Rush to the Altar (16 page)

“What style of home are you looking for?”

“It’s for me and my son, Max. I would like a two-story, maybe something with vaulted ceilings and an open floor plan on the first floor.”

“Oh, yes. We have just what you’re looking for,” gushed Rebecca. “Come see the Commodore.”

They followed the saleswoman back to the wall with the oversized floor plans and tried to imagine them as carpeted, decorated homes.

“I think I like the Ecuador,” Maddie said at last. “Can I see both, though?”

“Just follow me,” Rebecca said in a happy voice. “You’re going to love the models. Everyone does.”

The first home was a small ranch, but tastefully decorated. Maddie nodded her way through the tour, thinking she could do better.

The second had an odd layout that she didn’t like, but the third was, as Rebecca assured, very similar to the Ecuador, and Maddie loved it. The entry gave way into a huge family room with vaulted ceilings. The dining area and spacious kitchen were separated by a long counter with granite countertops and barstools. Maddie loved the idea of having Max sit at the counter doing his homework one day or eating a snack while she was cooking in the kitchen. There was a nice-sized powder room and a laundry/mud room. Then they headed up the stairs.

The stairway led to a bonus room that overlooked the family room below. A short hallway led to a jack-and-jill bathroom with two medium-sized bedrooms on either side. Maddie noted that one could easily be turned into an office.

The upstairs seemed perfect with the three bedrooms, two bathrooms and lots of closet space. The master bedroom’s closet was big enough to be a room all on its own.

“You’ll have room for all those shoes we’ve been buying,” Sasha teased, peeking into the closet.

“We’ve been buying? If my credit card bill is any indication, I’d say you’ve been talking me into them, and I’ve been buying.” But she grinned while she said it. The house was perfect.

She was just about to ask the price when her cell phone rang. The number on the screen didn’t look familiar.

“Excuse me,” she murmured, stepping into the huge closet and hearing Rebecca say she would let them look around by themselves for a while and meet them back in the office when they were finished.

Maddie saw Sasha plop down on the huge bed as she said “hello” into the receiver.

“Is this Madeline Goode?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Sabrina Bridgestone.”

“Yes?” Maddie questioned when the woman stopped talking.

She heard a deep breath and then the rush of words. “I need to speak with you concerning your husband. Concerning Brandon.”

Maddie adjusted the phone on her ear. “What is this about?”

“What it’s about is too complicated for a phone call. We need to meet.”

“Who are you?” Maddie demanded, a feeling of deep unease spreading from her stomach. “My husband…is no longer living.”

“I know that,” the woman snapped. “I know that.” This time it was said low and sad. “I knew your husband. Knew him very well. Better than you know, and we need to talk.”

“Who are you? Is this some kind of sick joke?”

“Listen. I didn’t want you to ever know about this, about Brandon and me, but something’s happened. Something I have to warn you about. Can you meet me today? Anywhere, you name the place and I’ll be there.”

Brandon and me.
The phrase spiraled through her mind. Brandon and her? A tight sickness gripped her chest. “You have to give me more information to go on than that. I won’t believe some cryptic woman that’s calling me out of nowhere.”

“Brandon had a birthmark on his right hip, down low. Now will you see me? I don’t want to have to come to your house. I’m trying to leave Max out of this.”

A deep chill crept through her body at the mention of Max, and she saw that her hand was shaking. The phone at her ear shook. Her legs shook so that she had to sink down the bare wall of the closet onto the carpet. Finally, she managed to speak in a quivering voice. “Are you telling me that…you had an affair with my husband? My dead husband?” Her voice rose and Sasha came into the closet, eyes wide with horror.

“That’s the least of it, sweetheart. Believe me, I wouldn’t call you to tell you that, not now. Not when he’s gone.”

Maddie pushed the disconnect button on her phone and dropped it onto the carpet. Saying nothing, seeing nothing, she stood up and walked out of the closet, out of the model home, out of the office, ignoring the waving Rebecca, and got into her car.

Once there, she just sat and stared. It couldn’t be true. Brandon wouldn’t have, couldn’t have had an affair. The woman must be a lunatic.

A few moments later, Sasha rapped on the window. Maddie rolled it down. “Yes?” she asked as if nothing was wrong.

