The Lingering Grace (15 page)

Alice pulled out her phone to call Tony, trying not to think about the questions he would ask and the lies she would tell him. Hiding the extent to which magic had been involved in her and Eva’s falling out would require an entirely new story. Not to mention that lying to Tony made her sick to her stomach.

As she hurried down the driveway, she glanced over her shoulder at the front door of the house, afraid that Eva would come running after her. If Eva grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye—if she kept begging—Alice wasn’t sure how long her anger would hold out against that much despair. Eva’s trembling jaw and teary eyes popped back into Alice’s mind, and she shook her head, trying to ignore the image.

I’m killing her sister.

The wrenching thought made her cringe and she broke into a slow jog, as though by putting distance between herself and the house she could also escape what had happened.

Penny is already dead
, she reminded herself. No point endangering everyone else by trying to change that.

Leaning on her uneasy self-assurances, Alice slowed to a walk and pulled out her phone. Instead of calling Tony, she dialed her mom’s cell and waited through ring after ring. Finally, the answering machine said in her mother’s cheeriest voice, “Hi, you’ve reached Gail! I’m not available right now! Leave me a message and I’ll call you back!”

Hanging up, she tried her dad. He picked up after one ring.

“Alice? I’m in a meeting right now. Can’t talk—I’ll call back in an hour.”

“No! Dad—”

He had already hung up. She didn’t even bother redialing. He wouldn’t pick up, and even if he did, he wouldn’t drive out to get her. “Just spend the night there,” he’d say. “Or get your friend to drive you back.” She wasn’t in immediate danger so he wouldn’t want to drive out. It had been wishful thinking to call him in the first place.

And so, with a sinking heart, she went to Plan C. Her finger hovered over Tony’s name for a long few seconds, then she took a deep breath and dialed. The sooner she could get away from here, the better off she would be.

He didn’t answer for several rings. Alice was starting to worry she might be stuck here after all, when finally there was a click, and a warm, familiar voice.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Tony,” she whispered, not daring to raise her voice, “Look, I know this is weird, but I need you to come pick me up at Eva’s house. Now.”

“Alice, are you okay?” he asked, lowering his voice with mine.

“I’m okay,” she said, but her voice broke. She suddenly found herself fighting back tears. The stress of the entire evening hit her all at once and she wanted to curl into a ball and sob; she was worn so thin she didn’t think she could stand another minute of it. “I’ll explain later. Can you come pick me up? Please?”

“Do you have the address?”

Alice turned and squinted at Eva’s mailbox. She read him the house number and the name from the nearest street sign. “Please hurry,” she begged.

“I’m on my way. Alice, will you please tell me what’s going on? Are you hurt?”

“I’m not hurt.”

“Ok,” he said, sounding unconvinced. The clear concern in his voice was a glimmering bit of warmth and she latched onto it as she tried not to cry.

“Do you want me to stay on the line with you?” he asked.

Yes, she wanted him to stay with her. But at the same time, she knew she couldn’t do it. It would take him at least twenty minutes to get here and she needed to stay as calm as possible. Talking to Tony, it would be too easy to let go and completely fall apart.

“Just text me when you get here,” she said, and hung up. She clasped the phone between her palms and pressed her lips to her hands, taking deep breaths, swallowing back the panic.

Only a second had passed when a man across the street called her name. She dropped her phone.

“Sorry!” the man said, hurrying toward her.

Alice didn’t even bend down to pick up the phone. She stood stock-still and watched him approach. Why in the world hadn’t she stayed on the phone with Tony? Of all the idiotic things to do … Everything she’d learned in the stranger-danger lessons she had endured since kindergarten assaulted her memory in one paralyzing wave.

Don’t get in a car, keep your distance, don’t accept favors, a quick jab, the eyes, the nose, the mouth, run away, call for help … call for help …

He approached quickly; she could see his face now. He was strikingly attractive—bright blue eyes, strong jaw and nose. His hair was dark brown and a little shaggy and his cheeks were covered in rough stubble. The unkempt look suited him, and he resembled a movie star more than an inmate. She frantically tried to place him, but she didn’t remember ever seeing him before; how he knew her name was a total mystery. Had he seen her picture in the newspapers when she fell into the coma? Had they printed the story out here? Had they shown it on television? What did he want?

