by Alice Ward
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Worth
Auggie was not long in coming. She and her dad had a special relationship and if he needed her, she never hesitated to come. He met her outdoors and took the baby, telling her to go inside.
She walked into the room and saw me sitting there. Like a doe on high alert, she began to turn on her toes to leave.
“Auggie, wait! It’s not what you think.”
“How do you know what I think?” she asked, her tone hateful.
“I know you’re hurt. I’m pretty sure I know what you think is going on and you have every right to be pissed. But it’s not true, and if you’ll just give me five minutes to explain, I’ll settle for whatever you want to do after that.”
She just stared at me.
“Please, Auggie?” I’d never begged her before and she knew that. She looked over her shoulder through the window to see her dad sitting comfortably on the patio with Ford bouncing on his lap. She looked down at the hardwood floor, bare now that her mother’s Aubusson rugs had been removed. She nodded, finally, and took a seat near me on the high back sofa. The light made her hair glow as if it were an entity unto itself.
I began my explanation and to her credit, she sat silently and heard me out. “I had to figure out some way to get Linc out of the picture. I know he’s jealous of me and all that we have together. I think that’s his main purpose in being here. The story about the syndicate was just to scare me. He’s really here to break us up and to take what he considers his birthright.”
“I agree,” she said quietly, lifting her hair and nervously twisting it into a pony tail over her shoulder.
“I was reaching, Auggie. I had to figure out a plan. The only thing I could think of was to create a distraction and have him latch onto something else that appeared to appeal to me, to lure him like a moth to a brighter light. I know it was a shitty plan.”
“You’re talking about Jessie Klinger?” she asked in a hopeful voice.
“Yes, sweetheart. I don’t care anything about her. It’s all been a set-up. I pretended to be crazy about her and the only way to make him fall for it was if you were jealous. It would be hard for you to pretend — you’re not the phony I am — but I never thought it would go so far as for you to find out and get hurt by it. It was never, ever my intention to hurt you.”
“I’m not a fool!” she said in an angry, hurt voice. She slammed a sofa pillow down and I couldn’t blame her if she threw it at me.
“That’s my fault, for underestimating you. I’m so sorry, Auggie.”
“So?”
“So…? What?” I asked her, puzzled.
“Did it work?”
“Oh, that. Yes, he bit. I staged an event at the clinic on Thursday night and he showed up, just like I expected. I made a show of having her at my side and before the event was even over, they sneaked out together. Actually, they’re well suited. They’re two of a kind.”
“I know.”
“How did you know?”
The corner of her mouth lifted. “Because she’s in his room at the farm right now.”
“You mean, he brought her home?”
“Yes. Mother is fit to be tied. It takes away from her power to have another female in the house. I couldn’t figure out how she got there. Eventually, it made sense. I didn’t realize you were behind it. I just thought Linc had stolen her away from you.”
“I’m glad. That is, I’m glad the plan worked, even if it was really unfair to you. I’m sorry you got hurt, sweetheart. I just didn’t think.”
“We talked about this, Worth. This habit of yours to manipulate people. I told you I wouldn’t support your doing that any more. You agreed, remember?”
“I know. I know.” I was abashed. “I just couldn’t think of any other way to get this accomplished and I fell back on what I knew best.”
She was silent.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, fearing the worst
“I can’t get angry with you because I did the same thing.”
“Oh?” I relaxed just a bit, thinking she was finally coming clean.
“I decided to beat you at your own game. I went to Linc and convinced him I wanted to teach you a lesson. I promised to get him connected to the inner circle around here and convinced Mother to help. I told him I’d turn his farm into a breeding center and make him rich. He thinks he’s taking me away from you by getting me invested in his business. He figures he’s ruining you, and it was my plan. So, I’m not any better than you are.”
We sat in silence for a long time, thinking about what each of us had done and what that meant now that we were privy to the same information. I realized that she and I would always be a united team, no matter how many arguments we had. She was my equal and I deserved to be horsewhipped. So did she.
