A Life Unplanned (19 page)

Chapter 23 – Some Answers             

Once I got the kids down to sleep, I found Trent. I was determined to get some real answers from him. He had said he didn't watch those videos, but I knew for a fact that we had watched past that point in the video, so he had to have restarted it. I didn't think I could handle it if he really did watch his video collection on a regular basis. It would explain how he could handle living like a monk after having such an active sex life.

He gave me a big smile, when I walked into the room baby-free. "Hey, I talked with Brian and Kelly. We plan to meet tomorrow to go over the case. I was wondering if you'd like to sit in with me."

"Yeah, I'd like that," I said undressing and searching for my PJ's. I felt him come up behind me. I usually melted when I felt his hands on me, but all I could think of was him watching other women on his videos. "Why was that video out?" I asked pulling away.

"What video?"

"Don't play stupid with me. You know what video, Trent. Why were you watching that video?"

He took a deep breath and stepped back. "Does it really bother you that much that I was watching us?"

"Was it just us?"

His expression softened. "Yes, I missed you. We had to wait until your six weeks was up, and I wasn't going to do anything that would make you question waiting the allotted time, but that doesn't mean that I didn't want you. I did, Clara, and when I got home and saw it was still out, I couldn't help myself."

"When you got home? I know you had watched something else between you first getting home and my finding it in the player!" I growled not wanting to fall for his lies.

His cheeks pinked bashfully.

"Trent?"

"Okay, I may have watched us a few times…"

"A few times? How many?" He was quiet, but I wasn't dropping it. "Trent, how many?"

"I only ever watched you, baby, I swear. I was just missing you so much and-"

"How many?"

He shrugged and stepped away from me. "I'd watch it after you'd call me at bedtime."

"Every night?" I asked shocked.

He shrugged again. "I missed you."

I chuckled, not sure how to take the information. Then something dawned on me. "Did you touch yourself while you watched it?"

His cheeks reddened more, giving me my answer. I giggled. "You swear you never watched the other ones?"

He crossed his heart. "I forgot I even had them until you found them. I don't mess with them, but then you had us watch ours and…Damn, Clara, I wanted you so much." His eyes darkened, and he stepped closer to me. I was satisfied with his answer. It was just me he had watched, because he had missed me. He pulled me forward with his good arm and started kissing me. I was ready to give in to his mind-erasing kisses, until my hand brushed one of his bandages.

"You're the one out of commission now. You need to take it easy. Let me get dressed, so we can go to bed."

"How about we compromise and you not get dressed, but I'll go to bed," he bargained.

"You're not the only one who misses our intimate time together," I said eyeing my way-too-hot-for-his-own-good boyfriend. He was only wearing his boxers, and his want for me was very evident in them.

"Then come to bed. I can take care of that for you."

"Trent," I whined. I hated that he was teasing me.

"I've got one good arm with a hand that'd really like to touch you. At least give me that."

I nearly jumped him. Instead, I jumped on the bed. He smiled and made his way into the bed. His grimace reminded me to be careful with him. Even one-handed he was good, or maybe I was just a bit deprived.

Once he was finished with me, I was surprised when his hand went to himself.

"Should you be doing that? Won't that tear your stiches or something?"

"My lower abdominal muscles are fine. It's my upper that are out of commission. I still have to be careful, but I've been able-"

"You've been getting off without me?"

He chuckled. "I didn't think you were interested."

"What would make you think I wasn't interested?"

"Clara, I've caused so much trouble. Tyler is still having nightmares, and it's all my fault. I don't know how you could want to do anything like that for me."

I leaned up and kissed his lips. "I want you, and it's not your fault," I said, as I slid my hand down his stomach. "Let me know if it's too much or starts to hurt."

He nodded yes eagerly and pulled my lips to his again. It didn't take much for him to get his. I did have to change his bandage, because he made a mess on it. He pulled me back into his side and kissed my lips softly, thanking me. "You're not allowed to watch that movie without me."

"Yeah?" he sounded eager to watch it with me again.

"We're not watching it while we're staying here. There's no way I'd risk your mother coming in while that was on."

He chuckled, kissing my neck. "Fair enough."

The next day, we met with Brian and Kelly at Trent's house. I was surprised we weren't meeting at their office, but it turned out their office was in Waco.

"I'll let my wife talk first. She found some interesting stuff," Brian said starting the meeting.

Kelly handed Trent a folder that said Intuitive Investigations. "First off, this is your transcription of the events of the nights in question. Memorize it, especially the descriptions of the girls. You don't want to get them mixed up and look like even more of an ass. When you testify, pause like you're trying to recall the events. We don't want to clue them in that your perfect memory is because of a video. Also, you being able to recall the evening so well will make you look like less of an ass."

"Okay, I can do that," Trent nodded.

"I included shots of both girls, clothes on, of course, so if you have to address them, you'll know who you're talking to," Kelly continued.

"Thank you for doing this, Kelly."

"No need to thank me. You pay me, and that's all the thanks I need. I did, however, find the Brittney/Tiffany switch way too tempting to leave alone, since Brittney's ex-boyfriend had so much to say. Would you like to know what was really going on?"

Trent went to answer, but was cut off.

"Of course you do," Kelly said waving him off. "Okay, when Tiffany became pregnant, you were an ass and told her to get an abortion. We know that didn't happen. She asked Brittney to help her out. She was upset and didn't want to see you, and she didn't want you to know that she was keeping the baby. She convinced Brittney to go to her classes and record the lectures. Tiffany was doing the work and would have Brittney turn it in. For Brittney to be free for Tiffany's classes, though, she had to have Tiffany cover for her at work.

