Chapter 8
"Excuse me, you can't just go in there…" Hope started to come around her desk as soon as she heard Claudia's raised voice. She had almost reached the door when a sharp peremptory knock quickly followed its being slammed open.
It was Bobby. Blocking the doorway, leaving no entrance for anyone, leaving no exit for Hope.
Alarmed and concerned, Hope continued to come forward, tentatively. "Bobby? What… what's wrong?"
Bobby walked over to the chair he'd sat in the other day. Was it really only four days ago? he wondered. It felt like it was much longer. He stood staring at the chair.
"Hope, should I call securi –" Claudia began, realizing he reminded her of the man she'd Hope getting to the car with yesterday.
"No, Claudia. It's… it's all right." Hope assured her. "We'll be fine. Please, just close the door. I'll let you know if I need anything." Bobby had taken to pacing the width of the room, waves of emotion rolling from him, flooding the room and engulfing everyone in its wake.
Claudia stood her ground, uncertain and unmoving, forcing Hope to get her attention. "Claudia…"
"Yes, all right, but I'll be… I'll be right out side." Claudia reached for the door and grabbed the doorknob, slowly and quietly closing the door. "Right outside." She repeated more forcefully.
Bobby glanced back at the door. "It's good that she looks out for you. Kind of like my partner. She's got your back."
"Well, yeah … I suppose you could say that." Hesitantly, she walked over to the desk and leaned against it, looking down at him. Trying to ease the tension in the room, she joked, "I find it's only a little less important for a book editor than a police officer. Unpublished writers are only slightly less dangerous than your average career criminal."
Hope didn't want to let on, but she was probably about as afraid as Claudia. Hope continued to watch Bobby as he paced. She sat on one of the chairs usually reserved for visitors. Hoping that her voice would sound calm and steady, she cautiously asked, "What's the matter, Bobby? What's happened?"
He stopped his pacing and turned to look at her and silently appraised her. He had been right about her, hadn't he? He was going to operate on the presumption that he had been. He had seen enough in the report to understand what she'd meant yesterday, when she'd said, it was complicated. How was he going to tell her he knew what her secret was? He wasn't even supposed to know that she had a secret. He didn't think that how he was going to do this was the best course - it certainly wasn't the kindest course - but he knew he had to break her first. He didn't see that he had a lot of options and he could feel time running out. One way or another, time was running out for both of them.
He found the picture he'd seen here the other day. Brushed nickel glinted dully from the overhead light as it framed the photograph of Hope, the unknown man and little girl. He stood, walked over to it, picked it up and showed it to her. "Who are these people, Hope?"
Hope had watched as he reached for the picture frame. "Why? What… what does it matter, you don't know them. They're…" Hope stammered, looking up at him. Seeing the resolve in his face, she stammered, "Well… that's me with my brother, Jack and… and his daughter."
"Your brother in St. Louis, right?" He asked.
She nodded.
"What's her name, Hope? What's your niece's name?"
He saw the color drain from her face now. As much as he hated himself for it, he continued to pressure her. "Come on, Hope. It shouldn't be a difficult question. Surely you know your niece's name."
Head down, she shook her head, no. In a voice that was barely a whisper, "Please… Bobby, don't do this."
She raised a shaky hand to brush back stray strands of hair as her gaze rose to look him in the eye.
He could see the pain in her eyes and hated to be the cause of it. But he needed to know 'the why' of her new identity. Ira and Josh may have found the footprints left by the creation of Hope Thornton's life story, but they hadn't included any reasons for it. He knew the clock was ticking and they wouldn't have much time. The search was sure to have raised red flags and it wouldn't be long before they had company.
"You can't have forgotten her name. What is her name, Hope?"
"Of… of course I haven't forgotten. I could ne… never forget her name. Her name wa… is Chloe." Tears of rolling down her cheeks and her heart was breaking all over again.
"No, no Hope. Chloe isn't the name of your niece. And this isn't a picture of your niece or your brother, is it? You don't have a niece, do you?"
Looking up at him, she felt her heart sinking. He knew… he knew. But how could he? No one did.
"I honestly don't know." She whispered.
"Why don't you know, Hope? Why don't you know if you have a niece?"
"I… I really don't want to get into… this is none of your business… I, I think you should just go… this is just a big mis…" She stammered as she tried to see a way out of this. She realized he must be very, very good at his job.
