Change of Harte (Harte, #2) (Harte Series) (7 page)

Chapter 13

Red, orange, black…black…black.

Julian was always asleep when the nightmare took hold. But today, for the first time in twenty-three years, he was thinking about it while wide awake. The memory seared his brain, just as the smoke had stung his lungs that night. His father told him once, while checking under his bed for scary monsters, that ‘there’s nothing to be scared of in the dark.’ But his father was wrong. Two days later, Julian learned that there was everything to be scared of in the dark. And the dark was more vicious than he’d imagined. It stole his parents. Even now, as a grown man, he hated the dark, but he’d taught himself to embrace it. Forced himself to accept it even though it was a constant reminder of everything and everyone he’d lost. He was only a child, and as much as he knew that, as much as he’s tried to tell himself there was nothing he could have done, he could never escape the guilt of not being able to save his parents. But he was a man now, a few years shy of his father’s age. Failing was for children.

Julian checked his phone again from the comfort of the backseat of his Maybach. Last night he’d instructed his jet to turn around immediately and return with Anthony and Mrs. Cartwright. He didn’t know how long he’d be in New York or New Jersey and he needed familiar staff who he could trust around him. Mrs Cartwright went straight to Julian’s Long Island estate and Anthony came straight to collect him from the coffee shop.

Anthony hadn’t said more than hello and Julian had simply patted his chauffeur and friend on the back, sat into the car, and not spoken since. Each time Julian listened to the voicemail on his phone, it chilled him a little more.

The hospital seemed so much smaller this morning when they pulled up outside. It seemed greyer, too, like the whole building was ill, if an illusion like that is even possible. There was no hesitating outside or lingering in the corridors like last night. Julian was rushing to the ward. Not noticing that he was just as capable of turning heads in his loose grey jeans and lightly padded back jacket as he was in his suit.

A different nurse greeted him at the ICU unit, older and less friendly. She didn’t speak.

‘I’m here to see Cameron Andrews,’ Julian said.

The nurse nodded, still not speaking. She turned and walked away and Julian suspected that was his signal to follow. He could find his way to Cameron by himself, but he knew that wasn’t the etiquette.

Everything seemed exaggerated compared to yesterday. The pungent smell of detergent, the poignant silence, the eerie sense of impending death.

Another nurse adjusted the drip flowing into Cameron’s arm. She seemed startled by Julian’s sudden presence. ‘Mr. Harte,’ she said, finally.

‘I came as soon as I got the call.’

‘And Mrs. Harte?’

Julian shook his head.

This nurse wasn’t quite as capable of holding her tongue as her colleague the night before. ‘Mr. Andrews is terminal, Mr. Harte. I know the snow might be causing some delays, but if Mrs. Harte intends to fly over from Ireland, now really is the best time.’

Julian sucked in air through his nostrils until his chest hurt. He looked at Cameron, who was dismally close to a skeleton. Just a paper-thin cover of blotchy greyish skin hinted that he was clinging to life. Hopeful that Cameron could still hear, Julian refrained from replying to the nurse in the manner he would like to.

The older nurse ushered the younger nurse out the door. ‘We’ll be just outside,’ she said, suddenly very softly spoken.

Julian didn’t even turn his head to acknowledge their departure.

‘Cameron, we had a deal. I was bringing Eva here today, I still am. You need to hold on, okay.’

Cameron was so still it was hard to tell if he was unconscious or just sleeping.

‘You asked me yesterday if I’d found her? I realise now you weren’t talking about Eva.’ Julian thought he saw Cameron’s eyelids flutter. But the more he watched the old man’s stagnant body, the more he resigned that he was mistaken.

‘I know now that you meant Melissa.’ Julian dropped his head as he said Eva’s sister’s name. ‘I know where she is, Cameron. And I’m going to help her. You have my word.’

Julian looked up again to find Cameron’s eyes open. The once crisp blue was faded to a murky grey and they glistened with tears.

‘I’m on my way to get her now. You just have to hold on a little while. You have my word, now I need yours.’

Cameron blinked and Julian could see a hint of a smile form at the sides of his open mouth.

