"I'll check on you later," Polly said.
Rebecca ran for the doorway and turned around. "Good night."
They listened as she walked across the living room floor.
"She's a good kid," Aaron said, sitting back down. "And she's happy here."
Polly nodded. "She really is. We're trying to make this transition as easy as possible. I can't imagine what goes on in her head though. Waiting for your mother to die, not knowing who to obey."
"You're doing fine," Lydia said. "No one could do more than you."
"I want to finish this story." Polly turned back to Aaron. "So Sutton is paranoid and panicked. It feels like he over reacted."
"That's just what he did. When I saw Albert on the ground at Sycamore Inn, I knew it had to be Sutton. I called Digger right away. He knew that we couldn't make a big deal up here or things would unravel. I brought Stu in on it and we shut the investigation down. But at the same time, Digger and I contacted the FBI in Atlanta and they started another one down there. This time, Sutton was up for murder. We sent the evidence to them and though they haven't tracked down the sniper, they know who it is. He works out of the Atlanta area. They've tracked payments made to him from one of Sutton's accounts."
"Who was the kid that ran down your sister and Eliseo?"
Aaron shook his head. "He was the son of that buddy who just got out of prison. Sutton put him through college and hired him as an assistant. It sounds like the kid has been doing nothing except taking a paycheck."
"I didn't tell anyone I was coming to Bellingwood," Helen said. "And that kid was here the next day."
"You told Lydia."
"What?" Lydia said. "Are our phones tapped?"
"No. I've checked. But the phones at the shelter were all wired. They were keeping an eye on you, Helen. All of these years and Sutton never forgot who was involved and who might be a threat. I was far enough away, but you and Albert never left his radar. The minute you got on that plane, he put plans in motion."
"And the shelter? Can he really shut that down?"
"Help them get some good lawyers. Everything he's done in the last few days will be under scrutiny. You shouldn't worry."
"I still don't understand," Polly said. "None of this makes sense."
"It does if you lived with a secret for thirty years. How could Price Sutton believe there were actually men of honor when he, himself, had none? He'd give people up in a flash, why wouldn't we?"
Aaron took a deep breath. "You know, the worst of it? Albert had liver cancer. He was dying. That's another reason he wanted to see me. I'm almost glad that he was shot and died so quickly. He wouldn't have wanted to fade away in a hospital."
"But he also wanted to give me a piece of the puzzle that he'd held on to. He thought it would keep us all safe from Sutton."
"What's that?" Henry asked. He'd been quiet throughout the evening, but Polly could feel the tension in his body as he listened to Aaron's story.
"It was a campaign button. We found it at the third house. There was a partial print on it. That bit of a print pointed to Price Sutton. When we couldn't find any other evidence and none of the girls was willing to point the finger at him, we had to let it go. Albert was worried that it might mysteriously disappear from evidence, so he took it."
Polly looked at him in surprise. "Do you have it?"
"I do," Aaron said and took an evidence bag out of his pocket. "I'll give it to Digger next week. He knows I have it. That's the reason for the phone call tonight."
"What did you do?" Helen asked.
"I called Price Sutton just before the FBI got to his office. I told him that I had that button and with today's advances in fingerprint technology, it would place him in that house. He was enraged. He'd called earlier in the day, raving about how he wasn't going to let us take him down. He'd worked too hard to build his reputation and after thirty years, he wasn't about to lose all of that. He reminded me that he had that list and had no fear of hurting those girls."
"Blackmail," Henry said. "Nothing more than blackmail."
"I let him rage," Aaron said. "I've lost sleep these last two months, knowing that this man was going to come unglued and not knowing how he was going to do it. I thought about leaving town so that you would be safe," he reached for Lydia's hand. "And when Albert was shot, I was just finished. He'd pushed it too far, but I still couldn't let those girls be hurt. I would have sacrificed nearly anything for them. What happened to those poor children was worse than anything I've ever seen. No one should have to go through what they went through and I will protect them with everything I have."
