Star Bright (16 page)

“
I want to.
I’ll give you the details when I find one that suits his
needs.”

Maria looked at him
inquisitively and wondered what he meant by that, “As long as I can
afford it.”

Dave’s lips stretched out
to a longer smile, “As long as he’s safe and comfortable.” His eyes
set on Izzy’s sleeping face, “that’s the only thing that
matters.”

She looked at him,
catching another hint, he couldn’t possibly know about her, could
he? He did have the means to find out, “Thanks, I’ll think about
it.” She whispered, turning away from him. She shot off her seat
when she noticed Michael wasn’t with them, her friend, panic,
already making his visit, “Where is Michael?”

Dave looked up at her, he
saw the terror in her face and was sure she hadn’t realized what
she said, “He’s at the monkey’s cage.” not drawing her attention to
her slip up, all that was left to find out was her name.

Maria looked down at him,
her alarm rising fast, “You let him go alone?”

Dave took her hand and
tried to pull her down, but she refused, and tried to get out of
his grip, he only tightened his hold, “Look over there.” he pointed
to his left with the hand that held hers captive, his eyes fixed on
her face, “I’ve been watching him the whole time.” he felt her hand
relax as a calm set over her face, “he isn’t going to end up in the
cage.” she sat down with a nervous laugh, placing her face in her
free palm, “neither is anyone going to take him while I’m here.” He
said solidly, his voice gentle.

Maria looked up to meet
his gaze and searched his eyes for a confirmation. He had been
hinting at her fears as if he knew them. They had only been around
each other for four days, and she hadn’t told him a word about her
past, yet he spoke as if he knew every single detail, “What do you
mean by that?” hoping he would lie to her, she wanted to play dumb
and make sure he didn’t ask her questions she wasn’t ready to
answer, nor pity her which she couldn’t stand, for the sake of
Michael, she prayed he lied.

He let go of her hand and
turned his attention back to Izzy, “I know you are as paranoid as I
am when it comes to,” he bit the smile on his lips, “Miguel. If
they gave prizes for that, I’m sure one of us would win
it.”

“
Your paranoia
comes from being an over obsessive parent,” Maria settled in her
seat and placed her hands at the sides of her head, “mine,” she
laughed bitterly, “mine comes from the cruel jokes of life.” She
closed her eyes to shut the tears in. She wasn’t going to ruin
Michael’s perfect day by crying, “But one thing we have in common,
is that we are both over compensating.” She whispered.

Dave felt frustrated that
he couldn’t force her to take his help, she would just run and
hide, she was probably scared he would be like him, but he was
determined to prove her wrong, to show her not all men were scum.
One thing was for sure, he was going to find that monster and teach
him a lesson he would never forget, “Good thing we have each
other.” Biting down the anger in his voice.

“
If only it
was that simple,” she spoke under her breath, “How’s the case
going?” Changing the subject.

Dave paused for a moment
before he answered, accepting the deliberate effort to change the
subject, “It’s going to be expensive, but I hope I’ll be done with
it in the next few weeks.”

She turned to face him,
pulling her legs up on the seat, “That means longer
hours?”

“
Yes and very
little time for Izzy, Miguel and you.” he looked at her, hoping she
wouldn’t down play his words, he loved spending time with her and
he wanted her to know it.

“
We’ll
survive, I doubt we’ll even miss you.” Maria joked.

Dave chuckled, “You are
already too used to having me around to not miss me.”

“
No. Izzy
won’t miss you either, we’ll be too busy having fun,” she reached
over and brushed the curl from her lips, “Todd better make sure you
get that promotion since it’s his mess you are fixing.”

“
I want the
promotion because I earned it, not as some sort of compensation for
covering the boss’ son’s ass.”

Maria’s eyebrows shot up
and her lips curved upwards in a smile, “There’s that pride again,
but today I welcome it because it’s a hardworking man’s
pride.”

