Into the Future: A Callahan Novel (9 page)

“No, she thinks you are.”    

THIRTEEN

Tristan walked into the Brew exactly on time.  Brad was sitting at the bar with his brother, Sean.  This can not be good, he thought as he navigated the lively crowd.  He finally made it to his friend.  “Wow, two Callahans?”

Brad laughed.  “Yeah, I had to bring reinforcements.  We got big news.”

Tristan ordered a beer, noticing that Brad hadn’t said good news, just big news.  Once he had a drink in his hand, he would be able to handle the situation.  “Why don’t we find a quiet place to talk?”

Brad slid off the barstool, grabbed his beer.  His brother had did the same.  “Lead the way.”

Tristan led them to the back of the trendy bar to a small private room.  When both Callahans stared at him, he knew he had to explain.  “A friend of mine owns it.”

“Oh.  What’s her name?” Brad teased.  “What socialite is backing this?”

“Actually, the mayor’s son is one of the owners,” Tristan said.  Once everyone was seated at the small table, “Okay, what’s in this report that has my hair standing on end?”

“Okay, the bad news first.  Paul had another child. His name is Justin and he’s about five.  He listed Justin as the beneficiary, but being a minor, he can’t have the money.”

“So, where does the money go?”

“The insurance company is still working on that.  Guess who the mother is?”

“I’ll bite,” Tristan said.  Lizzy was going to heartbroken.  Justin was conceived during her marriage to Paul. “Who’s the mother?”

“Natasha Allen.”  Brad watched him for a moment.  “If the name is not sending up any red flags, I give you a hint.  She was the social worker who brought charges against Lizzy.”

“Shut up,” Tristan said. “I always knew he had some kind of connection in CPS to bring up those flimsy charges.”

“And that’s not all,” Sean joined the conversation.

He really didn’t know how much more he would be able to take, but he had to keep going.  “What?”

“She was fired last week for bringing up those charges. She’s not happy about not getting Paul’s insurance money either.  Apparently, she’s been doing Paul for the past eight years.”

“How do you know the exact time?”  He looked at both men.

“People talk,” Brad said.  “You’d be surprised what relatives will tell you.  A cousin confirmed the affair, but couldn’t say for sure if Justin was Paul’s.  My intel says that he is.”

“Oh my goodness,” Tristan said.  “Lizzy would be a likely suspect, if you guys didn’t think it was a government hit.”

“About that,” Sean said, “closer investigation shows the bullet holes didn’t line up, and I can’t a find a connection to any agency. Not for a contract killing anyway.”

“Someone really needs to talk to this woman.  Maybe she’s pissed enough to start talking.  Especially, if she thinks it might get her that money.”

“Already on it,” Sean said.  “Got an agent going to visit her in the morning for an interview.  I think she’s just mad enough to start talking.:

Tristan’s brain digested all the information floating around the table.  “Man, I’d love to be there, but she knows my face.  I attended the meeting with Lizzy.”

Brad shook his head.  “I told you man.  Just pick the date already.”

“I’m so not listening to you.”

***

Lizzy was waiting for Tristan when he got home.  She had so much to tell him.  They had so much to discuss, thanks to Barney and her information.  It was near ten o’clock and he still wasn’t back yet. She wasn’t worried, well maybe a little bit.  What would he think of this now?  Would this mean too much drama?

She sat on the couch and waited.  She grabbed her cell phone, thinking of all things she had to do the next day.  She’d narrowed the contract bids down the three.  She’d have to schedule interviews with each company and make a final decision by next week. She had to put the finishing touches on Izzy’s celebration scheduled for the next weekend. 

Finally, she heard the garage door opening, and closing.  Soon Tristan walked through the kitchen door with his briefcase and looking extremely tipsy.  Oh, my, she thought.  He was going to be sick tomorrow.

“Hey baby,” he said as he took a seat by her on the couch.  He leaned over and gave her the loudest, wettest kiss ever. 

