From the Heart: Romance, Mystery and Suspense a collection for everyone (33 page)

Chapter Twenty-one

Maggie soaked in a steaming bath and gazed up at the skylight in her en suite bathroom. Diane left a little over an hour ago after staying for dinner. Before leaving, she slipped outside with Richard far enough from the house Maggie couldn’t hear. But when she came back inside and hugged Maggie goodbye, she told her to let the stolen truck and Richard’s involvement with Dan drop. Of course, Maggie didn’t let it drop; she glanced at Richard and followed Diane to her SUV. Diane yelled at her to stop asking questions, which startled Maggie, and she wondered what Richard had told her.

The telephone rang, and Maggie didn’t move. She heard Richard answer the phone downstairs, before his heavy footsteps hurried upstairs and pushed open the bathroom door. “Jean’s on the phone, do you want me to take a message?”

She lifted a damp hand out of the water. “No, I’ll take it.”

Richard’s finger touched her hand, and then he bent down and kissed her before handing her the phone. He left the bathroom, but this time, left the door open as he went back downstairs.

She leaned over the side of the bathtub. “Hi Jean, how’re you doing?”

“Maggie, I’m so sorry to call so late. But when I called your home number, it was disconnected. I was so worried I called Richard only to find you two reconciled.”

She sighed. “I guess we have.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. I’m kind of hesitant to call, but Angie’s in trouble. She needs to find a place to live. The guy she was involved with, well… she’s got herself into a messy situation. Long story short, he’s her landlord, and now he’s throwing her and Sammy out.”

“What! How would she find herself in a situation like that?”

“Well, this guy’s a piece of work. After her divorce, she had to move, so she rented a house from this guy. He apparently showed up every night and wooed her with his charm, like he was her knight in shining armor, and started a relationship with her. She followed him around like a love-struck puppy. She said this guy’s been playing games with her for so long, she didn’t know if she was coming or going, and he’s taken so much from her—money, her time—and profited off her. She’s being stubborn and doesn’t want to move. She said it’s like her first real home. But she also said she suspects he’s got grow ops going in a few of the houses on the property where she lives.”

“Sounds to me like she needs to get away from this guy, get a lawyer, and sue his ass for what he owes her. Jean, what the hell is Angie doing with a guy like this anyway?”

“In her defense, I think he played her good. Hasn’t every woman at one time been there? And when you get as emotionally attached as she has, well she doesn’t want to move. That’s why I was hoping you’d come with me and talk to her. She keeps everything bottled up inside and carries her pain, so she won’t burden others. But this guy really hurt her. She was in love with him. I just went over to her place, and you should see what she did with that place, what she did for him. This guy… Well, I can see he’s up to no good. I just don’t know how to talk sense into her. She needs to get away from this guy. Emotionally, she’s a mess right now.”

“Of course I’ll go. When?”

“Tomorrow morning? I can swing by and pick you up.”

“Sure how about 9:30? Who is this guy anyway?”

“Dan… something, what was his last name? Started with Mc or Mac, some Scottish name.”

Even though the water she soaked in was still warm, Maggie shivered. “Tell me it’s not Dan McKenzie.”

“That’s it. How did you know?”

“Let’s just say you need not say more about this guy, because I have a real clear picture of what he’s up to, and it’s no good. We need to get Angie as far away from him as possible. Or farther.”

Long after she said goodbye and dumped the phone on the floor, she stayed in the bathtub until the water cooled. She couldn’t believe how Dan McKenzie had evaded jail and charges of trafficking, when he’d gotten her and Marcie to get his marijuana for him—from all the marijuana gardens he wooed Marcie into growing for him—by threatening to set up Richard and Sam with some unspeakable crime. He was dangerous, and here he was screwing around a mom with a special needs kid, a mom she knew well, and who by no means should be mixed up in his craziness. “What are you up to Dan? First my husband, then Marcie, and now Angie. Whatever it is, I’ll stop you. I’ll find away.”

Chapter Twenty-two

The last time Maggie was on Dan McKenzie’s property was the night she and Marcie delivered the marijuana to Sandra.

Jean picked up Maggie after Richard left to take Ryley to school. And of course, Maggie didn’t mention where she was going this morning. She knew he’d stop her. But seeing Dan’s property in daylight from the front passenger seat of Jean’s Ford Escape filled her with an unsettling sense of oddness and dread she hadn’t felt in a long time. The driveway was just as she’d remembered, but instead of pulling into the small house built onto the shop, they drove past it to the next driveway that belonged to a large two story house, surrounded by beautiful gardens, rockwork, and forest.

