaded onto a flatbed tow truck and the “borrower” was cuffed in the back of a patrol car. He was black, in his late teens, six feet tall, with short hair.

Bill asked the cop what happened.

“Well, I didn’t have to chase him; he was pushing the thing back towards town.”

Bill said. “Pushing it?”

“Yeah, it’s out of gas.”

The kid shouted from the back of the police car.

“I was bringing it back! I was bringing it back even if I had to push it the whole way.”

Visually, the car looked fine, but I had to know. How far had he run it?

I climbed up onto the bed of the tow truck, and after checking the gas cap, I stuck my head in the car to read the odometer.

My eyes widened, as my soul leapt cartwheels.

I jumped off the back of the truck and rushed to the police car, to shout at the kid through the window.

“How did she run? Was it smooth or choppy?”

He stared at me for a moment, but then answered.

“She’s smooth as silk man. I even got her up pass ninety once, but I promise I didn’t hurt her and I swear I was bringing her back.”

“Where’d you go to?”

“Newark New Jersey, I… I had to get there fast, sorry.”

I nodded at him and then the cop got in the squad car and drove off, with the tow truck following. I wanted to leap for joy, but I kept it contained until the cop and the tow truck vanished around a curb.

Tori walked over and kissed me. “John, you’ve done it!”

I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I picked her up and spun her around, while laughing like a lunatic.

Bill walked over to us with a quizzical look on his face.

“I don’t get it. Newark’s a fair distance, but most cars could get there and back on a tank of gas. What’s so special?”

I was flying high and dancing a silly dance. “Tell him Tori.”

Tori went to Bill and took both of his hands.

“Whenever John creates one of his engines, he does what he calls ‘finishing touches’ before he tests them out. He rolls back the odometer to zero and then he pours a gallon of gas into the empty tank, just a gallon, and then he welds the gas cap shut.”

Bill’s mouth hung open. “You mean that kid went to Newark and back on only a gallon of gas?”

I grinned. “Well, he didn’t quite make it back, but he got close.”

Tori smiled at me. “The odometer, what did it read?”

I raised my arms in the air and shouted. “One ninety seven point four!”

Bill said. “Good God. John, do you know what you’ve done?”

I walked over and held Tori around the waist. “I not only know what I’ve done, but I know how to do it again.”

26

Bill opened the jail cell, and I sat on the cot, beside the kid who took the car.

He straightened up a bit, looking worried, not knowing what to expect from me.

His name was Bobby Owens. He was nineteen and he lived with his girlfriend Wanda in Castle Ridge. I knew the girl; I had dated her older sister in high school.

“So why’d you take the car?”

“My mother was dying; I had to get to her.”

“You know they rent cars these days.”

“I didn’t have time for that, or money, hey man, I don’t even care what happens now, at least I got there in time to say goodbye.”

“He’s not lying.” Bill said. “We checked it out, his mother passed away in Newark last night.”

Bobby looked at Bill as if he were crazy.

“Who would lie about that?”

Bill made a sad face. “You’d be surprised kid.”

“Bobby, I talked to Tina, Wanda’s sister, she tells me that you’re a mechanic.”

“Yeah, I do a lot of work on cars, so what?”

“I should have known, that was some nice hot-wiring you did on the Mustang.”

Bobby looked to Bill. “How much trouble am I in?”

Bill opened the cell door wide. “None, John’s not pressing charges,”

Bobby stared at me. “For real?”

“For real, but tell me something, if you’re such a good mechanic how come you don’t have a car of your own?”

“I had a sweet one, a ‘69’ Cougar convertible. I sold it. I needed the money to help pay my mom’s medical bills.”

“You got a job?”

“No, I fix cars on the side while I look for work, but all the dealerships want you to be certified, and I don’t know that computer shit, you know, so I mostly work on the older cars for people in town.”

“You and Wanda, is it serious?”

He glared at me. “You ask a lot of questions man.”

“I’ve known Wanda since she was ten and I like her, so answer me.”

“Wanda’s my girl, end of story, know what I mean?”

I moaned. “Sometimes that story has a sad ending.”

“What?”

I stood up. “Nothing, how’d you like a job with me?”

“In that little garage of yours? We’d get in each other’s way.”

“I think I’ll soon be moving on to bigger and better, you’d be working mostly by yourself.”

“This for real?”

“Yeah, come by Monday and we’ll talk.”

He grabbed his jacket from off the cot and stood, and then he offered me his hand and we shook.

“You know, when you came in here I thought you were gonna kick my ass; I heard you were the local tough guy.”

I put my hand on Bobby’s shoulder. “The last tough guy in this town was Dominic Delgado.”

“What happened to him?”

“He was killed by a girl.”

* * *

Weeks later, Tori and I were in Detroit, sitting in the massive boardroom of Universal Motors. Seated across from us, at a table that could hold a hundred, was a tall man with a mane of luxuriant white hair who sat surrounded by a team of corporate lawyers. He was Michael Hale, Universal’s President of Research and Development.

I had spent the last few weeks testing the new engine extensively, and was convinced it was a complete success. We had been in Detroit for days now, awaiting word from Hale about their reaction to our proposal.

After moving to Castle Ridge, Tori had begun doing less criminal defense work and took up contract law. The change gave her more freedom to work from home and she found that she was naturally gifted at it.

Three weeks ago, she gave notice at Jameson & Jameson.

She now had only one client‌—‌me.

Before contacting anyone about the engine, she had drafted a series of contracts that, when stacked atop each other, were seven inches thick and weighed twelve pounds.

They were also airtight and ‘Eyes Only’ for the most senior of Universal’s management.

Universal Motors wanted the Faron Engine so that they could have their engineers look it over. The procedure to accomplish this was the most complicated deal I had ever been involved in. But, we were basically handing over the engine to them, and Tori said that we had better make damn sure that we could not only prove that they had it, but be able to get it back from them if we failed to come to an agreement.

I found the numbers involved staggering. In the short term, we were talking tens of billions, in the long run, possibly trillions.

My grandfather had taught me one simple rule for money and I lived by it. He told me to always spend less than I made.

It worked. Now I had people telling me that I could someday be worth billions. It shouldn’t be too hard for me to follow grandpa’s rule then.

My creation was spherical shaped. The engine resembled a large globe and was essentially a failed perpetual motion machine.

While the Faron Engine did use exothermic combustion to create power, its efficiency quotient was near ninety percent, much higher than that of standard engines. The weight was comparable to that of an average engine, as was its power, noise level and response time, add to this the fact that its exhaust was a fifth of current engines, and the Faron Engine was worth its weight in diamonds.

“Your engine’s a worthless piece of junk.” Hale spat.

Tori had instructed me to expect this reaction and so I remained calm and said nothing. She would do all the talking.

Tori smiled at Hale. “The engine is worth trillions.”

Hale rolled his eyes. “The thing is a mishmash of parts from five different automotive manufacturers and some homemade components that, while I grant you, are ingenious, are useless on their own. We would have to walk through a nightmare maze of patent battles with the other car manufacturers in order to even approach duplicating it on a mass scale.”

“You’re discussing petty details, while we’re talking about changing the world. The initial costs are immense, true, but the eventual earnings would dwarf them within a decade. This engine is the engine of the future and if you don’t profit from it, than someone else will. We have a nine o’clock meeting scheduled in New York tomorrow morning with Katota Motors.”

Hale’s color lightened a shade. “Katota?”

Tori nodded. “Maybe we should have contacted them first.”

Hale referred to a page in the contract. “You’re asking a lot here, a hell of a lot. You want us to finance the founding of your own company. That’s unprecedented.”

“We want to keep control.” Tori said. “We like control.”

Hale looked directly at me for the first time since the meeting began.

“Your lawyer is doing you a disservice here. You should retain new counsel.”

“I’d trust this woman with my life. I’d damn sure trust her with my money. Now, what’s it going to be, do we have a deal or not?”

A phone on the desk beeped and Hale answered it. The whole time he was talking, I noticed that he looked at a modern sculpture on the wall. I figured that must be where the camera was hidden and now the person who was the real power behind the throne would relay Hale his or her decision.

Was it thumbs up, or thumbs down?

“Yes Sir, thank you Sir,” Hale said.

He then hung up the phone and walked around the table, to stand before me with his hand extended.

I stood and shook his hand. “We have a deal?”

He smiled wide. “Goddamn it yes, it’s not the deal I’d want, but the bottom line is that we’re all going to get incredibly wealthy with this and do some good too. Congratulations Mr. Faron, you’re about to become America’s newest billionaire.”

27

Janey’s wedding was held outdoors, at her parents’ home, and the large yard was beautifully decorated in flowers of diverse variety and color.

I spotted Bill standing by the open bar and went over to talk.

“I’m glad you came. You need to get out more, in fact, Tori wants you to come over for dinner tomorrow.”

“I’d be happy to. That house is starting to feel like a tomb.”

“Why don’t you sell it and get an apartment?”

“I will. It’s just hard to let go, lots of good memories there.”

I opened my mouth to respond and froze.

I felt her.

I felt Felicia in my soul, before I ever saw her in my sight.

A feeling of jubilation crept upon me like dawn across the desert. My head turned in her direction, I did not turn it, it turned, and my eyes beheld hers. Adam himself could not have felt such delight when first gazing upon Eve.

Somehow, she had gotten more beautiful.

The teen-aged face I remembered had blossomed, and I now glimpsed a new Felicia.

She was dressed in a pastel green dress of lace that looked expensive and perfectly matched her shoes and handbag.

She smiled at me, and I felt my knees weaken and my heart beat faster.

“Easy boy,” Bill whispered to me.

“She’s… she’s just so beautiful.” I said.

Bill squinted in her direction. “And married, she’s wearing a wedding band.”

He was right; on her left hand was an evil glint of gold.

The wedding ceremony began before I could make my way over to Felicia. She took a seat three rows in front of me and then turned and gave me a smile. My heart nearly burst open from joy. As I smiled back, Tori settled beside me and took my hand.

Felicia looked at Tori and I together and something changed in her face. Eyes that only a moment ago were looking at me with love, now transformed into beacons of rage. Twice during the ceremony, she turned and gave me a look of disgust.

After man and woman became man and wife, I excused myself to Tori and made my way over to Felicia.

“You married him?”

“What?”

I glared down at her ring. “I’m sorry; it’s just that I didn’t know you were married.”

She fiddled with her band. “A short time ago, in Paris,”

I smirked. “How romantic,”

“What would you know about romance? I mean, you’re dating her? She’s the lawyer we went to see in Philadelphia. That was over a year before we broke up.”

I looked around. We seemed to be turning into the center of attention. In a small town everyone knows your past. I took Felicia’s hand and guided her into the house via the glass patio doors. We were in the dining room, and the table was stacked with wedding gifts, but thankfully, no one else was around.

“Listen, Tori and I never—”

“You were sleeping with her, weren’t you? A year before we broke up, you were sleeping with her. Oh God, I was such a fool!”

“No! I never slept with Tori while we were together. In fact, I didn’t sleep with her until your eighteenth birthday.”

“My eighteenth… why?”

“I was the fool, that’s why. I was the damn fool who believed you when you told me that you loved me. I kept telling myself, ‘She loves me, if she loves me, she’ll come back to me.’ I waited Felicia. Like the damnedest of fools I believed that when you said you loved me, you meant it, and I waited, waited the whole God forsaken day away waiting for you to come back to me, but you didn’t, and Tori did.”

Her eyes softened and she placed a hand on my cheek.

“Oh Johnny, I’m so sorry, so sorry I hurt you so much.”

I was still angry. I had years of anger in me and I was letting it out. I shoved her hand aside.

“Save it! Your ‘I love you’s.’ don’t mean a goddamn thing. You know, you’re more like your father than you realize.”

She hit me. A solid slap that doubtless was not only heard outside, but also witnessed. Glass doors offer little privacy.

I stared at her. “I rest my case.”

I walked outside into dead silence and all eyes were on me as I stormed away from the house, all but two. I caught a glimpse of Tori as she rounded a corner, headed for her car.

I walked over to Janey. “I’m sorry for the scene.”

“That’s okay; it was a long time coming.”

“Congratulations, but I have to get going.”

Janey pointed toward the street. “If you hurry, you might catch Tori.”

“I think I’d better hurry then.” And I did, but to no use. As I made it to the car, Tori screeched away from the curb.

It was a two mile run, and by the time I got home she was putting her suitcases and laptop into the car, a red crossfire.

I ran up to her, breathing hard. “Where… are… you going?”

“To my apartment, I seem to have need of it.”

“You’re leaving me? I have an argument with an old girlfriend and you leave me?”

She laughed bitterly, as she got into the car.

“That wasn’t an argument; that was foreplay, a lovers’ quarrel, and oh look, here comes your lover now, I guess it’s time for make-up sex.”

Felicia arrived in a blue BMW, she walked over with an apologetic smile on her face.

“Johnny, can I talk to you? It’ll only take a minute.”

Tori glared at Felicia. “He’s all yours, but then, he always has been, hasn’t he? Goodbye John, I’ll come back for the rest of my things when you’re not here.” And with those words, she peeled away.

“Tori!” No use. She was blocks away in seconds.

Felicia grinned at me.

“You used to do much better with girls.”

“It’s not funny. I think she just left me.”

We stood there, simply looking at each other, but then we spoke at the same time.

“Listen Felicia, what I said about—”

“Johnny I’m sorry that I hit—”

I gestured at the door. “Why don’t you come up and we’ll talk, hmm?”

She smiled. “I’d love to.”

We started up the staircase, and as we climbed, I thought back to the first time I’d brought her upstairs.

* * *

It was summer, and I had been dating a girl named Shanna O’Leary. Shanna was a natural redhead with green eyes and large breasts. Shanna and I were about to go up to my room and have sex for the first time, when Felicia appeared, with tears in her eyes.

I rushed over to her. “What’s wrong baby?”

Before she could answer, Shanna spoke.

“Johnny, what the hell?”

“One minute, can’t you see that she’s crying? Felicia, what’s wrong?”

Felicia looked over at Shanna’s angry face and started to walk away. “I’m sorry, I’ll come back later.”

I took her hand. “It’s okay, tell me what’s wrong.”

I watched as more tears fell.

“It’s daddy and Mona… they’re always fighting, I just had to get away for a while.”

Shanna tapped me angrily on the shoulder. “What the fuck!”

“Shanna… why don’t you go home and I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“You’re kidding me right? I thought we were gonna…”

“Tomorrow okay, tonight I gotta help Felicia.”

Shanna stamped off, while cursing my name.

“She’s really mad Johnny.”

“She’ll get over it. C’mon upstairs with me and we’ll talk.”

Felicia eyed the stairwell guardedly.

“Upstairs? Is your grandfather home?”

“He’s at the VFW; he’ll be there until late.”

I guided her by the hand and started climbing, halfway up the stairs, she stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

With her eyes cast downward, she began to speak.

“It’s just that, Mona told me to not go anywhere alone with a guy, that something could happen.” Then she looked into my eyes, as her own eyes betrayed a blend of nervousness and hope. “Is… is something going to happen Johnny?”

I was seventeen, and Felicia, with blossoming body, was three days away from her fifteenth birthday. I looked into her face, that beautiful face that more than once I had had to stop myself from kissing, because once we kissed, I knew that everything would change.

I gave her hand a squeeze. “No baby, nothing’s going to happen. We’ll just watch some TV until you’re ready to go home, all right?”

She uttered a sigh of relief, while in her eyes I caught a twinkle of disappointment.

“All right Johnny,”

“I’ll walk you home later too.”

“No, my father doesn’t—”

“I know. I’ll just walk you to your corner, not the door.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime baby.”

* * *

And now we were alone together again.

Is something going to happen Johnny?

“Johnny? Did you hear me?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said the place looks great, you renovated, huh?”

“Yeah, I turned my grandfather’s room into an office for Tori.”

She touched me then, tenderly, on the cheek.

“I’m sorry you lost him.”

“Thank you…”

“Baby,” She said.

“What?”

“Thank you baby, isn’t that what you meant? Even when you don’t call me that, I still hear it in your voice.”

I went and settled on the sofa and she followed and sat beside me.

“This Tori… do you love her?”

“Yes. It’s not what we had, but yes, I love her.”

“Had…”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Nothing, does she love you?”

“Very much, God knows why, but yes, very much.”

“Good, really, I’m glad you’re not alone. What’s Tori like?”

“Smart, intuitive, she’s got my number, I’ll tell you that.”

“Janey only told me that you were dating a rich lawyer.”

“Yeah, she comes from money, but she didn’t have a great childhood, and her family, well, let’s just say there are some issues there.”

Felicia grinned at me. “Another bird with a broken wing, I should have guessed she needed mending somewhere, if you were with her.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s just that you attract the broken ones, I should know, I was one.”

“And how are you now, really?”

She gave a sad shrug.

“Overall, life’s good.”

I pointed to her ring. “You must love David, you married him.”

She shook her head vigorously. “I don’t love him. I only married him because he tricked me.”

“Tricked you how?”

“He faked a pregnancy.”

“He faked?…Listen, I know the rich are different but—”

Felicia laughed then, and I thought my heart would stop from the joy of it.

“No, I didn’t mean he was pregnant. While we were in Paris, I got sick and saw a doctor, the next day, David told me that the doctor called and said I was pregnant. Well, you know how I am, I didn’t want the baby born illegitimate, and so I married him. Four days later, I had my period.”

I said, “This is the guy you left me for, huh?” and surprised myself by the level of rage in my voice.

“I was seventeen, a stupid seventeen-year-old girl.”

“I know how old you were.”

She turned toward me on the sofa, her face inches away, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Are you ever going to forgive me?”

“I forgive you… it’s just that I thought we were forever.”

“We are, at least that’s the way I feel. I still love you Johnny, I’ll always love you.”

“Baby… I love you too.”

And then we kissed, and I felt a part of my heart start beating again for the first time in years, but, my mind, my mind began screaming and I pushed her away.

“I love you. God knows I love you, but I can’t, unless this is forever, I can’t. I can’t break Tori’s heart for only one night.”

She was crying now. “I can’t promise forever. I’m married.”

“Leave him!”

“I can’t… it’s complicated, my aunt… and other things, things I wish I could…”

“Leave him Felicia. Baby I’ve missed you so much, and I swear there hasn’t been a day when I didn’t think of you.”

“Really? Oh God I can’t, I love you too, but I can’t.”

“Why the hell not? You say you don’t love him. Are you afraid of him? Intimidated by what your aunt would say? What? What is it?”

“It’s complicated Johnny.”

“It can’t be the money. I know you wouldn’t stay just because he’s rich. And anyway, I’ll soon have as much or more than—”

Just a flicker, a flicker of… something, when I mentioned money. I was about to tell her that I had finally done it, had finally built my engine and that money would be the least of our worries.

Could she really have changed that much?

I asked myself that and then I remembered the sad little thing she was, when I first laid eyes on her. The tattered clothes, the money she carried inside a wad of tinfoil, because she had to keep it hidden away in a wall, otherwise her father might take it from her. She grew up in a house where she was poor and beaten, in a town where most people just got by, and then she was rescued by her aunt and taken to a virtual palace, complete with handsome prince. Sophie and David showered her with attention, with travel, fine clothes, and gave her the sense of family that she always craved. But she loved me, goddamn it she loved me, not David, and I couldn’t believe that she would destroy us completely for a life of ease, that she would value money over love.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” She said.

I took her hands in mine. “Listen to me. Tori and I have been living together for five years. I love her dearly; I swear I do. If there were no you, she would be you. But baby you’re in my blood. We have a history, a past. I’ve spent the last few years telling myself that we were over, that I’ve moved on, but I got one look at you at the wedding and I knew that I loved you more than ever. Come back to me. I’ll send Tori away, it will kill me, but I’ll break her heart if I have to. I’ll tell her that the last five years were a lie, and I’ll do it all for a chance with you, and I promise that someday I’ll give you the life that Thorne’s given you. Trust me on that, I won’t always be just a mechanic.”

Eyes filled with longing, grew moist, as she began to pull at her hair.

“I can’t. I swear I love you, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I have obligations, things that…”

I rose from the sofa and stared down at her. “Love’s not enough for you anymore, is it?”

She started to speak, but couldn’t, she was sobbing too hard to talk.

I let her cry it all out, and as she did, I looked around.

Fresh flowers on the kitchen table, everything clean, organized, simple. A simple place for living and lived in by two people who simply loved each other. I loved Tori and I loved Felicia, but I was beginning to think that the Felicia I loved was gone, grown up and changed into someone who valued things over people. And what about Tori? She changed her life for me. She moved to a town she never even heard of just to be with me, to live with me, to love me. And my God, tonight I nearly shoved her out of my life as if she had been a mere diversion, just something to do until Felicia deigned to come back to me. It suddenly hit me how little my so-called love for Tori meant.

I’d been living like a fool.

I helped Felicia up from the sofa and hugged her. “I guess we can’t go back to what we were.”

She wiped at red eyes. “No, I guess not.”

I kissed her tenderly. “I think we’re saying goodbye again.”

She glanced toward the bedroom. “I can’t stay forever, but I can stay the night and we—”

“I can’t. It would end Tori and I.”

“You would tell her?”

“Yes, just like you told me when you slept with David.”

She said, “With the same results,” and ended our embrace. “I don’t want to cost you another relationship. I want you to be happy.”

We looked into each other’s eyes for countless seconds, while things unspoken remained unsaid.

“I love you Johnny.”

“I know baby, I know.”

“We’re really saying goodbye again aren’t we?”

“Yes, but maybe it’s better this time, hmm?”

“Yes, it’s better, it’s better because you won’t be alone.”

* * *

We were at her car, still attempting to say goodbye.

“Give my love to your Aunt Sophie, and then she’ll probably ball it up into a lump and set it on fire.”

Felicia laughed, as she started the engine. “She’s not so bad; really, she’s the one that talked David into allowing me to come to the wedding.”

“What do you mean, ‘allow?”

“David has… control issues.”

I asked my next question carefully, in a calm voice, not wanting to scare her into answering untruthfully.

“Is he violent, does he hit you?”

“No, never, he just wants everything done his way.”

“Baby please leave this creep. You say you don’t love him. If I’m not enough for you anymore then find somebody else who is.”

Felicia got out of the car and wrapped her arms around me so tightly, that I thought she was trying to climb inside.

“Please don’t ever think that you’re not enough for me. You’ve always been better than I’ve deserved. Johnny I want you to know something, that if I could, I would melt myself and pour it all right into your heart.”

I gave her a kiss.

“You’ve had a home there since the moment we met.”

And then she got back into the car and rolled away, and was gone, once again, gone.

28

Five minutes after Felicia left, I was doing eighty on the Harley and headed for Tori’s apartment in Philly.

When I arrived, I didn’t waste time waiting for the elevator, but sprinted up the four flights of stairs and rang her bell.

Tori opened the door and leaned in the threshold, blocking my entrance. I could tell she’d been crying and on the coffee table behind her was an uncorked bottle of wine.

By my estimate, she had probably gotten to Philly no more than thirty minutes before me, and so I’d hoped that the brief amount of time spent with Felicia would dispel any accusations of infidelity.

Tori snorted. “It must have been a quickie.”

“What’s that mean? Why do you assume that I slept with her?”

Tori leaned in and sniffed me. “That’s a nice perfume you’re wearing.” She then used her thumb to wipe at a corner of my mouth. “Lipstick,” And as her eyes drifted downward, she asked. “Where else might I find it on your person, hmm?”

“We hugged and kissed, yes, but I didn’t sleep with her.”

“Was it offered?”

I sighed. “Yes.”

“Slut!”

“Tori, honey please, can I come in.”

“You can say it here John.”

“Say what?”

“Goodbye, that’s why you’re here isn’t it?”

“God no! I want you to come home.”

Her mood softened and she turned and headed for the living room. I followed and settled next to her on the sofa.

“You hurt me today, fighting in public with Felicia, and practically in front of the whole town. It was as if once she appeared I wasn’t even there.”

“I’m sorry if I made you feel that way, it’s just that Felicia and I had a lot to talk out, and we did. Things are more settled between us now.”

Tori gave me a sour look.

“More settled? What’s that mean? You’ve agreed on which motel to meet at when you cheat on me?”

“Hey! I have never cheated on you. Yes, today I kissed my old girlfriend; if that’s cheating, than yes, I cheated. But things are resolved between Felicia and I now and we’re through, we’re still friends, but we’ll never be more than that ever again.”

Tori searched my face. “What did she do? For you to talk like this, she must have done something wrong.”

I looked down at the floor.

“It’s money. The reason she never came back to me is money. I couldn’t compete with Thorne.”

“She said that?”

“No, but I saw it in her eyes.”

Tori leaned back on the sofa and pursed her lips.

“Oh my God,”

“Yes.”

I felt Tori’s gaze upon me, scrutinizing me.

“Did you tell her about the engine, that someday you’ll be richer than a hundred David Thornes?”

“No, what would be the point?”

“She may have come back to you then.”

“For money, so again, what would be the point?”

“She’s dead to you, isn’t she?”

“Let’s just say she’s not who I thought she was.”

I got down on my knees before Tori then, and held her hands.

“You once asked me a question, that if Felicia wanted me back would I take her, would I take her back and end us. The answer is no. I’m sorry as hell that it’s taken me years to answer that, but the answer is no. I love you Tori, I don’t think I truly realized how much until tonight.”

She began crying and stood up, while pulling me along.

“I want you to leave now. I promised myself on the way here, that no matter what happened, I would take time to think.”

As she led me to the door, it opened and a woman stepped in.

“Oh, hi, Tory I thought you were coming alone?”

“This is John, Marta. John, this is Marta, she was my college roommate. I let her stay here while she’s in town on business.”

Marta smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you John.”

Marta was tall, pretty, with shoulder length blond hair and light blue eyes that spoke of deep intelligence. She suddenly noticed the tears in Tori’s eyes and excused herself.

“Well, I’ll let you two talk. Again, it was nice meeting you John.”

When we were alone, I kissed Tori.

“Come home, please?”

“No, I need time to think.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a damn fool. I love you.”

“I know, now go, and please don’t call me.”

“Why not?”

“I’ll call you when I’m ready; I think we need time apart.”

“Please tell me you’re not leaving me.”

“I’m not… I mean I don’t know. I just need to think.”

I stepped out into the hall as if I were stepping before a firing squad. I gazed back at her through the open doorway.

“I love you Tori, and I want to spend my life with you. When you come… if you come back to me, I want it to be as my wife.”

No reaction,

She said, “Goodbye John.” and shut the door in my face.

I stood there for a moment, remembering that a little over an hour ago, I was willing to give Tori up forever to get back with Felicia, and that now I had practically proposed marriage to her.

I shook my head as I walked away from the door, while talking to myself.

“Goddamn it John, how the hell did you fall in love with two women?”

I had no answer for him, or for me.

29

Three days passed and no word from Tori.

I was beginning to think I might be spending my life alone.

For some reason, Bobby Owens showed up at six a.m. on Tuesday morning and I told him it was too damn early to work and took him to the diner for breakfast.

“Hey John, that fix-it shop, what kind of stuff do you fix?”

I shrugged. “Anything,”

“You do it all yourself, even the computers?”

“I know my way around a motherboard, but I got a high school kid that comes in three afternoons a week, who’s a wiz, he fixes most of the electronic stuff. The shop really isn’t too busy these days, but I like it. People should have a place to go when something breaks, you know?”

“Yeah, and hey man, thanks again for the job.”

“You do good work Bobby. I’d like to send you to school, you know, nights, so you can get certified, cars are getting more complicated.”

“You’d pay for my school?”

“I won’t be at the garage much longer. I got something in the works that’s going to be taking up most of my time soon. If you’re willing, eventually I’d like you to run the place.”

“Damn, that’d be great, then Wanda and I could get married.”

“No promises.” I said. “We’ll take it a step at a time.”

While we ate, I looked through the paper. In the business section, there was an article about a revolutionary development in automotive design that would soon be revealed, and that was rumored to have been developed by a “Boy Genius.”

The leaks were starting. Billions of dollars were about to change hands and with that much money moving about, it would be hard to keep things secret.

Boy Genius?

I was nearly twenty-six and hadn’t felt like a boy in a long time, but I guess if you were under thirty, you were a boy in some circles.

My life was about to change in ways I couldn’t even guess. I would soon be the C.E.O. and owner of an innovative company with a personal net worth of a billion dollars. That was part of the deal Tori put together.

When the ink dried on the contracts, one point one billion was mine.

I would eventually also have controlling ownership of Faron Engines stock.

Universal Motors, on the other hand, got to keep a full fifty percent of the profits for the first twenty years, and agreed to fund all research and development for Faron Engines. This they would do with the agreement that any offshoots, such as adapting the engine for marine use, aviation, diesel application, and any other such branches grown on the newly formed tree called Faron Engines, would also bear them fruit.

I was days away from becoming a household name and wondered if I would hear from Felicia when it happened.

Probably not, she had made her choice and knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t take her back, that the money wouldn’t matter to me, that the fact that she chose Thorne over me once again had ended us.

I rose from the table. “Take your time Bobby. I’ll meet you at the garage.”

Bobby nodded agreement with a mouthful of bagel and I paid the bill and headed back home.

I walked up the stairs and let myself into the apartment to find I had a visitor, three actually, David Thorne and two goons, each of which looked like a handful. I left the door wide open as I walked inside.

Thorne sat at my kitchen table. I had not seen the man in years and although he was as handsome as ever, there were signs of fraying around the edges. His hair wasn’t combed as precise as I remembered he always kept it, also, his clothes looked a bit rumpled and there was a shadow on his chin.

I tossed the paper on the table beside the flowers and sat across from him.

“To what do I owe this nightmare?”

He flung a set of photos onto the table. They were pictures of Felicia and I kissing, while I said goodbye to her at the car.

“You fucked my wife Faron; that’s going to cost you.”

I glanced at the two goons. One of them was standing directly behind me, while the other one leaned back lazily against the sink behind Thorne. “Let me guess, a beating?”

“No, they’re here for my protection; the last time I was here it was you who struck me.”

“Felicia and I didn’t sleep together. These are just photos of a goodbye kiss between two old friends.”

“Bullshit!” He said, fairly spitting the word at me, he then pointed to a picture of Tori and I stuck to the refrigerator with a magnet; it was taken in Cancún, Mexico. “She’s an exceptional specimen, maybe I’ll take her from you.”

“What? You’re threatening to steal Tori away too? I’m not sure she’d find you as fascinating as Felicia did, I don’t think Felicia even finds you fascinating anymore.”

Thorne continued to stare at Tori’s photo. “Yes, I think I’ll take her.”

“Hey Thorne, get the hell out of here before I throw you and your pets out the window.”

He tore his eyes away from Tori’s picture and smiled at me.

“I’ve changed my mind. Robert, Cory, beat this man within an inch of his life.”

The goon behind me grabbed my collar and I reached down with both hands and picked up the chair I was sitting in, moving it back so that a leg came down on top of his right instep, with my full weight still in the chair. The man howled in anguish, as he tried to pick both the chair and me off of his foot.

I rose quickly and kicked him hard in the chest, he staggered and tumbled backwards toward the stairwell and down he went, end over end. The second man was almost on me when I swiveled around and caught him on the chin. He kept coming as if I hadn’t hit him at all. I then grabbed his shirtfront and began spinning us around; when I released him, it was to toss him against the stove.

The hard metal rim of the stovetop slammed him in the spine and he bent forward in agony, that’s when I landed a right uppercut that straightened him up and banged his head hard against the stove’s range hood, bending its metal surface. The man slumped to the floor and didn’t move, unconscious.

I rushed over and looked down the stairs to check on the other one, and found that he had crashed open the door at the bottom and was lying half in and half out of the vestibule. Bobby stuck his head in the doorway and I told him to call the police.

I looked over at Thorne and realized that he had never even budged. He just sat there glaring at me in fury.

“Stay away from my wife Faron.”

Thorne got up, brushed past me and walked down the stairs.

He stopped four steps from the bottom and stared down at his unconscious man, then, he turned and glared up at me.

“Next time I’ll bring four.”

After that, he continued down the stairs, stepped over his rent-a-thug, and drove away.

30

I was at the police station, sitting across from Bill in his glass-enclosed office.

Next to his coffee cup, the newspaper sat open to the article about my engine.

He looked over at me and sighed.

“David Thorne again, let me guess, this concerns Felicia, otherwise known as Mrs. Thorne.”

“Yes, she was at my apartment Saturday, and yes we had a long talk, but no, I didn’t sleep with her.”

“I take it that Thorne doesn’t believe that?”

“He threatened to steal Tori away from me.”

“Just like that, huh?”

“Haven’t you heard? He’s God’s gift to women, just ask him.”

“How are you and Tori doing? When she called and cancelled dinner I thought she sounded odd.”

“Our dinner? Hell I forgot all about that, if you had shown up Sunday you would have had to share a bologna sandwich with me.”

Bill suddenly looked ill.

“Don’t tell me she’s left you?”

“Thorne’s not the only one that accused me of sleeping with Felicia.”

“Damn it John. Don’t let that girl get away, she loves you.”

“I practically proposed. She’s thinking about us, said she’ll let me know.”

He grinned at me. “You’re a fucking mess when it comes to women.”

I grinned back. “All of us boy geniuses are.”

After returning from the police station, I found Bobby hard at work on a brake job.

“Sorry you had to work alone today.”

He waved it off. “Don’t worry about it, oh, and I fixed the door the best I could, but I think it needs a new frame.”

“Thanks,” I said, and then I spotted the limo parked near the corner. “I wonder who owns that?” Just as I asked the question, Sophie Thorne emerged from the limo.

“Oh, just what I needed.”

“What’s wrong John?”

“Nothing Bobby, just another uninvited guest,”

“You gonna throw that one down the stairs too?”

“Don’t give me any ideas.”

I met Sophie by the door and she offered me her hand.

“Hello John.”

“Let me save you some time Sophie. I didn’t sleep with your niece, so you can save your insults and get back in the limo. David was here earlier and caused enough trouble for one day.”

She seemed startled. “David was here? Did he threaten you?”

“The usual, said he was going to steal my girlfriend away.”

“John, please, can we talk inside?”

I led the way, while noticing that Bobby had done a good job of fixing the door. I entered the apartment to find that he had also uprighted the chairs, and did a fair job of banging out the ding in the stove’s vent hood. The kid was definitely working out.

Sophie sat in the same seat that David had occupied. I gave her a close look and realized that she hadn’t changed at all over the last five years. She was a beautiful woman, brown eyes, brown hair, probably early forties, with features suggestive of Felicia’s and a figure that a woman of any age would envy.

She smiled. “How have you been John?”

“What’s this about Sophie?”

“I don’t blame you if you don’t like me; I think I may have been too harsh on you years ago.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because Felicia has been miserable ever since you two broke up.”

“We didn’t break up. She sent me packing.”

“She still loves you, and although you say that nothing happened the other day, she’s been singing to herself since she got home from Janey’s wedding; she’s the happiest I’ve seen her in years.”

I sat back in my seat and stared at Sophie.

“It almost sounds like you’re trying to get us back together.”

“David… well, he’s not the man I thought he was. He treats her like property and barely spends an evening alone with her. All he seems to care about are those silly plays he finances and his friend Jerry. Felicia needs more than that. She deserves more than that.”

“You really do love her, don’t you?”

“Yes, and I want to see her happy.”

“I asked her to leave David and she said she wouldn’t… that she couldn’t.”

“She knows that if she came back to you, David would destroy you. He hates you John, because he knows Felicia still loves you.”

“How would he destroy me?”

Sophie threw her hands up in the air. “Any number of ways, why he could buy property nearby and open a garage that offered free repair work; it wouldn’t hurt him to lose money that way, but it would destroy your business in no time.”

I sent her a cynical look. “You’re saying that Felicia is staying with David in order to protect me?”

“I believe so. He has some sort of hold on her; I know she doesn’t love him.”

“If what you’re saying is true, then Felicia won’t have to be concerned about me anymore. I’m about to go way beyond David’s league, at least financially speaking.”

Sophie blinked several times. “How is that possible?”

“Keep an eye on the papers and you’ll see. I’m also about to get married myself soon, that is, if that young lady in the photo there says yes.” I pointed to Tori’s picture on the refrigerator and Sophie examined it.

“You certainly do attract beautiful women John, she’s very lovely.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you love my niece?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Maybe not, but her happiness is. Marry this other girl if you want, but please, don’t cut Felicia out of your life. For some reason my niece is deeply in love with you. Perhaps, well, perhaps you and she could meet, discreetly of course, and continue your… friendship.”

“Sophie Thorne, I do believe you’re asking me to have an affair with your niece.”

Sophie began crying quiet tears.

“She just has so little happiness in her life. The only joy she seems to get is when she’s volunteering at the Children’s Hospital, and David’s taken that away from her for a month for being with you the other day. I saw the pictures John; I know you two kissed.”

I slapped a palm on the tabletop. “Damn it. Felicia is a grown woman, when she wants to leave him, she’ll leave him. As for me, I have to move on. I offered to take her back the other night and she threw it in my face. I’ve had enough!”

Sophie wiped at her tears while smiling at me.

“You’re so angry.”

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because that much anger could only come from love, you truly love my niece, don’t you?”

I stood up. “We’re going in circles; maybe it’s time you left.”

* * *

I walked her to the limo. The chauffer escorted her into the back, and then closed the door and returned to the driver’s seat.

Sophie lowered the window and handed me a card.

“That’s my cell phone number. Call me if you ever want to contact Felicia.”

I gave the card a doubtful look, but I stuck it in my pocket anyway.

“Goodbye John. Is there anything you’d like me to relay to Felicia for you?”

I thought about it for a moment.

“Yes, there is something I’d like you to tell her.”

“And what would that be?”

“Tell her that anything can be fixed.”

“Even the two of you?”

I said, “Goodbye Sophie,” and then turned and walked away.

31

By the end of work on Wednesday, I was missing Tori so badly that I thought I’d go insane.

She told me not to call, but I needed to hear her voice, even if it was only to hear her scold me for calling. After five rings, a man with a deep voice answered her cell phone and said, “Hello?”

I hung up immediately, feeling like a teenager who’d just caught his girlfriend cheating.

That didn’t have to be a date. It could have been the Super checking on a busted water pipe, or it could have been a male relative, or maybe it was a date, only it was someone there for Marta, Tori’s houseguest. Or, Tori was there in bed with some guy and he was banging her brains out.

I grabbed my cell phone again and began to hit redial, but it rang first. I looked at the caller I.D. and saw that it was Bill.

“Hi Bill, look I was just on my way out, can I call you back?”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes, why?”

“Look out the window; do you see a police car? One of my men, Doug Johnson, should be driving it.”

I walked into the bedroom and looked out the window.

Sure enough, Doug Johnson was leaning on his patrol car out at the curb.

“Doug’s here, but why? What’s going on?”

“I’m here in Philly, at Tori’s apartment, there’s been trouble, I, I don’t want to say anymore until you get here, but let Doug drive you.”

“Bill you’re scaring me. Is Tori all right? Bill? Damn it, say something.”

When he next spoke, Bill’s voice was choking with emotion.

“There’s an unidentified body in her apartment… evidence showing that Tori might have been murdered. I’m so sorry boy, oh God I’m so sorry.”

I whispered into the phone. “Noooo, you’re wrong.”

“Go downstairs and get in the car, Doug will get you here as fast as possible.”

“No, no, wait, wait Tori had a houseguest, um… Marta, Marta is tall and blond, she and Tori even look a bit alike, it’s her, she’s dead, not Tori, Tori’s alive. Tori has to be alive.”

“John, we know about Marta, we think she may be the murderer.”

* * *

I’m sure Doug Johnson got me to Philly in record time, but the ride seemed forever. He ran the lights and siren all the way and when we pulled up in front of Tori’s apartment house, there were already news crews there.

Bill ushered me through the chaos of a homicide investigation and guided me into the basement, inside the building’s laundry room. The room was empty except for the two of us. Once alone, he took me into his arms and hugged me.

“I’m so sorry son.”

I wiped at my eyes. “Why would this Marta kill Tori?”

“We were hoping you might know. We have two eyewitnesses that swear they saw Marta leaving the apartment with bloody clothes.”

“Maybe they’re confused, maybe it was Tori they saw; maybe she managed to get away from an attacker.”

“One of the two witnesses used to be a co-worker of Tori’s at the law firm, she knows her well. She says the woman who ran out of the apartment definitely wasn’t Tori.”

“Can I see her? I could make an I.D., prove you’re wrong.”

He blanched. “You don’t… no, believe me, no not like this.”

“Jesus, what did Marta do?”

“It’s her face… I don’t want to say anymore.”

“Her face? Like that girl on County Road years ago?”

“Yes, that’s why I was called to the scene in the first place, they thought it was him. But this wasn’t PLATINUM. We have eyewitnesses that say it was a woman.”

I felt my stomach churn; I was about to throw up. I collapsed into one of the red plastic chairs that were scattered near the folding tables and fought to keep from vomiting.

My cell phone rang. I let it. After a dozen rings or more, I felt better and took a look at the phone. The caller I.D. identified the call as coming from my phone at home. When I went to answer it, it stopped ringing.

“Somebody’s in my apartment; that call was from my landline.”

Bill’s face suddenly brightened with hope.

“Call it back John, quick!”

I called. After two rings, the phone was answered.

“John, where are you? I come back to you and you’re not even home.”

“…Tori?”

“John, what’s wrong? You sound so weird.”

I lost it then, I started blubbering too hard to even breathe, much less talk. I gave the phone to Bill.

“Tori… is that you?”

32

Four hours later, I was back in Castle Ridge, in my apartment, in my bed, with Tori safely enfolded in my arms.

Marta had been murdered, not Tori.

Who was the other woman that left the apartment after the killing? No one knows.

A raincoat was found in a trash can a block away, its lining streaked with Marta’s blood, and an ATM camera caught a flash of a woman wearing a raincoat and kerchief at about the time of the murder, but her face was turned away.

Tori had arrived back in Castle Ridge while I was being rushed to Philly. When she was halfway home, she went to give me a call and then realized she had left her phone in her apartment. She later arrived home to find me gone.

