Christy wondered what Curt could possibly mean. What things? She opened her mouth to ask, but Curt put his finger to her lips.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Just trust me.”
When Christy returned alone to her room, she found that sleep quickly replaced her restlessness. When morning came, she awoke re-freshed, and though the memory of Candy’s death dimmed her spirits, Christy realized there was hope.
She quickly showered and styled her hair. Christy decided that routine would be the best way to keep from being bogged down in grief. Going to her desk, she reviewed her appoint- ment book and made plans for the day. Cheryl Fairchild was coming at 9:30, so she would have to finish with her makeup and hurry if she was going to get a chance to read the paper and have her juice.
Nearly floating down the stairs with a heart lighter than she’d ever known, Christy wondered if it was her acceptance of God and His promises that made her feel so free or Curt’s declaration of love.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.”
Although his clothes were wrinkled, Christy thought she’d never seen a better-looking man in all her life. “Morning. I see you’re cooking again.” She motioned to the stove.
“Yes, but you’ll find that your juice and paper are already in the usual place.”
Christy shook her head and laughed. “Are you trying to push Aggie out of a job?”
“Naw, just showing you how useful I am. What’s on the agenda for the day? I know you’ll want to go see the baby, but what else have you got planned?”
“I have an appointment at 9:30. It’s a final fitting, so it shouldn’t take long. If you want to stick around and go up to the hospital with me, you’re welcome to do so.”
“I’d like that, Christy,” Curt said, coming to place a light kiss on her forehead. “It’s the first time you’ve ever asked me to take you somewhere.”
“It’s the first time you’ve given me a chance to ask. Usually you just jump in and demand,” she said with a smile.
“Okay, I’ll try to be less demanding,” he said, matching her smile. “What else have you planned?”
Christy lost her smile, remembering that she’d no doubt be required to make arrangements for Candy’s funeral. “My sister,” she stated hesitantly, and Curt nodded. There was no need to continue, so Christy dropped the subject and went to the enclosed balcony where her juice and paper awaited her.
Curt was cleaning up the kitchen while Christy made ready for Cheryl in the fitting room. She was glad this was to be the final fitting. Cheryl Fairchild was very rich, but also very flighty. At least, Christy reasoned, she must be or she wouldn’t have cancelled her wedding so many times. When the doorbell rang, Christy made her way down the hall, but not before Curt answered the door.
“Curt O’Sullivan!” Cheryl exclaimed. “What in the world are you doing here?” Christy froze in place as the perky blond continued. “I would never in a million years expect to see you here. Did CJ tell you I was coming for my final fitting today?”
Curt cast a wary look over his shoulder, and Christy met his gaze.
Cheryl was impervious to the couple’s reaction. “Curt O’Sullivan and I are longtime friends,” she said to Christy. “We were once en-gaged, but that’s all water under a long, distant bridge.”
Christy said nothing, concentrating instead on the fact that Cheryl Fairchild had called him Curt O’Sullivan for the second time. She finally tore her eyes from Cheryl’s bubbly face and met Curt’s stare. He seemed to be trying to apologize with his expression, but Christy re-mained unemotionally stiff.
“I have another surprise,” Cheryl continued, still not realizing that any problem existed with her declaration of Curt’s true identity. “I know I promised no more delays in the wedding and there aren’t any, but there is a minor problem.” She glanced at Curt. “I’m pregnant. I thought we might need to make sure the gown will still fit in another month.”
Christy noted that Curt’s face registered shock, and then, a look of almost anger seemed to penetrate his expression. Maybe he didn’t like the idea that his onetime fiancée was expecting another man’s child. Maybe he’d never gotten over his feelings for her. Maybe…
Christy shook her head and dismissed the matter from her mind. First he’d been engaged to Cheryl and then Debbie. How many more women were in his life? Curt had lied to her. He’d said she could trust him, but he’d even lied about who he really was. He wasn’t Curt Kyle at all, but some man named O’Sullivan.
