Double or Nothing
Page 13
“She took her daughter and ran away, her ex-husband wants his daughter back.”
“Jan’s got a kid? David that girl was looney. I can’t imagine her with a child.”
“She’s got one and I need to find her. Did she ever say anything to you about Dallas, Texas?”
“No, but we really didn’t talk much, she was always hanging out with Mary Jo.”
“Where can I find Mary Jo? Is she still in the theater?”
“No, but you’ve probably seen her on TV, she’s the woman in that funny soup commercial, that damn things on a hundred times a day, I bet she’s getting rich from that.”
“Do you know how I can find her?”
“No, wait, isn’t Fort Worth right near Dallas?”
“Yes.”
“Mary Jo was from Fort Worth.”
“Do you know her last name?”
“Ah…McGillicuddy, like Lucy’s maiden name on that old TV show.”
“Are you sure?”
Alison looks up, as if reading the ceiling. “Yes, it was McGillicuddy.”
“Thanks, if you remember anything else please leave a message on Carol’s office phone. Have a good night, goodbye.” David turns and he and June walk out the door. Behind him, he hears Alison call his name.
David motions for June to wait for him in the corridor and he goes back and stands in the doorway. “Yes Alison?” David asks impatiently.
Alison looks up, crying. “Will you ever forgive me?” Alison asks, and in her eyes David sees real pain, and a rare glimpse at Alison’s vulnerability and remorse.
“Yes, I forgive you for cheating on me. I’ve moved on, you should too.”
“I still love you. Give me a second chance and you’ll see just how much.”
David’s softened by her sincerity. “We were good together once, I, I think I was falling in love with you too, but then I couldn’t trust you. Love can’t survive without trust.”
Alison wipes the tears from her eyes and looks around the room.
“I’d give this up tomorrow for you, the fame, the money. I didn’t know what I had, now I do and it’s too late.”
“Love me enough to let me go. June loves me and I love June very much.”
“I can see that in her eyes David, and goddamn it I can see it in your eyes too.”
June appears in the doorway and takes David’s hand.
“Goodnight Alison,” David says.
“Wait! I want a word with June, alone.”
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
June walks over to Alison. “I want to hear what she has to say.”
David gives Allison a suspicious look, but leaves.
June closes the door.
Alison looks up at June and smiles at her sadly. “Has David ever told you how we met?”
“No.”
“I was roommates with a girl he used to date, Cindy. David would come by on the weekends to pick her up for their dates. Cindy was the type of girl who always made her dates wait for her to get ready. I wanted to be with David the second I saw him. God he was so cute, still is. Anyway, while Cindy was getting ready for their dates, David and I would sit around and talk. While Cindy made David wait, I would keep him company.
“This went on for about a month. Then one Saturday, Cindy got a call to do dinner theater in the Catskills for eight weeks. The only condition was that she had to get there that night. While Cindy was packing to leave I asked her what she was going to tell David. Cindy informed me that David would wait for her to get back. After all, she said, ‘It’s only eight weeks.’ David showed up that night to pick up Cindy. The selfish bitch hadn’t even called to tell him goodbye. That night David and I had our first date.”
“What did Cindy do when she came back eight weeks later?”
“Oh, Cindy was back the next day, the Catskill job was a mistake, some sort of mix-up.”
After a sudden flash of insight, June says. “You tricked her, didn’t you?”
Allison looks at June with surprise. “You’re smarter than you look, but then, you’d have to be wouldn’t you?”
“Alison…is there a point to this story?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“If you ever make David wait, I’ll be there to keep him company.”
June stares into Alison’s eyes. “I understand.”
Alison smiles at June. “You’d better Rodent,”
“Goodnight Alison.”
“Goodnight June.”
The following morning in Fort Worth, Texas, two sheriff deputies visit the home of a Mrs. Dorothy McGillicuddy. Mrs. McGillicuddy informs them that she doesn’t know anyone named Janice Coleman or Janice Martin and she doesn’t recognize the woman in the photo. The two men thank her and go on to their next interview, a Dr. Michael McGillicuddy.
The deputies talk to Dr. McGillicuddy at his dental practice in Dallas. When asked the same questions as his mother, he tells them that he too doesn’t know anyone by those names and also doesn’t recognize her picture. The two deputies look at each other: Dead end.
As the two men are leaving, the Doctor calls them back. While giving them a conspiratorial look, he asks if they have any pull with someone who could help him with a passport problem.
As the alarm bells in their heads subside, the two men ask the Doctor about his problem.
“Well, it’s my wife Barbara,” The doctor says. “She’s having a little trouble getting a passport. Our one-year anniversary is coming up next month and I wanted to take her to Paris. The problem is, she had to change her name a few years back to get away from a stalker.”
“Doctor, is your wife from the area?” Asks deputy number one.
“Oh no, Barb grew up on a little island town off the coast of New Jersey.” Deputy number two asks. “Do you have any children?”
“Just my wife’s daughter from a previous marriage…say, why are you asking me all this?”
“Doctor is the little girl about seven-years-old?” Asks deputy number one.
