by Belle Ami
Chapter 24
Three weeks had passed since Adelia had been forced to leave her children. Her sole communication was with the nanny, Gwyneth, who gave her daily updates on Liam and Fallyn. Miles refused to take her calls, and Karolin, whom she’d spoken to only once, had shown no empathy for her in the disaster that had befallen her. Adelia knew that in Karolin’s mind, she was guilty of duplicity and of breaking her brother’s heart. It was clear that the sooner she was out of their lives, the better. This defection by her best friend and sister-in-law was particularly devastating and cruel.
As the days passed, Adelia became more and more reclusive and withdrawn. She refused to confide to Lucas what had happened in her marriage, simply stating that the relationship was troubled. His response was, “Troubled? Then get your ass on a plane and make it untroubled.”
She refused to ride the horses, which might have cleared her head and allowed her to think rationally. In fact, she hardly left the house, which reinforced Lucas’s conviction that she was avoiding him so as to avoid a confrontation with him. He was hell-bent on dragging her back into the real world, but so far was at a loss as to how to do it. The empty bottles of wine in the trash were evidence that she was drinking. The few times she did surface, he was taken aback by how unkempt she looked. The final straw was when he spied her trying to sneak out of the house and take the truck into town. Running to the vehicle, he planted himself in front of it. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Lucas, get out of my way. It’s none of your business, but if you must know, I’m going to town to buy wine.”
He could tell something wasn’t right as he walked to the door of the truck. “Oh, Delie, what have you done to your hair?”
Reflexively, she ran her fingers through her hair, or rather, what was left of it. “I cut it. What do I need all that hair for? It’s just a bother.” She looked at him, daring him to broker an argument. “Don’t you like it?”
He kicked at the dirt uncomfortably. “Yeah, it looks fine, very sophisticated.” He eyed her appraisingly. “Actually, I like it. I’m just not used to seeing you with no hair.”
“Well, get used to it. It’s the new me. I’m done doing anything to please men. From now on, I’m going to please myself.” Her eyes filled with daggers, daring him to argue with her.
“Delie, I’m on your side. I only want what’s best for you and the twins.”
Guiltily, she avoided his pleading gaze. “Look, Lucas, I’m sorry, but I’m just not ready to talk yet. I need some time, OK?”
“Whatever you say, baby. But, Delie, if we’re going to have to fight for those babies, we need to have a plan. You need a lawyer, honey; the best that money can buy.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she put the truck into gear. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Worry creased his face as he watched the truck recede in the distance, lost in a cloud of dust.
Detective Weiss unhooked his shoulder harness with its Glock 22 .40 pistol and laid it on his desk. He’d just returned from a visit to the east side of town, where he’d interviewed the brother of a gang member who had recently been paroled. Gang violence in Santa Barbara was on the rise, just as it was in every other city in California. He picked up the Independent that someone had left on his desk. He had to write a report on today’s interview, but he took a minute to thumb through the issue while he ate a donut and drank a cup of black coffee.
The minute he saw the photograph, his gut told him something was wrong. He was so busy with the investigation into gang violence that he hadn’t spoken to Adelia in a couple of months. When he saw Adelia and her husband smile up at him from their wedding photo, he could feel his heartbeat quicken. It was a short society recap about the local girl who had lost her parents in a car crash and then married a wealthy Pennsylvania financier. The article went on to say that divorce papers had not been filed yet, but that Mrs. Bremen had returned to San Ynez and her ranch. The article had disclosed that an unnamed source had hinted that divorce was imminent.
Adelia was in town, and she hadn’t called him. Instinctively, he knew something was terribly wrong. It was true that he hadn’t made as much progress in the murder investigation as he would have liked, but he had gathered quite a bit of useful information on Miles and Solarian. His own investigation combined with the extraordinary stuff that she had pilfered from Miles’s office was beginning to build into a compelling case. Why hasn’t she called me? he wondered. More importantly, he considered himself her friend. She herself had said it a dozen times. He dialed her number, and the call went to voice mail. “Adelia, it’s David. I need to talk to you. Please call me.” He hung up and stared at the newspaper. The article hadn’t mentioned the kids or where they were. If he didn’t hear from her before he left the station, he would take a drive up to San Ynez and find out what was going on.
Miles hung up on the scumbag blackmailers. Fifty thousand dollars had been delivered to a third-party account, along with a threat of prosecution if he ever heard from the bastards again. If these lowlifes thought they had hit the mother lode and would be able to coerce money from him on an ongoing basis, they had better think again. He had made it clear that he would hire, if need be, an entire detective agency to put them behind bars if he ever heard from them again. He had even delivered a veiled threat about how people disappear all the time and are never heard from again. He had vast resources at the ready to destroy them, and he would be only too happy to rid the world of some worthless bloodsuckers.