Angie must have been watching because the front door popped open as soon as Jean pulled in beside a small Dodge minivan. The gray van appeared quite worn but still in good shape. Maggie stepped out and looked around, half expecting to see Dan or Sandra walk out of his shop—the shop and house she could see through the opening in the crop of trees.

“Thanks, you guys, for coming.” Angie appeared thinner, but still quite attractive. But there was a tightness in her face making her appear to have aged since she’d seen her at school a few weeks ago after Mrs. Johnson’s last tirade. Angie’s long brown hair was tied back, highlighting her apple blossom cheeks and big blue eyes. Maggie realized as she stared at her friend—if you put her beside Marcie, they could have been cousins with those country girl looks. She nodded her head and swallowed hard. Exactly Dan’s type: innocent, naïve.

“Did you do all this work yourself, Angie?” Maggie gave her quick hug and then gazed in amazement at the acre of green grass, the rockwork, and the gardens filled with perennials and bushes all ready to bloom at the first hint of spring.

“I moved in over two years ago, this place as you see it now, wasn’t like this. It was run down. The outside resembled a gravel pit and junk yard. I renovated the inside of the house and landscaped the entire yard.”

“I guess I’m a little confused. You were
renting
this house from Dan McKenzie, yet you’re having a relationship with him?”

Angie looked down at her clasped hands as she stood shivering in a beige sweatshirt and old faded blue jeans. “I went through hell with my divorce and trying to find a place to live. I work hard and have never bounced a check and always pay my bills, but I couldn’t find a place to rent because I’m a single mom. I found this house, and Dan offered it to me on the condition I do the repairs, which I gladly did because I needed a place to live. I did everything here, painted the entire house, repaired all the broken cupboards, doorframes, re-grouted the shower and bathtub, re-mortared the chimney, and rebuilt all the brickwork inside. And of course, cleaned the place; it looked as if it had never been swept. Then I started landscaping and dug every rock from the dirt, so I could put in seed grass. And the rockwork you see? I built it with every rock I dug from the ground. It took me almost a year because I fell in love with this place and Dan. When I first moved here and started the work, Dan showed up here every night. He knew just what to say, and I thought he was my Mr. Right. He seemed so concerned with my daughter; he knew exactly what to say to me, as if he read my mind.” She sighed and then continued.

“I don’t even know how to explain our relationship. I slept with him. Then after I was so in love with him, all the weirdness and his games started. He knew my insecurities. He’d say to me he’d let me know if he saw other women. I thought I could change him. And all through this, I’m paying him rent. It felt odd and made me feel powerless, as if I was less than him. And the whole time, I continued to believe we’d have a future together. I’m sure you think I’m stupid for believing all his promises. But for the last year, he kind of disappeared and then came back as if nothing happened.”

She wanted to shake Angie and ask her to wake up. But she couldn’t shake the bitter feeling that crawled throughout her. Hadn’t he played the same game with Marcie? And while he was with Marcie, he’d been with Angie too. She gazed at the red rimmed eyes of the lovely lady and at Jean who watched her like she hoped Maggie had some answers. “How about some coffee, Angie?”

She followed both Jean and Angie into the light cedar house. As the women climbed the inside stairs to the kitchen, she lingered at the open front door and stared at the small bungalow attached to the shop, half expecting the blinds on the kitchen window to move.

Chapter Twenty-three

Maggie stared out the passenger window at the miles of heavy forest.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Richard brushed her arm lightly with his hand as he drove home after picking her up from a coffee shop in town, where she and Jean stopped after meeting Angie, mostly to decompress.

“Do you know Angie Mueller, one of the special needs kid’s mom at school? She lives on Dan’s property.”

Richard took his eyes off the road for a second and squinted at Maggie. “Small world. I met her after she moved into Dan’s house. Didn’t put two and two together. She’s the same Angie you’ve talked about? She did a lot a work to his big old house on the property, landscaping, it was amazing what she accomplished as a single mom.”

“Did you know Dan was sleeping with her and playing daddy to her kid?”

Richard focused straight ahead, but Maggie could tell he was angry by the way his lips tightened into a thin white line.

“Yah, I knew he was banging her. She was head over heels in love with him, too. He’s not a nice guy when comes to women. We’ve established that. I warned Marcie. So why are you bringing her up?”

