Part 10 (1/2)
But he knew it was more than that. There was something Samantha wasn't telling him. He could sense it-something deep and dark and painful. And he would just bet money it had to do with Lucas.
He watched her stare out through the snowfall at the mall. The dated building was a long nondescript rectangular one. The lights illuminated the falling snowflakes and the few snow-covered cars still in the lot, ghostlike under the cloak of darkness and snow.
”I appreciate your concern,” Samantha said as she shut off the Bronco. ”It's one of the reasons I agreed to meet here at the mall. It's public. And I have a plan.”
She actually had a plan! That perked him up a little. That perked him up a little.
It was obvious she still had feelings for Lucas. It shouldn't have bothered Will. Shouldn't have given him a pang of jealousy. Or made him dislike the guy all the more. Shouldn't have-but did.
”I have to meet someone in the food court.”
She glanced at him and seemed to wait for him to say something. Was she wondering how much he'd overheard on the phone this morning? Obviously she didn't want to talk about Ca.s.sie in front of the boy.
”I thought we could all go in, and you and Zack could window-shop. That way I'll be able to see you from the food court,” she said.
He liked the idea of being able to keep an eye on her, as well. ”You got it.” He turned to Zack for his okay. The boy was sitting up staring at the building through the snowy darkness, looking worried. ”Hey, kid, I'll bet Samantha will bring us a couple of corn dogs when she's done.”
Zack seemed to brighten a little. ”With mustard and ketchup?”
”Sure, and don't worry, Will is going to be with you, and I won't let either of you out of my sight.”
Will carried Zack across the deserted lot to the mall entrance through air thick with snowflakes, Samantha pensive beside him.
”When was the last time you saw her?” he asked quietly.
She glanced over at him but didn't ask whom he meant, no doubt realizing now that he'd overheard her phone conversation.
”Almost six years. Not since she told me about her...wedding plans.”
No wonder Samantha seemed a little nervous.
He wondered if she had a gun in her purse. As much as he disliked the idea of her with a loaded weapon, he hoped she did. He just wanted her safe. Whatever it took.
Once inside, he and Zack wandered toward the other end of the mall, while Samantha walked toward the smell of tacos and egg rolls and cinnamon buns and popcorn.
But Will didn't go far. He had no intention of letting Samantha or Zack out of his sight. ”Let's stop here for a moment,” he told the boy.
The food court was small, only a half-dozen tables surrounded by a bunch of orange plastic chairs halfway down the mall. A couple sat at one of the tables, eating and talking. A woman with her two rowdy young children sat at another. He could hear the woman trying to get the kids to stop fighting and eat.
A man sat alone at another table, sipping from a plastic cup. He seemed to watch Samantha approach, but Will knew that didn't mean anything. Any red-blooded male would have to be blind not to notice a woman like her.
”I used to have one of those-” Zack said. The boy was pointing at a bike in the store window.
”Where is it now?”
Zack shrugged. ”It was red. I think I outgrew it. Dad was going to get me a bike. But we had to wait.”
For a moment, Will thought the boy might go on. But it was obvious he felt he'd said enough. Wait for what? Will wondered. Had Lucas really been planning to skip the country? Was Samantha right about Lucas setting up Zack's abduction? Then why hadn't Lucas shown up in Wolf Point?
”Well, I think it's high time you had another bike,” Will heard himself say. ”Once we get to Seattle-”
”Really?” Zack's eyes glittered with excitement. ”A big one like that one?”
”Absolutely.” What was he doing making promises like that? By tomorrow the boy might be taken away by the authorities, and Will might never see him again. The thought bothered him a lot more than he wanted it to. ”Of course, we'll have to find a place for you to ride it.”
Zack ducked his head. ”It's okay if I don't get it,” he said, as if he'd been promised things before and had already learned promises often weren't kept.
”Hey,” Will said, squatting in front of the boy and taking the thin shoulders in his hands. He waited for Zack's gaze to meet his and saw the tears. ”You will will get one of those bikes. You have my word on it. And I don't give my word lightly. You believe me?” get one of those bikes. You have my word on it. And I don't give my word lightly. You believe me?”
