The Deception (18 page)

"Me too, but I have a really strong feeling that wherever they are, they're together. True love never dies." Carrie took a few more sips of her coffee. "Somewhere in that stack of papers, Alex, there should be a life insurance policy. I don't know that much about it, or even when Mama took it out, but I kept up on the premiums so that when the time came she could have a decent burial."

Alex quickly sifted through the remaining papers in the folder. He found it at the very bottom of the stack. He started reading through it, and as he did his face lit up.

"Carrie-Anne, do you have any idea what this is?"

"Yes, it's to cover her final expenses."

"No," he said, gleefully, "it's a whole lot more than that. She bought this twenty-five years ago, and it's a whole-life policy."

"Which means I would have been about five when she took it out. Makes sense. That would have been about the time my father left us."

"Yes, that make sense, and did you know this policy has a fifty-thousand dollar face value?" He paused for a moment. It was apparent that she didn't fully comprehend the significance of what he was saying. "Carrie-Anne, assuming there weren't any loans taken out against the policy, this means you can finally get your life back."

"You're kidding."

"I kid you not."

He got out of his chair and walked to where she was sitting. She felt his hair brushing against her cheek as he bent down to show her the paperwork. She liked the way it felt. Alex showed her the policy. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It really would give her the means to finally start investing in her own future.

"Alex, I don't know what say. I've been living like a pauper for so long that I don't even know what to think. I can't imagine what it would be like just to have matching dishes." She paused for a minute. "I guess maybe I should start thinking about paying you."

"Would you please knock that off?" There was a sound of mock despair in his voice. "As I've all ready told you, sooner or later, and with any luck, Louise will be taking care of that. Meantime I'll give the policy to Steve. He'll be more than happy to take care of the claim for you."

There was something else he needed to show her.

"Carrie-Anne, I've found some information in here about your father. Would you like to know more about him?"

"He abandoned me, Alex. What else is there for me to know about him? I was his daughter. What the hell did I ever do to him to deserve it?"

"Nothing, Carrie-Anne. You didn't do anything wrong, and he didn't exactly abandon you."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means there's a whole lot more to the story than what you've been told. Would you like to hear it?"

"Sure, why not?" She got up to refill her coffee cup. "I'm all ears, and I'm sure he has a really dandy excuse."

She poured her coffee and returned to her seat as Alex grabbed a small pile of papers.

"His name was Kevin Earl Daniels. He and your mother would have been married thirty-two years this past June." He showed her the marriage license.

"I know they were married, but as I've mentioned before, it wasn't a happy marriage. What vague memories I have were of him and my mother, constantly fighting. That was back when we were living in Montana."

"I'm not surprised. Carrie, your father had a cocaine problem. He got busted when you were five years old. The police reports and court documents are right here, if you want to see them."

Carrie sat silently for a moment as she took it in. "All right. So, if he got busted, then why didn't he keep in contact with me? He was still my father. He could have written to me from jail."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. From what I'm able to piece together, he checked into a rehab facility right after his arraignment, and he was there for several weeks. After they released him, he was living with a woman named Penelope Daniels."

"That's my Grandma Nell," explained Carrie. "She was my father's mother."

"I see. Anyway, according to the court records, he continued to be treated as an outpatient, and he apparently went back to school. This was the same time your mother filed for divorce. I've found some of those records as well."

"Okay, so he went into rehab, and from rehab he went to Grandma Nell's. So why didn't he ever call me, or write me a letter, or come visit me?"

"I can't answer that. All I can tell you is six months later his case went to court, and his decision to go into treatment must have impressed the judge. He got probation and a deferred jail sentence. According to the records, the judge was going to dismiss the jail time once his probation was up, provided he stayed in treatment and didn't violate any of the terms."

"I see," she said, "but drug bust, rehab, whatever, I was still his daughter, and he still abandoned me."

Alex let out a sigh and shuffled more papers. "There's more to the story, I'm sorry to say. According to this police report, he was taking night classes at the university. One night, after his class had let out, he was in a parking lot, apparently getting into his car, when someone jumped him from behind and stabbed him. These are old records and a number of pages appear to be missing. What I can tell you is it happened about the same time you and your mother came to Phoenix." He waited for Carrie to take it all in. "Carrie-Anne, there's a lot that we may simply never know, and I'm sure your mother must have had her reasons for not telling you. Or maybe she meant to tell you, someday, but she never got the chance. If you want, I can ask George to investigate it further for you. I just didn't want you to keep thinking that your father simply got up one morning and decided to walk out on you."

"No, that's okay," she said. "He had a drug problem, and later on he was killed. That's all I need to know. Thank you, Alex, for sharing this. I really do appreciate it."

She leaned against him and gave him a squeeze. He liked the feeling of her body next to his.

"There's one more thing about your father that you might want to know." He handed her a photograph. "This is what he looked like. As you can see, he's wearing a tuxedo, so I'm guessing this was probably taken the day he and your mother were married. You look just like him, Carrie-Anne."

Carrie looked at the photo. Her father was a strikingly handsome man and the resemblance was uncanny. She had his dark hair, deep-set blue eyes, and similar facial features. As she studied it, Alex stood up, saying that he wanted to give her some time alone. He quietly slipped out of the room.

A
lex reached across his desk to grab his ringing phone. "Yes, Brenda?"

"You have a call on line three Alex, from a Scott Andrews."

Alex was taken aback. "Scott Andrews?"

"Affirmative."

