A Life Less Ordinary (45 page)

She
put the sign in the window telling people to call or drop by the next day,
closed the door with a sad sigh and headed to her first appointment.

~~~~~

Daisy
slammed into the house, her face flushed a deep, dark red.  Jakob and Janika
both turned to stare, their eyes wide as they took in the look on her face.

“Mom! 
What happened?” Jakob said, heaving himself up from the couch and limping
towards her.

Daisy
closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath.  She realized her hands were
clenched into tight fists and she forced them to relax.  She opened her eyes
and smiled at her kids.

“Nothing
you need to be worried about,” she assured them, “but I need to talk to your
father as soon as I possibly can.”  She glanced at the clock.  “He’ll be here
to pick you up any minute now.  Could you please tell him I need to talk to him
before you guys go?”

“It’s
never good when she refers to Dad as ‘our father’,” Janika muttered to Jakob.

“True,”
he agreed.

Daisy
reluctantly smiled, but “I need to talk to him alone,” was all she said, before
she headed down the hall to her bedroom.

She
tried calling Rebecca but there was no answer.  She tried Manny next, but there
was no answer there, either.  She sighed, then dialled a third time to check in
with Max.

“Three
strikes and you’re out,” Daisy muttered crossly as her call went to his voice
mail.  She huffed as she tossed the phone on the bed.

There
was a knock and Hub poked his head around the bedroom door.

“The
kids said you wanted to see me,” he said.

She
bared her teeth in a caricature of her normal smile.  “That’s a bit too
generous,” she said, “but I want to talk to you, that’s for damn sure.  Get in
here.”

Hub
came into the room, closing the door behind him, an annoyed frown on his face.

Daisy
stood and faced him, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

“I
had a very interesting meeting with our bank manager today,” she said coldly.

Hub’s
frown deepened.  “So?”

“So? 
So! 
So there’s no fucking money in our accounts!  What did you do with
it?”

Hub
paled.  “What do you mean there’s no fucking money in our accounts?” he
demanded.

“I
mean,” she hissed, “they’re empty!  All of them!  Zeroed out!  Not a penny to
be seen!  What did you do?  Did you move everything to a – a – an account in
the Caymans or something?”

“Jesus,
Daisy -” Hub muttered, sinking down on the bed, his face grey, “I didn’t do
anything with the money – I swear!”

She
scowled furiously at him.  “Then what the hell
happened
?”

He
dazedly shook his head.  “I don’t -”  Suddenly his head snapped up and he
glared at her. “Wait a minute – how do I know you haven’t taken the money to
pay off gambling debts?”

Daisy
gaped at him, then burst into bitter laughter.  “I don’t gamble that much!  And
I sure as hell wouldn’t lose over six hundred thousand dollars in one shot! 
And no, I don’t owe money to the mob, nor were they the ones who really broke
Jakob’s leg!  God, Hub – give your head a shake!”

“Well,
if you didn’t take it, and I didn’t take it -” Hub snapped.

They
stared at each other, eyes huge.

“Then
somebody stole it,” Daisy said flatly.  She shook her head and scrabbled her
cell phone out from the blankets.

“Who
are you calling?” Hub asked.

Daisy
laughed a short, sharp, almost hysterical laugh.  “Who do you
think
? 
The police first, then my lawyer, then I’m going to call Max.  Again.  And I’m
going to keep calling him until he picks up his
fucking phone
!”

“Max?”
Hub asked sharply.  “What for?”

Daisy
rolled her eyes and shook her head.  “He’s a private eye – why do you think?”

~~~~~

Rebecca
stared in horrified disbelief as Daisy finished speaking.

“Sweet
Jesus,” she murmured, then she shook her head and said, “We need something
stronger than tea.”

Daisy
huffed a watery chuckle.  “That – would be good.”

Rebecca
bustled to the wet bar and came back with a bottle of tequila and a couple of
shot glasses.  Neither woman said another word until they’d each tossed back
two shots in rapid succession.

They
sat back with a sigh.

“Any
leads?” Rebecca asked.

Daisy
shrugged.  “The police are investigating now.  The only thing we know for sure
is that the money was stolen over a relatively long period of time – a couple
of weeks for sure; possibly even a month.  Whoever did it is pretty
sophisticated, too – they’re still trying to find the trail.”

“But
– I mean, over six hundred thousand dollars, Daisy!  You never noticed when it
– I don’t know – dipped under four hundred thousand?”

Daisy
shrugged helplessly.  “I only checked the accounts once a month at most even
before we separated.  Then savings accounts were frozen while we worked out a
settlement.  Well, I mean, the bank required both of our signatures before they
would release any money to either of us.  Honestly?  I haven’t even looked at
the accounts since I started divorce proceedings.  Hub was the same way.  And
here we are.”

Rebecca
frowned, her eyes narrowed as she rolled the shot glass against her lips.

“That’s
pretty dangerous,” she said slowly.  “Somebody stealing over a period of time,
I mean, even if it’s no more than a month in total.  They would have had no way
of knowing when the thefts would be noticed.  Unless...”

“Unless
it’s somebody who knows us,” Daisy said flatly. 

“And
knows you well,” Rebecca agreed.

They
stared silently at each other.

Finally
Rebecca said, “What’s the other woman’s name?”

* * * * *

“TJ,
I’m home,” Leah said hurrying into the bedroom.  “You should have been up by
now.  The new nurse will be here any min -” She stopped short as she took in
his flushed face and labored breathing.

She
frowned as she perched on the bed beside him and felt his forehead.

“You’re
burning up,” she said, concerned.

