Running for Her Life (23 page)

She got through breakfast easily enough. It was a great relief to have Donny doing the dishes. She didn’t feel quite as harried as usual. However, shortly before noon, when Jake sauntered into the dining room and ordered the lunch special, her nerves kicked in. He rested his elbows on the counter, chatting with the man next to him. Tara brought him his soup. “I told you I’d take care of it,” she whispered. “I just want to do it carefully.” She was sure that Waller was working with Michael, and she didn’t want anyone getting suspicious.

When Jim Waller sat down at the counter, Tara took his order and leaned close, so that no one else could hear. “Jim, I’m sorry for the late notice but something’s come up. I’m going to have to cancel our dinner plans for tonight.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jim said. “Maybe another time?”

“Absolutely.” Tara smiled. She walked back to the kitchen, turned Jim’s order in, and wasn’t the least bit surprised when Jake followed her and motioned to meet him inside the cooler. If Donny had seen them the first time it had occurred, he’d ignored it. Now, evidently feeling more comfortable being back, he decided to take a stand.

“Hey,” he said. “You can’t go in there.”

Jake stared at him. If looks could have killed, Donny would have been dead meat.

“It’s okay,” Tara said. “Chief Vernelli just needs a word with me in private, and this is really the only private space we have.”

They stepped into the cooler and Tara covered her eyes with her hand. “Janet has been nice enough to ignore us. But Donny’s another story. He’s going to know what we’re doing in here. He might tell someone. Maybe one of his friends at the bar. We’ll be the talk of town.”

“Tough.” Jake kissed her. Thoroughly. And she forgot all about Donny.

“What did Waller say?” Jake demanded.

“He said fine.”

“What else?”

“He said that maybe we’d do it another time.”

“Tara.”

She could hear the warning in his voice. She reached her hands up and placed one hand on each side of his face. She pulled him close and kissed him. He resisted for all of five seconds before he pulled her toward him, his hands on her rear. She opened her mouth and let him consume her.

When she could, she took a breath and whispered, “Want some advice?”

He rested his forehead against hers. He was breathing hard. “Sure.”

“Eat a big lunch. You’re going to need your strength tonight.”

* * *

“I’
M JUST ABOUT TO TAKE OFF,
but can I talk to you for a few minutes?” Janet asked. She had her purse on her shoulders. She looked very serious.

Oh, no. Tara hoped for a hole in the floor that might swallow her up. Janet had figured out what she and Jake had been doing in the cooler, and she wasn’t having any part of it. “Sure. I’ve got time.”

“I’d like to leave early tomorrow. By noon.”

She wasn’t quitting. Tara let out the breath she’d been holding. “Is something wrong?” In fourteen months, Janet had never asked to leave early.

“No. I’ve got something I need to take care of.”

“It’s no problem. If you need to leave earlier than noon, we can work that out.”

“Thanks.”

Tara walked upstairs, turned off the light and came back down. Janet stood in the same spot.

“If you don’t have any plans for tomorrow night,” Janet said, “Nicholi and I are getting married at six o’clock in Washington Park. We’d be pleased if you could join us.”

“Married?” Tara repeated, sitting down on the end stool. “Tomorrow? When did you decide this?”

“Two days ago.”

Tara laughed and jumped up off the stool. She wrapped her arms around Janet. “I’m thrilled for both of you,” she said. When she pulled back, it shook her up a little to see tears in Janet’s eyes.

“This is a good thing, right?” Tara asked.

Janet smiled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’ve been a widow for twelve years. I loved Bobby. When he died, I didn’t want to love anyone else. For a lot of years, that seemed okay. Then Nicholi came along.”

Tara’s eyes filled with tears. She tried to blink them away.

“You know his wife died eight years ago,” Janet said. “I knew her. She was a fine woman. Very kind. And when I realized that Nicholi cared for me, I pushed him away. It seemed to me that we were asking for too much—that we’d both had wonderful marriages. Why couldn’t we be happy with that? Why did we deserve more?”

“What made you change your mind?” Tara asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe Nicholi just wore me down. Or maybe I got smarter. The one thing you learn as you get older is that there are no guarantees but maybe there’s no limits, either. You just have to reach out and grab life, every chance you get.”

