Rose of Betrayal (47 page)

Widening ebony eyes
allowed tears to seep from beneath Brad's lower eyelids and teeter on
overflowing.
 
“That we . . . ”

Not at all surprised
Ralph muttered, “No, but I suspected as much.”

Tears trickled down
Brad's sunken face.
 
“Christ, what if Ted
found out?
 
What if she told him?”

           
“Son, I really don't think a woman
would tell her husband she had sex with another man, particularly if it was his
best friend.
 
Besides, I assume it was
before they got married, right?
 
Well?”

           
Fright squeezed Brad's chest, his
eyes searched Ralph's for reassurance.
 
“But what if he found out? It would be enough to send any man over the
edge, possibly enough to make him . . . “

           
Unable to express his thoughts, Brad
stood and languidly moved to the fireplace. Glaring into cold dead ashes
suddenly turned them into embers of a nightmare of long ago.

................................................................……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…

           
Brad and Ted just returned from an
evening in town with their sweethearts, Wyoming offered little recreation other
than a movie, ice cream, booze, and making out.
 
It was normal to pull into a secret wooded area to fool around before
taking their date's home.
 

           
The scorching weather made the
coolness of the evening a welcomed respite.
 
A slight breeze tugged at lightweight clothing as Brad and Candy sat
beneath the evenings twinkling umbrella. The large bolder was a perfect spot to
watch for shooting stars despite the full moon and wisps of clouds conjuring up
formations against its brilliance.
 

           
The heard the rocking sound of the
Chevy in the distance as Ted and Sarah made out in the back seat.
 
They were saying good-bye.
 
Tomorrow Ted and Brad were taking up
permanent residency in Manhattan.
 

           
Several trips to New York enabled locating
a suitable office for their business, hiring employees and selecting office
furniture.
 
The tidy sum received from
friends and family upon graduation from college barely covered the expenses.
 
Now the time had come to bid a final
farewell.
  

           
Brad and Candy met only two months
previous.
 
Most of the time spent apart
while Brad sought his career in New York.
 
With hair of spun gold, green eyes and milky white skin, Brad believed
Candy was the most striking woman he had ever met.
 
He contemplated asking her to go to New York,
but knew her parents would never permit their eighteen-year-old daughter out of
their sight.

           
Candy eagerly sought Brad's
advances.
 
She was far from innocent she
said, having lost her virginity at sixteen.
 
Though preferring otherwise, Brad remained a perfect gentleman.
 
Candy was special, the first woman he ever
considered marrying.

           
Jumping out of the car whiskey in
hand, zipping up his fly, Ted grasped Sarah's wrist and dragged her behind as
she fumbled with her unbuttoned blouse. Joining their friend's beneath the
stars, they toasted the future.
 

           
To this day Brad could not remember
what happened.
 
After consuming several
bottles of wine, they were preparing to take Sarah home the last he
recalled.
 
Insisting he drive, Ted
ordered Brad to get in the back seat with Candy.
 
The next thing Brad heard were screams
piercing his ears, and the sound of ripping material.
 
His head rolled to one side searching for the
girl crying hysterically.

“No!
 
Please, stop.
 
Please, you're hurting me.”

           
The sound of skin striking skin
reared Brad up.
 
Fumbling for the
door-knob, he wondered where in hell he was as the pleading continued, followed
by blood curdling screams.
 
Locating the
handle, jerking the car door open, brought him with a thud to the ground.
 
Too drunk to stand, he crawled on all fours
frantically searching in the direction of the noise.

“Brad . . . Brad . .
. help me!
 
Oh God, please stop him.”

           
Brad finally realized the commotion
was coming from the bolder in front of him.
 
Pulling himself up, he leered at two nude bodies uncertain at first who
they were until the girl screamed again, “Brad!”
           
He was too late.
 
Having already raped Candy, Ted was laying on his back catching his
breath.
 
Candy's ravished body lay on the
grass trembling.
 
Never trying to cover
herself she laid in silence, eyes wide open in disbelief her lips red and
swollen, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes.
 
Much later, he decided shock made him stare
at Candy's beautiful body, her bruised breasts, and thighs smeared with traces
of blood.

           
 
He would have killed Ted that night if not for
Candy.
 
Dust flew as the two men rolled
on the ground each landing fair shares of blows, Ted pleading with Brad to
stop.
 
          

           
Knowing Brad was completely out of
control, screaming, Candy flung herself onto his back clutching hands full of
hair in an attempt to pull him off Ted's unconscious body. “You're going to
kill him.
 
Stop it.
 
He is not worth it.
 
Stop it. It's over.
 
I'm O.K.”

           
Brad could still feel Candy's nude
body as it fell limp into his arms.
  
He
remembered clearly carrying her to the car, removing his shirt to cover her
until he could collect her tattered clothing.
 