“
Was that a
compliment?” he jeered.

“
The only one
you’ll get.” she laughed, then turned when Michael tapped her on
the knee. He looked tired and very sleepy, “would you like to take
a nap?” She pulled him and cradled his head against her
chest.

“
Yes, but I
want Dave to carry me. Could you please take Izzy?” he spoke with a
sleepy voice.

Maria was shocked,
Michael never trusted any one enough to sleep in their arms, Jane
had tried a couple of times, but he would only fight the sleep,
only she and Edna could do it and now he was asking a man he had
known for only four days to cradle him. Michael was getting
attached to Dave too quickly for Maria’s liking. Michael was going
to suffer more than she thought when they got separated.

“
Sure buddy,”
Dave chimed happily, “Paula, take her.” Dave placed Izzy into
Maria’s arms after Michael pulled away. The second his lap was
vacant, Michael climbed on and fell asleep almost
immediately.

Maria looked at them,
Michael had curled up against Dave like an infant and he held him
close, covering him with his heavy leather jacket. Dave’s lit face
showed he enjoyed having Michael in his arms and he too was getting
attached to him. The only thing Maria could hope for was Ricky not
finding them, and if he did, Dave would have to know the truth to
be ready. She was going to have to tell him, just not
yet.

“
This isn’t
going to end well. I have a bad feeling about this.” Maria
whispered. She lifted her eyes from Michael to Dave, “Let’s go
home.” She stood up and headed for the car not waiting on Dave to
utter a word.

Paula’s comment in the
park had left him puzzled. He knew she hadn’t meant for him to
hear, but he did, and the fear in her eyes echoed the dread in her
voice. He wanted to talk to her about it and finally figure out her
jigsaw puzzle of a life she had, but, he hadn’t gotten the time to
do it. She was playing parent to both Michael and Izzy, he
appreciated it enough not to scare her off. He’d come to trust
Paula, not completely, but enough to know she’d keep Izzy
safe.

Chapter
Eleven

Dave looked around his
new office. It was twice as big as the old one, with space for a
table and four chairs, a corner couch and a TV mounted on the wall
opposite the couch. He was able to fit Izzy’s pen in it and a small
shelf for books. His office doubled as a play ground for the kids
when he took a break from work. Paula said the large oak desk
centered the room well, he thought it was an excuse to give him
more work. Michael loved the seat, he said it spun twice as fast as
his old one, and Izzy loved the new hiding places. He also had a
private bathroom that was pretty useful with his long hours. It was
a home away from home which he was growing to resent.

But he didn’t feel that
when he first moved in. It was an exciting day for him
professionally and personally. It was one more change in his life,
a big one, another step in the right direction, and the memory of
it made him smile.

He grabbed Paula by the
hand and led her to his new couch.

“
What’s this
all about?” She had asked, suspicious of him.

The last time Dave felt
that nervous was his first solo trial. He looked her in the eyes,
“I want you and Miguel to move in with us.”

“
Why, my place
is just fine?” Her voice, a little shaky.

“
I didn’t say
it wasn’t, I just want a place Izzy is familiar with.” He spoke
decisively, pretending he hadn’t heard the insecurity in her
voice.

“
She’s a baby,
everywhere looks the same to her.”

“
Well I want a
place familiar for her, and a place I know.”

“
We don’t live
in a hole or a cardboard box Dave.” Maria said with a laugh,
finally figuring out why he was so persistent.

“
I didn’t say
you did,” He looked up, his face serious. It was his turn to be
insecure, “I just want to know where you guys are every minute of
the day.”

Maria looked at him with
a creased eyebrow, her lips still curved in a smile, “Mistrust, or
has your paranoia climbed a step higher?”

Dave stood up and dug his
hands in his pants pockets, “Precaution, and I do trust you.” Maria
moved closer, “Why give her to me if you are feeling...
precautious?”

