Return to Sender (18 page)

The doors to the main lobby swished open.

“Nicholas, how are you? The rumor mill says you’re dying and hell is beckoning,” Jason Vinery said to his former client.

Nick stopped dead in his tracks. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t paid attention to who was in the lobby.

“You’re good at spreading venom around. As you can see, I am alive and well. Spread that around and see what comes of it,” Nick snarled as he escaped through the revolving doors.

“Looking at you, I’d say just barely,” Jason observed to Nick’s retreating back.

Something was seriously wrong with Nicholas Pemberton, and Jason planned to find out. He speed-dialed Mabel Dee. “I want you to put a tail on Nick Pemberton. Call Dave Williams. He’s the best. And, Mabel, not a word to Lin.” Jason clicked off.

Whistling, Jason walked through the same revolving doors and stepped out onto the street. A gleeful smile on his face, he took a minute to watch as Nick’s limo pulled away from the curb.

There was definitely something seriously wrong with the smug bastard.

Could be payback time.

Monday, October 22, 2007
New York City

I
t took Jason’s contacts at both the
Times
and the
Post
more than a week to publish the story of the Pemberton abuse. It made the front pages of both papers, and both included the photograph he’d provided, plus a few others they’d dug up themselves.

Even though it was barely six in the morning, Jason dialed Lin’s cell phone. She’d been on pins and needles all last week, waiting, fearful that she would be found out.

“Hello?”

“Get a copy of the
Post
and the
Times,
read them, and then call me back.”

“It made the paper,” Lin stated flatly, the breath leaving her body in one wild swoop.

“Oh, yeah, and above the fold. Anything concerning the Pembertons is news.”

“Oh, my God! I never thought…Let me get the papers, and I’ll call you back.” Lin hung up the phone, slid into the same pair of jeans she’d worn the previous day, an NYU sweatshirt, her Uggs, and she was out the door.

The corner Starbucks had become her hangout for the more than a week she’d been waiting. She hurried to get copies of the papers and a latte.

After paying for her coffee and papers, Lin hurried back to her apartment. She didn’t want to risk a public reaction. No, this was something she had to do in the comfort of her own home, apartment, whatever. She simply had to be alone.

Sitting on the sofa, she read the twisted headline in the
Times
first.

LIKE SON
,
LIKE FATHER
!!!

Apparently, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in the Pemberton family. Sources close to the family say abuse was an everyday occurrence in Nicholas Sr.’s household.

A former employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, told our source that the violence was so bad, the now-deceased Naomi Pemberton would hide in her room for weeks at a time. The employee said she not only feared for her life, but for that of her young son, Nick Jr., as well…

Similar to the first story, the article continued with information on Pemberton Transport, which was
then
followed by a sketchy family tree.

The
Post
’s story was more of the same.

Lin tossed the papers aside, took another sip of coffee. She dialed Jason’s cell phone.

“What do you think?” Jason asked, not bothering with a greeting, because he’d seen Lin’s name on his caller ID.

“Part of me feels sorry for Nick Sr. since he isn’t alive to defend himself. Another part of me is incredibly sad for Naomi.” Then there was the part of her that burned with wild, hot, mind-blowing anger that she’d allowed herself to get involved with Nick. Then it always came back to Will. But she couldn’t voice those thoughts to Jason.

“That’s it? No ‘Job well done’?” Jason inquired in what was supposed to be a teasing tone, but Lin heard a trace of annoyance in his words.

“I can’t thank you enough, Jason. I’m overwhelmed, that’s all.” Was this it? Was this what she’d lied, connived, and spent a small fortune for? Smearing the Pemberton family name? Lin felt let down, as though there should be something more satisfying or
final.

“We’re not through, Lin,” Jason said.

She wasn’t so sure of that. What was the point in slandering Nick if he didn’t know who was doing it and why? She felt nothing close to personal satisfaction. If anything, she felt like a fool.

“Lin?”

“Yes. Sorry. I was thinking.”

“Let’s see how this plays out. I’ve had a tail on Nick for the past week. I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t want to get your hopes up, but something is going on with him, and it’s big.”

“What do you mean?”

“This will be in the
Times
on Wednesday, so you’ll know about it, anyway. Pemberton Transport is sponsoring a bone-marrow drive.”

“And why does that matter?” Irritation rang in Lin’s voice.

“Two things. First, I ran into Nick the Monday after you came to the office. Secondly, and I’m pretty damn sure of this—actually I’m waiting for this to be confirmed as we speak—but when I saw old Nick, he looked like hell. His suits are tailored. They usually fit him like a glove. When I saw him, I would bet my last dollar he’s lost forty or fifty pounds. His clothes hung on him like wet sheets.”