“Go on to the fitting room,” Christy said mechanically, her eyes refusing to leave Curt’s face. “The gown is hanging on the wall. Go ahead and get ready to try it on.”
“You aren’t miffed with me, are you?” Cheryl questioned as she came to where Christy was standing.
“What?” Christy broke contact with Curt to question Cheryl.
“This pregnancy thing,” Cheryl said in explanation. “You aren’t mad about it, are you?”
“No,” Christy stated. “You’re small enough that another month isn’t going to matter that much. The dress design is such that you shouldn’t have any trouble.”
“Oh, good,” Cheryl said and turned to Curt. “It was great seeing you again. By the way, Stratton really did enjoy meeting you the other night. He’s always had a great interest in CJ and Brad. He wants us all to be close friends. Say, will you be here when I’m done with the fitting?”
Curt said nothing.
“Mr. O’Sullivan,” Christy said, with pointed reference to his last name, “was just leaving.”
“That’s too bad. Call me, Curt. You can get the number from CJ. I want to be sure and have you come to the wedding. You know, for old time’s sake.”
The minute Cheryl was out of the room, Curt tried to explain. “Remember, I told you there were things I had to talk to you about. Trust me, Christy, please, just trust me.”
“No. Get out!” she demanded as quietly as she could.
“You have to let me explain.”
“No, I don’t.” Her words were guarded and low. “I never want to see you again. Now leave.” She turned to go assist Cheryl and found Curt’s arms pinning her in a steely grip. He pulled her against him, and Christy fought back.
“Just listen to me.”
Christy brought her foot down on top of his, but it didn’t phase him. She pushed and struggled against his hold, but she was no match for him. Finally, she grew quiet, and Curt released her.
She turned slowly and couldn’t keep the tears from forming in her eyes. “Haven’t I been through enough? Did you think it was some game you could play with me? Did Debbie even know who you were?”
“I’m sorry, Christy. I told you last night that there were things we needed to discuss, but I wanted to wait until the time was right.”
“And when would that have been?” Christy questioned softly. “Maybe when we were filling out the papers for a marriage license? Oh, by the way, you won’t be Mrs. Kyle, you’ll be Mrs. O’Sullivan.”
“Christy…”
“No,” she shook her head, saying, “please just go. If you truly love me, then go. I can’t deal with this now.”
Curt reluctantly left Christy’s house and had nearly reached the corporate offices of O&F Aviation before realizing where he was. It was time to talk to Ben Fairchild. There was no putting it off, and Curt had enough anger and regret burning inside to fuel the conversation.
Steeled with determination, Curt marched into the building and made his way to Ben’s office, mindless of the uproar he caused when he bypassed three secretaries and kept going.
“Sir, do you have an appointment with Mr. Fairchild?” a woman questioned, dogging Curt’s heels all the way to the massive door that read, “B. Fairchild, President.”
“He’ll see me, lady,” Curt announced unemotionally. “He’ll see me.”
“But, sir, I have to let him know…”
Curt stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “I’m half-owner of this operation. You don’t h
ave to let him know anything.” With that, he threw open the door and stared at the white-haired man, who looked back at him in complete shock.
“Curt!” Ben Fairchild declared, getting to his feet. “I’d heard you were in town. Come in.” He seemed to look past Curt to the woman and added, “It’s okay, Janice. This is Curt O’Sullivan.”
The woman and Curt exchanged brief glances before she made her way out of the room and closed the door. Curt studied his father’s friend for a moment, wondering silently if this man had given the order to kill his father. Steady, he thought. I have to be cool about this or he’ll never talk. Give him enough rope to hang on.
“Ben, it’s been a long time,” Curt finally said. “I’m sorry for barging in like this, but I didn’t have time to call.”
“No problem, son. I’ve hoped you’d come home for a long time. Sit down and tell me what you’ve been up to. Are you home for good?”
Curt took the offered leather chair and shook his head. “I’m not sure. I heard about CJ’s marriage and wanted to come see for myself that she hadn’t married some bum who just wanted her money.”
