Damaged Amazon

by Kim Pritekel

  “Yes, she’s a spitting image, really. She’s a good girl. So often, I honestly have no idea what to say, how to answer her questions.”

  Sarah nodded. “I can only imagine. You’re in a tough spot, Nora, but you truly are doing a wonderful job with her. You’re so good with her.”

  “Thanks for what you’re doing, Sarah. I mean, I know it’s your job, but thank you, from me, from Bella, from my entire family.”

  Sarah studied her for a long moment before looking away, tapping her folder on the table to right all the pictures inside. “No need for thanks.” She gave her a small smile. “Listen, do you know of any places where Shannon spent a lot of time at any restaurants, stores, anything like that?”

  Nora nodded. “Yeah, quite a few.”

  “Can you email me a list of them, by chance?”

  “Some I can, but honestly, most of them I simply remember how to get there, I don’t know the names or addresses. Especially since some were private homes.”

  “Okay. Well, how would you feel about going on a little field trip with me? It’s a bit different, but we can head to the Springs and hit some of these places.”

  “Absolutely. Let me know when so I can make sure I have care for Bella.”

  “Okay. I’ll text or call you tomorrow to work out the details.”

  Nora nodded. “Sounds good.” She watched as Sarah drained her coffee mug and set her empty cup into the sink. “Drive safe,” she said lamely.

  Sarah walked over to her, folder tucked in her hand against the side of her thigh. Nora met her gaze, an awkward silence flowing between the two.

  “Well,” Sarah said at length, moving past Nora to the door, “talk to you soon.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Andrew Lacey sat in his comfortable leather chair, bouncing slightly on the chair back’s spring as he held the phone to his ear. He chuckled at what had just been said. “Nah, Brian, I honestly think they’re going to cave the minute they hear we got Alex Ferris on our side. I mean, come on, Ferris gave us information that will bankrupt this company.” He laughed outright at the response. “Okay.” He glanced toward his office door after the soft knock. A moment later his secretary, Mary, poked her head in. “Hang on, Brian.” Andrew held his hand over the mouthpiece. “Hey, Mary, what’s up?”

  “Sorry to bother you, Andy, but there’s someone here to see you. Do you have a minute?”

  “Sure, have them come on in. I’ve got a few minutes before lunch.” Once Mary disappeared, he said his goodbyes to his friend and colleague and cradled the phone.

  Pushing away from his desk, Andrew glanced in the mirror next to his bookcase quickly, bringing up a hand to smooth back his hair. He didn’t bother to don his jacket, choosing to remain in his starched white button up with tie and fashionable suspenders.

  He took his place behind the desk again as the door opened and a woman stepped in. She was dressed simply in a peasant skirt and ill-fitting blouse. Her brown hair was pulled back from her face with a headband, and plain sandals finished the outfit.

  Andrew turned on his usual charm, rising from his desk as she neared him. “Hello. I’m Andrew Lacey. How can I help you?”

  The woman, who looked as though she were about to cry, looked away before meeting his eyes with her own pained blue ones. “Mr. Lacey,” she said softly, “My name is Laura Caffey. My husband is Robert Caffey, and I believe he and your wife are having an affair.”

  The smile froze on his face as he looked into the devastated woman’s face. “Excuse me?”

  She indicated one of the two leather chairs before Andrew’s desk. “May I?”

  “Please.” Waiting for the woman to sit, he also took his seat.

  “Listen, Mr. Lacey,” she said softly, “I didn’t come here to upset you or hurt you, I came here because Robert is all I have.” She looked down at her hands, which fidgeted in her lap. “Three years ago, I was diagnosed with MS.” Her gaze remained firmly on her hands. “I can no longer work. Some days I can barely take care of our three children.” She looked up at last and met Andrew’s concerned gaze. “Mr. Lacey, I love my husband, I do. Fourteen years is a long time to give to someone.”

  He nodded slowly. “It is.” His heart pounded in his chest. He forced his mind to stay clear and hear her entire story before he allowed himself to think or feel.