After noticing the damage to the downstairs doorframe and the wounded range hood in the kitchen, she began to wonder if there had been trouble while she was away, and called me on my cell to find out where I was.

As far as the police go, they are now totally baffled by the killing. An autopsy performed on Marta points to the knife work done on her to be consistent with that of PLATINUM. However, every profiling expert ever to look at the PLATINUM case agrees that the murderer must be a man.

Bill said that they were now rushing through an F.D.R.T test to determine if the weapon used is that of PLATINUM, if it is, then the investigation is back at square one.

I didn’t know what to make of any of it. All I knew is that I was being given a second chance with Tori.

* * *

Tori and I were spooned together, naked. I kissed her on the cheek, as I held her a little tighter.

“I’m never going to let you go, ever again.”

“You really thought I was dead?”

“Yes, and I kept thinking, ‘She’ll never know how much I loved her.”

Tori turned in my arms, facing me now.

“I know you love me, it’s just that you love someone else too.”

“Felicia and I are over. My life is with you now. I meant what I said the other day; I want us to get married. Will you do it honey? Will you marry me?”

“I gave us a lot of thought while I was away, and it came down to this, I love you. I love you and I want to spend my life with you, so yes, baby I’ll marry you.”

I kissed her hard on the lips. “Thank you, oh God thank you, you know I thought I might have lost you, and I don’t mean what happened to poor Marta, I mean I thought you might not come back to me.”

“I’m back, but if you ever so much as kiss your ex again I’m history. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone, but I do have a breaking point, and it’s infidelity. I won’t be cheated on. I forgive you for the other night, the kiss you say you shared with her, but you’ve got to put Felicia in the past or we’re through.”

“I understand. By the way, did David Thorne contact you?”

“Thorne? No, why?”

I relayed Thorne’s visit to Tori, along with his threat to steal her away.

“Maybe he thought I’d sleep with him out of revenge.”

“He’s twisted. If he ever comes near you, let me know.”

“If his wife ever comes near you again, let me know. I don’t want any secrets John. I just want to get married and live a long, happy life.”

I guided Tori onto her back. “Let’s work on the happy right now.”

We were well into the groove of it when the phone rang. Tori reached over to the nightstand and put her hand on it.

I grunted, “Let it ring.” and continued doing… what I was doing.

In the last few hours I had gone from thinking Tori might be leaving me, to believing her to be dead, to finding her not only mercifully alive, but back home and in my life. I didn’t care who was calling or for what reason.

Tori gasped out. “It could be about Marta.”

I sighed, “Make it quick.” but I didn’t stop what I was doing.

“John, they’ll hear.”

I said, “All right,” while sliding down past her waist and grasping her hips.

“Hello?” Tori said, sounding as if she had just run a mile.

“Yes, this is Tori Jameson.” Two miles,

“Who?” Three miles, straight up,

“No, no don’t come here, I’ll come there.” Her voice sounded as if she weren’t getting enough oxygen.

“One o’clock tomorrow, No, I’ll find it.”

She was sounding so tense now that I wondered if she was going to moan right into the phone.

“Yes, goodbye,” She hung up and I moved back up along her body until I was in my former position, hovering above her, kissing her beautiful face, her neck, the tops of her breasts.

“I have a lunch date tomorrow… in New York City.” She said.

I barely heard her though; things were climbing higher, higher. Things were definitely peaking.

“That was Felicia, John. She says that she and I need to talk.”

From that point on, things took a decided dip.

33

The next morning, I walked outside in my robe with a mug of coffee for Dave Carlson.

He was one of Bill’s men and had been on guard duty all night, since we still didn’t know if the murder was random or if Tori or Marta had been the killer’s intended victim.

Dave greeted me with an odd look as I handed him the coffee, he’d been reading my newspaper when I walked up to him.

“Thanks John, say… is it true?”

“What’s that?”

Dave pointed to the first page of the business section.

PENNSYLVANIA MAN INVENTS WONDER ENGINE

The article mentioned my name, the town’s name and had sketchy details about my deal with Universal Motors.

The cat was now out of the bag. By tomorrow, the Faron Engine would be front page news.

“It’s true.” I said.

“Damn, you’re like Thomas Edison!”

“Edison invented hundreds of things; I’m probably a one trick pony.”

“It’s a hell of a trick though.”

“Just leave that cup in the hall when you’re done with it Dave, we’ll grab it later.”

“Okay, by the way, the Captain wants you to give him a call.”

I said, “Will do,” and went back upstairs, where I phoned Bill. As I was hanging up, Tori came out of the bedroom and poured herself coffee. I laid the newspaper in front of her and pointed to the article.

“Things are going to get hectic around here.” She said.

“What do you mean?”

“The press, you’re about to become a media sensation.”

“Maybe we’ll stay in New York for a while, just until it blows over.”

“What do you mean we? You’re not coming to New York with me.”

“You’re not going alone, not with Marta’s murder unsolved. Besides, I just talked to Bill and he wants us to meet him later, he’ll be in New York too, something about the Task Force looking for those missing women.”

Tori stared at me. “You’re not coming to the restaurant.”

“I don’t want to. I do wonder what Felicia wants to talk to you about though.”

“You John, she wants to talk about you. She probably wants you back and is putting me on notice.”

“I doubt it, but just in case.” I held up a finger to indicate that I would be right back and then I went into the bedroom and grabbed the box from my sock drawer. When I returned to the kitchen, I got down on bended knee. “I bet you thought I forgot, didn’t you?”

I opened the ring box and showed her the diamond.

Tori gasped. “Oh my God, when did you buy this?”

“Two days ago, if we’re getting married we’re doing it in style.”

The salesman said the ring was three carats, all I knew was that it was bigger than the one I had seen on Felicia’s finger and that it ate up a nice chunk of the earnest money that I had gotten from Universal Motors.

“I know I asked already, but will you marry me?”

Tori wiped at tears. “Yes, yes I will, and thank you, I’ll feel much better meeting Felicia with this on my finger.”

“She doesn’t want me back.”

Tori said, “I don’t care what she wants.” then she slid out of the chair and pushed me down onto the kitchen floor, to lie on top of me.

I looked around. “We haven’t done it here in a while.”

“I love you John, and I swear I’ll make you a good wife.”

“You already have, for years; I’ve just been too damn stupid to make it legal.”

“Do you want children? You never say.”

“Dozens,” I said, and unfastened the belt on her robe.

“How about two or three?”

“How about we start right now?”

* * *

We got to New York around twelve-thirty. The plan was for me to meet Bill while Tori had her lunch with Felicia, then, Tori would join us later at Police Plaza.

The restaurant was only a few blocks from my meeting with Bill. I parked the car in a garage and walked Tori to the restaurant, we arrived ten minutes early and I kissed Tori goodbye.

“Don’t you mean good luck?” She said.

“With the look I see in your eye? Maybe I should say happy hunting instead.”

“Do I look angry?”

I kissed her. “You look beautiful, you look like my wife.”

She held up the ring. “I am your wife, remember that.”

“I will, and don’t forget, Bill needs you to be at Police Plaza by two.”

“Oh darn, and I was going to ask Felicia to make a day of it, you know, a little shopping, maybe a movie, get our nails done.”

I smiled. “I would love it if you two somehow became friends, but I won’t hold my breath.”

“You’d be blue as a Smurf if you did, now go see Bill while I find out what your ex wants.”

“I called ahead and asked the waiter to only supply spoons, no knives.”

“Ha ha,”

“Tori?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too big boy.”

* * *

I was a few blocks away when I spotted her, Felicia.

She was just coming up out of the subway exit across the street, carrying a newspaper and a purse.

She looked beautiful, and my heart, my confused, schizoid heart beat faster upon seeing her.

She walked toward the restaurant without spotting me and I let her walk on. What was there left to say? Whatever it was, Tori would say it.

Before I realized I was doing it, I started following her, keeping half a block back, just watching her walk along.

My God but the woman was beautiful.

I loved Tori. I was going to marry Tori and spend the rest of my life with her. Tori without a doubt, was a ten. But Felicia, Felicia transcended numbers. There was a something about her that set me on fire; it was sexual in nature, yes, but it wasn’t confined to the sexual. Perhaps I simply loved her without reservation, perhaps I always had.

As I watched the woman Felicia, I remembered the girl.

* * *

We were together in the shop one day, only a few weeks after we met, and I was at the workbench, fixing the turntable on an old record player. Felicia was sweeping up the shop and telling me about a boy in her class.

“He keeps trying to kiss me and I don’t want him to.”

“What’s his name?” I asked.

“Ronny Burkett,”

“You tell Ronny Burkett that if he doesn’t stop bothering you, you have a friend that will knock his teeth out, okay?”

She leaned on her broom and grinned at me.

“Okay, I’ll tell him.”

I went back to work and had just put the casing back on the machine, when I realized that Felicia was standing beside me at the workbench.

“What’s up?”

“Johnny,”

“Yeah?”

“How come you never try to kiss me?”

For a moment, I didn’t know what to say, and then I put down the tool I’d been using and swiveled my stool around to face her.

“I’m almost three years older than you. I mean, you’re only thirteen and I’m sixteen. I think thirteen is a little young for me, you know?”

“Oh,” She said, and went back to her sweeping.

Moments later, I finished the repair and turned to look at her, she was quietly crying as she swept.

“Hey baby, what’s wrong?”

She glared over at me. “I’m not a baby!”

I laughed. “I didn’t mean it that way.” I walked over and lifted her chin with a gentle finger. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

She sniffled as more tears fell. “I’m always gonna be three years younger than you, that’s what’s wrong.”

I leaned over and kissed her on the tip of her nose.

“Hey baby?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not always gonna be thirteen.”

She smiled at me then, a big one that lit up the shop, and I walked back to the bench to put away my tools.

* * *

As she trekked along, Felicia left a sea of turned male heads in her wake; some did double takes, doubting that such beauty could be real. Tori too, elicited this reaction from men.

Felicia was a block from the restaurant when I realized that I wasn’t the only one following her. She had another admirer. This one was female. The woman stayed back about twenty feet, but kept pace with Felicia’s purposeful stride. I couldn’t see a face, she was wearing a black leather jacket with the fleece-trimmed hood pulled up; she also wore a black skirt that fell to mid-thigh and a pair of stylish white boots.

The woman tailed Felicia to the restaurant while I tailed the woman and the three of us arrived there in minutes.

I watched from across the street as Tori and Felicia were seated by a window. Neither one appeared to be brandishing a weapon, so far, so good.

The woman that had been following Felicia suddenly dashed across the street, headed my way.

The shop I’d been standing in front of was a bookstore and I ducked inside so as not to be seen.

The weather had turned a bit cool overnight, but now the sun was reflecting brilliantly off the bookshop windows, and I doubted that I could be seen clearly through the glass. The restaurant across the street however, was still in shadow, and I and the mystery woman had a clear view of Tori and Felicia.

I looked over at their table and saw Felicia smiling at Tori.

Perhaps Tori had told her a joke to lighten things up, but somehow, I doubted it.

I moved to the history section and got a better look at the mystery woman as she leaned back against the bookstore’s window and gazed across the street with a confused look upon her face, she was wearing lipstick, mascara and blush.

A sense of familiarity came over me and I suddenly realized I knew that face, had seen it only two days earlier sitting at my kitchen table.

My mystery woman was David Thorne.

34

A cross dresser?

I stared at the woman David Thorne and forced myself not to laugh out loud in the crowded bookstore. I had assumed the pictures of Felicia and I kissing were taken by a PI he had hired to follow her. Now I wondered if he himself had taken them, perhaps he had been lurking across the street clicking away with his camera, while wearing a Girl Scout uniform.

I stood there, dumbfounded, not knowing what to make of it, when my phone rang. Several of the bookstore’s customers sent me dirty looks, but I answered it on the first ring and then ducked into an empty aisle to talk.

It was Bill, and he sounded anxious. “Are you on your way?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a few minutes, and do I have a story for you.”

“I’ve got news for you too, the F.D.R.T test confirms that Marta was killed by PLATINUM. That means the missing woman may be a witness.”

“Jesus, this guy’s everywhere.”

“I’ve sent a car to pick Tori up at the restaurant when she’s done. When I hang up with you, I’ll call her and let her know the car’s there.”

As Bill spoke, a patrol car park in front of the restaurant.

“Thanks Bill, and I’ll see you soon.”

As I placed my phone back in my pocket, I watched as David hailed a taxi and headed uptown.

A moment later, Tori answered her cell phone, probably Bill telling her about her police escort. Tori kept the call brief and then went back to her conversation with Felicia.

Tori was leaning forward, chin resting on her entwined fingers as she listened attentively to Felicia, who seemed to be doing most of the talking.

I let out a soft moan. The two people I loved most in this world were sitting across the street and, presumably, were discussing how to cut one of them out of my life forever.

I left the bookstore by a side exit and headed off to see Bill.

35

When I arrived at One Police Plaza, they performed everything but a cavity search before allowing me to enter the PLATINUM Command Center on the fourth floor. Even then, I was only allowed access to the outer area.

Yet, true to the contrary nature of bureaucratic intelligence, the inner sanctum of the command center could be clearly observed through a large glass window, and, if the command center had been a hive, it would surely have been abuzz that day.

I overheard a detective talking as I was being processed, and learned that someone in the press had leaked the information about the Task Force’s use of F.D.R.T to identify victims. Now it was believed that the killer or killers would discard their current weapon and use a variety of knives to confuse the police.

As I waited for Bill to join me, I watched as people scurried in and out of the center, each one looking stressed, yet somehow bored at the same time.

Through the window, I could see a chart of the victims of PLATINUM, complete with photos. Thankfully, they were photos of them alive and not pictures of them after the butcher had gotten ahold of them.

New York - 40 Victims over five years, eight months, all missing, Rape? Murder? - Unknown.

Pennsylvania (Castle County) -11 Victims over three years, two months, all raped and murdered, all bodies recovered.

Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) - 1 Victim, no rape, murdered, body recovered. A search is on for a possible witness in this case.

California - 2 Victims over five weeks, none raped, both murdered, both bodies recovered.

Italy - 4 Victims over two months, none raped, all murdered, all bodies recovered.

England - 2 Victims over a month, none raped, both murdered, both bodies recovered.

Japan - 1 Victim, no rape, murdered, body recovered.

Germany - 3 Victims over six weeks, none raped, all murdered, all bodies recovered.

Australia - 7 Victims over nine weeks, none raped, all murdered, all bodies recovered.

France - 2 Victims over five weeks, none raped, both murdered, both bodies recovered.

My mind boggled from the sheer number of victims.

This couldn’t be one man. Two or more monsters working together? Maybe it was the workings of a cult of some kind.

I stood gazing absently at the board, as I thought about David Thorne and his softer side. All at once, the places and dates on the board seemed familiar somehow, as if they were an itinerary that I was acquainted with. I kept staring at them.

What is it?

Then I remembered. It was Janey, Janey Winslow, now Janey Roberts. Janey over the years, feeding me bits of news about Felicia.

“She’s in England right now, but she says it rains a lot.”

“Felicia loved Germany; she said the people were friendly.”

“Australia’s beautiful, but she’s alone, David is never around.”

I shrugged. No. A coincidence, and yet… David did go to school in the Castle Ridge area about the time of the murders back then. He’s been to Japan, Australia, England, Germany, France, Italy, and now lives in New York State. But what about last night and Marta? And what about the woman that escaped the attack? Two witnesses said she was covered in‌—‌Jesus Christ!

Not a cross dresser, but a costume, a disguise, that’s how forty women have gone missing while looking suspiciously at every man that came near them, because they trusted “Her”, but “She” was actually a “He”. Thorne was after Tori. He thought he was killing Tori, not Marta.

At the apartment, his words, what were his exact words? Oh my God, I remember now.

‘She’s an exceptional specimen, maybe I’ll take her from you. Yes, I think I’ll take her.’

I was ready to tackle the first person that came near me and tell them my theory when I spotted Bill walking toward me, beside him was a man with a stocky build and graying temples. The man was wearing a black three-piece suit and a red tie that was hanging undone about his neck.

“John, sorry you had to wait, but things are hectic right now with the confirmation of PLATINUM in Philly last night, oh, this is Lieutenant Frank Garner, he’s in charge of the Task Force.”

Garner offered me his hand. “Nice to meet you Mr. Faron,”

I grabbed Garner’s hand and leaned in close.

“Tell me something Lieutenant, does the name David Thorne mean anything to you?”

36

In the midst of my fifteen minutes of fame, I found myself checking my watch.

It was 6:08 P.M. and the evening news was all Faron, the Faron Engine that is.

I knew it would make news, but it was everywhere.

“…said to have only a high school education, he nevertheless has invented what may well end Global Warming and will without doubt alter the landscapes of such industries as Oil, Transportation, Manufacturing and eventually the Marine and Aviation fields. John Faron lives in the town of Castle Ridge, Pennsylvania and is a garage mechanic, or rather was; he’s now being hailed as the next Edison, or Marconi. Now, on the international front, Prime Minister—”

I switched off the TV and turned to Tori.

“Hello Mrs. Edison.”

“Actually, that reporterette on channel seven said you were single, she also told the weatherman she thought you were a hunk and a half.”

“Well, it is the news honey; they’re trained to report accurately.”

We were in a hotel suite on Fifth Avenue. As we were leaving the command center, Bobby called from the garage and told me that all hell was breaking loose back home.

He said that there were sixteen news vans parked outside the shop and that a flood of reporters had descended on the town from all over the world.

I told Bobby that he could take off with pay until further notice and he said I was the best boss he ever had.

Tori arrived at the command center just as Lieutenant Garner was looking into David Thorne.

It turned out that because of his school years in Pennsylvania and his residency in New York State, he was actually already on a list of possible suspects; however, the list was over twenty thousand names long.

After Garner input David’s data from his passport file, he became one of only fourteen suspects that fit the profile, add to that my discovery of his dress up games and Lieutenant Garner now had David on an around the clock watch. He was the closest thing they had ever had to a viable suspect, and they weren’t about to let him go.

Tori turned on the sofa and took my hand.

“Why were you following Felicia?”

I was ready for the question. She had heard my story of spotting David Thorne in drag, and it was only a matter of time before she realized I couldn’t have spotted Thorne following Felicia, unless I had been following her also.

“I wasn’t exactly following her; I mean, I knew where she was headed. It’s just that curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see how you two would get along.”

“Lucky for you we were seated at a window.” She said, while eyeing me carefully.

“Yes it was, by the way, what was Felicia so happy about when you two started talking.”

“You John, she was happy for you. The first thing she did was to show me an article about your engine and asked me if it were true.”

“She knows I’ve been trying to build it since we were kids.”

“She couldn’t have been happier if you were named Pope.”

“Yeah, but why the lunch? What did she have to say to you?”

“She was concerned that I might break up with you, she wanted to assure me that nothing happened the other night.”

“I told you she didn’t want me back, for whatever reason she’s committed to being Thorne’s wife. Maybe her father, her upbringing, left deeper scars than I knew.”

“I’m worried for her. If what you suspect about Thorne is true, then that man is truly a monster.”

I stared at her. “You like Felicia, don’t you?”

“I tried not to, but yes, I do.”

“Did you show her your ring?”

“I didn’t have to. She spotted it and congratulated me, and she damn near pulled off sounding sincere too.”

“She probably was sincere; she told me the other night that she didn’t want me to lose you.”

“Was this before or after she offered to sleep with you?”

“Point taken, but I don’t believe she’ll try and break us up.”

“Neither do I, not anymore, and I guess that was the purpose of the lunch, to reassure me.”

“And are you, reassured?”

“Yes, there’s just one thing that bothers me though. If David Thorne is a serial killer, then the police will put him away soon and Felicia will be single again.”

“That means nothing to me, I’m getting married, in fact, why don’t we set a date.”

“Would you mind a small wedding? Neither one of us has scads of friends, and most of my family wouldn’t come anyway.”

I leaned over and kissed her. “Whatever you want, I just want to marry you; I wish I’d done it years ago.”

My cell phone rang. It was Bill. “John, where are you?”

“We’re in our room, and I was just about to call you, Tori and I are going out to dinner, how about joining us?”

“You might want to order room service.”

“Why?”

“Look out the window.”

I walked over to the window and looked down on Fifth Avenue. The street was awash with news vans. I looked back at Tori.

“Maybe it wasn’t one of my brighter ideas to try avoiding the press, by hiding out in the media capital of the world.”

37

Universal Motors arranged for a press conference to be held in a meeting room, at our hotel, at eleven a.m. the next day. Tori and I spent that morning shopping and getting ready.

We were now standing behind a curtain and could hear the large room fill with reporters.

I was wearing a new blue suit that fit me better than anything I’d ever worn before and also cost about as much as all I’d worn before. I could afford it. Tori checked the bank accounts she had set up for the deposits from the Universal deal and I was now one very rich young man.

Universal also arranged for me to have an assistant.

Her name was Ms. Lee. She was in her mid-thirties and Tori said she was the hottest thing to come out of the Orient since the iPhone.

“Why couldn’t Universal have sent you a man?”

I squinted across the room to where Ms. Lee stood.

“You mean she’s not a man? Hmm, I hadn’t noticed.”

Tori grinned. “Good answer big boy,”

Ms. Lee was definitely not a man. She was five feet, one hundred pounds of deliciously proportioned woman, with a face that was made to be kissed. She joined us now, and it was a genuine pleasure to watch her walk across a room.

“Mr. Faron, we’re just about ready to begin. Tell me, have you ever spoken in front of a large audience before?”

“I sure have; I played George Washington in the third grade.”

Ms. Lee gave me a smile. Definitely a face worth kissing,

“Anything more recent perhaps?”

“No, but if I get tongue-tied I’ll call you for help, okay?”

“Yes Sir.”

“Call me John.”

“Yes John. Now, whenever you’re ready you can step out to the podium. I’ll be standing behind you on your right if you need help.”

I took a deep breath and pushed through the curtain.

There were bright lights and cameras and recorders of all kinds, along with about a hundred reporters. Tori stood behind me on my left, Ms. Lee on my right. I took the podium and the room nearly became silent.

Now, I had never been nervous before a crowd in my life, and yet, as I looked out on that panorama of faces something took hold of me. It was fear. My palms suddenly felt clammy and my heart was beating in double time. The room was filled with reporters from around the world and they all had cameras, which meant that not only the throng in the room was now staring at me, but the world was watching me as well.

I told myself, Don’t just stand here like a dummy John, say something!

And as the seconds ticked on, I still said nothing.

A piece of advice fluttered across my mind then, something I had read once about speaking to crowds. Something about ignoring the crowd and focusing on talking to just one or two people within the crowd, supposedly it was a way to humanize the mass of faces and calm the speaker. I looked down at two people standing together in the front row, a man and a woman.

The man was fat, about sixty and wore a gray three-piece suit. The woman was in her twenties and wore a bright yellow dress that stopped several inches above her knees, and also displayed a fair bit of cleavage.

At that moment, I recalled a second piece of advice about talking to crowds. Imagine them in their underwear. I did so, giving the man a plain white T-shirt and boxers. With the woman, I went all out, push-up bra, thong underwear and black garter belts with silk nylons.

It wasn’t working.

I had probably stepped to the podium no more than five seconds ago, but it was beginning to feel like hours. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ms. Lee take a step in my direction, as my brain did something to save me.

As I stood imagining the man and woman in their underwear, my mind had them switch places. Now, the man was wearing the garter belts and push-up bra and the woman had on his boxers and T-shirt. The image was so real to me that it made me smile, and an instant later, I spoke.

“Good morning.” I said, while still feeling nervous.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Ms. Lee return to her place near the curtain.

Immediately, sixty different people asked sixty different questions, I picked one of them and away we went.

“Mr. Faron, is it true you only have a high school education?”

“Only a high school education? Those were the four toughest years of my life.”

“How long did it take you to create the engine?”

“The one that worked took two years, but there were numerous failed attempts before it.”

“What inspired you to build it?”

“Have you seen gas prices lately?”

A chuckle went through the crowd and I relaxed a bit.

“John, it’s rumored that your deal with Universal will make you a billionaire, is it true?”

“Short answer… yes, long answer… yes.”

More laughter, Ah the ol’ Faron charm,

“It’s also been rumored that if Universal balked at your terms you were going to end negotiations and approach the Japanese, any truth to that?”

I gestured behind me. “Perhaps Ms. Lee should answer that.”

They laughed some more, I turned and looked at Ms. Lee and saw that she was a good sport about being used as a prop.

I then pointed to a woman near the front, a tall redhead that I recognized from TV, recognized and always had a thing for.

“Hello Johnny, Caroline Deeds, from The Business Channel. Are you single? And if so, what is the reason for the epidemic of blindness among the women in your town?”

That received a laugh and a few raised eyebrows from her colleagues; it also made Tori move up beside me.

“Mr. Faron is engaged.” Tori said.

“I see, thank you,” Said Caroline Deeds.

“Johnny, what’s next?”

“The Faron Two,” I said.

“The Faron Two? Is it another engine?”

I took Tori’s hand. “No, it’s a baby; we’re hoping to start a family soon.”

“How were you able to do what the best automotive minds couldn’t? What’s your secret?”

I leaned on the podium and looked around the room.

“There’s no secret, and what I did isn’t all that special really, I mean, all across this country, hell, around the world, there are people like me who tinker in their garages, their basements, workshops, and every once in a while we get lucky, fortune smiles and the world changes. Henry Ford did it, William Hewlett and David Packard and countless others did it, and in the coming years, there will be more. We’re humans, we tinker.”

They asked a few more questions and then Ms. Lee stepped forward and ended it. She told me I had been exceptional for a beginner and said she would stay behind with the reporters and schedule a few one on one interviews for later dates.

“Thanks for your help Ms. Lee.”

“You’re welcome, and I’ll see you in Castle Ridge when you get back.”

“You’ll be in Castle Ridge, why?”

“As per your agreement with Universal, they’re opening a parts plant in your town and I’ve been assigned to help you in any way I can.”

“So they just gave you to me?”

“Yes, essentially, I suppose you could say I’m Faron Engines’ first employee; you’re now paying my salary.”

I looked at Tori. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“Mr. Faron, if you’d rather have someone else, it can be arranged,”

“No, but what about you? Castle Ridge isn’t exactly Detroit.”

She smiled. “I’ll adapt Sir; it’s part of my job.”

“Please, call me John, and I guess we’ll see you in Castle Ridge.”

Ms. Lee nodded and walked away, her walk away was almost as good as her walking toward.

Tori watched her also. “Your Personal Assistant is a little too hot for my taste, but she does seem efficient.”

I nodded. “Hot and efficient,’ maybe I’ll make that the Faron Engines slogan.”

38

Tori and I spent the rest of that day seeing the sights.

When we were on our way home that evening, I received a call from Bill,

“You have a guest waiting for you at the hotel, David Thorne. Garner says they followed him there an hour ago, apparently he’s waiting for you, and oh, Felicia is with him.”

“Thanks Bill.”

“Be careful. If he’s who we think he might be, then he’s dangerous.”

“I’ll be careful, bye.”

At the desk, we were told about our visitors and we met them in the bar.

Thumpity, thumpity, thump went my heart at first sight of Felicia. I hoped that Tori detected no outer sign of my inner elation.

As we slid into the booth across from them, Felicia sent me a wide smile.

“Hello Johnny, congratulations on your engine.”

“Thank you…” I said. I then looked around the bar. “Hey Thorne, where are your goons? I thought you said that next time you’d bring four.”

Felicia looked at David, and then at me.

“What’s this about?”

“Your husband visited me the other day with bruisers in tow.”

“What happened?”

“The hospital released one that day, the other one needed surgery.”

“Always the fucking hero, huh Faron?”

“I don’t know Thorne, it’s better than being Dressy Bessy.”

He said, “What the hell does that me—” and then he got it, or at least he suspected that I knew. I saw something flash in his eyes then, that was more wariness than hatred. He looked over at Tori.

“I’m actually here to speak to you.”

“About what?” Tori said.

“You met with my wife yesterday, why?”

“None of your damn business,”

“You do realize that they’ve slept together? That your goddamn boyfriend here fucked my wife?”

“No, he didn’t. He told me he didn’t and I believed him.”

Thorne tossed the photos of Felicia and I kissing onto the table. I wondered if he carried them with him everywhere he went, the way people carry around pictures of their kids.

Tori picked them up and studied them. “This isn’t sex, it’s a kiss.”

Thorne snatched the photos from her. “Must everything be spelled out for you? You fucking blonde cunt.”

Tori sprang back in her seat as if Thorne had struck her.

I snapped my fingers in front of Thorne’s eyes to get his attention.

“Insult her again and I’ll beat the pretty off your pretty boy face. Do we understand each other?”

He didn’t answer; instead, he turned to Felicia, his features a mask of distress.

“You want to leave me, don’t you? Now that Faron has money, you think that you can just walk away from me. But I won’t let that happen, I swear I won’t let that happen.”

“David, Johnny is with Tori now. He and I are over.”

Thorne ran a hand through his hair in agitation.

“Tell her you fucked him, tell her the truth.”

“Nothing happened, I swear. We kissed goodbye and then I went back to Janey’s house for a while, and then I came home.”

Tori spoke up, as she glared at Thorne.

“John arrived at my apartment in Philly only a half hour behind me. If they ‘fucked’ as you say, then it must have been a quick one, and believe me, John likes to take his time.”

Thorne glared back at Tori as if she were an insect.

She kept at him.

“Have you ever been to Philly Mr. Thorne?”

“Yes, of course,”

“Recently?”

Beneath the table, I gave Tori’s hand a squeeze. Don’t tip him off that the police are on to him.

“I was there the other night, to see a play.”

“A murder mystery?” Tori said.

I squeezed harder.

“In fact, it was.” Thorne said, and then he stared at both of us with a question in his eyes.

Felicia touched Thorne’s arm.

“David, why don’t we leave Johnny and Tori alone, as you can see, nothing happened between us.”

“I still want to know what you two talked about yesterday.”

“I told you, I was just reassuring Tori that Johnny and I are over.”

“Bullshit! Look at the two of you. If Ms. Jameson and I weren’t here you’d be under the table by now, fucking like pigs.”

I stood up.

“Okay, I think I’ve had enough, we’re out of here. Thorne, I’ve got three words for you. Leave me alone! And Felicia, I got three for you too. Leave him alone! Why the hell are you still with this guy?”

Thorne smiled up at me. “It just kills you that I have her and you don’t, doesn’t it?”

“You’re half right.” I said.

“Which half?”

I said, “You figure it out.” and hustled Tori out of the bar and toward the elevators.

She looked furious.

“That bastard really killed Marta, didn’t he?”

“I don’t know honey, he’s warped, but that warped? God only knows.”

When Thorne and Felicia walked out of the bar, Tori was facing the elevators and didn’t see them.

As Felicia walked by, she gazed at me while mouthing the words, “I love you.” and then she and Thorne were gone.

I let out a moan.

Tori stared at me, perplexed. “What was that for?”

“Nothing, absolutely nothing,”

“Those pictures of his, they were actually far less than I’d imagined; it really did look as if you were just kissing her goodbye.”

“That’s all it was, a goodbye kiss.”

Now, if only my heart and soul could follow my lips example.

39

Tori and I stood on the grounds of the Castle Estate, and watched the workmen create our future home.

Fredrick Castle, owner of a lumber mill, founded the town in 1849 and his son Howard built the estate in 1911.

Martin Castle, the last of his line, died in 1998 and bequeathed the Castle Estate to the town of Castle Ridge.

The town used part of the grounds every year for an annual picnic, but other than that, the land sat unused, and the home, once a showplace, had been deteriorating from neglect.

Ms. Lee hired a construction firm to evaluate the viability of rehabilitating the home and the word came back good. The twelve-bedroom mansion’s structure was sounder than most new dwellings, and with maintenance, would probably stand for another century.

Tori loved the look of the place, the round marble columns, the high ceilings and the filigree on the iron gates, all surrounded by rolling hills atop a high ridge, thus the origin of the town’s name, Castle Ridge.

“It’s like something out of the old south.” Tori said.

I nodded. “Yeah, but it’s being rebuilt by the nouveau riche.”

The previous few weeks had been some of the busiest of my life. After returning from New York, Tori and I had not only begun planning our wedding, but were also setting the foundations for a corporation, Faron Engines.

Ms. Lee was a godsend in helping me to navigate among the bureaucracies of both corporate America and small town government.

I not only wanted to acquire the Castle Estate from the town, but I was also in the process of building a parts factory on the property my grandfather had left me on County Road.

Both of those goals required wading through more red tape than I had the patience for, but Ms. Lee made the process look easy and in less than a month both projects were under way.

The house would be completed in a matter of months, as I threw wads of my newly acquired wealth at an eager contractor, but the factory would be a slower process.

Plant production probably wouldn’t start for another year or more, since the Faron Engines Corporation was still in its infancy.

* * *

Tori pointed to an ancient tree, which sat fifty yards from the south side of the house.

“That tree is huge; it’s probably older than the house.”

“It is.”

She took my hand. “Let’s go take a look at it.”

I hesitated. “Um, there’s something you should know about that tree.”

“What? Why the look, is it haunted?”

I sighed. “In a way, yeah.”

Tori headed for the tree. “Now you’ve got me curious.”

When we reached the tree, Tori ran her hands over the various carvings.

“My God, there are so many names.”

The tree was a jumble of heart-shaped carvings, all filled with the names or initials of lovers.

The bottom ten feet of the trunk was so densely carved that only a scarce bit of bark remained. Higher up, were newer and more easily read names, and higher still, at the very top of the trunk, directly below the tangle of multitudinous branches, was carved the largest and most easily read heart.

Tori recited it with a resigned tone in her voice.

“JOHNNY AND FELICIA‌—‌FOREVER,”

“I was eighteen when I climbed up there and carved that, seems a lifetime ago.”

Tori squinted. “What’s that in the middle of your heart… a clock face?”

“Yeah, it was sort of a private joke.”

Tori stared into my eyes. “Call one of the workmen over here and have them sand it off.”

I blinked rapidly in surprise. “It bothers you that much?”

“Will you do it?”

I didn’t answer. I simply turned and called over the general contractor, but, before the man could take three steps, Tori waved him off.

“I was only kidding John. I don’t need you to erase your past to have a future with me.”

“You weren’t kidding me. You were testing me.”

She nodded. “Yes I was; I’m sorry.”

I kissed her. “You’re my future, my wife.”

“And Felicia, what is she to you now?”

“She’s part of my past, a big part, but she’s behind me.”

“She’s not behind you yet, not until this Thorne business is settled. I know you’re worried about her. What does Bill say? Do they know if he’s the one they’re looking for yet?”

“Bill hasn’t said much at all, but I’m meeting him for lunch, so maybe I’ll learn something then.”

“What happens if Thorne goes to prison?”

I shrugged. “Then, Felicia can get on with her life, find someone else, and maybe have children.”

“And does that bother you?”

“All I’ve ever wanted was for her to be happy.”

Tori gave me a kiss.

“What’s that for?”

“For being a good man, I know she broke your heart when she cheated on you; a lot of men would be bitter, you’re not.”

I kissed her back. “I was rescued by an angel in the depths of my despair.”

“I was no angel; I was just hot for you.”

“And now?”

Tori smiled and made a sizzling sound. “Ssssssssss,”

I glanced back at the house. “I wonder if any of the bedrooms are inhabitable yet?”

* * *

Bill and I met at the diner and were waited on by Janey.

“Hi guys!”

“How’s married life?” I asked.

“You’ll soon find out. Tori tells me that you’ve set a date.”

“Yes we have, three of them so far, when Tori finally settles on one, we’ll send you an invitation.”

Janey nodded. “I was the same way; you just want everything to be perfect, you know?”

“I know.”

“So, what can I get you guys?”

We drank coffee while we waited for our food to arrive.

Bill looked tired; he’d been dividing his time between Castle Ridge and New York.

“What’s the progress on the PLATINUM case?”

“Thorne is not our only suspect anymore. He had a classmate at Hobbes by the name of Jerold Rainer. We now believe that Rainer was our rapist, while Thorne committed the murders.”

I leaned back in my seat. “I’ve met Jerry, and so have you. He’s the one that filmed me hitting Thorne outside the bar years ago. You know, the fact that there are two of them would make sense. The victims in this area were all raped first and then killed, yet, while Thorne traveled in Europe and Asia, he was alone, without his buddy Rainer, so no rapes. What about all the missing women? What’s the theory there?”

Bill let loose a sigh. “No theories, just suppositions. We’ve followed Thorne for over a month now and all we know for sure is that he visits Rainer frequently in Manhattan. Rainer owns a townhouse on the upper east side.”

“I see in the paper where another woman went missing. How could that happen if you were following them?”

“She disappeared right under our noses. We have film of Thorne dressed like a woman and talking to a hitchhiker, the woman gets in his Hummer, or at least we think she got in, but when we had him pulled over the woman was gone.”

“How is that possible? Did he shove her from the Hummer?”

“It was a rainy night, the car’s got tinted windows… and the angle was bad. It looks like she opened the door to get in, but maybe she just walked away. Either way, it was a major blunder on our part. Thorne now knows he’s being watched, and he’s probably warned Rainer too.”

Janey arrived with our food.

“Here you go, oh and Johnny, I saw you being interviewed on TV last night, it’s so weird watching someone you grew up with become famous.”

“And yet it hasn’t changed me, here I sit in your humble establishment.”

“I expect a kickass tip too.”

“You got it.” I said. Then, Janey told us to holler if we wanted anything, and went to wait on another table.

“Bill, is Felicia in danger?”

“I’d be lying if I said no, but I’ve checked and there seems to be no history of domestic violence between them.”

“Arrest him. Arrest Thorne and Rainer and search their homes.”

“It’s not that easy. Both of these men are extremely rich, both very smart. Thorne may be another Ted Bundy, but he’s Ted Bundy with eighty million dollars at his disposal, that buys a lot of legal firepower… it also buys access. Garner believes that Thorne may now have a spy on the Task Force.”

“Jesus, then he may know everything that’s going on.”

“Yes, including the fact that you’re the one that led us to him. But we’ll get him, it may take time to build a case, but we’ll get him.”

“And in the meantime Felicia just goes on living with a madman, huh?”

Bill put down his fork and glared at me.

“Hey, you’re not the only one that’s worried about her. I’ve known that girl longer than you have and it breaks my heart that she’s with that psycho, but what can we do? It’s her choice. I warned you a long time ago that she had baggage, that growing up in that house, with domestic violence, well, maybe it’s warped her. Maybe on some level she really does love Thorne; after all, she’s staying with him for some reason.”

“I can’t let anything happen to her Bill, and I swear, if I knew for certain that he had tried to kill Tori… I’d kill the son of a bitch, I swear I would.”

“Stay out of this John. I want you to promise me you’ll stay away from Thorne and let us handle it.”

“I will, I promise, but make sure you get him, and soon.”

Bill stared at me a moment longer, and then decided to change the subject.

“How’s the house coming along?”

“Great, Tori’s got the whole thing under control; it should be ready by the time we’re married.”

“I sold mine you know; right now I’m staying with my brother.”

“What are you going to do when the PLATINUM case is over?”

He shrugged. “Come back to town, I’m still on the force here.”

“How would you like to be Faron Engines head of security? Believe me; it comes with a huge bump in pay and a great incentive package.”

He grinned at me. “Are you offering me a job?”

“I need people around me I can trust. Who do I trust more than you?”

“Thank you for the offer Mr. Faron, I’ll think about it.”

We sat quietly for a few moments while we finished our meal, and then Bill asked me a question.

“This job offer, would I be working with Ms. Lee by any chance?”

“Like two peas in a pod.”

Bill sighed. “Now that woman has one nice incentive package.”

I laughed. “I’m glad to see that you’ve noticed, you know, for a while there, Tori and I were worried about you.”

“I miss Cindy like the dickens, but I can’t imagine being alone the rest of my life.”

“What if Ms. Lee turns out not to be Miss Right?”

“Miss Right? John I’ve been alone for nearly a year, I’m not looking for Miss Right; I’m looking for Miss Right Damn Now.”

I laughed again and then waved Janey over for the check.

40

Tori and I were back in New York, she, to find a wedding dress, and I, to be interviewed and photographed for the cover of a weekly news magazine.

While Tori shopped and had lunch with Carol, her friend and former assistant, Ms. Lee and I met with one of the leading photographers in the world, for a publicity campaign that Universal Motors had cooked up.

The publisher had a real-sized model made of my engine and painted with a map of the globe. They then had me stand atop my spherical creation while wearing a suit and smiling. They took numerous other photos but assured me that the globe shot would most likely make the cover.

The interview and photo shoot were over earlier than expected and so I asked Ms. Lee if she’d care to join me for lunch.

“Oh, I’m sorry but I already have plans, your friend Bill Healy, he’s in the city and he’s taking me to lunch today.”

“That’s nice; you know I’ve asked him to be our head of security.”

“Yes, we had a pleasant conversation while I explained what his duties would be if he took the job.”

“Well then, I guess I’m on my own. I’ll see you back in Castle Ridge tomorrow Ms. Lee.”

“Goodbye John, tell Tori I said hello.”

I said, “Will do,” as I enjoyed watching her walk away. I then checked the time and saw that I still had hours to kill until Tori’s expected return from shopping. As I was strolling past a newsstand, a headline caught my attention.

POLICE ARE CLOSE TO NABBING PLATINUM

I wondered if the headline was true. Something was up. Bill had been summoned to New York rather suddenly, while only revealing that there had been a development concerning Rainer, Thorne’s assumed accomplice.

Once back in my hotel room, I began to pace. Lately, I had been quietly going out of my mind with worry for Felicia.

She was likely living with a psychopathic murderer and had no clue of his sadistic nature. What if the stress of the investigation drove him to become violent towards her? No new women had gone missing in nearly a month, and if Thorne was controlled by a sick compulsion, then the pressure to kill must be building within him. I had to warn Felicia, but how? I couldn’t just drive up to the estate, even if I somehow got inside, Thorne would never leave the two of us alone to talk.

