Authors: Candy Halliday
“And then …”
Zada blew her nose and looked at Jen, who was hearing the story for the first time.
“And then, I told Rick if he didn’t trust me now, a few more days weren’t going to change a thing.”
Tish looked over at Jen. “He told Zada he’d be back on Sunday. He’s staying at the center.”
“And like the dumb ass that I am,” Zada said, “I said, ‘Duh. Okay. It doesn’t matter that you can’t decide if I’m a liar and
a cheat. I’ll be sitting right here waiting for you to come home on Sunday and tell me if we’re staying together, or if you’ve
decided to kick my lying, cheating ass to the curb.’”
Tish looked over at Jen. “She really didn’t say that.”
Jen looked over at Tish. “Duh. I realized that, Tish.”
Jen looked back at Zada. “But whether you realize it or not, Zada, you weren’t being dumb. And neither was Rick. He asked
for the time he needed to sort things out. You gave it to him. In the past, he would have walked out again, and you would
have been dialing up the locksmith. You’ve both come a long way.”
“And isn’t that special?” Zada mocked. “To come such a long way and still end up getting a divorce.”
Zada pulled out more tissues when Tish pushed the tissue box across the table in her direction. She blew her nose again.
“After Rick packed a bag and left, I couldn’t stop thinking about Alicia.”
Tish said, “And the longer Zada thought about Alicia, the madder she got.”
Zada said, “That’s when I took the photo and went to Alicia’s house.”
“She knocked Alicia flat on her ass,” Tish said, looking over at Jen and grinning.
Zada said, “I told you it was an accident.”
Tish said, “Accident or not, she deserved it.”
“And talk about twisted. How twisted is this?” Zada said. “I actually felt sorry for Alicia. I swear, she almost passed out
when she looked at the photo. She kept standing there, staring at me as if she had no idea what I was talking about. And then
she was so ashamed of herself, she actually started crying.”
“Ha!” Tish said. “Crying because she got caught, maybe. But crying because she was ashamed of what she did? I doubt it.”
Jen said, “What did Alicia say?”
“Oh, she admitted she was responsible for the photo,” Tish said, looking over at Jen again. “She told Zada that with her own
twisted lips.”
Jen shook her head. “Poor Alicia. I can’t imagine anyone being so desperate, they would do something like that.”
“Well, she did,” Tish said frowning. “And don’t
you
start feeling sorry for her, too. There’s a special place in hell for people like her.”
Zada blew her nose again.
“That stupid comment I made in court that day about some imaginary guy is the biggest mistake of my life,” Zada said. “Rick
had already decided I was guilty before he ever came home. I could see it on his face the second I walked through the kitchen
door.”
Jen said, “It’s hard to argue with a photograph, Zada. Try looking at this from Rick’s point of view.”
“I have tried looking at this from Rick’s point of view, Jen,” Zada wailed. “I just can’t get my head that far up my ass!”
“Well,” Jen said. “At least you have proof now that Alicia was responsible. You need to call him, Zada, and tell Rick what
you found out.”
“No!” Zada said. “If Rick can’t come to his own conclusion that I would never cheat on him without me having to prove it,
I don’t want him back!”
Jen looked at Tish.
Tish looked at Jen.
“I want you to stay here tonight,” Tish said. “You don’t need to be alone.”
Zada said, “No. I don’t want to leave Simon alone. All I want to do right now is go home, take a hot bath, and hopefully go
to sleep the second my head hits the pillow.”
Tish looked over at Jen. “I gave her two of my sleeping pills. If she takes those after her bath, she’ll get a good night’s
sleep.”
Zada got up from the table and started out of the room.
She turned back around when she reached the door.
“I’m serious,” Zada said. “Stay out of this. Both of you. If anyone is going to tell Rick that Alicia was behind the phone
calls and the photo, I deserve that privilege.”
Jen said, “Which is another way of saying Rick will never know, because you’ll never tell him.”
