The Price of Candy (33 page)

“Be certain your attorney brings that up in
court. You may have saved Jamie. But you need to face it, what you
did was aid and abet a kidnapper.”

“Abet, to support or encourage. But it’s
worse than that, Sweetie. It was me all the way. You think Toby
could put this scheme together? He came home that night all excited
about what he had witnessed on the beach. I told him how to
blackmail that congressman and told him to go kidnap Jamie.”

Triney heard. “We’re adding blackmail to the
kidnapping and murder charges against you. You still have the right
to remain silent.”

“I want to tell her,” Ruth snapped. “Can we
sit down on the step over there?”

He nodded. They sat side by side and he stood
behind them with his notebook open. “Make it quick. I need to take
you over to the sheriff’s office and get a formal statement.”

“No, I want to tell her. Here’s how it went.
Toby told me he was driving back from hog hunting when he first saw
Kidde and that woman at a truck stop up near Jacksonville. Said
some truckers up there were falling all over each other to get
close to her cause she was hot, or maybe he said wicked hot. Also
called her Miss Universe. Oh please. So he followed them. Why’d he
follow them? Because he’s a man. Just looking for a new way to make
an ass out of himself over some woman. Too bad she wasn’t headed
north then they’d all be in Canada by now and everyone’s problem
would be solved.

“Anyway, he followed them down to that
Florida beach. He saw the woman choke. He talked with the man and
then the man left. Toby said he ‘checked out’ the body for a few
minutes and then he left. Said he never touched her. Can’t you just
picture him not touching a defenseless Miss Universe?

“The man had U.S. Congress plates on his car
and Toby recognized him from TV. I told him how to find the man and
told him what to say. Toby meets him and comes back smiling. The
man gives him twenty grand cash. We sat on the floor counting it
and laughing our fool heads off.”

“So Kidde comes up with twenty thousand,”
Sandy said. “The man has millions. Why settle for a mere twenty
thousand? That’s pocket change for him.”

“Twenty a month, sweetie! Twenty a month. I
figured it could go on for years. My ship had come in. Toby’s also
thinking the money is infinite, meaning endless or unlimited. So
brainchild not only gives Abby ten, he blabs out the whole story.
How many times have I told him not to lose his head over a little
piece of tail? I told the moron to go beat her up, or whatever, and
get the money back. Abby tried to shoot him, but ended up shooting
some other horny nut. You know about that.”

“So you were behind the kidnapping.”

“Yeah, I told him to grab Jamie to get the
ten grand back from Abby. Abby told Toby she wasn’t about to give
back the money. Said she had another plan. Said she’d worry about
Jamie later. Can you beat that?”

“Abby didn’t report the kidnapping because
she knew you had Jamie.”

“I misjudged her. I assumed she would bargain
immediately to get her daughter back. But instead, I was left
holding the kid. She couldn’t have cared less. Didn’t know me from
Adam. I could have been some neurotic weirdo instead of the normal
well-adjusted homemaker you see before you. She didn’t even know if
I was keeping Toby away from her little daughter. Didn’t even care.
Scratch her for mother of the year.”

“I’m glad Jamie was with you under the
circumstances. He mentioned to me a girlfriend named Crystal. Who’s
she?”

“Hey, many children have imaginary playmates.
Toby made his a nympho. Then amazingly, he’s got flesh and blood
women in his life, Abby, the beach babe, and then you. He couldn’t
handle it.”

“Please don’t refer to that unfortunate woman
as the beach babe.”

“Sorry. Of the three, the only woman he could
relate to was the dead one. Toby wouldn’t stop talking about the
body on the beach, how great she was. I didn’t get it right away.
Then he started talking about you, said he’d like to see you when
you were nice and quiet. Said you’d make a good Miss Universe. I
found out he was stalking you. Then I got it. I realized what he
had done to that body on the beach. It still gives me the
shivers.”

“Did he admit he actually raped the
body?”

