by Ann Mullen
I made another cup of coffee and sat by the fire with Thor. The last thing I thought about before falling asleep on the sofa was how I was going to remove the bandage from Thor’s head without pulling out his hair. I didn’t want to hurt him. Silly thoughts run through our minds in times of stress... I guess.
“Time to wake up, sleepyhead,” Billy said, his Old Spice after-shave arousing my senses. He bent down to give me a kiss.
“No,” I raised my hand to ward off his advances. “I need to brush my teeth. My breath would knock a buzzard off a ...”
“Jesse!” Mom said. “We have kids in the room.”
I sat up on the sofa and looked around.
Benny and Carrie were sitting at the kitchen table with Mom, eating cereal as a newly recovered Thor tried to lap at their hands. Athena was cuddled up next to the fireplace while a tiny fur ball with a long tail, pranced around trying to get her attention. I heard Claire in the kitchen talking to Cole. The soft tone of their voices pierced my ears.
“It’s not the right time.”
I guess I could figure that one out all by myself. There was romance in the air, and I didn’t see any need to hide it. We were all adults.
“Not the time for what?” I yelled across the room.
For a second, silence permeated the air. The clanking of spoons against bowls, and the rattling of dishes ceased.
Claire walked into the living room, drying her hands on a towel as Cole followed. He sheepishly stood behind her.
Mom went back to fussing over the kids, ignoring all of us.
“Cole and I were discussing the possibility of taking the kids to the movies when the weather cleared,” Claire said in a manner that sounded like she was asking for my approval. “I told him it was not a good time.”
“Don’t be silly,” I said, getting up from the sofa and walking over to the two of them. “If you’re worried about what I’d say, then stop worrying. Let’s put the past behind us and move forward.” I reached out to touch Claire’s hand and said, “If you and Cole want to see each other, then I think you should. He’s a kindhearted man, and you’re a loving person. You have a lot in common.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, Jesse,” Claire smiled. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“The kids would probably love going to a movie,” Cole added.
The tension in the room dissipated.
I went to take a long, hot shower while everybody else went about their business. I was distressed about my upcoming interview with the police and needed time to clear the cobwebs from my brain. Also, I was not looking forward to talking to Billy about postponing the wedding, but I thought it would be the best thing to do, considering what we were up against. How could I enjoy the ceremony knowing danger surrounded my family? Billy would understand. He said that nothing is more important than family. I was drying off with a towel when a knock came at the bathroom door. I grabbed Billy’s bathrobe off the hanger and slipped it on.
“Just a minute,” I said as I tied the sash belt. “You can come in.”
Billy smiled as he walked into the mist-filled room. He closed the door and leaned up against it, crossing his arms over his chest. The look on his face told me he was going to say something I didn’t want to hear, but instead, he mumbled something about the bruise on my forehead.
After wiping off the fog with my hand, I peeked into the mirror. The two butterfly patches the chief had used were still holding, and the swelling had gone down a little. However, the bruise covered one side of my forehead and went down to the corner of my right eye.
“Nasty,” I whispered, looking up at Billy through my reflection. “I sure am a pretty sight, huh?” I looked closer into the mirror. “Oh, man, look at the bags under my eyes.”
“You’re u-wo-du-h,” Billy replied. “No matter how beat up you look, you’ll always be beautiful to me.”
“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or...”
“Jesse,” he stopped me. “What’s the matter? I know something’s wrong. I could tell it the minute you woke up. Are you having second thoughts?”
“Not second thoughts, but...” I let my words hang in the air for a few seconds as Billy stood quietly waiting. “I was thinking that it might be a good idea to postpone the wedding... just until this problem with Clayton Tyler is settled.”
“You’re having second thoughts. You’re not even sure you want to marry me.” The dejected look on his face tore at my heart. “It’s Cole, isn’t it? You’re still in love with him.” His eyes bore into me as he walked out of the bathroom, not waiting for an answer. His hurt was deep.
