“Your fiancé didn’t seem to mind.”
“You’re more than welcome to him. You really ended up doing me a favor. I never would have ended up with Alexander if you hadn’t helped my boyfriend cheat on me. I should be thanking you.”
That really pissed her off, but at least she was speechless. Her cheeks flushed dark and she stalked back inside. I left out a breath of relief.
“Clara, your sister’s such a bitch,” I said, shaking my head.
“Yeah, I know. She always thought she would marry a Durant heir,” Clara explained, “and while I’m sure she would have taken any of them, she wanted Alexander the most.”
“Yeah but none of them are even married yet. And no one made Angelica marry old Mr. Hunt. She made that mistake all on her own.”
“I don’t think she considers him to be her husband. He’s more like a short-term investment bond.”
“That’s really sad and gross.”
Clara shrugged as if unconcerned. “I don’t know,” she replied thoughtfully, “I’ve met him a bunch of times and I think he’s pretty creepy in his own right. I’m sure he sees her the same way. He can’t believe that she loves him. They deserve each other.”
“That’s even sadder.”
“You really shouldn’t waste your pity on Angelica. Karma will find her eventually and then she’s gonna’ need it.”
“Do you think that’s why she gets so much surgery? So, she won’t be recognized?”
43
Alexander
My father was still basking in the glow of his overblown victory when I found him. He had a group of Senator Ellis’ fawning sycophants around him and looked like he was totally in his element, holding court before his subjects. I was excited to ruin it.
“Hey son,” he greeted me a slap across the back of my shoulders. As far back as I could remember, that weird slap-pat thing was as close to hugging me he’d ever come. He didn’t even hug me as a kid.
“Hi,” I managed to reply civilly, “I just wanted to come let you know that Madison and I are taking off and probably won’t be back for a while.”
“Ok,” he said, assuming wrongly that I was speaking only for myself, “I hope you two are able to end things amicably. I’m impressed you both handled everything so professionally this week, but I don’t want my new General Counsel to hate my son. It could make things weird later on.”
“I’m in love with Madison,” I told him, not really hating him quite so intensely anymore but unable to stop myself from rubbing it in just a little bit, “and she won’t be taking the job as the new General Counsel at Durant Industries. We’re going to start a new foundation together. I think we’ll probably go to Haiti first, but it’s really up to her.”
He glanced over at me in surprise, his mouth dropping open a little bit. My father and I looked quite a bit alike. We had the same jaw, the same mouth, and the same nose. I was hopeful that I’d maintain his excellent, healthy hairline as I aged. But we didn’t have the same eyes; I had my mother’s eyes. He had the sea blue-green eyes that he’d inherited from his own father, my grandfather, and that were shared by all of the other Durant heirs but me. So, when he looked at me with total disbelief, it was as if the entire family legacy was gaping at me.
Sadly, it couldn’t last forever.
“Alright,” he said finally, his neutral voice concealing any emotion, and expression safely returned to his ordinary scowl, “I guess I didn’t think you were that serious about her.”
“I am,” I said to him, realizing that we’d never had a conversation remotely like this before. My dad acknowledged that I enjoyed and dated women, but we’d never discussed them. I was unprepared to have a more in-depth conversation with him about my feelings.
“You’re really in love with her?” he asked as if I might just reply that I was kidding.
“Yeah,” I replied seriously, “I am.”
He nodded with a matching sincerity. I thought his acknowledgment meant that the conversation was over, but then he added, “Well, I’m not exactly thrilled that you’re stealing my General Counsel, but at least you have good taste. You could do a lot worse than Madison Clark.”
The fact that my father approved of my choice was totally unexpected. I’d expected a lecture about how stupid I was, or perhaps some sort of a dig on Madison’s obsession with charity. It was now my turn to gape. He smirked at my surprised expression and shrugged.
It did make a strange sort of sense. My father and Madison’s were close back in the day. They’d grown up together and maintained a friendly relationship over the years, although they weren’t exactly friends. My dad didn’t have friends in the traditional sense. Madison’s dad refused to ever work directly for Durant Industries, preferring instead to maintain his autonomy and work through his law firm. I couldn’t blame him. Being at my father’s beck and call was my nightmare.
“Listen, Alexander,” my dad continued, calling me by my preferred name for maybe the first time in a decade, “you take good care of Madison. She’s a good girl from a good family. Make sure you bring her flowers a lot. That’s how I got your mother to like me. Did I ever tell you that? Flowers every Friday. Worked like a charm. She especially liked tulips. You gotta’ figure out what Madison likes.”
Not only was my father not upset that I was stealing Madison from Durant Industries, but he was now giving me unsolicited relationship advice? And not just any relationship advice, but personal relationship advice involving my mom? My father and I hadn’t had a conversation about my mom since she finally succumbed to leukemia when I was twenty. I don’t think we even talked about her at her funeral.
I nodded distantly at my dad, too confused to really answer coherently. He gave me another one of his weird slap-pat things and walked away as if we’d just had a normal exchange. My mind was reeling.
