Silent Treatment (20 page)

There was a
pause before Carrie spoke this time, almost as though she was frightened again, and then her voice came over loud and perfectly clear.

“Mum has just told me that you’re coming home tomorrow. I hope I can see you, but if you’re too busy and I don’t manage to and if you ever get to listen to all these messages, you will probably realize something…” She paused and then said. “I love you Daniel.” The message clicked off.

Daniel grinned stupidly as he stared at the phone. His iphone began buzzing in his other pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen. He tapped the icon to receive the text from Paul and laughed out loud as he read the words. They were all written in capitals as though Paul were shouting at him. He could almost hear his friend bellowing wildly.

“DO NOT GET ON THE PLANE!!!!! ALL HER TWAT FATHER’S FAULT!!!!! SHE DIDN’T GET YOUR LETTER!  IF YOU ARE ON THE PLANE, GET OFF NOW! CARRIE IS ON HER WAY! SHE LOVES YOU! : ) ”

Daniel shoved both phones in his pockets, leapt off the toilet seat and walked to the wash basin. He splashed water over his face again and then looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were sparkling as brightly as flawless blue diamonds. He glanced at his watch and was surprised at how much time had passed as he had sat in the cubicle. If the flight had left on time, he had missed it anyway. He wiped his face on the thick paper towel and marched out of the men’s room.

He was surprised to see the first class lounge swarming with security police. The nearest officer whirled round to Daniel, his gun poised
and ready.

Dan
iel put his hands up automatically but the officer lowered the gun immediately as he recognised the world famous American football star.

“Didn’t you he
ar the loud speakers, Mr. Lewis? We have been asking everyone to leave the area while we clear up this security problem.”

“Problem?”
Daniel really didn’t care what the problem was, he just wanted to get out now. “If I can just leave, then I’ll be out of your hair. I’m not catching my flight after all.” He side stepped along the wall, but the next security guard stopped him.

“Best if you wait here now. We’re just bringing her through. Stupid woman tried to get on a plane as it was about to leave. She breached
the security barriers and all hell let loose. We think she’s just another late passenger, but she’s slightly hysterical and what with the terrorist thing going on at the moment, we can never be too sure. If you wouldn’t mind standing back Sir, I’m sure this will all be over in a jiffy.” He pushed Daniel back behind him.

Daniel didn’t bother resisting, he could see over the
shorter man’s shoulder easily. He stared curiously out to a small knot of officers who were half carrying, half pulling a young woman between them.

He was about to turn away, not wanting to see the distressing sight when hi
s mouth fell open in surprise. His brain wouldn’t let him believe it when he immediately recognized the mass of darkest brown hair shining under the overhead lights.

The guards
all moved quickly as it looked as though the woman was about to collapse. Her pale, tear stained face was visible for just a second. Daniel finally came to his senses. He gasped and pushed out from behind the officer.

“Carrie.” He
whispered his tone full of shock and then he shouted across the lounge as he found his voice once again. “Carrie!” He moved forwards quickly.

The officer leapt round him to
block his way. Daniel shoved the man aside with his shoulder as Carrie’s head came up at the sound of his voice. The officer brought up his gun. Daniel stopped dead. He saw Carrie staring around like a frightened, wild animal, but she couldn’t see past the wall of uniformed security men.

Daniel pulled himself up to his fullest height.

“Carrie! Over here! Get out of my way!” Daniel yelled as yet another security guard stepped in front of him. The man moved a fraction, unsure of what to do. He had recognized Daniel immediately and knew that he was no terrorist.

Daniel was about to throw the man out of his way
then Carrie caught sight of him. She stopped dead for a second, staring directly at him, her rose red lips parted and said his name silently. Then the guard immediately behind her shoved her roughly in the small of her back. She stumbled forwards, almost tripping as she lurched at the unexpected blow.

Daniel felt his whole body bristle, and then he noticed her arms were pulled behind her back, her wrists held by a set of handcuffs.

He cried out in rage as he saw her anguish.

“For God’s sake let her go!” He shouted as he made to run forwards,
only to be brought up short by the guard blocking his path for the third time.

The guard looked back at Carrie.

“Who? Her? Sorry Sir, no can do until we have a full security check done. It’s probably going to be routine, but we do have to be sure.”

