I thanked her again, and gave her a cheerful, “See you in the morning!” as I exited the car.
I had mixed emotions as I walked to the front doors, but I was definitely elated I had kicked Carl to the curb.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“You did what?!” Darby shrieked at me while making motions as though he was pulling his hair out.
Instead of calling for room service, he had run down and talked the bartender at Wolfgang Puck into getting Reuben sandwiches and raspberry iced tea for us. We had just sat down to eat when I told him with a big smile on my face that I smoked Carl in racquetball. He freaked on me.
“Susan, this man had someone murdered. He had someone shoot at you. What in the world would possess you to humiliate him?”
I shrugged my shoulders and started to get defensive. “He rubbed me the wrong way from the start. He told me if I didn’t let him win, he would make sure I was fired or something like that.”
Darby’s mouth hung open, and he shrieked again, “See! He’ll either have you killed or ruin your career for you.”
I didn’t want him yelling at me. I tried to calm him by saying, “Betsy Ann assured me he couldn’t do anything to get me fired, and both she and Gregory were telling me to take it to him, so I did.”
He stood up and did some pacing by the dresser. He finally took a deep breath and sat down again. “Ok, maybe I’m overreacting. I was more than a little disturbed by what we found in the hotel room today, and I was against you playing racquetball with Carl from the beginning, but I can see why you did, and maybe it will be ok.”
I smiled and reached over to put my hand over his. “It’s going to be fine,” I said. “For some reason, I don’t feel as if I’m in any danger at all. We won’t be here much longer, Nate and Mick will both be here soon, and I don’t think any of this matters in the grand scheme of our lives. Now, let’s eat. You’re going to love these Reubens on pretzel bread.”
He smiled and nodded his head. He didn’t say much over dinner, other than mumbling through mouthfuls of food how much he liked the Reuben, but he liked mine better.
It was 10:30 when we were done eating, and we both decided we’d had enough excitement for the day. I was so physically and mentally exhausted, I knew I would be able to go to sleep with no problems – even on a full stomach.
We took turns changing in the bathroom. Once again, I had to force myself to stay awake while waiting for Darby to get into his bed. He turned off the light.
“Can you talk for a few minutes?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said. “What’s on your mind?”
“What did you make of the stuff we saw today?” I asked him. “Do you think that was drug money? Did you see the three pictures I brought back with me? They’re all Slimmers employees, and the pictures all had dollar amounts on the back. Two had $5,000 written on them, and one had $10,000. And then seeing Dudley headed to the motel when we were leaving; it was too close for comfort.” I stopped talking to give him a chance to respond.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, even on television,” he said in amazement. “I tried to put some of it together, but we weren’t there long enough to really read anything over. Seeing all the money was a real shocker, and I couldn’t think past the fact that we needed to get out of there fast.”
“I know,” I said softly while thinking about the entire experience again. “I know you were upset with me today, Darby. Thank you for taking me to the funeral and to Anna’s house. My heart aches for people who don’t have love in their life, and she had such a hard row to hoe with Gilbert. I hope something good happens for her now.
“It’s ok, Susan,” he said. “You seem to be calmer about this than I am. Where I think you’re in grave danger, and I feel helpless to protect you, you seem to think everything’s going to be fine. For once, you and I aren’t on the same wavelength, and it’s kind of hard to deal with.”
I yawned loudly and said, “I’m done talking. What time will Nate be in tomorrow?”
I could hear a lift in Darby’s voice as he said, “11:00 in the morning. We’re all going out to dinner tomorrow night, and your mom and dad can meet him then.”
“Good. That’s sounds really good,” I said as I drifted off into a deep sleep.
Chapter Twelve
I was awakened in the night by some type of kerfuffle coming from Darby’s side of the room.
“WHAT THE HELL!”
Why was Darby cussing?! I sat bolt upright and turned the light on. My heart was racing, and I was sure someone was in the room to kill us.
