Payback (7 page)

Jack picked up on the first ring. Nikki figured it was lonely in the woods. “So how’s it going out there in the piney forest, Jack?”

“I’m not in the piney forest,” Jack said.

“Liar! You’re up in a tree spying on us. You aren’t the only one with high-powered binoculars. We’ve got the night vision ones. You know the kind where everything looks green. You get yours at Radio Shack?”

“Smart ass! I’m home in my living room.”

“Liar! I’m calling to invite you to tea tomorrow.” When there was no response, Nikki said, “Well?”

“You must have me mixed up with someone who would be impressed with an invitation to Pinewood for tea. You know I hate tea.”

“OK, coffee. What? You’re afraid of me all of a sudden?”

“Hell, no, I’m not afraid of you. The woman hasn’t been born who can scare me. I don’t trust you or Myra. By the way, I’ve got a dossier on all those fine women visiting out there all the time. A real mixed bag, Nik. The bunch of you are up to something. I can smell it, and you know damn well I have excellent instincts.”

Nikki sucked in her breath. Her hand holding the phone to her ear was shaking. “So, is that a no or a yes?”

“Like I’d allow myself to get within ten feet of you, counselor? Did I say I don’t trust you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you did say that. Ten feet, huh? I remember when we were molded to each other. You were my second skin if I remember correctly, but that was when you loved me, right?”

“Get off it, Nik. I’m not going down that road. Don’t think you can sucker me in with an invitation to a tea party. I gotta go, time for bed.”

Nikki snorted. “Be careful you don’t fall out of your tree, there, Mr. ADA.”

“You’re a hateful woman, Nicole Quinn, and yet I still love you.”

Nikki looked at the dead phone in her hand and started to cry. “And I still love you, too, Jack.”

Charles served breakfast on the patio to a group of somber, sleepy-eyed women who also looked angry.

“Ladies, ladies, how can you look so glum on such a beautiful spring morning?” Charles asked as he held the wrought-iron chair for Myra who was all smiles this morning. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Voices carry,” he said, waving his arms to the thick forest that surrounded Myra’s estate. “Generalities, ladies.”

Nikki looked toward the piney forest wondering if Jack was still out there. She couldn’t help but wonder if Jack really did have some hightech equipment that would allow him to overhear their conversation. She struggled for something to say. “The patio flowers are so pretty this year, Myra.” The others, taking their cue from her, concurred.

Myra was still smiling. “Lu Chow, the gardener, brought them over yesterday. They look like a veritable rainbow, don’t you think? I’m thinking I should dispose of this overhead sun umbrella and get one of those retractable awnings. Yes, I’ve made up my mind. Isabelle, dear, can you design something so that it doesn’t look new? You know, have it blend with this old farmhouse?”

“Of course. What color would you like?”

“Green and yellow. Outdoorsy, if you know what I mean.”

And so the conversation went until the girls cleared the table and trooped back inside. Myra closed the patio doors and drew the blinds.

A whispered conversation followed as Charles instructed Julia to drive back to Georgetown. “It’s imperative that you find out as much as you can from your husband. If possible, you can return here this evening or tomorrow. Once Crawford makes his formal announcement that your husband will be his running mate, the Secret Service will move in and you will be under a microscope.”

Julia looked stricken. “I never thought of that, Charles. How…what…I’ll be a liability to all of you if that happens.”

“No, you won’t dear. Charles will figure out something. This is your mission and nothing is going to stop us from carrying it out, not even the Secret Service. Now, do as Charles says, put a happy smile on your face and go home to talk to your husband.”

“Today is Saturday. Mitch plays golf on Saturday. He might not be home. I see problems already.”

Charles placed a comforting hand on Julia’s arm. “There will only be problems if we don’t act as a group. When you get to your car, use your private cell phone and call your husband. Be firm when you tell him you must talk with him today. I think he’ll cancel any plans he might have to talk with you. He needs you now. And the press will be buzzing everywhere. I’ve taken the liberty of writing out some instructions for you. Peruse them when you make a stop at the hospital to pick up your shopping list of possible drugs we might need. You won’t get another chance to go to the hospital again before we begin our mission.” Seeing the panic in Julia’s face, he said, “Julia, you can do this. I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t think you were up to it.”

