‘I’m just saying that if Brad was stupid enough to date Megan—’
‘My son is not stupid!’
‘OK. If Brad was unwise enough to date John’s teenage daughter, it could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.’
Olivia seemed flabbergasted. ‘But … but John couldn’t be so petty as to fire Bradley for that. He’d have to know that terminating Brad’s place at the firm would leave a permanent black mark on Brad’s career!’
‘Have you forgotten that the firm has three senior partners? John Reid, Roger Alpern and Kenneth Patel. All three must have been in agreement or Brad wouldn’t have been dismissed. I don’t think the other two would have let John’s outrage over Brad’s dating situation influence their judgment, although I’m certain it didn’t help matters. Brad was already on thin ice.’
‘John Reid’s father started that firm!’
‘He’s been dead for over ten years so that has nothing to do with the decisions made by the three present partners. You know that, Olivia, even if you’re pretending not to believe it.’
Kelsey was so angry with Olivia she wanted to throw her out and tell her to never come back. Then she looked at the woman’s blanched face and red-rimmed eyes filled with genuine panic. She sighed, took Olivia’s coffee mug from her trembling hand and refilled it. ‘What has Brad said since he called you?’
‘Nothing! I haven’t talked to him. I’ve called his landline, his cell phone, the law firm. I’ve even texted, and I hate to text.’ Olivia made texting sound like an act of hard labor. ‘Kelsey, will you call John Reid and tell him Bradley hasn’t been seeing Megan?’
Kelsey gave her a long, hard look.
‘All right, I guess not. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a good idea anyway.’
‘It certainly would not be a good idea, and you’re too smart to think that could help matters.’
‘I’m frightened.’ Olivia set down her coffee mug, stood, and started pacing around the loft. ‘Brad’s garage door is down. He has an automatic garage door opener but I don’t have the thingamajig that opens and shuts the door, so I don’t know if his car is there or he’s left town. I’ve tried the doors of his house but they’re locked, and I couldn’t see much through the windows. He doesn’t answer his phone. He might be hurt, Kelsey. He might have … done something to himself. If he’s lying in his house injured or … near death … and I didn’t do anything …’ Her voice was desperate, her gaze pleading. ‘Bradley would never give me keys to his house. I guess he thought I’d search the place while he was at work.’ And you would have, Kelsey thought.
‘Kelsey, I know he gave you keys—’
‘Keys I didn’t want.’
‘Nevertheless. Did you give them back to him when you broke up?’
‘I meant to, but he got so angry with me that frankly I didn’t want to go near him for a while. And then I forgot about the keys,’ Kelsey said reluctantly. ‘I haven’t thought about them for months.’
Olivia walked toward her and sank to her knees. ‘I need to get into Bradley’s house, Kelsey. I have to see if he’s all right. Please.’
A tear ran down Olivia’s pale cheek. ‘All right,’ Kelsey said slowly. ‘I don’t blame you for being worried. Frankly, in spite of all the bad feelings between Brad and me, I’m concerned, too.’
‘Then come with me.’ Olivia reached out and took Kelsey’s right hand in hers. ‘I know you don’t like me, but your mother did. I think she’d want you to come. If I walk into that house and—’ She gulped back a sob. ‘If I find—’
‘OK, I’ll go with you, Olivia,’ Kelsey interrupted, unable to let Olivia even think of what could have happened to Brad. ‘I’ll get dressed and we’ll go immediately.’
More tears spilled down Olivia’s face. ‘Thank you, Kelsey. Thank you so much.’
Kelsey tried to give Olivia a reassuring smile, but she couldn’t say everything would be fine because she wasn’t at all certain a shattered Bradley Fairbourne really was alive and well.
Olivia turned her Mercedes into the driveway of Brad’s small gray-shingled single-story house. ‘Oh, that dismal color,’ Olivia moaned. ‘I’ve asked Bradley to have the place painted.’
‘He likes gray.’
‘I don’t and I gave him the down payment for the house. Did I ever mention that?’
About twenty times, Kelsey thought but said nothing. She knew that at the moment, Olivia was just chattering because of nerves and wouldn’t have heard an answer if she had given one.
‘You have both the front and back door keys, don’t you?’ Olivia asked as she switched off the car’s engine and reached for her sand-colored designer purse.
