After picking up Claudia and speeding away toward school, I thought of discussing what Joseph and I had talked about in regard to the dinner.
“My father— I mean, Dr. Nicholson plans to have dinner with all of us. You, Michael, me, and Joseph.”
I released a breath as she turned her head over to me. Her heart was bouncing erratically. She was scared. I couldn’t say I blamed her.
“He plans to invite Michael sometime this week.”
Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Why?” she asked.
“It’s one of his ways of getting to know people. He’s a human lie detector. He analyzes people. I think he’s trying to eliminate suspects, starting with you guys. It’s also a test for me. If I know him well, and I do, it’s a method to see how deeply I’m involved with you. I hate it. I might have to pretend or be cruel.”
“I’ll know better. You know that.”
I nodded as I reached for her hand.
“Yes, I know, but Michael won’t know. Either way, I want you to stay away from this dinner for your safety,” I explained.
She seemed to ease. “I’m glad you think so. That man scares me.”
“Yeah, he scares me, too. I don’t want you anywhere near him. He’s dangerous.”
“Are you afraid he’ll discover me?” Claudia asked.
We stopped at a red light. I put the car into first gear and released the clutch with my foot on the brake, keeping the car in neutral. The light took a little longer than usual to change.
“Yes, I won’t lie to you.”
“What should I do?” Claudia asked. There was a tremble in her voice and her thoughts were racing with all sorts of scenarios.
“First, you need to relax. I won’t let anything happen to you. I won’t let him get his hands on you at all.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. Of course, I was nervous myself, but I needed to protect her and assure her everything was going to be okay. I had Joseph on my side now, and we would think of something together to ensure her safety.
“I want you to tell Michael you’re sick. Make any excuse you can think of to not go. I don’t want you near him. Do whatever you can to avoid going to this dinner. Do you understand?”
Claudia looked nervous but agreed.
The light finally turned green, and we sped off once again.
“Then what happens?” she asked.
“We have our dinner and that’ll be the end of it.” Even I knew that was BS.
“Won’t he get suspicious?” Claudia had sensed my uncertainty.
I was quiet for a moment.
“I’m hoping not. There shouldn’t be a reason for him to be. I’ll need to talk to Joseph about what to do just in case we need to prepare.”
“John, what will you do if he finds out?”
I couldn’t believe she had asked me something like that. I didn’t want to tell her that I would kill him to protect her, but I think she already knew that when she looked over at me.
“You would do that for me?” she asked after reading my facial expression.
I came to a stop sign and gazed over at her. I reached a hand to caress her cheek.
“Yes.” I said.
We began to drive again. She settled into her seat thinking about what I had just revealed to her. There was fear in her heart, as well as peace that I was there to protect her. She knew I would do whatever it took to keep her safe.
Claudia dug into her school bag. I glanced over at her from the driver’s seat, trying to see what she was pulling out of her bag. I switched lanes as we turned onto Broadway. We were now fairly close to Milton.
Looking back over at Claudia, I caught her lift up the iPod I had lent her.
“Thanks for letting me borrow your iPod,” she politely said, holding it in her hand.
“Oh, you’re done?” I asked.
“Yeah, I copied the songs onto my computer. I hope that's okay?” Claudia timidly asked.
“Of course, beautiful,” I said with a slight grin on my face.
“Can I?” she asked, referring to the iPod.
“Go ahead,” I said.
Claudia immediately sync the iPod and the music began to play on the speakers of the car. The first song was titled, “Love’s Twisted Trap.” It was one of my favorite songs, and it was very appropriate for us.
“I love their music,” Claudia said.
“I'm glad you do,” I said as I turned into a McDonald’s parking lot.
“What are we doing?” she asked.
“I thought I would get some breakfast for us,” I said while pulling up to the drive-thru.
“Oh, okay, let me give you some cash,” she offered.
I laughed when she pulled out a twenty. “Put that away,” I told her. “Don’t embarrass me. I got this.”
She pursued her lips. “I don’t need a man to buy me breakfast. I just inherited a great fortune.”
