Danielle Steel - Passion's Promise

A light green Ford trailed them all day long, and it depressed Luke to realize they were being followed that closely. He didn’t say anything to Kezia, but something in her manner led him to suspect that she knew too. There was more than a faint air of bravado, of each trying to reassure the other, by pretending not to see all the terrors around them … or simply the passing of time. The hearing was right in front of their faces, and Lucas noticed that the cops stuck much closer now, as though they thought he’d suddenly bolt and run. But to where? He knew enough not to run. How long could he have gotten away with something like that? Besides, he couldn’t have taken Kezia. And he couldn’t have left her. They had him; they didn’t have to breathe down his neck.

They stopped for dinner at a Chinese restaurant on their way back, and then went to the hotel to relax. They had to meet Alejandro’s plane at ten o’clock that night.

The plane was on time and Alejandro was among the first through the doors.

“Hey, brother, what’s your hurry?” Lucas stood lazily propped against the wall.

“It must be New York. It’s getting to me. How’s it going, man?” Alejandro looked worried and tired, and felt suddenly out of place when he saw the look on their faces, happy, relaxed, with windburn tans and pink cheeks from the sun. It was almost as though he had come out for no reason. What could be wrong in the lives of two people who looked like that?

“Hey! Guess what?” Kezia’s eyes glowed. “We’re engaged!” She held out the ring for his inspection.

“Beautiful. Congratulations! We’re going to have to drink to that!” Luke rolled his eyes and Kezia groaned.

“We did that one last night.”

“‘We,’ my ass. She did. Shitfaced to the gills.”

“Kezia?” Alejandro looked amused.

“Yup, on champagne. I drank about two bottles all by myself.” She said it with pride.

“From your flask?”

She laughed at the memory of Christmas and shook her head, as they went to claim his bags. They had brought the limousine; the Mustang had been returned.

The banter in the car on the way into the city was light and easy, bad jokes, silly memories, Alejandro’s account of his trip, complete with a woman in labor and another woman who had smuggled her French poodle aboard under her coat and then threatened hysterics when the stewardess tried to take the dog away.

“Why do I always get on those flights?”

“You should try flying first-class.”

“Sure, brother, you bet. Hey, what’s with the fruity brown shoes?” Kezia laughed and Lucas looked pained.

“Man, you ain’t got no class at all. They’re Guccis.”

“Look like fruit shoes to me.” The three of them laughed and the car pulled up in front of the hotel.

“It’s not much, but we call it home.” Luke was in high spirits as he waved grandly to the towering palace that was the Fairmont.

“You guys certainly travel in style.” They had offered him the couch in the living room of their suite. It pulled out to make an extra bed.

“You know, Al, they’ve got a little old guy who walks around in the lobby just making ‘F’s in the sand in the ashtrays.” Alejandro rolled his eyes, and the three of them chuckled again. “It’s the little things that make the difference.”

“Up your ass, man.”

“Please, not in front of my fiancée.” Luke looked mock prim.

“You guys really engaged? For real?”

“For real.” Kezia confirmed it. “We’re going to get married.” There was steel in her voice, and hope, and life, and tears, and fear. They would get married. If they got the chance.

None of them mentioned the hearing and it wasn’t until Kezia started to yawn that Luke began to look serious.

“Why don’t you go on to bed, babe? I’ll be in, in a bit.” He wanted to talk to Alejandro alone, and it was easy to know what about. Why couldn’t he share his fears with her? But it wouldn’t do to look hurt. It wouldn’t have served any purpose.

“Okay, darling. But don’t stay up too late.” She kissed him gently on the neck and blew a kiss to Alejandro. “Don’t get too drunk, you guys.”

“Look who’s talking.” Luke laughed at the thought.

“That’s different. I was celebrating my engagement.” She tried to look haughty, but started to laugh as he swatted her behind and gave her a kiss.

“I love you. Now beat it.”

“Night, you guys.”

She lay awake in their bed and watched the line of light under the bedroom door until three. She wanted to go out there, to tell them that she was scared shitless too, but she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t do it to Luke. She had to keep a stiff upper lip. Noblesse oblige, and all that shit.

She saw the next morning that Luke hadn’t gone to bed all that night. At six in the morning, he had finally fallen asleep where he sat, and Alejandro had quietly laid down on the couch. They all had to be up by eight.

The hearing was at two, and Luke’s attorney was due at the Fairmont at nine for a briefing. It would probably be the first time that Alejandro would hear it all straight. Luke had a way of clouding the issues, to spare his friends fear. And he knew that Kezia wouldn’t let herself speak what she thought. Alejandro got nothing from Kezia now, and nothing from Luke except bullshit and bravado. The only real thing he had heard was to “take care of Kezia, in case.” And that was going to be no easy task. That girl was going to take it harder than hell if he fell.

For a brief moment before he went to sleep, Alejandro almost wished that he hadn’t come. He didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to watch it happen to Luke, or see Kezia’s face when it did.

Chapter 26

The attorney arrived at nine, bringing tension with him. Kezia greeted him with a formal “good morning,” and made the introduction to “Our friend, Mr. Vidal.” She poured coffee and commented what a beautiful day it was. That’s when things started to go sour. The attorney gave a terse little laugh that set Kezia’s nerves on edge. She was suspicious of him anyway. He was renowned for his skill at hearings like Luke’s, for which he charged five thousand dollars. Lucas had insisted on paying it himself with his savings. He had set aside money for that, “just in case.” But Kezia didn’t like the man’s style—overconfident, overpaid, and overbearing. He assumed far too much.

The attorney looked around the room and felt the chill vibes from Kezia, and then made matters worse by putting his foot in his mouth. She was a most unnerving young woman.

“My father used to say on mornings like this, ‘Could be a beautiful day to die.’” Her face grew ashen and taut and Luke gave her a look that said “Kezia, don’t blow it!” She didn’t, for Luke’s sake, but she smoked twice as much as she ordinarily did. Luke made no pretense: at nine in the morning, he was drinking bourbon straight up. Alejandro chain-drank cold coffee. The party was over.

The meeting lasted two hours, and at the end of it they knew nothing more than they had before. No one did. There was no way to know. It all depended on the Adult Authority and the judge. No one could read their minds. Lucas was in danger of being revoked for instigating “unrest” in the prisons, agitating, and basically meddling in what the parole board and prison authorities felt was no longer his business. They had the right to revoke him for less, and there was no denying Luke’s agitating. Everyone knew of it, even the press. He had been less than discreet in the years he’d been out. His speeches, his book, his meetings, his role in the moratorium against prisons, his hand in prison labor strikes across the country. He had gambled his life on his beliefs, and now they’d have to see what the price was. Worse, under the California indeterminate sentence laws, once he was revoked, the Adult Authority could keep him for as long as they liked. The attorney’s “probably not more than two or three years” only added to their collective gloom. No one held out much hope. For once, not even Luke. And Kezia was silent.