Finders Keepers (45 page)

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Authors: Fern Michaels

BOOK: Finders Keepers
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“I wish you wouldn't call her that. Her name is Barbara.”
“It's a joke. That doesn't matter either.”
“I think you need to do one last thing, Tanner. You agreed to that ridiculous prenuptial agreement, so you have no claim on her money. But if Jessica is determined to go through with the divorce and she's as rich as we've been led to believe, then if she's pregnant—as I suspect—perhaps she'll settle with you. I know you aren't interested in a child. Giving up all parental rights for a princely sum of money is something worth thinking about.
Demand
that Jessica go for a medical checkup. I believe you are within your rights to ask for that. If she has nothing to hide, there should be no problem. If she is pregnant,
demand
liberal visitation rights, holidays, summers, weekends. Call your attorney and
demand
they make a motion or whatever it is lawyers do so Jessica doesn't leave the state. Do it now, Tanner, before she gets away from you. Judge Rickle will have it in place within an hour, and Jessica will be served. I think that's how they do it. If your wife is carrying on an affair with Luke and plans on leaving or possibly marrying him, she'll want to settle with you. I wouldn't advise telling J.J. Do it
now
, Tanner. I want to hear your end of the phone conversation.”
Tanner called his attorney and barked orders into the phone. When he hung up the phone he glared at his mother. “I feel like a lowlife piece of scum. I want you to know that, Mother. Just for the record, I regret all this bullshit. I regret ever laying eyes on J.J., and I damn well regret the bad time I gave my wife. Do you want to know something? In my own cockamamie way, I do love her. She's honest, she's got a good mind, she's loyal, and at one time she did love me. I screwed her over for the almighty dollar. I hate what I've turned into. I realize now I don't want her money. I never wanted it. What kind of man lies, cheats, and steals from a woman? Guys like J.J. because they are too goddamn lazy to work for a living. Do you have any idea of how much I hate that son of a bitch? If I ever find out he was the reason Jessie's friend took her life, I swear I will kill the bastard. If there was a way for me to make this all come out right, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I absolutely refuse to end up like you, Mother.”
Alexis flinched. “I'm afraid you are going to have to get over it,” Alexis said “I tried to warn you about J.J., but you refused to listen. I think you should go up and see your father. He's having a bad day.”
“I can't right now. I'll play chess with him this evening. In case you forgot, I have a ranch to run. Don't hold dinner for me.”
Alexis stared at her son's back as her brain clicked into high gear. How badly did Jessica want a divorce? What was an unborn child worth on the open market? Tanner was just talking off the top of his head. She had the rest of the day and evening to figure it out.
 
Jessie's watch said it was one o'clock in the morning. Would she frighten the old housekeeper if she just opened the door and walked in? Should she ring the bell and wake her? She finally opted for the bell. Moments later the light over the back door came on. The old woman peered through the curtains. “Lord have mercy, child. Is something wrong?” the housekeeper asked as she opened the door.
“No. I'm sorry I woke you, Anna. My plane was late getting in. I just need to get some things. I won't be staying long. I plan to leave first thing in the morning.”
“You didn't wake me, Jessie. I don't sleep much these days. Catnaps is more like it. Are you sure you want me staying on here, paying me for baby-sitting a house that's all closed up?”
“Is it too much for you?”
“Goodness gracious, no. All I do is tidy up the kitchen and my room. The rest of the time I watch the soap operas. I don't want you to feel you have to pay me out of pity.”
“It's not that at all, Anna. I wanted someone here. I couldn't bear to close up the house for good. You were part of Sophie's world for so long. You belong to this house. I really want you to stay on for as long as you can. The money has nothing to do with it.”
“Sophie left me well provided for. That child was so good and kind. It breaks my heart that she's gone. Are you hungry, Jessie? I can fix you a nice dinner. I made a roast chicken. All I have to do is warm it up.”
“That would be nice. Leave it in the oven, and I'll come down and get it later. I would like a soda.”
The housekeeper uncapped a bottle and handed it to her. “I'll be in my room if you need me.”
Jessie walked through the antebellum mansion, turning on lights as she went along. Memories engulfed her as she walked up the magnificent staircase, remembering how Sophie had screeched at the top of her lungs as she sailed down the polished banister to land on her rump.
