Depart the Darkness Page 5

  “I think you’re correct. If the guys watching the house and tailing him are being intentionally obvious, then either they’re doing so to protect Phillip and his family from someone, or they’ve been hired by someone Phillip and his family need to be protected from.”

  “What is it he does, again?”

  “Considering the company he works for, it’s safe to assume he works on government defense contracts.”

  “And what does that mean, exactly?”

  “What are you asking? What is a defense contract, which one is he working on…”

  “Both,” I replied.

  “Okay, then. The federal government awards defense contracts to companies who then produce goods or perform services related to national defense. As to the specific contract Phillip works on, I don’t have that information. It’s possible he works on more than one.”

  “What kind of information would he have access to, since his work involves national defense?” I wondered.

  “It depends on the contract and his level of security clearance,” Miles replied.

  “So… he might have information that’s valuable to someone else,” I said. “Some other government.”

  “Or some other competing company. We need more information if we hope to do more than guess. What do you say we visit Lorna Edmunds tomorrow?”

  “I say yes!” I answered, and Miles smiled.

  “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

  Chapter 4

  “I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Miles said, as he picked up his gym bag and stowed a water bottle inside.

  “I’ll be counting down the seconds,” I replied, and he smiled. “I’m meeting Jenny in a few minutes, so…”

  “No force fields, then. Good thing you told me, it’s becoming a habit.”

  “I know, and I like that you take my safety seriously,” I hurried to say. “And I promise, if I see any darkness, even a hint, I’ll run as fast as I can to the gym, while simultaneously FaceTiming you on my cell phone.”

  “Good,” he said, and we hugged each other. “I don’t want to make you feel claustrophobic, but what Trix said about almost losing you to the darkness, still haunts me.”

  “It haunts me too,” I admitted, squeezing him hard. “And you couldn’t possibly make me feel claustrophobic.”

  “Good,” he said again, and kissed me. When he tried to let me go, I held on, so he hugged me again. Eventually, he laughed. “If it weren’t for the absence of tears, I’d think you were trying to reenact the day I returned to the estate.”

  I laughed, and squeezed harder.

  “That was an amazing day. Too bad I slept through most of it, we didn’t get in nearly as much kissing as we should have.”

  “We rapidly made up for it the next day,” he smiled, and I laughed again, then kissed him.

  “Never mind leaving me here. I’ll ride the elevator with you,” I said. I let him go, so I could hold his hand.

  “And I’ll walk you to the dining room,” he replied, as the door to our suite opened for us, and the elevator swished open. We stepped inside, and he pressed the button for the lobby. “Are you girls meeting for fun, or do you have an agenda?”

  “Our agenda is fun, but we’re also going to talk about Jenny and Xander’s wedding this summer.”

  “So they’re having one after all,” Miles commented.

  “Yes. In spite of Xander not liking it that the rest of us are married and he and Jenny aren’t, they’re holding out for a wedding. Jenny wants to have one for her mom’s sake.”

  “I suppose that means a lot to Susan, since Jenny is her only child,” he said.

  “I guess so. And so, we’re going to get started on planning the wedding.”

  The elevator opened on the ground floor, and Miles walked me through the lobby to Elizabeth’s, the Lodge’s restaurant. It was after lunch and before dinner, so for a few brief hours, the dining room was closed. That didn’t stop us, of course. With a soft click, the double doors unlocked. Miles opened one of them and followed me inside.

  A mahogany hostess station with marble top stood to one side. A large chandelier hung from the golden pressed tin ceiling, its prisms faintly reflecting the dim light. The multi-tone gray carpet was as thick as that in the rest of the Lodge, and the walls above the dark wood baseboard and paneling were painted a deep green. Large arched doorways to the right and left revealed separate dining areas. The tables were covered in heavy white cloths, places set, ready and waiting for the dinner crowd. A beautiful view of pine trees and snow covered mountains was visible through the windows at the end of each dining room. To the right, a step up on a raised platform, stood the baby grand piano.

