He nodded. “I would no more leave a kid alone with my mom then I would leave a kid alone with a hungry tiger. So, I can relate.” He took another bite of his bagel. “So, what can I bring for the kids? You trying to get them on the low carb thing, too?”
“Yeah,” I said. “They’re fighting me every step of the way, but I do think that it’s healthiest not to have carbs in one’s diet. Simple carbs, that is, bread, sugar, potatoes, cereal, things like that.”
“What do your girls like to eat?”
“They’re starting to get used to roasted chicken and salad. I usually pick up a rotisserie chicken for them, and that’s what they eat. They don’t really like steak and pork and things like that, but they don’t mind the chicken if it’s fresh.”
“Okay, then, I’ll pick up some roasted chicken from Pollo La Brasa, you ain’t tasted roasted chicken until you taste theirs, and some salad for them. 7 o’clock?”
I nodded, feeling shy. “Uh, I guess I don’t understand. There was that blonde in your office the other day. I just figured that you and she were-”
“Yeah. That’s Kaley. My ex. She can’t seem to get into her head that she’s my ex, though, so she shows up out of the blue all the time and spooks out every other woman in her vicinity. Women seem intimidated by her, for some odd reason. Anyhow, she’s not my girlfriend. She’s my ex-girlfriend. Not to mention a bunny boiler.” He smiled. “I’m interested in somebody else, and I tried to get that through her head, but you know how it is with these women sometimes. I’m sorry, does that sound sexist? I didn’t mean it to, but you have to admit that women in this town can be a bit…demanding.”
I smiled. “No, that doesn’t sound sexist at all.” I looked at my watch. “Um, I have a meeting with Senator Nash in just a half hour, and his office is downtown here, but not within walking distance, so I might have to call an Uber to get me there. Are you busy, would you like to come along?”
“I wouldn’t miss that for the world,” he said. “Let’s go.”
At that, I called an Uber, and nervously made my way down to the street to meet it with Declan.
I guess that Declan and I had a first date this evening.
For some odd reason, that was both exhilarating and terrifying.
Chapter 30
We got to Senator Nash’s office with just a few minutes to spare. His assistant greeted us, and then led us back to his office, which was a typical office that I would expect a senator to have. Dark blue carpet, wood-paneled walls, solid oak desk, and floor-to-ceiling book shelves with some very serious-looking books. Biographies of previous presidents adorned the shelves, along with other books that were political in nature. He also had collected statute tomes and other kinds of law books. On the wall was a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence.
I wondered if he actually had read these books, or if they were for show for his constituents. Knowing most politicians, I suspected the latter. They were always trying to act like they were so serious, but I wondered how much of that was true and how much of that was to burnish their image to the public.
Senator Nash was a 40ish guy, extremely handsome in a classical way. Dark, wavy hair, piercing blue eyes, a perfect set of teeth and a body that looked like he worked hard to keep fit. I could picture him and Addison together, really. They would have made a gorgeous couple, much more of a physically beautiful couple than him and his current wife, Violet.
Violet was a woman who wasn’t necessarily unattractive, but rather…plain. I had seen pictures of her before she got sick, and she used to carry quite a bit of extra weight around her midsection. And, truth be told, she had lost some of the weight since she got sick, but not all that much. She still probably had about 30 extra pounds, and she was short.
I mentally kicked myself for thinking in such a shallow way about Michael and Violet. I was quite sure that Violet had a lot going for her, and looks certainly weren’t everything. In fact, I heard that Violet was a lawyer in her own right, or, at least she was, having graduated from Yale Law School, where she was on Law Review and graduated towards the top of her class. I had heard that she was thinking of getting back into practicing, and that she had ambitions to become a federal judge. So, maybe she was the power behind the throne.
Senator Nash greeted Declan and me with an outstretched hand. “Ms. Justice, Mr. Sawyer, I’m glad to meet both of you,” he said with a smile. “Sit down, sit down. I guess you have some questions for me?”
“I do,” I said, sitting down. “Thanks for meeting us. I’m just going to get right down to it, but the reason why I wanted to meet you is because I read that you and Addison were having an affair. Were you aware that she was pregnant?”
I watched his face, studying it for signs that he was shocked or that he was pretending to be. He furrowed his brow and put his hand to his chin.
“No, I wasn’t aware of that. Hmmm…I thought that Addison and I were exclusive, but I guess I never really knew her that well. Where did you hear that?”
“From Jackson Anderson,” I said. “The head of Centurion Pictures, or, at least he was the head, until just recently.”
Michael nodded his head. “Addison was cheating on me. Such a shame.” He shook his head. “Well, I guess that Jackson was probably the father of the baby, then. Anyhow, I really don’t know how any of this is relevant. The police have their man, and the prosecutors are trying him for Addison’s murder. That kid’s hair was found in Addison’s room. I mean, how else would his hair get there if he wasn’t there, and if he was there, why was he? He was obsessed with Addison, that much was clear from his public postings on that disgusting website. I mean, I would almost think that Jackson killed her, but it really does look bad for Carter Dixon, if you ask me.”
