Scared To Death (Live to Tell #2)(40)
Elsa herself might have sent the photos.
She wasn’t in any of them, and they were taken at times when she would have been alone with Renny.
Just as she was alone with Renny when that window was open after the nightmare, and when she found the footprint in the mud, and Spider-Man…
It doesn’t make sense, but…
What if some paranoid, delusional fragment of her brain just splintered off, and…
But why? Why would she—why would her brain—want to create the illusion that Renny is in danger?
He doesn’t understand, but then it wouldn’t be the first time. He didn’t understand how she was seeing and talking to Jeremy after he disappeared, but she was convinced he was really there. And he didn’t believe that she would actually try to kill herself even though she talked for months about wanting to die, and…
And this time, I know that anything is possible.
No, he’s not going to call the police. Not yet, anyway. That would just guarantee that they’d lose Renny, and for what?
If there is an outside threat, then the first thing to do is get Elsa and Renny to a safe place and assess the situation with Mike.
If there’s no outside threat, then he has to get Elsa the help she needs.
One thing is certain: No matter how fragile she is, she’d never, ever, ever hurt Renny or let anything happen to her.
They arrive at the station to find the red brick building nearly deserted. Brett hurriedly buys two tickets on the next southbound train, which happens to be running fifteen minutes late.
“Otherwise, you would have missed it,” the attendant informs him. “Guess this is your lucky day!”
“Guess so.” Brett’s smile is strained as he takes the tickets from her.
When he first suggested this morning that Elsa take Renny to New York, he’d been trying to humor her. A change of scenery would be good for her, he figured, and by the time she was ready to come home, her paranoia would have blown over. He never imagined that the situation would escalate the way it has.
Elsa rests her head on his shoulder as they wait beneath an overhang, watching the rain drip miserably onto the tracks. The platform, too, is sparsely populated: just a young businessman in a suit and an elderly woman dressed in so many layers you’d think it was February instead of June. Neither seems to pay any attention to the Cavalons. Brett notices that Elsa is keeping a wary eye on them anyway.
“You don’t have to worry,” he reminds her in a whisper. “Even you didn’t know you were going to be here until an hour ago, so the chances that someone could be lying in wait for you here are—”
“What if the house is bugged, though?” Seeing his expression, she adds quickly, “I know it sounds crazy, but we did talk about the train at home…”
Crazy.
Oh, Elsa…
“But really,” she goes on, “is it any more crazy than anything that’s already happened?”
He shakes his head.
Mike. He needs to talk to Mike about this.
As soon as he gets Elsa and Renny on the train, he’ll call Mike.
Maybe it was wrong not to go ahead and call the police, he thinks again.
But then he looks down at Renny—at her sweet, hopeful face, waiting for the train to pull in and carry her and Mommy away on an adventure—and he knows he can’t risk it. Not yet. There’s no way the agency is going to allow her to stay on with them under the circumstances. Not if someone is stalking them, and not if Elsa is losing touch with reality again.
Is it selfish of Brett not to want to give her up—even for her own good?
But who’s to say she’d be any safer anywhere else? If she is in danger, Brett refuses to believe that anyone in the world would fight for Renny the way he and Elsa will. They know how dangerous the world can be, and they would die for her, both of them.
I don’t care what the paperwork says or doesn’t say. We’re her parents, and we’re not going to let anything happen to her. And if Elsa needs help, I’ll get her help. But losing Renny—she couldn’t bear that.
He keeps his arm around Elsa and a protective hand on Renny’s shoulder as she excitedly watches the track for the train. She’s never ridden the rails and was thrilled, back at the house, when they told her of the change in plans.
Now, when a whistle sounds in the distance, Brett can’t decide if it’s too soon or not soon enough.
Renny bounces excitedly. “It’s coming! It’s coming!”
Elsa looks up at him and he kisses her forehead. “I hate that we have to leave you here.”
“Someone has to stay and figure out what the hell is going on.”
“Call me as soon as you get there.”
“I will.”
“You’ll be safe in your mother’s building.”
“I know. I’m not worried about us.”
“I’ll be safe, too.”
“You’ve got to talk to Mike.”
“I will.”
Brett releases her and swings Renny up into his arms as the train clangs into the station. “Have fun on the train and in New York, sweetheart.”
“I will, Daddy. I wish you could come with us.”
“So do I, but I have to go to work. When it’s time for Disney World, though—” He breaks off, his throat thick. He buries his face in her soft, dark hair for a moment, then smooths it as he sets her back on her feet.