by Alina Adams
"Okay," Bex agreed. Because, until she knew exactly what was going on, it was always best to agree.
"Good." Tess gestured for Coop to quit standing and sit back down, but her focus remained on Bex. "Because this will need to be handled very carefully."
"I agree," Bex... agreed.
"A situation like this could be deadly to Coop's image."
"Not to mention Allison Adler's life," Bex most definitely did not say.
"However, handled carefully, it also has the potential to reap great benefits."
Bex said, "Hmmm ..."
"Gil told me the police believe Allison was murdered."
Gil certainly was chatty, wasn't he? Bex cursed silently. She'd wanted to spring the news on Coop herself and gauge his reaction. If he believed he committed the perfect crime, only to get tripped up, Bex wanted to be there when he realized it.
Except it was too late now. The best Bex got when she sneaked a peek in Coop's direction was the sight of him staring intently into space, fascinated by the sun umbrella above their heads, either counting the spokes or taking a nap with his eyes open. Bex and Tess might as well have been discussing next year's hem lengths rather than the murder of his child's mother, for all the interest Coop was taking.
"This could be very bad for Coop," Tess said. "I know how the public thinks. I've worked in advertising and marketing for years. The fact is, complex messages just don't penetrate. And innocent until proven guilty is definitely too complex for the average consumer. They'll see Coop, they'll hear the girl was murdered, and bam! It could take years to untangle the two facts, if then. Coop could win the Olympics from now until the end of time, and they all will still think Cooper Devaney equals killer."
The girl. Allie Adler was presumably the mother of Tess Devaney's grandchild, and she was calling her "the girl," like it was a supporting role that needed to be filled in a movie. Or a television commercial.
"It does no good to try and change the public's mind. Once they have made the association, it's in there for eternity. And since I suppose there is no way to keep Coop's name completely out of this scandal..." Tess's eyes tiptoed cautiously in Bex's direction, blatantly suggesting that if there was a way to keep Coop's name completely out of this scandal, now would be a good time for her to bring it up so they could talk turkey. But when Bex simply shook her head in a nonanswer to the nonquestion, Tess proceeded, "Then our only option is to try to supplant the inevitable killer correlation with another equally powerful impression."
Bex noted that the word "killer" rolled off Tess's tongue in conjunction with her son as easily as "the girl" did in reference to Allison. Obviously, Tess's advertising and marketing background stressed turning everything into a product. And an object.
"What do you have in mind?" Bex asked politely, figuring that if Tess was willing to do her whole job for her, Bex might as well take advantage. Maybe Tess even wanted to do the whole write-up, leaving Bex free to sneak a little free time.
"The single-father angle," Tess announced triumphantly. "It's perfect. It's visual. Women love to see a man nurturing a small child. It's programmed into their genes from the cavemen days. Women find a man who is good with children very appealing. If we can always cover up any talk of Cooper possibly being a suspect in Allison's murder with images of him with the baby, that should be enough to counter the negative effects. The public remembers what they see much better than what they hear, and they remember the visceral a thousand percent better than the intellectual. So Bex, I realize you have to talk about Coop and Allie's past involvement — otherwise it would seem like a cover-up and we certainly don't need that on top of all our other problems. But I do think that as long as you pair the visual of Coop and the baby with the audio, we'll be okay."
Bex said, "How do you intend to do that?"
"Excuse me?" Tess was already putting her notes away, presuming the meeting to be over. Apparently none of her notes said anything about follow-up questions.
"How do you plan to get video of Coop with Omri? The baby's name is Omri, by the way."
Tess said, "No. No, I don't like it. It's too foreign. People will have a hard time pronouncing it. We'll think of something else. Allan was what I had in mind. To show how we're honoring his mother's memory."
Bex said, "Idan Ben-Golan showed the police a birth certificate listing the baby's name as Omri, and his name as the father. How do you intend to get around that for these shots of Coop with Baby Allan?"
