A Brilliant Ride (22 page)

“Jackie’s been hiding tablets in her ring?”

Sam’s words rang through my head, “Claudia was drugged.”

When was the last time I saw Jackie wearing this ring? She wasn’t wearing it last night. What about that punk I saw in town arguing with Claudia; what about Todd, and the waiter at Magnolia? It all came rushing into my mind like a tidal wave.

“Jackie and Sam must be fooling around behind my back.” My stomach tightened. “How else would her ring end up in my house?” It didn’t make sense, but it was the only thing I could come up with. Jackie and Sam having an affair…the idea was surreal. It certainly explained the bizarre behavior, soulful looks, and the speech she gave me about being so naïve…how I needed to get away…but what about Claudia? I was beginning to think everything was connected - the murders, Claudia, Sam and Jackie, the bruise, the bandage…the pills.

I heard Brilliant’s voice. “I am preparing you for change. What do you see?”

“Where are you now, Brilliant?” I screamed out, but there was no reply. I breathed in slowly and deeply, trying to remember all the relaxation techniques he taught me. My mind was racing, my heart ached, and big salty tears streamed down my face. A cheating husband is bad enough, but one who cheats on you with one of your best friends is particularly hard to handle. I felt like I might pass out.

I need a plan. I need to figure out what to do next. I heard his voice again, “Listen to you
r inner guidance.”

I didn’t hear my
inner guidance
.

I could hear the drip of the kitchen faucet. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I could hear Mr. Jackson and his sidekick mumbling down in the basement, bu
t I couldn’t hear my inner guidance.

“Go to t
hat quiet place,” he whispered.

There was no quiet place. My mind was screaming so many things.

I had to deal with the plumber, the furnace, the children coming home, and Mother…and I had to face Sam.

“Mrs. Dupres?” The men were making their way up from the basement. I jumped up and grabbed my handb
ag, searching for my checkbook.

“Hey, Mrs. Dupres, you got a treasure chest down there in that basement of yours? We found this here cuff link, too.”

“Sam’s missing cuff link. It just gets better and better,” I mumbled.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Dupres, you okay?” Mr. Jackson asked, scratching his head. “Um, look no worries. We’ll send you a bill, okay? The furnace is running like a dream now. You won’t have any more problems.”
Unable to find my voice, I stood perfectly still in a trance-like stupor, staring at the two of them. “Um, yeah, like I said…we’ll send you the bill. You call us if you need anything else, okay?” Mr. Jackson knitted his eyebrows.

I nod
ded and shook his dirty hand, smiling a sort of half smile at Jerry.

As they made their way out, I saw the two exchange looks. I quickly locked the front door and made my way back down to the basement. My legs felt like jelly
, as I searched the cold cellar. “I wonder what else will show up down here.” I looked everywhere, but nothing. I tried to piece it all together. “Why the hell would Jackie be down here?” I mean if something was going on with the two of them, couldn’t they find a better place to rendezvous? The two of them are accustomed to comfort, first class all the way. A basement seems an unlikely
love nest
.

I turned to switch the light off when it caught my eye - a manila envelope peeking out from behind the steam pipe. It was stuffed, and I pried it out carefully. “What the heck?” It was dusty and heavy. I opened it up and stood motionless. The envelope was filled with cash, and a lot of it…thousands of dollars.

I drove to
Jackie’s house in a stupor. I had no idea what I was going to say when I got there. I had no plan. I just felt the need to see her face to face. When I got to her door, I heard loud music. I rang the bell. The music stopped, and a minute later she opened the door. She was wearing tight fitting skinny jeans and a black knit halter top. She had a long gold chain around her neck worn backwards, letting it hang down at the small of her back…always the glamour girl.

She wasn’t surprised to see me and showed me into her living room with a
casual wave of her hand.

“Have a drink, Pen,” she said flatly.

I quickly declined and stood perfectly still, mentally rehearsing what I wanted to say.

“Oh have one; you look like you could use one,” she said and headed over to the bar.

She had a shaker filled. Apparently, she had already started, even though it wasn’t quite noon. “Bottoms up,” she said, and took a gulp from a crystal tumbler before throwing herself into a large leather chair by the fire.

“I don’t know where to begin.” My face felt hot and my hands were shaking. I met her gaze and asked, “Why?”

“I’ve been asking myself the same question,” she shot back. “It’s a shock, I know, but I’ve been trying to tell you for some time now.”

“Well I never got the message,” I murmured.

“Life is hard, Pen; I told you to take the rose colored glasses off.” She shook her head, and I could feel my love for her quickly changing to hatred. The nerve of her, reprimanding me for being trusting, for believing in her and our friendship, for believing that even Sam wouldn’t sink so low as to sleep with one of my dearest friends. I felt like slapping her.

“I’m sick of all this drama.”S
he threw her head back, running her fingers through her red mane. “That’s why I mentioned going to France for a while. I need a break from all of this.”

“You…you need a break? What are you complaining about? I’m the victim here!”

“I realize that. I’m trying to help you.”

“Help me?” I screeched. “How…by stealing my husband?”

“What?” She cocked her head.

“How could you, Jackie? You must have a million men at your fingertips.”

“Huh?” Her face froze. “What are you talking about?”

“You slut,” I shouted out in a voice I didn’t know I possessed.

“Shush…quiet,” she said, putting her drink down with a shaky hand. “Look, Pen, you’ve got it all wrong; totally wrong!” Her expression changed. “I’m not the one you have to worry about. I tried to stop it.”

“Stop what?” I screamed.

“Pen, listen, I confronted Sam, at your place, I….” She reached out to me. “Look, we got into a massive argument. The big ape was out of control. He dragged me down to your basement, so no one would hear us. He got violent, Pen. He hit me and threw me on the floor. That’s how I got that bump on my head.”

