“Really? Were you anywhere near the explosion on Queen Street?”
“There was an explosion on Queen Street? Wow… what blew up?” Sarah asked in her most dumb-blonde voice. She wondered if she poured it on too thick as her voice squeaked with the higher pitch.
The officer eyed her too long. He looked in at Drake again. “You okay over there? You look a little pale.”
Drake nodded. “Yeah, just seriously hungry and her uncle cooks up a mean lasagna.”
The cop looked at Sarah and pointed at Drake. “He your boyfriend?”
Sarah glanced at Drake and then said, “Yes.”
What the fuck? Too soon. It came out too quick. Shit, what will Drake think now?
“Okay,” the officer said and stood to his full height. He adjusted his belt and stared at Sarah with what she thought was anger.
He’s going to fucking call us on our bullshit.
“A moment ago, you said our uncle and then your boyfriend said your uncle. So which is it, because I’m starting to wonder about you two.”
Now what?
Another cop walked up behind the one talking to them. “Everything okay here, Officer Jones?”
He turned around, “Yeah, I got this. Just give me another second.”
“Okay, I’m going to make you pull over there so I can grill you and take you downtown and make things very difficult for as long as I can because I’m an asshole like that, and because I think you’re lying to me. But if you’re both just running away from mommy and you’re wasting my time by lying to me, then I need you out of my face. So here’s how it’s going to go.” He bent and placed his forearm along the door getting his face low enough to look in at Drake too. “Tell me the name of your uncle at the same time at the count of three. If you can do that, I’ll assume the story isn’t made up and you’re on the level. Deal?”
Sarah nodded, gritting her teeth.
He lifted his sleeve to look at his watch. “One. Two. Three.”
Please, say the same one as me.
“Uncle Rod,” they both said in perfect harmony.
The officer stood to his full height and knocked on the roof of their car to motion them through.
Sarah drove between the two cruisers and onto open road. They looked at each other and started breathing again.
They’d made it. Her heart beat in anticipation of what her life was about to become. They’d made it. They were out. But now she seemed even more afraid because of the man in the seat beside her. He could hurt her more than the bullets, bruises and fights she’d endured over the last five years.
Drake had a weapon that cut her on the inside.
If they began a relationship, she’d voluntarily walk into it and willingly make herself a target. That was something altogether foreign for her. She had no idea what to do.
Her hands shook on the wheel of Ferenci’s car. She wondered if Drake would notice. Her face felt flush.
What the hell is wrong with me? Do I or don’t I? Would I or won’t I?
But she had no choice now.
“That was close,” Drake said.
“Very,” Sarah said.
She focused on her driving as the afternoon sun beat down on the windshield.
Chapter 37
One Month Later…
The waiter directed them to a quiet table by an old train car near the center of the restaurant. Sarah gawked at the sight of the train car, having come to love the uniqueness of Toronto.
Sarah pulled out her own chair and sat. It had been a month since Ferenci had tried to kill Drake at the baseball game. In that time she had set a few rules down for the romantic Drake. One of those had been that she would pull out all her own chairs. Wooing was nice, even pleasant at times, but she needed to go slow as a relationship violated her independence to the core. She told him she was willing to try, but it had to be friends first — spend time together — get to know one another. Then work from there.
Every event wasn’t a date and every date wasn’t an invitation or an expectation.
Drake had agreed without pause.
He sat across from her and smiled. “I just can’t believe it,” he said. “It’s finally over. Ferenci is dead. His hired muscle is in jail and Elmore is dead. I don’t know how we did it, but we’re the ones walking away.” He looked into her eyes. “Sometimes, I still can’t believe it. I never thought I would be happy that another human being was dead, but some people don’t deserve life.”
“They might want to think about banning police scanners too. I mean, Ferenci heard the call for all officers to respond to Elmore’s studio and beat the cops there by five full minutes. Because of that scanner, you could have been killed before anyone got there.”
Drake picked up the menu. “I know. I shudder when I think about it. When Ferenci opened Elmore’s trunk, I thought he’d shoot me on the spot. Using those fake cops to get to you almost worked.”
Sarah looked at the name on the menu. “The Old Spaghetti Factory. What made you pick this place for dinner? Is it good?”
“Sure. It’s one of the best in Toronto. Anyone who has been in this city for more than a decade has come here at least once.” Drake dropped his menu back to the table. “Sarah, what do you think of Toronto so far?”
Sarah smiled and set her menu down too. “It’s been amazing. I’ve never been this free. I’m finally, completely free. No one is stalking me or hunting me down. After what Rod did for me, I’m eternally grateful.”
She picked her menu up again and browsed the wine list while she thought about Rod. He’d gotten out of the hospital two weeks ago and headed back to the states alone, ready to retire from the Sophia Project. Sarah could have run from Elmore’s basement and left him to die. Instead, she had brought help in time to save his life. For that he’d told her that he would take her file and report it as unfounded. Sarah Roberts had no special abilities, he would say. As far as he was concerned, his agency would have no further interest in her. She could be free to do whatever she wanted without worry of their group anymore. Although she remembered his one caution: keep under the radar.
The waiter set fresh bread on their table. Sarah breathed in deeply as the smell wafted up. She ordered an Australian red and Drake chose a domestic beer.
She admired his ability to ignore his wounds. He’d healed quickly with an attitude that any physiologist would love. He repeatedly said his muscles would learn. Even though they ached and he limped, he refused to use a crutch of any kind. He’d walk on the bad leg until it learned to right itself. Sounded a little foolish to her at first, but he was coming along great, barely limping at all.
Parkman had flown back to his job as his leave of absence had ended. She missed him, but knew they’d see each other again soon. She wanted to take Drake to the states to meet Esmerelda and her daughter, Denise. She couldn’t take Drake all that way and not meet Dolan too. Whether she let Drake meet her parents or not was something she’d have to consider. How serious were they or how serious were they going to be?
“Tell me more about Vivian. When was the last time she got in touch?”
Sarah adjusted in her chair. “I miss hearing from her. She sent me a message a week ago apologizing for not helping more with Elmore. She had decided to stop with the messages as Armond had been dealt with and so had Ferenci. She felt she had put me in harm’s way too often. It’s all over, she claimed. I have tried to talk to her numerous times, but I still haven’t gotten a reply.”
“Tell me about Esmerelda and Dolan,” Drake said.
The waiter showed up with their drinks. Sarah sniffed her wine, spun it in the glass and then sipped. After another sip, she set it down.
“She’s a lovely woman. She lives with her daughter now. You’ll meet them one day.”
“How do you know her and Dolan?”
“Long story. Order me another glass of wine and I’ll tell you all about it. Our trip to the states will be great.” She took another sip. “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this free.”