“What we learned from Audrey Star’s last journal is this. Audrey and her husband had a suicide pact, but Mr. Star, or Mr. Clements, whatever you prefer to call him, changed his mind. Audrey Star committed suicide. You will all be given copies of the journal once we finish with it.”
It was Spenser’s turn again. “Mr. Star’s confession to killing his wife to free Sophie Lee was something none of us contemplated. He wanted to die without the world knowing his wife committed suicide because she was mentally challenged. In the end, whether Audrey Star committed suicide or her husband killed her, Sophie Lee was wrongly imprisoned. All we hope for now is that Sophie Lee can get on with her life with the assistance the state of Georgia will give her for wrongly imprisoning her. That’s it, ladies and gentlemen.”
Spenser turned aside to let Kala and Sophie go ahead of him. They all ignored the shouted questions from the media.
Inside, they all fled to a room Spenser had had the good sense to prepare before the conference. There was a huge urn of coffee and a plate of pastries sitting in the middle of the table. No one said a word.
“You did well out there, honey,” Ben whispered in her ear. He turned to shake Spenser’s hand. “You were just as good, son.”
“Can I see the journal?” Sophie asked.
“Afraid not, Sophie. It’s evidence,” Kala said.
“Are you certain it’s Mrs. Star’s journal?” she asked.
“We’re positive. We compared the handwriting to all the other journals. There is not one scintilla of doubt.”
“I would have thought you’d want me to authenticate it since I saw it,” Sophie said.
“It wasn’t necessary, Sophie. You are free now to do whatever you want. You don’t have to stay hidden. In a few days, people won’t remember who you are or what happened. Your life will be whatever you want it to be. You just have to do the interview with Patty, and you can be on your way. We’ll say good-bye now. I wish you well. When you finally locate somewhere permanent, advise me, so I can forward all the estate papers you’ll need to sign and go through. We’re making great headway, and should wrap it all up in a few weeks.”
Tears rolled down Sophie’s cheeks. “I don’t know how to thank you, Kala. The words don’t seem to be enough. I wish there was something I could do for you. If there is, just tell me.”
Kala smiled. “I just did my job the way Ryan did his job. It’s over now. I don’t like to dwell in the past. Have a good life, Sophie.”
Everyone hugged, shook hands, or kissed each other. Finally, the only two people left in the room were Patty and Sophie.
“Let’s get to it, Sophie,” Patty said, switching on her recorder.
Back outside in the hallway Kala spotted the Speaker of the House at the same time Spenser did.
“Oh, shit!” Spenser said. “He never misses a photo op. Wait for me, Kala.”
Kala and Ben watched as Spenser walked over to his father. They shook hands. They said a few words, and Spenser was back at their side, a stricken expression on his face.
Suddenly, red-hot rage coursed through Kala. She excused herself and told Spenser and Ben to wait outside for her. She literally ran down the hall, calling out, “Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, can I talk to you for a minute in private?”
“Certainly, Ms. Aulani. Do you have something to say to me?”
“Damn straight I do, Mr. Speaker, and I sure hope to hell you’re man enough to hear me out.”
The Speaker heard her out, his face draining of all color when Kala said, “You don’t deserve a son like Ryan. Didn’t you ever wonder, even once, why he never called you ‘Dad’? Because you don’t deserve that title, that’s why. You have to earn it. I personally don’t give two hoots in hell what you do in Washington, DC. But I do care about what you do here in my home state with my friend Ryan. You are a loser in every sense of the word. That’s all I have to say. Enjoy your trip back to Washington, and I hope this little photo op was all you wanted it to be.”
Kala turned around and hurried to the exit where Ben and Spenser were waiting for her. “What did you want to talk to my father about?” Spenser asked.
“I wanted to tell him he isn’t as photogenic as he thinks he is.”
Spenser laughed as they made their way down the courthouse steps. “Where are we going?” he finally asked.
“Back to my office. There’s one more bottle of champagne we need to drink, then Ben and I are going home. We have a wedding to get ready for.”
