Truth (11 page)

Courtney sat in her kitchen and stared into
her backyard. The Iowa spring was struggling to break through the
gray veil of winter. Patches of ice and snow speckled the pale
remnants of lawn. In another month the grass would begin to green
and life would renew. Courtney contemplated her friend; she
deserved renewal too. “Claire, how will having his private number
help that?”

“
Because he thinks he can
call and disrupt my life. The only way to stop him is to turn the
tables. I need to have equal opportunity to initiate
contact.”

“
I guess I understand.
But, don’t you think he’ll wonder how you got it? I mean – it’s
blocked. I know you know that.”

“
I do. I’ve seen his
contact list, it has lots of people. He isn’t as isolated as he
thinks. It just takes one of those many people.”

Courtney continued to watch the scene
outside of her window. Near her elbows on her table sat a list of
Saturday afternoon activities. Julia, her future daughter-in-law,
would be over soon they had many things to accomplish before the
quickly approaching wedding. Next to her half full mug of coffee
was her list of proposed guests. She glanced at the list of
rehearsal dinner locations and caterers. They had appointments with
three of them this afternoon.

Their son, Caleb, recently
started his own investment company in a Chicago suburb. It was the
only plausible reason he would leave Tony’s employment. Luckily,
Caleb was convincing when explaining to Tony his desire to -
make it on his own
.
Being an entrepreneur himself, Tony actually encouraged Caleb’s
independent spirit. This scenario also gave credence to the removal
of some of Brent and Courtney’s Rawlings stock options. They wanted
their capital to help finance their son’s endeavors. Courtney’s
thoughts kept her from responding.

Claire misinterpreted the silence, “I
understand. I really do. If you can’t help me, I’ll find someone
else…” her disappointment audible.

“
No, I will. Let me get my
other phone, it’s programed in there.”

Claire quickly replied, “Thank you. I really
appreciate it.”

Before Courtney could respond to Claire’s
gratitude, the sound of multiple voices came through Claire’s
receiver. She sat cross legged on her bed fifteen hundred miles
away listening to the conversation.

Courtney was so caught up in her
conversation and thoughts she didn’t hear the doorbell or her
husband’s voice, until he and Tony reached the kitchen.

Brent spoke first, “Look who stopped
by.”

“
Hello Courtney, I’m sorry
for the intrusion. I was on my way home and wanted to talk to your
husband for a few minutes.” His deep voice contained its usual
friendly tone he used with Courtney.

She covered the phone with
her hand and smiled her brightest smile, “Oh Tony, so nice to see
you.” Courtney stood to give him a customary
hello
hug and hoped he wouldn’t
notice her accelerated heart rate. “I’m just trying to finalize
some wedding plans, if you two will excuse me. It’ll just take
another minute.” The two men nodded and looked at the papers on the
table. Brent opened the refrigerator, handed Tony a bottle of
water, and noticed Courtney’s small black phone, not her usual
Blackberry.

“
Come on Tony, let’s go to
my office. Believe me; you don’t want to be in her way when
there’re wedding plans to finalize.”

Tony laughed. “That’s fine. This will only
take a few minutes.” Turning back to Courtney, “It’s nice to see
you.”

She nodded toward the men as they left the
kitchen. Courtney grabbed her Blackberry and stepped through an
archway to the sunporch, increasing the distance from her husband’s
office. “Shit.” She whispered into the small telephone.

“
Oh god, Courtney, I’m
sorry.”

“
No, don’t be sorry. Let
me get you the number. Just please wait until he leaves before you
call.”

“
I will. Honestly, I’m not
sure when I’ll call. I just want to know I can.”

Momentarily, Courtney smiled as she scrolled
her contacts. Looking toward the archway and back toward the
kitchen, she quietly gave Claire the ten requested digits. Then she
added, “I hope you know -- I truly hate him for what he did to
you.”

