Hide & Seek - James Patterson [65]
“I'm going to San Francisco. I have to go, Will,” I told him a few weeks after his “incident” in New York. He was still acting strange, but he was good around Jennie and Allie, so I didn't complain too much.
“What?” Will barely glanced up from the TV. He seemed to get lost in whatever he was doing lately. Sometimes he looked a thousand miles away, spaced out, when I tried to talk to him. I didn't understand what was happening. How could I? There was an invisible wall between us.
“They've asked me to do a benefit concert at Candlestick Park, and I've accepted. I need to sing again, Will. It's been too long.”
He clicked off the TV and turned to face me. He'd been watching the game in a T-shirt and shorts, which always made me think that he was waiting to be called in from the bench. He was still amazingly fit, and looked ready to play. “Without asking if I wanted to come along?” he said.
“It's probably best if I go alone. Barry'll be there—”
“That asshole.”
“—and we'll be releasing the record as soon as we can after the performance.” I had no inclination either to sugarcoat my plans, or to say what I really felt, which was “at least I tell you when I'll be gone.”
“So you decided to go to California, just casual-like.” His face was turning red. His eyes protruded, wild. One of these times, he's going to go off, isn't he? I said to myself.
He turned on me in a fury. “What am I anyway? Some bloody footman in this house? Is that it, Maggie?”
“Who said you were? I don't feel that way. God. What's happening to you? Can you please explain that to me?”
“I say where you go, and don't go! Got that?” Suddenly, I could hear Phillip. Almost the exact same tone of voice.
But I managed to stay calm, at least on the outside. “No you don't, Will. You can decide about your life, not mine.”
He rose from his chair and walked toward me. I held my ground. He stood motionless and glared at me with dark, suspicious eyes.
I didn't like this. Not the look, not the threatening body language. I had never seen him like this, and suddenly I was afraid.
His hand flashed out! There was no way I could avoid it.
With a roar, he struck my cheek, strafing across the left side of my face. His backhand caught me a second time and sent me reeling backwards.
It was as though two explosions had gone off inside my head. I couldn't believe it! He'd never hit me before. Never raised a hand, never threatened.
“You're not going to San Francisco!” he screamed. “You're not leaving me, you bitch!”
He drew back his hand for another blow, but then he stopped and let both hands fall to his sides.
It was as though he'd had second thoughts, or come to his senses, almost as though he were another person.
“Okay,” he said. “Go to San Francisco. I don't care what you do, Maggie.”
I began to shake all over. I wouldn't let myself cry. Then, I began to tremble, badly. My legs felt useless. My arms too.
“I'm taking Allie and Jennie,” I told him. I could barely speak, or even look at Will. “You can't stop us. Don't try.”
CHAPTER 77
BATTERY.
He hit me.
This can't be me.
The lyrics to my own song played in my head. I was staring vacantly through the jet's oblong window, my eyes climbing a mountain range of snow-white clouds. Beside me, Allie lay asleep, his furry head nudging my lap. Across the aisle, Jennie was listening to something with her airplane earphones.
Both of them were happy to be going with me. They had no idea about my trouble with Will. The concert coincided with Jennie's vacation. Allie always wanted to be at my side, and usually was. The three of us were so close that we'd come up with the acronym JAM. Jennie, Allie, Maggie. We'd never changed it to include Will.
Coming off the plane, I was aware of the usual stares and hellos from total strangers. Some tried to get my autograph, nearly trampling us with their efforts; others reached out to touch me, as though the contact would somehow grant celebrity status to them as well.
Celebrity!
If only they knew what it really meant to be famous … to have so many