“And I’m a spoiled rich kid who rides around in the newest Jaguar bought by Daddy Dearest.”
She laughed. I winked.
“Besides, I want to buy my girlfriend breakfast. Can you just let me do that, Miss Belle? Please, darling?” I grinned.
“Yes, sir.” She grinned back and put her money away.
She reached over and kissed me. Pulling away very slowly, I didn’t want to let her go. Behind us, people started honking. I apologized to the two cars behind us, and drove up the drive-thru lane.
“What would you like? You said you don’t eat red meat, only chicken. How about a chicken biscuit and some orange juice?” I asked.
“That sounds good. Yes, please,” Claudia said.
“Excellent,” I said. “Would you like anything else?”
She shook her head at me timidly. I smiled at her before turning toward the speaker. The very scratchy voice at the other end came to say in greeting, “Welcome to McDonald's. Would you like to try one of our fresh latte coffees? May I take your order?”
After placing the order, I drove up to the cashier’s window where a skinny boy with braces was waiting for us. I figured he had to be in his twenties. He probably thought the worst of me driving up in a new jag with a pretty girl in the seat next to me. If he only knew half the story.
I handed him the money, and he gave me some change back before handing me the bag of food. I handed it to Claudia who was sitting very quietly with her hands in her lap.
Claudia went through the bag, nodding over at me. The guy handed me the drinks in a small carrier. I handed it over to Claudia and put the car into gear and drove off.
“You’re right, he thought the worst of you. He was jealous of your car,” she said.
“What did he think about my girlfriend?”
She blushed.
We arrived at the school pulling into the parking lot and took the closest space near the entrance. The hole was still visible and boarded by yellow tape and dividers. The retrieval team had gone. They had recovered any evidence available and fled the scene. I was glad they were no longer around to see my beautiful girl, especially Roberts. Claudia gave me a quizzical look but didn’t ask.
The parking lot was busy with vehicles and students. The buses were just arriving.
I received a text from Joseph, asking me if I planned to stop by and if I had Claudia with me. I said I did and that I had breakfast. He sent me a smiley face and a thumbs-up.
“Shall we?” I said, and she nodded.
I turned off the engine and got out, walked around to the passenger side to help her out of the car, and grabbed the drinks and the bag from her. I noticed Claudia grabbed my backpack from the backseat before closing the car door.
“Let me,” I politely said, taking the backpack from her fragile hands. Her hand touched my cold fingers, and I nearly flinched from the strange sensation. Not only did this connection have me questioning my sanity, but her touch was thrilling.
Claudia flashed me a tiny smile. I wanted to kiss her, but the sounds of the crowd all around us made me wary. Why am I so nervous and so panicky suddenly? I figured it was her emotions that were making me prepare for anything. I was linked to her and whatever she felt I did too. If she was nervous or scared, I felt it. Could it be some sort of guard mechanism to better protect her? I could see that being the logical explanation. She gave me a slight grin at that thought. She liked that explanation as well.
Claudia grabbed the drink carrier from my hand. I tried to balance the bag in my other hand.
“Let me help. After all, rich kid or not, you need help.” Claudia grinned.
I chuckled and allowed her to keep the carrier. I put the keys in the pocket of my slacks and felt the crystal. I hadn’t even realized I had forgotten to give it to Joseph, or Miss Belle, for that matter. Her quick glance made me realize she had heard my thought about the crystal.
There was always a lot of chaos in the morning. We moved to the side entrance with our goodies. We entered the noisy halls of Milton High. The building was stirring with movement, and everything was back to normal. Regardless of the hole, things seemed to be going back to where they were before it had appeared. Students were calling it the hole to hell. Choking back a laugh, when I heard the name from a few students as we made our way down the short stretch hallway.
We passed the assistant principals’ offices. They looked empty, but I caught sight of them coming out of the cafeteria and directing traffic. They were getting ready for the final bell and detention slips were ready to come out.