He let out a sigh and gritted his teeth. There were, on rare occasions, those moments when he hated his job, and this was going to be one of them. The idea of having to speak to Carrie's ex-lover grated on him. Hopefully, Scott was calling to let him know who his attorney was and he'd only have to stay on the line long enough to get the information. He let out another sigh as he thanked Brenda and connected the call. He picked up a pencil and started drumming it on his desk.

"Hello, Mr. Montoya. My name is Scott Andrews. As you no doubt already know, I'm the other defendant in Louise Dickenson's copyright infringement claim, and I understand you're Carrie's lawyer."

"That's right, Mr. Andrews. What can I do for you?"

"Well, as soon as I was served, I contacted my attorney in Phoenix, the one handling my divorce. Unfortunately, she tells me her specialty is family law and she can't help me. So, I made some inquires and found out you're representing Carrie. Since you're already on the case, I thought I'd ask if you'd mind representing me as well."

"Sorry, Mr. Andrews, but I'm not able to oblige you. However, I'm sure your divorce attorney knows someone to refer you to. If not, the state bar association can help you."

"I understand." Alex heard the disappointment in Scott's voice. "Anyway, just so you know, I subscribe to
Gentry Magazine
. I recognized those photos as soon as I saw them, but I swear, I had nothing to do this."

"Mr. Andrews, please, don't say anything else. Just have your attorney contact me as soon as he or she comes on board."

"I'll do that Alex, but before you go, can I just say something off the record, between you and me?"

"I'd prefer that you didn't. In fact, I would advise you, sir, to not say anything to me. Please understand I'm representing Ms. Daniels and Ms. Daniels only. Anything you say to me would not fall under the guise of attorney-client privilege. I'm also an officer of the court. If you were to admit any kind of wrongdoing to me, I'd be obligated to report it."

"I understand, sir," said Scott. "I'm just letting you know that I intend to cooperate fully with you and with the
FBI
. I know there's a criminal investigation going on as well, and I want to assure you that I've done nothing wrong."

"I appreciate that, Mr. Andrews, but I'd prefer that--"

"I know, you're not my attorney, but I just wanted you to understand something else as well. I don't know what Carrie may or may not have told you about me, but I just want to set the record straight. I wasn't exactly honest with her when I first met her. I didn't tell her that I was married."

Alex held his tongue. With any luck, Scott was about to hang himself.

"Anyway that night at the art gallery she mentioned she'd just ended a long-term relationship. I could tell the wounds hadn't fully healed yet, so I figured she'd be really... easy, if you know what I mean. So there I was, talking to her and looking at those nude photos of her at the same time and hey, who wouldn't want a piece of that?"

Alex felt the pencil in his hand snap in two. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to be able to call Scott a son of a bitch. Professional decorum, however, wouldn't allow it. He had to grit his teeth and remain calm.

"So what's your point, Andrews?"

"My point is that I was a real heel for what I did to her. I have a fifteen-year-old daughter. If some guy did to her what I did to Carrie, I'd take my shotgun and hunt him down. He'd be worth going to jail for. I'm just saying that I'm really, truly sorry for what I did. I can't prove it, but I'm absolutely certain my soon-to-be ex-wife is the one behind all of this, so I guess it's my fault Carrie's in the mess she's in now."

"Have you told the authorities this?"

"Yes sir, I have. Like I just told you, I have every intention of cooperating fully. I'm now working for an Internet security company. I could lose my job because of this. I'm also fighting for custody of my two kids. I have every reason in the world to want to clear my name, as soon as possible. Meantime, would you please tell Carrie I'm really, truly sorry all this happened. I should have never gotten involved with her in the first place."

Alex couldn't have agreed more. "Just have your attorney call me. Okay, Mr. Andrews?"

He slammed down the phone as he ended the call. "Yeah, and I'd like to get my shotgun and hunt you down as well, you worthless son of a bitch!"

"Whoa," exclaimed Steve as he stepped into Alex's door. "So what's gotten you all riled up?"

"Your friend, Scott Andrews."

"Hey, don't look at me. He was merely an acquaintance of Allison's and he's not even that anymore. So what's he done to get you all fired up?"

"He called to ask me if I'd represent him along with Carrie."

"And?"

"I turned him down, naturally," replied Alex. "So while I'm trying to end the call the stupid bastard gets diarrhea of the month. He's telling me about looking at those nude photos of Carrie, and then he makes some wise-assed crack about, 'well, who wouldn't want a piece of that?' And all I wanted to do in that moment was to put the son of a bitch out of his misery. Of course, now he says he's sorry and he knows he did her wrong. He's sorry my ass! The only thing he's sorry about is that he got caught. Lying bastard."

"Hey buddy, chill. You're beginning to sound like a jealous lover. You need to calm down, okay?"

"Sorry, Steve. She just lost her mother, so I'm feeling very protective of her."

"Is that all?"

"She's my best friend. Always has been."

"Okay, Alex." Steve wanted to change the subject. "I just need to get that copy of her mother's life insurance policy, and I'll take care of any other details the need to be attended to."

"Oh, right." Alex reached over and handed him the paperwork. "Anyway, I'm sorry you had to witness my rant. I guess I needed to vent."

"It's okay, but you need to take it easy. She may be your best friend outside the office, but whenever you're here, she's your client. Got it?"

"Got it."

Steve quickly made his exit as Alex thanked him for helping Carrie. Once he left, Alex looked up another number and dialed his phone.

"Hey, Billie, Alex Montoya. I'm not sure, but I may have some new information for you on the Daniels case."

"Really? So, what have you got?"

Alex quickly relayed the information that Scott Andrews gave him.