01 Untouchable - Untouchable (38 page)

That wasn’t making sense.
“But…”

His fingers found my lips to hush me.
“Most people don’t check to see if the person beside them is
watching when they enter a combination or a code. It was easy to
see her enter the lockbox code, 9-3-9-7. The realtor left and I let
myself back inside. The key is now in my pocket.”

I was considering how he easily
remembered the size of my clothes, undergarments and shoes. “Do you
have a photographic memory?” I simply had to know.

“
Pretty much, but usually
only if I’m interested in what’s going on.” He seamlessly moved on
to the next detail. “They were all three there at the house. I
watched until about four o’clock, I think that was when the news
broke that you had been at the hospital. They must have been
getting ready to go out and see what they could find when I saw her
lip-lock with one of the guys before they left. She may have paid
to get rid of you, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those guys
is itching to get rid of Robert for free.”

“
Kimmy!” I stated, suddenly
sitting upright. “I’ve got to find out if he took her back from Bev
and Matt!” Panic like a wave of nausea washed over me. “If she’s
here, those guys won’t care…”

“
Slow down, Leese. Nothing
is going to happen until Robert has Power of Attorney. And I’m sure
Sharon won’t try anything for a few months, at least not until she
can worm her way into the finances.”

“
I’ve got to call them and
ask…”

“
You can call them, just not
tonight. It’s getting late. It’ll be okay. I wouldn’t be surprised
if Robert had decided to at least let her finish the school year
there. And I’m sure with all this messy business with your mom, he
didn’t want her around to see it.”

“
So what now?” I asked
resting my head against his chest. “I didn’t think we’d get to have
tonight together.”

“
Me neither. I assumed I’d
be in the other bungalow pulling an all-night surveillance—there
are two beds in the other unit if you’d rather spend the night in
it.”

“
I told you this morning
that this one was okay. By the way,” I said remembering something
that I wanted to bring up. “When I called the office for the
delivery I found out how you registered us.”

“
You didn’t like the idea of
me nearly ruining your reputation at the high school, so I assumed
you would be more comfortable as my—my wife while we’re
here.”

I wanted to tell him that I’d be
comfortable as his wife anywhere. I would be comfortable in his
arms every night. What would it be like to spend a wedding night
with him? I had nearly found out, if he hadn’t been the one to come
back to reality before we vanished into passion. “Yeah, I think
it’s better this way.” I sighed as I nestled deeply against him,
“Micah, are you comfortable?”

He had been propped against the head
board when I asked him, but now he was sliding down to a full
recline with his head on the pillows. He moved my body effortlessly
as he moved his own. “I am now,” he answered.

“
Could we sleep this way
tonight? It’s not going to cause a problem, is it? I just want to
fall asleep in your arms.”

His lips pressed to my forehead and
stayed there for a long moment. “Good-night, Baby. I…” There was
nothing now but silence. Whatever he had started to say, he decided
to stop himself.

“
Good-night, Micah. I love
you.”

“
Leese,” came a whisper in
the dark.

“
Yeah?”

“
I can’t help but notice,
you aren’t calling me Evan anymore.”

“
Evan was a dream,” I said
softly, sleep starting to invade the warm corners of my mind.
“You’re my reality, Micah. I guess I just want you to realize I
love you no matter who you are, or what you’ve done.”

“
Good-night.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Morning wasn’t quite as harsh as
yesterday. The curtains were all drawn, but the sunlight filtered
in through every available crack and crevice. I was so very, very
comfortable. I was still against him, his arm wrapped around my
waist and the sound of his peaceful breathing on my shoulder. I
lifted his hand to my mouth and tenderly kissed each scarred
knuckle, the back of his hand and then his wrist. I heard him take
a deep moaning breath as his arm slipped from my grasp and he
rolled to his back and stretched on the bed.

“
What time is it?” I asked
quietly.

“
Almost eight.”

“
The doctor’s office opens
at nine,” I said wearily, rising up from where I had been so
comfortable. I went to the bathroom for my morning routine and
returned to find him up, dressed, holstered and slipping on his
jacket.

I had ironed my clothes yesterday and
had set them out, ready to put on. I couldn’t see any reason to go
to the bathroom to change; after all he’d seen me in bathing suits
skimpier than my bra and underwear so I simply stood at the dresser
and dropped my skirt and slipped into my jeans. Off came one top
and on went the next. I had brushed my hair once, but changing
shirts necessitated messing it up. I turned to go back to the
bathroom to brush it when I found him standing there staring at
me.

“
What?” I asked as I
side-stepped around him and went into the bathroom.

He followed me. “You just changed
clothes right in front of me.” He sounded a bit dazed.

“
My bikini is tinier than my
underclothes, that and the fact that you have, unfortunately, seen
me butt-naked as well doesn’t leave much reason for me to run and
hide.”

He smiled. “So now I get to change in
front of you, too?”

“
I’ve seen you in your board
shorts. You do wear underwear right?”

He smiled.

“
You’re already dressed, but
if you don’t wear anything under that gun belt, cowboy, keep your
pants on in front of me.”

He pulled down slightly on the top of
his jeans and a pair of boxers became visible.

“
Well, that answers that
question.” I stated.

“
About whether I wear
underwear or not?” He winked.

“
No, the boxers or briefs
question,” I laughed.

I used his personal cell to make a long
awaited call to Bev and Matt’s house. They didn’t usually leave the
house until eight-thirty so I knew they should be home. Bev
answered, her tone was cautious because she didn’t recognize the
phone number, but when she heard my voice she began to
cry.

“
Are you okay? Where are
you? I heard on the news you were back in Palm Beach.
Are you with Evan?”
Her
questions were in rapid fire order, but she put the most emphasis
on her last one.

