The Forgotten Child (25 page)

Byrd stood up and fingered out a few bills, dumping them on the counter. “I got it, I’ll get him home.” The bartender held up the flat of his hand and walked away.

“
What, no way! I ain’t drunk enough. And I plan on getting a hell of a lot drunker.”

Byrd patted his shoulder, “Come on friend, I got a bottle of whiskey with your name on it.”

“
Yah.” That got his attention. But he swayed when he stood, so Byrd helped him out to his car, and hoped to hell the kid didn’t get sick.

* * * *

He was late the next morning, but he was shorthanded with Cliff gone. Keith was speaking with an older balding guy he introduced as Byrd when he hurried in Keith’s office.

“
So what do you have?”

Keith extended his hand to Byrd. “Byrd, fill Brad in.”

“
Well your friend was pretty drunk by the time I found him. I checked him into a cheap motel by the ocean, he puked in my car by the way. You owe me for the cleaning.”

“
Okay.” Brad shrugged. “What else?”

“
That kid was twisted so tight around your wife’s finger, I kind of feel sorry for him. He started working for you ten years ago, apparently him and Crystal were friends before that. She got him the job with you.” Byrd had the most crooked teeth Brad had ever seen.

“
I guess that’s right. I think he kind of puppy dogged after her through school.”

“
Yah well, apparently while he worked for you, Crystal used him as her friendly ear. Whenever she needed someone to back up her side of a story, she went to him. He’d been in love with her for years, fantasizing one day she’d leave you and come looking for him. After she left, she’d call him every month or so to talk. He told Crystal when Emily moved in. He said after that, she phoned every day. And it was then she told him you threw her out, but she was too ashamed to tell him. Told him she was terrified of you and your temper, and you gave her no choice and at the time, she didn’t believe she legally had any rights. She told him how worried she was about her little boy. Cliff said he had wanted to confront you. But she played the terrified, scared-helpless-female-card, and you would hurt her.

He believed her. So he searched your office when you and Emily were in town. He’d called Crystal from your office and she told him what papers to dig out. Your business records, land proposals, development permits, bank records and what kind of income you’re pulling in.

But when he saw Emily in your arms one night on the porch, with your lips locked together, he phoned Crystal and told her. And that’s when she came home.”

****

Brad drove through town and down the highway. It was pure coincidence that had Brad pulling in the Oceanview Motel. He paid the desk clerk a hundred dollars to give up Cliff’s room number. Of course, it was listed under Byrd. He pounded on the dingy blue door. “Cliff, its Brad, I need to talk to you, open up.”

Glass and bottles rattled and clanked on the other side of the door. It cracked open enough for Brad to wince from the pungent raunchy odor of day old booze seeping from the pores of a drunk. Cliff slunk back to bed and held his head his hands “You got one hell of a hangover by the looks of things.”

He whispered roughly, “Look Brad, I’m done. Just go away and leave me alone.”

“
I want to apologize.”

Cliff bolted into the bathroom. Brad closed the outside door and listened to the putrid retching and gagging as the poor guy vomited into the toilet. The odor seeped into the room when Cliff reappeared, the stale alcohol and the bitter rotgut lingering in the sweat that glazed Cliff’s damp shirt and face. He shuffled like an old man to the bed. Brad cracked open a window.

“
Rough night?”

“
Yah.” He didn’t bother to look up. Just held his head as he sat slouched on the bed.

“
Do you want your job back?”

He looked up and winced at the effort. “What? Now why would you give me my job back after what I did?”

“
Look, Cliff. Let me ask you something and give me an honest answer. She still got you fooled?”

His bloodshot eyes narrowed. “She’s conniving and she threw me to the wolves. Let me ask you this, did you throw her out after the baby?”

“
Cliff, you were there. You really got to ask? She disappeared. Don’t you remember the day Mary came, and she’d left Trevor alone for hours. She just took off.”

He clasped his hands in front of him while he looked at Brad. His head hung. “I guess I do.”

“
She lied to you, didn’t she?”

“
Yah, she did. More than you know.”

Brad didn’t know what gave him more enjoyment, hearing that or watching Crystal spark in a fit of rage when she saw Cliff in his beat up truck driving in.

Cliff cleaned up before dinner and he stumbled behind Mac when he walked in. Crystal stiffened and paled. After Cliff and Mac left, Crystal cornered Brad at the back door.

“
What the hell is that man doing back here?”

“
I rehired him. In fact, he’s now my foreman.”

“
After what he did, you’d bring him back. He’ll steal from you; he ransacked your personal records for God’s sake.”

“
How’d you know he went through my records?” She looked away.

She was starting to slip, too many lies to keep track of. “Well you must have told me, or maybe it was him.”

“
Mmm, mmm, I never told you. And Crystal, don’t even think about going out to him and starting trouble. You stay away from him.”

She tossed her long mane over her shoulder, flicked back a stray hair with her long painted nail and then stormed through the kitchen.

Brad tied his boots, when he heard the front door slam and her SUV speed down the driveway. Brad laughed. “Scored.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Brad was on his second cup of coffee when the phone rang. “Brad here.”

“
Hey, it’s Keith. We got us a court date for next Tuesday. The judge has finally agreed to expedite for the benefit of Trevor. Oh, and I got a really friendly call as soon as I walked in the office this morning from Crystal’s lawyer. He’s furious and has filed a motion to delay this hearing.”

“
Can he get it?” Brad stepped out of the house to make sure Crystal couldn’t hear him.

“
I’ll do my best to make sure he doesn’t. And I wanted to let you know, I’ve got several affidavits about Crystal and the defaming comments she’s made around town against Emily. Along with Cliff’s statement, and thank you for that, her story is beginning to appear shaky.”

