Celebration (43 page)

“Yes. Do you want me to do anything else while I'm here?”

“I can't think of anything. Are you sure you're doing the right thing by taking the girls out of preschool?”

“I'm sure, Mom.”

“Okay. If you have time, see if you can find the keys to the doors. I know they're somewhere in one of these drawers. Put the key under Gracie's dish on the porch if I'm not back before you leave.”

“Mom, I know something's wrong. Why won't you talk to me? I'm not a little kid anymore.”

Kristine smiled as she reached for her knapsack. “They get tired after the first thirty minutes and I have to carry them,” she said, hooking the leashes on to the dogs' collars. “Look, Cala, I just have something I need to work out. Don't fret about me. I can handle this.”

“What is
this?”
Cala screamed.

“You read the note. Don't ever, for one minute, think that what your father implied actually happened. Your father is one sick man, mentally and physically.”

Cala wrapped her arms around her mother. “I love you, Mom.”

“And I love you. If you're gone when I get back, I'll see you tomorrow.”

Kristine waved jauntily as she set out with the two yipping, yapping dogs. She walked for hours, stopping every so often to light a cigarette. Gracie and Slick snoozed inside the knapsack. She walked for another hour before she realized she was bone tired. She sat down, lifted the dogs out of the sack, and fired up a fresh cigarette. Gracie yapped, her little paws digging at the ground. Slick growled, his hair standing on end. She watched in horror as the two dogs suddenly took off at a speed that boggled her mind. She gave chase, reared up short when she plowed through a thicket to see that she was in Woodie's backyard.

From her position in the thicket she could see Woodie stretched out in a chaise lounge on his back deck. “Get over here,” she hissed to the dogs. “Gracie, get over here, or I'm going to fan your bottom.” The little dog ignored her and ran to the deck. Slick followed. There was nothing for her to do but follow the dogs.

“What have we here?” Woodie exclaimed when Gracie jumped into his lap, Slick right behind her. Woodie looked around. “How are you, Kristine?”

“I'm sorry, Woodie. We were out walking. I didn't realize we'd come so far. I'm sorry they woke you.”

“I wasn't sleeping. I was just sitting here thinking about you and here you are. Is everything okay?”

“I guess that depends on what you mean by okay. I don't think I'm in a good place right now. I've missed you.”

“I've missed you, too. All I do is think about you and our time together.”

“Me too. I packed up Logan's things. He'll be leaving in the morning. I tried to do the right thing for all the wrong reasons. Logan took advantage of the situation. We got us a brand-spanking-new state-of-the-art computer out at the house. It can do everything but make coffee. Jack's coming by in the morning and we're going to start disbursing the monies and setting up the scholarships. When we finish with that, I'm going away.”

“What about . . .”

“There is no what about.”

“Where are you going to go, Kristine?” Woodie asked gently.

“I don't know. Maybe one of those retreats somewhere where all you do is listen to flute music, think, and run under waterfalls. Maybe I'll go see Sadie. Maybe I'll hike the Appalachian Trail. It's kind of iffy in my mind at the moment. I didn't come here on purpose, Woodie, I've been walking for hours. Maybe subconsciously, I wanted to come here.” Kristine shrugged.

“Want some coffee or a soft drink?”

“Coffee would be nice.”

“Did something happen, Kristine? Do you want to talk about it? Is there anything I can do?”

“Be my friend,” Kristine said in a choked voice.

“Always and forever.”

Kristine started to cry.

“Come here.” Woodie held out his arms. Kristine buried her face against the wall of his chest and Woodie crooned to her, stroking her hair. “Tell me what's wrong.”

“I went to town and had dinner with Logan last night. It was pleasant enough but strained. I was starting to get cabin fever, that's why I agreed to go. When we got back, Logan . . . what he did was . . . I went down to the barn to check on the dogs and he ... he tried to rape me. He ripped my clothes off me. I fought him. I kicked him, I bit him, I scratched him. He was like a maniac. I got away from him and ran across the fields. I was going to come here, but I lost my way in the dark, so I went back and stayed in the garage all night. I hid behind the old John Deere mower. I was afraid to go anywhere else for fear he'd find me. When he left this morning, I went to the house and found this,” Kristine said, pulling Logan's wadded-up letter out of her pocket. “This sounds like we made love and that we're getting back together. Cala found it. I could tell by the look on her face that she believes it. He tried to kiss me in the kitchen and Pete walked in. God only knows what he thinks. Logan refuses to believe I don't love him. Cala packed his things, and that's the end of that.”

“I'm sorry, Kristine.”

“Don't be sorry. I changed the password on the computer for the bank accounts. Can you call the bank for me tomorrow and change the account numbers? I don't know why, but I think Logan is up to something. You know what else, Woodie? I don't think he's dying at all. He was too strong. He's all muscle. He smokes, he drinks, and he eats more than three people. All I did during the night was think. I thought my brain was going to explode.”

“The bastard didn't hurt you, did he?” Woodie asked, his voice full of anguish.

“A few bruises and bumps. They'll go away. I need to know the why of all this.”

“If I could
show
you the why of it all, would that make you happy?”

“I was so happy when you came back, Woodie. I thought my life was complete. Then Logan came back and ruined everything.”

“No, Kristine. You allowed Logan to ruin it.”

“You're right. I wanted to do the right thing. I thought I was doing what any woman would do. I guess I was wrong. No guessing. I was wrong. I'm sorry, Woodie.”

