First Love Only Love (The Life 2)

“I never went to New York. When I called to find out what was going on, I was told it would be a wasted trip, so I didn’t bother.” His voice seemed odd; there was a note in it I’d never heard before.

“When you were told? Told by who? How did you find out if they weren’t the ones to call you?”

“The Feds were here with a warrant; they’re the ones who told me what was going on.” My heart stopped beating; I’m certain of it. All the air in my body seemed to now be stuck in my lungs, and I was afraid I would pass out. “War…war…warrant?” It took me three tries to get the word past suddenly dry lips. My eyes felt like they’d grown to the size of saucers and my feet were too heavy to lift. Did they find…?

“They didn’t find anything thank heaven, or who knows what I’d have been dragged into.”

“Doesn’t that tell you something? If I was really into that stuff, they would’ve found more.” Are cops really that dumb these days? Used to be the underwear drawer and freezer were the first places they’d look, though I never expected them to come here to this mansion in one of the most affluent communities in the country.

It was then I noticed the disarray of the living room, but later for that.

“Well, where’s Victoria? How did she get home?” I’m sure with technology being what it is, he could’ve paid bail online or over the phone or something, but she was another story. Those fools were adamant about not releasing her without an adult.

“About that, I was told that her father picked her up.”

“What? What nonsense are you speaking?” I almost laughed out loud at the absurdity.

“That’s what I waited here to ask you. I thought you told me her father died long before you moved here to New Hampshire?”

“He did. There must be some kind of misunderstanding, some sort of mix-up.”

“I doubt it. When I tried convincing them that something was wrong, they told me that the man who they contacted to come to get her was indeed her dad and what's more, she went with him willingly without argument and seemed to know him. I wasn’t allowed to make a report of any kind, and since I had no idea what was going on, I had no way to start a search.”

His words sent chills down my spine. Life couldn’t really be this vengeful as to make my world crash and burn around me like this. From one horrible thing to the next, it’s all coming at me too fast. Just then, the door opened, and Victoria walked in. “Where have you been? Poor Felix is convinced your dead father picked you up.”

I stared at her pleadingly the way I do when I want to compute to her without words to follow my lead. It’s how we’ve survived in this house so long and never been hindered.

“My father? Maybe they got me confused with someone else, or someone’s playing a joke. Did you know there’s no train from New York after eight at night until like three in the morning? I had to sit in the train station all night; then, I had to switch to the bus before I took a cab the rest of the way. I’m beat; I’m going to bed.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as she nonchalantly headed for the stairs. Surely Felix bought her story, but I know my kid; there was something in her eyes when she looked at me just then.

GABRIEL

Gianna seemed like her normal self at breakfast, so I guess whatever embarrassment she’d felt upon waking up was gone, and since my body was somewhat back to normal, there was no harm done. Lancelot, who’d spent the night, was holding court at the breakfast table, keeping everyone in stitches with his antics while being spurred on by Pop.

She laughed along with the others in between bites of the oatmeal she’d asked for, maybe because I was having the same. Poor thing, she probably hates this nasty stuff as much as I do, but I down it because it’s good for me. She didn’t seem to mind, though, since she’d drowned it in cinnamon and fruit.

She looked even better today than she did the day before, which was by design. Yesterday was to reel them in; today is to show the way things were going to be from now on, her new normal, I guess you can call it. But maybe I’d overreached with the jeans; they look too good on her ass which for some reason seems to be the most well-proportioned one I’d ever seen.

The long-sleeved white tee covered with the tomato red down vest made her look sporty, the calf-length Hermes riding boots made the look more sophisticated. The hair that I’d brushed now shone, untethered by a hat or anything else; it just flowed around her like a cloak, drawing the eye and making me nervous.