by Sharon Sala
“Here goes nothing,” Cathy said, and answered. “Hello, this is Cathy Terry.”
“Ms. Terry, this is Mavis Webb, the editor of the Tribune. Thank you for talking to me. We will be running a story about the altercation at the parking lot of the Crown. There were some serious allegations made on that video, and I would like to hear your side of the story.”
“Yes, ma’am, and call me Cathy.”
“And I’m Mavis. So…start from the beginning of your story and just talk to me. I promise not to twist your words, and I promise not to sensationalize your situation with jokes and sarcasm. I’m a truth seeker, and I don’t have one ounce of empathy in my body for abusive men.”
Cathy took a deep breath, and then began talking. Every now and then Mavis would interrupt her to ask a question, and then tell Cathy to proceed.
It lasted over thirty minutes, and when she was finished, it felt weird to have the scariest time of her life encapsulated like this…and Mavis was silent.
“Uh…Mavis? Are you there?” Then she heard the woman clear her throat.
“Yes, I’m here. And I’m in shock. You are one tough cookie, Mary Cathleen. I will not play down your situation.”
“Thanks,” Cathy said. “So…are we done?”
“Yes, and thank you,” Mavis said.
Cathy disconnected. “Well, that’s over.”
Duke stood. “Come here,” he said.
Cathy slipped her arms around his waist and laid her cheek against his chest. Being in his arms was all it took to make her world okay again.
“Are you ready to go home with me now?” he asked.
She nodded.
He picked up her bag and carried it outside while she locked the door behind them.
Chapter 15
“I get a phone call,” Gage said as he was booked into jail.
“That’s at my discretion,” Lon said. “But I allow one if the prisoner is not combative.”
“You’re making a big mistake,” Gage muttered.
“No, sir. You’re the one who made the mistake,” Lon said, then slammed the cell door and locked it.
“My boss will just bond me out,” Gage said.
“Well, you aren’t in the big city, sir. And you will await the pleasure of our local judge as to when you get your day in court.”
Gage groaned. “I want to make my call.”
Lon walked out and came back a few minutes later with the cell phone they’d confiscated.
“One call, and you will make it in front of me.”
“What about my privacy?” Gage asked.
“You lost that when you violated the privacy of Cathy Terry, didn’t you? You took money to go find her from a man who has no legal rights to her whereabouts. That’s harassment… That’s stalking a woman who is in fear for her life.”
Gage took the phone, pulled up Blaine Wagner’s number from his contacts, and called him, praying that it wouldn’t go to voicemail.
* * *
Blaine was in a meeting when the call came through and almost let it go to voicemail, but then something told him to take it.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, but I need to take this call,” he said, and walked out of the room as he was answering. “I assume you have news.”
Gage sighed. “Yes, sir. She’s here, and I’m in jail.”
Blaine froze. “What the hell do you mean, you’re in jail?”
“She was tipped off as to my presence and confronted me. She caused a big scene and accused me of being a hitman you sent to kill her.”
Blaine’s gut knotted. Once again, he had underestimated his ex-wife.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said.
“I need a lawyer,” Gage said.
“Yes, yes, I’ll see to it immediately,” Blaine said. “Just sit tight.”
“Well, sir, I have no other options considering I’m behind bars right now because you misled me about this job. I had no idea you had threatened her life.”
“I already told you, that’s not true,” Blaine said.
“Your word. Her word. And I’m stuck in the middle of it.”
Blaine felt his control of the situation slipping. Gage Brewer was obviously angry and unaccustomed to being jailed for anything, and Blaine didn’t want this getting out.
“Yes, yes, we’ll get this all sorted out,” Blaine said. “I’ll have a lawyer there to bond you out before dark.”
“That isn’t going to happen today. This is small-town America. It appears judges aren’t available at a moment’s notice around here. I am trusting you, Mr. Wagner, to keep your word.”
“And I’m trusting you to keep my confidences,” Blaine countered.
“Yes, well, I’m not your doctor, and I’m not your lawyer, and what you omitted to tell me about all this before I took the job got me arrested, so fix it.”
The line went dead. Blaine told himself the jailer ended the call. He didn’t want to think that Brewer had hung up on him, because that would constitute something of a threat to his own well-being.
He made a quick call to his lawyer, explained the situation, demanding swift action and the end result he expected, and went back to his meeting.
Gage Brewer handed his phone back through the bars.
“Can I have some water for my eyes?” he asked. “They’re still burning.”
Lon pointed at the sink inside the cell.
“There’s your water.”
“That’s harsh,” Gage muttered.
“Shit happens when you get in bed with the wrong people,” Lon said, and walked out.
* * *
Cathy was humiliated by the ugliness of her past coming into the lives of good people, and she stayed silent all the way back to the farm. If it wasn’t for Duke, she would have packed up and started running again. But she’d fallen in love with a man worth fighting for, and didn’t have it in her to give him up.
Finally, Duke reached for her hand. “Cathy…honey…talk to me.”
