After It's Over (7 page)

The overweight detective, dressed in a stained suit, stepped outside. He paused to spit tobacco juice into a flowerbed. The black slime landed on the head of a white daisy. The detective grunted at Kade, turned, and went back into the house.

Mrs. Birch would be so upset. She loved her flowers almost as much as her kids. How can she be gone? What happened? I have to get inside.

With the deputy’s departure, the front door was left unattended. Kade was careful not to draw attention to himself as he slipped inside. He bumped into another cop who hurried past him. She carried a clipboard and spoke into her radio. She shot Kade a look of annoyance as he collided with her, but said nothing. He walked into the front room adjacent to the entryway.

The room looked normal; there was nothing out of place. An open bottle of Scotch sat next to the leather recliner where Paige’s father sat every night after work. The bottle was nearly empty.

Mrs. Birch hated an untidy house.
Should I throw it away? No, it’s a crime scene.

The sound of tense voices down the hall caught his attention. Kade walked lightly on the white carpet dotted with tiny specks of red. He reached the end of the hall and pressed himself against a wall.

“Did you know he was beating his wife?” a male voice said.

He peered around the corner; two detectives stood outside Paige’s parents’ bedroom.

The shorter of the two men, rubbed his forehead and nodded his head. “Everyone knew he beat her, but he was up for chief of police so no one said a word.”

“I hear he flunked the psych exam and shouldn’t have been a cop in the first place.”

“I heard that too. I talked to the wife once. She went to the Sergeant for help, and he told her to go to marriage counseling. I told her to forget that and get the hell out. The only thing to do with a man like that is run and don’t look back.”

“He was a bastard for sure. Looks like the wife settled things in the end though. Who’s going to tell the kids?”

“Dunno. Not me. I don’t want to be the one to tell them their mom snapped, killed their dad, and then ate a bullet. That job goes to the chaplain or maybe their priest.”

Kade turned and ran as fast as he could out of the house. When he was safely in his truck, he reviewed what he’d just heard.

None of this would have happened if someone had stopped Mr. Birch. If just one cop had held him responsible, then maybe they’d be alive. I would have held him responsible. I could be the kind of cop that stops stuff like this from happening altogether.

***

Kade gave Marie a sideway glance; she was still asleep. Every couple of minutes she would mutter something he couldn’t understand and toss a little in her seat. He pondered her situation and how similar it was to Paige’s. Kade had asked Paige once why her mother didn’t leave. She said the reason was simple—no matter how bad things got, her mother didn’t believe in divorce. Mrs. Birch also insisted on keeping up the appearance of a normal family and forbade her children from talking about what went on at home. Mrs. Birch prided herself on being dignified and classy.

If she’d lived, she would have told me to go to med school and stay out of the sewer that is police work. Maybe I should have listened.

Marie reminded him of Mrs. Birch. They were both fragile and strong, classy and full of grace. They were also both stubborn beyond the telling of it. Frustrated, Kade pulled up outside the doctor’s office and slammed the gearshift into park. He gently touched Marie’s arm. She stirred and sat up.

“Are we here?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Will you help me out?”

Kade nodded and reached for his door handle; he paused and looked intently at her.

“If you want to leave him, I’ll help you.”

Marie pursed her lips together and straightened her clothes. “Where would I go? My life is here. My friends and my home are here.”

“It doesn’t matter where. It only matters that you’ll be alive…and free.”

“Free? What’s that? I’ve lived in a gilded cage for so long I can’t imagine what it is to fly free.” Marie’s voice was wistful as she looked out the window. “Thank you, Kade, but I believe I will see this through.”

He was silent as he helped her from the truck and took her inside. Marie didn’t look back as they led her into an exam room. He left her there. Marie would have to find her own way home.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ben fiddled with his phone. Paige hadn’t returned any of his texts, and he’d sent at least ten. It was funny how he never missed her until he was unable to reach her. His phone buzzed in his hand. He grunted and silenced the sound.

It’s another message from Beth. She’s practically stalking me lately.

Ben and Beth worked together in the 419
th
squadron on Hill Air Force Base. They’d known each other for years, and he’d been dating her exclusively when he’d been sent to McCord Air Force base in Washington State for a two-week training course a little more than a year ago. Ben had never been faithful to any woman and, as cute as Beth was, their relationship didn’t stop him from hitting the bar after class one night.

If I hadn’t gone to that bar, I never would have met Paige. Things were so much better in the beginning.

***

Ben hated training. He sat in a tiny desk for eight hours while the instructor droned on about some slight change in procedure that had little bearing on his job. Slamming his head into a brick wall would have been more fun than that class. When his fellow trainees suggested they hit a sports bar near the base, he jumped at the chance to blow off some steam and find some local eye candy.

The place had been packed; there was one table in the corner with available chairs. Ben ordered a beer and studied the hot girl sitting at it. She gently pushed a glass of wine around the table in tiny circles. From the way she sipped it, she clearly wasn’t there to get drunk.

