Free Spirits

by Linda Wisdom

  Beth spun around and stared at the machine, which had seemingly come on by itself. “How did it do that?” she demanded, turning back to Alex. “I didn’t hear your phone ring.”

  She too was shocked. She knew how it had come on, but she doubted her friend would believe her and she couldn’t think of an explanation that would sound the least bit plausible. “Perhaps the machine picked up the call before the ring was completed,” she said weakly. “Or perhaps there’s an electrical short.”

  Beth rolled her eyes. “An electrical short? Alex, it was as if someone turned the playback on.”

  Someone did and if they weren’t already dead, she would have cheerfully remedied that fact.

  “It’s been acting up a lot.” Alex knew her explanation was pitiful before she even finished it.

  “That doesn’t explain Jason’s manner on the phone. The man sounded as if he was losing his cool. And here I thought he was made of ice. To be perfectly honest, Alex, he sounded desperate. It’s a good thing you’re not going to have anything more to do with him. Or does his call have something to do with that?”

  She grimaced. “You wouldn’t think he was made of ice if you’d seen his tantrum two nights ago.”

  “I should have flattened the creep,” Patrick grumbled, earning a warning pat on the shoulder from Marian.

  Beth’s green eyes widened. “Tantrum? Mr. Cool and Calm had a tantrum? Damn!” She slapped the counter with the flat of her hand. “And I had to miss it! This is something the eleven o’clock news should have been present for.”

  Alex retrieved the toast and spread strawberry preserves on top, slicing each piece in half and handing two halves to Beth on a napkin.

  “Use a plate, dear,” Marian scolded.

  “All the plates are dirty,” Alex mumbled, without even realizing she was doing it again.

  “So what?” Beth asked, munching on the toast. “We’ve used napkins for plates lots of times. I’ve never complained, have I? At least our mothers can’t see what bad habits we’ve gained over the years,” she said mischievously.

  “Oh, you’d be surprised what they find out about us,” Alex said wryly, catching the smile on Marian’s face.

  “Back to Jason.” Beth waved her piece of toast around. “What’s his problem?”

  Alex took the bar stool next to Beth. “He found out about the stock portfolio my dad left me and he wants me to hand it over to him. I’d sure like to know who told him that,” she muttered. “And here I thought these things were kept private.”

  Beth considered this piece of information. “Maybe he isn’t as pure in his business practices as you thought he was.”

  Alex hated to admit that she was beginning to think the same thing. Here she thought she’d met the perfect man, and she was finding out just the opposite. She was starting to doubt her judgment regarding the opposite sex. “It’s just that Doug and the broker who handle my dad’s investments take care of that. They’re both well respected in the field. With so many con men in this business I’m glad I have people I can trust. I know they don’t have anything to do with it. Jason implied it was the broker who has my portfolio that told him. It doesn’t make any sense, since Dad used him for years and never had any complaints. I’m going to call Doug today and discuss this with him.”

  “Why is Jason so eager to get his hands on your portfolio?” Beth inquired. “I mean, he’s always been so high-and-mighty about the many prestigious clients he has, and from the way he’s put down your cartoon strip I’d think he wouldn’t want anything to do with your business. Some of the clients he’s mentioned have millions of dollars invested with him. And you once said yours doesn’t come anywhere close to that amount.”

  “I’ve wondered that, too,” she admitted, idly munching on her toast. “I’ve been wondering a lot of things.”

  Both women silently finished their quick breakfast.

  “Alex, do you think Jason is in some kind of financial trouble?” Beth spoke suddenly.

  That was the last idea Alex would have come up with. “Trouble? Jason? The two don’t go together.”

  “Yes, but look at what’s happening in the financial world. Drexel closed down, the erratic ups and downs in stocks, and you have to admit he’s been eager lately to take on the kind of clients who have more money than they know what to do with.”

  Alex hated to admit how logical it sounded. “And in his profession he can’t afford the least hint of failure,” she murmured.

  Beth nodded. “Exactly.”

