“When will she be back, Daniel?”
Daniel could feel perspiration start to soak his shirt collar at the back of his neck. “I guess when they’re done shopping. She didn’t give me a definite day. You know women when it comes to shopping.”
“As a matter of fact, I do know a thing or two about women. I’m sure you know the hotel she’s staying in. I suggest you call her and ask her to come back. We’ll schedule dinner for tomorrow night. You look like you’re having a problem with this, Daniel.”
“I don’t understand why you’re making my wife’s trip to Los Angeles sound so important. Helen wanted to take advantage of the after-Christmas sales. We didn’t take a vacation last year. I promised her this trip. She just left. How can I call her back? What’s so important about a social dinner?” Daniel asked, his voice turning desperate.
“Why don’t you give me the phone number of the hotel, and I’ll call her personally.”
The knot in Daniel’s stomach moved up to his chest. His hands felt clammy and cold. He struggled to maintain his composure. “Isn’t this an invasion of my privacy, Arthur?”
The CEO leaned across his desk, his eyes narrow and icy cold. “Yes. Yes, it is, Daniel. I’ve heard some shocking things these past ten days, and I don’t like what I heard. Prior to the recent stories I’ve been hearing, my secretary had hinted that possibly you were abusing your wife. Needless to say, I was shocked. This is a family business with family-oriented personnel. I will not tolerate such behavior. What I’m saying to you, Daniel, is this. Produce your wife, or I’ll have to terminate your employment. And while you’re at it, I’d like to hear about your injury in more detail. Falling over a chair on the deck doesn’t warrant the kind of claims that showed up on your health-insurance forms.”
Sweat trickled down the front and back of Daniel’s starched shirt. “Is that why you froze me out of the Tyger account? I designed that program. Who told you those lies? Your secretary? She doesn’t know me or my wife,” he blustered.
“It’s not important. What’s important is, are those rumors true?”
“I’ve worked for you for fifteen years, Arthur. I gave you my blood, my sweat and yes, even my tears at times. Yes, you paid me, and you paid me well. This is not fair. I refuse to stand here and have you make accusations that are totally false. When Helen gets back, I will personally drive her over to your house for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We can have a goddamn sleepover if you want. Until then, stay out of my private life, or you’ll be looking down the wrong end of a lawsuit.”
“What would you say if I told you I know exactly where Helen is? What if I told you I could pick up the phone and talk to her right now, this very minute?”
“I’d say you’re lying. What you are implying is that I manhandled her, and now she is in Isabel Tyger’s program. It doesn’t work that way, and we both know it. Call her, Arthur. Right now.”
Arthur King leaned back in his chair, his fingers making a steeple against his nose. He saw the fear in his employee’s eyes and drove home his point. “That’s true, Daniel. I can’t call her, but Isabel can. I’m giving you twenty-four hours to bring your wife into this office. If you don’t, your employment is terminated. If we can prove you physically abused your wife, a police report will be filed. You will leave here with no stock options, no severance. Your 401K will go with you. That’s it. I’ll see to it that you never work in this industry again.”
“You can’t do that!” His head was wet now. Soon his sweat would be dripping into his eyes.
Arthur shook his head sadly. “One or two more years, Daniel, and you could have stepped into my shoes. I’m retiring in the not-too-distant future. That was always my long-term plan for you. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I brought you along at a slow pace, taught you everything I know. I was looking forward to turning the reins over to you when I retire. We both know you aren’t going to have Helen here by tomorrow, so why don’t you clear out your office and leave now.”
“This is a nightmare,” Daniel mumbled.
“If you abused Helen, then yes, this is a nightmare. You need help, Daniel. I suggest counseling. Your insurance will be in effect for eighteen months. Take advantage of it. Give me your pass and your keys to the building.”
Daniel licked at his dry lips. He unhooked the pass from his belt and tossed it on the table. The keys to the building slid across the shiny surface. “You haven’t heard the last of this, Arthur. My attorney will be in touch.”
“You have twenty-four hours, Daniel. Call me if Helen appears. I’ll be more than happy to listen to anything she has to say.”