“I hope I’m invited,” Spenser said.
“Now that you bring that up, Spenser, I was waiting for just the right moment to ask you if you’d be my best man. Kala and I would like that very much.”
Spenser’s smile rivaled the sun. “I don’t know what to say. Yes, of course. I’m honored, I’m flattered. I can’t wait.”
“I want you to give me away, Spenser. I need to tell you, though, you are my second choice. I asked Jay, and he adamantly refused. He said he wasn’t giving me away to anyone.”
Spenser swallowed hard. “I can do that, too, Kala. I really can. I don’t mind being second choice.”
“Okay, then, let’s go celebrate.”
Two hours later, the minicelebration was over. Spenser was gone, and Ben went to get the car. Kala’s things were packed up once more. This was her final exit from the Aulani law firm.
“So, you’re finally getting out of our hair, eh?” Jay said.
“You finally got something right. And I’m not coming back. You need me, call me at home. Home as in Hawaii. Ben and I are outta here first thing in the morning. Get that damned will probated so I can cut all my ties with the Star estate. And do not, I repeat, do not call me for anything frivolous, like you miss me.”
“It won’t happen. Have a safe trip. See ya at your wedding unless you chicken out.”
“No chance.”
“Well then, this is good-bye.” They hugged, but this time there were no tears. Sadness, yes.
The console on Kala’s desk buzzed. She pressed the button as she waved to Jay.
“Sophie Lee is here, Kala,” Linda said.
“Tell her to come on back.”
“Damn,” was all Kala could mutter under her breath.
“Can’t get enough of this place, is that it?” Kala said by way of a greeting. She watched as Sophie closed the door behind her. “Is something wrong, Sophie?”
“No. I did the interview. Patty said it went well. I left my itinerary here last night. In all the excitement, I guess I just forgot it. The receptionist gave it to me. I guess I wanted to say good-bye one last time.”
“I hope it is the last time, Sophie.”
“That’s not a very nice thing to say, Kala.”
“You killed Audrey Star, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Kala, I killed Audrey Star. When Adam wouldn’t go through with their suicide pact, she begged me to do it. I couldn’t say no. I didn’t tell you because it was only a few years after Dr. Kevorkian had been sentenced to a long prison term for second-degree murder, and I didn’t think Spenser really had enough evidence to convince a jury I was guilty of anything. Turns out I was wrong about his persuasive powers. Or maybe it was just luck.
“Either way, I broke the law to do what I thought was right and what Mrs. Star wanted done. And the law took its pound of flesh, ten years of my life. If what I did makes me a bad person in your eyes, then I’m sorry about that.”
Sophie tucked her itinerary into her purse. “But there’s one thing I’m not sorry about—attorney-client privilege.”
“Sophie?”
“Yes!”
“Have you forgotten something?”
“What’s that, Kala?”
“TODAY IS NOT TUESDAY!
“Okay, people, showtime!” Kala said in a neutral-sounding voice.
Epilogue
December, five months later
Hawaii
THE ISLAND WAS AWASH IN FEVERISH ACTIVITY. THE SNOWBIRDS, a.k.a. tourists, had arriv
ed in force; the approaching Christmas season and Kala Aulani’s nuptials only added to the intense excitement. An island wedding was a serious thing, and everyone felt duty-bound to pitch in to make it a perfect day for the new bride.
The sun wasn’t up, but Kala hadn’t slept more than a few hours in the last hectic days. Guests from the mainland had arrived in slow dribbles, so it was one trip after the other to the airport. Thanks to her large family, accommodations for all worked out just fine. Food was constantly being cooked and served. Kala herself rushed from one thing to another as an island wedding required a lot of preparation, and since she was a perfectionist in all things, she had offered input out the wazoo as her relatives grumbled. She was leaving nothing to chance.
