Jack seemed to sense my turmoil. He had that look on his face that he got when considering how to advise on an important issue. Like he did when I once asked him what I had to do to get my cousin Susan to stop bossing me around.
“Teresa, my biggest regret is that we are not in each other’s lives. I couldn’t afford to fight the Clarks. I was building a practice and raising a family when you were young. When you left for college, Linda and I were dealing with a malpractice suit that nearly bankrupt us. By the time we worked our way through all of that Bradley got mixed up with that Daniels girl and Zane was born. I just…well, I just gave up. I am sorry. Will you forgive me?”
I couldn’t answer that. Not yet anyway. In less than a week, my life as Alana was turned upside down and my childhood narrative was rewritten. I hadn’t eaten regularly, slept well or felt completely safe in days. I was emotionally drained from hearing new versions of my family history. All I wanted to do was to retrieve my money. Jack’s desire for forgiveness was going to have to wait.
“How did Zane Daniels know how to find me?” I asked.
“What?” Jack was confused.
I knew that I’d told the Bennett clan had a different version of events. I took the chance that catching Jack off guard would finally give me the answers I came to Sacramento for. I’d had enough of the he said/she said stories from the Clarks and the Bennetts’.
“It wasn’t a coincidence that Zane targeted me,” I said. “He was your grandson. How much did you tell him about me?”
“I…I didn’t tell him anything,” Jack said. “We saw Zane only twice in his entire life- right after he was born and when he came to the house demanding money for some technical school. What do you mean that he targeted you?”
“Sorry, I’m late, what did I miss?”
This interruption came from a guy walking into the lounge. The doors to the lounge lay wide open giving me a clear view of a shiny Maserati in the drive. Which let me know how intense the conversation with my father had become. I never heard the car drive up.
“You must be Teresa,” the guy said. “Nice to finally meet you.”
His hand was out. Manicured nails, cuffs from a starched shirt peeked out from under a navy blazer. Tan slacks, brown loafers, no socks. He had an air about him that everyone would know who he was. Like every other Maserati owner that I knew.
“You must be Keith,” I said.
Keith impressed me as the kind of guy whose closet was color-coordinated. His blazer was tailored to fit, the hem of his slacks were knife-sharp. I just knew he wore a watch-not a Rolex- something more obscure and thus more expensive. I gave him five minutes before he looked at the watch to gauge my reaction. He would judge me on whether or not I recognized the brand. Keith Bennett’s type was a dime a dozen in Malibu. Not my Malibu mind you- the paparazzi crazed Malibu.
Keith never got the chance to flash the watch. Bradley raced in from the dining room.
“Hey Dad, the table is ready,” Bradley began. He stopped dead when he saw Keith. The same way a hiker would stop if a rattlesnake appeared on the path.
“Oh, hey Keith. I thought you were going back packing.”
“Mom invited me,” Keith said. “I was passing through town and thought I would stop in and meet Teresa.”
“You should have told Mom you were coming for sure,” Bradley said. “We didn’t have them set a place for you.”
“Gosh darn it, Bradley, you think they can scare up another place setting?”
Keith’s sarcasm was weighted with the kind of practice siblings develop between them.
“Stop it!” Jack glared at the two brothers. “I’ve waited forty years to have my whole family together. I will not have you sully it with petty arguments.”
“I’ll see to the table,” Bradley muttered.
“Let me help you up, Dad.” Keith took both of Jack’s hands to help him to a standing position.
Jack grunted on rising. He wobbled a bit on his way up but when he stood, he straightened his shoulders and tossed the oxygen hose aside.
“I’m going to walk my daughter into the dining room without help,” Jack said with enough conviction that neither Keith nor I argued with him.
He put his arm out for me. I took it and into the dining room we went.
I’m not sure who held up whom.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Teresa, you sit next to me. Keith, you sit next to Teresa.”
Jack directed the seating arrangement like a ship’s captain barking orders to his crew.
