by Alina Adams
"It doesn't make any sense."
"Yeah," Craig agreed. "What else is new in Skate- Land?"
"You know..." she began.
"What?"
"It's only... I was thinking..."
"Come on. Out with it. At this point in time, I'm taking parenting input from anyone and everyone. A few more of these blowouts with Jeremy and I'll be going to Lucian Pryce for advice."
Bex tried to be as tactful as possible, asking instead of coming right out and voicing her suspicions. "Has Jeremy been spending a lot of time with Coop Devaney at this competition?"
Craig shrugged. "A bit. They hit it off the first day. I think they've hung out once or twice. Guy's been Jeremy's hero for years. He's thrilled someone he admires so much took an interest in him."
Bex said, "Coop is gay, Craig."
"Wow. A gay skater. That is a shock. Besides, what about all this commotion over Allie Adler's baby?"
"I'm not sure how that works, exactly," Bex admitted. "But I am sure that I saw Coop making out with Sebi Vama a few nights ago."
"Fascinating. Not sure how that pertains to Jeremy and me, but I'm sure this arena is packed with people who would find such a sighting utterly fascinating."
"What I'm trying to say is, what if Jeremy's recent mood swings are coming from Coop trying something... inappropriate... with him. I mean, Jeremy's only thirteen. He probably has no idea how to handle something like this. Especially not from someone who, like you said, he admires so much."
Craig appeared to be considering her words. Then he said, "I never pegged you for a homophobe, Bex."
"Excuse me? What? No! I — that's ridiculous. This is TV — skating TV — I work with lots of people who — "
"Some of your best friends are homosexuals? Is that what you're trying to say?"
"You know, Craig..." Strange, but now that he was attacking her, Bex actually felt more comfortable talking to the man than the other night, when he was being so friendly. This probably said something about her and the whole male/female dynamics issue. Probably something not particularly good. But Bex had no time to dissect the implications at the moment. "There are a lot of dads out there who wouldn't let their sons figure-skate specifically because they're concerned about the kind of... influences... those boys might fall under. I'm hardly voicing something unique."
"Unique, no. Unsubstantiated, yes."
"So you're not worried."
"Look, Bex — am I aware that figure skating may attract a higher number of gay men than, say, welding? Yes, I am. Am I aware that the odds of Jeremy turning out to be gay are probably higher than average? Yes, I am. Am I worried about it? No, Bex. Not particularly. Would you like to know why?"
"Okay. Why?"
"Because to date, the straight men of figure skating have beaten a good friend of mine into a coma, driven her practically insane, and murdered my wife. The gay men of figure skating haven't done any damn thing to me."
He had a point. And though she was not a gay man, Bex knew she could freely add herself to the list of skating-related hangers-on who had done serious damage to his family, life, and sanity.
"So you don't think Coop — "
"I don't know. That's the problem, Bex. I don't know a damn thing anymore. It's like there's this viral psychosis running through all of Nationals. And we're it."
Court was reconvened the next day. This time Bex didn't wait for an invitation. She simply showed up along with the camera crew and figured no one would question her presence. Only one person did: Ralph Adler. Fortunately, no one paid him any mind. If this were a competition on the ice, Ralph would be the one undeserving of prime-time coverage. He probably would barely warrant a mention during the afternoon roundup. This battle was down to two top contenders. With Omri as the grand prize.
The baby of the hour was, once again, in attendance. This time he wore a white, one-piece jumper with red stripes, making him look like a wriggly candy cane. Pandora was holding him — the better to prove what a loving stepmother she'd be, my dear...
No one said a word as they filed inside. Coop accidentally brushed against Idan. Then, when the accident didn't trigger any reaction, brushed against him again. Harder, this time. Without even the pretense of not meaning to.
Idan simply smirked and pulled out a chair for his wife, helping Pandora get settled, baby in tow.
