by Dale Mayer
“Yes, it is,” Angel said piously. “Did you think about what I said earlier?”
At Weston’s motion, she put the phone on the table and pushed Speakerphone. “Not a whole lot to think about,” she said calmly.
“Sure there was. I just didn’t give you my terms yet.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Are you serious? You actually want something in order to let me continue being Sari’s mother?”
“It’s not like your lawyer will back you up, will he?”
“Why not?” Daniela asked, staring down at the phone, then at Weston. And the grim look on his face had her heart sinking. “What are you talking about, Angel?”
“You should read the news first. Don’t worry. I’ll be calling you back.” And, with that, she hung up.
Daniela stared at Weston. “What did that mean?”
“Your lawyer is dead,” he said. “I ran by to have a talk with him about the paperwork,” he said slowly. “And I found the body in the office. As far as I know, it was your lawyer.”
Weston hadn’t really expected to break the news to her that way. And he really didn’t like the idea that Angel was hassling Daniela and coming back around, looking for something more. And he especially didn’t like the idea that Angel was already aware of Daniela’s attorney’s death.
“We’ll have to stop Angel somehow.” Daniela stared at her phone and realized she had gripped her fingers together so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.
He grabbed both of her hands with his and gently opened them. “Look. Detective Kruger said the paperwork looked like it was all fine and dandy. Let’s not get panicked over something we don’t know yet is wrong.”
She took several deep breaths.
“I realize I’m not the one who should be saying this,” he said, “because obviously you’re afraid of losing custody, and your feelings are totally understandable. But you’re doing a wonderful job, and we have to trust in the system.”
“The system doesn’t always work,” she said softly.
And he could feel the fear rippling up and down her back. He looked down at the phone. “There was no number?”
She shook her head. “No, it kept coming in as Private Caller.”
“I wonder if she’s using a burner phone.”
“If I knew what that was, I might be able to help you,” Daniela said, “but I don’t.”
“Untraceable,” he said.
“Why would she do that? And how would she even know to think of it?”
“A very good question,” he said, studying her. “Why is she being covert about this at all? That is the bottom line.”
“True,” she said. “Why doesn’t she just show up and ask for five thousand dollars or something?”
He studied her curiously. “Could you do five thousand dollars?”
She looked at him and shook her head. “No, not at all.”
He nodded as if that lined up with what he knew. “So, if she knows you don’t have any money, why would she be asking you for some?”
“My sister has money,” she said sadly. “And she knew my sister too.”
“So she’d expect you to go to your sister, but would your sister give it to you?”
Daniela hesitated and then shrugged. “I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out.”
He picked up his phone and sent Badger a text about Angel. We need more information. She’s now making harassing and threatening phone calls. She may have killed Daniela’s adoption attorney. Angel’s looking for something but isn’t being clear as to what she’s after.
“Who are you contacting?” Daniela asked.
“My ex-boss. Or still my boss really, I guess,” he said. “We need information on Angel, and we need it now. That’s the fastest way to get it.”
“If it was so easy to get, wouldn’t the detective have it?”
“Sure, but why would he?” he asked.
She looked at him in surprise. “Well, the dead lawyer is Angel’s brother.”
Stunned, he stopped and stared. “Seriously?”
She nodded. “You didn’t know?”
“Of course not.” He picked up his phone again and dialed Detective Kruger. When his tired voice answered, Weston said, “So, your case and my case just connected. What I didn’t realize is the legal documents I showed you today—the mother, the person who gave over the child—she’s apparently the sister of the dead lawyer.”
“Interesting,” the detective said. “I didn’t know that. I suppose we’d have figured it out eventually.” There was a moment of silence on the other end. “Oh, and he didn’t die today, he was killed yesterday as far as we can tell.”
“Wow,” Weston said. “Murdered? And he was lying there all this time undetected?”
“Yes,” the detective said. “And I hate to ask this, but when did you hit town?”
Weston looked over to see the shock and horror on Daniela’s face. “Yesterday,” he said. And he gave his flight info. “I’ve also been with Daniela 90 percent of the time. Or with you.”
“Yeah, getting in trouble the rest of time,” the detective said with a note of humor.
“Absolutely,” Weston said. “But now we need to pursue the Angel line of inquiry.”
“I know you were probably a hotshot in the navy,” the detective said, “but unless you’re actually signing up to do this job that I’m doing on a full-time basis, you’ll have to back off and let us do what we do.”
“I hear you,” Weston said. “But Angel’s threatening Daniela. If you get this solved fast enough, then I’ll leave you to it. But if not, well, I do have some resources to bring into play myself.” And he hung up.
Chapter 14
Daniela had a rough night. She kept waking up. Twice she got up and went to Sari’s room to make sure she was still there. Obviously Angel’s call had rattled Daniela more than she’d expected. It was pretty distressing to have nightmares like this, but to know a real threat was behind them made it that much worse because it was no longer a nightmare; it was something that was possible.
