Burning for You (Blackwater) (30 page)

I nod.  “Do you have one?”

She smiles.  “Oh, yes.  He’s a
doctor at the hospital.  He’s an earth elemental.”

“Earth and fire?” I say,
surprised.  “How does that work?”

She grins.  “It worked in the
seventies, right?  That band who did ‘September’?”  I burst out laughing.  She smiles
back.  “We make it work.  We challenge and we complement each other all of the
time.”

“I know the feeling.”

*

I drop Michelle back off at the
hospital but don’t come back in with her.  Armed with new information, I call
Gwen telling her my intention to take the rest of the afternoon off, to which
she is sympathetic and understanding.  Then I call Theo and tell him what I
learned from Michelle about the wrist and ankle bands.  “I’m wondering if we can
find that ankle band at Heidi’s,” I say.

“It’s a possibility, but I doubt
she would be that clumsy,” Theo replies.  “What are you doing right now?”

“Going home,” I say.  “Do you want
to come over?”

“I’m dying to see you, so yes. 
I’ll be by this evening if that’s okay.”

“It’s fine, see you then,” I
reply.  When I hang up, a rush of fervor collects in my stomach at the thought
of seeing Theo.  Remembering him making love to me in my bedroom makes me blush
and long for him.  Despite feeling like I’m betraying Ash, I need Theo to be
with me right now.  I miss Ash terribly, though, and have attempted to call him
a few more times since this morning.  Since the one time he picked up, he hasn’t
answered again.

Thoughts of the Lavanne family
flood my head as I drive back to my house, beyond Ash and Theo and to Lisette. 
Michelle comparing me to Lisette has me slightly terrified.  Four husbands, all
dead.  Did she love every one of them equally?  She had to feel as connected to
them as I am connected to Ash and Theo.  Horror fills me as something else
strikes me – is there another Lavanne brother who could be my catalyst?  Is the
pain over yet?  Will anyone have to die in order for me to live my life with
all of the people I yearn to be with?

I think of how ridiculous that
sounds.  There must be more to Lisette’s story about why she’s been widowed
repeatedly.  I don’t know her well enough to ask her but I’m dying to know
everything.  Lisette must know the similarities we share.  She mentioned as
much at dinner the other night.  I decide I will speak with her when I get a
chance, because I want to hear her side of the story and understand everything
she’s been through.  Maybe she can help me to understand what this Ash and Theo
triangle means and where it’s heading before someone gets hurt. 

Ash is already hurt, though.  He
was hurting the night I met Theo, and a muddy session in a vineyard proved that
much.  His leaving Blackwater was the cherry on top.  I miss him so terribly I
ache, thinking at least a phone call and his voice would send me some comfort
right now.  I want him with me, and I can’t have him.  I’m not surprised when
my field of vision blurs and the road ahead of me fogs away with my tears.

A car is in the driveway, a dark blue
Land Rover, and I realize it’s Heidi’s car.  My heart freezes to a halt when I
think Heidi might be at the house.  After scoping out what might have happened
with the kidnapping, I can’t even look her in the eye.  I sigh and grab my
purse and get out of Betsey.  When I set foot in the house, I’m surprised to
hear a male voice coming from the hallway.  “Jack, you’re actually here,” I
say, stepping foot into the living room. 

The replacement chandelier my
mother has picked out is curiously devoid of glass and made of iron, except for
the light bulbs.  I joked about how she should just go with candles, similar to
the huge chandelier in the hallway at Normandy.  “With your fire elemental? 
Are you crazy?” she replied to my suggestion.  Maybe she’s right.

Jack looks terrible, as though he’s
seen a ghost or his dead grandmother rise from the grave.  Or perhaps he let
Heidi cook for him.  “Come sit down, Leah,” my mother says softly, patting the
sofa next to her.  “Jack came over to tell me something, and you should hear it
now too.  You’ll hear it all eventually anyway.”

“What’s going on?” I wonder,
sitting down next to my mother and tucking a leg underneath me.  I see my
mother cringe because she hates to see me sitting any way other than a lady
should.  I notice in horror Jack’s hand is wrapped up in white surgical tape,
stained with dark red blood.

“I came home today because I forgot
a folder,” Jack says wearily.  “I took my briefcase, but I forgot to put the
folder back inside.  I was looking at it last night.  I just forgot.”  I wonder
where this is going.

