CHAPTER 1
The clanging from the bell of the old phone on the nightstand rang straight through his ears and echoed somewhere in the back of his skull. The disturbance to his sleep pattern was annoying as he slowly stirred.Every time the phone rings at some ungodly hour it’s usually nothing but trouble, he thought, presuming that this time was not going to be an exception.
His first reaction was to hurl the offending instrument through the bedroom window, but at the last moment he changed his mind; it was mostly curiosity to discover who would be calling.
“What?” he groaned,“This better be good!”
“Jake? I didn’t wake you, did I?”
When she spoke, her voice brought back a tidal wave of memories, most of which were close to his heart—more like memories from heartbreak hotel.
He glanced at the digital clock on his dresser, which glowed back at him like the last embers of a campfire in the dead of night. It was 5:45 AM.
“I need to get up anyway.”
“Oh, baby, I‘m sorry,” she moaned into his ear.
Every time a woman out of your past calls you baby this early in a conversation, you just know they’re going to ask for help, he thought.Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to have answered the damn phone after all.
“What do you want, Karen?”
“Jake, I need your help. I’m in trouble.”
That didn’t take long, he thought.
“You’re the only one I could think of to call.”
He sat up on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t gotten much sleep, as he had worked a double shift the day before, not getting into bed until past midnight.
“Where are you? What’s wrong?”
“I’m at the airport in Chicago. I have to get out of here. I just didn’t know who else to turn to. I mean, well, you know? I hope you’re not angry with me.”
The words rushed out of her like spring runoff through an opened floodgate; her anxiety was obvious.
“What about the good doctor? What’s he got to say?” Jake said, referring to her husband of almost a year—the rich son of a bitch who had lured her away from him.
“He’s the reason I’m running. He turned weird in a major way the past few months. He’s gotten so full of himself just because he can remake someone’s face. It’s the same as being God to him. I’m really scared. I need to get out of here and get away from him. For good!”
“I’m not sure I can help you, Karen.”
“Before I married him. I mean, like, when we were still together, you once told me you could make both of us disappear. Remember, Jake? Remember? Can you help me do it now? I really need to disappear in a major way. I think my life is in danger!”
She now seemed on the verge of hysteria.
“Are you hurt? Has he done anything to you?”
“Yes and no. It’s complicated. I’ll explain it all to you when I see you. I just need to get out of here without him finding me. Will you help me, Jake, please?”
Although he would much rather have been having any conversation but this one, Jake was not the type to turn down a woman in distress—especially one who once had been a major part of his life.
“Okay, okay. I just need a few minutes. Give me the number where you’re at.”
Just then a prerecorded computer voice broke in demanding more money for another two minutes of phone time, but Karen managed to give him the number before being disconnected.
As Jake put the handset back in the cradle he scribbled down the number on a small pad next to the phone, and then dropped back down on the bed leaving his legs dangling over the edge. He closed his eyes, not to go back to sleep, but to think—to try to sort out Karen’s cry for help. He really didn’t need this complication in his life, for things were just getting close to being fine and dandy again.
His mind slid back to a place in time not so long ago. He and Karen had been great together for what seemed like an eternity. He had fallen madly in love with her, and he thought she was madly in love with him. At least she said she was, but things change. The day that Karen walked out was a day he wished he had never seen.
Karen Watson was the executive assista
