On the Road [again] (The Girls Series Book 3)

by Sheila Horgan

  “Molly told me to tell him that I knew about you and his mother. I didn’t know of any of the details.”

  “I don’t blame you. You were looking out for your granddaughter. My mother, who knows just about everything now, would have done the same for me. Don’t worry about that part of it. I don’t hate you or anything.”

  Again Carolyn was fascinated that Pickles seemed to be regressing before her eyes. She sounded more like a teenager every minute. “I won’t apologize for defending my Suze, but I would like to help you as well. You can’t spend the rest of your life hiding.”

  “I guess not, if three… ” Pickles searched for an appropriate word.

  Anna helped with the selections. “Little old ladies?” The girls laughed.

  “I didn’t mean that. Three nonprofessional women. Those bad guys may still be looking for me for all I know.”

  “I seriously doubt it.”

  “Then why do you say that?”

  “Because if I found you, they would have found you long ago. I do have a question. I found you online on a message board, asking about putting property in a minor’s name. What was that all about?”

  “That was for Molly. He wanted to put it in his daughter’s name, but that whole thing got way too complicated, so he put it in my name. I kept telling him that was a mistake, but he said that he’d put enough of a buffer between me and the building that it didn’t matter anyway. Guess you proved him wrong.”

  “The two of you must be very close.”

  “We are, but that isn’t why he put the building in my name. Think about it. He has a rather large carrot to hold in front of me, or more like an axe to hold over me. I would never do anything to hurt Molly after all he has done for me, but he knows he could really hurt me if he wanted to.”

  “Why would Molly tell us?”

  “Honestly? I don’t know. Maybe he figured you would never find me. There’s, like, a hundred and sixty-one million women in the United States. What are the chances you would find one? I’m not even in the bay area any more. I’m not even in Florida. So why would he assume you could find me?”

  “I guess he doesn’t know the power of a grandma.”

  “I guess not. I sure as hell never did. I’m not happy you guys found me, but I am impressed.”

  “Rachael, do you think that Molly will help us?”

  “Probably. Molly is one of those people that will help just about anybody if he likes them, feels like they are loyal people, and if they treat him with dignity. A lot of people can’t handle his life choices.”

  Anna shrugged. “He seemed like a good guy to me.”

  “He is. He’s a great guy. I’d be dead seven times over if it weren’t for Molly.”

  “Then I guess we’ll take you at your word and go back home and see if we can talk to Molly again.”

  “Good luck.”

  The girls stood to leave.

  “That’s it?”

  “I’m not sure what else we can do. You said you told us everything.”

  “No threats? No demands?”

  Adeline reached out to Pickles. “Rachael, I think that you are a lovely young woman that found herself in the clutches of a monster. He is the problem, not you. We do not wish to make your life any more difficult than it already is. That was never our intent. We appreciate the information that you gave us, and how hard that was for you, and now we will try to talk to Molly and hope that he can be as generous with information as you have been.”

  “Well, damn. Give me a minute. I’ll make a phone call. I’m going out in the parking lot. Wait here.”

  When Rachael didn’t return for several minutes, the girls had all but decided that she’d gotten in her car and driven away. They were about to leave when she walked back in the room.

  “Okay, so I called Molly. He said he thought that he’d made it pretty clear that he didn’t want to be involved in this and that he didn’t want any of his contacts or friends involved in it either. He was kind of pissed.”

  “I’m sorry that he feels that way. I hope that when he calms, he will see why we have made the choices we have made.”

  “I told him that you are doing this for your granddaughter and that I really respect that. He agrees.”

  “So there is hope?”

  “He doesn’t want to talk to you in the bay area. He says there are too many chances that something could go wrong. He said he would meet you someplace else.”

  “You tell him that we will meet him anywhere at any time.”

  “I already told him that. I kinda figured that would be your answer.”

  “Thank you, Rachael. Did he agree?”

