Redemption

Chapter Eighteen

Conversation was light, but it was flowing much easier now than before. Nicholas had brought up how lovely the apartment was, again and Danni explained how she knew the owner of the building and she was able to get such a great deal.

Marie Stern had owned the building for only a few months when Danni moved to DC. After she and Robert began their friendly rapport, she was given the offer to live there at half price (She would only agree because of the rat-hole she had moved into. There was an offer and she had to jump on it.). It was also due to the fact that Danni was giving their daughter tutoring session on her ASL that helped to lower the price. But, as she told the story, she managed to leave a few of those points out. Whether it was on purpose or by accident didn't really matter.

She'd also been struggling to bring up the subject of her wonderful, handsome, intelligent boyfriend. Every time she got the nerve, she would chicken out. She wanted him to be there when she talked about him. He still wasn't home, though and she was beginning to worry. Usually, if he pulled an all-nighter, he would call so she wouldn't worry. She wouldn't let it get to her though. If he was in trouble, she'd know. She had a sixth-sense about him sometimes.

There was one time when he was out on a simple surveillance task and shots were fired upon him and Myles. Danni had been asleep at the time and she woke up in a fright at the exact same moment he'd been shot in the shoulder. It wasn't a terrible wound. It only grazed his flesh and he needed a few stitches, but she still knew he'd been hurt before she was told.

But, as she kept putting off the subject of Bobby, she knew one of them would bring up the subject of an old boyfriend or someone from back home who was interested in her. She'd been shocked when her mother was the one to bring it up. She hadn't said more than ten words to her since they'd arrived. It was the most life Danni had seen in her eyes in years.

"Jonathan Graves has been asking about you. He's gotten so handsome and he's got a wonderful job as a head chef at this really fancy restaurant in the city. I can't remember the name of it, but it's ritzy. I think the two of you would be so cute together." She clasped her hands together and rested them under her chin in a mock-swoon as she pictured the two together. It was a lovely sight in her mind, but in the minds of her husband and daughter, it wasn't so pretty.

Danni couldn't help but smile at her mother initiative, but what made her smile wider was her father rolling his eyes at his wife. He apparently knew something about Jonathan Graves that his wife didn't and Danni knew what that was. Jonathan hadn't been a close school friend, but he was in most of her classes during senior year. Needless to say, they had a crush on the same boy. Jonathan won that battle, though when he snagged him. "Well, best of luck to him," was all she said and bit her tongue. She wanted to laugh, but she could also feel her blood beginning to boil. She knew what was going on. For years, Charlene had been wanting her to move back home so she could be close to her family. Unfortunately, Danni always had an excuse. At least it was a good one, this time around.

"Oh, Danni, you live so far away. We'd like to see you more… I'd like to see you more. I know I haven't been as great of a mother as I was before and I want to rectify that."

It was sweet to think that her mother did want to clear things up between them, but moving back home was just not an option. There was no way she was going to leave her life behind. She and her mother could still work things out at a distance. Charlene had plenty of vacation time and she could come to DC every so often to see her child. Ohio wasn't as far away as she thought. "Thanks, mom, but I'm happy here. I've got a great life. I've made some wonderful friends and I just accepted a promotion this morning." She seemed to glow at that thought. She really had accepted to take over Stern's position. She didn't know how she ever made up her mind, but when she and Bobby talked about it again, this morning, she knew she couldn't pass it up.

"What kind of promotion could you have gotten? What is it that you do, anyway?" There was that career question again. It was one that Danni had heard all too often and knew she couldn't keep it from them any longer. It would break her mother's heart at first, she figured, but after the initial shock wore off, she would be so proud. She would take her daughter into her arms and she would praise her for all of the good things she'd done wither position and power.

It was a wonderful dream, wasn't it?

The ride home was nothing special in the beginning. But, as he got closer and closer to his destination, his paranoia kicked in ten-fold. He wasn't just being paranoid, though. What he was seeing was real.

Since he'd left the garage, he'd noticed a large, dark SUV following him from a distance. He figured, at first, that they were just going the same way, but knew that wasn't the case. The SUV suddenly picked up speed as was soon upon his tail.

A chuckle escaped him when the car turned left at the intersection he'd just passed. A huge sigh of relief escaped him and he went back to driving. He even turned up the radio and tapped his fingers upon the steering wheel to the beat.

He was stopped at a red light and he could swear that the same vehicle went through the intersection as if to taunt him. He was positive, then, that he knew that he wasn't going crazy. He knew who they were and why there were following him.

The slap came hard and fast. It didn't hurt, but it was a surprise. Needless to say, that wasn't the reaction Danni had been expecting and she looked at her mother in shock because of it. She'd just revealed her secret and the response was far from what she'd hoped. She knew Charlene wouldn't be too fond of the idea; hitting just wasn't in the picture she'd envisioned. "Why'd you do that?" She saw her mother ready to strike again and shrank back before her father took hold of his wife to try to calm her.

"How could you?" Charlene roared with both fury and pain. "After everything your father and I have done to keep you safe, you do this to us? We've protected you for a reason! After what happened to your uncle, we swore that we would never put you in that position." Tears were streaming down the older woman's face as she looked upon her daughter with disgust. Nicholas' brother had been a police officer and a good one at that. He'd been praised by his fellow officers and the mayor, himself, for all of his wonderful work.

He was killed during a random investigation when the suspect pulled a gun on him and his partner. He was shot without haste and his partner managed to take him down before anyone else died. Michael Talbot was given a hero's funeral and it was that very day that Nicholas and Charlene swore that if they ever had a son, they would never let him become a cop. It would be too much to bear if he'd died the same way.

That was why they praised the saints when they had a girl. They figured that she would never be interested in law enforcement and when she went to college, they knew she had no intention to join the force. But, college changed their little girl. They knew that when they stopped hearing from her on a regular basis. The only thing they didn't understand was what had happened.

"Well, it looks like you failed." Danni's temper was at the same level as her mother's with no intention to back down. It was from her that she'd gotten her stubborn demeanor and she knew Charlene wouldn't back down as easily as she'd hoped. It didn't matter anyway. Nothing her mother could say could ever change her mind.

"What is the world ever possessed you?" Charlene was still being restrained by her husband who had no word on the subject. It had been his brother who died, yet she was acting like it was hers. He'd only agreed to the deal to appease his wife. The truth was that he found Danni's news enlightening. He was proud of his little girl and his wife would be too, once she got used to the idea.

Danni crossed her arms over her chest as she took a stand in front of the woman she'd been avoiding for years with good reason. She wouldn't tell her the truth, even if she did want her to know. She just didn't want her to find out during an argument. She wanted to tell her while they were sitting down, having a mother/daughter conversation like they used to have when she was younger. She shrugged, "I suppose you'll never know."