Divorced, Desperate and Deceived

by Christie Craig

“Did Luke call again?” Sue asked.

  “No. But if he does, I’m killing him.”

  Kathy saw the looks on her friends’ faces. Had the word “kill” put the fear of God in them? What did they think of her?

  “What did he do?” Lacy asked.

  Kathy had avoided all conversation about her father. After their meeting at the apartment in Houston, she’d realized they knew it, and she was pretty sure they knew she knew they knew. But during their few conversations while she was at her mom’s, they hadn’t mentioned anything, and neither had Kathy. Head in the sand was one of her favorite positions. The next time they had their favorite-position talk, she’d mention it.

  “Why are you going to kill him?” Lacy asked.

  “Maybe because it runs in my family. You know: like father, like daughter.” Okay, for someone who preferred things not to come out in the open, she’d sure as hell opened up a Pandora’s box.

  “What?” Sue asked.

  “Don’t lie. I know you know about it. You know what he did. His gang killed people. Fourteen of them. But don’t worry, he took at least two bullets for everyone who died!”

  They didn’t deny they knew the truth. But then Kathy saw the sympathy and pity in their faces—a look she hated almost as much as when people were afraid of her. Her tears started flowing harder.

  “All I need is a gun,” she sniffled. “And mine just so happens to be at my mom’s. Do you think maybe one of you could loan me one of your husband’s?” As another knock sounded at the door, she took a step back. “I just want to be alone. Please.”

  The knocked sounded again. Sue stepped to the door. She opened it, and just as quickly slammed it shut. Then, in a panic, she worked the lock.

  “Who is it?” Kathy asked.

  Sue turned around, and her wide eyes shot to Lacy. “No one,” she squeaked.

  There were no more knocks. But then Kathy heard him: “Kathy?” Luke.

  Calmly, she reached over and picked up a lamp, looked at Sue, let out a deep breath and warned, “Move.” Sue did. The lamp shattered against the front door, and the noise scared Goodwill so bad that he ran under the sofa. Kathy dropped to the floor and hugged her knees. “I just want to be by myself.”

  Goodwill wriggled out from under the sofa. Walking over to Sue, he dropped two positive pregnancy tests at her feet. Kathy saw her two friends glance down.

  “Oh, shit,” Lacy said.

  Kathy buried her face between her knees and started sobbing.

  Luke paced back and forth on the front porch of Kathy’s trailer. He knew she was in there; all sorts of noises were coming forth. Hell, the blonde woman had even opened the door to him for about a second. But now, ten minutes later, his knocks were still going unanswered.

  Suddenly, Jason Dodd’s Mustang pulled up. Luke watched Dodd and Chase Kelly, get out of the car and walk up to the porch.

  “Hey,” Jason said.

  Luke looked at them, then back at the front door. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not just dropping by?”

  “You figured that out, huh?” Chase gave him a rueful smile.

  “What the hell is going on?” Luke demanded, keeping most of his fury in check, having felt the three of them had parted in good terms back at the cabin.

  Jason shrugged. “Our wives called and said they didn’t think they could hold Kathy back much longer.”

  “She’s pretty much plotting your murder,” Chase explained. “She wants to borrow one of our guns.”

  Luke considered the half-assed smile on the man’s face, and it downright pissed him off. “And why is that?” he asked. But then a cold ache hit his heart and a colder fear: Could Kathy have heard about Sandy? The only thing worse than having to tell her he’d been married when he’d implied that he wasn’t, would be her finding out on her own and thinking he’d been using her.

  “We’ll tell you all about it if you’ll come with us.”

  Chase winked. But what the hell did that wink mean? What did these two know?

  Jason turned his back to the trailer and leaned in close to Luke. “Look, our wives are probably watching right now. We gotta make this look good. But the truth is, we know what you’re up against.”

  Luke shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere until I speak to Kathy.”

  Chase turned his back to the trailer and replied, “I know how you feel. But maybe right now isn’t the time. Let her cool off.”

  “Cool off from what?” he asked, more frustrated than ever.

