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TEDDY ROUSED FROM HIS fitful doze, and sat up in the small bed. The hum of tires on pavement offered a hypnotic ambiance that lulled others to sleep. But he’d found, since hitting his mid-70s, sleep proved elusive even when he yearned for rest. He rarely needed the energy drinks and candy binges of his youth to fuel 24-plus hour computer marathons. Charlie, on the other hand, needed the help.
He rummaged in the small refrigerator for a beverage, grabbed an energy bar, and slowly gimped the length of the moving RV to the front passenger seat. “Here, thought you could use this.” He popped the tab, and set the drink in the cup holder. “Need a break?”
“I’m fine, thanks.” Charlie took the can, and drank nearly all of it in one long gulp. “Sweet ride. A whole lot nicer than my poor old tin can.” She studiously kept her eyes on the road.
“You want this?” He offered the power bar, and when she shook her head, he peeled the wrapper and ate it himself. He’d given her space, but now felt an urgency to press her for details. Teddy felt sure the girl’s association with Sissie Turpin hadn’t been accidental. “You ready to talk?”
“Nothing much to say.” Her lips tightened.
“Let’s start with how you’ll take care of that baby. Whoa!” He grabbed the armrest when the RV swerved. “Eyes on the road, Charlie.”
“How did you know?” One hand touched her still-flat stomach, and she glanced over at him, her glaring expression both hurt and defiant.
“I paid your hospital bill, remember? That little detail got flagged, probably because certain medications could hurt your baby.” He patted her arm. “There’s a rest stop up ahead. Pull in, we can take a break, and have a little talk. It’s my turn to drive.”
She pulled her arm away, sullen, but did as he asked. Instead of taking a turn in the restroom, Charlie busied herself with the two cats. “They need the break more than I do. Hey Sherlock, how’s my big boy?” She crooned, snuggling the white cat before she let Macy out of his carrier.
Charlie complained again about the litter box he’d provided. “How do you expect Sherlock or...” She indicated the other cat. “I told you they need bigger facilities.”
“Macy.” He’d watched her situate the litter box, but the cats hadn’t been productive the other times they’d stopped. He wrinkled his nose when this time Macy immediately hopped into the plastic square and posed. The cat enthusiastically pawed the litter over his creativity, getting as much outside the box as in. “Hey, he’s making a mess.”
Charlie smirked. “Like I said, he needs a bigger box.” Sherlock, by comparison, ignored the litter even after Charlie cleaned away Macy’s creativity. Instead, Sherlock purred, and wound around and around Charlie’s ankles, getting in the way and nearly tripping her.
Macy jumped up onto Teddy’s computer table once he was done with the litter box, and tried to plop down on the laptop. Teddy gently moved him off when he entered. Miffed, the cat stalked back to his carrier, turned around once, and settled.
“Macy is my friend September’s cat. From Sissie Turpin’s breeding, too.” Teddy tried again to get Charlie to talk.
“Macy came from the cattery? So September’s like me.” Sherlock continued to rub her ankles until the girl sat on the opposite seat. He climbed into her lap, and pushed his face again and again into her neck, until Charlie had to set the big cat aside.
“What do you mean, she’s like you?” Teddy took off his glasses and polished them on his sweater hem. “At the hospital, you told me you know a lot more stuff that you didn’t share with the police.” Teddy replaced his glasses and took his seat behind the computer table, ready to open the laptop and make notes. “I know you’re scared. You’re running, maybe hiding from some bad people, I get that. But unless you share what you know, I can’t help you.”
“How can you protect me?” She crossed her arms, but the white cat pushed beneath them, insisting on face-to-face contact. “What’s wrong with you, kitty? Why so pushy?” She held him still in her lap, but he continued to fuss and struggle. “Teddy, I appreciate the ride, and I’ll still drive with you to Texas. But after that, I’m better off on my own. Sissie pissed off the wrong people. They’re after me, too.”
“How so? C’mon, Charlie, work with me here.” He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t suppose this has to do with your baby’s father?”
She shuddered. “Don’t even go there!” She bared her teeth in a parody of a smile. “Someday I’ll find him, and he’ll pay for what he did to me. To us.” One hand cradled her tummy. “At least Sissie wanted to give me a chance to start over. And give my baby a better life.”
He nodded but said nothing. Sometimes, silence prompted more than questions.
Charlie pushed the white cat away from her face once again. “I come from a family of losers.” Her bitter smile stopped him when Teddy would have argued. “You don’t know, Teddy. I’m probably the pick of the litter, and look what a mess I am. I’d be no good for this baby anyway. It didn’t ask to be born. And I sure as hell didn’t ask to get pregnant.”
“Hey, sometimes in the heat of romance, accidents happen.” He remembered his grandmother telling him that nothing that took place in the back seat of a car didn’t also happen in the rear of a buggy.
“Romance?” She nearly spat with anger. “My uncle raped me. My baby wasn’t an accident, they wanted me pregnant. They had plans. So I ran.” She seethed. “Sissie knew just what to do, how to find him or her a good home, get me enough money for a new start, and keep us away from them. I didn’t even know whether to get pink or blue onesies. If I had money to get anything at all.” Her anguish spilled from Charlie’s tight throat, tears overflowing. She breathed heavily, and the cat again pushed his white cheeks against her face. “Dammit, Sherlock, get out of my face, just stop—”
Her eyes abruptly rolled up, and Charlie lurched to one side, falling heavily onto the small bed. Her legs and arms jerked in a grand mal seizure.
With a cry, Teddy rushed to her side, not sure what to do. It seemed to go on forever but probably lasted less than a minute. The white cat yowled, and pawed Charlie’s face, ultimately snuggling into the bend of her neck.
While he waited for her to recover, Teddy made a long overdue call to Jeff Combs.
