Back on Blossom Street (26 page)

“How did she respond?” It wasn’t any of my business but I was understandably curious.

“She didn’t,” Alix told me with a tinge of sadness. “I didn’t hear from her for about six months, and then she
wrote and said that since I got religion I probably wouldn’t be any good to her.” Her eyes glazed over for a moment.

“Did you tell my sister any of this?” I asked.

“I tried, but…” Alix shook her head. “Margaret wasn’t in the mood to hear it.”

That figured. Once again I wondered what—if anything—I could do to help my sister. And once again, no real solution presented itself.

Colette Blake

C
hristian had left for China a week ago. Colette could only speculate on his business there. During her years as his assistant, she’d booked any number of flights for him and knew he frequently traveled to Asian countries, particularly China. The thought of him dealing in human cargo turned her stomach. How long had it been going on, she wondered. And the question she asked over and over:
Why?
Still, she had difficulty equating the man she knew and loved—yes, loved—the man whose child she carried, with a man who’d do something so criminal. And beyond criminal, so cynically cruel.

Regardless, and in the face of her dangerous knowledge, Colette waited patiently for word from him. He hadn’t said exactly how long he’d be away. His trips lasted anywhere from one to three weeks, and more often than not, he experienced delays, but she expected to hear from him soon. Now that she’d made the decision to tell him about the baby, the news burned within her.

For the first time since she’d left Dempsey Imports, she felt a real sense of hope. The thing about hope, she
discovered, was that it was like a powerful painkilling drug. Despite her fears, her mood remained optimistic. Even the weather cooperated, and the days were bright with sunshine.

Fridays were usually busy at Susannah’s Garden and this particular Friday was no exception. All morning, Colette was occupied with walk-ins, who were quickly becoming twenty to thirty percent of their business.

One of the local high schools was having their Junior/Senior prom that evening. Susannah and Chrissie spent the afternoon assembling boutonnieres and corsages as fast as they could in their crowded workspace.

Colette admired the way Susannah constantly came up with inventive ideas to make her little shop known in the area. If that meant offering a large floral arrangement as a raffle gift to one of the service organizations, then she did so willingly. She visited hospitals, wedding planners and funeral homes and outlined her services. Business continued to flow into the shop at an increasing rate. Some days the two of them could barely keep up; more and more often, Chrissie was coming by after her classes to help out.

Colette appreciated her assistance and calm, cheerful demeanor, but what impressed her most was Chrissie’s devotion to her grandma Leary, who lived in eastern Washington. Every two or three days Chrissie made a point of phoning her grandmother. Colette knew Susannah was close to her mother, too, and called her often. Fortunately, she had a good friend who kept in touch with Mrs. Leary and reported back.

The phone rang and Susannah answered it. She glanced at Colette, and thinking it might be a private conversation, Colette walked outside to check on the flowers in their buckets. She rearranged them, adding irises to the lilies to create an appealing array of colors.

After several minutes she returned to find that Susannah was still on the phone. She removed it from her ear, held her hand over the receiver and said, “Actually, this is for you.”

“Me?” Colette’s first thought was that it must be Christian, although she recognized that this was more hope than expectation. She couldn’t understand why Susannah would be talking for so long with someone who’d asked to speak to
her.
She hurried over and Susannah passed her the phone.

“This is Colette Blake,” she said in her most professional voice.

She heard a sob and then in crisp tones, “Colette, it’s Elizabeth Sasser.”

Alarm filled her instantly. “Elizabeth, is everything all right?”

“No, my dear, I’m afraid…it isn’t.” Her words faltered, and Colette could tell that Christian’s aunt was struggling to keep her composure.

“Is it…Christian?”

“I’m afraid I have bad news.” The old woman paused, then exhaled sharply. “When it’s convenient, would you mind stopping by the house?”

“Of course.” Colette’s pulse hammered violently.
Bad news?
Something had happened to Christian; that was the only thing it could be. All her fears came together at once and for a moment she felt as if she might throw up.

“Thank you,” Elizabeth whispered. Almost in afterthought, she added, “Come as soon as you can.”

The line was disconnected before Colette could question her further.

