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"You may be done with the past but the past isn't done with you." Lone Star
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Chapter 12
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Christine Bremner lived in the trendy district along Lake Shore Drive where each apartment cost into the high six figures. Her apartment offered an amazing panoramic view of Lake Michigan and its nearby beaches and parks.
"I knew that Erica was escaping something but to disappear, change her name and find a new life. It's just so incredible." She commented as she poured Sam and Martin cups of coffee. Christine was a tall lithe woman who exuded energy and determination. She had long curly brown hair and big bulbous eyes that bored into you.
They sat in the modernized kitchen at the big breakfast table. It was a bright warm room where obvious signs of a small child were everywhere: from the finger paintings on the fridge to the stuffed animals littering the floor.
"What do mean by 'escaping something'?" Sam asked as she poured cream into her coffee. The white liquid swirling into the dark brown until they mingled into a lovely shade of tan.
"I met Erica at a shelter for abused and battered women. Most people volunteering at a place like that are doing it in part for personal reasons." Christine sat back on the chair holding her mug in both hands. She stared into her cup before looking up at them. "My father was abusive to my mother. When I was nine she tried to leave him. She packed up me and my two sisters into the car and went back inside to get our dog, Buddy. We were sitting in the station wagon when my dad drove up. He had got off of work early." Her voice got soft and sad as she continued, "He looked at us and just knew. He went inside and we were so scared of what might happen when we heard two gunshots. He killed her and then himself." She sighed heavily and took a drink of her coffee. "I don't know how long we sat in that driveway but I will never forget that feeling of terror. I always swore that I would help women in the same situation find a safe way out."
"I'm sorry." Sam breathed with empathy.
"It was a long time ago." Christine said as she brushed some imaginary hair out of her face. "I only told you because mine is just one of many stories from both the women who stay there and work there."
A soft cough sounded through the baby monitor that sat on the table near Christine. She looked at it and then it went silent again.
Knowing that time was of the essence, Martin asked, "Did Erica ever tell you her story?"
"Not really. She was really secretive about her past but a few weeks ago she told me a little about Jeremy's real father. It was when I saw her giving a bunch of money to Valerie Shapiro, a woman at the shelter."
Christine is standing at the sink in the kitchen of the shelter washing dishes. She looks out the window and sees Erica handing Valerie an envelope. Valerie is a short Italian woman who is visibly pregnant.
Valerie opens up the envelope and a look of astonishment is in her eyes as she pulls out the money. She shakes her head and tries to give the envelope back to Erica. Erica pushes it back as she clasps Valerie's hands around the envelope and tells her something. Valerie listened intently as tears began to fall. Erica hugs her tightly and whispers something in her ear. Erica stepped away, rubbed Valerie's arm before heading back into the kitchen.
The moment Erica entered the kitchen Christine pounced. "What was that all about?"
"What do you mean?" Erica looked at her as if she didn't understand and picked up a towel to start drying off the dishes.
Christine pointed to the window and said, "I saw you give money to Valerie."
Erica held up a glass and looked at it. "It's nothing Christine. Don't worry about it."
Christine walked up to Erica and asked, "Talk to me Erica. What's going on?"
Erica blew out a breath and said, "Valerie's husband showed up here yesterday looking for her."
Christine shook her head. "Damn it. What happened?"
"We told him that she wasn't here and that we were going to call the police if he showed up again. He left but…that look in his eyes, I know it, he's not going to give up that easily." Erica put the dry cup on the counter as she leaned her hip against it. "She needs to get out of the city, move somewhere else, start over. And in her condition she needs money to do that."
"Erica, all of the women here are trying to get out, they need money and help. Why Valerie?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's because she reminds me of myself; young, scared, lost."
"And does her husband remind you of Jeremy's father?" Christine asked delicately.
Erica eyed Christine carefully before softly answering, "Yeah, you could say that. That's why I need to help her. If it hadn't been for someone helping me I never could've gotten out."
"You know you never talk about it. About your life before and if there was one place you could do it where others would understand it would be here." Christine urged. "You told me that Jeremy's father was dead but now you said you had to escape."
Erica smiled at Christine and asked, "Do you always pay attention to everything I say?"
"Yes." Christine grinned. She leaned in close to Erica and asked, "So who is he?"