“You aren’t the only computer company in this valley, Arthur. I’ve been fighting off offers for the last five years. Kiss my ass, Mr. CEO,” Daniel shouted in the open doorway.
They were all looking at him like they knew. Son of a fucking bitch!
Daniel slammed the door of his office so hard a paperweight slid across his desk onto the floor. He looked around. The best office in the building, better than Arthur’s because it had three walls of windows. Fifteen years of mind-boggling devotion to Arthur King and ComStar, and here he was kicked out on his ass and all because he’d pushed his wife around a little. No stock options, no severance. He could fight that. His 401K was healthy, with ComStar kicking in a buck for each five he put in. How the hell long would that last him with a two-thousand-dollar-a-month mortgage and that much again in a second and third mortgage, along with a thousand-dollar-a-month leased car? And the equity loan on the house, he couldn’t forget that. The time payments on the baby grand, the in-ground pool payments, the furniture and carpet payments. That didn’t count food, liquor, gas, or utilities and the maxed-out credit cards, all seven of them. Ten months, maybe a full year if he was frugal once he factored in the taxes and penalties.
Clear out his office. What the fuck was there to clear out? Nothing he wanted. Did Arthur really think he was going to take the sorry-assed rubber plant in the corner? Maybe he’d take the two bottles of Scotch in the bottom drawer, but that was it. Hell yes, he’d have to take Helen’s smiling picture. Anything to make Arthur King happy.
“Sayonara, ComStar,” Daniel said as he offered up a sloppy salute in the direction of Arthur King’s portrait hanging on his wall. He took a healthy pull from one of the Scotch bottles before he dumped both into his briefcase.
“Fuck you, Arthur! This ain’t over until I say it’s over!”
4
Lucie in her arms, Helen followed a tall thin woman down the stairs and out to the garden. She saw everything at a glance—the women seated in comfortable garden chairs, three sparkling pitchers of ice tea on the table, bright-jacketed books, the colorful array of flowers and vines climbing the walls, the emerald green shrubbery and perfectly manicured borders of velvety grass. Someone had spent a lot of time creating this restful garden. She knew she would spend as much time there as allowed.
“Ladies, this is guest number Nine and guest number Nine-A. Going clockwise, this is Angela, Paula, Carol, Susan, Mary, Connie, Delphine, and Ardeth. We’re equipped to handle twenty guests at any one time. Sometimes we have to crunch a little if an emergency arises. There are seven children in the west wing. I’m Mona. I live here permanently. If you ladies are comfortable, I think we can get started. If you feel you would like to join in, Nine, feel free.”
Helen settled back into the comfortable cushions, Lucie cuddled in her lap. She listened to the women as they shared their experiences and wanted to cry for them and for herself as well. How strange, she thought, they look so normal, so ordinary, and yet they’re just like me. With that realization, the tightness between her shoulder blades eased.
Two small birds perched on the highest part of the wall. Helen stared at them as she envied their freedom to fly away at a moment’s notice. Like her, though, they had to watch for predators. I was never a weak-kneed person until I met Daniel, she thought. I managed to raise myself, grow up, go to college, take care of myself—and d
estroy all my hard work in that one moment when I said, “I do.” She wondered if the others felt the same way. She asked.
The chorus of yeses rang in Helen’s ears.
Helen started to cry when Ardeth, the last to speak, stood up with her glass of ice tea in her hand. “I want to toast all of us sitting here today. We’re the lucky ones. I’m going to miss all of you when I leave tomorrow. I know I’ll never see you again, and that’s okay because even though our stay here is brief, all of you touched my life and my children’s lives as well. I wish for you what I wish for myself: peace, sanity, and a healthy life free of fear.”
Helen cleared her throat. “Good luck,” she murmured. Lucie squirmed to be let down. Mona nodded. Helen watched her dog, her gaze intent. She was off her chair in a flash when the little dog ventured too far from her sight. Panic rivered through her as she ran to Lucie to scoop her into her arms.