“You're here, I can feel you,” Jessie whispered as she entered Sophie's room. She grew so light-headed at her old friend's scented room she had to hold on to the doorjamb for support. When she felt ready to continue, she opened the Chanel bag and withdrew the clay figure of Elroy. She clasped it tightly in her hand as she made her way to the closet. Here, in Sophie's walk-in closet, the scent was almost overpowering. She dropped to her knees, Elroy still clutched in her hand, to pull back the long, narrow carpet covering the floor safe. With the aid of the overhead light she was able to twirl the knob to open the safe, amazed that she remembered the combination. When she heard the click of the dial she sat back on her haunches. She bit down on her lower lip, drawing blood.
I'm afraid
to open it,
she thought as she looked at her shaking hands. This safe had been Sophie's pride and joy. The one place where she could hide things, store things,
safeguard
things.
Senator Kingsley's safe in Washington had been large on the outside but very small on the inside, with two small shelves. This safe was three or four times the size of the senator's. What did Sophie keep in it? She yanked at the heavy door, pulling it upward. A loose, single sheet of white paper sailed upward with the draft from the door. Jessie reached for it. A letter to her from Sophie. “Oh, God,” she wailed.
Dear Sweet Jessie,
I guess things must
be
pretty damn sticky for
you if you've
opened this
safe. I
hope whatever is
in
here will make things right for you. I know you're crying. Stop it right now. That's
a
goddamn order, Jessie. The
past
is prologue.
I
wish
I
was
there
to make things right for you. As things draw to
a
close for me,
I
now realize each of
us
has to find
our
own peace in our own way.
You
can do it,
Jess. I
know
you
don't understand the path
I
chose. That's okay, too. What
you
have to do now is kick
ass and
take names later. There's some bubble gum in the bottom of the safe. It's probably stale, but what the hell.
You
were the only constant in my
life, and I
love
you
for that. Have
a
good life, Jessie. Don't forget your promise to me.
All my love,
Sophie
Blubbering like a baby, Jessie fumbled in the depths of the safe for the Bazooka gum Sophie had been addicted to. It wasn't stale at all, she thought as she chomped and chewed. “Get on with it, Jessie,” she mumbled around the wad of gum in her mouth.
Jessie carefully removed the contents of the safe. Jewelers' boxes, deeds with rubber bands around them, the deed to the Greek island crunched into a ball lying near the bottom like it was nothing more than scratch paper. How that deed hurt Sophie. Stacks of brown-manila envelopes with red-wax seals. There was only one envelope with the seal broken. Sophie's investigative report on Jack Dawson. “I'm so sorry, Sophie, but I need to read this. I don't want to, but I have to. I guess you knew someday I would be doing this. Well, here goes.”
Jessie howled her misery and grief when she finished the last envelope. Her back to the wall, she sobbed until there were no more tears left. She felt like a robot as she struggled to her feet a long time later.
It was four o'clock when Jessie closed the safe and positioned the carpet the way she'd found it. She reached for a tired-looking gym bag on the top shelf, stuffing three of the manila envelopes, the deed to the Greek island, the Chanel bag along with Elroy, and the jewelers' boxes inside. In the small office off Sophie's bedroom, she turned on the paper shredder and proceeded to shred all the journals she'd kept over the years, along with those of her predecessor.
When she walked out of Sophie's room Jessie took a moment to savor her old friend's scent one last time. It was mind-boggling that this room could still smell like her old friend after all this time. “I know you're here in spirit, Sophie. I know it in my heart,” she whispered. Jessie inhaled deeply before she blew a magnificent bubble. “On your best day you never blew one this good, Sophie,” she whispered again. She knew if she ever came back here, it wouldn't be for a very long time. Perhaps one day she would return with her son or daughter. Then again, maybe she wouldn't come back. The pain she felt was all-encompassing as she made her way down the steps.
In the kitchen, being as quiet as she could, Jessie ate the dried-out chicken and a crusty potato that had no taste. She gulped down two more sodas as she smoked half a pack of cigarettes before it was time to leave for the airport.
She left the house quietly and didn't look back, her pain and grief riding her like a wild stallion.
Sophie was right. The past was prologue.
