Who knows, maybe they'll handle Van in a way that means I won't have to, she thought to herself.
Feeling more confident she stood up straight as renewed determination worked itself into her thoughts. It settled there like a lost puppy who'd finally found its way home. After one last look in the mirror, she took a calming breath. Straightening her shoulders, she opened the bathroom door and walked right into the same brick wall that had stopped her in Vivian's bedroom.
Chapter Thirteen
Naples, Florida 1978
Anthony grabbed Christy's shoulders to steady her and thought he felt her flinch. She looked up at him and what he saw in her eyes told him he'd been right. She'd heard everything. And she was afraid of him. Almost as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and she stepped back. Not meeting his eyes, she said, "I came looking for you." She bit her lip to try and disguise the slight tremble.
He didn't say anything.
"When I heard your voice, I figured you were on the phone and I didn't want to be rude. So, I used the bathroom to give you your privacy." She looked back up then and let him read into what she'd said. She didn't tell him she heard what he was talking about, only that she'd heard his voice. There was a difference. Wasn't there?
His black eyes gave nothing away.
"What did you want?" he asked her, his voice even and without emotion.
She told him about Van's secretary and how she wanted to call the dealership but wasn't sure if she should. She'd wanted to ask his opinion. He nodded when she was finished and said, "Yeah, you can call. If his secretary knows something and you think she'll tell you."
Christy shrugged her shoulders trying to pretend like she didn't have a care in the world. "It's worth a try, don't you think?" Her eyes narrowed then, and she tilted her head to one side. Still looking up at him she asked, "Why were you standing outside the bathroom door?"
He reached into his back pocket and placed her beeper in her hand. "I went to my office and saw that you had a page."
She looked at it squinting in concentration. "I don't recognize the number," she told Anthony, shaking her head. "Should I call it back?"
"It might be Van," he told her. "C'mon."
She followed him to the spare bedroom and watched as he sat down on the weight bench. He motioned her over, and she sat next to him. He tutored her on possible conversations and things she should and shouldn't say. He picked up the telephone that was hooked up to the untraceable phone line and dialed the number on her pager. The phone didn't have a speaker, so he held the earpiece between them.
He swallowed thickly when he caught a whiff of her. She smelled like, like...like flowers. Fresh and clean like something that floated on the air on a cool summer day.
One ring.
It intermingled with another smell. One that he couldn't place but it attacked his senses and sent a bolt of lightning to his groin.
Another ring.
He tried to remember what she smelled like when he'd carried her down the stairs at the Chapmans and when he’d held her under the water in his shower. He couldn't remember. He gulped and struggled not to adjust his jeans.
"Hello?" a woman's voice answered before the third ring.
"Yes, I'm returning a page," Christy said.
Anthony felt her warm breath on his cheek.
"Christy?"
"Who's this, please?" Christy asked. The voice was familiar, but two words weren't enough for Christy to identify it.
"It's Kimberly Cochran," the woman said. "Are you okay, Christy?"
"Detective Cochran?" Christy asked, the surprise in her voice obvious. She felt Anthony stiffen at her side. A million thoughts battled their way to the surface of her brain. A million thoughts all jostling for first place, trying to fight their way to the surface and gain supremacy over her tongue. She knew instantly this was not the opening she was looking for. If she managed to tell Detective Cochran where she was and who she was with, she had no doubt that Anthony Bear could not only stop her from getting more than two words out, but he could kill her and dispose of any evidence of her existence before the first police car arrived. She would have to do the opposite. She would have to deter the woman from suspecting Anthony.
"I didn't recognize the number you called from," Christy remarked.
"I'm at a pay phone," the woman answered. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, of course I'm okay. I'm fine." She paused and pulled away from the phone to give Anthony a questioning look. Words weren't necessary. She was beginning to comprehend how the game was played and knew what she needed to say. An unspoken understanding passed between them, and Anthony nodded. "But I almost wasn't." Without giving the detective a chance to say anything, Christy quickly added, "I think Van must be in trouble, Detective. I had the strangest encounter with a big, scary looking guy named Anthony."
"Anthony Bear?" Detective Cochran asked in a worried voice.
"Um…maybe," Christy stammered. "Possibly. I don't remember if he said his last name."
"What kind of encounter?" the detective prodded.
Christy knew that one conversation with Nadine would reveal that she'd brought Anthony to Nadine's home. And if Detective Cochran decided to interview Evelyn, her landlord, she would know that Anthony was at her apartment as well. She needed to come clean up front and hope the seasoned detective bought it, and pray she didn’t say anything that would lead the police to Anthony Bear’s front door. Visions of hostage situations and a gun being held against her temple clambered into her head. Shaking her runaway thoughts off, she continued, "Just a weird one. I was snooping at Van and Vivian's, and he was working with the landscaping crew that was there servicing their house. Anyway, I was having car trouble when I went to leave, and because his company works in my brother's neighborhood, he offered me a ride over there. Nadine's grandma made us lunch and invited him to stay for something to eat. He was there when Richard pulled the stunt I called you about."
"Christy, are you with him now? Are you with Anthony right now?" Detective Cochran asked. The worry in her voice almost reached through the phone and grabbed Christy by the throat.
"No! Of course not!" she answered a little too quickly. "He looks mean and scary, but he was super nice. I mean, I think he owns the landscape company that has serviced the Chapman estate for years so I didn't have any reservations about letting him give me a ride. He was a perfect gentleman. He even had one of his guys get the loaner car running and swapped out my Rabbit."
She turned her head to look at Anthony, her eyes like saucers. He gave her an approving nod.
"Christy, listen to me. If it's the Anthony I think it is, he is not nice. And he is definitely not a gentleman. Are you home now? Did he follow you there?"
Christy took a deep breath and continued with her lie. "I'm not home, but that's where it got a little weird."