If You Want Me (13 page)

“Marcus?”

“Hmm?”

“I asked if you could check the fuse box or the breaker. Whatever it is.”

“Sure. I’ll do that now.”

“In any case, this is an old building. I’ll probably have to call someone in to check the circuits.”

“No doubt,” he said, then strolled out of the office. He had a feeling he wouldn’t find a damn thing out of order.

Marcus’s instincts were right. He didn’t find anything strange. If someone had messed with circuits, they seemed to be in good working order now.

Still, he told Tanisha to make sure an electrician came in and checked the wiring. It
was
an old building, so he couldn’t be one hundred percent certain that the blackout hadn’t been an accident.

Leaving Tanisha in the office, Marcus went back into the theater, hoping to catch Alice before she left. But a quick perusal of the area told him she was gone.

Damn it.

He didn’t know why he was so out of sorts. He hadn’t asked her to wait for him, but he had assumed she would. He had hoped to catch her to ask her a few more questions. Maybe he was overreacting, but he was worried about her. It wasn’t a feeling he could describe, other than a gut instinct.

Like the one he’d ignored with Melissa.

God, he didn’t want to make that mistake twice.

Realizing that Alice might still be outside, he jogged up the aisle to the back door. When he opened the door, he saw a couple of parents and their children in the parking lot. And he saw Alice’s black Saturn making a right out of the parking lot.

“Alice!” he called, but she didn’t hear him. Of course she didn’t.

As he watched the rear of her car disappear, he told himself to get hold of his emotions. Why was he acting like this? It didn’t make sense. At least she was on her way home, away from this theater. It was here he was most concerned for her.

He waved at Carmen as she got into her car with her son. Then he descended the steps and made his way to his own car. But the nagging worry about Alice didn’t leave him, not even as he backed out of the driveway and sped off down the street.

Amidst his thoughts of whether someone was truly out to get her, he remembered the electric jolt he’d felt when his hand had touched her breast. To his utter surprise and frustration, he found he had an erection. Lord, what was wrong with him? He had to admit that ever since he’d seen her at her house, he thought about her quite often. Damn, he
wanted
to touch her again, to see if she’d moan and purr if he put his hands all over her.

God, that was all he needed. Yeah, she looked like a goddess now, but did that mean he had to think about what it would be like to get her between the sheets?

Maybe Khalil was right. Maybe it had been too long since he’d last had sex.

Which was, he thought with chagrin, just over a year—a short-term affair with a colleague months after his divorce, which hadn’t worked out because she had picked up and moved to Denver. After that, he couldn’t be bothered with casual romps just to satisfy his sexual craving.

But maybe it would be different with Alice.

No, no, it wouldn’t. It would be a mistake. Damn, but a year was a long time. No wonder he was looking at his old friend-turned-goddess and thinking about getting her naked!

No matter how hard he tried to get the image out of his head, he kept seeing her standing before him in her baggy T-shirt and shorts, those slim, smooth legs exposed, those beautiful large breasts jiggling as she moved—and he found himself wanting to strip her naked and just feast on her luscious body until they were both left sweaty and so satisfied that neither one of them could move. His erection stretched painfully against his jeans. Damn. Two hard-ons in one day.

What was wrong with him?

He pictured Alice’s big, brown, doelike eyes staring up at him. Maybe something was finally right.

His mind was so absorbed with Alice that when he heard the loud
pop!
he only had time to veer
toward the curb and hit the brakes. Experience and instinct made him duck for cover even as he reached for his holster, only to realize it wasn’t there. He didn’t carry his gun while off duty.

The next instant the sound of laughter made him cautiously lift his head. On the sidewalk beside his car, he saw a group of young boys. They were laughing hysterically—at him.

That’s when he saw the old, gray Chevy pass him with smoke billowing from its tailpipe. Damn, a stupid car had backfired!

“Quinn, get a grip,” he told himself. Which meant he had to find a way to stop thinking about Alice.

The first order of business when he got home would be a cold shower.

Hell, the way he was feeling, he may as well fill the tub full of ice and set his ass in there.

