Trapped (11 page)

Chapter

Luke

I made my way to the artist’s co-op, which was just a few blocks away from Serena’s home, conveniently enough. I still felt badly about not going with Dalilah to her appointment with her attorney, but she insisted that she didn’t want me there. For whatever reason. I was a tad bit hurt, but, at the same time, I knew that she was probably right. I probably should go and meet the other artists in this group, to make sure that they want me as a part of their cooperative and to also see what they were like.

I got to the building, which was a renovated commercial building that had been turned into studio lofts ranging in square footage from 1,500 to around 5,000 square feet. There was one artist, in particular, that I was supposed to make contact with. Her name was J.J. Mullens, and her medium was sculpting. So, when I got to the building, I immediately found her studio and went to introduce myself.

“Hello,” I said to the petite and attractive woman. “My name is Luke Roberts. I was referred here by Marcella Taylor. She told me that she had talked to you about joining your cooperative.”

She shook my hand. “It’s very good to meet you. I remember you, too. I remember the show that you had back in December. You drew quite a crowd, and a lot of attention. I really love your aesthetic, too.”

“Well, thanks,” I said, looking around her enormous studio at some of the pieces she was working on. “I think that the feeling is mutual.”

“Let me tell you about our cooperative,” she said. “Basically, we’re 20 artists who are pooling resources. We all got together to rent spaces in this building, and we have also invested in a gallery down the street from here – the Thiessen Gallery, which is named after one of our prominent members who took his life last year. We require a buy-in of $20,000, to offset the costs of buying the gallery, as well as monthly dues, assuming that you want to rent a space in this building.”

I swallowed, hard. I wondered to myself just how long Serena was going to allow Dalilah and me to live with her, and if she soon was going to require us to pay some type of rent.

“How much are the monthly dues?” I asked.

“It depends on how large of space you want. We charge by the square footage. Basically, we start at $1500 for the smallest studio and go up from there. Included in your dues, though, is all the advantages of being a part of this co-op. Our group organizes fund-raisers on a monthly basis, and we really talk each other up on social media. The gallery has events almost every week, and they’ve become more and more popular each week. They’re usually cocktail parties and wine-tasting, but we’ve also hosted retrospectives of prominent artists and poetry readings. We also try to find opportunities for tie-ins with large New York events. We’re constantly looking for new, fresh ways to get the word out about our artists.”

“Sounds like there are lots of opportunities here for exposure. I really like the idea of cross-promotion.” Still, even as I talked to her, I felt a well of nervous energy bubbling up. Paying this cooperative $20,000 up front, plus $1500 a month, on top of paying Dalilah’s legal bills….unless I got hustling soon, I was going to be broke within a matter of months. Perhaps I would be broke even sooner than that.

JJ continued. “Well, there are lots of good opportunities here. And, I’ll confess, when Marcella told me about you, I got excited. You do have the ability to generate a lot of enthusiasm for your work. I was wondering, though, what happened with your premiere. It seemed that you were going to take off, but then I never heard more about it.”

“Well, that’s difficult to explain,” I said. “It has something to do with the gallery owner being obsessed with my girlfriend, and apparently getting me blackballed with the elite benefactors who can make or break an artist in this town. So, now, I’m starting from square one, just like you guys.”

“Oh, that’s a shame,” she said. “Tough break, huh? Well, at any rate, if you’re interested in getting a leg up, you should consider joining us. We have the perfect studio for you, and everybody in this group is cool and chill. And I know that your girlfriend is also an artist, and a substantial one at that. She could join us, too, for the same fee.”

“Well, that might be difficult to swing,” I said.

JJ looked at me questioningly. “Her parents are super-rich, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” I said. “But she won’t allow them to support her. She’s very proud like that.”

Of course, Dalilah didn’t mind staying with people while we figured everything out. I never asked her about this apparent discrepancy in how she thought about being supported, and wondered if she thought about that one herself.

“Well, maybe if she broaches it in terms of an investment for her parents or a loan or something like that. You should talk to her about that.”

“I certainly will.”

I went back to Serena’s and waited for Dalilah to return.
The information at the cooperative was certainly good to have, but I needed to talk to Dalilah before I made this commitment. I was sure that she would be supportive, but we had to look at our finances to make everything work out.

She got back around 5 that evening, looking tired and blue. I went over to her, and put my arm around her, and led her onto the couch.

“I did it,” she said. “And the wrath of the Nottingham will soon be upon us, I predict. I’ve spent this past three hours just wondering around the city in a daze. I’m so apprehensive about this, you just have no idea.” She looked around. “Where’s Serena?”

