The Candidate's Wife (19 page)

At his words, panic ran hot through Julia's veins. She clutched at his arm, her nails digging into his tense muscles. "Adam, please -- not yet! If Frank gets scared, if he runs. . . . I could lose Danny forever!"

As Adam pulled away, a worried scowl clouding his features. "It's up to you, Julia, but I really think --"

The phone rang. They both turned to stare at it. "Danny knows our private number," Julia whispered.

The phone rang again.

Julia swallowed hard and picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Jules. I think you know why I'm calling."

Julia's skin crawled at the sound of Frank's familiar, oily voice. She met Adam's eyes and nodded. "Hello, Frank," she said coldly. "Is Danny all right?"

"He's fine. He's just fine. Want to talk to him?"

"Please." Relief made Julia force the word out past gathering sobs.

"Mom?" Danny's voice sounded more high-pitched than usual. "Mom, is that you?"

Julia lifted a trembling hand to her throat. "Hi, buddy. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Danny paused. "Mom, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have sneaked out to play video games, not after how you talked to me about being careful and all. I guess you're not really hurt like Frank said, are you?"

Julia 's vision blurred. She blinked back stinging tears. "No, Danny, I'm just fine."

"Am I in trouble, Mom?" His voice wavered.

Julia blinked again. Hot tears stole down her cheeks. "No, buddy, you're not in trouble. I'm going to make sure you get home soon, very soon --"

Frank's voice cut in. "That's right, Jules. We're going to make a deal, aren't we, babe? You're gonna be smart about this, right?"

Julia straightened her shoulders and dashed her tears away. Adam's blazing eyes on her face and his roughened hands around hers gave her the strength to speak with a hint of steel in her tone. "What do you want, Frank?"

"Just my fair share, babe. Call it alimony."

"How much?"

"A hundred thousand dollars."

Julia's eyes widened. "A hundred -- that's crazy, Frank."

"Your husband can get the cash easy. He'll never even miss it." His voice took on a hint of a whine. "Gimme the money and you never have to see me again, I swear, and you'll get Danny back safe and sound."

"And if I don't bring the money?" Julia asked softly. "You wouldn't hurt Danny, would you? Your own son?"

"Nah." Frank suddenly sounded sheepish. "I won't hurt him." His voice hardened again. "But I'll make good and sure you never see him again, Jules. I can do it. I know how to disappear. I'm not too bad at hiding out. I've done it plenty of times."

A chill of terror shook Julia to the bone. She couldn't stand the thought of losing Danny forever, or bear to contemplate the ways in which Frank's influence might twist and damage her beloved son. She met Adam's eyes, and he nodded grimly. "All right," Julia said. "All right, Frank. You win. Just tell us where to meet you."

"The Lookout. Remember?"

"I remember. It'll take us a few hours to get there."

"Meet me at around 10:30. Just you and the senator, no one else. No cops. I mean it. I smell anything funny, I'm gone, and then I don't tell you where I'm keeping Danny, see?"

"Don't worry," Julia said through gritted teeth. "You'll get your money, Frank. You just take good care of my son."

"Our son." Frank laughed, an unpleasant sound to Julia's ears. "See you soon, Jules." There was a click, and then, after a moment, the dial tone.

Julia clutched the receiver for several long seconds before she finally set it down. She felt tired and numb, as if she'd just run a marathon or woken from a nightmare. But this particular bad dream wasn't over yet. The world was a crazy place, she understood that now. She couldn't even keep her son safe from his own father.

Adam smoothed her hair back from her face. His eyes darkened with concern. "Julia?"

His touch and his voice broke the trance. She gave herself a mental shake. "Yes. Okay. He wants $100,000, delivered to a place I know in Cypress Point. It's a sea cliff called the Lookout. High school kids used to go there to fool around -- probably still do -- but it's deserted during the daytime. He says if I bring him the money, he'll tell me where he's keeping Danny."

