Eyes of a Child (15 page)

‘No, we didn't. As I told you once, you're a self-made man. It's not much to show for the only work you've ever done.'

There was a tense silence. ‘And now you've found the perfect lover, haven't you. The one man who could help you get out of this terrible marriage.' Richie's voice grew quiet. ‘Tell me, Terri, what makes you think that he'll choose you over the Senate? You know, when things get
really
hard for him?'

‘What do you mean by
that
?' Terri snapped. Said it without thinking, as Richie had known she would.

He laughed softly and hung up.

Chapter
14

Rosa had sat down on the couch; it was as if the weight of what she felt required this. ‘You're going to Italy,' she repeated to Terri. ‘With Chris, because he asked you to go. Eight months after leaving Richie.'

Her tone was flat. Rosa did not say the rest: that Chris's son stood accused of molesting Tern's daughter. That Terri was in the midst of a custody fight. That Richie would try to punish her.

‘The evaluation doesn't start for almost a month.' Terri kept her voice calm. ‘Chris and I
need
this time, Mom. Somewhere away from the office and Richie's constant presence, where we can think through whether there's any way to make this work.'

Rosa closed her eyes; it was moments before they opened and she spoke again. ‘For months,' she began quietly, ‘I've said nothing to you. The courts have taken away your daughter. The man who you claim loves you is a millstone. The child
I
love is a shell. And still I've said nothing.'

Terri folded her arms. ‘What is it you'd like to say?'

‘That your decisions have been wrong, Teresa. Every one of them. Beginning with Christopher Paget.' Her eyes were hard now. ‘And that Elena has paid the price.'

‘Chris isn't responsible.
I
am.'

‘Oh? And then why are we talking about Chris yet again, and not Elena? This is a precious child, Terri. It hurts me even to look at her now.' Her voice softened. ‘I understand that you and Chris are not adulterers, at least in the sense that Richie means it. But the existense of this man has colored every decision, and tainted every issue, surrounding Elena's welfare.' She paused, stressing each word. ‘Including your decision to leave Ricardo Arias.'

Terri shook her head. ‘I left because of Elena.'

‘Did you?' Her mother's smile was filled with bitter irony. ‘And now Richie
has
Elena.'

‘I'm trying to change that, Mama.'

Her mother shook her head. ‘I don't believe you can, Teresa, Not
this
way.' She leaned forward. ‘Richie is a given. Chris is not, and he is much too costly. Please, ask him to step aside.'

‘Just like that.' Terri's voice rose. ‘Tell me, Mom, do you know what it's like to
want
someone – I mean really want them? Or even just to laugh with someone?'

Rosa folded her hands. ‘No,' she said slowly. ‘Nor do I know what it is to lose a child. Your laughter has come at a price.'

Once more, Terri felt the guilt of all that had happened. ‘That's why we're going to Italy – to talk all these things through and to see if there's any future for us that is good for our children. Like the adults we happen to be.' Terri heard the edge in her voice. ‘You'd be surprised how well that works – talking.'

Her mother's face remained impassive. ‘Are you so certain, Teresa, that Carlo didn't molest your daughter?'

In the silence that followed, Terri held her gaze. ‘I can't swear to it,' she said finally. ‘But I don't believe he's capable of that. The evaluator will try to find out.'

‘The
evaluator
.' Rosa's voice was tinged with scorn. ‘Is that like the
judge
? Someone to help you?'

Terri felt her throat tighten. ‘It's different. This person is
trained
to deal with children.'

‘And so, naturally, you now will place your hopes in her.' Rosa's face was still a mask; only her eyes showed the anguish behind it. ‘To abuse a child is a terrible thing. Whatever else you blame me for, it is something that I
never
would have let happen to you. Or to
any
child of mine.'

For an instant, in what Rosa did not say, Terri felt the presence of her father. ‘What makes you think,' Terri answered, ‘that you and I are so different.'

As at other times, Terri's tacit reference to her father drew from Rosa a veiled look of scrutiny. But as always, her mother did not mention Ramon Peralta.