Weary from her struggle, he helped her dress; neither one speaking as
he, wet his undershirt with water from a stream, washed her face, and untangled
her golden hair with his comb.
 

           
Ted explained to Brad the next day
he was so drunk, he did not realize what came over him.
  
Hearing Brad and Candy in the backseat
having sex, turned him on. After Brad passed out, she willingly joined him
behind the bolder.
 
She encouraged him by
insisting Brad had not satisfied her.
 
She preferred it rough.
 
Pretending someone was raping her, turned her on, and she enjoyed it
more when she screamed and struggled.
 
Candy knew what Brad would have thought of her if he found out, so upon
hearing the car door open she covered her own ass by insisting Ted had forced
her.

           
Though the story sounded
far-fetched, Brad was so upset and heart-broken he did not know what to
believe.
 
Why would Ted lie?
 
Candy often made advances, was it possible he
finally took advantage of her.
 
Yet, Brad
could not remember having sex with Candy.
  
The inability to save her that night filled him with guilt.
 
Angry with Brad for the same reasons, ten
months later Candy served him with a paternity suit.
 

           
Considering both men had sex with
Candy that night Brad's attorney insisted on a blood test to prove who the
father was.
 
To save Candy the embarrassment
of a trial, before the results were in Brad accepted the blame and settled out
of court.
  
The fact that he was leaving
for New York, he could not leave Candy and her newborn daughter behind to bare
the blunt of the scandal.

           
Candy was the first and last woman
Brad loved.
 
An experience so painful
each time he recalled the events he built a wall higher and thicker around his
heart, he never believed one day it would tumble down.
 
Shoving the memories into a dark corner of
his mind, Brad thought about murder, anyone was capable if pushed too far, he
meant to kill Ted that night and would have if Candy did not stop him.

           
It was apparent to Ralph Brad was
stewing about something his eyes had a distant look to them as though he was
seeing some other horizon.
 
He had been
silent far too long, his expressions changing like the tides.
 
Assuming he knew what Brad was thinking,
Ralph approached, “Listen, son.
 
Think a
minute.
 
Put yourself in Ted's
place.
 
If he found out, what would you
do, take it out on your wife or . . . “

The same sparks of
newfound knowledge danced in both men's eyes.
 
Holding each other’s gaze, they uttered in unison, “Wyoming!”

Brad blurted, “That's
it.
 
Ted had enough time to catch a plane
to Wyoming.
 
Possibly, he was wearing a
disguise they could have passed each other.”

Not at all convinced
Ralph replied, “If that were true, the authorities should have picked him up
there?”

“No one can find
him.
 
No one knows where to look except
me.”

“What are you
saying?”

“I can’t explain right
now.
 
If Ted wanted to disappear, I know
exactly where he would go.
 
Don't you
see, he’s waiting for me.”

           
Gripping Brad by the shoulder's
Ralph tried shaking some sense into him.
 
“Listen! Listen to me, damn it.
 
You have known Ted all his life.
 
Do you really think he would hurt Sam, come after you?”

“I don't know, but
I'm going to find out.”

           
With Brad's safety upper most in
Ralph's mind, he pleaded, “Don't go, son. Please. Don't go off
half-cocked.
 
First Sam, and now you, I'm
an old man, my heart can't take this shit.
 
Call the police.
 
Let them handle
it.”

Even before he ceased
his pleading, Ralph knew it was futile.
 
Brad would find Ted and then . . .
   

           
Brad had already opened the door to
leave when Ralph caught up to him his large hand banging the door shut. “I
won't let you do this.
 
Sam needs you too
much.”

           
To Brad's utter shock Ralph pulled
his fist back and struck him on the jaw, the punch so powerful it sent him
crashing to the floor.
  
Rubbing his chin
he exclaimed, “Jesus, man!
 
You shouldn't
have done that.”

Raising both fists
ready for a fight, Ralph exclaimed, “You're not leaving here.
 
You'll have to go through me first.”

           
A red Porsche skidded onto the black
highway reaching a hundred miles an hour in less than sixty seconds.
 
Ralph would get over it, Brad sputtered.
 
As soon as he was safely on his way, he would
let someone know where to find him.
 
It
killed him to strike an older man, it was like punching his own father, but he
had to.
 
Making certain Ralph wasn't
badly hurt before securing his hands and feet with rope, he dragged him into a
closet and locked the door.
  
No one was
going to keep him from his encounter with Ted, no one.

CHAPTER 39

‘‘DECEMBER 2010”

 
          
The
Monday after Christmas was a dismal day still, it did not come close to the
storm in Sam's heart.
 
Desperate to thank
Brad for his extravagant, thoughtful gift, despite her efforts she was unable
to locate him.
  
Rehearsal evening would
be too late, she fretted.
 
There would be
too many people.
 
What she wanted to say,
needed to say, required privacy.