by Diana Palmer
“She walked into the bar and saw you kissing a beautiful blonde woman,” Tank said icily. “That’s what happened.”
Cane averted his face. He couldn’t tell his brothers the truth. He’d been feeling trapped in the hotel and he’d wanted to escape. He’d used Laura to show Bodie that he wasn’t about to be hog-tied by any woman, not even his wife. Now, his manufactured escape clause was hitting him right in the gut.
“Bodie went looking for you,” Mallory agreed, “and she thought…well, you can imagine what she thought. You’ve never been a one-woman sort of man.”
Cane was devastated at the way his muddled thinking had backfired. He’d seen Laura and they’d started talking…he’d met her at a cattle convention several years back and they were friendly. Just friendly. He’d seen Bodie coming out of the elevator. It had irritated him that she’d come looking for him, and, impulsively, he’d thought of a way to hit back. But now he felt guilty, and defensive.
“I was just talking to Laura,” he said.
“And kissing her,” Tank shot back. “Nice move, on your wedding day.”
“Listen, pal,” Cane returned, and moved closer belligerently.
“No, you listen,” Mallory said icily, moving between them. “You blew it. Bodie’s gone back to school and when she can afford it, she’s seeing a divorce attorney. Don’t worry,” he added when Cane looked even more furious, “she isn’t going to ask for anything except an annulment. She wanted you to understand that.”
Cane felt even worse. He’d failed Bodie, in the worst way. Of course he’d felt trapped, as if he’d been dragged to the altar. But it had been his own idea, not Bodie’s. Her only fault was to love him. He turned away from his brothers, feeling sick. He should have realized she might come looking for him. Of course he should. He had. Then he’d deliberately let her find him in a compromising situation, so that she’d leave him. He’d set himself up for it, because he felt trapped. Bodie and her sterling ideals, Cane and his black-sheep morals. She’d deserved better.
He looked out the window at the threatening skies. “She won’t even have a way to get to work,” Cane said heavily. “Her truck, if you can call that piece of junk a truck, is still here.”
“I had Darby and Fred run one of the ranch pickups to the apartment she shared with Beth.”
The way he said it made Cane strangely uneasy. He turned and looked at his brother. “What do you mean, the one she shared, past tense?”
Mallory was somber. “There have been a few developments today.”
“Developments?”
“Will Jones has been busy,” Tank said in an icy tone.
Cane had a premonition. He didn’t even want to voice it.
Mallory took a deep breath. “The sheriff arrested Will a few days ago for trafficking in pornography and using an underage model.”
“That’s good news. Isn’t it?” Cane asked.
“It was, until we found out just how angry Will was about all his problems. I suppose he figured that Bodie was the most vulnerable, and he knew exactly how to make her pay for what happened to him. Apparently he did this some time ago, and we only just found out.”
Cane swallowed, hard. “What did he do?”
“This.”
Mallory turned his open laptop around. There, on the page, was a picture of a nude woman in a gross pose with a man, her face laughing as she looked into the camera. It was Bodie.
“She said she never posed in any such way for Will!” Cane exploded. “How could she do such a thing? Didn’t she realize it would ruin her in this community?”
“Cane, that’s not Bodie.”
“The hell it’s not!” Cane raged. “That’s her face!”
“Yes, but it’s not her body,” Tank replied coolly. “It was changed with Photoshop.”
“And how would you know that, unless you’ve seen her without her clothes?” Cane demanded, unreasonably jealous.
“Because I know a genius computer tech and I had him do the legwork to find out,” Tank said.
“Red Davis,” Mallory added. “We had him trace the photo. Will put an old picture of Bodie’s face on this body. Davis even found the source of the picture. It was one her mother took on a digital camera and transferred to the computer before she died.”
“I’ll kill him,” Cane said in a tone that sent chills up Mallory’s spine.
“The law will take care of Will. I’ve got Davis working on the photograph. He had to provide a copy to law enforcement, because it’s identity theft and that’s another charge he’ll face in court. But Davis is working the internet to find every trace of that photograph and erase it.”
“Can he really do that?” Cane asked through his teeth.
“We hope so,” Tank said. “Davis is really good and he has contacts in government agencies who deal with cyber terrorism. He’s certain that he can get rid of the photograph.”
“Does she know?” Cane asked, worried. “Does Bodie know?”
Mallory was grim. “She didn’t until she walked up to her apartment and found all her things sitting on the doorstep. Beth didn’t even speak to her. She left a note on the door saying she was sorry but Bodie couldn’t live there anymore. She wasn’t living with a roommate who was putting nude pictures of herself with strange men all over the internet. Bodie was shattered.”
“Where is she now?” Cane asked, even more furious at her roommate.
“We set her up in a hotel near the campus. I’m afraid her classmates will have found that link, though,” Mallory replied quietly.
“I’m sure her so-called friend Beth will make sure they do,” Tank muttered. “Some friend! She could have at least given her the benefit of the doubt.”
“Yes, like Bodie could have given me the benefit of the doubt,” Cane replied somberly. “Talk about what goes around comes around,” he added.
“Well, the damage is done,” Tank said. “Now it’s up to us to do what we can for Bodie.”
