James Patterson - Lifeguard

“Ned.”

I heard a familiar voice from outside. I shot up on my cot.

It was Ellie.

She looked so good , in a cute print skirt and a short linen jacket. I ran over to the bars. I just wanted to touch her. But I felt so ashamed in my orange jumpsuit, on the wrong side of the bars. I don’t know, but that might have been the most depressing moment of all.

“It’s going to be all right, Ned.” Ellie tried to look upbeat. “You’re going to answer all their questions. Tell them everything, Ned. I promise, I’ll see what we can do.”

“They think it was Liz, Ellie,” I said, shaking my head. “They think she was Gachet. That she set everything up, with her bodyguard. The art… They got it all wrong .”

“I know.” Ellie swallowed hard, clenching her jaw.

“He’s gonna get away with murder,” I said.

“No – ” she shook her head – “he’s not. Listen, though. Cooperate. Be smart, okay?”

“That would be a shift.” I gave her my best self-effacing smile. I searched her eyes. “So, hey, how’s it going for you?”

Ellie shrugged. “You made me a big hero, Ned. The press is all over me.”

She put her hand next to mine on the bar and glanced down the hall to see if anyone was watching. Then she wrapped her little finger around mine.

“I feel pretty ashamed, in here like this. Just like my father. I guess everything’s changed.”

“Nothing’s changed, Ned.” Ellie shook her head.

I nodded. I was a felon, about to plead guilty and go to prison. And she was an agent for the FBI. Nothing’s changed …

“I want you to know something…” Her eyes were glistening.

“What’s that?”

“I’m going to get him for you, Ned. I promise. For your friends. For your brother. You can count on it, Ned.”

“Thanks,” I whispered. “They put my bail at five hundred thousand dollars. Guess I’m gonna be in here for a while.”

“At least there’s one good thing that can come out of this…”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

She smiled coyly. “You can go back to being blond.” That got me to smile, too. I looked in Ellie’s eyes. God, I wanted to hug her. She squeezed my hand once more and gave me a wink. “So, I’ll have Champ crash through the wall at, say, 10:05?”

I laughed.

“Take it easy, Ned.” Ellie brushed her thumb tenderly against my hand. She started to back away. “I’ll see you. Before you even know.”

“You know where to find me.”

She stopped. “I meant what I said, Ned.” She looked me in the eye.

“About Stratton?”

“About all those things, Ned. About you .”

She gave a one-fingered wave and backed down the corridor. I sat back and took a look around at the small, cramped place that was going to be my home for a while. A cot. A metal toilet, bolted to the floor. I was psyching myself up to spend some quality time.

Ellie had been gone for only a couple of minutes when the heavy black cop appeared in front of the cell again. He inserted a key.

“The spa, right?” I pulled myself up. Guess they weren’t done with me yet.

“Not this time,” he laughed. “You just made bail.”

THEY LED ME to the Intake Center and handed back my clothes and my wallet. I signed a couple of forms and looked beyond the desk to the outer room. They hadn’t told me who had bailed me out.

Standing on the other side of the glass, outside the Intake area, was Sollie Roth.

The door buzzed open, and clutching my bundle, I stepped through. I put out my hand.

Sollie took it, smiling. “Like I said, kid, about your friends… the highest, kid, the highest .”

He put his arm around me and led me down the stairs into the garage. “I don’t know how to thank you,” I said. And I meant it.

Sol’s latest car pulled up – a Caddie. The driver hopped out.

“Don’t thank me so much,” he said as the driver opened the rear door, “as her .”

Ellie was sitting in the backseat.

“Oh God, you’re great,” I said. I jumped in beside her and gave her a hug. Best hug of my entire life. Then I looked at those deep blue eyes and kissed her on the lips. I didn’t care whether anybody saw, whether it was wrong or right.

“If you two lovebirds don’t mind,” Sol said, clearing his throat in the front seat, “it’s late, I’m a few thousand poorer on account of you, and we have work to do.”

“Work?”

“Why am I under the impression there was someone you wanted to nail for murder?”

I couldn’t contain the grin spreading across my face. I squeezed Sol’s arm. It was hard to explain how warm I felt inside – these two people standing up for me.

“I figure we can beat the press by going out the back way,” Sol said, nudging his driver. “You mind your old room back at the house?”

“You mean I can just go back to the house?”

“You’re free to go where you want, Ned,” Ellie said. “At least, until your trial. Mr. Roth here took responsibility for you.”

“So, don’t get any ideas.” He shot a stern look back at me. “Besides, you still owe me two hundred bucks. And I aim to collect.”

I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was numb. I’d felt hunted for so long. Now I had people who believed in me, who would fight for me.

We got back to Sol’s house in a few minutes. The gates to his estate swung open and the Caddie pulled into the bricked courtyard in front. Sol turned to me. “I think you’ll find the place like when you left. In the morning, we’ll see about hooking you up with a good lawyer. That sound okay?”

“Yeah, Sol, that sounds great.”

“In that case, I’m going to bed,” he sighed. He said good night with a wink, and I was left with Ellie, staring up at my old place above the garage, realizing that for a few amazing moments, nobody was chasing me.

Ellie stood there, staring at me. There was an ocean breeze warming us through the swaying palms. For a second I drew her close and cupped her face in my hands. I wanted to tell her how much I appreciated what she’d done, but no words came out.

I bent and gave her another kiss. Her mouth was warm and moist, and this time there was nothing hesitant about it. When I was out of breath I pulled away. I let my hand linger on her breast. “So, Agent Shurtleff, what happens now?”

“Now,” Ellie said, “maybe we go upstairs, go over a few details about the case.”

“I thought that was wrong,” I said, taking her gently by the hand. I drew her close, felt her heart beating, felt her tight little body fit into mine.

“Way wrong,” Ellie said, looking up at me, “but who’s counting now?”

THERE WAS NO holding back this time. It was a struggle just to drag ourselves up the stairs. Our mouths were locked and we were pawing at each other’s clothing the second we stumbled through the door.

“What was it you wanted to discuss?” I said, and grinned, undoing the buttons on Ellie’s jacket.

“I don’t know…” she said. She wiggled out of her blouse. She had a wonderful body. I had seen it the day I caught her kayaking. This time I wanted all of it. I pulled her close to me.

“I want you to know,” she said, pulling at my belt, then tunneling her hand down my jeans. I was as hard as granite. “You’re still going to jail. No matter how good this is.”

“That’s not much incentive,” I said. My hands traveled down her spine and into her skirt. I eased the zipper down and helped her slink out of the skirt, until it fell to the floor.

“Try me,” Ellie said.

I picked her up in my arms and laid her softly on the bed. I kicked off my pants. She arched her back, slithered gracefully out of her panties, and smiled.