"You could have told me about this," Lydia said. "I would have been glad to be part of this. I could have helped you."
"I know that now. But thirty years ago, you changed my life. You didn't know any of that about me. You didn't know the filth that I'd seen and the horror I'd experienced. You were my light. And then over the years, the memories faded little by little. I didn't think about it every day. We had our own children and one day I realized I hadn't thought about it for two months and then it became years and then it was something that was so far separate from what my life was now. Does that make sense?" Aaron was pleading for Lydia to understand.
"Of course it does. I only wish you'd told me last fall when your friend called."
"Looking back, I should have. I wrecked so many things by dealing with this alone." He looked at his sister. "I wrecked our relationship by running away and leaving you to deal with it."
"I didn't deal with anything. Once you were gone, I forgot about Price Sutton, except when he bought another of our buildings. I knew he was keeping an eye on me, but I wasn't doing anything to threaten him."
Aaron's shoulders sagged as he exhaled. "I can only hope that the FBI's raid was as precise as they hoped. While I talked to Sutton on his home phone and listened to him rant and rave, they jammed his cell phone, cut his computer lines and then at just the right moment, cut his power. They didn't want him transmitting anything. He's such a fool. He thought he was smarter than any of us, but that only goes so far when you lose yourself to paranoia and insanity."
His phone rang. "Just a second," he said and walked through Henry's office to the back stairs. They all waited in stunned silence until he returned.
"That was Digger. They've got him and he's babbling like a fool. I guess he doesn't know what he's saying, because he's confessing and accusing all at the same time."
"The list?"
Aaron gave a sad smile. "He carried it in his wallet. He never put it on a computer or scanned it or put it in a safe deposit box or gave it to a lawyer. Nothing. He kept it with him for all these years. The girls are safe."
"When do you have to go to Atlanta?" Lydia asked. "Surely they're going to want you to come and testify."
"It will be a few months. Why do you ask?"
"I think we should go to Florida first. Maybe take a cruise."
"You'll go with me?"
"I'm never leaving you, Aaron Merritt. No matter how hard you try to push me away."
Helen hitched herself forward on her chair. "Now that the crisis has passed, will you take me to see those grandbabies of yours, Lydia?"
Lydia pulled her eyes away from her husband. "Of course! You'll love them."
"And you," Helen said, standing up and pointing at Aaron. "Find me a date for this Valentine's Day soiree they're putting on. I don't care how young he is, but he can't be in his nineties. I need him to keep up with me."
"A date?" he squawked.
"A date. I'm going to be escorted to this event like a fine Southern lady."
He swallowed and looked at Lydia. She chuckled. "Don't look at me. I'm going to be busy with grandbabies."
"But, I don't know any single men."
"Of course you do." She got up and stood next to him. "But if you're really good to me tonight, I might whisper some names in your ear."
"That's not what I want to hear in my ear tonight."
"La la la la la,"
Helen said, standing up. "You two keep it down. Your room is right next to mine and I don't want to know what my baby brother is doing with his wife. Now I'm going to try to get some sleep." She put her hand out and Polly took it. "Thank you for a lovely evening."
"I'm not sure what to say right now," Polly said.
"That's the best way to leave a room," Helen replied. "With everyone speechless."
Henry scrambled up, dumping Han into Polly's lap. "I'll walk you out," he said, taking her arm. She turned and winked at Polly. "I don't suppose you'd be free Saturday night to take an old lady to a dance."
"I might be convinced to swing you around the dance floor, but my evening is already claimed."
"I was afraid of that. Good night, all!"
"We'd best be going, too," Lydia said. "Thank you so much for a comfortable place to sit and hear this story."
"Have I satisfied your curiosity, Polly?" Aaron asked.
"I think so. If I have more questions, you know I'll ask," she responded with a laugh.
"Yes I do."
She followed them into the living room and stood beside Henry at the front door as their friends went down the steps.