“Hey, buddy,” Declan said, “how can you look so depressed about Addison cheating on you, when you’re the one who’s married? Sorry, but that seems just a bit rich to me.”
Michael cocked his head at Declan. I doubted that he was used to such disrespect, considering his position. He probably was used to just about everyone kissing his ass.
“Well, yes, that’s true. I am married, and I strayed. My wife and I are in marriage counseling about it. I’ve prayed on it, asked for forgiveness from the Lord and my wife, and things are getting back on a really good path. You have to believe me, my affair with Addison was a mistake, a tragic mistake. It was something that I profoundly regret. I’ve never strayed from my wife, except for Addison, never in my life.”
I regarded Michael, seeing that his finger, which was still on his face, was twitching nervously. I watched his shoulders, because if his breathing picked up in pace, it would show in his upper body first. Sure enough, I noticed that, as he spoke, his breathing apparently was getting faster and faster, because his shoulders were going up and down quicker than they were before.
I knew that he was lying, but I wondered about what. Was he lying about his not being the father of Addison’s kid? Or was he lying when he said that Addison was his only affair? Or maybe he was just lying about all of it.
“So, yes, I had no idea that Addison was pregnant. How do you know that’s true? I mean, you heard it from Jackson Anderson, but maybe he was lying to you. Maybe.”
“With all due respect, I would like a copy of your itinerary,” I said. “Would your assistant be able to supply that?”
“Well, certainly, although I don’t know what it will tell you. I think that you believe that I’m behind Addison’s death, but nobody knows exactly when she was killed. There was no body, and trying to ascertain the time of death from blood spatters is an inexact science, to say the very least. So, if you’re trying to establish that I have no alibi for Addison’s murder, I don’t think that you can do that. But, yes, I’ll be more than happy to oblige. You can talk to my assistant on the way out. She’ll give you a list of all of my appearances in August.”
I thought that it was strange that Senator Nash was volunteering so much. I was surprised that he knew
that I suspected him of killing Addison. It seemed that he had his answers too pat. Like he rehearsed them, as he would a speech that he would give to donors.
“Senator Nash, I never indicated that I suspected you of killing Addison.”
“Oh, but you suspect that. You do. How could you not? You think that I fathered Addison’s child and that I got rid of her because of it. I knew why you wanted to talk to me when my assistant told me that you were coming over here. So, go ahead. Get my itinerary. There’s nothing that you’re going to find in it that’s going to tell you that I was with Addison around the time that she died.”
Declan and I stayed with Senator Nash for about another hour. I had questions that I needed to have answered, and I was going to get those answers if it killed me.
By the end of our talk, I knew that he was lying about everything.
But I didn’t quite know that he was actually Addison’s killer.
Chapter 31
Michael - September 2
“Hell, I don’t know how it was that that attorney found out about Addison’s pregnancy. I mean, I do know how she found out about it, but how did Jackson Anderson find out about it? Seriously.”
Michael had told Violet about Addison’s visit, and the two of them had to brainstorm about this latest development. Violet raised a good question - how did Jackson Anderson find out about Addison’s baby?
“Maybe he was the actual father of her kid, not me. Who the hell knows? I don’t know who all that woman was getting with besides me. I know that she told me that I was the only one, but I told her the same thing, and you know that’s not true.”
Violet rolled her eyes. “God knows that wasn’t true. You were shtupping every woman in town. I can’t believe that a seasoned actress who has been around this town for as long as Addison has would fall for that line from you, but whatever.
So, how about we put a bug into Sonny’s ear that Jackson impregnated Addison, and let the chips fall from there? Sonny knows that she was pregnant, you know that’s the next thing that the news channels are going to find out about. That’s the next shoe to drop. We get out front of the story, leak it that Jackson was the father of her kid, not you, and voila! Even if something happens and the prosecutor stops focusing on that Carter twerp, which probably won’t happen anytime soon, but even if that happens, the cops won’t focus on you, they’ll focus on Jackson. They should be focusing on Jackson anyhow, considering what he did to her.”
Michael nodded his head. He loved the idea of being third in line on the cop’s suspect’s list, as opposed to being second in line. If the news channels ever seized on the story that he was the father of Addison’s kid, then he would definitely be second in line.
At the moment, it wasn’t a problem - he had heard nothing about the cops and prosecutors taking their eyes off of Carter. He and Violet did their jobs so that the case against Carter was air-tight. But he also knew that Carter had an excellent attorney. Emerson Justice’s reputation preceded her. If anybody was going to be able to grab a rabbit out of a hat and get Carter off of his murder charge, it would be her. If that happened, if Carter was acquitted, who was going to be next in line? He was going to make sure that Jackson would take that top spot, not him.
“Call Sonny. Tell him that Jackson has been telling people that he fathered Addison’s kid. I made the mistake of admitting to him before that I was the one who fathered her kid, but call him and tell him that Jackson has confessed to that kid’s paternity to his close friends. Do that right now,” Michael instructed Violet.
“On it,” she said, picking up her cell phone.
Michael let out a breath as he listened to Violet talk to Sonny. There was just no way that he was going to get blamed for Addison’s death. No way in hell. It was bad enough that he was going to have to answer to his constituents and the media about his affair with Addison. That was bad, but it was survivable. Having the public believe that he fathered Addison’s kid, and that he possibly killed her, would not be.