Fancy dress, pretty hair, and she keeps glancing at her watch. She’s here to meet someone.

The bar was full of women in short skirts and over-sprayed hair. A few came up to him and offered to buy him a drink; he steered them towards his buddies. In the mood for a challenge, Ben fixated on the woman in the corner because he instinctively knew she was different. While Beth was cute and bubbly, this woman looked serious and intense. He imagined she was smart and capable; someone who could pay her own bills and didn’t need him to be the hero like so many other women did.

Thirty minutes passed before the woman seemed to give up on whomever she was waiting for. She stood up with her purse in hand to leave. Ben knew if he didn’t act fast, he’d probably never see her again. He quickly made his way toward her and was surprised to find his hands were sweaty.

That’s weird. I can’t remember the last time a woman made me nervous. Well, here goes nothing.

“You know he’s crazy, right?” Ben said.

“Excuse me?” she replied, eyeing him warily.

“Whoever stood you up—he’s crazy.”

“Um, thanks?” Her voice was filled with uncertainty. She smiled politely and moved to walk away.

Ben was surprised by her reaction. Most women found him attractive and engaging.

Maybe she’s a lesbian? Or maybe she’s married? Nope. No ring on that finger.

He purposely blocked her path so she’d have to squeeze past him to exit.

“I’m Ben,” he held out his hand.

“Paige,” she shook it. “Could you please let me by?”

Just as he was about to move out of her way, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He reflexively checked to see who was calling.

Bianca? I wonder why she’s calling. I hope they didn’t kill the babysitter.

“Sorry, it’s my daughter.”

“You have kids?” Paige asked.

Ben noted her interest and nodded affirmatively. Truth be told, he normally would have sent any call from his daughters to voicemail if he were otherwise occupied.

“Hi honey, how are you?”

“Daddy, Madison just got a horse,” Bianca replied.

“What?” You fell off a horse?” he plugged his other ear. Paige gave him a look of concern.

“No, I want a horse!”

“You want a horse?”

“Yes! I have to have one!” Bianca whined.

“Sweetie, can this conversation wait until I get home?” Ben tried to sound parental, which was difficult given the fact that his gut reaction was to hang up on his whining child.

At this rate, she’ll demand a Porsche for her sixteenth birthday. This kid needs a mom, and I need a break.

“Um, no! If you love me, you’ll get me a horse.”

He nearly dropped the phone.

Okay, that was blatant manipulation. Where is she picking up that behavior? Be cool. Hot chick watching you. Man, I bet Paige would be fun once I got her to relax. Focus, Ben! Get Bianca off the phone.

“I can’t afford a horse. There’s boarding fees, the cost of hay is ridiculous and the vet bills for large animals are insane,” Ben smiled. “You understand, don’t you, honey?”

Bianca responded by crying so loudly he had to hold the phone away from his ear. No matter how calmly he tried to reason with her, she insisted she had to have a horse.

“Fine, I’ll be the only girl in my entire class that doesn’t have a horse. I hate you!” his daughter yelled.

The line went silent. Ben turned bright pink and suddenly felt very warm; he yanked on his tie.

My daughter hung up on me. I thought she’d be at least twenty before she’d cut me off.
I really need to get that kid under control.

“Good night, sweetie. I love you too. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

The hot chick does not need to know my kid just hung up on me.

“You were so patient with your daughter,” Paige commented with a smile.

“Well, I try. My children are the most important thing in the world to me.”

***

Ben felt a twinge of guilt. He’d deceived Paige from the start, but he couldn’t help it. As soon as he’d laid eyes on her, he had to have her. So when she said she wouldn’t sleep with him unless they were married, he’d proposed to a woman he’d known for all of two weeks. Two weeks after that, she’d quit her law practice, put her house up for sale and moved to Utah to marry him. Ben knew Paige was running from something or someone, but he didn’t think her secrets were anything more intense than a random one-night stand or cheating on a law exam. He’d been shocked when he had learned how her parents died. Paige had tried to keep the truth from him, but her chronic nightmares made that impossible. If he had known how they’d died from the start, he would not have married her. Hot or not, he didn’t do trauma. He just wasn’t deep enough to be the shoulder she could cry on, or be the person who calmed her when she woke up screaming in the middle of the night.

Ben had never experienced a loss of any kind. The only funeral he’d ever been to was for a great uncle he’d never even met. While he respected his wife for surviving such a traumatic event, he wasn’t strong like her. His response was to move into the basement bedroom. The change in location worked out well and afforded him the chance to text whomever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

When they first got married, Ben had tried to break things off with Beth, but she’d played to his ego and bent over backwards to make him feel like he was the only thing that mattered in this world. She never asked him to help with the kids or got mad when he showed up late for dinner. No, Beth was the type of woman who was constantly at his beck and call. She didn’t even care that he was married, and he didn’t care that she was married either.

