Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

Lipton . Mitch was surprised she’d survived. The girl had grit. Beckett had tried his best to break her. Watching it on the webcam, Mitch had nearly faltered once. Had come close to reporting her whereabouts to the cops. But it would have ruined everything. He was glad he’d stayed the course. Heather would be fine.
    He looked around, half expecting to see Beckett lurking around somewhere. The guy was still out there. A fugitive. That was disturbing. He’d hoped the cops would have taken Beckett out already.
    Mitch lifted the binoculars to his eyes in time to see Daphne stumble out of the garage, weeping. In Carter’s arms. Crying like her heart would break. Good .
    Oh, and look at that . The door of one of the waiting cars opened and out came trusty old Ford Elkhart. Ford crossed the distance to his mother tentatively, then quickly. Carter transferred her to the boy’s arms and Ford rocked his mother while she cried.
    Mitch hoped the camera he’d hidden outside Beckett’s garage was set at a decent angle. That cam was the old-fashioned kind. Tripped by a motion detector, it had been recording since Carter and Daphne had first arrived. It didn’t stream to the web, it just recorded. But it would give him a clear picture that he could keep forever, one that he could view again and again.
    Like the juiciest parts of the novels his mother used to dog-ear. She’d read them over and over again.
    Ford was walking his mother back to Carter’s SUV. The first act was over.
    That’s my cue . Mitch started walking toward the cabin.
    Baltimore, Maryland, Thursday, December 5, 2.30 P.M.
    I am an idiot . Clay pinched the bridge of his nose as the elevator carried him up to the ICU where Stevie still lay. He knew it was hopeless but he couldn’t stay away.
    She didn’t ask me to , he thought. Which made him pathetic. She’d had a tube down her throat. She couldn’t have said a word if she’d wanted to.
    But today the tube was out. She could speak her mind. He’d know for sure. And if she didn’t want to see him, he at least had a final request. One that would give her some purpose as she started into the recovery and rehab phase.
    Her family and a crowd of cops in the waiting room. It was SRO in the ICU, and pretty much had been since she’d woken up. Because it was Stevie and everyone loved her.
    Her parents were working the room, shaking hands with the cops, kissing each person they greeted on both sides of the face. Her parents’ faces lit up when they saw him and her mother threw her arms around him.
    Clay had to smile despite his heavy heart. ‘How is she today?’ he asked and both Nicolescus shrugged.
    ‘Not our Stefania,’ her mother said. ‘Not yet.’
    ‘She’s too polite,’ her father complained. ‘We miss the fire.’
    ‘She’ll bounce back,’ Clay predicted as brightly as he could muster. He felt a tug on his trouser leg and looked down.
    Little Cordelia sat on the floor, coloring with Stevie’s sister Izzy. Cordelia shot him a shy smile and immediately Clay dropped down to crouch beside her.
    ‘I got my picture,’ he said quietly. She’d given him angel wings. It made his throat hurt every time he thought of it. ‘Thank you. I really love it.’
    ‘Good,’ she said, beaming. ‘I’ll make you another.’
    ‘I’d like that. I was going to say hi to your mom, but it looks like there’s a line.’
    ‘You get moved to the head of the list,’ Izzy said. ‘Mama’s orders.’
    Less than five minutes later, Clay was scrubbed and approaching Stevie’s room with sweaty palms. She lay in the bed, her head slightly elevated now. Her dark hair was mussed, the way he liked it. And there really was more color in her face today.
    When he walked in, she dropped her gaze to her hands.
    ‘Hi,’ she said, her voice raw and raspy.
    Clay didn’t have any words now that he was there. He just stood, looking his fill.
    ‘Can I . . . help you?’ she asked. So politely.
    ‘You know you can.’ The words flew out of his mouth, surprising them both.
    She looked stricken, then looked away and the seconds ticked by in the loudest silence he’d ever heard.
    ‘Do you want me to go?’ he finally asked.
    ‘Yes. No.’ She looked up at him then, so conflicted. ‘I don’t know.’
    It was better than he’d hoped for. Because he was pathetic. And an idiot.
    ‘Look, I don’t want to crowd you.’ He came a little closer, arms crossed over his chest because he so desperately needed to touch