“Hey, yourself. How many drinks did you have?”

He shrugged those broad shoulders.  “Two or three beers.  Brad kept ordering more beer.” 

“Did you eat any dinner?”

“Yes, we ate chicken wings, and fried cheese.”  He shrugged out of his jacket.  “I have so much to tell you.  Brad had a report on Paul.”  He took her hand in his, and looked deeply in her eyes.  He filled her in on the contents of the report.  “Baby, I hate to say this, but it has to be said.  Paul has a son.” 

“I know.”

“You know?  And you didn’t say anything?  I kept trying to think of a gentle way to tell you and you already knew.”

“Before you get your Irish dander up, I just found out tonight.  Some problem about one of Paul’s policies.  Bea didn’t know what to do, so I called a friend and she gave me the run down.  I can’t believe this.  It just keeps getting worse instead of better.”

He pulled her in his arms.  “Now, Lizzy.  This is bigger than both of us. We can’t run from Paul’s ever growing mess, no more that we can run from the fact that we’re going to be married.  It’s just part of it.  We’re combining two families into one.”

Did he just say the M word?  She sat up and looked him in the face.  “Did you just say something about married?”

“Did I?”

“I must be hearing things,” she muttered.

“Do you love me?”  He asked, rubbing her hand.

“Yes.” She didn’t have to think about it.  “Although I tried hard not to, but I was helpless to those Irish charms.  Besides, PJ thinks you’re the bomb.”

“I love you, too.  There’s no amount of drama that will make me run.  We can’t control other people.  Paul left a lot of messes and together we will find out what actually happened.”

“I would love to talk to Natasha,” Lizzy said. But she knew her face, so that was out.

He pulled her against him.  “Yeah, me too.  But Sean is sending someone to interview her in the morning.”

“Why is the CIA involved?”

“Because of that money.  She lost her job, and has no other income, Sean is hoping she’s ready to talk.”

“What about that money Paul took?”

“That money can’t be touched.  If she had known where the money was or had access to it, she would have moved immediately after he died.”

“I would still love to talk to her, woman to woman.  To think she’d been having an affair with my husband, and then sit across from me at that meeting, just really pisses me off.”

He rubbed her back, hoping to control some of her anger.  “I don’t think that would be a good idea. This time we’re going to have to let someone else do the work.  We’re both too emotionally involved with it, to act logically.”

She leaned against him and nuzzled his neck.  He was her calm in the storm.  “You’re right, as usual.  I love you, Tristan.”     

“You didn’t give me an answer,” he said quietly, moving her onto his lap. 

She kissed him, letting all the emotions of the day exit her body.  “You didn’t ask me a question,” she answered between kisses.

Tristan continued the sensual love play.  “Sure I did.”  He bit her bottom lip.  “Let’s get married.”

“Tristan!”

“What?”  He moved in for another kiss. 

This was going too fast.  “Tristan MacDonald, are you asking me to marry you?”  Her head was spinning.  There was so much still in the air between them.  “Tristan, I don’t think you’re thinking this through.”

“Doesn’t matter, if I have or not.  I love you and need you in my life.  I love your kids as though they were mine. Nothing will change the feelings in my heart.”

“I have to think about this, Tristan.  I have to think about the kids.  They have been through so much in the last month.  This may be too much right now.”

“I’m not saying we have to get married tomorrow, Lizzy.  We can take it slow, if you like.” 

“So you’ve changed your mind,” she accused him.  Was that her sounding like a crazy person?  She really needed to get it together.  

“No, but I want you to be sure.  Take some time and think about it.  I want you to want this as much as I do.  I hadn’t plan on proposing, but when the time is right, there’s no fighting it.”

She so wanted to say yes. But she had to talk to the kids first.  After all, they were a team.   Right now, she just wanted to relax and solve the mystery of Paul Hall Sr.

“Come on, babe.  It’s getting late and we both have to be up early.”  He also filled her in on the contents of the report.

