Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (8 page)

She’d told him she didn’t care if it was
messy. She didn’t care if it was small. She just wanted to be safe
and warm. Seth had given her a long look and turned off Colorado
Boulevard onto Montview. He parked his car in front of one of those
huge mansions that had been split up into apartments. She was so
exhausted she didn’t bother to look around. He’d led her up the
stairs to his bedroom. He’d gently undressed her and tucked her in.
She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

She reached out for Seth but he wasn’t
there. Sitting up in bed, she saw that he hadn’t slept in the bed.
In the dim morning light, she looked around the large room. She was
lying in an antique four poster bed. The room was spotless and
beautiful. Large antique mullioned windows were framed in dark oak.
The wood floors were covered with antique Turkish rugs. She picked
up her clothing to put it on and realized it was filthy. Spotting a
door, she went to use the large bathroom. She slipped on the white
bathrobe hanging on the door and went to find Seth. He couldn’t be
far in this small apartment.

She opened the door to the bedroom and
gawked.

This wasn’t an apartment.

She shrugged. She didn’t care if he rented a
room here. Careful not to wake the other residents, she slipped
down the wide oak staircase and down to the main level. Her feet
padded on the shining oak floors. She followed the sound of the
piano until she found carved double hung sliding doors. She pressed
her head against the door. A cell phone rang.

“
O’Malley,” Seth’s
gravelly voice came through the doors.

She opened the sliding doors to find an open
drawing room. The morning light was just beginning to filter in
through the sheer curtains. Delicate Queen Anne antique furniture
was grouped in sitting arrangements around the large room. The
focal point of the room was a Grand Piano. Seth sat on the piano
bench. Hearing her, he finished his conversation and looked up. He
smiled.

“
Did I wake you?” he
asked.

She shook her head.

“
What is this place?” she
asked.

“
My home,” he said. “You
wanted to see it.”

“
The whole
thing?”

“
The whole
thing.”

“
But…” she
started.

“
How can I afford all of
this on a cop’s salary?” Seth returned to playing the piano. “It’s
amazing how much money a cop can make by pulling the right strings
and losing the right evidence for the right people.”

Gaping, Ava stood in the middle of the room.
Seth continued playing. When he looked up at Ava’s shocked face, he
laughed. He played and laughed until she turned to leave the
room.

“
I inherited
it.”

He raised a shoulder in a shrug. Unsure of
what to do, she sat down next to him on the bench.

“
Seriously?” she
asked.

“
Serious as a dirge,” he
said.

“
What are you playing?”
she asked. “I feel like I’ve heard it before but…”

“
You might have,” he said.
“It’s something I wrote when I was a kid. After last night, I
needed something comfortable and familiar.”

He continued to play through her stunned
silence.

“
The Colorado Symphony
plays this concerto in their Colorado composer series. It’s been in
a couple movies. You know those preachy, too-serious documentaries?
My work is popular with the independent film makers.”

Ava’s surprise kept her silent. He continued
playing.

“
My mother used to say
that I was born playing the piano. I’m glad she missed the time I
stopped playing when I was high all the time. It would have killed
her. I still write music but mostly because I have to.”

“
Have to?” Ava
asked.

“
That’s how it feels,”
Seth said. “The piano is one of the gifts of sobriety. I love to
play. I think it’s the only time I’m truly at peace with myself. I
write music when I’m working on a big case.”

“
But…” she
started.

“
What?” he stopped playing
to look at her.

Embarrassed, she didn’t say anything
else.

“
You thought I lived in
some junked out house filled with take-out containers and trash.
Cop’s lifestyle.” He leaned forward to kiss her nose. “I might have
but Maresol, my housekeeper, hates messes. She runs this house like
a well oiled machine. She’ll be here in a little more than an hour.
Would you like some breakfast? She makes the most amazing pancakes.
If we ask nicely, she’ll even make donuts.”

Seth fingers moved across the keyboard in
the quick and lively Mozart Concerto 11.

“
How many people know
about this?”

“
About what?” Seth asked.
“The house? Or the music?”

“
Any… All…”

“
Not many,” Seth said.
“It’s not a secret. I just don’t bring people home.”

“
Why?” Ava
asked.

“
Too much to explain,” he
said. “It’s still your choice. What would you like?”

“
We have an hour?” she
asked.

Ava raised her eyebrows. Without saying
another word, he took her hand and led her to his bedroom.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY-SEVEN

What exactly

Monday mid-day — 12:20 P.M.

Valerie jogged through the quiet Lipson
construction office. The leather over-the-shoulder briefcase she
was carrying banged into her leg when she stopped short at Sam’s
office door. She knocked.

“
It’s about time,” a man’s
voice came from inside.

Sam opened the door. He rolled his eyes and
stepped back to let her in to the office. She smiled at Aden and
gave the two angry men sitting across from Aden her movie star
smile.

“
Sorry I’m late,” Valerie
said. “I had to get what you asked for.”

She sat down next to Aden.

“
How’s Sandy?” Valerie
asked. “Rachel?”

One of the angry men cleared his throat.
Aden nodded in response to Valerie’s question.

“
Ms. Lipson, this is a
serious matter,” one of the men said. “We’d appreciate it if you’d
take it seriously.”

“
Hmm,” Valerie
said.

She began unpacking her bag. She pulled out
a netbook and a DVD. She turned on the netbook and clicked through
to YouTube. She also took out a bag of chocolate chip cookies. She
gave the bag to Aden.

“
Delphie gave me these for
you,” Valerie said.

“
Can we get past the
women’s coffee klatch?” the other man said.

“
Now, now,” Sam sat down
in a chair next to Valerie. “You wanted a meeting with Aden and
Valerie. Even though my son is sick and the company is closed,
we’re all here. You don’t need to be rude.”