Sophie! Sophie’s card.

I sat on the bed and rifled through my wallet. I found the card and flipped it over to read the cell phone number.

What are doing John? You know what Sophie will think if you call, what Felicia will think.

I dialed the number anyway. It didn’t matter what Sophie thought; Felicia had to be warned. I had to do everything I could to keep her safe.

Sophie answered after four rings. “Hello?”

“Sophie, hi, this is John Faron.”

“I’m glad you called John, Felicia’s been especially depressed lately and she won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m in the city and… I need to see her, today, actually within the next two hours would be ideal. Can you arrange it?”

“I’ll tell David that we’re going shopping, he would never suspect that I would arrange a… meeting between you two.”

“That’s all it’s going to be Sophie, a meeting. I have something important to tell Felicia.”

“Whatever you say, now, how do we go about this?”

* * *

The plan I came up with was this: Sophie and Felicia would drive into the city and head for the nearest large department store. Felicia would then leave the store by a side exit and make her way to a quiet hotel I’d chosen. Later, Felicia would rejoin Sophie in the shoe department as if she had never left at all.

I arrived at the hotel early and signed in under an assumed name, while leaving word at the desk that my wife would be joining me. I spent most of my time pacing while I waited.

Half an hour later my stomach reminded me that I had only had coffee thus far that day and I began browsing the room service menu.

I ordered a burger for me and a shrimp cocktail for Felicia, I’d remembered that she always loved any kind of shrimp.

The food came, and still no Felicia. After the waiter left, I looked about the room and suddenly felt sleazy.

If this didn’t look like an affair, it would do until I actually had one.

Tori could never know about this. No matter how honorable my intentions might be, I was still meeting the only other woman I would ever love, in a hotel room in the middle of the afternoon, and using an assumed name to do it.

I heard a noise at the door and watched as Felicia entered. She then shut the door and leaned her back upon it. She was wearing a bright wool print dress that fell to mid-thigh and, with the top three buttons unfastened, it exposed a generous proportion of cleavage. I felt immediate arousal, which only intensified when she graced me with a mischievous smile.

“Mr. and Mrs. Chris Roberts? Does Janey know about this?”

“Nobody knows about this, and that’s how it has to stay.”

“I take it by the aliases that you’re still with Tori?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Of course, and I’m with David and neither of us gives a damn who’s with whom, do we?”

“Felicia, I don’t know what your aunt told you, but I only asked you here to talk.”

Felicia dropped her purse near the door and began taking off her shoes.

“We’ll talk after, but right now I’m alone with you, and I’d begun to fear that I’d never see you again.”

“You went five years without seeing me, that didn’t seem to bother you.”

She sighed and slid by me on her way to the bed. As she passed, I breathed in her perfume. It was the one she wore our first time together; I could never smell it without thinking of that night.

“Johnny, those years were the worst of my life and I have no intention of ever living through them again. Tori be damned and David can go to hell. I love you, and maybe we’ll never live together as man and wife, but as God is my witness, if I can’t have at least a piece of you I’ll go mad, I swear I’ll go mad.”

I watched as she turned down the covers on the bed.

“Felicia, I’m marrying Tori. Nothing is going to happen here. Please, let me explain, you’re in danger. It’s David, he’s not who you think he is. Now there’s not much time, I have to get back. Please take a seat and we’ll talk.”

“You don’t want to talk. We could have met in the bar if that’s all you wanted to do.”

I gestured about the room. “I just thought we should have privacy.”

She said, “You were so right,” and then she smiled, the big one, the one that lit me up when she was a kid and set me on fire after she had matured.

I then watched, as she grabbed the bottom of the dress and pulled it over her head, beneath it, she was naked.

Now, I had rarely been to church since I was six, when my mother became a lapsed Catholic. And yet, as I feasted upon her beauty I heard myself whisper the words, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph,”

Felicia lowered herself back onto the bed and stretched out upon it luxuriously.

“Make love to me Johnny, please?”

Before I knew what was happening, my jacket and tie hit the floor and I had one knee on the bed. At that moment, I forgot all about David Thorne and, as sad as it is to admit, Tori Jameson never once entered my mind.

41

Heaven. No other word comes close to describing it.

I was lying atop of Felicia, my face buried against her neck, surrounded by that hair, her curly, sensuous honey-colored hair.

In it, were shades of ginger, amber, red highlights and auburn tresses that by tomorrow would morph into different hues altogether.

I swear her hair was never the same. It was alive.

It was her single most distinguishing characteristic, and I adored it to no end.

My hands explored her naked flesh and I moaned at the pleasure. I moved my lips to hers and felt her tongue slip past and tangle with my own. God, the taste of the woman, the feel of her, the naked warmth,

I rose up onto my knees, positioned between her parted thighs, and tore at my shirt, sending buttons torpedoing about the room like the tiny bits of conscience which nettled at my mind.

As I hustled out of my shirt, Felicia’s hands were busy with my belt and I thought I would die from the ache of anticipation.

Tori!

Just a flash across my mind,

Felicia yanking down my zipper,

Tori!

My slacks sliding to my knees,

Tori!

Felicia’s groping hands reaching into my boxers, finding the prize, a prize that by now was impossible to have missed.

Tori, gone forever!

I took ahold of Felicia’s hands. “God Almighty, I’m begging you, please stop.”

She stroked. “No, make love to me. Don’t think; just make love to me… love.”

I’m frozen there, head thrown back in ecstasy, her hands probing… stroking.

TORI, GONE FOREVER!

“Felicia, I can’t lose Tori, please, if you truly love me, please stop because as God is my witness I swear I’m not strong enough to end it.”

Her hands faltered. “Johnny I can’t live without you.”

“I can’t live without Tori. I’m begging you!”

Her hands withdrew and I fell beside her on the bed, with my pants around my knees.

Felicia pulled up the sheet to cover herself, as she cried out.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

I rose from the bed, while pulling my pants up.

“I swear I came here to talk, only talk. I had to warn you.”

“Warn me? What are you talking about?”

“David, Felicia, baby, the police, they think that he’s a murderer, a serial killer, the one they named PLATINUM.

Her face instantly screwed up in confusion.

“Why are you… no! No, I know you don’t like him, but my God, he’s not a monster. He’s extremely selfish, arrogant, demanding, but a killer, and a… a rapist? No, who told you this?”

“Baby, he and another man, Jerold Rainer, Jerry, they’re the ones that have been murdering and abducting women for years.”

“Jerry? David’s friend Jerry, what about him?”

“Bill says that the Task Force believes he’s the one that committed the rapes, while David, David killed.”

She rose from the bed, and a jolt of desire passed through me at the sight of her nakedness, but then she quickly wiggled into her dress and walked to the door to grab her purse and put on her shoes.

“Bill’s wrong. David is not a serial killer.”

I walked over to where she stood.

“Don’t go back home, take your aunt and hide somewhere until the police sort this out. If I’m wrong, then you can go back to him, but if I’m right, oh God, if I’m right then you’re in danger and I can’t stand the thought of you being in danger.”

“I’m going home, the police are wrong, they must be wrong.”

Unpardonable lust now morphed into justified fury, and I grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Goddamn you and this sick fuck you married. What hold does he have on you? Does his fucking money really mean that much to you? I’ll give you money; I’ll give you millions. Just leave him!”

Felicia fell back against the door.

“Money? You think I stayed away from you all these years because of money? What do you think I am, a whore? If we had made love, what were you going to do afterward, throw bills on the dresser? Oh God, Johnny what do you think I am?”

“I saw it in your eyes Felicia, the day of Janey’s wedding. You stayed with him because he could give you things I couldn’t. Baby, I’m not judging you. I know how you grew up. I know how tempting his wealth must have been, you were a young girl and—”

She hit me, a solid slap that filled the room and made my cheek sting. She then looked me up and down with disgust.

“I’m not a whore and David is not a murderer.”

“Please baby, he’s dangerous. Don’t go back home, please?”

She started crying and I reached for her but she pushed me away.

“He can’t be what you say he is. He can’t.”

“I’ll call Bill and you can look at the evidence.”

“No, it can’t be, that would mean… no.”

She opened the door to leave, but then turned, and stared at me.

“I’m late. I’ve never been this late in my life. If David is what you think he is, what’s that make me? What’s that make my baby?” Next, she flew down the hall and onto an arriving elevator.

I stood in the open doorway, speechless, half-naked, and more frightened for her than I was when I arrived.

42

Soap, shampoo, conditioner, more soap,

I had been in the shower for forty minutes and I swear I could still smell Felicia upon me, still taste her tongue, the feel of her hands on my—

I shook myself.

There is no odor of perfume John; what you’re smelling is guilt.

Tori would be back any minute.

I was in our hotel room. When I arrived back, I immediately undressed and sent my clothes to the cleaners.

Now, I’d been bathing so long that my skin was beginning to prune.

My God, I so wanted her, needed her. What is it she does to me, has always done to me since the day I first laid eyes on her.

I heard a noise and knew that Tori had returned. I stepped from the shower and began drying myself as she poked her head through the door.

“Hi there,”

“Hey honey, how was shopping?”

Tori walked in and leaned against the blue tile wall.

“Shopping was fine. Why were you showering? Are we going out for dinner?”

“Yeah, soon as you’re ready. Did you find a dress?”

“I did.” She said, and then stared at me.

“What? Why are you staring?”

“I was just wondering if you’ve been a good boy.”

I managed a smile, it was shaky, but it was a smile.

“What’s that mean?”

“You think I don’t know that you spent all day with her?”

“With who?”

“Ms. Lee, your ‘Personal Assistant’, things better not have gotten too personal.”

“Oh stop, you know I don’t think of her that way.”

Tori kissed me.

“Just teasing, but for a moment there you almost looked guilty.”

“She and Bill are dating.”

“Get out of here, Bill Healy and Ms. Lee?”

“She said they had a lunch date today.”

“I wonder if Bill managed to add her to the menu.”

“Tori! I’m sure Bill was a perfect gentleman.”

“What is her name anyway, her first name?”

I thought for a moment.

“You know I don’t know; she’s just Ms. Lee.”

“I hope she doesn’t break Bill’s heart, he deserves to be happy.”

I sighed. “Ms. Lee could make any man happy.”

“So, you have noticed her?”

“She’s a little hard to miss.”

Tori began undressing, in moments she was naked. She came to me.

“Did you miss me big boy?”

“I did.”

“I thought about you all day, and guess what? I’ve finally settled on a date. How’s Valentine’s Day sound?”

I made a face.

“Tori, you know I lost my grandfather on that day.”

“And you also lost Felicia on that day. It’s time you gained something, hmm? Sort of remove the curse?”

“If you’re happy with it, I’m happy with it.”

“Then it’s settled, on Valentine’s Day I become Mrs. John Faron.”

Tori stepped into the shower and pulled me back inside with her. My skin must have thought I was trying to drown it.

“Where would you like to get married?” I asked. “Our house will be ready by then; we could get married at home.”

“My father owns a house that would be perfect, it’s in California though, on Monterey Bay, would you mind traveling?”

I scrubbed her back. “No, and we’ll fly all the guests out there too, but will your father let you use it?”

“I may have to pour on the guilt a bit, but he’ll let us use it. Wait until you see it, it’s one of those houses built on stilts and it sits right on the ocean.”

I turned her around and fondled her breasts.

“Sounds great,”

I suddenly flashed on an image of Felicia, naked in bed, and my reaction to the thought didn’t go unnoticed.

“My my, you did miss me, didn’t you?”

I turned off the shower. “Dinner can wait. Let’s make love, I can always eat later.”

Tori stepped from the shower and sent a seductive smile over her shoulder.

“In fact big boy, you can do both.”

43

The next two months were both extremely hectic, and yet, seemed to drag by excruciatingly slow.

On a personal note, time moved like lightning, what with planning the wedding, forming a corporation and renovating a house, but the case against David Thorne seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace and each day I grew more worried for Felicia.

Bill assured me that a case was being built and that David would soon be in custody. All they had on the man so far was strictly circumstantial evidence, but Lieutenant Garner had recently arrested Jerold Rainer on an unrelated hit and run accident, that had also resulted in a drunk driving charge.

Garner was now pressuring Jerry to give up Thorne or face numerous rape charges, along with attempted murder. It seems that the last two victims murdered in the Castle Ridge area years ago, had several slash marks made by a left-handed person, such as Rainer, while Thorne was right-handed. The police surmised that either Thorne had forced Rainer into cutting the girls, or perhaps, Rainer had just wanted to know what it felt like to torture someone. None of the wounds inflicted were fatal, but they still implicated Rainer and if the D.A.’s office could ever get past his legal team’s maneuvering and obtain a DNA sample, they could compare it with semen found on three of the victims.

I had called Sophie the following day after I met with Felicia and found her to be just as incredulous as her niece.

Neither woman wanted to believe that the man they had lived with for years was a murderer. At the end of the call, Sophie told me it would be best if I never called again.

* * *

Bill and I were running together at the Castle Estate, around a mile long track that circled an artificial lake I had installed on the grounds. I had gone all out. The track could be heated in cold weather, as it was now, to prevent ice from forming, and had an indoor restroom and water fountain. Add this to the tennis and basketball courts on the grounds, and I had a virtual park of my own to play in. The house was nearly completed and we planned to move in after our wedding. Bill and I finished our run and took a seat on one of the benches.

“Are you still living with your brother?” I asked.

“Yeah, he’s been great, but I’m looking for an apartment now.”

“You know, this place is going to have twelve bedrooms, why don’t you move in here?”

“Are you serious? I’m sure Tori wouldn’t be too happy about that.”

“It’s her idea in fact. Bill, you’re the closet thing in the world I’ve got to family, and after all, it is a big goddamn house.”

He sat silently for a few seconds, and then he punched me on the shoulder.

“I accept… son, and tell Tori I said thank you.”

“Will you be having a roommate, say, Ms. Lee?”

“No, we’re over. We both agreed that we weren’t made for the long haul, she’s a great girl, but I think in the end, she’s a little young for me.”

“Hey, by the way, what’s her first name?”

“Ms. Lee? Ms. Lee’s first name is—” His phone rang.

Bill answered it and I could tell by his demeanor that it was someone from the Task Force, most likely Garner. He hung up.

“The D.A. has a subpoena for Rainer’s DNA, so Rainer has decided to deal. He says he can lead us to the women. They’re still alive John, the bastard says that some of them are still alive, and… he’s giving up Thorne.”

“Bill I know you, why the look?”

“Thorne has got to know this. He must know that Rainer was arrested, but he’s not budging, Garner says he’s just sitting in his house, almost like he’s waiting for us to come in for him.”

“You make him sound suicidal.”

“That’s what Garner is worried about; he’s trying to figure out a ruse to get Felicia and her aunt out of the house before we move in on him.”

“When is Garner going in?”

“Probably tonight, Rainer says he’ll take us to the women, but only after his lawyers cut a deal, the D.A.’s balking about letting him walk scot-free. I’ve got to get going. If I hurry, maybe I can get there in time to be of help.”

“I’m coming with you; I think I might be able to get Felicia and Sophie out of that house.”

“How?”

“I, ah, I’ve kept in contact with Felicia. In fact, I warned her about Thorne but she didn’t want to believe me.”

Bill stared at me before asking his question.

“This contact, does Tori know about it?”

“No, and it’s not what you’re thinking. It’s Felicia’s Aunt Sophie, she may listen to me now. I can’t imagine with all the stress Thorne’s been under that they haven’t noticed he’s changed.”

Bill looked at his watch. “If we hurry we can catch the one o’clock train out of Philly.”

I smiled. “You forget I’m rich now. We have access to a helicopter. I’ll have us there by one o’clock, but first I’ve got to talk to Tori, to let her know that I’m going, and why.”

Bill made a face. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks, I think I’ll need it.”

* * *

I found Tori in the dining room talking to the interior designer. After they were done speaking, I told her about Rainer and my plan to get Felicia out of the house.

“You have her aunt’s phone number, why?”

“Her aunt gave it to me, in case I ever wanted to contact Felicia.”

“And have you used it?”

“Yes, once, to warn her about Thorne, and it was messy but—”

Tori pressed a finger to my lips, cutting me off.

“You don’t have to tell me that nothing happened. I know nothing happened, because I know you. If something had happened, you would have told me.”

“And I would have lost you.”

“And you would have lost me.”

I hugged her. “And I can’t lose you; I love you too damn much.”

“I know, and for obvious reasons, I’m not as insecure as I once was about us.”

“Thank you, for understanding.”

“I do understand, and I’m coming along, you may need help.”

I nodded. “I’ve already thought of that.”

44

Seven hours later, Tori and I were seated in the kitchen of a home, a large cabin, west of the Thorne Estate.

The police had evacuated the occupants on all sides of Thorne and were now simply waiting to serve him with warrants.

Lieutenant Garner wasn’t thrilled with having civilians involved, but agreed that there was little risk of danger if something went wrong, after all, we were half a mile away from the estate.

I took Sophie’s card from my wallet and dialed the number. Outside the Thorne estate, police technicians were remotely monitoring my call.

“Sophie, this is John Faron, can you talk?”

She answered, “Yes.” but I detected strain in her voice.

“Sophie, listen to me, David is about to be arrested for murder. Can you sneak yourself and Felicia out of the house?”

“Yes… David’s asleep.”

“Good, good, now, do you remember my friend Captain Healy?”

“Yes.”

“He’ll meet you and Felicia out on the main road, okay?”

“Right, goodbye John,” And the line went dead.

Tori stared at me. “Well, are they coming out?”

“Yeah… but that was too easy, plus she sounded odd.”

I called Bill and we discussed my conversation with Sophie, as we were talking, a black Hummer left the garage of the Thorne Estate and headed toward him and the other cops.

“I’ll call you back.” Bill said.

We waited, six minutes passed and then my phone rang.

“It’s okay John, Felicia and her aunt were alone in the Hummer, we’re headed your way now.”

I went outside and stood on the cabin’s porch, through the woods I could see headlights approaching. “That’s great Bill. I’ll see you soon.” I smiled at Tori. “Everything seems fine.”

The Hummer pulled up in front of the cabin and parked beside my rented car. As everyone got out, I gave Felicia a careful look and, despite the obscuring bulk of her jacket, I could see that she was beginning to show. She was definitely pregnant.

Tori noticed too, and went to her.

“This may sound strange, particularly coming from me, but I hope that’s not your husband’s child you’re carrying.”

Felicia began crying and Tori reached over and took her hand.

Bill walked over to me. “You were right about Sophie sounding odd; David was with her when you called.”

“So where is he now?”

Sophie spoke up. “He handed me the keys to the Hummer and told us to wait five minutes before leaving and then he just walked away. Oh John, you were right; he’s been so odd lately, particularly since his friend was arrested. He’s been spending most of his time in the basement, doing God knows what.”

I walked over to Felicia. “Are you all right?”

She looked up at me with the saddest of eyes.

“My husband’s a serial killer; what kind of life will my baby have growing up with that stigma?”

“At least you’re safe.”

She simply looked down and started weeping again.

I looked at Bill. “Are you sure Thorne’s still in the house?”

He held up a finger as his phone rang. After a few moments of talking, he gave a relieved smile. “They just flew over the house with heat detection equipment, it read two thermal signatures in the basement, one strong, one weak. The strong one is probably the furnace, while the lesser one must be Thorne, they’ve also got the warrants; they’re sending a SWAT team in.”

We had all just agreed to go inside when the explosion occurred. It was so powerful that it lit up the night and trembled the ground. We ran back off the porch, past the Hummer, and toward the tree line to gaze east at the light of the fire.

“That’s Thorne’s place,” Bill said. As he reached for his phone, a shot rang out and I watched in horror as he tumbled to the ground. We all spun around, and standing behind us with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other was David Thorne.

45

Thorne smiled at me, as I bent down to check on Bill.

“I’m so happy to see you Faron, you cannot imagine my joy.”

Bill was shot high in the back, but most of the bleeding came from a ragged exit hole in his right shoulder, and although he was unconscious, his breathing seemed steady. I looked over at Tori standing beside Felicia and Sophie and saw her shift her eyes to the front steps of the cabin, I gave her a slight nod and stood up.

“Thorne, you crazy piece of shit! What was that explosion?”

“That was the sound of my house blowing up and taking the cops with it, by the time they sort that mess out I’ll be long gone. Felicia, come here.”

Felicia didn’t budge and Thorne pointed the gun at her aunt.

“Come here or I’ll shoot Sophie, I should shoot the ungrateful bitch anyway for arranging these trysts”

Felicia relented. “All right David.”

I reached over and held her back. “If you’re leaving, go, but Felicia is staying here.” He pointed the gun at me and I held up my hand, hoping to buy time. “Wait! Why only blondes?”

Thorne sighted down the barrel.

“They’re more fun, goodbye Faron,”

He was about to pull the trigger when he heard the approaching footfalls from behind.

Bobby Owens. I had asked him along just in case and it looked like he was about to capture Thorne all by himself.

Thorne turned toward Bobby an instant too late and Bobby caught him with a running right to the chin, that made Thorne drop the gun, but he was still wielding the knife.

It was a mean piece of work too, a foot long blade with deadly serrated teeth on one side and a sharp edge on the other.

As Bobby and I circled him, Thorne slashed the air in front of us. Bobby made a play for Thorne’s gun and plucked it from the ground, but as he was bringing it up to fire, Thorne slashed him across the back of the hand. Bobby screamed in pain and the gun went flying into the darkness of the trees.

I scrambled over to where Bill lay bleeding and tore his gun from his holster. When I looked back at Thorne, he was holding the knife at Tori’s throat.

“Throw it away Faron! Throw it away or I’ll slice her tits off.”

As he talked, Thorne backpedaled toward the Hummer. I looked at Tori; she appeared both terrified and pissed at the same time. I held my hand out at arm’s length and then flicked my wrist, sending Bill’s gun into a thicket of bushes.

Felicia ran over to Thorne and grabbed Tori’s hand.

“Let her go! Just take the car and leave us alone.”

“Come with me, I’ve money hidden away, we won’t starve.”

“I’m not coming with you.”

“Yes you will… or else.”

“I don’t care about your threats anymore. The things you’ve done, all those poor women… oh my God, David.”

“But… I love you Felicia, I can’t leave without you.”

Felicia pulled Tori harder and Thorne let her slip from his grasp. Tori ran to me and I held her close, as off in the distance, an agonized scream tore through the night, and I wondered how many more people this animal had just killed and injured with his bomb.

Thorne offered Felicia his hand. “Come with me, please… for the baby?”

Felicia backed away from him in disgust.

Thorne made a whimpering sound and then thrust the blade of his knife into a front tire on my rented car. A loud hiss filled the air as the tire flattened. Thorne activated the remote start on the Hummer as he climbed inside and jolted it into reverse, very nearly running over Bobby in the process.

Bobby leapt to the side just in time, as Thorne then put the Hummer into drive and headed back toward the road. I released Tori and ran after him, behind me, both Felicia and Tori pleaded for me to stop, as I ran at an angle to the Hummer.

My only hope of catching him was to cut through the trees, and pray that the straight line I was running was enough to make up for the speed of the Hummer, on the meandering strip of gravel that composed the driveway’s access road.

I reached the front of the driveway moments before Thorne and searched for something, anything, that might be used to shatter the windshield and possibly cause him to crash.

I spied a stone the size of a baseball and with no time left, I hurled it, shattering the side window, and watched as it smashed into Thorne’s face. In the dim light of the moon, I saw a spray of blood splatter the windshield, and then the Hummer swerved dangerously close to a ditch at the side of the road. At the last instant, Thorne regained control, gunned the engine, and was gone.

I started jogging back up the driveway, when I reached the house I found everyone inside and was relieved to see Bill sitting up and conscious in the kitchen. Sophie, teary-eyed, was seated beside Bill and applying pressure to his wound, while Tori tended to Bobby’s cut hand.

“Did you get him John?” Bill asked.

“No, but I wounded his face with a rock, he’s bleeding badly.”

“What the hell happened?”

“He blew up his house, but never mind that, you need a doctor.”

“We’ll go to what’s left of the house; they’ve probably got a fleet of ambulances headed there.”

I looked around. “Where’s Felicia?”

Tori pointed toward the living room. I walked in to find Felicia on her cell phone; she hung up just as I entered.

“Who were you calling?”

“No one, I thought I heard it ring.” She walked over and hugged me. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, but what about you?”

“I’m carrying the devil’s baby, that’s how I am.”

I broke our embrace and guided her to sit on the sofa.

“Have you considered… not having it?”

“No, I could never do that. I’ll raise this child and keep the truth from it.”

“That may be impossible, baby.”

She began to cry. “I know.”

Tori walked in. “Bill called Lieutenant Garner, they’re sending an ambulance here for him and Bobby, oh, and Garner says they lost eight men at the house, and more were wounded.”

Felicia curled up into a ball and began to sob harder. Tori sat beside her on the sofa and rubbed her back soothingly, as I stood in the center of the room, in utter, complete, uselessness.

46

Bobby entered the room and I gave him a hug.

“You saved my life, maybe all of our lives.”

“Man, one minute I dozed off on that sofa there and the next thing I knew‌—‌Boom! When I got to the door I see everybody looking at the fire and that guy with the gun gets out of the Hummer and… and then he shot Captain Healy.”

“Thorne was in the Hummer, you’re sure?”

“Yeah, why?”

“He wasn’t in it when everyone arrived. I’d sure like to get another look at that Hummer.”

On the sofa, Felicia now dried her eyes, as Tori talked to her quietly.

Bobby nodded toward Felicia. “Wanda’s pregnant too,”

“Congratulations Bobby, so when’s the wedding?”

“You sound like her mother. We’re getting married soon, and you’re invited.”

“Tori and I will be there, count on it.”

“It’s scary you know, becoming a father.”

I looked over at the sofa. “Yeah, it is. But you’ll be a good one, you love Wanda and you’ll love the baby too.”

“Well yeah, I mean, who don’t love a baby?”

I said, “No one, I guess,” and then I thought about Felicia’s child and the stigma that would follow it its whole life as an offspring of Thorne.

* * *

Four hours later, they found the Hummer abandoned, and it was a revelation.

Underneath the wide, center console was a coffin-like compartment that was likely used to transport Thorne’s victims about Manhattan.

It was also how Thorne managed to leave the estate undetected and wound up at the cabin.

Tori, Felicia, Sophie, Bobby and I were all seated about a large conference table inside the PLATINUM Command Center, while Lieutenant Garner, who bore a nasty cut on his forehead from the explosion at Thorne’s, went over our statements. Bill was in the hospital and expected to recover fully from his wound.

Garner displayed the Hummer on a huge video screen.

“This rock you say you hit him with, it must have been big, he bled like a pig all over the seats.”

I nodded. “It was a nice chunk of stone, it must have scarred him, should make him easier to spot.”

“We’ll catch him.” Garner said. “It’s just a matter of time, his face will be everywhere by morning and because of the, well…uniqueness of his crimes; no one will ever forget this monster.”

I looked across the table and saw Felicia wince. The extent of Thorne’s depravity was just coming to light, and the details were not only sensational, but also sickening.

Jerold Rainer’s lawyers finally came to an agreement with the D.A.’s office and Rainer led police to a brownstone in Manhattan that was Thorne’s, but listed under an alias the police knew nothing about. Rainer said that the property had been his before he sold it to Thorne and that at one time, it had been a speakeasy. The building connected to a townhouse owned by Rainer by a secret underground passageway that was built in the 1920’s during prohibition, as an escape route in case of a raid.

After the bomb squad gave the all clear, the police entered and found a fair slice of hell.

Of the forty-one blond women that had vanished over the years, only eighteen were alive, some just barely. The cops were on the scene less than an hour before the place got its nickname: The Devil’s Dormitory.

The three-story building had been renovated and now included sixty-six cell like rooms. Each cell contained a small bed, a sink and a toilet. They were soundproof and separated by white cinderblock walls. The door of each cell was composed of one-way, shatterproof glass, mirrored on the occupant’s side, but easily seen through on the corridor side. At the bottom of each door’s metal frame was a lockable sliding compartment that swiveled so that food could be sent in to the cell without any contact being made.

Apparently, Thorne had stopped going to the brownstone sometime after Rainer’s arrest and the remaining women were near starving when rescued.

And as if the cells weren’t horror enough, the police then found the other rooms.

There was the Rape Room, where beds sat with straps and sexual devices numerous in number, and most, sadistic in their design.

On the third floor was a room that had chains hanging down from the ceiling and also, embedded into the floor. It was windowless and its soundproof walls were covered by thick sheets of plastic, which could be removed after the room had been… used.

It was the Killing Room.

The place where David Thorne brought the women, one by one, as the depraved urge struck him, and without fear of detection or any semblance of conscience, would suspend them, naked and helpless, in chains and a metal collar, while he then slowly hacked them to pieces, until death finally freed them from their horror.

There was also the Disposal Room, where the bodies of the murdered were placed in drums of acid, and apparently left to dissolve.

In what passed for an office in the building, hundreds of digital recordings of every atrocity that had ever occurred within the house were found, the rapes, the murders, even the disposals of the bodies. It appeared as if every moment of every day the women spent in their cells had been captured, to be viewed by Thorne and Rainer at their leisure.

Thorne and Rainer had used their wealth the way a wolverine uses its claws, they ripped and shredded whatever they sought to devour.

Rainer had cut the deal of the millennium with the authorities before bringing them to the house. For all the horror he had inflicted, he was to serve only a five-year sentence under house arrest, a house in Westchester County that was a modern palace.

However, he would never make it home.

One of the officers that had accompanied him as he gave his tour of “The Dormitory” looked on in revulsion, as Rainer prepared to leave the scene in a limo to return to his mansion.

The cop, a twenty-two-year-old rookie, couldn’t stomach the injustice of it all and proceeded to empty his weapon into Rainer.

Rainer died on the scene, surrounded by twelve other officers, including Garner, who apparently had been looking elsewhere at the time of the shooting.

Other witnesses were being sought, but little hope was given.

I caught Garner’s eye.

“The cop that shot Rainer, have his lawyer contact me, I’ll pay for his defense, whatever he needs.”

Garner grinned. “Thanks John, damn stupid rookie, but hell, we all felt like doing it.”

* * *

By seven a.m. we had answered every question and were leaving the command center.

Tori, Bobby and I would be flying back to Castle Ridge in a helicopter, while Felicia and Sophie were staying in the city until all the dust cleared.

The five of us walked outside into a media firestorm. Apparently, the D.A. had been giving a press conference.

One of the reporters spotted Felicia and shouted, “There’s the wife!”

Immediately, a wave of cameras and microphones pointed in our direction, as reporters began bombarding Felicia with questions.

“Mrs. Thorne, do you know where your husband went?”

“Did you know about the murders?”

“Do you still love him?”

Felicia looked as if she wanted to evaporate. She had just survived the worst nightmare of her life and hadn’t slept in a day. The lights blinded her, as microphones were jammed in her face and the pounding questions continued.

“What was it like to live with him?”

“Did he ever try to kill you?”

“That baby you’re carrying, is it a boy?”

“Will you name the baby after its father?”

“Mrs. Thorne, say something!”

And she did.

“My… my baby isn’t David’s. We, I… I was having an affair at the time I became pregnant.”

“You’re saying it’s not Thorne’s, well then, whose is it?”

Felicia reached over and took my hand.

“Johnny is the father of my baby; it’s Johnny Faron’s.”

Then she gazed up at me with pleading eyes and I spied the little girl within, the one who always looked up to me, who I had protected from neglect and an abusive father, and who I still loved beyond measure.

“Is it true Mr. Faron?”

“John, are you the father of Mrs. Thorne’s baby?”

As I felt Tori’s eyes drilling ragged holes into the back of my skull, I gazed into a sea of cameras.

“Yes, it’s true.” I said. “Felicia Thorne’s baby is mine.”

47

Tori and I sat in armchairs and looked across a glass coffee table at Felicia and Sophie, who were sitting on a blue satin sofa.

We were in Felicia’s suite at the Hamiltonian Hotel, after finally escaping the mob of reporters that had hounded us.

I arranged a limo for Bobby and told him I would see him back in Castle Ridge, he then looked at Felicia and smiled back at me with a grin that revealed both disappointment and envy.

Tori had said only four words to me after my announcement.

“Wait until we’re alone.”

We weren’t alone, but I guess she thought the time was right to speak. She asked, “Is it true?” while looking only at Felicia.

Felicia met her stare and answered. “No.”

“How many weeks along are you?”

Felicia gave Tori a number. I calculated the date in my head and blurted it out.

“We were in Cancún that week; it was right after we signed the deal with Universal.”

Tori gazed at me with a scathing glare that let me know I’d be best served to keep my mouth shut, and then she looked back at Felicia.

“Just when I start to like you, you pull this shit. You’re the most selfish bitch I’ve ever met.”

“I’m sorry Tori.” Felicia said. “But I did it for my baby.”

Tori rose from her chair. “Lie to yourself, not to me.” She then headed for the door without a word to me.

I followed Tori, but in the doorway, I turned and gazed back at Felicia.

She whispered. “I’m sorry Johnny.” and then hung her head.

* * *

Tori and I had also taken a suite in the Hamiltonian, and she stormed into it now and threw herself into a corner of the sofa.

I kneeled before her and took her hand.

“I hope you can forgive me.”

Her head shot up. “I thought you said we were in Mexico that week?”

“We were! Honey, I’m not the father. I meant I hope you can forgive me for claiming to be the father.”

“Why did you do it, why?”

“I couldn’t throw her to the wolves, I just couldn’t.”

“This is forever, do you understand that? By claiming to be her baby’s father you and she will be linked together forever. There will be custody agreements, birthdays, visitation, schooling, you’ve just insured that Felicia stays in our lives forever, but maybe that’s what you’ve wanted all along.”

“What are you saying? It’s not as if we planned this. The press was all over her and she panicked and named me as the father, and then I… backed her up.”

“She’s free now, and we’re not married yet. Is there something you want to say to me?”

“Yes.” I kissed her. “I love you. And right now, I’m praying to God that you still want to be my wife. Honey I’m sorry, I know it’s all one big goddamn mess, but we can work through it. Please? I love you.”

Tori sighed in frustration and I felt her exasperation.

“Oh John, that woman is never going to leave you alone.”

“I want to protect Felicia’s baby, but not at any price, not if it costs me you. If this is too much to ask, I’ll deny paternity. I’ll do whatever you want. What would you like me to do?”

Tori grew silent for long moments before she spoke again.

“Take responsibility for being the baby’s father, but let me handle the legal aspects. I’ll draft an agreement, one which outlines your responsibilities, yet severely limits your involvement.”

“You don’t want me to be a part of the baby’s life?”

“I don’t want its mother to be a part of your life. This agreement will protect the baby from Thorne’s disgrace, but it will also expunge Felicia from our lives. Do you think she’ll sign it?”

“Yes, her main motivation is to protect her child. I really don’t believe this was a ploy to get back into my life. Draft it any way you want, and honey, thank you so much for understanding.”

Tori stood up and yawned.

“We’ll talk more about it later, right now I need some sleep.”

In the bedroom doorway, she turned and looked back at me.

“Aren’t you coming?”

I glanced down at the sofa. “I thought I might be sleeping on the couch for a while.”

Tori walked back over and took me by the hand.

“Let Felicia have all the fantasies she wants. You’re my man, you’re going to be the father of my children and you’re sleeping in my bed.”

“It sounds like I’ll be the one living the fantasy.”

“You’re damn right!”

48

At three o’clock that afternoon, I left Tori sleeping and went by the hospital to see Bill. To my surprise, he had a visitor.

“Hello Sophie, fancy meeting you here.”

“John, I was so worried about Captain Healy last night. When I saw him fall to the ground I thought David had killed him.”

“Yeah, it scared the hell out of me too.”

Sophie rose from her seat by the bed. “I’ll let you two talk; goodbye Captain Healy.”

Bill grabbed her hand before she could walk away.

“Call me Bill.”

Sophie smiled down at him. “All right, Bill, and get better,”

She walked past me, but then came back and kissed me on the cheek.

“That’s for protecting my niece, and my grandniece.”

“The baby’s a girl?”

“Felicia took one of those new home tests that tell you the sex, you know, blue for a boy, pink for a girl. It’s a girl.”

“I’m glad; Felicia’s always wanted a daughter.”

Sophie sent Bill a smile and then walked off down the hall.

Bill nodded at the door. “You know, that’s a damn good-looking woman.”

“Of course she is; she looks too much like Felicia not to be.”

I took the chair that Sophie had vacated and asked Bill how he was doing.

“They’re letting me go home tomorrow. My question to you is, how is Tori doing?”

“She knows I’m not really the baby’s father, but she’s willing to let me claim I am for the baby’s sake.”

“I saw you on TV this morning. You do realize that was a live press conference?”

“I know, what did you think when you saw it?”

“The truth? I was disappointed in you.”

“And now?”

“I’m proud of you John. Sophie explained that you were only looking out for Felicia, and you’re saving that baby from a lifetime of shame.”

“It’s all a fucking mess, but what else could I do?”

“Nothing, you love Felicia.”

“Enough about me, what’s the news on Thorne?”

“He’s disappeared. Garner says that Thorne divested himself of most of his holdings over the last few weeks, took a big hit to do it so fast too, still, he’s probably got about twenty million stashed away.”

“What about the estate?”

“Demolished, looks like Sophie and Felicia will be living in hotels for a while.”

“Do you need anything while I’m here? Food? Magazines?”

He opened the drawer on the side table, it was filled with magazines and candy bars. “Sophie came bearing gifts.”

“Have you given my job offer any more thought?”

“Yes, and I accept boss. I’ve already given the department notice.”

We talked a while longer and then I got up to leave.

“Take care.”

“Will do,” Bill said, and then his phone rang. As he answered it, I waved goodbye and left the room.

I was ten feet from the door when he called me back. I came back in and he held up his index finger, telling me to wait while he finished his call. As he talked, I heard him use the words “fugitive” and “presumed dead.”

The call ended and Bill had a cheerless look on his face.

“Was that about Thorne? Did they get him?”

“No, that was one of my men, Doug Johnson, seems the Canadian Mounties stumbled upon a murder suspect.”

“Who?”

“John, it was Mona, Mona Delgado.”

49

Tori and I were in California, on Monterey Bay.

Her father, Bart Jameson, was giving us a tour of his home.

Tori said her father owned at least six homes but rarely stayed in any of them, other than the one he owned in Philly.

Bart Jameson was sixty-eight, but thanks to plastic surgery, a physical trainer and a dietician, he passed for mid-fifties.

Accompanying us on the tour was Bart’s “aide.” She was nineteen but would probably be mistaken for twelve without her make-up.

Tori whispered to me that Bart’s “aide” Nina, was most likely to become her father’s ninth wife.

The home was one of a kind. Its front end was anchored to a huge edifice of rock that jutted out of the sea near the shoreline at the base of a cliff, and was then connected to land via an ornate oak bridge that led to a sweeping lawn.

The rear of the home was supported by stilts, round columns of red metal that rose up high from the waves amid craggy rocks.

The front of the home had two levels. The first level, the bridge level, was the main living area. As you entered the home, the living room sat before you with a grand piano and overstuffed furniture, to the right of that was the kitchen.

Up a spiral staircase was the second level, which held the bedrooms, one master bedroom that devoured two thirds of the space and a guest room that used up the remainder.

Past the living room and up a step was a spacious expanse of hard wood flooring. The wide room was a hundred and fifty feet in depth and looked it.

The room was used to entertain and given the need could be filled with a massive dining table or left bare for dancing.

Other than the rise in height, it was also partitioned off from the living room area by a glass block wall, which slid along easily on a metal track to allow access.

In fact, most of the walls on the main level were made of glass and in whatever direction you gazed, the ocean looked back.

It truly was a marvelous home.

Tori’s father handed her the home’s key cards and security information and then reached out to shake my hand.

“It’s been nice meeting you John; by the way, I’m already on the waiting list for the Faron One.”

Faron One was the tentative name that Universal planned to call the first car powered by my engine.

“I hope you enjoy the car when it’s finally available.” I told him. “The release date keeps getting pushed back.”

Bart Jameson leaned over and kissed Tori on the cheek.

“Goodbye honey, enjoy the house.”

Bart had told Tori that he wouldn’t be able to come to the wedding, something about contract negotiations in Dubai.

After wishing us the best of luck, Bart loaded Nina into his red convertible and then drove off without a backward glance, his dyed blond hair floating in the breeze.

Tori sighed. “So now you’ve met my father.”

I said, “Yes.” and we left it at that.

We walked back inside and wandered about the home for a while, but then settled on a green, leather sectional sofa in the living room.

“What time is your flight?” Tori asked.

“Six p.m.” I said. Tori was staying in California to solidify the wedding arrangements while I flew back home to oversee the completion of our house. We were set to move into it after returning from our honeymoon.

“Did you call Felicia?”

“I did. I’m meeting her and Sophie at what’s left of the Thorne Estate, the police finally gave the okay for them to take whatever they can salvage.”

“Tell her to have a lawyer look at it. I don’t want her signing our agreement unless she understands what it is she’s signing; I don’t want to hear any pleas of ignorance later on.”

“I’ll make sure she understands.”

“What about this sister of hers, Mona?”

“Apparently, Mona may be dead. She was living on a houseboat when a fire broke out. The fire spread, there was an explosion and the boat was destroyed. They’re still looking for her, but they say the body may have washed out to sea, or she’s hiding somewhere, possibly injured. The Canadians only realized she was wanted when they discovered she had been living under an alias.”

“Felicia’s relatives are a mess, a sister who’s wanted for killing her father and David Michael Thorne, a serial killer for a husband.”

“Bill says that Thorne may have left the country; there’s been no sign of him at all.”

Tori kissed me. “I won’t see you for a while.”

“I’ll call you every day, and then I’ll join you back here and marry the hell out of you.”

Tori peeked about the room. “Have you ever done it in a room with glass walls?”

I slipped a hand beneath her blouse.

“First time for everything,”

* * *

The next day, I was with Felicia at the Thorne estate, in wintry New York weather.

