Silent Partner (17 page)

Once a month she had this opportunity. Just once a month for two short days, and an additional two weeks in the summer. She had thirty-eight days a year to see her son. Otherwise, except for a once-a-week half-hour telephone call, Hunter was off-limits. And the judge probably hadn’t even given his edict a second thought since the day he’d come down with it. Hadn’t ever considered the emotional torment he’d caused. In fact, he’d probably long forgotten the case. Forgotten everything except the bribe Chuck Reese must have paid him.

Angela hurried out of the elevator toward her car, parked in a far corner of the basement garage on Cary Street. Because she wasn’t allowed to pick Hunter up until seven o’clock, she had remained at her desk to get some work done. Now she was late.

Late because Ken Booker had stuck around, too. At 5:15 he had asked her to come to his office to talk about a piece of business they were trying to win from an Atlanta bank. At 5:45 she had told him she needed to leave, but he had ignored her. Finally, at six o’clock she had simply gotten up and walked out of his office, even though he was still talking. Booker knew where she was going, and he knew that her time with Hunter was extremely limited. But he had still tried to make her stay. She hurried across the garage, footsteps echoing as she trotted to her car. And he had children of his own. Two of them. Of course he had no idea what it was like to not be able to see them whenever he wanted. He saw them every night when he got home.

As Angela neared her Saab, a huge form stepped from the shadows and moved directly in front of her, blocking her way. “Oh, my God!” she shouted, stepping back and turning to run.

“Angela!”

She recognized the voice instantly and stopped, looking back over her shoulder through the dim light. “John?”

“Yes,” Tucker confirmed, moving toward her.

“You scared me,” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”

“I have a message from Mr. Lawrence.”

She glanced around furtively. There were only a few cars left in the garage, and she saw no one. But she was coming to realize that not seeing anyone didn’t mean a thing. “I don’t want any messages from Mr. Lawrence. Please,” she begged, thinking about Carter Hill. “Just leave me alone.”

“Angela—”

“I’m late, John. I’m on my way to pick up my son. Please just let me go,” she murmured, reaching for the car door.

But Tucker blocked her path. “This won’t take long.”

“Get out of my way!” she yelled, trying to push him aside.

“Angela.”

She thrust her arm past him and grabbed for the door.

This time he took her by the wrists, spun her around, and pushed her back against the cinder block wall. “Dammit, listen to me!”

“I’m going to scream bloody murder, John.”

“Lawrence wants to have dinner with you tomorrow night,” Tucker said, ignoring her threat. “He told me what happened at the cabin, and he said to tell you that he very much regrets his actions. I can’t believe it, but he followed up on a promise this time. I’m sure you know that by now.”

“Let me go!”

“Are you really willing to give up your son?”

Angela stared into Tucker’s eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“The Lord giveth and the Lord can taketh away.”

“Stop speaking in code.”

“Jake Lawrence has become involved in your son’s situation. In
your
situation.” Tucker glanced around, then looked back at her. “You’ve already received a call from your attorney. One of the men who accused you of adultery six years ago wants to talk all of a sudden. Right?”

She hesitated, the horrible understanding that her life was no longer her own overwhelming her. A horrible feeling that she was being manipulated by forces which she had no chance of controlling. Forces whose motivations were cloaked, so that she could not determine who was friend and who was foe. There seemed no way for her to figure out which side to ally herself with. Perhaps the answer was that there was no side to ally with. Perhaps both sides would ultimately discard her once they’d gotten from her what they needed.

“Angela!”

She dreaded what was coming. She had a feeling that something was out there, stalking her. Something that meant her terrible harm.

“Jake Lawrence can help you more than you can possibly imagine,” Tucker said, holding her wrists tightly. “But he can hurt you too. I’ve seen him in action for twenty years, admittedly from the cheap seats. But it’s still clear to me what kind of man he is. He’s a vindictive son of a bitch, Angela. If you’re loyal to him, he’ll go to the ends of the earth for you. But if you don’t play by his rules, he’ll destroy you.”