Daniel looked down at the man. He appeared to have an extra set of stripes on his uniform. He quelled his fury, knowing that it would get him
nowhere.

“Are you the senior officer here?” He asked in his most polite fashion. The man nodded fractionally. Dan
iel carried on. “I’m really sorry officer, but I think you have made a terrible mistake. That woman is Carrie Denton, the lead dancer for “Half Past Blue” and more recently for Milana on her world tour…” He paused as he saw Carrie’s head turn, her eyes straining to follow him as she was led away. He started after her as if in a dream and then said. “She also happens to be my girlfriend.”

The guard looked up at Daniel again and then across to Carrie’s retreating figure.

“Girlfriend? But we all thought you were…that reporter said that you…Oh, never mind.” He spluttered to a halt as Daniel glowered at him, then he carried on. “Well, if she’s your girlfriend, what in the Devil’s name was she doing trying to board plane that was literally leaving the gate? Apart from anything else she could have been killed if she’d fallen from the gangway. And why aren’t you together on the flight anyway?” He was walking behind Daniel, waving his men back as they stepped forwards to block his path.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder at the man
who was almost jogging to keep up with his enormous stride.

“She didn’t know that I changed my mind. We had a bit of a
misunderstanding earlier today and I was going to leave, but I decided not to fly after all. I just went to the men’s room to freshen up. I expect she was worried that we were separated. Please stop them and let her go. If she’s in trouble for going through a gate, then fine, we can sort that out, but take her out of the handcuffs please. She’s no danger to anyone.” Daniel was about to force his way through the door into a security area, but the officer in charge put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder and shook his head as he turned.

“I’
m sorry Sir, but I’m afraid it’s not going to be as simple as that. You didn’t see what she did to one of my officers! His shins are black and blue. There’s going to be an assault charge at the very least. You can wait here if you like, but I must inform you that incidents like this are taken very seriously indeed. I will take what you say into consideration, but I can’t just let her go. Sit here Mr. Lewis. I’ll let you know when and if she’s free to go.”

Chapter Sixteen

Midnight

“Surely they must have finished with her by now. How much longer can they keep her locked up like this?” Daniel was pacing along the front of the bar, watching the security doors through the small crowd of passengers that
had been allowed back into the first class lounge. They had been waiting for hours.

“Haven’t got a clue mate.”
Paul answered and he sipped at his beer. He had come along as moral support after Daniel had called him, bellowing furiously down the phone about Police brutality and civil rights. “I think with a possible terrorist thing it’s up to twenty-eight days…but I could be wrong.” He added quickly as Daniel turned a deep purple and seemed to swell to double his normal size.

“But she only crossed a barrier, for God’s sake. She hadn’t even checked any luggage, and she didn’t dela
y the plane. She hadn’t even a hair grip on her let alone something as deadly as a nail file. They must know exactly who she is by now and that she’s no threat to anyone.” Daniel suddenly stopped as the security door at the other side of the lounge opened at last.

The officer in charge came through and marched straight towards them. His face gave
nothing away. He walked up to Daniel.

“Sorry to have kept you so long
, Sir but these checks do take their time. Well, it seems she’s exactly who you said she was.” He glanced up at Paul who was muttering sarcastically into his beer.

“And it took nearly nine hours to find that out? Don’t you lot use the internet?
Would have taken about five seconds if you had used Google. No wonder you need twenty-eight days for anyone really suspicious.” He shook his head in dismay.

The security guard narrowed his eyes and puffed out his chest as he stood very straight. It didn’t look very impressive in comparison to Paul and Daniel
’s massive statures.

“You can mock
, Sir but we find it best to be thorough.”

Daniel broke in, not wanting an argument to start.

“What about the assault on your officer? Are you going to charge her?”

The man shook his head.

“My man decided not to press charges. He says he’s willing to put up with a few bruises in view of the er…unusual circumstances.”

Daniel leaned forwards eagerly.

“So can she leave now? We’ve been waiting a long time and I really need to see her.” There was something desperate in his tone and the guard deflated slightly.

“Yes, after reading that letter you sent to her, I can imagine you do…Very passionate, I must say.” He waggled his eyebrows. “It’s no wonder she wanted to get on that plane so desperately.
She said that she thought you were going back to the States after that awful interview on television today. Menage a trois indeed.” He looked Paul up and down and then stopped as Daniel turned a deep shade of red. The man and hurried on, not wanting to embarrass Daniel further. “Well, we have a couple of conditions before we let her go.”

