Season of Fear

by Brain Freeman

  He heard her laugh again. ‘I hope you didn’t quit because of me.’

  ‘Partly.’

  ‘I feel guilty about that. I don’t own you.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said. ‘I do have a problem, though.’

  The static swallowed her voice again. When she spoke, she said, ‘What problem?’

  ‘I’m anticipating the return of Catch-a-Cab Bolton.’

  ‘Oh.’ Lala knew what his nickname meant. It was a symbol of his jackrabbit past. Never staying in one place. Never staying in one job. He was always chasing something or being chased. ‘So are you going to leave Florida? Tarla won’t be happy.’

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘This is about you, not me.’

  ‘I didn’t say I wanted to leave town. I’m saying I like the idea of working for myself. My vacation from the Naples Police is likely to become permanent. I don’t think I was born to be part of a bureaucracy.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘I just want to make sure you understand that it has nothing whatsoever to do with you and me.’

  ‘Okay.’

  But he didn’t think she believed him.

  ‘Happy Independence Day,’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s past midnight. It’s the Fourth of July.’

  ‘You’re right.’

  ‘No fireworks this year. Chayla’s spoiling the party.’

  ‘I guess so.’

  ‘Did you know that Independence Day is the anniversary of Hamilton Brock going to prison?’ he asked.

  ‘I didn’t.’

  ‘That bothers me. Anniversaries like that are dangerous. Except now I’m starting to wonder whether the Liberty Empire Alliance was involved in Birch’s murder at all.’

  He heard a knocking on his motel room door.

  ‘I have to go,’ he said. ‘I ordered a pizza.’

  ‘You?’

  ‘Yes, me. There aren’t many options here this late.’

  ‘Pizza Hut doesn’t put brie and spinach on their pies, you know.’

  ‘So they told me,’ Cab said.

  ‘Listen, Cab, there’s something you should know.’

  ‘What?’

  She didn’t answer right away. He thought of a thousand different things she might say, and he wasn’t sure how to reply to any of them.

  ‘Nothing,’ she went on.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’m sure. Enjoy your pizza. But remember what I said. If you discover anything that doesn’t feel right, I want you to call me right away.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘I mean it. Call me.’

  ‘Yes, Mother.’

  ‘Oh, that is so not funny.’

  ‘Sure it is,’ he said.

  Cab hung up and put down his wine glass. He felt bad about bringing a pizza delivery guy out in the storm, but he was hungry, and the kid would like the tip. He couldn’t believe they didn’t put brie on their pizzas.

  He grabbed his wallet out of his pocket and opened the motel room door, ushering in a wave of silver rain. It wasn’t a teenager delivering his pizza.

  Peach Piper stood on the doorstep.

  34

  ‘Well,’ Cab Bolton said, as he ushered her into the motel room and closed the door. ‘It’s Peach, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  She watched the gangly detective slump into a chair by the window. He looked amused, rather than surprised, to see her here. He held up a half-empty bottle of wine. ‘Want a glass? It’s excellent, I promise.’

  ‘I don’t drink.’

  ‘I have a pizza coming, if you’re hungry.’

  ‘Is it vegetarian?’

  ‘It is, actually.’

  She shrugged. ‘I could eat.’

  Peach shifted uncomfortably, dripping on the carpet. The room was dark. He noticed her glance at the light switch, and he leaned over with long arms and turned on the lamp. He gestured at the bed. ‘You can sit down for the same price.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘I was about to swear that I have no evil intentions, but since you’re the one who showed up in my motel room, shouldn’t that be your line?’

  Her lips twitched in a small smile. It was hard not to like this man. She sat primly on the end of the bed and put the two damp medical files next to her. His eyes studied the files curiously, but he didn’t ask about them.

  ‘You’re soaked,’ he said. ‘I have an extra blanket in my trunk. Do you want it?’

  ‘No, I’m okay. Thanks, though.’

  Cab eased back into the chair and picked up his glass of wine. ‘So.’