***

“I need you to watch your sisters today,” Ben said when Bianca finally dragged herself out of bed around noon.

His daughter looked at him bleary-eyed. “I have plans with Madison.”

“Cancel them.”

“Um, no. Why can’t Paige watch them? Where is she?”

“She went to pick her brother up from the airport. I don’t know when she’ll be back, so you’re in charge. I think your sisters are hungry, so make them something to eat.” Ben returned Beth’s text.

“You do realize that you’re the parent, right?”

Bianca’s tone caught him off guard and instantly irritated him.

“Yes, and as your father, I’m telling you to take care of your little sisters. Good grief, Bianca. I hardly ask anything of you, so why are you giving me such a hard time?” Ben gave his daughter a stern look. She rolled her eyes.

“You never ask anything of me because you are never here. Where are you going?” Bianca folded her arms and gave him the same exasperated look her mother used to give him.

“I’m going to work.” He was careful to avoid eye contact as he searched the kitchen for Paige’s car keys.

I can’t believe she left me the mini-van to drive.

“Father, it’s Saturday, and you don’t work on Saturdays. Where are you really going?” Bianca’s sarcastic tone also reminded him of her mother.

“You know I hate it when you call me Father. It’s creepy.”

“Well, yeah. That’s why I do it.”

Ben stopped searching for his wife’s car keys and turned to face his daughter. Unlike most women, Bianca didn’t find her father charming. She was a ‘momma’s girl’ and had always resented him for hurting her mother. He kept his response simple.

“I’m going out.”

“Right. You’re going out to cheat on Paige with that bimbo you never actually stopped seeing.”

The truth was a slap in the face; Ben’s mouth dropped open.

“What?”

“I’m not stupid, and I know the code to your phone,” Bianca gave him a smirk that both frustrated and unnerved him.

Ben gaped at his daughter. He wasn’t sure if he should ground her or just grab his things and flee. He felt trapped, so trapped he couldn’t lie his way out of the mess he found himself in.

What do I do now?

“You need to stop seeing the bimbo,” Bianca’s voice was sharp; she cut through Ben’s tough exterior, pricking him in the heart.

Well, that answers what I need to do now, only I don’t take orders from teenage girls.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not cheating on Paige.” Ben tried to muster up some righteous indignation, but he was still a little hung over and not at his charming best.

“Give me a break! You’re doing the same things you did with Mom. You come home late, smelling like perfume. FYI, Paige is allergic to perfume. Then there’s the fact that you’re always on your phone, and you
never
pay any attention to your wife. If it weren’t for us, she’d have left you months ago,” Bianca snapped.

If his daughter had punched Ben in the face, it would have been less painful.

“I’m not cheating on Paige.”

His denial was met with narrow, unbelieving eyes.

Geez, this kid is tough.

“You’re right. You’re not just cheating on her; you’re cheating on all of us. Whoever is on the other end of your phone, are they really worth your family? Is your ego really worth destroying your relationship with the only decent woman you have ever been with besides Mom?” Bianca was in his face now. Her fingers were balled into fists.

“I…uh…” Ben bit his lip. “Maybe you girls should go back to your mom.” It was a lame thing to say, and he knew it the second the words came out. But his daughter had backed him into a corner, and all he wanted was a way out.

“We can’t go back to her, and you know it. She’s a junkie who sleeps with any guy who gives her a moment’s attention, and look at you—this is the first time in a year Paige isn’t taking care of us and you can’t even stick around for a day. Do you know what Billie asked me the other night?”

He shook his head. His cocky exterior had crumbled to pieces that lay on the floor at his feet. He felt wounded and exposed; he’d met his match in his teenage daughter. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to run away from her.

“She asked me who her real daddy is.” Bianca’s eyes filled with contempt.

“Why would she ask that?” Ben’s voice was soft and weak, just like he felt.

“Because her friends have fathers who care and actually
raise
them,” Bianca made an angry growling sound and turned on her heel. She stomped towards the stairs to the second floor and paused to look back at her father. “Go ahead and go. No one will miss you when you’re gone.” She ran up the stairs. Seconds later, her bedroom door slammed shut.

Ben sat down at the kitchen table, shaken to his core. He’d been deluding himself for a very long time by thinking his kids hadn’t noticed his apathy. But they had, and he was no better than his own father. He had cursed his old man, flipped him off even as he walked out on Ben’s mother for his secretary.

When did I become my father? Bianca’s right. Paige will leave me and never look back if she finds out about Beth. Would that be such a bad thing? I’d have my freedom back...

Ben thought back to the day when he married Paige in a non-denominational church on Hill Air Force base. The quaint chapel was full of history and hope. She’d looked amazing in her strapless white dress and blue sneakers. His daughters had taken to her instantly, and she loved them like her own. Paige was a workout nut when they had married, but gave that up to squeeze in more time with the kids. She helped with their homework and ran them to and from their activities. She was every bit the mother his ex-wife used to be.