“Yes…what’s going on here?”
“Maybe nothing. Tell me, are your wife and your sister good friends?”
“My sister? Barbara has never even met my sister. Mary Jo hasn’t been around here in eighteen years officer. She’s in show business, you know the type. No, mother and I wrote her off long ago. The last thing Mary Jo said was that she’d never set foot in Fort Worth again. Good riddance to bad rubbish I say. Now can you help me with this passport thing or not?”
Fifty-three minutes later the two men sit outside the doctor’s residence in Fort Worth. They’d rung the bell upon their arrival and gotten no response, and so they wait.
Three more hours pass and then an SUV pulls into the doctor’s driveway. The woman who emerges bears little resemblance to the woman in their photo. When asked if she is Janice Coleman Martin the woman says, “No.” and then proceeds to run. Within twenty paces she’s caught and then placed into the back of the unmarked car.
Janice Coleman Martin, thirty-pounds heavier with dyed red hair and green contacts, is taken into custody.
Jack is in his office talking to Kelly about a case when the phone rings.
“Hello, Agent Martin, may I help you?”
“Agent Martin, this is Deputy Robert Calhoun of the Fort Worth Police Department.”
Jack comes to attention in his seat. “Yes! Deputy Calhoun did that tip I forward to you lead to anything?”
“Hold on Agent Martin, I’m going to put someone on the phone who can better answer that for you.”
Jack hears the phone being passed and then a small voice says, “Daddy?”
Jack hangs up five minutes later, he rises to his feet and he and Kelly embrace.
Kelly feels him shudder in her arms and knows he is crying, a moment more and he’s sobbing like a child, tears of relief rolling down his face.
Angel, Kelly thinks. David Manning is definitely on the side of the angels.
1
4
Friday May 23rd, 12:56 a.m.
June is hunched on one of the sofas in the living room. The lights are off and the fireplace inactive. What scant light glows within the room comes from the full moon burning in the night sky. June sits far against one corner of the sofa with her knees drawn up to her chest in an almost seated fetal position. She has sat here thinking since 11:33 p.m., when she told David that she wanted to be alone for a few moments.
In a matter of hours, she’s going to see her father for the first time in over twelve years. The emotional turmoil that has been building in her for days now threatens to overwhelm her. June sits enveloped by fear and imagines terrible scenes of rejection and accusation.
David appears in the doorway and June runs into his arms. David leads her back to the sofa and guides her to lie with him upon it.
The two of them lie there in the dark, David’s back is against the sofa, while June lies facing him and his arms hug her trembling body. David looks into her frightened eyes and smiles. June smiles back as she feels the fear fade away. While enclosed within his arms fear cannot touch her.
David pecks her on the nose with a playful kiss and follows it with a lingering one on her mouth, as their lips part, he speaks. “You’ve been sitting here imagining the worst for tomorrow haven’t you?”
“How do you know what I was thinking?”
“It’s only natural, hell I’m a little afraid myself.”
“Why are you afraid?”
“June, I’ve had you pretty much all to myself since we’ve met, all that changes tomorrow.”
“The way we are won’t change. I won’t let it.”
“Don’t get me wrong honey. I don’t feel threatened by your family. I’m happy that you’re reuniting with them. I think it’s probably an important step for you to take, in some ways it’ll be like closure for you.”
“But what if I’m rejected? What if the DNA test proves I’m June Davenport and they still don’t want me?”
“That’s not going to happen, your family will accept you, in time they’ll love you.”
“But what if they don’t? What if they never accept me?”
David grins as he brushes back her hair. “Worst case scenarios huh? That’s what’s been going through your head, isn’t it? You’ve been sitting here in the dark imagining your father calling you a con artist and an imposter. In your mind, you see your sisters laughing at you and saying that you look nothing like them. All three of them declare you a big phony and ban you from the kingdom Davenport, eh?”
“Yes, only it didn’t seem so funny at the time. David it could happen, what if it does?”
“Then you’ve still got me and Carol, and Al too. We all love you June and we’re going to keep on loving you. And in time honey, when and if you’re ever ready, the two of us can start our own family.”
“You mean have children of our own?”
“Yes, I would like that very much.”
“So would I, more than you know.”
“You would make a great mother.”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen it done.”
“All you have to do is love them, and that you know how to do.”
“I know I love you David, and maybe someday we’ll have children.”
“And we’ll raise them in a house full of love.”
“In the kingdom Manning?” June asks, smiling now.
“Yes my Queen, in the kingdom Manning.” David says.
Blake Davenport reclines back in his seat at the head of the table in Carol Manning’s dining room and looks over at David seated to his right. Seated to David’s right is Carol. Blake Davenport is a vital looking seventy-six-year-old with a full head of thick, white hair.
David notes with some concern that Blake exudes an aura of haughtiness and hopes that it is only his public demeanor. The last thing June needs is to be rejected by a cold fish. June needs her family.
“Mr. Manning it is not often that I accept luncheon invitations, but your sister is such a delightful young woman that I couldn’t resist attending.”
