Secrets and Lies

by Capri Montgomery

  “She was a good doctor,” he nodded. “It’s just a shame she married a lousy man. Her husband didn’t deserve her.”

  Thomas sat forward, intrigued. “What do you mean?” From what Thena had said of her father, of her family, he didn’t get the impression that there was anything wrong within the home. Thena was recounting events through the eyes of a ten year old girl and he knew how distorted that view could be. He had recently experienced that scenario first hand with Alaina and her not so dead father. She had worshiped the ground that man walked on only to find out he was a murdering bastard. He hoped he wasn’t going to have to see the same thing happen to Thena.

  “He was just a contractor—a blue collar worker—she should have been with a doctor who could give her the world.”

  “Like you?” Thomas sat back, full of disdain for the doctor in front of him.

  “Well it was too late for that then. She had a kid—a cute little one that looked a lot like her, except for the color.”

  Thomas shook his head. Was this guy for real?

  “Yeah, she was sweet. What is she now, twenty-eight; twenty-nine?” He grinned and licked his lips like a wolf in heat. Thomas’ jaw tightened with anger. “Oh yeah, she’s old enough. Is she single? Maybe you can give me her number.”

  “No,” Thomas snapped. He meant no to both questions. Thena wasn’t single. She was with him; although he hadn’t declared that fact to her—yet. And he certainly wasn’t giving her number to the jerk in front of him.

  “Too bad,” he shrugged. “She’s probably with some low income bum too,” he snorted like the pig that he was. Thomas willed himself to stay neutral, not to let his anger spill over into pounding the snot out of the doctor.

  “You know, if you’re going to talk to anybody it should be Livingston. He didn’t care much for Neenah, and I get the feeling she didn’t care much for him either.”

  “Why is that?” Livingston wasn’t in Boston right now. He was out in San Francisco at some medical conference he was scheduled to speak at. Thomas would have to wait if he wanted face to face time with the man.

  “Well, between you and me,” he leaned forward. “Livingston was a little too hands on with Thena. He was always touching her—it was weird. Neenah told me she had asked him to stop, but after that…well, let’s just say things got a little tense between the two of them.”

  Thomas felt his temper rising. The bastard had been inappropriate with Thena? She hadn’t said anything about it to him. Why? He didn’t know the answer to that, but he knew he was going to find out.

  “Did Mrs. Davis say anything to the authorities?”

  “I don’t know. Around here, Livingston was and still is, the head honcho. You don’t cross him. But I think I heard her say something to him about talking to the cops. That wasn’t long before she disappeared.”

  “And you heard this how exactly?”

  He laughed. “I have my ways of listening when people think I’m not even there. I find out a lot that way. I don’t know if he did anything to her,” he quickly added. “All I’m saying is a man like Livingston, a man at the top of the ladder, has a long fall. If his inappropriate behavior towards a minor came out…well, I think you and I both know he’d lose everything. I don’t know what a man in that position would do; but I can guess it wouldn’t be anything legal.”

  Thomas was ready to kill. He hadn’t had that urge toward anybody other than Sabian lately, but if Livingston had hurt Thena; hell, there was no way he would let him get away with that.

  “Deanne, this is my receptionist, Jacinda Dumas.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Deanne had an air of shyness to her that Thena hadn’t seen when she met her. Must be first day jitters, she thought. The Deanne she met in jail was not shy. She conversed easily, but she also seemed to study people, as if trying to determine who would be friend, foe, or something in between.

  “I am so glad there’s another woman in here. When Thena told me there would be I was so excited. I can’t believe I missed meeting you. I had to stay home with my daughter; she has that nasty bug that’s been going around.” Jacinda’s short cut hair accentuated her high cheekbones and slender facial features. Thena looked at her, thinking if she really wanted to she could model, maybe in the petite industry because Jacinda was just at five-five. Deanne had them both beat in the height category because she was nearly six feet tall. She was definitely like some Amazon princess with gorgeous caramel skin tones and curly short-cut hair.

  “How is Kandi?” Thena asked. She loved that little girl like a niece. She was bubbly and sweet. She made sure people pronounced her name right, “Like Khan and Dee,” she would say just to make sure people understood the exact pronunciation. The girl had spunk and fire at such a young age.

  “She threw up all day, but she slept through the night and she was fine when I left her this morning. Roger took today off to sit with her.”

  Thena nodded. “If you need more time off just let me know.”

  “Thanks. That’s one thing you’ll learn about Thena, Deanne; she’s the best boss a working mother can have. I am so glad, really glad you’re here. I know I’ve said that already, but I am. Thena’s in and out of here so much that it will be nice to have somebody to chat with when she leaves.”

  Thena snorted. “Trust me; Jacinda does nothing but chat all day.” She laughed and shook her head. She liked the office dynamics. “She works four days a week, with Wednesday off. Her hours are ten to four, so there will be some overlapping for the two of you. But,” she emphasized the word; “Deanne is going to be working more as my assistant in the field and in the office, so don’t get any ideas to pawn your work off on her, Cinda or I’m going to have to write you up.” She tried hard to keep from laughing, but failed when Jacinda started laughing.

