Текст книги "Equal Access"
Автор книги: A. E. Branson
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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Chapter Twenty-One
Ordinary people may settle for the appearance of truth more often than truth itself.
–Rene Descartes
Hoping he was wrong, Shad dove into confirming Victor Phillips’s identity and to his horror discovered he was right. He looked at the time and debated whether anybody would be up this early at either Monica’s or Eliot’s home.
If Shad remembered correctly, Vic would sleep at his apartment in the mornings after getting off work at the hospital. He didn’t get to Monica’s until late morning, in time to help prepare lunch.
How would Vic fit into a molester’s profile? Did he actually have a preference for children? Or, more worrisome, was Vic a situational offender? He might take advantage of a helpless adult just as easily. That would make Monica a target as well. And then there were those patients at the hospital Vic would have access to.
Shad could have crawled out of his own skin as he thought about Dulsie being in the hospital. No, no ... Karl and Jill were keeping a tag team vigil on her. Besides, she was probably too alert for someone who wanted to keep his activity hidden. Dulsie should be all right.
Dulsie had to be all right.
Shad looked at the clock again and noticed it still wasn’t long after six o’clock. He couldn’t stand it any longer. With his cell phone Shad called the number to Eliot’s house.
It was Tess who answered, and she definitely sounded like Shad had roused her from bed. “Hello?”
“Tess? This is Shad Delaney, Monica’s attorney. Listen, I’m sorry to be calling so early, but I really need to talk to Eliot. Is he available?”
“Eliot? No. No, he got called out for a calving complication or something like that.”
Of all the.... Even Shad knew he couldn’t tell Vic’s sister what he had just discovered. There could be a variety of reasons why she wouldn’t take the news very well. Shad did make a mental note to tell his child one day never to marry a veterinarian.
“All right. Okay.” His mind raced for a solution. “I’ll try his cell phone. But in case I have trouble reaching him, would you still give him the message to call me?”
“Is there something I can help you with?”
“No, no, except – why don’t you call Vic and tell him he doesn’t need to go to Monica’s today? I’m gonna be there later. And there’s something I need Eliot’s help with, so Vic doesn’t need to go there. You got that?”
“Well ... yeah.”
“Thanks, Tess. Thanks a whole lot. And I’m sorry again if I got you up.”
Shad did try Eliot’s cell phone number after he got off with Tess, but as he suspected Shad had to leave a message with voice mail. If Eliot had an armful of newborn calf slime right now it might be a little while before he returned Shad’s call.
He took a deep, cleansing breath, and Shad returned his attention to his original purpose for being here. After freshening up in the bathroom and making sure everything was packed back up to leave, Shad made a call to Wally’s home. Luck finally favored him when the person Shad was trying to reach actually picked up at the other end.
“Hello?”
“Good morning, Wally,” Shad responded casually. “This is Shad Delaney. Remember me?”
A couple of seconds passed before Wally replied. “Oh. It’s ... a surprise to hear from you.”
“I bet it is. You and I need to talk. Now. But not over the phone. I’ve got a place for us to meet.”
Even though Dulsie had clearance to leave the hospital Dad said it would probably be an hour before somebody showed up with a wheelchair. Dulsie tried to dismiss the need for such an apparatus, but Dad convinced her to wait. Mom wasn’t there that morning, and Dad said she’d have his hide skinned off and tacked to the back wall of the workshop before dinner if he let Dulsie walk out of there.
What wasn’t quite right about this scenario was that Shad wasn’t there to take her home, and right now “home” was returning to her parents’ house. As Dulsie sat up in bed while Dad sat in a chair beside her, she remembered when Shad walked into this room a couple of days ago. To her chagrin, the very first word that flashed through Dulsie’s mind when she saw him enter was pedophile. When Shad stroked her cheek Dulsie wanted to recoil. And yet she couldn’t deny still feeling some sense of obligation to him.
Dad leaned back in the chair and stretched his legs out. “You know, I’ve been thinking. And I think I’ve been doing you and Shad a disservice.”
His words were a bit of a jolt to her. “How so?”
“I should’ve told you more about your grandparents. What happened between them and me. I always kinda figured I’d need to someday, and I think I waited too long.”
Dulsie frowned slightly as she studied him. “What did I need to know before now?”