“You mean he won’t help me get Hunter back,” she whispered.

“Worse. Much worse. He’ll make certain you never see the boy again. He’ll spin a hundred and eighty degrees on you in the time it takes to say ‘custody battle.’ He’ll use all of his power to make certain that judge reopens the case. But not to help you. To
hurt
you. To make certain the judge decides you aren’t fit to see the boy at all. Ever.”

“He wouldn’t.”

“Oh, yes, he would. He’d do it and laugh at you when it was done.”

Angela searched Tucker’s eyes for some sign that he was just trying to intimidate her. Instead, she found an intensity that told her he sincerely believed what he was saying. “What’s going on, John?” she asked, her voice wavering slightly. “Why is he doing this to me?”

Tucker shook his head slowly. “How the hell do I know, Angela? I’m just one of his boys, just one of those people who carries out orders. I’m not privy to the big picture.”

“Tell him to leave me alone, John. Please. Just leave me alone.”

Tucker shook his head. “It wouldn’t do any good, even if I did. Once he’s got you in his sights, you stay there until he’s finished with you. What I say would have no effect on him.”

“I’ve got to go,” she blurted, pulling away from Tucker’s grip. She climbed in behind the steering wheel and reached for the door.

“There’s one more thing,” said Tucker, grabbing the door before she could close it.

“John!”

“Something else Mr. Lawrence wanted me to tell you.”

“What?” she snapped.

“He said you need to be very careful with Hunter.”

“Careful?”

“Yes. The boy could be in danger.”

Angela stopped trying to yank the door shut and turned in the seat to look up at Tucker. “Don’t threaten my son,” she warned. “If Jake Lawrence lays one finger on my son just to protect his precious billions, I swear to God I’ll kill him. Even Bill Colby won’t be able to stop me with all those men in Wyoming.”

“Angela, shut up and listen to me.”

She glared at Tucker, her entire body shaking in rage.

“Mr. Lawrence has entered the situation. He has become engaged in the battle to win your son back. He has chosen a side. Understand that there are those who watch his every move, enemies who might believe that they could manipulate Mr. Lawrence if they control the boy. Mr. Lawrence wants you to understand that his assistance comes with potential consequences.”

Jake Lawrence had told her in the cabin that he was never truly safe, that there were those who wanted to see him dead. She’d thought him paranoid. Then she and Tucker had been shot at on the way back down the mountain. Now Tucker was warning her about Hunter. She had to believe what Tucker was saying.

Tucker pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket. “Take this,” he ordered, holding out his hand.

“What is it?” she asked, taking the note from his fingers.

“My cell phone number.”

She glanced at it, thinking about how everyone was suddenly giving her their phone numbers. Tucker had penned his full name in a looping script, then written the number beneath his name. “Thanks,” she said quietly, looking up. He had begun to turn away, but stopped and looked back.

“By the way, Angela,” Tucker said. “Mr. Lawrence also wanted you to understand that your former father-in-law is a very bad man.” He hesitated. “But I think you already know that.”

Then he was gone.

“What are you saying?” Chuck Reese asked.

“I’m saying that Angela Day has managed to restart the custody process for her son.”

Reese shifted uncomfortably in the large chair. He had shelled out a significant amount of money to ensure that this would never happen. “That can’t be.”

“You should know better than anyone that there is no such thing as ‘can’t.’ ”

“In this case it would have to be someone with tremendous resources.”

“I agree.”

“Then I think we can assume we know who’s behind the activity.”

“You’re probably right.”

“But you aren’t comfortable—”

“Not yet. This thing is like an artichoke. You peel away layer after layer, but you can’t get to the core.”

CHAPTER NINE

Chuck Reese had two homes in Richmond. A three-story brick colonial on two acres in the heart of the West End and a gray stone mansion on a hundred acres of heavily wooded riverfront property twenty-five miles east of center city. The mansion—fifteen thousand square feet of it—was set atop a small ridge several hundred yards back from the banks of the James. A wide, gardened lawn—lush and meticulously manicured in summer—sloped gently away from the mansion, cutting a swath through the forest until it reached the river and an impressive boathouse. There, Reese’s children, grandchildren, and many friends and acquaintances enjoyed his fleet of power boats in the warmer months.