Claire nodded. “Thank you, but you’ve been
his friend for a long time. I appreciate your help, but I
understand…”

“
No, you
don’t.”

Courtney’s tone surprised Claire. Anger --
fervor, she wasn’t sure she’d heard such vehemence in Courtney’s
voice ever before. “Perhaps I don’t.” Maybe she’d pushed Courtney’s
allegiance too far by requesting Tony’s number. “I’d better go.
Thank you again.”

“
Claire,” Courtney’s voice
was more of a whisper, “I’d like to see you. I need to be honest
with you about what I know and how I feel. It’d be better in
person.”

Emotions swirled. Claire
wanted to see her friend, yet part of her wondered,
is she truly
my
friend
? Hearing Tony’s voice, so casual in
her kitchen, could this request be a trap? And
know
-- what could Courtney
possibly
know
?
Claire lied to her, just like she’d lied to everyone else. Was the
tone Claire heard directed at her or about Tony?

Claire reminded herself Courtney was the
only person to go out of her way to communicate with Claire in
prison. She was one of the few people to offer support. Claire
replied, “I’d like that too. First, why don’t you concentrate on
your company? We’ll work out details later.”

Courtney nodded. “You’re
right about time. We’ve known him a long time. However, sometimes
you know someone and still don’t
truly
know them. Other times you
learn the truth right away.” She paused, but Claire didn’t respond,
so Courtney continued, “I hope we can work it out -- to
get-together. We’ll talk later.”

Claire replied, and the line went dead.
Courtney placed the small black slender phone in the pocket of her
jeans and took the Blackberry back to the kitchen. Julia would be
over soon; they had a busy afternoon ahead.

Claire stared at the
number on the note pad. There it was. Now, he wouldn’t be the only
one able to initiate contact. She added the number to the telephone
Tony called the night before. Claire shook her head. There were
three telephones before her. All she wanted was
one
; now she had three!

Courtney wasn’t the only person opposed to
the idea of Claire calling Tony. Harry also thought it was a bad
idea. Surprisingly, Amber understood Claire’s reasoning. Harry
replied with the analogy of poking a bee hive with a stick.

Claire finally smiled and explained, “My dad
had a friend who raised bees. We used to go and help him extract
honey -- fun but scary. The bees would buzz all around his garage
as we worked inside getting the honey out of the combs.”

Harry and Amber listened, probably thinking
the bee analogy was meant metaphorically. Claire continued, “When I
was little, I was afraid to help. After all, the bees were really
mad. You can’t blame them. We’re taking their honey. I remember
asking dad’s friend how he got the combs out of the bee hives
without getting stung. He showed me this funky hat with netting and
a thick material suit and gloves, boots – you know the whole bee
garb?” The other two nodded. “So don’t you get it?”

Claire watched waiting to see some
realization in her friends’ eyes. When she didn’t see it, she
answered her own question. “I promise not to poke the stick in the
hive until I’m sure my outfit is fool proof. I don’t intend to be
stung ...again.” Claire was sure she saw sparks of admiration in
her friends’ eyes.

Now that she had his number, Claire needed
to work on her beekeeper’s outfit. Until last night, she wasn’t
sure what she’d do. California was turning out better than she ever
imagined. Honestly, she’d hoped maybe she could start a new life
and forget the last three years. Then the whole paradigm changed;
Tony called.

Claire knew in the pit of
her stomach – depths of her soul -- it would never be over. He
shared in his
box
that he’d been watching her since at least the time of her
parent’s death. No, actually – if, and she still isn’t sure of this
-- if, he purposely lured Simon away with the job offer – he’d been
watching since her freshman year of college.

Yes, Anthony Rawlings was
the one who callously threw her away – left her to be incarcerated
for a crime she never committed. However, multiple times she
thought about his offer. Before she pleaded
no contest
to the charges, he
offered her another
out
. He offered her the option to plead
insanity
. He even had an institution
ready to take her as a patient.
If
she’d accepted his offer he would still to this
day, possibly forever, be in control. Somehow Claire believed Tony
expected her to take his option.

