Don't Look Behind You (13 page)

The flight attendant came up the aisle, collecting the trash, and I handed my chip bag back to her still half full. By the time we began our descent into the Norwood Airport, I had worked myself into such a state of apprehension that I could hardly manipulate the clasp on the seat belt.

The plane touched down and taxied up to the gate. Pulling my bag out from under the seat in front of me, I got in line with the rest of the passengers as they moved down the aisle and out into the terminal.

A handsome dark-haired boy in a white button-down shirt with red pinstripes was standing at the side of the ramp.

“April!” he called. “April, I'm over here!”

“Steve!” I cried. “Oh, Steve!” and, letting my suitcase fall to the floor, I rushed to throw myself into his outstretched arms.

CHAPTER 14

“You came!” I exclaimed, burying my face in
the hollow where Steve's neck met his collarbone and inhaling the well-remembered odor of warm skin and pine-scented aftershave.

“Of course I came,” he said, hugging me back. “When Billy told me you'd called, I could hardly believe it. I'd just about given up hope of ever seeing you again. When you came down that ramp, I had to look twice to recognize you. I'd never pictured Rapunzel with her beautiful hair cut off.”

He pushed me gently away so he could look at me. “Solve the mystery for me. Where have you been?”

“Don't ask,” I said. “I'm not allowed to talk about it. We left because of Dad's testimony at the Loftin trial. A man was killed, and we had to go into hiding. It was awful, and I'm very glad to be home.”

“What about your family?” Steve glanced past me, over my shoulder, as though he expected to see them appear on the ramp behind me.

“I'm here alone,” I said. “I'm going to live with my grandmother. At least, I hope Lorelei's going to let me live with her. She wasn't very receptive when I told her I was coming, but I don't think she'll slam the door on me when I land on her doorstep.”

“I'm sure she won't,” Steve said. “She'd never do that. She was probably too surprised to know what to say. Jodi tried to call her after seeing you at Disney World, but she wasn't ever able to get in touch with her.” He picked up my suitcase and, putting his other arm around me, began to walk me back through the terminal toward the lobby. “Everybody here has been worried about you. The way you left was so crazy. When you weren't at the tennis courts that afternoon, I thought we'd just gotten our wires crossed, but that night when I went to your house and found it all locked up with the car still parked in the driveway, I freaked out. That's when I realized that something serious had happened.”

“It was all so fast,” I said. “We weren't allowed to make phone calls. At first we thought we would only be gone a few days. The days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. I felt as though I'd been sucked into some sort of time warp.”

“I was sure, wherever you'd gone, you'd be back for the prom,” Steve said. “Then, when you weren't, I thought you'd resurface for graduation. When I stepped out onto that stage to get my diploma, I kept telling myself you'd come in late and were sitting in the back.”

“I wrote you I couldn't be here for that,” I reminded him.

“I haven't had a word from you since you left.” His words sent my mind sliding furtively toward a dark pool of secret knowledge, and I hurriedly yanked it back onto safer ground. The fact that Steve hadn't received my letter meant nothing. It could have been lost in the mail, or the stamp might have come unglued, or the ink could have smeared so the address was illegible. Since there hadn't been any return address on the envelope, I wouldn't have gotten it back if it hadn't been delivered.

“I wrote,” I said. “I'm sorry the letter didn't reach you.” I paused and then asked casually, “How are things with Sherry?”

“Just fine,” Steve said a little too quickly for comfort. “When Billy gave us your message, she was so excited. At first she wanted to come to the airport with me, but we decided it would be better for her to call you tomorrow.”

“Sherry was with you when Billy told you I'd called?” I tried to keep it from sounding like an accusation.

“Well, yes,” Steve said uncomfortably. “She'd stopped by the house. She was as happy as I was to learn you were back.”

“What was she doing at your place? Had you been out together?”

“A bunch of us had a picnic over at Grant's Park,” Steve said. “Rick and Traci, Debbie and Reed, Jodi and Michael…”

“In other words, it was all couples,” I said, phrasing the question as though it were a statement. “Jodi mentioned that you and Sherry were seeing each other. It sure didn't take you long to find somebody to replace me.”

