The three of them watched the computer screen flashing as it ran thousands of possibilities. Suddenly, it stopped and a set of fingerprints came up on the screen. The tech moved the image he’d lifted from the label and superimposed it until it matched the first finger of the left hand. Scrolling down, he brought up the identity belonging to the fingerprint—Elodie Nee. Fingerprinted for bonding as the chief fundraiser of a special charity. Elodie Nee of the Taylor Morgan Fan Club.
* * *
Elodie’s maid answered the door and let them in. “I will go get Ms. Nee, Mr. Morgan. May I bring you coffee?”
“Thank you but no, Elsa. Please tell Ms. Nee that it’s urgent.”
A few minutes later, Elodie came into the sitting room. She was startled to see Agent Albright standing at the window while Taylor paced the room.
“Taylor?”
Taylor stopped and looked at her without saying anything. “Taylor? What is it? Has something happened?”
“Why, El? Why the letters?”
“Letters? Have you gotten another letter?”
“You know damn well I have, Elodie! What I want to know is why? Why would you do such a thing?’
“Taylor, I don’t know…”
“Damn it, Elodie. I know. The last letter. You gave yourself away. You’re the only one outside the family who would know that I had said I wanted a son and knew about the move to Albuquerque. You’re the only one with those two bits of information who would also have access to the fan club mail. How could you do that to me?”
“Taylor, I don’t know what to say. I don’t understand…”
“Ms. Nee,” Albright said, “stalking is a crime in New York State. Threatening letters qualify as stalking. If Mr. Morgan chooses, we can prosecute you and put you behind bars.”
Suddenly, Elodie dropped the façade. “All right, Taylor. Yes, I wrote the letters. I was hoping they’d scare Laura away. You want to know why? Because I’m in love with you, Taylor. I always have been—from the beginning. But you never gave me a second look no matter what I did for you. I understood when you married Annie Miller. You had to. I understood that. But you broke my heart when you married Laura. I couldn’t stand that you chose her over me. I did everything for you, Taylor. Why was it not enough to make you love me?” She sank into a chair and covered her face with her hands as she began to cry.
Taylor looked helplessly at Pierce. Pierce shrugged as if to say it was Taylor’s call. But he knew Taylor would never file charges; never send the woman to jail. Elodie Nee would get away with it.
“Elodie, I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I never knew you felt this way. I thought we were just friends. Laura knew. She tried to tell me but I refused to believe her. I told my wife she was wrong—that you and I were just friends. We fought because of you and you came close to getting her out of my life.”
Elodie looked up with hope in her eyes.
“No, El. It’s over. You’re out of my life. I want you to announce your resignation as President of the fan club. You can choose whatever reason you wish but you will resign and you’ll do it today. I’ll swear out a restraining order against you and you will honor it if you don’t want me to file stalking charges against you. If you come near me or my family ever again, I won’t hesitate to file the charges.”
“Are you sure, Taylor?” Pierce asked. “We have more than enough proof. You left a fingerprint on the letter this time, Ms. Nee. A fingerprint under the label. Only the person who labeled the letter would have been able to place a fingerprint there.”
“No, Pierce. This is enough. Elodie? El, look at me.”
She looked at Taylor and knew she had lost. Taylor Morgan would never belong to her and she was out of his life—out of the limelight. She’d be nobody.
“Tonight, Elodie. Your resignation needs to be on the Internet by seven o’clock tonight. I’ll be checking. If it’s not there, Agent Albright will be back to take you into custody. Save us all the trouble. Save yourself the humiliation.”
Taylor walked to the door and Albright followed along. Elodie turned in her chair and watched as he walked out of her life without even a goodbye.
* * *
Taylor let himself into the apartment. He’d been silent on the ride back asking only that Pierce drop him off at home. He still couldn’t believe what had happened.
He found Laura in the nursery, rocking Annie as she held her bottle. They were both so beautiful—they were his life. He’d put them at risk because he’d refused to believe that Elodie could betray him in such a way.
Laura looked up and was startled by Taylor’s appearance. He looked haggard and tired. She glanced down and saw that Annie had fallen asleep. Holding her over her shoulder, she burped her then put her down in her crib.
Then she went to Taylor who took her in his arms and held her almost too tightly. She could feel the shudders that racked his body as he whispered, “I’m sorry, Laura, I’m so sorry.”
Frightened, she stepped back and looked into his eyes. Taking his hand, she led him next door to their room and closed the door behind them. He stood there looking lost.
“You’re scaring me. Has something happened? To the girls? To my parents? Rosina? Matteo? For God’s sake, Taylor, tell me what’s wrong!”
“No. None of that. Nothing’s wrong with anyone. Everyone’s safe. You’re safe.”
“The letter? There was something in the letter?” Laura asked even as she breathed a sigh of relief that those she cared for were safe.
“It was Elodie.”
“What was Elodie?” Laura’s eyes widened as the truth dawned on her. “Elodie’s been writing those letters?
“We saw her, Pierce and I. We went to talk to her and she admitted it. You were right all along. I should have believed you. Elodie was in love with me and hoped to scare you away. Can you ever forgive me for not believing you?”
