The Inner Circle (6 page)

"Yes," Sarah said angrily. Sarah was glad Nick was finally starting to come around and even gladder to get this secret out in the open. Keeping her relationship with Josh a secret for so long had been mentally draining and it felt good to release this pressure from her mind. The pregnancy thing was different though, and she figured it would be smarter to ease him into that another time. "And he really loves me. You know Josh, you know he’s a good person."

"I know, and I'm sorry for acting like such an idiot. But you're my little sister, I have to play the protective older brother, especially since Mom and Dad are gone. You're my responsibility and I made a vow to myself to stop you from being hurt at all costs. Besides, I'm just glad there is someone around like Josh who I can trust to take care of you when I'm gone."

"When you're gone? What do you mean? You plan on going somewhere?"

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Patrolmen Cade had pulled onto the road for only a few seconds when he radioed in to police headquarters. He could see the biker in the distance, but knew the person would not be able to hear his siren yet. This didn't matter to him, though.

"I have a suspicious looking male on a motorcycle. He's going over a hundred and I think he's trying to lose me."

"Copy that, Cade," the voice said over the radio. "Davis is in Car 21 just down the road, I'll patch you through to him."

"Davis here," a deep voice said. "What have you got for me, Jelly-Roll?"

Cade ignored the fat joke and gave Davis a detailed story about the person on the motorcycle trying to get away. He described the person as looking very suspicious and speeding up once he heard the police siren.

"Are you sure it isn't just some kid out joy riding? If he's going as fast as you say, it would be pretty hard to hear a siren, don't you think?" Davis asked.

Davis made a good point and Cade got worried that he might be onto his lie. But Cade knew he wouldn’t get credit for making a routine traffic stop, so he had to make this motorcyclist seem as dangerous as possible.

"Dammit, Davis. I know what I'm talking about. I think the bike could be stolen. Why else would he be running?" he yelled into the radio.

"Okay, Cade. It's your call. What do you want me to do?"

There, that’s better
, Cade thought to himself.
It’s about time I finally get some respect around here.

"I want you to set up a roadblock. We're only a few miles away from you, so set up your car to block the left lane. Let everyone go to the right of you. He'll be forced to slow down once he sees your car and he'll probably just give up."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Cade. Maybe we should get authorization for something like that."

"There's no time for that. If we don't act now, he'll get away. So just do what the hell I say! If there's any trouble for it later, I'll take the heat."

But when we get this punk, I'll take all the credit.

"Copy that. I'm setting up the roadblock now."

CHAPTER THREE

"I've got cancer."

It was the first time Nick said those three words out loud and he was surprised to feel tears welling up in his own eyes. He'd known he was sick for awhile, but was able to remain strong when he was the only one who knew about it. Now that he was telling his sister, it all seemed so much realer, and much scarier.

"Cancer? What do you mean you have cancer?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"My stomach, the pains I thought were just my ulcers acting up again. It's stomach cancer, there's a tumor in there the size of a golf ball. They think it might have spread to my intestines."

Sarah was shocked and although the news of her brother's cancer was so upsetting, the thing that struck her most was that tears were in his eyes.
Actual tears
. Nick had always been a rock in her life, not even allowing himself to cry during their parents' funeral, staying strong and reliable so Sarah would know things would turn out okay.

"You'll be okay though, Nicky. They caught it early enough, didn't they? They can operate and take it out," she said. Sarah tried to seem soothing, but her words came out sounding more frantic and nervous. Nick wiped the tears from his eyes and forced a smile that Sarah couldn't possibly think was real.

"No, they can't operate. The tumor... it's not in a good place. They think operating will cause more damage than just leaving it in."

Sarah began to cry much harder than she had earlier.

"No, this can't be happening. First Mommy and Daddy, and now..." She couldn't even finish the sentence. Her tears were choking the words before they came out.

"Chemo is the only way I can go. With regular sessions a few times a week, they say there's a chance the tumor can shrink and eventually go away."

It was true the doctor had told this to Nick, but he conveniently left out the part about the chances of success being distant at best. His sister did not need to hear this just yet, though. She had enough to deal with for the moment and he would try to put off any further bad news for the time being.

Sarah stood up from her bed and crossed the room, throwing her arms around Nick's neck and burying her face in his chest. He stroked her hair gently as she continued to cry and did not utter a word as her tears soaked through his shirt.

"It's okay. No matter what happens to me, you'll still have Josh to take care of you."

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Josh was still riding high and the rush he felt while driving his motorcycle this quickly was nothing compared to how his insides felt when thinking of Sarah and their baby. At this moment, as he thought of how much his life would be changing, he realized the motorcycle would have to go. He loved his bike, but now he had two other lives to think about first, two other lives that would take precedence over his own personal taste in vehicles. Besides, he couldn't drive Sarah to the hospital on his sport bike and he didn't think they made baby seats for motorcycles. He would have to trade it in and get something more practical.

Ugh
, the thought was revolting. He could just picture himself now, driving along in an ugly powder blue, 4-door sedan, wearing his seat belt and driving the speed limit. He would probably have to get clothes like Nick, and wear glasses and a pocket protector...

