The Secret Keeping (30 page)

They say “Stan can” when they recommend him to someone who needs something hushed up. They call him Mr. Hush-it-up. That’s what he does.

Robert Keagan says that Stanley Kandinsky is the most important lawyer who ever lived, next to Abraham Lincoln. Nobody really knows what he means by that, but everyone agrees that Stanley’s indispensable, whereas the same consensus, unfortunately, did not exist for Mr. Lincoln.

“Heads up, Stan.”

“I’ve already heard the buzz. Who’s Jane Doe?”

“Nah, skip that detail for now. But make a reservation for her just in case.”

“Important?”

“Yeeaaaauhh…yes.”

“Someone I know?”

“Mmmm-maybe.”

“Enough, Robert. You sound like you’re choking to death. When will I hear from her?”

“I’ve got a bad feeling. Very soon, I’d say.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. There’s no merit to the suit, from what I know.”

“None, across the board. It’s legalized blackmail. We’ll tag-team this like those other ones. I’ll speak to her father if necessary. That’ll guarantee it.”

“And that’s someone I know?”

“Afraid so. We’ll get to that when we have to.”

“You’ve piqued my interest now.”

“Good. There’s just one catch, Stan.”

“What could that be?”

“The gravamen. It’s not exactly about money.”

“Not about money? What then?”

“Erruhhh…some people like to call it love. I call it revenge.”

“That’s going to complicate things, I’m afraid.”

“Always does. Talk to you soon, Mr. Kandinsky.”

“Goodbye, Mr. Keagan. I hope you feel better.”

_____

“It’s Mr. Keagan, Dr. Kristenson. You want to take it in the office?”

“Yes. Switch it there, Jen.”

“Helaine?”

“Good afternoon, Robert. How are things going?”

“Going. Weekly update. It would appear that Sharon sent the photograph. So it’s not her lawyers tailing you. I’ve warned them to put an end to it anyway, so we’ll see. Being good?”

“This is unbearable. How much longer will it take?”

“When’s the last time you talked?”

“I don’t want to just talk.”

“When, Helaine?”

“Yesterday, briefly.”

“Is anyone following her, did she say?”

“She didn’t, no. I don’t think she would tell me anyway. Wouldn’t want to worry me, I suspect. I need to see her, Robert. What’s the point of all this if I lose the woman?”

“I don’t think you’re going to lose her. Of course, you might if Sharon smears her name all over the dailies. It’s going to be fine. Things are moving nicely. Trust me.”

“Robert…I already knew that Sharon had sent the photo.”

“How’d you know that?”

“I received one just like it a few days after you got yours. Half of one, I should say. The other half, the part with Lydia’s face, was ripped off. Gone.”

“Okay. Not good. You should have told me right away, but hopefully I’ve taken care of all that. If they can’t control their client they’ll drop suit. That’s the way it works. So, how’s the new place, got yourself settled in yet?”

“No, still living out of boxes. Piano’s in the hallway waiting for an inspiration. The bed’s together, though. Plenty of inspiration there.”

“Atta girl. We’ll send the bad guys an answer next week that would scare flies from carrion…sharks from chum…vultures from roadkill…shall I continue, or are you going to make your selection?”

“Do I have to?”

“Want to see the dinner menu, instead?”

“Is this really worth it, Robert? Hiding?”

“Helaine? You want this settled, right?”

“I want it to go away. I want…I know you know what I’m going to say so I won’t bother to be repetitive.”

“You need your batteries recharged, I know.”

“It feels like Sharon’s winning already. Got out of that other thing pretty easy. Community service?”

“Every dog has his day. She won’t win in the long run, I can assure you. Not if I can help it.”

There was nothing Helaine could think of to say to that.

“Beautiful weather for late September. Looking forward to the weekend. We’ll have some fun in the country, okay, Helaine? Just the three of us.”

_____

Dr. Kristenson gone. Lydia gone. Checkers gone–not that the waiter missed him. Harry scanned the room. Still plenty of others to serve.

_____

Work. Work. Work. And no play. Lydia was worried she was becoming a dull girl. She looked over her shoulder a lot these days and avoided her windows. She avoided being alone in the elevators. She avoided her father and his invitations to the club or for lunch at a nearby restaurant. She visited with Delilah but avoided her inquiries. She avoided Frank’s Place like the plague and stayed away from all the other gin joints in town.

