Chapter Eleven
Elise looked at Olivia and Kathy. “That was months ago and I haven’t seen or heard from him since then.”
“Wow,” Kathy said. “I would have ripped off his clothes that night.”
“I wish I had,” Elise said. “Now I’ll never get a chance. By now he’s probably returned and been told that I was locked away because I tried to kill myself.”
“Since he’s Carmen’s brother, I imagine he knows more than that,” Olivia said. “Of course she’s what the men were trying to tell you about.”
“That my husband and their sister...” Elise took a breath. “Now I’m on the run from the law and I doubt if I’ll ever see him again. But it wouldn’t matter. I still don’t know how Alejandro and I would live.”
Olivia’s head came up. “Alejandro said he’d see that you found out. Do you think he had anything to do with Tara starting to investigate Kent?”
“I don’t know,” Elise said. “But it’s possible.”
“Alejandro did have Tara’s card,” Kathy said. “Maybe he sent her something.”
Elise closed her eyes for a moment. “That would mean that he chose me over his sister. He gave his loyalty as well as his love to me. But what did I do? Up until the night before I found out, I was still hoping that Kent and I could... I don’t know, start over? Alejandro was more loyal to me than I was to him. I wish I could change... Change it all!”
“Me too,” Olivia said.
“And so do I,” Kathy added.
It had begun to rain and the sound was nice in the house. The women got up, took bathroom breaks, straightened the kitchen, and pondered all that they’d heard.
Elise kept smiling, relieved to have at last been able to tell someone about her and Alejandro. When it was happening, she’d told herself that it wasn’t serious, but saying it all out loud had made her see that there was more there than she’d realized. What had Kathy said? That she was “heart and soul gone to him.”
Maybe she had been. Maybe she was.
“So who’s up for a game of Scrabble?” Kathy asked when they were back in the living room.
When they looked at her, it was as though they were holding a sign. You’re Next.
But Kathy was hesitant. “Olivia, your husband’s a diplomat, right? Have you traveled a lot?”
Elise started to say something, but then Kathy looked at Olivia, and there was something in her eyes. But what was it? That she felt sorry for Kathy? But why?
It took her a moment but she began to realize that Ray had told them something about her. But what in the world was it? When it came down to that, what did he really know about his wife? Their eyes seemed to want some information, but they were afraid of the answers.
In a lot of ways, Kathy was Bert Cormac’s daughter. She’d inherited her mother’s sensitivity, but there was enough of her father’s personality in her that Kathy could, well, survive the two men in her life. And one of the ways she’d done that was to keep her mouth shut. She never truly confided in anyone. She let others see one thing while she kept the truth to herself.
But these two women, these strangers, had confided in her. More than that, they’d entrusted her with some deep secrets. A call to the police could change Elise’s life forever. And Olivia...
“Maybe Scrabble would be good,” Olivia said. “Has anyone seen a board around here?” She opened a corner cabinet.
The truth was, just as Elise had, Kathy wanted to talk. She wanted to tell these women who’d been through so much about her life. She took a breath. This was going to be hard for her so she’d better start with something easy. “Did Ray tell you how we first got together as a couple?”
Both women stopped opening cabinet doors and smiled.
“His date spilled a drink on you and he said you handled it graciously,” Olivia said.
“With class,” Elise added. “He didn’t say so, but I think he fell in love with you at that moment.”
Kathy looked from one woman to the other, then let out a loud laugh. “How funny! Ray didn’t ‘fall in love’ with me then or at any other time.”
“He does love you!” Olivia was serious.
Kathy leaned back in her chair. “Yes, he does. He loves me very much. More than he knows, but that’s not why he married me.”
Olivia and Elise were staring at her but they didn’t seem shocked by her words. “I bet Ray told you that after the spilled drink he saw me crying.”
“Yes, he did,” Olivia said. “He said his date had hurt your feelings.”
“Ray is an idiot! Smart, brilliant even, but an idiot. The truth is that she and I set that whole thing up.”
“I want to hear this,” Elise said.
Olivia agreed. “This is a house of stories and you’re next. Elise, get the wine and the glasses. Are there any more of those chips?”
“Oh no,” Kathy said. “I gain weight even looking at food. You have any club soda?”