“Wait.” I followed and grabbed his arm. “That’s not it at all.”
“Just answer one thing for me,” he demanded. “Are you still in love with Cole? Tell the truth.”
I looked up and Cole was standing at the entrance to our bedroom. He walked into the room without waiting for an invitation, and shut the door.
“I’d like to hear the answer to that one myself, if you don’t mind.”
Snared like a rabbit in a trap, I fled back to the bathroom and slammed the door. My heart pounded in my chest and left me shaken and bewildered from the confrontation. Why did I hesitate in answering? I knew all along I still had feelings for Cole. Then, I thought about Billy. Any doubts I might have had before, got lost in the revelation. The feelings I had for Cole, I would have to deal with in my own time, but I was not going to let that stop me from having the life I wanted with Billy. It was time to swallow the lump in my throat and go out there and confront the truth. I opened the door and slowly walked back into the bedroom. I was stunned at the nefarious sneer on Cole’s face. This was a side of him I had never seen. He was basking in what he thought was his victory over Billy! He just knew for sure I was still in love with him, and he was doing a good job of rubbing it in. Their long-standing feud over women had just put another feather in his cap. An instant distaste formed in my mouth.
“As much as I hate to admit it,” I began, “I still find you attractive, Cole, but I am not in love with you anymore. I’m not sure that I ever was. I thought it was love I felt, because that’s what I wanted at the time. But now I know the way I feel about Billy is real.” I walked up next to Billy and put my thin arm around his firm waist; my other hand resting on his chest. “I love Billy, and I plan on marrying him.” I looked up into Billy’s eyes. “I’m just not quite sure Christmas is the best time. We have some problems to take care of first, none of which has anything to do with whether we’re in love.”
Billy’s eyes lit up, casting off any doubts he might have had previously. His joy was evident. He didn’t care about Cole’s determination to be the winner or anything else. All he cared about was me. I felt the muscles in his stomach relax as he politely asked Cole to leave the room.
“Jesse and I have a few details to work out. As soon as we decide what we’re going to do, you’ll be the first one to know.”
Cole was not letting Billy off the hook that easily. He might have lost this round, but there were other battles to be won. I heard the underlying competition reflected in his voice when he spoke.
“This is crazy. It will never work. Jesse’s not ready to get married. Can’t you see that, Billy? She’s confused and on the rebound.”
“Get over it, Cole.” I started to see red. “You’re not going to drive a wedge between Billy and me. We’re going to be together and nothing you can say is going to change that. Get your own life. Go back to Claire.”
As soon as the word Claire was out of my mouth, I cringed. I sounded like a jealous, betrayed woman. I wasn’t. I could care less if Cole and Claire became lovers. I had the man I wanted. Envy did not exist anymore.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. I don’t have any feelings one way or the other about you and Claire.” I said, trying to recover from this disaster. I had to set things right with Cole.
I turned to Billy and asked, “Could you give u
s a minute alone?”
Confident in our relationship after this last scene between the three of us, Billy let go of his doubt in me, and quietly slipped out of the room. He was going to give me the space I needed. His manner was warm and self-assured. It filled my heart with just a little bit more awe.
“He never ceases to amaze me,” I said to Cole. “No matter what goes down, he still has the patience of a saint. I don’t need to tell you that, you already know it. Your friendship’s been around for many years. You’re like brothers. Let’s get right to the point.”
I wanted to smooth things over with Cole, but I also wanted to let him know where I stood. I didn’t want to encourage him.
“The romance the two of us shared was just romance. I want more. I love Billy and I want what he has to offer, and I want you to back off. It’s over and I’m going to move on. You should do the same. I care about you and want us to be friends, but unless you heed what I say, that won’t be possible. Besides, if you play your cards right and don’t screw up, you and Claire might find out you have a lot in common.”
Cole laughed, breaking the ice. “As much as I wanted it to happen for us, it just wasn’t in the cards. Don’t hate me for still being attracted to you. I can’t help it.” He took a step closer and put his hands on my shoulders. “If Billy Blackhawk ever treats you wrong, you come to me.”
