Lined With Silver (26 page)

“How did you know what to do?” Nikki sounded
awe-struck.

“Zack talked me through it.” Sondra was
matter-of-fact.

“How did
he
know what to do?”

Sondra turned to look at Zack, who was
working with the tow truck driver in getting the Hummer down the
slope. “I have no idea. Maybe it was military training. I’ll ask
when I get off the phone.”

“You do that.” Nikki paused and then
continued, “Brad and I will head right out. We’ll see you in a
bit.”

Zack joined Sondra as she was shutting her
phone. She said, “Brad and Nikki are coming out to get us. Let’s go
pick up my car and try again, but you can do the driving, if that’s
okay.”

“That’s fine.” He put a reassuring arm around
her shoulders. “When we come back, we’ll have to stop at the dealer
to get your stuff. The brakes should be fixed tomorrow.”

Sondra shuddered. “I’m done driving the
Hummer, that’s for sure.”

“I heard about corroded brake line problems,
so I had the lines replaced with stainless steel. That was supposed
to prevent corrosion. I don’t know what happened.” He was watching
the tow driver, who was maneuvering the Hummer to pull it out onto
the road.

She shivered; more in response to their close
call than the winter chill. “Whatever the deal is, I’m done for the
day. Attorney or not, I can’t control basic mechanics.”

He chuckled. “I’m glad to know you understand
your limitations. I was beginning to wonder.”

“Speaking of limitations, is there anything
you can’t do?”

“What do you mean?” Zack glanced down to meet
her eyes.

“How did you know how to handle the failed
brakes?”

“Basic driving one oh one.” He pulled her
closer. “Nippy out here, isn’t it?” She nodded mutely, and he
continued with his original thought. “Didn’t they teach you how to
handle failed brakes in driving school?”

She shook her head, her hair brushing against
his coat. “Not that I remember.” She tried to ignore his
distracting cologne and continued, “If they did, I must’ve slept
through that part. It’s been so many years since I took Drivers Ed,
I wouldn’t remember anyway.”

“Maybe it was something we covered in
military school. I guess I’ve forgotten, too.”

“Whatever the deal is, I’m impressed you kept
your cool and handled it like you did.” She stopped herself from
touching his hand and stuffed her hands in her pockets instead. Her
desire to touch him was something she needed to keep under control.
She hid her agitation with her carefully-controlled voice. “My
brain quit working. I needed someone to talk me through.”

The tow driver pulled up next to them and
rolled down the passenger window. “Do you two want a ride? I don’t
want to leave you out in this cold.”

Zack didn’t wait for a second invitation.
“We’d really appreciate it. My wife’s sister is coming out to get
us, but she won’t be here for another thirty minutes.”

She didn’t want to admit it, but having Zack
refer to her as his wife warmed her soul. Maybe there was hope,
after all.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the driver’s
gravelly voice. “Hop on in.”

She wasn’t as sure of the driver as Zack was.
The man looked like he was easily four hundred pounds and he chewed
tobacco for a living. The odor coming from the open door meant
she’d probably want a shower the minute she arrived at Zack’s
place. A crumpled fast food bag sat on the seat, and the man who
looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days swept it onto the
floor.

Zack boosted her onto the seat. She slid
reluctantly over and tried to keep her distance from the odorous
driver.

A few minutes later, they pulled into the
dealership that would handle the repair on the Hummer. “Thanks for
the ride.” Sondra reached to shake the driver’s hand, hoping her
repulsion wouldn’t show in her eyes.

“Yeah. Thanks.” Zack smiled at the driver and
helped Sondra out.

“Any time.” The driver smiled and waved as
Zack closed the door.

“Nice guy.”

“No doubt.” She said while she tried to
remember if she’d put any hand sanitizer in her purse. She’d have
to settle for a trip to the bathroom and a bar of soap. After a
quick detour to the ladies’ room, she settled next to Zack in one
of the hard plastic chairs stationed around a big screen tv in the
waiting area.

She pulled out her phone and tried to call
Nikki. She frowned at her phone. “They must be in a dead zone.”