  “To be honest, I’m not sure if my illness drove him to your wife.” Again, she looked down at her hands. “I’m not always able to be the wife he needs, I know.”

  “Mrs. Caffey,” Andrew began gently, resting his hands on his desk and lacing his fingers together. “What makes you think your husband is sleeping with my wife?”

  “Well, you see I was suspicious. Robert is like clockwork.” She gave him a weak smile. “He’s so predictable, I always told him I could literally set my clock to his routine.” The smile slid from her face. “Suddenly, he wasn’t coming home for lunch anymore. He had all sorts of excuses, but I knew.” She gave him a rueful look. “A woman always knows.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I followed him one day from the trailer where he runs his contracting business, and he went directly to your home.”

  “How do you know who lives there?”

  “Because I’d been there before. You see, Mr. Lacey, Robert and his crew did the renovations on your house. I brought them lunch several times while they were working on your kitchen.”

  Andrew felt as though he’d been punched in the stomach. He fell back against his chair, mouth slightly open. He remembered the redheaded man who had led the charge on his house. He’d been polite, hard-working, and extremely efficient and professional. Andrew had even passed his name on to some of his friends for their own home projects.

  “I don’t know what to do, Mr. Lacey,” the seemingly-frail woman before him whispered, her face dissolving into tears.

  “Hey,” he said, quickly hurrying around to her side of the desk. He knelt next to her chair, reaching up onto the desk for a tissue, which he handed her. She sniffled several times, dabbing at her eyes and nose. “Listen, I was about to head to lunch.”

  “Oh! I’m so sorry—”

  “Why don’t you join me, okay? And we can talk about this.”

  ****

  Pueblo, Colorado – 1990

  “Hey, Andy!”

  Andrew, then a college sophomore, turned at his name, yelled over MC Hammer’s, U Can’t Touch This. “Hey, Neil!” he called as he tried to make his way into the party, his girlfriend, Kayla holding tightly onto his hand, so they wouldn’t get separated in the throngs of college kids.

  They managed to reach Roger, Andrew’s old high school friend, whose parents owned the house but were away for the weekend.

  “Hey, Andy! Glad you guys could come,” Roger said, already well on his way to being drunk. He wore his typical dark Wayfarer sunglasses, which Andrew knew was how he hid bloodshot eyes from far too much partying. The guy had barely managed to graduate high school because of a constant hangover. Once Andrew realized his friend was a raging alcoholic at the age of nineteen, he’d pulled back from their friendship. “Hey, Kayla,” Roger greeted the brunette with a leer. “Looking hot as ever.”

  She rolled her eyes and said nothing.

  “Get a beer, man. There’s plenty.”

  “Thanks,” Andrew said, leading Kayla past his friend and to the backyard where he knew there would be an old bathtub sitting in the middle of the yard filled with ice, beer, and bottles of hard liquor.

  “Andy,” Kayla said, moving up beside him once they’d reached the tub. She looked around at the throngs around them. “How long do we have to stay?”

  “Not long,” he answered, handing her a Zima while grabbing a beer for himself. “Babe, he’s been asking me for months to come to one of his parties.” Andrew moved in close to his girlfriend of two years so she could hear him over the music. “I’ve put it off.”

  Kayla nodded as she twisted off the cap of the slightly carbonated alcoholic drink and took a sma
ll sip. “I know. It’s only…I don’t like the way he looks at me.”

  “Want me to say something to him?” Andrew asked, cracking open his can of Budweiser.

  “No. We’re not around him enough to bother. I simply don’t like him.”

  “Hey, there’s Toby and Myra. Let’s go talk to them,” he suggested, noting a couple that he knew Kayla liked.

  As the two couples chatted about their classes for that semester, Andrew’s attention was caught by a gorgeous young woman who stood by herself at the tub of booze. She wore a summer dress with a flowing skirt. Her sandy-blond hair was pulled back away from her face, and she was stunning without wearing a bit of makeup. When she glanced over at him with big, brown eyes, he couldn’t help but smile, which was returned. But, as she turned to walk away from the tub, her heeled sandal caught on some ice that had been dumped from the tub and down she went.