“Jean phoned yesterday, remember? She took me to see Angie. He’s throwing her out of his house after she stood up to him and all his crap, his bullying, and belittling her. She wouldn’t allow him to take advantage anymore, and she set boundaries. So he served her with eviction papers. Said he’s moving in a relative; the only way to get her out.”

Richard shook his head. “She’s better off getting away from him. Far away. Whether she knows it or not, he’s doing her a favor.”

“It’s the way he’s going about it. You don’t rip apart someone’s basic foundation like this. And don’t you think he owes her?”

“For what?”

Maggie slid her bottom around on the leather seat until she faced Richard. “All the work she did, he never paid her but filled her with promises she would have her own place, and she believed at one point, a relationship with him. He did pretty much the same thing to Marcie, and he was sleeping with Angie the same time as Marcie.”

Richard did a double take toward Maggie. “Dan sleeps with a lot of women at the same time. He fills all their heads with promises. That’s who he is. Whatever he told them, he lied to each of them. And he’s stolen something, profited in some way, from each of them. You know this. Stay out of it. You don’t need to take this on. You’re too fragile right now.”

“I’m not fragile, Richard. And I’m not staying out of it. That cowardly prick has got some other woman, a thug, he’s sent to deal with Angie. And this person has been harassing her for weeks. Even sent a letter saying she’s not allowed to contact Dan anymore. That she has to go through her to pay rent or to have repairs done, and any repairs Angie does, this woman will decide whether she gets reimbursed for any of it. And then she phoned her and said she’s Dan’s friend, and he wants no more contact with her. And he did this only after she finally stood up to him, and she would no longer allow him on the property or around her daughter. She asked him to call first, and they would leave if he needed to come by. She wanted a contract signed by him, to protect her and her child’s rights while they remained there, and he retaliated by evicting her and taking away her home. Something she made into hers, which he stoked and was responsible for encouraging and making her believe with their relationship, this was her home. What makes it worse is this ‘woman friend’ showed up with Dan and gloated to her he was establishing his rights as a landlord, and that Angie had no rights. This treatment is unconscionable. This is not okay, Richard! There should be laws to protect women from this type of violation. What country do we live in? Aren’t there human rights, civil rights that protect her?”

“Who’s the woman?”

“What?”

Richard turned down their driveway. “The woman who’s representing Dan?”

“Janet Slugg.”

Richard parked, turned off the engine, and put his arm over the back of the seat when he faced her. “Janet Slugg’s married to a guy named Hank. He’s a friend of Dan’s. Does all his dirty work. Stay away from them. They’re only interested in what benefits them. And they’ll play dirty. Angie had best move.”

“Well she needs to sue Dan and make him pay for all the work she did. He stole from her, he profited off her. She can’t let him get away with it. He’s going to do it to someone else. Richard, you could help her.”

“No.” Richard climbed out and slammed the door.

Maggie had felt some of Angie’s pain just being in that house and seeing what she’d done. And she understood where it came from. The threat of having your basic foundation, the roof over your head, ripped away was one of those basic necessities of life that could tear a person apart. So of course, the fury that boiled through her bubbled up and had her yanking on the door handle and kicking the door open. “Oh, don’t you dare walk away from this.” She ran after Richard. “Richard, please. This just isn’t right, what he’s doing to her. She reminded me so much of Marcie, and all the same pain he caused her. He keeps doing this to vulnerable women, and nobody stops him. Look at what he got away with. No jail time for his role as a drug dealer. How does he keep getting away with it?”

Richard stopped and turned so abruptly, Maggie ran into him. “One, he had the best fucking attorney there is, and two, the cops screwed their own investigation. Three, there was a bug planted in Marcie’s granny’s cabin by Lance Silver, so they heard every fucking thing and turned the tables. And Dan had a link to some cop on Sam’s team. Still does, I’m sure.”

“Well, you could help her. She’s going to sue him to make him pay for all the work she did. He owes her. And you could make Dan pay her what he owes. Or give her a truthful statement about Dan she could use.”

“No.”

She cupped his shoulder and flattened her hand across his heart. “That could have been me. I understand how she could have been manipulated. I don’t think there is a woman out there who hasn’t been exposed at one time in their life to a predator. And it hurts. I don’t understand why you won’t help.”

He sighed and then covered her hand with his. “Maggie, if she sues him, there’s a very real chance it could freeze my assets.”

She tilted her head when a screw-like feeling tightened her shallow breath to a thin whisper. “I don’t understand.”

“Dan and I are still partners.”