With all of Ralph's talk about his grandson being raised by a harridan from a fairy tale, Bex noted that the one person in the room who had yet to express even token interest in the child was his self-proclaimed paternal grandmother, Tess. She'd come in, one arm linked through Coop's, and taken a seat at the farthest end of the room — even her lawyer was physically closer to Omri than she was — without so much as a glance in his candy cane direction.
Coop, on the other hand, could not take his eyes off the boy. He reached over and, without asking Pandora's permission, tentatively stoked the back of the baby's palm.
"He's so small..." Coop noted.
"He's healthy," Pandora reassured.
Idan cleared his throat. Pan moved Omri to her other arm. Out of Coop's reach. He didn't try to touch him again.
The judge swept in, noted the cameras, and, for a moment, looked as if he'd forgotten agreeing to let them in. However, once Tess's lawyer laid a manila folder with copies of the assembled group's signed releases on his desk, he shrugged, mumbled something under his breath that may have been "publicity whores, the whole lot of them" — or maybe that was just Bex's projection of her own thoughts — and squeezed into the chair behind his desk, calling the hearing to order.
He spewed forth a few legal terms, chastising everyone for taking this case to court when family disputes were always best settled without lawyers getting involved. When no one looked even a little bit chastised, he gave up that ghost and got to the meat of the matter.
Reading from yet another manila folder, this one handed to him by the bailiff, the judge pronounced, "I have the paternity test results. The lab informs me that within 99.9 percent accuracy, the biological father of the child known as Omri is Idan Ben-Golan."
Idan and Pandora exchanged smiles.
Bex wondered why Mrs. Ben-Golan was so thrilled to have proof that her husband had cheated on her with a teenage student. But, as established earlier, Bex wasn't so good at the whole female/male relationship dynamic.
Tess flushed crimson, glaring first at the judge, then her lawyer, then finally at Coop, accusingly. Visibly thwarted, and even more visibly unhappy about it.
Coop, for his part, was the only one merely stunned by the verdict. The only one whose expression wasn't one of smugness or anger, just confusion.
"How..." he began.
"Jesus, you idiot, do I have to draw you a picture?" Ralph all but smacked Coop on the back of the head to knock some sense into him. "You still don't get it. This guy raped our Allie."
"Now, just wait one minute..." Idan half rose from his chair, his body language clearly radiating the Incredible Hulk's familiar refrain: Don't make me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry.
Ralph, however, was not a Lou Ferrigno fan. He went on, either beyond fear or not fully cognizant of the sort of threat a truly enraged former soldier could pose if properly motivated. "That's right. You heard me, you son of a bitch. I don't give a damn if she was eighteen. I don't give a damn if she even thought it was her idea. Fact is, you're the coach. You're the adult. She listened to every word you said. She did whatever you told her to do. Point your toes, spread your legs — makes no difference in the end, does it?"
"Ralph, please..." At first, Bex thought Tess was simply trying to calm the irate man down. But then, when she indicated the camera and whispered to Bex, "Please tell Gil to cut that part out. We don't need Coop associated with this kind of vulgarity," Bex understood her true motivation.
"Please, what? Please don't tell the truth? I'm gonna tell the truth until this bastard is drummed out of the USFSA and banned from ever coaching again."
&
nbsp; Ah, Bex thought. Yes, that truly would be a worse fate than, say, oh, jail time?
"Mr. Adler." Idan turned to face the older man, his tone so steely it effectively silenced every other voice in the room. Ralph stopped screaming. Tess stopped fuming. Even the baby took a break from gurgling. The only sound still audible above the tension was the faint bzzz of the video camera. Which, of course, was capturing every word. "Mr. Adler," Idan repeated, "I am genuinely sorry for your loss. Perhaps, after you have calmed down, the three of us might sit down and work out an equitable visitation agreement for you and your grandson. His Honor is right. These sorts of things are best settled outside of court. In spite of your and Allie's problems in the latter years, I know she cared for you, and would have wanted for you to be involved in Omri's life."
"Involved in Omri's life?" Ralph repeated.