“About what? That whole scene was ugly and embarrassing. Your life isn’t like this. You don’t deserve to get mixed up in this.”
“None of this is your fault, and no one thinks it is. You are a victim of what I would consider a dangerous man, and I think it’s time to turn the tables on him.”
“What do you mean?” Cathy asked.
“What if some of the heat he’s throwing burned him a little? Who do you know back in Las Vegas who would be willing to leak his complicity in a stalking complaint? Would it make any difference in his life if people knew he’d threatened your life?”
“But I can’t prove any of that. No one heard him but me,” Cathy said.
Duke shrugged. “He’s playing dirty. I think the only way he’s going to back off is to protect himself. In the world we’re living in, facts don’t seem to matter. All it takes is the story to be told, and that first step has already been taken by the local newspaper.”
It was the first time since all this happened that Cathy even had an inkling that she might be able to fight back. She had the ammunition. She’d just never thought to use it.
“Well, it could make him madder,” Cathy said.
“Or…if his threats were ever made known and publicized in social media in some way, it would put the spotlight right on him, should anything ever happen to you,” Duke said.
Cathy’s eyes widened. “You’re right. He would be the first suspect.”
“Exactly,” Duke said. “So, with his name attached, the story you just gave to the local paper could wind up on the national news. Who do you know in Vegas who would be willing to use the story from the Tribune to publicize the fact that Blaine Wagner has been stalking you ever since your divorce? That he has threatened your life, and that the latest man he hired to stalk you has been jailed, and the pending charges a
gainst that man could include Blaine as well?”
“Even if no charges are filed?” Cathy said.
“The wording is ‘could be,’ which doesn’t lock you into a definitive statement. He’s fighting dirty, baby. I think it’s time to give it back to him…and we’re home,” Duke said as the farmhouse came into view.
Cathy hated to admit it, but she was relieved to be here. Gage Brewer’s appearance in Blessings had ruined her sense of safety.
“I’ll have to think about it a bit. Nearly everyone I know would side with him against me.”
“Just a suggestion,” Duke said, and then pulled around back to park.
The house was warm, and good smells were emanating from the kitchen. Hope was at the stove, and smiled as she turned to greet them.
“Welcome, Cathy. We’re so glad you’re here. Duke will show you to your room. You get yourself comfy and then come back down and join us. We’re in the middle of making stuff ahead for Thanksgiving. Another pair of hands will be welcome.”
And just like that, the last bit of Cathy’s hesitance to intrude into their world was gone. God willing, she was soon going to be a real part of this family.
* * *
That afternoon with the Talbots turned into one of the best times of her life. The lighthearted banter between them was funny, and they constantly included her so that she didn’t feel like the odd one out. When it came time to go feed the cattle that evening, she was excited to go with Duke.
Hope shook her head. “You are setting a bad precedent.”
And when both men grinned, Cathy knew there was a punch line waiting.
“What do you mean?”
“They’re taking you to open and close the gates,” Hope said. “Trust me.”
Cathy laughed. “Okay, I have been warned. But I still want to go.”
Duke hugged her. “That’s my girl.”
Still teasing, Hope shook her head. “The new wears off fast.”
“Hush,” Duke said. “Don’t scare her off.”
“I’m not scared…not of this…and not of anything here,” Cathy said. “Let’s do it.”
Hope was right, but Cathy’s delight at the newness of it all and the joy of being with Duke was worth it. Then, when he took her all the way to the back pasture, he pointed out the Bailey property on the other side of the fence.
“This is where we’ll build a road from our place to the homeplace,” Duke said.
“Another gate?” Cathy asked.
Duke laughed. “No. We’ll put up a cattle guard.”
“Awesome,” Cathy said. “Why don’t you have cattle guards instead of gates everywhere?”
“Because sometimes we have to move the cattle from one pasture to another, and that still means having a gate somewhere to make that happen.”
“Ah…that makes sense,” she said. “Oh well. As long as there are gates, I’ll be the gatekeeper.”
“A gatekeeper…I love that,” Duke said.
Cathy smiled. “And I love you.” Then her smile disappeared. “I don’t think I remembered to thank you for rescuing me today.”
“I don’t need thanks. I take care of what’s mine…and that includes my best girl,” Duke said.
“Thank you, anyway,” she said.
“You’re welcome. Even if you did scare a year off my life by not answering your phone.”
“I’ll answer next time,” she said.
Duke frowned. “Please don’t let there be a next time. As for the cattle, we’re done. Time to go back to the house.”
* * *
Supper happened after all the chores were done, and once again, Cathy was drawn into the heart of their home with such ease that it felt as if she’d been doing this for years.
She and Duke did dishes afterward, while Hope gave up the kitchen for a long soak in the bathtub. Tomorrow was the eve of Thanksgiving, and after that, Christmas, and Cathy’s year of hell would be over.
Cathy went to bed that night with new hope. She didn’t know what was going to come of the interview she’d given to Mavis Webb at the Blessings Tribune, but it felt good not to be hiding her truth anymore.