  She knew he was waiting for her to explain. She didn’t know what to say or even why she’d decided to come here. The arrival of the pizza gave her more time. Cab answered the door, paid the boy with what looked like a fifty dollar bill – no change – and propped open the white box on the table in front of him. He put a triangular slice on a paper plate and handed it to her, and when she took a bite, she decided she was ravenous. They finished more than half the pizza in silence.

  He watched her the whole time, but his curious stare didn’t bother her. His blue eyes were smart and ironic; so was his funny little grin. He was unusually handsome. Being so much younger than he was – at least ten years, probably fifteen – she didn’t feel any attraction to him, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a man who was very cute. It wasn’t just his movie star looks. He projected an aura of being utterly comfortable in his own skin. As if he took the world seriously and himself not at all.

  Of all the things she had to say, she finally said: ‘So how tall are you?’

  Cab threw back his head and laughed. She had the impression that he liked her, too. ‘When I wear three-inch stilettos, I’m six-foot-nine,’ he said.

  She giggled. ‘Well, you’re tall even without them.’

  ‘A little.’

  ‘I suppose you’re wondering—’

  ‘Why you’re here? Yes.’

  ‘I saw your car from the highway,’ she said.

  ‘And so you just decided to say hi?’

  ‘Not exactly,’ she admitted.

  He smiled at her. ‘Let’s see, that was you in the plaza near Dr Smeltz’s office, right? I imagine you saw my Corvette in the parking lot at the foundation office today. So after you broke into the doctor’s office to steal Diane Fairmont’s medical file, you decided we were both after the same thing, and you made a leap of faith to trust me enough to share it with me. How am I doing?’

  Peach’s eyes widened. ‘I – um …’

  ‘By the way, I’m not psychic,’ Cab told her. ‘Dr Smeltz called me. He assumed I stole the file myself. He wasn’t happy about his broken window, but he felt better when I offered to pay for the damage.’

  ‘You did?’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘Oh.’ Peach took a glance at the files. ‘Did you tell him it was me?’

  ‘I didn’t know it was you, not until you showed up. By the way, you realize that what you did is against the law, right? If I were a cop, I would have to arrest you, but fortunately, I’m in the process of re-evaluating my career plans.’

  ‘Oh,’ she said again.

  ‘Since you’re not in cuffs, do you want to tell me why it was so important to get your hands on those files?’

  He handed her another slice of pizza, but Peach wasn’t hungry anymore. She was starting to feel young and stupid. ‘I want to know what happened to Justin.’

  ‘So do I.’

  ‘He was looking for Dr Smeltz. I figured that he wanted what you did. He was trying to find out what happened between Mr and Mrs Fairmont.’

  ‘And now you know,’ Cab said. ‘You’ve looked at the files, right?’

  She nodded. ‘It’s really awful.’

  ‘Tell me.’

  Peach got up from the bed. She paced, her fingers laced together in front of her. She wasn’t in disguise now. The rain had washed off her makeup. She’d changed back into
her own oversized T-shirt and red jeans. It made her feel exposed. She didn’t like anyone seeing who she really was.

  Even so, she’d realized immediately that she couldn’t keep the files to herself. Not when she saw what was in them.

  ‘Dr Smeltz wrote it all down. He should have gone to the police, but Ms Fairmont begged him not to. She knew it would destroy her husband. It would have been the end of his campaign. It would have been the end of the Common Way Party. She didn’t want that.’

  Cab waited. She was grateful that he didn’t rush her. Peach grazed the top of the file with her fingertips, as if it could burn her.

  ‘Birch had been drinking. A lot.’

  ‘That’s usually how it starts,’ Cab said.

  ‘He knew that Ms Fairmont had been unfaithful. She’d had an affair.’

  Cab said nothing, but Peach saw discomfort cross his face.

  ‘They argued. There was a lot of shouting. Then he got physical. He started punching her. Kicking her. It was vicious. There was blood everywhere.’

  Peach stopped and felt a sudden wave of nausea that was so strong it almost dropped her to her knees. She backed up to the wall and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes squeezed shut. She could smell her own panic and fear.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Cab asked, concerned.