  “Think you’ve got enough wedding plans to last a couple of hours?” Miles asked.

  “It’s possible, if we talk about the same things over and over, which is very likely,” I replied.

  “Then I’ll stop by and pick you up after I’m done,” he said.

  “Sounds great,” I replied. I hugged him hard and kissed him.

  “Ahem,” we heard several seconds later, from the direction of the kitchen. “He isn’t going off to war, you know.”

  “I don’t know Xander,” Miles replied. “Workouts can be brutal.”

  “And I for one would like to know what you two were cooking up in the kitchen,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

  Jenny laughed. Xander smiled and rolled his eyes a little. They both looked guilty.

  “Mm-hm,” Miles said. “Before you know it, you’ll be as bad as the rest of us married folks. Better get all the teasing out of your system while you still can.”

  “I intend to,” Xander smiled, and the rest of us laughed

  “So what were you baking?” I asked, and Jenny gave me a look. I looked back.

  “No, I’m serious,” I said. “I’m hungry.”

  “Oh. Then you came to the right kitchen,” she replied. “I’ll show you what we have.”

  The guys said goodbye and left, then I followed Jenny.

  I have two of the best friends in the entire world. Miles bought me a latte machine, and Jenny makes lattes. She made one for each of us and we carried those, and slices of my favorite raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake, to one of the tables overlooking the front of the Lodge. I looked out at the softly falling snowflakes.

  “I love it here. I can’t wait for next Christmas,” I commented. “Decorating is going to be so much fun!”

  “It will be,” agreed Jenny. “I, however, am much more interested in summer right now.”

  “And why ever would that be, Jenny?” I asked in mock ignorance. “It wouldn’t be because of your wedding, would it?”

  Jenny opened a magazine, smiled, and slid it across the table to me.

  “But of course. And as my matron of honor, I need your help picking out bridesmaid dresses.”

  “Wow, I’m a matron,” I said. “Who would’ve ever thought. Don’t I need at least one kid for that?”

  “No, you’re married. You’re no longer a maid.”

  “Well, Miles does do all the dusting…” I said, as I turned my focus to the colorful photographs in front of me. “Do you have a location picked out?”

  “The Cedar Oaks church,” Jenny answered.

  “How about time of day?”

  “Evening—maybe.”

  “If we had it to do over, we’d get married first thing in the morning.”

  Jenny laughed, as she flipped through one of the magazines.

  “Really? You’d wait that long?”

  I laughed too, remembering some of our previous conversations.

  “You’re right. There’d be no waiting. We’d be married as soon as Miles appeared in Second-Miles’ place, on the way to emergency surgery.” I turned the magazine around so Jenny could see, and pointed to a bridesmaid gown. “This one’s nice, if you go evening.”

  “Ooh, that is nice,” she said. “And very fitted. Is there any chance we need to find a pattern that can
be let out?”

  “Huh?” I asked, giving her a funny look.

  “Not to be nosy, but what’s the probability that you’ll need a roomier style between now and the wedding?”

  I raised an eyebrow and pulled my cheesecake closer.

  “I don’t care if you threaten to dress me in a tent. I am not giving up dessert. Or lattes. Or anything else.”

  Jenny looked confused, then laughed.

  “No, I mean—you talk about having kids, an awful lot.”

  “Considering Miles and I are the poster children for anything’s possible, then… it’s possible. It won’t be intentional, though. We’ll barely celebrate our first wedding anniversary by the time your June wedding arrives. We’d kind of like to finish college first. Unless of course, we continue to take just one or two classes a semester. If we do that, forget waiting.”

  “Alright. Then a fitted dress it is. That style would go perfectly with this,” she said, turning a magazine around so I could see. She pointed to a wedding dress. “I like this one.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I agreed. “Remember when we went to the mall to look at gowns for my wedding?”

  “Yes!” she laughed, and so did I.

