Urgh! Pull yourself together woman. It’s not that hard. You’re making a meal out of this. Just dial the damn phone already.
Once again eyeing the phone she’d placed back on the table, Tahlia berated herself for being a coward. With another deep breath, she repeated the process. This time, as the phone rang, she held on. Her fist clutched tightly around the instrument in her hand, she prayed she wouldn’t be ill all over the floor.
“Hello?”
Despite having made the call, somehow Tahlia hadn’t anticipated Maddie actually answering. She froze.
“Hello?” she heard repeated. “Hello, is anyone there?”
She reached deep and, drawing on all the strength she’d been working on building during her time away, finally managed to say, “Hi Maddie, it’s me.”
Nerves wouldn’t allow the words to come out much louder than a whisper, but still the other woman seemed to hear.
“Mama?”
“Yes, baby. It’s me.”
“Oh my god, Mama. Is that really you?”
“Yes, it’s me, princess.” Tahlia’s heart clenched as she heard Maddie break down. “Shh, my darling. You’ll make yourself sick like that.”
She heard rustling and then a man’s voice. “Who’s this?
“This is Tahlia O’Connor. I’m Madison’s mother. To whom am I speaking?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Is my daughter all right?”
“Is this some kind of sick joke? Madison’s mother passed away some years ago. I don’t know who you are, but I suggest you don’t call this number again.”
The line went dead as Tahlia’s whole body turned to ice. The tears that had pooled in her eyes when she heard Maddie’s voice now slid over her bottom lid. Slowly at first, but as the shock of hearing she’d been proclaimed dead set in, they flowed faster. She stumbled over to the sofa and all but collapsed onto it, sobbing. The pain enormous.
But then, what had she expected? She’s disappeared without so much as a goodbye. True, she hadn’t had a choice. Once Marcus had been convicted, Tahlia had been rushed from the courtroom and into a waiting vehicle. The District Attorney had organized for her to leave the building through the underground parking to avoid the hordes of reporters waiting outside the courthouse. She’d been transported to a private plane and taken out of the city to begin her life as someone new. She’d been given a new name and identity, a brand-new life as someone else. For her protection, they’d assured her.
Her sister had heard about an organization called Friends of Patty. She’d discovered they were a cross between witness protection and the old Underground Railroad for victims of domestic violence. They’d promised to keep her safe, but, in return, she would be required to simply disappear. It would be hard leaving loved ones behind, they’d told her. But it had to be done, lest someone let anything slip.
More than once Marcus had threatened to kill her. And if he couldn’t be the one to do it, he vowed to hire someone to do the job for him. He’d blamed her for his arrest, conviction and impending incarceration. He had no intention of forgetting it.
Now, because of it, of him, her precious Maddie had thought she was dead.
Tahlia rocked herself, trying to ease the tightness in her chest. Spots danced at the edge of her vision from dizziness. The sobs tore from her shaking frame and hurt her throat. In a distant part of her brain, she wondered if she was having a heart attack, the tightness in her chest was that intense.
The unexpected sound of her phone ringing competed with the harsh sounds of her weeping. For a moment, Tahlia didn’t recognize the sound. She’d forgotten about the phone she still clutched tightly in her hand.
As she squinted at the screen, battling to see past the tears, she saw Maddie’s name flashing.
Fingers suddenly clumsy, it took a couple of attempts before she could connect the call. Taking a deep breath, trying to get herself under control, she answered.
“Hello?” Her voice was little more than a croak.
“Mama? Mama, is that really you?” Maddie’s voice caught.
“Yes, baby. It’s really me.” Tahlia’s heart clenched tighter in response.
Please God, I’ve just found my way back to my girl. Please, please don’t let me be having a heart attack.
“I don’t understand. Where have you been? You just disappeared without so much as a word. Why, Mama? I don’t understand. I thought you were dead!”
Tahlia took a moment to rein her emotions in. It was clear Maddie was overwhelmed with emotions of her own. And a meltdown would do neither of them any good.
