Chapter Five

His mother had denied it, but he knew her well enough to know when she was lying. There had been letters. He didn’t know when they’d arrived, but he could tell by her voice that she’d never intended for him to receive them.

“John, be reasonable. She just a little nobody who twisted you into knots. Why would you want to have anything more to do with her? Please tell me you’re not serious about this letter nonsense.”

He’d merely glared at her and turned away. When she was like this, there was no talking to her. Obviously, there was something to hide, since she was trying so hard to make light of the situation.

He lay on his bed in the dark, thinking. His back was killing him. He’d been back in Chicago a week and he wasn’t sleeping any better than when he’d left. He had to see her.

The next morning Susan Lewis’ telephone again woke her up.

Struggling to answer it without opening her eyes, she squinted at her alarm clock and bit out, “Yeah.”

“Susan, it’s me.”

“What the hell, Carter? Do you take some kind of sick pleasure in this? I was sleeping. It’s only,” struggling to see the clock without her contacts in, “six-thirty.”

“Actually, it’s eight-thirty.”

“Whatever. What do you want?”

“You were right,” he said. “I think I need to see Abby.”

At this, she sat up. “Okay, let me get her number.” Susan trudged to her purse and got out her address book. “You so owe me for this, you know?”

“I know.”

Susan rattled off Abby’s home number, but then said, “Wait, it’s eight-thirty? She’ll be at work. You should call her there. Maybe meet her for lunch or something.”

“Okay, where does she work?”

Susan gave him the doctor’s name and number, then rang off and fell back into bed. She’d just gotten home after working twenty-four hours and was understandably exhausted. However, she forgot to call Abby and give her a heads up before she drifted back into oblivion.