To lose Sari at this stage would be devastating. Daniela had gone through the process in good faith, believing it was all legal and upfront. But was it? Her husband had handled that aspect of things, and now she had to wonder if she trusted him. While he’d been alive, she had, at least up until his last few months, when she found out he’d been so anxiously spreading love around the world, but now what? Had he done something to deliberately screw her over, like make that paperwork not be legal?
She didn’t want to believe he could have been so vindictive. But, toward the end, he had been full of anger, hate and frustration. There definitely hadn’t been love.
She tried to push that thought into the back of her mind, as she once again crawled into bed. A branch brushed against her window, making her look out at the early morning darkness. It was still summer here, but winter set in fast and early.
Did she want to leave? She hadn’t for all the time she had been here. She’d been totally okay to stay, right up until Weston brought up the possibility of moving south. And now she wondered if she could make that happen somehow. She would miss her sister, but she wouldn’t miss the hardship of being here.
Alaskans were a unique breed of people, and she loved them dearly, but she had never really felt like one of them. Five years in Alaska hadn’t been enough to make her the same hardy homestead stock most of them were. Of course a lot of the people in the cities were no different here than anywhere else. Would she have an easier time finding a job down South?
She had an online business, so it didn’t matter if it moved or not. Could she make it something more full-time so she could afford the higher rents down South, or could she find a place that was a compromise between weather and location, so the rent was still something she could afford? These thoughts only served to keep her emotions flipping from one side to the other as she lay here, dry-eyed, staring as the sun slowly crept up over the horizon. She finally
gave up any pretense of trying to sleep and got up, heading into the shower.
As she came out, wrapped in a towel with her robe on, she dressed quickly, feeling a sudden chill in the air. Almost as if a chill were in her soul. Stopping to check in on Sari, she found her daughter sound asleep. Soon she was in the kitchen, and, after she put on the coffee, she stared out at the hills around her home. She was in an odd mood. Everything had suddenly flipped, and she didn’t like it. When warm arms wrapped around her, she wasn’t even surprised. She leaned into his gentle comfort. “It all feels so weird now.”
“I was afraid you weren’t sleeping after all of Angel’s phone calls.”
“And what does the lawyer have to do with any of this?” she exclaimed, twisting in his arms.
He smiled, wrapped her up close and gave her a hug.
Nothing sexual was in it, just comfort. Just somebody who realized she was upset and wanted to help.
And when he stepped back, he walked over to the cupboard and pulled out two coffee cups. As soon as the pot had finished dripping, he poured the coffee. “Shall we enjoy the early morning sun?”
She smiled and took a cup from him and followed his lead outside. “Did you come to any realizations overnight?” she asked.
He looked a little surprised and shook his head. “No,” he said. “I’ve been in this business long enough to know I have to shut down my mind. Otherwise it revolves around and around with no answers. Besides, you need information before you can start making deductions.”
She just nodded.
“Or is that not what you meant?” he asked, his gaze on her face.
She smiled and took a deep breath. “This doesn’t even feel like home now.”
“Why is that?” He frowned.
“I don’t know.” She had trouble even trying to explain it to herself. “I was fine to stay in Alaska, until you mentioned the possibility of moving elsewhere.”
“Ah,” he said. “Some suggestions are like that. You don’t realize there is another way to live until somebody says, ‘Hey, what about this?’ Right?”
She nodded. “I have a small budding online business that can go with me anywhere, as long as I have room for my garden. Plus I was working at the local dollar store, doing temporary shift work, but haven’t had a shift in weeks. They keep canceling them.”
“And then you have offsetting babysitting costs,” he said.
“Yes. Or I have also done babysitting for other people,” she said. “And that works well.”
“That can’t pay too much, does it?”
“It’s very irregular and in just short periods at a time,” she said.
“So what would you really like to do?” he asked. “If all this trouble with Angel wasn’t hanging over your head, would you still be considering a move?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “A lot about my husband still is here, and a part of me says I need to have a clean break from it all.”
“A lot of people find it difficult to leave an area where their spouse or child passed away,” he said.
Something searching was in his gaze, and she didn’t know quite what it was. She dropped her gaze to look at the yard. “I need to mow this grass,” she said nervously.
“I’ll take care of it later,” he said. “It’s too wet at the moment.”
She just nodded.
“So tell me about your husband,” he said.
Something more than a gentle suggestion was evident in his words. Her back bristled slightly, and then she shrugged. “What is there to say?” she said. “I married him because I loved him, and we were happy for a time, and then we weren’t.”
Silence. “Well, that’s an interesting analysis,” he said. “How did he die?”
“I told you. He drove off a cliff.”
“Come on. Tell me the rest of it.”
“Pancreatic cancer,” she said abruptly. “He changed in his last few months. The treatment kept him functioning fairly well up until the end, but he was a changed man once he got a terminal diagnosis.”
“And?”