“Sorry, Jason. I still don’t see what this has to do with me.” Lin didn’t want to play guessing games.

“Bone-marrow drive. Nick looks like shit. Come on, Lin, don’t make me draw you a picture.”

She gasped. “He’s ill?”

“That’s my guess. It gets better. This is what we’ll read in the
Times
on Wednesday. Got this from my contact, too. Apparently, old Nick is reaching out to his former alumni connections, because he’s recruiting bone-marrow donors. Everything is set up to take place on NYU’s campus. He’s even offering a five-hundred-dollar payoff for those who donate. I think there’s more to the story, but that’s all I could get. What I’m trying to say, Lin, is it could be that it’s out of our hands, and the good Lord above has stepped in.

Sounds to me like the man could be dying. If looks are any indication, I’d say old Nick isn’t long for this world.”

Lin’s hands began to shake, and her mouth was suddenly so dry, she couldn’t swallow. She almost choked on her own breath. A thousand different thoughts flashed through her mind, but none would come into focus.

Nick dying?

But wouldn’t that be the answer to her prayers? The end of all ends. Death, the sweetest revenge of all. She should be feeling victorious, satisfied, but all she felt was absolute, total, all-consuming fear.

Fear unlike any she’d ever known. Her father’s beatings with the strap hadn’t struck such fear in her. The early days, when she’d struggled just to keep food in Will’s mouth, didn’t even begin to compare.

“Lin, are you all right?” Jason asked.

Trying to clear her head and focus on the conversation, she spoke in barely a whisper. “I’m not sure.”

“Want me to come over?”

God, no!

“No, I just felt dizzy there for a moment. I wasn’t expecting to hear something like that. Death is…death is…so final.”

“Oh, well then, if you’re sure. I’m expecting a call from Dave, my tail. As soon as I receive a full report, I’ll call you back.” Jason paused. “You’re sure you’re okay? I can send Mabel Dee over. She loves SoHo.”

“No, really I’m fine. I appreciate your efforts, Jason.” Lin hit the
END
button on the phone.

She needed to think. Unscramble the images assaulting her brain. One thought at a time.

Will. Nick. NYU. Donors. Blood. DNA.

What if Will were to participate in the donor drive? My God, it would be just like him to do that! He’d always been a charitable kid. Lin’s mind flashed back to all the blood drives the local blood bank had held when Nick was in high school. Since Nick had a rare form of blood,
AB negative,
he’d always donated when they asked him, explaining to her that he might save someone’s life one day.

Never in a million, hell, never in a zillion, years did Lin think something like this would happen. Never. What were the odds?
Oh God, oh God, oh God!

She paced the small apartment, raking her hands through her hair. What to do? Call Sally. She’d have to come clean, tell the truth, but if Sally were the friend she knew her to be, she’d understand and offer her support.

She glanced at the time. It was still early. Most likely Sally would still be asleep. It didn’t matter. This was life or death. Sort of. She grabbed her cell phone from the sofa and dialed Sally’s home number.

Sally picked up on the second ring. “This better be good. Oh, sorry, Lin. Me and my big mouth. Is it your father?”

Where did she begin? The beginning, of course. “No, he’s fine.

Or he was when I saw him last. This is more important.”

“Okay, explain. I’m getting up. Walking to the kitchen to flick the coffeemaker on.”

Lin knew Sally didn’t function well without her morning caffeine jolt.

“I feel like such a fool. If you don’t speak to me ever again after what I’m about to tell you, I’ll understand. I just want you to know that, Sally.”

“That isn’t gonna happen, and you know it. Spill it, Lin.”

“My father didn’t have a heart attack—”

“—Too bad.”

“Sally!”

“That’s it?” Sally questioned.

“No, there’s more, if you’ll stop interrupting me. I went to Atlanta. Basically I told him to kiss off. You’ll be happy to know I’m no longer footing the bill for his care.”

“What!” Sally shouted.

Lin held the phone away from her ear. “You heard me. That wasn’t my intention, but he was such a bastard. Called me a slut and started preaching about the fires of hell. I’d had enough, and I told him so. I went to the administration office, told them I would no longer be responsible for his care as of September. They looked at me as though I were the most evil daughter that ever lived, but I didn’t give a damn. He’s belittled me for the last time.”

“Hallelujah! It’s about time you got on your hind legs and roared. Good for you, Lin.”