“Not at first. He insisted he hadn’t done
anything and didn’t know what I was getting all upset about. I had
to get out that broken golf club to make him confess. I gave him a
whack with that club and he still said I had it wrong, he hadn’t
touched her. Then I gave him four really good ones and he started
talking. He admitted he did it. He said he was sorry. He was crying
when he told me. The little freak. He disgraced the family and me.
We don’t have much, but we’re not ghouls. He had to be punished and
who else was going to do it? You told me to change what I could in
my life, well I did, I shot him.”

“Ruth, I’m not convinced Toby did anything to
that body accept in his mind. He has a dangerous edge to him, but
he might not have harmed me either when it got right down to
it.”

“Don’t you get what I’m saying? That boy has
always lived in his own confused and unstable world. You were
already in his fantasy. It would have been a small step for him to
cross from a dream into reality. You would have been in for the
entire terrible ordeal. He was looking for you and I knew why. He’d
done it once and the second time would be easier. I had to do
something. I followed him. I saw you guys in that house through the
window. Couldn’t hear what you were saying. I had to save you. I
had to punish him. I had to shoot the little moron.”

“It’s a weird situation, but I guess I should
thank you for that.” Sandy didn’t want to leave it that way. She
wanted the episode to be resolved with certainty and closure. She
thought Ruth had it wrong, but it wasn’t the proper time to discuss
it.

“Ruth, look at me, this is important. Ask the
police for a free attorney. They must provide you with one. Don’t
say anything more unless your attorney is with you.”

Ruth looked over at Triney who was putting
his notebook away. “Is the government gonna take care of me? You
have TV, crosswords, and intelligent women to talk to over there at
that prison of yours?”

“You’ll have everything you need, Ma’am,
except freedom.”

“Yeah, like I’m free now? Not all prisons
have bars, buddy.” Then to Sandy, “Isn’t he nice? He’s looking out
for me. He’s afraid I’ll lose my shape and turn ugly in prison.
Hey, I get my wish, Sandy. Tomorrow I’m having lunch with the
girls. I wonder if they use teacups over there.”

The detective helped her into the back of his
vehicle and then came back to Sandy. “By the way, Hotshot, the
antique revolver wasn’t in the garage like you told me, we found it
in a drawer in her bedroom. But thanks for the tip. I got a nice
arrest out of this.”

It was mid-February—six weeks after that
first phone call from Abby had entangled Sandy. At last, the
turmoil had quieted. The remaining pieces of the drama that had
once endangered her were now in place. Jamie was safely in Georgia
with her father. Moran held nothing over her and was off her mind.
The legal system would slowly take care of the rest.

They were in Chip’s house and had slept late
on a Saturday morning. They had the entire weekend to waste. Their
morning began lying closely and still enjoying the afterglow of the
night before. Now they leaned back on the living room futon with
their bare feet on the coffee table. He had a short knit robe over
his boxers; she wore pale-green cotton pajamas. He had just gotten
his second coffee and she had switched to a Bloody Mary.

“Freddy Kidde got me started drinking these.
My favorite now.”

“A strange sort of man and a strange sort of
drink.” He screwed up his face. “Vegetables soaked in vodka. Why
don’t you toss in a pork chop and some gravy? The last thing I want
is hot sauce and celery stuck in my drink.”

“Hot sauce suits my personality.”

“Now back to the law books for you.”

“Moran had no choice but to drop the charges
against me. He couldn’t risk my going public and jeopardizing a
conviction against Abby for felony murder.”

“He has a good case of blackmail against her
as well.”

“Her trial isn’t for a few months. Moran is
going to use the testimony of Freddy Kidde to establish that Abby
and Toby were together in the blackmail. Once blackmail is
established then Abby’s motivation for the attempted murder of Toby
is obvious. That’s all Moran needs to convict her of the felony
murder of Bruce Banks. Once they find her guilty of murdering Bruce
Banks, Nita Banks can proceed with her wrongful death civil case
against Abby and get a judgment against her assets.”

“Aiming for her fancy condo in West Palm,
huh. So if Nita can hold on, she’ll come away with a couple million
dollars, mas o menos.”

“Thanks to the cooperation of Freddy Kidde,”
she said. “The suspicion of abusing Betty Jo’s body ruined him, so
he has nothing to lose by testifying against Abby. In fact, he’s
eager to do it given that the blackmail scheme led to his downfall.
You know he’s fighting to keep his seat in Congress.”

