Tom thought he had the whip hand and Mandy knew he would be relishing it.
“He’ll see you now,” Carol said quietly to Amanda. As she moved to go Tom appeared behind her, let her pass him, and then shut the door, turning the lock to block entry from the hall.
“Hello, Amanda,” he said cordially as he wheeled to face her. “What brings you here?”
Mandy had seen him adopt many tactics in his dealings with people, and this was his least attractive mode, playing innocent while he moved in for the kill.
“How’s your nose?” Mandy asked, and that threw him off course a bit. He had expected her to start pleading, not open a discussion of the injury which had landed Kelly in jail.
“I’m fine,” he said shortly, tap dancing out of reach.
“You don’t look fine,” Mandy said, yanking him back into boxing range, observing the heavy tape across the bridge of his nose and the technicolor bruising around his eyes.
Tom appeared annoyed at her deft feinting to get him off balance and decided to drop the false pleasantries. He said, “I don’t look as bad as your boyfriend will when I’m through with him.”
Gotcha, Mandy thought. Let’s cut through the slush and take the gloves off now, Tommy boy. She could hardly believe she’d once consented to marry this man. Seeing him in this light made her wonder how she had ever brought herself to talk to him, much less have sex with him.
“Do you really think you can get Kelly on attempted murder, Tom?” she asked conversationally, as if his answer were just a matter of curiosity. “Isn’t aggravated assault or assault with a deadly weapon enough?”
“Attempted murder is the charge the DA’s office is seeking,” Tom said with satisfaction. “We’ll see what the judge has to say about it when he hears the evidence of your lover’s long history of violent aggression.”
“You mean his long history of public service in the Marines and on the police force? His commendation for saving an innocent citizen from a dangerous predator?” Mandy asked.
“What about his recent history of killing a human being with that kickboxer stunt?” Tom countered.
“He killed Cameron to prevent Cameron from killing me,” Mandy said simply. “A jury would certainly take that into consideration.”
“And what would a jury take into consideration regarding his attack on me?” Tom asked, feigning ignorance. “His inability to control an ungovernable temper? I was unarmed and defenseless when he jumped me. He has the self control of a two year old in tantrum mode.”
“That isn’t true. During that Cameron episode I saw him in many situations that would have tested the patience of a saint and he never exploded. He’s remarkably stable and calm in the most trying circumstances. What did you say to him about me that caused him to react?”
Tom grinned. “You mean he didn’t tell you?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Aw, ain’t that sweet? Chivalry is not dead, after all.”
Mandy bit back a reply, aware that aggravating Tom was not going to accomplish her goal. She paused to marshal her resources, and when she looked back at Tom she saw that he was smiling fatuously.
“I’m going to ruin him, Amanda dear, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “Your father doesn’t have enough money to buy your defrocked detective out of this one. You’d better hope Jonathan has enough money to even pay for his defense. I expect you’ll be invading your trust fund after a few months. Criminal defense attorneys are very expensive and your lover is going to be tough to defend. Did you know that he was part of an elite death squad in the Marines, something called the blue dog commandos? Second battalion, fourth Marines? They were sent in first to clear the path for an insurgence with a scorched earth policy, sort of a ‘kill everybody you see and ask questions later’ directive. That’s what he was doing in Operation Desert Fox at age eighteen, nineteen. He was a corporal assigned to a medical unit, bringing out the dead. Oh, I can see by your expression that this is news to you.”
Amanda made an effort to compose her features. So she was most likely right about the source of Kelly’s nightmares, and now knew the reason for her father’s remark about Kelly’s “brutal” service record.
“Hasn’t told you everything, has he?” Tom sneered. “And what’s even more interesting than that, you haven’t looked. Afraid of what you might find, Miss Fixit? You located the dirt on me in five minutes flat, but your boyfriend’s past remains a mystery because you don’t want to know the details. Much more fun to keep him in bed with you than to face the fact that he’s a maniac.”
Amanda refused to take the bait, staying silent.
“Well, I can tell you a few things about him. He keeps getting medals and commendations for bravery and conduct beyond the call, yadda-yadda, but the same people handing him the goodies also think that he has a screw loose. If you read between the lines in his records it’s clear that he was a great soldier and he’s an even better cop, but that’s because he’s crazy. He takes chances no one else would take and has a complete disregard for his own safety.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s crazy, Tom, it means he can put someone’s else welfare before his own. A new concept for you, I would imagine,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m sure that’s the way you want to see it, Amanda,” Tom replied. “Your take on his behavior paints him in a heroic light rather than showing him up for the wild card that he actually is. His so-called rescue of you from Cameron has all the earmarks of one of his stunts, demonstrating how he has a little trouble staying inside the ropes. His bosses all give him an okay on it because he’s such a great guy, so tough and sooo brave doncha know, but it’s clear that even his lieutenant on the police force is always worried that he’s going to jump the rails. That guy Manning tap danced through hoops to keep Kelly employed after the Cameron episode, with the result that your boy was around to do this to me.” Tom indicted his smashed nose with a forefinger. “He needs to get the message that his acting out is going to cancel his ticket, and I’m going to send it to him.”