"Julia, I still think the police -- the FBI --"

She pulled away from him as panic threatened again, this time like icy fingers on the back of her neck. "No, Adam. Please. They'll take over, you know they will. What if they do the wrong thing? They don't care about Danny like I do."

He reached out to caress her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Julia, think. We can't do this alone. Frank is a dangerous man." He laid his fingers across her mouth to quiet the objections bubbling to her lips. "Maybe he's not a violent person, but he's desperate and he's scared. There's no telling what will happen in Cypress Point. He'll probably have some kind of weapon, at the very least."

Julia's mind spun as she struggled to decide what to do. Adam was right. They needed help. "All right," she said slowly. "I'll call Dylan. My brothers will help us. They would never do anything to put Danny at risk."

Adam nodded. "Good. You do that. I'll call Phil and tell him to manage things here. We leave in fifteen minutes."

Julia nodded, then stopped as she heard the echo of Adam's last words. Her heart gave a jolt as she realized what he'd said. In her fear for Danny, she'd forgotten all about the election. "Adam, what do you mean, 'we'? The debate -- it's at 11 o'clock. You can't go with me and still make it back in time!"

His mouth pressed into a firm, hard line as he met her eyes. "I'm well aware of that."

"But the election's tomorrow. You're behind in the polls. If you don't debate Norris, you're almost certain to lose." She spoke coolly, but behind her words lurked a fear that went beyond her terror for her son. She knew Adam was driven, ambitious, and determined to win. He'd even been willing to marry a stranger to do it. Now, with the chips down, which would he chose -- his chance at power, or the wife and stepson he'd never even wanted? She held her breath as she waited for Adam's reply.

He was staring at her in disbelief. "Hell, Julia, do you really think I'd let you deal with this alone? Do you think the election means so much to me that I'd abandon my family?"

Despite her concern for Danny, Julia felt a warm glow of happiness spread through her abdomen. She lifted her eyes to meet his. "I wasn't sure," she admitted softly.

She tried to look away, to hide the naked emotion on her face, but Adam gave her no opportunity. He caught her chin in his hand. "Well, let me make sure you do understand -- the answers are 'no' and 'no' again, Julia. My father put politics before his family all of his life, but I will never do that. Never." He pulled her close for a brief, fierce hug. "Let's get moving, sweetheart. We've got long drive ahead of us."

About an hour later, Julia sat quietly in the passenger seat of her ancient station wagon. Adam drove, the only sign of tension his white knuckles on the steering wheel. They had decided to use Julia's car in case reporters had the apartment building staked out. It was a good call. As they made their escape, Julia had spotted news vans from at least three channels parked along the street, waiting for the morning's first video of the candidate and his wife.

Adam and Julia had made one quick detour to the bank on the way to the freeway. The ransom money now lay between them on the seat, one thousand hundred-dollar bills tucked away in Adam's leather briefcase.

As the miles slipped away, Julia stole another look at the man in the driver's seat. Adam was sunk deep in thought, his jaw tense and his eyes dark with anger, anger clearly aimed at Frank. Julia shivered a little and averted her eyes. Adam wasn't going to let Frank have that money unless Danny's safety depended on it. He'd made that clear, and Julia knew he was right.

If Frank got away with the kidnapping, she would never feel safe again. She would always know that Frank lurked out there, somewhere, and that when the money was gone he would inevitably come back for more.

Adam glanced over at her, then reached out and touched the back of her hand. "It's going to be all right, Julia, Dylan's plan is a good one. It's simple, which means there's less room for error." He gave her one of his sweet, reassuring smiles, the one that nearly broke her heart every time she saw it. "Another three hours, and you'll have Danny in your arms again."

"I hope you're right." Julia tried to smile back, but failed. "It's just that -- well, what if something goes wrong? What if Frank gets away? What if my son's trapped somewhere, alone and afraid. . . ." Her throat tightened, and she couldn't continue.

