Second Chances (33 page)

He nodded, knowing he couldn't fool her. "Sometimes." He released her and took a few careful steps with his hand on the car for support, then let his hand drop from the car and took a few more.

"See, you'll be running marathons in no time."

He smiled and looked back at her.

"I don't know about that. I never ran them before. Besides," he said, rubbing his right leg. "I don't think I would be up for that kind of punishment."

"He had it set wrong, didn't he?"

Jason shrugged and refused to look her in the eye.

"Such a son of a bitch."

Jason nodded.
 

"So I walk with a limp. There are worse things. Besides, some women think a man with a cane is sexy."

Julie laughed and walked over to him, hugging him tightly again.

"You've always been sexy to me."

"Thank you. Really, Julie, I don't have the words."

"I wasn't about to abandon you, Jason. I love you, always have."

She could see he wanted to say something, perhaps to speak of memories that were only partially there, but the words just wouldn't come.

"Anyway, you keep exercising those legs. I need to change these license plates to the real ones."

Julie walked to the trunk and popped it open. She grabbed a small toolbox and pulled back the mat in the trunk and removed two Massachusetts license plates. She knelt down and began to remove the back plate, as Jason continued to slowly circle the car. She had managed to remove the back plate by the time Jason had reached the front again.

"You had two different plates on the car?" He asked, laughing and shaking his head.

She stood and walked around to the front, holding the plate she had just removed. She held the plate in her hand next to the one still attached to the front of the car. They were both Rhode Island plates. The numbers and letters on the plates were similar but not matching.

"I figured that someone would report losing two plates, but might not notice if only one were missing. I tried to get them to match as close as I could, not that I thought anyone was going to pay that close attention. But I figured why risk it. When I was planning part of this caper, I was thinking I might use this car to get you from Ocean View. I figured there would be witnesses and it would help if people argued over the license plate details."

"Smart thinking."

"I don't know about that. I realized it made no sense to take this car. I was going to be identified as the one who took you anyway. Might as well use my normal car and then switch it out for this. If we got lucky and no one saw us switch cars then these plates were pointless, if however we were seen or picked up on the parking lot camera then these plates might throw them off a bit. They will be looking for these fake plates, not the real ones."

"And this car can't be traced back to you?"

"Nope. Paid for in cash and registered to Mrs. Rebecca J. Young."

"Who?"

"Me, or at least that is what my new documents say."

"And who am I?"

"Why Mr. Young of course."

"So," he said with a smile. "This has all been an elaborate marriage trap?"

She dropped the license plate, then hugged and kissed him.
 

"You know it. Did it work?"

He held her face in his hands, looking deeply into her eyes.

"You know how I feel, don't you? I wanted to marry you so long ago. The timing, the circumstances..."

"I know, Jason."

"Do you?"

She smiled. "Do you really need to ask? The years I spent...staying with work, doing...what I needed to do. The last few years I spent researching how to get us free. Do you think I would do that if I wasn't sure of how you felt?"

He answered her with another kiss, long and deep.

"I can't tell you how much I have missed you. Have missed that," Julie said when they ended their embrace.

"Perhaps we should test just how much of my strength I have gotten back."

She blushed and shook her head.

"What? We have years to catch up on, don't we?"

"Later. We still need to put some more distance between us and Cameron. Let me finish with these plates and then we need to get goi..."

She stopped talking. She waited a minute and then the noise came again, a series of five beeps from inside the car. She left Jason and walked around to the front door. The noise came again and she realized it was from her purse. She reached in and pulled her purse out then unzipped it. The sound was coming from the cigar box they had taken with them from Ocean View. She looked from the box to Jason and back as the beeping came again. She opened the box and her eyes went wide. Inside was an old yellow Motorola cellphone."

"Jason, you kept your cellphone?"

He nodded. The phone began again but stopped after the second beep.

"How old is this thing?"

He shrugged. "Fifteen years, maybe more. I don't know anymore."

"How the hell does it still have power?"

He simply flicked his head. She understood and looked back into the cigar box, now noticing the charger."

"You charged it last night, didn't you?"

He nodded.

"What if they are tracking this?"

"A phone that old? I wasn't even sure if it would still work until I tried it last night."

"But it is tied to you, Jason. I don't know if they can't track this. Neither do you."

"It's not tied to me, well not really."

"What do you mean, of course it's tied to you. It's yours, right?"

"Yes and no. It was signed out to me. One of the perks from one of my teaching gigs."

"You haven't taught since...I don't even know how long."

He grinned. "Neither do I, but I have an excuse."

"That isn't funny, Jason."

"Sorry. The only way that phone is tied to me is by the past. The distant past. I just couldn't get rid of it."

"Why not?"

"It was on that phone that...that I got the call about..."

Julie nodded, now understanding.

"Somewhere, on some campus, in some ledger that phone is tied to me and some university is still paying the bill. The amazing thing is that it still gets service."

"But why, Jason? I guess I can understand keeping it, but why charge it? Who do you think even knows that number? Who do you expect to ca..." She stopped, understanding hitting her.

He looked at her, but said nothing.
 

"No. No, Jason. I am sorry but you can't believe that."

"Paige knew the number, Julie. She did and I thought maybe...maybe she still does. She needs help and I thought maybe she would call."

"But that just isn't possible. You have to know that."

Julie looked down at the phone as it made a noise and she saw the outline of an envelope flash in the corner of the screen.

He was driving aimlessly. She had been quiet since they had left Daniel's. He had tried to engage her several times, but she had waved off his attempts. He had decided to just give her time and space, but when she erupted into tears he pulled the car off the road. He got out and came around, pulling her out of the car and into his arms. She sobbed into his shoulder.

"We'll figure something else out. I promise."

