All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) (37 page)

Over the loudspeaker, t
he pilot announced their descent into Logan International Airport. Polly
had attempted to sleep, but it quickly became apparent her mind wouldn't allow
her to relax, so she kept her eyes closed.
Anything to avoid talking with Joey.
After the announcement, he tentatively touched her
arm. "Polly?
Honey?
We're almost home. My car is waiting in short-term parking and soon we
will be able to have everything I've always wanted. I'm so excited to begin our
new life together.
Just you and me with no one to interfere."

Polly opened her eyes and glared at him. "I told
you not to touch me. Get your hand off my arm or I will make an incredible
scene. I don't think you want that to happen while we're still on the plane,
now do you?"

He retracted his arm and said, "I love that you
have so much spirit. I don't want you to ever lose that
,
because I
believe it will make our children successful, but you are going to have to find
it in your heart to forgive me for the things I did last spring. Maybe that
will finally allow you to show me how much you truly love me. I've been patient
this summer and I can afford to be patient a little longer, because I know in
the end we will be together forever."

Polly could barely contain her shudder. His words
seemed like some hideous parody of an awful movie in which the serial killer
dressed dead bodies in wedding gowns. She could barely wait to get on the
ground, even if it was to get in his car. There would be opportunities to get
away from him and now they were on her turf. She had friends in Boston and she
knew how to get to them.

The plane landed and taxied to a gate. It was an
interminable wait, but Polly did her best to stay calm. From this moment she
would be on high alert, looking for any opportunity to break away. Joey
had to be exhausted since h
e hadn't slept the night before. S
oon he would begin to relax and let his guard down.

They waited while other passengers disembarked, then
he stood and pulled their luggage out of the overhead compartment. She took her
purse from him as he handed it to her and then accepted the overnight bag as
well. Walking in front of him, she exited the plane. As soon as he was able, he
once again grabbed her elbow. Polly tried to pull away, but his fingers dug in
and held on. "Don't try to get away, Polly. You're the love of my life and
we'll soon be home where you can be happy."

She did what she could to maintain her composure and
continued walking. Polly glanced around, looking for anything that might allow
her to get away. Then, she saw it. Drea
Renaldi
was there with her brothers standing beside
her. Polly nearly collapsed with relief, until she saw Drea's nearly
imperceptible shake of the head. She was telling Polly not to do anything.

What in the world did she mean by this? Drea's
brothers dropped back and followed them, while Drea turned aside so Joey
wouldn't see her. He guided Polly through the crowd and she allowed him to
continue, wondering what might be happening.

They exited the terminal and he began to walk toward a
shuttle for long-term parking, but as soon as they cleared the doors and were
on the street, Polly heard a thump and felt him drop away from her. He was on
the ground, out cold, with two smiling Renaldi brothers standing over him. Drea
ran up and pulled Polly in close.

"You're here and you're safe,” she cried.
“
Oh, Polly, I've been so worried."

Polly's eyes filled and she began to sob
uncontrollably. Then she leaned over into the gutter and retched. She looked at
Joey on the ground and retched again.
Drea,
pulled a bottle of water out of her bag and some wet
wipes. She
wiped Polly's face and asked,
"D
id you get it all out? Are you
better yet?"

"I think so,” Polly said. Her legs were trembling
and bile filled her throat.

"Swish some of this around in your mouth and
spit."

Polly obeyed,
then
said, "I'm so sorry" and began sobbing
again.

"It's alright, Polly." Ray came up to stand
beside her. He reached out a
nd patted her
on the shoulder.

She looked at him and said, "Oh, I'm a pretty
sight, aren't I?" then giggled.

"You're fine, Polly. You're always fine. Don't
you worry about a thing." he replied.

She looked down at the man slumped on the street in
front of her and bile rose in her throat again. Without a second thought,
Polly
pulled her
left leg back and kicked him right in the balls
, and then she
picked up her
suitcase and turned back into Drea's arms. A Boston police car drove up, two
cops got out and spoke for a few minutes with Drea's brothers, obviously
laughing at what had just happened. They picked Joey up, pulled his arms behind
his back, placed handcuffs on him and put him in the backseat of the car. Joey
had come to when he was kicked and he struggled to maintain his posture, but
doubled over on himself.

"We'll need you to come in tomorrow morning and
file a complaint, Ms. Giller. Jon and Ray here will bring you
and
I'm sure
they'll take care of everything else for you. Don't worry, we've got this. Go
get some
rest
."

Ray, the older brother, whistled for a taxi, and put
his sister and Polly in the back seat. "We'll be by first thing in the
morning, Polly girl. You're alright now."

"Wait!" she said. "I don't know what
just happened. Thank you. Oh, thank yo
u,"
and she began to cry again.

"Don't worry, Polly," Ray said. "Drea
will tell you everything tonight, I'm sure. She's your savior, we're only the
muscle." He punched his brother in the chest. "And that was fun!"

Polly watched them through the back window as the taxi
pulled away and into traffic.

"Drea," she started,
then
slumped into the seat.

Drea scooted
next
to her friend, pulled her close and held on while
Polly cried.

"You need to call your friends in Iowa," she
said finally, picking Polly's purse up off the floor of the taxi. "They're
worried about you."