  “What kind of flowers do you want?” I wondered next.

  “Roses, I think.”

  “A lovely choice,” I said approvingly.

  “I’d be shocked if you didn’t think so,” she smiled.

  “If the florist can’t get exactly what you want, tell her she has permission to raid the garden at the estate.”

  “I’ll do that, and thank you,” Jenny replied. “I couldn’t believe how long the flowers in my bouquet from your wedding lasted.”

  “Cool, huh,” I said. “The roses at the estate are no more common than the estate itself. Is your mom walking you down the aisle?”

  “No… I’m not sure what to do about that,” Jenny replied, her forehead faintly creased with uncertainty.

  “I’ve heard of couples walking down the aisle together,” I said, feeling the need to offer a solution, since Jenny had no father to do the honors.

  “Yeah… I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just walk myself down. I’m giving myself freely, after all. It isn’t as though I need someone else to give me away.”

  “What a funny thought that is,” I said, shoving aside the pattern books and pulling forward my cheesecake and latte. Jenny did the same. “What is all that about, anyway? I mean alright, fine, Miles explained it. The parents are giving over the care of their daughter to her groom. But still. It sounds so weird. Like what am I, property?”

  “It does sound funny. I like the way Miles explained it.”

  “He’s good at that,” I agreed. “So have you decided on a weekend?”

  “The eleventh,” Jenny replied.

  “I’ll mark our calendar then,” I said. I took out my phone, and did. “Do you have family other than your mom? Extended family, I mean? Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins…”

  “No… not on Mom’s side, anyway. That’s all I know, and that’s all that matters,” Jenny said, with an air of finality.

  I understood. Jenny’s dad was horrible. He was abusive, and when he left one day and never came back, she and her mom weren’t sorry. Life was hard for them, but thanks to a modest inheritance and covert generosity on the part of Gramma Polly’s husband and Second-Miles’ dad, Susan was able to buy the grocery store in Cedar Oaks. They were welcomed in by the church there, and life became good.

  It made me sick that anyone would ever hurt my friend, or her mom. It made me want to sic my superhero husband on the guy! I got a lot of satisfaction out of imagining that.

  “You look like you’re torturing a poisonous spider,” Jenny commented. “Or imagining it, anyway.”

  “More like a fat bloated tick, with—Wait, what are we talking about?” I snapped out of it. Jenny laughed.

  “I have no idea anymore.”

  “Oh… well, your wedding is going to be beautiful. Have you made a decision about the size?”

  Jenny’s eyes were serious and she sighed quietly.

  “That was the subject of our first fight, actually.”

  “What?” I replied in surprise, then listened briefly. “That was the subject that started the fight, but the fight was really about not working together as a team. Xander was upset that you wouldn’t let him share the expense. He doesn’t want your mom, and you, stretching yourselves thin when he can easily prevent it. He wanted to invite his grandparents, siblings, cousins, and all their families, but he didn’t want that to be a burden to you. But you wouldn’t let him help, and said end of discussion. He wondered if that’s how it’s always going to be, you letting pride get in the way and shutting down conversation, and not allowing him to—am I talking too much? You already know this anyway. Maybe I should just stop.”

  Jenny stared at me, stunned.

  I quickly took a bite of cheesecake and focused on chewing.

  Jenny burst out laughing, and I relaxed a little.

  “I wasn’t lying though!” she exclaimed.

  “No, but what you said wasn’t entirely true either,” I pointed out. “You knew the truth. You weren’t trying to hide it, but you knew it, and that isn’t exactly what you said, so… I’m sorry, but at least I can’t read minds.”

  “You come awfully close,” she said, still staring at me in amazement. Maybe fear. No, it was amazement.

  “Well, Nate thinks you can read minds,” I replied. “Sometimes I’ve thought so too. But you’re just really intuitive, is all.”

  “And that doesn’t even come close to what you can do,” Jenny said. She slowly took a bite of her cheesecake.

  I reached for my latte.

