01 Untouchable - Untouchable (16 page)

I drove to the beach house.
It looked really different in the daylight. It was a beautiful lot,
right on the water with swaying palm trees and a manicured lawn. I
still had his keys, keys to his car and house, but I didn’t have a
garage door opener. I rounded the drive and I could see the garage
door was up. My heart fluttered in panic, but then I noticed that
his car was missing.

I parked not far from the
garage and climbed out of my bug. I could see the slight damage to
the garage door where black paint was smeared.

Maybe he was home. Perhaps
his car had been towed and he was stuck here without a vehicle—I
moved closer to my car. “Stop being an idiot, Leese,” I muttered.
“Just ring the stupid doorbell!” I walked to the front of the house
and rang the bell and then moved a few paces away. It was a strange
mix of emotions rolling around inside me; I was scared to death,
but I was also hungry to see his face. I wished last night had
never happened and I wanted desperately to be near him with the
assurance that he’d not go weird on me again.

Nothing happened. I rang
the doorbell once more. I sighed, “He’s probably just out spending
your money, Leese—like at the Nissan dealership picking out a
replacement.”

The house key felt like hot
lead in my hand. I could unlock the door and go inside. I could
maybe find my wallet. I could go to his bedroom and find out what
was in that dresser drawer that he kept fiddling with…

The sound of a vehicle
shook me from my thoughts of larceny. I practically ran to my car,
just in time for a red, Pontiac Solstice convertible to pull in
behind me. The top was down and I could see a tousled head-full of
dark brown, wavy hair behind a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses. Sheesh!
He
is
out
spending my money!

He climbed carefully out of
the car, but he didn’t appear surprised to see me standing there.
His face was lightly bruised, his lip still swollen, and the way he
was moving told me his side was hurting. That made last night
suddenly real where only moments ago it seemed like some strange
nightmare.

“
New car already?” I said
simply because I couldn’t think of anything else.

“
Well, when your Porsche
wasn’t in my driveway this morning, I figured I’d have to get
something in the meantime.”

I didn’t hear even a hint
of teasing in his voice and I couldn’t come up with a
response.

“
It’s a rental, Leese. My
car is in the body shop—roof damage, you know.”

My anger flared to life.
“Well, if it hadn’t been roof damage then it would have been in the
shop for a new window!”

“
What do you
want?”

“
I—I dropped my wallet in
your car last night—I need it back.”

One eyebrow went up behind
the sunglasses. “Maybe you didn’t drop it in my car.”

“
Where did you get the
money for the rental? And the new sunglasses?” I knew the glasses
alone were over three-hundred dollars and who knew how much it
would cost to get a sports car as a rental.

He looked mildly annoyed.
“I have plenty of money… Did you think I was stealing from
you?”

My emotions were getting
out of check. I couldn’t start crying, I simply wouldn’t allow it.
I bit my bottom lip—hard. “Were you?”

“
I don’t need your money,”
he growled, grabbing my arm as if to put me in my car.

“
Aaah,” I cried out as the
sharp pain shot through my bruised skin. The tears wouldn’t stay
down. These were a mix of emotional and physical tears. I wasn’t
sure right at the moment which hurt worse, my arm or the fact that
he was angry with me. I turned my face so he wouldn’t
see.

He let go of my arm
immediately, evidently remembering it was the same arm he’d grabbed
last night. He rubbed my shoulder warmly as he apologized. “I’m
sorry, Leese, I forgot about your arm. Is it that bad?” The
question was filled with sincerity, but I couldn’t turn to answer
him. “Let me see it,” he said, trying to slip my over-shirt off my
shoulder.

“
Just forget it,” I
snapped, still keeping my face turned away from his. “I just wanted
my wallet back. I—I guess I’ll just…” My hand was squeezing the
door handle to my Bug, but he pushed it back shut with his free
hand.

“
Let me see your
arm.”

I stood there obstinately
refusing to move. Once again he tried to lower my over-shirt, but
this time I didn’t resist. I was wondering how much longer I’d be
able to resist anything he asked of me. I kept my face turned away
as he slid it down past the hideous bruise.

“
Oh, Leese—I’m so, so
sorry. I never meant to do that.” He pulled my over-shirt back up.
“I have your wallet, it’s in the house. Would you…”

“
Don’t ask me to come
inside,” I said stifling a sob. “I may be stupid once, but not
twice.”

“
You aren’t stupid, Leese.
I’ve never had to work so hard to…”

That got my attention.
Worked so hard to do what? I looked up at him and he took the
opportunity to wipe my tears with his thumbs. “How do you feel
about me?” I said it on an impulse, like if I hadn’t let it out it
would have ripped me apart like an alien. It took him completely
off guard.

“
You are very difficult for
me,” he paused. “I don’t want to like you, but I’m finding that it
gets more complicated every time I see you.” Then he let a little
hint of a smile play with his mouth, “So, turn-about is fair play,
how do you feel about me?”

“
You are very difficult for
me,” It was a mimic, but it was the truth. “I don’t want to like
you,” I said, “but I’m finding that it gets more complicated every
time I see you.”

He nodded. “Good
answer.”

“
What happened last
night?”

“
Well, let’s see; we went to
the movies, the beach, a brawl, and we played doctor in my
house.”

“
You know that would be
funny, if you didn’t do a Jekyll and Hyde after I bandaged you
up.”

He nodded slowly. “I’m
sorry. I was a little too pushy.”

“
Pushy?” I
stated in disbelief, “You were going to
make
me stay here.”

“
I asked the first time,” he
corrected.

