Wanted (32 page)

“A couple of days ago?”

She sat behind me and began brushing my hair. “Um hmm…I think it was Wednesday morning before the ship left for Singapore.”

The information left me feeling stranded. Charlie and I had only first laid eyes on each other the day before that. Had Ben been exaggerating, or was it possible that Charlie loved me long before I knew I loved him?

“It was the same with Benjamin and me,” Elise confessed. “I was working for a catering company in Chicago, and one night, when we were working this big benefit bazaar, Benjamin and Yuri crashed the event, trying to gauge security for a shipment they wanted to steal the next day. When he left three days later, he asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

She clasped a barrette in my hair. “It all sounds pretty romantic, but it was really pretty stupid,” she admitted. “I don’t regret it, though. They say you should try to live without regrets, but if that were the case, life would be boring, wouldn’t it?” She giggled a little.

I tangled with my thumbs. “I think you’re probably a lot more adventurous than I am.”

“Not from what I hear. Is it true you spent the night in one of the holds?”

I was a little surprised to hear Elise would know about that. She seemed too feminine to understand the ins and outs of the ship.

“It wasn’t exactly intentional. I was really being an idiot about the entire thing.”

She sighed and clasped another barrette in my hair. “Love does that to everybody.”

I laughed awkwardly as I tried to guess Elise’s age. Although she appeared young in some aspects, she was also wise in some very distant ways. I guessed based on her skin and style choice that she couldn’t have been older than her mid-twenties, but maybe associating with criminals distorted the aging process.

From somewhere downstairs, Polo’s hyena laugh echoed.

“I swear,” Elise sighed. “You must have the patience of a saint to put up with those boys all week. I love them all, but geez.” She pointed her thumb downstairs. “Polo especially gets on my last nerve.”

I laughed. “They’ve grown on me. Wh-when you first knew Ben did any of the guys ever give you a hard time about it?”

Her back stiffened then and her face turned into a frown. I thought maybe she didn’t understand; or worse, I had offended her. But then she broke out into a light, cynical laugh. “You mean Reid, don’t you?” she snorted.

“How did you know?”

She turned serious for a moment and stopped to consider her words. “He can’t help the way he is. And I think after everything else, he’s just cautious about all of the possibilities… and those potential liabilities.”

“Does he think you’re a liability?”

Her voice tightened. It was the closest she had yet come to being angry. “Tyler and I, yes.”

“Oh, boy.”

“Hmm. I know. Don’t get me started. You really can’t take anything he says or does personally.”

It was good to hear what I already suspected. Still, I didn’t like the idea of knowing I had put a strain on the friendship between Charlie and Reid. I began to wonder what other long term effects our relationship could have.

I was really quite amazed with the end results of Elise’s hair experiment. She had managed to make a decent updo out of the mangled mess of my hair. And I have to admit I liked the look and feel of it.

“See?” she said as she picked Tyler back up. “With fifteen minutes to spare, too.”

I glanced at a large glass clock on the wall. Sure enough, I had only been away from Charlie for forty-five minutes.

“I can’t thank you enough, Elise. You’ve been so nice to me—”

“Think nothing of it! I’m just happy to help.”

I followed her back downstairs, where Yuri and Polo were playing what appeared to be a game of Rummy. Elise handed a squirming Tyler to Ben, who accepted the boy eagerly. They both smiled at the sight of each other, and again I could see the resemblance. It was terrible to think that anyone could dislike the idea of Ben having a family. It was so obvious how much they adored each other.

“Have you been behaving yourself for your poor mother?” He swooshed Tyler over his head playfully and made his eyes go cross. Tyler cooed and giggled at the expression, reaching for his father’s face with his tiny hands.

“No, he certainly hasn’t!” Elise laughed. “He hasn’t slept a full night since you’ve been gone. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he was trying to give me a nervous breakdown.”

“I do suspect he might get that from me.” He reached for Elise’s elbow unsuspectingly as she bent to pick up one of Tyler’s pacifiers from the floor. She giggled like a school girl and sat beside him compliantly.

“Don’t be a bad influence on him.” He laughed lightly and Tyler released a large bubble of drool on Ben’s shirt.

“Oh sure, take her side.”

I smiled; the sight was a welcome one. They seemed genuinely happy in their dynamic—and although the thought was only beginning to cross my mind, I pondered if Charlie had even considered the sort of direction his own future was going to take. Where did he see himself this time next year? In ten years?

He looked peaceful enough sleeping there. I was glad someone had drawn the curtains shut, although it did very little to keep the bright California sunshine out. I was wishing Charlie was awake to tell me if it was always like that here—bright and warm. Or if descriptions of the West coast were exaggerated and it wasn’t as lovely as I had imagined.

I tiptoed to the side of the bed and sat beside him, taking my time and being very careful not to wake him, just in case the anesthetic was wearing off. On the table beside him I saw a prescription bottle without a name or pharmacy address, just the standard label of a familiar antibiotic. The IV was still attached to his arm, steadily giving him the fluids he needed to stay hydrated. I questioned how much it would cost to have a private doctor on staff in this day and age, and how much more it would cost to have that doctor not ask any questions.

Beside the night stand was a small wastebasket nearly overflowing with soiled gauze and antiseptic threads. The sight of the dried blood turned to a dark brown stain made me tremble. I had to repeat to myself that everything was okay, deflecting the possibility that he was still in danger.

