Chapter 26
Heath pulled up at the house about an hour later. He was not surprised to see the chaos that was taking place. For a moment he allowed his weakness to take over, and he rested his forehead against the steering wheel. It would have been better if he had never come back. Damn it! He should have never accepted this job, but at the time it had seemed like the perfect opportunity. Miranda was single finally after all these long years of yearning and waiting for her.
How could he not come and try to win her love? It was simple; he couldn’t. He didn’t have the power to send himself away. But now, sitting in his car just steps from her parents’ front door, he wondered not for the first time in the last hour, if he had lost more than he could have ever gained by coming home. He looked up at the steps to the house; those steps were currently filled to brimming with people who loved Miranda. People who would not understand the risk he took in coming home to her. He just took a moment to look at those dear faces.
His gut was sick with worry for Miranda. Was she hurt? Was she afraid? Was she in pain? He didn’t know, and that was what killed him. He wanted to be there with her, feeling with her, protecting her if he could, dying with her if he couldn’t. He would be there soon, but first he had to do this.
He got out of the car and heard a voice clear as a bell across the short distance. It was Dana’s, and it was shouting at the agents who flanked the steps. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
The agents paid her no attention as if the woman practically screaming in their ears was not even there. They looked at him as he approached and nodded in his direction acknowledging a fellow officer.
Dana saw him then, and a scowl attached itself to her face, “What the hell are you doing here?” She jerked a finger to the two men flanking the entrance. “Are these guys with you?”
Heath nodded. He was not yet ready to speak. His throat was still clogged with his emotions for Miranda, for Sam, and for those who would be hurt by the news that he was here to give.
Dana pulled out her phone; no doubt she was calling the police. It was over; there was no need to hide anymore. The truth was bursting apart at the seams and leaking out. Heath caught a glimpse of movement behind the glass doors. It was Sam. He pulled open the door and looked out. His small eyes took in the scene, and he seemed to know something was wrong.
Dana was shouting into the phone; she had not yet seen him. His little intelligent eyes darted from one agent to the next standing on his grandparents’ doorsteps. Then those small eyes traveled to his and held there. Heath held his gaze, and the two of them just stood and stared as if nothing else in the world could pull them apart. Sam launched himself into Heath’s arms, and they clung to each other as if no other person in the world could share in their bond.
Heath held the boy as tightly as he could without hurting him.In his small childlike voice, Sam asked, “Where’s my mom, Heath? Mom’s never late.”
Heath squeezed his eyes shut, but he could not hold back the tears. They fell as he held Miranda’s son close to his heart. He said the only thing that he could say, “I don’t know, but I promise you, Sam, I’ll get her back.”
Sam’s little hands clutched even more tightly to Heath’s neck, and his little head bobbed up and down. “Ok, Heath. I trust you.”
How those words brought Heath to his knees. With his large, trembling hand, Heath tousled the boy’s hair. “I love you, Sam. I’ll get your mom home to you, I promise.”
Dana glared at Heath over Sam’s head, and in her eyes he could read the accusation: She would not need to be saved if not for you!”
Heath carried Sam, who still clung to him, into the house. The agents remained vigilant at their post. Heath could do this for Miranda. He would keep her family safe, and then he would come for her.
I was still sitting in the darkness, blinded by it when I heard a door open and close. Then the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the floor; someone was coming. I tried to keep the fear out of my voice, I was not weak damn it, and now I needed to show my strength more than ever before.
“Who’s there?” I called into the void. I was proud of myself; somehow my voice had been firm. It had not wavered in fear. If I was going to die, then I would try to die with my dignity, and the memory of those I loved would hold my final thoughts not this damp, cold, dark place.
A man’s voice came out of the darkness, and I turned toward it instinctively. “Hello, Miranda.”
I knew that voice, but I could not place it. “Who are you? Why are you doing this?”
The bodiless voice chuckled. “Ah, and here I thought you might remember me, you disappoint me, Miranda.”
It was there at the edge of my memory, but I could not quite remember. “You’re not completely wrong. Your voice is familiar, but no I can’t remember you. ”
That laugh came again. It ran up my spine like nails on a blackboard. It was hard, and it was evil. “Not to worry, Miranda. You’ll have more time to think about me. You have hours left before your Lover comes for you.”
I gasped. “No! I don’t want him to come!”
That bodiless voice came again. “He will come for you, and it will be soon.”
I lost my fight with my fear and sobbed out. “Please don’t hurt him. Please!” I knew that it was no use, but I could not stop myself from pleading for Heath’s life as I would not allow myself to plead for my own.
The voice came again, “Such bravery, Miranda, such love for a man who is not worthy of you. Have you not guessed what this is about, Miranda?”
I shook my head even though I knew in the darkness that he could not see me. “No, I have no idea what’s going on.”
The voice was questioning now. “Why do you trust him? I know you know all about him, about the missing teenage girl, Lindsay? So why even when your friend Dana tried to warn you, to protect you, do you still trust him?”
I drew in a breath to steal my resolve and strengthen my spine again. The bastard would not break me this easily, “How do you know all that?”
When he spoke, his voice was laced with humor, “Ah, so it is answers you want, is it, Miranda? Well, I can give you this one small satisfaction. The answer is simple, my dear, I know everything that I need to know about everyone who pokes their nose in my affairs. I tap phones. I have people followed. In short, I do whatever is necessary to get what I want.”
Fear tickled my spine as it raced up and down my rigid backbone. I licked my dry lips; this was not a man to be toyed with. This man was dangerous, deadly.
I heard his shoes scraping against concrete as he came closer. “You did not answer my question, Miranda. Why do you trust, him?”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly through my nose. In a quiet voice, I answered, “That’s simple.”
“Do tell then because I really am trying to understand you, Miranda.”
I held my head up high and stared toward the sound of the voice, “Loyalty and love - that is why I trust him. Heath Brandon has stood by my side through all of the worst moments in my life and a few of the most wonderful moments of my life also. I love him; I will always love him. How can I not when my own heart beats in his chest?”
The voice chuckled again. “You amaze me, Miranda. Love is for the weak, not the strong. Love is a reason to act foolishly against all reason. Love is its own lie, not its truth, my dear.”
Anger at this man ran hot in my veins, “You don’t know me, so you have no reason to judge me. I trust Heath because I love Heath. You can’t understand that kind of feeling, that kind of love. It spans distance. It spans time,” and finally I understood Cara. In these moments I understood her message, “It does not wane, even in the face of death.”
The voice spoke, but this time it was his voice that was harsh with anger. “Then you will die loving him, and he will follow you soon after.” Quick hard footsteps moved away from me and retreated through the door. This time it opened and slamme
d with a finality that spoke of rage, the same rage that had just threatened my life and Heath’s life.
I took a few deep settling breaths. “Thank you, Cara. I understand now. There is no end when there is love. Even here, even now, Heath is with me. And if I die here, he will go with me beyond this life as part of you went with Douglas. The emptiness in your soul I felt was the loss of him and the loss of part of yourself, the part that died with him. But part of him also stayed behind to live in you, with you, in your son and now in me.”
I could feel the heat of her now, near me, burning with her love. In the darkness that surrounded me, there was light. I could see Cara and Douglas standing together watching over me, waiting with me for whatever would come. The tears fell from my eyes then because there was love; I would never be alone.