Julia drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders. In a jittery voice she said, “Of course I can do it. I won’t let you down. I guess I should be going. I just need to get my bags.” She looked around. “You know, in case anyone out there in the woods is watching us.”

One by one the others volunteered to go with Julia. Charles just shook his head. “Trust me, Julia will be fine.”

They all walked Julia to her shiny black Mercedes. They waved and laughed as Charles instructed. Julia waved back, a sickly smile plastered on her face.

During the drive to Georgetown, Julia gritted her teeth, repeating over and over, I can do this. I will do this. I have to do this. She reached down for her cell phone and hit the button on her speed dial that would connect her with her husband. She was stunned when she heard her husband’s voice.

“Mitch, it’s Julia. I’m on the way home and I need to talk to you. Please wait for me. I really don’t care if you have a tee time or not, Mitch. I need to talk with you.” She listened to her husband’s litany of excuses. Suddenly she was sick of it all, sick to death of her husband and sick to death of knowing this was the man who was responsible for giving her a death sentence.

When he finally ran out of reasons why he couldn’t wait for her, Julia said, “Listen to me very carefully, you son of a bitch. You need me. I do not need you. You either wait for me or I’ll give an interview to the press and I won’t be shy about mentioning what an alley cat you are. And you’ll be attending Crawford’s announcement party by yourself. How will that look, Senator? Now what’s it going to be? And, Senator Webster, I want to know what you did with all that money you took out of my account, which by the way, I closed out yesterday. You
will
wait for me, Mitch.”

Julia hit the end button and turned off her phone. Let him keep hitting his own speed button till his damn finger fell off. That was almost funny because she knew her number wasn’t on his speed dial because he never called her. If and when he did call, it was one of his aides with a message. She struggled to remember the last time she’d had a phone conversation with her husband but in the end she gave up. What did it matter now?

In the parking lot of the Georgetown Hospital, Julia read Charles’s instructions three times until she had them committed to memory. Her eyebrows shot up once and then twice at the impressive list. Charles was right, she’d never get another chance to do what he wanted after today. When she was sure she had everything clear in her head, Julia tore the list into little pieces and stuffed them in her pocket. Once inside the hospital she would throw the pieces in different trash containers.

Julia, brisk professional that she was, made no stops on her way to her old office. Inside, she ran Charles’s shopping list over in her mind as she opened and filled her medical bag. Her task completed, she looked at the sorry-looking philodendron on her desk. She wondered why no one had watered it. Maybe, like herself, it was meant to die. Like hell.

Julia grabbed the plant and raced down the hall to the kitchen where she used a plastic fork to stir up the hard earth. Somewhere in one of the cabinets there was a bottle of plant food one of the nurses had brought in. Six drops to a plant was what she’d said. Julia watered the plant, soaking it thoroughly before she added the six drops of plant food. With a paper plate underneath the plant she made her way back to her office where she set the plant on the desk. With a pair of old surgical shears, she trimmed off the yellow leaves. The plant still looked sickly and half dead. Just like me, she thought. Julia remembered reading somewhere that you were supposed to talk to plants to make them thrive.

Julia muttered and mumbled as she looked through her desk to see if there was anything else she needed to take with her. At the last second, she opened the drawer and took out all of her prescription pads and jammed them into her medical bag.

Done.

Julia was just about to walk through the emergency door exit when she stopped and ran back to her office. She reached for the plant and smiled. “You still have six leaves, my friend. That’s not a death sentence.” She stopped in the kitchen and took the bottle of plant food and left a ten dollar bill with a note in its place. Now, she could leave this place. In her heart she said good-bye because she knew she’d never be coming back.

Fifteen minutes later, Julia entered her house in Georgetown carrying her plant. She set it on the kitchen counter, then turned to face her husband. Mitch Webster roared like a lion as he stormed about chastising her for making him wait when he had a golf date with the House Speaker.

“Ask me if I care, Mitch. I don’t. Did you make coffee? I need a cup. Would you like one?”