We were a party of nine. Jack and I, Keith, Linda, Bradley’s wife Melissa and their two little girls, Richard and Bradley. We all took our assigned seats around a large circular table. A waiter appeared for our drink orders.
I’ve never needed a drink more in my life. Iced tea in a wine glass wasn’t going to get me through this meal.
“I’ll have a gin and tonic,” Jack said. And then to Linda, “Don’t start. I’m toasting this occasion with a real drink and I don’t care what the doctors said.”
The look she shot him could have turned the golf course into a skating rink.
“I’ll have a gin and ginger ale with a splash of Limón cello. Diet ginger ale if you have it,” I said.
“That sounds very refreshing,” Jack said.
“It’s my favorite drink. I call it The Usual.”
“Change my order,” Jack said to the waiter. “I’ll have what my daughter is having.”
Keith ordered a Bourbon, Bradley ordered whiskey. Melissa, Linda and Richard opted for iced tea. The little girls asked for milk.
I remembered to have a cheese sandwich sent out to the driver and then I passed the time waiting for the drinks in polite conversation. I concentrated on Bradley’s wife, Melissa and got the gist of things. They met in college. She was from Carmel. They were married for seven years. The girls were aged five and three. She found summers awfully hot in Sacramento but she was glad the nights always cooled down.
By the time I held the drink in my hand, I’d wasted twenty-four hours of my life and was up to my eyeballs in information that did nothing to retrieve my money. I wondered if I would ever get to the bottom of Zane Daniels and his rotten life.
It wasn’t going to be soon. Jack, of course, had to make a toast. He struggled to his feet.
“This is the happiest day of my life,” Jack began. “I finally have my whole family together.”
There was more. The Battle of Britain was planned in less time than it took for Jack to thank everyone for being there. Linda finally intervened.
“Jack sit down before you have a stroke,” Linda said. “Here’s to having Teresa at our table.”
“Hear, hear!” Keith clinked his glass to mine and downed it in one gulp. He held the empty glass up for the waiter to see.
My first sip tasted like an old lover that I hadn’t kissed in years. My second sip emptied the glass. I held my glass up, too.
“How long have you lived in Malibu, Teresa?” Keith asked.
“Almost thirty years,” I answered.
“I wish we had found you sooner. I almost went to Pepperdine, how cool would that have been?”
I had to think about how cool it would have been. The second drink helped my thoughts unravel.
“I don’t know how much we would have seen each other,” I said to Keith. “My ex-husband and I were busy getting our business started about the time you would have been in school.”
“What did you do?”
“We had a commercial real estate company. We started investing in the San Fernando Valley and grew from there.”
“Great business,” Keith said. “I’m in real estate myself so I know how much time it takes. Did you have trouble making friends in Malibu?”
“Yes and no,” I said. I went on to describe how Jorjana and I met, how I cultivated clients for our real estate development business and how I turned those associations into a new business when I divorced. Apparently my life was fascinating
, Keith seemed riveted.
Meanwhile, Jack ordered lunch for the table. Hot dogs for the little girls, mixed greens and Veal Piccatta with angel hair pasta for the rest of us. And wine, bless him. Carafes of chardonnay and Chianti to go around. My second cocktail evaporated just as the wine hit the table.
The waiter came around and asked if I wanted white or red with lunch. I wanted white and I wanted it badly. But my head was spinning with too much of the Usual and not enough food. My little voice told me to ask for iced tea. I didn’t ask fast enough. Before I knew it, I had a Chardonnay in hand.
“I was thinking how strange it was that you of all people discovered Zane’s body,” Keith said as he clinked wine glasses with me. “What are the odds?”
I took a sip of the wine before answering. It was a better than average Chardonnay- oakey, grassy and crisp. I was glad it landed in my glass. Veal and iced tea don’t mix in my opinion. I forgot what Keith had asked by then.
“Teresa, you said that Zane ‘targeted’ you. What did you mean by that?” Jack intervened. “I thought you found his body by accident.”