Oh my gosh! It was Mick!
He was standing on one side of the bed in his boxer shorts, and Darby had jumped out on the side closest to me in a much tighter boxer brief. For a split second, I visualized these two gorgeous men modeling men’s underwear on a runway in Paris, but I quickly realized Mick had slipped into bed with Darby, and it hadn’t gone well.
“Mick!” I shouted. “What are you doing here?”
“Me? I’m registered to this room,” he said loudly. “What’s Darby doing here?”
Darby turned, stared at me in disbelief, and said, “You didn’t tell him I was here?”
Oops.
“It didn’t come up in our conversation,” I said sheepishly. “We only talked once since you got here, and I wasn’t thinking about you at the time.”
“Susan,” Mick said with his voice still raised. “What’s been going on here?”
I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said. “You know Darby and I are just friends.” It sounded horrible the second it left my mouth. Darby hung his head. There was nothing either of us could say.
“It’s a lot more than Darby,” he said with anger creeping into his voice now. He reached into the outside pocket of his overnight bag, grabbed a newspaper, and threw it on the bed. It was the USA Today paper with the wedding announcement and the pictures of me and Dell. “How do you think I felt when I saw this in the paper? I tried to call you earlier to let you know I was coming in tonight, but you don’t answer your phone, and then imagine my surprise when I get into the airport here and see the local sports section from today on a chair.”
He reached down and grabbed the newspaper with the hockey arena pictures and of me and Darby kissing. He threw it on the bed, too.
“Mick, really, I can explain all of this,” I said. I was nearing panic mode. There was no way he was going to understand any of this. I was up on my knees on the bed, staring intently at him, and pleading.
He was louder still, “I can’t imagine you could possibly have any explanation for -”
He was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. We were all still for a moment. The knock came again. Darby walked over and opened it.
Oh my gosh! Could this get any worse? In walked my parents!
“What’s going on in here?” Dad bellowed. “We were on our way back to our room, and we could hear the noise as soon as we got off the elevator.”
Mom was ogling back and forth between Mick and Darby. Her eyes were wide as she was clucking and saying, “Oh my. Oh my.”
I looked to my dad with misery oozing from my eyes and said, “Mom, Dad, this is Mick. Mick, these are my parents, Earl and Lilah.”
“Oh for crying out loud!” Mick muttered in exasperation.
Dad’s crow’s feet started to form, and I could see a big smile coming up on his face. He looked at the newspapers on the bed, looked at me, looked back at Darby and Mick, and then said to Mick, “Son, it’s nice to meet you. This is a really good story, and if you give it some time, you might find the humor in it.”
Mom was finally able to stop staring at the guys, and the realization of what happened hit her. She burst out laughing. “Oh, Mick, you poor thing. You got into bed thinking you were getting in with Susan, but you got Darby instead.” She couldn’t stop laughing. “I’m sorry, but I wish I could have been here to see it.” She noticed the newspapers on the bed and broke out into even more peals of laughter.
&nbs
p; “Come on, Lilah,” said Dad. “Let’s let these kids straighten this out. We’ll see everybody tomorrow.”
Dad was savvy, and he knew how devastated I was over what had just happened. He reached over and extended his hand to Mick to shake his. I could see he gripped Mick’s hand fairly hard and didn’t let go right away. His face had an intense, serious look as he said, “See you in the morning. This will look better in the light of day, and you’ll understand things aren’t always as they seem.” He let go of Mick’s hand, said good-night, and ushered a now giggling Mom out of the room.
Before either of them could say anything, I clenched my fists, closed my eyes, and barked at both of them, “I have to go to work in the morning. I have to get some sleep. Darby, get back into bed and go to sleep. Mick, come over here. Everybody go to sleep! We can talk about this tomorrow.”
Darby started to make a fuss about getting another room, and I practically screamed, “Get in bed! Nate will be here tomorrow, and you can move your things out then.”
