Lexington Connection (21 page)

“It was—” Jessie managed to get her feet moving. “It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing where we knew each other’s business. She didn’t know I was a cop until one day my badge fell out of my pocket. Freaked her out.” She looked around the room, another door on the other wall. “Are we locked in?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t tried the door.”

Once she made it to the bathroom, Jessie found little guest packages with toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, everything she might need. She went through all the morning motions, slowly stretching, and soon the muscles felt functional. The brain part, that part was moving slower than normal. Must be the drug. Everything was still a little fuzzy, or maybe it was all the blows to the head from Waldo. She examined herself in the mirror, raccoon eyes. She cautiously touched her nose. It felt broken.

She leaned over the sink, trying to pull together what she knew, what she could do. God, seeing Diana had been a jolt. Of all the times she had ever fantasized about running into her, this was not the setting. Explained a lot though. She was just as willful and sure of herself as she ever had been. What kind of role did she play that she could get away with that? When she screamed at Waldo, when she took him down like it was nothing to her, when she just took them away. Jessie shook her head. A mistake.
How am I going to deal with her?

There was a quick knock on the door. “We’re being called for breakfast,” Julie announced.

Jessie pulled herself together as they walked into the kitchen full of breakfast smells, bacon, sausage, fresh coffee, which was the best smell of them all. She hurt like anything but she wasn’t ready to be that vulnerable. Not that it mattered much, Diana knew her enough to take one look at her and know.

Diana entered the kitchen the same time from the far side, through the glass door leading out to the deck. She glanced at Jessie and Julie and pointed to the table. “Have a seat,” she ordered as she took the coffee carafe Margaret handed her.

She brought the coffee, the mugs over to the table, set them down. “Still take cream?” Jessie nodded. Diana brought it from the refrigerator but she didn’t join them at the table. “As I recall,” she said dryly, “you’re not worth anything until you have your coffee, so I’ll leave you in peace. But then we need to have a talk.” She picked up her coffee, went over by the stove to steal a piece of bacon, and left the room, smiling at Margaret.

Julie and Jessie exchanged glances, not sure what that meant. Jessie thought they might get some answers, but she had the feeling it wasn’t going to be anything she liked. She drank her coffee, watching Margaret efficiently move around the kitchen area. Bodyguard, cook, Jessie wondered how many other things she could do.

“Jul,” she said in a calm, quiet voice, without looking at her. “I didn’t mean for you to get dragged into this. And it seems unfair now most of all when we’re not together any more.”

Julie shrugged. “Looks like that word didn’t get out.” She gave Jessie a speculative look. “Or they think I still matter.” She had the cool, detached tone which told Jessie she was trying to hold all that panic at bay.

“You’re always going to matter to me. You’re still family.” She reached out for Julie’s hand. “I’m still sorry.”

Julie gripped her hand hard. “Well, at least we’re not in it alone. That’s a comfort.”

I hope that’s what it is, Jessie thought, and not a threat.

Diana came back into the room, went to Margaret, slid her arm casually around Margaret’s waist, said something in a low voice, laughed at Margaret’s answer. Then she came over to the table, her gaze resting a moment on Julie’s and Jessie’s clasped hands.

“It’s a beautiful day outside,” she said abruptly. “Let’s go out on the deck and talk.”

Oh, God
, Jessie thought.
Means I’ve got to move again.
She awkwardly got to her feet as Julie picked up both coffee cups. Getting up was the hard part and once she was up, Jessie decided moving wasn’t bad. Maybe Julie was right, moving would limber her up. She could walk almost normally as Diana opened the door for them to go out on the deck.

Jessie automatically scanned her surroundings, with mixed emotions. Blue skies, forest as far as she could see, quiet, peaceful, away from civilization. No roads, no power lines, no towers. They were truly isolated. They weren’t on a mountaintop, there were higher elevations around them but they were pretty high. There was a coolness in the air. If it weren’t for the circumstances, she might have enjoyed it.

“Please,” Diana said politely but firmly, just as much of an order as an invitation. “Be seated.” She closed the door and waited as Jessie moved over to the redwood chairs and gingerly sat down. Julie sat, handed Jessie the coffee cup.

She’s changed, Jessie decided. Yesterday there was familiarity. She knew we wouldn’t give her any trouble because of Waldo. Today, she’s different. Now we see what it’s going to be.