  “Crap,” he said as he and other partygoers hurried over to her. “Are you okay?” He knelt down next to where she lay, her hand reaching down to grab her ankle.

  “I think I twisted my ankle,” she said shyly with a rueful smile.

  “She okay, man?” Roger asked, shoving his sunglasses to the top of his head.

  “She hurt her ankle,” Andrew said. “Can we get her to the couch?”

  “Yeah, totally.” Roger stood. “Everybody move!”

  Andrew slid his arm beneath her knees and circled the other around her back. “Ready?” At her nod, he got to his feet, easily lifting her petite frame and carrying her along the path Roger had made for them. He brought her into the house and to the living room where Roger was shoving some discarded jackets aside for her to lay down.

  “This is so humiliating,” the young woman murmured.

  Andrew grinned down at her. “Hey, look at it as an adventure.” Her smile nearly melted him where he stood. He lowered her to the couch as gently as he could. He felt strangely cold as her arm slipped away from where it had been wrapped around his neck. “I’m Andy, by the way,” he said softly.

  “Jill,” she said.

  Knowing full well he needed to return to his girlfriend, who was giving him the evil eye from the back door, Andrew smiled down at her. “See ya around, Jill.”

  ****

  Andrew hitched his backpack up a bit higher onto his shoulder as he headed toward the front door of The Pantry, a local greasy spoon with decent food at cheap, college-kid prices. He knew he would be the first to arrive—his two classmates, Martin and Felix, were always late. They preferred to study at the restaurant together because he had a roommate who was far more interested in playing loud video or role-play games than studying. Martin lived at home and had a helicopter mom and Felix was couch surfing, every cent he made working at Albertsons supermarket going to his tuition.

  The restaurant was abuzz with chatter as customers packed into the torn vinyl booths and uncomfortable chairs at tables. He stepped up to the sign that read, PLEASE SEAT YOURSELF.

  “Hi. Just you?”

  Andrew turned, shocked to see the young woman from the party the week before standing before him, a smile on her lovely face. “Uh, no, there will be three of us,” he managed.

  “Okay.” She stretched to reach behind the abandoned cashier’s desk to grab three menus. She smiled up at him, reaching up to brush some strands of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. “Follow me.”

  Andrew did exactly that, noting the way her well-fitting jeans hugged a shapely behind. He was so focused on said behind he nearly ran into her when she abruptly stopped. He looked up, eyes wide in surprise and guilt as he came to an abrupt stop.

  “Um, this is your table, Andrew,” she said softly, though an amused smile crossed her full lips.

  “Oh. Uh, thanks.” He gave her a winning smile to cover how stupid he felt. He slid into the booth and accepted a menu from her.

  “Um,” she said, looking down shyly at her feet before she spared a glance back to him. “If you need anything, ask for me.”

  “Okay. Thanks…Jill.”

  Her smile nearly blinded him. “You remembered.”

  “How could I forget?”

  ****

  Laura Caffey broke off a piece of her taco shell bowl and popped it into her mouth. She was quiet as she chewed. “You know, that’s funny,” she said at length. “Robert and I met in a similar way.” She gave Andrew a small smile from her seat across the table from him. “It was a church function. We were both in high school, and Robert was in a car accident and broke his leg, so he was in a cast.” She looked down at her half-eaten lunch. “He was so handsome.”

  “I’m truly sorry, Laura,” Andrew said softly, wiping his mouth with the paper napkin provided. He liked this woman, thought she was a fine human being and deserved better. “How old are your kids?” He accepted the fresh Diet Coke the waiter brought him, the finished drink taken away.

  A smile of pride spread across her face. “Michael is twelve and the twins, Abby and Beth are six.”

  “You guys have twins, too?” Andrew said, eyes wide as he sat forward, intrigued.

