Chapter 30

Mira grasped his arm and spun him around as soon as he cleared the side exit. “Have you lost your ever-loving mind?” she shrieked at him, and he growled a little inside because he didn’t have time for this. “You don’t exploit the woman you’re sleeping with like that!”

Ian tried to walk away from his niece, but she grabbed his arm again and spun him in a circle -- a game she used to think was funny -- making him loose his bearings. He’d never found that particular antic amusing. “Damn it, Mira,” he huffed at her. “I’m not in the mood for your nonsense tonight. Ophelia...”

“Oh, yes, Ophelia,” she said to him, derisively. “That’s exactly who I want to talk about.”

“Not now,” Ian said, stepping past her only to run into the door. Son of a...biscuit-eater! He did a one-eighty, pricking his ears to make sure he catalogued all the sounds correctly. Street to his left, the hollow whooshing of wind blowing through a dark alley to his right...parking lot straight ahead. He took three steps and knocked into Mira. “Would you stop that?”

“What were you thinking, Uncle Ian? I told you, you couldn’t play around with her, didn’t I? I warned you that she wasn’t the same kind of woman you’re used to, didn’t I? I told you she was out of your comfort zone. Do you even realize what you’ve done?”

Ian shifted to go around her. She moved into his path. “Mira! Get out of my way! I’m going to apologize, for crying out loud! You should be helping me out instead of hindering me.”

“Oh! An apology! Yeah, that’ll fix things.”

“I had the gallery manager take down the piece,” he added in a slower tone.

She stuffed her hands on her hips so fiercely, he felt the ground shake under his feet. “Why?” she demanded.

“Why what?”

“Why did you take it down?”

“Because,” he replied gruffly and attempted to move pass her again.

“That’s not an answer,” she said getting in his way again.

“Because they were leering at her!” he shouted. “They’re not supposed to be looking at her that way!”

Mira’s voice turned haughty and superior. “So...you don’t like the way your customers looked at your masterpiece, is that it? You got jealous of them seeing Opehlia that way? Or is it because they’re not looking at it the way you envisioned them? Like a petulant child that drew a beautiful flower and everyone thinks it’s a bumblebee. Do you even understand?!”

“Of course, I understand,” he returned, frowning slightly. What was she talking about?

“Please, Uncle Ian,” Mira said, gaining control of her temper. “Don’t lie to me. I can always tell.”

“Okay, fine...I don’t understand. Ophelia’s mad because I carved her naked and everyone saw it. And I get that, so what am I missing here?”

“It’s not just that you made her naked, Uncle Ian,” Mira said. “Any woman with a body like that should be proud of it, but you exploited her. You abused her trust. And for someone like Ophelia, that’s a big thing. Noah told me all about her parents and her childhood, and I know Ophelia told you about that as well.”

Ian averted his face. Damn! All those hours of Ophelia describing her past and how her father used women to gain advantage in a case, ignoring his own wife and daughter and their wishes...all her previous relationships, a total of four men since college that used Ophelia to their own personal means, men who slowly drove her crazy with their monotony and persistently ignored her wants and needs in the bedroom, and Ian had been no better. He’d been worse. He’d gained possession of more than just her body and time, something she allowed him freedom to explore, and in return, he profited from it through his art...without her permission.

Now he understood.

“You finally get it, don’t you?” Mira asked, apparently seeing the awareness bloom on his face. “There are few things that each person gets as their own, Uncle. And we, women, are more protective of ours.”

“I didn’t ask permission,” he said hollowly.

“No, you didn’t,” Mira complied. “We each possess a name, a body, and right to protect those. And you desecrated all of Ophelia’s tonight. Frankly, I don’t think she should give you an apology. I think she should tie you to a merry-go-round upside down and leave you to spin around it for a few hours.”

“Now, that’s just cruel,” he said. “I understand, Mira. We’ll be able to talk about this, because now I know why she’s really upset. Will you move out of my way and let me go to her?”

Mira stood there for a long moment. Then she slid to the side and called after him, “Yeah, well, when you screw that up, too, don’t come looking for me to help you! I’ll be busy with my boyfriend! He understands me!! He’s not happy with you either!!!”