Darby climbed into his bed, and Mick came over to mine. I slid over to make room for him, but we positioned ourselves with our backs to one another. Mick reached up and turned off the light.
The room had it all - tension so thick you could cut it with a knife, a giant awkward pause, a sticky wicket. No one said a word. I found myself holding my breath. It didn’t take long to soak my pillow with the tears which were streaming down my cheeks, but I never made a sound, not even a sniffle. Mom and Dad had knocked on the door around 1:00, and it was now after 2:00. I was going to be miserable tomorrow. It seemed to take forever, but I finally drifted off to sleep.
When I awoke in the morning, both Darby and Mick were gone. They had probably gone off to have a fight. Mick was in a foul mood last night, and it was probably best he wasn’t in the room now.
I overslept a bit, and had to rush getting ready for work. I dressed in deep chocolate brown slacks with a matching casual jacket. My blouse had a white background with a pattern of small blocks in caramel, dark brown, and black. Snakeskin pumps, similar in color to the blouse, finished the outfit, and I was ready to go.
I didn’t see Mom, Dad, or Mick, but Darby was waiting outside the front doors when I stepped out. He was still watching out for me.
He smiled a weak smile and said, “Hi, Sunshine. Are you ok this morning?”
I had to fight to hold the tears back. I could only nod at him.
“Susan, listen to me,” he said as he pulled me close and put his arm around me. “Your dad and I have already talked this morning. He has a plan, and he’ll help me talk to Mick. By the time you get back this evening, everything will be ok. You’ll see.”
I nodded my head and whispered, “Thank you.”
“We’re all still going out to dinner tonight, and hopefully, we’ll all be laughing about it by then,” he said.
I tried to give him a smile. I wanted to believe him. He kissed me on my nose and said, “Stay indoors today.”
I waved a little wave and stepped into the car. Twenty minutes later, I was sitting at my desk trying to shake off my personal life and put it in an imaginary box outside the door. I had a meeting soon with the staff in charge of center renovations, followed by the people who were in charge of making the changes to the diet, menus, and integrating the men’s program. I wanted to be sure to give them my full attention so I wouldn’t miss anything.
Gregory stuck his head around the corner of my doorway, and gushed, “Susan, that was so great last night. The whole office is buzzing about the way you kicked Carlton’s -”
“Gregory!” I snapped, effectively cutting him off. “Be careful what you say.” I frowned a little and asked, “And how is everyone finding out what happened last night anyway?”
His eyebrows shot up, he slapped his hands to his chest, and gave me a look which insinuated it wasn’t me. But he laughed and said, “There were a lot of people there, and they’re all talking about it. Are you really a professional player?”
“No,” I told him with a smile. “I’ve only been playing for about two years. I won a state tournament in the fall, and I was playing Class B then. I’ve moved into Class A, but I lose about as many games as I win. There are a lot of good racquetball players out there. You keep playing, because you’re really good, too.” I glanced at my watch and picked up my briefcase. “I have to run; I have a meeting. Tell Betsy Ann I need to see her this afternoon.”
“Ok, will do,” he said as he turned to head back down the hallway.
I rushed to the small conference room in the distribution center. I was right on time.
It was nearly 4:00 before I had a chance to meet with Betsy Ann in her office. She was smiling, but I could see there was some tension about her countenance.
“How did your meetings go, Susan?” she asked.
“Really well,” I told her excitedly. “I love the changes that are going to be made to the centers. It’ll be a little different counseling men, but the way it was explained to me, I can see it will be a smooth transition, and I think the counselors will be happy. I can’t believe the company waited so long to open this market.”
“I know,” she agreed with me. “I’m glad things went well.” She was suddenly quiet.
“Betsy Ann, what’s wrong?” I asked her with concern. “Did the racquetball game last night have repercussions I’m not aware of?”