“Anything!”
Daniel breathed. At this point he was about to get onto his knees and beg for her to be released.

The officer smiled slightly.

“Do you think you two can take a few minutes to give my men a couple of autographs?” Daniel was already reaching for his pen. “And do you think you could try and keep your girlfriend under control from now on? Your letters obviously make her far too excitable. It might be best if you stick to talking rather than writing. I don’t want to have to arrest her formally. I already have enough paperwork to last a month with this little incident as it is. Anything worse and I’m going to be seriously annoyed.” He smiled as he gave a hand signal to the security guard positioned at the door.

A few minutes later Carrie stepped out into the first class lounge. Her hair was
dishevelled, skin pale and delicate from crying. She was rubbing her wrists as she looked round frantically.

And then her eyes met Daniel
’s. She blinked as though clearing her vision, then her eyes rolled slightly and her body drooped.

She looked as though she was
about to collapse as she stared at him.

He saw her stagger just one tiny pace towards him, and then he was off. He launched himself across the lounge, hurtling past amazed
travellers, leaving them all standing wide eyed in his wake.

“Christ! He’s f
ast!” The officer spoke to Paul as Daniel vaulted over a row of chairs and dodged a group of passengers that blocked his path.

Paul nodded and raised an eyebrow as he finished his beer in one last gulp.

“Yup. Fastest in the squad. No one can get near him when he’s on a roll.” He licked his lips. “Ah! Nothing like English beer! One thing I really missed. All that larger just doesn’t taste quite right.” He glanced towards Daniel, who was just skidding to a stop in front of Carrie. The officer still looked impressed and Paul nodded in Daniel’s direction. “He’d leave them for dead if he ever went in for the hundred meters in the Olympics, the hurdles too, by the looks of the way he jumped those chairs. Well, if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to get back to my wife and son. They’ll be missing me. I only came along to give the sentimental fool a bit of moral support, but by the looks of it, I don’t think Dan is going to want me hanging about for the next few days.” He gave the guard a hefty slap on the back that sent him reeling into the nearest barstool and then he strolled out of the doors.

Daniel stood in front of Carrie, breathing deeply. He didn’t know whether to grab her to him, or kiss her passionately, or scoop her up and swing her round. Instead he stood watching her rub her wrists. He lifted his hand and took one of hers, turning it gently in his huge palm, massaging the redness with the pad of his thumb. He heard her swallow and glanced down into her slate grey eyes. She was staring right back at him, tears clinging to the edge of her dark lashes.

“You didn’t get o
n the plane.” She said hoarsely as a slow teardrop escaped from her eye and ran down her cheek.

He shook his head and gulped noisily. He cleared his throat.

“No. I received your message in time. Or messages, I should say. You’ve left rather a lot of them. I didn’t listen to them all, but I think I got the gist of what you meant.”

Carrie frowned, not understanding what he was talking about. Daniel pulled the old mobile from his inside poc
ket and held it up. She recognized it immediately, noticed the number of messages on it and flushed to the roots of her hair.

“Oh! Where did you find that?” She stammered as she
realized that nearly three years’ worth of, “I love you Daniel.” were now on open display.

Dan
iel shrugged and slipped it back in his pocket.

“At home.
My parent’s old home that is. Don’t you remember? I forgot it when Paul and I left for Birmingham three years ago. We were in such a hurry to see you and Lisa before we caught our flight that night, we decided not to go back for it. I just left it behind. It was still on my bedside cabinet when I went to look at the house after that damned interview earlier today. I bought the house a couple of years back, so my parents could sort themselves out. They’re separated now, but so much happier. It was a bit of a shock to find that they left my room exactly as it was three years ago. I couldn’t believe it. Like some kind of teenage time warp. They even left my stinking old trainers under the bed. I don’t know what made me pick the phone up, probably something to do with the fact that it was the only thing that would fit in my pocket, I suppose. The barman in here in the lounge charged it for me while I waited for my flight.” His voice was barely a whisper. “Your wrists look sore Carrie, have they only just let you out of those cuffs?” He changed the subject.

She shook her head and looked down.

“A couple of hours ago, but I was too afraid to move. My arms are as stiff as boards. I’m not often still for that long.”