Ian waved over his shoulder at his pesky niece as he whistled for Bruno and the limousine. Bruno’s shrill return-whistle helped him locate his transportation.

*****

“You’re not sticking around, are you?” Tiki asked quietly when Ophelia dropped her off at the apartment complex, the car’s engine still idling.

Ophelia looked up at her home. “I have to get out of here, Tiki. He’ll come searching for me. I just know it, and I don’t want to see him.”

“From what you told me, he may never understand, Ophelia,” she said.

“I know, and that’s why I don’t want to be here when he comes for me.”

Tiki chewed on her lip for a moment. “It’s art, Phe.”

Ophelia closed her eyes and felt the sting of tears. “No, it’s not, Tiki. Not to me. He had no right.”

“No, he didn’t, and I’m still not defending him. I’m just trying to explain it to you…as an artist myself.” She unbuckled her seat belt and gingerly let it slide back into its hole. “We see the world differently. Everywhere we look, we see the potential for a masterpiece, and we strive to portray it. Ian saw real beauty in you.”

“Oh, I saw the beauty, all right.”

She smiled gently. “But did you really? I know that when I first saw that sculpture, the thing that stood out was the nudity…”

Ophelia groaned and hung her head on the steering wheel.

“But there was more, if you had just looked closer. You told me the sex with him was great, and that he made you feel like a real woman…and he showed that. He depicted you as a true woman, flaunting the honest to God reason men are so enamored with us.”

Peeking out the side of her eyes, she stared at Tiki. “Yeah, we all know why men are enamored with us, and Ian showed them mine.”

She smiled. “Yes, he did. And you’re beautiful and sexy and sensuous and fresh and innocent all at the same time.”

Ophelia sighed and leaned back against the head rest. “Please, Tiki. Don’t. I need you to be on my side here.”

Tiki gathered up her shoes off the floorboard and said, “I’m on your side, Phe. Believe me, I am. If Ian pokes his head around here tonight, I’ll smash it with my curling iron…and I’ll heat it up first.”

Laughing a little and feeling a little better, she turned to Tiki. “Thanks, but that won’t be necessary. I’m just gonna leave town for a few days. Cool my head, I guess.”

“So, you’re not going to the hotel and stay with your parents?”

Ophelia snorted. “And listen to Daddy rant and rave all night? No, thank you. I’d rather rip out all my toenails one by one.”

“That could be painful,” Tiki quipped. “Then where will you go? Especially dressed like that?”

She looked down at the evening gown that she bought just for tonight. It cost her a lot more than she would have been willing to pay otherwise, but it was lovely, and Ophelia thought about burning it the first chance she got. “I don’t know. I’ve got my credit cards. Maybe I’ll rent a cabin up in the Ozarks for a couple of days.”

Tiki considered that, and then she dug through the glove compartment for a pen and a gas station receipt. She scribbled something on the back of the paper. “Jessie, my sister, owns a house down on Lake Hamilton. We all use it, but I’m pretty sure it’s empty this weekend.” She handed over the address. “There’s a spare key under the garden gnome, and if any of the neighbors give you grief, have them call me. Jessie keeps some clothes there and the pantry is stocked.”

Ophelia smiled at her friend with tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” she said kindly and patted Ophelia’s arm. “Take all the time you need to unwind, and don’t worry about the bookstore. Tandy and I can handle it for a few days.”

“And Ian?”

She grinned evilly. “I’ll handle him, too.”

*****

Bruno stopped the limousine outside of Ophelia’s apartment. “Her car ain’t here, Ian,” Bruno called back. “You still want to see if she’s home?”

“Yeah, I do,” Ian said, getting out of the car. His pulse picked up speed with every step up to her door. Eerie silence came out of the night. Already, he could tell, she wasn’t home, but he had to try to talk to her, to apologize and supplicate himself on her mercy. He loved her too much to not try…to give up so soon.

He knocked and waited. No answer. He knocked again.

“She’s gone,” Tiki’s voice rang up, scorn mingled with a hint of sympathy coloring her voice. “She doesn’t want to see you.”