At least the vehicle would be safe. Josh couldn't help but laugh at himself. He'd just learned less than twenty minutes ago that he would be a father and he was already worrying about his child's safety. If he had a daughter, she would be safe when he drove her to dance class or cheerleading camp or soccer practice. And if it were a son, little Joshie Jr. would be safe when he was going to football practice or the Boy Scouts.
Well, maybe not Boy Scouts. I’m not sure I could change that much to force my son to wear those silly badges. But if the crappy new car ever breaks, I can show him how to fix different parts of the...

When Josh caught a glimpse of a red light in his side mirror, he immediately slowed down. The highway gradually turned a bit to the right and the red light disappeared from the mirror for a moment. But as Josh turned his head around to look behind him, he saw a police car in the distance. He glanced down at his speedometer and saw that even after slowing down, he was still going fifteen miles over the limit. He had to have been going about 80 m.p.h. before and he cursed himself for being so stupid to get caught speeding at a time like this.

Maybe the cop isn't coming after me,
he thought to himself
. Maybe he just got called to go somewhere else.
This was the only way he was going to get out of a ticket. Josh tried to look in his mirror to get a better look at the police car, but he couldn't see well. He turned his head to get a better look and thought maybe he should put his arm up to question whether the cop wanted him to pull over and stop or just get out of the way.

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Patrolmen Cade grinned in anticipation, knowing the roadblock was just up ahead. He'd gained a lot of ground on the motorcyclist and was glad to know that he would be reaching the roadblock soon after the motorcycle did. He would be able to interrogate and arrest the suspect himself and let Davis watch how a
real
police officer handled these no-good punks.

"I see your guy," Davis said over the radio. "Coming right up ahead."

Cade watched the taillights of the cycle come on as the motorcycle slowed down. A second before Cade spotted the roadblock just up ahead, the guy driving the bike turned his head to look at Cade and put his arm up.

What is this guy doing, shrugging? Doesn't he see the damn roadblock ahead?

"Look in front of you," Cade yelled, knowing the cyclist could not have heard him. He frantically pointed forward, but the biker did not understand. Cade slammed on his brakes and kept pointing forward, but he knew it was going to be too late.

This is going to be bad,
he thought.
I hope the guys at the station don't blame me for this.

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Josh saw the police car behind him suddenly slowing down and was confused why it was doing that. By the time he turned back around to look at the road ahead, the roadblock was only twenty feet in front of him. In a feeble attempt to stop, he slammed on the brakes and tried to turn the bike, but it was too late. The motorcycle skidded and fishtailed like it was on ice and he barely slowed down.

Josh always heard people say that the split-second before an accident, your life flashes before your eyes. He thought maybe he would see the highlights of his life; the birthday parties when he was a kid; the vacations to Disney World; his first sexual experience; the day he graduated high school and received his diploma. But none of these major life moments could overcome the single thought in his mind.

The second before his motorcycle hit the police car-roadblock at 50 miles per hour, all Josh could see was Sarah's smiling face.

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The day was bright and sunny, an altogether perfect day for just about every outdoor event. Yet Sarah could not help but wish it were dark and rainy, as the weather seemed totally inappropriate for Josh's funeral. Many people had shown up for the funeral mass, a testament to just how loved a person like Josh had been. Many of them did not come to the burial though, as this was normally reserved for members of the immediate family.

Sarah stood with Nick, who had his arm tightly around her. Nick's heart broke for Josh, but even more so for his sister. She’d already had to deal with more grief in her eighteen years on Earth than most people did their entire lives. And considering his imminent health failure, he knew there would be even harder times ahead for her.

The priest said a few prayers and was about to lower the casket into the ground when Josh's mother stood up. With eyes that could cry no more tears, she faced the casket and told Josh that she loved him and would think about him every day for the rest of her life. His mother then faced everybody and asked if anyone else wanted to say a final good-bye to Josh. Nick wished he'd had the courage to say something poignant and heartfelt, but at times like these, his mind could not work in that way. Many of the other people must have felt the same way because nobody seemed ready to step forward. Sarah grabbed Nick's hand and squeezed it and then made her way through the crowd.

"I loved Josh," she started, having trouble finding the right words to express how she was feeling. "As I'm sure everybody here did as well. We all knew how good of a person he was. If you ever had a problem in your life, Josh would be there to listen. Even if there was nothing he could do to help, sometimes him just listening would make everything seem better."

Many people in the small crowd nodded.

"There are many great things about Josh that I could stand up here and count off, but these are all things that everyone here today obviously knew about him. So I just wanted to mention one thing that maybe some of you didn't know.

"Josh was always afraid that once he was gone, nobody would remember him. He was always trying to think of something to do that would leave an indelible mark on the world, something that people would look back and say, 'Yeah, Josh Clement did this' or 'Josh Clement did that.' But as it turned out, he was doing something all along, even though he probably didn't realize it.

"He was living. He was existing. He was being himself, which was something he did so well that nobody could ever forget him. Life was his greatest accomplishment, and while most people in the world will never be able to know who Josh Clement was, those gathered here today will remember him and hold him in our hearts until the day we join him in heaven."