Diana set her coffee mug on the railing. “Yesterday I assumed there would be a certain amount of cooperation between us. It was purely an assumption on my part that you would find me more palatable than Waldo but it seemed reasonable. I’m not going to make that assumption today.”

She paused, looking to Jessie perhaps for confirmation, but Jessie kept her expression bland. She was relieved enough she had been able to anticipate Diana’s reasoning.

“I don’t think it’s safe for either of you to be out running around. It’s entirely possible you could be picked up again by some of Waldo’s people and spirited away. I had enough leverage to get you out of his hands once. I’m not sure I could do that if he got you again.”

“And you think that’s a possibility?”

“I do. Waldo’s a sadistic bastard and he’ll carry a grudge to the grave. He’s nailed you once. I don’t think he’ll give up just because you got away this time.” She paused. “You made a powerful enemy, Jessie.”

“And you think he won’t find us here?”

“I know he won’t,” Diana came back confidently.

Jessie made no response and finally Diana continued. “That brings us to the second problem.” Diana took cigarettes out of her pants pocket, shook one out and played with it as she spoke. “I had a few plans of my own, and as good as it is to see you again, you are major interference.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Jessie said dryly. “I’ll try to do better the next time.”

Diana chuckled and shook her head. She took the time to light the cigarette before she spoke again. “I hadn’t planned on coming here so soon, but it seemed like the safest place to stash the two of you until Waldo’s taken care of. The problem is that once I’m here, I’m here for a while, which means the two of you are too.”

“How long a while?”

“I don’t know.” She leaned against the railing, relaxed, casual, confident. “So here’s the deal,” she said after a minute of examining them. “You can be my guests, have the run of the house, the deck. I’ve got a library, a theater, an exercise room downstairs. There’s a hot tub you might find helpful. You can be as comfortable as you can be.” She glanced skyward, looked around, came back to them. “Weather should be nice, scenery’s nice. You could be in a lot worse places.”

“If not guests, then what?” Jessie asked. “I’m sure you have an alternative.”

Diana turned colder, her expression harder as she fastened her gaze on Jessie. “I’ll have Margaret clean out a room to the bare walls and put you in lockdown for the duration.”

Julie reached out to lay her hand on Jessie’s thigh. Jessie laid her hand over Julie’s in assurance. The motion was not lost on Diana.

“And afterward?” Jessie asked. “What happens to your ‘guests’ then?”

Diana relaxed slightly. “Then I guess they’ll go home.”

“Go home?” Julie burst out, unable to contain herself.

“Just like that?” Jessie asked with some wariness. Even considering her link to Diana, that wasn’t exactly what she expected.

Diana shrugged. “I’m not sure how yet. There are details to be worked out, but yeah, you go home. Safe and sound. Unhurt.” She appeared amused at Jessie’s wariness. “So which will it be, ladies: guests or—” she paused delicately. “Otherwise?”

Jessie felt Julie’s grip tighten, reminding her that whatever she did, she had to consider Julie. She turned away from Diana, looking out over the vista of solid trees. She couldn’t even see a break in the trees that might mean something as simple as a lumber road. Besides, she wasn’t exactly in any shape for hiking out, even if she did know where she was and how she could do it. “I guess we’ll be guests.”

Diana tilted her head in exaggerated politeness. “Why thank you, Jessie. I appreciate that so much.” She turned to Julie. “And you?”

Julie nodded. “Yes, a guest,” she said quickly, fumbling with the words as she looked at the tension between the two women.

“Very good. That will make life so much better.” She examined them both as if threatening them if they failed. “Now, shall we go have the breakfast Margaret’s holding for us? Unless either of you have anything else to contribute?”

Julie broke the silence. “You know,” she said tentatively, “it’s not healthy to smoke. You shorten your life by years.”

Diana turned to Julie is some disbelief and then amusement. “That’s what Margaret tells me,” she began. “But then I don’t always listen. Is my smoking going to bother you, Julie?” She seemed rather amused at Julie’s anti-smoking stance. “And do you mind if I call you Julie? After all, we haven’t been formally introduced. I wouldn’t want to be rude.”

“No, I don’t mind. And your smoking won’t bother me.”

