Back on Solid Ground (32 page)

“Dennis. 
Right.  That cookie you fed him had poison in it.”

Stacy’s knees
buckled and she dropped down into her chair.  Her mouth went dry and it took an
effort to swallow.  “Is he going to die?” she finally said.

“I don’t
think so.  They’re pumping his stomach.  What about you?  How are you feeling?”

“I didn’t eat
any.  I just took one out to give to him.  Or you, actually.  Oh my God, I
could have killed him.”

“It wasn’t
your
fault,” Alex said, “so don’t add that to your list of things to worry about. 
Dennis isn’t about to blame you.  I’ve got a man on the way to your apartment. 
They’ll take whatever’s left of the cookies and have them analyzed.  Who did
the note say they were from?”

“It said they
were from my staff here at the office.  I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Well from
now on, you’re not to accept anything from anyone without clearing it through
me first.  Do you understand?”

Stacy
nodded.  “Someone tried to kill me.  My father.  My father tried to kill me,”
she clarified.

“We’ll catch
him, Stacy.  But I need you to be extra vigilant.  You need to tell me if
anything happens, no matter how inconsequential it might seem.”

“I’ve had a
couple of hang up phone calls,” Stacy admitted.  “There’s breathing on the
line, but no one talks.”

“How many?”

“Four.”

Alex breathed
out heavily.  “We may want to tap your line.  Let me know when it happens
again.”

Stacy noted
the
when
instead of
if
and it made her uneasy.  Alex sensed her
anxiety and changed the subject.

“Here’s the
information you wanted,” he said, handing her a piece of paper with a name and
phone number on it. 

“Thank you,”
she said.  “What do you know about Colombian banks?”

“Not much. 
Why?”

“I want to
set up an account for this guy . . . you know, for helping me escape,” Stacy
said.

“That’s nice
of you,” Alex said.   “Call your banker and have him do it.  That’s what he’s
there for.”

“You’re a
smart man, Alex.  That’s a great idea,” Stacy said, smiling. 

She picked up
the phone and Alex pulled the door closed behind him when he left.  Stacy
arranged for an account to be set up in the man’s name and she transferred
$100,000 into it.  It was mid-afternoon when she finally reached the man at his
work. 

“Hello, this
is Stacy Trent.  You took me to the Embassy,” she was saying, but the man
interrupted.

“Yes!  I know
who you are Miss Trent!” the man exclaimed, excitedly.  “You have been much too
generous in your reward.  I only did what was right.  When your friend came to
me yesterday at the motel and told me about the account you had set up I had no
idea you would have been so generous.”

Stacy was
stunned.  “My friend visited you at the motel?  The guy with the hair?”

“Yes.  That
was him!  Nikolas something,” he said.

Stacy’s heart
was pounding through her shirt.  “He told you his last name?” Stacy asked. 
“What is it?”

The man
racked his brain.  “I’m sorry, I don’t have it with me,” he said, then he
asked, “You don’t know your friend’s name?”

“I haven’t
known him long,” Stacy said vaguely. “Sir, my friend is the one who gave you
that reward, not me.  What did he say when he found you at the motel?”

“He told me
that he was a friend of yours and that you were very special to him.  Then he
told me to go to the bank, that he had set up an account. He gave me a hundred
thousand U.S. dollars!  I just assumed that you had done it.”

Holy crap!
She needed to get off the phone to think.  “I
have
set up an account
for you, but that’s not it,” Stacy said.  She gave him the information on the
account her banker had set up for him, and he sounded like he was about to
burst with excitement.  She thanked him profusely and hung up the phone and
stood up and paced the room.  Stacy took off her jacket and threw it on the
couch and picked up the phone and called Holly.

“He set up an
account at a bank in Bogota for the guy who took me to the Embassy,” Stacy
said, when Holly picked up. 

“What are you
talking about?”

“I just
talked to the man who drove me to the Embassy.  He said that Niki came to his
motel room yesterday and told him he had set up an account for him at a bank in
Bogota.  Holly, he gave the guy a hundred thousand dollars!” 

“Get out!  A
hundred thousand dollars?”

“I’m freaking
out,” Stacy said.  “So he knows I’m home; he knew days ago. Why hasn’t he
called me?”