Julian’s phone pulsed against his groin inside his jeans pocket. He had umpteen missed calls from Eva, Shelly, Pam, and Mia. Julian ran his index finger over the bridge of his nose. He currently had one priority and every time he thought about where she was, vomit churned in the pit of his stomach.

He returned one of his many missed calls.

‘I’m on my way downstairs now. I’ll see you outside in five minutes. We’re not going back to the hotel yet. I need to make a pit stop.’

‘Okay, sure Mr. Harte. Where?’ Anthony asked.

‘Vertigo. It’s on 44
th
Street…’

Anthony laughed. ‘None of my business, Mr. Harte, but isn’t it a bit early for a strip club? Will the place even be open at this time?’

‘It’s a gentleman’s club.’

‘Of course,’ Anthony said, struggling to stifle his sniggering now.

‘And I certainly hope it’s not open. I’d rather catch the non-gentleman who runs it outside of office hours.’

Anthony’s laughing ended abruptly. ‘Is everything all right, Mr. Harte?’

‘No, Anthony. Everything is most certainly not all right. But it will be. I’m at the doors. I see you. Let’s go.’

Chapter 14

‘Shouldn’t we leave something for Nathan?’ Eva asked, looking at the last of the breakfast laid out on the table.

For someone so tiny, Shelly had just put away an eye-popping amount of food.

‘I’m sure he’s perfectly capable of ordering room service.’

Eva glanced back at the bedroom door that was slightly ajar. She was surprised he’d managed to sleep through all their giggling and snorting and laughing so much their stomachs hurt.

‘So, today,’ Eva said biting into a delicious pancake, ‘I thought we could do some of the touristy stuff. The Empire State building maybe? Could give ice-skating at Rockefeller Centre a go, but it might be crazy busy at this time of year.’

‘How about a walk in Central Park? I could really do with the fresh air.’

‘Yeah, sure. Whatever you want. It’s absolutely freezing out there, though.’

‘Don’t care. Need to clear my head.’

Eva couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but Shelly didn’t seem herself at all. She put it down to travelling, but even that didn’t seem enough to have Shelly this distracted. It was weird.

‘Will we wait for Nathan to get up?’

Shelly polished off the last of her second muffin and shook her head. ‘Nope.’

Eva didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t expecting that response. ‘Oh, erm, okay. Well, maybe just leave him a message to join us later?’

‘Nope,’ Shelly repeated.

‘Shell, is everything okay?’

‘Nope.’

‘Erm, can I get more than that one word?’

‘Okay. How about I couldn’t give a shit what that fucking arse is doing today, but whatever it is, I don’t want him anywhere near me. There. Is that a better reply?’

Eva looked at the ground and then back up at her friend. ‘Shell, what’s wrong? I thought you two were really tight.’

‘We were.’

‘So, what happened then?’

‘I just realised that he wasn’t who he pretended to be, and I can’t handle that kind of shit. Fuck, no.’

Eva looked at the ground again, and this time she didn’t look back up.

‘Ah, Jesus, Eva. That came out wrong.’

‘Did he pretend to be an escort, work his way into your life, make you fall in love with him, and then reveal in front of
everyone
, FUCKING EVERYONE, that he was actually your boss screwing with your head all along?’

Shelly burst out laughing, so hard it rained mushy chocolate chip muffin from her mouth.

‘Well, no. The crown for effort is definitely still firmly on Julian’s head.’

Eva laughed, too. It was all so unbelievably ridiculous that there really wasn’t any other reaction.

‘Jesus, we really know how to pick ‘em, don’t we?’ Shelly said blushing, most likely at her muffin incident and not her shitty choice in boyfriend material.

‘Okay. C’mon. Grab your coat. We’ll get out of here before Nathan wakes up and you can fill me in while we walk,’ Eva said unwrapping her coat from the back of her chair and buttoning it across her chest as quickly as if someone was chasing them.

Shelly looked back at the bedroom where Eva was sporadically staring. ‘He’s not in there. We’ve checked into separate suites.’

Eva’s racing fingers stopped suddenly. ‘Oh, God, that bad? Is this really serious?’

Shelly nodded. ‘Yeah. It sucks, but I think this might be it.’

