She laughed softly. “Oh.” Relinquishing the pillow, Sam turned over to lie on my arm. “That should be fun. Don’t you think?”
I shrugged and yawned at the same time.
“Your phone’s going off,” she announced while stretching. Immediately, I wished that I’d left it in my room. Last night, and the day so far, had been peaceful. I jumped back up and retrieved it from my coat pocket, hesitating before checking the ID. It was my mother; Vick must’ve told her and my father that I bailed a day early.
“Hello?”
“Are you ok? Where are you?” She asked in a panic.
“Charleston. I got here yesterday.”
My mother breathed a sigh of relief and continued.
“Mom, I’m fine. Relax.”
No, everything is not fine! You can’t just take off like that whenever you please without saying something first!” she hissed, leaving me confused by the anger and frustration I felt coming through the phone.
Sam couldn’t hear my mother’s words, but she could hear her frightened tone through the phone. She was watching me rather intently, so I had to calm my mother down to keep suspicion low. “Stop worrying so much; I’m okay.”
My mother’s lack of a response, prompted me to ask, “Is there something else?”
She hesitated and I knew there was more. “A threat came in the mail yesterday. These people….. don’t you think for a second that they wouldn’t hurt you to get your father’s attention. For now it’s just talk, but there’s a very clear limit to their patience.”
There wasn’t anything I could say without giving away too many details to Sam, who was undoubtedly listening in on the conversation. “What about the merger? Any news on that yet?” I asked just above a whisper as I walked toward Sam’s desk for privacy.
She cleared her throat. “No. Not yet. Mr. Tanaka informed your father that he’s nearing the tail end of a legal matter that should be wrapping up later this month, or early February at the latest. But, until then, his hands are tied.”
I dropped my gaze to the floor and did my best not to show signs of distress. My mother was completely innocent, but her life was just as much in danger as my father’s was. Anger rippled through me. If anything happened to her because of him, I swear…..
“Is there somewhere else you can go, just until things calm down?” I asked.
“No. I won’t leave your father,” she said sternly. Even though he was to blame for this whole mess, she was standing by him. And if that’s what she wanted, then there was nothing I could do to change her mind. Still I had to try.
“Mom, it’s just for a little…..”
“I’m not going anywhere! I vowed to stand by his side no matter what and I intend to keep my word. “
With a heavy heart, I had no choice but to let her do as she wished. “Call me if there’s anything I can do,” I said.
“Just stay inside; it’s safer that way for now. Your father and I have decided to send Vick some help – just one or two more men for reinforcement since the circumstances have changed.”
More watchmen meant a greater risk of Sam becoming even more suspicious of what I was keeping from her than she already was; however, there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
“Son, I love you,” my mother said solemnly.
“You too.”
When I ended the call and turned around, Sam pretended that she wasn’t listening. I forced a weak smile and sat on the edge of her bed. “That was my mom.” As if she didn’t already know that.
“Everything ok?” She asked, yawning.
“Yeah, she was just surprised that I was here already.”
“Was she mad?”
“No. Just worried,” I replied absentmindedly.
Sam’s forehead creased as she thought about what I said. “Why would she be worried if she thought you were still at Westwood? She didn’t know that you’d left until just now, right?”
One slip of the tongue made all the difference. There was no way that Sam was going to let this go unless I gave her a satisfactory answer, so….I lied….again.