“I know, my sweet girl. I’m so sorry. I’ll explain it all to you and answer any questions you may have. If we could please just do it in person?”
“Okay. Yes. I– um ... Where ... What?” Maddie stopped, and Tahlia could hear her taking deep breaths. “Where would you like to meet? And when?”
“Would it be okay if you came here? Whenever you want. I’m free anytime for you.”
“Where are you? Can I come to you now?”
“I– Well, sure. You’re welcome to come over now, if you wish. I’m staying at a bed and breakfast in Alexandria. I’ll message you the address.”
“I know the area. I’m leaving now. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Maddie paused. Then, “Mama?”
“Yes, darling?”
“Please, please be there when I get there. Please don’t run away again. I don’t think my heart could stand it.”
Choking down a lump in her throat, Tahlia replied, “I promise, I’ll be here.”
She heard the call disconnect. Lowering the phone to her lap, she sat for long moments, feeling as if she’d been put through the wringer. Thankfully, the tightness in her chest had eased some.
Realizing she’d yet to send Maddie her address, she quickly dashed off a message to the other woman, then hustled herself into the bathroom to repair the damage her crying jag had wrought. She didn’t want her daughter’s first sight of her after such a long time to be of a haggard old woman.
Splashing cold water on her face, she relished the coolness against her heated skin. She’d never been one of those graceful criers. Her skin always became blotchy, her nose and eyes red. Studying herself in the mirror, she decided a touchup was in order. She refreshed her makeup before returning to the living room to wait for Maddie.
Not even fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at her door. She got to her feet, smoothing her skirt with icy hands. On shaky legs, she strode to the door, praying they would hold her up. As she reached it, she took a moment to compose herself before opening it.
As it swung inward, she and Maddie stared, drinking the sight of each other in. Without warning, the beautiful young woman threw herself at Tahlia.
“Oh my god, Mama. I never thought I’d see you again,” Maddie cried.
Tahlia wrapped her arms around the daughter she’d thought she wouldn’t ever get to hold again, unable to hold back her own tears.
“My sweet, precious baby girl,” she murmured into Maddie’s hair, holding her close to her heart that’d ached so badly earlier. Rocking gently, she ran a loving hand over the vibrant tresses that reminded her so much of her own, soothing them both.
With no idea of how long they stood like that, Tahlia became aware of another person when she heard a man clear his throat.
“Sugar, I think we should move this reunion inside, don’t you?”
3
With a watery laugh, Maddie stepped out of her mother’s arms. She turned to the man standing in the hallway, wiping at her tears.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Tahlia stepped back to make space for the two of them to enter her suite.
“Come on in. Make yourselves at home.” She gave a little smile of her own, just as she too wiped at the tears on her cheeks. Once they were seated, she asked, “Can I get anyone something to drink? Tea? Coffee? Perhaps something a little stronger?”
Maddie shook her hea
d and patted the seat beside her. “No, Mama. Come sit. We have so much to talk about.”
Tahlia took the seat beside her daughter, worrying at the Kleenex in her hand. Eventually, the other woman took her hand in her own, rubbing a thumb over the back of it. She held tightly, unable to do more than savor the moment. There had been many nights she’d cried herself to sleep, believing she would never experience a moment like this one again.
“Mama?”
With a jolt, Tahlia realized Maddie had been speaking to her.
“Sorry, darling. Did you say something?”
“No, thank you on anything to drink.”
She nodded her acknowledgement. “Well then ...” She faltered.
Giving the man sitting opposite them a smile, Maddie turned back to her mother. “Mama, I’d like to introduce you to my fiancé, Darryl Montgomery. Darryl, my mother, Tahlia Forrester.”
A confused look on his face, Darryl asked Tahlia, “Forrester? I thought you said O’Connor on the phone.”