“There are different reasons for keeping silence. I don’t want to tell you a whole lot about your grandpa’s bad points because I wanted to keep the door open. I wanted forgiveness to have a chance. Actually, your mom’s the one who told me to give forgiveness a chance, so I didn’t want to ... turn you against your grandpa if he ever wanted to reestablish a relationship. Even now, if we have to wait until he’s on his deathbed, we have to give forgiveness a chance.”
Dulsie was still a little puzzled why Dad felt the need to share this revelation now. “Are you saying ... I need to forgive Shad?”
“That’s a good idea, but no, that’s not what I’m saying. Where this becomes a disservice to Shad, though, is I think I unwittingly encouraged him to keep his own silence. Maybe if I’d talked more about your grandpa he would have been more willing to open up about his own past. Maybe the two of you wouldn’t have had this bomb go off between you.”
“We knew Grandpa would beat you.”
“But I didn’t talk about it.” Dad crossed his arms behind his head, stretched, and then clasped his hands in front of his chest. “I think it’s ingrained in the male noggin to be quiet about those touchy-feely things. Pax, God love him, is better at it than most of us, but he had a happy childhood. He just couldn’t connect with Shad on that level. Sympathy is one thing but empathy will give you a lot more mileage. I did try a little bit, I did. From my own lips Shad heard about how my dad lashed a coiled rope across my shoulders, and a few other things like that. But I was also afraid if I said too much I’d just add to the boy’s trauma.” Dad looked at her. “It’s very easy to come up with reasons to support why you shouldn’t do something you don’t really want to do.”
“I know.” Dulsie was well aware of her own situation.
“And that’s how secrets get kept. Secrets are very powerful.” Dad’s gaze seemed to drift back to the wall across from him. “My father didn’t hit Mom or my sisters, but he could still be very intimidating. But Mom didn’t want his secret to get out. They were upstanding members of the church and unfortunately appearances were more important to her than truth. And she was also generous to a fault, wanting to keep his public persona safe. When I was around twelve I did go to a priest about what was going on in my family, but unfortunately he was a product of his time. For one thing he didn’t believe me, and he said even if it were true it was just the cross we had to bear and depend on God to help us work through it. Needless to say, on my eighteenth birthday I was outta there, and my drift from what heritage I had with them got sealed when I met your mom.”
Dad redirected his attention to her. “My father’s a control freak. I still don’t have contact even with my sisters because of the mind games he keeps playing with them, telling everybody how I’m the black sheep of the family. And as much as it hurt my mom’s heart, I had to break contact with my family. That way nobody will blame them, and especially not him. And to protect my own family I had to keep you all away from him. So he keeps the world revolving around him, and his secret is safe.”
Dulsie’s thoughts turned to the day of Grandma’s funeral. How Grandpa scrutinized her, and she became uneasy enough to step behind Shad....
“But you did get together with Grandma.” Her gaze locked on Dad’s. “I have a few vague memories of having visits with her.”
“You remember that?” Dad smiled a little, but then he shrugged and shook his head. “For a few weeks I got to talk with Mom again. You weren’t even five years old. We had a chance meeting at the grocery store and you happened to be with me.” He smiled again. “You were the perfect bait. Your grandma was happy to see me, but she was absolutely tickled to see you. We did start trying to find ways to get together, and she finally met your mom and your brothers.” Dad’s smile vanished as he sighed again. “But then my father found out, and that ended that. But I’ll always be grateful to God we at least had those few weeks. Mom and I were able to ... get some closure. If she’d died without us having that, I think I would’ve been more devastated.”
How strange that Dad would draw a parallel so close to what Dulsie was going through now. She could easily believe he didn’t feel love for his father, and yet love was the only reason that could explain his willingness to give Grandpa the chance to apologize and accept that apology with grace. Right now Dulsie felt no warmth toward Shad, yet love made her determined to guard his secret. Shad wanted to make amends, and Dulsie knew that was what she should do, but it was proving to be quite difficult. This was so personal.
A nurse suddenly arrived with a wheelchair, and Dulsie wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed that her current chat with Dad would have to be interrupted. She only knew this struggle wasn’t going to end soon, and Lord only knew what Shad was up to now.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is over self.