  “Yes. He said for you to hold tight. If you can hang out here for a couple of days, he will find a meeting place that works for you and for him.”

  “And how will we contact him?”

  “He’ll call you. He said to get your number.”

  Anna exchanged contact information with Rachael.

  “Hun, what can we do to help you?”

  “You already did it.”

  “What is that? We’ve done exactly nothing for you. Yet.”

  “You didn’t make me feel stupid or cheap. Maybe my mom is right. Maybe I can have a real life someday.”

  “Your mother sounds like she knows best. When did you tell her all of this?”

  “Not that long ago. I was finally starting to feel safe again, like I could call her and nobody would track me down. Now I know that was a mistake.”

  Anna’s voice was kind. “We can help you with that, and we will, Rachael. Remember, we think very differently than modern people, and we had more motivation. My guess is the ‘bad guys,’ as you call them, have long ago moved on to other projects. As long as you choose not to challenge them, you aren’t even a blip on their radar.”

  “I’m not so sure about that, and I can’t imagine how you can help me, but I appreciate the thought. I’ll call you when Molly is ready to meet. Please be good to him. He is such a good person, and he is really putting it out there to help me. I don’t want any of this to come back and complicate his already complicated life.”

  “Molly seemed to me to be a very competent man. I wouldn’t worry too much about Molly, but I assure you that we will not complicate his life in any way.”

  “Thanks.”

  SEVEN

  THEY HAD THREE connected rooms, with Adeline in the middle. They were sitting in her room, waiting for the phone to ring, when someone knocked on the door. Carolyn nearly jumped out of her skin.

  Anna chuckled. “Strung a little tight?”

  “Just a little.”

  Anna headed for the door, remembering to look out the peephole. When she turned back to the girls, her eyes were huge, but she was opening the door and plastering a smile on her face before they could question her. “Molly, what a surprise. I thought that you were going to call.”

  “I was in town, thought I’d stop by.”

  “How did you know where we were staying?”

  “Your phone. Phones have GPS these days. There’s an app for that. It’s not the one you buy to put on your kids phone to track them when they say they are going to the mall, much more sophisticated than that. If you knew how easy it is to get data these days, you might never sleep again.”

  “Good to know. Come on in.”

  Carolyn and Anna had carried the chairs from their rooms into Adeline’s so that they would all have a place to sit while they waited. With Molly added to the small space, it was claustrophobic, and they were one seat shy. Molly didn’t seem to mind the tight space and walked over to the far wall and settled himself on the lower half of a built-in desk and dresser space.

  His four-inch heels barely missed the floor as he swung his legs back and forth and waited for the ladies to say something.

  Carolyn was so mesmerized by his appearance that she was quiet too long. There was something about a burly ex-Marine dressed in a lovely bedazzled bohemian-styled maxi dress with coordinatin
g shrug and just the right jewelry that made Carolyn think she needed to up her style a bit. She looked drab and a little too Midwest, as her mother would put it.

  Anna took the lead. “Thank you for helping us, Molly.”

  “I haven’t helped yet. How did you find Rachael?”

  “You said that we should say Pickles to Barry and that he’d fold. It worked.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  Carolyn responded. “Insurance, I guess. Barry folded so easily, and I was afraid that if we didn’t know why, he would change his mind. My granddaughter is having a baby, and I don’t want him deciding to leave prison and come back to haunt her. She made a bad decision in marrying him, but I don’t think she and the baby should have to suffer the rest of their lives for it.”

  “I agree with you, Mrs. Cooper.”

  “You know my name?”

  “I know a lot about each of you. You don’t think you are the only three ladies who are curious and feel the need to protect what is yours, do you? You come bumping into my diner, asking questions about things you should not have any interest in. It makes a man very curious. I checked you out, and what you said to me was the God’s honest truth, which is the only reason I am here. You scared the shit out of Rachael. First you show up — uninvited — and you do it on a day when I happen to be in town. I don’t come here that often, but I have business interests here.”

