Too Far Under (36 page)

“Tyler, I have no idea what you’re talking
about,” I cried. “You’re not helping me one bit. It’s bad enough
that Angelica is hurt. Now Derrick blames me. I could lose my
license or worse.”

I got no response. Tyler had surfed off over
the hospital roof, leaving me as usual stuck trying to decipher his
message.

But I was too worried about Angelica to think
any more about Tyler or to stand outside wallowing in self-pity. I
pulled myself together, tried calling Pablo again and got his
voicemail. I checked my voicemail and got his message saying he had
to make a report to the Boulder police before he could come to the
hospital and he’d be there as soon as he could.

As I turned to go back inside, the sorority
girls came streaming out en masse. I stood back to let them pass,
then headed in to the empty waiting room and looked around for a
ladies room to clean myself up. I washed my face, rinsed out my
mouth, then went back into the waiting area and over to the desk to
find out about Angelica. The woman behind the desk apologetically
told me that Angelica’s father had insisted that the hospital was
not to give out any information about her condition.

“Can you at least tell me if she’s alive,” I
begged.

“I’m sorry,” she said, kindly. “We
can’t.”

I found a chair and sat, staring bleakly at a
rack of dog-eared magazines. How had it come to this? I only wanted
to help Angelica and now she and I were both in jeopardy. I heard
the front door open again.
Please let it be Pablo
, I said
silently. But it wasn’t Pablo. It was Shane.

He was wearing torn jeans and a rumpled gray
tee shirt that said
I’m dressed and out of bed—what more do you
want?
Pretty appropriate given how he looked. Unshaven, hair
sticking up, eyes red. He scanned the room frantically, saw me and
dashed over.

“What’s going on with Angelica?” he demanded.
“I just listened to Lacey’s messages saying Angelica was missing
and then that she’s in this hospital. What happened?”

“It’s a long story,” I said. “Angelica’s in
back with the doctors. Lacey and your dad are there too. I don’t
know how she is. They won’t tell me because I’m not family. But I’m
sure you can find out if you go over to the desk. And if you do,
would you please let me know? I’m so worried about her.”

Shane dashed over and quickly disappeared
into the treatment area behind the desk. Didn’t even look in my
direction. I thought about trying to call Pablo again, but didn’t.
He’d said he’d be here as soon as he could. No use interrupting him
with a call that would delay him more. I sat, staring across the
room trying to use deep breathing and a soft focus to calm my
anxiety.

Finally the front door opened again. Pablo
rushing toward me. Strong. Solid. Arms outstretched.

I ran to meet his hug. Wept in his arms. Told
him what Derrick had said.

“It’s okay, babe,” he said, squeezing me
tighter. “We can get this straightened out. Derrick doesn’t know
what happened to you and Angelica. Actually, I don’t even know. And
the Boulder police don’t know, which is why we have to go to the
Boulder Police station right now, so you can make a statement. They
need the details to be able to hold Faye.”

I pulled away, dug a tissue out of my pocket,
dried my eyes and blew my nose. “I can’t go now. I have to wait to
find out about Angelica,” I said.

“They’re not going to tell you anything. And
you don’t want Derrick Townes out here yelling at you again. Let’s
go. While we’re there, the Boulder police can call the hospital to
find out how Angelica is and let you know.”

Reluctantly I went with him. Told the whole
story to the Boulder cops. With my statement added to what Pablo
had already told them about the eBay fraud, they had more than
enough to keep Faye in custody.

When I was done, Pablo came back to the
interview room to take me home. “They called about Angelica,” he
said. “She’s been moved to the intensive care unit. Still
unconscious. They have her condition listed as serious.”

I groaned. “What does that mean? Will she get
better?”

“It means she’s unstable, but not critical.
And she hasn’t been airlifted to Denver, so that’s a good sign. For
more than that, we’ll just have to wait.”

We drove in silence to my house. Pablo
suggested we stop for something to eat, but I was still feeling
shaky and sick to my stomach. He grabbed a burger and fries for
himself from the McDonalds drive-through on 28th. I didn’t want
anything.

Actually the smell of his food was making me
more nauseous as we drove. When we got home, I sent him and his
meal to the kitchen, while I headed for a hot shower.