“Probably,” he agreed. “The canyon blocks
signals. You can probably leave a text and she’ll get it when she
gets close.”

“Good idea. All this stress is making me
brain dead.” She admitted.

“You handle stress every time you enter the
courtroom.”

“That’s different. Someone’s life isn’t on
the line.” She paused and her brows drew together. “Speaking of
lives on the line, do you have any secrets I don’t know about?”

“Considering how long we’ve known each other,
I would say there’s a whole lot you don’t know, but I assure you,
there aren’t any dank, dark secrets. What about you?”

“Well, I probably have a few angry people out
there somewhere.” Her smile was sheepish. “I can be ruthless in the
courtroom.”

Zack chuckled. “I can imagine.” Then his eyes
grew serious. “Based on your find, I’d say someone has a
vendetta.”

Sondra drew a weary hand across her brow.
“That’s clear. I just don’t know who.” She peered at Zack through
lowered lashes and tried to puzzle out the unknown. Whoever had
killed Dewk knew she was married. The wrapping paper on the
dinnerware was a clear indicator. What did that mean, and more
important, who would hate her that much?

* * *

Nikki and Brad showed up about half an hour
later. Sondra was happy to see how good Brad looked. He’d put on
weight just during the week they were gone. The new therapy was
definitely helping. Maybe Nikki wouldn’t have to be a single
mother, after all.

Zack followed Sondra’s lead and didn’t
mention what they’d found at the house. She was grateful he seemed
to understand her desire to protect Nikki and Brad. Despite Brad’s
appearance, they were still under a lot of stress with his
treatments. He looked better at the moment, but the future was
still an unknown.

Trying to keep her mind off recent events,
Sondra leaned forward from her seat in the back and said, “Brad,
you’re looking a lot better than when we left just a week ago. How
are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling better than I have in
months.”

“What are your plans for the future?” This
was the first time she’d dared voice her thoughts. A future hadn’t
seemed possible just a few weeks before.

Brad and Nikki exchanged a meaningful glance,
and then Nikki turned her gaze back to the road. Brad turned
slightly in his seat so he could address them in the back. “If I
feel as good as I do right now, I was thinking of approaching my
old boss to see if he’d let me start working part time.”

“That’s fantastic.” Sondra hoped her
enthusiasm for the topic would hide her agitation at the situation
she was in. The thought of someone stalking her shadowed her
thoughts. “Do you think he’d let you do that?”

Brad nodded. “He promised me my old position
back if I ever wanted it.”

“I know you were an asset to the firm.”

Brad smiled. “I’d like to think so. I was top
salesman several years in a row.”

“Nikki told me that. What a blessing he’s
held a spot for you.”

Nikki nodded. “We’re excited to even be
thinking about it.”

Zack sat back and pressed his lips together.
The action was subtle enough that Sondra wouldn’t have noticed had
she not been attuned to his every move. He was holding something
back, and she wondered what it was. There was enough going on that
she appreciated his silence.

Dewk’s death and the death of the twins were
new enough to cause another downpour, and Sondra really didn’t want
to break down in front of everyone. Her last conversation with
Nikki let her know Nikki’s tears were close to the surface, too. It
wouldn’t help Brad’s healing if he was surrounded by two women in
hysterics.

The topics of conversation went from corroded
break line failures to their parents’ mission in Norway. Sondra had
missed her last couple of skype visits.

“Mom’s beginning to worry about you. She said
you haven’t contacted her in three weeks. She missed your call on
Christmas the most.”

Sondra couldn’t stop the guilty flush that
spread over her cheeks. “I need to talk to mom,” she mumbled and
then wondered how she was going to without mentioning the faux
wedding.
Well
, she amended,
the faux marriage. The
wedding was real enough.

Much to her relief, Zack switched to weather
and sports. Brad took his cue and the two men talked animatedly
while Nikki and Sondra stewed in their own thoughts.

When they stopped at Sondra’s townhouse,
Nikki stepped out to join Sondra in the driveway. “Thanks again for
your sacrifice with the twins. I can’t tell you how much that meant
to us.”

