Deadly Expectations (40 page)

“I know that now, Ray.”

He opened the door and we went down to the kitchen.

“Sit,” Ray told me.
 
“I’ll get yours.”

I ran my fingers over Paul’s shoulders on the way past to my seat and joined him.
 
He raised his eyebrows questioningly at me; I just smiled and nodded back.
 
Ray put my plate down and I thanked him.
 
He started talking with Denis and Ross about something.
 
Officer talk
probably.
 
I ignored everyone and tried to imagine it was just Paul and I.
 

It seemed to work for a while.
 
Rice was chatting with Jones again so I focused on Paul and pretended that the other end of the kitchen didn’t exist at all until my eyes got tired and started to sting.
 
Just a bit.
 
I rubbed them with my palm.
 
It felt good until I stopped and then the stinging got worse.
 
Could be all the pine cleaner in the air was irritating me so I blinked a few times but that didn’t help.
 
I was having trouble keeping them open.
 
Then my nose started to itch until I sneezed into my napkin.

“You okay?” Paul and Ray seemed to ask at the same time.

“Got something in my eyes, maybe all the cleaner,” I said but I was starting to smell something burning, like an electrical fire.
 
Not the sweet cooked flesh stench from dinner.
 
“Do you smell something burning?”

“No,” Paul said.

When I managed to get my eyes open everything was hazy and it was starting to get warmer.
 
The itch was moving into my throat.
 
Clearing it didn’t help and I sneezed again.
 
Then I coughed.
 
I had no idea what Rice was doing.
 
I couldn’t keep my eyes open long enough to focus and the kitchen was too smoky for me to make out anything that far away anyhow.

“Ray …” Paul whispered.

“Got her,” Ray said and helped me up.
 
I couldn’t see where I was going.
 
I tried to hold my breath but I still coughed a bit.

As we were in the hallway I could hear Paul say.
 
“Penny for your thoughts, Rice.”
 
Then he said again.
 
”Rice?”

Ray started to lead me to the bathroom again but I pulled him the other way.

“Fresh air,” I managed and he took me through the foyer and out the door.

“What the hell,” I coughed and kept going down the stairs and out onto the road.
 
Then up toward the garage.
 
We were half way there before the air started to clear.

“How could you see in there?” I asked Ray.
 
“The smoke was so thick I couldn’t make out the other end of the table.”

“There was no smoke Anna,” he said.

“And it was a different smell from last night,” I told him.
 
“The smoke was thick … like there was a fire … electrical.”
 
I smelled the sleeve of my shirt and it was in the fabric but not in the air any more.
 
Then I took Ray’s arm and smelled the sleeve of his shirt.

“It’s in your clothes too.”

Ray smelled his sleeve and looked puzzled.
 
“Nobody else seemed to notice.”

“At least I kept my lunch down.
 
Thank you for helping me out of there.
 
Between the smoke and my eyes burning I couldn’t see a thing.
 
It’s gone now.”
 
I shrugged.
 
“Do you think there’s something wrong with me?”

Ray put his hand on my arm.
 
“Nothing physical,” he said.
 
“But like you suggested maybe you’ve just been through too much in too short a time.
 
Do you want to stay out a while longer?”

“No … I think I’ll go upstairs and wash the smoke off.
 
I’ll come down when everyone’s gone and get some more lunch.
 
I didn’t eat much more than half.”

We walked slowly back to the house.
 
The air stayed clear.
 
It was clear indoors too.

“Ray, could you please tell Paul I’m upstairs?
 
I think he worries now when he can’t find me.
 
He doesn’t need that.”

Ray nodded and went to find Paul in the kitchen.
 
I went up and got in the shower.
 
Paul still wasn’t upstairs when I got out so I put on clean clothes and lay down to nap a bit.
 
I was sleeping when he came in.
 
He had curled himself up around behind me with his chin on my shoulder and his hand on my stomach.
 
I reached up and put my hand on his face.
 
I could still smell the smoke on him.

“Did Ray tell you what happened?” I asked him.

I could feel him nod behind me.
 
“I don’t know what to tell you.
 
Rice apologized for not hearing me the first time and then went back to talking with Jones.
 
Those two seem to get along pretty well.”

Paul brushed the hair from my face then he put his hand back on my stomach.
 
“He’ll be on watch during dinner if you want to come down.
 
Hopefully it won’t happen again.”

“Okay.”
 
I lifted my head so he could put his arm under it.
 
“You’re right.
 
I guess Mrs. Richards has responsibilities here now.
 
If I look weak it makes you look weak too.
 
I’ll suck it up.”

Paul laughed quietly.
 
“I don’t think you realize what they think of you.
 
