My Sunshine (29 page)

“Yes,
John. For the hundredth time, I did.” They had

bought
Kidd a new toddler bed for his birthday. It was shaped like Thomas the Tank Engine. They had also sent matching sheets and blankets.

John
hesitated before he opened the door to the place. He frowned at his reflection in the glass. “Maybe I should have worn a hat,” he said.

“You’re fine, Grizzly.” He hadn’t shaved in close to two
weeks, so he was sporting a full beard and mustache. Chloe thought it made him look at least ten years older. He was also wearing his hair much longer than he usually did, giving him the

persona of a mountain man.

He pulled the door open. There was a sign with an arrow pointing in the direction of Kidd’s party. John and Chloe entered the private room.

“
John,” Catherine’s husband, Jeremy said, extending his hand for a handshake. “Good that you could make it. Hello, Chloe.”

“Hey, everyone,” Jeremy called out. “
John and Chloe are here.”

“
John!” Kidd yelled, running at him.

John
scooped him up. “Hey, buddy. Happy birthday.” He hugged the boy close to himself. “Did you get the bed?” He asked Catherine. He put Kidd back down.

She nodded. “Yeah, it came yesterday and we already put it
up. He loves it.”

“Thank you for the train bed,”
Kidd said.

“You’re very welcome,”
John said. “Go play.” Kidd

toddled off to where some other kids his own age were playing.

Catherine spent the next few minutes introducing John and Chloe to the people they didn’t already know.

They took a seat across the table from his parents. “How
have you been?” Isabella asked.

“Good. We’re in rehearsals now for the tour. It’s really
kicking my butt. I guess I got pretty out-of-shape this past year.”

“Yes, I thought you looked like you might have put on
some weight,” Isabella said. She frowned at him. “You look bad, John. That beard is awful.”

“Thanks, Mom.”
John said.

“I see you’ve still got the same girlfriend,” his father,

Arthur, said. “That’s quite a record.”

John
nodded and squeezed Chloe’s knee under the table.

“Yeah, and you should get used to seeing her around.”

“Really?” Isabella said. “And why is that? Are you getting married?”

Her words drew
Garby’s attention. She came over and sat down beside Chloe. “Are y’all getting married?”

“Yeah,”
John said, taking a hold of Chloe’s hand pulling to the tabletop. We’re engaged. He moved his hand so his family could see the ring.

“When?”
Garby asked. She was looking at Chloe, and obviously expected her to answer.

“We haven’t set a date,”
Chloe replied. “We’re going to wait until after the tour to nail down the details. John is just so busy right now.”

“What is it you do again?” Isabella asked, her dark eyes
shooting darts though Chloe.

“I, um, I don’t…”

“She just resigned from her job so she could go with me on tour,” John interrupted. “She’s an accountant.”

“She looks like an accountant,” Isabella said.

John raised his eyebrows. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“She’s very mousy,” Isabella continued. “The glasses, the
ponytail, no make-up.”

John
shook his head and Chloe could tell that he was very angry. She was used to people talking about her. “Mousy” was a compliment compared to some of the things she had been called.

“Mom, you do realize she’s sitting right here?”

Isabella raised her chin higher. “Yes, I do.”

Chloe
nudged John. “Look, Kidd’s opening his

presents.” They stood up to get a better look at the birthday boy.

“Let’s go play Skeeball,”
Chloe said, pulling John in the direction of the games. The presents had been opened, the cake had been eaten, and they were just wasting time until it was time to get back to the airport.

“Why? I’m just going to kick your butt.”

“We’ll see about that,” Chloe said, tugging harder on his hand. He relented and followed her.

“You suck at this,”
Chloe laughed after they had thrown a couple of balls.

John
laughed, too. “I didn’t know you were a professional.”

Chloe
rolled another ball up the slope, landing it in the middle hole. “I’m going to be in the Olympics.”

John
laughed harder. “Wow, my wife, the Olympic

Skeeball Champion.”

“You wife?”

