Over. (This. Is. Not. Over. #2) (8 page)

             
“Go put some clothes on Cadence.” Patience. I must have patience right now, but it’s been a long ass night.

I know what you’re thinking; you’re thinking Red has driven me up the wall tonight.
She’s the type to mull over an issue inside of her head and then abruptly carry on her internal conversation to someone in the outside world. Then, she actually gets offended when no one knows what in the hell she’s talking about. We’ve all been there when you’re with someone and they suddenly say:
Yeah, I think we should go there.
And when you ask where, they get agitated as hell:
To Disneyland next year for Mickey’s 150
th
birthday celebration! Shit, where else
? Yeah, she’s been doing that, but that didn’t bother me. I can handle her telling me about her great-grandfather killing a bullshitter. (I’ve got a gut feeling I was supposed to correlate that story to me and I have to admit, I nearly feared being alone with her afterwards. In fact, when I went into her condo alone, I hid all the knives, just in case.) I can handle her thinking that I’m planning on killing her with the help of the Fultons. I can handle us both thinking that the other is planning murder and then being pleasantly surprised when we both walk away alive. As crazy as that shit sounds, I can handle that. I have patience with her; she’s obviously never smoked a day in her life. And trust me, she may have just made me say ‘
no
’ to drugs after that show she put on. But Cadence, someone who’s been a lawyer for nearly ten years and yet still carries on like he’s a goddamn rookie, that pisses me off. I have no patience for that shit.

             
“I know you’re mad.” Cadence says as he comes and stands in front of me, smelling like soap and smoke. He can wash the stench of fire off of his body but he hasn’t washed it out of his clothes. He’s roaming around Boston smelling like puffs of smoke. He checked into the Ritz Carlton smelling like a burning building and he stands here and claims that no one suspected anything.

“I have a news flash for you Cadence, the gentleman currently at the front desk of this hotel, the one who checked you in, has already called his wife. He’s already told her that
Attorney Cadence Blair has rented a room and that he smells like smoke.” I know this to be true; it’s too obvious not to be. It’s not the wind but the Chinese Whispers that fuel a fire. Cadence has just sparked a flame and all because he smells of smoke.

“I regret that my appearance is subpar; I didn’t have time to grab an ensemble from the closet. Stupid me, all I did was drag Laura out alive.” He rolls his eyes and starts pacing again. “From there we ran to Chestnut Street to get a cab.”

“So not only did the man at the front desk smell smoke on you, the cabbie did as well. Go on.” He closes his eyes and throws his head back.

“And then we checked in here. She hid her face the entire time.”

“Making herself obvious … I’m listening.”

“God, Malcolm! Jeez!
We showered and then I called you. I was about to track down a contact to get your name off the deed but …” He drops his head and looks at me. “I was bushed after all of that, so I drifted off to sleep.” I’m about to slap the shit out of him. “And when I woke up, she was gone.” There’s silence as I walk closer to him, stand an inch away and look him square in his eyes.

“You not changing that deed has risked Danielle’s safety.” My voice is still measured, still patient.

“I just don’t get it. What’s the big deal? So you owned the house that Laura stayed in. So what?”

“So what?” I
look back and smile at Jacob and Nat. Nat looks serious but Jake leans back, smiles and throws his hands up. “He says it’s no big deal, Jake.” I shrug. Jacob shrugs back at me.

“I mean, from what I see …”
Cadence says. Whop! I knock him right in the head. He stumbles back and then rights himself again; his breathing labored, his face red, his jaw clenched.

“Sorry,” I say to him, putting both of my hands up in a truce, “I was just trying to knock some sense into you. Did it work?” I move my head, looking into his eyes like an optometrist would, trying to see if there’s some
remnants of a brain in there. “So Cadence, this can go one of two ways. Now I’ll give you both scenarios and then afterwards, you can tell me which way you think I’ll go. Deal?” He rolls his eyes. “I’ll take that as a yes. Okay, scenario one: the media finds out that a home I owned caught on fire. The fire department then releases a statement saying that the fire did
not
appear to be accidental. The media discovers that Laura was living in that home. They make mention that I am currently separated from Laura and that I’m currently seeing Danielle. They then begin to speculate as to how and why the fire started. Get it?”

“Fuck.” He puts his head in his hands.

“And then there’s scenario two: the media finds out that a home I owned caught on fire. The fire department tells the media that the fire was not accidental. The media receives video footage, from my security cameras, of both you and Laura entering the home. They make mention of the lateness of hour and the absence of Lola. Get it?”

“But wait, how would they get the video footage?”

And then we both stare at each other. Silence. I can see his breathing growing even heavier. He has his answer. It’s either his woman or mine. And it won’t be mine.

Jacob and I
installed those security cameras right after Laura came to Hilton Head and completely showed her ass. I watched her in the rarest form that I’ve ever seen her and knew that she would cause me problems. I studied her that night and tried to predict her next move. Admittedly, I didn’t foresee this fire but like I said, I’m always nearby holding a glass of water. Jacob and I installed the security cameras ourselves without anyone knowing, including Nat. We always keep him in the loop during normal business matters but this was an exception. We didn’t want him to cave and tell Dena about them. The footage is monitored and stored in an online catalog operated by me. I’ve already seen the footage of Cadence and Laura entering her home together the night of the fire. I’ve also seen the footage of a team of three fire-starters setting the blaze. I’ve seen the footage of Cadence and Laura running out the backdoor. I’ve seen the footage of her holding on to what appeared to be a book. I was prepared for something I had no idea would happen. And now, I’m preparing for that book. Cadence just said he ran out of the house in a rush, Laura was the only thing he had time to grab. So how is it that Laura had time to grab a book? What’s so important about this book?

