The Lurking Man (15 page)

She picked it up and studied it closer. Hoping his words provided her with the proper clue, she brought the toy animal to her nose and sniffed. Pain filled her head and another memory came fast.

 

Chapter 18

 

 

A DAY AT THE PARK

 

 

The past.

 

Cailean tugged on the bill of her pink Boston Red Sox baseball cap to help shield her eyes from the hot sun. Although she didn't care much for the sport, the embossed letter B was what had appealed to her. To her it meant
Bitch,
and that described her perfectly.
 

Her ponytail stuck out of the back of the hat and large sunglasses covered most of her face. She sat on a park bench that overlooked the large playground. Swings, slides, tunnels, ramps, and staircases split off in all directions. Woodchips covered the ground and a chain-link fence circumscribed the entire playground. The river ran parallel with the park and created the perfect backdrop. The waves that lapped the rocky shoreline produced a constant sloshing sound that she found comforting.

A gentle breeze lifted her hair and a father shadowing his young daughter kept her attention. The child ran around the massive structure and made the father appear clumsy and overly nervous with her every move. Cailean couldn't help but laugh at how winded and out of shape he was.

“Mom?”

Cailean ignored Beau.

“Mommy!”

“Don't raise your voice like that,” she said and didn't offer him a look. “Go on and play. Go down the curly slide a few times with Rafi. I don't want to stay too long. I'm not feeling well.”

She removed a water bottle from the inside pocket of her North Face jacket and twisted the cap off. Drinking two mouthfuls, she concentrated on the slow burn the vodka left behind as it descended her throat. She had come to appreciate the feeling because no matter what war was
being fought on the inside, the fiery sensation helped extinguish the disharmony for a short period of time.
 

“I said to go and play,” she said.

 “But I want you to come with me, Mommy,” Beau said, and reached his hand out to her.

A certain level of satisfaction filled Cailean that she could disguise alcohol as water. It proved she was much smarter than everyone else around her.

“I just told you that I wasn't feeling well,” she said and waved him away. “I've also told you that I don't want to stay too long and you're wasting time.” She drained the rest of the vodka out of the bottle, stood, and stared at Beau. “Go now!” she said and pointed.

He ran away.

The nervous father walked by and flashed Cailean a cordial smile.

“Hello,” he said.

Sweat glistened on his forehead and pockmarks rippled his cheeks. Although her eyes were hidden behind the tint of her glasses, she remained conscious enough not to give the direction of her stare away by the position of her head. Her eyes focused on the expensive watch strapped around his wrist. The Prada shoes, pants, and quilted down coat he wore screamed money.

“Hello to you,” she said and understood that the Jaguar she parked next to when she arrived undoubtedly belonged to him. She tossed the empty bottle into the nearest trashcan.

“I'm Emerson,” he said and held out his large hand for her to take.

“Cailean,” she said and accepted his offering. She pumped his hand up and down and studied him. Without question she could move past the imperfections on his skin and all the extra weight he carried. For money she would do about anything.

The understanding that Wilson wouldn't be home for at least several more hours leapt into the forefront of her mind.

“It's very nice to meet you,” he said.

She dismissed the irrational thought immediately. She wouldn't know what to do with Beau and didn't want to
appear trashy. It wasn't every day that a seemingly rich man fell into her lap.
 

“Same here,” she said and looked in the general area Beau might be in. She saw him standing in the center of the playground, sucking his thumb, and watching other children run around.

“It's perfect out here today, isn't it?”

“Yes, it is,” she said and shoved her left hand into her jacket pocket. She thumbed her wedding ring and spun it on her finger.

“This is my daughter, Stacey,” he said. “Stacey, say hello.”

Stacey flashed Cailean a look of indignation, folded her arms across her chest, and then looked away.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “She doesn't interact well with others.”

“Don't worry about it. She's adorable,” Cailean said, but really didn't think so. She looked like him—and for a girl, that wasn't a good thing.

She pointed at Beau. “And that handful over there is my son, Beau.”

Emerson shielded his eyes from the sun. “Cute little guy.” He looked at Cailean. “He looks a lot like you.”

A smile parted her lips. “Thank you.”

“Don't thank me for saying what is true,” he said. “And the other one—I suppose he takes after his father?” Emerson said, smiling.

“Oh,” Cailean laughed, “That grayish thing my son is carrying is Rafi, his stuffed giraffe. He used to be orange and white. Beau takes it everywhere with him.”

“That's cute.”

“It used to be. And you wouldn't be saying that if you got a whiff of it. Oh, and . . .” she patted the top of her head.

“Emerson felt the top of his head and found his sunglasses. “I've been looking all over the place for these. Don't mind me. I've been a little off today. It has been a stressful day.”

“I'm sorry,” she said, but really wasn't.

“Be careful, Stacey.” He put the glasses on. “It is a beautiful day today. Please, allow me to take a picture of you and your son.”

“No,” Cailean said. “But thank you. I look a mess.”

He took his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at her with doubt. “You're kidding me, right?”

She didn't want to seem pretentious and scare him off. “OK,”she said. “Sure, why not? What could it hurt?”

She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Beau?”

He appeared from somewhere up high. His baseball cap was pulled low and made his ears stick out. Wedging his face between the bars, he looked down at his mother. “What?”

“Don't ‘what' me. Come down here now!”

“But, Mom, I'm playing with Rafi.”

“We're not leaving yet. I just need you to come here for a minute.”

Beau hung his head as he walked the ramp and went down the stairs. He held Rafi by the neck and dragged him along. His long, skinny legs skipped down each step and bumped through the cypress mulch. The long body begged to be washed.

“Put Rafi down on the bench for a minute,” Cailean said. “This nice man wants to take our picture.”