“Isn’t she coming back home?” Cane asked.
“You’re kidding, right?” Tank replied and even smiled. “She told the driver she wasn’t going to be driven away in shame for something she didn’t do, and she was going right up to the campus to tell the whole world what her idiot stepfather did to her. In fact,” he added, going to the computer and pulling up Bodie’s Facebook page, “she’s already done it.”
He indicated the screen. Bodie had laid it all out, her stepfather’s ultimatum, her grandfather’s death, her shame at accepting his conditions but in a discreet way to pay the rent, right up to her discovery that Will had paid her back for his arrest with a bogus photo, which even her friend, she’d added acidly, believed without question.
“Wow.” Cane chuckled. “That’s one in the teeth for friend Beth.”
“Well deserved,” Mallory said.
Cane stared at the screen and felt a sense of loss. He was remembering the incident at the truck stop, the truckers leering at Bodie—they must have seen the photograph even that long ago. Poor kid…and she didn’t even know. Bodie, with her sweet nature and innocence, pasted on computer screens all over the world in a lewd photo that she hadn’t even posed for. He was ashamed of himself for what he’d thought when he first saw it. How in the world must she be feeling now?
He remembered how cruel he’d been to Bodie, to the wife he’d married reluctantly and betrayed on her wedding day. First that, then the internet fiasco. He was more ashamed of himself than he’d ever been in his life.
“Now the question is, what are you going to do?” Mallory asked Cane.
He drew in a long breath. “I don’t know,” he said. His voice had lost all its self-confidence. “I honestly don’t know.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
BODIE HAD BEEN DEVASTATED when she found her clothes in cardboard boxes, along with her small treasures, sitting on the porch of the apartment she’d shared with Beth through almost four years of college. The note had made her sick, because she knew at once what Will
had done. She recalled the two drivers at the truck stop leering at her, and now she knew why. How long had that disgusting photo been making the rounds of the internet already? And, worse, how was she ever going to stop it?
She told the driver what had happened. He phoned Mallory, who spoke to Bodie gently and then to the driver. She was taken to a nearby hotel and installed there, and Darby left a truck outside in the parking lot and gave her the keys. He also handed her an envelope with cash and told her to hush when she protested. She hugged him.
She went inside and opened her laptop and pulled up the photograph. Then she went into the bathroom and threw up. It had been the absolute worst day of her life next to losing her father, and, more recently, her mother and grandfather.
* * *
IN THE WEEK BEFORE classes began, she used her time to try to undo what Will had done to her reputation. Her little-used Facebook page became a public forum as she explained the motivation for the vicious internet attack by her stepfather. She ended a post by pointing out that it was never kind to push someone out of your life without hearing both sides of the story first.
Beth called her the night after the post was published.
“You’re right,” Beth said quietly. “I was unreasonable and I’m very ashamed. I sent Ted a photo of me in my underwear that went all over the internet before I got it stopped and you were supportive of me even though it was my fault. I judged you without asking you anything. I’m very sorry.” She hesitated. “Will you come back and share the apartment?”
“No,” Bodie replied. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m comfortable here.”
“I’m really sorry, Bodie.” The other woman sounded close to tears. “Especially when I know why you posed for your stepfather in the first place. I didn’t know your grandfather had died....”
“I didn’t pose for the photograph, Beth. My stepfather used Photoshop to change it. There’s proof and he’s being charged for doing it.”
“Oh!” Beth really sounded shocked now. “Oh, my gosh…!”
“You believed what you saw, didn’t you? I go to church, I don’t even date. But you believed it, after living with me for almost four years.” Bodie’s voice was less accusative than sad.
“I’m so sorry,” Beth said again.
“Thanks.” Bodie hung up.
She and Beth had been friends, but never close ones. Still, it was hard to think that her roommate had believed such lies about her. She wondered how many of their classmates Beth had talked to. Well, people would read her posts and know the truth. Some might still believe what they’d seen, and Bodie might take some heat for it. But she was going to get her degree, one way or the other, despite the obstacles.
She thought about Cane with much more heartache. She’d seen him kissing another woman. She’d believed he was being unfaithful. Perhaps she, too, was judging on scant evidence. It was a sickening thought. She’d told Mallory to tell Cane she was divorcing him, but she didn’t see an attorney. She could let Cane do that, when he pleased. She was going to put the past away and try to get on with her future. She’d never stop loving him, but trust was another matter. Even if he hadn’t planned to cheat on her, the fact remained that he was flirting with another woman on his wedding day. She couldn’t get past that, no matter how hard she tried.
* * *
BODIE USED SKYPE TO TALK to Morie on New Year’s Eve. She was concerned about her sister-in-law. That concern made Bodie feel warm inside. After a minute, she asked the question she had to ask.
“How is he?” she asked the other woman, who was using the computer in her bedroom, not where Cane could eavesdrop.
“Somber,” Morie replied quietly. “He goes through the motions, but he doesn’t smile anymore. He has gone back into therapy, with a psychologist who’s a combat vet. He says the guy is easy to talk to, and he’s helping him. He hasn’t had a drink since you went back to Montana.”
