Chapter 19

The good thing about having a regular haunt was you got to know the people who worked there. An hour ago, Katie had called and asked them to hold the corner booth for her at 8:00, and they did.

It was the largest table in the room, a roundish thing in the corner, designed to seat up to ten people at once. It was so large that if two people sat across from each other, they would be hard pressed even to be able to play footsie.

Katie slipped her book bag off her shoulders, slid into the booth, and set her bag beside her. She took off her raincoat and crumpled it on the seat on her other side. That should discourage Wallace from getting too close.

She ordered a latte and waited. She recognized her immediately, and followed her with her eyes as she walked across the room and sat down across from her at the table. Nicole saw the protective fortress Katie had placed around herself and smiled.

"Hello, darling. I'm Nicole."

"I recognized you from your pictures."

"You are the spitting image of him, aren't you?"

"People say I favor Daddy." She warily watched her as she took another sip of her coffee.

"I suppose you're wondering why I wanted to see you." Katie waited patiently. "Your Daddy has some thinking to do, Darling. He needs a little… encouragement… from someone he loves."

"I won't help you drive my parents apart, Nicole."

Nicole smiled. "No. Of course not." She sat back, looking Katie squarely in the eye. "Perhaps Andy, then…"

Katie blanched, and Nicole smiled. "Text him. I think you'll find he's too busy to reply."

Katie texted Andy quickly, and her heart sank when he didn't send her a message back. Andy always responded to her texts right away, even when he was at school.

"Tell your Daddy I want him to meet me." She slipped a piece of paper across the table that contained the address and time. "Tell him to come alone."

"I've been researching you," Katie said, effectively stopping Nicole from leaving. "Did you know what my Daddy told Bernard Freemont? He told him he'd always wondered what you would have been like… if you'd never met him. Daddy has always thought there was hope for you, Nicole. You did the right thing with Gwen. You weren't thinking of yourself, then. You made a sacrifice for her, like any good parent would."

Nicole sank back down into the seat and gave her a genuine smile. "I've made a lot of sacrifices, Katie Goren. A lot of sacrifices, in the name of love." She studied Katie's face one more time. "You really do favor him." She nodded at the note on the table. "You'll give the message to Bobby. And darling, tell him… this is his last chance."

Katie watched her walk out of the shop and then started shaking. She called Andy, who didn't answer. She called Mike, who didn't answer. Then she called Carolyn.

"Katie just called me," she said quietly to Mike. "She thought Nicole had Andy."

Mike did a doubletake. "How would she suspect?"

Andy overheard. "She met with Nicole tonight. About the same time I was walking Jasmine home."

Mike called Bobby and Carolyn called Alex.

Alex was at the dorm, by the reception desk, pacing. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she was angry.

"Hi Mom," Katie said quietly.

Alex flew to her and wrapped her in a hug. Pulling away, she asked, "Are you all right?"

Katie nodded. "A little shaky, but I'm okay." She could see her mother's anger just under the surface. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"You damn well should be sorry. How somebody so smart could be so stupid is beyond me." Alex folded her arms again. "We need to talk."

Katie shrugged towards the stairs. "Come with me?"

Alex followed her all the way to the dorm room. Once inside, she immediately saw the Wallace files strewn about the room. Alex raised a hand to her mouth. "What have you been doing?"

"Studying," Katie said. "I was afraid. I thought the more I knew, the safer I would be." She cocked her head to force her mother to look at her. "I guess it worked," she said shakily.

Alex was furious now. "Don't you get cocky about this, Katie. Not this." She held a warning finger in the air. "Andy was almost killed tonight."

The hurt showed in Katie's face.

"Nicole was training a protégé. She had a syringe prepared and ready for him. Your text startled her, and she dropped the syringe and ran away." Alex paced and shook her head. "Just dumb luck. And as far as you know, your 'successful' meeting with her was dumb luck, too." She pulled out her phone. "You're going to call your father. He's probably worried sick."

Katie did as she was told. "Hi Daddy," she said timidly.

He roared at her from the other end of the line, and she cringed. At first she was ashamed. Then she felt hurt at the lack of trust both parents were showing her. Finally, Katie got angry, too.

"You were wrong about her, Daddy!" she shouted into the phone. Immediately, both of her parents took notice. "She's in love with you, and she can't move on until she gets your approval. She'll never do what you want her to do until you show her some kind of, well, love." There was total silence on the other end of the line, and Katie continued. "You've been teasing her all these years, with your little moments of empathy."

All at once, Alex was waving her fingers in the air, saying "Give me the phone" over and over. Katie handed it to her.

"Bobby, don't." Alex listened to him on the other end. "You need to set this aside for the moment and go find Lichter."

"She wants to meet Daddy," Katie said. She handed her mom the paper that Nicole had given her.

"Looks like you have a date Thursday night," Alex told him.