The home was mostly a pile of snow-covered rubble and collapsed walls.

We were sifting through what might have been her bedroom when she stooped down and grabbed a dented metal box. The box was gray and looked as though the fire had singed it.

Felicia pulled a set of keys from her purse and inserted one into the lock, when the box opened, she sighed with relief.

“What’s in there, important documents?”

“Priceless,” She said, and then handed me the box. Inside were numerous photos of the two of us, along with letters I had written her when she had first moved away from Castle Ridge. I held up a picture, it was the one Janey took of us on my parents’ bench in Atlantic City.

“That’s my favorite too.” Felicia said.

I put the picture back and handed her the box.

“Tori needs that agreement signed and returned as soon as possible.”

“I’ll bring it with me when I come to the wedding.”

I shook my head. “I still can’t believe she invited you.”

“Why not? That way she gets to rub it in my face.”

“We’re not getting married to spite you; we’re getting married because we’re in love.”

Felicia took my hand. “Why are you being so cold to me?”

“I’m tired Felicia, tired of the back and forth, of going in circles. Never forget something, I didn’t end us, you did, a long time ago. Now, I’m getting married and starting a new life, I hope you respect that, I hope you give me space.”

“I’ll have to, won’t I? Have you read this agreement she drafted? Tori wants me to live at least a thousand miles away from you, that’s part of our deal, basically I guess we’ll never see each other again after the baby is born.”

I looked down, unable to bear the pain in her eyes.

“Maybe it’s for the best.”

“I can’t live without you Johnny. I tried it once and nearly went mad.”

“Felicia, please?”

“I know; you love Tori.”

“Yes I do.”

“And what about me? Have you stopped loving me?”

I shrugged. “I’ve come to see that it doesn’t matter what I feel for you. I’m marrying Tori and spending my life with her, end of story.”

Felicia released my hand and began crying.

Sophie walked over and took her in her arms. “Maybe you should leave now John.”

“Yes, goodbye Felicia, and baby, take care of yourself, and that little girl you’re carrying.”

She didn’t respond to me, but only cried harder.

I stepped carefully through the rubble and made my way back to where I parked the car. For long moments, I just sat there, looking at nothing. The first tear rolled down my cheek barely noticed, and then the floodgates opened and I cried so hard that I couldn’t stop.

I started the car and rolled away from there while viewing the world through a shroud of tears. I would see Felicia one more time, at my wedding, and then I would most likely never lay eyes on her again.

At the driveway’s end, I turned right and made my way toward the highway, and for the second time in my life, I left the grounds of the Thorne Estate with a broken heart.

50

Valentine’s Day, Wedding Day

The weather was beautiful and the ocean calm as our guests gathered. Some floated about the stilt house, admiring it, while others congregated under the caterer’s tent on the lawn outside.

We had kept the gathering fairly small, only twenty-four of our friends and loved ones were in attendance and would be spending the weekend as our guests at a local hotel.

All but two that is.

As I was getting dressed in the guest room, I heard a knock at the door. When I went to answer it, it was Felicia.

She looked as if she had been crying, but her eyes, although red, were dry of tears and she sent me a faltering smile.

“May I come in?”

“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.” I said, and then I waved her in, but I left the door open.

“Why the open door? Do you think I’m going to try and seduce you? I’m hardly in any condition for that.”

I stared at her belly. It seemed to have grown considerably since I’d last saw her.

“You look beautiful Felicia; you always look beautiful.”

She came to me and kissed me.

“Don’t marry Tori, please don’t repeat my mistake.”

“I love Tori, why you married Thorne I’ll never understand.”

“I thought you had decided that I only married him for his money.”

“I wasn’t calling you a gold digger that day; it’s just that‌—‌no, I’m not doing this again. No more talk.”

“Fine,” She said, and then kissed me again.

I pulled her off and stared at her.

“Enough! We’re over! Finished! I’m getting married today and that’s that. I can’t do this anymore, claiming to be that baby’s father was the end.”

“Oh Johnny, we could be a family. I know you love Tori, I do. But I also know that you can’t love her as much as you love me, and I’m betting that when the time comes, you won’t be able to go through with it, you won’t be able to marry her.”

Tori appeared in the doorway in a flowing gown of white.

“I’ll take that bet.”

I gasped. “Tori, my God, you’re breathtaking honey.”

“Thank you John, now please leave us alone. Mrs. Thorne and I have things to discuss.”

“I’m Ms. Delgado again, I had my marriage annulled.”

I hesitated to leave. “Tori, not today, today is for us.”

“Felicia and I need to come to an understanding, don’t worry, there will be no violence.”

“I’ll be right outside.”

I stepped into the short hallway and found Bill speaking with Sophie.

“My John, you should wear a tux more often, you’re dashing.”

I spoke, distractedly, “Thank you Sophie.” while staring at the door.

“They’re in there together, aren’t they?” Bill said.

I nodded. A minute passed, and then Tori stepped into the hall, smiling radiantly, a moment later, Felicia drifted out, her face a mixture of shock and despair.

Tori kissed me. “Ready big boy?”

I smiled. “Let’s do it.”

* * *

We spoke our vows on the bridge, above the waves, above the sea.

We were now Mr. and Mrs. John and Victoria Faron, and at that moment, I think it would be fair to say that I was the happiest I had ever been.

Bill had been my best man, while Tori’s friend Carol acted as maid of honor.

While the rest of our guests began to feast, Tori and I led Felicia, Sophie and Bill back into the house, through the living room and into the rear of the great room, where the ocean view was supreme.

Piled high on a long table, were numerous wedding gifts and cards from well-wishers, and along the right wall was a microphone and the band instruments of our entertainment.

Over on the left, near the tables, some of the catering crew were still setting up the indoor bar.

Felicia handed Tori a sheaf of papers, the agreement.

“It’s signed.”

Tori looked over the papers and smiled. “Good, and now our business here is done, thanks for coming.”

Felicia looked about uncertainly. “I… guess we’ll leave.”

Tori softened. “Stay for the reception too, if you’d like.”

Felicia wandered over to the table, her back turned to us.

“I’ll stay as long as I can. I need to say goodbye to Johnny.”

Bill took Sophie’s arm and gestured toward the door.

“Tori, why don’t we give them a few moments alone, hmm?”

Tori hesitated, but then she smiled and nodded.

“Take all the time you need, I’ll be with the other guests.”

I kissed Tori’s cheek. “Thank you honey,”

In the next instant, Felicia scurried backwards, away from the table.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She pointed to an oblong-shaped package, it was bright red with a yellow bow, there was also a large, hand written card attached. The card read:

May your future be a blast

“That’s David’s handwriting.”

Bill walked over to her. “Are you certain?”

“Yes, he used to write me little notes, each and every morning, ‘Notes of instruction’ he liked to call them, outlining what to do and what to cook for that day’s meal. I know his handwriting.

Sophie, come look at this.”

Sophie walked over and stared at the card.

“That is David’s writing.”

Bill shouted. “Everybody out! It may be explosive.”

While Bill herded Felicia and Sophie toward the door, I grabbed Tori’s hand and started running. The catering crew gave us odd looks and then began running along with us. We were nearly to the sliding glass door when the bomb went off.

I don’t know what Thorne used, but it blew apart the back of the home as if it were made of balsa wood, and lifted all of us off of our feet, sending us hurtling through the air.

Bill and Sophie were thrown through the open doorway, along with two of the catering crew, and landed unceremoniously onto the living room’s carpeted floor.

The rest of us smashed into the glass block door like insects on a windshield and slid limply to the floor, a floor that suddenly tilted downward, as the stilt supports at the other end of the room ripped away from the floor joists, amid a cacophony of rending steel.

The glass wall at that end of the room was gone, and the room now dangled at a precipitous slant, above the jagged rocks in the sea below.

I managed to snag the brass handle on the glass door as it rolled shut, while stretching out my other hand for Tori.

Too late!

The blast had thrown her far to my right and she now slipped away from me with sickening speed, toward the open end of the room. As the ringing in my ears began to fade, a scream of terror came from my left and I jerked my head around to see Felicia also sliding away, headfirst, toward the precipice, near her were three of the catering crew, a man and two women.

I watched in horror as all five figures disappeared over the edge and then squeezed my eyes shut in agony as I heard the screams of women falling, punctuated by the heartrending sounds of flesh hitting stone.

I pulled myself up to a slanted standing position by using the door handle, and peered downward, toward the end of the room.

Tori was alive! Alive!

Although I could not see her face, I could see the train of her wedding dress blowing in the breeze, and a hand, gripped tightly about a sprig of reinforcement bar that jutted upward from the demolished floor.

Fifty feet to Tori’s right, one of the caterers, the man, was trying to climb back up by using the mangled reinforcement bars, his bearded, ruddy face, a study in terror and panic.

Thirty feet to his right was a mane of hair blowing in the wind that could only belong to Felicia, while one white knuckled hand gripped a bar. Just as the man managed to get a knee back onto the floor, the building shook and the room skewed even lower, throwing the man off balance and sending him howling backwards toward the rocks below.

I stood gripping the door handle tightly with both hands as my head swiveled back and forth between Tori and Felicia.

Both of them were now sobbing in little mewls of agony at the certainty of their own deaths.

My mind raced, trying to find a solution, searching for a resolution, a way out, a fix, that would save my beloved from their fate. There was none. They would both struggle to hold on, they would both weaken, and they would both die.

I gazed upon that wide expanse of floor, empty now, save for a series of bent metal support posts that jutted upward like branchless trees.

I could not save them both, but perhaps, I could save one.

With Tori on my right and Felicia to my left, I relinquished the safety of my door handle and leapt.

* * *

I have been told by one of the foremost psychiatrist in the world that I must under no circumstance probe my mind in search of what went on within me that day, of my thoughts, on what I based my decision, my choice, my… my… preference, to save one and not the other.

It is her belief that to do so could cause a psychic break in my mind from which I would not be able to recover. A colleague of hers agrees, but he does not believe that I was choosing who to save, rather, he believes that I was attempting to kill myself, knowing that no favorable outcome could occur, no matter what actions I performed, and that my rescue attempt, looked at in the cold light of reason, had a zero probability of success.

I don’t know about any of it. I only know I leapt.

* * *

As I braced for the leap, Bill yanked impotently on the handle on the other side of the glass, the thick glass block door was cracked and wedged in its wide track from the stress of the collapse, essentially sealing the room off.

Bill shouted, “John, no!” as I kicked off the glass as hard as I could.

I landed on my stomach with such force that it made my ribs ache. I began rocketing downward immediately, and as I slid, I endeavored to turn my body, so as to reach the precipice sideways.

Moments from the edge, I felt the floor quake and knew it had just dipped a little more, and I wondered if the entire house was not about to just simply collapse into the sea.

My speed increased, and as I neared the edge, I spotted her, holding onto the bar now with only two fingers, two fingers that were losing their grip.

I reached the edge just as she lost her battle and fell, screaming in terror.

With my arms outstretched and my mind on laser focus, I simultaneously grabbed onto her wrist with one hand while clutching with the other upon a mangled bar, which was jutting upward two feet away from the one she had just lost hold of.

My momentum was too great though, and my hand slid along its length and slipped from the end of the bar and out into empty space.

For just a moment, it was as if we were hovering, and below us laid the grotesque sight of the bodies shattered upon the rocks, the breaking waves, now frothing red with their blood.

Then gravity flexed, and we plummeted.

From the corner of my eye, I spied the serrated edge of one of the twisted red support stilts and grasped at it for dear life, my own, and that of the one I sought to save.

The pain that followed was so intense that I nearly relinquished my hold, as jagged metal sliced into my fingers and the palm of my hand. We dangled there, the two of us, hanging by one arm, and that’s when I heard the scream.

The one I chose not to save. The one I loved with all my heart; as God is my witness, I swear it’s true. That one, plummeted to her death with the knowledge that I had chosen not to save her. For as she fell, I looked across the divide and saw her eyes staring at me, and then a moment later, she was gone… gone.

The grief nearly killed me, but at that moment the saved one cried out and I bent my arm until she could fasten hers about me and then I swung my other hand up and gripped the jagged metal now with both hands, while clamping my legs about her.

How long we hung there, I do not know.

As the saved one cried and clutched onto me for dear life, I closed my eyes and waited, waited for the sound of the helicopter that I ascertained could be our only means of rescue.

I hung on, for minutes? Hours? I don’t know.

I only knew that I had saved one, and that I would allow nothing to take her from me. That I would not let her die, that short of God himself reaching down and peeling away my punctured, bloody fingers, that I would endure until rescue, even if I had to hold on until the end of all time.

51

We were in the emergency room at Community Hospital.

I sat in a chair with my head hung low, gazing at the stitches sewn into my wounded hands.

Beside me, Bill sat with a comforting grip on my shoulder.

I raised my head and looked across at her, and for perhaps the thousandth time, I thanked God that I had been able to save her.

I had nearly lost her. Oh my lord, she almost died.

I stared at Bill. “I know she’s gone, but the baby, maybe they coul—”

“No John, I’m sorry,”

“But maybe medical science could—”

“John, Johnny… she fell over a hundred feet.”

I nodded my head vigorously.

“Right, right, I understand,”

I looked over and saw that the doctor was finishing with her. She had sustained a gash across her side as she went over the edge, but otherwise she was fine. She looked at me with a wobbly smile on her face and I sent her a sigh of relief.

I had saved her.

I had saved her.

Against all odds, I had saved her.

But what of the other John?

Why couldn’t you save them both John?

Do you remember the look in her eyes John?

I reached into an inside pocket and brought it out yet again.

It was just a tiny strip of paper, but for a while there, it meant the world.

As I sat in tortured silence, I became aware of the sound.

It started low, and then built into an unmistakable cry of agony, of emotional human anguish, and I remembered that I had not suffered the only loss that day. That three of the caterers had fallen to their deaths as well.

As the sound intensified, I realized that it must be coming from a man and that he must be mourning the loss of a wife or lover. The poor bastard, from the sound of him, he must have loved her very much.

I looked around the room, searching for the source of the lament and realized that all eyes were staring at me, especially hers. She left her seat and ran to me, and it was only then that I realized that I was the source of the wailing.

I attempted to close my mouth, but couldn’t, and then all mastery of my body abandoned me and I slid from the chair and rolled onto the cold tile floor.

A moment later, I was drifting upward, leaving my body.

That screaming hulk of flesh that moments ago I claimed as I, now seemed as impersonal as a stone.

I was now free of it, free of him and his horrendous failure as a man, as a lover, as a husband… as a father.

While a doctor tended to me, Felicia spoke to him frantically.

“What’s wrong doctor? You said he was all right?”

The doctor called to a nurse, as the thing on the floor continued its banshee cry.

“Get Dr. Matthews down here, right now!”

Felicia grabbed his arm. “Who’s Dr. Matthews? Is he a specialist?”

“I’m sorry miss, but Dr. Matthews is a psychiatrist.”

Felicia collapsed to the floor beside my body and caressed it.

“Oh Johnny it’s going to be okay, I swear baby it’s going to be okay, please don’t cry, please don’t cry.”

But the banshee on the floor continued to wail.

Bill helped Felicia up and hugged her, while peering down in an agony of sorrow at my form on the floor.

Lying beside me was the narrow strip of paper, it was blue, blue for a boy, a son.

It was then that I became aware of the thing.

I had always heard it was a tunnel of light, but this was no tunnel, and it sent forth no light.

It was darkness, blackness, emptiness and null, and I immediately hungered for it, for it offered silence, silence from my mind, deafness to Tori’s screams, and blindness, blindness to the memory of Tori’s eyes. Her eyes, as she plummeted to her fate, with her last vision one of me holding Felicia, knowing that in the end, I had abandoned her,

I fled into that darkness and felt myself wane, felt the pain lessen, felt consciousness dissolve, and wondered why in God’s holy name I would ever choose to come back.

THE

FIX-IT

MAN

PART THREE

52

At first, there was just a glimmer.

Then flashes, intermittent, and of varying intensities,

All at once came the light, dim, but ever growing in brightness. And with the brightness came the colors. Colors soon developed into shapes and sounds, sensations and feelings, and with the feelings arose pain, and that’s when I knew I had come back into the world.

As my eyes gained focus, I realized that I was lying down. I glanced above me, saw the bags and tubes, and then followed their course into my veins. A hospital room, I was in a hospital room. As I looked beyond the bed, I saw that I was not alone.

Felicia was asleep in a chair with a white blanket over her.

She looked like a wingless angel, but then, she always had.

I spied movement to my left and saw Bill smiling at me.

“John, how are you son?”

I said, “I’m back.” my voice barely a whisper.

“Yes you are, thank God. I’ll go get the doctor.”

I moved my tongue around. “How long?”

“What?”

“How long was I gone?”

“Three days, you’ve been comatose for three days.”

I threw my chin in Felicia’s direction.

“Is she all right?”

“Yes, and she’s barely moved from that chair since you… took ill. Sophie, the doctors, she wouldn’t listen to any of them, she said she was not leaving you, even if she had to have the baby in that chair.”

“Sounds messy,”

Bill reached over and gripped my shoulder. “Thank God you’re back. I’ll get the doctor.” Before leaving, he gently nudged Felicia awake. “Hey honey, look who’s here.”

Felicia’s eyes met mine and she threw the blanket aside and struggled out of the chair.

“Johnny! Oh thank God, how are you?”

I thought about it. “I’m hungry.”

That caused her to laugh; next, she leaned over and kissed me on the lips.

“I love you.”

“I know.”

Bill returned with a gray-haired man wearing a tweed sports jacket and carrying a clipboard. The man told me his name was Dr. Matthews and that he wanted to ask me a few questions.

“Ask away doctor,”

“What’s the last thing you remember Mr. Faron?”

“Three days ago was my wedding, there was a bomb, it went off and destroyed the section of the stilt home that sat above the rocks. Four people were killed, including my wife… and child. Felicia and I were rescued and brought to an emergency room where I later broke down and collapsed.”

Dr. Matthews blinked rapidly. “Well, I guess we can rule out acute denial, still, I’d like to keep you overnight for observation, all right?”

“Yes doctor, whatever you think is best.”

“I’ll drop by later and we’ll talk in more detail, but I would say Mr. Faron that you’ll return to normal soon, and I’m very sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you doctor,”

He spoke to Felicia. “Young lady, I am not an obstetrician, but it is my medical opinion that you go home and have a decent meal and then sleep in a bed, not a chair. You must think of your baby.”

Felicia smiled, “I will doctor, now that Johnny is all right, I promise.”

Matthews nodded at her and then left the room.

Bill looked back and forth between Felicia and I. “Why don’t you two take a moment to talk. I’ll be in the hall.”

After he left, Felicia sat on the side of the bed and gently held my hand.

“How are your hands, do they hurt?”

“They’re a little stiff.”

She shook her head in wonder.

“I thought I was dead. I lost my grip on that pipe and then you were there, holding me. You saved my life.”

“Yes.”

“Johnny? You… you couldn’t have saved Tori. They’re saying it was a miracle that you saved me.”

“I could have tried.”

“And I’d be dead, and so would Tori… and so would you.”

“Still, I could have tried.”

She threw herself upon me. “Please don’t blame me for Tori’s death; I couldn’t stand it if you felt that way.”

I kissed the top of her head. “I don’t blame you. I blame David Thorne.”

She sat up and wiped away tears. “I’ll be going back to New York tomorrow, please keep in touch.”

“Felicia… I—”

She looked stricken as she suddenly rose off the bed.

“I’m not asking you for anything. I’m just worried about you. Please call me when you need to talk, just talk, okay?”

“I’ll keep in touch.”

Bill appeared in the doorway with Ms. Lee.

“You have another visitor.”

Felicia looked Ms. Lee over with a guarded gaze.

“Who is she Johnny?”

“This is Ms. Lee, my Personal Assistant. Ms. Lee, this is Felicia Thorne.”

As she stared at Ms. Lee, Felicia spoke distractedly.

“That’s Felicia Delgado, Johnny, my marriage was annulled… I’m sorry, did you say she was your Personal Assistant?”

Ms. Lee sent her a polite smile. “It’s nice to meet you Ms. Delgado.”

Felicia smiled back weakly. “Yes, it’s nice to meet you also.”

Ms. Lee looked down at me and her eyes filled with tears.

“I’m so sorry for your loss John; we’re all going to miss her.”

“Thank you.”

Ms. Lee then bent over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

I looked at Felicia. “Why don’t you go and get some rest like the doctor said, hmm?”

Felicia nodded, and then she leaned over and gave me a kiss.

“I love you Johnny, please take care of yourself.”

“I will.”

Felicia looked around helplessly for a second, and after giving Bill a hug goodbye, she slowly drifted out of the room.

I pointed to the visitors chairs. “Take a seat you two. Bill, what’s the status on Thorne?”

“Thorne’s responsible for that bomb, but it appears he hired someone to plant it. The tech guys say that the trigger had to be activated on site, within a thousand yards. Whoever triggered the blast had to of seen us running from the room and set it off. John, if Felicia hadn’t been there, hadn’t recognized his handwriting, well, I don’t have to tell you how bad it would’ve been had everyone been in that room dancing at the time.”

“What about security now?”

“I’ve got six guards on you, and when Felicia leaves there will be a team guarding her, discreetly, just in case Thorne attempts to harm her.”

“Does she know she’s being guarded?”

“No, I didn’t want to upset her further.”

“Good Bill, and thank you,” I looked at Ms. Lee. “I want to offer a ten million dollar reward for David Thorne, is that doable?”

Her eyes widened. “Yes John, however we should coordinate with the authorities, but yes, the money is available.”

“Start on that right away please.”

“Yes John.” Ms. Lee rose from her seat, and after sending Bill a bright smile, she left.

I looked over at him. “Are you two back on?”

“While you were sick, I was so worried, not knowing if you were ever going to get better, I went to see her in her room last night, to talk, and… she comforted me.”

“Comforted?”

“Yes, and that’s all I’m going to say.”

“I’m sorry I gave you a scare.”

“It’s all right, like the doctor said, you’ll be back to normal in no time.”

I stared into his eyes.

“The doctor was wrong. I’m far from normal.”

“What are you saying?”

“Normal? I’m not normal. I’m homicidal. I left here Bill, left this world wanting never to return. But I came back, and I came back for one reason and one reason only. I am going to find David Thorne, and as God is my witness, I’m going to kill the fucking son of a bitch if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

53

I stood on the western edge of the Castle Estate, which, I guess, was now the Faron Estate, and laid flowers on the grave of my wife, Victoria Jameson Faron.

We never had a honeymoon. We never even had a first dance.

Off in the distance, I saw our home, a white and shining palace. Tori spent months choosing the furniture, the fabric swatches, decorating everything down to the last detail.

In the kitchen, her kitchen, are huge ovens, bakers’ ovens, and a storage closet is filled with bakeware of all types.

But, Tori will never bake, ever again.

Bill stood to one side of me, as Janey stood to the other, clasping my hand in hers.

I turned and looked at the other mourners.

I had expected a small gathering of close friends and perhaps a number of her relatives. After all, Tori had only lived in this town for a few years and neither of us had a large social circle, and yet, they kept coming.

People I knew only by name, Tori had known with her heart.

“She baked a cake for my mother John, when mom had cancer.”

“She made me éclairs when I got divorced, told me I’d be okay.”

“While you were fixing my muffler, she made a few calls and got the judge to make my ex-husband pay the back child support, and she wouldn’t take a dime for her help.”

Story after story about a kindness, a word of cheer, a bawdy joke, while I was repairing their cars, Tori was mending their hearts.

In all, I would say that there were over two hundred people present for the service, and most wept along with me as we laid my bride to rest.

And tragic but true, not one among them bore the surname of Jameson.

At our start, she had told me that at times she felt invisible. Oh yes, her body, people noticed her magnificent body, particularly men. But her essence, her spirit, her very soul, seemed to her to be denied by most.

She claimed I was the only man who took the time to find the soul within, the only man to see her for what she truly was.

She was wrong. At her passing, I stood amongst a legion that had not only seen her, but also loved her.

Tori was my friend, my lover, my wife, bearer of my heir, and I know that my life is infinitely poorer for her passing, yet infinitely richer for her presence in it, and that I will mourn her for the rest of my days.

I buried her on the land of a home she loved, but never got to live in.

The former owners, the Castle family, interred their loved ones on family ground, and the Farons will follow suit.

I laid her to rest there, my Queen among Castles, and prayed that she’d find sweet peace.

54

Bill and I were at a firing range in a nearby town.

I was in the middle of my third shooting lesson, and at last, I was showing signs of improvement.

I had a bodyguard near me at all times since the bombing, but I found them intrusive and wanted to be able to protect myself. On my belt, I wore a holster and my wallet held a carry permit.

Bill reeled in the paper target and studied it with a critical eye.

“Well, you’re certainly not a natural at this, but you are getting better.”

“As long as I learn how to use one; I’ll need it someday.”

“You really mean to kill Thorne yourself?”

“If at all possible, but I won’t stop until he’s dead. He killed Tori, Bill. He’s not going to do that and still draw breath.”

“It may take more than a huge reward to find him. Garner says that Thorne most likely has left the country by now.”

“I want to hire someone, a mercenary or someone like that, but a professional.”

“I know of someone. His name is Richard McCarthy. Years ago, while he was on vacation with his family they became victims of a terrorist group, his wife and three children were killed in an explosion. The group was relatively small, about thirty members. Over time, McCarthy infiltrated them and killed the people responsible for the death of his family.”

After reloading my gun, I sent out a new target.

“How do we contact him?”

“I have friends in the F.B.I., maybe they can help me get in touch.”

“What was McCarthy before his family was killed, a cop or something?”

“No, he was a businessman, sports bars, that sort of thing.”

I took my stance and raised the gun. “What happened to the other members of the terrorist group?”

“They’re dead. McCarthy initiated some sort of dispute between one faction of the group and another, in the end, they killed each other off.”

“He sounds smart, good, Thorne’s a madman but he’s intelligent. McCarthy may have to outthink him to find him.”

I took a breath and held it, and then I fired.

“Bull’s-eye!” Bill said.

“My first,” I said, and then I fired the rest of the bullets. No more bulls-eyes, but I was definitely improving.

Bill reached into his pocket and took out his notebook.

For as long as I’ve known him, he’s carried a pocket-sized notebook. A habit he developed as a cop. He tore out a page and handed it to me.

“I thought you might want to know about this. It’s the gist of a report from the men guarding Felicia.”

After reading his notes, I looked at him, perplexed.

“Why would she do this?”

“John, maybe she has no choice.”

* * *

I stood at the scarred door of a cheap rental in the Bronx and knocked.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Johnny, Felicia,”

After a few moments of silence, I heard several locks being unfastened and she opened the door.

“Johnny, how did you know where I was?”

“You told me to keep in touch.”

She smiled, “Yes I did, come on in.” I entered and Felicia gave me a peck on the cheek. “How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Johnny… about Tori’s funeral, I debated going, but I didn’t think it was right that I—”

“I understand.” I said, cutting her off, and then I took a good look around the place.

I was in the living area; the room was about twelve by twelve with three rooms leading off of it, a small kitchen, a bathroom the size of a closet and what I took to be the bedroom, although the door was closed. It was all worn furniture and cheap lamps.

Not exactly the Thorne Estate,

“Felicia, why are you living here?”

She shrugged. “It’s all I can afford.”

“Did Thorne take everything when he ran?”

“There were a few properties left, but the families of his victims are looking for restitution, and I’m certainly not going to fight them for it.”

“What about the agreement? Tori told me that there was a monthly stipend in there for the baby, a generous one she said.”

“Yes, that was part of the agreement, but it doesn’t take effect until the baby is born.”

“Oh,”

“It’s okay, I’ll be all right. I sold my jewelry, now I have enough to pay for this place until the baby comes, and after that I’ll get a job.”

“A job? That baby should be your job.”

“I also want you to tear up our agreement. I’m more grateful than you know that you’re claiming to be the father, but I don’t want a dime of your money.”

I sighed and fell into a chair.

“Felicia, baby, I’m sorry I said I thought you married Thorne for his money. I didn’t mean it that way, really, but this place, you’re three flights up, that’s a lot of stairs for a pregnant woman.”

“So what do you want to do, just give me money? I won’t take it.”

“I want you to come home, to Castle Ridge. I want you to come home.”

“You mean live with you?”

“I’ve got twelve bedrooms and it’s basically just me and Bill there, we could use the company, and besides, the world thinks that’s my baby, it would only make sense that I give it a home.”

Felicia gazed at me in silence, as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No, I just can’t believe that you want me there, I mean, Janey told me that you bought the Castle land for Tori.”

“Tori would understand. She didn’t hate you, you know?”

“I never thought she did, in fact, I liked her.”

“So you’ll come home with me?”

Felicia turned and stared at the bedroom door, while nibbling her bottom lip.

“There’s just one thing.”

* * *

I pushed open the door and there she was, sitting on the end of one of a set of twin-sized beds.

Sophie, looking sadder than I’d ever seen her,

Felicia told me the story before I went in.

Sophie too was broke, and always had been. I had assumed that her late husband had left her wealthy, but it seems the money had all been David’s.

In fact, Sophie has never worked a day in her life. She had gone from middle class parents to becoming the trophy wife of Thorne’s uncle, who had her sign a pre-nuptial agreement.

While David was away at school he simply let her live on in the home after his uncle died, and Sophie was more than happy to stay. Now, with Thorne gone, and along with him the Thorne millions, Sophie was looking at a bleak future.

Felicia told me that Sophie’s “friends” now treated her as either a social pariah or as an infamous acquaintance, “The aunt of David Michael Thorne, yes, That David Thorne, the serial killer.” One of Sophie’s longtime friends had offered to give her room and board, but only if she would look after their aged mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s.

* * *

I walked in, after closing the door, I leaned my back against it.

“Hello Sophie.”

“John, I heard you and Felicia talking, and it’s very nice of you to offer her a home, but I won’t be coming along.”

“Why not?”

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “How can you be so kind to me when I’ve helped to ruin your life?”

“What are you talking about?”

“David, dear David who I thought would be the perfect husband for my niece turns out to be an absolute fiend. And you, oh I so disliked you. I once thought you were Dominic Delgado all over again. I pushed Felicia and David together every chance I got. You don’t know how many times I badmouthed you to Felicia, told her you would never amount to anything, and now here you stand, touted as an automotive genius.”

“I’m actually more like an idiot savant.”

“Stop that! Stop putting yourself down; you’re one of the finest men I know. Oh God, I was the idiot, and I ruined Felicia’s life.”

“Felicia made her own choices, we all do.”

Sophie wiped at her tears.

“Would you really give me a home?”

I walked over to where she sat on the bed and knelt down so that we were eye to eye.

“Last year, when you came to see me and offered to help get Felicia and I back together,”

“Yes?”

“What did you think David would do if he found out about it?”

“I thought he would kick me to the curb, but I didn’t care, my niece was miserable.”

“Everything you’ve ever done was with Felicia’s best interest at heart, wasn’t it?”

“Of course, I love that girl,”

I stood and offered my hand. “Come on Sophie, we’re going to your new home.”

She took my hand and rose from the bed.

“This house of yours, is it very nice?”

“Yes, however it is located in a town you once referred to as, ‘Dreadful.”

“I’m such a snob, aren’t I?”

I gave her hand a squeeze. “Nobody’s perfect.”

55

We arrived back at Castle Ridge around eight P.M.

One of Bill’s security team waved us through the ornate gates, and the limo pulled to a halt in the circular brick-paved drive.

Sophie and Felicia got out of the limo and stared up at the brightly lit house in wonder.

“My God John, this house is huge.” Sophie said.

“It has twelve bedrooms, twenty-three rooms in total. It was built in 1911 by a descendent of the town’s founder.”

Felicia’s mouth hung open.

“Johnny it’s so beautiful, when we were kids this place was falling apart.”

“C’mon ladies, I’ll show you the inside.”

We entered the large foyer, at its rear, twin staircases curved upward to meet at the second floor landing. Above us was a skylight and we stood on polished marble.

At times, I felt like a bit of an ass in the house. I mean, who the hell needs all this room? But I bought it and restored it for Tori. She had grown up in houses like this that her father, and her friends’ fathers owned, and I guess I just wanted to spoil her after all the years she spent living with me above the fix-it shop.

Still, the place was growing on me, and with the threat of David Thorne hanging over us, it didn’t hurt to have a virtual fortress to hunker down in.

Bill and Ms. Lee came from the direction of the kitchen to meet us. Ms. Lee greeted us with a smile.

“Hello John, ladies.”

Felicia looked taken aback.

“Does Ms. Lee live here too?”

“Actually, yes, as of today, she’s indispensable and I thought it only made sense for her to be available at any time.”

Sophie gave Ms. Lee the once over.

“I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Lee this is Sophie Thorne, Felicia’s aunt.”

“Hello Mrs. Thorne, I’m Ms. Lee, it’s nice to meet you.”

Sophie ignored Ms. Lee and walked over to Bill, she then linked her arm through his.

“Hello Bill, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“It looks like we’ll be neighbors Sophie.”

“I wonder if you would do me a favor and give me a tour of the house?”

Bill smiled and then looked at Ms. Lee. “Could we have our meeting later?”

Ms. Lee took in their linked arms and nodded.

“There’s no hurry, why don’t you give Mrs. Thorne the grand tour?”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes Bill, in fact, why don’t we postpone our meeting until morning?”

Bill said, “Fine,” and off he and Sophie went, with Sophie chattering away and Bill nodding his head attentively.

“John,” Ms. Lee said. “I had the staff prepare two bedrooms, and the cook is staying late in case anyone wanted something special.” She then gazed at Felicia’s belly. “Any cravings perhaps?”

“Which bedrooms will the ladies have?”

“Ms. Delgado has the guest room next to the nursery, it has a connecting door, and Mrs. Thorne has the room next to that.”

“Thank you Ms. Lee.”

“You’re welcome John, do you need anything else?”

“No, as usual you’ve thought of everything.”

“If you need me I’ll be in my room.”

“Goodnight Ms. Lee.”

“Goodnight John, goodnight Ms. Delgado,”

“Yes, goodnight Ms. Lee,” Felicia said, and then watched her as she walked up the stairs. “Ms. Lee is very beautiful Johnny, exotic even.”

“Yes, well, would you like to see your room?”

She smiled. “Okay,”

She started toward the stairs and I pointed to the elevator.

Her mouth opened in surprise. “The house has an elevator?”

“Several of them, we went all out.”

We rode up in silence. When we got out, I turned right and went down the hall, and opened the third door. The room had a four-poster bed dressed in pink frills, along with white oak furniture. The rug was also white and there was a computer on a desk in one corner and a large flat screen TV on the wall facing the bed.

Felicia walked over and took a seat at the vanity.

“This is all so beautiful, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Come here Johnny, please?”

I went over and sat on the side of the bed, facing her.

“Is something wrong?”

“We’ve never really talked about what happened… when the bomb went off… about afterward.”

“I could only save one of you.”

“And you saved me.”

“And I saved you.”

“Have you thought about what that means?”

“Yes, in the emergency room. It’s what made me break down, and later, become comatose. Felicia, on Bill’s advice I’m seeing a psychiatrist, one of the top ones, and she told me that it would probably be best if I never went there, never dissected my decision. She said it could be ‘psychologically fatal’, that I might become catatonic again and never return.”

“My God, I’m so sorry I mentioned it.”

“No, I’m glad you did. There’s something I wanted to bring up… it’s about the baby.”

“Yes?”

“It’s just that, I’ll understand if you don’t want me to spend time with her, to care for her.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You know Tori was pregnant, that she was carrying my son, and still I… I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t think I should be around her. My God baby, I didn’t even try to save my own child… why would you want me to… I—”

I broke down then. I was doing that a lot since leaving the hospital.

It was why Bill suggested the psychiatrist, and it was why I agreed to go. I was a mess.

I missed Tori more each day and somewhere in the world was a lunatic who apparently wanted me dead.

Felicia got up from her seat and cradled my head against her swollen belly, trying to comfort me.

“Shh, it’s all right, it was a horrible choice you had to make and no matter what, you couldn’t win. Don’t ever think about it again, and don’t ever blame yourself. David killed Tori, and all those other people, not you, and he fathered this baby, but if you’re willing, if you would do me and Hannah the blessing, I’d love you to be her daddy.”

I lifted my head and wiped at my tears. “Hannah?”

“Yes, I’d like to name her Hannah.”

“That was my mother’s name.”

“I know, and I’ve always thought it was a beautiful name.”

I took a deep breath and stood up.

“I’m sorry about the tears.”

“You’ve a right, God knows.”

I nodded my head. “Sure, right, well, goodnight,”

I hurried to leave the room, ashamed of having broken down. As I opened the door, I remembered something. I reached around my neck, and took off a slender chain and handed it to Felicia.

“This is for you.”

“Oh my God, you remembered.”

It was the chain with the gold heart pendent. She’d given it to me to keep for her when she went to live with Sophie at sixteen.

“A lifetime ago you told me to give it back to you when you came home to Castle Ridge to live with me. This sure as hell isn’t how I pictured it, and yet, here we are.”

Apparently, now it was her turn to cry.

“Oh Johnny, I love you so much, so damn much and I’ve made our lives such a mess.”

I leaned down and pressed my forehead against hers.

“Why don’t we agree that we both have regrets and let it go at that, hmm?”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Well, it’s either that or go mad, and in my case that might be literal.” I went back to the door. “Goodnight, if you need anything let me know, my room is on the other side of the nursery.”

“Johnny?”

“Yes?”

She graced the little gold heart with a tender kiss.

“It’s good to be home.”

56

A week later, Felicia, Sophie, Bill, Ms. Lee and I were having breakfast in the dining room.

Sophie was sticking to Bill like gum on a shoe and if Bill minded the attention, it didn’t show.

Ms. Lee seemed to take it all in stride. If she was jealous, it wasn’t apparent, but then, not much showed with Ms. Lee. I thought if anything that she seemed pleased that Bill had an admirer.

I looked up and realized that Felicia had been watching me watch Ms. Lee. I was beginning to think that she believed something was going on between Ms. Lee and me.

I did spend most of my time with her, but it was all firmly work related. Ms. Lee was a true beauty, but I still mourned Tori so much that I could have found Ms. Lee lying in my bed naked and oiled and I would have only asked her about the progress of the new factory. If I wasn’t working, it gave me time to think, and eventually my thoughts would return to that moment before I leapt. And so I worked, over twenty hours a day, and sleep was becoming a memory.

Ms. Lee sent me a smile. “John, Mr. Krebbs would like to meet with you after breakfast in the conference room.”

“Oh Goody,” I said.

“Who’s Mr. Krebbs?” Felicia asked me.

“Krebbs is the money guy, the head accountant and, once it gets off the ground, he’ll be the C.F.O. of Faron Engines. He keeps track of every penny, and I do mean every penny.”

Ms. Lee spoke to Felicia. “He also requested that you be there Ms. Delgado, along with your aunt.”

“What’s this about Ms. Lee?” I asked.

“Money I’m sure, but the specifics will have to come from Mr. Krebbs.”

Sophie stood up.

“Bill, would you please escort me to this conference room? I don’t believe I know where it is.”

“It’s in the east wing, I’ll show you.”

Bill and Sophie excused themselves and then Ms. Lee also rose.

“Ms. Lee, before you go, have you had any luck contacting Richard McCarthy?”

“Yes John, he will be here on Monday at nine a.m.”

“This Monday?”

“Yes John.”

“Bill spent a week trying to contact him and you did it in one day.”

“Yes John.”

“Ms. Lee you are a wonder, you do know that, don’t you?”

She grinned. “Yes John.”

“I’ll see you in the conference room.”

She said, “Yes John.” and then sent Felicia a smile and left.

Felicia made a face.

“Does she ever say anything other than ‘Yes John.”

“I’m beginning to get the feeling you don’t like Ms. Lee.”

“No. I do like her, it’s just… never mind, I was being silly. Who is Richard McCarthy and why is he so hard to find?”

I told her about McCarthy, and about why I wanted to hire him.

“What happens if he does find David, will he kill him?”

“No, he’s only going to find Thorne. I’m going to kill him.”

“Johnny you’re no murderer, what are you saying?”

“I’m going to kill Thorne, Felicia, no ifs, ands or buts.”

“Is that why you’re wearing that gun?”

“I’m wearing this gun because your insane husband wants to kill me, and if he tries it again I plan to be ready.”

“Please don’t be angry with me, I just hate what losing Tori has done to you, you seem so different at times, so obsessed with David.”

“I am obsessed. Thorne is my reason for living. All I want out of life is his death.”

Felicia pushed away from the table and struggled herself and the baby out of the chair. She then walked over and kissed me.

“Life has other things to offer you. Please don’t think this is a pass, I’m pregnant and you’re in mourning, I understand that. But I won’t always be pregnant and your pain won’t always be this fresh. I want you to be happy more than anything in this world. To hell with David. He’s taken more than enough from you, don’t let him take anymore.”

I stared into her eyes. “Not everything was taken, some was gleefully given.” And the moment I said it, I regretted it.

She took a step back and I could tell that she was fighting tears, then, after a moment spent gathering herself together, she spoke.

“Yes, I slept with David of my own free will. I was seventeen, I was impressed by him, flattered by him, and seduced by him. I broke your heart that day for a few moments of pleasure. I have loved you for as long as I’ve known you, I waited years for you to think of me as a woman and not as a girl, as a friend. You have never been anything but loving to me and I repaid you by sleeping with another man. That was my leap Johnny, my moment of decision. I weakened and gave in to David, to curiosity, and it cost me everything. The shame I felt afterwards was overwhelming.

“I told you about David because I wanted you to hate me as much as I hated myself. Instead, you told me that you still loved me and wanted to take me back. That hurt more than if you had spat in my face. It only meant that what I had ruined was even more valuable, that I had betrayed someone who loved me enough to forgive me. And that one act, that one betrayal not only tore us apart but is still wreaking havoc. If you brought up my sleeping with David to hurt me, don’t bother. I do it to myself every single day.”

I stood up. She was right. I had said it to hurt her.