After that, all I wanted was the oblivion of
sleep to shut down my mind. I crawled into bed and was asleep
before he got there. I woke up later, snuggled close to him and
drifted back to sleep after willing myself not to think about
Angelica until morning.

When I woke up at 6:30 a.m. listening to
Pablo getting ready to leave for work, I had that icky feeling in
my gut that you get when you wake up knowing something terrible has
happened, but it takes you a minute to remember what. Then it all
came crashing down on me.

I jumped out of bed and ran to grab Pablo
before he left. “Can you call and find out how Angelica is doing
before you go?” I asked.

He hugged me close. “I already tried, babe,”
he said. “The hospital wouldn’t tell me anything and I couldn’t get
anyone at the Boulder PD who had a recent update. I’ll try again
after I get to work. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear
anything.”

I was too worried to sleep any more, so after
he left I grabbed my phone and went out for a run on the Boulder
Creek Path. A bright sunny morning, cloudless blue sky, creek
gurgling and splashing—all wasted on me. I was a prisoner of my own
anxiety. Not only was I fearful about Angelica, I was apprehensive
about Derrick’s threats. And then, to top it all off, I realized it
was Wednesday and I had only a few days left to find the money for
Gramma to get a space in the new assisted living house.

I slogged along, willing my body to take over
and get me out of my miserable mind. But instead I started feeling
dizzy and sick again like last night. I realized I hadn’t eaten
anything for a long time, so I decided to go home and fix myself
some breakfast.

I was finishing my eggs and toast when Pablo
called. “I got an update from the Boulder cops,” he said. “It kind
of sounds worse than it is, so don’t panic. Angelica has a severe
concussion and the doctors are concerned she may have swelling or
bleeding in her brain. They’re doing a CT scan this morning to see
if there’s blood under her skull. Like I said, it sounds horrible,
but they’re expecting her to make a full recovery.”

“You’re right. It does sound horrible. Poor
Angelica.”

“I wish I could come stay with you, but
there’s no way I can get off today. Try not to worry, okay? I’ll
let you know as soon as I find out anything more.”

“Thanks for wanting to be with me even if you
can’t,” I said. “But I have to work, too. I have clients scheduled
and I can’t afford to cancel them. I’ve been doing that way too
much with all that’s been going on lately. Oh well, at least work
will be a good distraction.”

I met with a client at 9:00, then frantically
checked my phone messages at the end of the session. Yes! A
voicemail from Pablo saying Angelica’s CT scan had gone well. She
was still in the hospital for observation and more tests, but her
condition had been upgraded to good. He also said he would be in a
training course for the rest of the day, so he wouldn’t be able to
call again.

I had several other missed calls, but none
was from Lacey or anyone in the Townes family. Apparently Derrick
had cut me off from all of them. One call was from Tim Grosso.
Maybe he had some new information about Shady Terrace. But I didn’t
have time to listen to any more messages before my next client, so
his news would have to wait. Actually if I’d had any hint of what
he was going to say, I would have erased his message without
hearing it.

But I had no clue, so at 11:00 I grabbed my
phone and hit voicemail. “Cleo, what’s going on?” Tim sounded
seriously angry. “Faye’s in jail and she says it’s your fault.”

That’s right. Tim and Faye had a thing going
on. He must be devastated at what she’d done. But all my fault?

The message went on. “She said she took you
and Angelica out to her storage room to show you some art and you
demanded that she give you the money you need for your grandmother
and threatened to create big trouble for her if she didn’t. When
she refused, you attacked her and then set it up to look like she
kidnapped Angelica and hurt her. Why would you do that to Faye when
she’s been so good to your grandmother all these years?”

Whoa, could Faye get away with this spin? I
needed to talk to Pablo right away. But his phone went right to
voicemail. Oh, right—I’d forgotten he was in training and
unavailable for the rest of the day. His voicemail said to either
leave a message he could return tomorrow or call another detective
for immediate help.

I couldn’t think what else to do, and my next
client was waiting, so I went back to work. I kept on like
that—seeing clients and checking phone messages in between—until my
last client left at 4:00. I was proud of myself for keeping my
anxiety at bay long enough to make it through the day, but once I
was done, despair hit me hard. How could I have gotten myself into
such a mess?

