Necessary Detour (35 page)

He nodded like he wouldn’t spend the next few months putting this all together to make sure they went to prison.

“Did you ever hear from the Vanellis?”

Gateman shook his head.

“Connie gone into hiding now?”

“That’s what the press reported. The trial ended and she left, from what I heard.”

Nikki was confident that someday she could find Cate and Anthony Nelson. Somehow. And now Shakespeare had been caught, killed in some ways.

Gateman interrupted her thoughts. “There’s more about their motive if you want to hear it.”

Nikki sank into the chair, and waited while Gateman explained how Kenzie’s family had fallen to financial ruin over the media’s treatment of the girl’s bizarre death. The mother eventually quit her job as an English teacher, the family restaurant had gone under, and the dad had a fatal heart attack. As Sharon’s need for vengeance grew, she concocted the plan to make Goldy pay for what she’d done and rescue them from poverty. Only in the last few months had the grandfather been added to the plan when they needed a third person. Rather than see his daughter fail and go to prison, he’d relented. After all, Goldy had more than enough money to go around.

“When questioned,” Gateman added, “the grandfather was remorseful. ‘I didn’t know about the letters until last month,’ he said. ‘And I’m sorry. I just thought we’d take Goldy to a house, get the money, and no one would be hurt.’” The FBI agent shook his head in disgust.

Nikki recalled photos of the grandfather in the newspaper after Kenzie’s death. He’d been the family spokesperson, taking interviews at the restaurant in Nebraska. Back then, he’d been clean-shaven and plump. Now he was scrawny with haunted eyes. All along, it had been his resemblance to Yellow that made Nikki wonder where she’d seen him before.

“Merilee leaked your location to the press once Dwayne found your location. She tipped them off about Louisa Lake to try to flush you out, get you back to Seattle.” Gateman used their former names. “Then when you got shot, her plan changed. She was in Seattle, waiting for you, when you summoned her.”

Gateman left Seattle with the prisoners. That knowledge alone gave Nikki a sense of finality that would eventually take root. If she could only speak with Pete, say goodbye, instead of this feeling of leaving her shoes outside in the rain, she’d be closer to tying up all the loose ends from the last few months.

****

Opening the front door to her new house, Nikki held her breath. She was excited to see the home where she’d raise her son. A framed portrait of her and Quinn hung over the hall console table, and she stopped, tears dripping onto her shirt.

“It’s just until we get a family picture with Junior, Mom.”

As Nikki clutched the Yoruba symbol at her throat, sobs accompanied the tears.

Quinn put her arms around her mother. “Don’t cry.”

“Sweetie, I’m fine. It’s just so pretty, and I’m grateful to have this place, especially now.” She didn’t want to tell her daughter that the disappointment of not hearing from Pete had suddenly overtaken her. It seemed like he’d never find her here in this new life. He’d had his chance while she was in the hospital. Every step she took away from being Goldy took her farther from him. They walked into the hallway, the heels of their boots tapping on the clay tiles.

That afternoon the rain was relentless in its pursuit of soaking the Pacific Northwest. Puddles formed all over the yard and the million-dollar view was obscured by a gray haze of cloud and rain. Nikki’s first thought when she stepped into her bedroom was that the master bed was too large for one person. Thoughts of Pete, his kiss, his hands under her layers of warmth, left Nikki feeling like a hollow shell. She wished she could’ve seen him in this house.

Sliding her hand across the quilted coverlet, she held off tears. Her home nurse followed, pulling the suitcase to the bed. “Thanks, Bev, I’ll unpack later. Right now I just want to lie down.” Rain enveloped the house, the sound on the roof comforting.

“Sure thing, Ms. Crossland.” Bev pulled down the covers and left the room.

****

That night, when she woke at eight, the rain still drummed rhythmically on the roof as Nikki wandered from room to room looking for her daughter. Quinn had taken up residence in a large room down the hall from her mother’s, one that also overlooked the lake.

“Hello, kiddo.”

Quinn was bent over her desk, studying. Surrounded by decorative surfboards, Hawaiian prints, and fake palm trees, Quinn looked happy. “You’re awake.” She stood to hug her mother. “Have a great nap in our new house?”