“She left a note. She’s out visiting a sick friend, and will be back later on tonight.” I stroked her cheek and kissed her forehead. “I wish that there was something that I could say to you that will help you. I know how stressed you are, though, and I admit that I worry about you and about Olivia.”

“I know, Luke. This stress isn’t good for me. I have a pre-natal checkup tomorrow, the first one with this particular doctor, and I’m quite sure that things are going to be okay. But I do think about the fact that the doctor in London told me that I might have a difficult pregnancy because of my hormone levels not being in check. I’m trying to do everything right, Luke, but it’s hard. It’s hard because of the stress.”

We talked a bit more about the lawyer, and I told her about the co-op.

“That sounds great, Luke,” she said. “I think that you can really take advantage of that. Cross-promotion with other artists is always a good thing. Also good is the fact that it sounds that they actively promote their gallery. I’ve read stuff about the Thiessen Gallery, and it sounds like it’s up and coming. I say go for it.”

So, it was decided. I would buy into the cooperative and try to get one of the smaller spaces until things started to roll.

Dalilah was quiet for a few minutes. “Well, I don’t want to put further pressure on you, but I feel that I have to. Your finances are going to come into play in the custody issue. I’m sure that probably isn’t news to you.”

I nodded. That wasn’t news to me at all. I expected that, in fact. “I know. That means that I probably need to get going, doesn’t it? I mean, the judge might rule against terminating Nottingham’s rights just because there’s such a disparity in resources between him and me. As much as that sucks.”

“Well, yes, but, as you know, there are lots of other factors that come into play. She wants me to go balls to the wall and bring in Nottingham’s visits to the sex clubs and his beating of me, and she’s looking into his background to find out any other dirt that might come up. I’m nervous about all that, though. I don’t know, Luke, I just have a bad feeling about doing all of that. I’m not at all sure that I want to really unleash the beast, so to speak. He might really find a way to get down and dirty if I do.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Wait and see what happens when he is served. See what kind of an opening volley his lawyer makes. See who is lawyer is even going to be – it might be Steve Singleton, and it might be somebody else who’s more experienced in the field of family law. So many factors are going to come into play here. I’m guessing that what happens with Nottingham’s lawyer is going to dictate how Marissa and I decide to approach this. We’re going to get ready for anything, though.”

“I guess it’s pointless to speculate, though, huh?” I asked her. “Well, let’s not get too into the weeds just yet. If it’s possible, let’s take things one day at a time.”

She took a deep breath. “Hmmm, well, I certainly could use some TLC. Let’s go into the bedroom to see if we can drum some up.”

I smiled. “Let’s go for it,” I said.

We went upstairs, and immediately took off our clothes and went for it.

Chapter

Dalilah

Exactly one week after I filed my divorce petition with Marissa, the shit hit the proverbial fan. Nottingham made his first re-appearance since I the night of my beating, and, to my dismay, he showed up right at Serena’s door.

“I can’t talk to you,” I told him through the door, after I looked in the peephole and saw him standing on Serena’s front porch. “We’re in active litigation here, so you’re lawyer is going to have to talk to my lawyer. That’s how it works.”

“That isn’t how it’s going to work here, Dalilah,” he said calmly from the other side of the door. “You and I need to talk about this, face to face, adult to adult. You have to talk to me, if you want this to at all go the way that you’re envisioning.”

I looked at Serena, who was listening to every word between Nottingham and me. Luke, for his part, was down at his new studio, creating and trying to make friends with the other artists down there. Serena raised an eyebrow. “You better let him in,” she said. “I have a strong feeling that, if you don’t, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

“There’s going to be hell to pay either way,” I said. Then I reluctantly opened the door. I faced Nottingham and said “how did you find me?”

“Dalilah,” Nottingham said. “If you don’t know by now that I have ways of tracking you down, anywhere you think that you’re safe hiding, then you really have very little common sense. I know that you’re extremely intelligent, of course, but you obviously have some blind spots that I have enjoyed manipulating.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay, then, you found me.” I waited to say anything more.”

“Yes,” he said. “And, if you didn’t come back to the States from London, I would have tracked you down there, too.” He shook his head. “Really, Dalilah. Why you ever thought that I wouldn’t be able to find you, I don’t know. How was it staying with Liam Gallagher?”

I put my chin up, determined not to show the panic I was feeling as he spoke. “It was great, thanks for asking. Liam’s place is gorgeous and peaceful. It really gave me a chance to try to think things through.”

“Well,” he said, “are you going to invite me in?”

“No,” I said. “We can talk right here.”

He shook his head. “Dalilah. I would think that, with the information I have about some friends of yours, not to mention your father, you would be a bit more hospitable to me.”