  “I wondered what made her choose Houston. I guess she is here to work for you.”

  “Something like that. You ladies are not going to let this go, are you?”

  Carolyn sounded forceful for the first time. “No. This is too important to leave to chance.”

  “Alright then. I have a meeting in about an hour. I need to take care of that. How about you meet me at Pappasito’s at seven? It’s the best Tex-Mex in town. If we sit away from the bar, we can talk.”

  “We will be there.”

  “And, ladies, once I share with you, I expect you to go away and stay away. I know how Barry and his world can infect your life, but this is the last time I’m gonna tell you. After our meeting tonight, you are to forget all about me and forget all about Rachael. The restaurant is straight down the road. Turn out of the parking lot to the right. Move to the left lane of the road. Turn under the freeway at the first possible turn. Once you are going the other direction, merge all the way right, and the restaurant is on your right.”

  Anna smiled. “Thanks for the directions. I can promise to not contact you again, should we get the information we need, but I can’t promise to forget you, Molly. That is asking a little too much.”

  Molly smiled, shook his head, and walked rather gracefully out of the room.

  The girls had a few hours to kill. They talked about seeing some of the beautiful museums or incredible parks. Truth be told, any one of the multitude of attractions would normally be enough to keep their attention for hours, but they were restless and needed to move from one to the next pretty quickly. They decided a walk on the beach might help and headed to Galveston to see how much progress had been made rebuilding since the hurricane.

  They walked into the restaurant right on time. Not wanting to show up too early, they had been parked in a parking lot about three blocks away, waiting. Molly was already there.

  Not one of the girls recognized him.

  He wore a beautifully tailored dove-gray suit with a very fine pinstripe in pearl pink. Had the light not hit it perfectly, it would have appeared to be a white pinstripe. Under the jacket he wore an equally well-tailored deep purple vest, silk dress shirt so white it picked up a hint of the purple and played with the pearl pinstripe of the suit, but only in the right light. He wore a beautiful print tie he had loosened just a bit. Enough to look like a particularly successful businessman at the end of a productive day.

  When they were all seated at the table, Anna couldn’t help herself; she had to comment. “Molly, in all my life I’ve never known someone like you, but if you ever want to come help me with my style, or lack of it, I would be very grateful. You always look absolutely stunning and so well turned out.”

  His smile was genuine. “Thank you. I told you I had a business meeting today. People don’t generally take me too seriously when I’m dressed more casually.”

  Carolyn smiled. “I’ve always taken what you say to heart and truly appreciated what you did for me. After meeting Rachael, I appreciate you all the more. Before we start our discussion and get my mind completely involved in me and mine, please, is there anything that we can do to help Rachael? She seems like a lovely young lady. A lot like my Suzi. I’d like to help her if I can.”

  “I appreciate that. I’ll let her know about your offer. That means a lot.”

  Carolyn sighed. “I’m not sure what has happened in this world, but it just seems to me that my life was a lot more simple than things are now. I can’t imagine having to go through all that Rachael has gone through, without the support of family, all on her own. I’m not sure I could do it.”

  Molly smiled. “Mrs. Cooper, having seen you ladies in action, I have no doubt that you could pull it off. Let’s order. Then we can have that conversation you’re trying so hard not to force.” He motioned for the wait staff.

  Carolyn ordered the half chicken with fries. The server explained that it would be a minimum of twenty minutes to prepare that dish. Molly assured him that they were in no hurry and that he could tell the kitchen staff to take their time.

  With their orders in, Molly leaned back and said, “Ask me anything. I can’t promise I’ll answer, but I’ll do what I can.”

  Carolyn took a deep breath, leaned in, and asked her question. “I only have one question, because nothing else is any of my business. What do I need to know that I can use to keep Barry in prison for as long as possible and that will help me to keep my granddaughter and her child safe from that monster?”

  “A very good question. And I agree, the rest is none of your business.”