“Where do we go from here?” she asked finally. “If I don’t go back to his farm, he’ll know something is up and eventually will figure out the Jessie Klinger part of the plan too. Then we’ll both be out of ammunition and Mother will be added to his stockpile.”
“I can’t imagine him enjoying living with her,” I speculated.
“He doesn’t,” she supplied, grinning for the first time. “It sort of backfired on him.” I had to grin at this. “Worth, I don’t want to go back to that farm. It’s an evil place. The baby hated it there, crying the whole time. There’s too much bad history; it emanates from the walls.”
“I know,” I said. “It always felt that way to me too. I thought it was just me.”
“No,” she shook her head. “Please, help me figure out a way that I don’t have to go back there.”
I sat there, deep in thought while Auggie made her dad and me a cup of coffee and fed Ford. Mr. Langford finally came up with the only possible solution. “Auggie, you’ll have to get hurt.”
“What?” I cried out and she looked at him in alarm.
“Auggie, do you still have that friend, Todd Green, the police officer?”
“Yes,” she answered. “He’s with the state police now, I think.”
“Do you think he’d do you a favor?” He was thinking over a plan.
“He always has,” she said and quickly looked at me for a reaction.
“See if you can get hold of him. We need to manufacture an accident. You’ll need to be hurt and flown out of state for special care. We won’t need Todd unless Linc gets nosy and checks with the authorities. I’ll keep the baby while you supposedly leave and have an auto accident. We’ll hide your car and you’ll stay here with me. Worth will take Ford home to Betsy to look after. In fact, Worth, you hire an additional nanny. Worth can bring the baby to me every once in a great while, but it has to be secret. It’s the only way I can see it clear.”
Auggie and I considered it and finally she nodded. She had big tears in her eyes and held Ford to her chest. “I can’t stand the idea of being separated from him,” she said. “Are you sure it’s the only option?”
“It could keep him from getting hurt, Auggie,” I told her in what I hoped was a soothing voice. “Linc’s after us both. I know I started this mess—”
“No!” she broke in. “He started this mess. We’re just trying to deal with it.”
“If we take you out of the picture for a while, he’ll get attracted to Jessie Klinger. They’re made for each other and with any luck, she’ll coerce him into going to Cincinnati with her and he’ll leave the farm, and our lives, for good.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” her dad put in.
“It’s the only one we have,” Auggie said in a small voice. “But how will this get Worth off the hook for introducing him around?”
I lifted a shoulder. “I’ll just have to make sure Jessie leads him out of town.”
Auggie twisted around. “I wish there was a better way,” she said, “but for now, let me call Todd. Thank God I trained Bernie. He can cover for me.”
“No!” I stopped her. “You might trust him but consider this. First, there’s no telling
what Linc would threaten him with if he thought something was fishy. Secondly, things can’t go forward as planned. It would be too obvious that you’re pulling strings from somewhere and Linc will track you down. We have to keep this as quiet as possible. The story will be that Auggie brought the baby to see you, Mr. Langford and then she went to the store for something and the accident happened. The authorities contact me and she’s stat-flighted out of state. I will supposedly call you because the baby was left with you and because you’re her father. If you’ll call and let her mother know… Auggie, would she want to fly to your side?”
Auggie looked at me with some incredulity. “Mother? Are you kidding?”
“No, I suppose not,” I agreed. “Okay, so I’ll arrange to be out of town, supposedly by Auggie’s side and return frequent updates. I’ll have an agency send over a nanny for additional backup if you’ll drive him to my house? I’ll need to be at Auggie’s side.”
“Why can’t the baby and Betsy just stay here with me?” Auggie asked, looking hopeful. “If you’re supposed to be by my side, then no one would give it a second thought that he stays with dad.”
I gave it some thought, knowing how desperate she would want to be with Ford. Finally, I shook my head. “It’s too risky and puts Betsy in danger. I can’t do that to her, or her sister, or another nanny. Plus, if they stay at our house, it gives me additional reasons to go back and forth as needed.” I placed my hand over hers. “Sorry, sweetheart.”