My mother moves it along.  “Jack,
just jump to the chase.  You came home early.”

He nods, and I can see him visibly
swallowing.  He’s trying to hold himself together, and it’s not working at
all.  “Gabe’s car was in the driveway.  He’s been visiting a lot since J.J.
came.  Heidi suggested making him a godparent and I was on board.  Little did I
realize he’s been fucking my wife.”

I sigh and close my eyes, wondering
why Mondays always suck so hard lately.  “I saw them,” I say in a shaky voice. 
“He was kissing her at her front door.”

“Leah!” my mother exclaims.  “How
could you keep this from Jack?”

I shrug, wondering if she means
Jack or herself.  I have no real loyalty to Jack, but I agree that it would
have been the right thing to do.  “I’ve had a lot on my mind too, Mother.  I
only saw them a couple of days ago.”

“That’s no reason-“

“It’s okay, Ursula,” Jack says,
jumping in.  “I’m not sure I would have believed it until I’d seen it anyway. 
Seeing it is real.  Hearing about it from a sister who never really got along
with your own wife doesn’t give me the same level of confidence in the truth.” 
He looks directly into my eyes.  “No offense, Leah.  I know you and Heidi have
always had difficulty getting along in the past.”

“None taken,” I reply.  “I
understand.”  I hesitate before asking the next question.  “Jack, do you think
that the adoption was completely legitimate?”

Jack rubs his eyes with a shaking
hand.  “I didn’t really suspect anything until now.  I trusted Heidi so completely,
Leah, you have to understand.  But now, everything is starting to seem
suspicious.  Like…”

“Like what, Jack?” my mother wants
to know, leaning forward. 

“Like the car seat,” he says. 

I practically jump off the sofa. 
“What car seat?” I want to know, recalling Gabe at Cookie’s, Cribs and
Carseats.

“It was strange,” Jack says.  “I
bought Heidi a car seat and put it in her car before she left to pick up J.J.
from Pennsylvania.”

“She never actually told me where
she went to get him,” I say.  “I remember when I asked her, she just glazed
over details.”

“She told me Pennsylvania,” Jack
confirms.  “I was curiously called out of Blackwater on business that I
couldn’t avoid.”

“What kind of business?” I want to
know.

“A mutual client of Gabe’s and
mine,” Jack says flatly.  “He needed a legal document put together and
finalized in order to allow a particular real estate deal to go through.  At
the time it wasn’t very suspicious, but now I wonder if Gabe had anything to do
with that.”

I nod emphatically, convinced Gabe
has been behind everything.  “Leah, please,” my mother says, giving me a look
so sharp that it causes me to shrink from her a little bit.  “So continue,
Jack.  You put the car seat in Heidi’s car before she left,” she prompts.

Jack nods.  “I remember I’d
selected one that was gender neutral,” he continues.  “I didn’t know whether we
were having a boy or girl.  I went with a bright yellow seat.”  He pauses and
stands up, walking over to the bar where my mother keeps crystal decanters full
of various alcohol for times like these.  “Ursula, may I?”

“Please, Jack, help yourself,” my
mother replies. 

I stand up when I hear the crystal
decanter in Jack’s bandaged hand clink against the glass.  His injured hand
can’t grip the decanter very well and he’s shaking all over.  I’m sure my
mother won’t be thrilled to have any more glass breaking in this room.  “Let me
help, Jack,” I say, and he stands aside to let me pour him a glass of bourbon. 
I help myself to one as well.

“Thanks,” Jack says.  “So the seat
I bought and installed was yellow.  I made sure it was installed properly
before she got J.J. otherwise she would have been out of luck.  Heidi would
never be able to install a car seat on her own and I didn’t think she’d have
any help.  The baby came home in a blue seat.”

“Did Heidi say she picked it up out
there?” I ask, though I’m pretty sure she did not.

“She said that the baby came with a
car seat.  I’ve never heard of a deal like ‘adopt a baby, get a free car seat’,
but I was so excited to see J.J. that I didn’t get a chance to really ask
anything else, or care.”  Jack gulps down half of the glass of bourbon, and I
had poured it generously.  “I had to take her car in for a service the other
day.  Just an oil change, really.  You know those little stickers they put in
the upper corner of your windshield to tell you the mileage that you need to
get your next change on?”  My mother and I nod in unison.  “Well it’s about
every 3000 miles to get your oil changed.  Heidi doesn’t drive very much, just
around town.  I was worried about her driving so far to Pennsylvania and back
by herself when I found out I couldn’t go with her, but she assured me that she
would be fine.”