20
“You look as tired as I feel, Jessie.” Luke said. “I'm going to leave, but I'll call you in the morning. Buzz needs to be back home among his things. If you want me to come back, I will.”
“No, that isn't necessary, Luke. You're right, I am tired. The dogs need my attention, and the pile of mail looks important. It was a nice trip, Luke. I'm glad I checked it out. I still don't know if Pennsylvania is a place where I want to put down my roots. We'll talk about it tomorrow.”
When the heavy garage door slammed against the concrete, Jessie slid the security bolt home. “I'm trying to postpone the moment when I have to deal with the mail and the answering machine, guys,” Jessie said to the dogs. She refused to look inside the Rover, knowing the gym bag she'd taken from Sophie's bedroom was still on the front seat where she'd left it on her return from Atlanta. She had to deal with the contents very soon, just as she had to deal with the mail and the answering machine when she entered the apartment. If she didn't, she wouldn't be able to sleep.
At the top of the four steps leading down to the small gallery, Jessie looked at the pile of mail Luke's housekeeper had piled on the foyer table. Legal-looking envelopes, air-mail envelopes, legal-looking manila envelopes. She gathered it all up, dropping some of the envelopes in her haste, snatching envelopes from Fred.
In the kitchen, Jessie dropped the mail on the kitchen table. She debated fixing herself a strong, stiff drink versus making a pot of coffee. She finally opted for the coffee knowing she wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway. So much had happened in the last ten days. If anything, she was more confused than ever.
While the coffee perked she thought about the last ten days and how happy she'd been with Luke in the small college town. But, could she live there? Luke said he wanted to marry her when she was free. He said he would adopt her child, and they'd live happily ever after. Was it possible? She wondered what it would be like to make love to the handsome, craggy man who had once threatened to shoot her on the spot. He was a good, kind man. A man who loved animals. A what-you-see-is-what-you-get person. He said he didn't care about her money, and she believed him. He said he loved her, and she believed that, too. She believed him when he said he would give her her own space to do whatever she wanted with her life.
All of the above on one condition. As Sophie always said, there were always conditions. Settle your life, Luke had said. Find out why those ugly dreams plague you. Make peace with your parents. Find out why you think you hate your mother. Since I have no parents of my own, I want your parents at our wedding. Cut the Kingsleys out of your life so they don't invade our lives once we marry. Do what you have to do, then walk away. “One condition, my butt,” Jessie muttered. “That's six conditions, or five if I don't count my parents being at the wedding.”
Jessie poured coffee before she attacked the mail on the table. She sorted through it first according to the postmarks. When she finished, her shoulders were stiff, her face expressionless as she ran to the Rover parked in the garage. She yanked at the battered gym bag, unzipping it as she raced back to the kitchen. She slammed the manila folders on top of the legal papers from Arthur Mendenares. Her heart racing, her adrenaline at an all-time high, she sorted and sifted until she had the papers exactly the way she wanted them. Then she stared at them. For a very long time.
Jessie continued to stare at the piles of papers with unblinking intensity all through the long night, her brain sorting and collating, sifting and memorizing. Occasionally her index finger moved one pile to another and then to still another.
When the twelve-cup percolator was empty and the velvety night gave way to the lacy lavender shadows of a new day, Jessie picked up the phone. She dialed the Kingsley ranch. Tanner picked up the phone on the second ring. “This is Jessie, Tanner. I want to see you. Now. That means within the hour. Thirty minutes is good. Yes, I always rise early. You're wasting time, Tanner.”
Jessie broke the connection before she placed a person-to-person call to her parents' house in Barcelona. She took a deep breath, surprised at the clarity of her mother's voice when she picked up the phone. “Mama, it's Jessie. I'm fine. How are you? And Daddy? Why am I calling? To invite you to my wedding,” she lied. “I plan on getting married as soon as my divorce is final. It won't be long. It was a terrible mistake. I should have known better. We all make mistakes, some more serious than others. I am pregnant, though. I'm due in the spring, when the flowers bloom. I'm looking forward to being a mother. Luke wants to meet you and Daddy. He asked me to extend an invitation to you and Daddy to visit the ranch,” she lied a second time. “This weekend would be good. Yes, Mama, I know you've missed me. Is Daddy sleeping? Will you wake him and see if it's okay for you to make the trip? Luke will want to do some planning, and it is short notice. Christmas! Yes, being together for the holidays will be nice. Will you wake Daddy from his nap? Please, Mama. I have so many things to do today. I don't want to tie up the phone even though it is early in the morning here.”