She clasped my hand back and only nodded.
“We’ll go now and put Auggie’s car in storage somewhere that it can’t be found,” I went on. “Auggie, we’ll have to find you some clothes, but you can order those in, as well as anything else you might need. Be careful not to use your normal email or go onto social media. No one can find out you’re here. Mr. Langford, is it possible for me to get my car into one of the barns so I can visit Auggie at night?”
“They’re empty right now — take your pick.”
I nodded. “Auggie, you have to stay inside. No one, not even the farm hands or a neighbor can know you’re here. I’ll have Bernie take care of Carlos and the other horses and work with Beverly, but it has to be on a limited basis. Enough to keep him employed but not so much as to require decisions from you.”
“How long will this take?” Auggie whined.
“Sweetheart, I have no idea. I’ll do my best to push Jessie toward Linc, but I have to be careful about doing it. If they don’t develop the right chemistry, the whole thing will fall apart.”
Mr. Langford spoke up. “I’ll call Caren and get her riled up about the new woman in the house. She’ll feel her power slipping away and become more and more difficult to live with. When she gets desperate, her bitchiness comes out.”
“Dad!” Auggie was amazed. “I’ve never heard you refer to her that way!”
“Well?” he held out his hands for definition.
“Yes, you’re right. She will. She’ll become impossible to live with and Linc will want her out.”
Auggie interrupted. “Worth, what about your mother? Won’t she want to know what’s going on? Or insist on visiting me in the hospital?”
Mr. Langford chuckled. “Leave her to me. We see each other from time to time and I’ll gently push her in the other direction. In fact, I’ll suggest that maybe Linc would like to sell the farm and she could help things by buying it back from him. He’ll get the money he wants and an exit.”
Auggie clapped her hands together. “Other than the part about not seeing the baby, this is going to be fun!”
“Not so fast, Auggie,” I cautioned her. “It could backfire and then we will have lost our only chance. Linc is dangerous. No one can afford to screw up. Promise?”
They both nodded as they thought through their respective roles. I felt a lump in the pit of my stomach. Everyone I loved was at stake. Could I play my role?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Worth
“Caren, it’s me. Stay calm now but there’s been an accident. It’s Auggie. It’s serious. No, quiet now and listen to me. She brought the baby and came to see me this afternoon. She ran to the store to get some milk and evidently another car hit her broadside. Worth got a call and is on his way to the airport. They’re stat-flighting her to a bigger hospital — I’m not sure where. I’ve got the baby here with me and will take him over to let Betsy take care of him while Worth’s gone. I don’t have any more information than that, but I will let you know.” He listened a few moments and then said, “I know you’re not able to take care of the baby,” Auggie’s dad rolled his eyes at us, “and that’s why I’m taking him to Betsy. Then you won’t have to worry about it. No, I know you can’t fly anywhere either… those blood clots you sometimes get in your legs. You’re not to worry your head, hear me? Between Worth and I, we’re going to take care of everything. I’ll keep you posted.”
After he hung up, I called Bernie and gave him his assignments. He was, to his credit, very upset and offered to do anything he could. I sort of liked the guy. Auggie and I had already hidden her car and she’d called Todd who agreed to put the word out that if any calls came in regarding Auggie LaViere, they were to be put through to him. We couldn’t tell anyone else, not even Brandon, although Auggie didn’t want him to worry. It had to look realistic.
To be on the safe side, I drove to the airport and put my car into long-term parking and then rented one. That allowed me to travel a bit more locally without being seen. I also called my office and had them cancel my appointments until further notice. Deborah Hunt, my assistant at the Louisville clinic would deal with things. As a precaution, I also called Cincinnati and left a voice mail for Jessie about the circumstances and asked her to take care of things for me, and that I’d be in touch. I called Betsy and told her Mr. Langford was bringing Ford home and that Auggie had been in an accident and I would be in and out as permitted. I told her to call an agency for help but she said her sister would come. That was fine with me. I told her to simply have her sister stay in an extra room until this all resolved.