Zada said, “I want both of you to swear to me right now that you will
not
tell Rick about Alicia.”
“I swear,” Tish said.
Jen said, “So do I.”
“Thank you,” Zada said, and headed for home.
Rick didn’t go to the center after he packed a bag and left the house. In the frame of mind he was in, bunking with Scrappy
wasn’t an option—for Scrappy’s sake, not his. He’d burdened Scrappy with his personal problems too much already.
First, he stopped by the liquor store and bought two fifths of tequila—just in case one bottle wasn’t enough to dull the pain.
Since he rarely drank, Rick had no way to judge how much tequila it would take to make the photo that kept flashing though
his mind go away.
One bottle, or two.
It didn’t matter.
Rick knew he was going to drink whatever it took.
Next, he checked into a Days Inn on the outskirts of New Hope. Rick tossed his duffel bag on the bed, and took one of the
tequila bottles out of the sack. He flopped down on the chair at the motel room table, unscrewed the top off the bottle, and
took a long swig.
Zada and the guy.
Swig.
Him caressing her face.
Swig.
No fucking caterpillar in sight.
Swig.
Swig.
Swig.
He kept trying to fit all of the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind, but they just didn’t fit.
Zada saying she was dating someone just to make him jealous. Zada suspecting Alicia made the phone calls, but never telling
him. Simon almost biting some guy—again, Zada not telling him.
Like fitting square pegs into round holes.
Swig.
Swig.
Swig.
Am I drunk yet?
Rick got up from the table to test himself. He closed his eyes and held his arms out straight. Right finger to the nose.
No problem.
Left finger to the nose.
No problem.
Rick sat back down and picked up the bottle again.
Alicia making the phone calls?
No motive.
Swig.
Alicia crouched in the bushes with a camera?
Highly doubtful.
Swig.
Swig.
Swig.
He finally felt a slow tingle spread through his body.
Then, his vision got a little blurry. He tried focusing on the clothes rack across the room.
Are the coat hangers moving back and forth?
Or am I?
Rick put the bottle down and stood up to find out. He held his arms out straight. He put one foot in front of the other.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Turn around.
No problem.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Back to the table.
No problem.
The photo popped into his mind again.
It made him worry he hadn’t bought enough tequila.
Rick picked up the bottle and walked over to the credenza housing the television. He picked up the remote and walked back
over to the bed. Turning the pillow around for a back cushion, Rick stretched out on the bed with a tortured sigh, remote
in one hand, tequila bottle in the other.
He hit the “power” button.
Commercial.
Switch.
Commercial.
Swig. Swig. Swig.
Switch. Switch. Switch.
Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Pause.
Long, dark hair, just like Zada.
Swig.
Piercing dark eyes, just like Zada.
Swig.
Voluptuous curves, just like Zada.
Swig.
Swig.
Swig.
The pretty Catherine turned around. The sound of a male voice had her attention. The camera zoomed in for a close up.
She smiled.
Seductively.
Just like Zada.
Great big swig!
The camera panned to the opposite side of the room.
Hiccup.
Sit up!
Rick couldn’t believe his eyes.
Holy shit, Batman.
It’s Zorro!
I
t was after 10:00
PM
on Friday night when Alicia pulled her Mercedes into Tish’s driveway. She sat behind the wheel for a second, knowing what
she had to do, and dreading every minute of it.
Tish was
not
going to be happy to see her.
Not after Tish had slammed the phone in her ear when she’d tried calling earlier.
The fact that Tish had hung up on her had kept her from calling Jen and getting the same treatment. And facing Zada again
wasn’t even an option as far as Alicia was concerned.
Zada was too upset to be rational about anything—and not without good reason. But the next time she faced Zada, Alicia wanted
it to be after she took
full
responsibility for the phone calls and the photo.
She intended to tell Rick what her brother had done. And why Alfie had done such a horrible thing. Forcing Tish to listen
to her was her only hope if she was going to find Rick.