Zack studied him for a moment, then nodded slowly.
Will smiled. ”Good. You just let me know what color.”
The boy grinned, eyes bright. ”Red. It has to be red.”
Glancing down the mall, he saw Samantha go over to the taco joint and order something. He wondered what she was going to say about the bike. He hoped she didn't see it as interfering. He'd done enough of that.
She turned with a cup in her hands and moved to one of the tables to sit facing them. She looked a h.e.l.l of a lot more relaxed than he felt right now.
Only a few stragglers wandered the mall, still shopping. He wondered what Ca.s.sie looked like, and thought how hard it must be for Samantha to see her again after all these years.
He disliked Ca.s.sie even without having met her. She'd abandoned her own child. And she'd hurt Sam and Zack. As he and Zack moved along the fronts of the stores, he swore he wouldn't let Ca.s.sie-or Lucas, for that matter-get the chance to hurt Samantha or Zack again. Even if it meant staying a little longer in Seattle than he'd originally planned. As if anything he'd planned hadn't gone completely awry since the moment he'd laid eyes on Samantha.
SAM SIPPED the strong bitter coffee and studied the shoppers, watching for Ca.s.sie. The woman had been slim and blond in college. But for all Sam knew, Ca.s.sie could have changed her look entirely. In fact, she suspected her former roommate might be one of those women who was always impulsively dying her hair the hottest new wild color and changing her hair-style to suit her latest mood.
So she kept Will and Zack in view as she searched the faces of the shoppers for a pet.i.te woman with a greedy look. Her own unflattering description of Ca.s.sie surprised her. Is that how she'd always felt about her? But the description fit. Ca.s.sie had come from money and lots of it. One of the first things she'd told Sam was that she had no intention of losing that money. All she had to do to keep getting her monthly checks from Daddy was to not get kicked out of school.
When Ca.s.sie had gotten pregnant, she'd been afraid her father would disinherit her. Maybe that's why she hadn't noticed how devastated Samantha had been. She hadn't seemed to care that she'd just stolen Sam's happiness and a whole lot more.
But while Ca.s.sie's father had thrown a fit, he'd given his blessing, because, fortunately, Lucas came from a family with a good enough pedigree. He had probably been glad to let some other man take care of Ca.s.sie.
So what had Ca.s.sie been doing since the divorce? Maybe more importantly, what was she doing back in Lucas's and Zack's lives?
The large grandfather-style clock near the mall entrance gonged a few minutes before nine. Shopkeepers began to drag the barred doors closed, and a quiet uneasiness settled over the building.
She glanced up at Zack and Will. They were standing in front of a sporting goods shop down the mall and seemed to be talking intently about something in the window. Will's easy way with Zack never ceased to amaze her. She smiled to herself and shook her head. She wasn't surprised how fond Zack seemed to be of the man.
As she looked around, she saw that only a few shoppers were left, and those seemed to be heading for the exits. Even the woman a few tables away finally gave up trying to get her children to finish their fast-food meals. She chased after the children, toward the snowy darkness outside.
Either Ca.s.sie had been here earlier and left, or she'd never shown at all. It made Sam all the more anxious. Why had Ca.s.sie agreed to meet her and then not waited? She couldn't shake the memory of Will's comment that she might be walking into a trap.
She pulled out her cell phone and tried her office again, reminded of what Ca.s.sie had said about going to the office if they missed each other at the mall. The line was still busy. That was odd. Even if Ca.s.sie had gone there and caught Sam's a.s.sociate Andrew Berg still around, that didn't explain the line being busy for almost ten minutes now.
Before the food court closed, she bought two corn dogs with packets of ketchup and mustard to go. Then she walked down to meet Zack and Will.
The mall was officially closed, the shop doors barred, the cleaners beginning the task of getting the place ready for the next day. But still no Ca.s.sie.