Third Degree (23 page)

“I’m fine now, baby. I just had to see you.”

“I don’t want your head to hurt.”

Hot tears slid down Laurel’s cheeks. She bent her neck and wiped her cheeks on Beth’s cape. Then she pulled away.

“Mama, you’re hands are all sticky. And your mascara’s running!”

Laurel stuck out her bottom lip and blew air over her face, hoping to dry the tears. “It’s just my headache, darling. Are you guys all right for food and stuff?”

“I’m hungry,” Grant said. “Can we come down and mikeywave something?”

“Not yet,” said Warren. “I’ll bring something up to you in a minute. But first we need to talk.”

A frisson of fear went through Laurel’s chest. She turned to Warren, but he wasn’t looking at her. He took Beth’s hand and led her over to the sofa, where Grant lay.

“Sit up, Son,” he said. “Come on, get your behind in gear. This is a family conference.”

Grant groaned loudly. “But I’m
starving.
”

Laurel wanted to bolt from the room. She saw now that Warren had brought her up here not to ease her mind, but to torture her more painfully than he ever could downstairs. Grant and Beth sat side by side on the sofa, their upturned faces curious but unworried. Snow White and a skateboard prince. A more innocent pair of angels she could not imagine. Warren pulled two chairs over in front of the couch and sat facing the kids, then motioned for her to join him.

She couldn’t move.

“Come here, Laurel,” he said. “This won’t take long.”

“What is it, Daddy?” Beth asked. “Did Christy poop inside the house again?”

“No, sweetheart. This is more serious than that.”

When Laurel refused to move, Warren shrugged as if to say,
All right.
Then he turned to the children and said, “Your mother has something to tell you, guys. So pay close attention.” He turned to Laurel expectantly.

“Warren,” she said evenly, “I need to speak to you outside.”

He smiled in apparent sympathy. “Mom’s having a hard time finding the right words, kids. So I’ll help. While you kids have been going to school, and while I’ve been working hard at the hospital, Mom has been making a new friend.”

Grant’s eyes narrowed. “Really? Who is it, Mom?”

Laurel stared at her husband, silently begging him not to go on. But the hatred in his eyes was unveiled now, and it was absolute. Nothing was going to stop him. She thought of grabbing the kids and trying to get out of the room, but that would only result in a fight with Warren, which might scar them even more.

“It’s a man,” Warren said. “I don’t know who it is yet, because Mom won’t tell me. But she’s been going to a secret place every day and hugging and kissing this man.”

Beth’s eyes were wide. They moved from Warren to Laurel, filled with questions. Laurel wanted to say,
That’s not true, sweetheart.
But it
was
true. She had been doing exactly what Warren was accusing her of doing.

“I know it seems hard to understand,” Warren went on, “but Mama’s getting tired of us. Our family is starting to bore her, so she’s looking for another one. One that might make her happier.”

Her children’s faces were moving in ways Laurel had never seen before. She was witnessing the implosion of innocence. And she, not Warren, was responsible. Though Warren was the one talking, she felt as if she were holding down her children and hitting them in the face again and again, and they could not fight back.

“Mama?” Beth said, her voice scarcely a whisper. “Is that right? Are you tired of us?”

Laurel realized that her hands were shaking. And not just her hands. Her chin was quivering, and her legs were turning to water.

“Why are you crying, Mom?” Grant asked worriedly. He no longer looked like a smart-aleck teenager, but the terrified nine-year-old he really was. “Dad, what’s wrong? I don’t like this game.”

“I don’t either, Son. But Mom hasn’t given us any choice. She’s already made her decision.” He waved Laurel over to the chair beside him. “Come on, honey. I want you to explain things to Grant and Beth as best you can. They deserve to know the truth.”

There’s no way I’m staying married after this,
Laurel thought.
And if Danny had left his wife five weeks ago, like he said he would, I would have faced a scene a lot like this one. Warren wants me to tell them I had an affair? All right, I’ll tell them what I would have told them five weeks ago. Not that I’m in love with someone else, but that I don’t love Daddy anymore.
That
should be easy enough. I don’t love Daddy anymore. But I love them more than I ever have. They’ll know I’m telling the truth about that, because that
is
the truth—

“Get over here!” Warren snapped. “Have the courage of your convictions, damn it.”