“
Wait a minute, if you ask
a girl to spend the night with you and then, when she says no, you
decide to keep her anyway, that’s okay?” His mouth opened, but I
wasn’t finished. “If those guys last night had kicked the crap out
of you and said, ‘Hey baby, wanna stay with us?’ and I said no, it
would have been okay for them to do whatever they wanted because
they asked first?”

I could see the anger boil
up under his skin, his neck muscles starting to flex. “No. Of
course not. I wasn’t going to let those guys get to you last night,
and you practically offered yourself by walking right into the
fight!”

“
I wasn’t going to stand by
and let them kill you!”

“
Why not! I’m nothing to
you, just some guy from school you’re stringing along.”

“
You’re not just some guy.
You’re the guy I’m crazy about! You’re the guy I think about before
I go to sleep, you’re there in my dreams, and you’re the one I
think about when I wake up. I didn’t want to come here today, but
besides my wallet, I felt like I needed to—no, I take that back—I
had to see your face. I had to know you were all right. I was
wishing I wasn’t so stubborn, because all I could dream about last
night was changing my answer when you asked me to stay.”

All his temper vanished,
and his gaze softened. “You wanted to stay?”

“
I still
do, but if you’re the one, then I want you to be the only one. I’ve
got to know you’re always going to be there for me, not just for
the night. But none of this can happen, not until I know who you
are. You’re just about as fake as me.” That was when things
suddenly became so clear it was like waking up and realizing your
whole life was just a dream. “Oh, my God,” I blurted, hating myself
for bringing God into an exclamation, but it was so shocking—He
wasn’t Evan Lewis. He
was
a fake just like me. My hand covered my mouth to
literally keep myself from saying the word, “Micah.”

I could see the expression
of bewilderment on his face as he wondered what I’d just
concluded.

“
I’ve gotta go.” I was
clutching my stomach and feeling like I could hurl at any
second.

“
You’re shaking like a
leaf,” he said, trying to block me once again from getting into my
car. “What is it, Leese? Something just changed; I can see it in
your face.”

“
Please…” I wanted to say
Evan, but the word just wouldn’t come out. I was afraid to say what
I just realized. What would he do? I had to know the truth, at
least about one thing. If I was wrong, he would think I was out of
my mind. But, if I was right, I might never see the light of day
again.

“
You’re not getting ready
to pass out on me again, are you?” He asked. “You almost ripped out
your handy glue work when I had to keep you from smacking the
floor, and I don’t think this concrete is any softer.”

“
My mom was right, wasn’t
she?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from quivering, but I was
trembling so hard my teeth were about to chatter.

He still had the bewildered
expression, but then something clicked and his eyes
changed.

I had to ask. I had to
know. “Did you come here to kill me?”

He just stared. The
sunglasses were slowly removed. “You’re going to come inside. I
think the sun is affecting your brain.” He wore only the faintest
smile, but the humor was as void as his eyes.

I had hope, for just a
moment. Now I knew how Mom must feel when dad looks at her like
she’s off her rocker, the way I look at her, the way Bev and Matt
must think of her. But he still hadn’t answered my question. “If I
come inside, are you going to kill me?”

His hand reached for my arm
automatically, and, as I braced for the pain, he changed and took
hold of my left arm. Why? I wondered. It would be so much easier to
make me do what he wanted if he’d just grab for the bruise, but he
was trying not to hurt me. There was Evan in him somewhere. This
was the guy who was falling for me; but the guy I was falling for
was tucked away inside a killer. By now his grip had tightened and
he had me off balance enough that I had to step toward the
house.

“
Let go, Evan,
Please.”

His grip lightened, but he
still held on.

“
If I’m going back in there
with you, then I’ll walk in on my own.”

“
Why don’t you fight me?”
His voice was almost pleading. “My side is hurting pretty bad, I
think you can get away—just like last night—just don’t come back
this time.”

“
Will you have to come after
me?”

“
Yes,” he
whispered.

“
Is my sister part of this,
too?”

He reached down cupping my
face to make certain I paid attention to his answer, “No—Kimmy was
never in danger from me. For some reason, you’re the only
target.”

It was strange to feel such
complete relief in knowing the truth, and that I was the only one
who was going to die.

“
If you didn’t do—if you
don’t do what you’re hired to do, what happens?”

His body leaned in front of
me against the car, once again he was getting close to me, close
enough that I could feel the warmth and smell the cologne. His face
was serene, but his eyes were filled with anguish and
indecision.

“
Tell me,” I asked, and
then did something I had never done. I slowly reached my trembling
hand out to rest gently against his side, just below the bandage. I
watched as he braced himself, thinking it was my ploy to get away.
He was waiting for me to hit him, but I couldn’t. I just wanted to
touch him and know he was still real and this wasn’t all just some
dream that had gone terribly wrong.

“
Someone else will take my
place and you’ll be dead.” His voice was almost
mournful.

“
And you? Do they let you
just walk away from a—a job?” Those words sounded so cold and
calculated. It wasn’t murder for some people; it was simply a
job.

“
No—I took the down
payment.”

“
So do you just give the
money back? They’ll let you do that, right?”

I could see he wanted to
tell me the truth, but he stubbornly refused to open is
mouth.

“
They’ll kill you, too,
won’t they?” I didn’t know who ‘they’ were, but I could see the
answer in his eyes.

I took a step back from him
as he turned loose of my arm. He was giving me a chance to run, but
I stepped around him and walked to his front door.

“
Leese, what are you
doing?”

I ignored him. I pushed the
key into the lock and walked inside. He was following me, telling
me to get out and leave. I kept my pace steady as I headed for his
bedroom. I knew what was in that dresser now. I pulled open the
drawer that he’d been in last night. This was real and I couldn’t
believe it. Lying there in an open case was a large, dark
handgun.