“What a story! Well, at least that explains the ring.”

“What ring?”

“Stop playing me for a fool. Your ring, Jackie! That ugly ring; the one with the big blue stone...”

“Huh? You have it?” she asked, screwing up her face.

“Yes, I found it behind the furnace, in my basement.”

“What the hell…” she mumbled, looking puzzled.

“Of, please, Jackie! I also found Sam’s cuff link. Look, it’s over; I see it all very clearly now. How long are we going to play this game?”

“Look, Pen, I’m telling you the truth. Sam and I got into an argument, and yes we were in your basement. I remember grabbing his shirt when he threw me down. That’s probably when his cuff link fell off. But the ring…”

“Spare me the dramatics. Just give me the facts.”

“I am. I’m telling you exactly what happened. He noticed my head was bleeding and panicked. He yanked me up by my hair and told me to keep my mouth shut or he’d kill me. He continued threatening me, kept saying he had dirt on me. Something I wouldn’t want getting out. It was horrible. I got out of there as fast as I could. I couldn’t tell you, Pen. I was so frightened. I was afraid of what he would do next. He’s unstable. He said if I mentioned anything to anyone, he’d track me down and skin me alive. He kept going on about dirt he had on me and leverage.”

“What dirt?” I shot back.

“Nothing compared to what he’s hiding.”

“Well I’ve got a lot of time, so start talking. What dirt does he have on you?”

“He was going to tell Claudia and Paul about…” She stopped.

“About what…?”

“About me,” a voice shot out from behind me. I turned quickly and was stunned to see Trevor casually leaning against the back wall. His shirt was open, and his low slung jeans were half unbuttoned.

“
About
us
,” she said flatly and lit one of her long cigarettes. “We’re involved.” She blew a train of smoke out slowly.

“We’ve been seeing each other on and off for a while now,” Trevor added and positioned himself next to Jackie in a protective manner. “It started last year; we ended it when I went back to school, but I couldn’t stay away. I’
m here to stay. We’ve got a
sick
thing going, right babe?” He pulled Jackie close, wrapping his arm around her waist.

“I
t’s sick alright.”

“Oh, come on, don’t look so shocked. He’s a man now; he’ll be 21 next week.” Jackie gazed lovingly at Trevor and cooed, “
We’re in love
.”

My eyes widened as I took in the two, caressing and cooing. Their union was definitely
surprising
, but it certainly wasn’t enough to push Sam over the edge. “That’s it?” I said rubbing my head. “Okay, I get that Claudia and Paul might not be so thrilled about their 21 year old son having an affair with a
cougar
, but why in the world would Sam care?”

Jackie cut me off. “Trevor,
darling, be a love and pick up that case of wine I ordered from Brandson’s.” She placed her car keys in his hand and kissed him deeply. He sashayed toward the door, buttoning his jeans as he left.

“I’ll be back, babe.” He winked and headed for the door. “Bye, Penny,” he yelled out before closing the door behind him. I certainly wasn’t comfortable with Trevor’s sudden familiarity, referring to me as
Penny
, but that wasn’t half as jarring as seeing him wrapped around Jackie, his tongue halfway down her throat. I remembered him as a child, sitting at the edge of my pool sipping a purple juice box, and winced.

“I
think I’ll take that drink now.”

Jackie rushed to place a crystal tumbler in my hand. I felt like I might spontaneously explode right in the center of her ultra-mod living room and drank the clear liquid in one full gulp.

“Okay, now, let’s start from the beginning… again,” I muttered.

She quickly refilled my glass.

“Look, I didn’t want Trevor to hear this part. Like I said, I confronted Sam,” Jackie said.

“Why?”

“Because I saw him having a drink with Claudia, and I knew about the drugs.”

“What drugs? Jackie, please, you’re going in circles, not making any sense. What drugs?”

She looked at me with that same look she gave me in Leighton’s parking lot and again when we were leaving the Regal after lunch, and I felt my stomach sink. I searched her face and saw the pain and fear she was carrying. She took her hand and placed it gently on my arm.

“Sam isn’t having an affair with me. Oh, Pen, things are much worse than that.” She walked around the room and stopped in front of one of her large paintings. Her finger traced the lines in the huge work of art, and she started to cry.

“I found pills in that ring of yours,” I stammered. “What kind of pills are they?”

“
What? What are you talking about?”

“That ring has a hidden compartment. I opened it. It’s filled with pills. You honestly expect me to believe you didn’t know that?”

“That ring isn’t mine. It belongs to Phyllis. She gave it to me…let me think. Yes, I remember, it was right before the whole Teddy debacle. I remember exactly. It was the day before we all met for lunch at Regal Rock, when I was so upset. She saw me that morning at the coffee shop and came running over to me. She said she felt badly about missing my birthday and took the ring right off her finger. She wanted me to have it, said it was a belated birthday gift. I thought it was odd. I didn’t know it had a secret compartment. I swear. Anyway, I lost it. I noticed it was missing the day before the costume ball. I had no idea it was filled with pills.”

“What is going on?” My head was spinning.

“I’m not sure. Anyway, there’s another ring to worry about.”

“Huh?”

“Yes…a drug ring.”

“
A drug ring
,” I repeated, trying to pull more air down into my lungs.

“Yes, Pen. Ever since Teddy went off the deep end, I’ve been doing some digging. That private investigator I hired to trail him and his little bimbo uncovered more than a fling. Seems Teddy has been partying up a storm…wild parties with lots of drugs. And he’s not the only one.” Her eyes widened, and I could see the sadness behind her glare.

“I’m so sorry Pen, but Sam’s involved, too. The detective has documented proof of that.”