“Not unusual for politicians to get caught
with their strippers, mistresses, and hookers,” he said. “They pay
a heavy price for a roll in the hay. They’re better at screwing the
taxpayers.”

“One more sacrifice on the altar of sexual
obsession. Passion rules us all and we obey.”

“He was a fool. How’d you make out in Fort
Lauderdale with Betty Jo’s mother?”

“Nice lady. Seems they kept somewhat in
touch, although she didn’t know her daughter was missing. I told
her Betty Jo had died a natural death—from accidental choking.
Doesn’t that sound innocent? At least that much was the truth. I
said there was some talk of her body being mishandled before the
doctor got there. Fortunately, she didn’t question me further about
the nature of the mishandling. She asked about the burial and I
told her it was dignified. I told her the authorities wanted to
reach her, but didn’t know her address.”

“Did she know her daughter was a
stripper?”

“Didn’t seem to mind. Said she was pleased
her daughter was successful and happy even though she had yet to
marry. When they last spoke, she told Betty Jo the bank was
foreclosing on her house. She needed eight thousand. Betty Jo told
her not to worry, she’d get the money to her. According to the
mother, last month some man in a suit and big car showed up with
money in a bank bag. He was very polite and said he was a friend of
Betty Jo’s. Fifty thousand dollars in cash. Told her not to worry,
all perfectly legal. The taxes had been paid. He said Betty Jo
saved her money and was a smart investor. That she was sorry she
couldn’t make it down, but to tell her mother she loves her. Far
more than the mother needed to save the house and enough to make a
big difference in her life from then on.”

“I don’t get it. Fifty thousand from
where?”

“Freddy told me Betty Jo was carrying eight
thousand in her shoulder bag. He must have kicked in with the other
forty-two. Her mother seemed okay, but I think she broke down after
I left. The entire visit was so sad. I hope I did the right
thing.”

“You did fine,” Chip said. “And what about
the crazy lady?”

“Ruth Towalski? Not crazy but needs
psychiatric help. You think she’ll spend the rest of her life in
prison?”

“I think she wants to,” he suggested. “If her
life had gone in a different direction, she could have been a
constructive citizen and a positive help to someone somewhere. She
was no help to Toby, however. A different sort of mother might have
made a big difference in his life.”

“The DNA paternity test came back positive
for Kevin,” Sandy said. “He’s definitely Jamie’s father. He’s a
much more cheerful man now. He gets full custody of her, which is
what they both wanted all along. That smart kid will knock ‘em dead
in Georgia. Jamie will be in every front row for the rest of her
life.”

“For a while, she must have hoped you’d be
her new stepmother. Did he make a play for you?”

“Make a play. Is that guy talk?” She knew
what he meant and where this was going. She had expected the
question eventually.

“Guy talk would be, did he try to nail
you?”

She hesitated and then nodded her head. “Yes,
he tried to nail me.” That was misleading. She should get it all
out and done with.

“Did he succeed? I’ve no right to ask.”

“Would it make a difference?”

“Of course it would make a difference. You
think I’m made of stone?”

“I mean a serious difference. Like a turning
point difference?”

He thought a minute. “No turning point...I
guess. Serious, but not like turning-point serious.”

“I think this is a good time for me to have
another Bloody Mary.” She could scarcely breathe. She had to get
out of the room.

He frowned and stared straight ahead. “Make
that two.”

She left the room without saying anything
further. She noticed her hand quivering slightly as she made the
drinks. She sat down to let her nerves quiet. Why had she risked
it? She felt perfectly satisfied with Chip. Was it an experiment
with Kevin? Was she feeling so serious about Chip that she wanted
to test him against Kevin, put them up against each other for a
comparison? Kevin was definitely more unrestrained, more
passionate. He had let himself go completely in bed. Like a
teenager, only with one big difference—he knew what he was doing.
She had surprised herself how she had responded, attempting to
equal his passion. Where did all that come from? It must have been
in her, waiting. However, one sweaty night does not a romance
make.