“
Well, you’re the best. That’s why I hired you.” He could hear tapping in the background.

“
Brad, could you come to the office right now.” Keith’s tone took on a seriousness Brad recognized well.

“
What’s going on, Keith? I’ve got cattle to feed, a ranch to run.” But his stomach tightened a little more when he heard the sigh on the other end.

“
Get your men to look after the ranch. You need to come in. This can’t wait.”

Brad stared up at the house as he walked around in the chilly air to the front. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

* * * *

Brad was waved into Keith’s office. The secretary pulled the door closed behind him. Keith smiled but not in a confident way. It was his way when he had to say something to someone he didn’t want to.

“
Spill it, Keith, you’re making me nervous with all this prancing around.”

“
Crystal’s lawyer has thrown a monkey wrench into the middle of things.”

Brad leaned back in the plain brown chair. “And what would that be?”

Keith leaned forward and clasped his hands on the desk in front of him. His eyes dimmed. “Crystal’s claiming Trevor’s not yours. The father is some guy she met in Miami.” The room narrowed and Keith appeared to be talking in slow motion. The ringing in his ears buzzed long and loud as the ache in his heart swelled until he’d swear, it’d shatter into a million tiny pieces. He launched himself out of the chair “I’ll kill her. I swear to God, she’s dead!” Keith jumped out of his chair pinned him against the wall.

“
Shut up, Brad. Listen to me.” If Keith hadn’t kept himself in such good shape, there’d be no way he’d be able to keep Brad in that room. Even so, Keith was sweating as he forced Brad back in his chair.

“
Brad, get a hold of yourself.” He stood over Brad, breathing hard as he held his arms loosely at his side, obviously prepared to grab Brad if bolted again.

“
We’ll order a paternity test today. Brad, I got to warn you, if it turns out he’s not yours, it’ll make the custody battle a little tougher. Not impossible, don’t forget on the birth certificate, she named you as the father. You still want him if he’s not yours?”

Brad shoved Keith as he jumped out of the chair. “God dammit, he’s my boy. I don’t care what comes back, that’s my little boy. Do you hear me?” The pain consuming him thickened his words.

Keith reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Hey, I’m on your side. I’ll make the arrangements to confirm paternity, but heed me well, Brad. Until this is over, move out. Unless you can guarantee you can cool that temper of yours and not do anything stupid; you stay away from her. Pack your bags and move out. Move to one of those cottages on your property. And you make sure you’re never alone with her. I don’t care how, but you find a way. We’re too close, this is the final battle, my friend. Don’t blow it.”

Brad listened but he wanted her gone, whatever it took. Crystal knew exactly what buttons to push. The more Keith talked the less he heard. “I can’t stay here. I need to clear my head.”

“
You promise me, Brad, before you walk out that door, that you’ll pull it together and not do anything stupid.”

He knew what Keith was saying and he didn’t know if he could do it. “I’ll try Keith, that’s all you’re going to get.” Then he left feeling numb.

He didn’t know how long he sat in his truck, or how he got here. But he climbed out of the truck and she was there, her hands in the dirt with Katy beside her.

Chapter Forty-Three

Emily froze just looking at the sadness that hunched him over when he leaned against the truck. Emily went to him. She took his hand. She led him to the house. “Katy, time to come in the house.”

She let go of Brad’s hand and watched as he walked, like a man who’d lost everything, into the kitchen and stood before the sink, staring out her small square window.

Emily popped in a movie for Katy, tucking her blanket around her on the sofa. She grabbed the phone.

“
Hey sugar, what’s cooking.” She answered on the first ring.

“
Gina, something’s happened. I need a big favor. Can you come and get Katy?”

“
Can you talk about it?”

“
Not now, Gina. I realize this is short notice … and I promise I’ll tell you later.”

“
I’ll be right there.”

Emily hung up the telephone. She came up behind Brad and slipped her arm around his waist. “Gina’s coming to get Katy. Brad, you’re scaring me. What’s happened?”

He turned around and stared down at her with a face that resembled granite. He didn’t touch her. His arms hung at his side, as he gazed down, his eyes glistened with tears. He touched her face, right before his jaw trembled.

She wiped away the tear that fell just as a car pulled up. “Gina’s here. I’m going to throw some stuff in a bag for Katy so she can spend the night, I’ll be right back.”

Emily had a quick chat with Gina, packed Katy’s bag and had her out the door in less than five minutes. When she walked back into the kitchen, Brad had put on a pot of coffee. His jacket tossed over the back of her cheap wooden chair. He’d regained his dignity.

She took his hand and pulled him into the living room, sitting beside him on the sofa. “What’s happened?”

He looked away for just a moment. “Crystal said Trevor’s not my kid.”

Emily felt the fire burn inside, and for the first time ever, she considered and understood how a spouse could kill another.

“
Emily, I haven’t told Keith this, but Crystal went away several times that year, before she knew she was pregnant. Shopping trips she called them.”

Emily was furious and couldn’t contain the words that spewed forth, “Oh, that bitch. Oh, Brad how could she do that to you and that precious little boy?”

Brad pulled her against him. Wrapped his arms around her and comforted her. “Do you know how beautiful you are to me, especially when you’re angry?”

He kissed the top of her head, as she rested her cheek against his dark blue shirt. “What are we going to do?”

Just the fact that she automatically assumed it was the two of them in this made the pain lessen a little.

They talked for hours trying to come up with a viable plan of attack. It was after nine o’clock and neither had eaten. He pulled away from her and stood up. “I have to go, Em.”

“
Brad, please stay.”

“
I can’t, not tonight. I got to get my head together and I can’t do it here.”