Eva hugged Shelly tight, but she couldn’t shake feeling decidedly awkward. She was dying to know every juicy detail, and for Shelly’s sake, she wanted to agree with all the nasty things she probably needed to say about Nathan. But hearing a one-sided version of the argument between her friends felt like a betrayal of Nathan, and she felt really guilty just thinking about it.

‘I have an idea. How about we skip the park and try something a bit different?’

Shelly pulled a face. ‘Okay, but I really was looking forward to walking off all that bloody food.’

‘Trust me, this will be good.’

‘Okay…I trust you.’

Chapter 15

A quick hop on and off the subway later, and Eva’s face lit up with enthusiasm as they stopped outside a small multi-coloured building, inconspicuous as it nestled between towering grey blocks. Eva had suggested they save the bitching about boys until later over some cocktails and Shelly had eagerly agreed. And right now, Eva was looking forward to nothing more than a girls’ day out. Even if her plan was slightly more unorthodox than getting their hair and nails done.

‘This is it,’ Eva said, as if stopping abruptly in the street and walking toward the store door wasn’t already confirmation.

‘Tits and Tattoos?’ Shelly said dryly.

Eva raised both her eyebrows and her head bounced up and down like a Noddy Dog in the back of a car on a bumpy road. ‘This is the place.’

‘Are you shitting me?’

‘What? No. Of course, not. I’m serious. Come on, it’ll be fun.’

‘Tits and Tattoos, that’s really the best name they could come up with.’

‘Does it matter?’

‘Suppose not. Hang on; I have to get a picture of this.’

Shelly turned her back to the shop, tilted her head to one side, and held her phone an arm’s length away from her face. ‘Do you want to hop in?’

Eva shook her head. ‘Are you putting that on Facebook?’

‘Yeah, absolutely. It’s fucking hilarious.’

‘Don’t tag me, okay?’

‘Why not? I’m not taking the piss out of you or anything; the name just cracks me up.’

‘No, I get that. I just…I just don’t really want Julian to know I’m here.’

Shelly rolled her eyes. ‘Why the fuck not? What does it matter where you are?’

‘Just don’t want him to know. Not today anyway, please?’

‘Eva, is this for him? Are you getting a tattoo to prove something to Julian? ‘Cause that’s not a good reason.’

‘No. Of course, not. I don’t have anything to prove to him. I want a tattoo for me. I have for a while and it’s going to be so much more fun with you with me. But I just don’t want a million questions from the noisy bitches back in the Dublin office on Facebook about it. And I really don’t want Julian judging me, okay?’

Shelly slid her phone back into her bag, scrunched up her shoulders and her nose, and gave a little excited yelp. ‘You’re right, this is going to be fun…Okay, let’s do this. I’m excited for you.’

‘And you won’t tag me?’

Shelly held out her hand and curled all her fingers toward her palm except her baby finger, which she pointed at Eva. ‘Pinkie promise.’

Eva copied the gesture, locked her baby finger around Shelly’s, and laughed hard.

The décor inside was even less tasteful than outside and Eva was immediately having second thoughts.

‘So, what are you going to get?’ Shelly said smiling at the hairy guy behind reception.

‘Here you go.’ He smiled back, passing Eva a dog-eared book, and pointed toward some seats to the side. ‘Take your time. I’ll just be in the back. Give me a shout when you’re ready.’

He disappeared into a room behind reception, and Eva was surprised by how calm and professional it all seemed. A bit like a trip to the dentist or something.

‘Soooo…’ Shelly said as they sat down.

‘Dunno. I had something in mind but when I called a couple of months ago, the guy said I’d have to choose a design from their book. They won’t do custom ones for your first time.’

‘Ah, that’s a bit pants.’

‘Well, yeah. Especially since I don’t ever want to have more than one.’

‘Everyone says that, but it’s addictive—honestly. Sure, look at me, I’ve got two already.’

‘Yeah and they’re lovely, but…’

‘No. They’re not on my butt, but actually, there’s an idea. Pass me that book, will ya?’

Eva handed over the folder filled with laminate sheets, full of photos of various designs.