“It’s all right. She can’t go anywhere. This is as new to her as it is to you. She has to sniff and find her way. We’ve had other animals here from time to time. She’s picking up their scent,” Mona said soothingly.
“I know. It’s just that . . .”
“She’s all you have left,” the woman named Mary said. “Mona told us about you. You have us for a short while. It’s my turn to cook tonight. Any suggestions?”
Helen surprised herself by saying, “Pepper steak.”
“Pepper steak it is.”
“It’s my turn to clean the downstairs bathrooms,” Alice said. “However, I will be on time for our book discussion at four.”
Mona turned to Helen. “Our guests lead a very sheltered life for the sixty days they spend with us before being transferred. We try to keep up-to-date. Newspapers, books, the latest videos. We don’t ignore the spiritual here either. Three days a week a minister, priest, and rabbi come to talk to us. At night we have a candlelight service here in the garden before retiring. Come if you like. It’s not mandatory. There are two other points I want to touch on. Strange as this may sound, we discourage friendships. There’s no way you can maintain a friendship when you leave here, so it is best all around. The second thing I want to mention is our self-defense course. Trained professionals come here on a voluntary basis. We expect you to cooperate. The course could save your life. Our rules are carved in stone. I know you know all this, Number Nine, but it bears repeating. No one answers the door but me. You are not permitted to make phone calls or answer the phone. We do not discuss our previous lives or share events of the past, only those things that brought you here. If you break any of the rules, you could endanger our other guests. If that happens, you will be asked to leave. It’s that simple.”
“I understand,” Helen said quietly.
“In all the years we’ve been in operation, we’ve only lost two guests. I’ll take it as a personal affront if we lose another,” Mona said briskly.
“Mona, tell Number Nine whose picture is in the foyer,” one of the women said.
Mona’s face was grim when she spoke. “Sheila was Number Eight when she came to us in the month of August nine years ago. She adapted well, liked our program, and did everything she was supposed to do, but she felt guilty and truly believed in her marriage vows of until death do us part. She . . . left in the middle of the night and went back to her husband. Two months later she was dead. Her husband beat her so badly they could only identify her through her dental records. The man was a high-powered attorney in Los Angeles. He’s in prison now. She left four children who are in foster care today. If you go back, there will be a next time just the way there was a next time for Sheila.”
A lump the size of a golf ball settled in Helen’s throat. She struggled to speak. “Are we allowed off the premises?” Helen asked.
As one, the answer was a resounding, “No!”
“At first it seems like you’re in prison,” Angela said quietly. “Once you learn to let it all go, it gets better. You’ll learn to think in terms of safety and a life with no fear. You won’t be waiting for what comes next. You won’t worry that the kitchen or bathroom is spotless or that you forgot to take out the trash. You won’t have to fear that hour of the day we all dread when he walks through the door and you can tell by the look in his eyes that it won’t be a good night for you, your children, or your animals. That’s all gone. All you have to worry about now is Mary’s cooking.”
Helen smiled. Her first real smile in days.
“Then, ladies, this ends our group session for the day. I can use some help in the office. Whose turn is it?”
“Mine,” the young girl named Delphine said as she struggled up from her chair. Helen watched her limp painfully behind Mona. Her eyes were full of questions, but she said nothing.
“The dumb-ass guy she was living with threw her down a pair of steps and broke both her hips. But not before he knocked all her teeth out,” Connie said flatly.
“How . . . how . . . does anyone know how many women have come through here, or is that something I’m not supposed to ask?” Helen said.
“There’s a chart in the office. When we leave, we sign it. Thousands.”
A second golf ball settled in Helen’s throat. “My husband is a computer genius. He knows how to crack . . . you know, tap into anything. I saw a whole bunch of computers in the office when I got here.”
“We went on manual ten days ago. New software is being designed by one of the top firms in Silicon Valley. It should be operational in a few weeks. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. This house is armed with the latest high-tech gadgetry, and did you get a good look at the doors? Two layers of solid mahogany with steel bars in between. The windows are shatter-proof, and there are bars on the inside. They open with a key. Mona keeps them. The keys, I mean. Do you feel better now?”