She shook her head and said, “Not really, Susan. Everyone’s been trying to be secretive, but the entire company knows Carlton was unpleasant with you, and that you beat him last night, but that’s not a problem from a company standpoint. I was with Mortimer Davis when he heard Paul Diamond telling someone how shocked he was when you didn’t throw the game like everyone else does. Mortimer actually chuckled as he was walking away.”
There was something she wasn’t saying, and I could tell she was disturbed. Her usually perky nature was subdued. “I don’t mean to pry, but did Carlton give you a hard time today?” I asked.
I could see I’d landed on the problem. Her eyes were a bit misty as she said, “He was in here this morning demanding you be fired and put on the next plane home. He said he didn’t want to see your face in here again, and if he did, my job was going to be on the line. He stormed off and left the building. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”
I stood up and closed her office door. I didn’t need Gregory hiding outside the door and eavesdropping. I sat down in the chair again and leaned forward toward her a bit. I had my hand in my pocket. I could feel her picture, but I didn’t pull it out right away. “I’m sorry,” I told her. “If you think it would be best, I can leave right now.”
She shook her head. “No, Susan, I told you he can’t really fire you, and I don’t think he can force me out by himself. No. We’re not going to cave in to him.”
I nodded my head in agreement and said in a lowered voice, “Betsy Ann, I have to talk with you, and we have to keep this between ourselves, ok?”
She nodded, but I could see concern cross her face immediately. I hated bringing this up to her, but I needed to know what was going on. “I can’t tell you too much, because I don’t want to involve you, but I think Carlton Waltham was behind the death of Gilbert Torres.”
Her eyes opened wide and she said, “The thought crossed my mind, but I didn’t really think he was capable of murder.”
“It’s more than a hunch,” I told her. “He’s said things to me which pretty much confirm his involvement. But I don’t know why. Why would he want to kill Gilbert Torres?”
“I don’t know,” she said looking confused. “As a matter of fact, it was Carlton who went around the morning of the funeral and took up a collection for Mrs. Torres. He was all puffed up later and said he delivered the money to her himself at the cemetery.”
Now I knew what he had handed to Anna. A small mystery solved.
“Betsy Ann, I think you do know why. You just might not realize it. I hate to show this to you, but would you please tell me what
this means?” I pulled my hand out of my pocket and placed the picture on the table in front of her.
She let out a gasp and cried, “Where did you get this?” She snatched up the picture, and I could see she was starting to panic.
“I can’t tell you,” I told her, “but please talk to me about this. No one knows I have it, and whatever happened to you has happened to other people, too – a lot of other people.”
Tears were slipping down her face as she said, “Oh Susan, this is so horrible. It happened almost two years ago. I had a brief affair. It was a mistake. My husband and I were having problems, and rather than agree to counseling or trying to work things out, I wanted a trial separation. While we were separated, I met a man. Our meeting place was in a downtown hotel, and until I received one of these pictures in the mail – here at work – I had no idea anyone had even the slightest inkling about me and David. Gilbert Torres was behind it. He wanted $10,000 to keep quiet or he was not only going to tell my husband, but he would make sure everyone here at work would know I was a …” She stopped and put her head down. The word was unpleasant for her. “Let’s just say it was going to be ugly. I was so frightened for my marriage, for my reputation here at work, and that I could lose my job, I paid the money. True to his word, Gilbert gave me the negatives from his surveillance of me, and it never came up again. I can’t believe you have this picture.”
“Did he ever tell your husband?” I asked her.
“No, he didn’t,” she said. “When I received the picture in the mail, I thought my husband hired a private detective to follow me. I was frightened and called it off with David right away. We weren’t seeing each other long enough for it to become too serious, and I refused to see him again. I was a wreck for about a week, and then I found out it was Gilbert behind the extortion. I paid him, and then agreed to counseling with my husband. It was the best thing we could have ever done. Our marriage is stronger than ever, but it would be shaken, and maybe even destroyed, if he ever saw these pictures.”
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