‘Here, look at this one. It’s really pretty.’ Shelly pointed to a little butterfly with lots of detail on the wings.

‘Um, yeah.’

‘Or this one.’ Shelly pointed to a constellation of stars this time.

Eva tried to hide her lack of enthusiasm staring at the various designs. ‘Just not sure if they’re me.’

‘Oh God, I love this one.’ Shelly had flicked right to the back and found a treble clef and staff with five notes dotted across. ‘I wonder if I could get any notes I like put on.’

‘Yeah, sure, that’s no big deal,’ the tattoo artist answered breezily as he reappeared and walked past.

‘I thought it was no custom designs,’ Eva mumbled not loud enough for Shelly or the artist to hear.

‘Awesome. I’m going to go for it,’ Shelly said.

‘What?’ Eva shook her head. ‘You’re going to get it done today, now like?’

‘Yeah sure, why not?’

‘Isn’t that a bit spontaneous.’

Shelly nodded with a big toothy grin. ‘Totally is. But how cool will it be when I go home and people are like ‘what did you get in New York?’ And I can be like ‘ah, just a tattoo on my arse.’’

‘Ha, could you imagine actually saying that.’

Shelly winked. ‘Who’s imagining?’

‘You’re absolutely crazy, do you know that? So, what notes are you getting? Do you have a song in mind?’ Eva asked, trying to play down how shocked she suddenly was.

‘Feck no. I’m not that arty farty. Just wanted to move the notes around to make it look prettier.’

Shelly passed the folder back to Eva. ‘So, have you seen anything you like?’ Shelly scanned the walls that Eva had been staring at. There were lots of posters and photos of past clients with their masterpieces inked on various body parts.

‘Nah. Think I’m going to skip this time.’

‘Oh, God, Eva. I hope you don’t think I’ve taken over. I just thought, ah feck it, you know? I’ll leave it, too. It was your idea, after all.’

‘No, no. Don’t be silly. You go ahead. I bet it’ll look great. I just need a bit more time to think, that’s all.’

‘You sure.’

Eva nodded.

‘Okay, cool. Well, how ‘bout you sit with me, and then maybe by the time mine’s done you’ll know what you want to get.’

‘Yeah, maybe.’ Eva was aware of how deflated she sounded and she tried to brighten up.

Shelly was bubbly and delightful, but she didn’t appreciate art. Not the way Eva did. She loved that a spur of the moment decision could lead to a fantastic tattoo that Shelly would probably love for years. But that wasn’t how Eva was wired. She really wanted something unique. She always had to think everything through…she always had to be…she always had to be, well, boring. My God, she was so goddamn boring and predictable. Shelly had probably guessed from the start that she’d chicken out. No wonder Shelly had decided to get one; it’d have been a wasted trip otherwise. But maybe Shelly underestimated her. Julian never underestimated her, quite the opposite actually. She hadn’t done anything really crazy since the ball back in Dublin. Julian walking back into her life again suddenly made her want to up her game all over again. Right there, in the surprisingly rather sterile environment, she decided to do something that would completely blow Julian’s mind. It was so far from predictable that it was actually quite crazy.

‘Who does the piercings?’ she asked as soon as the tattoo artist came back out to the reception area from the little back room.

‘I do those, too,’ he said.

‘Of course,’ Eva said, judging from his face that was the closest thing to a scrap metal yard she had ever seen. There were three bars vertically through his left eyebrow, a ring on each side of his nose, and a bar between his nostrils. Both his ears had piercings dotting from the top right down to the lobe and his left ear had a chain that hooked around the first piercing and ran down to, and through, the last one. It all looked rather painful, if she was honest, and definitely intimidating. If she’d bumped into this guy in an alley on a Saturday night, he’d probably have scared the absolute shit out of her. But, here in his studio, Eva could see he was just a nice guy who liked poking holes in things. And she was about to ask for his professional opinion about poking a hole in her.
Eek!

He and Shelly began discussing the details of her design—he asked her a bunch of questions and gave her a form to fill out. Eva zoned out for a while as she scrutinised the photos on the wall. There were no pictures of anyone getting the piercing she was about to ask for.
Oh, God. Oh, God.