Chapter Six
During Catherine’s efforts to convince the man called Father that she was who she said she was, Elliot had left to make sure the helicopter was ready for flight and now waited in the bedroom doorway. Instead of bursting in, he took in the action or non-action in the room. The old man had gone to the next-door bedroom to nap beside his grandson. Diana was tensely planted before the single window in the west wall, staring into the deep, ebony night of the desert. Catherine was seated on the double bed holding tightly to the large, furry hand of the feline-looking man restively moving in his sleep. Gazing intently at Vincent, she failed to hear Elliot clear his throat. "Cathy, the helicopter is ready," he waited until she had acknowledged him.
She raised her eyes from the beloved face of her love who rested in uneasy comfort on the bed. Smiling in relief, she said, "Oh good. I can’t wait to get the three of them safely back to the valley. Have you told Father and Jacob?"
"No, but I will now." As he left, he turned back to see her brush the shaggy bangs from the strange looking man’s forehead then kiss him tenderly. Elliot’s heart twisted in anguish, knowing that she had never kissed him in quite the same way. Here was a love that had survived separation and death. He hoped with all his heart that he would find that love some day, but he seriously doubted it.
"Vincent, wake up. It’s time for us to leave." His eyes snapped open, wary and fearful. Darting wildly around the room, his eyes came to rest on the woman he loved. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him; he still couldn’t believe that he was with her.
Flinging her arms around his neck, she soothed him with another kiss. "It’s all right, love. Everything’s all right. In a matter of hours, you and Jacob will be walking in the sunlight in complete safety. Remember what I told you about our valley? Pascal, William, Mouse, even Mary, and all the rest are waiting for you. They’re working hard to make the valley self-sufficient." Assessing his condition, she asked, "Are you ready?"
Grimly smiling, he nodded, gathered his legs under him and struggled to his feet. He was still frightfully weak and was barely able to stand without falling back into bed.
At the sound of Elliot’s voice, Diana had turned and seeing Vincent’s distress, took a determined step in his direction. Seeing Catherine put her arms around him to steady him, the other woman stopped and dropped her eyes, her shoulders sagging in resigned dejection. He needed Catherine, and no matter how much she wanted to help, Diana knew he didn’t need her.
As Vincent struggled out of bed, Elliot hurried back into the room and, ducking under the other man’s arm, took his still considerable weight onto his shoulders. Slowly maneuvering him to the doorway, they stopped and Catherine looked back at Diana. "You coming?" she asked.
Giving a slight shake of her head, she replied, "No, I don’t think so."
Catching Jordan by the arm as he was passing by, Catherine asked Vincent, "Will you go with Elliot and this gentleman while I talk with Diana? You have nothing to fear, ever again. Jacob and Father are waiting for you on the back porch. I’ll be with you in a minute." She reached up and stroked his cheek tenderly.
Closing his eyes, he leaned into her hand and nodded. "Don’t be too long," he begged
"I won’t, love. I’ll be right there." She watched him walk unsteadily between the two men down the hall that led to the back door. Smiling encouragingly each time he looked back at her to reassure himself that she was still there, she didn’t return to the bedroom until he was through the door, and it had closed behind him. Coming back into the room, she found Diana still standing in front of the window, rubbing her arms as if she was cold. "He will miss you, you know."
"He has you and Jacob. He won’t miss me."
"He misses all his friends, Diana. He always will."
"I love him, don’t you know that?"
"I know you do. What has that got to do with it?"
"I’ve had enough pain in my life. I don’t want the pain of watching you and him together."
"You’re sure you won’t come?"
Barely nodding, Diana turned back to stare morosely out the window. Don’t ask again, please. If you do, I’ll go with you and make a fool of myself and embarrass you.
Catherine understood more than Diana knew. She understood the love the other woman had for Vincent, and she knew how much it would hurt to lose him. And she knew how much Diana had lost and was still losing by loving him.
"All right, if that’s what you want."
It’s not what I want, but it’s better this way, Diana thought bitterly.
"What do I tell him?" Catherine asked her.
"Tell him . . . Tell him goodbye and that it’s been the highlight of my life to know him and to have his friendship."
"I will."
"Take care of him, Catherine. Keep him safe," she murmured intensely and turned back to the darkness that waited just outside the window. A darkness that matched the feeling in her heart.
"Don’t worry. Nothing and nobody will ever hurt him again. I promise."
For a few seconds, Catherine gazed silently at the taut, string-tight figure standing so alone in the room. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Well, he’s waiting for me. I must go."
Lost in her own misery, Diana barely heard her. "Goodbye."
"If you ever need us, contact Elliot. He knows how to reach us. Be well, Diana." With that she whirled and hurried through the eerily quiet house to the raucous noise of the helicopter waiting in the backyard.
When Diana heard the sound to the chopper taking off, she let her head fall forward until her forehead rested on the still warm glass windowpane. "Goodbye, my love. Don’t forget me. Memories of you are all I have." Hot, scalding tears rolled down her thin cheeks to splash wetly on the grimy sill.
*
"Where’s Diana?" Vincent asked, his mouth pressed against Catherine’s ear. She had settled next to him with Jacob sitting on her lap. Father was sitting white-faced by the other door.
"She’s decided that she needs to stay behind and get her life back."