"It's ridiculous," Tess said. "Ask anyone. Coop and Allie were dating when that child was conceived. Everybody knew it."
"Then why is Idan's name on the birth certificate?'
"How should I know? Allison was obviously a disturbed girl. She killed herself, for goodness' sake!"
"She was murdered."
"That's just a theory. The police have no evidence or clues; that's why they came to you. They expect the public to do their work for them. Isn't that just like the LAPD? Maybe they can beat a confession out of some poor, non-English-speaking janitor who had the misfortune to be in the vicinity. That'll solve their case."
"As of right now, Idan was awarded temporary custody of Omri."
"I know. But we're challenging it. I have my lawyer drawing up the papers now. We're asking for an emergency session with the Family Court."
Bex turned to Coop, figuring he might want to contribute to the discussion at this time. She asked him, "Are you really ready to be a single dad? I mean, you're so young. And you've got your career. The Olympics are next year. How will you handle it?"
"My mom will help," Coop said. He was still counting umbrella spokes.
"Coop will manage," she reassured. "And, like I said, it will make a fantastic human interest story. The baby will be old enough to travel to the Olympics by next year. He can wave to his daddy from the stands. It'll look great."
Coop suddenly sat up, elbows on the table, fingers jutting in Bex's direction as he struggled to make his point. "It's my responsibility," he stressed. "It's a sign, I think. A sign that none of this would have happened if only I'd been honest with everyone from the beginning and — "
"Coop." Tess did not raise her voice. She didn't snap and she didn't bark. She simply said her son's name. And he promptly closed his mouth and sat back deeper in the chair, arms crossed against his chest. Tess told Bex, "As you can see, Coop is very, very ready and willing to accept his responsibilities as a father." Then, in a conspiratorial tone, Tess added, "Am I happy about this development? Of course not. You said it yourself, it's going to be excruciatingly hard for him to raise a child while continuing with his training. I was nineteen and single myself when I had Coop. I know the drill. I suppose I should have been more vigilant, considering my own experience. But what can you do? Boys will be boys. And normal boys like girls. To which, unfortunately, there are sometimes consequences. Yes, the simple thing for us to have done would have been to say, 'Great! Idan Ben-Golan wants to take responsibility for Cooper's child? Terrific! Boy, we really dodged a bullet there, didn't we?' and go on with his training as if nothing had happened. But that's not who my son is. He is a decent, responsible person. And he will be a wonderful father."
"If," Bex pointed out, "the court grants him custody."
"Of course they will," Tess said. "I have a block-long line of people who will testify to that, including an unimpeachable witness that I guarantee you will make this an open-and-shut case."
While Bex liked surprises as much as the next person, she couldn't help asking, "Why go to all that trouble, though? Why doesn't Coop just take a paternity test and—"
"Absolutely not!" Tess smacked the table with her open palm for emphasis, then lowered her voice to hiss, "There is absolutely no way in hell I am letting Coop submit to a paternity test. I won't allow it."
CHAPTER NINE
Bex pointed out, "But if you're certain he's the father — "
"Of course he's the father. Why would I go through all this if I wasn't certain that Coop
was the father?"
"Because you need a photo-op with a cute baby to cover up the fact that your son may have killed a girl," Bex also did not say. She had this habit. It wasn't a very good one and it had never served her well, but Bex had this habit of making up theories as she went along. She could go through three, four during a single conversation. For instance, in the one Bex was mulling now, Coop killed Allison specifically because he found out he wasn't Omri's father, meaning Allie cheated on him with his coach. Tess knew it and was trying to distract everyone with the paternity and custody issue so that no one would guess Coop's true motive. Well, that and the cute-baby photo-op.
"Obviously, a blood test would be the quickest way to prove Coop's claim. But there is absolutely no way that I am letting the Los Angeles Police Department obtain any physical samples. And that includes blood, tissue, hair. You know how they are. They say they're just taking it for a paternity test, and next thing you know they've suddenly found physical evidence to link Coop to the crime scene."