My phone rang. I decided that if it was Tim,
I wouldn’t answer. But it was Lacey. I picked up apprehensively.
What if she also believed Faye’s story?

But this call was good news. Lacey sounded
relieved and cheerful. “Cleo, Angelica’s doing much better. They’re
just keeping her here one more night to be on the safe side. She
told us everything that happened. My dad is so sorry he blamed you
and yelled at you. Angelica really wants to see you. Can you get
away and come over to the hospital?”

Whew! Could I! I was on my way in less than
five minutes.

Lacey, Shane and Derrick were all sitting
around Angelica’s bedside when I arrived. They looked tired, but
very, very happy. Angelica looked pale and exhausted, but much
better than she had last night. I went straight to her bedside,
gave her a gentle hug, and said, “I’m so sorry Angelica that you
got hurt. I wish I could have done more to save you from that.”

She squeezed my arm. “You shouldn’t feel bad,
Cleo. It was my fault, not yours. I never should have gone to tell
Faye about the will. If you hadn’t showed up, who knows what she
would have done to me.”

I teared up a little as I moved back from the
bed a little to face the others. “I’m so glad she’s alright,” I
said. “I was so scared for her.”

Derrick shifted in his chair, looking ill at
ease. “Cleo, can you accept my apology?” he asked, awkwardly. “I
know none of this was your fault and you probably saved Angelica’s
life. She doesn’t know what happened after Faye hit her with the
gun, but the police said you texted your boyfriend and he got them
out there. Can you fill in the details for us?”

Shane went out and came back with a chair for
me. I sat down and went through the whole story, ending with Tim’s
phone message about the story Faye was putting out.

“She’ll never get away with that,” Angelica
said. “I can tell the police that what you said is what really
happened.”

“I just hope they believe us,” I said. “I
want Faye to pay big time for what she did.

“She killed my mom and tried to kill my
sister,” Lacey said, her voice rising. “She will pay. I’ll make
sure of that.”

“Me too,” Shane agreed. “And I can collect up
the evidence of her financial mismanagement of the gallery and her
Internet art scam.”

“We’ll all be there to back up your story
against Faye. You have my word on that,” Derrick said firmly. “We
owe you so much. I hope you understand how grateful I am.” He
smiled. “And now that we have Mirabel’s new will leaving our family
all her money, with nothing to Faye or the Scientologists, I’m in a
position to offer you a more tangible expression of our thanks. I
know you want your grandmother to move into the new assisted living
house now that Shady Terrace is closing. My dad is going to move
there too, so I know about the $50,000 investment each family has
to put up. Lacey says you’re having a hard time coming up with the
money for your grandmother’s down payment. I’m going to call Mary
Ellen at Shady Terrace today and tell her I’ll invest the $50,000
for your grandmother as well as the $50,000 for my dad. I think
it’s a win-win. Your grandmother and my dad will be able to live in
a new homelike group home, you won’t be stressing about the down
payment, and I’ll be a partner in the venture and a co-owner of the
house.”

It was like a hundred-pound weight had fallen
from my shoulders! I burst into tears of gratitude and relief,
fueled by my utter exhaustion. Lacey came over and hugged me close
as I sobbed out the stress I’d accumulated. Then I dried my eyes,
thanked them all profusely and told them I needed to leave so I
could visit my grandmother who I hadn’t seen since Saturday.

“I’ll walk you out,” Shane said, getting up
and following me to the door. “I have a couple more questions about
the art fraud.”

As we walked down the hospital corridor to
the elevators, Shane pulled me over to a small sitting area. “I
don’t actually have questions,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you
about Grandad, but I didn’t want to do it in front of Angelica. I
don’t want her thinking about any more upsetting stuff today.” He
sat and motioned me to a chair next to him.

I sat and waited silently for him to
continue. “Dad and I met with the Coroner about Grandad’s autopsy
results and death report,” he said quietly. “The official cause of
death is listed as severe craniocerebral trauma with intracranial
bleedings and cerebral contusions. The coroner ruled it accidental
death resulting from a fall down the stairs. We pressed him about
whether he could tell if Grandad had been pushed, and he admitted
he couldn’t. But he said that Grandad had been drinking—no surprise
there—and that the police assessed the scene and found no evidence
of foul play. So everything points to accidental death.” Shane
sounded exasperated.