“It wasn't like that at all,” Steve said defensively. “Sherry and I started hanging out together because we were trying to figure out what had happened to you.”

“And one thing led to another?” I asked sarcastically, pulling free of the arm he had slung around my shoulders.

“It wasn't until the ‘For Sale' sign went up in your yard that we thought you weren't coming back and we started dating.” He put his hand on my arm. “Please don't be mad, April. I'm really happy you're home, and so is Sherry.”

Out in the parking lot he loaded my suitcase into the backseat of his Honda and opened the door so I could climb in on the passenger's side. Then he went around and got into the driver's seat. He kept both hands on the wheel as he pulled out of the parking area and made no move to encourage me to snuggle against him. For my own part, I sat rigidly on my side of the car, too hurt and angry to try to make conversation.

“Do you want to stop for something to eat?” Steve asked awkwardly.

“No, I'd like to go straight to Lorelei's,” I told him. “I need to find out if she's going to let me stay there.”

“If there's any problem, I'm sure you can sleep at Sherry's,” Steve said. “No matter what you may think, she's still your friend.”

“With a friend like that, I don't need any enemies,” I said bitterly. “If I can't spend the night at Lorelei's, I'll crash at Jodi's.”

The Golden Ridge Condominiums, where Lorelei had moved after my grandfather died, were a group of colonial-style town houses enclosed by a wrought-iron fence. The security guard was a friendly man named Pat whom I had come to know well during the five years Lorelei lived there. Now, as Steve brought the car to a stop at the gate, I leaned across him so Pat could see who I was.

“Hi!” I called. “It's me. I'm here to see my grandmother.” I expected him to immediately raise the gate for us, but instead he came out of the guardhouse, gave Steve a long, hard stare, and walked all the way around the car, looking in windows.

He stopped when he came abreast of the window on my side.

“Your grandmother didn't leave word she was expecting company,” he said. “I'll have to call for permission to let you through.”

“Pat, you've known me since I was twelve!” I exclaimed. “Since when do I have to have special permission to visit here?”

“Things are different now,” Pat said. “The manager's clamped down. We don't let people in anymore unless their names are on a guest list. Your grandmother doesn't have anybody's name on her list. She wants me to call and check about every visitor.”

“I can't believe that,” I said. “It's not at all like her.”

“Like I said, things are different now,” Pat said patiently.

He went back into the guardhouse, and through the glass of the security room window I could see him on the phone. He spoke briefly, hung up, and came back out.

“She said I can let you in, but nobody else,” he said. “She doesn't want you to bring your friend in with you.”

“Maybe she's in her nightgown or something,” Steve speculated. “I'll wait out here until you find out what the deal is.”

“You don't have to,” I said. “I'm sure she'll put me up for one night. If I need to make other long-term arrangements, I can do that tomorrow.”

I got out of the car, and Steve came around to get my bag for me.

“You must have this thing loaded with bricks,” he said with a tentative smile, in a weak attempt to bridge the distance between us.

“I'm used to the weight,” I told him. “I've lugged it around all day. Thanks for meeting my plane. It was beyond the call of duty.”

“I was glad to do it,” Steve said. “It's great that you're back.” He leaned down quickly and brushed my cheek with his lips. “If you need anything, just call. You know I still care about you, even if it's not quite the same as it used to be. Things change, and life goes on, and we roll with the punches. I had no way of knowing I was ever going to see you again.”

I didn't respond to the statement or to the kiss, because I knew if I did I would start to cry. Instead I picked up my suitcase and started up the driveway. When I reached the sidewalk that ran in front of the condos, I turned and glanced back to see if his car was gone yet. It was still at the gate, and Steve was standing beside it. When he saw me looking back, he raised his hand and waved. Blinking back tears, I turned and kept on walking.

Lorelei's condominium was the last in the row, and I had to set my suitcase down twice before I got to it. When I reached it and pressed the buzzer, I was startled to hear a dog begin barking inside. After a moment Lorelei's voice called, “Get back from the door!”

I took a few steps backward to give her a chance to peer out through the peephole, which was something I didn't recall her ever doing before. Then I heard the click of the lock, and the door swung inward, revealing a woman I almost didn't recognize.

