No answers came during the night and a conversation with Matt over breakfast only added to her confusion.
"Are you going to go out with him again?" Matt asked in a tone that said he was hoping for a negative response.
"I... I'm not sure. Why?"
" 'Cause he's a creep."
Barbara stopped herself from reacting thoughtlessly. She had been afraid this might happen. He was jealous. "If he's such a creep, why didn't you turn down his invitation to the circus?"
Matt shrugged and pushed his scrambled eggs around on his plate. "I didn't know what a creep he was then."
"But you do now? I'm a little confused. Friday night you were suggesting I go away for a weekend with him. You jumped at the chance to go to the circus with him yesterday and you were having a great time until you got an upset stomach. Then after we got home—"
"I didn't have an upset stomach. I was mad."
"Over what?"
He sighed, practically out of patience with her.
"Sorry, kiddo, you're going to have to give me a few more clues. I mean, if he's really a creep I wouldn't want to go out with him again, but since I didn't see him do anything creepy—"
"That's 'cause you didn't go to the men's room with us."
Every hair on Barbara's body stood on end. She leaned forward and spoke very slowly so as not to frighten him into silence. "What did he do, Matthew? Tell me everything." As unbelievable as the prospect of Kyle being a child molester seemed, she braced herself for the worst.
Matt played with his eggs for a few more seconds then decided to tell her. "He waited outside the men's room while I went in. When I came out, I saw them, standing real close together and he was whispering something in her ear that made her laugh. And when she saw me she pushed him away, but it was too late. I already saw."
Though he sat there looking very smug, his explanation didn't clear up anything for Barbara. "She, who?" He rolled his eyes in exasperation. She quickly thought back to their trip to the men's room together. Tammy had excused herself seconds later, so Barbara had stayed behind to guard their seats. "Are you talking about Kyle and Tammy?"
She was so relieved that it wasn't the conclusion she'd jumped to, she almost laughed out loud, but his sad little pout held her in check. He wasn't jealous of his mother having a boyfriend. This was about Tammy.
"Oh, sweetie. You know how noisy it was there. He was probably only leaning close so she could hear him."
"You think so?"
"Yes, but I think you ought to know, Tammy has a boyfriend."
He made a face. "You mean Michael. They had a fight. She told me she had more fun with me."
Barbara decided she and Tammy would have to have a talk about Matt's feelings, but for now, it was time to get moving.
On the way to school, he talked about his and Kenny's plans for the week, but before he got out of the car, he got back to his first comment of the day. "I've been thinking. I guess it would be okay if you wanted to go out with Kyle again."
"You don't think he's a creep anymore?"
"I don't know. I just figured I'd invite Kenny next time instead of Tammy."
She sent him off with a hug and a smile, but as she drove to work, she kept thinking back to their time at the circus. Could Matt have been right? Had there been a few sparks between Kyle and Tammy and she'd missed it entirely? She was just so very, very bad at analyzing men. In this case, she would actually be relieved if Kyle decided to turn his attentions elsewhere. It would save her the trouble of making any decisions about him.
* * *
Russ slowly exhaled the pungent smoke then offered the joint to the woman lying beside him.
"No more. I have to go to work. I don't know how I'm going to get through the day as it is." Rather than get up, she snuggled closer and stroked his stomach.
He took another deep drag then snuffed out the burning tip with his fingertips. He wondered if he needed to do her one more time before she left. God, he hoped not. It was bad enough in the dark. Her fat fingers drifted down between his legs, and he had his answer. Since he couldn't shut out the morning sun, he closed his eyes and pictured Barbara.
When Decker offered him a chunk of money to run a little errand, Russ figured he'd be back in Fredericksburg in two days, max. He had now been away for five. At least success was in sight, thanks to Betty Blubber-Butt.