Elodie Nee hated her that much? Laura’s knees were weak as she thought about the hatred in those letters. Even though she had despised the woman, she had never hated her enough to really be worried. She looked at Taylor, his heart in his eyes as he met hers.
“Forgive you? There’s nothing to forgive.” She walked over and held him. He rested his cheek on her hair and held her as if he’d never let her go.
There was a knock on the door and Meg called out, “Hey, you two, break it up. Dinner’s ready!”
Laura pulled away from Taylor and looked at him before she went to the door. “Go on without us, Meg. I think we will be skipping dinner tonight.”
“Is everything okay?” Meg asked as she caught a glimpse of Taylor who had turned to stare out of the window.
“It will be. We’ll talk to you in the morning.” Laura gently shut the door then turned back to Taylor.
“Come sit down. Tell me what happened.”
He held her hand as he told her. She wasn’t surprised to find that he wasn’t pressing charges. It was a relief just to know who it had been and that they’d found her out. They would be starting a new life soon with no threatening secret hanging over them. Even as she felt Taylor’s pain at his betrayal by his long-time friend, a part of her rejoiced that Elodie Nee was out of their lives— forever.
Chapter 27
Elodie’s letter had appeared on the Internet that night. Pleading poor health, she resigned. The next day, Taylor and Laura found Lisa Kindrick and asked her to take over the presidency. She agreed and brushed Taylor’s apologies aside. She wrote a warm letter to the membership wishing Elodie well and announcing Taylor’s plans for the future. The transition was accomplished with little fuss. Pierce checked on Elodie’s whereabouts the next day and discovered she’d flown to Europe and was cloistered at an expensive spa. As far as Pierce was concerned, the further away she was from the Morgans, the better.
A month later, Meg and Betta graduated from high school with honors. They flew to Florida to visit Meg’s mother’s parents and would fly to Albuquerque from there.
Sean and
Maria had found the perfect house for the Morgans. It was near the university with another house just next door for Matteo and Rosina. Sean had already taken down part of the fence and put in a connecting gate.
Rosina and Matteo had left earlier to fly to Albuquerque with three-month-old Annie. Laura and Taylor were taking a few days to drive there, their first time alone since Annie’s arrival. The apartment had been sublet to a fellow actor. What furniture they were taking had already been picked up by the movers. There was nothing left to be done but leave.
“Ready, Taylor?” Laura said as she came into the living room.
“I think so. It feels kind of odd to be leaving here.”
“It’s been a great home, Taylor. And we’ll be back. New York can’t do without you forever.”
“And I can’t do without you at all. Will you teach me how to speak Spanish on the way?”
“Sí, Señor Morgan. Vamanos.”
They pulled the door shut behind them, leaving behind an old life as they began a new one bright with promise.
Chapter 28
Taylor couldn’t believe it! The first day of classes at the University of New Mexico, his class starting in fifteen minutes, and he was still cruising for a parking place! Damn it! He had a parking permit. Laura had tried to warn him but he figured how hard could it be? Well, he was finding out. It wasn’t just hard, it was nearly impossible.
Finally, at the far end of “A” lot, he found a space and pulled the yellow Opel GT into it. The car had belonged to Laura’s brother and when he died he’d left it to her. It had been in storage during their time in New York and now it was his. With Annie’s arrival Laura had insisted on buying something safer—a Saturn station wagon. Funny how kids change your life.
As he got out of the car he glanced at his watch. Ten minutes! It was at least three or four blocks to Popejoy Hall, the University’s performing arts center where his classes would be held, and it was ninety degrees out here. Still, if he was going to make it, he’d better run.
He took off, oblivious to the admiring looks he was getting from the women he passed. The sun glinted off his reddish-brown hair and there was nothing wrong with the view as he passed them and kept going. By evening, there were a lot of female students considering changing to a theatre major.
He threw open the doors of the theatre building, ran down the stairs, and skidded into the classroom assigned to him. Only five minutes late. Not bad, except that he couldn’t catch his breath long enough to speak. As he tried, he suddenly realized his new briefcase, a gift from Meg and Betta, was still in the car with all of his notes and his class list.
A young man in the first row got up and handed him a bottle of water, which Taylor took gratefully. He swallowed half of it before he finally found his voice.
“You know, I didn’t plan it this way. I was going to be waiting for you. Tweed jacket, pipe, a volume of Shakespeare clutched in my hand. I even bought glasses with plain lenses. I was going to be the perfect picture of genius with savoir-faire.”
“Instead, I’m sweaty, out-of-breath and ready to give an “A” for the course to—what’s your name?” he asked the boy who had volunteered the water.
“Colin James,” the boy said, somewhat flustered at being pointed out by Taylor.
“Colin. I’ll remember you. You saved my life today. As I was saying, instead of the professor type, you get the real Taylor Morgan who’s scared to death of this class—especially now that I just realized my briefcase is still in the car parked at the other end of the universe. Do you all drive here every day?”
The snickers and giggles that had been muffled during his speech broke out into laughter when he asked about parking. They all had been there. UNM’s parking problems were legendary.