Ben laughed, and Curt thought it sounded a little stilted. “Alders-son has plenty of his own money. You can be sure of that. I checked before CJ married him. I wouldn’t have let harm come to her.”
“Really?” Curt said without thinking.
Ben’s eyes narrowed questioningly. “Why do you say that?”
Curt put his elbows on the armrests and drew his fingertips to-gether. “Ben, there are some things from the past that you and I need to talk over. I’m not real sure how to go about this, but I need some answers, and I think you may well be the one man who has them.”
“Me?” Ben questioned, and this time there was no mistaking the tremble in his voice. “What kinds of things are you talking about?”
“Mom and Dad. The crash.” Curt watched as the color drained from Ben’s face.
“That’s not an easy topic.”
“I know, but it is one that needs to be settled.”
“Settled? What do you mean, settled? The crash is more than five years behind us.”
“Yeah, but not everything about it is five years behind us. Some things are still very much current affairs.”
“Such as?”
Curt bit at his lip as if thinking of just the right words. What he wanted to do was to unnerve Ben enough that the man would jump into the conversation without Curt having to ask any questions. Waiting a minute more, Ben did just that.
“I can’t tell you how hard life has been for me without your father. I loved him like a brother. He and your mother both were like family.” Ben paused, shuffled some papers on his desk, then returned his gaze to Curt. “I’ve done my best by the business, Curt.”
“No one said you didn’t, Ben.”
“I’ve had some difficulties, but I’ve done what I could to straighten them out. It hasn’t always been easy, but maybe you could come back to work and give me a hand.”
“What would Stratton McFarland do for a job then?”
“Stratton?” Ben swallowed hard, and Curt refused to cut him a single inch of space. “He’s engaged to Cheryl, you know,” Ben said abruptly.
“Yeah, I know. I also know a great deal more about Mr. McFarland than I think you realize.”
Ben coughed spasmodically and got to his feet. “Look, Curt, I don’t know what you’re getting at. I don’t know why you’re here today, but I’ve tried to do good by you. I felt I owed it to your mother and father.”
“Why, Ben? Because you were the reason for the crash?” Curt hadn’t meant it to come out that way, but now it was said and there was nothing more to do.
Ben’s breathing quickened, but Curt sat with an unmoving eye on the man.
A look washed over Ben’s face that seemed at first to be one of searing pain and then almost relief. “I didn’t want them to die.” Curt re-mained silent. “I didn’t want them to die!” Ben repeated emphatically. “I told Doug just to keep quiet and let me deal with things, but he was angry and out of control and I couldn’t reason with him.”
“So you had him killed because of your little cocaine industry?”
Ben grabbed for the desk and Curt wondered if he would fall. “How did you know about that?”
“Dad called me right after he found the shipment.”
“That’s impossible. He talked to me after finding it. It wasn’t long after that, that he took off and…”
“And crashed. Dying a painful death, knowing that he had been betrayed by his best friend. Knowing that he couldn’t save the life of his wife and daughter because he’d seen too much.” Curt’s voice was deadly calm. “Only CJ lived. Your people hadn’t counted on that.”
“No one was supposed to die, Curt. Your father was the best at flying. It was only a warning. They just wanted Doug to keep quiet about the drugs.”
“Who wanted him quiet, Ben?”
Ben retook his seat and loosened his necktie. “Look, I’ll explain everything, but you have to believe me. I never wanted your family hurt. I’ve carried this around inside for years, all because I couldn’t keep it from happening.”
“Go on.” Curt still showed no emotion.
“I got O&F into some trouble. I made mistakes in the taxes, and by the time they were brought to my attention, we owed millions in back taxes. Someone came to me and promised to clear it off the books if we would cooperate and help them out in return.”
“Who?”
“McFarland,” Ben said weakly. “McFarland was an attorney on staff. He’s the one who found the problem with the books, and he’s the one who backed me into a corner.”
“McFarland? He seems to be too incompetent to accomplish something like that on his own.”