“Calm down,”
Holly said, trying to think.  “So he went over to Colombia to find you?” Holly asked
in disbelief.

“Yeah, but I
knew he would,” Stacy said dismissively.  “But why hasn’t he called?  He knows
I can’t call him.  Maybe he doesn’t want to see me again; maybe he thinks I’ll
turn him in,” she said, her brain working overtime.

“Stacy.  He
gave the guy who helped you a huge reward.  How can you translate that into his
not wanting to see you again?” Holly asked, trying to reason with her.

“It was
probably guilt money to ease his conscience!”

“Why are you
being like this?” Holly asked.

“I don’t
know.  I guess because before I didn’t know if he knew where I was, so it was
no big deal that he hadn’t called.  Now, I
know
he knows I’m home.  He’s
probably known for days, and he hasn’t bothered to pick up a phone and see if
I’m okay,” Stacy said.

“Give him a
chance.  He’s probably waiting until things calm down,” Holly said.

“Well what a
jerk!  I would have called him immediately if the roles were reversed,” Stacy
said irritated.  “I don’t even know if I want to see him again!”

“You’re so
full of it,” Holly laughed.  “I can’t talk right now.  I have a client
waiting.  We’ll go out tonight for drinks, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. 
I’ll pick you up.”

“And quit
thinking so much,” Holly said. 

Stacy hung up
and thought about trying to track Niki down through the bank in Bogota, but she decided against it.  Niki knew where to find her if he wanted to, and
obviously, he didn’t want to. 
I’ll be damned if I’ll go searching for him!
  

Stacy went
home after work and changed clothes, then she went to pick up Holly.

“Have you
quit freaking out?” Holly asked, when she got in the car.

“Not really. 
I can’t stop thinking of him.  I just need to go out and have a good time and
get my mind off of things.  You want to go dancing?”

“Los #3
Dinners are at Sam’s Burger Joint,” Holly said.

“That’s
exactly what I need,” Stacy said.  “Let’s start out at Chuy’s.”

Stacy drove
out 281 and pulled in at the Mexican eatery with the giant palapa.  There was
already a big crowd on the patio and everyone checked out the Viper as it
cruised into the parking lot.  Stacy and Holly walked up to the place and a
friend of Stacy’s ran over to greet her.

“Snake Pliskin. 
I thought you were dead!” he exclaimed. Stacy laughed and hugged him. “Welcome
back.  Y’all join us.  We’re at that big table over there,” he said pointing.

“We will. 
Let us go in and get a drink and we’ll be back out,” Stacy said.

They went
inside to the bar and ordered a drink, and the bartender greeted them by name. 

“I read about
what happened to you.  Welcome home and back from the dead.  This one’s on me,”
he said, sliding two drinks across the bar.

Stacy and
Holly thanked him and went outside and joined the table of friends, but
everyone wanted to hear about Stacy’s ordeal.  When she got up to say hello to
someone, Holly addressed the table.

“Okay
everyone.  What happened to Stacy is no longer a topic of discussion.  We’re
out tonight so she can try to forget it, not rehash it.” 

When Stacy
got back to the table, there was an uncomfortable silence.  She looked from one
person to the next, and then finally at Holly. “You bitched them out, didn’t you?”
Stacy said, and everyone laughed.

Stacy and
Holly stayed for dinner, and when they made it to  Sam’s, the band was already
playing and the dance floor was packed.  Stacy and Holly wedged themselves in
and danced until the band took a break.  The first song they played after the
break was
Brown Eyed Girl
, and Stacy and Holly got up with the band and
sang backup
.
  They sha la la la’d and doo doo doo doo’d and shook
tambourines and maracas, and for the first time since she had been home, Stacy
wasn’t thinking of Niki or anything connected with her kidnapping. 

Holly looked
over at Stacy singing into the microphone and smiled. 
She’s on the way
back,
she thought.

They stayed
at the club until almost midnight then got in the Viper and headed home.  Holly
leaned back and closed her eyes.  They had been driving for about five minutes
when Stacy startled Holly out of her thoughts.

“Someone’s
following us,” Stacy said.

Holly looked
in the side mirror.  “Are you sure?”

“I’ve taken
four turns and so has that car back there.”

