Sam stood outside Juanita’s quarters for a while, thinking about what she’d said about Donna. “VICi, locate Donna Rigden.”
VICi; Donna Rigden is in the park by the waterfall.
“Is she alone?”
VICi; Affirmative.
Sam hurried to the cafeteria. “Rita, two vanilla cappuccinos and two sugar-coated doughnuts - to go, please.”
“You’re in a bit of a hurry.”
“Places to go, people to see. Thanks Rita.” Sam grabbed the two bags and dashed to the park, taking the cafeteria entrance.
Donna was sitting on the bench, staring into the waterfall and mindlessly twirling her engagement ring, with her thumb. He slowly approached her. “Is this seat taken?”
She looked up with a start. “Hello, Sam. I didn’t know you were there.” She slid down.
“If you’re trying to see your future – it’s with me. I brought a peace offering.”
Donna frowned. “Peace offering?”
Sam held up the bags. “Two vanilla cappuccinos and two sugar-coated doughnuts.”
Donna’s mouth spread in a slow smile, but then it quickly faded. She swallowed hard. “Thanks, but I’ve already had breakfast, at the – before we left.”
Sam flashed his sexy grin. “There’s always room for sugar-coated doughnuts and coffee,” he persisted. Donna shook her head. “Oh come on, sweetheart. You’ve never been able to resist these.”
Donna sighed. “Did you get napkins?”
“Why? You don’t want me to kiss the sugar off your mouth anymore?” Donna’s eyes glossed, and she looked as if she would cry, but the tears didn’t come. She swallowed hard, again. “Relax. I brought napkins. I was just teasing. Come on… I know they’re your favourite.”
Donna sighed again and held out her hand. “Richard is talking to his father about where he’s going to take me on our honeymoon,” she offered.
“Charming…” Sam groaned. “That’s one way to spoil the moment,” he muttered.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. So, how are you doing, now that… he’s gone?”
“You mean Jared? I’m fine.” Donna looked toward the entrance of the park and leaned closer. “You said something before that I wanted to ask you about.”
“What’s that sweetheart?”
“Sam… does Richard really know why Jared left me the way he did?”
“Of course he knows.”
“Do you? Please… be honest with me,” she said, gazing into his eyes. “I won’t tell Richard, you told me.”
“Forrest, Donna,” Sam softly replied. “Jared left because Forrest was threatening you and his daughter. He gave Jared a choice, leave, or he would go after you.”
Angry tears filled Donna’s eyes. “Forrest was threatening to kill Beth if Jared didn’t leave me? Why?”
“That… I don’t know, and that’s the truth. I’m not lying to you.”
“So, it had nothing to do with…?”
Sam shook his head. “No.”
Donna furrowed her brow and wiped her eyes. “But, why would Forrest…” she broke off. Her eyes widened. Her heart started pounding. A lump of fear rose in her throat, threatening to choke her. Oh no! She slowly put the half-eaten doughnut back in the bag and handed Sam the coffee. “I have to go. Please, stop trying to change my mind, by telling me things you know I want to hear. I have to do this!”
“Damn!” Sam groaned. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told her.” He repeated her last few words. “I have to do this…?” He frowned and stared toward the front entrance of the park. “First Forrest threatens Jared’s daughter. Then Donna gets shot in the cemetery. Donna is with me. She said she didn’t want Richard. Juanita said that Donna always thinks about others first and that she didn’t want to see Donna lose someone else, she loved. Now… Donna is marrying Richard. Juanita also said Donna was marrying him because of the baby and other reasons. What other reasons?” Sam’s eyes widened. “He’s threatening her! He’s found out she’s pregnant, and he’s threatening her. Typical Triplet move.” Sam unlocked his cell phone. “That has to be it! Yeah, Gary, it’s me. Meet me in my quarters. I have to talk to you about Donna. It’s important!”
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Donna looked up and instantly felt sick. She swallowed the bile at the back of her throat as she approached him. “We’re all set. There’s just one snag in our honeymoon.” He smiled and brushed the sugar from her mouth. “Having a snack?”
“What? Oh – yes,” she smiled and swallowed hard. “Doughnut and coffee, but I don’t think it agreed with me,” she said, covering her mouth with her hand.
Richard glanced above her head and caught Sam, sitting on the bench with his back to them. He was talking on his cell phone and putting something in the rubbish bin, by the bench. Richard looked back into Donna’s eyes. “Let’s go sit by the waterfall, for a while.”
“No, I’ll be fine. It’s just morning sickness. I should have known better than to have coffee. What’s the snag?” she asked, quickly changing the subject as she gently urged him to the front entrance.
Richard sighed and put his arm around her waist. “We have to take someone with us for protection.”
Donna smiled wryly. “I think we’re a little beyond worrying about protection, aren’t we?”
“Bodyguards, silly.”
Donna jumped at the opportunity. “Why don’t we ask John and Missy? I was thinking about asking her to be my maid of honour. I’d rather have Juanita, but she can’t be here.”
“Did she say why they left so suddenly?”
