Star Bright (27 page)

She started the car and
drove slowly. That pep talk didn’t comfort her, she was still
frightened and unsure of what she’d seen. The man was not only
haunting her dreams, but also when she was wide awake. If it was
really Ricky, she needed to get Michael and run, or she could tell
Dave the truth, he would surely know what to do.

Ricky watched Maria drive
the car away and laughed to himself. He felt jealous to see she had
moved up in life. He was sure she had found a lover, a rich one, it
would explain the baby she was carrying. He doubted she was a
babysitter, or she could have started as one before she began
warming his bed, otherwise Michael would be with her and no rich
family would let a nanny drive an expensive car like that just to
run errands. A quiet fire simmered inside him. She now had
everything and he still had nothing, but soon she would lose
everything, starting with Michael.

Maria walked into Dave’s
office to find four policemen seated on the couch. She moved slowly
towards Dave, who was standing facing them. Her mind ran a marathon
as she thought of everything that could be wrong. Did he already
know about Ricky? Or did something bad happen to Michael? “What’s
going on? Did something happen to Michael?” she asked,
worried.

Dave took Izzy from Maria
and placed the other arm around Maria’s waist, “No, Michael is fine
and in school.” He kissed the top of her head and held her
closer.

“
Then what’s
going on?”

“
We are here
because of the break in at the apartment.”Two police officers
commented.

“
We are here
about your harassment yesterday.” The other two said.

“
What?” Maria
turned and looked up at Dave.

“
You really
didn’t expect me to let them go free?” Dave answered her puzzled
look.

“
Would you
like to press charges against the boys and Mrs. Greer?”

“
Daniels, her
name is Daniels.” Dave corrected. He didn’t want her to keep using
his name anymore, he’d stated that as a term in the divorce. The
moment she signed the divorce papers was the moment she
relinquished his name.

“
No I don’t
want to press charges against anyone.” Maria took Izzy back and put
her in her play pen.

“
Maria you
can’t be serious!”

She walked back to the
four cops and shook their hands one by one as she ushered them out,
“Thank you for coming. You guys are doing a great job, but I’m sure
there are people who need you more than I do now.” She smiled
courteously at them before she closed the door.

“
What are you
doing Maria?” Dave asked, moving towards the door.

Maria stood in his path,
“We have more urgent problems to worry about.” she felt a lump in
her throat as her eyes began to sting full of tears.

Dave’s annoyance changed
to worry, “Honey what’s wrong?”

She used her knuckle to
brush a tear away. She swallowed the lump in her throat before she
spoke, “Ricky...” she cleared her throat as she shifted her gaze
between the floor and Dave, “Ricky is alive and I think... I think
I saw him.” She placed a hand over her mouth to muffle her sobs as
tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

Dave pulled her to him
and held her tight. He had hoped she’d never find out he was
around, but she had and now her whole life had been
rocked.

Chapter
Sixteen

He handed her a glass of
water. “Where did you see him?”She took the glass and sipped the
water, “Outside the food catering office.” she handed the glass
back, not trusting her shaking hands to hold it for too long
without dropping it. He took it, placed it on the floor next to the
couch.

“
What was he
doing?” he asked, more concerned. He wasn’t too willing to confirm
her fears, just yet. He cursed Johnson quietly in his head, he
promised to warn them if Ricky got too close, and he had gotten
close, too close for comfort.

“
He was just
standing there, smiling at me.” she closed her eyes to erase Ricky
from her head. She might be talking about him, but she sure as hell
didn’t want to remember his face, a face she had disfigured, and
Ricky detested her more for.

“
You said you
thought you seen him, why?” Dave asked, cautiously. He knew what he
was doing was wrong, but there was no way he was going to allow her
to run, he was even more astounded she came to him and hadn’t taken
Michael from school and ran. She trusted him to fix it, and he was
going to, one way or the other.

“
Because he
was there one minute and gone the next.” she opened her eyes and
stared at him, “Do you think I was imaging him?” she asked,
hopeful. Right now if Dave told her she was going crazy and flying
elephants existed, she was going to accept it, anything but Ricky
having found them.

“
What do you
think?” he asked, avoiding to answer her. He knew for sure she
wasn’t imaging it, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.

“
I think I was
imagining it. Yesterday brought back a lot of buried memories and
feelings.” she wrapped her arms around her body at the memory of
her nightmare, “Maybe I was just projecting and he really wasn’t
there.” she said unsure, then bit down on her lower lip. She waited
for Dave’s own thoughts, anything he said she would believe like
the gospel truth.

“
I think
you...” he started.
You are doing the
right thing, it’s what’s best for her
he
thought to himself, “Those boys made you insecure again and since
all your pain was brought by Ricky.”
this
lie is justified
, “you saw him because he
represents it.”

Maria nodded completely
believing in him. He had people digging into her life, he would
know if Ricky was in New York or not, and he would tell her. She
moved closer to him and leaned against him in a hug, scared,
traumatized but safe. She was safe with Dave.

Dave held her, angry and
yet frightened of the consequences. He had to call Miguel as soon
as possible. Screw his principles and values, they weren’t going to
protect his family against that monster, “You should have pressed
charges against them.”

“
And then
what?” she kissed the bottom of his neck before she rested her head
back on his chest, “giving Amy more attention would only be wasting
our time, besides her affair with that kid would be known and she
would be in more trouble.”

“
And your
point is?”

“
She is still
the mother of your daughter.”

“
Again, your
point is?”

She sat upright and
pushed her hair back, “You are impossible. How do you think she’ll
feel when she’s old enough to understand the words ‘daddy put mommy
in prison’?”

