Welcome to Last Chance (29 page)

“Come on, Faith. Nap time.” Lainie bent down and took Faith's hand. She could almost see the wheels turning in Faith's mind as she considered her options. For whatever reason, she decided the nap would be okay and allowed Lainie to put her and the shape sorter in the crib across the room from her brother and sister.

Lainie slipped a CD of lullabies into the player, kicked off her shoes, and settled herself in a rocker to consider her own options. The girls were quiet. Grace was lying down looking at her truck, and even though Faith was still sitting up, her eyes were droopy. It shouldn't be long till they were asleep. Maybe when Patsy came in to check on them and feed Lito, Lainie could slip away. That would be the best time. The afternoon would be easing into evening, and if anyone thought of her at all, they would assume she was busy elsewhere.

“Nighty-night pants.” Lainie looked up to see Faith standing in her crib frowning at her. “Nighty-night pants.” This time a little louder.

Lainie went over and laid Faith back down. “Yes, it's nighty-night time. Go to sleep now. Here's your shape sorter.”

“Nighty-night pants.” Faith tugged at her ruffled panties and started to cry. “Want nighty-night pants.”

“Oh! Do you wear diapers when you go to bed?”

“No! I no baby! Want nighty-night pants.”

“Okay, now I have to figure out what nighty-night pants are.” Lainie opened the cupboard and examined the contents. There were blankets, wipes, and diapers of every size, but nothing that could be called pants.

She turned back to Faith. “I'm just going to go check the toddler room and see if they have anything there. I'll be right back. Don't worry.”

Faith, her message finally understood, returned to her shape-sorter.

The toddler room had a lot more stuff than the baby room did. Cupboards lined the wall, and Lainie hurriedly looked through them. She found a package that looked like it could hold diapers and from it pulled a pair of pants—thick, absorbent, disposable,
and covered with pink and blue teddy bears. These could only be nighty-night pants. Pulling two pair from the package, she held them up and shook her head. “Who knew? Not me.”

“No! Baby!” A panicked scream from one of the girls tore through the nursery. Lainie dropped the package she was holding and bolted for the baby room. Just as she reached the nursery, however, she pulled up short and ducked around the corner. Someone sat in the rocker holding little Lito, who was just beginning to howl his protest.

“Hey, buddy. These females and all their squalling getting to you too? We guys got to stick together, right?”

Lainie knew the voice. She didn't need to see him to know who sat rocking Manuelito Baca. He was facing away from the door, but she had already seen the prowling panther tattooed on his neck.

She pressed her back against the wall and stared at her bare feet. She didn't think he knew she was there yet, but he had to be counting on her coming to check on the crying children. How long would he wait before he came looking for her?

The door parents used to bring their children in on Sunday mornings opened onto the parking lot, and through its window she could see her car in its spot under the elms. When she bought it, Manny had given her a magnetic box to stick under the front fender to hide the spare key, and she could practically hear it calling her. What if she slipped out, drove to the closest phone, called the sheriff, and then kept right on going? How long would it take for him to get here? Or she could slip out, run around the building, alert everyone, and then leave during the commotion. She could scream and hope they could hear her. Or what if she just ran? Nick always had a soft spot for little things like dogs and kids. She was almost positive he'd never hurt them. She gave a last look at her car sitting in the parking lot, took a deep breath, and stepped around the corner into the nursery.

“Hello, Nick. Want to hand me the baby? He seems to hate you.”

Nick turned and looked up at her with no surprise and went on rocking Lito. His nose had a bump in the bridge that she didn't remember, and it seemed off-center in a face marred with puckered purplish scars. He smiled a mirthless smile. “Still handsome as ever, right?” Lainie saw his hands tighten around Lito, who was working himself into a rage. “We're doing fine here, aren't we, buddy? It's these crazy women that really mess you up. No wonder you're crying.”

“Give me the baby, Nick.”

Nick ignored her. “So what do you think, buddy? How about you and me getting out of here?”

“Nick, get serious.” Lainie hoisted the still screaming Grace from her crib and cuddled her as she crossed the room to slip her arm around Faith. She tried to make her voice sound stronger than she felt. “There are two hundred and fifty people out there. You're not taking that baby anywhere.”

Nick just rocked and looked at her. His eyes hadn't changed. They were as cold and dead as those of any coyote lying by the side of the road. When he spoke his voice had become as dead as his eyes.

“So what'd you do with my stuff, Lainie? Sell it to buy that pretty dress? Maybe that car out there?”

“How do you know about my car?”

