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He took a sip of the beer and then set it aside. He’d thought he wanted it, but he was wrong. What he wanted was her.
Dani had done everything she could to put off going to bed. She was no longer afraid of who might come into the house, but when she closed her eyes, there was no door she could shut to keep out the dreams.
For all the nights Aaron had been here, all she’d had to do was call out to know he was there. But tonight,there was no one within reach of the sound of her voice to answer if she called.
Finally, she made a final sweep through the house just to reassure herself she was safely locked in, and headed for bed, turning out lights as she went.
The lamp was on by her bed, lighting her way across the room. At the last moment, she turned around and went back, and shut and locked her bedroom door, and then sat down on the bed, trying to psyche herself up to get in it and turn out the last light.
Her cell phone was on the charger as she started to turn off the lamp, and then she picked up her phone instead and called Aaron.
It rang twice, and then he answered.
“Dani?”
She sighed. “I just needed to hear your voice.”
“I’m here. Are you afraid?”
“Just a little jumpy, I guess.”
“Don’t be. I’ll always be here for you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, tomorrow, and sorry I called so late,” Dani said.
“I wasn’t asleep. Couldn’t sleep. But now that I’ve heard your voice, maybe I can, too.”
The call ended.
Dani turned off the lamp and then crawled into bed.
Aaron finished his beer, then said good night to the mountain and went inside.
The next day, Tony Bing had visitors.
His parents had arrived.
They hadn’t once visited the prison since his incarceration, and to learn they were both waiting to talk to him felt off. When the guard pushed his wheelchair into the visiting area and he saw their faces, completely devoid of expression, he knew he’d been right.
As soon as the guard parked Tony’s wheelchair at the table where his parents were sitting, then backed off, Tony went on the defense.
“Well, I haven’t seen you two since they hauled my ass out of the courtroom. What’s up? Did you come to tell me you won the lottery or something?”
Tony thought his father would respond, but it was his mother who spoke up, and there was so much rage in her voice, he actually recoiled.
“No. We came to tell you Alex is dead. He was trying to finish the hell you two set in motion with Dani Owens, and killed himself by his own stupidity. He fell on a syringe full of the poison he’d intended for her.”
Shock rolled through Tony in waves. Then he began to weep.
“Oh my God! No, no, no! How will I go on?” he wailed.
Arlene was so angry she was shaking. She leaned forward, her voice barely above a whisper.
“How will you go on? What the hell kind of question is that? Even now you don’t see your own truth. What you did put you here. And what Alex did ended his life.I don’t know what is wrong with you two, but neither of you got like you are from lack of love. As far as I’m concerned, the children I raised died a long time ago.”
Tony was in shock. His parents had always been in the background of their adult lives, but still an anchor. And they’d just cut him adrift alone.
“You don’t mean that!” he cried.