“
Just as well
as Michael will understand, ‘his mommy helped his new daddy put the
man who sired him behind bars’.” He stood up and moved to sit on
top of his desk.

“
The two are
not the same.” Maria said quietly. She didn’t mean to defend Amy,
but her conscience wouldn’t allow her to let Dave throw her in
prison. The same
conscience
that wouldn’t allow her
to tell Michael she had let his father burn in the house fire, the
same conscience that let Ricky burn in that fire, her conscience
was very fickle.

“
They both
don’t love their children. Ricky hit Michael while Amy abandoned
Izzy more than once, if I had stayed with her longer, she would
have hit her. And they both openly despise their children, exactly
how are they not the same?” he said heatedly.

“
You’ve made
your point, don’t get mad about it.” she stood up and walked to the
mini fridge, “I guess she’s not invited to the party.” She pulled
out a few containers of food and went to the door.

“
I’ll haul her
ass out if she dares!” he yelled. Maria jumped, but she kept her
head and kept walking. Dave exhaled loudly as he tried to reel in
his anger, “Wait, Carol can do that.” he said, stopping her. Before
Maria could protest Dave already had the receiver to his ear,
“Carol could you please come get some food and warm them for me
please.” he spoke with the same heated voice, before replacing the
receiver.

Maria stood there looking
at him with a very patient look on her face. She didn’t want to say
anything that would fuel the presently quiet temper in him. Carol
came in and took the containers from her hands. She didn’t say a
word, she just gave Maria a puzzled look before she disappeared out
the door again.

Maria sat back down on
the couch, “You are very scary when you’re angry.” she twisted her
hair in one rope before she knotted it, “I thought I was the only
one, but it seems I have a few more campers with me.”

“
Why didn’t
you tell me about Ricky sooner?” He blurted out,
unconsciously.

“
I wasn’t
under any obligation to do so.” Maria answered calmly, “And
besides, I figured you would find out your way.”

“
If you had, I
would have dealt with him sooner. He wouldn’t be bothering you and
you wouldn’t be so scared all the time.”

Maria looked at him with
suspicion, “Dave, do you know something about Ricky that I
don’t?”

“
Apart from
what happened between the two of you, and that he’s still in
Jacksonville, no.” He watched her as she eased back on the couch,
her body loosening in relief. She really needed him to be in
Jacksonville, and that’s where he would remain as far as she was
concerned. “Michael can’t know about this.”

“
I know that.
To him Ricky is dead and he’ll stay that way. If he finds out,
he’ll stop being my baby and go back to being my guardian, I don’t
want that for him.”

“
He doesn’t
mind his father being dead?”

“
He doesn’t
want to say it, but I can see it with how happy he is.” she
chuckled lightly, “It’s the best thing that could ever happen to
our lives. He knows mommy will be fine and happy without Ricky
around, that’s all he cares about.”

Dave moved to sit next to
her, “Smart boy.”

“
As evil as
Ricky might be, it’s not right to celebrate death, especially for a
child to see it as a sign of relief.”

“
He was
relieved his mother was fine and the bad man was gone.” he
unknotted her hair and combed it forward over her shoulder. He
loved her jet black hair and how it complemented her dark skin, “He
asked me to marry you.” he added, changing the subject.

“
Silly boy.”
She said, turning away shyly.

He placed his fingers
under her chin and pulled her closer, “No, smart boy, very smart
boy.” He kissed her tenderly, enjoying the taste of her soft lips.
Then he pulled her onto his lap and deepened the kiss.

The hardness of his lips
and the desperation of his kiss made her blood rush, her body
tremble as it might in a thunder storm. She loved it, his taste,
his touch, the feel of his body against hers. Normally it would
disgust and repulse her to be touched with such interests, but she
loved it, only with him, no one else but him.

The door opened, breaking
their kiss. Carol walked in with the food in her hands, “Oops,
sorry for the interruption.” she said, laughing naughtily. She
walked to the table and placed the containers down.

“
Thanks
Carol.” Dave spoke, out of breath.

Maria stayed on his lap
unable to move, completely intoxicated by the kiss. She didn’t even
acknowledge Carol’s presence in the room, her mind was trying to
set the sizzling crossed wires in place.

“
Maria, what
exactly did you do to tame this roaring lion?”

“
Hmm.” that’s
all Maria could manage to say.

Dave chuckled and gave
her a soft kiss on her lips. She stared at him, completely dazzled
by him, “She is very compelling, and I didn’t have much of a
choice.”

“
You worked
your own magic too, she’s still in the clouds.” Carol laughed
louder, “Earth to Maria.”

Maria looked up at her,
embarrassed, “I need to put some distance between us or I’ll never
get my mind back straight.” she slid off his lap and walked slowly
to the table. For the first time her legs weren’t weak from fear,
but desire and pleasure.

Dave stood up and dug his
hand into his pockets as he watched Maria dish out the food on to
the plates, “How much work is left Carol?”

She shifted her gaze
between Dave and Maria, happy they had found each other after the
terrors they had been through with their priors, “Not much. You
just have to get the clients in here, get the documents signed and
everything will be done. But Todd can do that, I doubt he can screw
that up.”

Dave looked at her with a
raised eyebrow before he went back to watching Maria, “How about we
don’t risk it.”

“
Isn’t he
supposed to be learning from you?” Maria asked, raising her head
from what she was doing, “If you don’t take off the training wheels
soon, he’s going to end up moving in with us.” She went to Izzy’s
pen and picked her up, placing a kiss on her pink cheek, “He calls
all the time and when you don’t pick up he’s at our door, when you
are forced to work late he falls asleep on the couch.”