My heart flew out of my chest. The intense desire to fall into his arms and have him ravish me with his lips was overshadowed by the warmth I felt in my heart for Billy. I put those desires to rest.
“I don’t think that’ll ever be necessary.” But I’ll keep that in mind, I thought to myself—the scum that I am. I was charmed by the idea that for once in my life I had two men who wanted me. I led myself to believe, if only temporarily, in that farce. In truth, I knew Billy was the one who truly loved me, and Cole just wanted to hold onto his trophy.
“We have other things to worry about,” I said, backing away, taking on a more controlled appearance. “This family’s in trouble and needs your help. I don’t care that you’re a cop. I want you to either join with us or get out.” I continued by explaining in detail the order of events in our situation, starting with what he already knew, to the last second of Brad and Laura’s life. “As you can see, if we don’t nail Clayton Tyler, he’s going to have my family killed.”
“I think that’s a little bit extreme, don’t you?” Cole asked, reluctantly. “I mean, I know this guy’s a bad dude. The police have been after him for years. But he doesn’t kill people. He’s a businessman who tries to avoid paying taxes and has too much money for his own good. He’s a little shady, but I can assure you, he doesn’t do the things you say he does. He’s a corporate criminal.”
“Jesus, Cole,” I ranted. “Get your head out of your duffel bag! I’m not saying this guy kills people, he has others to do it for him. You’d be surprised at how many people he has on his payroll, and most of them are cops.”
“Are you serious, Jesse? Can you prove it?” He looked at me with a dumb expression on his face. “We’re talking about a rich man with a few bad vices. That’s all.”
“Have you got blinders over your eyes? I’m telling you, Clayton Tyler’s behind this whole thing and he’s dangerous! He’s going to have all of us killed!” I whisked past him and grabbed the doorknob. I could see that I was wasting my time. I gave him one last chance to join us. “You can stand by and let him accomplish his goal or you can help us stop him. It’s your choice.” I walked out of the room and left him to ponder what I had said. I hoped he would come to his senses and do the right thing.
Mom, Claire, and Billy just about fell all over themselves trying to hustle out of the way and pretend they were doing something else, instead of standing next to the door with their ears glued to it.
“Excuse me,” I huffed at them. “I’d appreciate it if the three of you wouldn’t listen to my private conversations. Where are your manners?” I walked to the kitchen. “I’m going to fix a cup of coffee and then head back to the bedroom to get dressed. Does anyone have any questions about that?” Nobody said a word. I got my coffee and went back to the bedroom.
Billy followed me and closed the bedroom door behind us. “Did you and Cole work everything out?”
“I made it perfectly clear that we were finished. It’s over.”
I pulled a pair of jeans from a hanger in the closet, and then searched the dresser drawers for a clean T-shirt. I grabbed a fresh pair of underwear and a bra and headed to the bathroom to change. I left the door ajar as I got dressed so Billy could hear me. For some reason I have always felt uncomfortable getting dressed in front of a man. I ranked it right up there with sitting on the toilet while someone was around. I needed my privacy when it came to things like that. Once I had finished dressing, I started pulling clothes out of the hamper, sorting them into piles for the wash.
“I told Cole we needed his help in nailing Clayton Tyler. I told him we couldn’t do it by ourselves.”
“What did he say?”
“He’s convinced that Tyler’s just a corporate criminal. He said the police have been trying to get something on him for a long time, but it had nothing to do with murder.”
“Did you set him straight?”
“Let’s put it this way,” I said, walking out of the bathroom with an arm load of dirty clothes, “I told him he could help us or get out of the way. I guess he’s going to get back to me when he makes up his mind.”
“That’s swell of him.”
I went over to the window, pulled back the curtain and said, “Have you been outside, yet?”