“
Calm down, Bev. I’m fine
and I am in Palm Beach—with Evan.” It was funny, but after last
night, calling him Evan was now odd to me. “There are a million
things I’d like to tell you, but I’ve got to know if Kimmy is with
you or did Robert come get her?”

“
She’s still here with us.
You’re dad said things were still crazy down there. How is your
mom?”

“
Things are pretty bad right
now and I can’t talk long, but could you do me a favor if he calls
and wants her to come home; give him an excuse. Any excuse that
he’ll believe will do. It’s really, really important that she
doesn’t come back here until this mess is straightened
out.”

“
Ah—Leese—if you’re dad
wants her…”

“
Bev, he’s not my dad. You
know that and I’ve found that he is at the root of all these
problems, especially Mom’s. Please keep her away from here if you
possibly can.”

“
Do you want to talk to
her?” she asked quietly.

“
I want to but I can’t. I’ve
got to go see Mom’s doctor. If everything works out down here, I’ll
call you when we can talk longer. And Bev, would you tell her I
love her and I miss her.”

“
Of course, I will. Bye,
Leese.”

That was a big worry off my mind. The
next phone call I made was to doctor Figarrio’s office to find out
if he was in this morning. Once I got my answer, I was ready to
go.

“
Are you following me today
or are you disappearing again?” I smiled to let him know I was okay
with whatever decision he made.

“
You may not see me, but I
won’t be far away. Try not to be in the doctor’s office very long.
The faster we move from one place to the other, the less chance we
have of a news van pulling up.”

“
I’ll try,” I sighed. “It’s
been a while since I’ve seen Doctor Figarrio. I hope he’ll listen
to me.”

Driving toward downtown, I glanced up
every few minutes to see if the Trans Am was visible. He was very
good at staying hidden because I only saw him twice, and that is a
car that wasn’t easily blended into traffic. I spent the remainder
of my drive time thinking what I would say when I faced Doctor
Figarrio. I usually could control my temper, but the closer I came,
the hotter my anger kindled. How could he have been so ignorant, or
worse, how could he have done this knowing what was going
on?

I pulled into the doctor’s complex and
went inside. The receptionist was someone new to me. “I need to
speak with Doctor Figarrio.”

His cliental were the social elite and
I could tell that the woman was assessing me by the clothes I was
wearing. Her nose seemed to up turn as she asked, doubtfully, if I
had an appointment.

“
That isn’t what I asked
you, now is it?” I’d never tried to be a social snob, but she was
picking the wrong day to piss me off.

“
Well,” she gave a snobbish
sigh, still believing I was someone she could walk over, “He is in
today, but his appointment schedule is full and we’re not accepting
new…”

I leaned into the glassed opening and
narrowed my eyes, “Get off your cushioned chair and go tell him
that Annalisa Winslett is here to see him. I don’t care if he’s in
the middle of examining the president. Do it now!” I growled
out.

The chair was empty before you could
say one-thousand-one.

There were plenty of open seats in the
waiting room, but I was so infuriated I just stood there as
patients stared. I folded my arms, waiting for the door to the
hallway to open. If I was correct, it would open
quickly.

The door jerked open as Doctor
Figarrio’s startled face appeared. “Annalisa? Good Lord, where have
you been? Your mother…”

I pushed my way passed him and headed
straight back to his office.

He followed without further comment and
closed the door behind us. “Annalisa, you’ve worried your mother
into a…”

“
That’s a lie and you know
it. My mother knew where I was.” That wasn’t completely true, but
she and I had talked before I vanished. “What have you been doing
to her?!” My voice was bordering on out-of-control as my fury
mounted.

“
I don’t know what you’re
talking about…”

“
Don’t play stupid with me.
You have been prescribing sleeping pills, anti-depressants,
anti-anxiety and who knows what else. And, what makes it worse is
that I know she didn’t ask you for all this, Robert
did.”

“
Robert has been concerned
about your mother’s…”

“
Bull-crap! Robert has been
feeding her all possible combinations of the garbage you’ve been
prescribing to screw up her mind, not to help her. He’s after her
money and that is it.”

“
Annalisa, I’ve been your
doctor since you were five, and I’ve never done anything to harm
you or your mother.”

“
Well then you need to wake
up, because that isn’t my mother tied up in the hospital. She has a
list of meds as long as my arm. She is freaked out, and if you
don’t drop off the drugs, she’s going to really lose her
mind.”

“
Annalisa,” he said,
sounding stern and almost chastising. “Your mother attempted
suicide. Robert is concerned for her well-being. She has to be
taken care of in the proper…”

“
She didn’t try suicide! How
do you know Robert didn’t dope her up and slit her wrist for her? I
imagine the only thing he’s upset about is that he didn’t cut deep
enough! She told me she only remembered going to sleep and waking
up tied like a dog in the hospital.”

“
I’m treating what I know
and what I see, Annalisa,” he seemed more sincere. I could tell I
was wearing on his defenses.

“
Doctor Figarrio, you aren’t
helping her,” I stated, cooling my temper and realizing that Robert
may have been manipulating more people than Mom and me. “You know
my mom. This isn’t her. You’ve got to take her off all the drugs.
Robert is the one behind all her problems, and I’ve all but got the
proof in my hands. You’re the only one who can help her. I know
right now she is like your billion dollar baby and maybe you’re
thinking she’s gonna be your fricken retirement plan, but she is my
mom!” I took a breath to stop my anger from rising back up. “You
took an oath to help people, not just collect a fat paycheck while
you watch them waste away. Do this for her, do it for me—do it for
yourself because I know your conscience is about to eat you alive.
You know this is wrong.”