"He is in the past and I want him to remain there." Erica said determinedly. She moved her gaze out the window as if remembering before looking back at Christine and pleading, "Please don't say anything to Dominic. He's my present and my future and I don't want my past to have any place in this life."
"You know that isn't how it works Erica. Your past helps define who you are today."
"I know." Erica returned her focus to the window and whispered, "It's just easier to pretend that it was another life, another person."
"I tried to get her to talk about it but she refused." Christine said as he put her now empty coffee mug on the table. "For someone who shared so much of her love, time and money, she shared very little of herself."
Martin put his mug down across from hers and asked, "Did she ever tell you the name of this friend who gave her the money to disappear?"
She shook her head. "No."
"Did anything indicate that maybe she was looking to disappear again?" Sam asked as she wrote down some comments on her notepad.
"No way, she loved Dominic. He and the boys were everything to her. There is no way in hell she would leave them." Christine replied fiercely.
A cry emitted from the baby monitor. "That's my son. Is that all?"
Sam nodded her head and said, "Yes, thank you. We'll let ourselves out."
"I hope you find Erica soon. Wherever she is I promise you she doesn't want to be there." Christine said before she turned and headed down the hall.
As soon as she was out of ear shot they stood up and made their way to the front door. Sam pulled out her cell phone. "I'm going to call my team and have them re-interview her friends; see which one of them might have been her generous donor."
"Well, at least now we know why Erica borrowed the money from her in-laws. I'll call and update Louisa." Martin held the door open for her as they exited the apartment.
By the time they reached the lobby Sam had updated Viv on what they had learned and Viv said she would look into it and get back to her. Martin was still on the phone so she took the opportunity to find out how things were going back in New York.
"How are things going over there?" She asked in a hushed tone.
"Nothing new to report but Jack's been in Van Doren's office for almost an hour." Viv replied.
"That can't be good."
"Jack seemed pretty self-assured when he went up so I am keeping a positive attitude about it." Viv said casually.
"Okay, well keep me updated."
"You got it." Viv replied before quickly asking, "Oh, before you go, can you please tell me why Danny was so grumpy when I called him a little while ago?"
Sam laughed and replied mirthfully, "Oh, he's just afraid of getting his hands dirty with a little hard work."
"Never mind, something tells me I am better off staying out of it." Viv replied amusedly. "Talk to you later, Sam."
"Bye Viv." She snapped her phone shut and looked over at Martin who met her eyes as he listened to his caller.
"Yeah, we're on our way. Just have Dominic hang tight. We should be there in about fifteen minutes." Martin replied before ending his call. He closed his phone and put it in his pocket and looking directly at Sam said, "Dominic's waiting for us back at the office."
They headed through the glass doors of the lobby out onto the sidewalk.
"What did your team say?" He asked.
"Viv told me that she thinks she might know which friend it was that gave her the money: the former neighbor who tipped her off on Carl Battarbee. She's going to go interview her again." She provided as she almost lost her footing. The sidewalk was icy and slippery beneath her feet.
"Watch your step." Martin cautioned as he moved his hand to her lower back steadying her.
"Thanks." She stammered trying to ignore the goose bumps on her skin that had nothing to do with the chilly weather.
"No problem." He smiled as he moved his hand away. "Just be careful. This sidewalk is pretty dangerous. I think the super needs to come back out and salt it again."
"You would think that for how much the tenants paid for their apartments they would hire a more competent super." Sam commented with her eyes on the ground as she maneuvered down the path like she was avoiding landmines. "I live in a rent control and my guy is always on top of salting the stoop and sidewalk."
Martin chuckled and said, "Yeah, well, I have no right criticizing. I live in my own brownstone and I hate having to shovel my drive and sidewalk."
The two of them continued down the pathway moving slowly and cautiously. As much as Sam didn't want to slip on the ice she really did not want to fall here where the ice and snow mixed with the salt and dirt from the lawn to form a dark brown slush. They had almost reached the gate to the safe haven of the public sidewalk when Sam lost her footing and started to slip on the ice.
"Whoa." Sam grabbed Martin by the arm to try and stop herself from falling but instead she pulled him down with her. They spun and Martin pulled her to him as they fell to the cement path with a thud.