He looked at the vile photos and was sickened. However, it was far easier to tear his eyes from the evidence that had torn his marriage apart than to tear his love for Adelia from his heart. He locked the envelope in his desk, wishing he could burn it. For the last month, he had arranged to work from the farm so he could spend more time with Liam and Fallyn. His guilt at separating them from their mother increased as the days passed. He could see in their eyes how confused they were as to her whereabouts. He wondered how damaging it was for them to have lost her day-to-day presence, even though he knew Karolin was doing her best to be attentive and fill the gap. No one knew better than he did how important was the bond between a mother and a child; he and Karolin’s own lives were a testament to what the loss of a mother meant.
Adelia was texting, calling, and e-mailing him daily, but he couldn’t bring himself to respond to her pleas or even speak to her. He was afraid of the pain that would be visited on him, and besides, she needed to suffer for destroying his world. Her absence from his life had left an emptiness that grew deeper and showed no signs of abating, but he knew that as much as he suffered, she had to be suffering even more by being cut off from her babies.
Sleeping had become impossible, because his dreams were a constant rehashing of their last moments together. Her denial, even in the face of the incriminating photos, perplexed him, just as the passion in their last sexual union haunted him. Nothing seemed to add up. For the life of him, he could not understand why she had brought this nightmare upon them. He was doing his best to hate her, but there was no solace to be had in hating her.
The kids were napping when he knocked at Karolin’s door. “Can I talk to you, Karo?”
“Sure, come in.”
She was working at her computer when he entered. “I was just catching up with my e-mails while the kids are napping. Todd’s coming Saturday to take me to dinner and stay the night. You’ll stay with the kids, won’t you? I don’t think we should leave them alone without one of us being here.” She glanced at her brother and closed her computer. “What’s up?”
“I’ve taken care of the bastard blackmailers. We won’t be hearing from them again.” He observed her blank expression.
“That’s good, Miles. I know how traumatic this is for you.”
He walked to the large window that looked out on a pasture where two horses grazed. “I’ve been replaying everything in m
y mind over and over, and I can’t seem to make sense of any of it. You’ve been to New York several times with Adelia when I’ve been out of town. Did you ever see that guy in the photos? Did she ever behave promiscuously?” Even speaking of Adelia’s betrayal felt like a dagger in his heart.
“I told you, Miles, I’ve never seen him before, and of course she didn’t act promiscuously in front of me. Why do you continue to ask me the same questions? We don’t even know if it happened in New York, New Hope, or California. You and I have both been away at the same time when Adelia was alone at the farm. I don’t know where she goes every minute. Sometimes she’s gone for hours during the day. It could have happened anywhere at any time. You know how men are attracted to her.”
Miles flinched. “Not anytime, Karolin. Most of the time one of us was with her. I find it interesting that your wish was fulfilled. That the original plan of me divorcing Adelia and you inheriting a ready-made family has come to pass. It must have been…how shall I say it, disconcerting that I fell in love with my wife. Your carefully planned plot was foiled, and the children that conveniently resemble you could never be yours, except in the capacity of their aunt. Tell me again, Karolin, that you had nothing to do with this.”
“Miles, of course I was disappointed that you chose to forget your promise. Why wouldn’t I be? But I came to realize that my brother, whom I love, had found his life mate and was happy. It was a harebrained plan, anyway—finding a woman who resembled me so I could have a child.” Her eyes narrowed and bore into him as she put her arms around him. “You’ve always been the best brother. I appreciate that you even considered my ridiculous scheme.” With her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer, until her lips were only inches from his. Her intimacy with him, as always, was just a little too unseemly.
He stiffened and pulled away. No one knew Karolin better than he did, yet even he couldn’t be certain of her sincerity. Karolin was a master of deception and totally unreadable. In trying to make up for the loss of their parents, he had spoiled and overprotected her. Whatever she was, he had contributed to it. It was his fault. It tore him apart to think that she was capable of hurting him or Adelia for her own gratification. “Karolin, if I ever find out that you had anything to do with this…”
She looked up at his face innocently. “I swear, Miles. Adelia brought this on herself. You either will have to live with her and forgive her for her adultery, or you will have to divorce her and seek custody of your children.”
“You know that I can never take her back. How could I trust her? For the rest of my life, every time that I made love to her or looked at her, I would see those photos. I would question her fidelity. No, divorce is my only recourse.”
“Divorce and, of course, custody.”
“Divorce and custody,” he repeated emphatically.
“She’s bound to fight.”
“She won’t be able to. I’ll threaten to publicize the photos. Her future relationship with the children would be stained, as would her father and mother’s posthumous reputation. The scandal would be too great.”
“What if she claims that the photos were taken before her marriage to you?”
“She can’t. One of the photos is a close-up of a small, red, heart tattoo on her ass, with both of our initials in it. I have a matching one that I guess one day I’ll have to have removed. No, there’s not much chance of her denying her infidelity. I’ll offer her chaperoned visitation, and she’ll have no choice but to accept.” There wasn’t any joy in Miles’s words, only unhappy resignation.
From the hallway came the sound of Fallyn and Liam with Gwyneth on their way downstairs. With a last scathing look at Karolin he turned to join the two small children, who were the embodiment of his and Adelia’s love.
Turning at the door, he said, “If I ever find out you had anything to do with this, Karolin…I will kill you. Consider it a promise!”