Maybe that would do the trick.

As she did every morning, Alice awoke with the hope that somehow she and her mother would make some headway toward repairing their relationship. But like every morning since her return to Chicago, that hope quickly dwindled. Why a little flame of hope continued to burn in her heart, Alice didn’t know, and she wished there was a way to snuff it out.

Not caring would be so much easier. Her mother’s indifference and cold attitude wouldn’t hurt her if she simply didn’t care. During her thirteen years away from home, she’d thought she
had
stopped caring, but being home proved to her that she still did.

Bright and early, Alice prepared a breakfast of fresh fruit pieces for her mother and brought it to her in bed. Rosa didn’t even thank her. Instead she asked her once again if she’d called Sara. Appar
ently, Sara had called yesterday but, seeing the number on the Caller ID, Rosa had let the phone ring, so Sara had left a message. Rosa reiterated to Alice that like the first time Sara had called, she didn’t appreciate Sara’s interference in her private business. She wanted Alice to put a stop to it.

“Why, mother?” Alice asked. “What did Sara do to make you hate her so much?”

“Just tell her I don’t want her calling me. As far as I’m concerned, we stopped being family the day Winston died.”

Alice was tempted to tell her mother that if she wanted Sara to stop calling, then she should tell her herself. But Alice didn’t do that; she couldn’t. Not while her mother was still recovering.

“And you can tell whichever of your friends that keeps calling here and hanging up to stop that nonsense,” Rosa added. “Though it’s probably Sara, just trying to get on my nerves.”

Alice didn’t even bother to reply to that. Good grief, Sara was fifty-two years old. She certainly had better things to do with her time than crank-call her sister-in-law. For all Alice knew, her mother was making that story up.

Alice left her mother’s room feeling more frustrated than ever. Each day she spent in this house made it more and more clear she didn’t truly know Rosa. How was it possible for people who were flesh and blood to be so completely different?

Now, back in her own bedroom, Alice sat cross-legged on the twin bed. Reaching for the phone, she brought it onto her lap. God, she hated to do this, but she had put it off long enough—hoping her mother would come to her senses—which she
hadn’t, so now Alice had no choice. She punched in the digits to Sara’s Los Angeles number.

It rang three times before Sara picked up. “Hello?”

“Aunt Sara. Hi.”

“Alice?”

Alice could hear a smile in the woman’s voice, which made what she was about to tell her even worse. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Child, do you know what time it is?” she teased.

Alice threw a quick glance at the digital clock beside her bed. It was 9:23, which meant it was two hours earlier on the west coast. Gosh, she hadn’t even thought when she’d picked up the phone!

“I’m sorry. I completely forgot about the time difference.”

“That’s all right.” Her yawn sounded over the phone line. “I was getting up anyway. Have to open up the shop.”

“How are you, Aunt Sara?”

“I’ve been fine. Busy, but hanging in there.”

Aunt Sara hadn’t remarried after her husband, Winston, had died. She’d loved him dearly, something even as a child Alice had noticed, and later Sara had confided in Alice that she didn’t think she could give her heart so completely again.

While living with her for three years, Alice had known that she’d brought immense joy to the woman’s life. She hadn’t had any children of her own, and she’d easily fallen into the role of mother with Alice. For that, Alice would be eternally grateful.

“So, the business is going well?”

“The shop is growing every day. I’ve even got one of those dot-com addresses on the Web so I can sell
flowers that way. Now, if only I was computer-literate.”

Alice chuckled softly. She missed her aunt. In the last ten years that she had been on her own, she had seen her aunt often, but as she got busier in the film industry, their contact lessened. Still, she’d tried to show her appreciation to her aunt for taking her in at a time when she’d desperately needed someone. Sara had always derived great pleasure from planting flowers, and had dreamed of the day she could quit her job as a housekeeper and open a flower shop. The moment Alice had the money, she’d made that dream come true for her aunt.

“I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

“It’s good to hear your voice.”

“It’s always good to hear yours too.”