"Yes, sir." Now that paternity had been settled, Idan sounded almost penitent. Or, at the very least respectful, as one must be to a... father-in-law?
"Omri's life? Omri's life? What about Allie? What about her life? My daughter is dead! Does any one of you give a damn about that? Allie is dead. And you killed her, Ben-Golan. I've got the proof right here."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ralph jabbed his finger in Omri's direction. "That boy, there. He's the proof. Allie killed herself over what you did to her. If it wasn't for this boy — "
"Oh, enough, already," Tess snapped. It hadn't been her day so far. What better way to salvage the dregs of it than to ruin it for someone else? "Could we drop this pretense of Allie committing suicide, already? It's giving her this aura of a poor, put-upon martyr, which, to be honest, is making me a little queasy. Allie wasn't some starry-eyed innocent seduced and abandoned by her big, bad coach, then driven to suicide over losing her baby. The girl was a slut who hoodwinked my son, got knocked up by the guy she was cheating with, then sold her bastard by threatening to get an abortion. Isn't that right, Pandora?"
Idan's wife blanched. Apparently it was fine to spill this fact in private — she certainly had also told Bex as much; but a quick peek at the video camera still recording the proceedings suggested that Pandora didn't really want to go on the record with calling her new stepson's mother a blackmailing whore.
A qualm Omri's almost-grandmother clearly didn't share. Realizing she wouldn't be getting backup from Pandora, Tess continued with her tirade, this time addressing the camera almost exclusively, and, by extension, the viewers at home. "Allie didn't kill herself, for Christ sake."
"Mom!" Coop tried to stop the torrent, but it was obviously too late for calmer heads to prevail. Or even make a guest appearance.
"Allie was murdered. I would bet because of her, shall we say... social habits? I mean, she was sleeping with my son, she was sleeping with Idan. Who knows what else she was up to in her spare time? I will not have her painted as a saint. She was a liar and a cheat. She lied to my son. She made a fool out of him. She — "
"Got killed for it?" Bex interjected innocently, just to see what the reaction would be.
Tess's lips were pursed, tongue touching her top teeth to spit out a triumphant, "Yes!" And then she realized what Bex was really asking.
"How dare you suggest — "
Bex stood her ground. "I'm just following up the obvious. You're the one who wanted the world to know that Allie was murdered. And then you laid out some very convincing reasons for why your son should be a prime suspect."
Somewhere in the ether that was time and space, Gil Cahill was already ripping out his hair over Bex having even brought up such a possibility — despite the fact that Gil had yet to see the tape. Physics and advanced math nevertheless made it possible.
"No, you idiot," Tess raged. "That's not what I meant. What I meant was I will not have the media making Allie out to be some saint. Because, as we all know, where there's a saint, there has to be a bad guy. And that will not be my son. I won't allow you to do this to him. Coop has a golden future ahead of him."
"He also had the best motive for killing Allie. You said it yourself: She cheated on him."
"But I didn't know that," Coop insisted. "Until the paternity test... I thought — "
"We only have your word for it," Bex pointed out. "Even if we believe that you didn't know what happened to Allie when she first disappeared, how do we know that you didn't see her at the rink the morning she died? You saw Allie, you saw the baby, you thought it was yours, Allie told you otherwise, and you went nuts."
"I would — I could never do that. Kill someone? You think I could kill somebody with my bare hands?"
If she had to go with the Coop Bex had watched for the past several years — the virile, hot-blooded Coop who could whip off incredible physical feats without breaking a sweat or upsetting his flirtatious grin, Bex would have to lean toward "Yes." However, if she thought about the sniveling, I-want-my-mommy, impotent boy who'd leaked out of the Super Cooper shell over the past few days, well...
"It doesn't matter what Bex thinks," Tess reminded. "She's a flunky. A peon. Gil Cahill understands what we're trying to do here. Gil won't let a second of this trumped-up travesty leak out. Everything is under control, Coop. It's okay. We'll put out a statement expressing our deep, deep disappointment with the results of the paternity test, as well as our discovery that Allison didn't turn out to be the young lady we all so foolishly assumed her to be. Liars like her always take advantage of decent people like us. The audience will understand that we're the victims here. They'll understand it all, once we explain it to them."
