A Woman of Fortune (14 page)

16

O
n the morning of the hearing, Claire swept through her closet searching for the perfect thing to wear. Black seemed too somber. On the other hand, color signaled the wrong message—that she held no remorse for what her husband had done. She'd have to choose carefully. Nothing too elegant or sporty. Too flashy. An outfit that expressed confidence but didn't portray a woman overly self-assured.

In the end, she pulled together a smart ensemble that consisted of a taupe-colored crepe dress, sleeveless, with a classic drape and a flattering pintucked neckline. But she needed a jacket.

Her hands ruffled across a dozen or more blazers. The red one would look beautiful, but who wears red to her husband's hearing? Someone who wants the media accusing her of flaunting, that was who. She could see the headlines now: “Mrs. Tuck Massey, in a Scarlet Letter Jacket . . .”

Claire ultimately decided on an aquamarine scalloped-front cardigan and a strand of pearls. Not the ones Tuck purchased in Sri Lanka, the ones they'd insured for nearly a half million. Those were in the safe and soon would be turned over to the receiver.

The strand she now wore, Claire's mother had worn when she married her father. Claire wanted Lainie to wear the keepsake pearls
at her own wedding, but that would be some time off now. Lainie had never been given to dark or brooding moods, but ever since Reece broke off the engagement, Lainie's actions had been out of character.

When she wasn't riding Pride along the riverbank, her daughter spent most of her time locked away in her room, refusing to join the family for meals. Tuck wanted to go talk to her, but Claire cautioned against it. “Give her time. She's hurting and you might make things worse.”

He opened his mouth in protest, but she placed her finger over his lips. “I mean it. Let her be for now.”

It had been Max who talked Lainie into attending the hearing today. Claire counted the gesture a good sign. Her daughter loved Tuck. Eventually her anger would subside and she'd heal. It would just take time.

Claire struggled to clear her mind and tried to focus on the task at hand. In a few hours, she'd walk the steps of the courthouse, media cameras clicking. She needed to look just right.

She moved to her shoe racks, sliding her eyes across color-coordinated rows of stilettos, wedges, and boots, until finding the perfect pair of pumps in a dark shade that complemented her sweater perfectly.

She slid the Madagascar diamond-and-sapphire-encrusted ring from her left hand, another gift from Tuck—a little something he'd picked up on a trip to the south of Africa. “A treasure for the one I treasure,” the card had read. Claire popped the trinket into a velvet-lined drawer. There'd be no diamonds, not today.

She paused, then slipped the pearls from her neck and laid them in the drawer as well. No reason to test fate, she supposed.

Before leaving her dressing room, Claire positioned herself in front of the ceiling-to-floor mirrors and examined her reflection. Satisfied, she grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

She was ready.

The hearing was canceled.

Ranger telephoned minutes before Tuck and Claire left the house. “Tuck, what is it?” Claire asked, seeing worry cross Tuck's face.

Tuck quickly glanced at Max and Lainie, as if measuring whether or not to come clean and tell the truth. Claire knew him well enough to suspect he couldn't stand their looks of distrust. He lowered his head and stared at the floor. “There's been a bomb threat. At the courthouse.”

“A what?” Claire felt the air leave her lungs.

“A bomb,” Tuck repeated.

Her hand flew to her chest. “Oh my. Are they sure?”

“Mom, of course they're sure.” Max slumped onto the sofa, looking at her as if she'd grown two heads.

This incident was not the first threat, Claire learned. There had been many others.

“I want to know everything,” she said.

“Babe, I don't think that's a good idea,” Tuck said.

“Everything,” she repeated, reminding him that withholding information was no longer an option he could choose to utilize if he was to remain in her good favor. There would be no second chances if he breached this newly established boundary.

The most alarming menace had come in the form of a call to Ranger's office. The perpetrator told the receptionist he planned to take Tuck's attorneys out one by one and bury them alive. “Maybe those buzzards will know what it feels like to have your finances choked,” the throaty warning threatened. “If those fancy-dancy attorneys get that crook off, they deserve to suffocate in dirt.”

There had also been anonymous letters and a message posted to Facebook from a phony profile page, set up specifically for sending the warning that Tuck's life could be in danger. All these incidents were being followed by the US Attorney's Office—when they had time—and kept out of the news to avoid risking the ongoing investigations.

“I didn't tell y'all because I didn't want to worry you.” Tuck
rubbed the back of this neck. “Given all this, Ranger suggests we all stay close to home until after the hearing.”

“Oh, great,” Lainie said, staring at her father with disdain. “You do the crime. We all do the time.”