"Do you want to take a walk with me and the dogs?" she asked him.
"Just tell me that we'll be like Aaron and Lydia when we get old. I want to love you for all those years."
"I promise," she said, reaching up to kiss him. He pulled her in close and held her tight.
"Whoa," she said. "You've still got it."
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
"Ergh," Jessie groaned. "Can you help me? I feel like a cow. And I can't move and I can't zip anything and I can't..."
Polly smiled. Henry had been kicked out of their bedroom while the three girls got ready for the Valentine's Day party. Jessie helped Rebecca with just a hint of makeup, and the girl was walking on clouds. They'd found an adorable red velvet dress for her with crinolines and a wide, black ribbon around the waist. Polly wanted to swoon, she was so cute. Jessie was wearing a smart, black shift with red accents. She desperately wanted to wear her black boots, even though her ankles would swell throughout the evening. Polly bent over to zip them up.
"Are you sure about these?" she asked.
"Let me have one night of glamor," Jessie said. "Just one night."
"You do know that you will be 'not pregnant' soon enough, don't you?"
"Uh huh. And then I'll be toting around a baby and there will be spit up and poop and pee."
"You make it sound so appealing." Polly laughed. If Jessie wanted to see herself as glamorous tonight, that was fine.
Rebecca stood beside Polly in the bathroom, watching as she finished her makeup. "Mom looks beautiful in that dress we got her."
"I'll bet she does. You did a good job finding that."
"Can I ask you to do something?"
"Sure what do you need?"
"Can you take pictures of her and me tonight? I don't want to forget this."
Polly sat down on the counter top and took Rebecca's hand. "Of course I'll take pictures. But here's what I will tell you. There will be many things you forget over the years, but you will always remember special times. Maybe tomorrow afternoon, you should draw things that you remember from tonight."
"Mrs. Watson said that too this morning. She said that there would be pretty people here and I should try to draw some of them."
"That's not a bad idea. You know, I wish you didn't have to go through this, but you're going to grow up and be a wonderful young woman."
Rebecca squeezed Polly's hand and left the bathroom. Polly remained where she was, watching the two girls chatter and talk about what was to happen tonight. For the last couple of days, she'd been so focused on Aaron and Helen and the ugliness that had happened thirty years ago, she'd forgotten about how life just kept moving along. Jessie and Rebecca weren't affected at all by those horrible events. They had their own things to worry about and some days it was all she could do to keep up with them."
"Are you girls about ready in there?" Henry called from the living room. "We don't want to be late, do we?"
Polly jumped down and, letting Jessie and Rebecca go through the door first, followed them into the living room.
"That's more like it," he said. "Three of the prettiest girls in town and they live under my roof."
"Henry, that sounds really bad," Polly remarked.
He chuckled. "It did." He gave a slight shudder. "Now I feel like I'm some weird cult leader with my generational wives. Bleh. Anyway, you all look wonderful and I think I'm going to quit talking now."
"Good idea," Rebecca said. "We won't tell anyone, will we Jessie?"
"I'm not saying a word," Jessie said. "I have enough of a reputation with bad boys." She patted her belly. "She'll be quiet, too. I promise."
The girls were both excited. Rebecca was practically vibrating in her shoes. Polly took Henry's arm. "Who knew that when you married me you were going to have a huge family before a year was out."
"I did," he muttered. "It's what you do. But enough of that. You're gorgeous tonight." He kissed her lips. "I'm glad we're having this party. It's the perfect way to end the strangeness of the last couple of weeks."
"This one actually hasn't been as bad as usual," Polly said. "Most of it wasn't happening to me."
"When you lock down Sycamore House, it feels like it is."
"That was two days ago. We're moving on now."
Jessie and Rebecca were standing at the front door. "I thought you were in a hurry," Rebecca said, tapping her feet. "I can hear the band downstairs. They're warming up."