Suddenly, all I wanted to do was to take her in my arms and tell her that I forgave her for everything, that someday we could start over, that someday, we could forget. But instead, I walked away from her.

“Krebbs is waiting. Are you coming?”

She nodded yes and wiped at her eyes and I headed off down the hall.

57

Franklin Krebbs looked like an accountant.

Six foot, glasses, bit of a paunch, a bald spot, three-piece suits and an ever-present calculator.

He was Ms. Lee’s idea. She had hired him away from Universal Motors, saying that he had the best financial mind in the company. She was right, of course, but Krebbs had a knack for irking me.

I’ve never been a penny pincher, nor was I ever a big spender; I just normally didn’t give money that much thought. However, Krebbs did. He was paid to, by me, and of course, he was going to see that I got my money’s worth.

I held out a chair for Felicia and she took it without acknowledging me. She was seated to the left of Sophie, with Bill on Sophie’s right. Krebbs sat on the other side of the table, with Ms. Lee beside him and I walked over and sat beside her.

“Okay Krebbs, what’s up?”

“Mr. Faron, I called this meeting in order to set parameters concerning your house guests.”

“Parameters, what kind of parameters?”

“Financial Sir, personal finances actually, it seems that Ms. Delgado and Mrs. Thorne were rather liberal with your money last week.”

“Krebbs, nearly everything these two women owned was destroyed in a fire. I told them to go shopping and replace their wardrobes.”

“Yes Sir, Ms. Lee informed me of that, however thirty-one thousand plus in expenditures seems a little, excessive.”

“Thirty-one thousand?”

“Yes Sir, a large percentage of that was for the purchase of a full length mink coat by Mrs. Thorne.”

Across the table, Felicia colored and hissed at her aunt.

“Sophie!”

Sophie looked about the table. “I knew it was wrong, but it was just so beautiful, and it does get bitterly cold here in Pennsylvania, doesn’t it?”

Krebbs looked over his glasses at her. “Mrs. Thorne, I have lived in colder climes than this and never paid more than a hundred dollars for an overcoat.”

Sophie looked aghast. “You must shop at thrift stores Mr. Krebbs, and John I apologize, but I did buy the less expensive of the two I considered, why they had this Russian sable that was the most beautiful thing I ever saw, and I put it back and got the mink.”

“Sophie?”

“Yes John?”

“I want you to go back to the store.”

“I was afraid you would say that, and I will, I’ll take it back. I’m sorry John, you’ve been so generous and I—”

“Sophie!”

“…Yes?”

“When you get back to the store I want you to buy the Russian sable, and anything else that strikes your fancy.”

Krebbs shot me a look. “Mr. Faron, I really must protest, if you keep spending money this way you’ll—”

“I’ll be richer next year than I am now. Krebbs, take a guess, how much would you say I earn a day on investments alone.”

Krebbs fooled with his calculator for a few seconds.

“As of yesterday, it was roughly a hundred and ninety three thousand.”

“Dollars? In one day?”

“Yes Sir, but the market has been down lately.”

“Mr. Krebbs I’d like you to issue Ms. Delgado a credit card and a checkbook linked to my personal account, no limits.”

Krebbs suddenly looked like he wanted to faint.

“Oh, Mr. Faron, I,I have to protest. I’m not making accusations mind you, but to just hand someone the ability to ruin your credit, it’s it’s… unwise to say the least. Why the harm she could do if—”

I pointed across the table.

“Mr. Krebbs, there are two people on this planet that I know will never intentionally harm me. They’re seated across from you right now, Bill Healy and Felicia Delgado, if they want anything I have, it’s theirs. Do you understand me Mr. Krebbs?”

“Yes Sir, but I hope you understand that I had to bring this to your attention.”

“I do, and thank you.”

Krebbs sent a weak smile around the table and left the room.

I looked at Felicia. “When Sophie needs to shop she can use your card, okay?”

Felicia just stared at me and nodded.

Sophie walked over to me. “Did you really mean what you said about the coat?”

“Knock yourself out, Sophie.”

Sophie started to tear up.

“Oh John, after everything I’ve… you’re just so…”

And then she hurried out of the room.

Bill got up. “I think I’ll go see if she’s all right.”

I turned to Ms. Lee. “Could you give Felicia and me a moment alone?”

She smiled. “Of course John, I’ll be in my office.”

When we were alone, I spoke.

“When you slept with David years ago, I know that you didn’t do it to hurt me. When I brought it up in the kitchen, I was trying to hurt you. I’m sorry, and I promise you, I’ll never do it again.”

She stared at me without speaking for so long that I began to wonder if she would ever speak to me again.

Then, finally, “Johnny, I have to ask you a question and please, please don’t try and spare my feelings.”

“All right, what is it?”

“Do, do you still love me? You haven’t said it to me since you found out I was pregnant. Was that the final straw, carrying David’s baby? Has it killed any feelings that you ever had for me?”

I stared at her for a moment. I then got up and walked around the table, to take a seat beside her.

“Do you have any idea how much I loved Tori?”

“Yes, I could see it in your eyes whenever you looked at her.”

“She was my life Felicia. For years, she was the reason I got up in the morning, the reason I never quit on my dream to create my engine. I promised her the rest of my life and everything I had before God and man, and, and I was honored that she was carrying my child. I adored her to no end.”

She hung her head. “I see.”

I grabbed her face and stared into her eyes.

“Yes you see, you breathe, you live, because when I had to choose between you and Tori, when fate or God or destiny forced me to make a choice, I chose you. Don’t ever again ask me if I love you. I love you more than you could ever possibly imagine.”

She smiled through her tears. “Johnny?”

“Yes baby?”

“We’re going to make it someday, aren’t we?”

“Baby, there’s only one thing I know about the future.”

“What’s that?”

“That I’m going to track down David Thorne, that I’m going to track him down and kill him for what he did to Tori.”

“But what about love Johnny?”

“Oh, I promise you, I’ll love every second of it.”

58

On Monday morning, I met Richard McCarthy.

He was a large man, blond, perhaps an inch taller than me and very muscular. In his youth, he had been a star high school football player, and later, a top bodybuilder. With the money he made from bodybuilding, he opened his first sports bar.

Within seven years, he had a chain of twelve, all in the Los Angeles area. And then he took his family on a trip to London and life changed forever. His son and two daughters were killed instantly in a bomb blast, while his wife lingered for hours under crushing debris. Rescue teams finally freed her, only for her to die in McCarthy’s arms.

Over the last six years, he had eradicated the terrorists that murdered his family and also damaged other groups, and recently he had tracked down two fugitives on the F.B.I.’s most wanted list. His life used to be about sports, games, now it was deadly serious; however, he still played to win.

We were in my study. Bill had just introduced us and then taken his leave. McCarthy looked like a guy who could own a chain of sports bars, that is, until you gazed into his eyes.

He had the most intense eyes of anyone I’d ever met, and yet, at the same time you didn’t feel the need to break eye contact, rather, you kept looking, trusting that the fire that lit those eyes would never burn you, but would warm you instead.

At our first meeting, Tori said I had kind eyes. McCarthy eyes were not kind; they were deadly serious. I found myself wondering if my eyes would look like McCarthy’s when I finally killed Thorne.

I glanced about my study; most of the books on the walls had once belonged to my grandfather. For a moment, I wondered what the old man would think of me now, living in the Castle Estate, famous for building an engine that would change the world, and then I smiled inwardly. I knew what he would think of me, what he always thought of me, he would have been proud.

“Mr. Faron, I understand you’re looking for David Michael Thorne.”

“Yes, do you think you could find him?”

“In time, yes, but understand, with Thorne’s financial resources he has options that the average fugitive doesn’t, it could take years.”

“I understand it could be difficult, what I’m asking is will you do it? From all I’ve learned about you, you’re the best at tracking someone down.”

McCarthy grinned across the desk at me.

“I have good instincts.”

“And what do your instincts tell you about Thorne?”

“I believe he’s probably somewhere in Asia.”

“Really? The F.B.I.’s best guess is that Thorne is in Europe.”

McCarthy spread his hands. “My instincts say otherwise.”

“I’ll trust you on that; your track record speaks for itself. Will you do it? Will you find Thorne?”

“Let’s say I do, then what?”

“Then I kill him.” I said.

McCarthy bore into me with his intense eyes.

“I think you could do it. But why not let me kill him when I find him? It would be much easier.”

I stared back. “I need to kill him. I’m thinking you understand that.”

He nodded. “Yes I do.”

“Will you do it Mr. McCarthy?”

He stood and reached across the desk. “Yes, and call me Richard.”

“And I’m John,” After we shook hands, I handed him a card. “That’s my cell phone. If you need anything just call, and please keep me up to date on the search. I don’t need daily reports or anything, just a general overview.”

“There’s something you should know John. I don’t work alone. I’m no Superman. There are… others. Fellow victims of terrorism and other violent crimes, and we share information, resources, and also time. Finding Thorne will be my main objective, but if one of my friends needs help, I won’t hesitate to give it. But I promise you this; I will find Thorne. No matter how long it takes, no matter the cost.”

I stared at him for long moments as I considered his words. I then grabbed a pen from atop my desk and wrote down a number for him.

“That’s the cell phone number of my personal assistant, Ms. Lee. I’m going to instruct her to set-up a… well, let’s call it a resource fund, for you and your friends. You will be the only one granted access to the money and I’ll let you use it as you see fit, to help whoever you see fit to help. I’m well aware that Thorne is not the only scumbag out there, and if I can help remove some of them by simply writing a check, then I’ll write as many as you need.”

McCarthy took the paper with Ms. Lee’s number and stared down at it. When he raised his head and looked at me, his intense eyes seemed a shade softer.

“Thank you John, and know this, my friends are now your friends.”

We discussed details and then I walked him to his car. Before he pulled away, he gave me a bit of advice.

“I know your story John, that Thorne is responsible for your wife’s death. I also know that you and his ex-wife are close. Choose her! If it ever comes down to having to kill him, or having to love her, choose her. Thorne is vermin, dime a dozen vermin, and sooner or later vermin gets exterminated, but having someone to love who loves you back, that’s beyond priceless, but I guess you know that already too.”

“Thorne’s ex-wife and I had a history before him and we’ll have a future after, for the present, Thorne is my main concern.”

“I’ll find him John, and then you can get back to your life.”

“What about you Richard? Do you have a life?”

“My Life ended six years ago.” McCarthy said, and then he shoved his car into gear and drove off through the gates.

59

Months passed with no sign of Thorne, but McCarthy vowed to keep looking until he found him.

Felicia was days away from her due date and looked ready to pop. Her doctor said she was doing well and that he expected no complications.

It was Sunday, it was also the day the town held its annual picnic. The town council asked if they could use the land on the eastern side of the property as usual, and I agreed. Also, to Krebbs consternation, I volunteered to pay for the festivities.

I may not have been born in this town, but I’d come to love it and called it home.

* * *

I was sitting at a picnic table, having a beer with Bill and Bobby Owens, when Janey walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Johnny, can I see you alone for a moment?”

I smiled up at her. “Are you forgetting you’re a married woman?”

“Ha ha, please, it’s kind of important.”

I excused myself to Bill and Bobby and then Janey and I walked over to a group of trees.

“Is something wrong?”

“With me? No, it’s about Felicia.”

“What about her?”

“Did she ever tell you why she married David Thorne?”

“She said it was because she thought she was pregnant and that she didn’t want the baby to be born illegitimate. Yes, I know. But Janey, Tori’s only been gone a few months. I’m not ready for a relationship, much less marriage.”

“I know the baby is not yours Johnny, but everyone thinks it is, especially after that TV show on David the other night.”

That, ‘TV show on David’ was a news special titled:

David Michael Thorne—THE PLATINUM KILLER

It was a particularly well researched piece. An interesting aspect of the show was the revelation that Thorne’s mother was alive. Sophie and Felicia had been told that she died while giving birth to Thorne. The truth was that Thorne’s father had her committed when David was only three. Apparently, Thorne found out about her when he was sixteen, after his father died of a heart attack.

They showed a picture of Miriam Thorne. She was a blonde.

The narrator of the program implied that Thorne’s mother might have warped him at a young age, due to her mental illness.

The program also looked into David’s possible paternity of Felicia’s unborn child. Among those interviewed, were the two thugs David had sicced on me last year. The two confirmed that Thorne accused me of sleeping with his wife and that he had photographic evidence to back it up.

There was also a desk clerk from the hotel where I met with Felicia, when I sought to warn her about Thorne. He confirmed that we had checked in under assumed names. The show concluded that I was most likely the baby’s father and that this was why Thorne had tried to kill me by planting a bomb at my wedding. Overall, it helped to insure that Felicia’s baby wouldn’t have to grow up with Thorne’s stigma attached.

“Janey, Felicia and I may marry someday, but it’s too soon now.”

“That baby will be born any day, how can it be too soon?”

“Haven’t I done enough? I’ve claimed paternity, I’ve given her and her aunt a home, isn’t that enough?”

“It’s just that I know what it would mean to her for the baby to have your name.”

“That baby will want for nothing, I promise you.”

“You’re talking about money, Felicia doesn’t care about money.”

“She doesn’t? Are you certain about that?”

Janey heaved a weary sigh. “I know. You think she stayed with David because he was rich. And you know what? You’re right.”

“I’m right?”

“Yes, partially, and that’s all I’ll say for now. Just know one thing, Felicia loves you, money or not, she always has and she always will.”

I searched her face. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“No, I’m trying not to tell you something, because I promised I would never tell.”

“Janey, spit it out.”

She waved a hand in front of her. “I’m getting off track, all I wanted to say is that I hope you’ll consider marrying Felicia before the baby is born. Please Johnny?”

I looked at her, wondering what she was dancing around, but I knew Janey. If she promised Felicia she’d keep something secret she would, still, whatever it was seemed to be eating at her.

“I’ll think about it, okay?”

She smiled. “Fair enough, and hey, I didn’t just cross a line, did I?”

I put my arm around her and started walking back to the picnic table.

“We don’t have lines Janey, we’re friends.”

Janey gave my biceps a squeeze. “Best friends Muscleman,”

“It’s funny, Mona used to call me that.”

“Yes, I know.”

* * *

I spent the rest of the day thinking over what Janey said.

As the picnic wound down and darkness fell, the fireworks show got under way. I walked back toward the house and found myself confronted by one of Bill’s security personnel, who shined a flashlight in my face, blinding me.

“Mr. Faron! I’m sorry Sir; I didn’t know it was you.”

As the light was turned off, my eyes cleared and I could see the man’s face. He was about forty, with a thin build and dark curly hair. On his belt hung a weapon, and his hand was resting on it lightly.

“That’s all right; it’s good to see you’re doing your job. Any problems today?”

“No Sir, I just had to shoo away a few nosy people who got too close to the house, that’s all.”

“Well, keep up the good work, Sam, isn’t it?”

“Yes Sir, Sam Bowen,”

I said, “Goodnight Sam,” and continued toward the house.

On the patio, the staff seemed to be having their own party, Hip Hop music was playing and, to my surprise, Mr. Krebbs was dancing with one of the maids. The girl was about twenty years Krebbs junior, but he was keeping up with her, and the rest of the group was cheering them on. As the song ended, the girl grabbed Krebbs and kissed him passionately. I walked into the house while shaking my head and Ms. Lee greeted me.

“Hello John, how was the picnic?”

“I think it went well, is there anything I need to know?”

“No, it’s been a quiet day, oh, I hope the staff’s party doesn’t bother you, but since most of them couldn’t get to the picnic I thought it would be all right if they had their own celebration.”

“No, hell, let them have fun.”

She smiled, “I thought you’d say that.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow Ms. Lee.”

“Yes John, goodnight.”

I went up to my bedroom, after closing the door I became aware of a faint sound, like someone singing. It was coming from the nursery.

I quietly opened the connecting door and found Felicia sitting in a white wooden rocker beside the crib; she was caressing her belly with both hands and singing a lullaby. I laid a few gentle taps onto the door.

She turned her head and smiled at me. “Johnny,”

“Hello baby, singing Hannah a little song are we?”

“She’s coming Johnny, any day now, I’m so excited.”

I walked over and squatted beside the chair.

“About that, what were you planning on naming her, I mean as a last name?”

She looked surprised by my question.

“Delgado, she’ll be Hannah Delgado,”

I took her hand.

“Maybe, maybe we should make that Faron, like my mom, Hannah Faron.”

“I could, I guess, legally there’d be no problem unless you disputed it.”

I kissed her hand. “No baby, I mean why don’t we do this right. Let’s get married before she’s born.”

“Johnny are you… are you asking me to marry you?”

“Yes, but baby understand something. I’m a mess. I’m still mourning Tori and all I can think about is killing David Thorne. This marriage, I don’t know how normal it would be. You just got out of one that was a nightmare; you might want to think twice before getting into this one.”

She began to weep. “I don’t have to think about it, I’ve wanted to marry you since I was thirteen.”

“I’ll ask Ms. Lee to make the arrangements; we’ll keep it small and have it in the house. Is that all right with you?”

“Yes, except for one thing, I’d rather not get married in the house.”

“Where would you like to get married?”

* * *

We said our vows under the old tree, the one that boldly proclaimed that our love was forever. Felicia wore a light blue gown, and I, a simple suit.

Once again, Bill was my best man, while Janey acted as matron of honor and Sophie gave away her niece in matrimony.

As the ceremony ended, I kissed my new bride, my very pregnant bride, and was shocked by the jolt of passion that coursed throughout my body.

As we parted from the kiss, Felicia smiled a knowing grin. Yet suddenly, her smile disappeared and she winced in pain.

“Hannah’s coming.” She gasped, and she was right.

Seven hours after we were wed, Hannah Elizabeth Faron entered the world weighing six pounds and ten ounces.

60

I spent most of the following two weeks in Detroit and Los Angeles on Faron Engines business.

Universal had gone all out and was now mass producing my Engine. Faron One was weeks away from the showroom floor.

I had spied the baby only once before leaving on my trip, just a flash of pink skin swaddled among pink clothing.

When I arrived home and stepped from the limo, Felicia greeted me with an embrace and a lingering kiss.

“Welcome home.”

I was looking at the old Felicia, or very nearly so. Her figure was returning to its pre-pregnancy form and I felt a stirring as I looked at her.

“How’s the baby?” I asked.

“She’s perfect, but sleeping, would you like to go see her?”

“Um, maybe later,”

“All right,” Felicia said, and then I watched her eyes narrow slightly, as Ms. Lee exited the limo. “Hello Ms. Lee, how was the trip?”

“Fine Mrs. Faron and I hope you’re well too.”

“Yes I am. Tell me, did you take care of my husband while you two were traveling?”

Ms. Lee hesitated before answering.

“John takes care of himself Ma’am, but I try to be of service.”

“Yes, I’m sure you do.”

I spoke up then. “Is Bill around?”

Felicia said, “He’s in his office.” and gave me another kiss. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

I caressed her cheek. “Me too,”

The three of us went into the house and I gestured down the hall, toward Bill’s office.

“I have to see Bill, but I’ll see you at dinner, all right?”

“Yes Johnny, and go see the baby too, okay?”

I nodded and headed off down the hallway with Ms. Lee following beside me.

* * *

I avoided the baby, for weeks. Twice, Felicia thrust her toward me and both times, I made the feeble excuse that I felt a cold coming on. The truth is, I was terrified.

I had let my own child fall to its death while still inside the woman I loved and couldn’t fathom why anyone would ever let me near a child, much less a newborn.

Our marriage was a similar disaster. Felicia and I were still living in separate bedrooms and had done no more than exchange polite kisses.

I loved her, God knows I loved her, but I was just not ready to begin a sexual relationship. Inside, I was as empty as a well, save for the water of hatred roiling within me for David Thorne.

* * *

I was working late in my bedroom one night when a cry came through the baby monitor. Bill had put one in my room as a security measure. The crying continued, and so I opened the connecting door and looked in. Hannah was on her back, kicking away.

I sidled over to the crib and peeked in.

What I beheld was not possible, and yet, there she lay.

She was the single most beautiful thing my eyes had ever seen.

She was Felicia in miniature, complete with her own mane of that amazing hair.

Before I realized I was doing it, I picked her up and held her.

Hannah ceased her crying and then stared back at me, the look of wonder lighting her tiny face must have mirrored my own.

“What’s wrong little one, hmm?”

Even as my lips asked the question, my nose got the answer.

I looked about the room and spied the changing table. I laid her upon it and found the proper supplies. I had seen this done a few times over the years, and after cleaning her and applying talcum powder, I fastened the diaper and held her again.

She was so beautiful. I never would have believed there was beauty beyond Felicia’s, but I was wrong.

“You’re my baby’s baby, do you know that? And I guess, I guess I’m your daddy.”

Hannah smiled at me, she smiled at me and I laughed freely for the first time in months.

After that, I would sit in the rocker beside the crib each night, waiting for her to awaken, and then I would change and feed her.

Three nights later, as I was rocking her back to sleep, Felicia entered. She leaned in the doorway in her robe and smiled at me.

“This morning I thanked Sophie for getting up the past few nights and changing and feeding Hannah. When she told me she hadn’t been doing it, I knew it was you.”

I looked up at her with tears in my eyes.

“She’s so beautiful.”

“Johnny, I think maybe you’ve found something else to live for in this world besides killing David.”

I nodded. “She’s mine. I’m her daddy, not Thorne.”

Felicia walked over and knelt beside the chair.

“She’s ours, yours and mine.”

* * *

The following months were hectic. The Faron One came on the market and was hailed a huge success. Sales of other automobiles plummeted and both Universal’s and Faron’s stock skyrocketed.

Krebbs informed me that my personal net worth doubled in a two month period and I told him to give himself and the staff a huge bonus. It was the only time I’ve ever seen someone both happy and frustrated at the same time.

After I presided over the opening of the parts plant, unemployment in the area dipped to almost nothing. Things were good.

That is, things were good if you didn’t look at my marriage.

We’d been married for months and still kept separate bedrooms. I knew that Felicia was giving me time to heal after Tori, but I also knew it had to be frustrating for her.

Felicia spent hours in the gym every week, and had even gone away with Janey to a health spa in Vermont.

She was an unbelievably beautiful woman in her prime and her husband wouldn’t touch her.

She was also dropping innuendos concerning my relationship with Ms. Lee. I assured her more than once that nothing was going on between us, but over time, Felicia began to barely speak to the woman and sent me a look whenever I mentioned her.

Then one day, things came to a head.

* * *

Ms. Lee and I were walking out of my bedroom early one morning, she had broken a heel on one of her shoes and so she decided to carry them, rather than hobble along on only one.

We were laughing at her predicament when I spotted Felicia.

Her features were a study in fury.

“No! This is too much, to flaunt it in my face like this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not an idiot. Look at her! She didn’t even bother getting fully dressed this time before leaving the room.”

I looked down at the shoes in Ms. Lee’s hand and understood.

“Baby, you’re not reading this right. Nothing happened. I’m not sleeping with Ms. Lee.”

Ms. Lee walked over to Felicia.

“Mrs. Faron, your husband and I are business associates, I even like to think friends, but no more than that, I swear to you.”

Felicia looked her up and down with disgust.

“I’ve never heard you tell Johnny no about anything. I bet he didn’t even have to ask, it was just offered, the Personal in Personal Assistant, hmm?”

I said, “Felicia! That’s enough,” and then I pushed the door to my bedroom open all the way. Inside, Bill sat at the small conference table I kept in there.

“We were working. I work in there sometimes since I barely sleep since Tori died. Ms. Lee is barefoot because a heel broke on one of her shoes. Nothing is happening between us. She’s a friend, that’s all.”

Felicia stared in at Bill and then down at the broken heel in Ms. Lee’s hand, her mouth hung open as her face turned red. She then spoke a hushed, “I’m sorry.” and ran into her room.

I apologized to Ms. Lee and knocked on Felicia’s door.

No answer, only the soft sound of weeping,

* * *

I spent the rest of the day in Philly on business and didn’t return until nearly midnight. After checking on Hannah, I showered and sat down to look at sales reports concerning the Faron One.

A knock came at the door. It was Felicia. She was wearing a diaphanous red negligee and a look of contrition.

“I came here to apologize.”

I shook my head, “That’s not why you came here.” and I pulled her into the room, into my arms, and into my bed.

61

We were in the middle of making love, when Felicia suddenly sat up. “What about Hannah?”

“I have a monitor too, remember?”

She said, “Right,” and then pushed me onto my back and straddled me.

If Hannah awoke crying, I never heard it. When I awakened the next morning, Felicia was gone and my bedside clock said it was the amazing time of 9:42.

I had slept, for hours at a stretch. I had not slept more than three consecutive hours since emerging from my coma.

After a shower and a shave, I made my way downstairs.

Ms. Lee met me with a smile. “Good morning John.”

“Why didn’t you wake me? I have a meeting at the plant today.”

“That has been cancelled; in fact, your schedule is clear until tomorrow.”

“You’re giving me the day off?”

“As per Mrs. Faron, she says you work too hard and I agree.”

“Did she apologize to you?”

“She did, we are now the best of friends.”

“You are huh?”

“Yes John.”

“Where is Felicia?”

“She’s in the kitchen making you breakfast.”

“Good, I’m starved.”

“I’ll bet.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing John, enjoy your day off.”

I entered the kitchen and Felicia sent me a huge smile.

“Good morning Johnny.”

“Good morning baby.”

Bill sat at the table reading the paper, while Hannah was in her highchair. I greeted Bill and kissed Hannah hello, then I gave Felicia a quick kiss on the lips.

“I hope you’re hungry.” Felicia said.

“Starved,”

She put a plate before me; on it was an enormous omelet. She had made me the same meal the morning after we first made love.

“I made that for you once before, do you remember?”

“Of course I do.”

“It’s been years since I’ve… cooked for you, I hope you’re not disappointed.”

I took a taste of the omelet.

“Was, I mean, is it as good as you remember?”

I took her hand. “It was perfect.”

Bill put down his paper.

“Oh please you two, I’m not a moron, and may I say it’s about time.”

Felicia and I laughed and she sat on my lap.

Bill rose from his seat and grabbed Hannah.

“I think I’ll take the baby to visit her Aunt Sophie for the day, you two have a good time.”

We thanked him and then we began kissing, a few moments later the coffeemaker beeped and Felicia got up to pour coffee.

I talked to her while I devoured my omelet.

“Ms. Lee tells me that you two are now friends, I hope it’s true.”

“It is, we had a long talk and I apologized to her.”

“Baby, why did you think I was sleeping with her?”

She talked to me over her shoulder.

“Revenge,”

“Revenge? What for, Thorne?”

“Yes, and I guess I couldn’t blame you if you did.”

I held out my hand towards her.

“Come here, please.”

She walked over with the coffee and sat on my lap again.

“You and Thorne, that’s behind us and I forgive you, okay?”

“I love you Johnny.”

“I love you too baby.”

We started kissing again, but a moment later, Felicia stiffened in my arms.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s that gun; do you have to wear it all the time?”

“Yes, it may keep us alive someday.”

“I hate guns and I hate the guards and the fear. Maybe David will leave us alone; after all, he’s probably spending all his time running from the police, and that man McCarthy you hired.”

“Felicia, I can’t take that chance. I lost Tori, I can’t lose you too, or God forbid, Hannah.”

“I understand; I just want our lives to get back to normal.”

I kissed her. “They will someday, after I find Thorne.”

“You mean after you kill him. I don’t understand why you need to kill David yourself.”

I brushed back a stray curl of her hair.

“I hope to God you never do.”

* * *

I returned home the following evening to find that my bedroom had been through some changes.

The small conference table that I had in there was gone, along with the filing cabinet.

The room had two walk-in closets; I opened the second one to find Felicia’s clothes hanging there. On the vanity was her make-up case and accessories.

Felicia came up behind me, as I looked about the room.

“I moved all of your work things into your study, I hope you don’t mind?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“I had a talk with the chef today also. I’d like to start making our meals. I’ve turned into an excellent cook over the years and I want to cook for my husband.”

“That’s fine too,”

She pointed toward the closet. “I moved my things in here. I think it’s time that we put separate bedrooms behind us.”

I walked past her without saying a word. After closing and locking the door, I took her by the hand and led her to sit beside me on the bed.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to be a husband to you.”

“I understand why, that you still mourned Tori.”

“Baby, these last two nights, us being together, it’s been like heaven.”

She beamed at me. “Johnny, we’ve finally made it.”

She was wearing a blue dress that buttoned down the front. I began undoing the white buttons from top to bottom. As I undid the third button, she slid out of her shoes and started loosening my tie.

“Where’s Hannah?” I asked.

“With Sophie,”

“Will anyone miss us, for say, oh, an hour or two?”

“I told Sophie that we needed time to talk.”

Five buttons down, I viewed a lacy pink bra and a heart-quickening display of cleavage.

As she slipped my tie off, I gently pressed her to lie back on the bed. I then stood and gazed down at her.

“You are without doubt the most beautiful woman on God’s green earth.”

She blushed. “The way you’re looking at me now, I feel like the luckiest woman on God’s green earth.”

I reached down and unfastened the final buttons, revealing a matching pair of pink lace panties. I then gently slid the dress out from under her. While never taking my eyes from hers, I undressed and lay down beside her on the bed, naked.

She reached back to undo her bra and I stopped her.

“Allow me.”

I undid the hooks and slowly slid the bra from her perfect breasts; beneath the fabric, her nipples were erect. I then rose up onto my knees and grasped the waistband of her panties, again, I slowly, almost teasingly, removed that final piece of cloth.

I stared down at her. “Felicia,”

“Yes?”

“Felicia my wife,”

“Yes!” She smiled.

“I love you baby.”

“I love you too Johnny, oh God how I love you.”

I lay beside her and we kissed.

And while the specter of David Thorne still hung over us like a shadow, it was still just a shadow, while our love, our love shined bright and would illuminate our world forever.

62

One day, after nearly a year of fruitless searching, McCarthy called with good news.

“My instincts were right, Thorne was in Hong Kong. I nearly caught up to him but he managed to get away. He had a cadre of bodyguards with him. I hired my own men and went after him, but we were outgunned and Thorne managed to escape. John, the house he was leasing, the police have unearthed eight bodies, female Caucasians, most likely all blondes, but with the decomposition of some it’s hard to tell.”

“Richard, were you injured?”

“No, but I lost three men.”

“Goddamn Thorne!”

“He’s not the David Michael Thorne you knew. I got a look at him before he got away. He’s thirty pounds heavier with a coarse beard. One of my men also managed to take a picture; I’ll forward that to you and send copies to the authorities.”

“This is good news Richard; you’ve got him on the run.”

“I’m damn sorry he got away John.”

“Don’t be, you’ll find him.”

“I will, goodbye,”

* * *

More months passed with no further word on Thorne.

I awoke early one Sunday morning, after hearing Hannah singing to herself on the baby monitor. She did that upon awakening, just bubbling incoherent sounds of joy.

We had celebrated her first birthday a few weeks ago, along with our first anniversary.

I eased myself out from under Felicia’s arm and went into the nursery, through the connecting door.

Hannah was standing up in her crib and smiling.

“Daddy!”

“Good morning baby girl, how’s daddy’s little angel?”

I picked her up and kissed her and she hugged me back. After changing her, I sat in the rocker.

Someone used a key and entered from the hall door. I looked over and saw that it was Sam Bowen, one of the security guards. He appeared nervous and had his weapon drawn.

I stood with Hannah. “Sam, is there a problem?”

He raised the gun and pointed it at me; that’s when I noticed that it had an ugly homemade silencer attached to its end.

“I’m sorry Mr. Faron, but they’re paying me a million.”

“Thorne?”

He shrugged. “I guess, the man didn’t say who he worked for.”

“Sam, I’m begging you, let me put Hannah in her crib first.”

He nodded very fast. “Sure, sure, I don’t want to hurt the baby, it’s just that I noticed you never carried your gun when you came in here.”

He was right. My gun was sitting in the side table near the bed. I sat Hannah in her crib and laid her on her stomach, but she bounced back up and looked at both of us.

“Take me somewhere else. I don’t want my daughter to see this.”

He glanced at the hallway door and then looked back at me.

“Can’t do it, it’s too dangerous, but she’s young, she won’t know what’s happening.”

I said, “You’re right.” as I picked Hannah back up and cradled her.

Sam chuckled. “You think I won’t shoot you just because you’re holding a baby? You’re wrong. For a million bucks I’d kill everyone in this house.”

“I’m holding her because the noise will frighten her.”

“There won’t be any noise; my gun has a silencer.”

I peered beyond his shoulder.

“Yes, but hers doesn’t,”

His eyes widened an instant before the first bullet struck him. Felicia shot him five more times and then dropped the gun and ran to Hannah and me.

I had watched her slip quietly into the room, holding my gun straight out at arm’s length, and had absolutely no doubt that she would shoot him. The look on her face was the untainted countenance of a mother protecting her child, of a wife defending her husband.

She cried against my chest, as she trembled.

“I heard him on the monitor and all I could think was that I had to save you, thank God I found your gun.”

Bill ran into the room an instant later, gun in hand, wearing only his boxer shorts. A moment later, Sophie followed, still fastening her robe.

Bill looked at the dead man on the floor. “What happened?”

“Bowen, he said someone paid him a million to kill me.”

“Thorne?”

“That would be my bet.”

Ms. Lee arrived and gasped after spotting the body. I asked her to go call the police, I then handed a crying Hannah to Sophie.

“Please take her away from this.”

“Are you all right John?” Sophie asked.

“I’m fine.”

Sophie took Hannah away, as Bill bent down and looked at the body.

“Nice grouping of shots John,”

“I think Felicia’s a natural.”

His head shot up. “You mean she…”

“Felicia saved me Bill.”

Bill walked over, to place a gentle hand on Felicia’s arm.

“Are you all right honey? Something like this could be very traumatic.”

Felicia sent him a reassuring smile, as her body still trembled. “I’m fine Bill.” She said, and then she turned in my arms, eyes ablaze. “You find David, you find him and you kill him.”

I nodded, saddened by the fierce look in her beautiful eyes.

“I will baby, I will.”

* * *

The police had investigated and taken the body away and now we were alone again.

Ms. Lee was graciously keeping an eye on Hannah upstairs, while in the kitchen, I was having coffee with Felicia, Sophie and Bill. We sat around the table amid a palpable mood of gloom.

I sent Felicia a wink and stared over at Sophie.

“Mrs. Thorne,”

“Yes John?”

I let loose a sad sigh. “Something has come to my attention.”

“Yes?”

“It concerns you and Bill. How should I put this, your sleeping arrangements.”

“Our sleeping arrangements?”

“Yes, I’m raising a daughter here; I can’t have her around sordid behavior.”

“You mean Bill and me? But, it’s not sordid; we have feelings for each other.”

“Sophie, I don’t know what things were like in your home, but in this house young lady, boyfriends and girlfriends do not sleep together.”

“But, I, I mean I know you have every right to set the rules but… Bill?”

Bill took her hand. “He’s kidding Sophie.”

“Oh John, that was cruel, for a moment I thought you were serious.”

“Sorry, just a little payback,”

Sophie sent me a smile, but an instant later, I watched as her face collapsed and she started to cry.

I stood to walk over to her and she met me halfway, throwing herself upon me in a desperate hug.

“Oh God we almost lost you. If Felicia… if she hadn’t had the strength to shoot that man, you might be dead right now.”

“I’m okay Sophie, everything’s okay.”

I hugged her back, in genuine affection. We had been living in the same house for over a year and I had grown very fond of her. Sophie treated Bill like a king and the two of them were good together.

Under Bill’s pleading, Sophie had reluctantly agreed to accompany him to a local homeless shelter, where Bill occasionally volunteered his time. Sophie took to the children there immediately, and Bill found he practically had to drag her away from the place that night. Nowadays, Sophie, a woman who had never held a job in her life, routinely put in twelve hour days at the shelter for no pay, no monetary pay that is. She had once confided to me that at the shelter she felt needed, and that it made her feel better than any trinket or fur ever could.

Sophie slowly released me and dried her eyes.

“Do you really think David was behind this?”

“Yes.”

“Bill has told me that you plan to kill David.”

“Yes.”

“He must be mad, to do the hideous things he’s done, nothing more than a mad dog.”

“And you know what they do to mad dogs, don’t you?”

Sophie stared at me. “They put them down John.”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t think I could ever do it, kill someone.”

“David is also trying to kill me, so I guess it’s kill or be killed.”

Sophie’s eyes began to mist again. “You be careful. Felicia, Hannah, Bill and I, I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“I will be careful, and about David, I’m sorry. I know at one time you two were like family.”

Sophie stretched up and pecked me on the lips.

“To hell with David,”

* * *

Later that day, I called McCarthy from my study and told him about the attempt on my life.

He said he would search for a connection between Thorne and Bowen on his end, and then gave me some news about the eight dead women found at Thorne’s home in Hong Kong.

“They were all reported missing over the last three years. Six of the eight autopsies showed signs that they may have been working as prostitutes.”

“So, Thorne’s targeting hookers now?”

“No John, all eight of these girls had stable backgrounds before they went missing. My instincts tell me that we’re looking for a white slaver. I think Thorne simply purchased the girls, I’m working that angle now.”

I felt my stomach churn.

“You mean someone is not only abducting these women to use as sex slaves, but then selling them to Thorne so he can murder them?”

“That’s my belief.”

“Richard, it sounds like we’re looking for two monsters now.”

“We are, and the second monster, the slaver, will lead us to the first monster, Thorne.”

“This slaver, what will you do with him once he gives you Thorne?”

“I won’t say over the phone, but I think you can guess. Any objections?”

I looked over at Hannah’s picture on my desk.

“Not a one.”

63

Over the next year, McCarthy tracked Thorne down twice, but failed to get close enough to apprehend him. He did however succeed in damaging Thorne financially by discovering the name of one of his aliases.

This led to authorities confiscating over eight million dollars in funds that Thorne had stashed away under that identity. Thorne may have been winning the battles, but McCarthy and I would win the war. Little by little, Thorne’s resources were being eaten up by trying to stay a step ahead of McCarthy and the law.

There was also another attempt on my life, but it was feeble.

The man contracted to kill me was actually an undercover agent of Interpol, who not only warned us of the attempt on my life but also eventually arrested the man that Thorne had been using as a go-between.

McCarthy said that Thorne was weakening, and that it was just a matter of time before he found him, or the white slaver that supplied him with women to kill. Tragically, five more bodies were found on sites that Thorne had been living in.

* * *

I was sitting out behind the house with Bobby Owens.

Ostensibly, his daughter Maria was here for a play date with Hannah, actually it just gave their dads a chance to drink beer and talk about cars. Bobby’s home was only a short distance away in a new development. Tori and I had bought the house for him and his wife Wanda as a wedding present. It was also my way of thanking him for saving my life the night that Thorne threatened to kill me.

I had also offered him a job with Faron Engines, but Bobby decided to stay on at the garage instead. He said he loved working on cars and couldn’t imagine being stuck in an office all day.

So Bobby still works at the garage, and is basically his own boss, any profit the business makes is his to keep and Bobby sets his own hours.

There are times I envy him. Although I love running Faron Engines, the challenge of it, the excitement and prestige, there are times when in the middle of a management crisis, when I have ten different people telling me about twenty different problems, at those times, I often find myself wishing I only had a simple brake job to worry about.

More than one person has told me that I’m a natural at business, that I’m a gifted manager and problem solver. I’ve smiled at these people and thanked them for their compliments, but inside I know the truth.

I’m no businessman, not really, I just like to fix things.

Hannah had just entered the terrible two’s, but there was nothing terrible about her. She was perfect. Although, I will admit, at times she did seem a tad less perfect than at other times.

I looked over to my left at the tennis courts and watched Felicia volleying with Ms. Lee. They played often when the weather was good and had become jogging partners as well.

Bobby gestured over toward the court.

“Your wife stopped by the garage last week.”

“She did? Did she go upstairs?”

“Yeah, I hope it was all right?”

I nodded. “It’s not like it’s a secret or anything, but I guess it’s a little weird though.”

Bobby shook his head. “I don’t know John. There are a few parts of my past I’d like to have frozen in time too.”

“Frozen in time? Yeah, I guess that’s what it is.”

We were talking about the fix-it shop and the apartment above it.

After Tori died, I closed the shop while keeping everything that was in it and reimbursing the customers whose property was there to be repaired. I also left the apartment above just as it was that last morning before Tori and I flew out to Monterey.

Tori’s office was just as she had left it, Tori’s coffee mug still sat in the kitchen sink drain and Tori’s clothing still hung in the closets. In the early days after Tori’s death I went there quite often, it almost gave me a sense of hope.

The apartment seemed so normal that I could almost hear Tori’s footfalls on the stairs. But Tori was never coming home again and I soon stopped torturing myself by going there. Still, I couldn’t bear to change a thing, and so the apartment sits as it was when I lived there with Tori in my oh, so ignorant bliss.

The fix-it shop also held memories, memories of my grandfather, and memories of Felicia, of the girl Felicia, the Felicia before David Thorne, of the John Faron before David Thorne, of my life before David Thorne, before the Faron Engine and before the nigh all-consuming urge to place a bullet in the center of David Thorne’s face.

Felicia looked over from the court and smiled and waved at me and I waved back.

“Did Felicia seem upset?”

“No, she just spent a few minutes looking around the shop and the apartment and then she left.”

“She never said a word to me.”

Bobby gave a shrug. “I guess she understands.”

Hannah came running over with Maria and the two girls jumped up into their daddies’ arms.

“Hello baby girl, are you having a good time?”

“I want swings daddy.” Hannah said.

“Swings it is.” I said. Bobby and I carried our daughters over to the swing set. As we pushed the girls, I asked Bobby a question.

“Have you ever loved anyone other than Wanda?”

“No man, one look and I knew, you know what I mean?”

“Love’s great isn’t it? Best thing that ever happened to you right?”

“Absolutely, that and Maria,”

“Now imagine that it happened twice.”

“In love with two women? Sounds like paradise doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does.” I said.

“But it ain’t, is it?”

“No Bobby, no it sure as hell ain’t.”