He turned and picked his way down the stairs. “Where is she? I have to talk to her.”

It seemed that she shook her head. “I can’t tell you…I’m sorry.”

That caught his attention. Compassion from Tiki? “I was wrong,” he told her. “I need to speak to her, to tell her I was so very wrong. I took down the sculpture. I’m going to burn it. Please, Tiki, I love her. Where is she?”

She sighed heavily. “You know I promised her that if you showed your face here tonight, I’d whack it with my curling iron…but I’m not going to.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. So, you’ll tell me where she went off to?”

“No,” she said. “I won’t.”

“Why?”

“Because she doesn’t want to see you,” she said in a tone that sounded like she was scolding a child.

“But I want to apologize,” he repeated, getting to the end of his rope.

“But she doesn’t want to hear it,” Tiki said in the same ropey tone.

Ian sank into himself. “Can you at least tell me when she’ll be back? Tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. She said a couple of days. That could be tomorrow, or it could be next week.”

He asked no more leniencies from her. Getting back into the limo, he sat and thought about what to do. Bruno shifted to look over his shoulder through the glass divider. “Where to, Ian?”

“I don’t know…just let me think for a moment.”

“Sure thing,” Bruno said and turned back around. After a few seconds, he offered, “Maybe she went back to the store…”

“I don’t think so,” Ian replied. “She’d know I’d look for her there next.”

“Didn’t you say her parents were in town?”

Ian couldn’t believe that she’d go running back to Daddy Masters, after all she told Ian about her father. It seemed Tiki was the only person who knew where she ran off to, and she wasn’t talking. There must be a way to find out…without Tiki’s help. He had to talk to Ophelia. He had to explain. He had to tell her he loved her and he’d never hurt her ever again, if she’d only give him another chance.

But he couldn’t think of a way to find her and going back to his loft held no appeal. Joey would be there to keep him company, but other than Mira, he really wasn’t all that close with anyone else. And Mira said she’d be with her boyfriend and not to bother her when he struck out.

Noah! Ophelia’s cousin. Of course…the computer geek. Ophelia would have her cell phone with her. He could track her that way. “Hey, Bru…”

“Yeah?”

“Take me to the bookstore.”

“But you said she wouldn’t be there,” Bruno argued.

“Yeah, but her cousin will be.”

“Alright,” Bruno sighed and started the car. Parking outside the deserted bookstore, his driver rotated again in his seat and said, “It’s dark inside. Where’s this cousin of hers live anyway?”

“Upstairs in an apartment,” Ian answered, rushing to get out of the limo. “I’ll need some help finding the stairwell in the back. Can you lead me?”

“Sure thing, Ian.” Bruno held out his arm, and Ian grasped the big man’s beefy elbow. Gingerly, they skirted the side of the store and located the metal stairs that led up to the second floor. “Want some help up there?”

“No, I can handle it. Just stick around, okay?”

“I ain’t going anywhere,” Bruno scoffed and leaned against the brick exterior to wait. Ian carefully tackled the stairs, one at a time, since he’d never been here before, counting them as he went. A metal door greeted him at the top, and he tried the handle. It opened, but he wasn’t sure if he stepped into the apartment or just a hallway.

Muffled giggles and shallow grunts told him that he entered Noah’s apartment. The underlying hum of electronics hurt his sensitive eardrums, and the lingering scent of candles and something that distinctly smelled like…well, it smelled like sex, and it hurt his nostrils. Oookaay…

“Noah, you in here?” he called out, lingering by the door so he didn’t interrupt the couple.

“Uncle Ian?!” Mira’s startled exclamation made him grin. “You’ve got a lot of nerve, you know that?”

The hurried swish of clothes being thrown on had him scratching his nose. “You know I can’t see, right?” he said. “There’s no need to cover yourselves. I just need to ask Noah something.”

The boy treaded closer, embarrassment and animosity so thick in the air that Ian felt compressed in it. “What do you want?”

“Well, I don’t want to keep you…” Ian replied. “You’re obviously busy. I just need a favor.”

Noah grumbled. “After what you did to Phe? I don’t think so, buster.”