“Go to the
Police Station.  The Terrill Hills station is two blocks away,” Holly said.

Stacy turned
again and so did the car behind her.  He was staying back, but he was
definitely following them.  Stacy pulled into the Police Station and she and
Holly turned around to see what the person did. 

The car
caught up and drove past the station and Holly and Stacy looked at each other
and exclaimed at the same time, “It’s a cop!”

“No fucking
way!” Holly said, furious.  “What an asshole.  He’s not even in his
jurisdiction!”

Stacy’s heart
was pounding.  In that second, everything had come back to haunt her.  The
helicopter, Corazon, her father. 

Dennis’
replacement pulled his car up next to hers.  “You okay?” he asked.

Stacy nodded
her head.  “I’m fine.  Did you see that cop following us?”

“Yeah.  I bet
he was surprised when you pulled in here.”

“You’re
shaking,” Holly said.  “Let me drive.”  They got out and changed places and got
back on the road.

“That scared
me. I thought it was my father.  My heart is pounding so hard.”

“I’ll spend
the night at your place tonight,” Holly told her, and Stacy didn’t argue.

They got back
to Stacy’s condo and Stacy changed into pajamas and gave Holly a big T-shirt.

“I had fun
tonight.  It was good to get my mind off of things,” Stacy said, still jittery
from being followed.

“Yeah, you
needed it.  Wake me up when you get up, okay?” Holly said, heading for the
guest bedroom.

“Okay.  See
you tomorrow.”

Stacy threw
herself into her work and into the planning and organization of the charity
fundraiser she was sponsoring.  She tried to think about Niki as little as
possible.  She did pretty well during the days, but at night Stacy couldn’t
help but think of the time they had spent together.  Some nights she cried
herself to sleep and other nights she didn’t sleep at all. 

It was the
Friday before Stacy’s fundraiser and she still hadn’t heard a word from Niki. 
It had been over two weeks since the helicopter had taken her off to Colombia.  Over two weeks since she had seen or talked to Niki.  She was pretty much
resigned to the fact that he didn’t intend to call, and that in all likelihood
she would never see him again, and as much as it hurt, she knew it was better
if she got on with her life and forgot about him. Unfortunately, that was
easier said than done.

Stacy called
Alex into her office. 

“What’s up?”
he asked when he came in.

“I’ve been so
wrapped up in all this stuff going on that I forgot to ask if you and Alison
wanted to come to the fundraiser as my guests.  I know it’s late notice,” she
was saying.

“Stacy, we’ve
already talked about this,” Alex said.

“We have?”
Stacy said, rubbing her temples.  “What did you tell me?”

“I told you
that I would talk to Alison.”

“Oh.  And did
you?”

“We’ll be
there,” Alex said.  “Are you okay?  You’ve been preoccupied for a week.  Do you
think you’re doing too much too soon?”

“I’m fine. 
I’ll slow down after tomorrow.  To tell you the truth I’ll be glad when this
fundraiser is over.  But it should be nice.  I think Alison will enjoy it.”

“She’s
excited about it,” Alex said.

“I don’t want
you on duty while you’re there, either,” Stacy said.  “I want you to be able to
enjoy yourself with your wife.”

Alex smiled
at her.

 “I’m
serious,” Stacy said.  “In fact, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about
something,  and now is probably as good a time as any,” she said.  “I don’t
think I need protection anymore.” She continued before he could say anything. 
“Don’t get me wrong, I love having you around.  You’re a great guy.  But I
don’t think my father is coming back any time soon, and this can’t go on
forever.”

“It’s your
call,” Alex said.  “You can refuse protection.”

“Why do you
always have to put it like that?   You make it sound so awful.  It makes me
feel like I’d be doing it against your better judgment,” Stacy said.

Alex laughed.
“You’re too much, Trent,” he said.  “Let me talk to Parker and get his take. 
But we definitely need to continue surveillance through tomorrow night.”

“I don’t have
a problem with that.  As long as it’s not you,” she added.

The trip to London had gone off without a hitch and the men had stayed on in England for a few extra days.  Carlos and Jason had gone back to the island and Niki and Eli had
just landed in New Orleans. 

“Mom’s
probably going to have a heart attack when she sees us.  I think we should pull
over and call and let her know we’re in town,” Eli said.