Elizabeth's Daughter

by Thea Thomas

“That all depends on what sort of delusion you’ve worked up about her.”

  “The ‘delusion’ that you spent last night with her.”

  “Yes,” Tony nodded vehemently, “That’s about what I expected of you.”

  “Why are you looking to buy a condo in San Diego?”

  “What makes you think I’m buying a condo, just because I talked with another agent about some property?”

  “Because that’s what she told me.”

  “She did not.”

  “Tony, she told me that you were looking for a condo for yourself. She also, inadvertently, I’ll admit, told me you spent the night with her.”

  “That’s the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard. What woman would tell a wife that she’d spent the night with her husband?”

  “She didn’t know she was talking with a wife. She thought she was talking with a potential client. But she was very puzzled how I knew about the property through a third party just a short time after you left her. And she couldn’t understand why you would be advertising a property that you wanted for yourself.

  “You know what’s strange?” Elizabeth went on, “I feel sympathy for her. I know you didn’t tell her you’re married. And the poor thing’s no doubt ga-ga over you. Like women always are... at first.”

  “So you’ve put it all together, have you?” Tony sneered.

  “I guess I have, “ Elizabeth said calmly, although her heart raced. She’d hoped desperately that somehow Tony would tell her something to convince her that she was wrong. But she could see that it was not to be the case.

  “Tony, I want you out of this house. I want you out of my life as well, but we’ll start with first things first. I loved you, that is, I tried to love you. But you just wouldn’t let it happen. It seems you can’t recognize love. However, I’m not about to lose any more of my life over you.”

  “Just calm down, Elizabeth. I’m not going anywhere. Not permanently, anyway. You’re my wife, this is my home and I’m not leaving. Besides, aren’t you afraid of losing your precious Amy?”

  “Not anymore, no. And even if they were to take her away from me, because of you, it would be better than her being around your influence. Or lack of it. You don’t care about her at all. Now, please, just go pack and get out.”

  “You would actually kick me out on the street?” Tony tried to put on a wounded look. “Where would you have me go?”

  “San Diego was good enough for you last night. And Michelle must be dying of curiosity about what’s going on. Who Gail is, for instance.”

  Elizabeth started clearing the table. “I’ve found myself wondering all day, how may times, how many women you’ve been involved with since I’ve been with you. Goodness, Tony, you’re very sloppy about it, aren’t you? I guess you think I’m remarkably stupid. Or desperate. But I’m neither.”

  “Stop clearing the table!” Tony shouted.

  Elizabeth ignored him and carried a stack of plates into the kitchen. She returned and piled up another stack.

  “I said, stop doing that!” Tony rushed toward her, slapping the dishes from her hands. They went flying, crashing into the wall and floor. Then he hit her in the face so hard she crumpled to her knees, broken china cutting into one of her knees and her right hand.

  Shocked, she tried to stand, blood ran from her hand and oozed through her slashed jeans.

  Gail came in the back door.

  “Oh my God! What’s going on?” she cried.

  “Don’t let Amy see...” Elizabeth said.

  “I can’t stand this!” Tony yelled, bolting from the house. He ran outside and jumped in his car, tires squealing for a block.

  “It’s too late,” Gail said. “She’s already seen. We have to get you to the hospital.”

  Gail hurriedly grabbed towels and made compresses on Elizabeth’s hand and knee after checking to make sure there was no glass in them.

  “What happened?” she asked while she administered to Elizabeth. Amy stood by, eyes as round as little moons, trembling.

  “It’s all right, Amy, “ Elizabeth said. “Mommy’s okay. I just fell down and got an owie. We’re going to go for a little ride, so why don’t you go find a cuddle toy to take?”

  Amy toddled to her play pen, and reached for her two elephants through the bars.

  “I faced him about this Michelle person. He didn’t deny it. Then I started clearing the table and he told me to quit. But I didn’t and he knocked the dishes out of my hands and... I slipped and fell on them. Can you believe he was actually willing to go so far as to buy a condo so that he could go down there and play without distraction? No doubt with my money, too.”