“My father?” I said, feeling my heart drop to my shoes. “What does he have to do with any of this?”

“Do I need to spell it out?” he asked. “In front of your hostess here? If not, I suggest that you and I go somewhere and talk. We need to negotiate the custody issues with my child.”

“It’s not your child,” I said.

“Legally it is. And, once you hear what I have to say, I think that you’re probably going to end up not wanting to fight me. That’s my prediction, anyhow.”

I started breathing faster.
What did he know, and how did he know it?
“No way. You won’t get your hands on this child. Ever. This child belongs to Luke, not to you. I’ll fight  you to the death for this. I will.”

Nottingham shook his head. “Well, then, perhaps the entire world needs to know exactly what type of guy your father is. He seems so charitable and philanthropic. And Nick, well, he’s the senior managing partner of one of the richest architectural firms in the world. He has a reputation, that’s for sure, and it’s a good one. But it might not be for long.”

I heard the cryptic words, and my heart fell further. It was like an elevator that was snapped from its cables, plummeting down 100 stories with breakneck speed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

Nottingham just screwed up his face. “Yes, you do. Now, meet me at the restaurant down the street, and you and I will talk about this. I’ll see you in about fifteen minutes.”

I shut the door, and tried to catch my breath. I felt a little fluttering in my abdomen, and wondered if this was one of the first movements that I felt from my little one. “It’s going to be okay, Olivia, it’s going to be just fine. It’s going to be fine.” I turned to Serena, who was standing right behind me. “I have to meet him down at that restaurant on the end of the block.” I tried hard not to burst into tears.

Serena held me in her arms. “Go down and meet him,” she said. “Sounds serious.”

I looked at her. I wanted her to tell me that it was all going to turn out okay. I knew that sometimes Serena had foresight on such things, and if she said that it would all turn out, then it would. I really and truly believed that to be true.

“Serena, what do you feel about this? It doesn’t sound so good. If Nottingham has the kind of information that I’m afraid that he does…it won’t be good at all. Please, do you have any kind of feeling or hunch about this?”

Serena just shook her head. “Oh, I wish that I could turn it off and on like that, but I can’t. It pretty much comes in flashes, when I’m least expecting it. So, no, I don’t have any kind of foresight on what is going to happen here. I would tell you if I did, though. I promise.”

I nodded my head. “I understand. Well, I guess I better go down there.”

At that, I went out the door to meet my certain doom.

I got to the restaurant, and Nottingham was waiting for me.
I sat down across from him, and folded my hands in front of me. He raised his eyebrow, and ordered a martini for himself. He turned to me. “I assume that you want something non-alcoholic. At least you better. I certainly don’t want my child to have any kind of problems due to your bad habits. That goes for your marijuana use, too. I would hope that would go without saying, but, with you, I just never know.” Then he shook his head.

“Yes,” I said, as calmly as possible. “Please order me a  Club Soda with a twist of lime.”

He did so, and ordered lunch for both of us. Just like old times – he never bothered to ask me what I wanted. He just ordered.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m here. You need to talk to me.”

“Yes,” he said. “I want you to drop your contesting of my rights to my child. I understand that I probably won’t have full custody, nor do I want that. I do have a business to run, although I’m currently involved in a new, stable relationship with a very nurturing woman. She told me that she would be more than happy to help me raise this child.”

“This isn’t your child,” I said. “The DNA test proves that.” At that, I took the results of the DNA test out of my purse. It was a copy of what I got from the laboratory in England.

Nottingham took the paper from my hands, and then lit it on fire with the candle on the table. “That’s what I think about these test results. They’re not worth a dime in court, you know. Not when the child was conceived while you were married to me.”

“I realize that,” I said. “But I might get a judge who will accept these test results and declare Luke the father. Which would mean that your rights would be terminated.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” he said. “I’m very friendly with most of the bench, and, besides, I have an ace in the hole.”

I held my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Oh?” I asked, as calmly as I could. “And what ace would that be?”

“I think you know.”

“Know what?”

“Dalilah,” he said. “I did something to you awhile ago that I’m quite sure that you’re not aware of. It wasn’t legal, but, that doesn’t matter at this point. When you were going to marry me, I put a recording device on your phone. I basically wanted to make sure that you weren’t seeing Luke on the sly. I was impressed, by the way, by your stellar performance in dumping him. I probably couldn’t have done a better job myself.”

A recording device. How did I not suspect?
“Okay,” I said. “So, you found out that I had dumped Luke, just like you asked, and I never saw him behind your back.”

Nottingham smiled. “You’re not a stupid person, by any stretch of the imagination. And your mind is a devious one, but not as much as mine. I can always stay one step ahead of you, Dalilah. Because I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that you pay for fucking me over the way that you have.”