That night was the wedding rehearsal, followed by a luau. She sent out no invitations—that was not how it was done. The whole island was invited to Kala Aulani’s wedding. That was standard operating procedure, and there was no getting around it. Not that Kala would even try. Tradition was tradition.
It was still dark out, as dark as Kala’s thoughts, and that shouldn’t be. No matter how hard she’d tried during these last five months, she couldn’t get Sophie Lee out of her mind. She’d told no one about her deep dark secret. She pinched herself, hoping the dark, ugly thoughts would disappear. She needed to concentrate on her wedding and how happy she was supposed to be. She looked down at her wrist. In twenty minutes, she had to leave for the airport to pick up Ryan Spenser. She had deliberately withheld Spenser’s arrival time because she didn’t want the shuttle brigade to pick him up. She wanted to be the one to do it. She hadn’t even told Ben.
She had plenty of time, she was dressed. All she had to do was walk out to her car, climb in, and make the thirty-minute drive to the airport.
Kala thought about her life these last five months. She’d thought on her return that she would find peace and harmony. She had found those things, but she just hadn’t been able to leave her baggage behind. It was with her every day. And she couldn’t tell anyone about it. Sophie was right about attorney-client privilege. And with the original conviction overturned and a directed verdict of not guilty entered, she couldn’t be tried again because of the prohibition against double jeopardy.
Perhaps Kala could have put it behind her, shelved it, so to speak, but Sophie had returned to the island and lived up on the North Shore in the state-of-the-art Star mansion. Kala had read in one of the newspapers that it was the estate that had been used when Hollywood filmed Magnum, P. I. At first she didn’t believe it, and she still wasn’t sure she believed it. The article said Sophie Lee spent the winter months on the island and the summer months in New York, to be close to the corporate headquarters of Star Enterprises. If true, that meant Sophie Lee was presently on the island. And if she knew as much as she said she knew about Hawaiian customs, she could, if she wanted, show up at Kala’s wedding. That was why Kala couldn’t put it behind her.
What surprised Kala more than anything was the way Nick and Patty had accepted Sophie’s departure. As far as she knew, there had been no further communication with Sophie once she’d left Atlanta.
Patty was happy with her new job at Fox, which really wasn’t so new anymore. She was planning her own wedding for the spring, and Kala and Ben would have to return to Atlanta for that. Nick had had his second surgery, was doing well, so well that he had recently become engaged to his physical therapist and had even brought her with him for the wedding. He was writing a book and had opened his own golf shop and was giving golfing lessons to underprivileged children.
Linda was pregnant and deliriously happy. Jay walked around in a daze, worrying about what kind of father he would be. A wonderful father, Kala had told him.
Ben said he’d found his niche and loved teaching a law class two nights a week. Kala’s plan to open a storefront law office was still on the drawing board. She wasn’t sure if it would ever materialize. The law these days held no appeal for her. She hoped that would change in time. If it didn’t, oh, well.
Her little family was all present and accounted for. And, finally, it was time to head to the airport.
Kala was in the car, the engine running, when she remembered the leis she’d made the night before for Spenser. She ran back into the house and took them out of the fridge. How could she have forgotten something so important? Overload, that was how.
Forty minutes later, Kala saw Spenser waiting at the curb, his luggage stacked up next to him. She hopped out, hugged her new best friend, then draped the leis around his neck. “Welcome to Hawaii, Spenser!” Kala said. “You’re lookin’ good, pal.”
“I wish I could say the same for you, Kala. You’ve lost weight. And what are you doing with dark circles under your eyes? Too much excitement. I hope you aren’t having second thoughts. Ben is one in a million,” Spenser said, sliding into the car. “By the way, I’m in love, in case you’re interested. I hired this young doctor for our summer camp and one thing led to another and I’m going to ask her to marry me over Christmas. I would have brought her with me, but she’s just getting over a really bad flu, and the doctor said she couldn’t fly. And before you can ask, my father has been acting like a father of late. It’s a chore for him, but he is trying. I’m trying, too. One of these days, if it’s meant to be, we’ll be a real father and son. I’m happy, that’s the main thing.”