  Alex glanced at the kitchen wall clock. “I’m going to try Doug now. I need to get this settled.” She grabbed her phone and quickly punched out a number. Within minutes she was talking to the man who handled her finances so ably. As she anticipated, Doug was not happy that someone might have been discussing her portfolio, even if it was with a man many thought she would be marrying in the near future. He promised to look into the matter and get back to her as soon as he had some answers. Judging from his grim tone, it boded ill for the hapless investment counselor.

  “Tough lady,” Beth teased, quickly rinsing out her coffee cup and setting it in the dishwasher. “I better get to bed. It’s really lousy working double shifts. I lose all sense of time.”

  “And here I thought Pediatrics was a cushy job.”

  Beth laughed. “We have cycles like anything else, and this is our turn to have every bed loaded. There’s such a shortage at the hospital that a lot of us have to work double shifts. That’s why I was so glad to see us receive some new nurses, even if most of them are floaters.” When the phone rang she walked toward the door. “I’m off.” She opened the door and halted for a moment. “Look, Alex, Jason didn’t sound like his old stuffy self. If he shows up acting like Attila the Hun, call me, okay? Two can stand him off better than one.”

  “I can handle him.”

  “The old Jason, maybe. But this new one sounds as if he doesn’t have anything to lose. See you later.”

  Alex nodded as she picked up the phone. She wasn’t surprised to find it was Doug.

  “Okay, kiddo, it’s all taken care of,” his cigar-roughened voice boomed in her ears. “It appears Roger has been out on sick leave and some big-mouthed kid was working on your portfolio without calling to clear it with me first. I chewed his butt out but good. He figured there was no harm, since Palmer said the two of you were engaged when they were talking about clients. I told the kid that even if you two were married he had no reason to mention your investments to Palmer. That it was up to you and you only. It appears the kid thought he would make a name for himself by working on something he had no business even looking at. He’ll be looking for another job. Maybe next time he’ll keep his mouth shut.”

  Alex chuckled. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”

  “Damn straight. I promise my people results and I’ll do whatever it takes to get it. After his superior kicks his butt, that kid’s going to think I let him off easy.”

  She chewed her lower lip while considering her next question, then plunged right in. “Tell me honestly, Doug. What have you heard about Jason Palmer’s business dealings at Trainor and Associates?” A shiver traveled along her spine at his silence. “Please, I want to know.”

  “Okay, all I ask is that you don’t shoot the messenger. Word has it he’s overextended. He’s lost quite a bit of money for his clients, and they’re not happy. Most of them have pulled out. He’s putting on a big front that he’s not going to be able to keep up for long. Word has it if he doesn’t bring in some well-heeled clients in the very near future he’ll be losing his custom-tailored shirt right off his back.”

  Alex suddenly felt a chill, even though the room was warm. “And this has all been very recent,” she said quietly, all too quietly.

  “Yeah, it has.”

  The rapid surge in dinners and cocktail parties, the name-dropping, exchanging of business cards and setting up lunches with her. She merely assumed he was looking for her to get involved in his work.
Oh, yes, he wanted involvement, all right. He wanted the income from her portfolio! Her rational side reminded her she was conjuring up irrational thoughts, but it sounded too logical as far as she was concerned.

  “Thank you for your honesty, Doug,” she went on in a soft voice.

  “I—ah—I gather you’re not seeing him anymore.” He was hesitant in asking.

  She gripped the receiver tightly. She had been the recipient of so many surprises lately that this one shouldn’t be a shock. But it was. The man she once thought she loved had turned out not to be that man after all. Wasn’t she ever going to get it right? Was she always going to choose the wrong man? She began to doubt herself, doubt Michael. What if he turned out to have feet of clay, too? What if there was something in his past, or even present, that proved he wasn’t the man she thought he was? She wasn’t certain she could bear any more blows. “No, I won’t be seeing him anymore,” she murmured.

  “It’s about time you came to your senses!” Patrick hooted.