Slowly she replaced the receiver. Susannah came to stand next to her and slipped an arm around Colette’s shoulders.

“Did she tell you what happened?” Colette asked her, needing to know, no matter how bad the news.

“No. She couldn’t. She was so upset, the housekeeper had to talk to me. But she was pretty distraught, too, and I had trouble understanding her.”

“Doris,” Colette said. “Her name is Doris.”

Susannah nodded. “Doris explained that Elizabeth received a phone call about half an hour ago and that she’d nearly collapsed.”

“He’s dead.” It was the same feeling Colette had experienced when she’d followed the aid car to the hospital after Derek’s fall.

“Colette, there’s no need to believe the worst.” Susannah gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Do you want Chrissie or me to drive you?”

She shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine.” She was surprisingly calm, but then she had been after Derek’s accident, too. The initial rush of panic had subsided and in its place had come this numb sensation, this chilling certainty. “I don’t mean to leave you in the lurch,” she told her employer.

“Go, don’t worry. Chrissie will be here in an hour and in the meantime I have everything under control.”

Not feeling any need to rush, Colette washed her hands, collected her purse, then walked to the alley where she kept her car. The numbness started to fade, and she felt a tightness instead, gripping her chest. If she’d been older, she might have feared that this pain signaled the beginning of a heart attack. But she knew it wasn’t that. This was what loss felt like.

The identical sensation had accompanied the E.R. physician’s words when he’d led Colette into a private office and told her there was nothing left to do but wait for death. Derek would never recover from his coma, he’d said. Nothing could change that outcome.

Even in the heavy Friday-afternoon traffic, Colette
didn’t lose her composure. Because Christian would still be dead, whether she got to Elizabeth’s house in ten minutes or in forty.

When she arrived at the old woman’s picturesque home, she carefully parked the car. In that instant her grief felt too much to bear and she pressed her forehead against the steering wheel and silently prayed for strength.

She loved Christian. If she’d ever doubted it before, there was no question now. He would never know. Never learn the truth. Never hold their baby. She’d have to accept that the same way she’d accepted everything else in the last two years.

Drawing a deep breath, Colette climbed out of her car. She’d barely rung the bell when Doris flung open the massive door, and with red-rimmed eyes, led Colette into the library.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Doris told her, wringing a white handkerchief between her hands. “Miss Elizabeth needs you.”

Colette entered the library and sat down on the ottoman at the older woman’s feet. “Can you tell me what happened?” she asked softly.

Elizabeth shook her head. “No one knows. Christian is missing, lost somewhere inside China. No one’s seen him.” She swallowed hard. “For the past week, no one’s heard from him.
A whole week.
”

“He got on the plane in Seattle, correct?”

Elizabeth nodded. “According to the airline, Christian landed in Beijing. That’s where the trail stops. As far as his office is aware, he was scheduled to change to a connecting plane there, but he never arrived in the other city. I’ve forgotten its name,” she added fretfully.

“How did you hear about this?” she asked.

“My nephew Elliott phoned. Christian’s father. Some
one at Dempsey Imports called him. He phoned me right afterward.”

“What’s being done to find him?” Colette asked, her mind darting in several different directions. Surely there were ways of locating someone inside a foreign country.

“Elliott asked if anyone had contacted the U.S. embassy, and apparently that’s been done. The hospitals have all been checked, jails, hotels. Other places, as well. Nothing.”

“Do you know the name of the person your nephew talked to at Dempsey Imports?” Colette hated to be drilling some poor staffer, but she needed as many facts as she could get.

“I…don’t.”

“Do you mind if I use your phone?”

“Of course not. Anything. I just have to know Christian’s alive.”

It’d been almost five months since Colette had talked to anyone at Dempsey Imports. In fact, she’d gone out of her way to avoid contact with her former friends. But none of that mattered now.

Elizabeth pointed to the hallway. “There’s a phone in there.” For the first time the old woman’s expression was hopeful, as if Colette might discover something no one else had.

Colette found the phone and turned on the hallway light. She didn’t need to look up the number or the extension. Even after all these months, it was still as familiar as her own.

Two short rings. “Jenny Hilton.”