–Aristotle
Wally arrived at the hotel lobby wearing brown slacks and a striped polo shirt that wasn’t tucked in. He sat at the table across from Shad in the corner of the dining area where the hotel offered a complimentary continental breakfast to their guests. There were only a half dozen tables in the room, and four were occupied even though this was a Friday morning.
Shad had already eaten a bagel and finished sipping his cup of orange juice as Wally sat down.
“I’m glad you agreed to come,” Shad stated matter-of-factly as he set the cup back on the table. “You’re doing yourself a favor.”
Wally frowned and glanced around the room. “I expected something a little more private.”
“You would’ve liked something a little more private. I really don’t believe you have it in you to finish the job yourself, but obviously I have a whole new reason to not want to be alone with you.”
Wally’s gaze locked on his face. “Now what are you going on about?”
Shad couldn’t resist smirking. “I hope you’re not dedicated to playing that role to the bitter end, or else it will be bitter. Your secret’s out, Wally, or it will be very soon. You see, your little plan to keep me silent has sorta rebounded on you. I wasn’t home the night your hired gun showed up, so he missed me entirely and shot my wife instead.”
As Shad spoke those last few words he was inundated with the urge to hurl the table over and grab Wally by the throat before pounding his head into the drywall. But this public setting was as much to help Shad maintain control as it was for his safety. The lines in Wally’s brow furrowed even deeper.
“Sorry about your wife, but I don’t have any idea what –”
“Shove it. I’ve already had an interesting conversation with the sheriff. You see, the spouse is always the prime suspect in this sort of scenario. Naturally they wanted to search everything I have, even my computer. But my computer is the one thing I didn’t let them search, which naturally raised their interest in it so they’ve obtained a search warrant by now to seize it. So yesterday I skipped town, which naturally will make them even more interested in catching up to me. And I came here, Wally, so I could be closer to you.”
Wally kept a pretty good poker face, but Shad was certain that wouldn’t last much longer.
Shad continued. “I figured since they’re gonna search my computer anyway, I might as well give them something to look at. So last night I hacked into your computer, and I found files and internet data which I saved and backed up all for the benefit of the police. The twist here is that the evidence I obtained illegally will be discovered by them in a legal manner, and they’ll be very interested in talking to you – especially after I’ve sang like a canary about our recent history.”
Wally visibly swallowed and glanced around the room before he spoke. “You can’t threaten me. This is all a bluff.”
“I never bluff.”
“You’ve got to be. I keep all the security on my computer updated. You couldn’t hack in there in one night.”
“Well yeah, you’re right.” Shad smiled even as he envisioned landing a good right punch on Wally’s nose. “But you seem to have forgotten I’ve had several days to set up for my invasion last night. How else would I find out about your little organization? Part of the beauty of this scenario is that all your cronies with the children’s rights advocacy group will go down as well. Many children across the state will finally be safe.” He locked his gaze with Wally’s. “Especially Tyler.”
Wally actually looked worried enough for Shad to notice it. “Then why are we having this meeting? Why are you letting me in on your plan?”
Shad continued to smile. He hadn’t expected to actually experience some enjoyment from this conversation. Maybe this was what it had been like for Quaid as he conned swindlers on his stream boat voyages. “Because it’s one thing to sacrifice myself and another to take a flying leap into the lions’ den. You just heard plan A, the one with the bitter end where you wind up in prison because I see to it the prosecuting attorney slams you with maximum everything. And I’m sure you’ve heard the stories about what the other prisoners do to child molesters.
“But I’m giving you the option to choose plan B. You turn yourself in for attempted murder. And beg to go into psychotherapy. And I’ll not only keep the prosecuting attorney on a leash, I’ll help you to secure the very finest counsel money can buy. You can get a lighter sentence, maybe get to spend time protected in a psyche ward. Then you can get out and basically be left alone as long as you don’t try to live too close to school yards.”
Wally studied him for a few seconds before replying. “I’d rather take plan C.”
Shad anticipated this. “Illuminate me.”
“Turning myself in won’t get you off the hook. I’ll tell them about your hacking. I’ll take you down with me.”
Shad smiled. “Remember the sheriff’s warrant? I’ve already figured I’ll be disbarred before this is all over with. But I’ve come to appreciate that I’m a man of many talents. I’ll just get myself a less stressful job and move on with my life while in the meantime yours just rots.”