“Yes, that’s correct. I took my maiden name again when my divorce from her father went through.” Tahlia answered, before turning to her daughter. “Oh Maddie, I’m so sorry, my love. I wish things had been different. I regret the years we’ve lost. I don’t know how to make it up to you.”
“I don’t understand, Mama. What happened? Why did you disappear like that? Why did they tell us you were dead?”
Tahlia braced herself. She knew she owed her only child answers, and she’d known this conversation wouldn’t be an easy one. She just hadn’t realized quite how hard it would be to put it all into words. The emotion thickening her throat didn’t make things any easier. With a sigh, she squeezed the hand that still clung so tightly to her own.
“When Aunt Clary found me after the last beating, she called in a favor from a friend. She knew, with your father’s connections, that if we simply reported it to the local precinct, it would be made to quietly disappear, like the first few times I’d filed complaints. Her friend knew of an organization called Friends of Patty who help victims of domestic abuse find safety.” Stopping a moment to gather her thoughts, she couldn’t bring herself to meet Maddie’s gaze. As if from a distance, she heard the other woman murmur to Darryl. The next thing, she felt her free hand being lifted and a glass being pressed into it. On pure reflex, her fingers closed around the glass. Focusing on it, she saw it contained water.
“Have a drink, Mama.” Maddie started the soothing rubbing over the back of her hand again.
Tahlia took a sip, then another. Gathering her composure, she continued. “They were more than willing to help, but it meant I had to disappear. Tahlia O’Connor would cease to exist, and in her place, someone new would emerge. When they said that, I didn’t realize it meant they’d tell everyone I’d died. Although, it makes sense, I guess. So, I disappeared. I gave up everything that day. But in the end, I couldn’t do it. I got tired of living in fear that someone your father hired would find me and that I’d have given it all up for nothing. So, here I am.”
When she finished speaking, absolute silence reigned. No one said a word. Eventually, she gathered the courage to look up at Maddie. “I’m sorry, baby. Sorrier than I can adequately express. I would never have agreed to it if I’d known they’d put you through such hell. I would have found another way.”
Maddie’s eyes welled with fresh tears. “Oh Mama, I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that. I won’t deny it was a difficult time. And I can’t tell you how much of a shock it was when I heard your voice on the phone earlier. But I understand why you did it.” Dashing away tears that had escaped, she continued. “After you, well, I guess, left, Aunty Clary gave me time to grieve and then she sat me down, said there was something she needed to tell me. She warned me it wasn’t pretty, but dear god Mama, never in my wildest dreams did I expect what she told me. Aunt Clary laid it out for me, everything that Daddy did to you all those years.”
Her words faded away as a sob broke free. Tahlia folded Maddie in her arms and rocked her like she used to when she was a little girl.
“Shh, baby. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
Without a word, Maddie tightened her hold on her mother.
After some time, when both had their emotions under control again, they shared stories of their lives over the years that Tahlia had been gone. Maddie told her how she’d met Darryl, sharing photos of their engagement party and all about the wedding.
“You know you’re going to have to come to the wedding now, right? There’s no way I can get married without you, now that I know you’re alive and well. In fact, I would love it if you would walk me down the aisle. I’d intended asking Darryl’s dad, but I want you to do it. Please, Mama?”
Tahlia couldn’t hold back a soft gasp. She’d hoped Maddie would be willing to let her be a part of her big day, but she’d never imagined she’d go so far. Her heart was full to bursting with love and happiness.
“Maddie, I would love that!” She could do nothing else but agree.
Giggling like two little girls, they hugged.
“Maddie, sugar, I hate to ruin your reunion with your mama, but we need to get going. We have to be at the caterer’s in thirty minutes.”
“Oh damn. I forgot all about the caterers.” Clapping her hands, she grinned at her mother. “Why don’t you come with us? I’m not ready to say goodbye, Mama. Please say you will?” She turned to Darryl. “It’s okay if Mama comes with, isn’t it, Darryl?”
“Yes, of course. You’re most welcome to join us, Ms. O’Connor.”