"Shit." Martin muttered with his eyes closed as Sam lay on top of him. He had managed to adjust their fall so that she wouldn't hit the sidewalk but land on top of him.
"Ow." Sam said as she used her gloved hands to lift herself up a notch so she could look at Martin's face. "Are you okay?"
He cracked open one eye, smiled and said, "I'm fine. You?"
"Are you sure?" She leaned up further and tried to study his face. "It sounded like you hit your head pretty hard." She braced herself with one hand and used her free one to touch the top of his head to check for any cuts or bumps.
He cleared his throat. "I'm okay."
She looked down to gauge if he really was alright when she became fully aware of their close proximity, her body flush with his and their faces mere inches apart. She could feel his warm breath on her face and she could see just how blue his eyes really were. If she leaned in just a little she could kiss him. But she wasn't supposed to kiss him – she reminded herself. But as much as her common sense was protesting she found herself leaning in to Martin's warm lips.
"Hey! Are you alright!" A man's voice shouted from the distance.
Sam quickly turned her head and saw a portly bald man rushing towards them. He had a panicked look on his face. Sam turned back to face Martin who looked back at her crestfallen. They both knew that whatever spell they were under was now broken and reality had come crashing back.
Sam used her hands to maneuver herself off of Martin as their concerned friend approached. She mentally chastised herself for temporarily forgetting that she was not going to get involved with Martin. But it wasn't her fault when he kept doing adorable things like making sure she didn't hurt herself when she fell?
"Here, let me help you up. I'm Frank, the super." He offered Sam a hand so she could get up without ruining her clothes. "Are you okay Miss?"
"I'm fine, thanks." Sam adjusted her coat as she watched Martin sit up.
"I'm so sorry. I was on my way back from getting some more salt when I saw the two of you fall." Frank explained as he helped Martin stand up.
"Ugh." Martin groaned as he started to brush snow and ice off of the front of his clothes. He stood up straight and looked at Sam. "What do you think? Still presentable?"
"Maybe, turn around." Sam instructed. Martin did as he was told when she saw his back. It was covered in the sludge and left lots of muddy smears along his entire coat and most of his pants and some of his hair. "Um, er….."
He met her eyes and asked, "Is it that bad?"
"I'm so sorry, Sir." Frank apologized. "Please send me the dry cleaning bill."
Martin gave him a tight smile and said, "It's alright. Don't worry about it. Just get this sidewalk salted before anyone really hurts themselves."
"You got it." Frank turned back to the building and hurried to get the salt.
Once he was gone Sam stood back and took in the sight of a disheveled Martin. "I'm so sorry." She apologized with a big smile on her face. She tried to help him clean up by ineffectually wiping at the mud with her gloved hands. Eventually her smile gave way to light laughing.
"You know, I'd be more inclined to believe you if you weren't laughing so hard."
"Really, I am sorry. I didn't mean to take you down." Sam added between chuckles.
He gave her a feigned annoyed look and said, "Well, far be it for me to let a lady fall down on her own."
She continued to try and help Martin straighten up. She knew it wasn't helping but she refused to acknowledge the fact that she just liked being able to touch him. She was just being courteous. "Well, you are a true gentleman. You not only went down but you managed to spare me from hitting the sidewalk as well."
"I try." Martin replied bemusedly.
She noticed that he had stopped trying to clean himself off but he made no move to prevent her from doing so. After a few more feeble attempts she gave up and said, "Well, that's as good as it's going to get.
"Thanks." Martin replied as he glanced at her handiwork.
"Oh wait." She noticed his hair and say a little bit of mud was still there so she moved in front of him, leaned up and started picking it off. She stepped down but not away and said, "There, I think I got it."
Martin's eyes were on her and he looked like he wanted to say something and it caused a fluttering of butterflies in her stomach. She felt nervous and slightly panicked at her faux paus earlier and as he opened his mouth she unconsciously took a step back and folded her arms across her chest.
He reacted by visibly stiffening. He watched her for a beat before finally saying, "We better get back to work. Dominic is waiting."
She nodded her head and followed him to the car. She knew that in that one gesture she had sent him a direct signal that she wasn't interested and it may have sealed her pact to not get involved with Martin. But as they made their way to the car she suddenly felt like she may have made a great big mistake.