  ‘Yeah. It’s just – so horrible that he could do that. She never said a word.’

  ‘Even strong women sometimes stay silent,’ Cab said.

  ‘Drew found out,’ Peach went on. ‘He went crazy. He wanted to kill Birch. He was completely out of control. Dr Smeltz put him in rehab.’

  ‘He got out right before Labor Day,’ Cab said.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Still burning for revenge.’

  ‘Yes.’ Peach stared at Cab and whispered: ‘Do you think Drew killed Birch? And my brother?’

  ‘I don’t know, Peach, but it’s possible.’

  She tried to imagine the horror Drew must have felt. The fury. He would have been about the same age then that Peach was now. An adult, but still tethered to his childhood.

  ‘It was terrible, but I’m not sure I can bring myself to blame him,’ she said. ‘Birch nearly killed his mother. He murdered her unborn child. It must have driven Drew insane. How do you live with something like that?’

  The room fell silent, except for the roaring of the rain, which was like a furious heartbeat. Peach stared at the floor, thinking of loss. Her loss. Ms Fairmont’s loss. Things that couldn’t be undone. She kept thinking about Ms Fairmont and felt a kinship with her that she’d never felt before. Knowing what she’d endured, she felt they were joined somehow.

  Peach felt a chill from somewhere and realized it was Cab. When she looked at him, he was suddenly a stranger. He’d stood up from the chair, ghostly white, his handsome face stripped of life. She could see him trembling with an emotion that had opened up like a fissure in the earth. Anger. Or grief. Something inconsolable. He was not the same man he’d been moments earlier.

  ‘What did you say?’ he asked. ‘Birch murdered her child?’

  Peach realized she hadn’t told him the worst part of the story. It was as if she could barely say it out loud. ‘Yes, Ms Fairmont was pregnant,’ she explained. ‘It was in her medical file. That was what started everything. Birch knew the baby wasn’t his. That’s when he started kicking her and when she started screaming. He was punishing her for what she’d done. By the time he stopped, she’d miscarried. She lost the baby.’

  35

  Tarla answered the door in a black silk nightgown and robe. Her feet were bare. Her bed hair was mussed. She was beautiful, but he could see a hint of age in her face, as if it were the first time he’d noticed that she was growing older. He hadn’t seen her since their fight at the Bok Sanctuary, but her lips bent into a smile that was very much like his own. She was about to make a joke. Then she saw his expression, and everything changed. She knew, the way a mother always knows, that her son was in grievous pain.

  ‘What is it, Cab?’

  He pushed past her into the apartment, which was lit only by the kitchen light. The patio doors were opaque with rain. He was exhausted. The two-hour drive from Lake Wales to Clearwater in the storm, with his mind swirling, had left him numb. He wasn’t able to cry.

  ‘Did you know?’ he asked.

  Tarla stared at him. It was in her eyes: She knew exactly what was going on. She said nothing, because she was afraid of anything she might say. This was one of those fragile moments. Play it wrong, and the world would shatter. She was all too familiar with their history. She didn’t want him to run away from her again.

  ‘Did you know?’ he repeated, harsh and demanding.

  ‘Only when you told me about you and Diane,’ Tarla replied calmly. ‘Then I guessed.’

  ‘But you knew she was pregnant. You knew she lost the child.’

  Tarla put her palms together in front of her lips, as if she were praying, which he knew she was not. She didn’t try to embrace him. They weren’t touchy-feely like that, and she was smart enough to realize that this wasn’t a situation that could be fixed with a hug. She sat down on the plush white sofa in the semi-darkness. ‘Sit down, Cab,’ she murmured.

  ‘I’ll stand.’

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake, sit down,’ she snapped, but then she shook her head in annoyance with herself. ‘I’m sorry, darling.’

  Cab sat down in an armchair across from her. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.