Rule One: Smile.

Rule Two: Control your emotions.

Rule Three: Be Nice.

Rule Four:
Be prepared
.

“I’ll fix this.” Cadence finally says as he nods, a look of determination on his face.

“
Now
you’ll fix it. When it comes to
your
livelihood, now you’ll fix it?” He’s a selfish bastard but I already knew that. For Cadence to want both his wife and her sister, who happened to be my future wife, lets you know just how selfish he really is. When he assumed that my neck was the only one on the chopping block, he ‘drifted’ off to sleep. Now that a noose is around his neck, he’s wide awake.

“And we’re still not thinking Jon started the fire?” Nat asks.

“Not his style.” I say as I begin looking between him and Jacob. “Jon’s the clever type; the house fire is too obvious. He wouldn’t fight me in public and then burn my home down the same night.” But I won’t hesitate to use him to get Red out of this. Jon has a motive now. Cops will verify that he attempted to attack his ex-wife’s boyfriend at their hotel. Jon may just be up Shit Creek if Red’s arson work was done sloppy. But in Jacob and Nat’s mind, the exclusion of Jon only leaves one other person with a motive. Lola. Jacob, Nat and my head all drift towards Cadence.

“I already know.” Cadence says, defeat in his voice. “I know
she
had something to do with that fire.”

Cadence, for the first time in a while, is right about something. Lola is guilty. No, she didn’t light the match, no, she didn’t hire the fire-starters, but she was the first domino in a long chain of incidences that lead to this fire. Lola did have something to do with that fire. But then again, maybe Laura’s the one to blame. If she hadn’t of had an affair with Cadence, this never would have happened. But … when I think about it, maybe that fire was my fault. Laura seemed normal in the beginning of our relationship and gradually her mind began to deteriorate. Was this corrosion my fault or did she always have the propensity for decay inside
of her? I don’t know. I think about that often. Did I turn Laura into a feebleminded victim?

Damn, is this fire
my
fault?

“I need to head out to check on Danielle.” I say before turning around to leave. Hopefully she’s sleeping her high off but chances are she’s dumping an entire bag of potato chips in her mouth as we speak. “But Jacob,” I turn back around to face him, “let me talk to you privately.” He nods and stands to meet me. “No offence Nat,” I say as I see a look of annoyance on his face, “but I think it’s best if you don’t handle this one. You know, with Dena and … the conflict of interests.” Nat nods and then turns away to look out of
a window. He’s hurt. Ah, he’ll be okay. Jacob walks over to me and I nod for us to leave the hotel suite. I plan on telling him the full story because I need help with this and let’s just say that Jacob will get a job done, no matter what. Nat’s a good guy. Jake’s a bad one. You can’t have one without the other; both men are my right hands. “Let’s use our phones for business unrelated to this fire only. If we need to speak about the fire, we'll speak about it in person. Absolutely no discussion about Laura and that fire over cell phones or landlines.” Everyone nods. “Let’s all plan on meeting for lunch tomorrow, bring your wives. Be mindful of cameras and the media. Smile, joke, laugh, look happy … you know the routine.” I pat Jacob on the back and we both turn to leave.

“Lola’s been blowing up my phone for the past hour.” Cadence says from behind Jacob and me. “She’s been texting me about the fire, saying that her mother is nervous because no one
can find Laura.” I stop walking and turn around to Nat.

“That reminds me, Nat, turn Lola’s phone off and freeze her accounts.” Lola’s on restriction from everything and everyone, especially Red, until we can clean this up.

“Alright.” Nat mutters while still looking out of a window. I guess I should say a word of encouragement here.

“Oh and thanks for calling in that favor on Red’s passport.”

“Yeah.” He mutters again.

“
Nat–”

“Conflict of interest
s, I know.”

“I’m just going to tell Lola that I was asleep and didn’t hear the phone go off.” Cadence says, like someone actually cares.

“Where does she think you are?” I ask as a courtesy while I turn around to head out with Jacob.

“Houston, of course.”

“And she’s been calling you nonstop for the past hour?”

“Yeah.”

“Cadence, call your wife.” He really is a dumb shit. “She’s worried about you.”

“Why?”

“She wants to know if you survived the fire.”

Laura

4:55 a.m.

Dear Diary,

I’m at the Starbucks on Tremont St., waiting for the bank to open. If you’re wondering why I’m here it’s due to the following reasons:

1. Cadence is a pussy.
   
2. I refuse to go to my parents for any kind of help whatsoever.
   
3. Dena is out of town.
   
4. All I have is $43 bucks in my pocket. I figured that was enough to buy me a small coffee from Starbucks. You never know with them these days.
   

If you’re wondering what happened to me earlier this evening, I’ll tell you: Lola has burned me out of my home. But I’m not as shocked as you probably think I am; I’m used to her trying to bug me. She’s ‘borrowed’ and never returned dresses, makeup, and even IDs to get into 21 and over clubs. That last one was a doozy for me; I was pulled over while driving one day and had no license to present to the officer. I received a DUI
and
a fine for driving without a license. If it wasn’t for her, I would have just gotten the DUI. She’s a rotten person. Now, most recently, she burns down my home. I think she may have taken things to an entirely different level, don’t you? I’ve come to the conclusion that my sister is trying to kill me and Cadence is obviously too weak to thwart her efforts. This would have never happened with Malcolm, he would have been ahead of the game. He would have never allowed my home to burn down.