Cascade (24 page)

“
I’m not quite sure why, but my
husband started beating me,” Anjelika said. “He hit me a few times
when we were home, but I guess fear of my father kept him in check.
My father wasn’t in Denver. I’d never been disciplined, never hit,
or even yelled at. His behavior was… foreign… to me. I became
overwhelmed.”

“
Depressed.”

“
Yes, depressed,” Anjelika said.
“I had just had Candy when things got really bad. I’m not sure why
he was so angry that day. He was furious. After he left, I packed
everyone up and left for church. I was going to leave you with the
Catholic Charities. I planned to kill myself. My Perses was dead.
My mother was dead. I wanted to be with them. I was sitting in
church with you guys around me when Perses found me.”

“
I’d been in Denver for a couple
of years, watching, waiting,” he said. “Anjelika’s step-brothers
had kept me from her. When they were eliminated, I came to find
her. In the church, she was injured. She needed a hospital but she
was too afraid. You may remember, Megan? Mikhail? I took you to a
cabin in the mountains for a week. We played in the snow while your
mother healed from her injuries.”

Megan’s eyes went vague.

“
Did we have pizza every night?”
Megan asked.

“
Not every night but a lot,”
Perses said. “It was your favorite. You kids were so traumatized by
everything that went on. I just tried to give you what you wanted.
The babies, Stephen and Candace, were like little soldiers not
children. We had some wild times.”

“
We went more than once,” Mike
said. “A couple times a year for a while? Is that
right?”

“
Yes, my husband didn’t really
care whether I was gone or not,” Anjelika said. “I told him I was
on retreat in the mountains. He either didn’t care or believed me.
He enjoyed the time we were away. He would say it was his only
chance at peace and quiet.

“
Perses and I saw each other every
day,” Anjelika said. “And a few years after Candace was born, I was
pregnant with Jillian. My husband didn’t care. I think he was
relieved he didn’t have to produce a child. He beat me, of course,
but otherwise, he didn’t care.”

“
We had to stop our mountain
retreats when Jillian was born,” Perses said. “Megan and Mikhail
were older and… With Jillian in the picture, we were more afraid of
being found out.”

“
And that’s about it,” Anjelika
said. “My husband didn’t know about Perses or that Jill was Perses’
child. I lived in a fantasy world. I assumed we would continue on
until you children were grown.”

“
Until he booked the trip to Costa
Rica,” Perses said.

CHAPTER
SEVENTY

…could change everything

Tuesday afternoon – 4:00
P.M.

“
We should have realized what he
was doing but we underestimated him,” Perses said.

“
What was he doing?” Mike asked.
“We never took vacations. Not one. Then all of a sudden we’re on
the beach in Central America.”

“
He planned to sell the bearer
bonds and get rid of the family. He had used Anjelika and you
children for as long as he needed you,” Perses said. “He was
willing to let you live there, on the beach at Costa Rica, but he
wouldn’t allow the bastard to live.”

“
Me,” Jill said.

“
Yes,” Anjelika said. “We left you
guys to go to the market. Or I thought we were going to the market.
We were a couple of miles from the house when he started yelling…
screaming… hitting. He pulled over onto a cliff. While I fought
with him, he broke Jill’s leg. He was going to shoot her but I got
in the way. He might hit me but he knew if he killed me, Perses
would hunt him to the end of the Universe. While we struggled, Jill
shot him.”

“
I grabbed at the gun and it went
off,” Jill said. “I didn’t mean to shoot him. It just
happened.”

“
He was trying to throw her over
the cliff. She grabbed at him and got the gun.” Perses said. “The
gun went off while she fell backward. The bullet hit him in the
throat.”

“
I grabbed for Jill and caught her
little hand,” Anjelika said. “I didn’t know Perses was there until
he finished my husband.”

“
I remember Mama catching my
hand,” Jill said. “And… I don’t remember what happened next. The
last thing I remember was my hand slipping and…”

“
I reached out for
her…”

“
They both almost went over,”
Perses said. “I grabbed Anjelika who had Jill. I pulled them both
back.”

“
Jill went into shock,” Anjelika
said. “Her leg was badly broken and the rest of this was too much
for her mind. She just snapped. Perses set up the accident and paid
off the police. We were near you the entire time. We hoped to
reconnect but…”

“
An old friend told us we needed
to hide,” Perses said. “The Russian Mob wanted their money and
Anjelika. I had to sedate your mother to get her to leave you.
She…”

“
They would have killed you,” Anjelika said. “My father
confirmed this when I saw him again two months ago. If I had
returned, you would be dead. The thing that kept you safe was
to
be
dead to you. It nearly killed
me.”

“
Jillian was in a trance. She
didn’t wake up until long after her leg healed,” Perses said. “And
I don’t think she really came to herself until she was home in
Denver. She draws her strength from you.”

The horrible story told, they all stared at
each other. No one knew quite what to say next.

“
Do you have questions?” Anjelika
asked.

“
I… I mean, my father… He was…”
Steve’s confused, sad face asked the question his words could not
complete.

“
I knew your father when he was a
young man,” Perses said. “He was fun, funny, joyful. Everyone loved
him and everyone knew he was gay. I wish you had known him then. He
was everyone’s friend. I barely recognized him when I saw him
again.”

“
Yesterday you said I was being
like my father by running away,” Stephen said. “What did you
mean?”

“
Your father inflicted his loss
and pain on other people,” Perses said. “I was wrong to say that
yesterday. You are not your father. I’m sorry.”