  “Don’t let her boss you around, Deanne or you might not ever get rid of her.” If Thena had thought it would really be a problem she would have spent some time instructing Jacinda on the new office dynamics ahead of time, but she knew she didn’t need to. Jacinda was a professional, and never once had she tried to overstep her positional authority in the office.

  “The two of you should get along well. Jacinda’s little girl is almost the same age as yours.”

  Jacinda shook her head excitedly. “She’s turning five in October. We’re going to have a big party for her. I’d love it if you brought your little girl.”

  “Okay,” Deanne smiled.

  “The two of you can party plan later. I have to get Deanne settled in here.”

  She took Deanne down to the conference room and quietly closed the door. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

  “She doesn’t know how we met?”

  “No,” she shook her head. “Look, what you did was your business and it’s not my place to shout it from the rooftops. All she knows is that you used to work as a photographer, you lost your job, and I hired you. She doesn’t know anything about how, or where, we met and I am not going to tell her—or anybody else for that matter.”

  “Thanks,” she breathed a sigh of relief. “Even though I didn’t actually have sex with them…it was just oral you know, but it’s still not something I’m proud of doing. I’d like to exorcise it from my memory as if it never happened.”

  “As if what never happened?” Thena smiled and both women laughed.

  “Exactly.” She shook her head. “God I was so desperate, Thena.”

  “You have a little girl, no income; Social Services breathing down your neck…you did what you thought you had to do to survive. Nobody should judge you for that. Now…work,” she pulled out a book with photos of her projects before and after looks.

  “Thanks. I just have to say that again. You saved my life.”

  “Nah, I just gave you a job,” she patted her hand.

  “You saved my life,” she said with conviction. “Now, before we start working I have to know; what is it with you and that Thomas guy? He is so hot for you.”

  She laughed
. “Are you serious? You were in the car for what, twenty minutes with us, and you got all of that?”

  “Please, I saw the way he looked at you when we were at the station. I heard the concern in his voice while he lectured you. I saw the way he looked at your behind while you were walking into the office building. Trust me; the way he looked at you was the way a man with absolute interest would look at a woman.”

  She smiled. “You’re good. You’re really good. Maybe you should be a PI,” she laughed. With that attention to detail, not just watching it, but putting the pieces together, Deanne probably could make a solid go of investigative work. Perhaps Thomas needed somebody to help with surveillance. He could certainly use her photographic skills. Then again, suggesting such a thing to Thomas would cost her an employee. Maybe she wouldn’t mention it to him—not yet anyway. She would wait to see how Deanne worked out in her office, how comfortable she was, and how happy she was. If she looked as if she needed something else, something different, something more, then Thena would ask Thomas if he needed any help.

  Thena tried to think of the best way to answer Deanne’s question. Too much detail was not a good thing, maybe the Cliff Notes version, or less, would be appropriate.

  “At first Thomas assured me we could only be client and PI, but Friday night that seemed to change a bit. He was gone Saturday and Sunday, but he called like every ten minutes to make sure I was okay.” She thought about how often he called. He told her he felt badly for having to leave on such short notice, but he had another case and he had to follow up on a lead. She understood that. She had wiggled her way onto his calendar that day. He didn’t usually see last minute appointments, Janet had assured her. The urgency in her voice must have convinced Janet to work her in because she told her to be there by six. He wasn’t going to wait a minute past, so if she wasn’t there then she would have to call for another appointment, at his convenience not hers. He was clearly a busy, in-demand investigator. She didn’t think he wouldn’t have any other cases to work.

  “Hang on to that one,” she encouraged her. “He’s a good man. I know a good man when I see one. Unfortunately, I don’t quite know how to run from a jerk when I see one.”

  “What happened with you and your husband?”

  She shook her head. “We all knew he was stupid. My mother hated him. My friends hated him. Everybody said, “why, Dee? Why marry him?” But I did it anyway. I thought I loved him and I guess I let that cloud my judgment. Then we had our little girl and it started falling apart. He wasn’t ready to be a father. And eventually he just left.”

  “Does he have anything to do with her?”

  “No. He used to come by once a month to say hi, but even that stopped. And he’s supposed to pay child support, but you can’t get money out of a man who doesn’t work.” He’s with some new woman and she takes care of his money needs, but she’s not on the hook for his child support. If he ever does go back to work I’ll get payment in spades, but for now…we’re struggling.”

  Thena nodded. “I’m sorry. I know how hard it is to be the lone parent. But you’re going to be fine. I know you will.”

  Deanne smiled. “I hope so. I have to. Liza needs me.” She refocused. “So is your guy back in town yet?”