Usually I considered each interaction with my father to be a battle. We both brought in our ammunition, used our words to do as much damage as we possibly could, and then retreated to our separate worlds to lick our wounds and prepare for the next fight. This hadn’t really been that, but I also felt like I had somehow lost.
I guess if the competition was to see who could shock the most, my father had won. He went in a totally different direction than what I expected. My father had never been a particularly emotionally available or affectionate parent, but he’d closed down entirely after my mom’s death. It seemed that maybe he was opening back up again. I wasn’t completely sure if I wanted to interact with this new version of my father, or if I even could. I still hadn’t forgiven him and maybe never really would.
But we weren’t fighting anymore, so that was an improvement. It was probably best to get myself away from him as soon as possible before one of us could somehow ruin it. Less is more with my family.
Outside, Madison was standing with Clara on the porch next to my motorcycle.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked Madison, nodding my goodbye to Clara who was headed back inside. Clara winked at me in return.
“I don’t know about this thing, Alexander,” she replied, “are you sure it’s safe?”
“Of course, it’s safe,” I told her, “you’re going to like riding motorcycles, I promise. It’s really fun.”
Madison climbed on behind me at my instruction and grabbed my waist tightly, pressing her torso tightly to my back. She jumped when I turned the engine on. I went over the basics with her and could feel her uncertainty.
“If you’re too scared, we can always call an Uber,” I offered, “I don’t want you to be unhappy.”
“I’m not scared,” she snapped, and then softened, “ok, maybe I am scared. But I’m willing to take the risk.”
She held onto me as if for dear life as we pulled out into the night.
44
Madison
“But you could’ve stayed here in Waterloo!” My mom whined into the phone. I winced. She was really unhappy.
“Mom, you don’t understand,” I entr
eated, trying to keep my own voice quiet and calm, both for her sake and for Alexander’s, “living in Waterloo isn’t what I want. It doesn’t mean I won’t come to visit.”
“But Maddie!”
“I promise I’ll come to visit more. Really. But I wouldn’t be happy giving up the career I’ve built for myself to work at Durant Industries.”
“Have you really thought all this through? It’s a lot of money you’d be giving up. This is a good job.”
“Mom, I’m sure. One hundred percent.”
“Well, if you’ve made up your mind I know better than to try and stop you.”
I exhaled in relief.
“Ok, thanks mom.”
My dad had taken the news much better than my mom. I don’t think he really expected me to accept the job, but he’d done his best to sell me on it. Alexander had told his own father our plans, so now all the loose ends were tied up.
I looked over to my left where Alexander was curled up asleep around a pillow. I’d just had a whole thirty-minute conversation with my mom and he hadn’t stirred a muscle. Either he was eavesdropping, or he slept like a log.
I nudged him gently with my foot under the covers. Nothing. He was totally out.
I lay back onto my pillow and admired him for a moment. In the morning light that shone through the window, he looked younger and more carefree than I’d seen him. His black hair was all tousled and messy, and I brushed it back from his forehead. He smiled in his sleep.
I’m not sure how long I laid there just watching him sleep and listening to our breathing. It could have been hours or just a few seconds. This morning felt so different from our other mornings together. Now that I didn’t have to worry that our time would run out, now that the deal was signed at last, I finally felt like I could relax.
Alexander’s eyes eventually opened to find me, and his grin told me everything I needed to know.
“I love you,” I told him, leaning over to kiss the tip of his nose, “good morning.”
He grinned, pulling me closer and nuzzling my neck.
“I love you too,” he replied, his voice muffled by my hair and collarbone. My heart still fluttered excitedly every time he said those words to me. I hoped it always would.
“What do you want to do today?” I asked Alexander, considering my own answer as I waited for his. There were so many things we needed to discuss, a ton of details to plan. There were a million things that would need to be figured out that I hadn’t even thought of yet.
Starting a new nonprofit was simple enough on paper. You just file some legal agreements, get registered and then you’re good to go. But the reality wasn’t nearly so simple. It would take at least a few months to even map out the business plan.
“I was thinking we should take a shower,” Alexander said, curtailing my internal discussion about whether to set up the tax ID or the bylaws first, “and then maybe get some breakfast. I want proper pancakes. I’ve been craving them since we went to IHOP and they served me those travesties on Monday.”
Monday felt like a lifetime ago. I had to remind myself what even happened way back then.
“Ok,” I replied, “shower then breakfast. Then what?”
Alexander shrugged. “Anything we want.”
The thought was daunting. He was right. We could do anything we wanted. But first…
“Shower time!” Alexander said playfully, pulling me up from the bed and dragging me toward the bathroom. We were getting the water just right when someone knocked on the door.
“Let’s just ignore it,” Alexander said, “Ella can take a message if it’s important. It’s probably just Mormons.”
I was happy with that. I was just about to step in the shower when another knock, this one on the bathroom door, startled us both.
“Go away!” Alexander hollered at the door.
The knocking paused for a second, just long enough for us to exchange a relieved look, and then commenced again. Only louder. Whoever it was, they weren’t giving up.
“Tell whoever it is to go away,” I whispered at Alexander. He nodded, wrapping a towel around his waist and opened the door the absolute minimum necessary.