  “Awful, awful,” Gail hissed. “Poor Elizabeth! What an awful man!”

  “Even so, Gail, even now, I feel sorry for him. Because he doesn’t know what’s he’s doing. He simply doesn’t have a conscience. He’s not all right.”

  “All the more reason to be frightened of him, Elizabeth! Who knows what he’ll do next?”

  Amy came back to Elizabeth and cuddled up against her, an elephant’s ear in her mouth.

  “I’ll feel sorry for him,” Elizabeth said, putting her left arm around Amy. “But I will not tolerate him frightening my daughter.”

  While they waited in the hospital, Gail looked at Elizabeth in the light. “Look at that, a black eye! He hit you in the face?”

  “A black eye?” Elizabeth asked, surprised. “Really? How can I go to work with a black eye? Does it look very bad?”

  “It’s going to be a real work of art, from the looks of it. Poor girl, you must have one heck of a headache.”

  “Well, I do, now that you mention it. I was too preoccupied with the pain in my hand and knee to notice it.”

  Gail jumped up and, with Amy on her hip, got an ice pack and some aspirin and a glass of water from the nurses and brought them back to Elizabeth. “We have to tell the police. You can’t let him hit you.”

  “Oh dear. No, Gail. Please, let’s not. I mean, I’m just no ready to try and sort out anything more right now. The police will take hours. And I really so just want to go to sleep.”

  Gail acquiesced, but not happily.

  They returned late from the hospital, Amy in Gail’s arms, dead asleep, Elizabeth stitched and bandaged, leaning on Gail on the other side. They entered cautiously, but there was no sign of Tony. “I wonder if I can impose on you to call a locksmith,” Elizabeth said. “I want the locks changed right now.”

  “I’m in complete agreement.” Gail called a twenty-four hour locksmith. “He’ll be here in an hour.”

  “I hope Tony doesn’t came back before then.”

  “If he does, I will call the police,” Gail said. “And, again we should anyway.”

  “If we have to, yes. But for now, I’d rather not. If Tony comes now, then yes.”

  Gail nodded.

  “Oh, Gail!” Elizabeth started to cry. “I just can’t take any more. So much had been going on. You don’t even know what all’s been going on.”

  “Don’t worry, Pet. You don’t have to tell me things I already have a good idea about. Don’t worry. We’ll get him out of your life.”

  “I feel horrible about putting poor little Amy through this.”

  “She’ll be all right. She knows we love her.”

  “And I have several appointments tomorrow. Tony has fouled up on three closings. How can I have meetings with a black eye? I don’t even know if I can drive with my hand like this. Honestly, Gail, a black eye is not business-like.”

  “You could say you were in an automobile accident. Just take tomorrow off, Elizabeth.”

  Black eyes get worse looking for a few days instead of better, don’t they?”

  “If blacker is worse, then yes.”

  Elizabeth sighed, resigned. “Where is that locksmith? Even with all this excitement, I don’t feel I can stay awake.”

  “It’s shock and stress, Lizzie. Go to bed, I’ll take care of the locksmith.”

 
“I feel guilty, but I just don’t think I can go on.” Elizabeth went through her purse and handed Gail her VISA card. “Give the locksmith this. I think Amy should sleep in your room tonight.” Elizabeth glanced in the living room where they had put Amy down in her play pen, asleep, “and I’m going to sleep in the guest room.”

  “Okay,” Gail agreed. “Also, I think I’ll get a box from the garage and put some of Tony’s things in it and set it outside. Just in case he comes back and tries to use that for an excuse to get in.”

  “Good thinking, Gail. Thanks. Good night.”

  “Good night, Lizzie-girl.”

  The next morning Elizabeth called Edna at the office. She knew there was some chance that Tony would be there, but she felt pretty sure he wasn’t.

  “Edna, it’s Elizabeth. Listen, I need to postpone all the appointments I made for today. I had a little accident last night and I’m indisposed. I’d be terribly relieved and grateful if you could help me.”