‘Yes, Olivia. I brought all the keys I have to Brad’s house.’ She’d reassured Olivia of this twice before they left the loft.
‘Do you have a garage door opener thingamajig?’
‘It’s called a transmitter. And no, I don’t have one for Brad’s garage. We won’t need it if we get into the house, though.’
‘What do you mean by if we get into the house?’ Olivia burst out.
‘He might have had the locks changed after our breakup. Maybe that’s why he never asked for his keys, but we’ll find a way to get inside.’
Kelsey got out of the car and looked at the bright yellow daffodils she’d planted in front of the house last spring when Brad was still being nice. He’d been delighted with what he’d thought was an act of love, instead of a simple kindness. They were flourishing, which surprised her. She’d thought he might have destroyed them this year.
Kelsey felt as if a lump of ice was sitting in her stomach when she slipped the key into the lock of the front door and heard a click. She turned the knob slowly and opened the door, letting sunshine into the dark hall that bisected the house. ‘At least Brad hasn’t changed the front door lock,’ she breathed.
Olivia, who’d been babbling since they got out of the car, fell silent as they stepped into the house. Suddenly she started yelling. ‘Brad! Bradley Allen Fairbourne!’ Nothing. ‘Bradley, it’s your mother! Are you in here? Bradley, if you’re here you answer me right now!’
‘Stop shouting, Olivia! You’re going to deafen me. Besides, shouting isn’t helping anything. Either he isn’t here or—’
‘Or what? He’s dead?’
‘Or he’s just not answering. He might have passed out.’
‘My Bradley does not drink until he passes out.’
That’s what you think, Kelsey wanted to say but held her tongue. ‘Let’s just look around.’
Kelsey was glad she’d managed to sound calm, although she felt something was off. The house felt wrong. She couldn’t have explained the feeling if her life depended on it, but that didn’t make it go away. She was determined she would continue to act serene and in control until they’d searched the whole house, though. She wouldn’t let Olivia know how alarmed she felt in this cozy little house where for a few months she’d felt comfortable with Brad.
Brad used to have the house cleaned once a week and usually kept it spotless and neat. Today, Kelsey flipped the switch and light shone on the mahogany hall floor, which showed a rim of dust near the baseboards. To the right, sunshine filtered through the blinds, throwing the living room into dim light. The middle cushion on the brown sofa lay on the floor. A green and gold afghan was wadded into a corner of the sofa, and a half-full ashtray sat on the floor beside it.
Without a word, Kelsey and Olivia walked into the living room. Kelsey headed toward Brad’s favorite chair, a bulky green recliner. It was sprinkled with lint and ashes. A scratched wooden end table next to the recliner held copies of TV Guide, Esquire and Sports Illustrated along with several brightly colored fast-food wrappers. Kelsey also saw a drinking glass holding about an inch of brown-tinged water. She picked it up and sniffed. Bourbon. Two empty beer cans lay on the table. Balled up candy bar wrappers circled the rim of another ashtray, where the remains of a joint lay.
‘What’s this?’ Olivi
a asked, picking up the joint.
‘Marijuana.’
‘Bradley doesn’t smoke marijuana.’
‘Yes, Olivia, he does. Quite a bit of it, in fact.’
‘I don’t believe it.’
‘Believe it.’
‘Well, I never …’ Olivia uttered again, then turned her gaze away from the messy end table. ‘Brad! Bradleeeey!’
Kelsey closed her eyes, counted to five, then said, ‘Olivia, if you don’t stop bellowing for him I’m going to leave.’
‘Fine!’ Olivia snapped. ‘Then you can walk home! We came in my car!’
Kelsey held her temper and asked calmly, ‘Do you see his cell phone anywhere?’
‘I haven’t been looking for it.’
‘Then look for it and stop threatening to abandon me.’ Kelsey walked ahead to the kitchen. She stopped when she saw a nearly empty bottle of bourbon sitting next to an open pizza box on the counter. In the sink lay dirty plates, glasses and flatware. The refrigerator held some individually wrapped cheese slices, a stick of butter and eight cans of beer.
‘My son does not keep house this way!’ Olivia announced. ‘He’s neat and clean, and he does not smoke marijuana!’