We stopped by the main office entrance as a teacher came out and held the door open, allowing us inside. Mrs. Wallace was busy by the pigeonholes, but she waved back as we came to Joseph’s office door. He rose when he saw us by the entrance and came over to help.
“Ah, breakfast, my saviors.” Joseph took the bag from us.
“Joseph, Michael is going to be late this morning,” I informed him, no doubt Michael had already called him to tell him.
“Yeah, I talked to him, something about the plumbing.”
Claudia nodded quickly.
“Everything okay?” he asked, dropping the bag on the desk.
“I was telling Claudia about the dinner.”
He immediately locked eyes with her and stepped back over to us. “By no means should you go to this dinner, Miss Belle. Is that understood?” Joseph demanded.
“I’ve already explained that to her, Joseph.”
“Well, I want to make sure she understands that she can’t be there.”
“I know, Joseph. I’m scared of him, too.” Claudia said.
“That makes two of us.”
She looked shocked by his words. Perhaps a bit surprised a big guy like Joseph would be afraid of Dr. Nicholson.
“Our reservations are set in stone. This place is hard to get a table, so …”
Her mouth fell open as she stared back at him.
“Yeah, it’s that fancy. John will let you know as soon as we know when this thing is going down. Then, you can do your thing.”
“My thing?” Claudia’s face scrunched up at Joseph’s choice of words.
I laughed. “He means pretend to be ill.”
“Right,” she whispered.
I wanted to explain that when Joseph feels comfortable with someone, he’ll talk like that and let his guard down. It was a good thing.
Oh, gotcha, her mental voice said.
The bell rang above us. Joseph didn’t seem concerned we were going to be late for our first class. “Everything else okay?” he asked. “How did things go with Michael this morning?”
“He was a little disoriented, but other than that, everything seemed fine,” I said.
Joseph nodded. “The drugs will do that.”
“By the way, Claudia left Mr. Vasquez, Mr. Claypool, and Ms. Stephens out from the evening when explaining that dinner last night.”
“Ah, great move, Miss Belle,” he said, unwrapping the biscuit, ready to chow down.” He popped open the lid off his coffee and drank deeply, probably burning his mouth.
“You two need to get to class. Especially you, John. You’ve been spending too much time in the office, I don’t want people asking questions. Remember, Miss Belle, by no means should you be at the dinner, understood?”
Claudia nodded.
Joseph grinned with a large piece of biscuit in his mouth.
“Nephew, keep an eye on her. Make sure she’s safe.”
“Really? Don’t I always?” I asked him.
Joseph smiled, picking up his coffee again and blowing on it this time. “By the way, thanks for breakfast.”
We left his office and found Mrs. Wallace at her desk. “Hello, again. Boy, you seem to spend a lot of time here, don’t you?”
Joseph was right, people were beginning to notice.
“We’re very close,” I explained to the old woman, and hurried Claudia out with me before she said anything else. She was far too observant for my taste.
“Oh, yes, Mrs. Wallace has always been that way,” Claudia said answering my thoughts.
“That’s not good for us,” I muttered.
“She’s okay,” she said with a big smile.
When we came into the hallway, Claudia wrapped her arms around me. I could sense it was something she had wanted to do since we had left Michael’s house.
“I dreamt about you last night,” I informed her.
She turned a scarlet red. She had seen the images of my dream in her thoughts.
“Forgive me?” I whispered.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She kissed me. Pulling away, she caressed the back of my neck and had me purring like a cat. “Maybe one day we can make your dream a reality.”
I squeezed her close. Did she really just say that to me?
“Maybe after all this settles down.” she said.
I became intoxicated. “You're teasing me, Miss Belle.”
Claudia smiled drawing closer with our lips inches apart from touching. “I would never dream of doing something like that to you, John. Not about that.”
Above us, the bell rang again. Students rushed past us, reminding us how out in the open we were.
“I think we better go before it …yeah,” I said, pushing back my hair. I was blushing again.
“You’re glowing again, Mr. Müller.”
I chuckled lightly.
“So are you, Miss Belle.”
Claudia laughed. I pulled her with me down the hall.