Daniel began to move his warm hands slowly up her arms towards her shoulders, sending shivers of pleasure through her slender frame.

“No, I can imagine you’re always on the go.” He rubbed the top of her arms with his fingertips and leaned in a fraction closer to her.

Carrie could feel her heart pounding inside her ribcage as she felt the heat coming from his body.

He slipped a long finger under her chin and stared at her.

She gulped and spoke again.

“I got your letter.” She nearly choked as she looked up into his bluer than blue eyes. “It was delivered this afternoon. Better late than never I suppose…Dad thought he was doing the best thing for me.” She didn’t know what else to say.

Daniel nodded once and then smiled grimly.

“Paul told me everything while we were waiting. I am going to have some serious words with your father about that. I left it with your dad as I didn’t trust the post and I didn’t even know if we would get time to see you at Birmingham. It depended on if Antonio stopped or not. Your father gave me a solemn promise that he would give you that envelope as soon as you were home from that tour.” He lifted her chin further and looked down into her slate grey eyes. They were dark and mysterious and he wanted to keep looking into them forever.

There was a slight crease across his forehead and Carrie raised her hand to trace her finger along it. Dan
iel closed his eyes as her touch seared his skin and he let out a deep groan of longing.

He opened his eyes again immediately as he heard Carrie take in a painful breath. She dropped her hand back to her side. H
er arm hung limply for a moment and then she shook it gently.

“Sorry, I’ve been so cramped up in that room for the last few hours, my shoulder has gone stiff.”

Daniel stepped back a fraction and looked quizzically at her.

“Yes, it probably would, you never really recover fully from an injury like that
bitch gave you. Would some exercises help? Come on now, deep breath in and out, and slowly raise your arms.” His voice flowed over her and she closed her eyes as he intoned the familiar instructions. “Now open them wide and roll your neck gently. Another breath in, no don’t let it out yet.” There was a short pause. Carrie kept her eyes shut and smiled gently as she felt his breath waft over her. “Now, let your breath go and reach up again, higher, go on, all the way or it won’t work, now clasp your hands together and reach forwards.” She smiled even wider as she felt the brush of his hair on the tender skin inside her elbow. He ducked his head under the arch she had made with her arms. “Now bring your arms down, stretch out your fingers, that’s right, bend your elbows a little.”  She could feel his hair in her hands now and the next second she was running her fingertips through the thick dark strands at the back of his neck, then she was pulling his head down to hers.

He groaned again, the sound rumbling in his massive chest as she felt his huge hands encircle her face. His words whispered over her, a mere breath away from her lips.
“God Carrie! You are a complete natural at this…” He prolonged the moment, his breath coming in giant pulls. “I have missed you so much.”

And then his lips touched hers, gently, experimentally at first, then with an edge of desperation.

Fire raged through her whole body as her lips parted, inviting him to taste her.

He needed no more encouragement. He slanted his mouth, his tongue running along her teeth, tasting her sweet
flavour, darting into her delicious mouth. He moved his hands from her face to her body, pulling her into him, lifting her, clasping her as if he were a drowning man thrown a life line.

He could hear his own pulse banging in his ears, nearly deafening him as he held on to the only thing that would ever matter to him for the rest of his
life.

And then Carrie pulled away slightly
, sliding down his body as her feet slipped back to the floor. Her lips were moist and throbbing, reddened by his passion, almost bruised from his crushing kiss, but she was smiling widely, her face now crimson.

Daniel stared
down at her. He wanted so much more, he wanted all of her. Three years was too long for a Saint to wait, let alone a red blooded footballer. He bent to kiss her again, but stopped as he suddenly realized that the deafening roar he could hear wasn’t just his own blood surging around his body or his pulse throbbing violently in his head. It was happening all around him. His eyes flicked over Carrie’s beautiful face once more and then he glanced up to see a crowd of people, passengers and security guards, all standing round, staring at them, cheering and clapping wildly.

He stood back
, grinning sheepishly, and made a small bow. The crowd gave a collective laugh and started talking again as they turned and went back about their own business.

Carrie laughed too. Her heart was soaring in her ch
est as Daniel took her arm. He looked over the crowd and saw the exit light flashing gently. He kissed her quickly again, brushing his cheek against hers as he indicated the exit.

She touched her tingling skin.

“You need a shave.” She said gently. “You needed one the last time I saw you.”