Chapter Twelve

 

Adrian had reached Mount Faith Sunday night. He had thought it best to move Avia while she was sleeping so he had gone to Mrs. Pink's house in the early morning and carried out his stealthy, well-intentioned maneuver. She had no awareness of the journey, and was now wrapped up in his old bed, fast asleep.

His new residence on Mount Faith Drive was not ready yet. Apparently, a visiting professor and his family had been allowed to rent the house that had been earmarked for him. Now he had to wait two weeks for another house to be free. They were refurbishing one of the older houses in the scheme, a four bedroom that was located quite close to where his parents lived.

He sat in the living room in the wee hours of the morning having the much-dreaded chat with his parents. His father had been livid; his mother had tried to calm him down but he had stormed out of the house. His mother had taken the news in stride, philosophizing that she had a granddaughter to love, though she wished she had known the full story long before. He was not comfortable with Cathy staying at the house with them all here. His mother suggested that Cathy stay at the school hostel.

He had heard from Mrs. Pink that Cathy had showed up on Monday morning as planned and they were on their way. His heart leapt in anticipation. Now they could get a chance to right their wrongs, and have the future they were supposed to have.

When Mrs. Pink arrived, they would have a full house. His parents, Kylie, Jessica, and their guest, Deidra Durkheim, had their own rooms. Mrs. Pink could share her room with Avia, leaving him with the only other available room in the house. He couldn't share with Cathy. That would be a mistake. Even if his parents had suddenly grown liberal overnight, that would be a big mistake. He had years of pent up emotion for Cathy, and he had no intention of risking being tempted more than he could bear. History had already proven that his success rate at resisting temptation was questionable, at least where Cathy was concerned.

"What's up bro?" Kylie came into the living room and hugged him tightly. "I missed you."

"Hey, little sis." Adrian squeezed her and allowed her to hug him for as long as she wanted.

"They carried an Adrian impostor into the house. Name is Taj… sorta looks like you. Seeing him occasionally makes me kinda miss you more because he is not you," Kylie said in a rush.

Adrian kissed her on her forehead. "That's one of the longest speeches you have ever made."

Kylie giggled and got out of his lap. "I am talking more because of Deidra. She said I need to communicate in order to make friends."

"Deidra?" Adrian asked, "I heard about her. She sent Micah to jail."

Kylie nodded. "She's also knowledgeable about fashion and hair, and she's really good company."

Adrian grinned. "I can see she has a positive effect on you. Look at you. You are looking like a girl." He grinned and Kylie threw a pillow at him.

"You are not even in your glasses and yet you can see me clearly. How did that happen?"

"Contacts," Kylie said happily. "Deidra said I should wear them sometimes."

Adrian nodded. "Deidra must be a miracle worker. I could never get you to wear contacts. Are you sure all of this change is because of Deidra? I heard you have a guy."

Kylie snorted, "Mommy told you something didn't she? Don't listen to her,. She doesn't know everything."

Adrian raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I have a guy friend." Kylie lowered her voice and looked around. "He is helping me with a final project for my master’s. I am creating this mystery thriller computer game. He thinks there is a market for it and he's helping me iron out the kinks."

Adrian lowered his voice to match hers. "What's his name?"

"Gareth Beecher." Kylie whispered reverently.

Adrian was trembling with mirth. "That was said with such...such.... fervor."

Kylie threw another pillow at him. "He is popular in the computer world. He has made several innovative applications for these new smart phones that that are coming on the market."

"Good for him," Adrian said, smiling at his sister. "I hope he proves worthy of the reverence for him that I hear in your voice."

Kylie blushed and nodded firmly. "I think he will." She cleared her throat and said quietly, "I heard I have a niece."

Adrian sobered up. "Yes, she is sleeping in my old room."

Kylie gazed at her brother adoringly. "I will do my best to be the most supportive aunt in the world. I am so happy that you are getting another chance with Cathy."

"Thank you Ky." Adrian sighed, "I am really happy about this opportunity too, even though she really got things wrong the first time. I am still smarting over the fact that she took up stripping as a job and had a thug as a boyfriend."