It had sounded like such a simple task—get Barbara's medical file from her obstetrician to prove that she had delivered the baby prematurely. Russ's word wasn't enough for the Hamiltons. Since it was vital to his ultimate goal that the Hamiltons had no doubts about the child, Russ drove up to New York City to get the evidence Decker requested. Besides, he had been down to his last hundred dollars and was in serious need of operating capital.
He figured he could break into the office over the weekend and be back Sunday night. But Dr. Roselli had moved her practice to Albany and when he got there, he discovered that the files in the office only went back two years. A phone call Monday morning informed him that the file was in storage, but could be retrieved—with the doctor's approval—in two to three weeks.
The only solution he could think of was to seduce one of the office girls into getting the file for him and unfortunately for him, only one was immediately available. So he zoomed in on Betty something-or-other, a middle-aged, grossly overweight, sex-starved divorcee and all night had been pre-paying for the favor he needed.
Part of his deal with Decker was a promise that he would keep an eye on Barbara and make sure she didn't skip town while Russ was away, or if she did, he would have her followed. Decker thought Barbara was Russ's only interest and Russ certainly wasn't going to tell him otherwise.
As a backup, though, Russ knew his partner was sticking close to Barbara and the boy as well.
With his mind focused on Barbara and his newest plan to put her in his debt forever, he was able to give Betty one more wild ride on the Russ-mobile before asking her to perform a little chore for him.
* * *
"I miss you," Kyle said as soon as Barbara identified herself over the phone.
She glanced at her watch and noted that it was one-thirty, the same hour that he'd called on the previous two days since he'd been gone, only this time she had someone sitting in front of her desk.
Knowing the kinds of things he might say that she couldn't possibly respond to at the moment, she asked, "Could I call you back? I'm with a customer right now."
"No. I'm on my way out. I just wanted you to know that I was thinking about you."
She smiled at the elderly man across from her and pretended to be writing an important message. "Very good. We can discuss that later."
"Have you made arrangements for Friday night yet?"
"Um, no, I'm still working on it."
"What you're doing is stalling. Listen to me, Barbara. I'm not going to go away just because you're afraid of complicating your life. I want you in a way that I've never wanted a woman before, and after Sunday night, I know you feel the same way. You can set any kind of limits that will make you comfortable. Just promise to spend Friday evening with me."
"I'm sorry, I really can't get into that right now."
"Fine. I'll call you tonight. It might be a little late."
"That's okay. Thank you for calling." She hung up and smiled again at her customer. "I'm sorry. Now, you were telling me about how your housekeeper threw out your mail by mistake." As the man related his long explanation of why his checking account was overdrawn, Barbara kept replaying Kyle's voice in her head. Monday and Tuesday he had teased her about her hesitation to follow through with what they'd started Sunday night. Today he sounded... testy.
When she was with him, there was no doubt in her mind. She wanted everything he had to give her. When she was alone, however, the relationship seemed hopeless. She knew she had to end it before it became more intimate. Then she would hear his voice over the phone and bounce back to being confused.
That afternoon, Matt unknow
ingly helped to push her toward a decision. The first words out of his mouth as he climbed into their car were, "Kenny asked me to stay over at his house Friday night. His mom already said it was okay, and to tell you she'd pick me up right after school, so you won't have to rush for a change."
Barbara thought that was the sign she'd been waiting for, until she saw a countersign parked in front of her house. As she pulled into her driveway, Simon Decker got out of his car and hurried to head her off before she and Matt could go inside.
"You will hear what I have to say, Miss Mancuso, or we will do our talking in a courtroom."
For a split second before she got control of her temper, she considered strangling the vile man. "Do I need to remind you that I know a little about courts myself, Mr. Decker, such as how to get a restraining order against someone who insists on harassing me without cause."
"Let's see," he said, rubbing his jaw in an exaggerated manner. "That would be from your Russ Latham period, I suppose. I must admit, I wasn't terribly surprised to learn how that relationship ended. That young man's temper had caused a number of problems on the estate."
"Is that why you suggested he charm me into signing that agreement after Howard left?"