“I can even get creative with what I tell the police about you.” Wally looked determined. “Once they know about our distant history it’ll be a cinch to insinuate there’s even more they’ll need to investigate you for. Going after youth-lovers is like a witch hunt in this country. Think about what your family will go through.”
Wally did have some ammunition there, and Shad flinched inwardly for a second. But he thought of Dulsie on the hospital bed and remembered he was here to atone for that.
“You don’t get it, do you? I don’t care what happens to me. And you’ve already done the worst you can to my family.” Shad’s urge to simply knock the table over on top of Wally and begin a stomp dance was getting harder to keep reined in. His voice started to get gruffer. “I’m already a man with nothing to lose. If you try to screw with me anymore I’ll rip your head off in front of a mirror so you can watch me do it.”
“Are you threatening me?” Wally’s own tone was serious.
“Freedom of speech, baby. Now which is it gonna be? Do I hold your hand down to the police station or do I get to start tenderizing your face with my fists so that the police come here?”
Wally’s eyes widened slightly. “You wouldn’t.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Don’t forget I learned from the masters.”
“You’ll be the one hauled in by the police if you assault me.”
“Did you forget the police are already looking for me and my computer?” Shad leaned forward. “I promise I’ll try to give you such a thrashing you’ll need to go to the hospital, which will make it harder for you to make a run for it. And even if you do, you’ll be forever looking over your shoulder because you’ll finally be on their radar. And I’ll never give up looking for you. I’ve found you once, Wally. I’ll find you again.”
Wally regarded him for a while, then drew a deep breath and lowered his head into his hands so that his fingers raked through his hair.
“You really don’t give me any choice, do you?” Wally muttered to the table top before he looked back up at Shad. “Then we’ll go to the police station. But be assured –”
“Squeal all you want. You’d disappoint them if you didn’t. In the meantime I’ll arrange our transportation.”
With his hands still clasped to the sides of his head, Wally stared almost blankly at Shad while the younger man pulled his cell phone from his shorts pocket. While still keeping one eye on Wally, Shad noticed that Eliot had returned his call, but because Shad put the phone on silent to keep his conversation with Wally uninterrupted, his necessary conversation with Eliot was going to have to wait a little longer. Shad called the cab company while maintaining a close watch on Wally. When Shad was done arranging to have a taxi pick them up, Wally lowered his hands to the table.
“Can I at least get something to drink while we wait?”
Shad immediately suspected his motivation and almost snapped back “No.” But his desire to wring Wally’s neck convinced Shad to respond otherwise. “I’ll go with you.”
He followed Wally very closely as the man ambled to the counter and approached the coffee pot. As Shad watched him pour a cup of the steaming beverage his wariness and readiness increased.
Fascinating, he felt so alive at this moment. All of Shad’s senses were on high alert, and he believed he could dodge an airborne stream of scalding coffee while simultaneously tackling Wally to pummel any more such notions right out of his head. Was this the kind of power trip that made the cycle of abuse so addictive to those who joined sub-humanity? Was his brain experiencing the same neurochemical wash that created people who became predators? It was an alluring sensation, tantalizing, and Shad knew he could grow to like it even as a small voice in his conscience whispered caution.
Wally half-turned and his gaze met Shad’s. In that couple of seconds Shad actually believed he saw a flicker of fright in the man’s eyes before he looked away and shuffled back to the table. Almost disappointed, Shad tailed him back, and as he did so realized how aware of the room he was. The family with a couple of chatty school-age kids seemed unaware of them, but the elderly couple at another table and the three young women at the last table would occasionally cast a furtive glance their way.
Shad watched Wally silently sip his coffee, and part of Shad wished Wally would try something. That other dark demon that had been lurking within him all these years, the one he always knew was there, raged against being so close to freedom and yet still held in restraint. Surely Wally would try to escape. This was too easy.
The taxi finally arrived and again Shad was disappointed when Wally left his unfinished cup of coffee on the table as they rose to leave. He slung both the laptop carrier and satchel over his left shoulder and continued to shadow Wally. The hotel lobby was quite empty as they walked to the doors. Not even the clerk was behind the counter. Shad told Wally to open the glass door and keep walking to the cab. Wally pushed the door open and stepped outside with Shad right behind him.
Wally suddenly spun back. Shad tensed in the split second it took Wally to drive his elbow into Shad’s stomach.