"How did? How do you? What happened here today?"
Polly stammered.

"I tell you what. It's a great story, but first
you make a call to your friend, Lydia. She's probably started walking
east
already. Tell
them you're safe. We'll go back to my apartment, pour a few glasses of wine
apiece and tell each other what happened today."

Polly opened her purse and dug around for her cell
phone. It wasn't there. Then, she remembered. "I don't have it anymore. Joey
took it and it's in his back pocket."

"Oh, alright."
Drea replied, "Here, use mine. Lydia's number is
probably the last call on there an
yway."
She scrolled through the call list
,
pressed
‘send’
and
handed the
phone to Polly.

"Have you found her yet? Did he take her to
Boston?"
Lydia’s voice came ringing
through the phone.

"She found me, Lydia. I'm with her right now. I'm
alright." Polly said, her throat choking up at the sound of her friend's
voice.

"Oh, Polly.
I'm so glad to hear your voice. We've been worried
sick today." Lydia pulled away from the phone and said, "She's
alright. She's with her friend!" Polly heard shouts and yells in the
background.

"I have a houseful of people, Polly. It's not a
party without you though. I'm not going to ask you for all the details tonight,
but tomorrow I want you to call me and tell me everything, then tell me when
you're coming back home, alright?
”

Lydia took a breath,
and continued,
"Oh, Polly.
I'm thankful you're safe. We're all so thankful you're safe."
S
he paused. "Doug
wants to say something to you."

Polly heard her say to Doug, "Here you are,
honey. Tell her you're doing fine."
T
hen Doug's voice was in her ear.

"Polly. I wish I would have been stronger. I'm so
sorry we didn't take him down last night. I'm so sorry he messed with you."

Polly began to sob. "Doug. Thank you. You did
everything right. I'm fine and I'll be home soon and then, I swear to you. I'm
taking you out for steak. Are you all right?" She snorted and sobbed
through the words and hoped he'd be able to understand.

"I'm okay. The doc says I'll be good as new in a
week. Take care of yourself, Polly. Here's Lydia."

Lydia’s voice
returned
, "What
did you do to that poor boy. Hi
s face is all red ... Oh, there, now he's crying. What
a bunch of soggy we've got going on here." She blew her nose loudly on the
other end of the phone and said, "Beryl says to tell you that first thing
when you get back, she's taking you to Victoria's Secret, because you have to
attract some better men than that thing. Everyone wants you to know they're
happy you're alright and that you are supposed to come home soon. Got it?"

"Okay,
Lydia
,
got it
. I'll
call you tomorrow. Thank you, it seems, for everything."

"Good bye dear."

Polly pressed the button to end the call and handed
the phone
back
to Drea, who exchanged
it
for a wad of tissues.
Then,
Polly leaned her head back
on the seat and shut her eyes. She reached her hand
out
and Drea
gripped it. They sat in silence
until the
taxi came to a stop
in front of Drea's
apartment.

The two girls went up the steps and into the building
where the night receptionist recognized Polly.
"Hi
,
Polly!
Welcome back to Boston! It's been too long."

"Hello, Frances. It's nice to see you."

"I hope you have a good stay with us. Good
evening, Miss Renaldi."

"Good evening, Frances." Drea replied.

They took the elevator to the fifth floor and didn't
see anyone else. When they reached Drea's apartment door, she unlocked it and
motioned Polly inside. Drea flipped the lights on and Polly kicked her shoes
off in the foyer. She'd been here often enough to know that Drea didn't
appreciate shoes on her carpet.

"Come on in, Polly. Sit down and I'll be right
back with some wine."

Polly sat down on the end of the sofa, curling her
legs underneath her. In a few moments, Drea returned with two glasses of white
wine, knowing Polly's aversion to anything red and a plate with some soft
cheese and Italian bread slices.

Drea set everything on the table in front of the sofa,
tossed a blanket over Polly's lap and then curled up on the other end, sharing
the blanket.

"Are you doing alright, now?" Drea asked.

"I am. It's good to be here with you."

"Do you want to talk about your day yet?"

Polly took a sip of wine. "Really, I think I want
to hear about your day. How did you know to come find me?"

"Well, I will be glad to tell you, but first you
have to eat something or else that wine is going to seriously mess you
up." Drea leaned back in the couch with her glass and began to tell her
side of the story
after watching
her friend
take
a slice of bread and a piece of cheese.

"My understanding is that Lydia
went over
to
your school
to take you to the hospital
for that boy Joey beat up. When she couldn’t get in,
she refused to accept that everything was fine. She
called her
husband, who got hold of a key
and h
e opened up the school. She ran
upstairs, saw your clothes were gone and made him start calling people. Then,
she called everyone in town ... it's not a big town, right?"

Polly laughed. "No, it's not a big town at all."

"She called your friends and they went to the
school to create a plan of attack. Her husband wanted to call the FBI because
he was sure you'd been kidnapped, but of course there's that whole 48-hour
thing and he didn't have enough to prove your life was threatened and you
hadn't gone somewhere on your own.

"Then, Lydia remembered you saying something
about putting a recording on your laptop and some boy remembered seeing you put
the laptop
with the candy?

Polly nodded. "Billy. I did that ... wow, was
that just last night? I jammed it down in the cupboard to get it out of the
way."