  As she finished the call she waved a warning hand at her father, although she knew there wasn’t a chance of Doug hearing him.

  “All right, you’ve achieved your goal,” she said wearily, sinking down in a chair. “I hope you’re happy now.”

  Marian put her arms around Alex’s shoulders. “We can’t be happy when you’re so unhappy, dear,” she said quietly, frowning at her husband for acting so jubilant when their daughter was clearly in emotional pain. “But isn’t it better to find out now rather than later?”

  “Is it?” Alex rested her cheek against her mother’s breast. Funny, she could swear she could inhale the Shalimar her mother always wore. She felt so solid beneath her cheek. So real. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Marian and bawl like a baby, in hopes she’d feel better afterward. “What is it about me, that I attract the wrong men? The first one couldn’t stop chasing women and the other decided my portfolio was more fascinating than me! From now on, it’s sane relationships that don’t require anything on my part.” She sighed. “It’s much safer.”

  Marian shot a look of alarm at Patrick. “What about Dr. Duffy?”

  Tears pricked her eyelids. “There’s probably something wrong with him that I just haven’t learned yet. There has to be. He’s too good to be true.”

  Patrick laid his hand on top of her head, combing his fingers through the thick strands the way he used to when she was a little girl. “Third time’s the charm, sweetheart,” he reminded her.

  “Or three strikes, you’re out.”

  “Michael is a wonderful man. His Aunt Chloe has assured us he’s not at all like Craig or Jason,” Marian went on. “None of this is your fault, Alex. Those two men tried to use you because they saw something wonderful and beautiful in you. I’m just so glad that they didn’t pull you down to their level. You’re a survivor. You’ll do fine. I know you will.”

  Alex managed a weak smile. “With the two of you in my corner, I guess I don’t have any choice, do I?” She threw up her hands in defeat when the doorbell rang. “Now what?” Right about now all she wanted was an extra-large bottle of aspirin.

  “Maybe you should just ignore it,” Marian advised, sensing trouble on the other side.

  “And miss out on Ed McMahon presenting me with my million dollars?” She headed for the door.

  “You never enter those contests,” Patrick added.

  “So someone else submitted my name.” She pulled the door open and cursed under her breath at the sight of her unwanted visitor. “Jason, you should have called first.” Her clipped voice and stiff posture were perfect indications that she didn’t care to see him. Although she had to admit this was a perfect time to tell him to erase her number from his phone book.

  He rudely brushed past her. “I did and you didn’t bother to return my call, so I thought I would come to see you.” He looked around. “But then, perhaps you couldn’t return my call because you were entertaining. Are you alone?”

  “It isn’t any of your business whether I’m alone or not.” She injected pure frost into her voice to cope with the shock of his appearance. She had never seen him so disheveled. It was as if he hadn’t shaved or changed clothes all weekend. “Jason, things just aren’t going to work out for us. I feel it would be better if we didn’t see each other anymore.” There, she said it. And felt so much better for saying it, too.

  “I can arrange to have your portfolio transferred as soon as you sign these papers.” He acted as if he hadn’t heard her, as he pulled several wrinkled sheets of paper out of his coat pocket. “Just sign where the red X’s are and we can get things rolling.”

  “Didn’t you hear me? I don’t want to see you anymore! And why should I sign anything?” She had a sneaking suspicion about exactly what he meant, but she wanted him to admit it.

  He looked at her as if she had asked a stupid question. “Why, for me to take over your investments, of course.”

  Her eyes turned to ice. “I never said you could handle my portfolio.”

  Jason’s dark features turned even darker with rage. His eyes flashed pure fury at being thwarted. “This is no joking matter, Alex. Just sign the papers.”

  Her eyes glittered with a temper her friends knew well enough to avoid. “Believe me, Jason, I am not joking. In fact, I would prefer that you leave right now. As I already told you, I don’t care to hear from you again.” She threw open the door and gestured outside.

  “What are you saying?” he demanded, waving his hands around. “Do you realize what I did for you by presenting you to the right people, giving you some credibility even if you only drew those silly pictures?”