“God dammit, McKinney,” I heard him growl, “seriously?”
45
Alexander
McKinney had just enshrined himself on my eternal shit-list. Not only had he shown up unannounced for the third time, but he’d now cock-blocked me from my second attempt to take a shower with Madison. Was it really so much to ask to see her all naked, wet, and soapy? Why was the universe denying me this simple pleasure?
Only it wasn’t the universe this time. It was McKinney. McKinney, who was now sitting in my house. Again.
“What can we do for you today, Agent McKinney?” I managed to ask politely as Madison and I joined him in the living room. I wasn’t sure if it was a crime to be rude to FBI agents, but I wasn’t going to risk it.
“I just wanted to stop by and update you both on the case,” McKinney replied pleasantly.
He didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed by his intrusion. Wallace wasn’t with him this time. I wondered if this was because McKinney had finally earned his wings and was now allowed out unchaperoned, or if he just had something better to do. If I had to put money on it, I’d bet on the second option.
“That’s very nice of you,” Madison said blandly, smiling with her mouth but not her eyes. She was pissed off, too. The fact that she was just as eager for me as I was for her was a source of surprising pride for me. She’d put on the outfit she was wearing last night at the party, and she looked irritated and businesslike in her suit. I’d put on a towel. I wasn’t dressing up for McKinney.
Predictably, McKinney either didn’t notice or chose to ignore Madison’s tone, and he was letting my outfit (or lack thereof) go without comment as well. He took a sip of the coffee Ella had brought us in the living room and inclined his head. I hoped he’d get to the point quickly. I had an appointment with a loofah that couldn’t be missed.
“We’ve had a surprising amount of progress in understanding exactly what happened over the past forty-eight hours. Luisa was the key. Her affair with Frank seems to have begun when she was in law school. It seems that he helped her to obtain the position at Propetrolas and that neither of their spouses were ever aware of the affair, which actually ended some years ago,” McKinney completed his monologue with another long sip of coffee. He still looked exhausted. Against my better judgment, I actually felt a twinge of pity for McKinney. They did seem to run them ragged at the FBI.
“How did the Chacóns find out about it, if it’s been over for years?” I asked. Maybe Marco and Cesar had been scheming for years and collecting dirt on people. That’s what I did with my business rivals.
McKinney inclined his head again at my question.
“As you may know,” he replied, “Cesar Chacón, the younger of the two, is also the less intelligent brother. He was initially dispatched to ‘take care of’ the issue. His genius plan was to murder you, Mr. Durant, or your father. He obtained access to information about you through Mariana Rodriguez, of course, by kidnapping two of her family members and then blackmailing her.”
“That part was true?” I asked in surprise. I felt Madison’s stillness and interpreted as her shock, too. Something about Mariana’s story had never added up. I thought perhaps she was lying about being blackmailed and was instead being paid off or something. Even so, she was an incredible liar if that was the case.
“Yes,” McKinney replied, “that part was all true. Even the part about her going to meet her family who had fled to Brazil was true. We were all surprised by that. What wasn’t true, however, was that her family had been released when the car bomb failed. After Cesar failed to put an end to the deal, his brother Marco took over. He thought Mariana could still be useful, and Mariana of course was more than willing to comply. In return for the safe release of her family, Mariana supplied information that could be used against Luisa and
Frank.”
“Mariana knew about the affair?” Madison asked. Madison was clearly having trouble coping with her friend’s betrayal. She hadn’t talked about it, but I could sense deep anger and confusion from her whenever Mariana’s name came up. The idea that anyone would betray Madison, let alone try to murder me, was enough to put Mariana permanently even lower down on my shit-list than McKinney.
“Yes,” McKinney replied, “she and Luisa were friends from law school at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. Mariana provided some emails and texts between her and Luisa that contained some very explicit descriptions and evidence of the affair. Marco, not being a total idiot like his brother, used that information to blackmail Frank and Luisa.”
“Did Frank and Luisa each know that the other was being blackmailed?” I asked. If I were in Marco’s shoes, I could see an advantage to each approach.
“No,” McKinney said, “well, at least Luisa didn’t know that Frank was being blackmailed. We may never know if Frank knew whether Luisa was. Luisa was as terrified that Frank would find out as much as her own husband. I suppose at one point she’d promised Frank to always keep their affair a secret. Strange that she’d be worried about breaking a promise to man who was breaking a vow, but whatever.” McKinney lapsed into silence.
McKinney, being the keen observer of the human condition that he definitely wasn’t, must be continually baffled by crime. I wondered if that was an advantage or a disadvantage in his line of work. As for me, it was probably a bit too easy for me to see where Marco Chacón was coming from.
I imagined that’s how I would have structured the blackmail as well. It would appear much more believable if the two people being manipulated appeared to be working independently. If they knew about one another that was not only an additional complicating factor but created the possibility that they might somehow collaborate against me. Not that I’d ever do such a thing, but it was a pretty good scheme. I played off the weaknesses of others, too, but never in a way where someone would be driven to blow their own brains out during a hostage situation. I just wanted to build things.
Bleeding Heart Page 24