Richard coughed.
I mistakenly thought Richard’s cough was a result of his cold, which I was exceptionally glad I hadn’t caught. I actually felt wonderful. I was enjoying myself for the first time in days. Keith was a good listener- he wasn’t as shallow as I had made him out to be. Jack was a gracious host. Even Linda seemed like a decent person- she busied herself reading a book aloud to the three year old.
Keeping secrets was far too much trouble I told myself. How different would my life had been if I had known all these nice people all along? Two cocktails and a glass of wine shut down my little voice and convinced me that I could trust everyone around the table.
“I didn’t stumble on Zane,” I said. “He drugged me and kidnapped me and then hacked into my bank account and stole my money. I woke up in that house after he was killed and I didn’t know how I got there.”
Talk about a conversation stopper. Every member of the Bennett clan shut right up and stared at me. Even the three year old had her mouth open.
Richard was the only one not impressed.
“Alana, this really isn’t…” Richard started to say.
“But you said…” Bradley sputtered.
“He drugged you?” Linda put the book down.
“That no good son of a bitch!” Jack won the shocked and awe reaction. “How dare he! Bradley, did you know about this?”
Jack’s voice was loud enough to bring an army of waiters to the table; each anxious to see that all the Bennett’s beverages were full. Jack shooed them away. Bradley cowered under his father’s gaze.
“Dad, she told me that she found him by accident. She told you that too.”
Bradley actually pointed at me like I was a six-year old responsible for spilling milk. Which I suppose you could say I had just done.
“This is not the place to discuss this, Alana.” Richard put on his best courtroom voice. “You’ve said enough.”
“I want to know the truth,” Jack said. “Teresa, please go on. You are safe here. We are your family.”
I wasn’t inebriated enough to lead a Congo line- just drunk enough to forget that I was supposed to keep the details about Zane Daniels quiet. But I had enough wits about me to realize that Richard was right. I had said enough. It wasn’t like either of my families had ever told me the whole truth.
“I really can’t go into it,” I said. “You know, while the investigation is still underway.”
Not surprisingly, that didn’t set well around the table. Everyone had a question and they all asked them at the same time. The waiters ran around in a frenzy as if filling wine glasses would shut everyone up. Other patron around the room looked at the Bennett clan like we were the floorshow.
“That’s enough!” Richard raised his voice. The entire dining room fell silent. Even the waiters stopped in their tracks.
Richard leaned in and lowered his voice.
“Alana cannot discuss this at this time,” Richard said. “Please understand the sensitivity of this matter. When the investigation is completed, Alana will tell you everything.”
And then Richard reached across the table and took my wine away. Oddly, I was glad that he did.
The Bennetts’ shut up but they weren’t happy about it. Linda glared at me like I had just burped at her tea party. Bradley’s face was flushed in anger. Melissa tended to her daughters while very obviously not looking at me. Jack shrank into his chair. Only Keith had something to say. And even then, he whispered it only to me.
“Zane stole your money?” Keith said under his breath. “Are you OK financially? I’m happy to float you a loan if you need it.”
“Thanks but no.” Finally, someone who understood my true concerns. Everyone from Jorjana to my Aunt Betty to Linda seemed more concerned that I had been drugged. The drugs wore off but I was still broke.
“I have other resources for now,” I lied to Keith.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Keith said. “Just let me know if I can help.”
“I’ll just say this,” Jack drew himself up. “Zane Daniels brought nothing but heartache to this family. I, for one, am glad he is dead.”
“Jack, really…” Linda said.
Bradley looked at his watch. A move that caught Melissa’s attention.
“You’re not seriously thinking of going, are you?” Melissa glared at Bradley.
“Going where?” Jack asked.
“You didn’t tell them?” Melissa threw down her napkin. Her daughters stared at her in surprise. The three year old’s lower lip quivered. Melissa stood up and started to gather the girl’s books.
“Melissa, wait!” Bradley rushed to his wife’s side. He tried to hug her but she pushed him away.
