Love on Ice (Cannon City Series Book 2)

by Lauren Marie

  Dear Jay, I want you to know I do love you very much. You are a very gentle and patient man and I couldn’t have hoped for more. I can’t stay, though and watch my mother try to destroy you and all you’ve built here in Canon City. I can’t stand the thought that I brought all of this down on you and can’t find the strength to fight her. I will always love you and hope you can understand and forgive me. Kate

  “Bullshit!” he shouted at the paper and crumpled it in his hand. He turned back around and took the whisky off the shelf and set it on the table. He breathed hard and felt pissed. He looked at the door on the cupboard and reached up, applied all his strength and pulled it off the unit. He swung it and knocked things off the counter. A salt shaker spun through the air and scattered salt around in circles before it crashed to the floor. He pulled dishes off the shelves and sent them flying, along with glasses and coffee mugs.

  After he’d finished with the top shelves he started on the bottom and pulled out the drawers. He emptied them out, scattering the contents around the room and then stomped them to pieces. He kicked the debris around the room and then bellowed at the top of his lungs.

  He looked around the kitchen, out of breath. “Women are fucked,” he said between breaths. He grabbed the bottle of whisky off the table and walked into the living room where he flopped onto the couch. He kicked his shoes off and put his feet on the coffee table.

  The remote control for the TV was wedged between the cushions on the couch. He put on some mindless sports program and turned the volume up loud. Unscrewing the lid off the bottle, he tipped it up and took a couple of hefty swallows. “I can’t fucking get drunk fast enough,” he mumbled.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  One week later

  Libby Hager pulled her car into her son’s driveway and parked. Every-other-week she made a visit to Jay’s house to make sure he had some good food in his refrigerator. Her son tended to eat too much fast food and she wanted to be sure he got something healthful every now and then. She’d made a bucket of fried chicken and a couple of salads to get him through the week. One of the salads was potato and he insisted it was his favorite. She’d tried to call him this week, but his phone wasn’t working or he’d turned it off. She hoped it meant he and Kate spent lots of quality time together.

  She parked next to Jay’s Jeep and got out of her car. She slammed the door shut, grabbed two shopping bags out of the back and headed to the front door. When she found it locked, she set the bags down and got her keys back out of her purse. She could hear the TV through the door and wondered about that. Jay didn’t watch much television.

  She opened the door and picked up the bags. As she turned into the kitchen, she stopped dead in her tracks. The room was torn to pieces and Libby became concerned something very bad happened to her son.

  “Jay!” she tried to shout over the loud TV.

  She set the bags on the dinner table and went into the living room. She saw Jay’s long body stretched out on the couch and three empty whiskey bottles on the coffee table. Jay wore a pair of jeans and that was about it. She moved to the TV and turned it off. Libby pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and hit the speed dial.

  “Hi honey,” her husband answered.

  “Mike, I’m at Jay’s. I need you.” She looked at her son’s back as he began to move.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Just come now, Mike.”

  ****

  Jay felt the world move around him and it must have snowed. He sat in a very cold place and tried to open his eyes.

  The next thing he knew something frozen stabbed at him and hit his body. His eyes shot open. He found himself in the bath tub with the shower spraying him with cold water. He tried to get up and saw his dad lean over and put a very strong hand on his chest.

  “How long have you been drunk, Jay?” his dad asked.

  Jay tried to look up at him, but the cold water splashed in his eyes. “What day is it?”

  “Wednesday.”

  “I guess a week or so.”

  “What happened in the kitchen?”

  Jay leaned over the side of the tub and could look at his dad. “What do you mean?”

  “Your kitchen is torn to pieces. It looks like a cyclone blew through.” His dad raised his eyebrows.

  Jay sat back and began to get a little used to the cold water. “I got a little pissed off.”

  “A little?” His dad moved from the edge of the tub and sat on the toilet. “Jay, you’re going to have to replace a lot of your stuff out there. I don’t think your mom has found one dish that isn’t broken.”

  “Mom’s out there?” Jay sat up and started to stand.

  “Are you sure you want to get out of the bath? Your mom is ready to lecture you pretty good on that mess. Maybe you need to sober up some more.”

  Jay laughed. “I haven’t had anything to drink since last night. I’m just really hung over and have a flaming headache.”

  “I hope you’ve got some aspirin. Your mom is not very happy with you. Get cleaned up.” His dad walked out and shut the door.

  Jay took off his soaked jeans and under-drawers, and got the hot water going. He let the spray hit his face and hoped the headache would lighten up. He washed his hair and stopped for a second. It occurred to him that he couldn’t remember how he got upstairs into the bath tub and then thought about his dad. The old man was stronger than Jay realized. He went back to his hair and started to think about Kate.

  He rinsed his hair and leaned against the wall. He wondered where she was and if she’d left Canon City. He’d have to call Frank and find out what happened. He may be pissed off at her, but he still cared.