Maddie’s excitement was contagious, and Tahlia couldn’t, didn’t want to, say no.
“I’d love to, princess.”
“It’s settled then. Come on, let’s get going.”
She watched as Maddie bounced off the couch and headed for the door. Rising from the couch at a slower pace, she fetched her purse. Her heart singing with joy, she joined her daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law.
Larry had spent days combing through the accounting records Tahlia had given him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so excited about something, anything. It reminded him of how he’d felt as a young boy on Christmas morning, dying to see what Santa had left him.
For years, he’d looked for ways to take Marcus Forrester down. Before Larry’d joined the FBI, Marcus had hired the private company he’d worked for as security detail for his family. As Tahlia’s personal bodyguard, he’d seen firsthand how the bastard had beaten his young wife. In fact, Larry had almost lost his job because he’d intervened on one occasion. His boss had to do some fancy talking to save his job. Back then, he’d been stupid enough to believe he could save Tahlia from her husband.
He’d finally wised up when she’d refused to leave Forrester, despite the fact that she’d just come out of the hospital because of the last beating Marcus had given her.
Now, the key to incriminating Forrester had been handed to Larry, and the man was going to be his own downfall. Larry couldn’t have planned it better if he’d tried.
A knock on his open door had him looking up from the document he was going over again. Mary-Beth stood with another sheaf of papers in her hand.
“What can I do for you, Mary-Beth?”
“It’s more like what I can do for you, sir. I’ve got more on Senator Forrester.”
“Excellent. Thank you,” he said, holding out a hand.
Once she’d returned to her desk, Larry scanned the new information. Nothing jumped out at him on his first pass, so he laid them on his desk, going back to the financial records he’d been reading.
A sudden thought had him reaching for his desk phone and hitting the speakerphone button.
“Mary-Beth, do me a favor and get Jim Wilder, the warden of Colombia Penitentiary, on the line for me?”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
While he waited for the call to be put through, he swung back and forth in his chair, formulating a plan in his head.
He picked up the ha
ndset on the first ring.
“Warden Wilder on the line for you, sir.”
“Thanks. Please give Finn a call and ask him to come see me as soon as he’s able?”
“Yes, sir. Patching the call through now.”
“Yeah. Thanks.” He heard the transfer taking place, and when the line connected, he said, “Jim, how’s it going?”
“Hey, Larry, my man. I’m good. How about you?”
“Yeah, I’m hanging in there.”
“So, what can I do for you today?”
“Listen, I hear you’ve got former Senator Forrester enjoying your facilities on the taxpayers’ dime. You reckon you could organize a visit for me?
“Yeah, I reckon I could swing it. What’s got you wanting to chat with our guest?”
“Seems he’s had his fingers in some nasty pies. Just wanted to have a little talk, see if he’s willing to share a little information.”
“Gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, give me a few. I’ll come back to you with a time”
“Thanks, man. Appreciate it.”
“Haven’t seen you at the club lately. You got a new subbie you keeping to yourself?” Larry heard the man chuckling.
With a laugh of his own, Larry replied, “Nah, just haven’t had the time. This case I’m working on has had me tied in knots. It’s run cold, and we’re scrambling to heat it back up. That’s why I’m hoping Marcus Forrester’s going to hand me a match. I need to make a plan to pop in soon though.”
“All right, my man. I’ll give you a call as soon as I have that time for you.”
“Thanks, Jim, I appreciate it.”
Hanging up, he dialed Mary-Beth’s extension.
“Sir. I got hold of Finn. He said he’ll be back in the office around two. I told him to come straight here.”
“Great. Thanks.”
He returned the handset to the receiver and sat back in his chair. With a grin, he contemplated how difficult he could possibly make Forrester’s sequestered life. Damn, he was looking forward to it.
Much as he anticipated his visit, he had work waiting for him. This case wasn’t going to solve itself.
Trusting Laurence Page 3