64

I gave Felicia a lingering kiss, and then she climbed into the back of a limo along with Janey Roberts. The two were off on one of their spa trips.

About once a year, they went up to a spa in Vermont for a week. They had been best friends since kindergarten and probably always would be.

I hated the spa trips, hated being separated from Felicia for even a day, but, invariably, she would come back looking renewed in some way, and so I kept my selfish mouth shut and told her to have a good time.

Felicia lowered the mirrored glass on the limo. “I’ll be back in a week, take care of Hannah.”

I leaned over so Hannah could give her mother a kiss goodbye.

“Bye bye mommy, I love you.”

“Bye bye precious, I love you too.”

Felicia waved goodbye, and then the limo drifted off through the gates.

Sophie held out her hands for Hannah. “Let me take her.”

“Thanks Sophie.”

Bill walked over to me with a serious look on his face.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

“A security problem?”

He gestured at the house. “Let’s talk in the study.”

* * *

After we sat across from each other at the desk, Bill handed me a sheaf of papers.

“What’s this?”

“Bank records, Krebbs came to me and told me that Felicia had withdrawn a hundred thousand dollars from your joint account. He was simply following my security protocols by reporting it to me.”

“A hundred K? Why would she need that kind of money?”

“I have an idea, but look at the records, every month she electronically sends two thousand to an account at another bank.”

I read the name on the account.

“Who’s Tyler Denton?”

Bill gave a heavy sigh and handed me an envelope, inside was an 8″x10″ blow-up of what looked like a photo from a driver’s license, it was of a man in his early thirties; the man was white, apparently in good shape and looked enough like me to be a brother.

“This is Tyler Denton?”

Bill nodded, and suddenly I felt as if my life were slipping away.

“You think she’s having an affair with this guy?”

“I think it’s a little more complicated than that.”

“Bill, just tell me what the hell you think is going on.”

“John, I love Felicia, you know I do, but yes, I think she and Denton may be having an affair, but I also think it started while she was still with David Thorne. Think about it. She didn’t love Thorne, you were with Tori, and along comes Denton, who must have reminded her of you.”

“But why would she be giving him money?”

“I thought about that, that maybe it was blackmail of some kind, but I discarded that theory. She’s the wife of a billionaire. Two thousand dollars a month isn’t blackmail, it’s more like a gift, a stipend.”

“And the hundred thousand, what about that?”

“Denton is a mechanic, married with four kids, the oldest child, a girl, she has Muscular Dystrophy. Medical expenses must run very high.”

“He’s a mechanic too?”

“He just recently went to school for it, before that he just pumped gas and held a few warehouse jobs.”

“This is why Felicia stayed with Thorne. It was for money, money she gave to Denton to help with the medical expenses.” I threw the photo on the desk. “Where’s Denton live, New York?”

“No, Denton lives in a town called Doyleston; it’s, it’s only about a ten minute drive from the spa in Vermont.”

“Jesus Bill!”

“I know John, and I’m sick to have to tell you all of this.”

“These spa trips, every year, just so she can be with him?”

“Apparently,”

“Goddamn it. Janey Roberts, Janey’s part of this, years ago she was trying to tell me something, but she said she promised Felicia she wouldn’t.”

“I guess now you know what it was.”

“And I thought Janey was a friend; she just named her second son after me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Who knows about this?”

“You and I, that’s it,”

“What about the men guarding Felicia while she’s away?”

“Jack and Marcus, both ex-Navy Seals, their job is to get Felicia to the spa and back safely, once she’s there, the spa’s security takes over. It’s world-class, the spa caters to a lot of celebrities and dignitaries.”

I took in several deep breaths, as I fought to hold back tears.

“I never thought she’d cheat on me again Bill.”

“I would bet my life that she loves you.”

“Oh, no, no, I don’t doubt that. I also don’t doubt that she loves Denton also, to do all this, to risk us, she would have to love him.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, but I guess I have a week to think about it.”

* * *

The week went by agonizingly slow and throughout all of it, my mind was filled with thoughts of Felicia in Denton’s arms.

At one point, I had resolved to fly up there and confront her, but thought better of that idea and instead waited for her to return. When the limo pulled into the driveway, I steeled myself for a confrontation. Felicia emerged from the car and ran to me as if she’d been gone for a year instead of a week.

After a long kiss, she spoke. “Umm, I missed you so much.”

“Did you now?”

“Where’s Hannah?”

“Off to the zoo with Sophie and Bill.”

Felicia grinned. “I think someone wanted time alone with me.”

“I did want to be alone, we need to talk.”

Her face clouded as she stepped back to take me in, as if she were checking me for injuries.

“Is something wrong, something serious?”

She looked so scared, so worried that someone may have tried to harm me again. I gazed into her eyes and saw only love and concern looking back. She loved me. She loved me and at last, we were together and happy.

Fuck Tyler Denton,

I smiled, “No, no baby, everything’s fine, how was your trip?”

“Very restful, and I want to thank you, not every man would put up with his wife going away for a week like this.”

I stared into her eyes.

“As long as you’ll always come back to me, please promise me that you’ll always come back.”

“Of course… is everything all right?”

“I just missed you, that’s all, and I don’t sleep well when you’re gone.”

She kissed me deeply. “Maybe we should get you to bed.”

“Felicia?”

“Yes?”

“Bobby told me that you went by the shop, into the apartment. I’m sorry I never told you about it.”

“Don’t be, I know what Tori meant to you, and I’ll share you with her if I have to. Do you understand what I mean?”

I hugged her. “More than you’ll ever know.”

65

The next time Felicia went on one of her, “Spa trips,” I took a trip of my own. I was in Indonesia, the city of Jakarta.

Richard McCarthy had just had another near miss at Thorne, and I decided it would be a good time to have a face to face with him. Although we spoke frequently, I had not seen the man in years and wanted to let him know that my commitment to hunting down Thorne had not waned one iota.

Bill was at my side, Ms. Lee had also been with us on the trip, but, while at a stop in Pune, India for a meeting with Universal’s Asian division, she mentioned that she had not been home to Japan in eight years. I then insisted that she take this opportunity to visit her family and she thanked me and jumped at the chance.

I really missed having her along though, that woman always seemed to have just the answer I needed.

McCarthy greeted Bill and me at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport. As we got off the private jet, he shook our hands.

“Gentlemen, how was your trip?”

We assured him it was good and then I watched as he searched behind me.

“Where’s Ms. Lee? I was looking forward to meeting her.”

I told him of Ms. Lee’s change of plans and saw a look of disappointment come over him.

“That woman’s a gem. I can’t tell you what a help she’s been in finding me resources.”

I smiled. “You’re preaching to the choir Richard, she’s both my right and my left arm. I don’t know how I’d run Faron without her.”

* * *

We rode into the city and settled into our suite. Over lunch, Richard, Bill and I talked.

“I had the bastard by the neck John, but then three of his men dragged me off of him and he got away.”

“And you say this happened at a drug buy?”

“Yes, Thorne’s trafficking in narcotics now, probably out of necessity; his funds must have been running low. A colleague of mine, my best friend really, named Trent, arranged to sell Thorne heroin. I was posing as one of Trent’s bodyguards when the meeting took place. Thorne showed up with a small army and all hell broke loose. I lost another two men this time but I did learn that Thorne fled to Queensland. After our meeting I’m flying there to find him.”

“Thorne’s in Australia now? What about women, is he still killing?”

“Yes, a body was found two days after the drug buy, it was that of a blond woman. She had been stabbed numerous times and her face had been sliced away.”

I stood up and paced. “We’ve got to stop him Richard, my loss aside, we can’t just let him go on killing.”

Bill caught McCarthy’s eye. “The next time you get close enough to grab Thorne, shoot him instead.”

“He was just following my orders Bill; I want Thorne alive.”

“Yes, but only long enough so that you can personally kill him.”

I sighed at Bill. We’d had this conversation before. I think he believed that if I killed Thorne, I would be crossing a line that I could not come back from.

I looked over at McCarthy. “Kill Thorne if you get the chance, but then I’ll fly to wherever you are and see him dead for myself. But Richard, I need to see this man dead.”

McCarthy nodded. “I understand.”

* * *

The three of us spent most of that day talking about strategy. At nightfall, Richard and I carried our drinks out onto the suite’s balcony to have a private word. The weather was humid, and I immediately felt my shirt begin sticking to my skin.

“How are you Richard, really?”

“The same John, all I have is my work, but I see you’re married now and have a child, that’s good.”

“Overall, yes.” I said, while thinking of Felicia on her “Spa trip”, wondering why I’ve never been enough for her.

“The child, Hannah right?”

“Yes.”

“She’s not yours, is she?”

I stared into his intense eyes. “How do you know that?”

“Just a guess, having come to know you, but you love her as if she were, don’t you?”

I grinned. “I thought I loved her mother madly, but Hannah, she’s on a whole different level. I couldn’t love her more if she were my own.”

“You’re a good man John. Go back and live your life and let me worry about Thorne.”

“I will Richard, but after you find Thorne, go find a life for yourself.”

“My wife’s been dead for ten years, but I still love her, and I seriously doubt God made another like her.”

I raised my drink in a toast.

“May God surprise you someday my friend.”

66

When Hannah was four, she began getting listless, nothing serious, just a noticeable lack of energy in a child that was always a ball of fire.

We took her to her pediatrician and then to the pediatric specialist he recommended in New York City.

At this point, it became serious and Felicia and I feared our baby might not see five.

Hannah was suffering from a rare genetic blood disorder.

Dr. Ramsey, the specialist, said that only about six in 800,000 people suffered from the disease, which would eventually end in death, but that there was a cure that could eradicate the disease.

Felicia and I sighed with relief in unison.

“What’s the cure doctor?” I asked.

“You are Mr. Faron, as the child’s father you possess a gene in your liver which will reverse the disease and eradicate it.”

Felicia sent me a sick look of fear.

“Doctor,” I said, “Could this gene be found in another donor, say Felicia, or another relative such as her Aunt Sophie?”

“No Mr. Faron, the odds of finding a match among the general population, even among close relatives is astronomically high, conversely though, it would be genetically impossible for you as her father to not possess this gene, so we have no worries.”

Felicia whispered, “Oh dear God,” as blood drained from my face.

Ramsey sat back in his chair and stared at us.

“Mr. and Mrs. Faron… is there something I should know?”

“I’m not Hannah’s biological father doctor… David Michael Thorne is.”

“Oh my sweet lord,”

“Yes, I’ve had people looking for him for years and they are closing in, but there’s no way to know when they’ll catch him. How long, how long does Hannah have?”

Ramsey hung his head in despair.

“I would say, no more than six months. Over time she’ll weaken, and at the end, she’ll slip into a coma.”

“Would Thorne have to consent to this procedure?”

The doctor looked up and stared into my eyes. “Legally… yes,”

I studied him carefully, sensing something unsaid. “And… illegally?”

The doctor’s gaze shifted downward, while he mulled something over, after a moment, he spun a picture around on his desk to face us. The picture was of a blond woman in her early twenties.

“That’s a picture of my goddaughter. Her name was Angelica Simon. Does that name mean anything to you?”

Felicia put a hand to her mouth. “Johnny, she was one of David’s victims… she didn’t make it out of that house.”

Ramsey nodded. “That’s right. Her father, Stu Simon, he’s one of the leading hematologists and surgeons on the planet. If you find David Thorne, Mr. Faron, I will need his signed legal consent to remove part of his liver. I assure you, Stu Simon would feel no such constraint.”

“How do I get in touch with Dr. Simon?”

Ramsey wrote down a number and handed it across the desk.

“I wish you the best of luck, and in the meantime, I’d like to stay on as Hannah’s doctor.”

I shook his hand. “Of course doctor, and thank you.”

* * *

When we returned to our suite in the hotel on Fifth Avenue, I called Richard McCarthy.

Luck was with me and I got him in person. I explained Hannah’s predicament and he gave me a ray of hope.

“You’ve found the slaver?”

“I have. In fact, I’m meeting with him under the pretense of buying five women for a brothel I own in Tijuana, Mexico.”

“Richard, I need this man to lead me to Thorne, we’re talking about my daughter’s life here, please, I’m begging you, do not let him get away. If you need a hundred men you’ve got them.”

“I understand your anxiety, but this man takes every precaution not to be caught, it’s why it’s taken so long to contact him. When I told you he believes I’m buying women for a brothel I own in Tijuana, I meant it. I own a brothel in Tijuana; I have for the past year. This man would spot a fake a mile away; in order to get to him I have to be like him.”

“My God,”

“I know, but it’s what I had to do. The point is, when I meet this man I will be blindfolded and most likely checked head to toe for electronic tracking devices; after that, I’ll be taken to a secure location. If everything goes well with this meeting and buy, then the next time, maybe they’ll leave off the blindfold. Eventually, I would just meet him in a public place, but that kind of trust takes time.”

“I don’t have that kind of time Richard.”

“I understand John, and I’ll do whatever it takes, I promise.”

“When’s your meeting?”

“In a month,”

“Oh my God, you have to move it up, that’s a month Hannah may not have.”

“I can’t. It would send up a red flag, please trust me.”

“I do, it’s just hard.”

“John, I’ll do everything in my power to find Thorne before the worst happens to your daughter.”

“If you don’t, then you can stop looking, because I’ll no longer care if he kills me or not.”

“That my friend is a sentiment I know only too well. Goodbye John.”

67

Dr. Stu Simon was in his early-sixties, average sized, with a genius I.Q.

I had done research and found that he had been conducting his own hunt for Thorne. His surrogates had produced far fewer results than McCarthy had; but like McCarthy, they were still plucking away. I met him at his home on 59th street and suggested that we combine efforts.

Dr. Simon was a man of books and it showed. He had a library to rival my own, and like my collection, the books ran the gamut from philosophy to engineering to fiction. Behind his desk was a wide window that offered a view of the city’s skyline.

On both sides of the window were rectangular glass cases fastened atop of marble pedestals. The right case held a first edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, while the left one held a three volume, first printing of Melville’s Moby-Dick. I found their presence in the room with us to be both ironic and fitting.

Stu Simon leaned back in his seat and pointed his cigar at me.

“Why do you want Thorne?”

“I am going to kill him.”

“And then you’ll rip out his liver and hand it to me of course.”

“That goes without saying.”

“We could both go to prison if we do what you plan.”

“I think there’s a small chance of that doctor, but even so, it’s one I’m willing to take.”

Simon and I had been feeling each other out, after all, what we were planning was illegal. After a few minutes, I felt at ease and disclosed to him my full plans for Thorne. I then asked him if they were medically feasible.

“Mr. Faron, medical science has come a long way. Did you know that it is now possible to store organs, tissues, hell, even blood, almost interminably?”

“I didn’t know that, but I find it very useful knowledge.”

“I thought you might.”

“Doctor, to do what I’m proposing I’ll need your help, both supervisory and hands on, are you willing?”

Simon stood up from behind his desk and offered me his hand. “I’m in Mr. Faron. You write the checks and I’ll make it happen, but tell me, where exactly are we going to do this?”

I smiled without a trace of warmth.

“I’m going to take a page out of the monster’s own playbook.”

Simon blanched a bit. “I get your meaning, now all we have to do is find Thorne.”

* * *

I returned to the hotel room to discover a visitor, Ms. Lee.

She and Felicia were deep in conversation over something and it looked serious.

“What’s going on?”

Felicia held up papers. “We’re being sued.”

“By who?” I asked.

“Miriam Thorne.” Ms. Lee said.

“Thorne’s mother? What could she be suing us for?”

“It’s for the custody of Hannah, John.” Ms. Lee said. “Our lawyers believe she’s being used by Thorne to harass you.”

“Johnny what are we going to do? She’s suing on the basis of David’s paternity; her lawyers are asking that you take a DNA test.”

I looked at Ms. Lee. “I suppose you know that I’m not Hannah’s biological father.”

“I didn’t know, but I suspected. I always had trouble believing that you would have cheated on Tori, even with Felicia.”

“Thank you for that, and tell the lawyers to drag this out.”

“They will, but you may eventually have to take a DNA test.”

Felicia looked at Ms. Lee with pleading eyes.

“If it was legally determined that David is Hannah’s father, would the courts really allow Miriam Thorne to have shared custody?”

Ms. Lee took Felicia’s hands in her own.

“Felicia, this is just harassment by Thorne, there’s not a judge in the world that would give Hannah over to that woman; she’s spent most of her life in mental institutions. You won’t lose Hannah.”

Felicia began to cry.

“But she’ll know the truth, she’ll know that her biological father was a monster, and the world won’t ever let her forget.”

Ms. Lee took Felicia in her arms then and simply held her.

Moments later, Felicia composed herself and smiled at Ms. Lee.

“You know, you’ve really become a good friend.”

Ms. Lee smiled back and gave her hand a squeeze.

“This is more than a job to me; you’re like family.”

I thanked Ms. Lee and then she said she was going to her own suite to work. Felicia and I then moved to the loveseat and held each other.

“Oh God Johnny, first the illness and now this, our poor little girl,”

“We’ll get through it baby, first I’ll find the son, and then I’ll deal with the mother.”

“I’m so glad Ms. Lee was here when I was served with those papers, she really helped me to calm down.”

“Like she said, we’re all like family.”

“You know, Gertrude really is a sweet girl.”

I screwed up my face in confusion.

“Who’s Gertrude?”

“Ms. Lee, that’s her first name.”

“Ger‌—‌Gertrude?”

68

After spending a week in New York, we were back home in Castle Ridge and Hannah was having a good day, although she wasn’t as active as usual.

Dr. Ramsey said that we should let her play, but to limit the amount of time she played, and guide her to less strenuous activities.

Toward afternoon, I picked her up from the living room floor where she was talking with her dolls and sat her on my lap.

“How’s my baby girl doing, hmm?”

“I’m a little tired.”

“Did you like Dr. Ramsey?”

“Yeah, he was nice; he gave me a lollipop every day.”

I kissed the top of her head. “He’s going to help you get all better.”

“Daddy, what’s hemo… plas… ginger roll?”

“Hemoplastigingeritusis, that’s the name of your blood boo boo.”

She giggled. “Blood boo boo, I like that name better.”

I gave her a little squeeze. “Me too,”

Felicia walked into the room, along with the nurse we had hired to watch over Hannah.

“Come here baby, Mrs. Johnson is going to lay you down for a nap.”

Hannah yawned as she lifted her arms toward Felicia.

“Bye bye daddy.”

“Goodbye baby girl, I’ll see you when you wake up.”

The nurse took Hannah away and Felicia sat beside me on the sofa. The living room actually had three matching sofas and two matching loveseats, through the floor to ceiling windows I could see the tree we were married under, it was leafless now in early November.

“Have you heard anything new from McCarthy?” Felicia asked.

I shook my head no.

“Is something wrong? I don’t mean Hannah; I mean something else. You’ve been… I don’t know, a little distant lately.”

I stared at her. She had come home from one of her “spa trips” just before Hannah took ill, and I couldn’t help but notice that she seemed happier than when she left. I wondered if things between her and Tyler Denton were heating up, and that soon, maybe I would be the one getting once a year visits with her.

“No, everything’s fine,”

“I’m not the only one who’s noticed it; Janey says you seem different lately too. She says you used to stop by the diner once in a while to talk, but that you haven’t been by in a long time.”

“I’ve just been busy with work, you know we’ve got the Marine version of the Faron Engine rolling out next month and it takes a lot of my time.”

“Maybe you should take time off after the roll-out.”

“Yeah, or maybe I should find my own spa and go off alone for a week.”

She stared at me then and I pretended not to notice, after a few moments of silence, she took my hand.

“Do you resent my spa trips?”

“It’s just that you seem so happy when you return. It makes me wonder what you’re getting there, that you’re not getting here.”

She averted her eyes from mine, while letting go of my hand.

“It’s just nice to get away.”

“From me?”

“No! God, why would you ask me that?”

“Sometimes I wonder if I make you happy, that’s all.”

“Johnny, all I’ve ever wanted is to be with you.”

“I love you Felicia.”

“I love you too, now tell me, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I guess I’ve just been in a morose mood lately.”

“This is about Hannah, isn’t it? You’re more worried about her than you’ve let on, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“Oh, I know how you feel. I’m scared too, but I’ve been keeping it inside so I didn’t upset you.”

I stared into her eyes.

“I’ll find Thorne, Felicia. Trust me. I will not let anything happen to our baby.”

She smiled at me and I could see the tension leave her.

“No you won’t, will you? You know, sometimes I forget who you are.”

“What’s that mean?”

Felicia got up from the sofa.

“It just means that I need to relax more and have faith. In fact, I’m going to go cook dinner, any requests?”

“How about lasagna?”

“Sounds good,” She said, and then she kissed me and headed for the kitchen.

After she left, I sat there wondering why I didn’t just say it. Just ask her if she’s having an affair.

Because you already know the answer John, that’s why.

My phone rang. I checked the caller I.D. and there was none.

“Hello?”

“John, It’s Richard, and I’m sorry but I’ve got bad news.”

“Damn it, what’s wrong Richard?”

“I met with the slaver but there was absolutely no opportunity for me to grab him. They came for me at two a.m., three days before the scheduled meeting time and stuffed me naked into the back of a van with a blindfold on. But the meeting did take place and I’ve gained some trust.”

“Are you telling me that he sold you women?”

“Five of them, I told Ahmed, that’s the slaver, I told him that I needed more as soon as possible, because I had a buyer of my own in Bolivia.”

“Where are the women now?”

“I handed them over to a relief agency, they’ll be sending them back home soon, three of them were Australian and the other two were from Germany.”

“So when is your next meeting?”

“John I’m sorry, but I don’t know, it could be in a week or it could be a month or more.”

“I know you’re doing all you can, but please find Thorne soon, if it’s through this slaver fine, if not, then try something else, but my little girl is running out of time.”

“I know what’s at stake John and I won’t fail you. I’ll call you when I have news, goodbye.”

I said, “Goodbye Richard,” and clicked off, and then I went upstairs to be with my daughter, even if it was only to watch her sleep.

69

By the following February, Hannah was so weak that she had to be hospitalized.

Dr. Ramsey said that it might only be weeks before her conditioned worsened to the point where she would slip into a coma.

McCarthy had been to another meeting with the white slaver Ahmed, but told me that it would have been suicide to try to abduct him, since six bodyguards were protecting the man at the time. His next scheduled meeting was to take place sometime this week.

I was sick with worry for Hannah and quietly going insane.

To make matters worse, a friend of Hannah’s, Sabrina, a five-year-old girl she had met in the hospital, had died late last night from liver disease. Not only did Hannah mourn her friend, but I could see that my baby was afraid. I felt helpless, frustrated and angry.

Hannah was four-years-old, and yet, she was now being forced to face her own mortality. I had to do something, anything, to try to save her.

Felicia and I were in the hospital cafeteria having coffee, while upstairs, Hannah was having tests done.

I reached across the table and took Felicia’s hand. “I have to ask you something, it’s about your marriage to David.”

“Yes?”

“Were you ever unfaithful to him, particularly around the time of Hannah’s conception? Is it even remotely possible that someone else could be her father?”

“God no, don’t you think I would have said something by now?”

“When you say no, is that just to the possibility that someone other than Thorne could be Hannah’s father, or is that, no, I was never unfaithful?”

Felicia stared at me, trying to read my thoughts.

“That’s no to both.”

I released her hand. She had just lied to me.

I knew that she had been sending Denton money while she was married to Thorne.

“Is there anything else you want to know.” She said. “Perhaps about our marriage?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Such as?”

“Such as, have I ever been unfaithful to you during our marriage?”

“Baby, I can honestly say that I don’t want to know.”

“What’s going on? I thought you trusted me?”

I smiled, trying to diffuse the tension.

“I do trust you; I’m just so scared for Hannah that I can’t think straight. I’m sorry, I know you would say something if there was even a chance that Thorne wasn’t really her father.”

Felicia laid her head on the table. “We’ve got to find David.”

“I promise you I’ll do everything I can to cure Hannah.”

Felicia stood suddenly.

“I’m going back to Hannah’s room. I want to be there when she returns from the tests.”

I’m staying here. Ms. Lee’s meeting me, something about the custody battle.”

“Oh God, as if Hannah being sick weren’t enough. Come up and join us when you’re done, okay?”

I nodded. “When I’m done,”

After Felicia left, I took out my phone.

“Hello, Dr. Ramsey, this is John Faron.”

“Hello John, Hannah is nearly finished with her tests.”

“That’s fine, but tell me doctor, if I gave you a sample of blood, could you determine if it was from Hannah’s biological father?”

“Certainly,”

“Good, I’ll have one for you soon.”

As I hung up with the doctor, Ms. Lee entered the cafeteria.

“Hello John.”

“Hi, what’s this news about the lawsuit?”

“I’m so sorry, we’ve fought it as long as we could, but the judge has ordered that you take a DNA test within the next thirty days or be in contempt of court.”

“I told the lawyers to press for a DNA test based on blood, not saliva, were they able to do it?”

“Yes. While a saliva sample is the generally accepted norm, it’s actually not uncommon for people to request that blood be taken instead. Some people have an aversion to having their mouth’s swabbed. The lawyers told the judge that you have an unusually sensitive gag reflex.”

“Great, the judge probably thinks I’m a nut. But, I’ve been expecting this test and… I think I may have a way around it.”

“But John, DNA is irrefutable.”

“That’s what I’m counting on Ms. Lee. Now, I need a plane ready as soon as possible.”

“Yes John, and what is your destination?”

“It’s a town in Vermont called Doyleston,”

“Will you need me on this trip?”

“No Ms. Lee, this trip I’m making all by myself.”

I left her and headed to the airport, destination‌—‌Tyler Denton.

70

I was boarding the plane when my phone rang.

It was Felicia.

“Hello baby,”

“Johnny, Ms. Lee said you’re on your way to Doyleston. What is it you think you know?”

“I know that your spa trips weren’t spa trips. I know that you’ve been giving money to someone named Tyler Denton and I know that you’ve been lying to me, for years.”

“Listen to me; I’m not having an affair. Tyler Denton is not Hannah’s biological father.”

“I’m not willing to take that chance. I’ll let Dr. Ramsey determine whether or not he’s her father. I’m going to find Denton and bring him back to New York even if I have to kidnap him.”

Over the sound of my heart rending, I could hear Felicia begin to cry.

“I love you, come home and I’ll tell you everything. Please baby?”

I said, “Goodbye Felicia,” and turned off my phone. I then talked to the pilot. “How long?”

“About an hour Sir,”

I sat back in my seat, while wondering if my marriage had just ended.

* * *

I arrived at the airfield near Doyleston a little after four, and told the limo driver to take me to Dingo’s Garage on Fulton Street. In the file Bill had on Denton, it said that this is where he worked.

The limo parked across the street. I looked over at the garage and saw Denton standing near the curb, and damn if he didn’t look like me.

What the hell Felicia, one of me wasn’t enough?

Not only did Denton look like me, but he was looking at me, or rather at the limo, as if he were waiting for me to emerge. Felicia must have called and warned him, and instead of running, Denton had decided to fight for her.

Well, I got news for you Mr. Denton; I’m not fighting for her. I’m fighting for my daughter, and mister, you don’t stand a chance.

I stepped from the limo amid a darkening sky and watched Denton come to attention, he gave me the once over and then looked away, as if he were nervous, maybe even a little afraid.

Smart man, I was about to march across the street when a phone rang in the limo. The driver answered it and after a brief conversation, he handed the phone to me.

“Mr. Faron, it’s a Mr. Healy, says it’s urgent.”

I took the phone. “Yes Bill?”

“I have someone that wants to talk to you.”

“I’ve already talked to Felicia, now I’m going to talk to Tyler Denton.”

“John, hold on please,” I heard Bill pass the phone to someone.

“Johnny?”

“Janey?”

“Yes, listen, Tyler Denton isn’t who you want.”

“You’re telling me that he’s not Hannah’s father, trouble is Janey, I know I can’t trust you.”

“I have always walked the line between being both your friend and Felicia’s, and let me tell you, it wasn’t always easy, but I have never lied to you. I swear it.”

Across the street, Tyler Denton was staring at me with a cocked head, probably wondering who the hell I was talking to at a time like this.

“Johnny go see his wife.”

“What?”

“Tyler Denton’s wife, go see her and you’ll understand.”

“Janey?”

Suddenly, Bill was back on the line.

“John, Janey won’t tell me what’s going on, but I’d listen to her, oh, and Felicia is on her way there.”

I said, “Goodbye Bill,” and handed the driver back his phone.

I then stared at Denton, while the cold night air whipped about me, causing my left hand, the one I’d broken years ago, to emit a dull ache. A moment later, I got back in the limo and searched through the file again.

“Take me to 332 Union Street.”

“Yes Sir.” The driver said.

And off we went to meet the wife.

71

The house at 332 Union Street turned out to be the best-looking house on the block, and the rest of the homes were also well-maintained.

The two-story colonial was painted blue with a white trim and the yard appeared edged, even in winter. It was surrounded by a white picket fence and on the porch, an American flag hung beside the doorbell.

I looked around. A porch swing was suspended on chains and near it sat a child’s bicycle with training wheels attached, the bike was pink, so it was probably a girl’s.

I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

From within, I could hear a tinkling of bells, and then a female voice called from the back of the house and told me to, “Come on in, the door’s not locked.”

I tried the knob and found her to be correct.

Why the hell did Janey send me here?

I was in the living room. A large sofa and dual recliners with a TV mounted on the wall, in a corner sat a box of toys.

I called out. “Mrs. Denton?”

“I’m in the kitchen, the last room down the hall.”

I looked in the direction her voice had come from and saw a bright light at the end of a dimly lit hallway.

I started down the hall and then halted, in shock.

To my left, about shoulder high, hung a picture of Hannah, the picture was taken when she was about three. I then looked around and realized that both sides of the hall held pictures, and many of them were of Hannah and Felicia.

Besides the pictures of Hannah, there were pictures of other children, two boys and two girls. The oldest girl was wearing braces on her legs, but her face shined with a happiness that spoke of her being well loved.

The youngest girl, perhaps three or four, looked so much like Hannah that at first glance I thought it was her.

She called out to me. “The pictures are nice, aren’t they?”

I said, “You have beautiful children.” as realization began to dawn on me.

“Hannah’s beautiful too; I wish I could meet her.”

“Maybe someday,” I said, while listening intently for her voice.

“No, I doubt it will ever happen, it’s too risky.”

I’ll be damned! It is her.

I was nearly at the door when I spotted my own photo.

Actually, it was a framed picture of me on the cover of a weekly news magazine. It was taken at the time my engine was first revealed. It showed me standing atop a life-size model of one painted like a globe of the world.

“You’d be surprised what money can do. If I threw enough at your problem, you might get off with a suspended sentence.”

“Don’t you have enough problems of your own?”

“I’m never too busy to help family… Mona.”

I took two more steps and entered the kitchen.

She was seated at the head of a wooden table with six chairs around it, a cup of coffee in her hand. She looked good. Four children had not harmed her figure a bit, and her eyes held a sense of peace and contentment that I’d never seen there in her youth.

She smiled at me. “Hello Muscleman,”

72

“To be blunt, I was a crack whore.”

Mona and I were sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee. She was telling me about her life, about what happened after she killed her father.

“I figured that they would look for me in Philly and so I went south, to Atlanta. I hitchhiked down there, nearly got raped once on the way, but I made it, and that’s where I met Tyler.”

“I noticed that he looks like me.”

“I know; that’s what made me notice him at first. I always did think you were hot Johnny, you know that.”

“I seem to be irresistible to Delgado women.”

“Felicia loves you more than life, you know? She called me, freaked out because you believed she was cheating on you.”

“Again,” I said, “That I believed she was cheating on me again.”

Mona leaned back in her chair.

“Wow, she really hurt you with David, didn’t she?”

I sighed. “Yes, but it’s behind us, right now I’m angry that she lied to me all these years, that she didn’t think she could trust me.”

“But don’t you see? She grew up in a home without trust, we both did, and it’s warped us. Besides, she didn’t sleep with David to hurt you; she did it to hurt herself. You loved Felicia more than she’d ever been loved and she didn’t feel worthy of it, couldn’t feel worthy of it, and so she found a way to end it.”

I sat my cup down.

“You sure aren’t the Mona I remember.”

“The crude girl with the big mouth? She died in a shack in the mountains of Georgia.”

“What?”

“I told you, I became a crack whore. Oh, when I first got to Atlanta I worked as a motel maid, that’s where I met Tyler. He worked at the gas station across the street and that’s where I caught the bus. One day he asked me if I needed a ride and the next thing I knew, I was in love.”

“Must have been some ride.”

“I never made it home that night. We went out for coffee, and then drove to Venable Lake and talked until the sun came up, just talk. He never once tried to touch me in a sexual way; that was a new experience for me.”

“So, how’d you go from falling in love to getting addicted to crack?”

“My social security number didn’t check out and so the motel fired me. I soon ran out of money and when I was two months behind on the rent, my landlord suggested another way I might pay him. Not long after that, I was turning tricks, but I was still dating Tyler. When he found out what I was doing, he started working two jobs and gave me the money from his second job.”

“He really loved you, didn’t he?”

“He did, and it freaked me out. I mean, he should have been disgusted by me, but instead he works his ass off so I won’t turn tricks and moves me into his apartment. That’s when I told him the truth, that I had murdered my father and was wanted by the police. He just nodded his head and said we’d get through it, that he’d protect me and keep me safe.”

I looked around the brightly lit, clean kitchen, as the sweet aroma of a freshly baked peach cobbler wafted throughout the room.

“He’s kept his word.”

“You don’t know the half of it. Tyler’s love scared me to death. I wasn’t fit to be loved. I was Mona Delgado, the town pump of Castle Ridge, the girl who killed her own father, a part-time hooker and a full-time loser. I thought Tyler was crazy and I was going to prove it to him by becoming an even bigger loser. That’s when I started on the drugs. I had smoked pot since I was twelve, but never crack, I was instantly addicted. And then Tyler started talking about getting me into a program… and that’s when I slept with his brothers, all three of them, at the same time.”

I winced. “Either Tyler’s a saint, or that’s where he got off.”

“He got off. He kicked me out of his apartment and all was right with the world again. I remember thinking, ‘I knew it! Who in their right mind would love me?”

“And yet, you two are still together, what happened?”

“Things got worse. I weighed less than a hundred pounds at one point, and was turning about ten tricks a day. That’s when Tyler kidnapped me and took me to this shack in the woods. No running water, no electricity and an outhouse for a bathroom.”

“And no crack I would guess,”

Mona chuckled. “You’d be right,”

“You must have gone out of your mind.”

“I did Johnny, literally, one night I left my body while I was sleeping and looked down at Tyler and me, there was a gold light running from his heart to mine and I understood immediately that it meant we were one, that no matter what I did, I couldn’t lose him, because how can you lose yourself? So what if we were in two bodies? We were still one. I know this probably sounds crazy to you, but that’s what happened. I woke up the next morning and felt better than I had in years. I told Tyler I loved him and that I wanted to turn myself in to the police. He talked me out of turning myself in and we’ve been together ever since.”

“When did you contact Felicia?”

“After Mary was born; Mary’s our oldest, she has MD.”

“You called her for money?”

“No, I called because I missed her. I called Janey and asked her about Felicia, she told me about you two breaking up, about her and David Thorne, and gave me her cell phone number.”

“When was this?”

“About a week before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia told me she had broken up with David and was leaving school. She said she was going to Castle Ridge and beg you to take her back.”

“What? That never happened.”

Mona began to cry.

“I know. Felicia and I agreed to meet halfway at a restaurant in Virginia, in Roanoke. Soon after she showed up, so did David, and he had five men with him. He told Felicia that if she didn’t come back to him, he was going to have me arrested along with Tyler.”

I held up a hand. “Hold on. You’re telling me that Felicia was coming back to me, but that Thorne blackmailed her into staying?”

Mona took a deep breath as she wiped at free-falling tears.

“David said he would set us up somewhere and pay for Mary’s medical care if Felicia came back to him. I told him to go to hell and started walking toward a police car that was parked down the block. That’s when he threatened you. He told Felicia he would send the men he had with him to Castle Ridge to beat you bloody and burn your business down, he also reminded me that once Tyler and I were in jail, Mary would become a ward of the state and probably die of neglect.”

I shot up out of my chair, fists clenched. I didn’t think it was possible but I actually despised Thorne more than I had before.

Mona clutched at my hand. “Please don’t hate me! I know I ruined your life, I know I ruined Felicia’s life, but I did it for my daughter, I did it for Mary, and Felicia did it for you.”

I fell back into my seat with a sickening knot in my gut.

“I don’t hate you Mona, you’re just another one of Thorne’s victims… and so is Felicia. Oh God, what she must have gone through those years she was with him.”

“David bought a house in upstate New York and placed us in it. In those early years, Mary’s medical costs were astronomical, but David paid them as long as Felicia stayed with him.”

“The last I heard, you were suspected to have drowned somewhere near Montreal.”

Mona grinned around her coffee cup.

“That was our brilliant plan, Felicia and I, we knew we couldn’t be under David’s control forever, and so we were going to make it look as if I drowned. Felicia was secretly sending us money for years so that Tyler and I would have at least a little bit for Mary, but then the police discovered that David was PLATINUM, the sick bastard, and we had to move our plan up by faking my death before David could give us away.”

“He never did give you up; he was probably too busy staying ahead of the police himself.”

“We couldn’t risk it. Tyler and I sunk that old houseboat and eventually moved here. Then, we hoped that the Canadians would assume that I had drowned.”

“It didn’t work, without a body they simply listed you as missing.”

“And the police are still looking for me?”

“Yes, but maybe there’s a way I can help you.”

I heard a door open, and then the pounding of little feet, followed by a woman calling, “Yoo hoo Dana, honey are you here? I brought the kids back.”

Mona whispered, “That’s my neighbor Carol, I’m Dana, and you’re… Johnny.” she then called out, “I’m back in the kitchen Carol!”

Four children appeared in the doorway and stopped, then stared at me as if I were an illusion. The oldest one, a girl, had leg braces on. The taller of the two boys pointed at me.

“He looks like daddy.”

Carol the neighbor, forty something, with cheerful blue eyes, appeared in the doorway and handed ‘Dana’ a plastic container.

“I made you some of my rice pudding, oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t know you had a guest.”

I nodded to Carol. “Nice to meet you,”

“Nice to meet you too, but Dana honey I’ve got to run; I left a chicken in the oven.”

“Okay Carol, and thanks again for watching the kids.”

“No problem, they’re all angels, bye bye.”

Mona told Carol goodbye, as the kids continued to stare at me.

“Mommy,” said the smallest one, the girl who looked like Hannah.

“Yes precious?” Mona said.

The little girl pointed at me. “Who’s that man?”

I smiled at her. “Honey I’m your Uncle Johnny, and I’m so happy to meet you.”

The little girl climbed up onto my lap and hugged me about the neck. “I love you Uncle Johnny.”

“Oh my God, Mo‌—‌Dana, she’s adorable.”

“Thank you Johnny.”

The girl with the leg braces, Mary, walked up to me.

“You’re John Faron aren’t you?”

“Yes honey, but I’m also your Aunt Felicia’s husband.”

Mary spoke to her oldest brother. “Tyler, take Joey and Alison and go watch TV, I need to talk to mommy for a minute.”

Tyler Jr., who looked to be about nine, nodded at his sister and herded his younger siblings out of the room.

Mary stared at her mother.

“I know you’re really Mona Delgado.”

Mona’s face collapsed. “Oh God baby,”

“It’s okay mom, I know what your father did to you, that he killed your baby. I’ve read all about it on the Internet and I don’t blame you, really, but… are the police coming? Is that why Mr. Faron is here?”

“Mary?” I said.

“Yes Sir?”

“Your mommy is safe, no one’s coming. I’m here because… well, because of a mix-up, but I’m so glad I came and I’m happy I got to meet you kids. Now, can you do me a favor honey?”

“Sure,”

“Go give your mommy a big hug, she needs one right now.”

Mary smiled at me, and for a flash, I saw some of Felicia in her. She then went to Mona and the two hugged.

From the living room came a chorus of “Daddy, daddy, and hi Aunt Felicia,” and a moment later Tyler Denton stepped into the kitchen, with Felicia following and the kids trailing behind.

I smiled at Felicia. “Hello baby.”

She sighed with relief. “Hi.”

I stared at Tyler. “Hey Tyler,”

Tyler looked from me to Mona to Felicia and then back to me.

“Yeah?”

“I’ll say one thing for you buddy, you’re a handsome devil.”

Felicia started laughing, then Mona along with Tyler and the kids, and with each face reminiscent of another, it felt like being among family.

73

Felicia and I were sitting together on Mona’s bed.

The room had pink walls and white trim and the bedding matched with a pink and white comforter. In a corner was a wicker rocking chair with a big teddy bear sitting in it. It was a soothing room and a good place to talk.

And we sure as hell had plenty to talk about.

I caressed her cheek. “Five years, that bastard blackmailed you for five years. Why didn’t you come to me? I’m sure I could have thought of some way to help Mona.”

“Johnny, we were no longer together and you were living with Tori.”

“Baby I could have been married with six kids and I would have helped you, when have I ever denied you help?”

She smiled, “Never, you have always been there for me. I’m just realizing that every problem we’ve ever had is because I didn’t trust your love for me.”

“It hurts you know, it hurts that you’ve lied to me for years about Mona. What did you think I’d do, turn her in?”

“No, it’s just… well, Bill, you two are so close that I figured there was no way he wouldn’t find out about Mona if you knew, so it just seemed best to keep her hidden, I mean he was a cop.”

“Mary knows about her mother.”

“She does? Oh God, how did she find out?”

“She’s a smart kid; she probably overheard something and looked up the rest on the Internet. She told Mona that she understands what happened, that your father used to beat you two.”

Felicia looked away. “You know that my father used to beat me?”

“Yes baby, Mona told me years ago, in the hospital after the fight.”

Felicia hung her head.

“I’m sorry I never told you back then, but I was afraid that he would also hurt you.”