“Lainie,” Claire scolded.

Tuck held his palm up. “No, Claire. She's right.” He turned to his daughter. “This isn't fair to any of you.”

Lainie's eyes filled with angry tears. “Ha, you think?”

Tuck reached for her arm. “Princess—”

She pulled away. “Don't call me that. You lost that right the first time you crossed the line and put this family in jeopardy.”

Tuck's head dropped. “Lainie, I love my family. I'd do anything to make it up to all of you.”

“Well, you can't. None of us can turn the clock back to our happy
before
. Everything is ruined. You did this,” she accused. “And I hate you for it.” She turned and ran from the room.

Max whistled. “Whew, she's hotter than a jalapeño,” he said in an attempt to lighten the moment.

Tuck scowled at him. “Not now, Son.” He turned and headed for the front door. But not before Claire spotted tears running down her husband's flushed cheeks.

She turned to Max, and sighed heavily, fighting her own tears. “How did my family become so broken?”

He leaned against the empty fireplace and let out a quick laugh. “Mom, this family's always been broken. Problem is, you're just now discovering the fact.”

17

O
n Sunday afternoon, the day before the rescheduled arraignment hearing, the real bomb dropped when Ranger and a team of attorneys from his firm showed up at the ranch needing to discuss a recent development in Tuck's case.

Ranger stood in the Masseys' library, looking grim. “I've been contacted by Charles Jordan of the US Attorney's Office. He's threatening to withdraw the plea agreement.”

Claire gasped. “Can they do that?”

“On what grounds?” Tuck said, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. “We conceded to everything they asked.”

Ranger slowly rotated the brim of his felt Stetson in his fingers. “Jordan's not saying much at this juncture. He simply says they are weighing options.” He turned to Claire. “I'm sorry, Claire. We're going to have to ask you to excuse us.”

Her eyes widened. “I can't stay? Why?”

One of Ranger's associates cleared his throat. “Given the turn of events, you could get called to testify.”

“Oh,” Claire muttered as she backed up several steps. She glanced at her husband. Tuck's face had clearly paled at the news. “I—uh, I'll go then.”

She moved from the library to the hallway, pulling the large
wooden double doors closed behind her. Stunned, she wandered past framed photos lining the wall.

There were shots taken of Tuck with Governor Jackson at the prestigious Beaux Arts Ball. Another with Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. And still another with Sidney McAlvain, Tuck's wealthy oil friend from Houston, taken at the Dallas Petroleum Club.

Midway down the hall, another large frame held a photo of the ribbon cutting for Abundant Hills' new church building. Claire and her husband had contributed heavily to the effort. She passed her fingers lightly across the faces of people she'd sat with on so many Sunday mornings. People she now couldn't bear to face.

She stopped at one photo taken of their family at their home in Sun Valley. They'd spent Christmas in Idaho, enjoying the snow. Lainie had spotted Maria Schwarzenegger walking the sidewalk in front of Pete Lane's, carrying a new pair of Rossignols over her shoulder.

Max, then age seven, wanted to know if the Terminator was with her.

Lainie rolled her eyes at her little brother. “No, silly. He's probably at home watching the children.”

Claire shook her head. If news reports were accurate, the muscled philanderer had been spending intimate time with his housekeeper.

Maria, Elizabeth Edwards, Ruth Madoff—all members of a club of betrayed women. An exclusive club Claire had never wanted to join.

She wandered out onto the side portico. Above the large fireplace, a television was mounted on the stone. She kicked off her open-toed espadrilles and sank into the brightly colored cushions on a chaise lounge.

She clicked past all the news channels, not wanting to add to her already high level anxiety. Past QVC and a golf tournament. Finally, a woman with far too much makeup and blonde hair tinted pink popped onto the screen. Claire shook her head, fascinated.

“Oh, honey.” The woman with the big hair leaned into the microphone. “If you are hurting right now, I've got good news to share with you.”

Claire winced but turned the volume louder.

“God's Word tells us in the book of Isaiah, ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.'” The woman dabbed a hanky to her tear-filled eyes rimmed with running mascara. “Honey, are circumstances in your life flooding out of control? Do you feel about to drown? Jesus promises you are never alone.”

She sighed and clicked off the television, remembering her meeting with Pastor Richards.
But what about when you
let God down?

Just feet away, behind closed doors, some of the best legal minds in Texas were trying to build an ark for Tuck to ride out the storm. Since the arrest, their lives had been swept away in a torrent of accusations and consequences that had left their entire family splintered. Claire desperately wanted to believe Tuck's actions had not left them adrift.

She was scared.

And she had never felt so alone.