As agreed, she avoided seeing Helaine. She avoided calling Helaine. She avoided writing Helaine. She avoided thinking of Helaine. Of her eyes. Of her lips. Of her limbs. Of the scent of her hair. The feel of it on her skin. The feel of her body next to hers. The sound of her laughter. Her voice. Sharon.

_____

“You’re in love, I just know it.”

“Mom, why would you say that?”

“Because you never call otherwise.”

“That can’t be true. Is that true or are you just trying to make me feel guilty?”

“Why would I bother trying to do that, honey? Making you guilty has had no beneficial effect on my life. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing special. I just called to say hello to my dear sweet mom whom I miss and haven’t seen in ages and haven’t talked to in months and who I just felt terribly lonesome for. That is, if she doesn’t mind.” She listened to the long distance buzz on the line as her mother quietly digested the compliment. It seemed to be taking her an awfully long time to get it all down. A crackling noise filled the receiver, a scoff.

“No, really. Why are you calling?”

Lydia blew air back. “Okay, I’m in love, Marilyn.”

“There. You see how you are? So tell me about him.”

Lydia switched the phone to her other ear. “Uum…well…are you sitting down?”

_____

He didn’t give a rip if the Chambers witch fired him since he was going to terminate her case anyway. No, he had never noticed the blue-eyed woman before, no they had never been together on any other occasion, no he had not been able to learn the woman’s name. The model had howled at him like a demon from hell.

She was more than he had bargained for. And now word on the street was that someone important was hunting down the major asshole who had taken the pictures of Dr. Kristenson with her new lover. He didn’t know much but he knew he was the major asshole they were looking for. Trouble. Major trouble. He had recognized its face the moment it had first slinked into his office and should have taken heed. Thank goodness it had all been cash transactions. I’m out of here, Lawrence Taft, decided. He took the money and ran.

_____

Just the three of them in a brand new foreign luxury sedan, tolling down the highway at seventy miles an hour, happily heading for a taste of the simple life. A weekend in the country. Woods, lakes, wildlife. Wild so to speak. Nobody was to say the word lawsuit, nobody permitted to mention Sharon. It was a pretty quiet ride.

Helaine watched the cityscape gradually disappear from her back window, saw it replaced instead with sprawling neighborhoods and commercial strips. An hour passed and still no one had spoken and there were only clusters of houses left on the landscape. After that the trees took over, miles and miles of trees, some of them hinting at turning color. She didn’t mind the silence. She watched the trees as they began to merge with each other, until the view from her window consisted entirely of hills and valleys and then mountains.

The monotony got the better of her and eventually she fell asleep.

_____

“Helaine, wake up, we’re here. Helaine?”

It was dark by the time they reached their destination. Helaine had slept through the dramatic approach and had no idea how steep an ascent they had made into the wilderness. The car was parked before a modern log cabin and the automatic spot lights flooded the driveway, revealing the outline of a smaller building behind it.

“What time is it?” she asked, disoriented.

“It’s nine,” Robert said, helping her out of the back seat and collecting her bags for her. “You’ve got the guest house all to yourself. Come, I’ll get you situated.”

“I’ll put our stuff in the house,” Kay shouted from the car.

Robert and Helaine headed for the guest house along a narrow stone path, the stones clicking together under their feet. She was exhausted and not wearing appropriate shoes and lost her footing twice as she stumbled after him.

“We’re out there, aren’t we?” she asked.

“It seems more remote at night, but yes, we’re out there.” He stopped at the door and waited for the sensors to react to their presence. A night-light over the door flickered before coming on. “A little slow, this one. You all right?”

“Long day,” she said, “long week, for that matter.”

He pushed open the door for her and they stepped gingerly inside.

“Oh, that light’s out again. I’ll have to replace it in the morning. Too late now.” He set the bags down by the entrance and turned to leave. “Don’t feel beholden to us. Sleep as late as you want.”

Helaine hesitated in the darkened entranceway beside him. “Robert, wait!” Across the main room she saw the silhouetted figure of a woman posed in one of the interior doorways. A soft light shone from the room behind the stranger distinguishing the shape of her body but leaving the rest of her features in shadow.