She’d reached out and grabbed happiness with Jake, and her body was still humming with the aftershocks. “I’m so proud of both of you. And so happy for you,” Tara added.

“Well, Nicholi said I can’t be married in my jeans. That’s why I have to leave early, because I’ve got to go shopping for a dress.”

Tara laughed. “He’s absolutely right. You’re going to have to shop fast. How many guests are you inviting?”

“Just our close friends. Maybe about thirty or so. We know it’s short notice. And a weekday at that.”

“What about a honeymoon?”

“Not until Christmas. His daughter wants us to come to her house for Christmas. She lives in Delaware. She’s got two children.”

“Oh, my. You’re not just getting married. You’re becoming a stepmom and a grandma. How do you feel about that?”

“I think I’ll do okay,” Janet said.

Tara hugged the woman again. “You’ll do great. Would you and Nicholi consider letting me throw a reception party for you? We could do it here, after the wedding.”

“That would be too much work for you. We couldn’t let you do that.”

“Nonsense. First of all, I love both of you. Second, I’d have never made it here without you. I owe you so much. Please let me do this.”

Tears rolled down Janet’s lined cheeks. “I’m an old fool to be crying like this.”

“No, you’re not. You’re in love.”

When Jake came in the back door, he could hear the quiet murmur of Tara’s and Janet’s voices in the dining room. He stopped when he saw the women, their arms around each other, both of them crying.

Michael Masterly.
The name popped into his head. He reached for his gun and scanned the rest of the room.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” he asked, moving to Tara’s side.

She shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Then why are you both crying?” he asked, still scared.

“Janet’s getting married,” Tara said, grabbing some napkins out of the dispenser on the counter. She handed several to Janet. “These are happy tears.”

Jake’s heart started to beat again. “When’s the wedding?” he asked.

“Tomorrow.”

Jake shook his head. “That Nicholi. He doesn’t have much patience.”

“I don’t think he’s in any bigger hurry than I am,” Janet said. “We’ve both wasted enough time.”

“We’re going to have the reception here,” Tara said. “The wedding is at six and we’ll be celebrating by seven. I’ve got to call Johnny O’Reilly. He’s going to have to help me with the decorations.”

* * *

T
HE NEXT DAY WAS AS CRAZY
as Tara had thought it might be. Absolutely refusing to let Janet work on her wedding day, she had called Donny and explained the situation. Then she’d asked if he could handle the dining room while she handled the kitchen.

He’d shown up for work in dark pants, a clean white shirt and a fresh shave. And done beautifully, even managing to slip in a few loads of dishes along the way.

Tara had fried eggs and flipped pancakes and in between, she’d baked a ham for sandwiches and made big bowls of potato salad and baked beans. She’d whipped up a relish tray and cute little cucumber sandwiches.

Shortly before two, Jake had stuck his head in the kitchen, said that Andy was covering for him for a few hours, and made the mistake of asking if she needed help. She sent him to Bluemond to pick up a cake, ice cream and a punch bowl.

When he got back, she’d just locked the front door. She took the cake box from him and peered inside. “They did a beautiful job,” she said.

“Yeah. They said they scraped off ‘Happy Birthday’ and added some wedding bells.”

“I don’t think either Janet or Nicholi would have cared. I’m surprised that I haven’t seen either one of them today. I hope that doesn’t mean that Janet couldn’t find a dress. We’re going to have twenty pounds of potato salad to eat.”

“Ugh.” He kissed her. “Yum.”

She playfully pushed him away. “Did you get the batteries for your camera?”

“Yeah. I saw Alice and Henry at the drugstore. Alice actually told me to pass along my best wishes to Janet.”

“I think I’ll wait until after the wedding to share that with Janet. No telling how she may react.” She opened the cash drawer to count out the receipts for the day. “Did you hear from anyone?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant. She did not want Jake to realize how nervous she was.

“Yeah, I got a call on my way back to town. I have it from very reliable sources that Masterly has dropped off the face of the earth. Nobody has heard or seen him in over a month. There’s been no credit card activity so wherever he’s at, they take cash.”

She swallowed hard. “Okay.”

Jake came up and wrapped his arms around her. “Honey, he’s not going to get to you. You have my word. You’re not going to be left alone, even for a minute, until we find him.”