As I was driving back to the farm, my cell buzzed and I was surprised to see Linc’s name on the caller ID. I didn’t answer it, but let it go to voice mail. No doubt he was more concerned with what he was supposed to do with Jessie than the fate of his sister. Let him figure it out — it only furthered our plan if he drove her home and maybe stayed a few days. Knowing Auggie’s mother, he was probably looking for somewhere to escape to anyway.
Without knowing what hospital Auggie was supposedly in, there was no trackable patient information. Auggie’s car was in hiding, as was she. I hoped she could deal with her captivity. I also hoped I had all the bases covered.
I couldn’t return to the Langford farm now or risk being seen by the farmhand, so I spent my time buying some clothing, a new computer, new cell phone, personal articles and favorite foods for Auggie. The farmhands always went home by dark and returned at dawn. That would be my window of opportunity to spend time with her.
I waited past dark and called Mr. Langford to make sure the coast was clear. I pulled into the yard and behind the barn and between us, we ferried the purchases I’d made into the house.
Drawing the blinds and curtains, Auggie was free to move about the house. No one would think it unusual given that Mr. Langford could be very upset and not sleeping well.
We had a light dinner and Auggie already was missing Ford. He was at that stage when babies begin doing things like crawling, sitting up and some even began to experiment with walking or pulling themselves up. We discussed that it was the price of his safety and I promised to take pictures and send her whenever I could. Luckily, she had been in the process of weaning him from nursing, so he had already been getting used to formula. I had also purchased myself a new cell phone so we had private lines that no one knew about.
After dinner, Auggie and I went up to her bedroom. She turned on the water in the bathroom and began to undress. I followed her and did likewise. We climb
ed into the shower and stood there, wet naked skin against skin, holding tightly. I kissed her hard on the mouth and then in paths over her naked body. I carried her to the bed and made love to her. It was an almost eerie experience. We were, on one hand, making up for lost time when we’d both been angry with the other. Well, she more with me, but I felt justified. At the same time, we made love almost as if she had, indeed, been hurt, and we might be parted for a lifetime. We entered a world where only the two of us existed. There were no interruptions; no casual conversation and no child. There was only a need to reassure one another that what we were doing was the right thing; the thing that would keep us all safe. It was a simple, possessive lovemaking and after she fell asleep, I lay there a long time and watched her.
For the first several days, I had to pretend to be by Auggie’s bedside, so I was forced to essentially go into hiding. I couldn’t appear at the farm until late, after dark when the farmhands were gone. I spent this time driving around, thinking and taking in movies in distant towns. From time to time, I checked in with my office, although I avoided speaking directly to either Jessie or Deborah. Mr. Langford kept up with his assigned people and the story had Auggie hanging on, but we were hopeful. The fewer details, the better.
After two weeks, Auggie had turned the corner and was stable. She would be transferred to a rehabilitation center somewhere in the south where she would stay in seclusion. I would return to work and to look after Ford.
In the meantime, it seemed our plan was working, just as I’d hoped. Linc had seized the opportunity of my absence to spend more time with Jessie Klinger. She, feeling angry with me for having left her with so much to deal with and yet not spoken to her directly, responded to his advances. It seemed they had formed a sort of devil’s liaison and we heard via Mrs. Langford’s conversations with Mr. Langford that Linc was seldom about. This lessened our element of danger, as well.
Auggie and I spent our nights in one another’s arms. Sometimes we never even made the bed but used it as a sort of living/sleeping room. By necessity, we kept the lights off at night, even though the heavy drapes at the window were always closed. Auggie had learned to read my body; the cover of darkness heightens the remaining senses. Her fingers began on the cleft in my chin, a sort of starting spot that fit her index finger perfectly. She slid fingertips down my chest, kissing my face so that I could suck her breasts at the same time. When her hand eventually reached my dick, she’d pump me with excruciating slowness, each stroke coaxing me to swell larger and longer.