His eyebrows lifted. "Latham told you about that? How interesting. What else did he tell you?"
"That you were a slimy little worm that would crawl on his belly if the Hamiltons told you to. Matthew, go inside and call the police." She handed him her cell phone. "Tell them we have a trespasser." She was pleased to see Decker react with a step backward. "The police will be here within five minutes. That gives you four to say what you came here for and take off."
Decker's eyes narrowed as he watched Matt enter the house. "You're being very foolish. The Hamiltons only want what's best for the boy." He saw Matt give his mother a thumbs-up sign in the front window and picked up the pace of his speech.
"My investigator was able to uncover the fact that you gave birth to your son six weeks prematurely, following Latham's assault. That brings the time of conception in line with your meeting Howard."
"Of course, there is also the possibility of proving Matthew's inheritance through DNA testing, but the Hamiltons would prefer not to exhume their son's body after all these years. Instead, they are prepared to pay you one million dollars, with all taxes paid, if you will—"
"You're all insane!" Barbara shouted. "They cannot buy my child! What would make you think it was only a matter of raising the amount?"
"Might I remind you that you accepted payment ten years ago in the form of certain valuable gifts, which you promptly sold for cash?"
"I had no choice! I was abandoned, pregnant, too sick to work. Anyway, that wasn't the same. They were just things and I had a baby to support."
"Nevertheless," he countered, maintaining his air of superiority, "you are still struggling to support that child. You've moved around like a nomad since he was born. You don't even own the house you live in. While the Hamiltons could provide him with every luxury available and a guaranteed future as a captain of industry. Think of the child."
Barbara straightened her shoulders and glared at the attorney. "That child is the only person I've been able to think of for a third of my life and I am absolutely positive that turning him over to you and your clients would be the most despicable crime I could commit."
"I'm sorry you feel that way. It will only make it that much harder on you when the transfer of custody occurs. You will end up with nothing. No child. No fortune. I would have thought that your earlier experience would have taught you that when the Hamiltons wish for something to happen, it does. You weren't able to fight them then and you won't be able to now."
He heard a car pull into the driveway behind him and was startled to see a police unit. Apparently, he had thought she was bluffing.
"You're going to regret this," he declared in a threatening tone that contradicted how quickly he started walking toward his car.
Dani stepped out of her car and held a black baton out in front of Decker. "Stop right there, sir," she said firmly. Keeping her gaze fixed on him, she addressed Barbara.
"Is this the man you had problems with in the past?"
"No. But this one has shown up here uninvited twice and he just threatened me."
"That's a blatant lie," Decker said. "I am an attorney, attempting to deliver an offer to settle a dispute between Miss, er, Mrs. Johnson and my clients. I merely warned her that she would regret her refusal to mediate the matter."
The officer looked at Barbara for her response.
"That's his interpretation. I took it as a threat. However, I won't file any charges if he promises to stay away from me and my son."
The officer lowered her baton but her attitude continued to hold him where he was. "All right, sir, you're free to go, as soon as you show me your identification."
"For what reason?" he asked warily.
Her mouth parted in a semblance of a smile, but no friendliness showed in her eyes. "I just want to make sure I spell your name correctly on my report."
Barbara could see him wanting to refuse, but he merely huffed his annoyance and showed the officer his driver's license. He wasted no time getting away as soon as she dismissed him.
"Do you have time to stop in for a few minutes?" Barbara asked Dani.
"Very few. We're backlogged tonight, for some reason. I was on my way to another call when I heard this one."
"Hi, Sergeant Pelusi," Matt said as they went inside.
"Hey, Matt. Dispatch said you did an excellent job with that call for assistance."
"No big deal," he said with an embarrassed smile. "I've done it before."
Barbara could see by Dani's expression that she thought that was a shame, but she said nothing.
"I was watching you from the window," Matt said to Dani. "I saw how you stopped that guy with your nightstick. Could I look at it?"