They know what you did to that man, saw your targets downstairs.
 
And a strange version of what you said to the Colonel got out somehow … I’m not too pleased about that but there’s nothing I can do about it now.
 
Half of them think you shipped out on some crazy Canadian covert mission, pregnant and all.
 
You don’t have anything to prove.”

I giggled at that.
 
“Well, if having a Canadian commando for a wife helps you lead then let them think it.
 
Or I can put scented candles in the downstairs bathroom and arrange flowers for the dinner table and haul you off to romantic movies in
Redding
on Tuesdays too but I’ll really hate it.”

“Some of that might be good for them,” Paul agreed so I gave him a gentle elbow.

“Have you thought about our trip?” I asked him.
 
“We should go soon.
 
I can’t keep running from the table in front of everyone.”

“I was thinking the same thing … tomorrow?”

“Night would be best … less traffic,” I agreed.
 
“Decide if you want to bring anyone or if it will be just us.
 
Tell them to pack for a week or so and for warm weather too just in case.
 
They’ll need their ID … cell phones off, cash only.
 
We don’t want Damian tracing us anywhere electronically … or getting attention for being in two places at once.
 
And maybe
camping
gear.
 
I can’t promise we won’t wind up stuck in a cornfield until I recharge.”

“You seem to have it all planned.
 
But I thought all the electronic purchases are free?”

I laughed a bit.
 
“This isn’t my first barbeque.
 
After the last trip I can’t promise we’ll go forward.
 
I don’t know how backward works but we need to be careful until we find out.”

“I guess so.
 
I’ll bring Ray and Denis again … then it will look like we’re actually going somewhere else with sufficient people to look after you like before.”

“Paul …
think
about what you want to tell me about him so I know what I’m focusing on, okay?
 
I don’t want to wind up at Ron and Camille’s for the weekend.”

“That would make my mother happy,” Paul said.
 
“But I see your point.
 
I’ll have Ross leak that you’re having complications and Ray wants you in the hospital for a while.
 
If Damian does have someone here then that’s a reasonable cover story.”

“Okay,” I agreed, but nothing had made me think that Rice or anyone else in the camp was Damian’s.

“You should skip dinner if you’re supposed to be having problems.
 
I’ll make sure Denis and Ray are packed and ready to go like before.”
 
He gently rubbed my belly then until it tickled and I started to giggle again.
 
Paul sighed and relaxed against me.

“I really missed that sound.
 
Try and get some more sleep … we’ll be up early.
 
I need to get everything ready and I’ll bring you up dinner soon.
 
Actually, I’ll bring you up a radio first in case you need me.
 
Ray will be in and out of here pretending to look after you.”

“
‘kay
Paul,” I said and closed my eyes, but I was already planning on the when part of the jump.
 
All I needed was a strong focus from Paul for the where.

Chapter 34

I didn’t sleep but I was so relaxed it didn’t matter.
 
So much stress was gone that I could lay on the bed with my mind empty.
 
Now I could do something for Paul and make up the lost pregnancy time all at once.
 
I knew Damian was coming but there was no sense in worrying about that until it happened.

My peace didn’t last long however.
 
Paul’s hands were full with the two-way radio and a couple of larger bags for us to pack and he was all
Captain
when he came back up.

“The Colonel’s come early … his helicopter will be here in twenty.”

I sat up and noticed what he was wearing.

“Do you need me to do anything while you change?”
 
The last time Colonel Iverson had come Paul and the other officers had to be in uniform.

“No,” he shook his head for emphasis as he tossed the bags over by our dressers and put the radio for me on my night table.
 
“When the pilot radioed ahead he said it’s unofficial … so he’s not really here.
 
He thinks I’m going to try and dodge him again.”

“Okay … should I stay up here?”

“The Colonel requests the officers and Mrs. Richards.
 
I need you downstairs waiting as soon as you can get there.”

Maybe the Colonel checked out the story I’d told.
 
Maybe it wasn’t big enough or I’d gotten Paul in some kind of trouble by skipping out on him.
 
My absence left the compound without its leadership.
 
If they’d tried to cover up for Paul we could all be in trouble.
 
That could be why he wanted the officers.
 
We would find out soon enough.

When I got downstairs Ray, Denis, and Ross were already there.
 
We still had ten minutes to wait so I went to the kitchen to get a drink and poked in the fridge for a bite to eat.
 
The smoke that had filled the room at lunch was gone.
 
I went down to the big south window but only needed to get within a couple of feet of it to smell smoke in the curtains.
 
Then I went to the small window over the sink on the west wall.
 
I had to put my nose right to those ones to smell it.
 
The smoke was so much stronger near where Rice had been sitting.