  Jason stepped closer. “Let’s go back to my place. It’s just up the road a few miles. Let Lacy and Sue calm Kathy down.”

  “But I don’t even know what’s wrong!” Luke said. At least, he hoped he didn’t.

  “That’s women for you,” Chase said. “They like to keep us wondering. They want us to have to work at figuring out what they’re mad about.”

  “But I haven’t had a chance to make her mad. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got crap to tell her and she’ll have plenty of reasons to be pissed off, but—”

  Jason leaned in close again. “Look, we know what’s bothering her. Just come with us and we’ll explain. Trust us on this. What have you got to lose?”

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Luke sat at Jason Dodd’s table, holding a beer while he waited for the two bozos to explain. Sure, he’d expected Kathy to have her barriers up, but this? It didn’t make sense. Could she have somehow learned about Sandy? How?

  Jason sat down across from him. “Do you know about the club?”

  “What club?” Luke asked.

  “Our wives and Kathy started this club, and all of them swore they wouldn’t have anything to do with men anymore.”

  “Oh, that club. Yeah, I know about that,” Luke said, wondering if he should have left Kathy’s trailer. Sooner or later she’d open the door. She had to, didn’t she?

  “They were all really hurt by their exes. And that’s what makes it so hard for them,” Chase explained. “According to what Lacy said, Kathy’s ex ran off—”

  “With his secretary,” Luke interrupted. “Kathy told me about it. I don’t think that has anything to do with this.”

  “Did she tell you about her father?” Jason asked.

  Luke stopped rotating the beer in his hand. “No. He was a cop, wasn’t he? I know she doesn’t like cops.”

  “No, he wasn’t a cop,” Chase said. “But it does explain her dislike for cops.”

  “What happened?” Luke asked.

  Jason stood and walked over to the coffee table. When he came back, he dropped a book in front of Luke. “Page fifty-five. But let me warn you, it’s not easy to read.”

  “Remember, park your car about two houses up,” Chase warned. “Because they might be looking for cars. They’re smart like that.”

  It was the next morning, and Luke was leaving Jason Dodd’s. After downing more beers, he and Chase had slept over—at Jason’s insistence—as Sue and Lacy had spent the night at Kathy’s. The wives had called the husbands late the evening before, though neither woman had explained what was going on. Lacy had informed Chase that if she ever had the misfortune to run into Luke Hunter, she’d be making sausage out of his man parts. Jason just laughed and assured Luke not to worry; she’d threatened to do the same to him and he still had all his parts. When the girls called that morning, saying they were taking Kathy out for brunch, Jason and Chase concocted their plan for Luke to go to Kathy’s, pull a few wires in her car, let himself into her place, unplug her phones and be there when she came home.

  “Yeah,” Jason agreed. “Park far away. Sue writes mystery novels, so she has a suspicious mind. I swear, she’s plotting a whole novel around that dead guy Kathy said you saw in the porta-potty.”

  “Oh,” Chase said. “You’d better hide in her place until you know it’s just her, because my wife has one bad-ass swing.”

  “Especially if she’s got a fish,” Jason said. “She hit him with a singing fish.”

  Luke wasn’
t in the mood to appreciate their humor, even though he’d admit he was grateful for their help. If things worked out between him and Kathy, Luke could see them all becoming friends.

  Damn, what was he saying? Of course things would work out. They had to.

  “And whatever happens, you did not get that key from us,” Jason warned.

  “I got it,” Luke said as he started to walk away, Jason’s phone rang.

  “Yeah,” Jason said and cut Luke a frown. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll see to it. I agree, that’s terrible.” He rolled his eyes. When he hung up, his gaze shot back to Luke. “I swear, when this is all said and done, you’re taking back the responsibility for Mrs. Banks. Between her IBS and shot-up cabin—and let’s not even talk about her suppositories—she’s driving me crazy! I already deal with my mom and Ms. Roberts, the cucumber lady, and I don’t think I’ve got time to take care of another old lady.”

  They all laughed.

  When Luke started out again, Chase gave Luke a thump on the back. “Go get the girl.”