The men had continued their conversation on
the other side of the car. Sondra looked at Brad. “Do you think if
he gets better you can just adopt?” She didn’t want to say anything
to Nikki, but this sacrifice for her had been a lot bigger than
she’d planned, and thinking about trying again while putting her
own happiness with Zack aside was a torture she wasn’t sure she
could live through.

“I don’t think an agency would work with us,
even if he gets better. And then there’s the problem of the
surviving babies. I can’t bring myself to just have them
terminated.”

Sondra gasped. “I didn’t think of what would
happen to them. What do they do with the unwanted embryos?”

“They either destroy them or they send them
to the university to experiment on.”

Sondra’s heart constricted. After seeing the
living, thriving embryos in the microscope, she couldn’t bring
herself to think of them as anything but her nieces or nephews. How
could anyone think about having them killed or worse? She choked on
her words. “I-I can’t believe it.”

“Most people don’t think about it.” Nikki
paused and stared at her joined hands. Her agitation was showing in
her white-knuckle grip. “We didn’t pray about whether or not to
create them in the first place, but we prayed a lot in trying to
decide what to do with them after we made them. We knew we wouldn’t
use a dozen. There’s no way I was going to attempt to carry them
after he passed…” Her voice faded off and she stared blankly at the
peak above them. “We decided we just couldn’t choose death for our
little ones. Our will states that we want our babies adopted by an
LDS couple.”

Sondra’s mouth dropped open and then slammed
shut. “Can you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Adopt out embryos?”

“Because there are so few infants available
for adoption, desperate couples are turning to other means of
adoption. It’s bigger than you think, and it’s cheaper to adopt an
embryo than it is to perform IVF.”

“I had no idea.”

Nikki nodded. “It’s amazing what infertile
couples are willing to do to add children to their family.”

Sondra stared up at the same peak that seemed
to hold Nikki’s interest. After a moment of silence and deep
thought, Sondra turned back to Nikki. “I don’t want my nieces or
nephews raised in another family. At least, not all of them. I
promised I’d try again. And I will.”

The sun seemed to burst across Nikki’s face.
“You don’t know what this means to me. Thanks so much. I know
you’ll do all in your power, and Brad and I have talked about it.
We don’t think it’s fair to ask you to do this again.”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering, and I will
try once more. That’s all I can give. I have my own life I want to
work on.”

Nikki hugged Sondra fiercely. “I know you
do.” Nikki couldn’t stop the tears coursing down her face. The men
were still talking, but they were looking at the sisters with
matched horror. The waterworks were noticeable. Sondra tried hard
to contain her own. Nikki whispered. “I know you’re sacrificing
more than you’re saying. Zack is the catch of a lifetime. Don’t let
him go, and please don’t waste any time in telling him how you
feel.”

Sondra bit the inside of her lip and wished
life would be that easy. She still had to balance her desire for an
eternity with Zack with his protective instinct. She didn’t want
him feeling trapped to her by obligation. She wanted their eternal
venture to be a mutually-agreeable contract. How could she
accomplish that while trying to fulfill her promise to Nikki?

Brad stepped over and asked, “Are you
alright?” His tender concern was apparent in his voice.

Nikki nodded. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

Sondra was relieved to see them leave. She
didn’t want to explain why she didn’t invite them in the house. She
stared at the door a moment, almost expecting whoever was stalking
her to come running out with a machete, and then moved to the
number pad to unlock the garage. She handed Zack the keys. He
backed the car out, walked around the car to perform a brief
inspection, and then opened the hood.

Sondra’s brows drew together. She shook her
head slightly. “What are you doing?”

He met her gaze. “At this point, I don’t
think we can be too careful, do you?”

She slapped her left hand over her mouth,
unable to process the image of someone tampering with her car. The
reality was bigger than she’d imagined.

After his brief but thorough exam, he opened
the door for her and made sure she was comfortably settled.

As they were heading back up the canyon to
Park City, Zack asked in a carefully casual voice, “I noticed you
and Nikki were having an intense discussion.”

She closed her eyes a moment and then met his
curious eyes. “Did you know embryos that aren’t used are either
destroyed or used for experimentation?”