  Jay went down the stairs and found his mom and dad swept up the mess. His dad carried a garbage bin out the door and his mom stood by the stove with a scowl on her face. They’d stacked pieces of drawer and cupboard along the back wall and his silverware sat on the counter in a shiny pile.

  “Somehow you managed not to break the coffee pot.” She scowled at him.

  “Thank God. That would have meant the end of the world had happened.” He tried to smile at her.

  “It still may be the end of the world. You broke all of your coffee cups.” She crossed her arms.

  “Wait one second.” Jay held up a finger and walked out of the kitchen. He went back up the stairs and collected mugs he’d left in the bedroom and his office. He carried them back down to the kitchen and bumped his mom away from the sink. He washed them quickly and then dried them. “Can I offer you a cup of coffee, Mom?”

  “Smart ass.” She took the full cup from him and pointed to the table.

  Jay took his cup to the table and handed one to his dad as he came back into the room. He then sat down and looked up at his mom.

  She peered into the oven and then turned back around. “The only thing not broken was a pie tin and your silverware. Thank you for not killing the refrigerator. Jay, what happened here?”

  “I got a little pissed off.”

  His dad laughed. “He tried to tell me that one, too, honey. I’d say it maybe was a bit more than a little, my boy.”

  “Well,” Jay looked at the kitchen. “I’d thought about remodeling the cabinets. I guess I have a good excuse now.”

  “Jay, I read the letter.” His mom pulled Kate’s letter out of her pocket. She’d smoothed it out as best she could. “Where’s Kate? She said she lied to you.”

  “Yeah, she did.” He looked into his coffee cup. “I don’t know where she is.”

  “So you read this letter and let me guess, you started to compare her to Mandy Parker, the queen of lies?”

  “Mom, you don’t know the story...”

  “I know enough about you, Jason Hager. I know how you get when someone lies to you. I’ve never understood where
it came from, but let me tell you something. No one in this world is perfect and if you’re going to be so unforgiving, you’ll never find anyone to enjoy your life with.”

  Jay had never heard such forceful words come from his mother. He saw his dad reach over and put his hand over hers.

  “Libs, maybe it’s time we told him the truth,” his dad said.

  “No.”

  “Sweetheart, he’s old enough and I think mature enough to know what happened.”

  “Oh God, you guys aren’t going to tell me I’m adopted or something?” Jay sat up straight in his chair and felt truly concerned.

  The lines around his dad’s eyes crinkled. “Sorry to disappoint you, but you are ours, now and forever. No, Jay, I’m afraid I had a transgression once a long time ago.”

  His mom looked at him. “Mattie was just a baby and you were two years old.”

  “Jay, I had an affair...” his dad started.

  “But he came clean with me. He told me the truth. It took a while, but we were able to work things out,” his mom finished for his dad.

  “The most important thing from that whole mess, was that your mother forgave me and we are better now than we were before I acted so stupid. I didn’t think I would ever forgive myself for what I did to your mother. I betrayed her.”

  “That’s right, Jay. Before you boys came along, we both were pretty selfish and we took a lot for granted. After that little bit of upset, things just got better and better.”

  “Mom, I appreciate the sentiment, but I’d already forgiven Kate once. How often will I have to keep that up?”

  “In the letter she said she would give up everything with you so that you’d be safe. It must have broken Kate’s heart to do that. I’d love to be able thank her for putting you first.”

  Jay sat back in his chair. “Mom, it’s just not that easy for me. I don’t want to go through what I felt with Mandy and...Kate’s a great woman and if I ever get around to telling you her story, you’ll be amazed at her strength, but I just can’t...” Jay stood up and went to the coffee pot. “I need to think,” he mumbled and closed his eyes. He’d never thought of what his mom just said. Kate put him first and tried to protect him.

  “Jay, tell us her story now. Why did she think you weren’t safe,” his dad asked.

  He turned from the counter and took in a heavy breath. He picked up the coffee pot and topped off their cups, then poured more into his mug. He didn’t even know where to start, but sat down and related as best he could what happened to Kate and the arrival of her mother. He left out the part about how Edna wanted to take Kate back to Los Angeles to perform in porn movies. For that alone, Jay wanted to beat the woman to pieces. He just told his parents that Edna was a control freak and didn’t like the fact the Kate could make it on her own for eight years.

  When he stopped he looked around the table at his parents. His mother’s eyes welled with tears and he almost joined her in a good cry.

  “That woman should be shot,” his mom said and dried her eyes. “How can any parent in their right mind...? Well, obviously that woman isn’t in her right mind. Poor Kate must have been so frightened. Jay, we’ve got to help her and show her that there is some sanity in the world.”

  “Mom.” He stood up. “I tried to protect her and keep her away from that bitch, but all Kate knows is how to run. I asked her to stay and she decided to do something else.” He moved from the table and left the room.

  ****

  Kate heard a car pull up in the driveway and a horn honk. She picked up her bag and went outside. She saw Frank wave at her from his BMW, locked the new dead bolt and walked to the car door.