  Luke took a deep breath. Reading about Kathy’s father and what happened hurt worse than being shot. And he completely understood why Jason and Chase thought this could be behind Kathy’s reluctance to see him, but he kept fighting a niggling doubt that they had gotten past the cop thing. If this was what had Kathy up in arms, it would be an easy fix; he wasn’t sure he even wanted to get back into the law enforcement field. The hard part of his talk with Kathy would come when he had to tell her about Sandy.

  Chase must have read his concern. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “I don’t know,” Luke said. “I’ve made some mistakes—”

  “Just walk in, look her right in the eyes and say you’re sorry. They like that,” Chase said.

  “And say you were wrong,” Jason suggested. “They really like hearing that. Unfortunately, they’re mostly right about us being wrong. At least Sue is, anyway.”

  “And tell her you love her,” Chase said. “You do love her, don’t you?”

  “Hell, yeah,” Luke growled.

  “Then practice saying this: ‘I was wrong. I’m sorry. You were right,’ and tag on an ‘I love you,’ and you should do just fine.”

  Jason reared back on his heels. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, but I’m curious—what is it that you have to tell Kathy that you think she’s going to be pissed about?”

  Luke almost snapped that it was none of their damn business, but then he remembered how helpful they were being. “I was married.”

  “You didn’t tell her you’d been married?” Chase asked. “That’s it? Hey, I did the same with Lacy. Lacy got over it.”

  “That’s not the worst part,” Luke confessed. “I just found out I was still married when we were together.”

  “Crap!” said Jason. “You’re married?”

  “No, now I’m divorced,” Luke said. “Got the paperwork to prove it.”

  “But you were married when you were at the cabin?” Chase’s expression was grave.

  Luke nodded. “But I didn’t know! I’d signed the papers before I went undercover. My ex just didn’t file them.”

  “Oh.” Jason shook his head.

  “What do you think?” Luke asked Chase. “You think she’s going be able to handle that?”

  “Sure,” the cop said. “You didn’t know, so how can she hold you responsible? Go break a leg.” He grabbed Luke’s hand and pumped it up and down.

  Luke walked out the door, but right before he shut it he heard Chase say, “Dead man walking.”

  “Yup,” Jason agreed. “And a shame, too. I kind of liked him.”

  “Me, too,” Chase said. “But I still say he’s not that good-looking.”

  Sue pulled up in Kathy’s driveway. “Do you want us to come in, stay awhile?” She turned and looked at her friend, who was sitting in the backseat.

  “No, but thanks. I love you guys.” Kathy reached forward to squeeze their hands. They squeezed hers back.

  “You know we’re here for you,” Lacy said.

  “I know,” Kathy replied. “I’m sorry I was such a bitch. It’s the hormones, you know.”

  “You weren’t a bitch,” Sue argued.

  “What are you going to do?” Lacy asked, giving Kathy’s hand another squeeze.

  “I’m having this baby. I thought I made that clear.”

  “No, we know that,” Lacy said. “I mean, about him.”

  Kathy pulled her hands free. “If I don’t have to see him for a few months, maybe I can refrain from trying to kill him.”

  “Are you going to tell him?” Sue asked.

  Kathy admitted the truth. “At first I decided I wouldn’t, but then I realized he deserves to know. Even assholes deserve to know about their kids. Look at Tom. He’s an asshole, but he loves Tommy.”

  “And he deserves to pay child support,” Lacy said.

  Kathy shook her head. “I won’t ask for it.”

  “Why not?” Sue asked.

  “It’s my fault I got pregnant.”

  “Your fault?” Lacy repeated. “You must have missed that film in high school. You see, it’s his little wigglies meeting up with your little eggs that got you pregnant. Meaning, it takes two to tango.”

  “Yeah, but he didn’t want to dance without a condom, and I just kind of jumped on top and started dancing.”

  Sue let out a chuckle. “Now that creates a visual.”

  They all laughed. After one more group hug, Kathy walked to the porch and watched her two best friends in the whole world drive away. Somehow she knew that everything would be okay. How could she go wrong? She didn’t need a husband. She had friends.