“I knew you’d be glad to hear that. What I didn’t tell you…Well, I’m in New York. Remember that day at the diner when we were talking about letting bygones be bygones? I couldn’t let it go, Sally. I just couldn’t, but I didn’t want you involved any more than you were already. It was something I had to do. Alone.” Lin waited for the sound of the dial tone.

“And you think I’d stop what? Being your friend? Quit the diner? Lin Townsend, you know me better than that!”

Lin sighed. “I should, huh?”

“Damn straight. Now, tell me what’s going on in the Big Apple. Have you seen Will?”

“No, Will thinks I’m in Atlanta, at my father’s bedside. I hated to lie, but I didn’t know what else to tell him.”

“Okay, I can understand that, but what about Sir Nicholas? Have you exacted your revenge or what?”

“That’s just it. I have in a way, but it looks as though someone higher up might finish the job for me.” Lin told her what Jason suspected.

“Dying? Well, if that isn’t sweet revenge, I don’t know what is,” Sally said coldly.

“I don’t want the man to die, Sally! I’m not that coldhearted!”

“He was,” Sally reminded her. “A seventeen-year-old who could have been pregnant with his child and he couldn’t care enough even to open the letters you sent him. I’d say that’s pretty coldhearted.”

One of the things Lin admired most about Sally was her ability to cut through the bullshit and go straight for the heart of the matter.

“Put that way, it’s cold. I don’t care if he dies. Not that I want him to…What if Will decides to donate marrow? That’s what I’m worried about.”

Lin heard clinking noises. Sally pouring coffee.

“You can’t allow him to, that’s all. Surprise him. Tell him…something and keep him away from the school until the drive is over. End of problem.”

Could it really be that easy?

“It’s the middle of the semester. I can’t just pull him away from his classes.”

“I didn’t say that. Just make sure when he’s not in class that he’s with you, anywhere but on campus. Tell him you miss him, which we both know is true, so that’s not a lie. He’s eighteen. Tell him you’re taking him out on the town. Nothing like an invitation to party in the Big Apple.”

Maybe that could work,
Lin thought.

“Why don’t you fly up? Between the two of us, we’re bound to come up with a plan to keep Will away from campus.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. Jack is freaking out because I refuse to serve meat loaf every day. Apparently that compromise you reached with him about meat loaf as a lunch special isn’t enough to satisfy him. And Kelly Ann thinks she pregnant. She’s spent more time in the ladies’ room than she has working.”

Lin needed to go home, but she couldn’t. Not yet. Not when the lie she thought she’d kept hidden from Will was about to be uncovered, or at the very least, there was a chance that it could be. Sally needed to stay in Dalton.

“I’ll be fine. Sounds like you have your hands full. I hope Kelly Ann’s boyfriend steps up to the plate if she is pregnant. He’s such a weirdo.”

“My thoughts, too, but kids will be kids. Even though she’s twenty-one, Lizzie still acts like a teenager sometimes.”

Feeling defeated, Lin took a deep breath, trying to take some interest in their conversation. “I’d always heard girls were more difficult than boys. But listen, I shouldn’t have dumped all this on you. I’m just feeling so mixed up about the whole stupid mess. Maybe I should’ve insisted Will go to college elsewhere. I don’t know. There are so many what-ifs right now.”

“Listen, you can ‘what-if’ yourself to death, and it will get you nowhere. Stuff happens. You deal with it. Bottom line, would it be so terrible if Will were to learn his father was alive?”

“Yes and no. He’d never trust me again, and I wouldn’t blame him. And what if he does find out and Nick dies? Where would that leave him? Me? Us? I can’t risk it. There’s too much at stake.”

“Let’s look at the worst-case scenario. Number one, Will finds out his father is alive, and you’ve lied about it all these years. You carry that damn messenger bag full of those letters with you everywhere you go. Show them to Will. Let him know you made the effort to include his father in his life. Number two, this may hurt Will, but at least he’ll know your intentions were good. Rejection from an unknown father is much worse than rejection from a father you’ve known all your life. At least that’s my take on it. Will is eighteen. Nick is his father. Whatever happens between the two of them, if
anything
were to happen, you will have done what is right. Will is an understanding young man, Lin. Remember it was you that raised him, not your father, not Nick. He’s a good penny.”

“I know. I just don’t want my son to think less of me. He’s all I have, Sally.” Tears pooled in Lin’s eyes. She used the hem of her sweatshirt to stem the flow.

“Ultimately, the decision is up to you, Lin. I can’t make it for you. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it.”