Lost and Found (18 page)

“Jean phoned yesterday, remember? She took me to see Angie. He’s throwing her out of his house after she stood up to him and all his crap, his bullying
and
belittling her. She wouldn’t allow him to take advantage anymore, and she set boundaries. So he served her with eviction papers. Said he’s moving in a relative
;
the only way to get her out.”

Richard shook his head. “She’s better off get
ting
away from him. Whether she knows it or not
,
he’s doing her a favor.”

“It’s the way he’s going about it. You don’t rip apart someone’s basic foundation like this. And don’t you think he owes her?”

“For what?”

Maggie slid her
bottom around
on the leather seat until she faced Richard. “All the work she did, he never paid her but filled her with promises she would have her own place, and she believed
,
at one point
,
a relationship with him. He did pretty much the same thing to Marcie, and he was sleeping with Angie the same time as Marcie.”

Richard did a double take to
ward
Maggie. “Dan sleeps with a lot of women at the same time. He fills all their heads with promises. That’s who he is. Whatever he told them, he lied to each of them. And he’s stolen something, profited in some way
,
from each of them. You know this. Stay out of it. You don’t need to take this on. You’re too fragile right now.”

“I’m not fragile
,
Richard. And I’m not staying out of it. That cowardly prick has got some other woman, a thug, he’s sent to deal with Angie. And this
person
has been harassing her for weeks.
Even
sent a letter saying she’s not allowed to contact Dan anymore. That she has to go through her to pay rent or to have repairs done, and any repairs Angie does this
woman
will decide whether she gets reimbursed for any of it. And
then she
phoned her and said she’s Dan’s friend
,
and he wants no more contact with her. And he did this
only
after she finally stood up to him
,
and she would no longer allow him on the property or around her daughter. She asked him to call first
,
and they would leave if he needed to come by. She wanted a contract signed by him, to protect her and her child’s rights while they remained there, and he retaliated by evicting her and taking away her home. Something she made into hers, which he stoked and was responsible for encouraging and making her believe with their relationship this was her home. What
makes
it worse is this woman friend showed up with Dan and gloated to her he was establishing his rights as a landlord, and that Angie had no rights. This treatment is unconscionable. This is not okay
,
Richard! There should be laws to protect women from this type of violation. What country do we live in
? Aren’t
there human rights, civil rights that protect her?”

“Who’s the woman?”

“What?”

Richard turned down their driveway. “The woman who’s representing Dan?”

“Janet Slugg.”

Richard parked
,
turned off the engine
,
and put his arm over the back of the seat when he faced
her
. “Janet Slugg’s married to a guy named Hank. He’s a friend of Dan’s. Does all his dirty work. Stay away from them.
They’re
only interested in what benefits them. And they’ll play dirty. Angie had best move.”

“Well she needs to sue Dan and make him pay for all the work she did. He stole from her, he profited off her. She can’t let him get away with it
.
He’s
going to do it to someone else. Richard
,
you could help her.”

“No.” Richard climbed out and slammed the door.

She
had felt some of Angie’s pain just being in that house and seeing what she’d done. And
she
understood where it came from. The threat of having your basic foundation
,
the
roof over your head
,
ripped away was one of those basic necessities of life that could tear a person apart. So of course
,
the fury that boiled through her bubbled up and had her yanking
on
the door handle and kicking the door open. “Oh don’t you dare walk away from this.”
She
ran after Richard. “Richard, please. This is not right
,
what he’s doing to her. She reminded me so much of Marcie
,
and all the same pain he caused her. He keeps doing this to vulnerable women, and nobody stops him. Look at what he got away with. No jail time for his role as a drug dealer. How does he keep getting away with it?”

Richard stopped and turned so abrupt
ly,
Maggie ran into him. “One, he had the best fucking attorney there is, and two
,
the cops screwed their own investigation. Three
,
there was a bug planted in Marcie’s
granny’s
cabin by Lance Silver
,
so they heard every fucking thing and turned the tables. And Dan had a link to some cop on Sam’s team. Still does
,
I’m sure.”

“Well you could help her. She’s going to sue him to make him pay for all the work she did. He owes her. And you could make Dan pay her what he owes. Or give her a truthful statement about Dan she could use.”

“No.”

She
cupped his shoulder and flattened her hand across his heart. “That could have been me. I understand how she could have been manipulated. I don’t think there is a woman out there who hasn’t been exposed at one time in their life to a predator. And it hurts. I don’t understand why you won’t help.”

He sighed
and
then covered her hand with his. “Maggie
,
if she sues him, there’s a very real chance it could freeze my assets.”

She tilted her head when
a
screw tightened her shallow breath to a thin whisper. “I don’t understand.”

“Dan and I are still partners.”

“How are you still partners?” She had
a
sick buzz in her head. She moved back two steps
,
really looking at Richard, trying
to
understand what he said.