She gave a broken laugh. “Bitter, angry, frustrated, depressed. I think his love turned to hate.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I guess that’s the other side to a terminal illness a lot of people don’t discuss. So often they can’t make peace with dying. And take it out on those around them. Then there’s that whole survivor-guilt thing.”
She studied him for a long moment. “I hadn’t considered that, but I guess that’s partly what was going on.”
Once again he turned and looked at her, his gaze direct but understanding. “Is that why you weren’t happy at the end?”
She stared down at her hands. “If you’ll be around town much, you’ll hear the rumors, so I might as well tell you. He kind of went nuts. One of the things Charlie did in the last few months after the terminal diagnosis was particularly difficult.” She took a deep breath before going on. “He decided he didn’t want to miss out on anything anymore.” Her voice fell silent.
He just waited until she could go on.
She took another deep breath, and this time shuddered a bit. “What he felt he’d missed out on was being with other women.” She stared at Weston as she said it, watching his gaze widen. “That wasn’t something I would have expected. I didn’t find out right away. He was completely unapologetic when I did. So all these women around town he had his last hurrah with—it’s mortifying. I ran into one at the grocery store this week. But there are at least half a dozen more.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s a pretty shitty deal.”
“I think it was also his way of getting back at me,” she said softly. “As a punishment for being healthy. Punishment for not dying, like he was.” Her lips crooked up at the corner as she watched Weston shake his head in disbelief.
“I don’t care what his damn reason was,” he said. “Dying of cancer is terrible, I get that. But you don’t have to drag everybody else through the muck just because you’re on your way out.”
“I never would have thought Charlie would be the kind to do that,” she said, “so the betrayal was that much more shocking.”
“And, of course, you stood by him the whole time, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know what he was doing at first,” she said. “And honestly, he’d gotten so unpredictable, it was easier when he was away from the house. Eventually it became clear it wouldn’t be all that long before he was gone, or at least bedridden, and it was hard enough dealing with Sari and my own conflicting emotions, without having to figure out a way to move out and to get us set up again. We’d already moved once, when we had to sell the house we’d bought to pay for his treatments. In a way it all became a waiting game. And I hate to say it, but I was waiting for him to die.”
“He didn’t deserve you. The fact that you stuck by him is huge. I can’t believe he did that to you.”
“I’m no better,” she said. “I stayed and kept the little we had left after the medical bills came out of the sales proceeds because I knew he wouldn’t be here much longer. I’m not very proud of myself for that.”
“You were married, so everything was yours together,” he said. “He was dying, and he couldn’t take anything with him. Even if you had moved out, no judge in the world would fight you over taking a few possessions. I presume you had wills?”
“Yes,” she said. “And he left everything to me, just as my will left everything to him.”
“Which is normal in a marriage, so I don’t think he cared so much about making sure you didn’t have anything at the end, as much as making sure he got to enjoy whatever time he had left for himself. Which is pretty selfish.”
“Maybe selfish but, in some ways, understandable,” she said softly. “It didn’t do much for my self-confidence, or for my own grieving process, because it brought in a whole lot of other elements, including a wish he would die sooner, so I didn’t have to deal with any more of his affairs.”
“How man
y?”
“Eight that I know of,” she said. “Maybe nine, if Angel isn’t lying. Could be more. I don’t want to know if there is. This has been hard enough.”
“Jesus. That’s horrible.”
“More than horrible,” she said, but she could feel a deep sigh rumbling through her ribs and up every neck bone before finally releasing.
He looked at her and smiled. “Maybe you needed to let that go too.”
“Maybe,” she said in a more cheerful voice. “I didn’t realize how much I’d been hanging on to it. Something about Trudy chattering away her fake condolences at the grocery store the other day really bothered me, and I couldn’t keep it to myself another minute. I actually called her out on it.”
“I’m sorry I missed that,” he said with a twitch of his lips. “I’m sure you created quite a scene.”
“I’m not a scene-creating type of woman,” she said sadly, “but I didn’t have any self-control over it. I wanted Trudy to know I knew what she had done and that she was in good company with the rest of them, and I was more than happy to have everyone else in the store know it as well.”
“Did you feel better afterward?” he asked curiously.
She tilted her head sideways, trying to remember. “I was pretty shaky and upset, but maybe I did. The only person to blame in all this was Charlie. But, at the same time, it took two to tango, and Trudy definitely had tangoed with Charlie. If she hadn’t been so two-faced, I wouldn’t have said anything. But, once she approached me, I let her have it. She is married too, by the way.”
“Ouch.”
“I know,” she said. “I think that’s one of the biggest things—you’re taken for a fool, and everybody else is laughing behind your back at you.”
“Trudy won’t be laughing anymore,” he said gently. “Or her poor husband. He probably ought to get a checkup.”
That got a giggle out of her, which was what he was hoping for.
“Sometimes I feel like Charlie’s up there, laughing at me, for the way he got to walk away from it all. He created all this chaos. He spent a ton of money at the end, which I could have used, and then he just happens to drive off the road.”