"No, there's no mistake, but there is a big problem. We don't have much time and I need you to tell me the truth if I'm going to help you." He said softly. "What was your name before it was Hope Quinn Thornton?"
"Oh God…. How? How? How did…" In her shock, the flow of tears stopped. "I don't know who the man or little girl are… just two people, models I assume." Her voice was flat, resigned. Although this was a major breach to her safety, she knew she didn't have anything to fear from Bobby.
He walked over to her slowly, sitting in the empty chair next to her. He didn't look at her, he didn't touch her. "I'm sorry, sorrier that you'll ever know, but we don't have the luxury of time. I needed to know if what my partner found out is true. They'll be here for you, soon. You have to decide right now, whether you want to remain Hope Quinn Thornton or whether you're going to let them take you out of here and give you another new name, another new history.
"What? What do you mean they'll be here soon? Why?" Hope started shaking and she started to hyperventilate…
The black sedan pulled up in front of Hudson Publishing. Alan Jeffries watched the two men as they walked through the lobby. He recognized the older of the two. He was the man who had approached him several years ago with an offer of money to keep tabs on Hope Thornton's visitors. When that Goren fellow stormed past him, he'd called in just as he always did. Never before though had a call brought anyone into the building.
The man he recognized came over to him, "Mr. Jefferies, is Hope Thornton still in the building." Jeffries had a bad feeling about this.
"Y-yes, I believe so." He stammered. "At least she hasn't passed me or that new boyfriend of hers. He stormed right past me right before I called. He didn't even sign in."
"And other than this way, how many other ways are there to leave the building?" Even though he already knew the answer was five, he asked the question.
Well, there's the parking garage. (Well, that's one, thought Agent Danforth-Hayes). Then there's the delivery dock. (Two). There are two emergency exits (Three and four.) And the lobby. (Five. Good boy Mr. Jeffries.)"
"Thank you Mr. Jefferies. And has Detective Goren left the building yet?"
"Detective Goren?" That surprised him. "No, no he's still here in the building."
Danforth-Hayes looked glanced over to his partner, "I doubt that."
With that, he nodded and the two men walked over to the elevator, leaving a very perplexed security guard to watch their exit. He decided right then, that now was the time to put in for his second retirement. This wasn't the harmless 'watching' he'd led himself believe.
When the elevator doors opened onto the fifteenth floor, the two men walked out into the aftermath of a panic. A large group was gathered around an office and the desk outside of it several doors down. As they approached, they overheard several overlapping comments.
"What happened in there, Claudia..."
"I can't believe he just burst into her office like that…"
"Who is he…"
"I've never seen him before…"
"I wonder where they went…"
"Who would have ever thought quiet little Hope Thornton had drama in her life…"
"Excuse me, please. Let us through." Danforth-Hayes pushed his way to the front until he was in front of the desk. He flipped his ID quickly, giving no one the opportunity to really see it. "What happened here?"
"I… I think my boss was forced to leave with her… her new boyfriend." Claudia paused as several around her nodded in agreement. "He definitely lead her out of the office. But I ... I suppose she might have gone with him voluntarily.
The agent reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a photo of Goren and Hope taken last weekend in Central Park, and showed it to the woman.
"Yes, yes… that's him. That's them."
"How long ago did they leave?"
"About twenty minutes ago, officers. I called 911 right after they left." Danforth realized the girl thought they were the police – if she'd called twenty minutes ago, they should be arriving any minute.
"Which way did they leave by?" He asked urgently.
Perplexed by the question, Claudia slowly answered, "They… they took the elevator."
"Thank you. We have other officers on the way; they should be arriving shortly. When they do, tell them exactly what you told us." Danforth and his partner quickly strode back to the elevator.
"What did he mean, 'Which way did they leave by?' We're on the fifteenth floor. What other way are they going to leave, but the elevator. What does he think they did, walk all the way down the stairs?" Claudia shook her head as everyone turned to watch the elevator doors close.
As the two men got into their car, Charles Danforth-Hayes turned to his partner, "Jamey, my boy. It's time to let Sir Nigel know that his daughter-in-law appears to be on the run."
Agent James Richardson nodded silently as he put the car into gear and pulled away from the curb into the late morning traffic.