He hugged Rafi and shook his head.

“Come on, Beau, just put him down. He'll be right there and you can get him the second we're done.”

She took Rafi from him and set him down on the bench, wiped her hand on her pant leg, and squatted next to Beau. She removed her sunglasses and pulled him close. She pointed at Emerson and said, “Look right there and give me your best smile.”

“That's great,” Emerson said and took the picture. He studied the small screen on his phone. “It came out really nice.”

“See, that wasn't so bad, was it?” she said to Beau.

“Not for me,” he said, and ran to get Rafi. He walked to the playground stairs. “But it was very bad for Rafi. I don't like leaving him alone like that. He doesn't do that to me.”

“He is really attached to that thing, huh?”Emerson said.

“Annoyingly so.” She put on her sunglasses and removed a second bottle out from the inside jacket pocket. “And I'm surprised he put it down long enough for you to take a picture.”

She took a drink.

“I think it's cute.”

She didn't think so, but didn't want to say so again. She sat on the bench.

“Can I have your phone number?” he said.

“I'm sorry, what?”

Emerson held up his cell phone. “So I can send you your picture. What is your phone number?”

She gave him her number.

“Do you come here often?” she said.

“No,” he said and looked at Stacey and saw that she was holding Beau's hand, leading him around. “Look at that.”

“Now that's cute. Maybe they made friends today.”

“I hope so,” he said, and snapped another picture.

Cailean chuckled. “You look a little nervous with her.”

“I am,” he said, and seemed embarrassed by her saying so.

“I didn't mean anything by it. It's just the way you stay so close to her and you keep looking for her over your shoulder every second.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I want to make sure she's doing OK.”

“Now I think that's cute, too,” she said.

“Yeah?” He smiled.

She nodded and drank some more. This guy was like putty in her hands already.

“This is the first time I've been able to take her out in a long time and I'm elated to see her having so much fun.”

He looked at his watch.

“I only have a few minutes left with her before she has to leave,” he said.

“I won't pry, I promise. And I won't keep you from your daughter,” she said.

Stacey approached Emerson with a watchful eye on Cailean. She grabbed his fat, stubby finger and pulled on it. “Come on, Daddy, let's go. She's over there and I think I have to go now.”

Emerson raised an eyebrow and turned away with a smirk. “If you're hanging around a little while longer, I'll be back in a few minutes.”

“Sure,” she said and watched him bend oddly as he kept his daughter's hand. He walked to the woman who was waiting. She wore a suit skirt and had a big smile.

“She's fake,” Cailean said. “Probably after his money.”

She was a slender woman and had a nice tan. The outfit she wore revealed her shapely body and her long, jet-black hair rode the soft breeze.

Cailean took the opportunity to drink some more. Plenty of small sips numbed her throat and she saw Emerson pull something out of his pocket and hand it to the woman. She presumed it was money, and a moment later, he walked away from her.

As Emerson walked back to Cailean, Stacey ran into the playground and the woman with the black hair answered her phone and started taking notes.

“Peculiar,” she whispered. “Is that her mother?”

Emerson shook his head. “No, that's Doctor Lee. She cares for my daughter.”

Cailean looked at Stacey curiously. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with her.

“It's a long story,” he said.

“We all have at least one of those, don't we?”

He nodded. “Well, I'm going to be here next week. It can be right around the same time if you want to get the kids together.”

“I'm married,” she said.

He smiled. “I know. I saw your ring. I'm just looking for a friend. Lord knows I can use one.”

She nodded.

“Me too. Six years I've been married and I've wanted to leave my husband every day since then. There's nothing there. I don't think there ever was anything there. There's no love, communication, or attraction. I swear, I married him to escape a horrible home life and I think that was a bigger mistake. It's like we're roommates and we can't even get along as that.”

Emerson nodded.

“I'm sorry,” she said. “I just met you and I'm telling you all of this. I'm embarrassed.”

“Don't be,” he said.

“Are you married?”

“No, not anymore. My wife died some years back.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said. “That's why Stacey has been under the guidance of a doctor. She witnessed something horrible and I'm not quite sure how it has affected her.”

“That sounds tragic,” Cailean said, and motioned towards Beau. “He's the only reason I stick around.”

He shook his head and sat next to her on the bench. She capped the water bottle to try and contain the odor.

“It's never a good idea to stay around for the child,” he said. “Although your intentions are good, you're going to do more harm than good if you fight in front of him.”

She smiled, crossed her legs, and leaned towards him with her best smile. “You're very smart.”

“Maybe we can talk some more about the things that trouble you. I'm a really good listener and I've learned some lessons about the importance of not keeping everything bottled up inside.”

She smiled. “Sure, that would be nice.”

“OK,” he said and took his car keys out of his pocket. The gold Jaguar pendant verified her assumption. Although she remained calm on the outside, on the inside joy overtook her. She felt like she'd just hit the lottery.

“Well, next week it is then,” he said. “I'll send you the picture of you and your son. Maybe I'll leave it as a surprise.”

He turned around and walked away, but this time, she watched the water. The wind gently caressed her and rippled the surface of the river.

“Beau, five minutes!” Cailean said, feeling fine.

A swell of emotion filled with the possibility that
Emerson may very well be her ticket out of her lousy marriage relaxed her. She was more than willing to give him back whatever he desired, no matter how repulsed she might be while doing it.
 

Panic-stricken screams erupted and she jumped. The sheer terror in them made the skin on her arms goose. She
stood and searched the park for the reason behind the sudden panic. People ran past her, moving towards the far corner of the playground. The colossal structure blocked her view, but with all of the commotion this had to be something awful. She walked towards the gathering. Gasps, mumbled chatter, and horrified expressions aroused her curiosity and she needed to see what the fuss was about.