I take a large sip of the bourbon
myself.  Based on how slowly and deliberately Jack is telling this story, it
could be a while and I might as well be drunk.  I put the glass down on the
table and my mother picks it up and downs the rest.  I have a sneaking
suspicion she feels the same way.

“I did the math,” Jack continues. 
“Heidi probably averages about fifteen miles a day, driving wise, and that’s
being generous.  According to that theory, she should only need to get her oil
changed every six or seven months.”  My mother and I nod, not really following
his math but trusting that his abilities with numbers would be much better than
our own, considering we’re not really that fond of math.  “I figured that she
was overdue with a thousand mile round trip, so I took it in, but her mileage
since her last oil change was trending with what she had driven on a regular
daily basis.”

“So what did you deduce from that?”
my mother wants to know, asking the very same question I have in mind.

“There was no trip to
Pennsylvania,” Jack says.  “She didn’t drive her car anywhere, although it was
gone.”

The three of us sit silently for a
minute, pondering this information.  “So the switched car seats and the mileage
on her car all point to suspicious,” I finally say.  “Did you ever find the
yellow car seat?”

“I did today,” Jack replies. 
“After I caught Gabe and Heidi…I left the house and punched the window of
Gabe’s BMW.  That’s what this is from,” he says, holding up his bloody
bandage.  “His windows are tinted.  Had I not punched in the window, I never
would have noticed the yellow car seat.”  He runs his good hand over his spiky
grey hair.  “She took that baby,” he says, his cerulean blue eyes filling with
tears.  “I don’t know how I can prove it, but that baby doesn’t belong to her. 
He’s Eleanor and Drew’s, I’m sure of it.”

“I believe you, Jack,” I say.  I look
at my mother.  She nods.  “We already knew.”  I tell him about the wrist and
ankle bands and Michelle, explaining how she crafted them to prevent babies
from being kidnapped.  “I think the proof is the ankle band that the baby was
wearing when he was taken.”  I can’t bring myself to use the name “J.J.” that
Heidi and Jack chose.  I know the baby’s name is Phillip, after Eleanor’s
father, but it seems cruel to call him that in front of Jack.

Jack nods.  “I don’t pretend to
know anything about…crafting,” he says, trying the word out in his mouth.  “I
didn’t really grow up around much of it.  I know Heidi did but she doesn’t talk
about it.  She’s never told me much about her childhood, but I get the
impression that she is completely removed from it, and you two are deep in the
heart of it.  Ursula, you’ve always known things before they happen.  Leah, I
guess you are the same way, based on what I saw from you the other night.”

“I’m not quite as perceptive as
Mother,” I reply.  Then I look up at the chandelier and can’t avoid smiling. 
“I make up for it in other ways.”

“Gabe and Heidi have a connection,”
my mother says, ignoring my last comment.  “Maybe like you and Ash…or Theo,”
she adds, looking directly at me with no amount of scorn that I can detect,
though she makes my heart pound from the mention of the two of them.  “They
relate to each other because they both despise crafters, and they have
connected through that.”

“Well that’s just great,” Jack
says.  “My wife has gone off the deep end because of her deep seeded
resentments from childhood.  She would talk about your husband, Ursula, in ways
that made me uncomfortable.  I never met him, and I would never say anything
negative about someone I know, but she would claim that he left her alone with
you and Leah because crafting was more important to him than family.”  I look
at my mother, who is completely still, looking far off in the distance.  She is
no doubt dreaming of a man who is lost to her, pining for the part of her that
was severed when he left.  “I thought it was strange for a thirty year old
woman to feel such hatred for something that happened when she was so much
younger, but she lets it run her life.  She’s never gotten over her anorexia,
did you know, Ursula?”

“Mother has always been in denial
about Heidi’s eating disorders,” I say.  “She thinks they never existed.”  My
mother says nothing.  She sits quietly on the sofa, hands folded in her lap,
almost in a catatonic state.  “She felt like it made her look like a bad mother
to have a daughter who wouldn’t eat and a daughter who wouldn’t give her the
time of day.”