  “Yeah, he’s back today. I think this afternoon,” she checked her watch. “In fact, I have to meet him at his office around two o’clock.” She couldn’t wait to see him, to see what Friday night meant to him. They hadn’t talked about it. He had to go see somebody. He had told her he was following up on a lead in her mother’s case. And then later that day he called her to tell her he had to make a fast trip to D.C., but that he would be back by Monday afternoon. She thought maybe he was finding an excuse not to be around her, but then she realized he wasn’t that kind of man. She didn’t know how she knew that, but she did. Thomas was a straight up guy. If he wanted distance from her she was sure he would have just said it—in a nice way she hoped.

  Today, at his office, she hoped they could do more than talk about any progress he had made on the case over the weekend. She wanted to talk about what Friday night actually meant. Should she go buy the condoms or was Friday a one time thing?

  “Okay, enough guy talk,” she laughed. “Work…work…work. You’re going to be as dangerous as Jacinda.”

  Deanne laughed. “Probably. I love to talk. And it’s been a long time since I’ve really been able to talk to anybody. I’ve been avoiding my friends as much as possible because I didn’t want them to know what I was doing.”

  “Well, now you can stop avoiding them. When they ask, you can tell them you found this fabulous job working as an architectural assistant.”

  “That’s my official title?” She beamed.

  “Well, it might need some work, but something like that. I was serious when I said if you’re planning to stay here for a while I’d like to show you the ropes of the contracting and architectural business. The more you know, the easier it will be for you to meet with clients when I’m not able to.”

  “Meet with clients—really?”

  “Well not right away. But yes. I’d love to take you around to meet some of my clients. Obviously there are things you won’t be able to do without being licensed, but issues involving interior color options or materials, I think you’ll handle that just fine. You’ll just have to show some samples, know the product well enough to tell the benefits of each option and then be able to write up the order. I usually have all of this together before we start a build or remodel, but clients do tend to change their mind all the time.” She had lost track of how many clients had called her ten to twenty times just to change from slate to marble back to slate again.

  “You do the interior design schemes as well?”

  “I seem to do everything,” she sighed. “But it really does work with the architectural design. I like to know what materials they have in mind for their home inside and out, during construction and after. Building with brick will look different than building with wood. Including wood floors will look different than marble. And adding curtains will look different than antique draperies. The look and feel of the home changes depending on the materials so I like knowing, or at least having an idea, of the entire package when drawing up a design and when helping to do a remodel.” There were so many factors that went into her designs. And of course, on the remodels within the contracting business portion of the company she found herself working with interior designers who kept changing their mind—mostly because the client kept changing their mind. She always had to be able to suggest the most durable and cost effective materials. Having an eye for art and design helped her because she could always pick materials that complimented the architecture before presenting her suggestions to designers and clients.

  She worked with a few design firms, she was kind of their go-to woman when they had a question on the stability of a product’s material design. The other designers she had met through working for other clients. Some had been royal pains in the behind, and others had been fun to work with. She had to admit, her father’s contracting business had grown into more than just a contracting business when she took over. This may not have been her idea when she worked her way through school for architectural engineering and design, but in some respects, it was better. Now, she wanted to grow the business more.

  She had done a double major in college and still had a minor. She studied landscape design thinking it would be perfect to design the entire package for clients when she opened her architectural firm, but when things changed she abandoned the idea. Now she wanted to add it back in. She wanted to design not just the homes, but the yards as well. She had met with a friend, Kelly Donavan, about contracting her business out to make her designs come to life.

  Kelly had the greenest thumb she had ever seen. Everything she touched seemed to grow to beautiful proportions. They had gone to college together. Kelly was in an agricultural studies program, but they had one landscape design course together that made them insta
nt friends. They were still friends now, but after college life took over and they lost touch. They were living right there in the same city and they saw each other once, maybe twice a year. At their meeting they had vowed to change that. Of course they would have to. Kelly had agreed to become her exclusive landscaper.

  Thena would do the designs, her guys would build any stone structures that needed to be put in, waterscapes and the likes, and Kelly’s team would go to work installing the plant life. Having Kelly onboard was great because Kelly could tell her when a tree would be better placed elsewhere, or when a garden feature might not work with the vegetation requested by the client. Thena knew much about design and a little about plants and how close they could be put next to other plants and trees. Kelly was a genius when it came to things like that.

  Thena didn’t want to take on too much. The fastest way to ruin a business was to try to over expand, or to expand too quickly. But she knew she could take this on. It was the last part of the business that she wanted to add—for the meantime anyway. Her mind was always busy formulating new ideas. She continuously thought of services to add, things she could offer clients so they wouldn’t have to run to four and five different contractors. She had general contracting needs covered. She had connections to specialists as well, and now she would be able to add landscaping and design without having to finagle with another contractor to get the services her clients would need. On top of that, it pushed her architectural business side up a notch too. Now she could offer home and office designs along with landscaping designs. Her dad would be proud, she was sure of that. She wondered if her mother would have been proud too. Would her mom had preferred that she go to school for medicine? They had never talked about future career choices. Thena figured the reason for not discussing it was because they both figured there would always be time. But there wasn’t time. Somebody had made sure of that.