Better Jackson than him take the flack. And, who knows? Maybe Jackson actually did kill Addison. Anything was possible. Maybe his throwing Jackson under the bus would actually result in justice for Addison, in a back-door sort of way. At any rate, the man was already in serious trouble in the public eye. He was facing the wrath of the #MeToo crowd, of women everywhere, of the media. He was going to be facing one lawsuit after another. This new story about him and Addison wasn’t going to hurt him anymore than he already was hurt just by his own behavior. And he did rape Addison, too.
Michael flopped down on his couch and made himself a strong martini. He earned this. He had managed to stay one step ahead of everybody in this case, and it was time to relax.
He was finally in the clear.
Chapter 32
Addison - September 2
After I met with my real estate agent, who showed me the condo that I hoped would be my new home, as it was gorgeous, I went home, flipping over with anticipation at seeing Declan that evening. I could taste that roasted chicken as I drove home, which turned me giddy.
Also making me giddy was the memory of that condo that I hoped to close on soon - it had hardwood floors, 20 foot ceilings, walls and walls of windows, a balcony facing the beach and an additional 1,000 square feet of living space, which included a master bedroom and an exquisite bathroom. The bedroom had a balcony that opened up to the beach. It also featured a fireplace for those cooler winter nights, and a sunken jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. The kitchen was my dream kitchen, with brand-new appliances, Spanish tile on the floor in brightly-colored designs, an enormous island, and granite countertops in dark green.
I got home, after stopping by Ralph’s grocery store to pick up a bottle of wine and some mac and cheese - I figured that Declan would probably appreciate the mac and cheese, even if nobody else did - and I immediately saw that my mother and Arabella were sitting on the balcony, a chess board in front of them.
I raised an eyebrow. I knew that my mother was, surprisingly enough, a bit of a ringer when it came to chess. She could play rings around me, not that I was any good, but I had seen her beat some pretty good players as well.
I watched the two of them for a few minutes. They both seemed lost in thought, trying to map out their next move.
Finally, Arabella moved her rook and knocked out mom’s queen. “Check,” she said, sitting up straighter in her chair. Then she looked at me. “Hey, Emerson,” she said. “What’s up?”
My mom concentrated on the board, her eyes squinting. “Dear,” she said, her hand landing on her bishop, and then taking it off of it just as quickly. “I need to talk to you. As soon as this little wizard beats my ass.” She shook her head, but she saw a way to get out of check, which involved her knight taking Arabella’s rook.
Arabella shrugged her shoulders and immediately saw a move that put mom in check again.
Mom visibly sighed. “Arabella, my dear, let’s take a little break. I need to talk to Emerson about what you and I talked about earlier.”
“Sure,” Arabella said. “You’re scared I’m about to beat your ass, and I don’t blame you. You’re a pretty good opponent, though. Unlike most idiots my age.” She rolled her eyes and then got up from the table and went into the den, where Luna was sitting and watching a Netflix movie. “I’m watching you, so don’t even think about making a move until I get back.”
I sat down where Arabella was, while mom still studied the board intently. “You see a move for me?” she asked me. “There has to be a move, otherwise she would have put me in checkmate.” She wrung her hands. “I really have to get one of my pawns across the board, because I need my queen back. I can’t believe that she seized my lady so easily.”
I looked down at the board and shook my head. “No, I don’t see a move, but, mom, come on. I’m not exactly Boris Spassky here.”
“That you aren’t,” she agreed. Then she looked into the den, and saw Arabella watching her and shaking her head. “Well, I better not
make a move until she gets back here. She’ll ream me a new one if I try to cheat, as she should.”
“Okay,” I said. “Now, what would you like to talk to me about?”
“Well, let’s see. I hope you don’t get mad, but Arabella and I had a seance earlier today.”
I took a deep breath. “You what?”
“We had a seance. Don’t worry, I actually had a medium here too. I wouldn’t try to do a seance on my own just yet. That’s a good way of inviting evil spirits into the home, when you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Oh, okay. I guess I have less reason to worry then,” I said sarcastically. “Mom, what happened to Angela the nanny?” I crossed my arms. “See, this is exactly the reason why I didn’t want to leave Arabella alone with you. This is why.”
“What’s why? I sent Angela home. She’s a waste of your money, and Arabella and I get along very well. Don’t worry, I won’t share my pot with her, I promise,” she said, crossing her heart with her left hand. “I don’t know why you’re getting so bent out of shape about an innocent little seance.”
“Mom, I didn’t give you permission to dismiss Angela. I hired her for a very specific reason, and it wasn’t up to you to fire her.” I shook my head and got out my phone. “Goddamn you, mom,” I said as I dialed Angela’s number. I got her voice mail, and I hung up and threw the phone across the room. “Goddamn you, mom.”
I took a deep breath. Was I going to have to toss my mother out the door after all? I didn’t want to, I really didn’t, but I couldn’t have her usurping my authority. It wasn’t up to her to decide that she was going to be Arabella’s supervisor, not Angela or some other nanny.
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