"Matt..." Barb warned.
"It's okay," Dani said, smiling, and drew the baton out of its holder. "In trained hands, it can be a lethal weapon, but it's no more dangerous than a stick to an amateur."
Matt took the baton by its handle, felt the weight of it, then imitated the action he'd seen Dani perform to stop Decker. "Sensei said he'd be teaching us to defend ourselves with sticks in a few months, but I don't think those are like this one. Have you ever had to use it on a bad guy?" His eyes were wide with fascination.
"Matthew..." Barbara warned again, and Dani shook her head in a manner that told her not to worry.
"Let's just say I could if I had to. In fact, I received a certificate for outstanding achievement with it in the police academy."
"Wow! Could you show me some moves?"
Dani ruffled his hair and retrieved her baton. "How about another time? I really need to visit with your mom before I go."
Matt looked a little disappointed, but took the hint to leave the grownups alone for the moment.
"Coffee?" Barb offered.
"Great." Dani took off her jacket and followed Barbara into the kitchen. "I don't have to know anything to file a report on this call, but I am curious."
It took Barbara less than a heartbeat to decide to confide in her new friend. As she fixed two cups of coffee, she gave Dani the missing pieces of her personal history.
"Geez! When it rains on you, it really pours, doesn't it?" Dani added more sugar to her coffee and slowly stirred while she digested Barbara's new information. "I'm not an attorney, of course, but from my experience dealing with them, I'd bet that he didn't really believe they had much of a chance in court. That's got to be why he's offering so much money and risking threats."
"I hope you're right. Plus, he admitted that they'd rather not exhume Howard's body. I don't know that much about DNA testing but I guess that might be necessary to prove it without a doubt. Anyway, I'd bet that's not their real concern. From what I remember about them, I can't imagine the Hamiltons wanting the publicity that kind of a court case would attract. I know
I don't, for myself or Matt. But if they force me, I'll fight this time."
"I know you said you don't want to press charges, but if anything happens that changes your mind, just call."
"Thank you. I will."
"I assume you haven't heard any more from your stalker."
"Nothing," Barbara said with a frown. "It's got me really baffled."
"Unfortunately, the lab wasn't able to pick up any clear fingerprints off the roses to confirm it was from him, so I contacted every florist in the area. No one had a special order for eighteen Oceania roses, with or without thorns. I don't mean to question your story, but is there any chance it was a coincidence?"
Barbara rubbed her forehead. It was impossible to dismiss her certainty that if he was anywhere around, Russ would have contacted her. It was completely out of character for him to send the roses and not show up in person immediately afterward. "I suppose there's a slim chance, and believe me, I wish it were a coincidence, but I can't assume that. I keep getting the strangest feeling that I'm being watched and followed, even though I never see anyone suspicious."
Dani's radio had been emitting scratchy noise since she arrived, but suddenly she heard something that made her shoot up from her chair. "Gotta go. I'll come back when I can."
As she grabbed her jacket, Barbara said, "Wait, one second, please. Would you mind telling me whatever happened to your sister's stalker?"
Dani paused for a heartbeat then finished donning her jacket. "He was beaten to death. Found naked in an alley behind a gay bar... with every bone in his body broken." On her way out the door she added, "He deserved worse."
Barbara thought the same thing.
Remembering Kyle's promise to call, she stayed up later than usual, but the phone never rang. It occurred to her that he may have given up on her in spite of his insistence that he wouldn't. She thought that should have given her a sense of relief, but that was no longer the case. She hadn't realized how much she had looked forward to hearing his voice until he didn't call.
She recalled her answer to Dani's question about marriage the first time she and the policewoman talked. Perhaps she hadn't fallen in love all these years for another reason—the right man, one strong enough to deal with the complications in her life, hadn't come along. Now it looked as though he may have appeared, and she had pushed him away by being too afraid to take a chance.
Unnatural Relations (Lust and Lies Series, Book 1) Page 14
