| Chapter 32 Nick woke up, looking around. It was still very early, and he didn't think anyone would be up at this hour. He got out of bed and made his way downstairs and into the kitchen. His mind was going over things he could do to prove to the others who Aleisha was. He was looking in the refrigerator when he heard someone behind him. He turned around to find Aleisha standing next to the counter looking at him. "You scared me," Nick said, going back to the frig and pulling out the milk. "You're up kinda early aren't you?" she asked. "I was hungry. Where are your bowls?" he asked. She got one for him and handed him a spoon as he poured the cereal in the bowl. "You need anything else?" she asked. Nick shook his head as he ate. Aleisha walked over and started making some coffee. Nick didn't want to give himself away, but he had questions he needed to ask. "Um Aleisha?" he said. "Yeah," she said, her back to him. "How did you and Brian meet?" he asked. She turned around and looked at him, "No one told you?" He shook his head. "After Tara died, Brian left to be by himself for a while. He decided to go hiking on these trails upstate, and he got hurt while he was out there," she said, walking over and sitting down across the table from Nick. "I was working for the forestry service, and Kevin had called, asking that we search for him. I happened to find him," she finished. "Cool, I didn't know you worked for the forestry service. Where was your base at?" Nick asked. "It was at Bowman Park," she answered. "Where's that?" he asked, finishing his cereal. "It's upstate," she said. "Oh, they tell me I used to live here, but I don't remember anything about it," Nick said. She smiled at him, "I'm sure in time you will. You done?" Nick handed her the bowl, "Yeah, thanks." Aleisha took the bowl to the dishwasher, then poured herself a cup of coffee, "Nick, do you want some?" "No thanks," he said, getting up. He grabbed his side, wincing. "You OK?" she asked. He nodded his head, "Just got up to fast." "You want me to help you back to your room?" Aleisha asked. He did not want her to do that, "No, I'm OK." He took a step and grabbed the counter, "Damn it." His body wasn't cooperating with him at all. All his strength was gone, and his legs felt like jello. Aleisha put her coffee down and walked over to him, "Here lean on me and I'll take you to the couch." Nick had no choice but to do it. They made it to the couch and he laid down, feeling relieved not to be on his feet anymore. Aleisha pulled the afghan over him and made sure he was settled, "You want the remote?" Nick shook his head, "No, I just want to lay here for a few minutes." She sat down on the edge of the couch staring at him. He tried not to let it get to him. "Aleisha, thanks for letting me stay here," he said. She smiled, "Brian wouldn't have it any other way." "He is a good friend isn't he?" Nick asked. She nodded her head, "That he is." Nick closed his eyes, hoping that she would leave. She didn't. He opened his eyes again and looked at her, "You want something?" "No, not right now," she said, getting up and going back into the kitchen. His heart was in his throat, and he took a couple breaths to calm down. He lay there for a few more minutes before he sat up, determined to go back to his room. He got up, making it up the stairs and into his room, shutting the door behind him. Aleisha watched him from the bottom of the stairs, knowing he was up to something. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick locked his door and grabbed his cell phone, going into the bathroom and turning on the water. He dialed information, getting the number for the forestry service. He looked at the clock, it was still a little early to call. "Tracy?" he said. She appeared next to him, "I'm here." Nick looked at her with frightened eyes, "I think she knows something." "Nick, you have to stay calm about this. I don't think she knows," Tracy said. Nick ran a shaky hand through his hair, "What if the guys don't believe me? What if I tell them everything and they hate me for lying to them?" Tracy put her hand on his shoulder, "Nick, we will help you all we can." "I'm gonna have to do this soon, did you see that shit that Brian bought for her? He's gonna be broke in sight of a month if I don't do something," he said. "Nick, don't rush this. You aren't ready for that confrontation yet. You still need to heal, build your strength up. We'll do our best to keep Brian from losing his money," she said. Nick looked at her, "What about Lyn?" "I'm sure she'll understand," Tracy said. "Trac I've been lying to her since I woke up. It's gonna hurt her," he said. "Nick, she'll understand that you did what you had to, to keep yourself and the rest of them safe," she said. Nick nodded his head, looking back up at the clock. "You make your call, I'll be close," Tracy said, disappearing. Nick dialed the number, "Yes, can I talk to someone in your personnel department?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian opened his eyes and looked around. He was alone in his room. He got up and stretched, walking out the door. He saw Aleisha standing outside Nick's door, like she was trying to listen to something. "Leisha, whatcha doing?" he asked. She jumped, not realizing he was there, "Um, nothing." Brian raised his eyebrows, "It doesn't look like nothing." She smiled at him, "I heard a noise, I thought maybe he was having a nightmare or something." Brian walked over to the door, listening, "I don't hear anything." "I could've sworn that I heard something," she said, walking back towards their room. Brian followed her, "I'm sure whatever it was, he's OK." "Yeah," she said, walking into the closet and picking out her clothes for the day. "Is anyone else up?" Brian asked. "No, just us," she said. "Good," he said, walking over to her and taking the clothes away from her. "Bri, what are you doing?" she asked. He smiled at her. "Ohh, that," she said, somewhat preoccupied. Brian looked at her, "Is something bothering you?" "No, I was just thinking about something," she said. "Like what?" he asked. "I'll tell you some other time," she said, taking the clothes back and walking into the bathroom. He followed her in, "Tell me now." She shook her head, then smiled at him, "You want to join me?" Brian stared at her as she got in the shower and turned the water on. "Last chance," she called, shutting the door. "Oh what the