“Yes,” Billy replied. “We have at least eighteen inches of snow on the ground and drifts of six feet in some places. This storm was a whopper. There’re tree limbs down all over the place. The roads are impassable so you can forget about going into Charlottesville. We’ll have to call Captain Waverly and tell him we’re stuck out here.”
“Maybe he’ll send a car for me,” I joked.
“Don’t laugh,” he said, “they have Humvees.”
Both of us avoided the subject of our upcoming wedding until I couldn’t stand it any longer. “About our wedding...” I eased into it slowly. “The only reason I wanted to postpone it was...”
“You don’t have to explain,” Billy responded. “I understand why you want to put it off. You’re worried about your family. Getting married should be a joyous occasion, not an event filled with fear and anticipation of trouble. That’s no way to start a life together. We’re going to have to take care of this problem real soon or we’re never going to get married.”
“What will we tell everybody?”
“We won’t tell them anything for the time being. Let’s just see how things play out.” He walked over and put his arm around me. “Are you going to put those clothes in the wash or are you going to stand there and hold them all day? Here,” he reached out to take the load, “give them to me. I’ll take care of the laundry while you call the captain.”
“Set the temperature selector on cold, not hot,” I said and handed him the clothes. “Don’t...”
“I know how to wash clothes, Jesse.”
I made the dreaded phone call.
“Captain Waverly isn’t in yet,” a soft-spoken female replied. It sounded like she was popping gum—a nasty habit that I found intolerable. “I’m Officer Lewis, may I help you?”
“Yes,” I said. “My name’s Jesse Watson. I’m supposed to have a meeting with Captain Waverly this morning at ten o’clock, but I’m snowed in. There’s no way I can make it.”
“Just a minute,” she mumbled. “I have a memo somewhere. Ah, here it is. Captain Waverly says to send a SWAT team member out for you if the roads are too bad for you to make it in. Do we need to do that?”
“He said to send the SWAT team?” I gasped.
“Not the whole team,” she giggled. “He means just one of the guys.”
She shuffled papers while I verified my full name and ad
dress.
“No middle name, huh?” Officer Lewis mused. “I’ll start the paperwork right now and have someone out to pick you up around nine.” Without further adieu, Officer Bimbo Lewis hung up on me.
“And I hope you have a nice day, too.” I stared at the cell phone in my hand, before closing it and putting it back in the charger. “It’s a good thing that you’ve got a desk job, girlie.”
My heart beat faster as I stood and pondered the possible outcome of my interview with the captain. Would he believe me or would he think that I’m a nut case? If he did believe what I had to say about Clayton Tyler, what was he going to do? Is this just going to be a statement-giving session or is he going to try to trip me up? I was a wreck.
“What did Captain Waverly have to say?” Billy asked, standing in the doorway. “Is he sending someone out? He knows you can’t drive in this mess, doesn’t he? It’s too dangerous for anyone to be out there.”
“An officer said a SWAT team member should be here around nine.”
“Ah, you’re getting special treatment, huh?” Billy smiled.
“I don’t think I’d call it that,” I replied, clearing my throat. “Perhaps the captain just wants to make sure I show up for the interrogation and he knows I couldn’t possibly drive in this snow. To be honest, I’d like to get this over with as soon as possible. Besides, aren’t you the least bit curious about how much the police know? I thought they were slightly vague yesterday, didn’t you think so?”
“Cops are always like that,” Billy said. “I’m more concerned about what they’re going to do. I’m sure they know all there is to know. Here’s how it is.” Billy counted on his fingers as he lay out the facts. “We know Mary Keen’s kidnapping was staged to set up Roy. For whatever reasons, when that fell through, Clayton Tyler had her killed. He then got tired of messing with Roy and had him killed. We also know that Laura and Brad Westover, along with a guy named Chicky, were the ones who did the deed. But it all comes back to Clayton Tyler. It started out as a simple task of getting rid of an undesirable employee and turned into an obsession over a stupid photo. We got caught in the middle when he decided he wanted to get us off his brother’s back. We were the fall guys.”