“Did your mother tell you I called? I called yesterday too, but no one was home.”

“Yes…Aunt Sara, I have to talk to you about that.” Alice blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know what’s wrong with my mother, but she…well, she doesn’t want you to call here for her again. She’s being real bullheaded about the whole thing. I think she’s too proud to admit that she’s sick.”

“Oh, brother.” Sara sighed.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Sara. I wish I understood her, but I don’t.”

“It’s not your fault, sweetheart. For some reason, she still sees me as a threat.”

“A threat? That doesn’t make any sense.”

There was a brief pause. “You left her, came to live with me.”

“Yeah, but you had nothing to do with that. She’s the one who pushed me away. Told me to go.”

“Hmm.”

Aunt Sara was upset, Alice could hear it in her voice, and she didn’t blame her. Her mother had always been cold toward her aunt, and from what Alice knew, she’d never had just cause.

But then, what had been her just cause to tell her own daughter to leave and never return?

“It’s probably best I call you from now on,” Alice told her aunt. “Since Mom’s health is still delicate, and I don’t want to upset her.”

“You have a wonderful heart, Alice. That’s the one thing I love most about you. Despite all you’ve been through, you still find it in your heart to give.”

“Oh, you give me too much credit.”

“It’s true, and I hope one day your mother is able to give you the love you deserve.”

“That’s very sweet of you. Thanks.” A beep sounded on the line. “Oh, hold on a sec. Another call’s coming through.”

“I’d better get going, hon. Love you.”

“Love you, too. Bye.” Aunt Sara had succeeded in doing what she did best—filling her heart with warmth. Alice clicked over to the other line. “Hello?”

There was only dead air. “Anybody there? Hello?”

Alice hung up. Just as she was replacing the phone on her night table, it rang. She snatched the receiver. “Hello?”

“I’m watching you,” a muffled voice said softly.

“What? Who is this?”

Click.

A chill swept over her. Alice stared at the receiver in her hand as if it could give her answers. But of course it couldn’t.

When she’d had a phone installed in her room last week, she hadn’t gotten a Caller ID box. But she could still find out who had just called. She hit the star button, then punched in number 6 followed by 9A recording came on that told her the last number that called her line was unknown.

Damn. Alice replaced the receiver, an uneasy feeling in her gut. She didn’t know what to make of the call, but passing it off as a prank would be too easy. God, what if someone actually
was
watching her?

She reached for her purse beside the bed and dug out her wallet. She’d placed the scrap of paper with Marcus’s number there. As soon as she found it, she called him.

His phone rang four times before a machine picked up. At this time in the morning, he was no doubt at work. But as he didn’t live in the neighborhood anymore, she didn’t know which precinct.

“Hi, Marcus. It’s Alice. Call me, please. As soon as you get this message.”

She hung up the phone and walked to the window. Standing to the side of the frame, she peered outside. She saw nothing but two red-breasted robins in the oak tree opposite her window.

Was someone really watching her? And if so, was that person outside right now, hiding somewhere? In a house across the street?

The voice had been so muffled that she couldn’t make out if a woman or a man had called. God, she prayed this was some type of prank.

If it wasn’t…

Did someone know where she lived? Where her mother lived?

Finding that thought disturbing, Alice hustled
from the window and returned to her bed. Maybe she should keep a low profile.

And until she heard from Marcus she needed something to keep her mind occupied. She reached for the volume of plays on the floor beside her bed. Tanisha had given her the okay to do something that would require a bigger budget, made possible by the donation from the computer graphics firm. And she was constantly making more phone calls to solicit funding.

Alice had narrowed the choice down to two plays:
Out of This World
and
The Big Adventure.
Both plays had fairly large casts, which would provide roles for all the students.

As she re-read
Out of This World,
a charming little mystery about a ghost that haunts a classroom, Alice felt more and more certain that this was the play the children would perform. Yes, it was perfect. She would announce her decision at the next class.

Alice was reading the last pages of the play when the phone rang again. Startled, she could only stare at it. She couldn’t believe she was actually afraid to pick it up.