“So you came after all,” she said. “That's what I expected. You're such a stubborn child, there's just no way to reason with you.”

“Lorelei!” I whispered in horror. “Lorelei, what happened?”

“Don't stand there gaping,” my grandmother said. “Come in.”

The moment I was inside, she shut the door and locked it, while Porky raced around in circles, barking joyfully, hysterical with excitement about seeing me again. I continued to stare incredulously at my grandmother. Her right arm was in an L-shaped cast that ran from her wrist to her armpit and the whole left side of her face was the yellowish color of a serious bruise in its final stages.

“What happened?” I asked again. “Were you in an acci-dent?”

“It was no accident,” Lorelei said. “I did something foolish. I opened my door to a stranger, and this is what happened.”

She sank down onto the sofa as though her legs were too tired to hold her, and I hurriedly sat down beside her and reached for her hand, bracing myself for what she was going to tell me.

“A week ago Pat called up from the gate to tell me a delivery man was here with a package,” Lorelei said. “I told him to go ahead and send the man up with it. The Marshals Service has had several crates sent over here, so I thought this was just another one of those boxes.

“The man who arrived was very polite and gentlemanly. He asked me where I wanted him to put the box, and I told him to bring it inside and set it in the closet in the hall, which is where I've been storing your family's personal possessions. Once inside, though, he didn't head for the closet. His whole personality changed, and he suddenly got nasty. He told me he wanted to know where my son-in-law was hiding and if I didn't tell him I was going to be sorry.”

“Then he wasn't connected with the Marshals Service atall?”

“Certainly not, but it took me a moment to realize it. As soon as I did, I made a dash for the bedroom. There's a phone in there, and I thought if I could get the door locked I could call down to Pat and tell him I needed help. It was a good idea, and I actually think it might have worked, but I had just come back from a luncheon and was wearing heels. One of them caught on the edge of the carpet, and before I could get my balance back, the man had covered the distance between us and was on top of me. He threw me down, and my head crashed into the door frame. Then he grabbed my wrist and bent my arm up behind me.”

“Oh, Lorelei, that's awful!” I breathed. “Did you scream for help?”

“Of course I screamed, but it didn't do any good. One reason I bought a condo here at Golden Ridge was because they're so well insulated against noise. If I can't hear my neighbors, it stands to reason they can't hear me, so shrieking for help was useless. If the windows had been open, it might have been different, but I had them closed because the air conditioner was on.

“The man kept twisting my arm, demanding to know where your father was, and it's lucky I didn't know or I might have told him. Finally, I felt the bone snap. It's odd how you don't think of bones making noise when they break, but mine made a sound like a twig from a dried-out Christmas tree. The pain was so bad that I think I must have fainted, because the next thing I knew it was dark and I was lying in the hallway outside the bedroom. I managed somehow to get up and turn on the lights. I was very relieved to discover that I was alone.”

“Oh, Lorelei!” I said again. I wanted to hug her, but I was afraid of the pain the pressure of my arms would cause her. “What did you do after that, call the police?”

“The police, the FBI, and an ambulance, in that order. At the hospital they set my arm and gave me a sedative. They kept me there overnight to make sure I didn't have a concussion, and the next day I was released and a friend drove me home. On the way, I had her stop at the kennel for Porky. I'm under no illusion this yapping beast is real protection, but at least he can bark and warn me if someone tries to break in.”

“I can't believe we weren't even told,” I said. “You'd think that Max could have gotten a message to us.”

“He never even returned my call,” Lorelei said. “His secretary told me the FBI takes no responsibility for people in the Witness Security Program and I should talk to the people at the U.S. Marshals Service. You do see, don't you, why it is that you can't move back here? The man who attacked me must finally have realized I didn't have the information he wanted, but there's no way he would ever believe that of you.”

I had finally reached a point at which I could accept that statement.

“You're right, I have to go back. I don't have a choice.”

“Does anyone other than Steve know you're here?” Lorelei asked me.

“His brother Billy, their parents maybe, and Sherry.”

“Then we're going to have to leave tonight,” said Lorelei.