John
shrugged. “Well, I figure by the time the Olympics roll around again, we’ll be married.”

“Probably,” she ag
reed. “Never mind the fact that there’s no Skeeball in the Olympics.”

John
laughed again and grabbed her around the waist pulling her to him. He looked over her head. Rachael Gerber was standing a few yards away watching them. He turned around, spinning Chloe around with him.

“Hey,” she protested, playfully beating him on the chest.

“Are you trying to get me dizzy and mess up my game?”

“
John?” a female voice called.

John
froze. Chloe looked past him to the woman that was calling his name.

“
John?” she said again, stepping closer.

“
John, I think someone is calling you.” Chloe said.

He closed his eyes, and then turned around. “Hey,
Rachael.”

“I thought that was you,”
Rachael said. “How have you been?”

“Good. Oh, this is my girlfriend, my fiancée,
Chloe.”

Chloe
stepped forward and smiled. She extended her right hand to Rachael and grabbed John’s hand with her left. “Nice to meet you,” she said politely.

“Fiancée?”
Rachael raised her eyebrows. “Who would have ever thought that would happen?”

A man walked up to them. He instantly gave
Chloe the chills, and she felt John tense as well. He had long greasy hair, his body was covered with tattoos, and there was a prominent scar across his cheek, giving her the impression that he was dangerous. Rachael put her hand on the man’s arm. “John, you remember Scott, don’t you? My husband? Scott, you remember John, right?”

“Yeah,”
Scott said. He rebuffed John’s handshake.

“Come on,
Chloe,” John said. “We need to get out of here.” He pulled her away from Rachael and Scott.

“It was nice to meet you,”
Rachael called after them.

“That was rude,”
Chloe said once they were halfway across the complex. “Plus, we didn’t finish our game.”

“There was nothing good going to come out of that

conversation. I promise you, and I’ll take you to play Skeeball once we get back home.”

“Why? Who are they? What’s going on?”

John shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just…shit,” he said for lack of a better word
.
You should tell her the truth.

Chloe
felt like there was more she should know, but she wasn’t going to push him
.
If it were really important, he woul
d
tell me.

John
looked at his watch. “We need to get to the airport anyway,” he said. “Let’s go say good-bye.”

They approached the tables where his family was still
sitting. “We’re leaving now,” he said.

“Oh,
John so soon?” His mother said with mock sincerity.

“Yeah, our plane leaves in just a bit.”

Catherine stood up and walked over to John. She hugged him.

“Well, thanks for coming.” She hugged
Chloe, too.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Chloe replied.

Garby
stood up to hug them, too. “Congratulations you guys.”

John
’s parents and grandparents also stood hugged them in congratulations and farewell. “Y’all have a good flight,” Arthur called as they walked away.

As they walked across the parking lot to the car they had
rented at the airport, John felt a chill run down his spine. He looked around him. Scott Gerber was standing against the side of the building, smoking a cigarette, and staring a hole right through him.

                       Chapter Thirteen

Bright
sank down on the floor. “I can’t take anymore,” he moaned. MThe music stopped. “Are you sure, Mike?” Rachael, the choreographer asked.

“I’ve been trying, man, but this is kicking my butt. I have to
go home and go to bed.” He had shown up to the studio that morning with a temperature of 102, and a diagnosis of the flu.

Rachael
frowned and looked around at the other guys. They were all tired. They had been working for almost six weeks on the new dances. They were quick studies, but as the stage was built, little details had to change. They had it down for the most part, and the million or so girls that would buy tickets to the shows wouldn’t care if they missed a step here or there.

“Okay, then,”
Rachael said. “Go home. Take the rest of the day off.”

The guys filed out to the parking lot.
Tyler, Dennis, Josh and Bright, because they were neighbors, all piled into Josh’s SUV. John got into the Viper and followed them. They were less than a half a mile down the street when they all heard the boom and felt their cars shake.

John
slammed on the brakes and turned around in his seat.