“I saw you and Logan in the Golden Dragon last night. I was there with my accountant. I was so jealous I thought I was going to lose it right there in the restaurant. I smelled your perfume. I looked up and there you were. We left,” Woodie said, his face miserable.

“I stopped by the bank yesterday before I met Logan. I was going to tell you what an awful mistake I made. The drive-through teller said I had just missed you. What did you mean when you said you could show me the why of it all?”

“If you want to know, if you think you can handle it, I'll take you into DC to Stephen's house. The explanations are there. Do you have to go back home tonight?”

“No. I will need to call Pete, though. What about Gracie and Slick?”

“They can stay here. We'll put some paper down by the back door. They'll be fine till we get back. You're sure you're up to this?”

“I think so. You're making it all sound so mysterious. Why can't you just tell me whatever it is?”

“This is something you need to see for yourself. I never would have told you, Kristine. Steve wanted me to, but I said no. I want to make sure you understand that.”

“Let's go then. Where does this leave us, Woodie? My God, how many times have we said that to one another?”

“You know what they say, the path to true love is rocky at best.”

“Did you make that up?”

“No. Erma Bombeck said it in one of her columns a long time ago.”

“Oh. He didn't rape me, Woodie. I'd tell you if he did.”

Woodie nodded. “I think we should be on our way, then. Call Pete, then I'll call Steve.”

It was a beautiful old house on Connecticut Avenue. Kristine knew it would be as immaculate inside as it was outside. “Does your friend live in this big house all by himself?”

“Yes, and he uses all the rooms and all the bathrooms, too. He's got stuff spread everywhere. Some of the rooms aren't even furnished. This guy will be a bachelor forever. Steve, Brian, and I hung out together all through college. We'll probably be friends all our lives. I told you about them. Don't you remember?”

“I remember you saying you were going to introduce me to them, but you never did,” Kristine teased lightly as Woodie rang the doorbell. “I'm not going to like whatever it is you plan on showing me, am I?”

“No, Kristine, you're not going to like it. You'll be able to live with it, though.”

“Woodie, Woodie, two visits in two days. My life is full and wonderful. Introduce me to this lovely lady,” Steve said happily.

“Kristine Summers, this is Stephen Douglas, the guy I speak about so lovingly. And this is Brian Lucas, the other guy I speak of so lovingly.”

“This is our friend Danela, Kristine,” Steve said, introducing a lovely redheaded woman.

Kristine smiled as she shook hands all around.

“Danela is from Africa, new to this country, although she has dual citizenship. Come in. How about some wine, beer, the hard stuff?”

“Coffee or a soft drink. I'm a recovering alcoholic,” Kristine said.

“No problem. We have both,” Stephen said.

“I'll get it,” Danela said. “Cream or sugar?”

“Black will be fine. You have a lovely house, Stephen.”

“It was my parents'. I'm afraid it looked a lot better when they lived here. I just pile stuff everywhere. Take a seat. Get comfortable. Woodie wants us to tell you something that is going to sound like it came out of a bad movie. You're going to need to be comfortable.”

Kristine felt her shoulders stiffen.

“Okay, here goes,” Stephen said as he leaned back on the chair facing the computer.

Kristine listened, her eyes going to Danela from time to time and then back to the narrator of the story. When she was finally able to speak she said, “Show me.”

“Come here, Kristine. Take this seat. Brian put it all on one disk, so it would be easier reading for you.”

Kristine dragged the mouse to the top of first one page and then the other. “This is how you found him?”

“Yes. Are you ready for the Swiss bank account?”

“Yes,” Kristine said through clenched teeth. She gasped. “Where did all this money come from? Does it belong to Logan? That's such a stupid question I can't believe I even asked it?”

“I guess he's scamming someone else these days. Colonel Kelly still doesn't know we know about this account. With Danela's help we got the password. We can whisk this money out of there in the blink of an eye. We're just waiting for the right moment. Woodie tells me your husband, excuse me, your ex-husband, gave you back your children's money.”

“Yes, he did. I think he was getting set to take it again along with some inheritance money. Are those medical records accurate?”

“Ma'am, they are on the money as of December 21,” the redhead said. “There's no mistake. In all the years I've known Logan, he was never sick a day. As a matter of fact, he was robust. He led a very good life. I'm sorry to have caused you pain, Ms. Summers. I didn't know about you in the beginning. Then Logan said you were divorced. I believed him because I was in love with him at the time. He stole my money and left me with $25,010. Stephen and the others brought me here so the authorities wouldn't come after me for the bills Logan ran up. I did my best to pay what I could with the little money he allotted me. I know this must be a terrible shock to you. I am truly sorry. If there's anything I can do, I will gladly do it.”

Kristine shook her head. “Where would Logan get two hundred million dollars?”

Woodie frowned. “I just heard that number mentioned recently. I can't think where, though. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Logan. Is there anything you want to ask, Kristine?”

“If there's more, I don't think I want to hear it. Wait, there is one thing. The medication Logan has taken all these years, would it make him do ... bizarre things like... beat his children for no reason?”

Stephen cleared his throat. “No.”

“The only thing Logan ever took while we were in Africa was aspirin. In the beginning we had to take malaria pills, but that was it. Logan had an aversion to any kind of drugs,” Danela said quietly.

“My God, he even lied about that,” Kristine said. “If I were you, Danela, I would take your money now before he skips out again. My daughter packed up his things this afternoon. I don't know where he'll go or what he'll do. Just out of curiosity, what was his password?” Kristine wondered if she looked as ill as she felt.