The Bad Daughter

by Joy Fielding

  “No,” Cassidy said, grabbing both Robin’s and Blake’s hands. “Mommy was right. You’re scum.”

  “You little bitch,” Dylan said, his voice a combination of anger and admiration. “You were just playing with me, weren’t you?”

  “Sheriff,” Cassidy said, “please make this man stop bothering us.”

  “Time to move on, Dylan,” the sheriff said.

  “I’ll get a lawyer,” Dylan said.

  Cassidy smiled. “Give it your best shot.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  “I’ve got to hand it to you, kiddo,” Melanie was saying as Blake’s car was pulling away from the gravesite. “For a twelve-year-old, that was impressive as hell. Don’t think I could have handled it any better myself.”

  “Can I tell you something?” Cassidy asked, looking sheepish.

  “Of course,” Robin said.

  “Those things I said…I kind of borrowed them from Bleeding Hearts.”

  “Bleeding Hearts?”

  “That TV show we were watching the other day?” Blake asked.

  Cassidy nodded. “It was a few months ago. Penny was being blackmailed by Jason. He’s her third—no, her fourth—husband. He showed up just as she was about to marry Reed and told her that he was a changed man and begged her to give him another chance. And she said that one look at him told her everything she needed to know, and asked how much was it going to take to make him go away for good. And then she told him to give it his best shot.”

  “Wow,” said Melanie. “You remembered all that?”

  “Do you think he’ll really hire a lawyer?” Cassidy asked.

  “With Dylan Campbell, anything is possible,” Robin said.

  Panic filled Cassidy’s eyes. “But he wouldn’t get custody, would he? I mean, if he went to court, there’s no chance that he…”

  “No,” said Robin. “We would never let that happen.”

  “How could you stop him?”

  “We’ll stop him,” Blake said from the front seat.

  “You promise?”

  “I promise,” Blake said.

  Cassidy breathed a deep sigh of relief and settled back into Robin’s arms as Blake turned the car toward the exit.

  “Wait,” Robin said, lurching forward in her seat.

  “Something wrong?”

  “No. I just thought…”

  “Oh, dear,” said Melanie. “She’s thinking again.”

  “Could we stop at Mom’s grave?” Robin swiveled toward Cassidy. “I haven’t seen the headstone and…I won’t be long, I promise. I just thought…since we’re already here…”

  “Sure,” Cassidy said. “It’s down that way, right?” She pointed in the direction that Melanie had indicated earlier.

  “Why not?” Melanie said. “Stop here,” she said a minute later. “It’s the second-to-last row. Third from the end.” She pointed to her left as Blake pulled the car to a stop.

  “Do you want me to come with you?” Blake asked as Robin opened the rear door.

  “No. I’ll find it.”

  “Wait. I’m coming,” Melanie said, exiting the front seat and catching up to her sister.

  “It’s all right. You don’t have to…”

  “I know I don’t have to. Maybe I want to. Is that a problem?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Good. That’s it—over there.” She pointed to a rose-colored granite headstone several yards away.

  Robin walked cautiously toward it, silently reading the simple inscription etched across its surface as she approached: Sarah Davis. Wife. Mother. Grandmother. In Our Hearts You Live Forever.

  “A cliché, I know, but what can you do?” Melanie said.

  “It’s lovely.”

  “Yeah? Well, I’m sure you would have come up with something more profound, but then…”

  “…I wasn’t here,” Robin acknowledged. She took a deep breath. “Look. I’m sorry that I let you down, that I wasn’t here more. I know it wasn’t easy for you, looking after Mom…”

  Melanie shook off Robin’s sympathy with a shrug of her shoulders. “It wasn’t. But, hey, what’s done is done. I wasn’t exactly laying out the welcome mat.”

  “You never liked me very much,” Robin said.

  “Yeah, well, it’s hard to like your sister when she’s your mother’s clear favorite.”

  “I wasn’t her—” Robin started to protest.

