ENDING OF PREVIOUS POST:

During the middle of the night, Anderson woke to shrill, piercing cries. He jumped up and ran to Shana's room and found her crying as sweat poured from her. "Shana, Shana."

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her body shook. Her bloodshot eyes searched the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Your screams woke me." He sat on the bed.

"You'd better leave."

"You need to trust me."


TODAY'S POST:

Chapter 19 part 2

Anderson held her hand. "Can I get you anything? How about some water?"

Shana nodded.

He attempted to move his hand. "If I'm getting water, you need to let go."

"Don't leave."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll get some water later."

For a few moments, silence remained as Shana's breathing returned to normal.

"This isn't your first nightmare, is it?"

Shana studied her blankets and then shook her head.

"When did they begin?"

She pulled the covers closer over her damp pajamas. "I told you about going to Germany for my sixteenth birthday and visiting Auschwitz and Dachau."

Silence filled the room for a few moments.

"I know those places are haunting. Is that when the nightmares started?" He used the un-held hand to rub her hand, still clutching his.

She shook her head. "In English class the following spring, we read 'Night' by Elie Wiesel and 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak. 'The Book Thief' was newly published." Tears welled in her eyes.

"I've read both of them. Those books--in combination with your concentration camps visit--wow!" Anderson hesitated and then continued, "Have you had nightmares since?"

Shana released a deep breath. "I had them for maybe five or six months. Then they stopped."

"Until tonight?"

"No." She wiped a tear attempting to escape. "This is embarrassing. I'm an adult. I should be able to handle life."

"You have no reason to be embarrassed. I'll never judge you, and it'll go no further than me."

"And Philip."

"Okay." Anderson nodded. "Maybe in one of my weaker moments, Philip."

"I doubt you have weak moments. I doubt anything about you is weak."

"You're so wrong. We'll talk about it another day, but right now--when did your nightmares return?"

"The Friday we met."

"I caused you to have nightmares?" His eyebrows crunched together.

"I don't think it was you, but the men following me. They got a little worse after I tried to leave and was grabbed." Shana paused. "They've been bad ever since the helicopter flew over your penthouse." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Tonight's was the worse, yet."

Anderson drew her to his chest and held her. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you or your family." He kissed the top of her head. After a few moments, he asked, "Why didn't you tell me about the nightmares?"

Shana leaned back and looked into his eyes. "How would one approach this subject? Oh great and powerful billionaire, who has people hanging onto your every word, by the way, I'm not sleeping because I'm struggling with nightmares."

"You don't need to be sarcastic. I get your point." He put his hand at the back of her head and guided it back to his chest. I didn't realize I come off like that, but I probably do. Why didn't somebody hear her screaming? Duh! Because the penthouse's sound proof, dummy.

Shana cuddled in closer and blew out a deep breath.

"Comfortable?"

"Yes."

*****

Early the following morning, Anderson's cell phone awoke him, but he had missed the call. I'll call him back. He slipped his arm from around Shana and shook it. It fell asleep. Benjamin, I doubt you're a violent man, but you'd kill me if you knew we stayed in the same room. Nothing happened, and I never laid beside her. I don't think you'd want me to let her scream in terror, would you?

Moments later, Shana opened her eyes. "Were you here all night?" After Anderson nodded, she covered her mouth. "Papa will not be happy."

"Nothing happened. I sat up all night. I have a stiff neck to prove it." He rolled his head back and forth.

"Papa won't care." Shana bit her lower lip. "What shall we tell him?"

"My suggestion is don't lie but don't offer any information he doesn't ask for." He stood. "I'd better start my day. Philip called, and I need to see what he wanted." He re-covered her. "Sleep as long as you need to." He turned to leave.

"Drew?" As he faced her, she said, "Thank you."

He nodded. First time she hasn't used Mr. Sharp or Anderson. Maybe I'm making headway. Naw, I doubt it.





*Please remember this is only part of a much longer chapter. I divide my chapters into three or four parts for ease of reviewing.*

Characters so far:

Shana Kohlberg -- a 25 year old high school English literature teacher -- she's trying to get her family's painting back

Anderson Sharp -- often called Drew -- 31 years old -- works part-time on Wall Street -- a billionaire from Texas oil wells

Dmitry Bezrukov -- one of three Russian men in black suits

Jeff Burk -- takes care of Anderson's cars and important security details.

Helen -- Anderson's cook

Jane -- Anderson's housekeeper

Philip -- Anderson's butler -- close friend and confident

Kyle -- Anderson's dog walker

Axel -- Anderson's lead German shepherd

Thor -- Anderson's second German shepherd

Romeo -- Anderson's third German shepherd

Aaron Kohlberg -- Shana's older brother

Ivan Kuznetsov -- formally Ivan Morozov, I accidently chose a real person, so I have changed it present day owner of the painting.

Patricia -- Anderson's ex-wife

Emily -- Anderson's five year old daughter

Isaiah Glassberg -- Anderson divorce/custody attorney.

Jeremy -- Jane's second-cousin twice removed, NYC undercover cop.

Hannah Jacobs -- Shana's cousin, the same age and best friend. Married within the past year and just had a baby, Sarah. Her husband, Paul. Sarah was just diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease.

Joshua Colton -- Art Museum's curator

Benjamin Kohlberg -- Shana's father

Eliana Kohlberg - - Shana's mother

Maxwell Gaines -- Lawyer hired to retrieve the painting

Erich Berger -- Manager of the Dorotheum art auction house in Austria