He laughed. “I've been watching you a while. You know, I always thought you were different. I wanted to take care of you, to give you the things you never had. And the minute you get the chance, you turn thief and run. You're just like the rest of them.” He held a hiccuping Lito up to gaze into his eyes. “Learn it early, son. Never trust a woman.”

Lainie shook her head. “I didn't steal from you. I didn't even know it was there till I got here.”

“Yeah? Then why'd you take off so fast and try to cover your tracks like that?”

“Because you were becoming someone I didn't know, and I wanted to get away from you.”

Nick narrowed his eyes and worked his jaw. “So, if you're too good for me, you still have the stuff, right?”

“No, I gave it to the sheriff.”

“You what? You just waltzed in and handed it over? Just like that?” Nick's laugh was more of a bark.

“Pretty much.”

“And he just said, ‘Thank you very much,' and let you walk out?”

“Not entirely. I told him everything I knew about where it came from.”

“Naming names, of course.”

“Of course.”

“Well, that answers a lot.” Nick stood up. “Okay, I think we're done here. Grab the girls. We're leaving.”

Lainie offered a quick and silent prayer for courage and took a deep breath. “No.”

“No? I'd rethink that if I were you, Lainie. You owe me big-time, and you're going to pay. You can count on it. But these guys don't owe me anything. You can make it easy on them or hard. It's up to you.”

“Why drag the kids into it, Nick? They're just babies. Leave them alone.” Lainie put Grace in the crib with Faith and gave each one a quick hug. Slipping on her shoes, she picked up her purse. “I'll go with you if you leave the kids here.”

Nick hesitated only a second before putting Lito in the crib next to the twins. “Okay then. Let's go.”

With a last glance at her small charges staring wide-eyed from their cribs and with what she hoped was a reassuring smile, Lainie left the room. Nick put his hand in the small of her back and pushed her through the door and into the parking lot. As they reached her car, Lainie could hear the voices of first Grace, then Faith, and finally Manuelito raised in despairing wails.

N
ick shoved her toward her car. “Hurry up. Those kids will have the whole town up here in a minute.”

Lainie slid behind the wheel and rummaged in her purse for her keys. Nick grabbed her purse from her hands and dumped the contents into his lap. Snatching the keys from the pile, he threw them at Lainie, sweeping the rest of the stuff onto the floor.

“Go! You don't want to give me time to go back in there and grab a kid or two.”

The engine jumped to life, and Lainie headed toward the entrance onto the highway.

“Turn left.”

Lainie's mind started whirling. The highway passed right by the county sheriff substation. What if she pulled off the highway and drove right to the door? What would Nick do?

“Turn right.”

“What? Where?”

“That dirt road ahead. Turn right.”

Fear tightened its grip on Lainie's stomach. She had never been on this particular road, but she knew these dirt tracks. They were little more than trails, barely wide enough for one pickup, meandering across the desert and into the mountains, useful for a purpose unknown to any but the one who made them.

They bounced along for about half a mile before Nick spoke again. “That big bunch of bushes over there, head for that.”

Giving the wheel a sharp left turn and trying to pick her way between the rocks and cactus, Lainie drove toward the mesquite clump he indicated.

“Okay, stop here. Get out.”

Lainie turned off the engine and sat behind the wheel. Nick grabbed the keys from the ignition and got out of the car. Drawing back his arm, he threw the keys far into the desert. Then he walked around the car, opened her door, and yanked Lainie from the driver's seat with such force that she stumbled to her knees.

“I said, get out.” He stood over her for a moment before grabbing her arm and jerking her to her feet. Her high heel turned on the gravelly desert floor, and she grabbed his sleeve for balance. For a long moment he looked at her hand on his arm, but when he turned to look in her face, she lifted her chin in defiance, and his eyes turned to stone again.

She didn't see the blow coming and briefly wondered why she was on her hands and knees in the gravel again with her head filled with ringing pain.

“I loved you!” Nick was standing over her screaming. “I had plans for us. Everything I ever did, I did for you. I wanted to give you everything.”

Pulling herself to her knees, Lainie watched drops of blood fall from her face and stain the yellow dress. She looked up at Nick.

“You didn't do anything for me. I told you over and over I didn't want any part of that life. Whatever you did, it was to make you feel like somebody.”

“Is that what you think? That last stash, the one you stole. That was going to be the beginning of something big for us. When I got home and found you and the stash gone, I couldn't believe it.
I thought someone had taken both of you. I was out of my mind. It wasn't till I called your friend in El Paso that I found out you'd been planning on running out on me for weeks. That was bad enough, but you took my stash. Didn't you know what they'd do to me? Or was that part of your plan?”

“Nick, you've got to believe me. I didn't know it was in the backpack. I promise you I would have left it behind if I'd found it.”