“I’m scared,” Beth whimpered through glistening tears. She held out her arms for Laurel to pick her up, but when Laurel moved, Warren stood and blocked her path.

“Dad, you’re scaring us,” Grant said with surprising force. “You’re scaring Mom, too!”

“That can’t be helped, Son. Mama’s done a very bad thing.”

“No!” Beth cried. “She
couldn’t
do something bad. Mama’s good!”

Warren looked as though he might be crying himself. “I know you believe that, Elizabeth, but I’m afraid it’s not true, That’s one of the hard things about growing up—facing the fact that adults aren’t all good. And your mother is capable of doing some very bad things. You two get punished when you do bad things, don’t you?”

Grant nodded reluctantly. “Then Mom should, too. We all have to follow the same rules. That’s—”

“You sorry son of a bitch,” Laurel said under her breath. “You should be ashamed.”

Warren turned to her, his eyes red. “
I
should be ashamed? The shame is all yours today, my love. Did you ever think about these children when you were betraying them? Did you think about them for five seconds while you—”

“STOP IT!”
Beth screamed.
“STOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPIT!”

“Be quiet, Elizabeth!” Warren snapped.
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Beth’s earsplitting scream made all other communication impossible. Warren stood over her as if to make her stop, but he was faced with the fact that nothing short of violence could do it, and that was likely to provoke even more screams—or worse, total silence. If Laurel could have snatched the gun from his pocket at that moment, she might have shot him through the heart. She had betrayed her duty to her children, yes. But nothing justified the psychological torture he was putting them through now. And for what? For revenge, the most useless thing in the world.

“Warren, you have to stop,” she said, while Beth recharged her lungs between screams. “You’ve made your point.”

“Have I?” he asked, scowling over his shoulder.

Beth cut loose with another shriek, and this time Laurel rushed forward and snatched her up off the sofa. “I’ve got you, darling, I’ve got you,” she murmured in Beth’s ear. “Everything’s all right now. Daddy was just telling a story.”

“Were you?” asked Grant, hope in his eyes.

“No, Son. I’m afraid not. And soon we’re all going to know who Mom’s new friend is.”

Something in Laurel snapped then. She turned far to the left, winding up, then flung out her right arm and backhanded Warren with all the force she could summon. The slap resounded through the room, leaving total shock in its wake. While Warren rubbed blood from the end of his nose, Grant gaped in shock.

“Mom just hit you, Dad,” he said, as though trying to get his mind around what his eyes had just seen. “She knocked the
crap
out of you!”

“It’s just a game,” Laurel said, gently rocking Beth in her arms while Warren watched her with madness in his eyes.

“What game is that?” Grant asked.

“Austin Powers,” Laurel replied, grabbing the first suitable image she could find amid the clutter of her pop-culture memory. “I think Beth needs a nap, gentlemen.”

She started to carry Beth to her bedroom, but Warren’s right hand slid into the pocket that held his pistol. “Think,” she said softly. “Think about what you’re doing.”

“You didn’t think.”

“You’re right. I should have—” Laurel stood with her mouth open, but no sound emerged. The doorbell had just rung. The echo of its musical ping was still fading.

“Someone’s at the door,” Grant piped up. “Maybe it’s UPS with my new trucks!”

The bell rang again, three times in quick succession. “Nobody move,” Warren said in the voice of a TV cop. He went to the dormer window and looked down toward the front entrance of the house.

“Who is it?” asked Grant.

“Probably some guy wanting to pressure-wash the house,” Warren muttered. “There’s a beat-up pickup parked at the end of the sidewalk.”

Wild hope flashed through her at the thought of Danny’s old Ford pickup.

“Jesus Christ,” Warren said, his whole body tensing at the window.

“What?” Laurel asked, her heart beating against her sternum.

Warren turned from the window, his face pale with fury. “It’s Kyle Auster.”

Ever since talking to Dr. Shields, Nell had been terrified that he would call back and speak to her sister. If he repeated some of the things Nell had told him, Vida would flip out. And Vida angry was not something anybody wanted to deal with. At sixteen, she’d become too much for even their father. But Dr. Shields hadn’t called back, nor had Dr. Auster reappeared. Vida kept leaving the reception desk and then coming back. The lights in the office had blinked a couple times, and once they’d gone off completely for a full minute, which kicked the computers into emergency-power mode. When Nell asked what was going on, Vida had just put her finger to her lips and smiled.