She’d tried calling Rick at his business. But the answering machine informed her that SDS was closed in observance of the
long Fourth of July holiday, and wouldn’t resume normal business hours until Tuesday morning.
Tuesday morning wasn’t soon enough.
She’d gone to the center anyway hoping to find Rick, but the security gate had been closed. She’d even blown her horn several
times, but the building sat a good distance back from the gate.
Either Rick didn’t hear her, or he wasn’t there. There was no way to tell. The large garage doors on the front of the building
were closed.
Alicia could have easily bent over and made it under the crossing bar of the security gate blocking the drive. She would have
done that, and walked up to the building. But the large round sign fastened in the middle of the security gate kept her from
it.
A protective-looking German shepherd was painted on the sign. The words written on the sign were enough to deter her:
BEWARE—SECURITY DOGS AT LARGE
.
Alicia had been too afraid to even get out of her car.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out if she could get under the bar, so could the dogs at large.
Even if invisible fencing had been used across the driveway, Alicia wasn’t a big fan of invisible fencing. She’d found the
golden retriever from two streets over in her yard more times than she could count—his fur thick enough that he didn’t mind
the little zap when he bolted through the invisible barrier.
Alicia hadn’t been brave enough to take a chance. She’d driven away and headed back to Woodberry Park.
Tish was her last resort. Tish would know Rick’s cell phone number.
Alicia took a deep breath and got out of her car.
She pushed Tish’s doorbell and braced herself.
Tish’s eyes narrowed the second she opened the door.
For a second, Alicia thought she was going to hit her.
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to even walk up on my porch,” Tish said and slammed the door in her face.
Alicia pounded on the door with both fists.
Tish jerked the door back open.
“I’m one second away from calling the police.”
“Call the police,” Alicia said, and pushed past Tish before she could stop her. “But while we’re waiting for them to get here,
you’re going to listen to what I have to say.”
Tish stomped inside after her.
Alicia whirled around to face her.
They stood there, glaring at each other for a minute.
“Okay,” Tish finally said. “But go into the kitchen. I have no doubt this is going to get ugly. I don’t want to wake Joe and
the twins.”
Alicia confessed everything: Her deep depression after the divorce. How desperately she’d wanted them for friends. The elaborate
plans she’d made for the meeting. How crushed she’d been when they stood her up. Alfie, insane as his plan was, only trying
to help.
Alicia also explained that she’d tried to get in touch with Rick and couldn’t. And she was too afraid of the dogs to even
dare walk to the building.
By the time Alicia finished what she had to say, she was crying. Tish had dropped the attitude and was actually standing beside
Alicia’s chair, patting her back, tissue box in hand.
“And that’s why I came to you,” Alicia told Tish when Tish handed her another tissue. “I knew you would have Rick’s cell phone
number.”
Tish said, “I do have Rick’s cell phone number. But Zada made me swear I wouldn’t tell Rick anything, Alicia. She’s already
decided if she has to prove to Rick she wasn’t lying, she doesn’t want him back.”
“And how tragic would that be?” Alicia wailed. “Do you really think I could live with myself if Zada and Rick ended their
marriage when I could have prevented that from happening, and didn’t?”
She kept staring at Tish.
“Could you live with yourself, Tish? Are you really willing to let some promise you made to Zada when she was upset keep you
from saving their marriage?”
“When you put it that way,” Tish said, “no. I’m not willing to keep quiet and let Rick make an ass of himself again. Zada’s
taken him back once. I know her well enough to know she won’t do it again.”
Tish walked over and began plowing through a kitchen drawer. A few seconds later, she finally came up with an address book.
“Tell Rick I need to see him face to face,” Alicia said when Tish picked up the phone. “He deserves that much from me.”
The vibration in his pocket put a silly grin on Rick’s face. Until his more than a little inebriated brain realized what was
tickling the side of his thigh.
Rick fumbled around and finally pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He raised his head up off the pillow and looked at
the phone. Focusing on the screen well enough to see who was calling, however, was a different matter.