The B Girls (18 page)

He spotted her and strode over with assurance in
his bearing and concern on his face.

Lucy stood and he let her hug him.

She let go and stepped back.

"What's going on Mom?"

"Let's sit. Do you want something to
eat?"

Ryan sat and shook his head. "I don't want to
eat. I want to know what happened. Dad said you shot up the study."

Of course Gary would manage to get that part right.
"That's true. When your father announced he was moving out and filing for
divorce, I confess I went a little nuts. I got one of your father's guns and
shot at his trophy fish."

Lucy didn't think Ryan would have looked more
shocked if she'd announced she was going to shave her head and become a nun.

"You really shot up the study? That's
crazy."

"No, shooting your father would have been
crazy. Shooting his fish was a temper tantrum. A well deserved temper
tantrum."

"But you threw him out of the house."

"Oh no. That part is a lie. On Saturday around
lunchtime your father came into the kitchen and told me he wanted a divorce. He
said he'd already packed a few things and was leaving right away. He said he
was sure once I had a chance to think about it, I'd realize it was for the
best."

Ryan's mouth settled into a stubborn adolescent
pout that had Lucy re-evaluating her observation of him as an adult. Then again
most men she knew were capable of that particular expression well into their
thirties.

"Why would he lie?" Ryan said.

"Because he was counting on me to protect him
from your disappointment. After all, I've been doing it for the past eighteen
years."

"Mom, you know that's not true. Dad's always
been there for me."

At that precise moment, Lucy knew exactly what Jane
meant when she said she'd reached the limit on her bullshit meter. "Oh,
Ryan grow up. Your father isn't a bad man but he isn't the hero you think he
is."

Ryan winced and started shaking his head.

Off the top of her head Lucy could recite chapter
and verse at least ten times she'd covered for Gary's thoughtlessness where his
son was concerned. And those occasions wouldn't even begin to tell the whole
story.

But that wouldn't be productive.

Lucy took a deep breath. There wasn't any point in
spending her time reciting Gary's petty transgressions. "I know that's
what you believe. I'm happy you have a good relationship with your father but
the reality of
now
is that he left me
the day after I waved goodbye and sent you off to college. At some point I
might decide he was right and it's for the best, but at the moment I'm still
trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my entire future is going to be
different from the way I've pictured it for the last twenty years."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Lucy reached out and put her hand over the fist he
had clenched on the table. "There isn't anything you can do. None of this
is your problem. I wanted you to know the truth but I don't expect, or want,
you to get in the middle of this. Your father and I will handle our own
business. You concentrate on school."

She patted his hand and sat back. "Let's have
some lunch and then I need to get going."

Ryan blew out a frustrated breath. "I don't
understand any of this."

"I'm afraid I'm not having much luck with that
myself. I know you've been surprised by this--so was I--but in practical terms
it won't effect you much. I promise to be polite to your father on all special
occasions."

"How can you joke about this?"

"Because it's better than crying and besides,
crying won't do any good. I have to deal with this in my own way."

"By running away to Belle's?"

"I haven't run anywhere. Belle asked me to
help her with something." And wasn't she just being a big ol' hypocrite,
lying by omission after calling Gary on his lies.

"You're not going on one of her 'adventure'
trips are you?"

"Not this time. But why wouldn't you want me
to go?"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Mom, the last time she
went on a trip there was a coup. She had to negotiate with some rebel chief to
get back to the airport."

"Well I'm not leaving Georgia in the next few
days. After that, who knows? I think it's past time for me to start remembering
who I am. Not your mom. Not a wife. Just me."

"What if Dad's just going through a phase?
What if he changes his mind?"

"I don't think that's going to happen. He's
already filed for divorce. He had someone serve me with the papers on
Sunday."

Ryan's expression hardened. "He really did lie
to me."

"I'm sorry this has upset you," Lucy
said. "But I really want you to concentrate on school and let your father
and I worry about ourselves." She looked at her watch and found it was
nearly one. "I really have to get going."

"You never said what you were up to,"
Ryan pointed out.

"No, I didn't. Maybe I'll tell you in a few
days."

After promising to keep in touch and getting a
final hug and kiss, Lucy gave him lunch money just like old times and left him
to his greasy food.

She had one more stop to make while she was here.

She'd done a quick internet search and gotten
Perry's address this morning. She figured she could at least do a drive-by and
see if it was even possible he could be holding Belle at his home.

The address was an old Victorian that had been
divided into apartments catering to students.

There was virtually no way Perry was holding Belle
in his apartment.

Should she park? Go in and see if he was home?

She pulled to the curb in front of the house, put
the car in park and stared at the front door.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she went
in.

The mailboxes in the foyer indicated Perry was
upstairs in number four.

She went up and knocked. He probably wouldn't
answer the door anyway.

The door swung open and Perry was blinking down at
her as if he'd just emerged from a dark theater into the sunlight.

"Mrs. Deen. What are you doing here?"

"I came to do a little research. I thought I
should stop by. See if you've heard from Belle or come across anything new that
might help find the Declaration."

"What kind of research?"

Figures he'd home in on the one thing she didn't
want to talk about. She tried on a wry smile. "I lied. I came to check up
on my son. He's a freshman."

"Oh," I see. "I hope he's
okay."

"Fine. Now, how about it? Anything new?"

