Chapter 27
Before my husband's knee surgery his coworkers gave him this hat. Shortly after he was wheeled into his room he pulled it out and plopped it on my head. I wanted to cry, but smiled just for him.
Hidden Secrets
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 27
Jenn sat in the airport terminal near her gate and
watched Katie eat a package of cookies she’d bough from a vending machine. She
knew she ought to buy something for herself, but her stomach kept rolling like
ocean waves, and a few nearly resembled tidal waves. Her mind reviewed all the
details Kevin gave her as she absently watched Katie crumple the wrapper.
"There's no limit on the credit cards, and don't
hesitate to use what you need. Just remember you can't withdraw more than
three-hundred dollars each day from an ATM per card," he'd said.
"What if I want to buy a new car," Jenn
teased.
Kevin never blinked an eye. "Go for it, but don't
think the office will sit idly by."
"Great," Jenn had muttered. “I’m stuck with
what you give me.”
Now all Jenn could think about was Nick. Where was he?
Probably out rescuing someone who was in half the danger she was—if she was in
any danger at all, she sarcastically thought.
Katie climbed over the armrest separating their seats
and curled up in Jenn's lap. "Tired?" Jenn whispered.
Katie blinked her big brown eyes and then they shut.
Jenn looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost nine-thirty. Tears formed
in her own eyes as the second hand mechanically ticked away. She wondered if she
should pull out her compact and hope for a sympathetic ear to listen to her
troubles and a shoulder to cry on.
She sniffled and swiped tears from her cheeks. Nick
had told her the less she knew the better off she'd be. Also, the fewer agents
she knew, the better off they'd be. Did she really need to know the face of
another agent in Dallas? What if the person with the pencil turned out to be
Natalie? She'd get no sympathy on her cold hard shoulder.
Jenn's flight was called. She slowly rose and
shouldered Katie, a diaper bag, a carry on, and her new purse. She was seated
in first class and offered a drink. "A soda? A Sprite, please." It
might settle her stomach.
The flight was short compared to the long bumpy one
out of Baltimore earlier that day. It seemed like it had been years ago when
Angela had called and described the bat-wing eared man and they’d laughed. Jenn
closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but each time she she sunk toward
unconsciousness terrible images of men trying to pry Katie out of her arms
appeared. Her eyes sprang open and her heart pounded.
In Phoenix she exited the plane and searched for a
sign leading to the baggage area. Katie slept on her shoulder and grew heavier
with each step. "Claudia!" A woman greeted Jenn as she neared the
baggage claim.
"I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"
Jenn greeted the stranger back in delight as she accepted the warm embrace the
unknown woman offered. Her arms encircled both her and Katie and for a brief
moment she felt safe. She bit back tears.
The woman pushed away and said, "You look the
same as ever! And your baby is darling! I heard she was a doll! She looks just
like her daddy! How is Sam?"
"Do you think so?" Jenn asked with a happy
laugh that didn't sound fake.
"Yes. It was so good to run into you again. Let's
keep in touch better. We'll do lunch sometime."
"It sounds fun," Jenn agreed.
The woman left and Jenn waited alone for her bag. Once
she had it, she dragged her load toward the parking area. She paused at the exit
doors and pulled the key from her pocket along with the validation. She looked
around for the right area, then exited as if she knew exactly where she was heading.
She turned left instead of right, and passed the
correct row and had to backtrack. Then she realized she was on the wrong
parking level. Katie, oblivious to everything, slept on as Jenn thought her
arms and heart would break. But which would happen first, she wondered as she
searched for her car.
"Here goes again," Jenn muttered as she clicked
the unlock button on the key ring and waited to see if she’d found her vehicle.
Red tail lights magically flashed in front of her and she sighed with relief.
She inspected the little red Nissan SUV with dark black tinted windows. It was
the third car she'd tried, but being after midnight and her mind feeling half
asleep, the two previous attempts had been on the wrong level and in the wrong
areas. She felt like she'd walked a thousand miles trying to find her car. She
couldn't really ask the security guard she saw for help because she had no idea
what kind of car she drove. And was it red, green, blue, black or white? Small,
big, old or new? It was an annoying mystery until she found it.
Jenn buckled Katie up and slid into the front seat and
locked the doors. A pink receipt was in the glove box as promised, along with a
road map. Jenn found the address she needed and studied the map. "Here
goes," she said as she started the SUV.
Without more than three turn arounds to get back on
track, Jenn found the house sitting on Honeysuckle Pie Drive almost twenty
minutes out of Phoenix. She stared beyond the unlandscaped front yard toward
the dark windows. "Kevin expects me to go in there? The spook alley house?
He's nuts!" she whispered. She finally gathered enough courage to pull
into the driveway. Bright security lights flanking the garage doors immediately
illuminated the driveway. Jenn jumped, then realized motion had probably
triggered them. She felt only slightly better.
"Baby, we're home," Jenn whispered, turning
to see Katie's head resting on the side of the car seat. "Like you care.
You've been unconscious for hours. I hope the owners don't mind if you tear the
house apart tomorrow morning while I sleep in."
Jenn unloaded Katie and grabbed her purse and the
diaper bag and hesitantly stepped toward the house. Once she was on the wide
front porch an overhead light turned on. She glanced up at the motion sensor.
It was a nice luxury. Her fingers shook as she pushed numbers into the keyless
entry pad. A green light blinked and Jenn pushed the latch down and with her
shoulder, silently shoved the door open. "Anyone home?" she whispered
as she stepped inside, half expecting a light to suddenly turn on. It remained
dark, so she searched for a switch.
Even though the front entry was filled with dark
shadows, Jenn could see it was as big as her front room back home. She found
the switch and flipped it, bathing everything in light. She shut the door
behind her and the lock blinked red. "This is creepy," Jenn whispered
as she looked around, finding a picture of her, Matt and Katie displayed on a
little table for all door-to-door salesmen and the cleaning crew to see. She
finally yanked her eyes away from it and worked up enough courage to walk to
the tall archway dividing the foyer from the formal living room. Inside stood a
grand piano, beautiful sofas, chairs, paintings, and long draping curtains that
puddled on the thick carpet. "I think the furnishings in this room alone
cost as much as our entire house, Katie," she whispered. Jenn glanced at
her daughter. She was so unimpressed she didn't bother opening her eyes. Jenn
giggled.
Across from the living room was a
huge dining room. Jenn glanced at it before venturing further into the house
where she found the kitchen, a giant family room, and an every-day dining room
area, but the size and grandeur were unbelievable. "And this is about the
size of our yard in Dallas," Jenn exaggerated. "I'm sure you'll love
playing here, little bear."
A short, wide hall took Jenn to a spacious master
bedroom suite tucked behind the formal living room. "Welcome to
Montana," Jenn whispered as she softly walked across the thick carpet. She
turned on a bedside lamp and gently settled Katie on the bed. Then she giggled.
"Not!" as she looked at the over-the-top furnishings from the
draperies framing the headboard to the over-stuffed chairs pulled up to a gas
fireplace, and bedside lamps that looked like they cost a thousand dollars
each.
Jenn changed Katie's diaper and tucked her beneath an
embroidered comforter. Fully dressed, she climbed in after her. She closed her
eyes and remembered there was a lock on the bedroom door. She crept out, locked
it, then returned to bed and secured Katie within her arms.
End Chapter 27
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