by Jamie Ott
“He’s with a nanny, across town.”
“So you had him all along?” asked Maddie.
“Everything that’s happened is his fault,” yelled Joe. “It was your father who manipulated me into letting those guys take you, that day in the desert. It wasn’t my intention that you should get hurt, or that Michael should be dragged into a kidnapping plot! Your father made me choose between you and my son. The plan was for me to take you to Michael’s until everything was safe, and then I’d deal with getting my son back. Earl must have been watching me for some time, because instead of bodyguards to escort us to the manor, I got dragged into the middle of the desert, where I was nearly shot and buried! No one would have even known I’d disappeared, or where to find me.”
“Why, Dad?”
“Because he took what was important to me: Anna and I wasn’t about to let him have Jesse. I was gonna make him pay for messing with me!”
“After I escaped my would-be murderer, I hitchhiked all the way back to the resort. Then I tried to find you, but you were gone. My only relief was when I called Michael to check in, and found that you were already there. Michael was pissed because you were clearly kidnapped. The only reason he accepted you, under that condition, was for me.”
Maddie cried.
“What happened to Maddie’s parents?” asked Michael.
“I met Sarah Margulie at school. We were happy, until Armel came along and tried to take her from me. There was no way I could allow him to have her. I’d done everything for that little ungrateful! I introduced her to my mother; she was excited that we’d be married. I was humiliated when she broke it off. I admit, I didn’t love her, but being with her, I could continue in the life I’d always known; a life of privilege and all that comes with it. I didn’t harm them, though, I swear!”
“He lies, Maddie,” said Joe.
“You were quite the trio,” said Michael. “You, Sean, my father: violent, lying lunatics. I always knew that evil existed but I never thought that I would be so close to it.”
Baldric merely laughed. “Just like your stupid father; always thinking you’re better than us, but you’re not. After what he did to your mother, he had no right to look down on us. And after what you did to Maddie, you have no right, either”
“You knew my mother?” Michael asked.
“Of course, Gabrielle Marcon, bitch and whore. She stepped out on Anton; Anton fixed him and her for life, haha. Why do you think you left Bruge, the way you did.”
“What are you saying? What does that mean?”
“He’s saying your mother is still alive,” said Maddie.
“I don’t know if she’s dead or not, but I do know that she became a cripple.”
“Alright, enough,” said Joe. “You can continue your conversation after I’ve gone. Earl, I want an address, and keep in mind that if you lie, I’ll come back, here, and shoot you.”
Just then, the sound of the door being broken open surprised them. Several men in protective vests ran into the room. Once screamed “HANDS UP, DROP YOUR WEAPONS, AND GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR.”
Confession
Chapter 13
Fortunately, Joe had recorded the entire conversation with his phone. The police listened and decided that everyone would be taken to the station and questioned. Maddie was happy, despite her own arrest, because it looked like Earl Baldric wasn’t going to be let off easy this time; the police were going to start a new investigation, one where they’d look into his past.
Maddie accepted that Earl wasn’t the man whom she thought. Besides, after everything that had happened, even if he was really her father, she would still want him to pay for his crime.
They were all subjected to hours of questioning. Once their testimonies were fully evaluated, after repeated listening to the phone, and re reading of the documents the detective decided to charge Joe and Michael with misdemeanors, mainly because they didn’t report to the cops when they should have. But that meant they had to spend the night in jail. Maddie was the only one allowed to leave.
During confession, Earl Baldric confessed where little Jesse was. Maddie was curious to see him, so she sped all the way to the condo in Culver City.
She knocked on the door and a little woman in a dressing gown appeared. Maddie recognized the woman at once: Lauriana was her father’s old housekeeper. He told her she’d retired.
Lauriana led her to the bedroom where Jesse slept.
“The earl brought the baby about six months ago. He upped my salary and gave me this condo. He made me swear to secrecy. I just thought he was a love child; I didn’t think he was kidnapped.”
“It’s alright,” Maddie said. “You’re not in trouble.”
Lauriana adjusted the wall light. Maddie stepped quietly to the crib, and as she looked down, what she saw amazed her. It was a little Joe sleeping quite peacefully. Maddie was taken by the beauty of him and wished he were hers.
That night, Jesse hardly cried. Maddie considered herself lucky, especially because she needed all the rest she could get.
In the afternoon, she got a call from Joe; he’d posted bail. Maddie was numbed by the sound of his voice. Were things really back to normal? Did he really expect her to just come and get him?
Joe said nothing to her when he got into the car. For the first time, Maddie didn’t care.
On their way back home, they stopped at the convenience store to pick up supplies for Jesse.Strolling the aisles and picking out food and toys made Maddie feel empty. She knew that this wasn’t right; that she should be angry. Maddie should be packing her bags, but she was just exhausted.
Joe rambled on and on about various things as though nothing had happened. He didn’t seem to care that Maddie had been through an ordeal; that she’d been betrayed not only by him, but her father. Not once did he apologize, or promise that things would be different.
But Maddie was wrong: Joe did understand that she’d been hurt. When they finally made it back to their house, Joe told her that he was ready to talk. He went and put the baby down for a nap while Maddie waited on the couch for him.
“What happened to Michael?”
“Michael? I think he went home. I don’t know; we weren’t in the same cells. You don’t really have a thing for him, do you? Michael has never been able to sustain a relationship. You should forget him.”