In winter, when the weather turned too cold to enjoy the river, the estate’s indoor pool became the center of recreational activity. It was connected to the mansion by a long underground passageway so that no one had to endure the elements to get to it. And so, the landscape wasn’t spoiled by an above-ground eyesore. Reese was particularly proud of this feature of his beloved estate, which he had named Rosemary in memory of his wife. She had passed away a decade ago after a series of strokes.

After cutting off the Saab’s engine, Angela remained in the car for a few moments, hands clasping the steering wheel. She hated coming to Rosemary because of the inevitable confrontation with Chuck Reese. It happened every time. Reese would appear unexpectedly, as if out of thin air, giving her that smug expression she wanted to smack off his face. The same expression he’d given her across the courtroom when the judge had come down with his final decision, an expression that said, “You only have your son for forty-eight hours a month. Then he’s mine again.”

Reese had a reputation as a gregarious man who would regale a room full of admirers for hours with stories of his adventures, a man with a kind word for everyone. But he rarely said anything to Angela when she came to the estate, as he had rarely said anything to her when she and Sam were married. He didn’t have to. His eyes conveyed his hatred more effectively than words ever could. And when he did deign to say anything to her, the words were far from kind.

Angela reached for the handle, then eased back onto the seat and shut her eyes. She was nervous about seeing Hunter too. He was growing up, his physical and mental development apparent each time she saw him. He was getting to an age when he would appreciate the material things the Reese money provided, nearing an age where going from a palace on the James River to a two-bedroom apartment in the Fan would be noticed—and perhaps resented.

At some point in the not too distant future, Hunter might not want to come with her any longer, might not race toward her the moment he saw her and throw his arms around her neck the way he did now. Angela had already anticipated the scenario. Chuck Reese would tempt Hunter with a fabulous weekend, a get-anything-and-everything-you-want shopping spree at the FAO Schwarz store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, or a VIP trip to a Redskins game, including an autograph session with the star players. Then he’d tell the little boy that all of that was possible except for one thing. His mother was coming to take him away. She couldn’t bear the thought of that. In her mind’s eye, she would see the crestfallen look on Hunter’s face; the satisfied look on Reese’s.

There was something else, too. John Tucker’s surprise appearance in the basement garage had unnerved her. It had been almost an hour since she’d seen him and she was still shaking, still angered and upset by his warnings, increasingly anxious each minute she didn’t log in a call to Carter Hill.

She stepped from the Saab and hurried across the circular driveway toward the mansion’s huge front door. She had no doubt that Chuck Reese adored Hunter. That had been obvious from the moment Hunter had been born—the first male grandchild. And she’d seen the way Reese still doted on the boy. But Chuck Reese was a selfish man. Sharing someone as precious as Hunter was something he would avoid at all costs—which was why, Angela knew, he tried making her visits to Rosemary as unpleasant as possible. Perhaps he hoped to make her loathe the visits so much that she would ultimately give up and stay away from his world for good. She gritted her teeth as she pushed the doorbell. That would never happen. No matter what he tried.

A blonde woman opened the door, smiling politely. “Yes?”

Angela glanced down at the foyer’s gray slate. This was Caroline Reese, Sam’s wife of two years. It was the first time they had ever met, but Angela recognized Caroline immediately from newspaper and magazine photographs. Caroline and Sam had quickly become one of Richmond’s most prominent couples. She was from a well-to-do family of Savannah, Georgia, and no charity event or social gala was an A-list affair without the Reeses.

Angela had read about Caroline in the society pages of the
Richmond Tribune
when the engagement was announced. Caroline was the daughter-in-law Chuck Reese had always wanted, a rich debutante from an old-money neighborhood in a stylish southern city. In fact, he’d probably arranged the marriage himself. Rosemary had been his wedding gift to them, according to the newspapers. He still stayed there on weekends, but according to the press, Rosemary had been deeded to Sam.