* * *

N
ICHOLI WORE A NEW BLACK SUIT,
and Janet walked down the park steps in a simple long ivory dress. They said their vows in solid, clear voices, standing next to the fountain. The bride carried a small bouquet of red roses, and the groom had a pink carnation in his lapel.

Tara cried through most of the fifteen-minute ceremony. Jake did his part and handed her tissues. When it was over, they walked back to Nel’s.

Johnny O’Reilly had really come through. Every table had a pretty blue tablecloth and a spray of fresh, dark-blue-and-white daisies in simple glass vases. The lights had been turned low and at least forty blue, white, silver and gold candles sparkled. Soft music played, courtesy of a borrowed CD player.

“It’s beautiful,” Jake said. “The man is an artist.”

“Thank goodness he could help. It allowed me to concentrate on the food.”

“Which looks amazing. Not many could have pulled this off. No wonder these people love you.”

Tara felt warm all over. She loved being here with her friends, the new family that she built. She’d come to Wyattville fourteen months ago with nothing. Now, she had everything. Everything that mattered.

“Let’s dance,” Jake whispered in her ear. “I want to hold you. It’s been two hours since I’ve made love to you.”

“You’re shameless,” Tara said. But not any more shameless than she was. As busy as they’d been today, when she and Jake had left the restaurant earlier to go home and dress for the wedding, they’d managed to find a half hour for loving before they’d rushed back to Washington Park.

“Don’t you just adore weddings?” Tara asked, as she slid into his arms.

He’d never really thought about it. He’d certainly gone to his fair share. Most of the guys he’d gone to the academy with had gotten married. He’d even stood up with a couple.

Suddenly he could see himself wearing that ridiculous tuxedo. As long as it was Tara walking down the aisle toward him. Maybe they wouldn’t get married quite as fast as Nicholi and Janet, but he didn’t intend to wait much more than a month or two.

He pulled her closer. She fit perfectly. When the song ended, he released her reluctantly.

“I’m going to refill the cheese tray,” she said. “And mingle a little.”

Three more songs had played when there was a shout from outside. Jake immediately looked for Tara. She was near the front of the restaurant, pouring punch. “Stay there,” he said. He ran toward the back and heard someone yelling, “Fire, fire.”

The Dumpster was fully engulfed and the slight breeze had carried the flames up the steps and onto the second-floor landing. It was spreading toward Nicholi’s door. Janet, still in her wedding dress, stood in the parking lot. She was crying. He ran to her.

“Nicholi is in his apartment. He went upstairs to get my wedding gift.”

Jake knew he had just minutes, maybe not even that. The whole building might go. He could hear the wail of the fire engine and hoped it would be in time. “I’ll get him. Go find Tara and stick to her like glue.” When Janet gave him a strange look he said, “Just do it.”

He jumped, caught the railing with his hands and pulled himself up. Once his feet were on the ground, he made a mad dash for Nicholi’s door. The man opened it and he practically fell into the apartment.

“Janet?” Nicholi asked.

“She’s fine. Look, Nicholi. You can’t get out. The steps are gone.”

“If my bride is down there, I’ll go out the window.”

Jake wrapped an arm around the man’s shoulders. “I was hoping I didn’t have to convince you.” They ran to the windows that faced the street. It was full of people, many of them wedding guests. Jake scanned the crowd but didn’t see Tara or Janet. His gut tightened. When he saw the fire engine barreling down the street, he opened the window and waved wildly.

The crowd moved as the engine, its siren so loud that it could burst an eardrum, stopped just below Nicholi’s window. Within minutes they’d extended the ladder and Jake helped Nicholi descend. Then he followed. Once on the ground, Jake started yelling Tara’s name and searching for her.

The fire truck raced around to the other side of the building. Jake continued to run through the crowd. On his second pass-through, when he was looking in doorways and alleys, he saw something that made his heart stop.

Janet. She was on the ground but trying to sit up. He ran to her side. “Janet. What happened? Where’s Tara?”

“He took her. He hit me and pushed me down and then he grabbed her.”

“Who, Janet? Who?”

“She called him Michael.”

Chapter Seventeen

Where would he take her? Her place? Jake didn’t think so, but he wasn’t leaving anything to chance. He ran to find Andy. He explained the situation and sent him to Tara’s.