“I
think I’m having a relapse,” TJ croaked, his words coming in short, painful
spurts.  Leah’s frown deepened.

“You
sound awful,” she said.

TJ
leaned his head back.  “I feel worse,” he sighed, his eyes closing.

“The
nurse will be here in less than half an hour,” Leah soothed.  “Maybe she can
give you something to help.”

He
barely nodded, a frown on his face as he concentrated on his breathing.

Leah
sat with him, watching his chest rise and fall, and the seconds crawled by as
she waited for the nurse.

TJ
didn’t stir when the doorbell finally rang.

Leah
raced to the door, and she babbled all the information she had to the new nurse
as they walked up the stairs.

The
woman, a comfortably cozy figure, soothed Leah as much as she could before she
went into the bedroom.  Leah waited anxiously as the nurse gently called TJ’s
name.  She straightened sharply when the nurse called TJ’s name again, and then
again, each time louder and more urgent than the last.

Leah
burst into the room just as the nurse lifted her cell phone to her ear with one
hand, her other hand on TJ’s wrist.  The room spun as Leah heard the nurse
speaking, but nothing made sense.  Through a dull roar, she heard words like
unresponsive and erratic and numbers like 104.5, and all she could do was stand
there, feeling useless as her world trembled beneath her feet.  The trembling
built to a quaking as the ambulance arrived, the paramedics swarmed into the house,
and TJ was finally wheeled out on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his
face.

The
nurse put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll
drive you to the hospital,” she offered quietly.

It
took a moment for the words to sink in, then Leah jerked a short nod, gathered
her purse and keys with shaking hands, and followed the nurse outside without a
word.

“How
bad is he?” Zeke demanded.  He scrubbed the sleep from his eyes – what little
he’d managed – and felt the rasp of stubble against his palms.  He wondered if
he looked as bad as he felt; the rental car wasn’t as spacious as the van.

“He’s
stable,” Leah sighed wearily.  “He’s going to get worse before he gets better,
but the doctors have assured me he’s in no danger of dying – at the moment,
anyway.”

“Leah
-”

“I’m
sorry, Zeke.  He’s very sick, but he’s going to be okay.  I promise.”

“
I’m about an hour out
of Orlando.  I’ll head straight to the airport and catch the first plane I can
get,” Zeke said grimly.

Leah
hesitated, then said, “No – don’t.”

“What?”
Zeke exploded.  “TJ needs me! 
You
need me!”

“There’s
nothing for you to do here, Zeke, except hold my hand.”

“He’d
want me to hold your hand!  He’d want me to take care of you!”

“I
know,” Leah said fondly, “but while I would love to have you here, taking care
of me – I don’t
need
you here taking care of me.”

Zeke
drew in sharp breath, hurt in his wide hazel eyes.

“Zeke,
I’m okay.  He’s stable – and he’s been asleep more than he’s been awake.  But
he has been awake and talking to me.  If you come home, all we can really do is
sit and watch and wait for him to get better.”

“I
can do that.”

Leah
laughed shakily.  “I know you can, but you have some fences to mend where you
are.”

“Manny? 
She doesn’t even know I’m still here, and I have no idea where she is right now
either, since I stopped following her in order to get to Orlando faster. 
Whether I stay or go – it doesn’t make a difference.  Not here.”

Leah
lowered her head, and pinched the bridge of her nose.  She hadn’t slept since
they’d taken TJ out of the house, and she had a pounding headache.

“I
would love to have you here, Zeke.  To have you hold my hand as we watch him
sleep.  And TJ would be touched beyond belief.”

“I’ll
get on the next plane.”

“Zeke...Manny’s
the first woman you’ve ever chased after.”

Zeke
scowled as he stared out the windshield.

“She
means something to you,” Leah said gently.  “I mean – she really
means
something to you.  I think Manny’s the only woman you’ve ever actually liked –
besides me, I mean.”

“I
like women!”

“No
– you’re attracted to women – but you don’t like them very much.  You’re not
even always sure about me.”

Zeke
hesitated, then muttered, “She could have been a friend.”

“Do
you still have a crush on her?”

Zeke
huffed a laugh.  “No.  You were right about that.  But – I like her.  And I
don’t want her to think I – I just used her.”

“
Then find her.  TJ’s
stable.  If that changes, I’ll call.”  She laughed shakily. “You can be damn
sure of that!”

Zeke
hesitated, biting his lip, scowling as he wavered.

Leah
sighed.  “How about this?  You talk to Manny and if you can’t get her to see
the light, come home.”

“Are
you sure you’ll be okay on your own, Leah?  I mean really okay?”

“I’m
sure.  The doctors are optimistic even though they still don’t know exactly
what’s wrong.  I’m going to go get some sleep in his room and then head to the
office for a few hours.  See what’s happening there.” 

“Okay. 
I’m going to head into Orlando and find a place to stay.  If anything changes,
Leah – seriously.  No matter the time – I’ll get home as fast as I can.”

“You’re
a good guy, Zeke,” Leah said softly, “and a good friend.  I’ll call you later.”

Zeke
disconnected the call and blinked away sudden hot moisture from his eyes before
he started the engine and continued on to Orlando

~~~~~

Manny
stared up at the motel room’s ceiling and tried to will herself to sleep.  She
was planning on spending the day exploring Disneyworld and she wanted to be
rested before she braved the crowds and lineups.

I’d
be able to get to sleep if you would just shut up,
she complained to
Harvey.

Harvey
propped his head on his hand as he rested on his side beside her.

You
should read the blogs.

No.

You
don’t know what he said about you.