She grinned, realizing that without trying,
she’d defied his plans. Feeling a small amount of pride, Claire
grasped the unusual feeling. If she could defy Anthony Rawlings out
of instinct, instead of intention and survive, it seemed the
possibilities were limitless, if she put her mind to it.

Tony would never allow her to exist away
from him. Somehow she needed to remove his power. Claire realized
hiding from the sound of his voice, strengthened it. Conversely,
the opposite would weaken it.

Last night, after returning to the table at
the restaurant, Claire announced to her friends she was ready to
continue the work on their quest. She currently had the time and
thanks to Tony, the money. She would accept help, but without a
doubt, Tony’s phone call cemented her resolve – Mr. Anthony
Rawlings had a lesson to learn and Claire claimed the role as
teacher.

Amber and Harry saw her red blotched face.
Yet, instead of pity or even acknowledgement of her current
condition, both friends smiled. Amber got up and hugged Claire, “I
hope you know you have my full support and any help I can
provide.”

“
If you two scorned ladies
will allow, I would like to be involved in this quest.” With that,
Harry encircled both women in his arms. Their group hug lasted only
seconds, but the common goal and support energized Claire beyond
any depletion from the phone call.

This morning she woke with new purpose. Her
phone call with Courtney didn’t diminish that purpose, it increased
it.

As she dressed for her
day, Claire marveled at again hearing her ex-husband’s voice. Twice
in two days! Hearing him speak to Courtney, sounding casual and
friendly, there was a time she worked diligently to keep that tone
in his voice. It was refreshing to not concentrate on
his
feelings, but on her
own.

Claire smiled at herself
in the mirror. She liked her chestnut brown hair, jeans, and tennis
shoes. She liked wearing very little make-up. From now on
her
concerns were going
to be
her
focus!

She’d spent the last fourteen months
grasping at straws of self-worth. It was a difficult process
especially while in a federal penitentiary. At one time she
wondered if living was worth the trouble. Today, she knew it
was.

His voice, through her phone, divulged more
to her than merely words. Tony had once said she knew him better
than anyone. In the pit of her stomach she knew he would seek to
find her. And beyond a shadow of a doubt, he’d succeed. Anthony
Rawlings rarely, if ever, failed.

This reality fueled her need to suddenly
become visible. Her original plan of anonymity was to avoid him.
She failed. Being invisible would make her an easy target, no
matter his intention. The more visible Claire Nichols was to the
world, the harder it’d be to remove her. This, hopefully not too
late realization, made her cheeks rise and a smile radiate beyond
her lips to her green eyes.

Honestly, the prospect of
seeing him, talking to him, being near him frightened her. The fear
didn’t just stem from
his
possible actions – but, hers. Claire knew, she
couldn’t predict her own actions, emotions, or responses when the
time came to meet him face-to-face. Despite their history, Tony had
the ability to manipulate her thoughts and beliefs. Her personal
pep talks were all well and good while he remained at large.
Nevertheless, Claire could not honestly predict how
she
would respond, when
push came to shove.

She reminded herself,
unlike three years ago, she now knew the rules and boundaries
to
his
game. Rule
number one, there were no boundaries. Anthony Rawlings was capable
of anything and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Yet,
even Superman couldn’t overcome kryptonite. Catherine once told
Claire, she had the
rare
opportunity
to know Anthony Rawlings as
few do. Claire knew his intimate beliefs. She knew his kryptonite –
appearances!

She also knew without a doubt, he’d be in
California. It may be days, weeks, or hell, only hours, but he
would step foot on the west coast. It would happen. Claire needed
to be ready, her beekeeper suit intact.

She sat on the tall stool
in the kitchen, her laptop open and began to
egosurf
. Before she could change the
perception the world possessed of her, she needed to know what that
perception held. The results were nauseating.