“
RUDE?” the first man
asked. “Your daughter creates a video to mock our children,
humiliate us, and you call us RUDE?”

“
Okay,” Sam sighed. “Let’s
run the video. Valerie?”

Valerie leaned forward to turn on the video.
Unfamiliar with YouTube, she wrinkled her nose. Aden leaned over
her and clicked the play button. She smiled her thanks.

The video opened with an animated picture of
a clothing store. Three adorable cartoon pigs with little girl
heads came into view. The first little girl pig began to snort. The
second one joined the chorus of snorting. When the third joined in,
they began to snort to the tune of James Taylor’s classic pig song,
‘Mona’.

Aden had to cover his mouth to keep from
laughing. Sam cleared his throat but his dancing eyes told another
story.

“
You will answer for
this,” the first angry man said. “My daughter hasn’t left her
bedroom in two days.”

“
The video has gone
viral!” the second man said. “Everyone has seen it! It was on
Channel 9 news! We went out for dinner as a family last night and
people snorted at us!”

“
You’re exaggerating. Only
a million people have seen it so far. That’s not everyone,” Valerie
said. Her face was placid. “I should post it to my Facebook
page.”

“
You have no right to do
this,” the second angry man said.

“
Valerie, you were going
to bring the original,” Sam said. “I haven’t seen it.”

Valerie held up the DVD. Aden stuck it into
the drive on the netbook. The scene from the clothing store
unfolded. The horrible blonde girls followed Noelle around the room
snorting at her. The camera shifted to their mothers. The smirk on
the mothers’ faces spoke volumes. Aden shifted in his chair.

“
What is this?” Aden
asked.

“
It’s a little video we
took while we were shopping this weekend,” Valerie said.

Valerie shot a glance at Sam. Sam’s face was
a mask of rage.

“
Those girls are always
after Noelle,” Aden looked at the men in front of him. “While I
agree the piggy video is a little excessive, we need to find a
solution. This bullying isn’t healthy for any of the
children.”

“
Healthy? Healthy?” The
second man’s face grew a deeper shade of red. “My children have the
right to speak their mind. This is a free country and my girls are
just telling it like it is. You raise a pig child; she’s going to
be treated like a pig.”

Aden jumped to his feet. Valerie put her
hand on his chest. She shook her head at him. He looked down at
Valerie then sat down.

“
Bullying is
unacceptable,” Sam said. “That behavior will not be tolerated
here.”

“
So you’re taking the
video down?” the first man smirked at Valerie.

“
I want a public apology
from Miss Smarty-pants Movie Star,” the second man said.

“
That’s Mrs. Smarty-pants
Movie Star,” Valerie said. “And don’t hold your breath.”

“
You misunderstand me,”
Sam said. “Your daughters bully Noelle. I’ve seen them at it
myself.”

“
Their own mothers approve
of their behavior,” Valerie said. “Look at their faces!”

“
You will take this video
down,” the second man said. “Or you will hear from my
lawyer.”

“
I won’t,” Valerie said.
“The children’s mothers approved of their daughter’s behavior. Why
wouldn’t they approve of the remade video?”

“
That’s it,” the first man
said. “Where’s Jake?”

“
Jacob is ill today,” Sam
said.

“
You raise this slut and…”
the second man pointed his finger at Sam.

“
You’re on very thin ice
here,” Sam said.

“
Fuck it,” the first man
said. “I’m done. I quit.”

“
Why don’t you wait until
you cool down a bit? There’s no reason to…” Sam said.

“
I’m not staying here,”
the first man said. “We’ve already taken positions at Mortensen.
They begged us to go there. We start tomorrow. We came here out of
respect for you, Sam, and Jake. We wanted to give you a chance to
apologize.”

“
I’m sorry to hear it,”
Sam said.

“
You realize that means
you need to sell back your Lipson shares,” Aden said. “Go from an
owner to an employee.”

“
Your children won’t be
able to continue at the Marlowe school,” Valerie said.

“
We’re getting such big
raises that we can easily afford to pay the Marlowe School
tuition,” the second man said.

“
I’ll be happy to put your
girls on the waiting list,” Valerie said. “There are more than two
hundred children waiting to get into the Marlowe school. Employees’
children get first priority and the spaces are limited. If you’re
not an employee, you’re at the back of the line.”

“
That’s outrageous,” the
first man said. “Jake will never go for that.”

“
Jake’s not involved at
the school anymore,” Valerie said. “I’m the Marlowe-Lipson
representative at my mother’s school. I took over for him at the
beginning of the year. And trust me; your children go straight to
the back of the waiting list.”

“
You can’t do that!” the
second angry man said.

“
It’s a private school,”
Valerie said. “The school can set its own rules. This happens to be
the rule. I’m sure your girls will do fine at home this
summer.”

The men looked at Valerie and at each
other.

“
Why don’t you give it
some time?” Sam asked. “These kind of things blow over. You can
always…”

“
We’re out of here,” the
first man said. “You can’t disrespect my family and expect me to
stay.”

“
I assume you brought your
ownership shares,” Aden said.

“
You’ll take a personal
check?” Sam asked.

The men held up their shares to Lipson
Construction. Without saying another word, Sam took out his
checkbook. Aden went around the desk to use the phone. Tres Sierra,
the CFO, came in to manage the transaction. Within minutes, the men
had Sam’s personal check for their shares. They stood in front of
Aden and Valerie.

“
It doesn’t have to be
like this,” Sam said.

“
There’s no solution,” the
first man said. “Tell Jake we said ‘good-bye’.”

The men stormed out of the office.

“
Well…” Valerie raised her
eyebrows. “That was interesting.”