“And then later, you became afraid that Thorne would hurt me, and you hid his abuse from me. I wish to God that you would learn to trust me.”

“And what about you? You thought that I was sneaking off every year to be with another man and you never said a word. Why didn’t you say something?”

“I was scared, scared of losing you again.”

“And so you said nothing, and meanwhile it was eating away at you, until lately you’ve been so distant that I was beginning to wonder if you had met someone.”

“You thought that?”

“It crossed my mind. I even confessed my suspicions to Ms. Lee and she told me not to worry, that you hardly pay other women any attention at all.”

I held her hand. “We’re quite a pair, maybe we need to talk more and worry less.”

“I will. I’ll never lie to you again and I’m going to trust you, with Mona and with Hannah. I know somehow you’ll work things out for both of them.”

I sighed. “I will, if I can only get my hands on Thorne, he’s the key to everything.”

“You’ll find him.”

“You sound so sure.”

“I am. You have never let me down and you never will.”

I took a deep breath.

“Baby there’s so much at stake and time is running out. Did Ms. Lee tell you about the DNA test?”

“She did, and I’m not worried about it, because she also told me that you think you might have a way around it.”

“I… might, but again, for it to work I have to find Thorne.”

“Then you’ll find him, and you’ll do what you have to do to protect our baby.”

I grinned. “Just like that, huh?”

“Just like that, because you’re Johnny Faron, and Johnny Faron can fix anything.”

We kissed and then she pointed at the wall behind us.

“Does that look familiar?”

I glanced back at the wall and there was her mother’s heart-shaped clock, the very one I had repaired for her when we were just kids.

“I’ll be damned. I figured it had gotten destroyed by the fire at the Thorne Estate.”

“Nope, I gave it to Mona to hold onto years ago, to remember mommy by, it still works too.”

“I like Mona, this Mona, and the kids are adorable.”

“You scared Tyler to death; he thought you were at the garage to beat him up.”

“He scared me to death, for years I thought he was your lover.”

“Do you forgive me for lying to you about the spa all these years?”

“Yes, and poor Janey, she’s been a pawn between us forever.”

“She’s the best friend I’ve ever had.”

“And me, what am I?”

Felicia pushed me back onto the bed.

“You’re the love of my life.”

* * *

We had gathered on the porch, saying our goodbyes, when a cab pulled up and Bill got out.

Standing beside me, Mona whispered. “Oh no,”

I reached out and took her hand, and gave it a comforting squeeze.

“He won’t hurt you.”

“He’s a cop.”

“Not anymore.”

“Once a cop always a cop, and I can’t blame him; I am guilty.”

Out at the curb, Bill simply stood and stared at us from under the streetlight, seeming to take in each of the children in turn, with Mary, he stared the longest, and I saw something shift in his gaze.

“Hello Bill, what are you doing here?”

“I came to find you John, to see if you needed help.”

“I’m fine. I’m with friends old and new.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

Bill walked up the steps and stared at Mary.

“My God, your mother looked just like you when she was your age.” He then turned to Mona. “I made you a promise once, do you remember?”

Mona swallowed before speaking. “A promise?”

Bill caressed Mary’s cheek. “When you were her age, the day I took your mother and you kids to the women’s shelter.”

“I remember that day. You let me play with the lights and siren and you gave Felicia and me candy.”

“And I made you a promise.”

“Yes, you said that daddy would never hurt mommy again.”

Bill winced at the memory. “But he did,”

“Yes, but Captain that wasn’t your fault, that was mommy’s, she went back to him. After all you did to help her, she went back to him.”

“Still, I promised,”

“But it wasn’t yours to keep,”

“I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Thank you Captain.”

“It’s just plain Bill now.”

“Okay, Bill, would you like to meet my children?”

“Yes, and I take it that Tyler Denton here is your husband?”

Mona kissed Tyler on the cheek. “He certainly is.”

Bill glanced at me. “Thank God.”

“My sentiments exactly,” I said.

Mona introduced the children to Bill one by one and at the end, we said our goodbyes all over again.

* * *

We were in the limo when I got the call. Ms. Lee had just met us at the airport as we arrived back in New York. The call was from someone named Trent, one of Richard McCarthy’s associates.

Trent was calling from Amsterdam with bad news.

“Richard’s in the hospital, not expected to live.”

“What happened Trent?”

“Ahmed, Richard had a meeting with him and it went bad. I found Richard down by the docks, he’d been shot four times and was barely conscious. I also found six dead men near the scene; they must have been Ahmed’s bodyguards. Richard must have been crazy to go up against those sort of odds alone.”

No, he wasn’t crazy, he was desperate, desperate to help me and Hannah.

“Did he say anything Trent, any clue as to where I might find Thorne?”

“He did it Mr. Faron, he found him! Thorne has a meeting with Ahmed tomorrow at midnight in a bar here called, Guiltless.”

I began breathing again.

Thank you Richard,

“Mr. Faron, what would you like me to do?”

“Give me a number where I can reach you and I’ll call you back in an hour with instructions, and Trent, great work.”

“Thanks, but it was all Richard.”

I explained everything to Felicia, Bill and Ms. Lee as we rode to the hospital.

“Poor Richard,” Ms. Lee said. “He seems like such a nice man on the phone.”

“That’s right; you’ve never actually met him, have you?”

“No, but we’ve spoken often as I’ve helped him with resources.”

“Well, hopefully you’ll get your chance. I want you and Bill to go with me to Amsterdam.”

Ms. Lee nodded. “All right John, and is there anything else?”

“Yes, it’s about this bar Thorne is meeting at…”

74

I was sitting up in Hannah’s hospital bed with my arm around her, holding her one last time before I had to leave for Amsterdam.

Across the hall, the unoccupied room that had been her friend Sabrina’s, laid as dark and ominous as the future.

Hannah seemed weaker to me than she had before I left for Vermont, but perhaps it was only the lateness of the hour.

I prayed so.

“Daddy?”

“Yes baby girl?”

“Why do you have to go away again? You and mommy just got back.”

“Daddy’s going to get some medicine for your blood boo boo.”

“And then I’ll be all better?”

I kissed her forehead. “And then you’ll be all better.”

“I don’t like being sick.”

“I know.”

Hannah stared across the hall.

“Sabrina’s not coming back, is she?”

“…No Hannah, Sabrina is with God now, in heaven.”

Hannah hugged me tight, and I could feel her tremble.

“I don’t want to go to heaven daddy. I want to stay here with you and mommy.”

“You will sweetie, you’re going to live a long and happy life with mommy and me and Grandpa Bill and Aunt Sophie.”

“Promise?”

I closed my eyes. “Daddy promises.”

Felicia appeared in the doorway.

“Ms. Lee says it’s time.”

I said, “All right,” and got up from the bed.

Hannah lay down on her back and beckoned me to lean down toward her, when I did, she gave me a big kiss on the lips.

“I love you daddy.”

“And I love you too Hannah, you be good while daddy’s gone, okay?”

“Okay daddy, and bring me somethin’ back.”

“I will, bye bye now.”

“Bye bye daddy.”

* * *

I joined Felicia in the hall, a short distance from Hannah’s room.

“How is she?”

“She’s scared, and I know exactly how she feels.”

“She’ll be all right, as soon as you return from Amsterdam, Dr. Ramsey will begin treatment.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, as I fought to hold back tears.

“Johnny, it’ll be all right.”

“What if Thorne doesn’t show up for the meeting? Trent said he didn’t know what happened to Ahmed, maybe he’s warning Thorne right now, or maybe the police will catch up with Thorne before I can grab him or, or… hell, any of a hundred things could go wrong.”

Felicia smiled at me.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because you really don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“What you are, who you are. Johnny, David could hide on the moon and you would find him, because Hannah needs him, and there is no way that you would ever let your daughter down.”

“Baby, fate can be damn cruel sometimes.”

“You have never let me down and you won’t this time. When we first met, when I was still a kid, I’d come by the shop just to watch you work, watch you fix things, and it never seemed to matter what was broken, you’d fix it. A vacuum cleaner, a TV, a bike, computer, it didn’t matter. You would just get to work and figure out what was wrong.

“I was broken then too, heartsick over my mother’s death, neglected by my father, and you fixed me, paying me to sweep the shop, buying me food when I was hungry, being my friend. And later, when my father nearly killed Mona, you stopped him; you beat him.

“And… after the bomb, after I had used up all of my strength and lost my grip. My God Johnny, I was literally falling to my death. I believed I was dead, and then from nowhere, there you were, holding me, saving me, saving me and Hannah. You saved her then and you’ll save her now.”

I grabbed Felicia and embraced her, feeling her warmth, trying to absorb her strength, her faith.

“Baby I love you so damn much.”

“And I love you. Find David, end this, and then come back to us.”

I wiped at my eyes. “I will.”

She smiled again. “Yes you will.”

We kissed and then said our goodbyes.

* * *

I was at the elevator with the doors opening before me, when I had the longing to see Hannah one more time.

I stopped short just outside her door, as I heard her crying. I then peeked around the corner.

Felicia was lying in bed with her back to me, holding Hannah in her arms and comforting her. I leaned back against the hallway wall and listened.

“What’s wrong with mommy’s baby?”

“The Boogeyman,”

“The Boogeyman? What about him?”

“He’s coming for me, he got Sabrina and now he’s coming for me.”

Felicia laughed. “Oh baby, you never have to worry about the Boogeyman.”

“I don’t? Why?”

“Because of your daddy, your daddy can beat the Boogeyman any ol’ day.”

“Daddy can beat the Boogeyman?”

“Yes baby.” Felicia said, and then she lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Would you like to know a secret about your daddy?”

Hannah whispered back. “A secret?”

“Yes, it’s something only you and I know.”

“What is it mommy?”

“Your daddy, he’s the Fix-it man.”

“The Fix-it man?”

“Yes baby, and the Fix-it man can fix anything.”

“Anything?”

“Yes baby, anything, even your blood boo boo.”

“How mommy?”

“With love, daddy can do it because he’s full of love.”

“I love daddy so much mommy.”

“Me too baby, me too,”

I crept away from there, away from my two angels, and went searching for the Boogeyman, a Boogeyman named Thorne.

75

I walked down the corridor toward Richard McCarthy’s hospital room at about noon, local time, Amsterdam. At my side were Bill and Ms. Lee.

Trent met us at the door and turned out to be enormous. He was seven feet tall if he was an inch and must have weighed nearly four hundred pounds.

He had been sitting vigil with Richard throughout the night and greeted us with good news.

“He’s awake Mr. Faron.”

Richard was lying in bed, pale looking, and hooked-up to several machines. He gazed up at each of us in turn; when he got to Ms. Lee, he smiled.

“My God you’re a beautiful woman.”

Ms. Lee blushed. “Thank you Mr. McCarthy.”

“I know that voice. You’re Ms. Lee, aren’t you?”

“Yes Richard.” Ms. Lee said, and then she fought to hold back tears.

“Don’t believe the doctors Ms. Lee, I’m not going anywhere.”

I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Richard, I can’t thank you enough, you’ve given my daughter a chance.”

“Trent tells me that you’re worried about Ahmed, don’t be. I managed to secure him before I passed out.”

“What’s that mean, ‘Secured him?”

“He’s locked in a Sea Box, a trailer, in the parking lot of a defunct cement factory, but he still needs to be… handled.”

I nodded. “I’ll deal with that, and then I’ll deal with Thorne.”

Richard gestured toward Trent. “Let him handle it John.”

“No, it has to be done and I’ll do it. But Richard, how can you be so sure that Thorne will show at this bar tonight?”

“Ahmed told me, under duress, in fact, he may be dead already.”

Ms. Lee shook her head sadly at Richard.

“The things you have to do, they must take their toll.”

“Ms. Lee, I killed six men last night, possibly seven, all of them evil, despicable beings, and it just may have saved a little girl’s life; looked at that way, I can’t kill enough of them.”

She fought back tears again. “I understand; it’s still a sad life.”

Richard gave me Ahmed’s location and I told him of my plans for Thorne.

“It sounds good John, but be careful, Thorne travels with an army.”

“We’ll be ready for him.”

Ms. Lee took a seat beside Richard’s bed.

“John, will you need me tonight?”

“No, it’s too dangerous, in fact, why don’t you go back to the hotel and I’ll call you if I need anything.”

“If it’s all right with Richard, I’d like to stay here, to make sure that he’s being cared for.”

Richard reached out and took her hand. “I’m sure you’re much better company than Trent.”

“Trent’s going to be busy anyway,” I said, “he’ll be making sure things are ready, so it would be nice if you kept Richard company.”

Ms. Lee smiled, “Thank you John, and please, be careful, and call if you need me.”

I said, “Will do.” and then followed Trent and Bill out of the room. As we walked to the elevators, I asked Trent a question.

“Have you been with Richard very long?”

“Since before the beginning,” Trent said, and then he ran a massive hand through his mop of black hair and brought it to rest atop his beard, while staring back at Richard’s room. “Mr. Faron, tell me something, this Ms. Lee, is she good people?”

“Ms. Lee? She’s the best, why?”

Trent suddenly looked reflective. “I haven’t seen Richard look at a woman like that since his wife died.”

* * *

At half past nine, Bill and I stood in the back parking lot of the dormant cement factory where McCarthy had locked up Ahmed. At the end of the parking lot, there was a chain link fence, beyond that, the North Sea.

Although Ahmed had been doing business with Thorne, he didn’t know his true identity. Richard said that Ahmed knew Thorne only by the name of Phelps, but when questioned about Phelps, he had described Thorne to a T.

Trent had supplied me with an untraceable gun, a Beretta 92FS. I took it out and held it loosely at my side while Bill opened the padlock on the door.

Trent said that Richard had broken both of Ahmed’s knees with a crowbar to make him talk, actually one knee made him talk, the second was to confirm the information.

Richard had done all this after being shot four times and having just killed six men. I marveled at the man. And now it was my turn to see if I could kill just one.

Bill took out a flashlight and shined it within the container. Something inside moaned and Bill found it with his beam. Ahmed, alive and cursing us in what I took to be Arabic. He was a chubby man with a scruffy, graying beard. He was crawling along the floor towards us, dragging his broken legs behind him and seemingly in great pain. With care, he would heal and live.

He was a slaver of women. He was not going to heal and live.

“I know you can speak English.” I said.

“Yes I can, let me go and I will pay you.”

I raised the gun. “We don’t want money.”

All at once, I felt a pain shoot through my arm, as I was grabbed from behind. Within instants, I was losing consciousness, and then all went black.

* * *

I awakened with a start. I was lying where I fell, beside the container. Twenty feet to my left was Bill. He was sitting atop a wooden reel and staring at me.

“Bill, what the hell happened?”

In answer, he simply pointed into the container.

As I stood, I saw the flashlight lying on the ground, I picked it up and shined it within. Ahmed was dead. He had been shot twice, once in the heart, once in the head. I turned toward Bill in a fury.

“You did this, didn’t you? What the hell? I didn’t ask you along to do my killing for me.”

Bill rushed me, before I knew it he had me backed up against the metal container.

“One John! One life! Thorne’s! That’s all you get. I will not see you turn into a McCarthy.”

“And what about you? You just killed an unarmed man. What does that do to you?”

“I did it for you boy. I did it for Felicia and for Hannah, for our family. One life each, we can survive that, but I won’t let you turn into a butcher. I love you too much to let you become that.”

I embraced him and hissed into his ear. “Thorne is mine.”

“Yes John yes, in a way I, I think you need to kill him.”

We separated and then Bill relocked the container. I checked my watch, a little more than two hours until midnight.

We walked back to our car in silence. As I opened the door to get in, I called to him.

“Hey Bill,”

“Yes?”

I stared at him. He had been a cop for twenty-one years, and I knew that it was a point of pride with him that in all that time, he had never had to so much as draw his weapon from its holster. Now tonight, he had killed a man in cold blood to save my soul from corruption.

I gave him a smile as a tear rolled down my cheek.

“I love you too Captain.”

He smiled back at me, and off we went to meet with Thorne.

76

The bar Guiltless was near the waterfront, at the end of a city block and took up the entire corner from one end of the street to the other. It was a long, narrow building with a bar against the left wall that ran the middle length of it, there was a dance floor near the front entrance and tables at the back, toward the kitchen, and along the right side.

I was across the street, standing deep in the shadows of a bakery’s darkened doorway, along with Bill and Trent.

At the bar’s entrance, bouncers accepted or rejected potential patrons who were lined up to get in, more than one would-be customer objected vociferously to the bouncers’ rejection.

Richard said that Ahmed had given Thorne a phrase to say that would not only gain him and his people entrance, but also insure that he would be seated at a table toward the back that was roped off.

A limo appeared and parked in front of the club, and six men got out. They were young, fit and oriental; they were also undoubtedly armed. The six looked around, scrutinizing the crowd, and a few moments later one of them opened the limo door and spoke to someone inside.

Three seconds later, I beheld the face and form of David Thorne.

He was at least thirty pounds heavier than I remembered and wore an unkempt beard. He was wearing a black, European style suit with a white shirt and no tie. At his side was an Asian woman who looked to still be in her teens.

Thorne walked up to the door and said the magic phrase and he and his entourage were granted entrance.

Trent tapped a Bluetooth earpiece and spoke.

“PLATINUM is in the trap. I repeat, PLATINUM is in the trap.”

After receiving a reply, Trent turned and smiled at me.

“Finally, eh Mr. Faron?”

“Amen Trent, and call me John.”

“The phrase to get in the door,” Bill asked me, “What is it?”

“Money can buy happiness.’ I guess it was a sick joke between Thorne and Ahmed.”

“Now?” Bill said.

“One second,” I took out a disposable cell phone and dialed a number. After two rings, he answered.

“Hello? John?”

“It’s me Dr. Simon, is everything ready?”

“It is. When do you expect to be back?”

“No later than six a.m. your time,”

“Good luck John, and happy hunting,”

“Thank you Stu, I’ll see you soon.”

I put my phone away and nodded to Bill. “Let’s go.”

As the three of us walked across the street, I looked at my watch. It told me that the time was 12:02 a.m. and that the date was February 14th, St. Valentine’s Day.

I said a prayer for Hannah, and went to meet the Boogeyman.

77

Of all the reactions that I could have imagined Thorne displaying upon first seeing me, happiness was not one of them, and yet, he seemed ecstatic.

“John Fucking Faron, at last!”

Thorne sat at a round table in the back right hand corner of the club, three bodyguards stood on either side of him and the woman sat on his left. Despite the crowd, the nearest occupied table was twenty feet away. Bill and I took seats across from Thorne, while Trent stood by my left side. I noticed that Thorne’s bodyguards watched Trent more than they did either Bill or me, but then, Trent was a little hard to ignore.

I talked loudly, to be heard over the blaring music and the murmur of voices.

“You seem happy to see me Thorne, that’s an odd reaction considering I’m here to kill you.”

“I am happy. You’ve let that blond Satan of yours do your work long enough. That fool chased me from Hong Kong to Australia to here and I knew it was just a matter of time before you tired of his bungling and came after me yourself.”

“That ‘blond Satan’ as you call him, Dashiell, is the reason I’m here and not Ahmed. But I never hired him to kill you, only to find you, and he did.”

“Do you like my beard? I wear it because of you. That rock you threw at me in New York, the damn thing scarred me for life. I owe you for that Faron, and for so much more.”

“You were too pretty anyway; it’s probably why you started wearing dresses in the first place.”

Thorne’s face darkened. “Those dresses were just a disguise.”

“Sure,”

Thorne looked over at Bill and frowned.

“I thought I killed you.”

Bill sent him a cold smile. “Enjoying your drink Thorne? It will be your last.”

“How’s Felicia, Faron, how’s my wife?”

“She’s my wife now, and she asked me to tell you something.”

Thorne leaned forward expectantly. “What?”

“Go to hell.”

His face twitched in a spasm of dejection as he straightened in his seat again, after taking a deep gulp of his drink, he spoke.

“To hell with Felicia, she was an insipid bitch in bed; she would just lie there and take it. Oh, except for our first time. Our first time together she was like an animal, and she begged me for it,”

I smiled. He was trying to anger me, but I had him, at last, I had Thorne and Hannah was going to be all right.

Thorne smiled back at me. “She doesn’t love you, you know? Felicia’s only with you because it’s convenient. When I left, I left in a rush; she was pregnant, homeless and had Sophie around her neck like an albatross. She only married you because you have money.”

“Thorne, Felicia loved me before, during and after you; you’re the one she never loved.”

He made a dismissive sound. “What the fuck does any of it matter? Women are only good for one thing‌—‌giving pleasure.” He seized the woman by her arm. “This bitch, this is a true whore, why if I asked her to, she would blow me right now, right at this table. Isn’t that right Ling?”

The woman just smiled at Thorne and nodded her head.

“She doesn’t speak a word of English, but she sure can fuck.”

“Even before you killed Tori, I promised you that if you ever hurt Felicia I would kill you. I’m here to keep that promise. I’m going to kill you Thorne, for Tori, and for Felicia.”

He looked to either side of him.

“My men may object to that.”

“Six men, yes, I was told that you traveled with a small army.”

Thorne began laughing and turned to the man at his immediate left, to say a few words in what may have been Cantonese. The man then made a swirling hand signal in the air.

Immediately, throughout the bar, fourteen men, mostly Caucasian, raised their hands and made the same signal back, they then took out yellow bandanas and tied them on their heads.

Thorne smiled. “That’s my army Faron, now, tell me again, who’s going to kill whom, eh?”

“Trent, I count twenty, including the six at this table.”

“We got the same count John, just say the word.”

Thorne laughed again. “You think this giant fool can take on twenty men? The first one he touches will shoot him dead.”

I said, “Now!” and Trent made his own hand gesture.

Everything stopped.

The music died. Couples that were dancing stopped dancing and stared in our direction. At the other tables, at the bar, conversations ceased, and again, all eyes turned toward us. Then everyone reached into a pocket, a purse or a bag and pulled out a cap, centered on the cap’s front was a decal of the Faron Engine with a capital F atop of it, the Faron Engines logo, next, they all brought out guns and Thorne met McCarthy’s friends.

I smiled at Thorne.

“My army, everyone in the building, except for your people of course,”

Thorne’s eyes were wide. “What the fuck?”

“I bought the bar yesterday. Congratulations, you’re our first customer.”

Thorne glared at me, his eyes revealing not fear, but loathing.

“Then we both die, that’s all this means, and I’ll order my men to kill you first.”

The man at Thorne’s immediate left slowly raised his hand.

“This man Phelps, or Thorne as you call him, he pays me five hundred Euros a day to protect him. I’m not dying for five hundred Euros.”

“Smart man,” I said. “You and your friends will be disarmed and held in the kitchen until we leave, and then you’ll be free to go. Fair enough?”

The man stared at me for several seconds and then he slowly pulled out his gun with two fingers and passed it across the table to Trent. The other five men followed suit, and around the bar, Thorne’s army handed their weapons to my people.

“And just what is it that you plan to do with me?” Said the woman, in perfect English, and Thorne turned and gaped at her, as if she were a dog playing the piano,

“Same deal.” I told her. “Are you armed?”

“No, I’m not even wearing underwear.”

“Trent, let’s secure them first and then I’ll deal with Thorne.”

“Right,” Trent said, he then gestured to the six men at the table, and when they followed, along with the woman, he and about forty other men herded Thorne’s crew into the kitchen where they were checked for weapons. They then locked the door, a new door that was an inch of steel. Inside the kitchen, all the windows were sealed and the back door bricked over. The bar’s front entrance was also closed and locked.

I stared at Thorne. “Checkmate,”

He hissed, “Fuck you,” and downed the last of his drink.

I sat back and said nothing more.

“Well, what the fuck are you waiting for?”

“All in good time Thorne, I have many plans for you.”

Thorne then said, “What plans are those?” But it came out as, “Wut plaaans arrr dossss.” He shook his head, and a moment later, picked up his empty glass and glared at it in disgust. A few seconds later, the drug took full effect and he passed out.

Trent checked him for weapons and found an evil-looking knife. He embedded it into the tabletop and then slung Thorne over his shoulder as if he were weightless.

“Everything’s ready John.”

I nodded. so close, so close,.

I gave my thanks to the assembled crowd and we made our way out to Thorne’s limo, which was now being driven by one of our people. Trent dumped Thorne across a row of seats and I sat on the other side. I then lowered the window and talked.

“Bill, call Lieutenant Garner and make him our offer, but make sure he knows it is non-negotiable.”

“I’m positive he’ll take it, but they’ll be red tape involved.”

“If he wants Thorne, then he’ll cut through it.”

Bill looked inside the limo and smiled at Thorne.

“You did it John! Hannah’s going to be all right.”

Bill and I clasped hands warmly for a few seconds, and then the limo moved on, carrying Thorne and I to our destiny.

78

David Michael Thorne was in a room of his own design.

The Killing Room,

I was standing in a duplicate of the room Thorne used in the “Devil’s Dormitory.” A room in which he heinously tortured and murdered at least twenty-three women,

Beneath my bare feet and covering the walls and ceiling was a thick layer of clear plastic sheeting. I was wearing a pair of black slacks and a white dress shirt open at the collar with no tie, in my right hand was a gun, this too, was wrapped in plastic.

It was my grandfather’s gun, a .45 Colt, a weapon he had carried, and used, in World War II.

This Killing Room differed from Thorne’s in one respect, there were no cameras, only I would view Thorne’s last moments.

He was hanging naked a foot off the floor, by chains coming down from the ceiling, and his legs were spread wide from shorter chains that were anchored into the floor. A fifth chain with a metal collar held his head erect.

This is how he treated those innocent women; it was how he would leave this life.

Twice, he muttered something, and I knew that the drug was wearing off. I stood ten feet away and waited for him to awaken. When he did so, it was with a start, causing the chains to sing echoes in the sealed room.

“Faron? What the fuck did you do to me?”

“It’s your room Thorne, don’t you recognize it?”

“These fucking chains hurt, let me down.”

“No. I want you to get a glimpse of the horror that you put those women through.”

“Fuck them! Worthless blonde cunts, every one of them,”

“Why Thorne, why the killing?”

He stared at me before answering.

“You wouldn’t understand. Jerry was the only one who got it.”

“Got what? The power? The absolute power of life and death? Oh believe me, I understand. I didn’t until I had you in those chains, but now I understand. I’m going to kill you and there’s not a damn thing that you can do about it. I feel the power Thorne, and it sickens me.”

“That’s because you’re weak.”

“I’ve thought of killing you ever since you murdered Tori with that bomb, and now that I have you, I know it won’t mean a thing to me, it’ll be like taking out the trash. Your life was such a waste David, there was so much good that you could have done, and instead you used your life to torture and kill.”

“Don’t moralize to me, life is meaningless.”

I shook my head at him.

“I can’t believe that. I won’t,”

“You’ve been hunting me for years, if you kill me, people will know it was you.”

“The ones that will know, won’t care; the ones that suspect, will be given another option to believe.”

“What option?”

“Ahmed, evidence is being planted right now that will make it look as if he killed you.”

“So, you think you’ve thought of everything, but what about my daughter?”

“Who’s to say she’s not my daughter? I thought you were convinced that Felicia and I were having an affair?”

“You only started fucking her when she went to that damn wedding, before that I was her only lover. That little girl is a Thorne.”

“She’s my daughter and her name is Hannah Faron.”

“I’ve been keeping track of the lawsuit. You have to take a DNA test. Soon the world will know that Felicia’s child is mine.”

I paced about fretfully in a circle, the mere thought of Hannah having to go through life with the disgrace of this monster’s crimes attached to her, tearing my heart in two.

“Maybe they’ll never know,”

“It’s DNA Faron‌—‌oh wait, I get it. You’ve bribed some twenty dollar an hour lab tech to doctor the results.”

“I admit I looked into that, but the safeguards against bribery are formidable, in fact, it’s almost impossible to cheat the security measures against deception.”

Thorne gave me a sarcastic look.

“Let me guess, you’ve figured out a way to do it somehow.”

“I hope so, for Hannah’s sake.”

“No matter what you do, she’s my daughter.”

“No Thorne, she doesn’t even know you exist.”

He swallowed hard with a grimace of pain contorting his face, as he struggled against the chains.

“Goddamn, these fucking things hurt.”

“Yes, now imagine that some madman is slowly slicing pieces of you off onto the floor as you hang from them.”

Thorne’s face went slack.

“Oooohh, their screams, there’s nothing like it. They begged me Faron, promised me anything if only I’d stop.”

I looked over at him and realized he was becoming aroused at the memory of the torture he inflicted.

My God, he’s an even sicker fuck than I thought he was.

I called, “Thorne!” to break his reverie. “I hung you up like this hoping to stir a sense of regret in you, but you have none, do you?”

“They were women Faron; they’re here for our pleasure.”

I hung my head.

Stop talking John and just kill him, he’s remorseless and time is growing short.

“Faron! About my daughter, no matter what you do, someday she’ll find out that I was her father.”

“You’re not her father and you never will be.”

He leapt at me from his chains. “I’m her fucking father!”

I took a deep breath and stepped forward. I then held the gun a foot away from him.

“You’re not her father Thorne; you’re nothing but spare parts.”

And then I shot him.

The bullet entered at the bridge of his nose and exited in a spray of blood, bone and gray matter against the back wall. There was also a scattering of blood across my face and shirtfront.

Once again, the chains sang, this time accompanied by the blast of the gun, and then silence, which was soon followed by the sound of blood dripping upon the plastic sheeting.

I looked up at Thorne’s empty eyes and knew that at last, he was dead.

Moments later, I shook myself. There was no time for contemplation.

I exited the Killing Room and entered a small chamber that was also swathed in plastic. Here, I disrobed and took the plastic off the gun. The plastic would be incinerated, along with my pants and shirt. The room had a shower stall, and before using it, I pressed a buzzer. I took a quick, but thorough shower, and when I emerged, the plastic and my old clothes were gone and a fresh change of clothing was hanging on the back of the door. Lying alongside my gun was the spent bullet.

As I was dressing, Dr. Stu Simon walked into the room.

“Thorne?” I said.

“He’s being processed, in fact, the section of his liver that will save your daughter’s life is being removed now.”

“And his other organs, heart, kidneys, corneas?”

“They’re going into storage. Don’t worry, everything is going perfectly. Your Mr. McCarthy’s friends are quite efficient.”

“You know what to do with the body?”

“Yes, Mr. Healy called while you were… with Thorne. A Lieutenant Garner told him that the Attorney General signed off on the deal.”

I smiled. “That one’s a bonus, but a damn happy one.”

Someone knocked on the door. Dr. Simon opened it partway and a gloved hand handed him two thin, sealed tubes and a scalpel, along with a first aid kit. He thanked them and closed the door.

“Ready John?”

“Yes, time is short, do it.”

Dr. Simon turned me around and swabbed an antiseptic liquid onto my right side; he then made an incision and immediately began to stitch me up. It hurt like hell.

“I’ve bandaged it as well as I could, but it will probably bleed some.”

I held up my fresh shirt for him to see, it was a maroon turtleneck.

Stu Simon let out a chuckle. “You do think of everything, don’t you?”

“I just hope this works.” I said.

Dr. Simon then told me to hold out my wrists, after I did, he made a small incision in each arm, and after a bit of maneuvering, I was ready.

I stared at Simon. “Thank you Stu. I could not have done this without you.”

He hugged me then, showing surprising strength for a man his age.

“Thank you John, for my daughter Angelica, thank you for slaying that hideous creature, now go, the car is waiting.”

I went out a door on the other side of the room. After leaving the bar in Amsterdam, I had flown back home with Thorne.

I was now standing in an alleyway in midtown Manhattan.

The driver came to attention and opened the back door for me and I climbed in. Four minutes later, I was at the hospital.

One nice thing about being a billionaire is that you are rarely kept waiting, particularly when you’ve donated millions towards a new pediatric center.

I had a ten o’clock appointment to give a DNA sample and I got to the hospital at nine fifty-three.

Within five minutes of my arrival, blood was being taken from me for the DNA test. When it was done, security escorted me to a waiting room where Felicia was seated.

She grabbed me and hugged me and we stayed like that for long moments, when we parted, I smiled wide at her.

“It’s done baby.”

“Johnny… are you all right?”

I nodded. “I’m better than I’ve been in years.”

“And the DNA test?”

“They’ll have the results soon. They took the sample and immediately placed it in a centrifuge of some sort, but the technician told me that these days it takes less than an hour to get the results.”

Felicia opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, three people came around the corner, two men and a woman. The woman was Miriam Thorne and I took the two men with her to be her lawyers.

Miriam Thorne appeared to be but vaguely aware of her surroundings and I surmised that she must be heavily medicated, probably something for her mental illness.

Ms. Lee had assured Felicia that no matter the outcome of Hannah’s paternity suit, that Miriam Thorne would not be given custody; I now saw why Ms. Lee had seemed so certain.

The taller of the two men, a man with a bushy black mustache and a receding hairline walked up to me.

“Hello Mr. Faron, I’m Davidson Crane, Mrs. Thorne’s attorney.”

“Don’t you mean Mr. Thorne’s attorney?”

Crane smiled. “It really doesn’t matter, does it?”

“I suppose you’re here for the DNA results?”

“Yes, by the way, I’ve become aware that little Hannah is suffering from a rare genetic disease and is a patient in this very hospital.”

“That’s true.” I said.

“I also heard that only a male parent carries the gene needed to cure her of this disease.”

“Also true,”

Crane gestured me closer and dropped his voice.

“Listen, Mr. Faron, we both know that you’re not the father, otherwise you would have had the procedure by now. David Thorne may be a fiend, but I’m not. Call off your hunt for Thorne and I’ll see to it that he donates the needed genetic material to save your daughter.”

I walked back over to where Felicia stood and leaned against the wall. “No deal Crane, oh and by the way,” I lifted up my shirt to reveal the bandaged incision that Stu Simon had made less than an hour ago. “I’ve had the procedure. Hannah is my daughter.”

Crane looked at my bandage and then glanced over at his partner.

“Have we been paid yet?”

“Up until today, anything beyond the DNA test will be billed later.”

Crane stared at me again. “This case is about to be dropped.”

The lab tech appeared. She was in her mid-forties, very thin with close-cropped red hair.

“Mr. Faron, do you have legal counsel present?”

“No I don’t, does it matter?”

She shook her head and handed me a sealed envelope. Crane received one also and we opened them at the same time.

Crane’s face fell, as he looked at his partner.

“99.999% Probability,”

I smiled at him. “Goodbye Mr. Crane,”

Crane took Miriam Thorne by the elbow and guided her out of the room.

Felicia gave me a big kiss. “How did you do that?”

I said, “Not here,” and walked with her out to the elevators.

We stepped into a crowd of people and rode up to Hannah’s floor in silence. When we arrived, we were told that Hannah was being moved upstairs in preparation to have the procedure done, that would initiate the cure. A nurse was rolling her out of the room in a wheelchair as we got to the door.

“Daddy!”

“Hello baby girl, how’s daddy’s little angel?”

“I’m tired, but Dr. Ramsey says he’s gonna cure my blood boo boo.”

“I know, and daddy is so happy.”

Hannah smiled up at Felicia. “You were right mommy, daddy fixed me.”

“Yes baby, now go with the nurse and be a good girl for Dr. Ramsey. Mommy and daddy will be along soon.”

“Alright mommy, bye bye I love you, I love you too daddy.”

I leaned down and hugged her. “I love you Hannah.”

After the nurse left with Hannah, I walked into the bathroom. I told Felicia, “Come on in and lock the door, I’m going to need help with this.”

“With what?”

I took off my shirt. “Thorne’s gotten under my skin for the last time‌—‌literally.”

I removed a watch from my right wrist and a bracelet from my left, afterward, I used a thumbnail and poked open the small incision on my left arm.

Felicia grimaced.

“What are you doing?”

“This is how I passed the DNA test. Years ago, I read about a psychiatrist who was accused of raping a female patient while she was under hypnosis. The police were called and collected a semen sample with a rape kit. The psychiatrist consented to take a DNA test, saying that it would prove that he wasn’t a match with the semen sample.

“However, a sharp-eyed lab technician realized that the blood taken for the test looked old and was actually turning brown with age. The judge ordered a second test be done, and this time it was discovered that the psychiatrist had a tube running up each arm, just under the skin, a phony vein that was filled with blood from a friend.”

Felicia stared at my arms. “You mean you…?”

“Yes.” I said, and then I took out the tweezers that Dr. Simon had given me and proceeded to pull cautiously at the end of the tube in my left arm.

Felicia took the tweezers from me. “Let me do it.”

Within minutes, we had the tubes out of my arms and flushed down the toilet.

“What if they had picked a different vein?” Felicia said.

“Luck was with us, that and procedure, they usually draw blood from the largest vein. Dr. Simon designed the tubes himself and made sure that they were slightly larger than my own veins.”

Felicia dabbed at the blood on my wrists with toilet paper.

“What about that incision on your side?”

“It has to look like I had the procedure done on my liver; I’ll have a scar there for life.”

Felicia hugged me. “You’re a miracle worker.”

I hugged her back. “You’re my miracle, you and Hannah.”

* * *

We left the bathroom and walked to the solarium. In a quiet corner, we talked about Thorne.

Felicia took my hands. “Was it horrible?”

“Killing Thorne? Baby it was meaningless. At one time I thought it would give me great pleasure, but it just saddened me, the waste of it all, but at least he won’t harm anyone else.”

Felicia smiled wide, as a look of relief washed over her.

“We’re free! No more guards, no more attempts on your life, and soon Hannah will be healthy and we can go home.”

“Hannah’s not the only one who can come home.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mona, she’s essentially been pardoned. The state is dropping the murder indictment against her and charging her with manslaughter instead. They’re also going to take into account the extenuating circumstances of her abuse and the trauma of losing her baby. She has to turn herself in and she’ll be on probation for ten years, but she’s no longer a fugitive. She can come home now.”

“How?”

“I traded Thorne in exchange for Mona’s freedom.”

Felicia looked around before speaking in a whisper.

“But David’s dead, you killed him.”

“After we harvest his organs for Hannah, we’re flying him back to Amsterdam, once there, his body will be handed over to the American embassy in The Hague. McCarthy’s going to discover that Ahmed, the white slaver, was also selling organs on the black market. Ahmed and Thorne had a violent dispute over money and…”

Felicia stared at me in disbelief. “My sister can come home?”

“Baby, I’m hoping that they’ll come live with us, lord knows we’ve got the room.”

“Oh Johnny, you don’t know what this means, all the years I had to hide her, hide her from you and from Bill, protect Mary, oh God.”

She started crying. I stood up with her and held her. Moments later, she dabbed her eyes with a tissue and we headed toward the elevators to join Hannah.

As we passed the gift shop, I told her to wait while I went inside. When I came out, I handed her flowers and a heart-shaped box of chocolates.

I sighed. “Happy Valentine’s Day baby,”

79

Ms. Lee surprised me by calling from Amsterdam and asking for an indeterminate leave of absence. She said she wanted to stay by Richard’s side and help him recover from his injuries.

I wholeheartedly agreed with her decision and prayed that the injuries she helped him recover from, were also those within his soul that still required mending.

Mona, Tyler and the kids arrived in Castle Ridge on the first day of spring. Mona was actually nervous about meeting her Aunt Sophie, because she had heard from Felicia that Sophie abhorred violence, and the killing of Dominic was something she once said that she could never forgive, this, despite the fact that Sophie despised the brutal man.

When Mona and her brood emerged from the limo, Sophie’s mouth dropped open and her eyes grew misty. The four children stood before her and stared up with questioning eyes.

Sophie looked from face to face, marveling at the sight.

“So much family, my God Felicia, there are so many of us now.”

Mona stepped forward and offered her hand.

“Aunt Sophie, I’m Mona, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

Sophie stared down at Mona’s hand, but made no move to take it. Mona appeared disheartened by Sophie’s apparent rebuff and lowered her hand, but Sophie then stepped forward and took Mona in her arms.

“Welcome home, no one’s ever going to hurt you again.”

Mona nodded and began to cry, a moment later, the children joined in the hugging and Sophie was surrounded by family.

* * *

Felicia and I stood in the doorway of the living room, watching the children play.

Hannah was nearly back to full strength and she and her Cousin Alison played together as if they were sisters.

I turned to Felicia. “Why do we only have Hannah? You once told me that you wanted five or six children.”

She looked back at me with searching eyes.

“I was thinking of you, because of the child you lost with Tori, I, I didn’t know if you wanted more.”

I smiled. “Hannah broke me of my fear a long time ago.”

“I would love to give you a son.”

I nodded. “Yes, maybe someday,”

“Is something wrong? You seem a little sad.”

I kissed her. “No baby, I’m anything but sad, look at this house, it’s full of children and family.”

“Thanks to you, you don’t know what it means to me to have my sister home, to have her safe at last.”

“I think I do, I think I do.”

* * *

I arose early the next morning and went into Hannah’s bedroom, the former nursery, and kissed my sweet daughter in her sleep. I then crept down to my study and wrote Felicia a letter.

Baby,

I know we promised that we would talk things out whenever one of us was bothered by something, but I think what I want to say to you will be better relayed through this letter.

Now that David Thorne no longer threatens us and Hannah is home and recovering from her illness, I’ve had a lot of time to think about us.

Actually, I’ve thought a lot about you, about your life.

You went from an abusive father, to a loving, but controlling aunt and into the arms of a man who turned out to be a nightmare, a nightmare which only now are you fully awakening from. And through it all, there I was, at times protecting you, at other times, like those lost years when Thorne blackmailed you, I was like some beacon of hope, of a life you once wished to have.

We can have that life now. We can spend the rest of our days building our family and loving each other, yet, I feel as if in some ways, I’ve given you as little freedom as Thorne once did.

When you came to live with me you were pregnant, scared and nearly destitute, you also had the weight of both Mona and Sophie’s futures on your shoulders.

I realized yesterday that this is the first time in your life that you’ve been truly safe, the first time that you have nothing and no one to be in fear of, or to fear for, and that your future lies open before you.

Your father is gone, Thorne is gone, and, if you so desire, I will also take my leave.