“Daddy. Did Mama tell you why I called? She did. Good. Daddy, what do my dreams have to do with you coming to my wedding? Luke wants to meet my parents. I never asked you for anything, Daddy. This is important to me. Mama said she was fine. Surely you can hire a nurse to make the trip with you. It isn't as though you can't afford it. I'm pregnant, Daddy. Of course I'm happy. Luke is wonderful. I'm going to give you my phone number and Luke's, so you can call me with your flight information. Luke and I will meet your plane. You sound strange, Daddy. Is something wrong? Then I'll wait for your call. Think of the holidays, Daddy. Yes, I can hear Mama in the background. I'll say good-bye for now.”
Jessie looked at her trembling hands. Her stomach heaved, then settled down when her breathing returned to normal. She stared at her reflection in the glass door of the wall oven. Her eyes looked glassy, her hair on end. She stepped over the sleeping dogs to make fresh coffee. While it perked she washed her face, brushed her teeth, then ran a comb through her hair.
Back in the kitchen, Jessie sat down at the table, her gaze going to the different piles of papers lined up like yellow soldiers. Ten minutes later the doorbell rang. Neither dog moved. This time, Jessie ushered Tanner up the steps to the loft and into the kitchen.
“I hope this is important, Jessie. Before you say whatever it is you got me here for, I want to say something to you. I want you to hear me out, and I don't want you to interrupt me until I say what I have to say. I'll probably never get the guts to do it again so just listen, okay, I'm sorry about everything. I don't plan on causing you any trouble. I was pissed when I called my attorney to make all those demands. My mother and J.J. were pressuring me, and even I know that's not a valid excuse. It took me all of ninety minutes to realize what an ass I'd become. I stayed in one of the line shacks that same night, thinking about my life, about Pop and J.J. and what I'd allowed myself to become. The following day I called my attorney and cancelled all the demands I'd made the day before, but the legal paperwork was already in the pipeline. I came by to tell you in person, but you were gone. Some woman spoke to me through the door and said she didn't know when you'd be back. I won't contest anything. You were right, there's no point in dragging this crap out. We need to get on with our lives. It's not a trick,” Tanner said wearily.
“Why don't I believe you, Tanner?”
“I didn't give you much reason to believe me. I'm sorry I ever allowed myself to get into this position. I guess I'm more my mother's son than I thought. I know it probably doesn't make much sense to you, but it's better if you don't know . . . certain things. Jesus, when I think back, I could puke. I'm sorry for everything, Jess. I mean that, and I'm just not mouthing words here. Do you need anything? Is there anything else I can do?” At Jessie's negative nod, he said, “I didn't think so. You were always pretty self-sufficient. I admire that trait. In my own way, I'm very fond of you. I don't really know if we could have made it work or not. Part of me wants to believe we could have. The other part of me says no. As much as I hate to admit this, Luke's a decent guy. I think he might be good for you. I don't know if you're pregnant like my mother suggested or not. I don't want to know. The truth is, I don't deserve to know. I'll be at the ranch, Jess. That's if you ever need me for anything.”
Jessie stared at her husband, her jaw dropping when he held out his hand. Was it a trick?
Tanner shrugged. He jammed his hands into his pockets.
“I know everything, Tanner. It's all there on the table. Your folder is the third one. Take a look.”
Tears blurred Jessie's eyes as she watched Tanner's stricken face. “Where did you get this?” he asked gruffly, a look of shame on his face.
“Sophie left it for me. She never opened it, though. I found it last week when I went to Atlanta. Do you have any idea how I felt when I read that report? I felt like a slab of beef on the auction block. How could you set me up like that? All that plotting and conniving. My skin is crawling just thinking of it. What about Sophie, Tanner?”
Tanner sat down at the table.
He looks like he's in shock,
Jessie thought.
“Sit down, Jessie. I need to look at you when I tell you about . . . this,” Tanner said, pointing to the envelopes and the files on the table. You deserve to know the truth. All of it. I hope you can handle it better than I did.”