“That’s good news,” Bodie said softly. “Has he…talked to a lawyer?”
“No. He said you could divorce him but he’s not divorcing you. He thinks you might forgive him and come home one day.”
Bodie’s heart jumped. “He said that?”
“Well, not in those words,” Morie admitted. “But he said he’s not seeing a lawyer.”
Bodie shrugged. “I see.”
“Mal thinks Cane did it deliberately because he got cold feet about being married. He knew you’d go looking for him. He might have seen you coming down the elevator.”
“You mean, he might have staged the whole thing?” Bodie asked hesitantly.
“It’s possible, isn’t it?” Morie said. “Cane wanted you, but he wasn’t sure about getting married so soon. On the other hand, he knew Tank wanted you, too, and he was afraid not to do something. But then when the rings were in place, he felt trapped and started looking for exits. That’s what Mal thinks, anyway.”
“It’s not so far-fetched,” Bodie said. “So…there’s still hope.”
“There’s always hope,” Morie replied gently. “I had a rocky road to marriage myself. It takes time for people to learn to trust each other. Cane definitely has feelings for you. He just doesn’t quite know how to deal with them. He’s never been in love, to hear his brothers tell it.”
“He just wants me,” Bodie blurted out.
“For men, that’s a start.” Morie laughed. “Be patient. Just let life happen.”
“Good advice.” She sighed. “Well, happy New Year. I’m going to register at the end of the week and classes start after. Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need luck. You’re smart. But I’ll wish you luck with your reluctant husband.” She laughed again.
“That I’ll need. Thank Mallory for the truck and the hotel room. I’ll pay him back however long it takes, I swear I will!”
“You don’t need to do that.” She hesitated. “Did your friend see your Facebook page?”
“Yes. She called to apologize, but during the conversation she stumbled and admitted she thought it was me in that photograph and that I posed for it.”
“Some friend.”
“That’s why I’m staying in the hotel. I dread classes. Some of my classmates may have seen the photographs and not seen my Facebook page.”
“You’ll deal with that,” Morie said. “I have faith in you. Just hold your head high and ignore them.”
“I’ll try. You know, it’s hard living in the world.”
“Yes. But we cope.”
Bodie smiled. “We cope. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome!”
* * *
THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES, Bodie was withdrawn and nervous. But nobody said anything to her about the internet photos. She’d already gone to the dean and told him what happened, just in case there were any incidents. He only smiled and said his own daughter had been a victim of a similar incident, and the case was going to trial soon. He told her not to worry about it. She left his office in better spirits.
But things didn’t go as well for Beth. Oddly she came in for censure when word got around campus about what she’d done to Bodie. In fact, Bodie was walking to her class when she overheard one comment in the hallway.
“Putting her things out in the rain, like she was some homeless person you took in,” a woman who wasn’t even a friend to Bodie snapped at Beth, who flushed. “And you call yourself a person of faith? What sort of faith is that?” She turned and walked off.
Beth looked at Bodie, flushed even more and almost ran the other way. Two days later, word was going around that Beth had left the campus and transferred to a college back East. Bodie felt sorry for her. She’d been angry that Beth believed Will’s filthy propaganda, but she’d never have wished that on her. After all, Bodie had taken Cane’s philandering for gospel without hearing his side of the story. It didn’t put her in a better light.
* * *
A MONTH AFTER SHE STARTED classes, there had been no whispers, no gossip about her. Nobody had trolled her or m
ade her feel uncomfortable. She’d looked for traces of those photographs on the internet and found absolutely nothing, not even a reference to them.
She contacted Morie late one night. While she waited for Skype to connect them, she rubbed her fingers over her lucky stone, liking its metallic feel. She really did have to have her friend in the geology department have a look at it. She thought, and not for the first time, what an unusually heavy rock it was.
“Hello,” Morie said, smiling. “How’s it going?”
“Much better,” Bodie told her. “How are things there?”
“Cane’s got a new prosthesis,” Morie said with pursed lips and twinkling eyes. “It’s a prototype. His psychologist has a friend in AI research. The prosthesis is being created to link to a person’s brain so that it’s controlled just like a real arm. Cane won’t let them attach electrodes, but he’s seen it done in the lab. It’s very realistic.”
“He’s actually wearing it? Wow!” Bodie exclaimed.
“He’s had a haircut. He shaves every day. He’s boning up on anthropology, for some reason,” she added with a chuckle. “And he has a photo of you in his room. Mavie saw it and told me.”
Bodie flushed. “Well!”
“We’re all coming up to see you graduate, you know.”
Bodie made a face. “If I graduate.” She swallowed. “How about Will and his friend Larry?”
“Both in jail,” Morie said surprisingly. “They were arrested on new charges yesterday and bond hasn’t been set. Red Davis got the evidence to convict him and turned it over to the sheriff personally. He’s also erased every single trace of Will’s notorious photo of you from the web.”
“I love Red Davis.”
“So do all of us. He really should be working for some government agency instead of being a ranch livestock foreman.” Morie chuckled. “But he says he doesn’t want to have to wear a suit and report to some guy in a tie.”