Kylie nodded. "I understand, but she has always been the only girl for you. Remember that time you wrote that song for her and you were practicing it on the piano. I thought that was the most romantic thing ever. I wish I had a guy do that for me."

Adrian smiled. "I was a goofball over Cathy for sure. Still am."

His phone rang and he picked it up. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that it was Mrs. Pink's number on the screen. "Mrs. Pink?" He answered cautiously.

"They've taken her," Mrs. Pink sobbed. "Nanjo and a huge Rasta guy nearly ran me off the road, and they took Cathy at gun point."

Adrian felt a little light-headed, far worse than a hungry boy who was about to eat a particularly delicious morsel of food and then have it cruelly snatched from him and eaten by someone else. He could barely give Mrs. Pink directions when she asked for it. His heart was in turmoil.

 

*****

 

Nanjo sat in the back seat with Cat. He hauled her onto his lap when they were nearing Kingston and kissed her hungrily and forcefully. "Did you think you could get far from me?" He asked her fiercely. Cathy looked into his dark eyes and shuddered. What she saw in his eyes was a malevolent possession. There was no love or finer feelings and she felt afraid. To Nanjo, people were disposable when they were not serving his purposes, and she was terrified that she had crossed the line when she ran away.

She had not cried since he pulled her from the car and from freedom. She felt a bit resigned to her fate now. Obviously, this was her punishment for all her mistakes in the past. Her one attempt to break free and she was relentlessly chased and captured again. This was karma. She was never meant to have any sort of life because of what she had done to Adrian, she reasoned.

"Nanjo, let me go." she pleaded. "I have not taken anything from you. I haven't done anything to you. Just let me go. I am a human being, free to leave a relationship or a job whenever I want to. Aren't I? And I choose to leave."

Natty, who was driving, caught her eye in the rearview mirror and looked at her sympathetically. It's true that Cat hadn't taken anything from Nanjo. She had left him with the clothes she had been wearing. She hadn't stolen anything. Natty gritted his teeth in frustration on behalf of the girl, but what could he do? Nanjo was his oldest friend.

Nanjo's phone rang and he answered it, clutching Cat as she was about to move off his lap.

"Hey, Nanjo," Juan was talking in a low voice, "where are you?"

"A little out of town," Nanjo said. He was feeling a touch of euphoria with Cat sitting right where she belonged.

"Get back in town now." Juan growled. "My guy was at your club with a high frequency detector and found that your place is bugged. I mean the whole damned place is bugged with both audio and video surveillance devices, especially your office. We are going to have to stop meeting at your club. Another thing: my contacts in America are suggesting that we push up the time for the shipment by two days. Can you manage that?"

Nanjo's head felt like it was going to explode. "Who would bug my club?" he roared. "Those damned police."

"Forget about the who" Juan said urgently. "Let's focus on the here and now. Can you fulfill your shipping obligations? After that, you deal with the mole on your side. Is two days sufficient for you?"

Nanjo's hands were trembling in rage. "Yes, two days is fine."

"At the wharf downtown, as you suggested before? At nine in the night?" Juan asked to be clear.

"Yes," Nanjo said, "I'll have the goods."

He hung up the phone viciously and flung Cat from his lap.

"Natty, I have a mole. Somebody who has access to the club went in there and bugged the place. Especially my office."

Natty swallowed. "It's not me."

"I know it's not you,” Nanjo hissed. “Why on earth would you rat me out now? Besides, ratting me out would be a double-edged sword. You, Banga, and me are all in this together."

He glanced at Cat. "You don't know anything about this, do you? You aren't the mole are you?" He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Because if you are. You would wish you were never born when I am done with you."

"What are you talking about? What's a mole?" Cathy squeaked innocently.

Nanjo shrugged. "Never mind. Stop the car Natty. I need to be in the front. We have to discuss what to do with the speeding up of delivery from our contacts to our usual location."

When Natty stopped the car and Nanjo went to the front, Cat felt for her phone in her pocket. She needed a quiet place to text Natasha and tell her what was going on. At least she could help in some way before Nanjo finally deleted her from this present world.