“Jenny, it’s Colette Blake.”

“Colette! Oh, my goodness, Colette!” Jenny exploded with surprise. “What
happened?
It’s like you disappeared off the face of the earth. Everyone’s been asking about you and I didn’t know what to tell them.”

“I got another job,” Colette said. She wanted to keep explanations to a minimum.

“Oh, my goodness, have you heard about Mr. Dempsey?”

Before Colette could respond, Jenny continued. “He’s somewhere in China. At least that’s what we think—no one knows for sure. It’s all kind of crazy around here at the moment.”

“I heard,” Colette said, hoping for more information. “What can you tell me?”

“Not much,” murmured Jenny. “His assistant’s been on the phone for three solid days. Apparently Mr. Dempsey’s father is flying to China to start a private search. From what I understand, Mr. Dempsey was making one of his routine trips to Zhongshan, the same one he’s made at least a dozen times.”

“Anything else?”

“Just that no one’s heard from him, either here or in China. Most of the time it’s perfectly safe for tourists there… But the strange part is that he was supposed to visit the manufacturer in Zhongshan and they had no record of him coming.”

“They weren’t expecting him, then?” she asked in confusion.

“Right. But
we
thought that’s where he was. Anyway, Mr. Dempsey’s father checked into his flight plans and discovered he landed in Beijing but had never made a reservation to continue on to Zhongshan.”

If Colette was frightened before, it couldn’t compare to what she felt now. Wherever Christian was inside China, she had to believe it was connected to the mess he’d become involved in. She’d pleaded with him to get out; unless he did, there could be no future for them. Colette had begun to suspect that Christian had heeded
her words. He’d
tried
to get out—and his disappearance was her fault. He’d done this for her…

Colette bit her lip. Christian had gotten in deeper than he’d ever intended and now he was trapped. The men involved in operations like this weren’t the forgiving kind. Maybe it was too late to get out; maybe he knew too much. That seemed the only logical explanation.

“It’s weird, you know,” Jenny was saying.

“What do you mean?” Colette asked. “Weird, how?”

“There’ve been all kinds of government agents here the last couple of days.”

Colette closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “Do you have any idea what they were looking for?” Another thought hit her. Maybe Christian didn’t
want
to be found. Maybe his disappearance was all part of some escape plan to avoid prosecution in the States. It made sense, and yet Colette couldn’t make herself accept it. He’d told her he was coming back, asked her to wait. He would never have done that if he’d
planned
to disappear.

Jenny sighed. “The agents talked to several people but not to anyone I know well, otherwise I would’ve asked what it’s all about. As you can imagine, the office has been buzzing, but it’s hard to tell which rumors have any basis in truth and which don’t.”

“Would you phone me if you hear anything new?” Colette asked.

“I would if I had your number,” Jenny said tartly. “You never answered my question. How come you disappeared like that?”

“I…needed a change.”

“Of friends, too, it seems.”

“I’m sorry, Jenny, it was just…too much. Do you understand?”

“Why are you so interested in what happened to Mr. Dempsey?”

“I worked for him for five years. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Okay, okay. Give me a number where I can reach you.”

Colette rattled off her cell phone number. After thanking Jenny and agreeing to get together when this was all over, she replaced the receiver.

Elizabeth stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall. “What did you learn?” she asked.

Colette told her what little she knew, but she kept her own suspicions—and the part about the government agents—to herself.

Christian’s great-aunt seemed to be more in control of her emotions now. “I don’t suppose there’s anything we can do other than pray,” she said. She looked older and frailer.

“Let’s have a cup of tea,” Colette suggested. “My mother told me everything seems better after tea.”

Elizabeth favored her with a smile. “Your mother is a wise woman.”

“Yes, she is,” Colette said. “I’ve missed her very much since my parents moved to Colorado.”

Elizabeth headed back into the library. “I’d be honored if you’d consider me family,” she murmured after slowly lowering herself into her chair.

“Then I will,” Colette told her.

“Will you stay?” Elizabeth asked.

“Of course.”

“Until we know?” she added. “I don’t think my heart can deal with more bad news.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Colette promised. Her own heart couldn’t take any more bad news, either.