In Memoriam (26 page)

Now, Lisa had involved Pam. At the news that Cara Ellison had threatened to kill Lisa, Pam started to pace.

“What are you talking about? Is she capable of such a thing?”

“I think she is, Mom! And I’m scared to death. I want Dan to go to the police, but he doesn’t want to do it yet.”

“Well, that’s absurd,” Pam said. “I’m calling the police right now. You need to come here to the beach, Lisa. I’ll call a car to come around and get you.”

They agreed that Lisa would be ready to leave in half an hour.

She called for Daniela. “We’re going to the beach to stay with my mother. You’re welcome to come. I wish you would. You already know how relaxing it is there.”

“A day at the beach or a day in the Bronx…let’s see,” she replied, tapping her forehead. “I don’t have any clothes.”

“I’ll give you some of mine. Help me throw clothes together for the children,” Lisa said. “For a week.”

Daniela looked at her but didn’t ask. After working for the Chuas, she accepted that drama would be part of their daily life. Their arguments rang out throughout the house on a regular basis.

Dan walked in as they were madly stuffing bags with baby items. “What’s going on?”

“I’m going to my mother’s. She’s calling the police right now, by the way. Cara Ellison lives in Babylon, too, correct? Not far from your office, I believe.”

“You’ll be safer here with me,” Dan said.

They’d forgotten Daniela was in the room.

“Oh, bullshit,” Lisa said. “You’ll continue to protect Miss New York at my expense.”

He looked at the nanny, embarrassed, and left the room again.

The incredible predicament hadn’t fazed Dan yet. Cara regularly threatened him, and he’d fed into it. “You have to see me, or I’ll call Lisa.” “I’ll report you to the bar for inappropriate conduct if you don’t come over now.” This time was the first time she’d threatened bodily harm, and he just wanted Lisa to be careful. The baby thing could still work itself out; it might not be his, or she could lose it. Conflicted, he quickly thought
, Not lose it. I didn’t mean lose it.

“The car’s here,” Daniela said, looking out the window. She picked up Megan, grabbed a bag of clothes and started down the stairs.

Lisa was behind her. “Dan, I need your help,” she screamed.

He came out of the kitchen, seething.

“Don’t you dare look at me that way,” she said, throwing diaper bags and backpacks at him.

“You shouldn’t go to Babylon,” Dan repeated. “
I’m
not going, and that will leave you vulnerable. I can’t protect you if you’re at the beach.”

“Since when do you protect me? It’s your fault we’re in this mess in the first place, Dan.”

“I’m not fighting with you anymore,” he said, exasperated. “If you leave this house, there’s nothing I can do.” He didn’t add,
if Cara comes after you
.

Ignoring him, she struggled with the baby seats until the driver came around to help her, giving Dan a dirty look, too.

“Hey, buddy, don’t you dare look at me that way,” Dan said in his best intimidating voice.

“I’m just helping the lady,” the driver replied. The men arguing, reducing the situation to a battle of their wills, infuriated Lisa even more, and she yelled through her tears for the driver to hurry up.

“I’ll get the children buckled in! Please, just load up our bags.”

They drove to Pam’s in silence, the only sound Lisa sniffing and blowing her nose. Pam was waiting for the car to arrive. The guest bedrooms above the garage were ready with the crib for Megan, and for Marcus, a little carrier she’d gotten for baby Brent to sleep in when he visited. Pam thought of Jason, how patient he’d been that summer whenever a crisis arose. His family seemed perfection compared to hers.

Silent as she worked, Daniela was scared. Rich people baffled her. They had everything in the world they could possibly want, yet were unhappy and complaining. Never passing up the chance to travel with Lisa and the children to Babylon, she decided getting there under threat of death was a good enough reason to come to the beach.

~ ~ ~

After Lisa and the family left, Dan couldn’t relax. He walked around the house several times, disbelieving that he’d lived there for over a year and it still felt like Ed Ford’s house. Before the weekend was up, he’d talk to Lisa about selling.

It was on the third trip around that he noticed Cara’s car in the driveway. Going to the front window, he pushed the curtain aside, but didn’t see her. It wasn’t until he woke up on the living room floor that he remembered why his wife had insisted she was going to the refuge of her mother’s house for safety.