I love you beyond life Felicia and all I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy. You needed me once, once when you were a broken little girl, and I came along to mend you, but you’re no longer broken, and you no longer need me. Still, I prayer with all my soul that you want me even half as much as I know you love me.

Along with this letter, I’ve enclosed papers granting you a divorce.

I know. It may seem silly, but I can’t walk into the future with you unless I know that it’s what you truly want.

I need us to put all doubts, suspicions and fears behind us and move forward without the slightest reservation. Sign these papers and you’re not only free, but the house is yours along with half of all I have. I made no provisions for custody of Hannah, because I know that if it came to that, you would be fair.

I do this so that for once in your life you know you have a choice, that you’re unbound by obligation, responsibility or fear, that you’re truly free. I love you so much baby and all I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy.

It’s also time I said goodbye to my own past, goodbye to Tori. I’m going to pack up the apartment and the fix-it shop and look only toward the future, a future I pray to God includes you.

I love you Felicia and I want us to have a fresh start. If that’s what you want too, then please, meet me at the shop, back where we began, and we’ll begin anew.

With all my love,

Johnny

I placed the letter and the divorce papers into an envelope and crept back into our bedroom, to slip them atop the table by the bed. I then left our home and made my way to town.

80

With tears in my eyes, I packed the last of Tori’s things away and made my way downstairs to the shop.

Everything was so like I’d remembered it, that I half expected to see my grandfather smiling at me from the workbench.

I took a seat upon my old stool and pondered the course of my life, particularly thinking of my life with Tori.

Without warning, I was in the stilt house again, gripping the brass handle of the glass block door and facing the choice that would determine my life.

I forced my mind away from that moment, as I always did, as I was cautioned to do. Yet, this time my mind refused to obey and transported me back there.

With perfect clarity, I saw the choice before me, saw that acre of flooring taunting me in its vastness, inhaled the sea air and felt the wind flowing upward from the ocean below.

The desperate sobbing of two women that I loved dearly came to my ears and I felt myself tense to leap.

Yet, I could only save one. But which? And why?

I went there then, went to that place where reason does not exist, for in that domain lives only the heart.

Tori or Felicia?

I saw the answer, understood at last my reasonless reason for choosing Felicia and came to know that the heart is a selfish beast.

I chose Felicia for one reason and one reason only‌—‌survival.

My heart knew what my mind would not admit, that I could not live in a world devoid of Felicia Delgado, that had I somehow saved Tori while Felicia perished, Tori would now be living with a husk of a man.

On that very day, I pledged to spend the rest of my life with Tori and have no doubt that I would have done so, would have cherished her and lived a full and happy life.

But that life could only take place if Felicia were whole, if she were happy herself.

Had I simply let her fall without attempting to save her, I would have died along with her in any and all ways that mattered. I would have spent my life in a depth of mourning that made the one I suffered over Tori pale in comparison.

Every living organism seeks its own survival, and I, I was no different.

* * *

I awoke as if from a trance and realized that someone was knocking at the shop door. I wiped my eyes free of tears and went to answer it, praying to find Felicia.

It was not Felicia, but a courier. I relieved him of his burden and went back to my seat at the workbench.

I opened the package and out came the envelope that I had placed the divorce papers in.

My heart stopped beating.

However, I quickly realized that the envelope was bulkier than it should be. I opened it to find that Felicia had shredded the documents into a million pieces.

We were going to start afresh.

We were going to begin anew.

I was bent over the workbench in what used to be my grandfather’s fix-it shop, when the bell over the door tinkled the arrival of a visitor. I straightened up and swiveled the stool around to look at her.

She was just my life, my very life. In her arms, she held a red plastic clock molded into the shape of a heart. Her long, curly, honey brown hair framed large expressive eyes, which looked about the shop and then spotted me seated behind the counter.

She smiled, lighting up the world, and then she leaned in the doorway and asked me a question.

“Hey mister, can you fix a broken heart?”

You’ve just read

THE FIX-IT MAN

By

Donald Wells

Now enjoy a FREE preview of his book

DOUBLE

OR

NOTHING

1

He first becomes aware that she’s watching him, as he sits outside the quaint bistro in Greenwich Village, the one that serves the almond croissants he likes so much.

She’s across the street in an alley, hiding among shadows. At odd little intervals, she pokes her head out from behind the wall and sneaks glances at him. She is obviously a street person, at least judging by the clothes she’s wearing. The word “clothes” is being kind, even from where David Manning is seated, he can tell that her garments are little more than rags.

I hope she’s not a nut case. The last thing I need is to be stalked by some street person.

The waitress brings David his croissant and freshens his cup of coffee, as the mid-September sun glints brightly off the carafe.

When the waitress leaves, David looks up to find that the girl has come out from the shadows and is now standing on the sidewalk in front of him, staring intently.

Hell, maybe she’s just hungry.

David raises his croissant up in a “Want some?” gesture and the girl just keeps staring at him. He shrugs and commences eating.

He attempts to concentrate on his newspaper, The Sunday Times, but cannot resist peeking around it to see if she’s still standing there, finally, he gives up and decides to stare back. Now that he’s giving her a good look, her youthfulness surprises him.

I bet she’s not more than twenty, twenty-one maybe. You know, underneath the grime she’s damn good-looking. Jesus! Has it been so long since I’ve been laid that even street people are starting to look good to me?

The girl has long hair as black as his own, with big brown eyes. She wears a Mona Lisa smile and multiple layers of clothing that leave her figure a mystery.

David tires of the staring contest and decides to try a direct approach.

“Hi, my name’s David. Would you like to sit down? It’s my treat.”

The girl’s smile widens now, but she still says nothing.

“At least tell me your name.”

Nothing

“Favorite color?”

Nothing

“Political affiliation?”

This makes the girl smile brilliantly.

What a great smile. She must not have been on the streets long; her teeth are perfect.

In the next instant, the girl tilts her head, as if she were listening to some sound that David can’t hear.

God I hope the voices in her head aren’t telling her to kill me.

All at once, the girl looks panicked and rushes toward David.

He instinctively stands up in a defensive posture, even though the girl couldn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds and is nearly a foot shorter than his six-foot height. She stops her approach and stands before him, frantically gesturing for him to leave his table while looking back at the alleyway she’d been standing in when he first spotted her. She’s still not talking, but now her face is a mask of fear.

“What’s wrong? Why do you want me to follow you?”

One more anxious look back at the alley and then she vanishes around the nearest corner. Seconds later, a group of four men emerge from the alley.

David can tell immediately that they’re trouble.

The four men cross over to the bistro and begin scrounging food off the customers’ plates and gulping down their drinks.

Seated at a corner table, is an attractive blonde wearing a pair of denim shorts and a white sleeveless top. The tallest of the four men goes to her and begins pawing her breasts.

The woman slaps him and his friends laugh. The man then yells “Bitch!” and slaps her back, hard. The woman collapses to the ground, crying.

A bistro worker charges out of the restaurant brandishing a baseball bat and making threatening gestures toward the tall man. One of the other punks grabs a carafe of steaming coffee off a serving cart and tosses it at the holder of the bat. The carafe hits the bat and shatters, burning and cutting the bistro worker at the same time, he falls to the ground screaming.

The tall man, David guesses his height to be at least six-foot-eight, then grabs the bat and raises it, as if to strike the wounded bistro worker.

David yells, “Hey!” as he runs over and tackles the thug, knocking the man and himself to the ground. He then looks up to find the man’s friends looming over him.

In the near distance, comes the sound of a police siren and the three men scurry away like rats.

The tall man has risen to his feet and is glaring down at David, he snarls and kicks at David, barely missing him, and then runs off.

When the police arrive seconds later, they are told what happened. The bat-wielding bistro worker is toted off in an ambulance, though his injuries seem slight.

A Sergeant Becker of the N.Y.P.D. takes David’s statement.

David notices that Becker has that same look that all big city cops seem to wear, a look of bored alertness. The boredom comes from the similarity of the petty criminal acts they have to contend with day in and day out, while the alertness stems from the knowledge, that to some, the badge they wear is a bulls-eye.

Becker takes notes while talking to David. “Could you describe the tall one, such as his hair color and eye color?”

“Yeah, he had brown hair, and his eyes were the same as mine‌—‌blue, oh, and he snarled at me if that’s any help. I mean who the hell snarls?”

“Right, listen, Mr. Manning, we appreciate what you did but if you see these guys again run the other way, we think they’re responsible for a number of brutal rapes and assaults in the area. If you see them or think of anything else, just call me at the Sixth Precinct.”

“Wait a minute, there was something else.”

“Yes?”

“There was a girl here, a homeless girl, right before the trouble started. The weird thing is, I swear she was trying to warn me away just before it started. It was like she knew they were coming somehow.”

“Prescient,” Becker says.

“Huh?” David says.

“Prescient, it means like psychic, able to guess the future, that sort of thing. I’ve been helping my kid study for the National Spelling Bee; I guess it’s rubbing off.”

“I guess so.” David says, while squinting against the escalating sun behind Becker’s shoulder.

“This prescient girl didn’t happen to stick around to witness the trouble did she?”

“No, she got the hell out of here seconds before it started.”

Becker closes his notebook. “Prescient and smart, but if she didn’t see anything she can’t help me, interesting story though. Well, like I said Mr. Manning if you remember anything else call.”

David tells Becker goodbye and sits back down in his seat at the little wrought iron bistro table.

How the hell did she know those punks were coming?

* * *

During his walk home, David looks for the girl, but she seems to have vanished.

While walking up the stairs to his third floor apartment, David is stopped by Mrs. Johnson who, as usual, is busy sweeping the hallway.

As far as David knows none of the six tenants in the building ever litter in the hall, yet you can find Mrs. Johnson sweeping the stairs and the hallways daily. David has come to realize that this is the old widow’s way of cornering people to talk to, as she does now with David.

“Good morning David,” She says, her youthful green eyes making liars of her wrinkles.

“Good Morning Mrs. Johnson, how are you today?”

“I’m doing fine now. Do you remember that problem I was telling you about, the one I was having with the I.R.S.?”

“Sure, you said they were harassing you over back taxes and threatening to garnish money from your account.”

“Right, well yesterday I got another letter from them, only this one says that my balance is zero and that I’ve paid in full.”

David edges toward the stairs. “Great, so the problem went away huh?”

“Yes, but how did it go away? I checked and not one dime is missing from my account. I don’t understand how it got paid.”

“If I were you I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Computer errors happen every day, at least this one happened in your favor. Just be happy.”

“I’m happy all right, it’s like a weight has been lifted off of me.”

David waves goodbye as he continues up the stairs to his apartment. “I’m glad that everything worked out for the best Mrs. Johnson.”

David’s apartment is on the top left-hand side of a converted three-story townhouse on Eighth Street, which was built in the 1920’s for a diamond trader. As he opens the door, he enters the long front room that doubles as a living room and dining room. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchen make-up the rest of the apartment that boasts hardwood floors and plaster walls.

The first bedroom is just that, a bedroom, but the second one is crammed full of computers, printers and their various paraphernalia. David turns on a laptop computer and starts checking through his e-mail.

I’m glad I could help Mrs. Johnson. Hell, instead of harassing little old ladies for their pension money, maybe Uncle Sam should buy a few less six hundred-dollar toilet seats and four-hundred dollar hammers.

David had started hacking twelve years ago when he was only sixteen. It thrilled him to break into classified sites and find out anything about anyone. More than one of David’s high school teachers suddenly found themselves facing an audit or being billed by phone sex hotlines they had never called. Not being vindictive by nature, David soon stopped performing those sorts of juvenile pranks and had instead started helping people.

Mrs. Johnson was far from the first person he had aided by hacking into government databases. David had gradually turned into a sort of Internet Robin Hood. Whenever he saw an opportunity to help someone by hacking, he would do it. He found it to be more challenging each year as companies and institutions consistently improved their security measures.

David loved the challenge and the ego boost that came each time he beat them, but he knew he would have to stop hacking soon or face a possible prison sentence. The laws against hacking were increasingly more punitive and their enforcers more tenacious. Every time David helped someone with a problem like Mrs. Johnson’s, he increased his chances of being caught and he knew it. What he also knew but wouldn’t admit to himself, was that he was addicted to hacking. The ego satisfaction derived from his computer skills would drag him back to it after every vow he made to stop, and besides, he loved doing it. He loved helping people.

As David is signing off, he spots her.

The window in his makeshift office looks down onto an alleyway that runs between his building and the vacant movie theater next door. Standing down in the alley and looking up at his window is the homeless girl.

“I’ll be damned.” David says under his breath.

I swear I looked for her all the way home and she was nowhere to be seen. How does she know where I live and that this is my window?

David opens the window and calls down to her.

“Well hello again, I should have taken your advice and left the bistro. Four guys showed up and started trouble. But you knew they were coming somehow, didn’t you?”

The girl simply stares up at David with a big smile on her face and says nothing.

I swear she looks happy to see that I’m all right.

“Why do you keep following me?”

More staring and smiling,

“Is there something I can do for you? Are you hungry?”

Now the girl shakes her head no.

Ah, at last we’re communicating. “I don’t know what you want from me. Can’t you talk?”

Again, the girl shakes her head no, but this time, the smile leaves her face.

She’s a mute? I don’t think I’ve ever met a mute before.

David sees her make that strange, little bird-like movement with her head again. It’s the same look she had at the bistro; it’s as if she were listening to something. She turns and stares at the alley’s entrance, looking as if she’s about to run.

In the side of the movie theater, at the base of the building, is a hole about the size of a basketball. The girl suddenly runs toward the gap and makes her way through it.

This shocks David. He would have thought the cavity too small for anyone other than a child to squeeze through.

“Damn! She went into that hole like a… like a mouse.”

A second later, a police car turns into the narrow alley and slowly drives through to the next street. After the patrol car has left, the girl climbs out of the hole and resumes her staring.

“You knew they were coming, didn’t you?” David yells to the girl.

Her only answer is to give him a big smile.

God what a smile she has, it lights up the whole world.

“How do you do that, how do you know when someone’s coming?”

And now the smile seems to say, that’s for me to know and for you to find out.

“That was a pretty neat trick squirming into that hole like that; you looked like a little mouse. In fact, I think I’ll call you Mouse, the name seems to fit you.”

The girl just continues smiling at him.

“Well, it’s been nice talking at you Mouse but I have to go out for a while, so bye bye.”

And to David’s surprise, the girl waves bye bye.

* * *

On his way to the supermarket, David realizes the girl is following him. She walks across the street and seems to stay just on the periphery of his sight.

This is so weird. Hell, I’m just going to ignore her, eventually she’ll get bored with following me and leave me alone.

The girl follows him to the market and then follows him home. David busies himself in his apartment all day and later watches television. From time to time, he looks out the office window, checking to see if the girl is still there. Of the few times she was not already standing there, she soon appeared from the aperture in the theater to gaze up at him. Just before going to bed, David gives one last look for her. She is there.

“Goodnight Mouse, I’m going to sleep now.”

Mouse’s only reply is a smile.

David closes the window and goes into his bedroom. He lies there in the dark, thinking about the mute girl with the great smile who seems intent on being his shadow. David whispers “Weird,” just before falling to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, he sneaks a peek out the window. She is there.

I’m just going to ignore her until she goes away. How long can she keep it up until she gets bored? After all, I’m not that exciting to watch.

David’s usual routine consists of going out for a three-mile jog in a nearby park, followed by a shower, and then a trip to either the bistro or a local diner for breakfast. He would later return home, surf the web until lunchtime, and make a sandwich. After that, he would resume his web surfing until hungry enough for supper and return to the diner. Following supper he spent more time on line, until he felt tired enough to go to bed.

It bored David to think about his routine, the girl watching him would be bored in no time he thought.

Two weeks later, she is still in her alley looking up at his window. She’s followed him everywhere and has apparently taken up residence in the closed theater building. David, it would now appear, has a living human shadow. He finds he can no longer ignore her.

This is ridiculous. I’m going to go down and talk to her.

David leaves the building and heads toward the alley. As he’s rounding the corner, he sees her feet disappear into the opening in the theater building. David leans down and talks into the hole.

“Hello Mouse, I know you’re in there, hey come on out. I just want to talk. I’m not angry or anything, I promise. I’m just wondering why you keep following me, that’s all.”

No answer of course and no sign of her appears, just a breeze of cool air coming from the hole in the theater.

“Mouse please come out. Aren’t you tired of following me around? I’m pretty boring huh? Well, I’m going to go get dinner now so I guess I’ll see you tagging along, goodbye.”

David turns and finds the girl standing right behind him. Her sudden appearance startles him and causes him to jump backward.

“Jesus! Mouse you scared the crap out of me. I guess you’re as quiet as a mouse too.”

She smiles up at him and advances.

David cringes somewhat, not knowing what to expect from the strange girl.

Mouse reaches out and puts her arms around David, hugging him, as she nuzzles her head into his chest. It is an act of pure affection.

He feels surprising strength in her arms, and inexplicably, an aroma of popcorn seems to be wafting from her.

“Is this why you’ve been following me? Is it because you like me? Let me guess, you think I’m cute, right?”

David’s looks have been described as “cute” by every girlfriend he has ever had, never handsome, never good-looking, just cute. David has always taken the word “cute” to be the equivalent of someone saying you have a great personality.

Mouse doesn’t respond, she just continues hugging him. David finds her embrace strangely comforting and a bit unnerving at the same time.

He senses no sexual impulse within the girl, just an overwhelming sense of affection; as if they’d been separated for a long time and have finally reunited.

Unsolicited by any conscious thought, David finds his arms encircling her and hugging her tenderly. The two of them stand locked together in an affectionate embrace for long moments. After a time, her grip slackens and she releases him.

When he looks down into her face, he sees that she’s crying. It is only then that he realizes he is also shedding tears. She smiles at him with that perfect smile and he grasps that the tears they shed are tears of joy, although from what source or basis he could not say.

David whispers, awestruck, “This is very strange Mouse, very strange.”

Again, the beautiful smile, and now he gives her a smile of his own, as he wipes away his unbidden tears. David sighs deeply and begins walking toward the entrance to the alley.

He turns to look back at her and finds she is standing beside him. David starts his walk toward the diner and Mouse walks along two steps behind.

At the diner, David takes his customary booth and sees that Mouse waits for him right below the window, the top of her head visible just beneath the windowsill. Before leaving, he orders a cheeseburger, fries, salad and a chocolate shake to go. On his trip back home, with Mouse still walking two steps behind, he makes another stop.

When he arrives back at his apartment building, he continues past its front door and walks down the alley. David stops in front of the hole in the side of the building and sets down his packages.

Mouse looks down at them and then up at him.

“Those are all for you. They’re just some sweatpants and a jacket, it gets cold at night now and I doubt you have any heat inside that theater. Oh yeah, the white bag there is food. I hope you’re hungry, the diner makes a really big burger.”

Mouse smiles at David and gives him another hug, this time it is a short little squeeze of gratitude.

“You’re welcome Mouse.” David says.

Mouse backs herself into the hole and after grabbing the packages, disappears from sight. David turns and makes his way up to his apartment and plops down on his sofa.

This has to be the strangest day of my life.

David realizes that he has essentially started a relationship with the homeless girl. He bought her food and clothing not out of charitable impulse, but out of a deeper sense of personal responsibility.

The embrace in the alley exposed a part of him he didn’t know existed.

David now knew why the girl had followed him for the last two weeks.

It was the connection.

Somehow, on some deep level, he and Mouse are connected to each other. The tears he shed in the alley were tears of pure joy, tears of reuniting.

He now felt affection for the girl stronger than any he’d ever felt outside of a love relationship, and David now knew something else.

He knew that he would take care of her for as long as she needed him, for the rest of her life if necessary.

David sits on his sofa, gazing at nothing, while running the moments and feelings of their shared embrace over and over in his mind. Soon the sun sets, and still he sits back on the sofa, thinking in the dark.

“I’ll be damned.” David says while laughing to himself. “I’ll be damned.”

2

David is having breakfast in his regular booth at the Village Diner.

Across from him sits his best friend, one Albertino Salvatori. Albertino, Al, is fourth generation Mafioso and his features fairly scream Sicilian.

Al is not a hit man, or a drug runner, or a hijacker of truck shipments. Al is an investment analyst. Al is also one of the most successful money launderers on the east coast. While his “Family” earns the money, Al washes it clean.

Over the last three years, he has laundered the ill-gotten gains of the fifth largest crime family in New York State. For his trouble, he gets to keep one percent. Al is a rich young man.

“So let me get this straight Davey, she just follows you around, and this has been going on for how long?” Al asks.

“Hmm, about a month now,”

“I thought you said she was homeless, she doesn’t look homeless, and those sneakers look almost new.”

“They are new; I bought them for her last week.”

Al stares at David. He then points to Mouse standing at her usual position outside.

“You’re not doing that girl are you? Because I mean it sounds like she’s not right in the head, you know?”

“Hey! What the hell do you think I am, a pervert or something? No, I’m not doing her. It’s just that we’re connected somehow. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“Connected? Connected how? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Like I said, I can’t explain it, I just know we belong together, that I’m supposed to take care of her.”

Al shakes his head. “You’re really getting weird. You know what your problem is? It’s that trust fund of yours. Your old man set you up with three million dollars and so you never had to worry about anything. Look at me, I work; I work my ass off and I’m richer than you’ll ever be. You’re twenty-eight-years old, you need to do something all day besides sit in that apartment and play with your computers, you should get a job.”

“You’ve been telling me that since college and I still don’t see how having a nine to five would improve my life any, I like my life.”

Al starts to respond but is interrupted by the waitress; she’s got a sixty-something face beneath a twenty-something hairstyle.

“David do you want your usual order to go hon?”

David says, “Yes Barbara, thanks,” and the waitress walks away.

Al leans back in the booth and studies David. “When’s the last time you got laid, not since you were with Alison, right?”

“Yeah, and Alison and I broke up months ago, so what’s your point? You think I’m going to start sleeping with Mouse there?”

“Who the hell’s Mouse? The girl?”

“Yeah, I call her Mouse, believe me it fits.”

“Oh, well no I didn’t think that, I was just going to say that I’m going to Aspen next month for Thanksgiving. Why don’t you come along? You’re bound to get laid by one of those snow bunnies up there.”

“It’s a tempting offer, but Carol invited me over for Thanksgiving dinner and I already said yes.”

“Okay, as long as you’re not going to be alone. How is Carol these days? I haven’t seen your sister in a long time.”

“The doctor is doing fine and she’s so busy that I haven’t seen her in a while myself.”

“Is she ah, is she seeing anybody seriously?”

David raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”

“Just making conversation,” Al says, and then to change the subject he asks. “What about Alison? Is she still bothering you?”

“No, not so much as a phone call in over a month, I guess she’s finally moved on.”

“I’ll tell you, if I didn’t know what a nut she is I’d make a play for her; she is one fine piece of womanhood.”

“The sex was great, but believe me the rest was a nightmare. She would get jealous over nothing, and in the end, she was the one that cheated.”

“Oh yeah, what was it she said? ‘It’s not cheating. It’s a career move.’ As if sleeping with a producer to get a part didn’t mean anything.”

“I guess it worked, the play’s running on Broadway and she’s got the lead.”

“I actually went to see it a few nights ago. She really is talented, there’s a part in the play where she’s‌—‌never mind. I don’t want to spoil the surprise ending for you.”

“Don’t worry about that Al; I’ll never go see it. If Alison spotted me at the theater she’d take it to mean that I want to get back together and start calling me again.”

“Most guys would kill to have a woman like that chase after them.”

“Yeah they would, after a few months of her possessiveness they’d kill themselves. Her pleasure isn’t worth her pain, believe me.”

Al rises from the booth. “Come on, I’ll walk you back to your place.”

David pays the bill and picks up Mouse’s to go order. Since the day of their embrace in the alley, he has bought her food and clothing.

Parked outside in front of the diner is a black limousine, when Al emerges from the diner he motions for the limo driver to follow along, as he walks David home. As usual, Mouse falls in two steps behind David, although she keeps a watchful eye on Al.

“Does she follow you like this everywhere you go?”

“Yeah, I’ve tried to get her to walk alongside of me, but she likes it back there.”

“And you say she can’t talk?”

“Can’t or won’t, I’m still wondering which one it is. She’s really smart though, and she’s not mentally retarded or anything.”

“Why don’t you call the city shrinks or whatever they’re called to come get her? They’ll take care of her and feed her.”

“They’ll lock her in a cage of some kind Al, maybe even a mental hospital. She likes to be free. I can’t even talk her into coming into my apartment and you know how cold the nights are now.”

“You mean you offered to let her sleep in your apartment? Are you crazy? She might kill you in your sleep.”

David laughs. “Mouse would never hurt me, I know that.”

When they get back to the apartment house, David hands Mouse her food and she gives him one of those small hugs he’s come to think of as her gratitude hug.

As David and Al watch, Mouse heads into the alleyway and goes over to her entrance hole in the theater. Somehow, she slips through the small opening and is gone.

“Damn!” Al says.

“Now you know why I call her Mouse.”

“Yeah, I would have bet money she couldn’t get through that hole, even as small as she is.”

From around the corner come four men. David immediately recognizes them as the punks who attacked the bistro on the day he met Mouse, they’re headed toward him and Al.

“Al, I’ve seen these guys before, they’re trouble.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that, you can smell it on them from here.”

Just as the four men reach the entrance to the alley, Mouse exits the theater. The tallest of the four men, the one David tackled at the bistro points at her.

“Shit! Look at that bitch. She crawled out of that hole like a roach.”

Mouse runs over to David and grasps his arm. The two groups stand looking at each other across the alley’s divide. David wrinkles his nose as an odor of vinegary sweat and stale beer emanates from the four men.

The tall one gestures at Mouse again. “Ya know she’s pretty cute. Hey baby, why don’t ya come over here to some real men?”

“Why don’t you four take off while you still can?” Al says.

The four move closer, until they’re near enough to touch. Beside him, David feels Mouse quivering, as she hugs herself to him tightly.

“Tell me something Guido,” Says the tall one to Al. “Who’s gonna make us?”

In answer, Al sticks two fingers in his mouth and whistles loudly. In the next instant, the driver’s side door of the limousine opens and out steps a man even taller than the tall man. The limo driver is nearly seven-feet tall and appears almost as wide. He leans across the roof of the limo and sights down the barrel of a large gun; the gun is pointed directly at the tall man. The other three men scatter immediately.

The tall man smiles at the limo driver and raises his hands in the air; he then turns around and starts walking down the alley. He pauses at the hole Mouse used to exit the theater and looks back at Mouse, leering; he then continues walking away.

Al winks at the limo driver. “Thanks Vinny,”

“Anytime boss,” Says Vinny, who then gets back in the limo,

“How did I know his name was Vinny?” David says.

“Don’t start.” Al says. He then looks at Mouse, who is still gripping David’s arm. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’ll be okay.” David says, and then, talking to Mouse, he asks. “You sensed they were coming, didn’t you?”

Mouse nods her head yes.

“Then why did you come back out here? I know you’re scared to death of them.”

Mouse pouts at David, and then points at him.

“You came out here to be with me? Oh Mouse next time just hide, you could have been hurt.”

“What do you mean she ‘sensed’ them?” Al asks.

“Mouse is psychic or something, she always seems to know when trouble’s coming.”

“Psychic huh? Maybe I should take her to the track. It’s been fun Davey, but I have to get to work.” Al heads toward the limo and Vinny gets out and opens the door for him.

Mouse runs over to Al and gives him one of her little gratitude hugs. Al simply stands there with his arms at his sides, shocked by her affection. Mouse releases him and gives Vinny the same treatment, when she’s done, she returns to David’s side.

“I think I see how she could grow on you.” Al tells David, afterward, he climbs into the limo and rides off.

“Mouse I really don’t like those four rats knowing where you stay. Why don’t you come upstairs with me? I promise you it’ll be okay.”

Mouse is laughing quietly at David.

“What’s so funny? Oh, I see, I said four rats and a Mouse. But Mouse I’m serious, you really should move in with me. It’ll be nice. I’ll give you your own room and everything.”

Mouse shakes her head no.

“I worry about you out here; it gets cold as hell at night. You don’t have to be homeless anymore, you’ve got me now.”

Mouse leans into David and hugs him gently. She then motions for him to follow and leads him past the chained and padlocked front doors of the theater and around to the other side, where there’s a gap between the theater and the bakery that sits to its left.

David guesses the space between the buildings is less than a foot wide. Mouse turns sideways and makes her way between the buildings while beckoning David to follow. David gives her a doubtful look, but after checking to see if anyone is watching, he proceeds to follow. The footing is difficult, thanks to the assorted trash blown into the crevice by the wind. Within seconds of entering, David gets wedged in tight.

“Mouse I’m stuck!” He calls to her. Mouse sits with her legs dangling on an open windowsill in the side of the theater, and David can barely make her out in the dim light. “Mouse I’m really stuck; help me get out of here.”

Mouse raises her arms above her head, indicating to David that he should do the same; he does so, and finds that he can move again, barely. Mouse beckons him to continue toward her and the window.

“I’ll keep coming Mouse, but it’s a damn tight fit.” David keeps moving, slowly, tensed for any indication that he might be getting wedged in again.

His body rubs against the decaying paint on the side of the building and sends up a fume of dust particles. David is racked by an involuntary coughing spell and grunts in pain, as his rib cage pushes against the building’s unyielding brick. The spate of coughing passes and he continues on.

At last, he makes it to the window, following Mouse, he pulls himself up, and kicking off of the opposite wall, he manages to go over the sill and land on a cold tile floor. They’re in a bathroom, the men’s room judging by the urinals. The room stinks of disinfectant; however, this in no way masks the reek of urine in the room. Mouse stands near the sinks, smiling at him.

“Is this where you sleep?” He asks.

Mouse shakes her head no and turns on the faucets. Water spews forth, both hot and cold, atop the sink are strips of cloth in various sizes. David guesses that these are what she’s been using for washcloths and towels.

“Why are you showing me this? Are you telling me that you’re all right living here because you have running water? Water’s fine, but what about heat? It’s cold out now and it’s only going to get colder.”

Mouse takes David by the hand and leads him out of the bathroom to the lobby. David looks around the huge room and sees walls covered with posters touting coming attractions for movies already available as rentals.

In the corner are a group of video game machines and a phone card dispenser. Mouse goes behind the candy counter and climbs up onto it, and then she lowers herself into the large bin where the popcorn falls after it’s been popped. Inside the bin is one of the blankets that David bought for her.

David cocks his head, perplexed by her behavior. “What are you doing?”

In answer, Mouse reaches over the side of the bin and hits a switch. A humming sound begins and David watches as the heat lamps above the bin warm up and shine on Mouse’s smiling face.

“So, this is how you’ve been keeping warm? It’s clever; it also explains why you smell like popcorn. I’ve heard that the theater is disputed property in a divorce. I guess no one bothered to turn off the power or water, but Mouse, sooner or later you’re going to have to move out.”

Mouse looks up at David, confused and saddened by his lack of enthusiasm at her living arrangements.

David goes over to the bin and helps her out.

“Do you trust me?”

Mouse looks surprised by his question, and nods her head in an emphatic gesture of yes.

“Good, then follow me out of here and come stay with me in my apartment.”

Mouse now shakes her head in a sad, slow gesture of no.

David looks at her and sighs. “Jesus! It’s like having a kid or something.”

He stomps off to the bathroom where he strips off his windbreaker to allow himself more leeway between the two walls. He climbs back out through the window, when he looks back inside, he sees Mouse standing in the doorway giving him a dejected look.

“I’m not mad at you if that’s what you’re thinking. I don’t know why you want to live in this big empty dump, but I guess you have your reasons. I’ll see you later, okay?”

Mouse smiles and nods her head.

David looks over at the rags on the sink.

“I think I’ll get you washcloths and towels for a housewarming present.”

David then manages to squeeze his way back out onto the sidewalk. When he pops out between the two walls, he frightens an old woman walking her dog.

“Fuck!” Shouts the genteel looking lady, beneath an open mink coat, she wears an ankle-length, black dress with a fine lace border at its neck, pinned prominently to the front of her dress is an antique cameo.

“Sorry,” David says, while suppressing a laugh.

“Crazy bastard,” The woman mumbles, as she pulls her white Maltese along by its leash.

David laughs as he brushes himself off with his jacket and enters his building. After a five-minute conversation in the hallway with Mrs. Johnson, he settles in at his computers.

* * *

For over three hours he searches databases, looking for names in a virtual world seemingly without end. After illegally gaining access to the database of the nation’s largest vehicle rental agency he shouts out, “Got ya!” as he taps the desk with a fist for emphasis.

David routes his call from a phone booth half a continent away while electronically disguising his voice, he then dials the number of the Agency for Missing and Abused Children in Atlanta Georgia.

“Hello, this is the Agency for Missing and Abused Children. This is Mrs. Marks speaking, how may I help you?”

“Hello Mrs. Marks, this is Mr. Smith calling again.”

“Mr. Smith, how nice of you to call, may I assume that this is not a social call?”

“Yes you may Mrs. Marks.”

“Mr. Smith, the agency has been informed by federal authorities that you use illegal methods to obtain your information.”

“That’s true Mrs. Marks.” David says.

“Mr. Smith, all of us here who man the hotlines have been told that it is the official policy of the agency not to encourage you in your law breaking, we were told to hang up whenever you called.”

After a pause, David says, “Are you telling me you’re about to hang up on me?”

“Mr. Smith, how many children have you helped to locate over the years?”

“Fourteen Mrs. Marks,”

With a trace of humor, Mrs. Marks says. “And how may I help you today Mr. Smith?”

“I’m calling because I think I’ve located Robert Lucan, the alleged abductor of Chrissie Johansson.”

“Where Mr. Smith? When?” Mrs. Marks asks frantically.

“One of Lucan’s aliases, a Richard Landross, was used to rent a truck in Provo Utah at 8:43 a.m. Mountain Time. I’m sending you and the Provo Police Department a fax with the name and address of the rental company; I only hope it’s him.”

“Mr. Smith, Chrissie has been missing for three and a half years and Robert Lucan hasn’t been seen since, yours is the only information we’ve received in all that time, thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure,” David says, as he prepares to hang up.

“Mr. Smith, are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m still here.”

“Mr. Smith… I’ve only been Mrs. Marks for the last ten months, before that I was Mrs. Johansson. On behalf of my ex-husband and myself I want to thank you… no matter what the outcome is, and may God bless you.”

David speaks in a breaking voice. “Thank you Mrs. Marks, and may God bless you also, goodbye.”

* * *

While watching the six o’clock news, David learns that wanted fugitive Robert Patrick Lucan was arrested while returning a truck he had rented under the alias of Richard Paul Landross. Along with Lucan at the time was his eleven-year-old daughter, Cassidy.

Cassidy was later identified as Chrissie Johansson, a young girl thought to have been abducted and killed by Lucan years earlier. Chrissie is soon to be reunited with her mother, a Mrs. Patricia Marks.

“This is why I don’t have a nine to five job,” David says, to the empty apartment.

He then goes into the office and turns his computers back on.

3

Wednesday, October 16th 2:06 a.m.

David is sleeping in his office chair. At least once a week this happens, it seems. He’ll stay up late searching databases, looking for digital needles in binary haystacks. He’ll then lean back to rest his eyes and awaken hours later to realize he has fallen asleep. Tonight David awakes with a start. Tonight something has awakened him.

David looks around his bedroom converted office, searching for the source of his abrupt awakening.

I think it sounded like something falling.

He checks the heavy glass paperweight he keeps on the corner of the desk and discovers that it still rests in its spot. Nothing in the office seems out of place. Then he hears it again, a thud sound, like something heavy hitting something hard.

Oh, it’s a noise from the street.

As he signs off his computers, he hears the sound again, and again, and again. It is now that he realizes the sound is not coming from the street, but from the alley, Mouse’s alley.

Looking out of the office window he sees four dark shapes around the hole Mouse uses for an entryway, the tallest of the shapes raises something over its shoulder and swings sideways to strike the wall over the hole. On impact, David hears the same sound that had awakened him.

They’re trying to break in to get to Mouse; it must be those same four punks again. I’ve got to help Mouse.

As his eyes adjust to the gloom of the alley, David can now tell that the tall man is swinging a sledgehammer at the wall, and the wall is crumbling.

Damn, a few more swings and they’ll be able to fit in there.

David looks around the apartment frantically, searching.

I need some kind of a weapon, hell there are four of them; I could use a tank.

David spies the knives in the kitchen and grabs the longest one.

God how I wish Vinny the chauffer was here now.

He charges down the stairs and out into the night. With his breath leaving a trail in the cold autumn air, David makes his way around to the alley. It’s empty, save for a pile of rubble lying near the wall.

Christ! They’re already inside. I’m coming Mouse I’m coming.

He feels his way through the now substantial hole in the side of the theater and listens warily for any sounds of movement other than his own. As he rounds a corner, he can make out four shapes on the other side of the theater huddled near the edge of the seats, in front of the stage. David can hear them talking but cannot make out what they’re saying.

Mouse must have gotten out already; if those four were crowded around her she’d be screaming her head off by now. Fuck, what am I saying? Mouse can’t talk; she could be over there. Oh man, four against one and God only knows what weapons they have. Maybe if I attack them quickly it’ll give Mouse a chance to run… well here goes.

As David starts toward the four men, he feels a hand clamp onto his left wrist. He spins with knife at the ready.

For more, read DOUBLE OR NOTHING by Donald Wells

THE

MANY

AND

THE

ONE

(BOOK ONE OF THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

When Lindsay Parker catches her boyfriend Derek Stern cheating, she wants only one thing‌—‌Revenge!

Knowing of Derek’s hatred for Jason Reynolds, she lures Jason to her bed simply as a means to hurt Derek. However, something happens that Lindsay didn’t count on. She falls in love. Derek schemes to get Lindsay back into his life, however, his obsession goes too far and leads to a violent and life-altering confrontation with Jason.

When Derek’s beautiful, but conniving mother Charlotte enters the fray, the stakes escalate into a decades long struggle that tests Lindsay and Jason’s bond, while redefining the boundaries of love.

SINS

&

SECOND

CHANCES

(BOOK TWO OF THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

A mysterious Island native returns to town and shakes things up, as Michael Brannick and his treacherous daughter Annabel pressure the Reynolds to give up the cabin atop Hills Road, so that they alone can own "The Hills".

However, when Jason and Lindsay adamantly refuse to sell to the Brannicks, the stakes soon escalate, and turn deadly.

DRY ADULTERY,

WET AMBITION

(BOOK THREE OF THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

Chief of Police Paul Martinez has fought his feelings for months, but the truth is that he has fallen in love with beautiful, rookie police officer Robyn Mathias.

And as if this emotional quagmire wasn’t enough stress for the long-married Paul, his town and his very life are being threatened by a wily serial killer.

Paul must not only survive the "Blood Beach Killer" and stop the murderer’s killing spree, but must also come to terms with his feelings for Robyn, and begin to build atop the debris of his shattered life.

OF

TONGUE

AND

PEN

(BOOK FOUR OF THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

Jack Hawkins is the latest owner of club INFINITY and a man of renowned bad temper. However, when misfortune visits the Reynolds, Jack may be the only one that can help them.

But even Jack Hawkins can’t prevent the wave of tragedy that will take a loved one’s life and forever alter the Reynolds’ future.

ALL

GOOD

THINGS…

(THE FIFTH BOOK OF THE OCEAN BEACH ISLAND SERIES)

The Reynolds have faced a lot as a family and they have always come out on top.

They survived their feud with the murderous Derek Stern, along with the machinations of his conniving mother Charlotte.

Michael Brannick, a man who began as a foe, is now a friend.

After wreaking havoc upon the Island, Serial killer Bradley Caine vowed that he would kill Jason Reynolds, yet he was soon vanquished and forgotten.

Even the loss of a dear family member was not enough to tear this family apart.

However, the one thing they never expected, an attack from within, will be the catalyst that rearranges their world and changes the family forever.

Because every family has a black sheep, and the Reynolds are no different. When long-lost Cousin Tony comes to the Island with a plan to make his fortune, he brings along with him a trail of death and destruction that threatens everyone and, that in the end, will shatter the Reynolds traditions.

DOUBLE

OR

NOTHING

David Manning suddenly realizes that he’s being watched.

The woman, not much more than a girl really, appears to be homeless. David tries to ignore her but the girl soon follows him wherever he goes and so David decides to confront her.

What happens next will send his life spiraling out of control in ways that he could never have imagined and, that in the end, will either unite him with his soul mate, or send him to an untimely and violent death.

DROPPING

MY

SHORTS

A Short Story Collection

Four short tales of Romance, Suspense, Horror and Thrills

Competition

When you’ve arranged to have your wife murdered, it’s not a good time for a cop to visit.

To Each His Own

A moonlit night, a haunted house and a ghost with a secret.

Anger Management

We all have anger, but what one man does with his will leave you gasping.

Second Date

They say love can surprise you; in fact, sometimes it sneaks up and grabs you.

Table of Contents

Part One

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

Part Two

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

Part Three

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

Preview: Double Or Nothing

1

2

3

Table of Contents

Part One

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

Part Two

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

Part Three

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

Preview: Double Or Nothing

1

2

3

Table of Contents

- Part One

- 1

- 2

- 3

- 4

- 5

- 6

- 7

- 8

- 9

- 10

- 11

- 12

- 13

- 14

- 15

- 16

- 17

- 18

- 19

- 20

- 21

- 22

- Part Two

- 23

- 24

- 25

- 26

- 27

- 28

- 29

- 30

- 31

- 32

- 33

- 34

- 35

- 36

- 37

- 38

- 39

- 40

- 41

- 42

- 43

- 44

- 45

- 46

- 47

- 48

- 49

- 50

- 51

- Part Three

- 52

- 53

- 54

- 55

- 56

- 57

- 58

- 59

- 60

- 61

- 62

- 63

- 64

- 65

- 66

- 67

- 68

- 69

- 70

- 71

- 72

- 73

- 74

- 75

- 76

- 77

- 78

- 79

- 80

- Preview: Double Or Nothing

- 1

- 2

- 3