  After she’d belted in, Frank backed the car to the road and headed to the highway. They were on their way to Pueblo.

  “Okay, Kate, here’s what to expect. The judge will state the case as it stands now. Your mom and her cronies will be charged with kidnapping with the intent to take you across state lines to California. Are you with me so far?”

  Kate nodded and said she understood what Frank told her.

  “Then the judge is going to hit all of them with a healthy fine.”

  She saw Frank smile. “What is the fine for?” she asked.

  “Well, primarily for the punch you took in the jaw, but, also, the lab tests that were done in the hospital showed you were given a date rape drug. There is no proof they had any malicious intent, but they’re not going to get away with it.” He smiled at her again. “The fine will be the topper. It’s pretty high. They’ll have to take the deal.”

  “What’s the deal?”

  “This is where things could get tricky. The judge will offer to freeze the charges and the fine, and they’ll be banished from the State of Colorado. If they ever cross the state line in your lifetime, the charges will be unfrozen and they will be arrested. If they break that law and with the other charges, they could be put away for a very long time.”

  “Banishment? Is that even legal?” Kate felt stunned.

  “It’s not done a lot these days, but it is in the Constitution in a limited form and the case I quoted - Hamm v. Mississippi - was recent. It does stipulate that the defendants First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights not be violated. If they choose to fight it - and they could, but it would be ridiculous, the court costs alone would be astronomical - then things could be difficult. The catch is, if they choose not to accept the deal that means we press on with the charges and there will be a court case. You would have to testify.”

  “What if I choose not to press charges?” She saw the look on Frank’s face turn slightly angry.

  “Sweetheart, you already know the answer to that one.”

  Kate looked out the front window. “Run and hide.”

  “Right, and unless you really enjoy that, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  They went silent for several miles. Kate thought it didn’t really matter if she continued to run and hide. She didn’t have anything that held her to Canon City. Not anymore. She could go back to being a ghost and no one would know the difference.

  “Kate, have you heard anything from Jay?”

  She felt her throat tighten and closed her eyes. “No.”

  “I’ve tried to call him, but his phone must be switched off. It’s not even going to his voicemail. I may swing by his place this afternoon. Do you want to come with me?”

  Kate looked at him. “No, I don’t want to bother Jay.”

  “Kate...”

  “Frank, drop it, please. I don’t want to see him, okay?”

  He glanced at her and huffed. “I know that isn’t true, but I’ll leave it alone for now.”

  She stared at her hands and wanted this over with. This day, she hoped, would be the last time she would see her mother.

  Kate sat next to Frank in Judge Patrick Wilhelm’s office. Two men sat on the other side of Frank with her mother and then the two men she’d hire to kidnap Kate sat alongside. One of the men was her mother’s attorney, Mr. Levine. She found out later the other man was the attorney’s assistant. A woman walked in with a stenotype machine on a small, round table. She went to a chair and sat down. She asked everyone in the room to give their full legal names and typed them into the machine.

  It wasn’t a court room. It appeared to be a simple office with a huge wooden desk and shelves and shelves of books. Kate wondered if the judge read all of those books and then focused her attention on the judge. He was an older man with gray hair and eagle eyes. He’d glance on occasion at the others in the room and when he looked at Kate, she froze in her seat. His looked softened though and she thought she didn’t need to feel so nervous. He looked like a grandfather type. She watched as he flipped through the papers an assistant gave him and then he raised his head.

  “Mr. Levine.” The judge looked over his glasses
.

  Her mother’s attorney stood up. “Yes.”

  “Have you had enough time to review this decision with your clients?”

  “We have, Your Honor.”

  “And do your clients accept the stipulations set down in this agreement that they will not return to the State of Colorado in their lifetimes and will have no further contact with Miss Beck?”

  Kate heard someone laugh and the attorney half-turned and frowned. “They do understand those terms, Your Honor.”

  The judge continued to look grimly over the top of his glasses. “Do your clients understand that should they return to Colorado the charges will be reinstated, as will the fine of five hundred-thousand dollars per offender? Do they understand that any appearance by them in this state will give Mr. Donnelly the opportunity to re-open the harassment lawsuit?”

  “They do, Your Honor.”

  “Fine. Miss Beck,” the judge said and looked at her.

  She stood up and Frank moved up with her and put his arm over her shoulder. “Yes, sir.”

  “Do you understand the terms of this agreement as arranged by your consul, Mr. Donnelly?”

  “I do, sir.”

  “Do you agree with these terms?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Fine. Court reporter, do you have any questions?”

  “No, sir,” the woman at the small table said.

  “Mr. Levine, your clients will be escorted to a flight from Denver International Airport to LAX where they will be released from custody. This session is finished. There is a notary next door who will witness the signatures to this agreement.” He hit a gavel on his desk and several burly police officers entered the office. They escorted her mother, who refused to look at her, and the other two men out of the room. Kate didn’t realize until then that all three were handcuffed. The two attorneys followed them out and the door shut behind them.