Idan smirked. "I'm sure you'll do an excellent job. But unless anyone else wishes to perform a monologue for the camera, Pan and I are taking our son and going home."
“I seem to have misplaced my son. Have you seen him?" Craig popped his head through the open door of the video library, where Bex was most certainly not trying to stick the tape of that morning's proceedings in the back so that while it wasn't exactly lost it also wouldn't be easily accessible if Gil spontaneously decided he was bored and needed something to screen.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Well... I grounded Jeremy. I've never had to do it before, so I admit I was a bit fuzzy on the overall concept. What I didn't realize, apparently, is that it's very difficult to ground somebody when your current home away from home is a single hotel room. The close quarters... they got a little too close after a while. So I stepped outside to get some air and, honestly, to keep from strangling the kid next time he mouthed off. Guess what happened when I came back?"
"Jeremy was gone?"
"You've heard this one before!"
"Sorry. But yeah, you're right. You were pretty fuzzy on the concept, there."
"I need to speak to him sternly. But first I need to find him."
"Did you try the main rink?"
"Yup."
"Did you try asking Coop Devaney?"
"Can't find him either."
"Oh..." Bex said.
"Feel like a little road trip around the perimeter?"
"Sure."
They started by checking out the obvious places, such as the competitors' lounge. There they encountered only a handful of adolescents sitting on half a dozen couches, playing with their Game Boys; a steely-eyed mother wearing a chaperone badge picking through the buffet of stale pitas, sliced Swiss cheese, and pool-ball-shaped clumps of tuna salad; and a bored volunteer leafing through the official program for what was clearly the umpteenth time that day. Their question as to whether anyone had seen Jeremy Hunt — or Coop Devaney, for that matter — was greeted by a listless assortment of shrugs and mumbled "uh-uhs."
"I actually saw Coop this morning." Bex filled Craig in on the hearing and subsequent round of murderous accusations.
"Sounds like a good time was had by all."
"Oh, yeah. Never a dull minute. Especially once Tess got going. She was so adamant about making sure no one thought Coop did it."
"That it made you pretty certain he did?"
"I don't k
now. I certainly don't have any proof."
"If she thought he killed Allie, it would definitely explain why she didn't want him giving any DNA samples for a paternity test — too easy to have the sample become evidence in a murder trial. Of course, it turned out unnecessary in the end, but — "
"Oh. You're right. I just assumed she didn't want Coop giving a DNA sample because she knew he couldn't be the father."
"Oh. Right. Your Coop-is-gay theory."
"It's not a theory. I saw..." Craig raised an eyebrow, and Bex instantly blushed. "I mean, it's not like I went looking... and it wasn't totally... I don't usually... I told you before, I saw Coop kissing Sebi Vama, okay? That's how I know."
"It's okay with me if it's okay with you." Bex wasn't sure if Craig's amusement was stemming from the story, or just her fumbled telling of it.
"Of course it's okay with me. I mean, it's none of my business what Coop — I told you, I don't care what people do in their private — this isn't about Coop being gay, it's about who killed Allie and — "
"Bex?"
"What?"
"Chill. I'm pulling your leg."
"Oh."
Their next stop was the boys' locker room, where Bex waited outside and Craig went in and returned to report that Jeremy wasn't in there, either. That sealed it, then. They would have to leave the cocoon of the arena and step — gulp — into the outside world. Or at least into the arena parking lot.
Bex asked, "Does Jeremy have access to a car?"
"Not that I know of."
"So we're assuming he's still within walking distance."
"I'm assuming. But that doesn't mean he hasn't gone off with someone else."
"Being a parent is really fun, isn't it, Craig?"
"Oh, yeah. It's a barrel and a half of monkeys. Pays well, too."
"Makes you wonder why Coop wanted to be named Omri's father so badly."