“Hey, I’m sorry I startled you,” the man said, reaching her at last. She stepped away from him. He bent down to pick up her phone and handed it to her with a smile.

She took it, which wasn’t an easy maneuver to accomplish while she was simultaneously trying to keep several feet away from him.

“Do I know you?” she managed to cough out, holding the phone tightly. If he made any suspect moves, she would turn around, run as fast as she could, and call 911. But would the police arrive quickly enough?

“No, we haven’t met. I know this must seem weird—I just recognized you from your picture.”

So the story of her accident in Maine
had
reached the West Coast. Alice relaxed a little. “Oh, you heard about the accident on the news, then.”

But the man shook his head. He certainly didn’t look very dangerous. He was probably in his late twenties, well dressed in a button-down shirt and jeans.

“The news? No. My brother has a picture of you two in his room, right on his dresser. You should be flattered—it’s a place of honor.” He smirked.

“Your brother?” Alice asked, starting to wonder if this guy had just mistaken her for someone else.

“Yeah, I’m Danny. Tony’s brother.”

It took a long minute for the words to register. Alice stared at him blankly and blinked in surprise. She blinked again and took another look at his face. It hit her that she knew those eyes; they were Tony’s eyes. Then she started to see hints of Tony and Nora in more of his features—in his full lips and the curve of his face. She shook her head. Why hadn’t Tony mentioned that his brother was in the area? Or maybe he hadn’t known; Alice had no idea where Jeremy was half the time.

“Danny? What are you … why are you here?”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” he said with the sly grin that Tony sometimes used.

“How did you know I was here?” she demanded. Was he following her? She remembered that Danny was a convict and wondered how long it would take to dig her pepper spray out of her backpack.

“I didn’t,” Danny said. He must have sensed the fear in her tone because he put his hands in the air and said, “I’m not gonna hurt you, Alice. I probably shouldn’t have stopped you at all. But I was just dropping by a friend’s house and I saw a girl running like she was being chased, and when I saw it was you … I owe it to my brother to keep his girl safe if I can.”

A girl running down the street at ten thirty
was
suspicious, especially in a neighborhood like this one. Alice’s cheeks flushed. Here Tony’s brother was just trying to help her and she’d been ready to punch him in the face.

“I’m surprised you recognized me,” she said. Even with the streetlights, it wouldn’t be easy to recognize someone familiar running down the sidewalk, much less someone you’d only seen a picture of.

“Not many girls have hair like that,” Danny said, pointing to the red curls draped over her shoulders in a tangled mess.

He had a point.

“Well, um … thanks for stopping.” Discomfort quickly replaced fear. Alice dug her toe into the pavement, wishing Tony would suddenly appear in a miraculous combination of nervous speeding and divine intervention.

“Do you need help? Where are you going? I thought you lived north of the freeway.”

She gulped, knowing what would happen if she explained that she needed a ride home. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to endure a car ride with Tony’s brother. Her curiosity about him just wasn’t strong enough to keep a fifteen-minute drive from being anything less than painfully awkward. Plus, if Tony was so insistent about her never meeting the guy, maybe there was a good reason.

She still didn’t know why he’d been in prison.

“I was just at a friend’s house,” she said. “My mom’s picking me up in a minute.”

He wasn’t fooled for a moment. But then, she would have expected a criminal to have a higher BS meter than the average, law-abiding citizen.

“You can tell me the truth, Alice. No judgments, and I might be able to help. I swear I won’t tell your parents. I won’t even tell Tony if you don’t want. You’re allowed to have secrets.”

Alice had once heard that most adult kidnapping victims got into their captor’s car simply because they felt rude saying no to a nice stranger offering them a ride. She understood why now. Not that she thought Danny was trying to abduct her. But as much as she didn’t want to go with him, she also couldn’t look straight into his eyes and tell him she didn’t trust a criminal.