"So you do think that Allison was murdered," Bex followed up.
Tess shrugged. "I have no idea. It's a violent world we live in these days, isn't it? That Hunt boy — the little one in Coop's practice group, didn't I hear something about his mother being murdered a few months back? So I suppose it could happen to anyone. You never know."
"He's a good kid," Coop piped up. "Jeremy Hunt. I talked to him. It's rough, being at your first Nationals. And he's the youngest in the whole group, too. I remember what that's like. I gave him some pointers today. Told him to have fun, not worry about placing. Well, not worry about it yet. In a few years — "
"You see?" Tess crowed. "Coop is great with kids."
Bex said to Tess, "You must have known Allison pretty well. Who do you think killed her?"
Tess looked surprised to be asked. Surprised, and somewhat embarrassed. She stammered, "Well, I wouldn't say I knew Allie well. Coop isn't a child, you understand. I don't drive him to the rink or sit in the stands during his practices. He's an adult. He's in charge of his skating. My role is really more as a manager. A consultant. I work on his PR opportunities, media appearances, that sort of thing. I don't run his life. And, in the past few years, I've been so busy trying to get this reality show off the ground... well, I'm afraid I didn't get a chance to know Allison as well as I might have liked."
And yet she had no trouble calling Allison unstable earlier. Interesting.
Coop said, "I've been thinking and thinking about this ever since I found out. I don't know who would want to kill Allie."
"What about her father?" Tess postulated.
Coop hesitated. Then he said, "Mr. Adler was really mad when Allie quit skating. He would practically lose his mind and go on and on about it to me whenever I called. I remember thinking once that I was afraid of what he would do to Allie when he finally did find her."
Tess said, "You want to talk about unstable... I actually knew Ralph better than Allison in some ways. I remember when they first started coming to the rink. She was just a little girl then, and I thought it was... disturbing, the way he stuck to her side. If Allie was on the ice, he was out there watching. If Allie came into the snack bar, there he was, hovering, asking her if she wanted something. The poor child would get off the ice to go to the bathroom, and he would follow her as far as the ladies' room door, standing outside, waiting to walk her back out. That behavior always seemed rather... odd. But when I found out be was only the stepfather, well... well, I guess I thought the obvious. Anyone would have."
If anyone included Bex, then she thought she had a pretty good idea of what Tess was hinting at.
"Coop," Bex asked, "did Allie ever say anything to you about her father being, well, I guess... inappropriate to her?"
Coop shook his head. "She thought he was too into her skating and stuff. She used to say he got so nervous before competitions that he made her nervous even when she didn't start out that way. She used to say that he wanted her to win more than she did. That he would always pour over the protocol, looking at her marks, comparing them to other people's, coming up with these strategies that he'd take to Idan — "
"Oh, but it wasn't just that," Tess interrupted. "Ralph approved all her costumes. And I don't mean just "yay" or "nay" on whether there should be a red flower or a yellow one in the ruffle of her skirt. I mean, he went with her to fittings. And this is when Allie had to be, what, already fifteen, sixteen years old? It wasn't too long ago, that's for sure. If you ask me, a father, most especially a stepfather, has no business seeing his teenage daughter half dressed. It's sick."
Bex nodded thoughtfully, not liking where the insinuations were leading. She had enough candidates for the Daddy pool as it was without adding a truly disturbing entrant. "So you really think Ralph Adler was capable of strangling his own child in cold blood?"
"Not in cold blood," Tess pointed out "In a rage. When Ralph saw Allison with her baby and realized what had happened, he snapped."
"That is possible," Bex conceded. "But what doesn't make sense is, why would Allison, her baby, and Ralph all be at the rink this morning? Neither of them had a good reason for being here."
Judging by Tess and Coop's matching faces, yup, that was a stumper, all right.
