THE TAINTED TRUST: A DOUGLASS CRIME AND ROMANCE THRILLER SERIES (THE KING TRILOGY Book 2) (17 page)

She telephoned Miles Dennis. After three rings, she heard the familiar message on his answering machine.

“Miles, it’s Kerri. I just called to tell you I’m back in New York. I’ll see you at work tomorrow morning.”

Kerri was awakened at ten forty-five by the loud ring of the telephone beside her bed. She managed to turn on the night table lamp with her eyes tightly shut. With one eye barely open, she lifted the receiver, answered, then pulled the covers over her head to preserve darkness.

“It’s Miles… Did I wake you up?”

“No. I’m still asleep.”

“Sorry. I just assumed you’d still be awake. How are you?”

“Fine, under the circumstances. How are you?”

“Tired. I’ve been working my fingers to the bone. I didn’t realize how valuable you had become until I had to work without you. I can’t tell you how glad I am to have you back… Is Brian there?”

“No. I’m alone.”

“No notes, flowers?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you subscribe to The Times?”

“Yes. Why?”

“… If you’ve got today’s edition, you’ll find a picture of your husband in the sports section… I should warn you. It’s not pretty.”

“Why? What am I going to see?”

“He’s with a woman… A stripper.”

“It’s probably just a publicity thing,” Kerri said, unwilling to accept any notion of her husband’s infidelity.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s got anything to do with publicity… Maybe I should come over there. I don’t want you to be alone when you see it.”

Kerri’s heart pounded as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Thanks for offering, but I can handle it. I’m over twenty-one.”

“Don’t hesitate to call me if you change your mind.”

“I won’t,” Kerri promised. She hung up, then leaped from the bed and raced to the front door. She descended to her knees and ripped the Wednesday edition of The Times from its clear polyethylene cover. She removed the sports section and dropped it on the floor in front of her. In the center of the front page was an eight inch square photograph of Brian and another woman. Brian, obviously unwilling to be photographed, was attempting to shield his face with the palm of his left hand. His right arm was wrapped around the woman’s shoulder.

Kerri’s eyes shifted to the caption at the bottom of the photo. Her blood turned cold as she read, “QUARTERBACK SNEAK??? New York Jets’ star quarterback, Brian Pyper, was seen leaving Runway Thirty-eight early this morning. Accompanying him was super-stripper, Tina DeSouza. Pyper’s wife was unavailable for comment.”

The photograph spoke volumes. Kerri’s focus darted back and forth between her husband and the stripper. Disappointment and rage exploded inside her. She was heartbroken. The equation of her marriage had been altered, permanently. Never again would she experience the purity of their relationship. She thumped the photograph with her fist. “You bastard!” she screamed, tears blurring her vision. “How could you do this? How could you destroy such a beautiful thing?”

CHAPTER 46

Visconti telephoned Nick Benedetti, an unscrupulous private detective who had been enormously helpful to him in the resolution of a number of his previous and unfortunate affairs. Benedetti received the call in his Staten Island office. “Louis, baby! Good to hear from you. What’s shaking?” he sang, resting his feet on his cluttered desk and flicking cigar ashes to the floor.

“I’ve got a job for you. You busy?”

“Never too busy for you, Louis. You know that. What’ve you got?”

“You know the Jets’ quarterback, Brian Pyper?”

“Who the hell doesn’t? I saw his picture in The Times today. Looks like he’s running with a Cuban squeeze.”

“I want you to follow him. Stick to him like wet underwear. I want the whole book on this dude, Nick. I want pictures. Real good ones. None of that kissy face crap. Give me skin, enough to nail him to the wall.”

“This guy got something on you?”

“No. His wife does.”

“You care to tell me what?”

“I’m in love with her.”

“That’s a lot to have on a man. I’ll give it my undivided attention, Louis. Count on it.”