~ ~ ~

Period due after Memorial Day, Cara Ellison was elated when it was late. Dan had visited in the morning, but she didn’t say anything about it to him yet. The drug store was open by eight, and she’d get a pregnancy test to take before work. While she showered, she was certain her breasts already felt different; in spite of the implants, they were fuller and softer. A little thrill went through her body. She imagined sitting in the living room, nursing a baby, face yet unknown. If his hair was the same, spiky black Marcus Chau had, Dan wouldn’t be able to deny paternity.

Excited, looking at the drug store clerk with sparkling eyes, Cara willed her to say something supportive, but the clerk didn’t even make eye contact. She didn’t waste any time once she got home. Taking her purse into the bathroom, Cara opened the box and got out the directions. Test done, she put it on the edge of the sink and stared at it while she pulled her pants back up. In slow motion, two pink stripes appeared in the little window.
Positive!

Nothing worked out the way she’d hoped. Dan was furious, at first insisting she get an abortion, then begging her, offering her money, anything if she’d get rid of it. He didn’t use the word disappear, but she felt it. He wanted her to go away. Feeling less like a forty-year-old, ex-Miss New York, successful businesswoman and more like a desperate, unwed teen mother, something slipped in the last week. She was losing her mind.

It was inevitable she’d run into Dan and Lisa. Sunday, the first day that the temperature stayed below ninety, it happened. The park in Babylon was packed with people. Cara couldn’t bear staying indoors, and she didn’t feel like going to the beach, so she took a thermal lunch bag and packed it with drinks and food, grabbed a book and a blanket, and headed outdoors. She was lying on her back with the book overhead, reading, when she heard his voice. They lived in Smithtown, so it was odd they’d come all the way to Babylon for the park. It occurred to her Lisa’s mother must have invited them over, and they came to the park to get away. He was laughing, and although she couldn’t make out exactly what he was saying, she recognized the timbre of his voice used when he was teasing someone. Lisa’s childish giggle followed. Cara sat up, holding the book in front of her face as they got closer.

“Cara!” Lisa said, recognizing her. “How
are
you?” There was something triumphant in her greeting, with Dan sneering at her while his hand was resting possessively on his wife’s back.

“Let’s not interrupt, okay?” Dan said, guiding Lisa away while she smiled at Cara, giving a condescending wave.

Unable to control herself, Cara got up and started to follow them. “Don’t leave. Come back and sit. We need to talk.”

Eager to hear what she had to say, Lisa was ready to follow her back, but Dan was adamant.

“Let’s not make a scene. Keep walking.”

There were police around the park, and Cara didn’t want a scene, either.

“Who’s that?” Megan asked.

Not able to hear his answer, Cara went back to her blanket and gathered her things, the day ruined. First, she texted Dan.
You do not know how lucky you are.
Relieved she didn’t attack him or tell Lisa the news, it was a matter of time before she’d demand he acknowledge her.

That night, after she sent him one threatening text message after another, he finally came to her townhouse.

“If you think you’re going to intimidate me into doing something I don’t want to do, rethink it, Cara. I’m not leaving my wife. She’ll know the truth about your baby when you’ve proven it’s mine. If you ever try to contact her again or approach us in public like you did today, I’ll file a restraining order against you. It would be a matter of public record and not very good for your image, ya think?”

Wanting to fly at him and claw his eyes, instead Cara started to close the door, forcing him to move back out to the porch. Monday morning, he didn’t show up. It had become a habit, stopping by her house every morning before work. Rather than texting, she called instead, which he hated.

“Are you coming by?” she asked.

“After yesterday? No. We need to lay low until this
thing
is over.”

“What does
that
mean, Dan? I’ll be living this
thing
alone while you play house with your child bride? I don’t think so. You’re not getting away with leaving me.”

The temptation to end the call was strong, but he was afraid she’d call Lisa. The manipulating began that day, Cara demanding his time and attention, or else. But it didn’t last long. Each day that week she’d figure out something new, and by Friday, she was threatening him with Lisa’s life. He had to tell Lisa the truth.