  “No one asked you to!” she yelled. “Just get out, Jason, before I say something we’ll both regret. And believe me, I’m well on my way to saying a great deal.”

  He advanced on her. “Not until we get this settled. You owe me!”

  Her temper fired up at that. “I owe you diddly!”

  “Why, you son of a bitch!” Wrapped in his own rage, Patrick took a swing at the unsuspecting Jason, but fell down as his arm swept right through the stockbroker without impact.

  “I want you out of here now!” Alex shrieked at glass-shattering level.

  “You’re not going to cheat me out of what I’m owed!” he shouted back, grabbing her arm.

  Her reply was loud and strident as she began calling him every name she could think of and a few Patrick gleefully threw in. She jerked her arm back and hit Jason square in the chest with her fist so hard the man fell back a few steps. With rage marring his face he advanced on her, but she was too angry to feel any fear as they waged a loud verbal war.

  “You leave her alone, you cad!” Marian had her own idea of punishment. She urged Suzi Q, who was already upset by all the yelling, toward Jason until the cat jumped onto him, leaving claw marks everywhere.

  Jason yelped and batted at the irate cat with his hands.

  “Don’t you hurt my cat!” Alex jumped into the fray. A hard elbow in her ribs did nothing to stop her.

  With the front door open and the war escalating, it was no wonder a concerned neighbor called in a complaint to the police. When two uniformed officers appeared on the scene and parted the warriors, Alex could only stand back, tossing her hair behind her shoulder as she tried to catch her breath.

  “She assaulted me for no reason!” Jason shouted at the first officer who entered the apartment. “I want that madwoman locked up.” He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at several bloody scratches on his face and freely bleeding gouges on his arms. “And I want that cat destroyed. It’s crazy! I wouldn’t be surprised if it has rabies. I demand to see a doctor right away!”

  “You son of a bitch!” Only an officer’s quick intervention saved Jason from further attack as Alex launched at him. “You were the one to come in here uninvited!”

  “Ma’am, don’t make matters any worse,” the officer advised. “First of all, let’s get you two fixed up.” He eyed the bruise on Alex�
��s cheek and said to his partner, “And here we thought it would be a quiet day.”

  “Don’t say anything without a lawyer present,” Patrick advised as the battling twosome were escorted out.

  “You would have to throw the cat into this,” she muttered to her mother on the way out.

  At the hospital emergency room the officers were patient in their attempt to get the facts straight while Jason waited to see a doctor for treatment.

  Alex sat in a chair, arms crossed in front of her chest, scowling at Jason with a look fit to kill as she listened to him pompously inform the officers she had attacked him without provocation.

  “You should write fiction, Jason,” she said with a curl of the lip. “That’s the best tall tale I’ve heard in a long time.”

  He glared at her. “She hasn’t been right since her parents died.”

  “Keep my parents out of this, Jason, or next time I’ll knock your block off,” she softly warned, her eyes narrowing to dangerous slits.

  He pointed at her. “See, she just threatened me. Doesn’t that prove my point?”

  “As far as I know the lady is more than stable. You’re the one who looks like the rear end of a donkey.”

  Alex looked up at the sound of a familiar voice, then moaned with mortification and slid further down in her seat, her hands covering her face. “Just cart me off to jail now and make everyone happy.”

  “Hi, doc,” one of the officers greeted Michael. “You know these two?”

  He nodded, the smile on his lips slipping when he noticed the bruise blooming on Alex’s cheek. “The gentleman—” his tone indicated the word was being used loosely “—accosted Ms. Cassidy a couple days ago. I gather this was a repeat episode.”

  Jason glared at him. “Her cat almost blinded me.” He gestured to the bloody scratches on his face and neck.

  Michael’s lips tightened. “Bring him on back,” he told one of the nurses.

  “I want her in jail,” Jason went on, oblivious to the storm clouds gathering in Michael’s eyes. “That cat could have seriously injured me.”