‘He does smoke marijuana when he’s upset, and he drinks too much.’ Olivia’s eyes flared at Kelsey. ‘Olivia, Brad had been fired from the law firm. Look at this place – he was having a meltdown. Can’t you understand that?’
Olivia remained silent as Kelsey headed for the back door of the house that led into the garage. It was unlocked and she opened it. ‘Olivia!’ she called. ‘Brad’s car is gone.’
She felt the sudden presence of Olivia, leaning out the door and peering into the shadows. Finally she asked in a thin, high voice, ‘Maybe he’s just gone for a drive?’
Kelsey didn’t bother to answer. She went back in the house to the bedroom, Olivia pattering behind her. The sheets on the king-size bed were rumpled and clothes were scattered everywhere, as if Brad had simply turned dresser drawers upside down and dumped them on the bed and floor. She looked into the closet. Spaces appeared between shirts he’d always kept immaculately neat. On the floor his expensive shoes lay in a heap. She didn’t see any athletic shoes or jeans.
‘He’s gone, Olivia,’ she said firmly. ‘I think he just threw some clothes together and left on impulse.’
‘Where would he go?’
‘You’d probably have a better idea than I would. Just think.’
Finally, Kelsey went into the bathroom. She stood transfixed in front of a cracked medicine cabinet mirror. Dried brownish-red liquid had splattered on the wall and drained down into the sink. On the other mirror was a message written crudely in the same dried brownish-red:
Kelsey
R.I.P.
THIRTEEN
‘Look at all that blood! Bradley’s killed himself!’ Olivia shrilled right behind her. She clutched her chest with trembling hands. ‘It’s your fault – all of it! You wrecked his life!’
Kelsey turned slowly, then put her hands on Olivia’s shoulders and shook her. The woman’s silver hair flapped around her face and her green eyes blazed. ‘You’re having a panic attack, Olivia. Get hold of yourself! Brad has not killed himself. He would never kill himself. He must have been drunk and high when he wrote that on the mirror.’
‘In blood! Look at it and tell me the writing isn’t in blood!’
‘I’m not certain it’s blood, but it could be. That doesn’t prove anything, though, Olivia. Do you think he slashed his wrists or his neck? There’s not enough blood here to indicate a suicide attempt. He just cut himself. Now pull yourself together. You’re no help to Brad if you fall apart.’
Olivia’s face was alarmingly pale. She looked at Kelsey in fury then burst into wracking sobs. ‘Oh, my baby. My poor, poor baby.’
‘He’s not a baby but he is a troubled young man. He needs you, Olivia. In spite of how much the two of you argue, you are the most important person in his world. I should know – I dated him for five months and I’ve known him for almost twenty years! He loves you and I think you’re the only person in the world who can help him. I mean that, Olivia. You two have always been a team, even when you were married to Milton.’
Olivia gasped, fighting for breath through her sobs. ‘Maybe if I hadn’t married Milton, things would have been different for Brad. I thought that Milton could give us – especially Bradley – a wonderful life. Instead, Milton was envious of Brad – his looks, his intelligence, his youth, but especially my love for Brad. Milton Fairbourne always had to be number one.’
‘At least he adopted Brad and gave him the Fairbourne name.’
To Kelsey’s surprise, Olivia started laughing. The laughter grew until it was almost hysterical. ‘You might as well know the truth since Brad is probably dead. Everyone thought Milton was being so generous adopting a fatherless kid. But Bradley always did have a father in his life – Milton Fairbourne. Milton was Brad’s biological father!’
Kelsey’s jaw dropped in surprise. She stared blankly at this tearful, laughing Olivia she’d never seen before now. Finally she managed, ‘You didn’t meet Milton when Brad was twelve?’
‘God, no! I’ve been in the picture since Milton’s wife was still acting like the queen of Louisville society. He didn’t love her, you know. Milton never loved her! But after they’d been married about ten years, he met me and he fell in love. I thought he’d leave his wife when I got pregnant or after Bradley was born, but he wouldn’t. He cared too much about what people would think. So I was patient. Year after year, I waited. I thought I’d lose my mind. I was on the verge of a breakdown when finally my tenacity paid off – literally. After his wife died, Milton married me and I had access to Milton’s world and all of that glorious money. It should have been wonderful, but Milton was always jealous of Brad because he knew Bradley was the love of my life. Milton, the bastard, couldn’t get past his egotism and possessiveness to love his own son and he let Brad know it every single day.’
