Cherry Two

Part 5

Chapter 3

James knew Calley would work hard when bribed. Schooling came ridiculously easy to the girl, unlike himself who had to struggle for every grade. With a college scholarship assured he felt easier, knowing Calley would not turn out the same as that orphaned fool she called her dad.

At Heathrow's Terminal 2 the PA system announced boarding for British Airways flight BA772—Airbus to Los Angeles via New York. Kate and James gave Calley one last hug before letting their daughter slip away through the security gate and out of sight.

Kate sniffed and fought not to cry. "She's so young. Have we done the right thing?"

Peter tugged at his mother's sleeve. "While she's away, can I have Calley's room like you said?"

She ruffled the boy's hair with her free hand. "Oh, alright. I want you to keep it tidier than she did."

"Just being here like this brings back uneasy memories," James said as they strolled slowly through the busy departures hall. "That day it felt like I would burst a blood vessel with excitement. My cousin saw it in my face. Had I been able to see into the future properly... I would never have boarded that plane."

Kate brought him to a stop. "What do you mean-see into the future properly? Why won't you tell me what happened inside your head? I've always known there was more to that story. Things you're not telling anyone."

He drew Kate to him and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "They say I'm cured now, so let's leave it at that. I must be cured, letting my only daughter fly away to a place that frightens me half to death."

"Sonia will tell her things, won't she?"

James swallowed and colored up. "I expect she will. If Calley looks at me strange when she gets back I'll know why. Come on. I told monster man here we'd go for a pizza before we went home."

Peter broke away and ran to the automatic sliding doors, waving his arms at the sensor. "Oh, yeah. I wish Calley would go away more times."

***

It felt strange in the house without Calley, even though the girl phoned every day. She exploded with news, hardly letting James or Kate ask anything in return. James was eventually able to speak with Sonia in private, whose voice sounded just the way it had almost a quarter century earlier, and raised instant gooseflesh on his arms and neck.

"Oh, James... she's beautiful," Sonia whispered into the phone. "My heart stopped when I saw her. My sister is reincarnated."

"Be careful," James exhaled. "Calley's more like Calley than you realize." A latent image popped into his mind—the forbidden ménage a trios they'd created one summer all those years ago. He knew there were special reasons the American sisters had become physically attracted to each other, and Calley's loss had cut far deeper into Sonia than her oblivious father, Robert, ever suspected. Sonia had loved Calley to her core.

"We'll keep her safe. Keenan has been promoted again," Sonia replied, referring to her husband, Deputy Police Chief Keenan Devereux. "He's in charge of a major task force on city gang crime. The LA mayor is under pressure to get the kind of results Rudy Giuliani achieved in New York. We hardly see Keenan as it is. Calley is very taken with my boys Kent and Alain—especially Alain. You know he looks a lot like you. I emailed pictures."

"Yes, I have the ones you sent." James also lowered his voice. "Pictures have been the problem here all along. I kept them, Sonia. All those photos I took that summer. Don't ask me why. At least I can look at them now without getting the shakes."