  “Oh, yes. It was a difficult pregnancy with our son, so it was a shock that I got pregnant again, let alone with twin girls.” She gave a small chuckle. “Honestly, I felt it was a gift from God. I knew instinctually I wouldn’t be able to have any more kids.” She let out a heavy sigh as she sat back in her chair, sparing Andrew a glance. “Robert always wanted a big family. He’s one of nine. Though I never wanted that many, I knew he wanted a lot of kids, yet all I could give him was three.”

  “Hey,” Andrew said softly, waiting until she met his gaze, “you don’t owe him anything. I hate men who make women feel like broodmares.” He took a sip of his fresh soda.

  “How old are your twins?”

  “They’ll be sixteen in a couple weeks,” he said with a sad smile. “Sylvia, now that girl has the world by the tail, you know?” He shook his head, pride quirking his lips into a small smile. “Lord only knows what she’ll end up deciding to do.”

  “What about the other one?”

  “Tyler.” Andrew pushed his plate away, only a smear of refried beans and a small bit of Spanish rice remaining. “My son…struggles. I honestly don’t think he has a clue who he truly is. You know?”

  Laura nodded. “I do. I was very much that way.”

  “It’s hard for me to understand. I knew from such a young age what I wanted to do, where my life was headed. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, eventually a judge.”

  “Isn’t it interesting, Andrew,” Laura said softly, “all that planning, all those years understanding yourself, knowing what you wanted and going after it, yet”—she indicated the Mexican restaurant around them—“here we are, sitting at the Cactus Flower.”

  He studied her for a long time before looking away.

  ****

  Pueblo, Colorado – 1991

  “I love this time of year,” Jill said softly, her hand tucked into the pocket of her peacoat, her other hand laced with Andrew’s as they walked through City Park. “Can you smell the smoke in the air? Everyone burning their fireplaces and woodstoves.” She gazed up at her boyfriend with a happy smile.

  His heart was pounding, he was sweating and, on such a gorgeous October morning, he was nervous. After that day at The Pantry, he and Jill had begun spending time together, talking, getting to know each other. Once he’d discovered her heart, he knew he was barking up the wrong tree with Kayla. He’d ended a two-year relationship to give it all to Jillian Schaeffer.

  He shoved his hand into the pocket of his jacket. He was a twenty-year-old man about to graduate from college—a year early—on his way to law school. But, something in him knew he had to act. He felt the hardness of the small box inside the fabric. He glanced at her a couple times, noting the loveliness of her delicate features, the way her hair blew in the autumn breeze.

  Clearing his throat, Andrew placed a hand on Jill’s arm stopping her forward movement. She looked at him with a que
stion in her eyes. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Jill,” he said quietly, his heart pounding so hard he worried she could hear it. “You’re so kind and an incredible woman. You’re loyal, absolutely beautiful and—” He took a deep breath and brought out the ring box as he lowered himself to one knee. He was pleased when Jill gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, tears shining in her eyes. He opened the box, revealing a simple, yet exquisite diamond ring. “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” Jill exclaimed, grabbing Andrew by his jacket to bring him to his feet, instantly falling into his arms.

  ****

  Andrew strolled through the same park, the open ends of his London Fog flapping lightly in the early autumn breeze. His Armani wingtips crunched on a few fallen twigs from the trees above. He could still hear Jill’s cry of excitement when he placed that engagement ring on her finger, even if it was a little bit too big and he had to get it sized. She wore it with pride, showing it to all her friends.

  He came upon a bench and sat down, knees spread with his hands resting on his thighs. He saw a young couple, two women, strolling hand in hand down by the lake. It was bittersweet for him to watch them: sweet to see such young love but a bitter pill to swallow, to be sure.

  In the time he’d spent with Laura Caffey that afternoon, he believed her, and thinking back, he knew she was right. Deep down, he’d suspected for quite a while. As he sat there on that park bench, he had never felt lonelier. He was too ashamed to call anyone and in truth, wasn’t sure that he even wanted to talk about it.

  With a heavy sigh, he pushed to his feet and turned in the direction of his car.

  ****

  Andrew pulled his Mercedes into the garage, annoyed when he saw Jill’s car was gone. “Figures.” Now he was really pissed.