One side of the building they had just left was gone, and flames
shot through the roof. “Holy shit,” he muttered. He threw his car in reverse and backed into a parking spot against the curb.

He jumped out of the car. The other four guys joined him.

“What happened?” Dennis said.

“Call 911!” Mike said.

“I am!” Tyler yelled. He stepped away and pressed his phone to one ear and his hand to the other.

“You think
Rachael is still inside?” Josh asked.

“Crap!”
John yelled. He took off toward the building. He stopped when the heat from the fire wouldn't allow him to get any closer. “We’ve got to go around back.” He looked back at his friends. They were all following him looking at him for guidance. He had unknowingly and unintentionally taken the position of leader.

He glanced at
Bright. His face was pale and he looked unable to take another step. “Mike, you stay here and wait for the cops and ambulance. Tyler, you wait with him. Call Chloe and Dana and Shannon and Jane. They’re going to hear about it. Tell them we’re okay. Call Carl.” He turned back around and led Dennis and Josh to the back entrance of the building.

He tried the door. It was locked. “You think we can bust it
down?”

Dennis
shook his head. “No. It’s metal, man, and it opens out.”

John
looked up. The building was designed so that all of the windows on the first story were at least eight feet from the ground. “Someone give me a boost,” He took off his jacket and his outer shirt, leaving him in just a T-shirt. He wrapped his shirt around his hand. Josh leaned down to lift him to the

window.

“Make it quick,” Josh said through gritted teeth.

John
didn’t hesitate to smash his wrapped hand through the window. “Lift me higher,” he said.

With a moan,
Josh lifted him a few inches higher. He fumbled with the lock and slammed the window open. He put his hands on the windowsill and boosted himself into the building. He ran to the door and unlocked it.

Dennis
and Josh joined him in the dark, dusty room. They followed the maze of doors and hallways calling Rachael’s name until the smoke got too thick to continue. John covered his nose and mouth with the collar of his shirt.

“Maybe he got out,”
Josh suggested.

“His car was still outside,”
Dennis said. “He never left.”

“We’ve got to check his office,”
John said. He looked

around. The smoke was burning his eyes.

“It’s right next to the studio,” Dennis said. “It’s probably gone.”

John
nodded slightly. The front of the building, where the large rehearsal studio and Rachael’s office was located had been blown away in the explosion. “We’ve got to get out of here,” he said.

Josh
and Dennis agreed and they all left the building through the back door. Tyler and Bright were standing alone together under a tree watching the as the firemen jumped out of their trucks and ran into the building. John, Dennis and Josh joined them.

“Anything?”
Tyler asked.

“No,”
Dennis said.

A detective approached the group. “Hello, gentlemen,” he
said, taking a notepad out of his inside jacket pocket. “I’m Lt.

Roman. Can I get your names please?” He poised his pen over
the paper and scribbled each man’s name down. He looked up at them. “Parrison, yeah, my kid is a big fan,” he said.

“What happened?” He asked.

John shook his head. “We don’t know. We were just

leaving and the place blew up.
Rachael Stokes is still inside. We went back in to look for him, but…”

“The smoke was too thick,”
Josh finished for him.

Lt. Roman wrote the name down. “You guys hold tight,”

He said. “Let me talk to the fire chief.” He walked away just as Jane was pulling up.

She jumped out of her car and ran to Mike. She threw her
arms around him. “I told you not to go to work today. You need to get home.”

“I can’t leave,” he said. “The cop told us to stay here.”

Dana’s car squealed to a stop behind them. She ran to Josh.

“Shannon’s coming,” she told
Dennis.

John
looked at Tyler. “Did you get a hold of Chloe?”

Tyler
shook his head. “I tried the house and her cell phone.”

“She had an appointment with Dr.
Stan this morning,”

Jane
volunteered.

John
pulled his cell phone from the clip on his waistband.

He dialed the number to the house, knowing that
Chloe rarely kept her cell phone on. After four rings the answering machine

came on. He clicked off the phone. “She must not be home
yet,” he said.