I pulled the cotton sheet gently from the wrapping across his torso. Without question, it looked more professional than mine and I felt glad that everything seemed to be in order. I wondered how many stitches and how long it would take to heal—would I stay here until then? Elise had made it clear I was more than welcome. And I was confident Charlie would want me around, but what about my family? How would I deal with them and how would I explain myself once I returned home?

I looked back at Charlie; hopefully we would figure it out together.

The faint voices coming from the living room interrupted my thoughts. I could only make out every third or fourth word but I could tell none of the voices belonged to any of our party. It made me instantly nervous.

“Today…discovered…in…while…”

Before I opened the door, I ascertained the source of the voices were coming from the large flat screen television located on the wall. I peered at it from the doorway. I could see vague clips as they appeared on the news network in succession, including photos of my family and I and images of law enforcement officials wearing FBI gear outside of my house trying to shoo the cameras away. Behind the newscaster, I caught a glimpse of Dad talking with a man who had the sleeves of his shirt cuffed up, his tie loosened, and a shiny badge pinned on the sports jacket he carried in his hand. I may not have even noticed him, except that his copper hair appeared illuminated as he stood talking next to Dad. I wanted to see more of Dad, but the image changed again so I leaned forward a little to try and hear better.

“That’s right, Bethany; we have just received insider news that the kidnappers of Adeline Battes have made contact with her father, Michael Battes, just a few hours ago…”

“That didn’t happen at all!” Ben yelled.

“Shh…” Elise shushed him.

“…when asked for an update, Mr. Battes had this to say: ‘We have every confidence that Addie is safe…’”

Dad? That was definitely Dad’s voice I was hearing.

“‘…and that she will come home to us soon.’ Mr. Battes and his family have no other comments at this time and respectfully request that the police continue with their investigation—”

“Reid! Turn that off right now,” Elise demanded. “If Addie hears that, she might get upset.”

I quietly slid back into the room and shut the door.

Elise had a knack for knowing people—I was upset. Now that Charlie was out of physical harm, I had no choice but to do the logical, responsible thing and return home. I had not only promised Dad, but I was putting everyone in danger by staying there. With each and every second that the authorities were looking for me, and by association, Charlie, they were getting closer to Ben, his family, and the guys. And whether or not the guys would go to jail was hardly a question. My presence was beyond inconvenient and downright catastrophic for everyone involved.

I lay down beside Charlie; taking every precaution not to touch any part of him I thought might hurt or be damaged. No matter how badly I wanted it, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t stay here with him…not then, anyway.

I tried to think of ways to stall, ways to avoid going home until the very last minute. At the least, I could wait until Charlie woke up and we could talk…figure out some sort of strategy to meet up again in a few weeks when things were less chaotic. In my mind, I tried to think of different things, but nothing was really coming to fruition. I reasoned that maybe Elise would be willing to help…

But before my will could leave me, I left Charlie.

The head doctor guy looked at me as if I had asked him for an endangered animal to eat.

A nurse patted me on the arm and spoke in soft, slow sentences. “He’s already been contacted, honey. He’s on the way now.”

I mimicked her and spoke in an equally condescending tone, “Well, I would hope so. But I’m not cooperating with any of you further until I have an opportunity to speak with him myself.”

Whether they thought I was traumatized or my attitude itself was effective, none of the hospital’s staff gave me anymore problems.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Addie! Are you okay? They wouldn’t tell me anything over the phone.”

I sighed. “Yeah, Dad. Just some bumps and bruises, no worse for wear.”

“I’m on a plane right now. I’ll be there in three hours.”

“Dad, you don’t have to do that—”

“I brought you clothes and a new phone.”

“Okay, Dad. I love you.”

He was clearly surprised by my admission of affection. “You too, Addie. I-I’m glad you’re okay.”

So there I sat, every so often icing my face, which I could tell from the brief glance in the mirror, was not going to be pretty by the morning. While I was trying to be nice to all of the doctors and nurses, I was also on the brink of not sleeping for 24 hours and my patience had all but run out. So when two gentlemen and another woman entered the doctor’s office, I had all but had enough of it.

“Hello, Adeline,” said the woman. “My name is Dr. Dayton, and these are agents Brian Norton and Adam Harpsten.” She gestured to the two men. “Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”

I was almost stupid enough to say to the copper haired man about how I recognized him from television, but I caught myself. Instead, I just said, “Addie, you can just call me Addie.”

She smiled. Her teeth seemed bleached in the bright room. Luckily, the FBI agents were less intimidating than I thought they might be. Agent Harpsten wore a dark blue suit and looked like he did on television and Agent Norton was a shorter man with a bronzed complexion and a gray suit. They both appeared tired and soft around the edges of their eyes. I wondered if they had been up as long as I had.

“You guys should sit down.” I pointed to the worn plastic chairs at the corner of the room kept for the patient’s family. “You look like you could use a break.”

Dr. Dayton made some kind of menacing mark in a notebook while Agents Norton and Harpsten looked at each other questioningly. Though it was encouraging to see Agent Harpsten smile a little when his partner looked away.

“Relax everybody.” I tried to smile. “It isn’t the end of the world.”

Or was it? If they had caught Charlie or if he was injured beyond repair, then it most certainly was the end of the world.

“Addie,” Dr. Dayton began, “can you tell us a little bit about what happened?”