“Kathy,” Olivia said, “I don’t know who has messed with your mind but you look great.”
“I wish I had boobs like yours,” Elise said.
“You wouldn’t be able to stand up,” Kathy shot back, then put her hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”
But Elise and Olivia laughed and got up and went to the kitchen. Minutes later, they had a banquet of wine and chips and dip on the coffee table.
It had been a long time since Kathy had some good, old-fashioned girl time. Between her father and Ray, both of them men who demanded a lot—and got it—she didn’t have much of a chance for girl talks. To those two men, if it wasn’t something that would lead to making money, why bother discussing it?
Now these women were watching her in silence, waiting for her to tell them what happened. Elise had poured her heart out and Kathy knew she should do the same. But she’d never told anyone the truth about what had happened. But then, who could understand the power of Bert Cormac and Ray Hanran? The few times Kathy had tried to describe them to women friends, they’d thrown up their hands in horror. “You should get away from them,” they’d said. “Stand up to the tyrants.” “Be good to yourself.” On and on. Sometimes women’s “support” lacked understanding—or variety.
Kathy didn’t dare tell anyone that there was a part of her that loved the challenge, loved the fireworks that a life near those men created.
Fireworks, she thought. Yes, that described Ray exactly. In the rare moments when he was quiet, he was like an unlit bomb. And the endless attention he gave her—even if it was to find his lost papers—was exciting.
Kathy took a breath, picked up the glass of cold white wine that Olivia had poured for her, and took a sip.
“Poor Dolores,” she began. “It was one of Dad’s black-tie balls, two floors down in our building, and meant to impress his clients. Not that Bert Cormac would know a white tie from a clown’s bow tie. He left arranging the entire party up to me.”
She took another sip. “You have to understand that my father and my husband love each other. Father-son love. Fishing buddies love. Besties. Clones, actually. So when Dad realized that he had to go a black-tie event without Ray there, he had me send for him.”
“Wait,” Olivia said. “Ray said you helped him, but I didn’t realize you worked for the company.”
“You mean get a paycheck, dental, that sort of thing? I don’t. Bert Cormac believes in family—or that’s what he says. To him that means I do the work of three employees and never receive acknowledgment or pay. And certainly not any thanks.”
Olivia was looking at her in disgust.
But Elise was smiling. “That silk shirt you have on is Italian and retails for over a grand. And the stones in that necklace are real. I think you’re compensated.”
Kathy gave a slow smile. “I am my father’s daughter.”
At her tone, Olivia snuggled into the couch. “I think I’m beginning to like you, Kathy Hanran. So Ray was told to return from his business trip and he called a girl from Brooklyn to be his date.”
“Exactly,” Kathy said. “And I found her in the restroom crying. Not to be catty, but she should have cried. She looked horrible! She had on a purple polyester dress with a set of rhinestone jewelry that came from the Dollar Store. Literally. And her hair! Ghastly. But Ray had given her three hours to get ready—which included buying a dress—and she’d done the best she could.”
“Why didn’t she say no?” Elise asked.
Olivia spoke before Kathy could. “I have a feeling that when Ray turns on the charm it’s almost impossible to say no to him.”
“You’re right,” Kathy said. “The first thing I did was get her out of that public restroom. I had a key to Dad’s office and I kept a box of cosmetics in his bathroom. I thought I’d take a shot at repairing her face. I couldn’t fix that dress, but I could get rid of the purple eyeshadow.”
Kathy drank more wine. “I think I should add something about that night. I thought I had a boyfriend, Larry. We’d met a couple of months before and he was so attentive that he’d almost blocked Andy out of my mind.”
“I take it Andy is the unattainable one?” Olivia said.
“The one who never looked at me. His office was near Ray’s so I hung out nearby every time I went into the city. I was hoping that Andy would notice me. But he never did.”
When Olivia glanced at Elise, Kathy understood. “Let me guess. Ray told you I was near his office because I had a crush on him.”
Elise and Olivia nodded.
Kathy gave a little laugh. “I do know my husband. Anyway, that night I was feeling great, full of love for the world, so I wanted to help the girl. She was short, so I had her sit on the bathroom counter while I fixed her face and we began to talk.”