"But why? She could live in peace with us in the valley."
The helicopter rose vertically then swung into a northerly direction.
"I don’t think she wants to live a peaceful life. And she loves you."
He ducked his head. "I know; but only you have my love, forever and always."
Kissing him gently, she stroked his cheek, saying, "You’ll see her again. One day she’ll show up when we least expect it, and you’ll have your friend back."
The love in his eyes silenced her as he said, "What did I ever do to deserve you? I love you so very, very much." And squashing Jacob between them, he pulled her in to a warm embrace.
"Hey," Jacob protested, "I’m being squished; I can’t breathe."
Laughing happily for the first time in over five years, his mother and father sat back anticipating their arrival at the valley.
*
"Oh, excuse me . . . It’s Miss Bennett, right?"
Diana spun around to confront a tall, slender conventionally handsome man. His perfectly ordered features turned her off immediately. She had another unconventional beauty of face to compare him to. He had straight, designer styled, blue-black hair that touched the collar of his camouflage shirt and his coal black eyes were rimmed with smile lines. His generous mouth curved in a slight smile as he waited for her to reply. She nodded abruptly, wiping away the evidence of her tears. Paying no attention, he said, "I’m making a final sweep of the house, getting rid of all the evidence."
"Good idea," she commented. It was good to have something else to think about.
"We do our best. I’m Dale Jordan. I took over for Cleon after he was murdered." He stuck out his hand. After a perfunctory handshake, he asked, "You didn’t leave on the helicopter?"
"No," she answered sharply.
Ok, that topic was off the list. He asked something a little safer, "How did you expect to get back to town?"
"I hadn’t thought about it."
He grinned at her. "It’s a good thing I’m here. Everyone else is gone. You can hitch a ride with me." All the while he was talking, he was moving around the room wiping the surfaces of everything in the room and gathering all that had been left behind.
"Thank you," she said. There was no emotion in her voice, and she turned back to stare out of the grimy window.
"Uh, Miss Bennett, would you come with me then? This was the last room I needed to clear. I’m ready to go."
Listlessly, Diana followed him through the house to the nondescript car parked in the driveway. Installing her in the passenger seat, he erased all their footprints with a branch from the desert oak that grew in the front yard. After throwing it in the back seat, he settled behind the wheel and started the engine. Flinging gravel, the car lurched into motion.
He looked over at Diana, a wide grin on his handsome face. "I shoulda been a race car driver. I love speed."
She glanced at him, disinterestedly, and then gazed at the passing scenery again.
Shrugging his shoulders, he concentrated on driving. After half-an-hour of silence, he said, "You’re that hot shot detective that worked for the 2-10, right?" Through her silence, he continued, "I heard you were real good. Solved the Chandler murder than did something really stupid: killed the guy who killed her."
"He deserved it," she snarled. "I’d do it again in a heartbeat."
"Well, wadda ya know? The lady has spirit," Dale crowed.
"You did that on purpose," she charged.
"Had to do something to bring you back to the here and now," he commented.
In exasperation, she glared at him. "Gabriel was a sadistic, controlling fiend who had stolen my friend’s baby, killed the woman he loved, and locked him in a cage. If he had lived, he would have turned the world upside down looking for that child," she bit off.
"Whoa now, back up a bit. I’m not saying you were wrong," he protested but then wondered, "What was so special about the kid?"
"You’ve seen Vincent?" The P.I. nodded. "It was his child," she said.
"Oh, wow!" He puffed out his cheeks as he blew out a gust of air. "And the mother is Cathy Chandler."
"Jacob is their child."
"That beautiful child is Vincent’s?"
"Yep."
"Wow!" he exclaimed again. "I knew she was looking for someone special: Vincent. I’d seen pictures of him and been told that there was a child and an old man with him but that’s all. It’s not my place to wonder why."
"They’ve been in love for years."
"And you love him, too," he stated.
"Yes," she whispered wretchedly, "but he couldn’t see me for dust."
"He must be blind," Jordan quipped.
She gave him a watery smile. "No, it was just that his heart and soul had been given to her. There was no way I could compete."
He reached over and squeezed her hand that was laying on the car seat. "Let’s talk about a happier subject."
"Ok." She sighed in relief, beginning to see him in a better light. He was really very considerate and easy to talk with when one let their guard down.
"Tell me, how did you solve your cases?"
Chuckling softly, she replied, "Most people don’t care or believe how I do it."
"I’m not most people," he grinned back at her.
They spent the remainder of the drive comparing jobs and cases, and by the time they had reached the airport, Jordan had offered her a job. She had demurred but he insisted, "Look, I worked my ass off for Cleon for several years. He was my mentor and taught me a lot. One lesson was to know a good investigator when I saw one. He made me a full partner before he was killed. I can hire whomever I want and I want you. What do you say?"
"Can I think about it?"
"Sure," he shrugged, "as long as it’s yes."
With a sidelong look, she smiled and tilted her head to the side.
"Good! I knew you’d see things my way." He stopped the car next to a Lear jet with the Burch logo on the side. "Well, here we are. It’s just a hop and a skip to New York now."
Sitting back in the comfortable aircraft seats, they fastened their seat belts and watched the ground rapidly roll past the window. Soon they were flying over the clouds, heading into the encroaching daylight.