Lt. Roman rejoined them. “Fire chief says it looks like a
bomb. Unofficial, of course. He worked in Oklahoma City back in 1995 and he says it looks almost identical, just a smaller scale.” He scratched his head. “Until we know for sure what’s going on, I think y'all should stay together. Is there anywhere  you can all go?”

“Yeah, sure,”
Tyler said. He looked around. “How about Mike’s since he’s sick and they’ve got the baby and all.”

Everyone nodded.

“Okay then,” Lt. Roman said. He wrote down Bright’s address. “I’ll get some cops out there, and I’ll be out there later this evening. Don’t leave until we get this figured out. You guys should really get out of here,” he said.

They filed back to their cars. Shannon was just getting
there, and Dennis filled her in on the plans. John saw her face twist in anger when Dennis told her that she wouldn’t be able to go back to work that afternoon.

“But I’m in the middle of something!”

“Well, I’m sorry, Shannon!” Dennis said, his voice rising.

“I’m sorry if it inconveniences you that our rehearsal studio was
blow to pieces this morning and someone might be trying to kill us.”

They climbed into her car and
John was unable to hear the rest of the conversation. He started the car and tried Chloe again. Still no answer.

Chloe
pulled into the driveway. She was really getting irritated with all these doctor’s visits. It had been over a month since she was released from the hospital, and Dr. Stan still insisted on drawing her blood three times a week. She hated it.

Her arms were constantly bruised and it hurt to bend them.

She sighed as she unlocked the door. It wouldn’t matter. In just a matter of a few hours, Dr. Stan would know that she had missed two days worth of medication.

Why, why, why? Why can’t I just do like I’m supposed to?

Just as she swung open the door, she was grabbed from behind. A hand clamped over her mouth. She immediately reached up with both of her hands and tried to release herself.

She felt cold hard metal press against her the exposed skin
around her waist.

“Don’t scream,” the gravely voice said. He pushed
Chloe into the house and locked the door behind him, never letting go of her.

When they got into the house, he pushed her down the
hallway to the master bedroom. He threw her toward the bed and she fell, banging her head on the corner of the night table.

She rolled over and met her abductor's eyes. Chills ran through
her. It was Scott Gerber, the husband of the friend of John’s.

“I know you,” she said.

Scott shook his head. “You don’t know me.” He grabbed her by the arm and jerked her to her feet. “Get on the bed,” he demanded, pointing the gun at her.

Chloe
scrambled to get on the bed. Scott pulled a roll of nylon rope out of his back pocket and a knife out of his front pocket. Working quickly, he tied Chloe’s wrists to the bed.

When she was satisfied that she was secure, he stripped off her
jeans and cut her sweater off of her.

“What are you going to do to me?” She asked.

Scott sat in a chair and lit a cigarette. “Nothing yet. We’re just waiting.”

“For
John?”

“Yeah, for
John. You think I’m here to see you?”

“
John won’t been home for hours.”

“Oh, I think he’ll be home sooner than that,”
Scott said.

He took a long drag of the cigarette. “We’re just going to wait.”

John dialed the number again. He counted the rings. When it got past four, he began to worry. The machine was supposed to turn on after four rings. Ten rings…fifteen…twenty…thirty rings. John slapped the phone closed and pressed down on the accelerator.

He pulled the car into the yard, missing the driveway
completely. He ran to the front door and fumbled with his keys, not able to open it fast enough. “Chloe!” he called rushing into the house. “Chloe, where are you?”

He saw a note lying on the counter, and sighed with relief,
sure it was from her. He picked it up
:
You had a good tim
e
with my wife. Now it’s my turn with your girlfriend.

“What the hell?” he muttered, shaking his head. He

couldn’t think straight. First, there was the bomb at the studio, and now this note. What was going on? He ran down the hall flinging open bedroom doors. The door to the room at the very end of the hall, the master bedroom, was locked. He banged on

the door. “
Chloe? Chloe, are you in here?”