“Yeah, right. Well, one way or the other, when you ran out on me, it went with you. And you can see what came of it.” He turned his head so she could see his face from every angle.

“I'm sorry.” Lainie's voice dropped to a whisper. “I never meant for that to happen. Please believe me.”

“Well, it doesn't matter now. Come here.” He yanked her to her feet and shoved her toward the clump of mesquite.

“Wait. I don't want to—” Lainie tried to pull back, but his grip on her arm was strong.

“Get in.” Nick opened the passenger side of the car hidden in the thicket and shoved her inside. “We're taking my car from here.”

He shoved the car into Reverse to pull out of the thicket and then gunned it back the way they came. Lainie clutched the door with one hand and held the other against the ceiling as they bounced over ruts and fishtailed through sand. Her eyes wouldn't close, but she silently prayed anyway. “Lord, even if no one else knows where I am, you do. Please, please, please . . .”

A loud curse broke the silence, and Nick slammed on the brakes and threw the car into Reverse again. Just ahead, a sheriff's car turned off the highway and barreled down the dirt road toward them. Another followed right behind, and a pickup that looked a lot like Ray's brought up the rear. Lainie grabbed the door and opened it when the wheels of Nick's car spun in the gravel as he
reversed directions, but before she could jump out, the tires gained traction and the forward lurch slammed the door shut.

If Nick noticed, he didn't say anything. He just threw it into Drive and headed back toward the mountains. Lainie looked in the side mirror to see if the sheriff might be gaining, but if they were still back there, they were lost in the huge dust cloud trailing Nick's car.

Nick must have noticed the same thing. Jerking the wheel hard to the left, he took the car off the road and headed into the desert in a wide circle, creating a cloud of dust that enveloped as well as followed them.

“Nick, this is crazy!” Lainie was still hanging on for dear life. “Even if you do get back to the road, you know they've got radios. You'll have every law officer in this part of the state on your tail. Just pull over.”

“Shut up.” Nick leaned forward, trying to see his way through the dust. “This is all your fault anyway. And you're in it as much as I am.”

“What are you talking about?”

But Nick didn't answer. He never saw the arroyo until they sailed over the edge. The instant the nose of the car hit the opposite bank, Lainie's head hit the side window and everything went black.

Lainie first became aware of voices, lots of voices, far off.

“I think she's coming around.” Ray's voice. Where was Ray?

She opened her eyes. Her shoulder ached where the seat belt had grabbed her, and a big parachute-like thing was all over her lap. She turned her head to find Ray kneeling in the sand next to her open door.

“How're you doing?” His voice and his smile were gentle. Lainie
closed her eyes again. When she opened them, he was still there. She tried to smile too.

“I'm fine.” Sleepy, maybe, but fine.

The fear came first, and then memory fought its way through the fog.

“The babies—Nick.” Her hand scrabbled at her seat belt until Ray covered it with his own.

“The kids are fine. I called Manny. Nick's not going anywhere. He's sitting in the backseat of the patrol car right now. And you need to stay still until the ambulance gets here.”

Warm peace, the first she'd felt in months, coursed through Lainie. She closed her eyes and leaned against the headrest. “Good. But don't worry about me. I'm fine, really.” Had she spoken aloud? She wasn't sure.

“Great, but you still need to stay put.”

Lainie opened her eyes. Ray was still there. “How did you find me so fast? No one knew . . .”

He grinned. “You left a trail of dust a half mile long. It wasn't hard at all to know where you turned off.”

“But how'd you know it was me?”

“I saw your note.”

Lainie just looked at him.

“Gran forgot her comfortable shoes and asked if I'd run home and pick them up for her.” He looked sheepish. “I'd heard you were planning to leave after the wedding, and I wondered if you were still going, so I checked to see if your stuff was still there. Is that weird?”

“Sort of.” She was so tired, and her head throbbed.

“Well, I saw your snow globe sitting on the sewing machine, and then the note under it. I took it with me because I wanted to talk to you about it, but just before I got back to church, I saw your car pull out. You were driving, but there was a passenger.”

“Nick.”

“I was afraid of that, so I called the sheriff. Then I followed you.”

Lainie thought she smiled as she reached for his hand.

“The hardest thing I've ever done was to wait on the highway at the turnoff for the sheriff. But he promised me that if he got there and found me on that road between him and you all, he'd run me in too.”

Lainie's eyes drifted closed. The siren of the approaching ambulance whined to a stop. She felt Ray's hand brush the hair from her face and his lips gently touch her own.

“They're here for you now.” His voice was low in her ear. “I'm going to follow you to the hospital. And then, when you're ready, I'll bring you home.”