Grizz
2001, Fort Lauderdale
He had just loaded up his groceries and was getting ready to climb into his car when he heard her.
“It’s you, isn’t it?”
He stopped dead in his tracks as he watched his daughter walk up to the passenger side of his car and jiggle the door handle. The same daughter that had tricked him with a phone call to the prison pretending to be her mother. He didn’t answer her but slowly scanned his surroundings.
“I’m alone. You are Grizz, aren’t you?” she asked quietly. He barely heard her over the noise in the parking lot.
He still didn’t answer.
“Did you have my father killed?” Her voice was calm, but he noticed the defiant tilt to her chin. He saw the same expression on her face he’d seen on her mother’s more than twenty-five years ago. The night he’d had Ginny brought to the motel. And again not fifteen minutes ago in the cereal aisle.
He didn’t answer her but got in the car, reached over to unlock her door and roll down her window.
“Get in,” he said.
Her eyes widened. So it is him. She didn’t know how it was possible, but she was right. She leaned down and looked at him through the passenger window.
“Why? So you can have me murdered, too? Then who’s next? My little brother? Then you can kidnap my mom like you did all those years ago and disappear?”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew she shouldn’t have said them. Leslie had shared with her some of the things he’d done. Her mother had confirmed part of it. But Ginny had also shared stories of their love, a love she believed to be a true one. Mimi knew Grizz would never hurt her mother. Could she trust her gut, which told her he hadn’t had anything to do with Tommy’s death and would never do anything to bring harm to her and Jason, as well? She was on the fence. But not for long. She’d just lived through the most painful few months in her life. What do I have to lose?
She climbed in and slammed the door behind her.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t look at her. He just turned the key, and the loud engine roared to life. He pulled out onto the main road. Then, after driving for only a few minutes, he pulled over at the next shopping center. He parked under a shady tree far from the stores and turned off the engine. He looked over at her.
“Never. I mean fucking never are you to climb into a car with a strange man. Never!” His voice was a low growl.
It had taken less than three minutes to drive from one parking lot to the next, and she’d watched him the whole time. This was the last thing she expected him to say.
He held up a hand as she opened her mouth to speak. “And before you give me some teenage lip that I’m not your father and can’t tell you what to do, you need to know I would be saying this to any girl who asked me for a ride. Got that?”
She didn’t know what to expect, but it hadn’t been a reprimand. Especially since he was right. He’d interrupted her right before she could tell him he wasn’t her father. Darn it. Now what?
“You don’t need to be afraid of me, and if you know some of the things I’m pretty sure you do know about me, I can understand why you might be. But I didn’t have Tommy killed, and the last thing I’d ever do is cause harm or allow anyone near you, your mother, or your little brother.”
He’d now turned to face her. He took off his sunglasses, and gave her a level look.
They say the eyes are the window to the soul. In the depths of his gaze, Mimi knew what he said was true. She blew out a long breath.
But how was it even possible she was having a conversation with a man who’d been executed last summer?
They talked for almost thirty minutes. Actually, she asked questions and he gave answers.
Finally, he said, “I need to get you home.”
“You’re going to take me home?” she blinked.
“Yeah. I’m going to take you home.”
“I…I…I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. Aren’t you supposed to be dead? What if one of our neighbors recognizes you? And what were you even doing in a grocery store, right here in South Florida? I mean, shouldn’t you be in hiding?”
He laughed. “It’s called hiding in plain sight, and it’s not too hard.” His tone changed then, and he gave her a serious look. “It doesn’t mean I want to be seen or recognized. I’m James Kirkland now. I might resemble Jason Talbot, but I’m not him, and I don’t make a habit of being out.”
“So if somebody does recognize you and tries to report it, what will you do? Will you kill them?” Her eyes were wide.
“I see your mother has been truthful about me.” He didn’t know whether he was sorry or relieved.
She nodded, and he recognized something in her expression. She was impressed.
He didn’t like it.
“I’m not the same person I used to be,” he said firmly.
“Will you go inside with me? Will you talk to Mom?”
She wasn’t sure where she was going with this. She couldn’t fathom her heart or her intentions, but she had come to several realizations in the last half-hour. First, she knew she had no reason to be afraid of him. Second, the wannabe journalist in her was intrigued. Three, she’d stumbled across something far more interesting than Slade Bear or her friend Lindsay’s latest shopping trip.
And fourth, her inner spirit was telling her this man, her biological father, would be instrumental in making her mother happy again.
And for some reason, her mother’s happiness had suddenly become very, very important to her.