  “Sure you were. I knew it from the minute she brought you home from the hospital, and that was years before I heard her tell you so.”

  “You heard her…?”

  “Tell you that you were her favorite? Oh, yes. The memory is seared into my brain. There you were, all nice and cozy, curled up on her lap on the sofa, and there I was, watching from the shadows.” She shrugged again, as if to say it didn’t matter. Her eyes said something else.

  “I’m sorry,” Robin said again.

  “You certainly didn’t look sorry at the time. You looked about as pleased as a little girl could be.”

  Robin acknowledged the truth with a nod of her head and a long exhalation. It was several seconds before she spoke. “I knew you were there.”

  Melanie made a face halfway between a smile and a scowl. “I thought you did. I bet it made the moment that much sweeter.”

  “It did,” Robin admitted. She looked across the rows of gravestones. “I was, what, ten? I’d spent my whole life trying to get my big sister’s approval. All I ever got was a cold shoulder and a broken nose.”

  Melanie chuckled. “And even that worked in your favor. Gave your face some much-needed character.”

  Both sisters stared absently at the horizon.

  “Did you ever confront Mom?” Robin asked.

  “I thought about it once,” Melanie said, “when she was making the usual round of excuses for you not coming home. But she was pretty sick by then, and what was I supposed to tell her without sounding like the jealous brat I was?”

  Robin stared down at her mother’s grave. “You could tell her now.”

  Melanie’s eyes narrowed, a sneer tugging at her lips. “What are you—my therapist now?”

  “I’m your sister,” Robin said. “Go on. Tell her.”

  Melanie scoffed. “You think she’s listening?”

  “I don’t think it matters.”

  There was a long pause. “Sure. Why not? I’ll play along. Here goes nothing.” She took a deep breath. “Not sure what I’m supposed to say, but…” Another pause, this one so long that Robin thought she’d decided not to continue. “Okay. Here’s the thing, Mom. You shouldn’t have played favorites. It wasn’t fair. I know I wasn’t an easy child to mother. But I was your child. And I loved you. And you hurt my feelings. Yes, surprise! I actually have them.” She turned back to Robin, her cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment. “Okay, that’s it. Happy now?”

  Robin inched forward, her shoes sinking into the soft ground around her mother’s grave, rooting her in place. “Do you think she knew about Dad’s affairs?” she surprised herself by asking.

  “Are you kidding me? Of course she did,” Melanie said. “You think the whole town knew and she didn’t?”

  “All those years I thought I was protecting her,” Robin said. “All those years I felt so guilty for keeping his secret. And she knew all along.”

  “What did she know?” a small voice asked from behind them.

  The sisters turned to see Cassidy and Blake watching from a few feet away.

  “Sorry,” Blake said. “Didn’t mean to sneak up on you. We were starting to get worried.”

  “That’s okay,” Melanie said, walking toward them. “We’re done here.”

  * * *

  —

  A few minutes later, they turned onto Larie Lane. Robin spotted a black Honda Civic parked behind Melanie’s car in the driveway. “Whose car is that?”

  Cassidy stretched forward in her seat. “Looks like Kenny’s.”

  “Who’s Kenny?” Blake aske
d.

  “The boy who visited Cassidy in the hospital,” Robin reminded him.

  “Landon’s friend,” Cassidy clarified.

  Blake parked his car, leaving enough room for Kenny to get his car out, then ran around to help Cassidy out of the backseat. She collapsed against his side. “Whoa,” Blake said. “You okay?”

  “A little dizzy,” Cassidy said.

  Blake scooped her into his arms. “Let me carry you inside.”

  “No. I can walk.”

  “No arguments,” said Robin, walking beside them as Melanie hurried ahead to unlock the front door.

  “Landon,” she called out as they entered the house, “we’re home.”

  There was no answer.

  “I’ll see what we have for lunch.” Melanie headed for the kitchen as Blake carried Cassidy into the living room and deposited her on the sofa.