"No. I'm afraid unless you come up with
something I'm going to have to rethink my entire dissertation. Has Belle said
anything?"

Was he for real? Lucy shook her head. "She's
not back yet."

He looked surprised. "Have you called the
police?"

"No. They won't get involved unless there's
some sort of evidence of foul play."

Perry didn't respond but Lucy thought she might be
detecting a little bit of relief on his face. Or imagining it.

"If you think of anything or stumble on
something new, call me."

Perry nodded. "Sure. You'll do the same?"

"Absolutely."

Jane and Mae pounced on Lucy the second she walked
in the door, anxious to show off the supplies they'd purchased for their trek
into the cave.

"We tried to do some research on the internet
before we left but it seems serious cavers aren't interested in helping
amateurs strike out on their own," Mae said.

Jane made a rude noise. "Imagine people who
know what they're doing not wanting to give the rest of us schmucks enough rope
to hang ourselves. The guys at the outfitters said experienced cavers don't
like having to rescue idiots or retrieve bodies."

Lucy shivered. She really didn't want to be
reminded just how dangerous caving could be. "Oh that's reassuring."

"Don't worry we charmed them into telling us
what we'd need," Jane said. She batted her eyes. "Even
twenty-somethings can't resist my charms."

"Did you find out anything interesting?"
Mae asked.

Lucy shook her head. "Not really. Dr. Dawson
hasn't been paying Perry much attention lately. His wife's been sick." She
related her meeting with Ryan at the Varsity.

"You should have shot Gary's dick off,"
Jane said.

Lucy could only laugh. "I agree. At least I'm
not going to jail. But we're wasting time. Show me what you bought."

They started with clothes.

"According to our rugged outdoorsy sales guys,
temperature in a Georgia cave is probably going to be somewhere in the sixties
and the cave is liable to be wet and muddy," Mae said.

Jane held up something large and red. "So we
have these ugly ass coveralls to go over our clothes. They recommended
layers."

"And we bought hiking boots."

Jane reached into the pile of supplies and waved a
hard hat at Lucy. "Helmets. And we bought lights that attach to them with
lots of extra batteries."

Extra batteries were a good thing. Lucy didn't even
want to contemplate being in a cave without light. Lot's of light. "What
about the climbing stuff?"

"Wait 'til you see," Mae said. "I
couldn't believe the cool equipment."

Jane showed off mechanical ascenders that took most
of the skill out of climbing--at least for short distances. And another piece
of equipment designed to let an idiot rappel down a cliff without killing
herself. Of course there was rope--lots of rope. And harnesses--that made your
ass look ten times normal size--to hook all the stuff to.

"And we bought new packs," Mae said.
"Bigger ones. And I bought stuff to make a big batch of Gorp."

"Gorp . . .
 
I seem to remember something about that
from my own Girl Scout days," Lucy said.

"Well, my version has peanuts, and M&Ms
but I used Craisins instead of raisins. I also put in some espresso beans and
pretzels."

"Okay." Lucy wasn't sure how much
enthusiasm she was supposed to muster for snacks but the fact that it included
chocolate was promising. "What else did you get?"

"More water bottles, wet wipes, Off,
Chapstick, protein bars, whistles, Bic lighters, Swiss Army knives,
flashlights, rain ponchos and one of those solar blankets for each pack."

Lucy was impressed but--"A blanket?"

"Not a regular blanket. This one's more like a
tarp but it's designed to keep in body heat if you wrap it around you. It
weighs next to nothing and folds up small." She shook her head. "You
wouldn't believe the high tech stuff you can buy to go 'primitive'
camping."

Lucy wasn't real clear on what camping had to do
with anything. She certainly had no intention of spending the night in a cave.
Even if the thought wasn't completely horrifying, they only had until tomorrow
night to get the Declaration back to civilization. "What about the
whistle?"

"In case we get separated. You just stop where
you are and blow the whistle until someone finds you," Mae said. "I
remember that from one of those 'what should you do?' shows on the educational
channel."

"So we're set to go treasure hunting."

"Just like Lara Croft," Mae said.

"Bad example," Jane said.

Mae frowned at her. "Haven't you ever wanted
to have a big adventure? Be a super hero?"

"Sure I'm all for being rich, beautiful and
uncovering fabulous artifacts. It's the being shot at, chased by hordes of bad
guys and nearly killed part I have a problem with."

"Well, I doubt there are going to be hordes of
bad guys. Although obviously there is at least one bad guy since he has
Belle," Lucy said and promptly burst into tears.

Mae and Jane exchanged a "what the hell is
going on look" before Mae jumped up to put her arms around Lucy.

Lucy cried and tried to put some sort of coherent
thought together. She didn't know what brought this on but she didn't like it.
Crying wasn't something she did well. Neither was accepting comfort.

That was what finally brought her back, the vaguely
smothering feel of Mae's well-intentioned hug.

She sniffed back the last of the tears and stepped
back to loosen Mae's hold.

Mae let her go with a pat. "Are you okay
now?"

Lucy nodded. "I think so. I don't know what
brought that on."

Jane shook her head. "Even I know a woman
who's three days from her husband leaving, less than twenty-four hours from
finding out her favorite aunt has been kidnapped and the ransom is a priceless
document missing for more than two hundred years is entitled to a good
cry."