“No, I don’t want any coffee. What the hell’s gotten into you, Julia? I just heard you took a leave of absence. Why?”

“I felt like it. Overwork, you know,” Julia said as she scooped coffee into the plastic container. She turned to look at her husband with clinical interest. He was still a handsome man, tall and lean, exquisite tailoring, just the right tan to his face. He must use a sunlamp, she thought. His nails were manicured. She hadn’t noticed that before, either. Just the right amount of gray at his temples to make him distinguished. Beautiful, dove gray eyes, thanks to artificial lenses. Capped teeth that had made some dentist happy. A good-looking man who shared her house, and a senator to boot. She wondered why she didn’t feel anything.

“Congratulations, Mitch! You should have told me.”

“They told me not to say anything. You knew I was on the short list. It was in all the papers. It’s a whole new ball game now, Julia.”

“You bet it is. Well, guess what, I don’t want to play in that ball game, Mitch. The reason I wanted you to wait for this little talk was to tell you I want a divorce. I also want to know, down to the penny, what you did with all the money you took out of my account. Close your mouth, Mitch, you look like a hooked fish.”

“What the hell’s gotten into you, Julia? You can’t divorce me. Not now. I’m going to be the next vice president of the United States.”

Julia sniffed. “I hope you don’t expect me to be impressed, Mitch, because I’m not. I have no desire to live in Washington’s fishbowl. Being a senator’s wife was bad enough. I’m surprised you’re so willing to give up your senate seat. Being a vice president will be incredibly boring. All those funerals you have to attend. You’ll have to give up your tomcatting ways because every move you make will come under scrutiny. Like I said, I want a divorce.”

“Julia, Julia, Julia. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. We’re an old married couple. We’re going to grow old together. That’s what we promised each other when we got married. Look, I know we more or less lead separate lives these days but that’s what this fast paced life isall about. You have your career. I never interfered with what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it. I tried not to make demands on you. I know how you hate politics. But for Christ’s sake, Julia, this is the vice presidency. I could even be president some day.”

“Don’t grovel, Mitch. It’s very unbecoming. You made a fool of me with all those women you chased around with. I know about them all. This whole town has been chittering about you for years.”
I should tell him now that I have AIDS
.
Why am I so unwilling to say the words aloud? I should be sticking a knife in his gut for what he’s done to me. Charles said this wasn’t the time.

Mitch’s face lost some of its color. “I’m not going to deny it, Julia. But, I was discreet. It’s your fault. You were never home. You never wanted to go anywhere or do anything. You turned into some old frump. And let’s not forget how tired you always were and how many headaches you had. What was I supposed to do? You need to take your share of the blame for that, too.”

“I’m not willing to take the blame for anything, Mitch. No one forced you to have affairs. They’re going to vet you big time. How long do you think that make-believe background of yours is going to hold up? Voters don’t like it when their politicians lie to them. You lied. You made up a phony background. You pretended to be something you’re not. You’ll be fodder for the press from now till the election in November. They’re going to find out about all those women you had affairs with. Give it up now.”

“Oh, I get it. You’re right, Julia, sometimes I am stupid. You’re having an affair yourself, aren’t you? Who is it, one of the pretty doctors you hang out with? One of the guys who speaks your language that I’m too stupid to understand? That’s it, isn’t it? Well, they’ll be vetting you right along with me. How’s that going to look to your board of directors? Now, let’s get serious here.”

Julia poured herself a second cup of coffee. “Yes, let’s get serious. I went to the bank yesterday. You’ve taken three quarters of a million dollars over the years from my account. Where did it go, Mitch? What did you do with it? Like I said, I closed out the account and I’m going to close out the others, too. You can live on your salary and might I also remind you, this is my house, left to me by my father. I can kick your ass out of here any time I want to.” She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for her husband’s reply.”

“You told me the money was at my disposal. I used it for things. Golf memberships don’t come cheap. Clothing isn’t cheap. Cars aren’t cheap. The cost of dining out is astronomical. I didn’t
steal
your money, Julia. You insisted on putting my name on your accounts when we got married. You said what was yours was mine. I believed you. Are you saying you lied to me?”