“Maddie. She called back.” Sasha held out the phone.

Maddie shook her head. “She’s crazy. I’m not talking to a crazy woman.”

Sasha leaned into the window and whispered, the phone held tight against her chest. “She told me what she told you. Mad, how could she know about Max and the birthmark? She may be telling the truth.”

Maddie shook her head, not bothering to whisper. “I don’t know, but she’s a kook. I’m not discussing my husband with an insane woman.” Her voice rose until Sasha leaned closer and said, “Shhh. Okay. Can I find out what she wants?”

“Sure, you talk to her.”

The wind had picked up since they’d been inside the model homes, the sky turning a leaden gray in the west. Sasha hurried around to the passenger side of Maddie’s car and got in.

“I’m back,” Sasha said into the phone, turning it on speaker. “You’re going to have to tell me what you want. Maddie won’t talk to you.”

“You tell her she’d better listen. I’m being generous here. Giving her a big warning that she will thank me for later. Now, I’m not saying anything else on the phone. You get Maddie to the restaurant LoLa’s on 86th Street in one hour. I’ll be the tall redhead. You can’t miss me.” The strange woman hung up the phone.

Sasha turned to Maddie’s frozen form. “We have to meet her. One hour at LoLa’s.”

Maddie started to shake her head.

Sasha put a hand on her forearm and squeezed gently. “If she’s crazy, she’s crazy. If she’s not, then you need to know what she has to say. It’s more than just blowing the whistle on Brandon. I don’t know what it is, but Maddie, it’s more than some affair.”

“More than an affair?” Maddie turned to Sasha with stricken eyes. “How could anything be worse? It can’t be true! I would have known. There would have been signs. Sasha, my husband did not cheat on me.”

“Come on.” Sasha started to get out of the car. “I’m driving you. We’ll pick up your car later.”

Maddie shook her head. “All right, we’ll go see the crazy woman, but I don’t want to leave my car. Just go and I’ll follow you over there. Is LoLa’s even open for lunch? I thought it was a bar.”

Sasha shrugged. “If not, she said we won’t be able to miss her. Guess she’ll be in the parking lot.”

“Did she say any more about what she looks like?” Maddie asked, as new horrid thoughts entered her mind. “Is she beautiful, do you think?”

Sasha shrugged. “We’ll know soon enough. Stop torturing yourself.”

Maddie shook her head. “You’re right. I don’t want to know. Just hand me a lip-gloss.” She might as well look her best when meeting her husband’s mistress. God help her, she didn’t know how to feel.

Sasha dug in her bright Prada bag, then held out the gloss. “Here.” She held out another tube. “Add some eyeliner, you look like a ghost.”

Maddie stared at herself in the visor mirror. She did look a fright; big, shocked eyes with shadows beneath them, pale cheeks and her trembling lips. So opposite from the excited face she’d seen in the bathroom mirror of the model home. Suddenly, she looked at Sasha. “You don’t think she’s crazy, do you?”

Sasha took a deep breath and grasped Maddie’s arm. “I don’t know what she is, but I think you should find out and I won’t let you go through this alone. I’m sticking with you.”

Maddie nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

Sasha sped to LoLa’s at a hell-bent rate, Maddie trying hard to stay behind her and not think about anything.

They pulled into the strip mall parking lot where the restaurant was located. Maddie took one more glance in the mirror, decided she couldn’t improve on her light makeup and windblown hair and got out of the car. She didn’t realize how nervous she was until her knees buckled and Sasha had to come around and help support her.

The place was dimly lit and beautifully decorated in art deco style—metal stars glowing with multi-colored lights hanging against a gold stucco wall. Along the bar, amber and orange lights dropped from the ceiling in long, cone-shaped glass. Seating groups of low, overstuffed chairs in reds and purples were scattered around, making intimate settings for private parties.

But neither Maddie nor Sasha saw a redhead.

After walking around the place twice and deciding that Sabrina must not be there, they found a low, round table with no one around and settled in to wait.