“That’s good. I’d hate for a guest to be uncomfortable in my house.” Diana folded her arms across her chest, not relaxed completely but not so tense. “My smoking, which I generally do outside, is primarily from stress. I think we can admit we’re all in a stressful situation. Can’t we?” Both women nodded.

“Shall we go in for breakfast?” Diana invited in a much friendlier voice.

They filed into the kitchen, and Jessie didn’t miss the speculative glance Margaret gave her and Julie and then how quickly she checked with Diana.

“Margaret,” Diana said as she went to the table, pointing to which chairs she wanted them to sit at. “You’ll be delighted to know Julie thinks smoking is bad for my health.”

“Me, you don’t believe, but you’ll listen to one of our guests. Humph!” Margaret brought plates of eggs, sausage and bacon, pancakes to the table as Jessie took a seat. Julie started to sit down when she realized Margaret was doing all the serving.

“What can I do?”

Margaret gave her a measuring look and then shrugged. “Orange juice, fruit in the refrigerator.” She herself picked up the coffeepot to refill the insulated carafe.

“The exercise room is downstairs,” Diana said as Margaret and Julie sat at the table. “The hot tub down there may help you feel better.” She gave Julie a speculative look. “And later Margaret can take you to the storage room. There’s a variety of clothing available. You can pick something out to be comfortable in. I’m sure you’ll get tired of that outfit.”

Julie looked down at the same clothes she had worn for days. “That would be nice,” she admitted.

“The library holds a wide range of movies and taped television shows. Not a lot of books but some.”

“Anything live?” Jessie asked blandly and Diana gave her an amused answer.

“No. Nothing live, no phone, no television, no computers.”

Jessie turned her attention back to her plate. It was worth a try.

“There’re board games and video games,” Diana continued. “I don’t generally play them so I can’t tell you exactly what’s there. Jigsaw puzzles. Things like that.”

“You seem well prepared,” Julie commented cautiously.

Diana toyed with her food. “I got caught by an early snowstorm one time. After that, I stocked up.”

“You use it often then?” Jessie tried to make the question casual.

“It’s been handy,” Diana said. “Now I’ll have to go out and find another one.”

Julie looked up in surprise. Jessie surmised it was a safe house. “Seems like we’ve been an inconvenience in several ways.”

“You could say that.” Diana shoved her plate back. “Let me know when you’re done, Jessie. There’s something more we need to discuss.” She got up, her hand on Margaret’s arm. “Breakfast was great, I’m just not hungry.” She took in the others. “Excuse me.” And she left.

Jessie finished eating, carefully because her jaw still hurt. This Diana was going to take some getting used to. She tried to give Julie a reassuring look, found Margaret looking at her strangely. She went back to eating, realizing she was hungry. She couldn’t remember the last time she ate. “You’re a good cook, Margaret,” she commented.

“Huumph,” was Margaret’s only reply.

“Julie likes to cook,” Jessie said deliberately, ignoring Julie’s surprised look.

“Is that so?” Margaret looked up, looked at Julie.

“Yes,” Julie blurted out as Jessie nudged her with her foot. “Nothing like coming home from a long day at the clinic and cooking up a storm.”

Margaret looked away, clearly disbelieving.

“Actually,” Julie said in a warmer voice. “I never have time to cook. I’m always too busy, but I do like to. And when I have time, I think I do more than a halfway decent job. It’s just so hard to do when you’re on the run all the time.” She trailed off when she realized her wording.

Margaret chuckled and she nodded. “Hard to eat healthy too,” she commented.

“Yes,” Julie grabbed the words like a lifeline. “Fast foods are just so—so unhealthy.”

“Takes planning, can be just as quickly done, but planning. Planning is the key.”

“Yes,” Julie agreed, glancing at Jessie.

Jessie nodded slightly. If they were going to be with Margaret for a while, she needed to know more about her. Julie would be the perfect foil for that. Jessie could deal with Diana, if she could figure out how to.

She had put Diana out of her mind for so long it was a little hard to drag her back. Diana had been so abrupt in her departure that Jessie had been surprised, and, she could admit now, after all these years, more than a little hurt. Diana’s habit of sudden appearances had always been surprising, an unexpected pleasure. Her visits were never so long that they got into real mundane life, there were never the daily problems of living with Diana, just the highlights. Then she was gone again, but there was always the promise of the return, until those last two times.