  His cell phone rang and he reached into his pocket, glancing at the caller ID. “Sorry. It’s the office. I’ve got to take this.” He walked into the hallway.

  Cassidy’s eyes brimmed over with sudden tears. “What’s going to happen to me if Daddy doesn’t get better?” she asked Robin.

  “Please stop worrying about that. We’ll figure something out.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. You heard Blake. He won’t let anything bad happen.”

  “Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?” Cassidy asked.

  Robin gave the question a moment’s thought. “No,” she answered, deciding that the child deserved honesty, not platitudes. “I know that lots of people find it comforting to think that, but I just don’t buy it. Things happen because they happen. I actually find it more comforting to believe things happen randomly than to believe there’s some sort of divine plan that justifies a child dying of cancer or people starving to death.” Or forever friends being gunned down in cold blood. “But even if things don’t happen for a reason,” she added, trying to soften her words, “I think they still have a way of working out.”

  “Isn’t it the same thing?”

  “I think there’s a subtle difference.”

  “A subtle difference between what and what?” Blake asked, re-entering the room.

  “Do you think everything happens for a reason?” Cassidy asked him.

  “I think there are reasons things happen,” Blake said. “But do I believe in some sort of greater plan? No. I guess I subscribe to Albert Camus’s theory of ‘the benign indifference of the universe.’ ”

  “What does that mean?” Cassidy asked.

  “It means I’m hungry,” Blake said with a laugh. “I always quote Camus when I get hungry.”

  Robin wanted to jump up and hug him. “What did the office want?”

  Blake sank down beside Cassidy. “Unfortunately, the deal we thought was in the bag appears to be unraveling at the seams. There’s a meeting scheduled for Monday to address the issues, so it looks as if I’ll be heading back to L.A. on Sunday.”

  “No!” Cassidy cried. “That’s only a few more days.”

  “It’s okay, sweetheart,” Robin said. “I’ll be here.” How could she leave with things still so up in the air? She couldn’t very well just dump everything in Melanie’s lap again.

  “For how long?” Cassidy asked. “You’re not gonna hang around forever once Blake goes home. What’s gonna happen to me when you leave? What’s gonna happen to me if Daddy dies?”

  Robin looked to Blake.

  “We’ll work something out,” he said.

  “What?” Cassidy pressed. “Can I go with you to L.A.?”

  They heard a shuffling noise and turned to see Kenny standing in the doorway, Landon behind him. “Somebody going to L.A.?” Kenny asked. He pushed his hair off his forehead, then buried his hands in the pockets of his skinny jeans.

  “We were just talking,” Cassidy said.

  “About you going to L.A.?”

  “Nothing’s been decided,” Cassidy told him.

  “I don’t think you should go.”

  “Well, we’ll see. You know I’ve always wanted to live there.”

  “Your dad could get better.”

  “Then, of course, I’ll stay.”

  “But if he doesn’t, you’ll go?”

  There was an edge to Kenny’s voice that made Robin uncomfortable.

  “Nobody’s going anywhere today,” Robin said, trying to ease the sudden tension in the room. “Melanie,” she called out, “can I give you a hand in there?”

  “A little late for that,” Melanie said, appearing behind Landon with a large tray of sandwiches.

  “What kind of sandwiches did you make?” Cassidy asked.

  “Just tuna. Nothing fancy.” Melanie put the tray on the coffee table, then took a step back. “Knock yourselves out.”

  Kenny promptly grabbed a sandwich from the top of the pile and took a large bite. “They’re good,” he said to no one in particular.

  Blake pointedly picked up the tray and offered it to Cassidy.

  “Thanks.” She smiled up at him as she lifted a sandwich to her mouth.

  Robin took a sandwich, noticing the scowl in Kenny’s eyes as Blake held the tray toward Landon.

  Landon shook his head.

  “You gotta eat, big guy,” Kenny said, grabbing another sandwich from the tray and pushing it against Landon’s chest.

  “When did you get here, Kenny?” Melanie asked.