“I swear it was him, Curt. He told me that if O&F would help him transport his cocaine throughout the U.S. via the air shows, he would fix the books and make sure we wouldn’t be penalized for the mistake. It seemed harmless enough.”
“Harmless?” The first hint of emotion came into Curt’s voice. “Since when has cocaine been harmless?”
“I know how it sounds, Curt, but I was up against the wall. If we’d been found out by the feds, it would have meant an end to the business.”
“Instead, it put an end to my parents’ lives and nearly killed my sister. Ben, please don’t expect me to be civil about this.” Curt rose from the chair and pounded his fists down on the large executive desk. “Please don’t tell me how harmless this was.”
Ben’s eyes welled with tears. “I didn’t think they’d kill him. I just thought they were going to scare him. Believe me, I haven’t had a peaceful moment since it happened. I even tried to get rid of McFarland, but he has me by the neck. If I fire him now, he’ll prove our tax evasion to the feds.”
“You’re pathetic,” Curt said, suddenly knowing all the answers he needed. “I can’t believe you sold my father out that way. You killed him and Mother, just as surely as if you’d put a gun to their heads. And I’ll tell you something else,” Curt paused and straightened. “Dad blamed you. As the plane was going down he said to my mother, ‘He’s done us in.’ CJ remembered it quite vividly. What she didn’t know is that you were the ‘he’ responsible.”
“No!” Ben cried out in such agony that Curt almost regretted his words. “I wasn’t the one. I didn’t make it happen!”
Curt turned to leave, knowing that if he stayed one minute more, he might lose control. “You didn’t stop it, either.”
sixteen
Christy could barely remember getting through Cheryl’s fitting. Before 10:15, however, she’d sent the happily expectant Cheryl on her way and locked the house and pulled the drapes. Making her way upstairs, Christy threw herself across the bed and cried.
She had thought he was different. She was sure of it. Curt seemed so sincere, and his love of God had made her feel that he could be trusted. Why, then, had he lied to her? Why had he hidden his true identity from her? W
as he in trouble, like Grant?
She heard the telephone ring several times, but certain that it would be Curt, she refused to answer it. Sometime around noon, Christy fell asleep and didn’t wake up until nearly three-thirty. Uncertain that she even wanted to get up, Christy rolled over and stared at the ceiling for another fifteen minutes before giving in to her responsibilities.
When she came downstairs to the darkened rooms, she felt like crying all over again. Why couldn’t she have found happiness and settled down to a peaceful life with a trustworthy man?
Coming into the darkened sitting room, Christy nearly screamed when Curt appeared in the doorway. “We have to talk.”
“No. No; just go away.” She tried to flee, but he pulled her back and forced her to sit.
“My name is Curtiss Kyle O’Sullivan. I grew up here in Denver, and I have a younger sister named CJ. I grew up flying because my father was a famous pilot, and he and my mother began an aviation corporation with a longtime friend, Cheryl’s father, Ben Fairchild. When I was twenty-one, about six years ago, my parents were killed in an airplane crash that left my sister severely injured. Before my father died, he found drugs on one of his planes and called me to ask if I had any idea who was responsible. I didn’t, but figured my father and I would work together and figure it out. But we didn’t get a chance to because they sabotaged his plane and killed him.”
Christy said nothing and Curt continued. “I’m an officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Christy. We traced drugs to your warehouse in New York. We thought you were at the center of the ring, and that’s why Debbie and I posed as a couple and came to you for a gown. Debbie has never been more than a good friend and my partner. I was supposed to snoop around and learn what I could while you were fitting her for the dress.”
At this Christy raised her face in stunned apprehension. “You thought I was dealing drugs?”
“It pointed to you,” Curt said, finally taking a seat in the chair be-side her. “But I knew the moment we met that you couldn’t possibly know anything about it. I knew when I held you in my arms the night of your sister’s accident that you were innocent of any wrongdoings. I also knew that I was falling in love with you.”
Wings Like Eagles Page 11