  ‘I found out much later,’ Tarla told him. ‘I didn’t know back then. I knew something was wrong – I knew she’d been injured in some way – but I had no idea what had happened. She didn’t say a word. How did you find out, Cab?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  ‘I don’t imagine Diane told you,’ Tarla said.

  ‘She didn’t. When did she tell you?’

  ‘After Drew killed himself. I’m not sure she meant to, but it spilled out with her grief.’

  Cab nodded. ‘What did she say?’

  Tarla clenched her fists in anger. ‘Birch assaulted her brutally. That monster. Honestly, I wish I’d known, I would have killed him myself. Imagine the two faces you need to do something like that to your wife and then stand up and proclaim yourself a political savior.’

  ‘What else did she tell you?’ he asked.

  ‘She realized she was pregnant in July. It was a shock, of course. I gather she’d stopped bothering with protection. You get to your mid-forties without another child, and you start to assume—’

  ‘Did she say who …?’

  ‘She only told me it wasn’t Birch,’ Tarla replied. ‘They hadn’t had sex in months. You have to believe me, Cab, she did not tell me who the father really was. I asked, of course, but she said she hadn’t told him, and she said she would never tell anyone. She said …’ Tarla stopped. ‘Do you really want to hear what she said about it, darling?’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘She told me it was a one-time affair. Literally one-time. She said it was born out of her great need, and it was with a man who made her feel special for the first time in a long time.’

  ‘And who ran away and avoided her for a decade,’ Cab said bitterly.

  ‘Well, what did you plan to do, Cab? Marry her? You may recall, she was already married at the time.’

  ‘Is that supposed to make me feel better?’ he asked. ‘I’m angry at myself, but I’m angry at her, too. She never told me. Don’t you think I had a right to know? The baby was mine, too.’ It was strange how devastating those words were as he heard them on his lips.

  ‘I understand, darling, but consider her situation. A married woman whose husband is running a political campaign? She finds herself pregnant by another man? Most women in her situation would have ended it. She didn’t. She wanted the baby.’

  ‘Was it a boy or a girl?’ he asked quietly.

  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know.’

  A son or a daughter. That was the kind of questi
on a single man didn’t take much time to think about. He felt a wave of rage directed at Birch Fairmont. The man had murdered his child. If he’d known the truth back then, he might have killed Birch himself.

  He had to remind himself: Someone did.

  ‘She couldn’t have expected to keep it a secret forever,’ Cab said. ‘Sooner or later, people were going to notice.’

  ‘I think for a while she simply couldn’t face it. She kept it from everyone as long as she could. I was her best friend, but she never told me. Birch was so caught up in the campaign, I doubt he saw what was happening to her. On the other hand, you’re right, it couldn’t last forever. So she decided to tell him.’

  Cab knew how it went from there.

  She told Birch that weekend. That Saturday night.

  It was bad.

  ‘That was when he assaulted her,’ Cab murmured.

  ‘Yes. The man cheated on her constantly, but let her have one affair and he couldn’t handle it. She didn’t want a divorce – that was the last thing she wanted. She told Birch the real father didn’t know and never would. She said no one would ever think that the baby wasn’t his. They could announce it. It would be a boost to his campaign. A little late-in-life miracle. Voters would love the idea.’ Tarla carefully brushed a tear from each of her eyes. ‘Well, you know how Birch reacted.’

  Cab wanted to cry, but he felt empty. He had nothing inside.

  ‘I’m so sorry, darling,’ Tarla said. ‘Really I am. If I had known, I would have told you. You deserved the truth.’

  ‘It wouldn’t have changed anything.’

  ‘I suppose not.’ His mother studied his sunken face and said: ‘Does Diane know that you’ve found out about this?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Are you going to tell her?’

  ‘Do you think I should?’ Cab asked.

  ‘Yes, I do. I’m going over to Diane’s place tomorrow to ride out Chayla with her. I could talk to her myself, but I think it’s something you need to do. You have questions, and she’s the only one who can answer them.’

  ‘I have questions, but she won’t like them,’ Cab said.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘She kept the story hidden. I need to know why.’