  “Don’t wait until you’re married to be a team. And don’t ever shut him out when he’s trying to communicate. I did that to Miles once. It really hurt him, and would’ve been our first fight if he wasn’t so patient, smart, and mature enough to know better.”

  “Well… we fought,” she said ruefully.

  “I know,” I replied honestly. “I’m impressed with how mature Xander was about the whole thing. I’m not surprised that you didn’t want him to help, though. You’re really strong, but you’re about to get married. Don’t try so hard not to need him. Let him be there for you. He needs that as much as you do.”

  Jenny stared at me again. I looked at her, then started back in on my cheesecake. She shook her head a little, as if trying to clear it.

  “Sorry,” I said. “But if it’s any consolation, when we’re done talking, all this will lock away. It’ll stay that way, unless you bring it up again. Not our conversation, but the truth I saw.”

  “At least there’s that, then,” she said. She still looked rattled.

  “Sorry,” I said again, and took a sip of my latte. “What are we talking about?”

  “Yeah, right!” she laughed, and tossed her napkin at me. I grinned and caught it, then tossed it back.

  “Seriously, it’ll lock up as soon as we change the subject.”

  “Well, you’d make an excellent marriage counselor,” she pointed out. “No training required. All you need to know, you learn from your subjects.”

  “I’ve learned a lot from Miles, too,” I reminded her.

  “So… what did you do about your wedding?” she asked curiously. “It was an event. So how…”

  “The Bannerman Foundation took over my sister’s medical expenses. They also reimbursed my parents for all of her previous medical expenses. I had a scholarship thanks to the Foundation, so what my parents would’ve used to put me through college, they put toward our wedding. But Grandma Polly also shared in the expense. She and Mom worked together.”

  “Did it bother your parents to have that help?”

  “No, why would it? Besides, it wasn’t ‘help.’ It was a cooperative effort between my parents and Miles’ grandmother, to provide the wedding they wanted for their daughter and grandson.”

  I could see tha
t Jenny now had something new to think about.

  “You and your mom fought to survive and stand on your own,” I added. “That doesn’t mean you have to keep standing on your own, and if you insist, it’s going to hurt your relationship with Xander.”

  “I’m letting pride get in the way,” she said slowly.

  “That’s the truth,” I informed her.

  “Alright,” she said, her face clearing. “Thank you. I’ll take your advice, and quit trying to do everything on my own.”

  “Good,” I replied. I was pleased. “It’s a relief, isn’t it.”

  “Yes. Xander will be relieved too, I’m anxious to talk to him.”

  “I can tell. I think three fourths of your mind is on that conversation already, instead of on planning your wedding. So, let’s go to the gym.”

  “You’re right, besides, there’s no point in planning any further until after Xander and I talk, and agree on what we want to do.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” I asked. I finished the last bite of cheesecake and my latte, and after stowing our dishes in the appropriate spot in the kitchen, we turned our footsteps in the direction of the gym.

  We crossed the lobby and passed by the entry and check-in counter. I waved at Annette, and Lucy, who was new to our Lodge, and in-training.

  Jenny and I followed the hall to the gym. Through the long row of windows, we saw the brand new exercise machines. Several stair steppers, treadmills, a couple of ellipticals, and a variety of weight lifting equipment was arranged throughout the large space. On the opposite wall, large windows faced a gorgeous view of distant mountains and softly falling snow.

  “I wonder where… oh, there they are,” I said, as Miles and Xander walked through the doorway of the men’s locker room and back into the gym. They smiled when they saw us enter the room.

  “How was it?” Jenny asked.

  “Awesome,” Xander said enthusiastically. “Really awesome!”

  “I’m happy with it,” Miles said with satisfaction. He put his arm around me, and we both looked around some more. “I may be really sore in the morning, though.”

  “You look great,” I said admiringly, as I pulled him close. His hair was still damp from showering, and I breathed in his aftershave. “You smell great, too.”