Maddie didn’t respond.
“Listen, I’ve known Michael practically my entire life. Believe me, he is a really good guy but I speak the truth. If you were hoping he’d come back for you, well, he won’t. I, on the other hand, am always here for you. I love you and I want us to pick up where we left off, before everything happened. Let’s start over again.”
“We can’t just start over, or pick up from where we left off. You’ve been lying to me for nearly ten years. You’ve had a love child. That’s the only reason you’re asking this of me isn’t it?”
“I need you and so does my baby, but you’ve always wanted kids. Don’t you remember asking me? Well, you can help me with Jesse. I mean, we’re still married. My father had many affairs over the years and he’s still with my mother, and they’re happy. We can make this work, I know we can. You can quit your job and take care of Jesse, and I’ll take care of everything else.”
Just listening to Joe, Maddie had never felt so irrelevant. She wanted to die.
Too tired and upset to argue with him, Maddie agreed that she’d stay work things out. But she was numb of feelings. She knew she should be angry, hurt, livid, throwing things, but all she did was stare straight ahead. Was she in some sort of emotional shock? The only thing she could do was clean; it was the only way for her to keep going.
After hours of cleaning, the house finally began to feel fresh. She moved out to the backyard and swept up all the leaves and debris, and then worked her way around to the front. She was scrubbing her porch when he walked up to her.
Maddie was so deep in thought that she didn’t hear him at first. She jumped and sq
uealed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.
“It’s alright,” Maddie said. “What are you doing here? Joe said you were released and went home.”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m here for you. I’m here to ask you to give all this up, and come with me. Even if you can’t give up your life, do you really want to stay in the same house as Joe? He betrayed you.”
Maddie didn’t know what to say. She looked at him and then looked down at the ground and considered what he’d said.
In that moment, a book worth of thoughts flooded her mind. She worked very hard to get to her current place in life. Maddie loved her job, and despite everything, she loved her husband. But now, she had hate in heart: hate for Joe and hate for her father – even hate for her real parents who should have protected her, and even themselves, better.
Then a clear picture of her grandparents, in her mind, pushed all the other thoughts away. True, they were gone, now, but while they lived, they were very happy, or at least they seemed to be. They were one of those annoying couples who loved to brag about how happy they were. She always fantasized that she’d have a marriage like that.
Maddie didn’t need to think about it anymore. She dropped the water hose she was using to rinse the porch. Maddie wrapped her arms around his neck, and they kissed, passionately.
“Earl Baldric’s been released on bond.”
“I’m not surprised. The detective said the case details were pretty old and incomplete. Still, my guess is he won’t be coming around anymore. Maybe he’ll even leave the country.”
“Well,” he said, looking at his cell phone. “We need to get on the road because traffic is going to be hell. Are you sure you want to do this? Give up everything and be with me?”
“Hell, yeah. Let’s go.”
“What about Jesse?”
“I’ll call Lauriana; she was paid well to take care of him.”
Maddie and Michael went inside. A few minutes later, Joe could be heard screaming and swearing up and down the neighborhood. He and Michael brawled in the living room, smashing up the television and scaring Jesse.
After getting them to calm down, Maddie went upstairs and packed a few suitcases, which Michael helped her get into the car.
She got in and closed the door. Joe asked, “So that’s it?”
She sighed and said, “Yep!”
And they drove off.
~Later~
Three months later, Maddie was still in the middle of a divorce because of Joe’s stubborn spite. Nevertheless, she was extremely happy in the manor, as the new lady of the house. She was officially semi-retired and spent most of her days helping Michael in his business venture, though she still made time for gardening and cooking with Julian and Marie.
Le Marcon Manor was now in a third and final phase of restoration. Thanks to Maddie, who’d managed to get Earl Baldric’s shares and board-ship of the investment firm revoked, she was now a very wealthy woman; not so wealthy that they didn’t need investors, but enough so that they could begin marketing – and Maddie was a marketing genius.
Not too long after Maddie left Los Angeles, Earl Baldric went missing, as was predicted. Occasionally, Maddie received phone calls and visitors who appeared out of nowhere, come to find the man who’d scammed them out of this or that. Eventually, the cops found that he’d left the country, but where he went wasn’t certain, for even with all of his accounts frozen, he was still a very wealthy man. Apparently, he’d long since prepared for the day that he might, eventually, have to go on the run. As such, it was possible that he might not be found until he was dead.
Despite all, Maddie was sad about never hearing form him again. No matter what, he was the only family she’d known.
“You don’t need him, anymore,” Michael told her. “We’re family, now.”
That morning, when Maddie woke up, she knew that she needed to take the test. She was three days late, but last time, it was a false hope, and it left her depressed for many days.
The hopes that she now had for her future were a long way off from where she began, which made it all the more exciting, like a dream coming to life. Originally, they decided that they’d wait on having a baby until the divorce was final, and they were married but fate would not see it that way – and Maddie didn’t want to wait any longer. She’d had another birthday already; time was not on her side.
She got up and washed; then she went downstairs where Marie had breakfast waiting. After, Maddie made her usual rounds about the castle, feeding the animals and then working in the garden with Julian. On her way back in for lunch, she kissed Michael and went upstairs to wash. Maddie couldn’t wait any longer and took the test.
Five minutes later, the results were positive.
END