Duke wanted to be sleeping in the bed beside Cathy, but she’d had the day from hell, and it felt right to give her the space just to be…to rest knowing she was safe and she was loved.
* * *
When the morning paper hit the streets of Blessings the next day, it was the immediate topic of conversation. Phones began ringing and friends were talking, and everyone who wasn’t on the delivery route was looking for a copy. It was the first time in years that they sold out before noon, and no wonder. The story was both shocking and inspiring. Mavis Webb was a genuine wordsmith and true to her word.
What she had found out about Blaine Wagner’s bloodline and genealogy made him newsworthy, and when she learned the story had been picked up by the AP, she wasn’t surprised, nor was she worried. She’d been extra careful to couch her statements so that they were all worded as unsupported accusations. And that Mr. Wagner had been unavailable for comment, which was true, because she’d tried to call the number Cathy Terry had given her for her ex but it had gone to voicemail.
It wasn’t just the story the AP had picked up that was about to curdle the cream in Blaine Wagner’s morning coffee.
The sensationalism of the incident and the accusations captured on the video Junior Cooper had uploaded to social media had gone viral overnight, and the three-hour time difference between Blessings and Las Vegas had already given life to the story.
Half the country had already seen it, and some big shots on the East Coast were already making phone calls to their business partners on the West Coast—waking them in the wee hours of the morning to give them a heads-up about one of their own.
Rudy CaLucy was a big wheeler-dealer in Vegas. It was after 3:00 a.m. before he made it home, and he was getting ready for bed when his phone rang. When he realized it was the Chairman, he knew there was a crisis somewhere, and after hearing the story, he wasn’t happy about any of it.
“Is this going to fall back on us?” Rudy asked.
“It’s early on, so it’s hard to say,” the Chairman replied.
Rudy frowned. “It’s true that he’s really been stalking her?”
“According to my sources, yes.”
“This lends credence to the murder threat.”
The Chairman agreed. “Exactly.”
Rudy didn’t like where this was going. “Has anyone talked to Wagner?”
“I thought we all needed to know before we confront him. I’d like for us to be of one mind about how we deal with it,” the Chairman said.
“So…his option is stop it now. Back off his ex, or we clean house?” Rudy asked.
The Chairman paused for effect, then answered, “It would be a tragedy that the last living Wagner died without leaving an heir.”
“Are you going to do the calling?”
“Yes…later today. He doesn’t deserve a heads-up. This kind of strong-arm behavior doesn’t sit well with us. If she wanted retribution, she could have gone straight to the feds from the get-go. Instead, she went into hiding, which tells me Wagner made her fear for her life. We don’t need that kind of publicity with one of our board members. I’ll take care of it,” the Chairman promised.
Rudy was confident the boss would do what he promised.
“Then I will leave this in your most capable hands, sir, and go to bed.”
* * *
Gage Brewer’s lawyer bonded him out of jail the same day the story broke, and with the approval of the judge, Brewer was allowed to leave the state before his day in court.
Gage promised the court to publish a public apology to Cathy Terry, explaining her innocence in the whole matter, both in the local paper and in the Las Vegas papers as well, then flew
back to Vegas in a private jet with the lawyer Wagner had sent.
With the lawyer’s assistance, Brewer wrote an apology to Cathy Terry and sent it as a paid notice to the Blessings Tribune, then sent an ad to the Las Vegas papers explaining his unintended part in frightening Blaine Wagner’s ex-wife, and that he had broken off all business dealings with Wagner. It was all he knew to do to clear up his reputation, which, up to this time, had been spotless.
Then he went home, packed a bag, and headed for Reno to spend Thanksgiving with his family. He’d have some explaining to do there as well, but he felt confident the worst was behind him.
* * *
Cathy was helping Duke make pancakes when her phone rang.
“I’ve got it,” Duke said, and reached for the spatula to turn the pancakes on the griddle so she could get her phone.
“Thanks,” she said, and ran to answer. “Hello?”
“Cathy, it’s Mavis Webb. I hope I’m not calling too early,” she said.
“Not at all,” Cathy said.
“Okay, well, I thought it only fair to warn you that your story is all over town, and we sold out of papers. It was also picked up by the Associated Press, and it ran in the Vegas papers this morning.”
“Oh my lord!” Cathy said.
“That’s not all. Junior Cooper uploaded the video to social media on your behalf. It went viral last night and is something of a sensation this morning.”
“Uh, wait! What? You mean the whole thing…what you wrote and the video?”
Mavis chuckled. “Yes. The whole shebang, honey. If there’s justice in this world, your ex might just be persuaded to back the hell off now.”
“Oh my gosh, Mavis! Uh, I don’t know what to say except thank you.”
Mavis laughed. “Well, there’s no way to tell how this will play out, but we’ve definitely put him on the hot seat. And you’re welcome.”
Cathy hung up, then looked up at Duke.
“That was Mavis Webb. The story she wrote was good for business. They sold out of newspapers this morning. And the story was picked up by the AP and ran in the Vegas papers this morning.”
Duke grinned. “That is awesome.”
