Escaping the Past

Brody leveled up with Lou so he could run beside her and found a rhythm alongside her footfalls. She remained silent as they ran, her breath moving in and out in a regular cadence in time with her feet.

Lou was acutely aware of Brody as he ran beside her. Her heart pounded, and it wasn’t completely because of the running. She could hear his breath blowing across his lips as he maintained the pace. Sweat broke out across his strong brow, and he lifted his powerful arm to wipe it away. It would be so easy to get closer to someone like Brody if she let herself fall for his sexuality, but he wasn’t a permanent kind of man and she did not do casual.

Lou pushed herself harder than she had in a long time. She blocked out Brody’s presence and picked up the pace, sweat pouring down her face like a hard rain. Her clothes stuck to her body despite the coolness of the early morning air. Brody was in the same shape. He kept the pace, but just barely. Just when Brody began to falter, her pace slowed slightly and she brought herself to a fast walk. They rounded the corner of the house about three minutes later and Lou stopped to cool down and stretch.

Brody bent and placed his hands on his knees. His breath came in gasps and raised his chin to look in her direction. “I thought you were trying to kill me,” he panted at her.

“Nope. I was just trying to outrun you,” Lou replied with a grin. She wiped the sweat from her brow with her forearm. Lou thought she heard him mumble something as she turned and entered the house.

Before she walked through the door, he said, “Outrun me or outrun something else…wonder which one it is, Lou.” She let herself pause for no more than a second. It was better if he thought she didn’t hear him, wasn’t it?

Lou showered and went downstairs to go to work. She met Brody on the porch after she stopped to get a bottle of water. His hair was still wet from his own shower and hung in sandy colored curls across his forehead and his collar. He had transformed from a college kid in a printed T-shirt to Dr. Broden Wester in a matter of minutes. He wore a black polo and khaki trousers. His sneakers had been replaced with casual loafers.

“Do you want to go to the hospital with me today to see Mom?” Brody asked.

“Not this morning. I might go by later today. Sarah wants to make a card for her when she comes home from school so I’ll probably go for a few minutes later in the evening.”

His steely grey gaze met hers. “ Thanks, Lou, for understanding.”

She smiled gently and patted his arm. “No problem. She’s your mother after all, not mine.”

“I’ll call if anything changes.”

“Please do,” she called out as she turned and walked toward her office.

Chapter Six

Wesley lowered the telescopic lens of the thirty-five millimeter camera and cupped it in his hand. He took a deep breath and blew it out between his closed teeth. He fished his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open. Then he dialed the number he had been given.

“Jerry’s Towing,” a pleasant voice answered. The detective knew Jerry’s Towing was a front for a phony business which did not and never had existed. But who was he to rock the boat?

“Yo, Wanda. Put the boss on the phone.” There was no response on the other end as the call was transferred.

“You had better have something for me, Wesley,” a voice snapped in his ear.

“I’m pretty sure I do, Boss. Looks like the old lady was right and it could have been her at the hospital last night. I had to do some digging, but I think I found her. I’m emailing some photos to you now.”

There was no click on the other end, but the call had been disconnected. Wesley got out of the car and opened the trunk of the old sedan. He put the jack back in the trunk. Hopefully, no one noticed there had never been a flat tire. He would have to switch cars next time so no one would get suspicious.

Within ten minutes, his cell phone rang. He flipped it open. “Yeah””

“That’s her. She looks just like her mama. I would know her anywhere.”

“What do you want me to do?” Wesley asked.

“Keep an eye on her. Find out who she’s living with. Get as close to her as you can and let her know I want my property back.”

“Consider it done.” He closed his phone and smiled broadly. The chase was on.

****

Brody walked through the sliding doors of the hospital and past the reception desk. He entered the elevators that would take him to the Intensive Care Unit.

Without waiting for permission, he strolled by the nurse’s station and walked into his mother’s room. She looked tiny reclining in the big bed with the rails raised around her. Her head was turned to the side so her cheek was exposed but the rest of her was swaddled in bedclothes.

Brody bent and picked up her chart to see if the treatment plan had changed. Her condition was still marked as critical. The notes and the suggestions in the chart were more along the lines of maintenance and comfort than rehabilitation. The doctors wanted to stabilize her condition with medication and then send her either home or to a nursing home for care until her final days.

Brody replaced the chart and walked to the side of the bed. He lowered the bedrail and bent to kiss his mother on the cheek. She stirred slightly as he slipped his hand into hers. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled slowly at him, taking a deep breath. She untangled her arms from the covers and reached a tentative hand to brush the curls from his forehead.