“Yeah, about that…I need to apologize to her,” Ian said, and Noah growled, “Then go apologize. She’s not here.”

“Yes, I figured that out fairly quickly.”

Mira stomped up to him. “Go away,” she said hotly. “I’m not happy with you...now for two reasons.”

Ian shifted his stance, anchoring his hands on his cane and not budging. “I’d love to apologize to Ophelia,” he said, “but I can’t find her. That’s where you come in.”

“Get lost.”

Ian said, “No.”

Mira said, “Uncle Ian, I swear to God…”

And Ian said, “Swear all you want, but I’m not leaving until your boyfriend works his magic on that computer over there.”

He could feel both of their stares, but he refused to go away just yet. Finally, Mira breathed out with exasperation. “Just do what he wants, Noah. He’ll leave us alone then.”

“He ruined Phe-phe’s reputation tonight, Mira,” Noah said. “I’m not doing him any favors.”

Ian had to admire the boy’s loyalty, but in this case, he needed him too much to give in. “Please, Noah, I need your help. Do this one little thing for me, and I’ll leave, and you two can get back to…um, whatever you two were doing, and I’ll never ask you for anything ever again.”

Noah thought about that. Ian sensed his grin, and Noah said, “What are you gonna give me if I do this ‘one little thing’?”

Ian sighed. These two were perfect for each other. “How much do you want?”

Mira laughed. “Uncle Ian, Noah’s richer than you ten times over. I doubt he wants money.”

“Hey, now,” Noah replied quickly in a teasing tone. “Let’s not jump to conclusions here.”

Mira giggled and Ian heard her lean over and whisper in Noah’s ear. Then Noah laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. Okay, I’ll take that.”

“You’ll take what?” Ian asked, not really wanting to know, but what choice did he have?

“Your first born,” they both said in unison, and Ian groaned, “That again?”

“What are you gonna do with it?” Mira asked. “It’s not like you’re using it right now.”

“That’s because it doesn’t exist,” Ian retorted, getting tired of their games.

“No biggie,” Noah said. “We can wait.”

“Fine, whatever,” Ian said. “Now, will you help me?”

“Yeah, sure. What do you need from me?”

Ian released the tension that had been building up since Tiki denied his request. “Can you track Ophelia’s cell phone? I need to know where she is so I can talk to her.”

“Why don’t you just call her?”

“Because she doesn’t want to talk to me,” he replied in as patient of a tone as he could.

“I can see where you’ve got a problem,” Noah said, and sat down at his computers. Ten minutes later, and a crap-load of clicks from the keyboard, the boy said, “She’s on the road. Going south. I can’t tell you any more until she stops.”

“That’ll do. What road is she on?”

“Right now? Interstate 30,” Noah replied, turning in his squeaky swivel chair to face Ian.

Ian frowned. “What’s down that way that she’d be heading to?”

“Beats me. As far as I know, she doesn’t have any family or friends down that way.”

Ian turned to leave. “If she turns off or stops, call me, okay?”

“You’re going after her, aren’t you?” Mira asked, following him out to the stairs.

“I have to, Mira,” Ian said, reaching out for the cold, iron handrail.

Mira stepped down after him and stopped halfway. “You love her, don’t you?”

“More than I ever deserve to,” Ian said softly. Bruno made himself known when Ian’s feet hit the cement ground.

Mira breathed deeply for a moment. “Okay, Uncle Ian…we’ll give you a call if anything changes.”

Ian pointed his face up to her. “Thank you, Mira.”

He was aware of her grin as she said, “Just so you don’t forget what we bargained for.”

“How could I?” he said grumpily. Bruno laid Ian’s hand on his elbow and took him back to the limo. “So, what’s up? You find her?”

“She’s south of here,” Ian replied. “You up for a drive?”

“To watch you chase after a woman that doesn’t want anything to do with you?” Bruno giggled. “I wouldn’t miss this for all the beer in Milwaukee.”

Ian clapped Bruno on his shoulder. “I’ll owe you big time, Bru.”

Bruno giggled again. “You remember that,” he said happily. “’Cuz, I’ll want your second born.” Ian shook his head and got in the back seat of the limo.