Donna said the first thing that came to her mind. “Because of Aunt Clara.”
“Her mother?”
“Yes, and Jared had to get back to his daughter. Now, getting back to our honeymoon. Why don’t we ask Missy and John to come along? They’ve just got back together, and it would be like a second honeymoon for them.”
Richard frowned as they stepped through the entrance. “I figured you would be upset that we wouldn’t be totally alone.”
“I am…” she answered quickly, faking a smile, “… but I’m sure wherever you’ve chosen will give us plenty of opportunities to be alone.”
Richard grinned. “We’ll have our own suite, and yes, there will be lots of time for us to be alone.”
Donna reflected his grin. “Where are we going?”
“Oh no – I told you it’s a surprise. You’ll just have to be patient and wait.”
Donna narrowed her eyes. “I hate waiting!”
“I know…” Richard softly kissed her. “Right now, we have to go back to our quarters. There’s something I want to show you,” he said as he led her back down the corridor.
“And what would that be?”
“Our bedroom….”
Donna’s eyes widened. “Ok….”
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Sam already had two mugs of coffee and a plate of his homemade granola bars – the ones Gary liked - sitting on the coffee table. He paced the floor as he waited. Gary pushed the door panel. The doors slid open. “Sam this had better not be another tactic to pump me for information about Donna! I was right in the middle of something.”
Sam led Gary into the lounge. “Sit down. Have a granola bar. I’ve made us some coffee.”
Gary sighed and sat on the sofa next to Sam. “Thanks, Sam,” he said and started nibbling on one of the granola bars. Sam picked up one. “So what is this about, Sam? I left Wein in the middle of an experiment. Knowing him, he’ll probably blow up the lab.”
“What are you doing?”
“Testing new forms of power sources for our nanobugs. I’m trying to figure out a way of making them smaller, but still have the same capabilities. I wish we could figure out a way of making them invisible. That way we wouldn’t have to worry about their size. Especially, under the circumstances, I think they would be extremely useful.”
“What are you trying to do?”
“Figure out how to use lasers to beam power to the bugs and bounce the signal off VICi’s satellite, so the bugs work in the same way as our cell phones do.”
“Right…” Sam chuckled. “OK – anyway. Before you get upset, I did ask you here to talk about Donna.”
“I knew there was a catch,” Gary groaned.
“Did she tell you she was marrying Richard? What am I saying? Of course, she told you. She tells you everything.”
Gary arched an eyebrow. “Well, at least I don’t have to answer that question. You already did. She told me about it last night.”
“Did she say why?”
“Sam, Donna tells me things because she knows I’ll keep her confidence.”
“OK, fine. I’ll tell you what I believe is happening. I’ve got to do some checking before I can prove anything, but I think Richard is blackmailing Donna. I think he may be behind this entire thing.”
“And just how do you figure that? Richard hired somebody to shoot at him so he could blackmail Donna into marrying him. She’s marrying him because of the baby, Sam. Isn’t that obvious.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I know that Donna has feelings for Richard, too, but, answer me this. Jared left because Forrest was threatening his daughter.”
Gary frowned. “How do you know that?”
Sam waved it off. “Never mind. Gary, what if Richard was responsible for getting Donna pregnant in the first place?”
“Well, he was,” Gary chuckled.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. What if he fixed things?”
“Such as…?”
“I don’t know – switched her oral contraceptives – did something to her Depro shot. I don’t know. With Richard’s resources, he could have done anything. I talked to Donna about this. She spent all that time with Jared, and she gets pregnant with Richard after one night? Even though she was still on the oral contraceptives before she took her Depro shot? Richard wanted Donna in the UK. The very day she goes to Hornbeck to collect her things, she gets shot. Not a fatal shot – mind you – but a warning shot. Something to make sure she leaves America with Richard. What if the shooting and the car chase was just another way of creating sympathy for him? I screwed up that night – I admit it, but it wasn’t my fault! I screwed up last night, but that wasn’t my fault either!”
Gary’s mouth gaped. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s that damn perfume, Gary. The shit fucks with your hormones. I took a blood sample after I got back last night, and my oxytocin level was three times higher than it should have been, and I had enough testosterone in my bloodstream for five men. I ran another sample a while ago, and it’s back to normal. Richard is responsible for that, as well. He gave Ruth, and Joyce the stuff and now he’s given some to Jasmine. I love Donna, Gary. You have to help me. I’m being railroaded, and I’ve got the test results to prove it!”
Gary sighed. “Does D know about these test results?”
“Yes, I showed them to her.”
“And she didn’t say anything?”
“No, I’m telling you, Richard is blackmailing her. He’s probably threatened her or threatened her with the baby or something.”
Gary narrowed his eyes. “Sam, if he wanted to break you and Donna up – which I’ve no doubt he does - Richard wouldn’t threaten D or the baby. He would threaten you.” He paused. “Which is exactly why Jared left Donna. If Forrest had threatened him, Jared wouldn’t have cared.”
“I know! Is it starting to make sense yet?”
Gary pushed further back against the sofa. “Unfortunately – yes.”