The limousine had just left when Cara arrived at the house, wielding a cast-iron pan to clunk Dan on the head. After she did it and he dropped to the floor, her three-month fog lifted.

“Oh my God, Dan,” she screamed, making sure he was alive before she ran off.

Looking at the ceiling, it took a second to reorient himself.
Cara!
Afraid that she’d go to Pam’s house, he reached for his phone, aware that something warm was running down the back of his neck, and dialed 9-1-1.

The chaos at the beach was slowing down when Andy Andretti finally knocked on the door.

“What do
you
want?” Pam frowned. “I called to report my daughter being threatened and you’re the only cop available? Honestly, what do our taxes get used for in this town?”

“I’m sorry, Pam. It’s just a coincidence that I get the calls for your house. Can I come in? I’ll take your report, but I also have something to tell you.”

Stepping aside so he could pass, she thought,
Relax, how bad could it be? Lisa’s here, safe
. “What is it?”

“Your son-in-law was attacked, and he feared the attacker might come after Lisa.”

“I guess since he’s afraid for Lisa, the attacker didn’t kill him.”

Andy turned to her, surprised at her sarcasm. “No, he’s not dead. A minor head wound from being struck with a pan.”

Pam involuntarily laughed and then regained her composure. The visual of Cara hitting Dan over the head with a frying pan brought her great joy. “Wait, and I’ll get Lisa so you can tell her yourself.” She left the room before he could argue.

Going to the veranda while he waited, the peaceful beach was a reminder that this serene view was a smokescreen for the most dramatic house in Babylon. He met Pam in the early weeks after Jack died, when his brother, Bill, broke into the beach house and tried to kill Nelda. Pam shot him right in the elbow. Andy came to the house that day to question her, and the attraction was immediate. He broke every department rule about getting involved with a victim/defendant. They’d enjoyed a brief, romantic fling until she dropped the bomb that she had AIDS. Shamed, he remembered the speed he used getting away from her that day, the number of ill-matched dates he had trying to fill her shoes. He was still unattached and filled with regrets when he saw Jason squire Pam around town. It looked like she was
in love
at last.

Frantic voices and footsteps on marble announced Pam was back with Lisa in tow.

“Is he in the hospital?” Lisa asked.

“Just to check out his head wound. It appears to be a superficial scalp wound, but even minor ones always bleed profusely.”

Pleadingly, Lisa looked at Pam, remembering not being there at the hospital for Ed when he was dying. “Mother, what do you think?”

Turning her back, Pam busied herself with imaginary items on the counter. Wanting to say,
He can rot in hell
, for Andy’s sake, she played the concerned mother-in-law role.

“Why don’t you call him? He’ll let you know if you need to go.”

Lisa left the kitchen to retrieve her phone.

“Do they know who attacked him?” Pam asked, sure it was Cara Ellison.

“Yes, he gave information to the Smithtown officers. Since the woman is from Babylon, we’ll keep a car parked here in front of the house as a precaution until she’s picked up.”

Pam didn’t answer, thinking that the whole town knew who Cara Ellison was, cheering her on in the ’90s during her reign as Miss New York, supporting her, and now she’d be humiliated beyond belief, and it of her own making.

Chapter 25

Natalie would’ve found the city unbearable after Ted moved out if Deborah, who worked from his office downtown, wasn’t staying at the apartment with her. Then Zach asked if he could move in, too. Zach decided to take over managing Ashton’s real estate staging business when Ted offered it to him. Although Natalie was delighted her daughter and future son-in-law would be there, she needed to move on. So she bit her tongue and asked Ted for yet another favor: could she move into the cabin upstate for the summer.

He immediately said, “Of course!”

She was there a week when she ran into Ben Lawson. “I’m so sorry about my backwoods behavior last year,” he begged. “I was jealous of Ashton, and it was easier to be hateful than address my own inadequacies.”

Thinking,
Wow, this guy has done some work
, she readily accepted his apology. “We never have to mention his name again,” she said, leaving out how she’d avoided talking to Ashton, refusing his calls, and him taking his life. “He’s gone now.”

“I heard,” Ben said sadly. “But I’m glad you’re here. Will you be my date for dinner tonight?”