hell," he said, pulling his boxers off and jumping in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So you don't have anyone by that name working for you in the past five years?" Nick asked. "No sir, I've never heard of her before," the personnel director said. "Could you fax me a letter stating that?" Nick asked. "Yes sir," the director said. Nick gave him the information, "Could you fax that right away?" "I'll have it to you in the next few minutes," he said. "OK, thanks for your time," Nick said hanging up. Nick got up turning the water off and walking out into the bedroom. He erased his call log from his phone, and prepared himself for the trip downstairs to Brian's office. He made it into the office just as the fax was coming through. He took the sheet and read it, "Great," he said, folding it up and putting it in his jeans pocket. He turned around to see Lyn standing in the door staring at him, "Jesus Christ! You sacred me." "Sorry," she said, "What are you doing?" "I um, I was looking around. This house is really great," he said. "Yeah it is," she said, following him out of the room. They walked into the kitchen sitting down. "Did you already eat?" she asked. "Yeah, a little while ago, but I could eat again," he said, smiling at her. Lyn laughed. "Where are Brian and Aleisha?" Nick asked. "I think they are in the shower," Lyn said. "Both of them?" Nick asked, a shocked look on his face. Lyn laughed, "Yeah, what's wrong with that? We used to do it all the time." Nick looked down, blushing. Lyn realized how uncomfortable that must've made him, "Nick, I'm sorry. I didn't think about that before I said it." He shook his head, "It's OK." "No it's not. That made you uncomfortable, and that's the last thing I want to do," she said, sitting down next to him. He looked up at her and shyly smiled. "OK, so you want some eggs or what?" Lyn asked, desperately wanting to change the subject. "Um, eggs are fine. I could help you," Nick said, following her around the counter. Lyn looked at him, "Nick honey, you don't cook." "You could teach me," he said, grinning. Lyn raised her eyebrows, "OK, this should be interesting." After several burnt eggs and about an hour later, Nick and Lyn were sitting down to eat their breakfast. Brian and Aleisha came down, smelling the food. "What's up?" Brian asked, walking into the kitchen. "My first cooking lesson," Nick said, a mouth full of food. "Oh, that's what that smell is," Aleisha said, laughing. "Hey, I did really good for my first time," Nick said, hurt. "Yes you did," Lyn said, patting him on the leg. Angel was eating the burnt eggs that Nick had given her. "Hey man, your spoiling my wolf. Now she wont eat her regular food," Brian said, jokingly. "What is her regular food?" Nick asked. "Two family size packages of beef steaks a day," Aleisha said. Nick looked over at her, "Damn." "Hey, it keeps her from eating us," Brian said, smiling. They all laughed. Nick picked up his coffee cup, taking a sip. He could see Aleisha staring at him, and he wanted to get the letter to a safe place. He set the cup down and reached up holding his head. Lyn looked over at him, "Nick, you alright?" He shook his head, "I got a headache." Brian and Lyn exchanged glances. "Let's get you up to your room," Brian said, getting up. Nick looked at him confused, "Why? It's just a headache." "Nick, honey, your head injury causes you to have severe headaches. You need to go take your medicine and lay down," Lyn said. "Oh, OK," Nick said, getting up and following Brian. Lyn and Aleisha following behind them. They were halfway up the stairs when Nick grabbed his head again and dropped to his knees, "Damn that hurts." Brain helped him the rest of the way to his room and got him in bed, finding his medicine and giving it to him. Nick took it, and closed his eyes. After a few moments everyone left the room, closing the door. Nick opened his eyes, looking around. He sat up, taking the pill out of his mouth and walking into the bathroom. He dropped it in the toilet, flushing it. Then he looked for a safe place to hide the letter until he was ready to use it. He looked around the bathroom finding some masking tape in the back of a drawer. He smiled, walking into the bedroom and pulling the dresser out. He taped the letter to the back of the mirror, pushing the furniture back in its place. He ran his feet over the carpet, making sure to get the marks from the dresser out. Then he sat down, thinking of what he could do now. He knew he had to say in his room for at least a couple hours, so no one would suspect anything. "If only I had a tape recorder," he said, "And a way to get to town without them knowing it." The more he thought about it, the more he was going to need someone else's help, but who? Who could he trust enough to tell, and them not fall under Aleisha's spell and rat on him. He lay back in the bed, pulling a pillow over and hugging it, "If only Tara were here. None of this would've happened." He heard his door open, and quickly closed his eyes. Lyn walked over and sat down on the side of the bed, staring at him. She gently ran her hand through his hair and down his arm. Nick knew that touch, and he opened his eyes, looking at her. "I didn't mean to wake you," she said, "I just wanted to check on you." He smiled at her, "It's OK. I'm feeling better." She smiled at him, "I'll let you rest." He grabbed her hand, "Please stay?" She stared at him, "Nick is something wrong? You look almost like you're afraid of something." This was his chance, but he was scared to tell her. "I um I...." he stammered. Just then Aleisha appeared in the door. Nick could see her out of the corner of his eye. "He OK?" she asked. Lyn nodded to her, and she left. Lyn looked back at him, "Now what were you saying?" Nick shook his head, "Nothing." "Nick, I know something's wrong," she said. He couldn't hide his feelings from her, she knew him better than anyone. He was actually amazed that he'd fooled her with his act this far. "I can't tell you right now," he said. "OK, when?" she asked. "Soon," he said, seeing her looking at him, trying to figure out what it was, and why he couldn't tell her. "Lyn, will you lay down with me?" he asked. She smiled, carefully climbing in bed and letting him rest his head on her shoulder. "Thank you, this feels safe," he said, closing his eyes. She held him as he fell to sleep, wondering what he meant by that. Chapter 33 |