‘I imagine,' Rosa said in a tired voice, ‘that you've already told Ricardo.'

‘Yes.' Richie had hardly reacted: he had simply taken the dates down, asking questions to be sure he had them right. ‘If there's an emergency, Richie has to know where I am. I would never leave, Mama, if Elena were with
me
for more than the weekends. But she isn't. If you take Elena on the weekends I'll be gone, it'll be good for both of you.'

Rosa fell silent, defeated. It was only then that Terri saw the sheen of tears that her mother would not permit to fall.

Terri kissed her, the offering of peace, and left.

It was dark, a little past ten. The inside stairs to her apartment were quiet, empty. Climbing them, Terri promised herself a good night's sleep.

The door was ajar.

Terri gazed at it, stepping back for a moment. Then, slowly, she pushed it open and peered into her living room.

She saw nothing. The lights were turned out; Terri sensed the room was as she had left it.

She stepped forward, head turning to each side. Still nothing. And then, softly, someone shut the door behind her.

Terri turned, a scream caught in her throat. In front of her door stood the shadow of a man.

‘
Don't
.' Her voice trembled. ‘
Please
.'

The shadow moved toward her. In the pale glow from the street, she saw one arm reach out.

A light switched on. Ricardo Arias stood by her floor lamp, grinning at her.

‘What's wrong, Ter? You used to like a little excitement.'

Her heart was pounding. ‘What are
you
doing here?'

‘You seem jumpy tonight.' He raised his eyebrows. ‘Waiting for your boyfriend? That
would
be fun.'

She fought to control her voice. ‘How did you get in?'

‘Remember when I borrowed your car to drive Elena, when mine was in the shop?' He grinned again, flipping Terri a set of keys. ‘You shouldn't keep your extras in the glove compartment, Terri. Someone might steal them.'

Terri looked down. Her keys lay on the floor: to her apartment, to her mother's home. To Chris's house.

‘You scum,' she said softly.

‘That's really not fair. Actually, I came here to effect personal service of an important set of legal pleadings. Regarding Elena. You remember her, don't you? Our daughter?'

Beside her on the carpet, Terri saw, was a flat sealed envelope. ‘Pick it up,' Richie told her.

There was something in his voice, an edge of anxiety beneath the air of confidence. ‘Do it yourself,' she snapped. ‘I'm sick of picking up after you.'

Richie stared at her. Then he bent to retrieve the envelope, and placed it in her hand. ‘I'm not leaving,' he said. ‘Not until you've read this.'

What, Terri wondered, was so important to him? She turned away, sat in a chair. ‘If it means that much,' she said, and pulled back the clasp on the envelope.

Inside were a set of pleadings, marked ‘Filed under seal.' The caption read: ‘Petitioner's Motion for Preliminary Injunction.' The relief requested was simple: that respondent Teresa Peralta cease all contact between her daughter, Elena, and her lover Christopher Paget. And his son Carlo.

Terri gazed down at the papers. The petitioner, Ricardo Arias, wanted the court to issue an injunction: restraining respondent from exposing their daughter ‘to the unstable and immoral sexual patterns that pervade the Paget household.'

She could not help but read the rest.

Richie's first ground was a reprise of the
Inquisitor
article: Christopher Paget had destroyed Richie's marriage and left Elena without a family. But the words ‘Carlo Paget' stopped her.

Terri looked up at Richie in disbelief. ‘So you're bringing Carlo into this,' she said quietly. ‘You just can't help yourself, right?'

‘I'm
protecting
Elena.' Richie folded his arms. ‘I thought it was time that Judge Scatena knew the facts.'

‘You'd drag them
both
into a courtroom.' Her voice filled with anger. ‘Elena too.'

‘Only if you make me.' He assumed a stiff, self-righteous posture. ‘You'll notice that I've been
very
responsible – everything filed under seal. So none of this becomes public unless you force me to a hearing.' He smiled briefly. ‘Not even the press has to know.'

Will they print this? she would ask Chris. It may depend, Chris would answer, on what else they come up with.