“Hmmm. So wonderful. I love the house you picked out for us.” The sling on Nikki’s left arm dominated her new fashion look.

“I made dinner. Are you hungry?” Quinn looked pleased with herself.

“I’ll get some in a minute.” Nikki stroked Quinn’s forehead. So smooth and sweet. Young, innocent. “You keep studying.”

Bev was sitting at the kitchen counter reading a romance novel and drinking a cup of tea when Nikki walked in. She didn’t look like a former martial arts instructor, but Nikki had been delighted to hear that her nurse could throw a mean jab into someone’s larynx. The memory of Merilee’s betrayal was hard to forget.

“Quinn made spaghetti for an army,” Bev said, sliding off the bar stool.

“Don’t get up.” Nikki remembered the manicotti she’d made at Louisa Lake for the Bayer family. So many memories had returned. Hopefully everything. She couldn’t help but wonder how Connie and Tony Vanelli were doing and where they’d gone in the witness relocation program. Connie had passed through her life too briefly, around only long enough to teach her how to be compassionate at all costs, and then she was gone.

A thought popped into Nikki’s head. Maybe Pete had gone with them to the new town, and stayed to protect them. It was possible his mission had been extended longer than planned, and he was still undercover. Her heart lifted. There were many reasons Pete might have opted out of contacting Nikki, not the least of which was her being pregnant with another man’s baby. If Pete had stuck around, he’d be taking on a child, as well as all the problems of the Goldy image. She couldn’t blame him for deciding against her and all the nonsense she brought to the table. All the Goldy shit. How could she disassociate herself from the celebrity she’d been for so long? Nikki still sang, had the same face as Goldy, carried all the memories of Goldy’s life with her.

It was impossible to detach completely.

Nikki was Goldy.

And Goldy was Nikki.

Why had she been trying to deny it? Meshing the two was inevitable. The person who emerged would become clear in the months to come, but for now, Nikki was done trying to ignore all her years as a rock star. She’d loved Goldy for so long.

Pete had tried to tell her this when she asked him if it was Goldy he was attracted to or Nikki. “It’s just you. Who you are and that’s a part of both,” he’d said. “Would I be crazy about Nikki if she was a secretary from Indiana? I don’t know, because you’re not. You’re a singer from L.A. with a wicked sense of humor who’s had an interesting life.” They’d been snuggled into each other, talking, his hand under her shirt. A jolt of electricity shot through her at the thought of that moment on the sailboat, and she gasped out loud.

Bev looked over. “Are you in pain?” she asked.

“No. I’m just thinking about a sexy man.”

Bev laughed and went back to her book.

Nikki was glad she hadn’t told Quinn about her real feelings for the person who started out as the strange man in the log house, especially now when it looked like he’d dropped out of her life. Quinn would be disappointed for her mother’s loss and would harbor a dislike for the man who did this to her. And Nikki had never mentioned Pete’s name to Quinn without the word “weird” in the same sentence, except when she called from the sailboat to say that she was with the Bayer family. Quinn had no idea how her mother’s relationship with Pete had evolved. Nor would she, now that Pete had given up on her.

Where the hell was Nikki? She was damned good at this elusive act. Apparently sleeping with her and saving her life didn’t grant him an audience with the rock star.

She’d left the hospital. That much he knew, but even the hospital staff seemed confused about where she went and to top off his frustration, he and Nikki had been on the same hospital floor for forty-eight hours and he hadn’t even been conscious. Swear words were barely stifled when he heard that one.

After recovering from the allergic reaction to the drug he’d been stuck with, then having his vocal nodules removed when they swelled to ping-pong-ball size, he’d been told the news that Goldy had been in a room down the hall when he was recovering from surgery. And now she was gone.

Even though no one at the hospital was talking, he wasn’t out of ideas. He’d start with Quinn’s apartment, just in case she was still in town. Even a long shot was better than nothing.

****

Nikki needed to address the problem of the press. They were reporting untruths that were hurtful to read. They’d used Pete’s picture again and assumed the baby was his. Someone had taken a photo of Pete yelling to the ambulance driver about her being four months pregnant, and they’d concluded he must be the father.