“Maybe he’s just confused,” Amanda said. “The same behavior that got him medals in the past is now landing him jail.”
“What behavior? Insanity?”
“Fearlessness. He wasn’t afraid of Cameron and he isn’t afraid of you.”
“Ah, but you are, aren’t you, Amanda? That’s why you’re here. You’re a little more conversant with the legal details than your caveman lover and you know I’ve got him by that part of his anatomy which is so precious to you.” Tom feigned puzzlement. “What I keep wondering is why so many of his superiors have covered up for him, backed him when he was going ballistic and made excuses for him. Even Rhinegold’s office didn’t want to indict him at first, after I gave them the case on a silver platter.”
“Maybe they like him,” Mandy said simply. “I liked him right from the start. He’s likable.”
“Until you get to know him better and realize he’s deranged?”
“When I got to know him better I realized I wanted him,” Mandy fired back maliciously, unable to keep it inside. “I wanted him so badly that nothing else mattered to me except getting with him.”
“So that’s his secret?” Tom observed nastily. “Pretty gets a pass everywhere, apparently. Do you really think that getting laid, even by your war hero, is worth all this trouble?”
“It’s much more complicated than just getting laid, although I realize it makes you feel better to put everything on that level. You can feel superior to me if I’m a silly girl who got obsessed with a handsome jerk and trashed her life over it. That’s not what is happening but if you prefer to believe that scenario there’s nothing I can do about it. What I don’t understand is the depth of your vendetta against him. Why do you have to be the instrument of his destruction? If he’s that much of a fool he’ll fall anyway eventually even if you have nothing to do with it, right?”
Tom shrugged. “He’s a fraud, Amanda. He puts on tha
t blue cop suit like it’s a Halloween costume and he looks so good that nobody goes beyond it to see the street brawler underneath it. Nobody has ever taken this guy to task for his reckless behavior, and so he’s free to add more incidents to his colorful record.”
“How do you know all this about his record? Those files are confidential.”
Tom rubbed his fingers together, grinning. “I can play people too, Amanda. You don’t have a monopoly on eliciting information. I may not have as much clout as your daddy but I can find out what I want to know.”
Amanda sighed. She had always known that Tom and her mother were siblings under the skin. The first instinct for both of them was to get the bad news about Kelly’s past.
“Your boyfriend has been covering himself with glory at all stops along the way and his current file is no better,” Tom continued blandly, like a news anchor delivering information. “Kelly has a quadruple death belt in kung fu or tae kwon do or ju jitsu or whatever martial art the cops are currently using to kill people. He broke Cameron’s neck with one kick. I checked the autopsy report. He also damaged Cameron’s carotid artery so badly with one blow that Cameron would not have survived that either. It won’t be tough to convince a jury that Kelly’s a violent cop, a killing machine. I just got in his way and with our personal history he wanted to finish me off and tried to do it. That punch in the face he gave me can drive bone fragments up into the brain. That’s another karate trick I’m sure he didn’t describe to you. That I survived was just his bad luck.”
“Do you actually believe that?” Mandy asked incredulously.
“I don’t care,” Tom said bluntly.
Mandy stared at him, amazed.
“Don’t look at me that way, Amanda. The deep green eyes don’t quite have the effect on me that they used to, back in the day when I actually thought you cared about me. You may not have noticed it but while your love with paddy was in bloom my life became a joke. Poor Tom Henderson, can’t hang onto his woman, she dumped him for that cute cop who got the medal. The two of you made a fool out of me before the whole district. You gave me the boot after his big moment, kissing you on the stage in front of my constituents, the whole police force, the world, and the next thing anyone knew you were hanging on him in every public spot in Metro. You didn’t exactly keep your relationship a secret. I was a laughingstock at the club, in the state house, everywhere I went people were giggling behind their hands about the cuckold Congressman who lost his rich girlfriend to that detective.” He paused. “I wonder what they’ll say when the detective winds up behind bars. Makes a better ending to the story, don’t you think?”
Amanda was stunned by the venomous tirade. She had known Tom’s pride was hurt, but this speech signaled something far worse, a desire for revenge that was truly alarming.
“He doesn’t deserve what you’re doing to him,” she finally said softly.
“He’s a low rent, shanty Irish punk with the social mores of a retardate and you’re mesmerized by what’s in his pants,” Tom said disgustedly.
“Is that it?” Amanda replied curiously, after a long, thoughtful moment. “He has no money, no pedigree, no fancy background or illustrious career. My choosing him demonstrates to the world that I prefer sex with him to anything you could possibly give me, since sex is the ONLY thing he can give me.”
Mandy saw that she had struck home when his mouth tightened visibly and his icy eyes grew colder. She wished instantly that she hadn’t said it when she saw his response, but it was too late to take the words back.
Even Tom was vulnerable where his manhood was concerned.