I tried to control my temper. “Fucking you over? You beat me. I probably would have stayed with you if you wouldn’t have done that. Even though I despised you, and I still do. I would have stayed with you, because I wanted Luke to have his shot that much. So, my leaving you had everything to do with your actions. Don’t tell me that I fucked you over, you bastard.”

I braced myself for what was coming next. “You fucked me over by going to him the night of his premiere, instead of coming right home to me. But, that’s neither here nor there, is it?” He smiled, evidently delighted at my no-doubt stricken expression. “Now, Dalilah, I’m quite sure that you know what all of this is leading up to, don’t you?”

I tried to shake my head, but I knew that I did it weakly.

“Oh, come on,” he said. “Again, you aren’t stupid. Now, I know about what your father’s best friend Nick did all those years ago. I know it because you ran your mouth to Nick just before you and I were married. That has always been my ace in the hole.”

Crash! The elevator just ran aground, killing everyone on board. Not that this was a surprise. I knew it was coming, from his first cryptic words to me on Serena’s porch.

Don’t cry Dalilah, don’t cry. And don’t commit to anything right now. Buy some time. Buy some time.

I took an enormous breath, and tried to think of something. But what came out of my mouth was probably something that was going to get me into deeper trouble. As if I could possibly get into deeper trouble than I already was at this point.

“Oh, yeah? Well, let’s just say that I have some dirt on you, too. We’ll see who blinks first.” I was bluffing. I didn’t have any dirt on him, at all, but I was pretty certain that he was dirty in some way. I hoped that my words activated some kind of panic in him, and that he really thought that I did have something on him.

He looked unruffled. “Oh, really, Dalilah? You do.” Then he chuckled and took another sip of his drink. “You’re bluffing. I know it. What dirt do you have on me, pray tell?”

I was encouraged by his reaction. He tried to hide it, but I saw just a flicker of fear in his eyes.
He does have something to hide. I just need to find out what it is.

“I’ll never tell. Let’s just say that, if you try to get my father and Nick in trouble, you’re gonna see exactly what kind of dirt I have on you. And you’ll be in prison. Now, what you know about Nick – the statute of limitations has run on those crimes.”

“The statute never runs on murder,” he said. “But go on.”

“It wasn’t a murder. That man committed suicide. All the other crimes that were committed – the statute has long since passed.”

“Really Dalilah? If you get some eager beaver prosecutor on the case, you really think that he or she won’t be able to make the case that what happened was a murder? I agree, it’s a grey area, but I think that you know it could go either way. I can’t believe that you want to take that chance. Take the chance that your beloved friend will spend the rest of their lives behind bars. And your father too – after all, the crime was recorded on his computer, so chances are good that he had something to do with it.”

I inwardly cursed myself. Cursed myself for bringing the subject up to Nick. Cursed myself for being so goddamned nosy that I was a hacker, just for shits and grins, which made me come across that video. Cursed myself for not realizing that Nottingham was underhanded enough to do something like bug me.

How could I have been so naïve?

Gut check time.
But I was gambling with my father’s future, not to mention Nick’s. I was blindsided by this revelation, but I had to think on my feet.

I raised my chin. “Oh, well, what you did was just as illegal,” I said. “You take me down, and I’ll take you down. You take my father down, and you’re going down with him. Maybe you guys can wave hello to one another in the penitentiary yard.”

Again, the flicker of fear ran through his eyes for just a millisecond. If it wasn’t for that tiny little involuntary flicker, I probably would have backed down and agreed to anything that he wanted. But I saw that flicker, and I knew that I was onto something.

It was going to be a matter of finding out exactly what it was that I was onto. But there was something there.

Then he smiled. “You don’t have anything on me, Dalilah. But, I’ll bite. Lay your cards out on the table.”

“No way,” I said. “I got you good, but there’s no way that I’m going to give you a chance to cover up your tracks.” I raised my eyebrow, wondering if there was more than one illegal thing he was up to behind the scenes. If there was, then he was probably wondering, in his mind, exactly what goody I was going to spring.

He screwed up his face. “You don’t have anything. Now, let’s see. How about I see the prosecutor today to start looking into the death of Paul Lucas? Maybe it’s time to reopen a cold case, huh?”

I took a deep breath. “I don’t think so. No prosecutor is going to reopen that case. You have no proof of anything. Unless, of course, you want to use the recording that you made of me. But you and I both know that would never give anybody probable cause of anything, because what you did in recording me was clearly illegal. On the other hand, I got some pretty good proof of all the dirty business that you’re up to.”