Always and Forever (42 page)

“I can’t believe it,” Marge said in stricken tones while they talked about Chris’s fatal accident—he had been killed by a falling chunk of granite from a downtown building. “We were already planning a big bash for his gallery opening next month.”

It was decided that Kathy would fly out immediately, see Noel through the agony of Chris’s funeral, and bring him back with her to New York. Marge would cut short her Atlanta trip and return to cover for Kathy.

Within hours Kathy was on a westbound flight. Distraught and haggard, Noel met her at the airport and took her home with him. She was grateful that Chris’s parents were not barring Noel from sharing in the plans for the funeral. Unlike Noel’s own family, Chris’s family was understanding and compassionate about the relationship between the two men. Chris had loved Noel, and that made him special to them.

Kathy decided that the day after Chris’s funeral she and Noel would fly to New York. She’d arrange for indefinite coverage at the West Coast offices. Noel would stay at the Croton house until he felt himself able to cope again.

From habit—even though his father was in Toronto on business—Phil stopped in for breakfast at their restaurant. He was restless, frustrated because Andrews—his father’s fancy P.I.—was coming up with nothing on Kathy. And until the divorce went through, the old man was not going to put the stock in his name, he reminded himself. Suppose Andrews never came up with dirt on Kathy?

Maybe it was time to make a move on his own. There was one quick way to make sure Kathy agreed to a divorce with no alimony, no up-front settlement. All at once he felt a surge of excitement, of towering optimism. To hell with what the old man said—this situation called for a bold move.

If he grabbed Jesse, Kathy would sign anything, as long as he agreed to visitation rights instead of full custody. Hell, he had no time to raise a kid. His father was off-track on that point. He could handle this. Get hold of that old P.I. they had in the beginning. That one was always hungry. He’d check him out as soon as he got to the office.

When he located the old P.I.’s number, Phil dialed it. He reached the answering service.

“Tell him to call me as soon as possible,” Phil instructed and gave his name and number. “Tell him it’s important.”

Forty minutes later the P.I. called him.

“I’ve got a job for you,” he began.

“Your father told me to get lost,” the man reminded, bristling.

“My father isn’t in on this,” Phil said tersely. “You want the job or not?”

“We can talk about it.”

“Meet me in ten minutes at the coffee shop across from the office,” Phil ordered. Not their regular place. He didn’t want to be seen there with the creep.

Phil headed for the coffee shop, found a rear booth that was unoccupied. Why the hell wasn’t the bastard here? His office—a hole-in-the-wall—was two blocks away. A few minutes later the P.I. arrived, looked around until he spied Phil. Somewhat belligerently he sauntered toward the booth.

“Sit down,” Phil told him, and launched into his proposition.

“Let me get this straight.” The P.I. was wary. “You’re asking me to kidnap the kid?”

“I’m asking you to bring the kid to his father. I’ll take it from there. Don’t you think my son wants to see me? Look, they can’t charge us with kidnapping when my wife ran off with him that way. A father has rights.”

“You say that. What’s a judge going to say if we get caught?” the P.I. shot back, but he was contemplative. “I could lose my license. But I know a guy who might be willing to pull it off for you.”

For a few minutes they quibbled over money. A fee for his bringing in the man, a fee for the man himself.

“Okay, it’s a deal,” Phil finally agreed. “Set it up for tomorrow afternoon when the kid gets home from school. I’ll fill in all the details.”

Phil met the hired kidnapper at the southwest corner of Broadway and 40th at 2
P.M.
sharp. They’d drive up together to Croton and wait for Jesse to arrive on the school bus. The guy was nervous, Phil judged, but hungry for the thousand-dollar payoff.

They picked up Phil’s car, headed up toward the ramp and onto the highway. Traffic was light this time of day. The man was plying him with questions about the car. Probably the first time in his crummy life he’d been in a car that cost this kind of money.

“Look, suppose the kid don’t wanna come with me?” he asked Phil forty-five minutes later, when they were minutes from their destination.

“You put a hand over his mouth so he can’t yell, and you pick him up and carry him to the car,” Phil said bluntly. “I’ll be waiting there at the foot of the road. We won’t run into many cars along East Mount Airy,” he said with confidence. “Just get him into the car. Don’t rough him up,” he cautioned. “Tell him his father’s waiting to give him a fancy present.”