For a moment, as his mouth twisted and his eyes clouded, Adam looked completely unlike the suave, polished politician Julia had come to know. He looked dangerous, menacing, and entirely capable of violence. "Give me five minutes alone with Frank, and he'll tell us, the bastard."

"Adam --"

He sighed. "I know, I know, but for Danny I'd do just about anything." He turned his eyes back to the road, which lay before them like a black ribbon, asphalt darkened by the morning rains. "I can't possibly understand what you're going through, Julia. You're Danny's mother. But, sweetheart, I love that kid too. I really do."

Julia nodded. "I know," she said, over the lump in her throat.

They sat in silence as the highway wound along the coast, its tree-lined banks giving way every so often to startling glimpses of windswept beaches and a slate-gray sea. It was an overcast day. Rain threatened but never seemed to fall. Traffic had thinned to a trickle, and only a handful of cars trailed out on the road behind them.

With a jolt, Julia remembered the election. She turned to Adam. "Did you call Phil? What did he say when you asked him to cancel the debate?"

Adam made a gruff sound halfway between laughter and dismay. "He was pretty angry at first. Of course, for Phil, that means he sounded vaguely worried and a little sad. But I told him I had to take care of a family emergency. He said he'd do his best to keep things under control."

Julia grimaced. She knew that wouldn't be easy, not with the media hungry for last-minute stories. "What will he say, that you've mysteriously disappeared, and now you refuse to appear for a debate that's been scheduled for months? It's going to look strange, Adam. There'll be speculation, rumors, bad press. . . ." And if Adam lost because of it, he might hold it against her. But she couldn't bring herself to care much about that, not with Danny gone.

Adam was nodding. "I know, but we have no choice. We can't go public with this, not until Danny's safe. After that we'll control the damage the best we can." He glanced over at Julia, his expression serious. "None of it's important right now, Julia. I mean that."

She met his eyes, then nodded. "I know. But I'm sorry anyway."

He reached over, squeezed her hand, then let it go. "Don't be."

They rode in silence for several minutes. Finally, Julia switched on the radio. An ad for a used car lot ended, and then she heard Norris's familiar, booming voice. "Tomorrow, when you cast your vote for governor, I want you to think about these words. Experience. Trust. Family. What this state needs is a family man they can trust. A role model for our youth."

Julia and Adam exchanged glances. She reached out and switched off the campaign commercial before Norris could go on. She didn't bother changing the station. Norris would be flooding the airwaves today, spending all that logging money. It wasn't fair. She remembered Danny's words, on an early trip down this same coast: "Adam's the best candidate. He'll win." If only it were that simple. If only life were really like that.

Danny. If anything happened to Danny, she didn't know how she'd survive. For so long, he had been her whole world. She remembered the sweet, milky, newborn smell of him, and the day he'd said his first word, "no". His second word, to no one's surprise, was "mine". Danny had always had a mind of his own, a nimble, inventive mind that never failed to delight her. She remembered the time he'd cut his own hair, and ended up nearly bald. Then there was his "inventor" stage, when she hardly dared enter his room for fear of ending up buried in his gadgets and spare parts.

Oh, she had a million memories, memories to make her laugh and cry and laugh again. Would she ever have more? Would she look back, years from now, and remember Danny's first date, the day he got his driver's license, his high school graduation? Or would she lose him forever?

Again, Adam broke the silence. "We're nearly to Cypress Point. Where is this Lookout?"

Julia glanced out the window, oriented herself, and pointed south. "Keep going through town. I'll tell you when to turn right. The road's overgrown, and not easy to find."

"And your brothers?"

"They'll be ready." Julia just hoped their timing would be perfect. It had to be. "The turnoff's just ahead there, Adam."

Adam pulled off the road onto a dirt and gravel lane half hidden by encroaching pines, alder, huckleberries, and creeping tendrils of Himalayan blackberry. Branches brushed the windows of the station wagon as they drove through the dim tunnel of forest. Then the road emerged from the trees, turned up a low hill and became a wide, grassy track.