  “About an hour ago. Landon said I just missed you. I would have come to the funeral if somebody had told me about it.”

  “We wanted to keep things as private as possible,” Robin explained.

  Kenny finished the last of his sandwich and helped himself to another. “Because of your brother being arrested?”

  “That’s part of it.”

  “Do you think he did it?” Kenny asked.

  “No, I don’t think he did it.”

  “Who did, then?”

  “Not Robin’s brother.” Cassidy fidgeted with agitation. “What’s your problem, Kenny? You’re acting weird.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  Kenny turned toward Melanie. “Did you know that Cassidy’s thinking of moving to L.A.?”

  “She is?” Melanie looked surprised, but not displeased. “That’s news to me.”

  “Yeah. To me, too,” Kenny said. “What about you, Landon? She ever mention anything about wanting to live in L.A. to you?”

  Landon’s response was to turn and run from the room.

  “Now look what you’ve done,” Cassidy said as Landon’s feet banged up the stairs. “He’s all upset.”

  “He’s fine.”

  “He isn’t fine. You know how sensitive he is.”

  “He doesn’t want you to go to L.A.”

  “I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.” Melanie lifted a sandwich off the tray. “After everything that’s happened, a fresh start might be just what the doctor ordered. And if Robin and Blake are willing…”

  “I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves here,” Blake said. “At the moment, I’m the only one who’s going anywhere.”

  “You’re leaving us?” Melanie asked.

  “On Sunday.”

  The door to Landon’s room slammed shut.

  “I think you should go up there,” Cassidy said to Kenny. “Make sure he’s all right.”

  “Only if you come, too,” Kenny said. “It’s because of you he’s upset.”

  Cassidy sighed. She tried to stand up from the sofa but collapsed back onto it from the strain.

  “Here,” Blake said, “let me help you.”

  “I’ll do it,” Kenny said, rushing forward to grab Cassidy’s arm.

  “Get away,” Cassidy said to Kenny. “You’re being weird.” She allowed Blake to help her to her feet, then walk her out of the room and slowly up the stairs, Kenny on their heels.

  Robin stood up. “Well, that was…”

  “Weird?” Melanie made her I-told
-you-so face. “You know you’re crazy if you’re seriously considering taking that girl back to L.A. with you, don’t you?”

  “Didn’t you just say you thought it was a good idea?”

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’d be thrilled. I just thought you were smarter than that.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the obvious crush Cassidy has on your boyfriend, which might not seem like much of a threat to you now, but she won’t be twelve forever. And if she’s anything like her mother was at eighteen…”

  “Now you’re just being mean.”

  “And you’re being obtuse.”

  Blake returned to the living room to find the two women standing at opposite ends of the couch, glaring at each other. “What just happened?”

  The phone rang. Melanie turned on her heel and marched into the kitchen without a word. Seconds later, she was back. “That was the sheriff. Apparently the San Francisco police obtained a warrant to search Alec’s apartment and guess what they found?”

  Robin’s mind raced through the incriminating possibilities: the murder weapon, the contents of their father’s safe…“Our mother’s jewelry?” she said out loud.

  “Close, but no cigar.”

  “Are you going to tell us or do I have to keep guessing?”

  “A ski mask. Just like the ones Cassidy described.”

  “Shit.”

  “Still convinced he’s innocent?”

  Robin sank down onto the sofa, cradling her head in her hands. “There has to be some sort of explanation.”

  “There is,” Melanie said. “He’s guilty.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  The Tehama County Jail is a coed, medium-security facility whose primary function is to confine inmates for relatively short periods of time while they await processing or trial. Both unimaginative and unattractive in design, it was built in 1974, with additions completed twenty years later, including a reinforced perimeter fence and electronic detection system to ensure that inmates remain inside its ugly brown-brick walls until their release.

  “Oh, God,” Robin said, as Blake pulled his car into the parking lot and turned off the engine. It was the morning after the funeral, the fourth day of Alec’s incarceration and the first time she’d been permitted to visit.