“Tell us what?” This from Linda.
“Bradley is paying for Zane’s funeral,” Melissa spit the words out. “The Daniels family claims they can’t afford to bury him and his mother can’t be found so Bradley agreed, again, to pay for Zane. The viewing is this afternoon.”
“Melissa, it’s the last time. It’s the least…” Bradley pleaded.
“Yes Bradley. It is the last time. I never want to hear Zane Daniels name again.”
Melissa had the books and the girls gathered. She stormed out of the dining room, Bradley following in her wake. The Bennett table had the full attention of the entire dining room.
“Isn’t there a paupers cemetery somewhere?” Keith asked. “Why is Bradley paying for that bastard’s funeral?”
“Because he has a heart, Keith.” Linda hissed. “Zane was his son.”
“Zane was monthly check for his mother,” Keith retorted.
“Stop it,” Jack said for at least the hundredth time. “Let’s let Bradley explain.”
Bradley returned to the table looking like he had just lost a tug-of-war. His face was flushed, drops of sweat on his brow. He stood behind Linda’s chair, one hand on her shoulder.
“Dad, I’m sorry for all the pain that Zane brought to you and mom,” Bradley said. “I apologized to Melissa, too. It was a hardship on us early in our marriage for me to keep up the child support checks. I never was a part of his life and I’ve often wondered if he would have turned out differently if I had been. But I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t see he had a proper burial. So if you will excuse me, I am going to say good-bye to my son.”
“Just a minute, Bradley,” Jack said as he struggled to his feet. “You are right. Things might have been different if we’d had some influence on Zane. The least we can do is to see him one last time. Come everyone, we have a visitation to do.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Bradley rode with Keith since Melissa took off with the family mini-van. Linda pleaded a headache and drove herself home. For the first time in my life I wanted to follow That Woman. But Jack would have none of that. He all but ordered me to go to the funeral home and then he hitched a ride with Richard and me.
<
br /> “Those Daniels are nothing but grifters,” Jack said. He sat in the back seat with his oxygen tank safely buckled between us. Richard took the seat next to the driver.
“I always wondered if Zane really was Bradley’s kid,” Jack said.
“Why didn’t Bradley get a paternity test?” I asked.
“Bambi was a minor. Bradley was eighteen when the kid was born. Her family threatened to have him charged with statutory rape.”
“Bambi?”
“Yeah, Zane’s mother’s name is Bambi. Trust me, we are not dealing with rocket scientists here.”
Jack turned to look at me.
“Ignore your attorney in the fJimt seat, Teresa. What did Zane do to you?”
Richard gave a tiny little nod.
For the umpteenth time I told the story. But I ended it with the question I wanted answered.
“I’m convinced Zane sought me out,” I said. “But why?”
Jack sat back in his seat and frowned. I remembered enough about him to know that he was thinking hard.
“I was furious when Zane came to the house,” Jack said at last. “He’d never set foot in my home before and I found it unspeakably rude that he would show up unannounced and ask for money. Now that I think about it, he knew a lot about our family. He saw the graduation photos on the bookshelf and knew who you and Keith were. But I didn’t tell him where you lived, Teresa.”
“He was a talented hacker,” Richard said. “I wonder how much Bradley told Bambi about the family. For someone with Zane’s ability, a name would be enough to go on.”
“God only knows what Bradley told her,” Jack sighed. “He was bewitched by that girl. For all I know he gave her our Social Security numbers.”
“Why did you call the Daniels grifters?” Richard asked.
“They’ve made a cottage industry out of having illegitimate children,” Jack said. “Bambi’s mother worked at the country club when Bradley was a lifeguard at the pool there. Bambi hung out at the pool while her mother bartended for the lunch crowd. That’s how Bradley got mixed up with her. She was only fifteen when she got pregnant and she’s had six more kids since. Same thing with her two sisters. All of them have multiple kids with multiple fathers. None of the mothers have to work given the amount of child support they all get.”
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