Maddie sipped her water, her palms sweating so much that she almost dropped the glass twice. Finally, after ten minutes of strained silence with Sasha, a tall, gorgeous woman walked in and stood blinking in the low light.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

M
addie knew the second Sabrina found them in the corner. She paused, stared at Maddie intently and then, with a determined look on her face and narrowed eyes, strode over toward them.

“How does she know who I am?” Maddie asked in stunned bewilderment. “Did you tell her what we look like?”

Sasha shook her head. “No, do you think Brandon showed her a picture of you?”

“Oh, Sasha. I think I’m going to throw up or faint or something.” She pressed her fingers against her forehead and tried to breathe.

“Pull it together. Remember, no matter what, you were Brandon’s wife. He loved you. Be confident, condescending even.”

“Condescending?” The woman stood before them as Maddie pasted on her best version of condescension and knew it wasn’t working. It just wasn’t in her.

“Maddie?” the woman asked with crisp confidence. “Thank you for coming.”

Maddie introduced Sasha in a surreal daze. How did one behave toward one’s husband’s mistress?

“I’m glad you have a friend with you. You’re going to need the support.” With that proclamation she sat down and settled herself, waving to the waiter and ordering a drink.

Maddie didn’t know what to say, just stared at the willowy beauty. She reminded her of a redhead she had seen on one of those reality dating shows.

“How do you know Brandon?” Sasha asked, her own brand of condescension coming across more like hatred, her eyes narrowed, lips pressed together in a line of menace.

The woman took a small breath. “You should be glad I called. It will give Maddie an important heads-up to what is going on. Listen, I’m not supposed to be talking about this to anyone. I may lose my job anyway, but if this got out…” She paused, thin, perfect eyebrows raised. “If they find out what I’m doing right now I will be fired immediately…but I figured I owed you that much.” She suddenly looked ready to tear up. “Before it all crashes down on top of you.”

Maddie’s voice caught, but she managed, “What…what are you talking about?”

The drink came and Sabrina took a long swallow, tossing back a long, auburn curl.

“I worked with Brandon, was his boss’s boss, really. I am vice-president of loan servicing. Brandon, as you know, was a loan officer. About a month after Brandon started working for us, we…noticed each other. I’m sorry Maddie, but we began an affair and it lasted until he died.”

Maddie just sat and stared. She was sorry? This woman and Brandon? Mental images of them together bombarded her mind. No, she couldn’t think of it. Couldn’t imagine the whys and wheres and hows. There would be time for the anguishing thoughts later.

“But that’s not it, is it?” Sasha cut in. “You wouldn’t call the wife of a dead man just to torture her with this knowledge after he’s gone, would you?”

Sabrina shook her head. “No. Of course I would not do that. I’m only telling you that so that you’ll understand the rest.” She took another long sip of her drink. “You will be getting a call from a private detective soon. Anytime now.”

“A private detective?” Maddie gasped.

“Over the last few months, the bank has had several customers default on their loans, very large loans that were recently procured. Last month the bank hired a forensic accountant and conducted a thorough investigation of our accounts. They found the loans were taken out by people who never existed.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

The woman held up her hand. “Let me explain. Upon further investigation and handwriting comparisons, we discovered that the loans were approved by your husband. He was taking out loans, either spending the money or wiring it to banks overseas, and then taking out other loans to make the payments. It worked undetected for eight months, but after he died…well, no one was paying off the loans and we slowly realized something was terribly wrong.”

Maddie just sat and stared. They had to have the wrong person. Her husband would have never done such a thing. She actually felt relieved—for a minute.

“I realize this comes as a shock, but Maddie, your husband embezzled over a half-million dollars.”

 “No.” Maddie shook her head, her hand a waving stop sign. “You need to go back to your investigation. Brandon would have never done such a thing.”

Sabrina leaned forward. “And I bet you thought he would have never cheated on you either.”

Maddie looked at the woman, thoughts catching up with themselves, unable to make sense of anything.

“Don’t be stupid. I didn’t risk so much for you to ignore me. He did. He was leading a double life. I am under investigation too. They know I approved many of the larger loans and somehow they discovered we were having an affair. Brandon spent a lot of money on me, we had our own apartment, he…he bought me things. We took lots of trips together. He told me it was an inheritance and that you knew nothing about it. I regret that I let him convince me. But I was in love with him.”