When it rang a third time, she grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”

“Desirée, hi. It’s Tanisha.”

Fleetingly, Alice wondered if Tanisha would ever call her by her real name. Whatever her reason, Alice had long stopped correcting her. It just wasn’t important.

“What’s up, Tanisha?”

“I received a call from Darin Walburg today. He’s one of the city councilors I usually meet with to solicit funding for the theater. In the past, they’ve
given us a substantial amount of money, but over time, that amount has decreased considerably. Anyway, I was speaking with him today about increased funding for the fall season and he told me he would like to meet you, Desirée, so the two of you can discuss your vision for the theater’s future. Oh, and he’s a real fan of yours.”

“Why on earth would he want to meet with me about the fall season? And I don’t have a
vision
for the theater. I’m only helping out until the summer.”

“All right, so I wasn’t totally honest with him. But he doesn’t need to know that. Tell him anything you want, as long as he ends up giving us a nice big fat check.”

“I can’t believe you’d even ask me to lie.”

“You’re an actress, aren’t you? I thought you told stories for a living.”

Alice ignored the snide comment. It was meant to get a rise out of her, and she wouldn’t give Tanisha the satisfaction. “I won’t lie to him.
My
reputation is on the line here.”

“Then at least meet with him,” Tanisha quickly said. “Tell him what you think this theater means to the community. That shouldn’t be too hard a stretch for you.”

Tanisha’s snarky tone led Alice to wonder, not for the first time, what Tanisha was doing at the theater herself. Surely she could have found a job elsewhere, for more pay. Did she even care about the children? Perhaps it was being in charge that made her work there so appealing.

Remembering the picture in the office of Tanisha with her arms spread wide around a group of stu
dents, Alice prayed Tanisha was doing it for the children, not for any selfish motives.

“He wants to get together with you for dinner on Friday. I told him around seven.”

“You said I’d be there?”

“You told me you’d do whatever you could to help the theater.”

“Yes, but I’d appreciate a call first!” Alice snapped. “Where?”

“Downtown somewhere. I told him you’d call him today.”

“Fine.” Alice was angry with Tanisha’s thoughtlessness, but she thought of Mia and the fact that she didn’t want to see the theater go downhill, and realized she’d do what she could to help out.

“Here’s his number.”

Alice wrote down the number Tanisha recited. “All right. I’ll call him. Bye.”

When Alice hung up, she was about to call Darin, but instead decided to check on her mother. It was just about noon. Time for her to take medication.

Alice rapped softly on her mother’s bedroom door, then opened it. Inside, her mother, sitting on the edge of the bed, scrambled to shove some kind of box she’d been holding beneath her pillow.

Walking into the room, Alice frowned. She’d caught a glimpse of the silver box, and knew it was her mother’s jewelry box. Why hide it?

“What is that?” she asked, despite the closed expression on her mother’s face.

“I need a refill of a prescription.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t realize until now.”

“Let me see the bottle.” Alice approached her
mother and her mother passed her the pill bottle. “You’ve got one refill. I’ll call the pharmacy.”

“I can call the pharmacy myself. I’m not helpless.”

Alice bit her cheek, determined not to say anything, but finally she couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “I’m trying to help you, Mother, yet you act like I’m the enemy.”

“If you give me a few minutes, I can call the pharmacy, then you can go pick up the pills.”

Just like that, her mother had dismissed her once again. Alice didn’t know how much more of this she could take.

“Whatever you want, Mother.” She palmed the pill bottle so that she could take it with her to the pharmacy. “By the way, I spoke with Aunt Sara. I told her not to call here anymore. I hope you’re happy.”

Alice didn’t wait for her mother’s reply. Instead, she marched out of the room and to her own bedroom, where she slipped out of her cutoff jeans and T-shirt and put on a summery dress. Then she grabbed her purse and headed out of her house to her car.

As she settled behind the wheel, the feeling of frustration disappeared and was replaced by a sudden feeling of fear.

Was someone out here, watching her? If so, who was it?

But the bigger question was, what did this person want with her?