Henry took Polly's hand and walked toward them. "A man can't get a break with you three. Onward."
Rebecca scampered across the hall to the addition to find her mother and Jessie left to find some of her own friends. She and Stephanie had gotten to know each other better this last week and Polly hoped they would become better friends. Jeff and Eliseo were in the auditorium making sure things were in place for the band and Sylvie was standing in front of the kitchen giving last minute instructions to her staff of waiters and waitresses.
Dusty rose and ivory cloths covered the tables, while red and white strands of lights fell from the ceiling and colored lights draped the edges of the serving tables and the stage. Sylvie's baking took center stage at each table, with cupcakes and festively colored cake balls filling the clear tiered towers.
Jeff walked across the room toward them, "What do you think?" he asked.
"You always make this room look like a party," Polly said. "Are you ready?"
"Dinner and dancing. It can't get much easier than that."
Two young men in white shirts and black pants stood in the doorway, waving for Jeff. "Excuse me," he said. "My valets are here."
"Valets?"
"We're going all out tonight. Time to raise some serious cash."
Polly nodded. They'd gone back and forth, trying to decide which charity would be the recipient of tonight's fund-raising efforts. There were so many that needed help. If she had the money, she'd prefer fully funding every one of them, but since that wasn't at all practical, at least Jeff kept having events like this. With all they'd learned about homeless youth, it broke Polly's heart to know that there were so many, even in Iowa. Like the rest of the homeless, they weren't just in the cities, but found everywhere throughout the state. She thought about Stephanie and Jessie. With just one misstep, those two girls could have been without a place to live. They wanted nothing to do with their families and were barely making it on their own.
"There but for the grace of God," she said.
"What's that?" Henry asked.
"I know that I'm fortunate. I know that. Dad took good care of me and I had a great foundation that helped me be successful, but anything could have happened along the way to make me homeless. How can people believe anything else?"
"Don't do that to yourself," he said. "We're here to have fun tonight. Come on. I hear Aaron in the hallway."
> Helen Oswald gave a small wave when she saw Polly. "Hello dear. How are you this evening?"
"I'm good." Polly looked around her. "I thought Aaron was finding you a date? Did you let him off the hook?"
"Hell no. What are brothers for?"
"Did Aaron tell you who it was?"
"I'm not sure. But we're meetin' here."
Aaron gave Polly a sly grin and a wink, took his wife's coat from her and helped Helen out of hers. Another young man in a white shirt and black pants rushed up to take the coats and gave Aaron a numbered slip of paper.
"Y'all are going all out," Helen said. "This is pretty fancy doin's."
Polly said, "It's Jeff. He loves this. I just stand back and tell him what a wonderful job he does."
More and more people came in and soon the main level of Sycamore House was buzzing with conversation. As the tables filled, young people invited groups to go through the buffet. Jeff insisted that the evening be casual and people could eat when they were ready. The tables were cleared regularly and drinks were filled.
Mark and Sal sat down with Polly and Henry.
"How are the pups?" Polly asked.
Mark shook his head. "She's obsessed. Between those runts, her book, and the coffee shop, I get no attention."
"He's right," Sal said. "But it's only fair. He's gone most of the time. Calves, foals and piglets have kept him out most every night of the week. I need someone to keep me warm."
He laughed. "I should be glad it's only two puppies. It could be worse."
"Where are Joss and Nate?" Sal asked.
"I don't know," Polly responded. "I know they're coming. I talked to her earlier today. She was having a bad day with the kids and couldn't wait for the baby sitter to show up."
"See," Sal said, poking Mark. "Another good reason for me to have puppies."
He grimaced. "I prefer children, if you don't mind."
"Here they are!" Henry said. "And just in time."
Polly chuckled. Henry was right. They didn't need to get into a discussion about children with Sal and Mark. In fact, that was the last place she wanted to be. She stood and waved at Joss, who caught her eye and nodded. The two made their way to the table.
Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) Page 28