“I’m glad that you have Mr. Davenport. There’s something very important that I have to talk to you about.”
Blake gives David a knowing smile. “Ah yes, I’ve been waiting for this ever since Carol said that you would be joining us.”
“Waiting for what?”
“Your pitch Mr. Manning, your presentation, your plea, whatever it is that you seek my funding for.”
David looks at Blake sadly. Poor bastard, I can’t blame him for thinking he’s been waylaid for a sales pitch. When most people look at him all they see are those billions, all I see is a cynical old man.
“Mr. Davenport, this may be hard for you to believe but I don’t want your money, my own suffices. The reason Carol asked you here today is a personal one, it concerns your daughter.”
“I am not responsible for my daughter’s outrageous behavior, either one of them. If you have a dispute, take it up with them.”
“Maybe you’ll understand better if I tell it to you from the beginning.” David muses, half to himself.
“Exactly what is it that you want me to understand?”
“Please Sir, give me a few moments and I’ll make everything clear.”
“I’ll give you your few moments young man, but only in deference to your sister.”
Carol smiles. “Thank you Blake, I assure you that my brother is not wasting your time.”
“Mr. Davenport, last September while I was at an outdoor cafe I realized that a homeless girl was watching me. The girl turned out to be a mute and soon began following me wherever I went. This continued for weeks as I tried to ignore her in hopes that she would go away. Thank God she didn’t. Eventually, I decided to confront her and when I did, she embraced me. I cannot even express to myself what occurred during that first embrace and so I won’t even attempt to describe it to you. I will tell you that I instantly understood why she had been following me. She knew that we belonged together, and from that point on I knew it also. Mr. Davenport she and I are now deeply in love and plan to marry in the near future.”
Blake gives David a look of incredulity. “You plan to marry a mute, homeless girl?”
“No Sir, I plan to marry the woman I love, but please, let me continue.”
“Very well, carry on,”
“Thank you. The girl seemed to be living in a world of her own at times, but gradually she emerged from her child-like state and became more aware. In time she regained her ability to speak and is now a fully functioning person. For weeks I searched missing person reports, hoping to discover her identity, I had no luck at all. Then, through sheer chance I stumbled upon her identity. Mr. Davenport…she’s your daughter, June.”
Blake shakes his head slowly as he stares at David. “Young man I don’t know whom this girl is that you speak of but she could not possibly be my daughter June. June is dead.”
“No Sir, she’s very much alive, and as a matter of fact, is sitting in the next room listening to us speak.”
“Damn you Mr. Manning, I identified the body myself. It was June I tell you!”
“I understand your disbelief. I only ask that you meet her and talk to her, she only wants to get to know you.”
“Bring her in here now. Let’s get this charade over with.”
“June honey you can come in now.” David calls.
June sticks her head around the corner in such a timorous and apprehensive manner that David can’t help but see her once more as his Miss Mouse.
June looks at Blake Davenport as if at any moment he might jump up and attack her. She slowly makes her way over to the table and stands behind David’s chair, clutching the top of it with white knuckles.
“Hello Mr. Davenport,” She says.
“What sort of joke is this?” Blake demands.
“What do you mean?” David asks.
Blake glares at June. “Which one are you, April or May?”
“Blak
e she isn’t April or May. She’s your daughter June.” Carol says.
Blake sits silently for a second, but then takes out a cell phone. He dials a number and a moment later speaks.
“Simon, Blake here, where are the girls?” A moment passes and then Blake says. “Listen to me very carefully Simon, I want you to go to the pool and personally look at and talk to both of the girls. Do you understand me? A moment more of listening. “Never mind why, just do it and come back on the line.” While he waits for Simon to report back to him, Blake rises from his chair and walks over to stand before June.
David can see that Blake’s staring is making June nervous, he stands and holds her as Blake continues to glare.
Soon, a tinny sounding electronic voice is heard and Blake raises the phone back to his ear.
“Yes I’m here, the girls at the pool are definitely April and May?” There is a pause and then Blake says. “I know it was a strange request, I’ll explain later, thank you Simon, goodbye.”
Blake stares at June for a moment more and then blinks in amazement.
“Young woman you bear a remarkable resemblance to my daughters, but there is no way in heaven that you are June.”
“Mr. Davenport she’s willing to take a DNA test if you wish. Sir I know how fantastic this must all seem to you but she is your daughter June.”
“No David, Mr. Davenport rarely called me June, he called me June bug.”
“How the hell do you know that young woman, research?” Blake asks.
“No Sir, over the last several days I’ve been remembering bits and pieces about my early years.” June says in a firmer voice, looking less afraid, even somewhat defiant of Blake now.
“All of a sudden you’ve begun having memories eh? Where were you the last twelve years? Where did you grow up? Is there anyone who can verify your story? Why have you made no attempts to contact us until now?”
As Blake fires these questions at June he moves closer to her, until at last, he is towering over her.
David moves between Blake and June. “Hey! You will not bully her with questions. She’s offered to take a DNA test and she’ll do it under any conditions that you choose. If you want to know something, ask her politely.”