  Molly took a moment to organize his thoughts. Anna took a sip of her frozen margarita, quite possibly the best she’d ever tasted. Adeline was eating fresh tortilla chips, still warm and overflowing a plastic basket. Carolyn just tried to remember to breathe.

  “Okay, I swore to keep my interactions with Barry to myself, and I intend to do that.”

  Carolyn tried not to react. Mostly because she didn’t know if she should cry, explode, or slap the crap out of Molly. Putting her and her friends through all this just to lord it over them. She was incensed.

  “Let me tell you a little story. Got nothing to do with anyone you know.”

  Carolyn allowed herself to hope. Just a little. She was so glad she hadn’t opened her mouth. One thing that age had taught her was to allow things to play themselves out a little before she interfered, and although the only reason she followed her own advice on this one was because she couldn’t decide which action to take, it seemed to work out for the best.

  “Not all that long ago, say about thirty years, there was a little boy. We will call him Lawrence. Larry for short. Larry was a good kid. Little naïve, a trait that he’d overcome before long. Little shy, he’d lose that too. His mom was overbearing, but most single moms are, and in their case, it was even more understandable. Larry’s mom had been abused. A lot. By family, friends of family, a husband or two. When all was said and done, she got a payoff from a rich family member and a shack in the backwoods near some godforsaken little town that the family member basically owned. That family member owned the bar, the gas station, the diner, and the only hotel in town. Had lots of land in the surrounding areas. Basically, old-school company town with an ugly twist. Hard to believe things like that still exist, but they do, even today.”

  Carolyn was completely taken already. Anna was listening with a balanced ear, and Adeline was completely unimpressed, but still listening.

  “So, Larry gets the brunt of this woman’s anger toward men. Once he starts to change from innocent little boy to young man, h
is mother’s often neglectful but sometimes abusive parenting style becomes ever more draconian. By the time he was in middle school, he was beaten down to almost nothing, but then he grew bigger, as most boys do, and his mother’s difficult life had left her with lots of problems. Some of them involved her physical health, some of them more mental, and she was frail.”

  Molly took a sip of his drink. “Wasn’t it Nietzsche who said: ‘Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster . . . for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you’? I think that Larry turned into what he most hated, the person that bullied and abused him, but he got worse.”

  Anna asked, “We saw on his mother’s death records that she was very bruised.”

  “I wasn’t aware of that, but it makes sense.”

  Carolyn wanted to shush Anna, but she didn’t want to interrupt to do so; after all, wouldn’t she then be doing exactly what Anna was doing? She asked the Lord to intervene on her behalf and either keep the girls quiet or not allow their comments to interfere with the exchange of information.

  “Larry learned a lot at his mother’s knee. Violence. Blackmail. A disregard for what most of us see as normal behavior.”

  Carolyn could see that Anna was going to comment and thought about kicking her under the table. It was a fleeting thought, but it was a thought that Anna seemed to catch.

  “Larry’s mother died unexpectedly. He’d been caring for her for a long time, and although there was relief and release in her passing, it left him adrift. He was able to finish his education in that town only because of the influence his family, however distant, had in the town. He stayed in the family home. Saved the money he received as a legacy. He considered it both booty and his only escape.”

  Anna asked. “Did the family know that his mother had died?”

  “I’m unclear on that part of the story. While it would seem that Larry had enough influence over the family to continue the charade that was his life, and to this day there are members of his family that act as if his mother is still alive and hidden away somewhere as she had been for decades, it is very hard to comprehend just how he would be able to pull that off, although with the knowledge he held, there weren’t many family members that would cross him. I’m gonna tell you right here and now, I’m not telling you everything, and I suggest, strongly, that you don’t go down that road. These are some very wealthy people, and it doesn’t matter how wealthy some in your group might be… ” Molly pointedly looked at Adeline. “You don’t need that kind of mess. You don’t need the knowledge to accomplish your goal. You just need to know that it exists.”