Of course, Bex had a theory. If Idan was to be believed and Allison really was dropping off Omri with him before leaving town for good, maybe she called her father, asked him to meet her at the arena so they could clear the air before she started a new life. Conversely, maybe Allie, after giving up her baby, turned to her father for support, asked to come home, told him what had happened, and begged for sympathetic understanding. But instead of embracing his prodigal child, an incensed Ralph strangled her.
"You know how fathers are," Tess prompted. "They can't stand the idea of their little girl being sexually active. Becoming pregnant, well, there's no way you can avoid the truth then, can you? Ralph was so obsessed with Allie, the idea of her being a little slut, excuse my language — "
"She wasn't a slut," Coop didn't raise his voice, either. But just like his mother's warning earlier, there was something in Coop's tone that made Tess reconsider and quiet down. "If Allie was a slut Mom, what does that make me?"
"Coop, honey — "
"What, Mom, what? Slut? That sure sounds like a double standard to me. What happened to that stuff you taught me growing up, about how men were always allowed to sow their wild oats in whatever fashion they could afford and how twentieth-century, liberated, and enlightened women should be accorded the same rights and not be judged but treated with respect and dignity? Does having a kid out of wedlock make you a slut, too, Mom?"
Tess bristled, "I didn't have a line of men thinking they could be your father."
"There's no line! None of you get it!" Coop rose from his chair. "Allie wasn't cheating on me. She wasn't like that. I would have known. She loved me, and I loved her. I don't know why Idan is claiming the baby is his, but it's not possible."
"What about Idan's wife?" Tess's response to Coop's tantrum — not to mention his suggestion that perhaps her proud, liberal values might not be quite as egalitarian as she'd raised her son to believe — was to ignore the outburst completely. She literally turned her back to Coop and addressed Bex as if no other question had been raised two feet to the left of them. She said, "Even though we all know that Coop is the father, Idan's name was on the baby's birth certificate. For all we know, he told Pandora Westby the same story he told the police, that he is the biological father. Surely she couldn't have taken that well."
"Probably not," Bex agreed.
"Pan didn't like Idan coaching girls," Coop offered.
Bex turned to him in surprise. A minute ago he'd appeared primed to engage his mother in public debate about the role of women in modern society and how many Daddy candidates constituted a "slut" versus a liberated woman reveling in her hard-won sexual freedom. But apparently Tess's out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach had calmed him quicker than a bucket of ice
chips dumped over his head. Coop was no longer standing, but sitting tranquilly in his chair, palms turned up, as he quietly and rationally proposed a pertinent observation.
"Most of Idan's students were guys. Which actually made sense, because more than half of them — us — were on scholarship from Pan, and she only sponsored guys. She liked men's Singles skating, she said, because we pushed the technical envelope more than anybody else. It was Sebi, actually, who I think convinced her to sponsor him and Allie. They were her only dance team, and Allie was the only girl she ever sponsored. Idan had a few girls who competed in Singles — Novice, Junior; he just did their choreography, but Pan didn't pay for them. And she didn't like that he had them. I think she was jealous."
"It's a pretty old story, isn't it," Tess tried to sound sympathetic but didn't quite make it. "Older, wealthy woman marries much younger, very attractive man..." Her sigh made it clear that an independent, modern woman like Tess would never lower herself to such an arrangement. Though Bex did have to wonder, whatever happened to "men were always allowed to sow their wild oats in whatever fashion they could afford and liberated and enlightened women should be accorded the same rights and not be judged"?
"How do you know Pandora was jealous?" Bex asked, figuring she should gather some actual evidence before taking a hardly disinterested party's word for motive.
"Well..." Put on the spot. Coop didn't act nearly as positive as when frolicking in the land of generalities. "Like I said, she didn't like Idan coaching girls."
"How do you know?"
"She never sponsored any. No one until Allie, and that was as part of a team."
"But that just proves she preferred Men's Singles as a general discipline, not that she didn't like Idan working with girls."