“I wouldn’t consider myself a special case if I were you,” Tom spat back viciously. “My sources tell me that guy has been scoring with every miniskirted tart in three counties over the last few years. You’re not exactly in a privileged class or exclusive company.”
“What Kelly did before I met him doesn’t matter to me,” Mandy said honestly. “We were both different people then.”
“Oh, of course,” Tom sneered. “You’ve changed him, shown him what the love of a good woman will do for him. Speaking of that, how does he feel about having you shill for him?”
“He doesn’t know I’m here, Tom.”
“I see. But you came to beg for him anyway. Curfew shall not ring tonight!”
“I’m not begging. I was hoping that I could do this without ruining your business relationship with my father.”
“Do what?” Tom demanded. “Save your lover’s future? That’s what I plan to explode, sweetheart. And he handed me the means to do it himself. Now you expect me to have pity on this jumped up bog trotter who stole MY future?”
“Kelly stole nothing. You were never in love with me. You were in love with the idea of marrying Jonathan Redfield’s daughter.”
Tom glared at her silently.
“I accepted it at the time because I didn’t think anything better was out there for me. And you’re angry now, not because I hurt you emotionally but because in your mind I dumped you publicly for an unworthy rival. It’s humiliating for you to be tossed out and replaced by a cop, a nobody.”
“All that sounds very psychobabble, Amanda, but have you ever considered that I might have done you a favor in sending this oaf packing?”
“What do you mean?”
Tom shrugged negligibly. “The guy is a bad seed from a bad family. His old man was kicked off the Philly force twenty years ago. Did you know that?”
Mandy shook her head.
“You really don’t know much about him, do you?” Tom said in an insinuating tone. “Doesn’t that tell you something, Amanda? He hasn’t been very eager to share, has he?”
Mandy waited again. Tom lifted his shoulders once more, as if it were a matter of no importance to him.
“The father was a heavy drinker, abusive, wound up abandoning the family and just wandering, always on the sauce,” Tom said. “The kids had to fend for themselves, the mother was sickly, the older girls raised the two younger boys. The old man died when he was still in his forties, froze to death in a train yard in Boston when he was tanked and riding the rails. Fell off a freight car and was too drunk to get up and get inside when the temperature dropped.”
Mandy felt tears come to her eyes as she listened to the pathetic story, her heart breaking for Kelly. Now wonder he never talked about his father.
“How do you know all this?” Mandy asked.
“I had him investigated when it was clear you were falling for him.”
“When it was clear his relationship with me was threatening your marina, you mean,” Mandy said.
Tom shrugged again. “He’ll be kicked off the force like his drunken old man and then he’ll go to prison where he’ll find all the felons he put in there waiting for him.”
“I’m sorry it has come to this,” Mandy said sadly, deciding finally that she had no choice about what she was going to do.
“I will sink him so far under water you’ll need sonar to find him,” Tom said flatly.
“You’re not going to do anything to him, Tom,” Mandy replied calmly.
“What do you mean?” Tom demanded, his eyes narrowing.
“You’re going to drop the civil complaint, talk Sam Rhinegold’s office out of pursuing the criminal prosecution, get the case expunged from Kelly’s record and get his job reinstated at full rank and full salary. First thing tomorrow morning.”
Tom gaped at her in astonishment, as if she were levitating. “The hell you say! Have you lost your mind? Your boytoy is through, Amanda. I’m going to make sure he winds up in shackles.”
Amanda shook her head slowly.
He waited. He had lost none of his belligerence but she saw that she had his full attention.
“I’ve been doing a little research about your trips to China,” Amanda began.
“And?”
“I felt there was something suspicious about the way you were handling the imported steel. My father didn’t know anything about
it and you were conducting the business covertly, as if you were smuggling enriched uranium.”
Tom held his breath, watching her.
“All you were doing, supposedly, was bringing in steel rods to support the marina roof at a better price than you could get the steel for domestically.”
“That’s what I have been doing,” Tom said swiftly.
Mandy shook her head again. “No, Tom. You’ve been doing a lot more than that.” Mandy got up and removed one of the manila folders from her briefcase. She dropped it on the desk where Tom stood.
“You’ve been bringing in the steel, all right, but at a lower grade than was acceptable for the local standards until about six months ago. You’re paying for the imports about half of what you would have had to pay for the domestic version. But the domestic version has a safety standard about three times as stringent as the Chinese grade rebars you’re buying.” Amanda folded her arms as Tom exhaled slowly and regarded her soberly.
Amanda paused.
Tom said nothing.
“In short,” Amanda said, “you used your influence in the legislature to get the safety standards lowered so that the cheaper imported steel could be used in the marina. This will allow you to construct the buildings at much lower cost and will result in much heftier profits for you.
“Nothing wrong with making money,” Tom said. “It’s the American way.”
Amanda removed the second folder from her briefcase.
“Is it the American way to bribe public officials to get them to lower the safety standards in the first place, thus allowing you to use the imported steel? That sounds like endangering public safety, and a trifle illegal to me.”
“You have no proof of that,” Tom said quickly.
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