Kerri raced through a breakfast of toast and coffee, frequently glancing at her watch. With less than enough time to avoid being late for work, she hurried from the kitchen. To her surprise and horror, she saw Brian removing his jacket in the foyer. He appeared to have recently awakened, his face unshaven, his hair ruffled, and large puffy circles sagging below his bloodshot eyes.

Brian dropped his empty night bag on the floor. “What are you doing here?” he asked with a raspy voice.

“In case you’ve forgotten, I live here,” Kerri challenged.

“I thought you left… I phoned here at least five times and there was no answer.”

“Did you phone my office?”

Brian nodded. “All they would tell me was that you were out of town.”

“… I went to Vancouver for two days.”

“How did you pay for the flight?” Brian asked with an antagonistic scowl.

“I put it on the credit card.” Kerri anticipated a confrontation, but almost welcomed it, hoping it would clear the air.

“How much was it?” he asked, raising the decibel level of his voice.

“A little over six hundred.”

Brian placed his hands on his hips and tightened his lips. “Six hundred! Where do you plan to get six hundred dollars? I’m sure as shit not going to pay for it.”

“Brian, maybe instead of telling me what you aren’t going to do, you should tell me what you are going to do. Maybe you could start by telling me if you’re coming or going.” Anger prodded her to be more specific, but instinct inhibited her.

“You really care?”

“Sure I do, and I think we should talk about what’s going to happen to our marriage.”

Brian smirked. “Aren’t you the same girl who told me we have nothing to talk about unless I’m prepared to admit I have a drinking problem?”

“Yes, but when I said it, I assumed it was the only problem we had.”

“So now you’re saying it’s okay for us to talk because we have more than one problem. Is that it?”

Brian’s belligerent and deliberate attempts to provoke Kerri had come very close to succeeding. She struggled with an almost overwhelming urge to scream. “Don’t you find it difficult to live with uncertainty?” she asked.

“What do you mean by uncertainty?”

“Let’s start with the obvious. If you’re planning to live somewhere else, I’ve got to make other arrangements.”

“That’s completely up to you. There’s no way I’m coming back here if you’re going to hassle me about the way I live my life.”

“You still don’t see it,” Kerri said, exasperated. “I’m trying to help you and save our marriage, but I need a little cooperation.”

“Well that’s the problem right there. It isn’t about drinking, or uncertainty. It’s all about you trying to get me to live my life according to your standards. Forget it!” Brian shouted. “It isn’t going to happen!” He stormed past Kerri and climbed the stairs behind her.

Confused, angered and frustrated, Kerri left the apartment and headed for the bus stop, a block and a half away.

CHAPTER 47

It was almost nine when Kerri entered the office of Iacardi & Sons. She marched directly to her boss’s office and closed the door behind her. Dennis smiled and jumped to his feet. “Welcome back. You can’t know how glad I am to see you. You had me worried.”

Kerri left her overcoat on and sat on the metal chair in front of his desk. “Sorry I’m late. I was on the way out the door when Brian arrived. I should have kept going, but I couldn’t.”

“I bet you’re going to tell me it wasn’t a happy reunion.”

“That’s an understatement. We can’t even communicate any more.”

“You bring up the subject of his picture in the Times?”

Kerri shook her head. “I knew it would make things worse. I just asked him if he planned to come home. He said he wouldn’t if I continued to hassle him about the way he lives his life. Then he refused to continue the conversation and went to the kitchen. I presume he was going to pick up some of his things and leave again, but I didn’t stay long enough to find out.”

Dennis looked away and shook his head. “I feel so sorry for you. I wish there was a simple solution to it.”

“So do I, but there isn’t… I’m such a fool, Miles. I was absolutely determined to save our marriage. I was prepared to do whatever it took. I was even convinced the split was my fault.”

“You may be guilty of being naive, but you’re no fool.”

Kerri blinked, vainly trying to suppress tears. “If I’m not a fool, maybe you can tell me what I’m doing here.”

“At the risk of sounding trite, I’ll tell you what you’re doing here. You’re working for me, and you’re doing a damn good job.”