Helaine could make out a form fitted dress, cut above the knees, sleeveless, black perhaps, heels. She squinted in the darkness but couldn’t make out the face. “Robert,” she repeated nervously, “who’s that?”

Robert placed his hand on the doorknob. “Oh, her?” he laughed. “Consider her a gift from your friends, Dr. Kristenson. Enjoy,” he said, attempting to leave.

“What?”

“A pick-me-up, Helaine. Someone to keep you company this weekend.” He opened the front door.

“Robert!” She grabbed his sleeve. “You’re joking.” She looked over her shoulder. The woman stood motionless in the doorway, leaning against it with one arm, the other on her hip. “Oh, Robert, you can’t be serious. This is…she’s a…? You’re joking, right?”

“No joke. Just relax. It’s no big deal.”

“Relax? Robert?” Helaine let go of his shirt and shot another anxious glance at the lit doorway. “No, Robert. You–you make her go. I can’t do this. I’m not–she has to go.” She saw him only grin. “Please, I’m very uncomfortable.”

“Don’t be. She’s a professional.”

“Take her out of here, Robert Keagan!”

“I can’t do that, Helaine. We’re in the middle of nowhere, after dark–”

“Robert–” She looked back again. The woman was clearly not inclined to leave on her own and he was not going to make her. “Then give me the car keys, please. I’ll drive her somewhere.”

“Drive her? She’s not a local girl, Helaine. Where do you plan to leave the woman? At the bottom of the hill?”

She stared at him in disbelief. He slipped past her and stood outside on the path.

“Give me the keys, Mr. Keagan. I’m taking her home.”

“Dr. Kristenson…she’s the cream of the crop.”

“That is not the problem–the keys.”

“Helaine, you don’t even know where you are, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m too pooped.” He started for the house, jingling his keys in his pocket as he walked.

“Robert!” Helaine yelled. “What am I going to do?” She listened to his footsteps fading in the dark, the chorus of peepers serenading the darkness. The light flickered over her door and fizzled out.

“You don’t have to do anything,” he called back to her. “Play cards if you want.”

“I’ll sleep outdoors,” she threatened. She heard him laugh at that.

“With the bears and coyotes?” he taunted.

She searched the blackness around her and fearfully stepped backwards into the entranceway. He was between buildings now. She could no longer see his shape and could barely hear him walking. In the distance the cabin lights shone warm and comforting. She was tempted to run toward them. But bears and coyotes?

What else might be out there? Trees, she thought grimly.

“Goodnight, Helaine,” Robert yelled, finally at his front door.

She watched him disappearing into the cabin. The flood lights in the front of it blinked like sleepy sentinels as one by one they nodded off, the rooms all went dark again, the small piece of civilization belonged once more to the wilderness and to the pitch black night.

Helaine swore under her breath. Bears and coyotes. And snakes, and skunks, and bats? She solemnly closed the door and leaned her back against it, studying the woman in the distance as she tried to organize her thoughts. The woman hadn’t moved an inch.

Helaine sighed. She definitely couldn’t do this. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do this.” Her friends had meant well. “My friends meant well, but…” It was misguided. “It was misguided of them.”

The woman said nothing.

She had no doubt she was attractive. A nice physique. The dress was similar to one Lydia had worn once.

The woman’s body, also similar, same body type. She still couldn’t see her face. Helaine reached for the light switch. Nothing. He probably had the bulbs removed, she thought, ruefully.

The woman in the doorway dropped her arms and began to peel off the dress.

(Oh, no.) “No, don’t do that.” Helaine saw her walking slowly toward her. “Please, you have to stop. This is not going to happen.” The woman halted in her tracks and let the dress fall to the floor around her feet.

Undergarments. A white bustier glowing like a beacon in the dark. She was absolutely lovely. (Oh, nuts.) It was not her fault. “Look, you are obviously…this is not your fault…this is my fault.”

No reply.

Why didn’t she say something for godsakes? “Say something, please.”

“Talk?” the woman asked in a sleepy alto.

Alto, like Lydia. “You’re definitely going. I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting this.” There was no protest, no motion at all. “How did you get here?”