“I’m Angela Day.”

“Oh,
Angela,
” Caroline said, her Southern accent becoming more pronounced as she emphasized Angela’s name. “I’m Caroline. Sam’s wife.”

“I know.”

“It’s nice to meet you after all this time.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Angela said coolly.

“You must be here to pick up Hunter.”

“Yes.”

“Well, please come in.” Caroline opened the door wide, beckoning her inside. “It must be cold out there.”

“It’s not bad.” The temperature had turned warm around noon, climbing into the fifties and quickly melting yesterday’s snow. But here it was after dark, and Caroline didn’t know it had gotten warmer. She probably hadn’t been out of the house all day. And, if she had, it would have been through a heated garage and straight into a waiting limousine. Angela was well aware of the charmed life Caroline Reese led.

“I believe Hunter’s still at the pool with his father. He’s such a wonderful little boy. I really love spending so much time with him.”

Angela said nothing.

“Do you want to wait here or would you like to go out to the pool?” Caroline asked.

“I’d like to go to the pool,” Angela replied quickly.

“Of course you would,” Caroline agreed, reaching out and patting Angela’s hand. “I understand completely. Let me get someone who can take you. I would, but Sam and I are going out later, and I was just headed upstairs to start getting ready when you rang the doorbell. I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Okay.”

In person, Caroline wasn’t as pretty as she was in photographs. She was tall and blonde, but very pale, almost ashen, and not at all exotic. Plain, in fact. So many times Sam had told Angela how he found exotic women—like her—so much more physically alluring. Like the woman she had caught Sam in bed with. Just as often Sam had told her how he could never be attracted to a woman like Caroline. But perhaps that had been a lie, as so many other things he said had turned out to be. Maybe, like most men, he could be physically attracted to almost any woman—at least for a time.

Caroline returned a few moments later with a scowling, middle-aged black woman in tow. “Alice will take you out to the pool, Angela.”

“All right.” Alice wore a gray and white maid’s uniform, complete with a lace bonnet.

“It’s been nice to meet you, Angela,” Caroline said with a smile.

“Yes, nice to meet you, too.”

“Get along, Alice,” Caroline ordered, gesturing to her right with a flip of her fingers as she headed toward a staircase and the second floor. “Take Ms. Day to the pool.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Alice said tersely. “Please come with me, Ms. Day.”

Angela followed the woman through a maze of rooms to a long set of steps at the bottom of which lay the underground passageway leading to the pool. The passageway was wide, carpeted, and dimly lit by lamps affixed to its dark green walls. Off the corridor were guest bedrooms and recreational rooms. Some of the rec rooms were furnished with wide-screen televisions surrounded by comfortable sofas and chairs, others with pool tables, Ping-Pong tables, or exercise equipment. Angela shook her head as she walked with the maid. Hunter had all of this available to him twenty-four hours a day. How was she ever going to compete?

The air in the corridor turned warm and humid, and they reached the far end of the corridor and the bottom of another stairway leading up to the pool. As Angela neared the top step, the pool came into view. It was massive, fifty yards long and thirty wide, with a huge sliding board as well as two diving boards at the far end.

Her eyes widened when she spied her son. “Hunter!”

The young boy stood at the end of the pool’s high-dive board, poised ten feet above the water’s surface. “Mom!” he yelled back, waving excitedly. “Watch this!”

“Hunter, no!” Instinctively Angela began running down the deck toward the high-dive, her hard-soled shoes clicking on the cement as she raced past lounge chairs and tables. “Don’t, honey!”

But the boy paid no attention, swinging his arms by his sides three times, then leaping fearlessly from the board, shouting as he fell toward the water.

Her only thought was that Hunter was about to drown. He shouldn’t be jumping off a high-dive. He was only six years old, for God’s sake. She was going to kill Sam for being so irresponsible.

She watched in horror as Hunter hit the water and disappeared beneath the surface with a splash. But he popped up almost instantly, laughing and whooping as he dog-paddled toward a ladder on the side of the pool.