  “You don’t sound good,” Edna said. That was the nicest thing she’d ever said to Elizabeth. “Couldn’t Tony at least try to handle a couple of the more urgent meetings? After all, they are all his closings. And I use the word ‘closings’ optimistically.”

  “Oh. If he’s there, perhaps he could take care of....”

  “No. You don’t know he’s not here?” Edna was silent for a moment.”I was just saying that maybe you could have him take care of a couple of the meetings.”

  “I don’t think he can be counted on today, Edna. If you’d organize meetings with those people for me on Monday, I’d really appreciate it.”

  “Okay, Elizabeth, I’ll do what I can.”

  Elizabeth was surprised at how civil Edna was toward her. At least that was a bit of relief on an otherwise awful day. Maybe Edna had learned more about Tony recently than even Elizabeth knew. She had to take his calls, write his messages, and at times, perhaps even know where he was. With the way Edna had carried the torch for Tony, Elizabeth could see that her previous animosity toward Elizabeth, whom she saw as an interloper, might turn to sympathy.

  The pain really began to set in, she felt as though her whole body was swollen and cut and bruised, instead of just three distinct locations. She stayed in bed for two days, hoping to be recovered by Monday.

  But every time she fell asleep, she awoke with a start with the horrible vision of Tony moving on her. The ghastly anger contorting his face, the determination to do her harm. All she’d done was try to love him, try to find the place in him where love resided and coax it out of him. Clearly, he didn’t trust her, or anyone.

  Which was surely because he was completely untrustworthy himself, she concluded. She felt like a failure because she could not get through his barrier, even though she knew that was an unfair judgement on herself. Tony’s problems were a lot longer in the making than a year of her efforts to turn them around could repair.

  During that week-end Elizabeth was as occupied with healing psychologically as physically. But she knew she would have both kinds of scars. She pondered what sorts of painful experiences Gail must have had to have such strong, seemingly instinctive negative reactions to Tony, practically on sight.

  Elizabeth wondered if she would now develop the same kind of psychic sonar.

  Oh! she exclaimed to herself, why couldn’t everyone just be nice? Wasn’t life hard enough? Look at poor beautiful Amy, born with a defect, apparently without a natural father who would claim her, and then her mother died. Weren’t all the things one could not do anything about quite enough without people going out of their way to harm and hurt one another?

  She looked at her bandaged hand, a result of not wanting her husband to philander.

  No, she said inwardly. I reject this treatment, I won’t tolerate ever again being treated like Tony treated me. Never again. I claim my right to be a happy person, to expect good things in my life, to be respected. I resolve here and now to never let anyone belittle, abuse, or demean me. Every person has the right to expect happiness and joy and peace in life. I’m laying claim to that human birthright.

  When she came out of her bedroom Monday morning, she felt like a completely different person.

  Chapter XXVI

  “No sound nor sight of Tony for three days,” Gail said when Elizabeth came down for breakfast. “That’s good sign.”

  “Umm,” Elizabeth nodded. “Let’s not develop a sense of false security.”

  “I agree,” Gail said. “But on the other hand we have to be able to live in peace.”

  “We will, Gail. I just hope and pray what has happened doesn’t scar Amy.”

  Gail shook her head. “We won’t let it.”

  “I’m coming home as soon as I can,” Elizabeth said. “I just have to get through these meetings. How does my black eye look? I keep vacillating between, ‘it’s hardly noticeable’ and ‘good grief, what makes me think I can go out in public looking like this?’ “

  “Well, it’s kind of between the two,” Gail assessed. “The swelling had gone down, and that’s good. At least your face is its natural shape. But even with your make up it is black and you can expect people to ask or to stare. It might be a good idea to come up with a little story.”

  “I’ve got a little story, all right! Call me if anything happens.”

  Edna gave a whistle when Elizabeth walked into the office. “Boy! You weren’t kidding when you said you were in an accident! How are you?”

  “I’m okay. That is, I’m better. I hope I can get through these meetings quickly and with as little conflict as possible.”

  “Good luck. Some of these people are really irate.”

  “I don’t blame them, the way they’ve been song-and-danced.”