“So, since we’ve started with the real Taylor Morgan, I propose we continue that way. Those of you who wanted the other guy are free to leave the room.”
No one moved, of course. Competition to enter this directed study with the Taylor Morgan had been fierce. Those who had been accepted were still in awe despite Taylor’s precipitous beginning.
“The briefcase had my class list, too, so I can’t call roll to figure out who you are. Instead, why don’t we all sit and you can tell me a little about yourselves? Just call me Taylor. I’m not much on formality. I assume first names are okay with all of you?”
By the end of the hour and a half class, the twenty-five students felt like he was an old friend. “I’ll be better organized Thursday, I promise,” Taylor said as he prepared to dismiss them. “I know I have an office here somewhere but the room number escapes me. I’ll be in on Monday and Thursday afternoons if you want to drop by. Other than that, I’ll see you on Thursday.”
A few of the students stayed and chatted for a few minutes and he began to put faces to names. When they were all gone, he went down the hall to Kris Straub’s office.
“Hi, Taylor. How’d it go?”
“Other than a less than stellar beginning, it went okay, I think. They seem like a good group, really interested.”
“Competition was rough, Taylor. We had one hundred applicants for the twenty-five openings. They’d better be interested.”
“I think I’ll hike back to my car now,” he said as he stood to go.
“Parking problems?”
“You might say that. Is it always this bad?”
“Quite often it’s worse. You bought a house over near the law school, didn’t you? If I were you, I’d walk over there and catch the shuttle. It will let you off right in front of Popejoy.”
“I’ll give it a try tomorrow. Talk to you later, Kris.”
* * *
Taylor got back to the house and sat in the car for a few minutes. He was exhausted. The run, the class, the walk back to the car. It really would be easier to walk to the law school.
He let himself into the house quietly. Annie should be napping which meant Laura might be as well. He could smell the sauce that Rosina was preparing for dinner. Meg was off in California and Betta was in Milan. The house still felt empty without them.
Laura was not in the bedroom so he checked the patio. It was the most attractive feature of the house. Made of stone slates and shaded by an arbor of wisteria, it was always cool.
She was out there. Soft music played. He recognized “Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major”, her favorite piece of music. She had several different versions and had chosen Llewellyn’s for today. The baby monitor was next to her.
Right now she was practicing T’ai Chi Chih. She had taken up the meditative form shortly after they’d come back to New Mexico. Her mother had invited her to a class and she found that it was perfect for her hectic lifestyle as a new mother who was also a professional writer.
He watched as she slowly moved into “Daughter On The Mountaintop”. She stood tall, her eyes closed, her hands moving gracefully as if through heavy air. She was about halfway through her work out. That would give him time for a quick shower.
As he walked back to their room he heard the small sounds that meant Annie was waking from her nap. She always woke in a cheerful mood. She’d been sleeping through the night by the age of two months and rarely had a fussy time.
He walked into her room and to the crib. She looked up at him and smiled, kicking and waving her little arms and legs. He reached down and scooped her up.
“Hello, Princess. It looks like you’ve had a wonderful day.”
On the patio, Laura heard his voice and smiled. She was looking forward to hearing about his day. As she continued her practice with “Daughter In The Valley”, she listened in to his one-sided conversation with Annie.
“Mommy’s outside doing that T’ai Chi stuff so you’re stuck with me. I bet you need a new diaper and maybe some juice? I know I could use some juice. I must have sweated off five pounds running to class.” Annie gurgled at him and grinned her toothless grin. “Oh, you think that’s funny, do you? I guess it was pretty funny when I think about it. There, you’re nic
e and dry. Let’s go find that juice.”
Fifteen minutes later, Laura came in to find them at the kitchen table. Annie was drinking her bottle of juice while her father could only be described as scarfing cookies down.
“Eating dessert first, Taylor?”
“Well, you know what they say, life is short so…”
“Uh-huh,” Laura said as she poured herself a glass of water. “What’s this about running across campus?”
“Uh-oh, Annie. Mom’s spying on us. We better watch what we say.” The baby pounded her bottle on the highchair tray, happy to agree to whatever her father had said.
“So, tell me about the day, Taylor,” Laura continued as she dropped a kiss on his head then took a chair across the table. “Sounds like it wasn’t exactly perfect.”
For the next fifteen minutes, he told her the story of his day. They were both laughing hysterically with Annie smiling along when Rosina came in the kitchen.
“What is so funny?” she asked as she checked the pot she’d left simmering on the stove. She put a colander of fresh vegetables into the sink then began to get down the ingredients she needed to complete dinner. By the time she’d heard the shortened version, she was laughing, too.
“How much time before dinner, Rosina?” Taylor asked. “I really need to get a shower.”
“At least half an hour. Plenty of time.”
“Then I’m off. Annie, you make sure Rosina cooks it right. No sneaking in any healthy stuff.”
He stopped by Laura’s chair and took her hand and gave her a look of pure invitation. Then he was gone, leaving her to make up an excuse to Rosina.
“Can you watch Annie for a few minutes, Rosina? I need to go return a phone call.”
In the Fullness of Time Page 11