“Hunter, you scared Mom to death,” Angela admonished, relief washing over her as she knelt down and helped him climb up the ladder. “Please don’t ever do that again.”

“It was easy,” he said, throwing his arms around her neck and giving her a loud kiss on the cheek. “How ya doing, Mom?”

Angela closed her eyes, hugging him back and laughing, feeling the water dripping all over her but not minding a bit. “I missed you so much,” she whispered.

“I missed you too, Mom. Love you.”

She adored those words. Adored the emotion he could evoke so quickly. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

“Watch me do it again,” he said, pulling back and giving her a smile.

“Hunter.”

“What?”

“You lost a front tooth. What happened?”

He giggled and pulled his lip back. “It fell out yesterday,” he explained, his words almost unintelligible with the finger in his mouth. “The big tooth is already coming in,” he said, tilting his head back. “See?”

“Yes, I can,” she said softly, spotting a tiny line of enamel protruding through his upper gum where the baby tooth had been.

Hunter hadn’t mentioned the tooth being loose when they had spoken by phone last Sunday evening—the night before she had left for Wyoming—and suddenly she was overwhelmed by how quickly he was growing up, struck by the fact that she hadn’t been around for the loss of his first baby tooth. And that, because of the situation, there might be many more of these once-in-a-lifetime events she would miss.

“The Tooth Fairy gave me fifty dollars, Mom. The money was under my pillow when I woke up this morning.”

“Fifty dollars?”

“Yup.” A puzzled expression spread across the young boy’s face. “Fifty dollars. Is that a lot?”

“I would say so.” To her maybe, but not to Chuck Reese. “Too much.”

“You know what?” Hunter asked, his voice dropping.

“What?”

“I don’t really think it was the Tooth Fairy that gave me the money.”

“You don’t?”

The boy shook his head deliberately. “No. I think it was Caroline.”

“Oh. Why?”

The smile danced back to his face. “Because I was awake when she came into my room,” he said, giggling again, pleased with himself. “I peeked when the door opened, and I saw it was her.”

“Well, maybe the Tooth Fairy asked Caroline to help her out. Maybe the Tooth Fairy was too busy to get to everybody last night. There are a lot of children who lose teeth every day.”

“Santa Claus gets to
everybody
in one night.”

“That’s true,” Angela agreed hesitantly, wondering how to argue with his logic. Aware that she probably wouldn’t be around to comfort him when he figured out that Santa Claus had help too.

Hunter shrugged his small shoulders. “I like Caroline. She’s nice.”

“Mmm.” Angela looked away, unable to bring herself to giving the other woman any endorsement at all.

“I’m going off the high-dive again,” Hunter announced, pulling away and scampering toward the ladder leading up to the board, the bottoms of his wet bathing trunks sagging down to his knees. “Watch me, Mom.”

“Hunter, no!”

“He’ll be fine.”

Angela glanced down. Sam was hanging on to the edge of the pool a few feet away, submerged in the water up to his neck. She hadn’t even noticed him in her panic-induced sprint down the deck. “But he’s only six years old.”

“Relax.” Sam chuckled. “He’s growing up. You’ll just have to accept that, Angie.”

The world blurred before her momentarily. Other than her father, Sam was the only one who had ever called her “Angie.” She loved the sound of it, even if it was Sam saying it. Maybe she loved it
because
it was Sam. She swallowed hard and looked away. She still wasn’t over him. Despite all the grief he had caused her, she still couldn’t shake him. Perhaps she never would.

Sam hauled himself out of the water without using the ladder, sitting on the side of the pool for a moment, then rising to his feet. “How you been, Angie?” he asked, striding confidently to a lounge chair and grabbing a towel.

“Fine,” she answered, still not looking at him.

He wanted her to look at him, she knew. Look at him in just his bathing trunks, his tanned body glistening with drops of water. She’d been attracted to Sam from the first moment she’d seen him across the Duke business school classroom. It had never been that way for her before, or since. Not with anyone else.