Now Vida returned from one of her little excursions and slid her chair right up to Nell’s. She smelled of rubbing alcohol.

“What’s going on?” Nell asked. “I’m nervous as a cat.”

Vida smiled and ran her hand through Nell’s hair the way their mother used to do. “So pretty. So dark and fine.”

“Vi—”

“Shhh. I want you to get your purse and go home, sweetie. Right now.”

Nell drew back in surprise. “Go home? Now?”

Vida nodded. “Things are getting out of hand. I don’t want you around here for the last act.”

Nell felt a surge of concern for her sister. “What’s going to happen?”

“Nothing too bad. I told you there were revenue agents watching the office. There’s more coming to close us down this evening.”

Nell blinked in disbelief. “Close us down?”

“Yep. Padlock the building.”

Nell shook her head like a child hearing that her parents’ home was about to be repossessed. “But…are you saying it’s over? Everything?”

Vida smiled again. “I wouldn’t say that. You know I always keep a card or two up my sleeve. But the easy part’s over with. You need to get home, throw some clothes in an overnight bag—nothing too big—then go down to the bank and take out your money.”

Nell’s anxiety escalated into outright fear. “All of it?”

“You’ve got most of the liquid part in your brokerage accounts, right? With UBS?”

“Yes, just like you told me.”

“The government may have frozen those accounts, but I doubt it. They wouldn’t want to tip their hand. They’d freeze Kyle and Warren’s money first, not ours. Your real money’s in the house in Texas anyway, and they can’t take that from you. That’s where you should go. Withdraw about eight thousand in cash and light out in your car. Tell the girls at the bank you’re buying a used car and the seller wants cash. If things get dicey here, I’ll call your cell phone. If that happens, stop in Baton Rouge and get on a plane to Cancún. I don’t care what it costs, just haul tail. South of the border, you hear me?”

Nell nodded, but she was close to crying. “What about Dr. Shields?”

“He’s going to be fine, baby. Don’t you worry about Warren. Kyle’s on his way over there now to take out the stuff he planted.”

“You promise?”

“Honey, I scared the bejesus out of Kyle. That stuff is probably already in a Dumpster somewhere.”

Nell wiped away her tears, but more followed.

“I tell you, though,” Vida said thoughtfully, “there may be trouble in paradise.”

“What do you mean?”

“Kyle thinks Laurel and Warren are having marital problems. You think maybe you could be part of the reason for that?”

“Oh my God, no,” Nell protested, wishing it were true. “No way.”

Warren stood rigid in the foyer, his left hand clutching Laurel’s wrist, his right hand holding his gun. The doorbell rang again, for the sixth time. Kyle had obviously seen the cars in the driveway and did not intend to go away. Laurel wondered why Warren didn’t simply answer the door.

Then she saw why.

There was a scratching sound in the lock, and the bolt turned with a decisive snick. He backed her against the wall, so that they would be behind the door if it opened. The lock in the doorknob turned next. Then the door opened about twelve inches. Kyle stuck his head through the crack and looked toward the stairs.

The barrel of Warren’s gun touched his temple. “Come on in, partner,” Warren said softly. “Nice and easy.”

Auster stepped inside with his hands up and his eyes wide. If he hadn’t stuck his head in first, Laurel might not have recognized him. The noted clotheshorse was wearing garments that looked as if they’d been bought at the Salvation Army store downtown. And he
stank.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Warren asked.

“This is my new look,” Kyle said, but the fear in his voice killed his attempt at levity.

Warren studied him for a few seconds, then said, “It’s a disguise, isn’t it?”

Auster nodded, his face downcast.

“You decided you wanted that quickie after all?”

“Hell no,” Auster replied, slowly lowering his hands. “That’s not why I’m here. I knew that was a joke.”

“You’ve got a key to our house, though, huh?”

“You gave it to me. Don’t you remember? I fed your dog when y’all went to the Bahamas that time.”

Warren thought about this. “You gave that key back.”

“Well, I had a copy made. In case I lost the original. You know I’m always losing my keys. I didn’t want your kids’ dog to starve because I can’t keep up with anything.”