“
Who else is
there?” He walked around the desk, “Definitely not Amy, Carol is
working and as much as she likes Izzy, she wouldn’t give her the
attention she requires and I don’t think she’d enjoy herself in the
day care much, now that Miguel is about to start
school.”

Maria stared down at her
feet, “About that...”

“
We can argue
about Miguel after we are done with Izzy.” Dave said, cutting her
off.

He had personally
registered Michael in school. He had known the principal for a
while and had managed to convince him to register Michael under an
alias using the excuse that he was under protection and no one, but
himself or his mother, were to pick him up from school. The
problems with private schools are that they do a full check on a
potential student like they were doing a credit check.

Maria looked up at Dave
for a moment. He had placed Michael in a school which she couldn’t
afford. They did fight about that, but she had no choice to take a
back seat on it. When he insisted on doing something there was no
way of stopping him, and she had tried a few times. She didn’t have
much of a chance winning with Michael practically joined to Dave’s
hip.

“
Okay, your
place is much closer to Miguel’s school anyway. But I have to tell
you something before he starts...”

Dave was sure she was
about to tell him a little of the truth about herself before Todd
crashed into his office interrupting their ‘family conference’ as
he so often called it.

Todd flashed a smile at
Paula, then looked at Dave, “Oh, sorry but my dad wants to see
you.” His interruption put a long pause to that conversation. But
Dave was patient, he would wait until she felt ready. He loved her
more than enough to wait.

The last couple of weeks
were busier than he had anticipated. Fixing Todd’s mistake proved
to be harder and more expensive than he had thought. He was left
with no other choice but to tell McKenzie about his son’s mess up,
and even though they all thought that it was Todd’s final strike,
he got off with a slap on the wrist and all his clients divided
amongst other lawyers. Dave receiving the heavy load of course,
after his long awaited promotion, and what was worse, Todd was his
tail until he learned enough to reach Dave’s standards. It was a
cruel and unjustified punishment for Dave, and he felt depressed
that he barely got to see his daughter. He thought with the new
promotion he would be able to see Izzy more often, but the only
person who got that accolade was Paula.

He smiled to himself, the
image of her captivating green eyes peeking up at him, through her
thick jet black hair, that barely hid her flushed pink cheeks,
which matched the sweet smile, curved by her thin pink
lips.

Each time she looked at
him like that, he felt like a giddy high school kid.

He loved that
feeling.

“
I love her.”
He whispered softly, a flutter in his belly as his lips pulled into
a wider smile.

Carol walked into his
office with a black file in her hand. She stood at his desk with a
puzzled look on her face, “Who is Maria Diana Martinez? And why
does she look so much like Paula?”

“
You shouldn’t
read documents you aren’t supposed to.” Dave stood up and pulled
the file from her hand. He didn’t want anyone else finding out
about Paula/Maria until he knew all the facts and how dangerous the
man she was running from was.

“
Her picture
fell out.” She said, still puzzled.

“
And you
couldn’t help yourself.” Dave opened the file and looked through
it. He finally had Paula Michaels past in his hands, Maria
Martinez. It wasn’t hard once he got the private investigator to
look for an Edna Michaels. He overheard Maria on the phone with
Edna and shamelessly had the operator give him the last number
dialed on the pay phone. It wasn’t very clever of Maria to use her
mother’s maiden name, it was a mistake that a lot of women on the
run made, and most of them ended up dead.

“
I pick up a
lot from you. Is that Paula?” she asked, pointing to the
file.

“
Yes.”

“
I knew she
was too perfect to be true. She was too beautiful and motherly, she
must be psychotic. Where is Izzy?”

He pulled a page out and
handed it to her, “She is not psychotic, just on the
run.”

She took it and scanned
it quietly. Her hand rose covering her neck, her face creased in
disgust as she got to the bottom of the page, “There are two pages
of this?” she whispered. She put it down on his desk, “I can’t read
anymore.”