Seeing her name and photo linked to Pete in this way, left Nikki feeling wistful and she’d briefly entertained the fantasy that Pete was the father to her baby. That was dangerous territory for a fantasy because of the feelings it evoked.

If he wasn’t with Connie, then Pete would be on his way to Mexico, if not already there, enjoying retirement with a fishing pole in one hand, and a Corona in the other. She hoped he took someone to teach him to sail, seeing he sucked at it.

After much thought, she phoned Phyllis to call a press conference. Nikki needed to address the baby issue and dispel rumors, even if Pete wasn’t around to hear them.

****

Quinn’s apartment had been vacated, but Pete found her between classes, walking from one building to another. She tried to go the other way when she saw Pete, but he ran in front and held out his hands in surrender.

“Go away,” she said.

“Please, Quinn. Let me talk to your mom.”

“No.” She sounded appalled that he’d asked.

“She’d want to see me.” He kept his distance.

“She doesn’t. I asked her.”

“I doubt that.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” Quinn stared him down, looking so much like Nikki, he wanted to hug her.

“Not exactly. I’m sure you’re trying to protect your mother.”

“Something you didn’t do.” Quinn looked triumphant that she’d hit him where it hurt. “Excuse me. I have a class I don’t want to miss.”

“Just ask her if she wants to talk to me.”

Quinn passed him and he spun around.

“Quinlan Marie, named after your great-aunt, your Poppi’s sister. Just ask her, okay?”

Quinn’s step slowed.

“Ask your mother how I know you like homemade rhubarb pie at Katie’s house, and how I know you and your mom had pedicures in Seattle, Sunset Peachilicious, and that you laughed about that silly name. How I know that your mother has such guilt about being a crappy mother that she ate fish when you were at the lake so she wouldn’t disappoint you, even though she threw up after.”

Quinn stood still.

“Ask her, Quinn.” He watched her walk to the next building and disappear, never turning around.

****

When Quinn arrived home that night, Nikki saw she’d had a rough day at school. Dark circles had taken up temporary residence under her eyes. Exams were taking their toll.

“Were you studying late last night?” Nikki brushed a strand of hair back from her daughter’s face.

“Not really.” Quinn flashed a fake smile that Nikki recognized only too well from her own publicity shots.

“Nice smile, Goldy,” Nikki said to make Quinn laugh. “I called a press conference tomorrow.”

“What for?”

“To set the record straight. They know I’m pregnant, they want to hear it from me, and I want to tell them it’s none of their business who the father is.” Nikki could see Nurse Bev’s head turn away with the last statement. She stood immediately and left the room. A good sign in an employee.

Quinn frowned. “You’re not going to tell them, are you?”

“No. But I am going to deny the rumor that it’s Pete.”

“Wait, they’re saying your baby is the U.S. Marshal’s?”

Nikki nodded. “Where have you been? It’s all over the news.”

“Studying.”

“It’s because of that picture of him on my dock. Remember they thought he was my new boyfriend? And then he told the ambulance driver that I’m pregnant, something I will be forever grateful for, even though it must have been embarrassing for him.” Nikki adjusted her sling and winced. “I can’t believe you haven’t heard this?”

Quinn shook her head. “No.”

“But you know all that he did for me.”

“What did he do for you, besides abduct you and get you shot?”

Nikki stared at her daughter in disbelief. She rarely saw Quinn like this. She was almost resentful of Pete. “He did no such thing, Quinn. I went willingly with them to the sailboat and stayed with them because I chose to help.”

Quinn looked confused. “I thought he made you stay.”

“I didn’t want to leave. I stayed to keep Connie safe. To help.”

“Including jumping out of the van to take a bullet for her?” Quinn’s eyes searched her mother’s.

“I never thought there would be an assassin waiting to shoot Connie. I thought it was just a group of reporters. And I know how to handle reporters.” She looked Quinn purposefully in the eyes. “Pete had no idea that I planned to jump out to distract the press. When I opened the door, he grabbed me by the arm so fast, I barely had time to shrug out of my coat which, by the way, was his because it was warmer than the one I’d run away in. Pete is a sweet guy.” She emphasized this last part.