‘I see the light dawning, Terri.' Richie draped an arm around her. ‘Just think what a
truly
vindictive person would do with this – someone in politics, for example. Something far more painful than interrupting a vacation.'

Terri stared at him. ‘The hearing date. You scheduled it for when we'd be in Italy.'

‘In Portifino, according for your itinerary. You know,
I've
never been there.' He paused, giving her shoulder a friendly squeeze. ‘In light of our daughter's crisis, I had to move quickly. But you could always ask Judge Scatena to postpone the hearing. Something about being on the Italian Riviera with your boss.'

Deliberately, Terri took his arm off her shoulder. ‘Tell me what you want. Tell me, and then get the fuck out of here.'

Richie's eyes glinted. ‘Call off the evaluation, and I'll call off the hearing. I want permanent custody, the support I've asked for,
and
fifty thousand dollars.' His voice flattened. ‘It's more money than I asked for the last time. But I bet you can figure out somewhere to get it.
Now
.'

She stared at him. ‘And if I don't?'

‘We go to a hearing.' He nodded toward the papers in her hand. ‘And those become public documents. Open to
anyone
.' He paused, speaking more softly. ‘Politics is such a dirty business, Terri.'

Terri's telephone rang.

‘That should be your boyfriend,' Richie said cheerfully. ‘He must have read his courtesy copy.'

Turning, Terri answered the telephone.

‘So Colt found Richie,' Chris said. ‘I suppose it was only a matter of time.'

‘He did not sound himself. ‘You found the papers,' Terri said.

‘Carlo did. I need to see you.'

She glanced over at Richie. ‘Oh,
I'm
leaving,' he told her. ‘I know you lovers need time to talk.'

‘All right,' Terri said to Chris. As she hung up, Richie kissed her on the forehead and vanished.

Terri locked the door behind him and sat down again.

She could not seem to hold a thought. There were too many: making love with Chris; the look on Rosa's face; Richie's smile of pleasure; Carlo.

Elena, stretching out in Chris's bathtub.

There was a knock on the door. Terri went to open it. Standing in the doorway, Chris tilted his head sideways, searching her face. He looked tired.

‘Are you coming in?' she asked.

He stepped inside. She closed the door, turning to him with her hand still on the knob. He looked, Terri thought, completely miserable. But his eyes did not leave her face.

‘Most couples have bad moments,' he said at last. ‘But they don't have them in public, with their children at risk. Unless one of them runs for office. I couldn't be sorrier, Terri. For both of them. And for you.'

Watching him Terri could see the price he might pay for Richie: the Senate race, the painful talk with Carlo. But right now, what seemed to matter most to him was how she felt.

‘Unless I give him Elena
and
money,' she said wearily, ‘she'll go through a hearing. You and Carlo will be spread all across the papers. The Senate will be history.'

‘And if you
do
give Richie Elena,
we'd
be history.' Chris gazed at her. ‘One way or the other, he means this to end us. Just as, I suspect, Colt means it to end
me
.'

‘Do you think that's what made Richie do this?'

Chris nodded. ‘In part. One of his people read the
Inquisitor
, I'm quite sure, and got in touch with Richie. Just in case he needed more encouragement.'

Terri found it hard to look at him. ‘That gives us only one way out, doesn't it?'

Chris had made his face impassive. ‘You agree not to see me. Now or ever. And just to be safe, I get out of the race.'

Nodding, Terri turned away from him. ‘That way there's no hearing; everything stays under seal; he can't put Carlo and Elena through all this. Then I press forward with the evaluation, try to get custody.'

Chris sat on the couch, staring at the ceiling. ‘Don't do it for my sake,' he said finally. ‘Or Carlo's. If you do that for anyone, it should be Elena.'

Terri began picking up Richie's papers, like a lawyer straightening her desk. ‘The hearing's not for three more weeks. We've got that long to decide.'

‘Three weeks to be together.' For the first time, Chris seemed almost angry, though his voice was very gentle. ‘Just time enough to go to Italy.'