“
Losing his lover, my
step-brother, destroyed him, Stephen. He wasn’t a bad man, just a
heartbroken one,” Anjelika said. “He took his anger out on me and
you kids. For that, I cannot forgive myself. If I had been
stronger, I would have left him but…”

“
We don’t blame you, Mama,” Megan
said. “We were all… unhappy.”

“
Can you forgive me for all of
this?” Anjelika asked. “I am very, very sorry. I have been in hell
all these years without you. I…”

Candy got up from the couch to hug Anjelika.
Mike and Megan joined. Steve took Jill’s hand as they went to join
the hug.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday afternoon — 4:20
P.M.

Lipson Construction

“
That’s what I don’t understand,
Jake,” Honey said. “We’re buying stock?”

Jacob looked out over the group of a hundred
Lipson employees. The classes on Saturday were a huge success, but
they found people had questions. In order to keep everything on
track, Jacob set up smaller groups to meet for an hour. Today, he
was meeting with a group from Bambi’s team.

“
Stock is a piece of paper or an
electronic transaction, Honey,” Jacob said. “What you buy is stake
in Lipson Construction. Technically, you will be members of the
corporation.”

“
I’m a member of REI,” Bambi
said.

“
That’s a good example,” Jacob
said. “But you have ownership rights as a member. We could have
sold stock but the problem is that the stock must be registered on
the stock exchange. Anyone could buy it. Our goal is for the
control and profits stay with the people who care about the company
– the people who work here.”

“
What happens if we leave?” Honey
asked.

“
You have an option to sell your
shares back to the company or to hold onto them,” Jacob said. “The
latter is really an option for people who retire.”

“
But how will anyone afford to get
the stock, Jake?” Honey asked.

“
We take the money out of your
paycheck, like we already do for your retirement fund. Some people
are investing in the company rather than their retirement fund.
Some people are doing both. Some people one or the other. It’s up
to you and what makes sense to you and your family.”

The people became so quiet Jacob wasn’t sure
what was going on. He had the sense there was a problem, but no one
wanted to broach the topic.

“
What if we don’t do it?” A small
woman near the back asked.

“
Nothing changes,” Jacob said.
“You will still work here, collect your pay check. What you miss
out on is helping to decide important issues and your part of the
profits.”

“
Someone said you would maintain
control of the company. That we’re just giving you money but not
getting control. You get our money and keep all the control,” a
fair skinned man said. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“
We’re selling the company slowly
so people can adjust to the change,” Jacob said. “I will maintain
majority ownership for the next couple of years. However, that
doesn’t mean that I keep all the control. As soon as you buy into
the company, you have a say about what goes on here.”

“
But you’ll still run it?” the man
asked.

“
My father, sister and I will
remain involved in the company,” Jacob said. “When the employees
have completed the sale, the employees will have the option of
choosing whether or not we’re involved. We’ll become more like
salaried employees.”

“
And Aden?” Bambi asked. “What
about him?”

“
Our hope is that Aden will remain
as the CEO,” Jacob said. “He knows the company from the ground up.
He’ll have at least three years of experience running the company
by then.”

“
I like Aden,” Bambi said. “I
think we all feel like this is going to work because Aden’s our
boss. Or at least I do.”

The other employees nodded their
head.

“
He always seems like he’s on our
side,” the fair skinned man said.

“
Aden’s a great guy. We’re lucky
to have him,” Jacob said. “Any other questions?”

The employees looked at each other then back
at Jacob.

“
Great! See you this Saturday if
not before.”

Jacob led people from the conference room.
Leaning against the door, he watched the end of the day routine at
Lipson construction. With a sigh, he went into his
office.

It never occurred to him that he would have to
convince the employees to buy the company. Over and over again, he
found himself faced with mistrust and paranoia. Their mistrust
triggered an unfamiliar insecurity and a lack of faith in Jacob.
Walking back to his office, he settled in for another few hours of
work.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday evening – 5:40
P.M.

Pulling up to their house, Heather passed a
familiar car parked at the curb. Rather than ignore the gray Audi
TT convertible again, she waddled over to the car. She tapped on
the driver’s window and he rolled the window down.

“
If you’re going to stalk us, you
may as well help me bring in the groceries,” Heather
said.

“
Stalk you?” Enrique tried to
sound insulted.

“
You’re funny. Get out of the car
and help me!”

Enrique did what he was told. He followed
Heather to the back of Jill’s Lexus SUV.

“
I thought this was your friend’s
car,” Enrique said.

“
I’m trying it out. Blane wants to
buy a family car so I’m trying different people’s cars.”

Heather opened the back and Enrique picked up
three reusable bags worth of groceries for each hand. Heather took
the last two bags.

“
You have a lot here,” Enrique
said.

“
I just get what’s on the list,”
Heather said.

Enrique laughed. Heather set her bags down to
unlock the door.

“
Before we go in, Blane is sick
today,” Heather said. “He should be asleep so be quiet.”

“
Yes ma’am,” Enrique
said.

“
Why did you laugh?” Heather said
in a soft voice. “About the groceries?”

“
Blane loves to cook, hates to
shop,” Enrique said. “I used to make him do it with me.”

“
I don’t mind shopping,” Heather
said. “I’m not much of a cook.”

They carried the groceries to the kitchen. She
set them on the counter then read the note Blane left for
her.

“
The kitchen is an add-on. He
can’t hear us here,” Heather said. “Please make yourself at home. I
need to check on him.”

Looking back at Enrique, she saw him nod. She
went upstairs to their bedroom. Blane had spiked a fever around
noon. Jake called Heather around two o’clock. She picked him up
after dropping Sandy at the hospital. He had been asleep all
afternoon.