“Thank you. It’s the one good thing to come out of this whole mess. Unfortunately I’m going to have to end it. I would give anything to stay here with you, but it’s impossible. I can’t afford to stay in New York on my salary.”

“It’s not impossible. You know that regardless of whether you reconcile with Brian or not, he’s going to have to maintain your life-style.”

“No way!” Kerri argued, shaking her head. “Accepting money from Brian would be worse than accepting welfare.”

Dennis smiled. His admiration for Kerri had risen several notches. “You’re truly unique. Most women I know wouldn’t look at the situation quite that way.”

“How would they look at it?”

“The old fashioned way. Initially, they would feel abused and damaged. Eventually, consumed with anger and indignation, they would rush off to hire the meanest, nastiest divorce lawyer they can find, the kind who eats raw meat for breakfast. Then together, using the full force of the law, they tap into the husband’s jugular vein and open the valve. At the end of the day, they whine and snivel all the way to the bank.”

“Well that’s not me. I’d feel dirty. I think the best thing for me to do is to go back to Vancouver and start over.”

Dennis was troubled. Kerri had become indispensable. He adored her. “I can’t let you go, Kerri. You’re too valuable to me… If I could make it possible for you to stay in New York, would you consider it?”

“Sure I would. But…”

“Twelve years ago, when our kids were still with us, my wife went back to work. We had an apartment built in the basement and hired an Irish nanny. It was a super arrangement until the kids left home. The nanny moved out and we stopped using the apartment… I would be delighted if you would consider making it your home.”

“That’s very generous, but it’s too much of an imposition. I couldn’t.”

“No imposition at all, but there are strings attached. You have a wonderful future in this business, Kerri. If you accept my offer, you’ll have to enroll in the Commodity Trader’s Course. If you’re successful, you’ll become a licensed commodities trader. With your intelligence and my help, you can’t miss, and you’ll certainly be able to afford to live in New York.”

Dennis’s unexpected offer was enormously appealing. Suddenly it was possible for her to remain in New York and stay in the business she had grown to love. Even better, she could retain the independence she valued so highly. “Is there a curfew?” she asked, smiling at last.

Dennis shook his head.

“Then I accept.” Kerri stood and extended her hand to Dennis.

“Wonderful!” Dennis said, then stood and hugged her instead of accepting her hand. “I promise I’ll do everything possible to ensure that you never regret this decision and one day I’m going to refer to you as my colleague.”

Surprised by Dennis’s uncharacteristic display of emotion, Kerri flinched, then relaxed, happy to feel the strength and warmth of a man’s arms.

“You’re going to make it through this mess, Kerri, and when you do, it’ll be nothing but a bad memory.”

“I wish I could share your optimism. I’m really scared, Miles.”

“That’s understandable. An awful lot’s happened to you in a very short period of time. It may not be any consolation to you, but you’re not unique. Splits are so common now that surviving first marriages are considered items of curiosity. The game has changed so much that some people think there’s something wrong with you if you’re still in your first marriage.”

“Are you?”

Dennis’s face flushed as he nodded. “Andrea and I are a prime example of a prehistoric married couple. We’re alone. Not one of our friends is still involved in a first marriage.”

“You must have a formula.”

“I keep telling myself it’s love and devotion, but in all honesty, I think there’s a bit of inertia involved. Relationships change with the passage of time. When the intense passion subsides, it’s replaced by friendship, closer and more precious than any you’ll ever experience.” Dennis’s gray eyes locked on Kerri’s. “Let me show you. Have dinner with us tonight.” He walked to his telephone and lifted the receiver. “Say yes and I’ll call Andrea, right now.”

CHAPTER 48

Brian entered Runway Thirty-eight at seven-thirty and marched to his favorite table at stage side. With a now customary wave of his hand, he ordered a rum and coke. Marsha Ridecki, on bar duty and wearing only tight red silk panties and white cowboy-boots, delivered the drink to his table. “Running a tab tonight, Brian?” she asked, leaning in front of him to advertise her enormous naked breasts.