The only sounds as David drove up the driveway at Bella Oaks Ranch were the crunch of tires on gravel and the neighing of horses. Lucas was leading a horse out of the barn as David exited the car. He walked deliberately toward Lucas, his hand extended in greeting. “Hi, Lucas. I hear Adelia is in town. I thought I would come by and say hello.”
Lucas warily shook the detective’s hand. “She’s physically here, but I suspect her heart is elsewhere. She’s got lots of problems right now. You should have called before you came. I don’t imagine she’s feeling like company.”
David ignored the unfriendliness and unmistakable challenge in Lucas’s words. “Maybe I can help her.”
“Not unless you know a good divorce attorney in Pennsylvania.”
“It sounds to me like she could use a friend.”
Lucas eyed the detective doubtfully. “What she needs is to stop feeling sorry for herself and prepare herself for battle. That husband of hers is a force to be reckoned with. He’ll come at her with his guns fully loaded.”
David’s eyes scrutinized the older man. “The two of us might bring a stronger argument if we worked together.”
“What’s in it for you, Detective?” Lucas eyed the detective dubiously.
“Just call me a caring individual. I like her, and she was handed a lot of misfortune when her parents were killed.”
David noticed that Lucas failed to meet his eye when he mentioned the accident. Something about Lucas’s body language was disturbing. In fact, it occurred to David that this wasn’t the first time that he had noticed a change in Lucas when any mention of the accident was made.
“I don’t trust anyone when it comes to Adelia. Your friendly concern doesn’t add up. You’re no different than anyone else, Detective. You have a personal agenda; you want something. I don’t trust you anymore than I trust that husband of hers.”
“Well, I’ll just have to earn your trust then, won’t I?” David turned and strode toward the house. He could feel Lucas’s gaze following him to the door. He rang the doorbell and waited.
A minute later, Adelia opened the door. At first, he didn’t recognize her. The short hair; the thin, pale face; and the sorrowful, red-rimmed eyes were not attributes of the confident woman he had previously encountered. In some way, her beauty was made even more pronounced by the vulnerability that emanated from her. Her voice was hoarse with emotion. “David, I…it’s good to see you. How did you know I was here?”
“The Independent. May I come in?”
She ran her fingers through her thick, cropped hair. “I…sure, come in.”
David noted the slight tremor in Adelia’s hands as she poured two mugs of hot, black coffee. He could see that he was dealing with a woman who was just hanging on by a thread. “You know, I was surprised that you were in town and you hadn’t called me. I thought we were friends.”
She looked at the steamy liquid in her cup. “I’m sorry, David; I…I haven’t been well.”
“I can see that. Look, you must know that I care about you. I can’t exactly explain it, but I want to help. It seems I can’t resist a damsel in distress.”
She met his gaze with tear-filled eyes. “No one can help me. I’ve done something terrible, and there is no way out,” she whispered hoarsely.
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that? You need a friend, and I’m offering you a shoulder to cry on. No judgment, just a willing ear and an unbiased opinion. Start at the beginning. I have all the time in the world.”
She sniffled and wiped the tears from her face. She searched his hazel eyes for a clue to what his reaction would be to her confessions. “All right, David, I’ll tell you, and then you can walk away from me, just like Miles has.”
Anger is good, he thought as he took her hand and patted it encouragingly. “Go on.”
Taking a deep breath, she stared down into her coffee cup like a fortune-teller trying to decipher tea leaves. “One month ago, out of the blue, Miles phoned me to say that the
limo was on its way to pick me up from the farm and bring me to New York to his office. There was no explanation why, just his insistence that I come. He sounded terrible, but I had no idea what was wrong. I thought maybe he was in some kind of financial trouble. During the preceding week, he had been unusually moody and uncommunicative. I was prepared to do whatever it took to save my marriage. I have plenty of my own money. He’s never asked how much, but it’s substantial.
“During the limo ride to New York, I had plenty of time to think about everything. In all this time that we have been investigating Miles’s involvement in my parents’ deaths, I haven’t wanted to believe that he could have done such a thing. It just didn’t seem possible, and I made up my mind that I was going to drop the case. How could I prosecute Fallyn and Liam’s father? The lying had taken its toll on me; I needed to be free of it. My marriage was the only thing that mattered.
“When I got to the offices, they were empty. I found Miles at his desk, alone, his head in his hands. Clearly, he was in a bad way. I tried to reassure him that whatever it was, we would face it together. He must have thought I was crazy.” The bitterness in her laughter, sent a chill up David’s spine as he waited patiently for her to continue. “And then…it was like the walls were collapsing in on me.” She grew quiet as the nightmare memories engulfed her. Large, salty tears slipped down her face into the mug of coffee that she gripped so tightly her knuckles turned white with tension.
David removed one of her trembling hands from the cup and held it in his as he stroked it. “Go on.”
A forlorn sigh escaped her lips as she continued. “He was so angry that I thought he might kill me. But I didn’t know why, at least not yet. He kept asking me what our marriage meant to me, and then he pushed a manila envelope toward me. I didn’t understand what could be in an envelope that could provoke such hatred. When I opened it, I knew…