  Elizabeth went into Tony’s office, marveling at the change in Edna. She had obviously figured out that something was wrong. Perhaps it was just her curiosity that made her nice.

  Later that afternoon Elizabeth was in the middle of her third meeting. Everything had gone very smoothly and all the clients expressed sympathy for her accident. She told herself that she’d have to remember to get herself beaten up whenever she wanted strangers to be nice to her, ha, ha.

  Right then Edna called on the intercom. “Gail’s on the telephone. I told her this wasn’t a good time to disturb you, but she insists it’s an emergency.”

  “Thank you, Edna. Excuse me a moment.” Elizabeth’s heart raced like bee’s wings as she picked up the phone. She took a deep breath. “Hello, Gail....”

  “Tony just took Amy.”

  “Oh my God! Did you call the police?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Elizabeth hung up and leaped from her chair. She looked at her clients blankly.

  “Ahm, excuse me, I have to leave. My... my baby has been kidnapped.” She ran from the office. “Edna...it’s... Amy’s been kidnapped. Cancel everything.”

  Before Edna could say a word, Elizabeth was out the door, running to her car.

  Stay calm, she told herself. But questions flew through her mind. How did Tony get in the house? What would he do with Amy? What was going on in his confused, and, Elizabeth knew, dangerous mind? Why would he take Amy when he didn’t even care about her? He had no idea how to take care of her.

  Pulling into the driveway she didn’t wait for the garage door to open. She jumped from the car and ducked under the garage door as it slowly slid up. “Gail! Gail!”

  “Here I am.”

  “Why aren’t the police here?”

  “They’re on their way. Sit down, Elizabeth. Look at you, you’re white as snow.”

  Gail made Elizabeth sit on the sofa. A siren could be heard.

  “There they are,” Gail said.

  “How did he get in?”

  “He must have been watching the house very closely. I was doing the laundry, so, since I was going in and out the back door into the garage, I left the door unlocked. I ran upstairs to check out Amy’s room for stray laundry. “I heard a ‘clun
k,’ but I thought it was the washer changing cycles. As I came down the stairs, I saw the front door standing open. I couldn’t believe it! I flew downstairs. Amy was gone from her play pen. I ran outside, and then I heard Tony’s car, but I couldn’t see it. He was gone.”

  There was a resounding knock at the door. Gail got up and answered it. She showed a policeman and a policewoman into the living room.

  “But how did he get in,” Elizabeth beseeched Gail.

  “The garage door opener,” Gail answered. “We forgot about his garage door opener.”

  “This is Officer Timms,” the policeman said. “And I’m Officer Avery. There’s been a kidnapping?”

  “Yes,” Gail and Elizabeth said together.

  Elizabeth and Gail followed the police around while they figured out what Tony must have done. He’d apparently been spying on on them from the lake side of the house. As soon as Gail went upstairs, he ran around to the front of the garage, opened the garage door with his opener, ran through the kitchen and dining room, picked Amy up from her play pen in the living room and dashed through the front door. He had parked his car in front of the neighbor’s house which was blocked from view by a row of evergreens.

  “And what is this person’s relationship to the child?” Officer Timms asked.

  “He and I are her adoptive parents,” Elizabeth answered.

  “Really?” Officer Timms responded. “What then is his motive, in your opinion, for kidnapping?”

  “He and I are estranged, but I don’t know why he’d take her,” Elizabeth said, beginning to tremble. The police woman had hit on Elizabeth’s greatest fear. “He’s never been particularly attached to her. I didn’t see it until recently... I couldn’t imagine how anyone could be anything less than completely in love with Amy. But he’s... his character has completely changed lately. He’s become so withdrawn and just... odd. Lately I’ve felt like I have no idea who he is. Last Thursday night he attacked me when I told him I’d found out about his involvement with another woman. I told him to get out. He hit me, then left. We had the locks changed.”

  “So it looks like it’s either a blackmail or revenge action,” Officer Avery said. “You’ll hear from him. He’ll try to make a bargain with you, just go along with whatever he says. Be sweet and unflappable. The important thing is to get the child back.”