So she diverted.

“You have a friend out here?” she asked. “Is it an old friend from high school? I know you haven’t been … in the area for a while.”

Danny’s lips thinned. “Alice, you don’t have to pretend not to know where I’ve been. I’m sure Tony told you I was in jail.”

“Yes,” she admitted. “But he didn’t tell me why.”

“Forgery,” Danny said without batting an eye. “I’m a talented art forger.”

Alice didn’t know what she had been expecting, but this was not it. As far as crime was concerned, being a forger sounded as tame as being a peace-loving artist. Tony had been so hesitant to tell her his brother’s crime that she’d expected it to be something like assault or armed robbery. Not arts and crafts.

“I’m not surprised Tony didn’t say,” said Danny, shrugging. “It’s not very macho. Here I am, his older criminal brother, and I didn’t even do him the favor of getting thrown in there for something that would strike fear into the hearts of his classmates.”

Tony seemed like the last person who’d want to intimidate classmates with his brother’s indiscretions.

“Don’t apologize. I have to admit … I’m a little relieved.”

He laughed; his mouth was slightly crooked—he must have gotten that from Nora. “You might not think so if you were a famous artist. But as far as you’re concerned, I’m not a threat unless you ask me to paint your portrait. I’m much better at copying than I am at original work, so I can’t make any guarantees on quality.”

“Remind me not to hire you,” said Alice.

He nodded and asked, “Now that we’ve got that cleared up, will you please let me drive you home?”

Alice stared at her feet. It was true that Danny seemed as pleasant as a criminal could be. His suave smile was convincing—too convincing—and maybe it was that very smoothness that still made her distrust him. Everything about the situation had one toe over the line of what was normal. To have Tony’s brother drive by just as she was running down the street—well dressed, convincing, and just a little bit too nice—the whole thing felt strange. She studied his face, but underneath the friendly grin there was utter blankness.

Before she did anything, she needed more proof. Some kind of test. And so she asked, as casually as she could, “Won’t your friends be disappointed if you miss the party?”

He shook his head, his tousled hair flopping. “It’s no big deal. I’ll take you home and come back after. You know how it goes—no one gets there on time anyway. They won’t even notice I’m late.”

She nodded but tightened her hold on her backpack strap. As he spoke, her stomach began churning with nerves again. He hadn’t mentioned a party but latched onto the premise with an ease that made Alice certain he had never told her why he was really here. She could only think of a couple options, none of them good: either he was here for a rendezvous with other shady characters, or he was following her.

He has no reason to follow me
, she assured herself. It was probably a drug deal. This certainly was the right kind of neighborhood for that.

Whatever the reason for his appearance, it would take a world-shattering calamity to get her to step in his car now.

Danny fiddled with his car keys, watching her fumble for a response. She looked over her shoulder, glanced down at the phone in her hand, and realized that she only had one option. No one was going to get here in time to rescue her; she had to go back to Eva’s house.

It took all her self-control not to turn around immediately and sprint away from Danny. The longer she stood near him, the more freaked out she became. He tossed his keys in the air and caught them in his large, calloused hand—his rough, blunt fingertips looked nothing like those of a skilled artist. He had probably lied about that too. Her own hands sweated, wrapped around her backpack straps.

“Well if you don’t mind giving me a ride, that would be great,” she said. Her voice sounded too high; her cheery grin made her cheeks hurt. “But I left my sleeping bag in my friend’s house, so I need to grab it first.”

He had to know she was lying. Rubbing the key between his fingers, he stared at her, a faint frown on his lips. He made a move toward her, as though he was going to grab her arm—the bottom dropped out of her stomach. But at that moment, a man with an enormous pit bull walked out of a house across the street, and Danny immediately pulled back. The entire thing happened in a blink, and then Danny was back to his original friendliness.

“Of course,” he said. “Here, let me take your backpack. I’ll put it in the car.”

“I got it,” she said, pulling away. “Just one sec.”

Afraid she might not get another chance, she turned around and nearly ran back down the sidewalk and up Eva’s wild lawn. Just as she reached the front door, it flew open.