Phil consulted his watch. Timing was important here. Let them spot the school bus, follow it up that steep, winding hill. The school bus would stop to drop off Jesse. There was a four-hundred foot road up to the house. They’d catch him before he got there. Whoever was waiting inside for him couldn’t hear the school bus arrive. The woman—probably the housekeeper—would think the bus was late today when Jesse didn’t show up on schedule.

Phil drove slowly, watching for the bus.
There it was.
He felt a rush of anticipation as he followed it along East Mount Airy. He dropped to a crawl when the bus stopped at a rural mailbox marked “Moses.” A boy stepped down. Phil stared in disbelief. That was Jesse? God, he was as tall as Kathy!

“Get going,” Phil ordered the man, trying to brush aside unexpected apprehension. “Play it cool. ‘Your father is waiting down the road. He’s brought you a terrific present.’”

“Yeah—”

Phil watched the tall, wiry figure push through the winter-bare bushes and onto the property. He could handle Jesse even if the kid put up a fight. Battling anxiety, Phil thrust open the car door and stepped out for a clearer view.

He frowned, swore under his breath. The creep was scared shitless. Why didn’t he move?
Don’t let Jesse get too close to the house.
Talk him into coming down to the car. Grab him if he balks.

He was moving in on Jesse now. Jesse saw him. They were talking. They were too far away for him to hear what was being said. Speed it up, jerk!

All at once a woman appeared on the deck. A rifle in one hand.

“Get away from him!” the woman yelled. “Get away before I fill you full of lead!”

Damn, the jackass had botched it! Phil slid behind the wheel of the car and started up the motor. Moments later the would-be kidnapper stumbled into the car. Gray with terror.

“You fucking idiot!” Phil snarled and stepped hard on the gas pedal. “You screwed up the whole deal!”

“You didn’t tell me I might get shot,” the man whined. “You said it’d be a snap.”

“I’ll drive you back to town,” Phil told him. “Forget today ever happened.” If the old man found out about this, he’d be pissed. They’d tipped their hand. Kathy would guess they were on her trail. Hell!

“What about my money?” the man asked defiantly.

“I’ll give you fifty bucks for your trouble. And keep your mouth shut,” Phil repeated. “You don’t want to go up for attempted kidnapping.” That bitch at the house hadn’t seen
him,
Phil thought with shaky confidence. Nobody could prove anything.

Cold with shock, Kathy listened to Lee’s report of the incident with the intruder while Noel and Jesse went out for Harry’s last walk of the night.

“Harry didn’t hear a thing,” Lee told her. “He was fast asleep before the fireplace. But you would have died laughing if you saw me—” Lee was striving for a lighter note now. “There I was with that toy rifle Jesse’s friend left here last night. I’m pointing it at him and yelling, ‘Get away before I fill you full of lead!’ That’s what comes from watching those detective shows on TV.”

Now Jesse and Noel came into the house with Harry, who insisted on greeting Kathy all over again, as though he had not provided a joyous welcome on their arrival half an hour ago.

“Jesse—” Kathy strived not to show her anxiety. “Tell me again what that man said to you.”

“He said my father was in a car below, and he’d brought me a terrific present,” Jesse said somberly. He had only vague recall of Phil, Kathy reminded herself. He’d accepted the fact that—like some of his friends’ parents—she and Phil were divorced.
“Was
he there?” Curiosity stirring in him now, she thought with frustration.

“No, darling. It was just some bad person who knew I’d give him a lot of money to get you back.”

“You mean like ransom?” Jesse was awed that he had been the subject of such an effort. “Wow!”

“Jesse, tomorrow’s a school day. You take yourself off to bed,” Lee ordered.

“But Mom just came home,” he complained.

“And I’m here to stay,” Kathy reminded. “Off to bed. We’ll have breakfast together in the morning.”

She waited until she heard Jesse close his bedroom door.

“That had to be Phil,” she said tautly. “Oh Lee, if you hadn’t been looking through the window!”

“I always watch for Jesse when the bus is due,” Lee said.

“We have to move. I have to get Jesse away from this house—” He’d be upset at changing schools again, Kathy thought with anguish.

“Kathy, he won’t try that again,” Noel said gently. “He’ll look for another angle.”