She hated when he was more logical than her.  She was the parent. “Okay, I’ll just check on the kids, then I’ll be in.”  She rose from his comfortable lap and started upstairs. 

Tristan waited until she was out of sight before he let out a deep breath.  It took every speech trick he knew to make his voice sound casual. He hadn’t wanted Lizzy to feel pressured and that was exactly what had happened.  He should have broached the subjects with the kids before he opened his big mouth. 

Now what, genius?  He couldn’t back-track and recalling the proposal.  No, he was going to have to ride this one out.  He didn’t know which was worse: having his heart broken or her not immediately saying yes. 

He thought of his first marriage.  He hadn’t been in love.  He thought it was time to be married, so he married.  This time he was in love and wanted to do things right.  Somehow, someway, he had to fix this mess.

By the time he made it upstairs, he had a speech all made out in his head.  First, he checked on the kids as he did every night.  He knew Lizzy also had looked in on them, but in the six weeks, they’d been under his roof, he couldn’t help it.  They were both sound asleep, now he could turn his attention to their mother.

Once he opened the bedroom door, all thoughts of the speech went out of his head.  Lizzy had lighted candles in the room.  All over the room.  She was sitting up in bed, apparently waiting for him. She was wearing a lacy number that was doing crazy things to his manly parts.  He locked the door so the kids wouldn’t come in.

“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming to bed,” she said.  “All this would have went to waste.”  She motioned at the candles. 

“Lizzy, what’s going on?”  He reached into the dresser for a pair of pajamas.  He smiled at the new addition to his wardrobe.  He went inside the bathroom to change. 

“Nothing.  I wanted to continue our conversation,” she called to him.

This was his chance to smooth the waters.  “I’ll be right out.”

When he came out of the bathroom, he got another surprise.  The lacy nightgown was now on the floor.  He had to be strong and not give into the lust of the moment.  “You said you wanted to talk?”  He walked to the bed. 

“Yes, I did.”  She pulled back the bedcovers and patted the empty space.  “Sit down.”

He was walking into the lion’s den, but there was little he could have done, but hold his head high.   He sat on the bed and noticed that yes, she was nude under those covers.   “What did you want to talk about?”

***

“Tristan, are you listening to me?”  Sean Callahan asked.  He sat across from Tristan in his office.   Sean was going to reveal what his agent learned from the interview with Natasha Allen.  

After his all night love marathon with Lizzy, he could barely hold a thought.  Thank goodness, the day was almost over.  She’d seduced him no doubt, but he enjoyed every minute of the time they spent in bed.  He didn’t get an answer to his proposal, but he was cool with that.  At least she hadn’t said no.  “Sorry, man, I’m beat today.”  Tristan hadn’t wanted to reveal why he was so tired.  “I’m think I’m cutting out early today.  “So what did Ms. Allen have to say.”

“You’re going to laugh,” Sean said.

“Please make me laugh,” Tristan said. 

“She killed him.”

“What?”

“She’d followed him to Lizzy’s house.  She’d plan to threaten him to the altar, but Hall just laughed at her.  She knew he was searching for some kind of records, but didn’t know where or what was on it.  They argued.  Gun went off.  The force of the impact made her fall back, thus shooting him again.”

“So who’s on the account, since it’s not her,” Tristan asked.  “I know he wouldn’t include her in his mess.”

“Oh, you would be wrong.  She’s listed on the account as Tay Westbrook.  Her maiden name and the other name was a dummy name.  The idea was that they would get married if she was successful in getting Lizzy charged.”

“But Lizzy wasn’t charged.”  Tristan couldn’t help stating the obvious. “We thought he was trying to get back at her for filing the divorce.”

“He’d been searching for the disc since he and Lizzy separated. He realized she must have about eight months ago and that’s when he started his little harassment campaign.”

Tristan could put the rest of the dots together.  It was an ugly picture, but that was Paul. Lizzy won’t be pleased, but at least she’ll have closure.  Then they would be able to move on with their lives.