"What Tiffany and Brittney didn't know was Brittney's then-boyfriend, Calvin Marks, thought Brittney was cheating on him. He started showing up at Brittney's job, checking to see if she was there. Apparently, she'd always answered her phone when she worked, but suddenly, she wasn't taking her calls. There was no way she could answer her phone during a lecture. He ended up coming by daily to take 'Brittney,' who was actually Tiffany, to lunch. It turned out that Tiffany was a lot nicer than Brittney. After a few lunches together, Calvin figured out that Tiffany was pregnant. He'd thought she was Brittney and assumed it was his. That was when Tiffany set him straight and told him the truth about what was going on.

"Calvin was mad, not at Tiffany, but at Brittney for keeping him in the dark. He also felt bad, because he would kiss and occasionally make out with Tiffany on her lunch break, thinking she was Brittney, and he worried that he'd forced himself on Tiffany. He was furious that Brittney had put Tiffany in that position, which ended his relationship with Brittney. Here's the kicker, he kept seeing Tiffany. They'd become close, and he didn't care that she was pregnant.

"There was one little snag, though. Everyone at Brittney's work thought 
Brittney
 was pregnant. In fact, Tiffany had to use Brittney's health insurance, because Tiffany was questioned about her doctor. Brittney worked for a family doctor, and he was very insistent that his colleague was a much better fit for her. Hence, the baby being born to 'Brittney,' not Tiffany.

"In the end, to keep things from coming out that they'd committed fraud, Tiffany stopped the switch back to their true identities. Legally, if you went by what was on the birth certificate, Michael was Brittney's baby, even if she hadn't given birth to him. Brittney had no way to prove that she was Brittney and not Tiffany. They were identical twins who truly looked alike. Their only difference was one had given birth. Since Tiffany had had the baby under the name Brittney, it would be simple for Tiffany to prove she was Brittney. That made the real Brittney look crazy, when she tried to contend that she was herself.

"A few months before the baby was born, Calvin had proposed to Tiffany, and she'd said yes. That was when Brittney lost it and tried to commit suicide. She'd truly been in love with him, and between that and then them refusing to give her back her identity, she just couldn't handle it.

"I can only guess she went after Trent, because he was the one who'd started the whole mess by getting Tiffany pregnant and not taking responsibility for the baby in the first place. By the way, I was able to locate the graves like you asked. They're just outside of Waco. I have the plot numbers for you, as well as some pictures."

"Thank you, Kelly," he said solemnly and side-eyed me. Was he worried that I'd be upset if he went to his son's grave? "Would you be alright if I went to see Michael?"

"It's more than alright. Do you want us to come with?" I asked.

"Maybe not the first time…but after that?"

"Sounds good, you just let me know when you want to go. You're still not allowed to drive on those painkillers."

He leaned over and thanked me with a kiss.

"Okay, kiddies, now that the latest soap opera is over, how about we get down to work," Brian cut in. "They processed your resignation immediately, before they knew it was under duress. What it really comes down to is them rehiring you. A couple of the board members are hesitant, because of the trouble you've had in the past. We know it's not your fault, and it's not something they can legally hold against you, but at this point, you're just another job applicant.

"From what I gather, there's one woman who's really against rehiring you and is pressuring the others to not give in. Did you do something to offend Dr. Samantha Dooley? Because she seems to have it out for you. If you decide to apply to work at another hospital, do not ask her for a recommendation or give her as a reference."

"So, this Dr. Dooley is keeping them from rehiring Trent?" I asked.

"I can't say for sure, but it looks that way. I've asked Kelly to look into her to see if she's blackmailing the others to keep Trent out of the hospital. He was really well-liked, until this mess with Brittney happened," Brian frowned.

"Check to see if they have the security tapes from about two years ago September-ish," Trent said pulling up his calendar on his phone.

"I'll see if I can get them back that far, sometimes they just dump the recorded data, if there are no incidents reported. What am I looking for?" Kelly asked.

"Dr. Dooley made it very clear she was interested in me on several occasions. I let her know I wasn't interested consistently. She became short and rude with me after my last rebuffing."

"There's no sound on the clinic video," Brian said.

"I doubt you'll need the audio. If you can get the video, you'll see what I mean when you watch it."

"Dr. Dooley sexually harassed you?" Brian asked.

"Yes, but I was still used to the large amounts of female attention. I didn't think much of it at first, but she persisted. I made it very clear I wanted nothing to do with her and that she wasn't my type, then I made a point of keeping Amy with me at all times. We did have a mild confrontation with Amy present that may help."

"What kind of confrontation?" Brian asked eagerly, as he pulled out a notepad.

"I'd been keeping Amy with me non-stop, she was my shadow. If I wasn't with her, I was with someone else, but it was usually Amy. She thought it odd that I insisted she do her paperwork in my office, but she didn't mind. I think she put two and two together, when Dr. Dooley came into my office one day. She wanted me to 'examine' her, because she claimed to have some sort of 'health issue.'

"I suggested she see McKenna, but she insisted on seeing me and wanted Amy to leave. I told her it was against policy. She then insisted it would be violating her privacy to have Amy present, and I again told her that Amy was just as legally bound as I, and her privacy wasn't at risk. Dr. Dooley stormed out upset, and I hadn't really heard from her personally since. I always knew when she was in the office, because Amy was kind enough to find me and play my shadow.

"I didn't tell anyone what was going on, but I know Amy knew something was amiss. I don't know if that would help. I don't want to get Amy in trouble with the board. She needs her job. You can maybe collaborate with her, but try and keep her out of it," Trent, begged.