Swallowing her shock, Kelsey asked, ‘Did Brad know Milton was his real father?’
Olivia closed her eyes. ‘He guessed when he was about ten, even before Milton’s wife died. Brad’s so intelligent, so perceptive. But knowing Milton was his real father made his attitude even harder for Brad to bear, especially after I married Milton and Brad was around him every day. Maybe that made me overprotective, smothering. Maybe Milton’s competitiveness and coldness toward Bradley made him feel inferior. After all, when you can’t win your own parent’s love …’ Olivia shook her head. ‘My poor boy.’
Kelsey could hardly believe it but she felt her arms encircle Olivia and pull her close, patting her back as she sobbed from what felt like the depths of her soul. She’d disliked Olivia, she’d mistrusted Olivia, but at this moment she felt nothing except sympathy for the woman whose confession seemed to have drained her of all strength and left her with only raw grief and regret.
Suddenly, Kelsey heard footsteps. Someone else was in Brad’s house. Kelsey froze, panic rising inside her. They were trapped. ‘Brad?’
Kelsey looked up to see Declan Adair standing in the doorway.
Kelsey felt as if every breath of air went out of her and the room seemed to tilt. She couldn’t make a sound. She simply stared, suddenly frightened, at the man watching her holding a sobbing Olivia Fairbourne. He looked calm and unaffected, his piercing blue eyes steady, his arms folded across his chest.
Finally, Kelsey managed, ‘You!’
‘Yes,’ he said smoothly. ‘Me.’
Olivia jerked free of Kelsey and whirled around to face him. ‘What are you doing here?’ Her taut voice screeched. ‘How did you get in? Are you following Kelsey? Do you know my son? Where is he?’
Declan held up his right hand. ‘Whoa, Mrs Fairbourne! I got in easily because you left the front door open. I’m not a friend of Brad’s. I don’t know where your son is. I don’t mean you any harm.’
‘And I’m supposed to believe you?’
‘If you aren’t going to believe what I say, why did you ask those questions?’
Declan had managed to shut down Olivia with simple reason. She took deep breaths, shuddering, grabbing Kelsey’s arm as if she needed to be physically steadied.
‘This is Declan Adair,’ Kelsey said. ‘He’s the man I was speaking to at Lori’s funeral reception right before Brad started talking about his horse being put down by Milton when he was at college.’
‘Did you have to bring up Brad’s horse?’ Olivia demanded of Kelsey, then peered at Declan. ‘I thought your name was Barrington.’
‘Harrington,’ he said. ‘Kelsey introduced me as Cole Harrington. I didn’t correct her at the time but my name is Declan Adair. I’m a private investigator. I live in New York City.’
Olivia looked appalled. ‘I don’t understand. Are you investigating my son? Did John Reid send you?’
‘Can we discuss all of this someplace besides the bathroom?’ Kelsey asked. ‘I’m getting claustrophobic and Olivia definitely needs to sit down.’
‘I want to know who he is before I go anywhere with him!’ Olivia stormed. ‘He could be a killer!’
‘He’s not a killer.’ At least I hope not, Kelsey thought. ‘Let’s go into the living room. Declan, lead the way.’
He smiled. ‘You want to keep me in front of you. Good strategy, Kelsey.’
Five minutes later, all three of them sat around Brad’s messy living room. Olivia huddled next to Kelsey on the sofa. Declan had taken an oak Windsor armchair near the television. ‘I glanced around before I came to the bathroom,’ he said. ‘It looks like Brad hasn’t been here for at least a couple of days.’
‘I talked to him early Friday afternoon,’ Olivia volunteered almost triumphantly before narrowing her eyes at Declan.
‘Did he call you from a cell phone?’ he asked.
‘I … I don’t know. He didn’t seem to feel well. Kelsey and I can’t find his cell phone. He must have it with him.’ Olivia lifted her chin. ‘I’m not answering any more of your questions until you tell me who exactly are you and what you’re doing here.’
Just a Breath Away Page 19