“What?” she challenged. She felt sick at the thought of Jesse’s being kidnapped by Phil. “This is what I’ve been afraid of since the day I left him.”

“I don’t know,” Noel conceded. “But before he tries anything else, he’ll pull back and reevaluate the situation. Don’t let Jesse take the school bus anymore. Have him driven to school and picked up.”

“Suppose he gets a court order!” Panic began to close in on her.

“For what?” Lee questioned. “He’ll have to go into court if he’s after custody. And if it comes to a court scene, you can fight him. Locate that woman you told me about. Jesse’s nursemaid who saw Phil strike you.
You can fight this, Kathy.
”

“I’m scared,” Kathy whispered. “And so tired of running.”

“Sit back and let him make the next move,” Noel said.

“He’s not taking Jesse from you. You’ll fight, and you’ll win in court.”

“And Jesse will be put through such ugliness.” Kathy closed her eyes in anguish.

“Jesse can handle this,” Lee said firmly. “If it comes to court.”

“Meanwhile, the three of us will watch over Jesse,” Noel said. “There’ll be no violent moves to take him away.” His own grief had receded in his anxiety to comfort her. “And if you get served with divorce papers, we’ll help you fight Phil.
He won’t get custody of Jesse.
”

But how could she know what a judge would decide?

Phil was nervous about his initial meeting with his father, back from the Toronto business trip. Two days later he felt a new confidence. Earlier this morning he’d received a phone call from Andrews.

He left the Peugeot in the garage near the office and strode purposefully toward his regular morning rendezvous with his father. The plate-glass window of the restaurant steamed over from the sudden cold spell.

Normally he would have been pissed at Andrews calling so early in the morning, he thought as he walked inside. The aromas of bacon sizzling on the grill, coffee perking, bread browning in a toaster clothed him in an aura of well-being.

“Andrews will be here any minute,” he told his father, and grinned as Julius’s eyebrows shot upward. “He’s got something hot to report.”

“Like what?” Julius demanded.

“He didn’t want to discuss it over the phone.”

For a few moments they kibitzed with the waitress, then focused on their first coffee of the morning.

“Here’s Andrews,” Phil said, gazing at the entrance.

“Look, we don’t let him drag this out into a big deal,” Julius warned. “If it’s hot, we go with it. We don’t need him anymore.”

“Dad, don’t jump.” Phil was testy. “Let’s keep him until we have all we need.”

“She’s shacked up with some guy,” Andrews reported when he was settled in the booth. “He’s been there three days now—she leaves for work in the morning, but he stays at the house.”

“Who is he?” Phil bristled.

“I haven’t latched on to a name yet. That comes next.” He reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a collection of snapshots. “Do you recognize him?” He handed some of the snapshots to Phil, others to Julius.

“Never saw him before,” Phil said after a moment.
The little slut. Screwing around
—
with Jesse right there in the house.

“What good do these do?” Julius challenged. “We need a picture of them in bed.”

“I’m working on it,” Andrews said, faintly hostile. “I can’t bring them in for a photo session.”

“We want incriminating shots of them,” Julius emphasized, his voice telling Andrews that he was contemptuous of what the P.I. had brought them. “These will mean shit in court.”

“I’m on it.” Andrews was defensive now. “One thing at a time.”

Kathy glanced up from her desk as Marge walked into her office and closed the door behind her.

“I just heard something I don’t like,” Marge said, dropping into a chair across from Kathy. “Some man has been floating about the office and asking questions of employees—”

“What kind of questions?” Kathy leaned forward in instant alarm. “About me?”

“That’s the odd part. He’s not asking about you. He’s showing a photograph of Noel. He wants to know who Noel is.” Marge paused. “He can’t be somebody in our field. Noel’s well-known.”

“But he connected Noel with the business,” Kathy said warily. Pieces hurtled together in her mind; her throat tightened as she considered the implications. “Marge, Phil knows about the business—that I’m Kathy Altman. And he knows Noel is living at the Croton house. Don’t you understand?” Her face was drained of color. “Phil discovered Noel was at the house, but he doesn’t know who Noel is. It’s clear now. Phil has somebody trailing me to come up with something to take into court.
Phil thinks I’m having an affair with Noel.
”

“Honey, that’s a bad joke.” But Marge appeared upset.