“I guess so. Does our benefactor ever come here?”
“I’ve been here two months, and I’ve never seen her,” Ardeth said. “But to answer your question, I don’t think so. She’s supposed to be very rich and owns some big toy company. No one really knows anything about her, and Mona is tight-lipped. She’s right, though; the less we know the better off we are. I’m just grateful there is a person like Miss Tyger.”
“I know I was told at some point the way this all works, but that was such a bad time for me. It’s all a big blur. I have so many questions. What happens if you don’t like where they’re sending you?”
“Then you’ll just have to suck it up. Anything is better than what I came from. My children are my top priority. What’s best for them is best for me. Life is whatever you make it. We’re all getting a second chance here. I plan to keep up my end of the bargain, so you see, it doesn’t matter where I go as long as my children and I are safe. I want you all to remember something. Those men that abused us are in their third stage of behavior right now. Revenge. They’re out there looking for us. You know it, and so do I. That’s the way it works. Sorry to skip out on you, but I promised the kids I’d play Monopoly with them this afternoon,” Ardeth said.
“I hope we’re doing the right thing, Lucie. I don’t see any other option right now. Even if it is pretty and comfortable here, we just might have traded one prison for another. It’s for now. Later will take care of itself.”
The little dog licked her hand.
“I keep getting this eerie feeling that someone is watching me,” Isabel Tyger said as she looked over her shoulder. “Maybe what I need is a good stiff drink.”
“Sounds good to me,” Arthur King said, holding up his hand to signal the waiter. “What will you have, Gerry?”
“A double vodka collins.”
“A double Scotch straight up,” Isabel said.
“Double bourbon on the rocks,” Arthur said. He waited until the waiter was out of earshot before he spoke. “I fired him.”
Isabel clapped her hands. “There is a God after all. You did it just like that!”
“What other way was there? I had him cold. I wish you could have seen him sweat. In
a million years I never would have believed Daniel Ward was capable of such a thing. How could I have been so wrong? I thought I had good judgment.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Artie. People like Daniel and Helen Ward go to great lengths to hide a shameful secret like that. In time, Helen is going to be just fine. It’s her husband who is going to be a problem. He’s about to go into his revenge mode about now. He’ll see his job loss as his downfall and blame Helen. Soon he will realize blame isn’t good enough. He’s going to want to find her so he can punish her for your firing him. The word punish to Daniel Ward at this stage may even mean finding Helen and killing her.”
“What kind of man was he?” Gerry asked.
“The perfect Silicon Valley computer whiz. CEO material. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. He worked long hours, was always in early and left late. Never took time off, never called in sick. He dressed well; he was always immaculately groomed. Shoes polished, fresh haircut, car always clean. I thought of him as a perfectionist. I had no clue, none at all, that he was capable of such behavior. I don’t know anyone who is his equal when it comes to software design. He was being groomed to step into my shoes. He was always pleasant, affable, got along well with his coworkers. He’s a Jekyll and Hyde. In many ways he wasn’t what we call a team player. Other times, he was. Why didn’t I know?”
“You weren’t supposed to know. We still wouldn’t know if he hadn’t gone after Helen’s dog. A dog he gave her, mind you. Everyone has a breaking point, Artie. The dog was hers. I’m sorry the poor animal had to go through what she went through, but it was a blessing in disguise. Helen is free of him now, and she’s safe. I’ve made the decision not to tell her he was fired. Right or wrong, I’ll live with it. She knows this man. She knows he’s going to leave no stone unturned in his quest to find her.”
“I barred him from the building and the grounds. I don’t think he’ll show up again. He was too angry, but it was a controlled anger, something I’d never seen in him. He denied it to the end, said his wife was shopping in Los Angeles. I told him to clean out his office. The only thing he took was his liquor and Helen’s picture. It was a fuck-you gesture. That I did recognize. You can keep her safe, can’t you, Izz?”
What You Wish For Page 4