“See, things really do work out if you’re patient enough to wait for them,” Kala said lightly.
The sun was up already, and it was sufficiently light out for Spenser to marvel about the exotic island.
Kala moved to the right and pulled into an all-night café on the beach. “I need to talk to you, Spenser,” she said as she brought her car to a full stop and turned off the engine. She turned to face her friend. “Look, I’m going to do and say something I never ever thought I would do. But, right now, I don’t care. I need you to listen to me, Spenser.”
Spenser held up his hand. “Let’s get out of the car, Kala, and sit over there at that picnic table. Looks like the place is open, and we can get some coffee. If there’s one thing I cannot stand, it’s airline coffee. This is my chance to taste that coffee you brag about all the time.”
They ordered from a sleepy-looking waitress who was just minutes away from the end of her shift. When the coffee came, Spenser held up his hand again, and said, “Before you say what I think you’re going to say, and ruin your life, let me say it first.
“I know that Sophie Lee killed Audrey Star. I figured it out when I went through the journal. You would have, too, if you weren’t ... ah ... under the weather that night. I was going to come by the day after the conference, but you had already left for Hawaii. Everything happens for a reason, Kala. Ours not to reason why. There’s nothing either of us could do even now. Every new law student knows about double jeopardy. She can’t be tried again. What I don’t know is if you figured it out on your own, or if Sophie confessed to you. I don’t want to know either. Now, do you feel better?”
Kala blinked. Well, damn, she did feel better. She felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted from her shoulders. “You know what, Spenser? I do. God, I am so glad we had this talk. There is one more thing, though, that I want you to know. That last day, the day of the conference, that wasn’t a Tuesday!”
Spenser laughed and couldn’t stop. “Did you tell her that?”
Kala grinned. “I did! I wish you could have seen her face. Right then and there, I knew I had ruined her brand-spanking-new life. God works in mysterious ways. We both know that.”
“That we do, that we do! So tell me about the wedding preparations. I hear it’s going to be one hell of a wingding.”
“This might be a good time to tell you that you, as best man, have to get up with Ben and ...”
Spenser laughed. “I already know all about the loincloth. Hey, I had so much time on my hands these last five months, I joined a gym. I am ripped. I look forward to showing off. I even went to a tanning bed, so I wouldn’t embarrass y
ou with my fish-belly white body.”
Kala chuckled.
“Look at me, Kala. Life is good. Let’s both agree not to dwell on the past. Sophie Lee is the past. We both acted honorably. And to tell you the truth, Kala, I’m not sure the outcome is all that terrible. We follow the rules of the legal profession and uphold the laws as they are. Sophie Lee broke those laws. But was what she actually did, apart from the fact that it was against the law, really so bad? Does what she did make her a bad person?
“I wish I knew the answer to that question. Yes, I’m offended by lawbreaking. But are there times when, as Dickens so aptly put it, ‘the law is a ass’? Again, I wish I knew.
“So, as far as I’m concerned, what happened is just life. Like it or not, we have to accept it.”
Kala smiled, a genuine smile, and looked deep into Ryan’s eyes. “I knew I liked you for a reason, Spenser. You’re my kind of people even if we have a secret we can’t share with anyone.”
Kala Aulani’s wedding to Ben Jefferson was everything she had hoped and dreamed it would be. Everyone near and dear attended the nuptials and the luau. It was said later that Ben Jefferson and Ryan Spenser stole the show with their authentic dance at the luau. The once-a-week island paper carried a beautiful color picture of the bride and groom on the front page.
Days later, after the happy couple had left on their world cruise, their guests were waiting at the airport to board their flights back to the mainland. They were each handed a copy of the island paper to read on the plane, along with leis. It was Spenser who picked out Sophie Lee in the paper, standing at the back of the crowd of hundreds at the luau. She was alone, the huge dog at her side, a big smile on her face, and her fist in the air.
Tuesday's Child Page 25