“All I want is the truth, Tanner.”
“Pop brought J.J. and a bunch of other kids to the ranch the summer we were juniors in high school. J.J. was slick, fast on his feet. He had an answer for everything. He was so goddamn smart it was sickening. I was a mediocre student at best. I thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. I wanted to be like him. It all came so easy to him. He had goals and dreams. Big goals and even bigger dreams. Girls fell all over him. If they didn't have money, he wasn't interested. Our senior year he came up with this idea to seek out and find the richest girls in America and make them fall for us so we would never have to work a day in our lives. He made it all sound so believable, like it really could happen. At first it was fun. I don't think I believed for a minute that it was really going to work. J.J. became so obsessed it started to make me nervous. I don't know if you know this, but Pop paid for his college education. Poor Pop, he didn't know the half of it. He does now, though. I'm so ashamed I find it difficult to look him in the eye. It's a pretty damn sorry state of affairs when your old man is ashamed of you. It's my own fault, and I'll live with it. Pop loved you like a daughter, Jessie.”
“I was and still am very fond of your father. He was always very kind to me.”
“He made mistakes, too. I always thought he'd die in the Senate. You know, go out in a blaze of glory. If there was a way for me to help him, I'd do it in a heartbeat. He doesn't have long to live . . . days really.”
“I'm sorry to hear that. I'm glad I got to see him one last time.”
Tanner fired up a cigarette. “Anyway,” he said, blowing a stream of smoke, “J.J. convinced me we could make his plan work. We spent days in the library. One night we hid in the men's room and stayed through the night working with a flashlight. J.J. was like that. He had a plan, and he was going to make it work. He found your friend Sophie, and Sophie just happened to have a friend named Jessie Roland. We spent an entire year getting the lowdown on your friend. As a rule, women found J.J. irresistible, and Sophie was no different. She fell for him. He had it in the bag, megamillions, and Sophie was head over heels in love with him. J.J. was so convinced he was going to pull it off, he got cocky where Sophie was concerned and then he switched his attention to you and me. Sophie liked pillow talk. J.J. and I knew more about you than you know about yourself. When you showed up at Pop's office looking for a job, I thought J.J. was going to have a heart attack. I can't tell you what went wrong between Sophie and J.J. To this day I don't think he knows. If he does, he hasn't shared it with me. He switched up then. I was to be the savior. You had the money. Sophie told him about your trust fund, about your family. As I said, she liked pillow talk.”
“This is . . . is reprehensible. Sophie's dead because . . . God, Tanner!”
“You're right, it is reprehensible. That's when I wanted to pack it in, but J.J. wouldn't hear of it. When you said you were pregnant J.J. thought we had a lock on it. I tried to wiggle out. I didn't want to . . . marry you under those kinds of circumstances. We had fun. The sex was great. You were right, we weren't in love. J.J. said your money would make up for all that. At that point my mother was working on her own agenda. She could literally
smell
your money. By the way, it was a three-way pot. J.J. was to get a third, I was to get a third, and my mother was to get a third. This isn't going to go down well, Jess, so hold on. You said my mother pushed you down the steps that night you lost the baby. It was the last thing you said to me before you blacked out. She denied it, of course. That would have made her a murderer, and I couldn't believe that of my own mother. You didn't remember any of it, so I left it alone. When we brought you home from the hospital, I kept waiting for you to say something, to remember what you'd said, but you never did. Without telling him anything in particular, I asked the doctor what his opinion was, and he said it was possible you had some short-term memory loss. He also said you were in shock. Obviously, you still don't remember, which leads me to think the doctor was right and you really were in shock. I wanted to take you away after that, but the dark stuff hit the fan with Pop. You were so depressed, and then I got depressed. My mother doted on you. She made sure you got dressed, that you got outside in the fresh air. She had the cook make you tempting dishes to try and get you to eat. She'd go into town and buy you trinkets, send you flowers. She seemed sincere to me. The two of you got along very well during that time. It was a god-awful time for all of us. I wanted to do the right thing. I even tried. I just want you to know that. For whatever this is worth, Jessie, I don't think Sophie killed herself over J.J. I think her suicide had something to do with her mother.”

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