Richard rubbed the base of his hand across the center of his forehead.

“Oh for
God’s
sake
,
Richard
,
” She yelled
,
gripping her fist and stepped toward him. She hit his arm hard and swore again.

“You tell me everything right now. You want us back together
?
There
has to be trust. I’m not some weak woman who’s going to melt into hysterics. I need to know right now
.
What
the hell’s going on?”

He turned his back and raised his fist in the air before facing Maggie. “We still own the property together. And if you
forgot,
I dumped a large chunk of cash into that development project.”

She
opened her mouth to respond, but only
a
squeak
came
out. She looked down at the ground and struggled to grasp some intelligent word
s
from her brain
on
this betrayal.

“Don’t give me that wounded pride thing of yours
,
Maggie. This is the real world
,
and I can’t make him disappear.”

“Why didn’t you sell?”

“How am I going to sell when the market
’
s in the toilet? Tell me
,
huh, cause I’d sure like to know?” Richard leaned in
toward her
with a fiery
energy
that had Maggie considering there was
maybe
more to it
than he let on
. “He owns half the property. He won’t buy me out. I already tried. Do you honestly believe I’d intentionally stay in business with him? Come on Maggie
,
do you really?”

She felt tears burn her eyes and felt horrible. What burdens did he carry? She
looked at him
with fresh eyes. He too struggled. But Richard always did it in a way to shelter her. He handled, he dealt, but she couldn’t let him do this anymore. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Look at you.” He grabbed both her arms and ushered her up the steps and into the house. Not once did she fight him as he placed her a few inches from the wall mirror in the dining room. “Do you see those
gray
circles under your eyes
?
You’re still tired
,
and each day you fight your way above water to regain a simple thread of sanity. I watch you. And every day
,
I see you struggle to not sink back into that pit of nothingness. Two weeks ago
,
you functioned on pills to get you through the day. Then more pills to put you out of your misery at night. To shut out those
voices,
judgments
, recriminations and doubts, of should of, could of
,
or would have done something
,
anything
,
different that horrible day. You relive
the
nightmare of our little girl being ripped away over and over again. So much so
,
you couldn’t even be a mother to Ryley. You existed. You cooked. You cleaned. You went through the motions of the living, but you were dead inside. And you never saw Ryley’s pain or mine. Now why would I tell you my problem
s
when you were oblivious to anyone around you? Come on Maggie
,
explain it to me
.
Because I’d really like to know how I could have counted on you to confide in.
”
He lowered his voice to just above a whisper
,
and
there was no mistaking the punch in his words.
“Would you have used it against me?”

She closed her eyes. His warm breath brushed her cheek as he stood behind her and held her tight. “Oh Richard, I’m sorry.” It took every ounce of courage she could muster to raise her
eyes
and meet the scrutiny reflected back. “You’re right. I was too wrapped up in me. And the ugliness. You brought me out of the darkness. You sat with me. You took over handling everything. Maybe I wasn’t capable of dealing then. But you need to let me in now. I still ache
,
and that nightmare still finds a way in when I least expect it. But I won’t slip back and hide. I promise you and Ryley. I’m pulling me together. I won’t break, and I need you to be able to trust me and talk to me.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Would you have used it against me?”

Sadness lurked in the deep blue eyes reaching
him
through the reflection. Tears slid and traced a single path straight down
her
cheek. “Yes.”

“I need to pick up Ryley.” Richard backed up and put distance between
them
.

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, I need some space.” Hurt and something vulnerable seemed to hover over him. How had she missed
it
? She grabbed his arm and held tight when he tried to walk away.

“I’m being honest with you
,
Richard. I was so out of it, I would have used anything as I fought to keep my head above water. It wasn’t intentional. I was in survival mode. And I wanted to hurt you.”

“I guess that’s where you and I differ
,
Maggie. I would never have considered using that against you.”

“Richard
,
you played dirty. You cancelled my credit cards. Cleared out the bank account. You took my SUV. I had to fight to get what little I had.”

Richard reached down and lifted her hand off his arm. “I was trying to freeze you up
,
so you would come home. That was different.”

“No Richard
,
maybe in your eyes. But not mine.” He squinted. She was sure he’d respond.

But then his mouth tightened and he shook his head. He backed away, and pushed open the screen door. “I got to go. Ryley’s waiting.”

This time
,
s
he
didn’t push her case. She stayed right where she was. Richard was intense at times
,
and he kept all those hidden dark feelings bottled up inside and stashed away in some secret alcove. Their trust, faith
,
and belief in each other was fractured. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him the truth. Of course he didn’t trust her not to use whatever connection he still had with Dan against him, to get what she deserved in the divorce. And it hurt beyond anything imaginable to have that ugly truth dumped between them. So now what? How could she break through
the
steel wall and rebuild the trust they once shared?