  She let herself in and quickly locked the door. The last thing she wanted was to have to face Luke right now. In a month or so when—

  “Hi, Kathy.”

  She swung around. Holy mother of pearls, the father of her child was sitting at her kitchen table.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you.” Luke’s chest swelled with emotion at just seeing her. He moved the puppy from his lap to the floor and stood up. He wanted so much to go to her and pull her into his arms, but he didn’t move. “I didn’t know if it would be better if you saw me first or I spoke first.”

  “What about neither?” She pointed to the door. “Leave, Luke. I…I can’t deal with this right now.”

  “You see, that’s my problem, Kathy. I’m not one hundred percent sure what it is you’re dealing with.”

  “Leave, Luke.” She pointed to the door again.

  “Why?”

  She didn’t answer.

  His insecurities started to build. What was it that Chase Kelly had told him to say? “I’m sorry. I was wrong. You were right.”

  “Wrong about what?” she asked, her eyes narrowing with anger.

  Okay…that hadn’t worked. “Is this about me being a cop?”

  When she didn’t answer, he was almost hopeful. “Kathy, I don’t have to be a federal agent anymore. I kind of like being a plumber, and the money is a hell of a lot better.”

  She closed her eyes and pointed to the door. “I’m calling Jason and Chase again if you don’t leave.”

  “Give me five minutes.” He didn’t think saying that her phones wouldn’t work was a good thing right now.

  “What for, Luke? What can you say that will make this right?”

  “Make what right, Kathy?” Had she somehow gotten wind of Sandy?

  She walked over to the coffee table and turned on the television. After hitting a few buttons, the screen came on, and he saw a news clip. And then he saw and heard: “Making up for lost time with his wife.”

  Kathy stared, and her eyes grew moist. “Can you tell me that it’s not true? Can you tell me that the reporter got it wrong?”

  He nodded. “I’m not married.”

  “So she just lied?”

  He saw hope in her eyes. Never had he wanted to lie so damn bad in his life. Instead, he pulled out several folded papers. “O
kay, here’s the deal. I left Sandy three and a half years ago when I accepted a transfer to New York with the agency. Before I left, she asked for a divorce and I signed the papers and dropped them off so she could file them.”

  “And?” she prompted, the hope in her eyes growing stronger.

  He hesitated. “She didn’t file the papers. I swear I didn’t know.”

  Kathy just stood there.

  “I went undercover a month later, and as far as I knew, I was divorced. I hadn’t even seen her since I signed those papers. Until yesterday morning.”

  Kathy folded her hands under her breasts. “You didn’t even tell me you’d been married!” She started to walk away, then stopped. “Wait. I’d asked you point-blank, and you told me you never had! You lied to me! You deceived me! You deceived me about everything!”

  The pain in her eyes hit him like a hot poker across the face. “What I told you was that I’d never worn a ring. And I didn’t. We bought…” He let out a deep breath. “Fuck. You’re right. I lied. What I did was the same as lying. But I was conditioned to lie, Kathy.”

  Her arms tightened. “Is that supposed to make it okay?”

  “No! I was wrong, but that doesn’t—”

  “We made love! I—” Her voice caught. “I thought…” She covered her face with her hands. “You should have told me.”

  “Yes. I should have. But…”

  She dropped her hands. “There are no buts, Luke.”

  He felt as if he was losing, but then something occurred to him. “Yes, there are buts! People sometimes don’t admit things because the truth hurts too much.”

  “If they care about the other person, they do,” she snapped.

  He picked up the book he’d brought. “Is that why you didn’t tell me about this? You don’t care about me?”

  Her face paled as she recognized the book. “Get out!”

  “We’re alike, Kathy.” He dropped the book on her table. “I didn’t tell you about my divorce because it hurt me to talk about it.”

  “You love her that much?” she asked, crying.

  “No. We stopped loving each other years ago. It hurt because she had an abortion without telling me. I got furious at her.” He fought the panic building in his chest. “I’d lost my father. I’d lost my sister and her children, and I felt guilty because I was supposed to go with them on that trip. The guilt ate at me.”