She shook her head.

"I died in the fire."

"No. No, you didn't. That wasn't you."

"Yes it was. Somehow it was. I don't know how, but I died in that fire. I know it. I feel it."

Nathan could think of nothing to say that could possibly soothe her, so he did the only thing he could and held her tightly as she cried.

Her tears gradually subsided until they ran out completely. She hugged Nathan tightly, her unspoken thanks.

"You going to be okay?" Nathan asked, when she pulled away.

She shrugged.

"Can we go to the beach?"

He looked at her questioningly, but said nothing. When it became apparent that Paige wasn't going to elaborate on her request, he nodded yes and they got back in the car and he followed her instructions.

He passed the sign that welcomed them to Sachuest Beach and pulled into the parking lot. Beach season was over, but there were still a smattering of cars scattered throughout the parking lot. They got out and Nathan began to follow Paige. He couldn't see the beach yet, but he could smell it and hear it. They walked along a wooden path from the parking lot. They crested the rise and Nathan saw the waves crashing along the shoreline.

Paige slipped out of her shoes and wiggled her toes in the sand before starting to walk toward the water. He could see a few others on the beach, some jogging with their dogs along the waterline, others slowly walking and even one or two working on a sandcastle a ways down the beach. He took off his sneakers and socks and followed after Paige.

She was standing just on the edge of the waterline. Waves crashed and the water ran up the beach toward her feet, just barely tickling the tips of her toes before retreating back into the ocean. He stood next to her, unsure what to say or do.

"Sachuest Beach. No one calls it that. None of the locals anyway. It's second beach. The beach you can see from school, that's first beach. This one is better. Gets better, bigger waves and usually stays cleaner, less seaweed."

Nathan nodded, unsure how to respond.

"See that," she said pointing down the beach. "That's St. George's School."

Nathan followed her finger. He looked down the arc of the beach and up at the hills well beyond. Among the buildings, he could see one of them rose above all others. It looked like a church.

"That's the chapel, gorgeous isn't it?"

Nathan nodded again. She was right, it was impressive, the entire view was breathtaking.

"Why do I know that? Why do I know any of this? How come I know that locals call this second beach?"

"Because you've been here."

"Have I? Have I really?" She was looking at him with such intensity that he couldn't lie to her.

"I...I honestly don't know, Paige."

She stepped forward a few steps until her feet were underwater and the bottoms of her pants started to get wet.

"What do we do now?
 

"We'll figure something out."

"How? What leads do we have left to follow? Am I supposed to call Linda and ask her for help? I don't know who the hell she actually is. I don't know who the hell I am for that matter."

Nathan looked down at the sand. He had no answers and didn't want to lie to her. The truth was she was right, they had no more leads to follow. How much of what she thought she knew was actually true? How much of what he'd known about his own wife had been true? As he started to walk forward, the phone in his pocket began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Nathan King?"

"Yes."

"Listen very carefully," an angry female voice growled at him through the phone. "I'm only going to give you these instructions once."

Nathan glanced at his watch again. It was only ten minutes later than it had been the last time he'd checked it, but it felt much longer. He knew that they were getting close and that the exit they needed wasn't far off, but part of him feared they would be too late. Too late for what exactly? He knew he was likely just picking up on Paige's anxiety. He prayed this wasn't some elaborate hoax.

Paige hadn't believed him when he told her about the phone call. She had watched him take the call on the beach, but still she hadn't believed it. Honestly, he wasn't sure what to believe himself. But who in the hell would send them on a wild goose chase like this? Who would be toying with them and to what purpose? How the heck had they even gotten his phone number? He had tried to ask, but the woman on the other end of the phone was in no mood to carry on a dialogue, she had told him he could either listen or talk to a dial tone.

"Why Mystic?"

Nathan shrugged. "Hell if I know. Hell, why McDonald's? This entire thing is crazy."

"My entire life has been crazy since you came up to me in the airport."

He winced.

"Sorry," she said. "That wasn't fair. I think it's obvious my life was already crazy, I just wasn't aware of it."

He wanted to say something to comfort her, but he didn't know what that possibly could be. He wondered what Paige would be doing right now if that woman at the airport hadn't helped him track her down. Would she be happy now?

She seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. "I wonder if I would be at work now if you hadn't found me."

"I'm sorry, Paige, really. Had I known all of this..." He trailed off, unwilling to finish.

She looked over at him. She could see the sadness in his eyes and it made her heart ache.

"Don't Nathan, don't be sorry. Ignorance is not bliss. I don't really believe that. It may be easier, but it is not better. I...I really do want to know the truth, even if I am terrified of what that might be."

He didn't know if he believed her or not. Was that conviction or fear in her voice? Probably both. Nathan guessed it didn't matter. He had seen her and he had tracked her. He had started the dominos falling and it was much too late to stop them now.

"Next exit," he said.

A few minutes later they were pulling off the highway and both he and Paige were looking for signs to McDonald's. She spotted it first, pointed to the left and a moment later they went up a small hill and pulled into the McDonald's parking lot.

Paige stared out the window at the building.

"I can't believe we are coming here for answers. Of course this is all so crazy who the hell knows. Hey Ronald McDonald I'd like a happy meal and oh yeah, how about the secrets of my life."

Even though he didn't want to, Nathan couldn't help but laugh. She had said it so seriously. Paige looked at him and gave him a shaky smile.

"Okay, maybe not."

"Probably not," he agreed. "Besides everyone knows Grimace is the real brains of this operation."

Paige started giggling and couldn't stop until she ran out of breath and began coughing. Nathan knew it hadn't been that funny but she was so nervous it was the only way her body knew to release some of the tension. He patted her gently on the back while she tried to catch her breath.