Authors: Marilyn Campbell

Twisted Hunger (48 page)

BOOK: Twisted Hunger

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At the end of the session, Teri maintained an aloof, professional manner as they made an appointment for him to bring prints for her to see on Wednesday. As soon as he left, Teri decided to have a talk with Selena right away. “Now, was that so bad?”

Selena shrugged. “No, I guess not, but probably because you were here.”

“I really don’t think he’s the type that would suggest you have sex with his camera.” Teri smiled, but it was obvious Selena wasn’t convinced. “Look, he’s definitely got talent. I think he’s going to get the pictures I need to move forward with the new project.”

Selena exhaled heavily. “Fine. Did you like him?”

Teri felt her cheeks warm and turned away under the pretext of getting two cups from the cupboard. “I liked the way he worked. How about a cup of tea?”

“Sure. He liked you. I could tell. And I don’t mean professionally. I wasn’t so sure about you.”

Teri would have let it go if she hadn’t caught the hint of a whine. Selena seemed to be asking for another kind of reassurance… but about what?

She was aware of a childlike dependency Selena occasionally demonstrated toward her, and she understood the cause. At twenty-one, Selena had already suffered the death of her father, her stepfather and her mother. Teri’s parents had also passed away, but she was much older than Selena had been when she lost them. Under the circumstances, she had no objection to being Selena’s surrogate mother figure.

Teri carried the two cups to the small dinette set and motioned for Selena to sit down with her. “If you’re asking if I found him attractive, I did, but not to the point I would do anything about it. Believe me, I’ve got my hands full with Rico.”

That was all Selena needed to hear to shift her concern away from Drew Marshall. “I knew something happened before. Tell me. Talking it out might help.”

Sighing deeply, Teri let her shoulders sag a bit. Maybe Selena was right. As young as Selena acted some of the time, she could also be very level-headed and she
was
discreet. A few of her and Rico’s arguments had been within Selena’s hearing, and no one else ever found out about them. “Rico and I have had our problems in the past, but I kept hoping… Anyway I can’t take any more.”

“I thought you said he was being all romantic and thoughtful?”

“An act. All of it’s been an act. I have been such a fool. Over and over.” She felt tears well up and fought them back. “Ah, damn. It probably would do me some good to talk about it. And as long as you’re willing to listen, I may as well get it out of my system.”

Teri had been keeping her problems to herself for so long, it took her a moment to decide where to start. “About a year ago, I asked Rico for a deposit slip for our joint savings account and his reaction was so defensive I just knew something was wrong. I tried checking the account on line—you know I avoid the computer if at all possible—but I couldn’t access it. My password was invalid.

“Rather than ask him about it, I went by the bank and had them reset my password for me. While I was there, I asked for a current statement. I was positive they’d made a mistake when it showed a balance almost thirty thousand dollars less than I thought we had.”

Teri’s lashes lowered with remembered embarrassment. “I had them print out a copy of all the transactions for the previous two years. It was unbelievable. Money had been going in and out of that account as if it were an active business. Unfortunately, the balance column showed that whatever the business was, it was a losing one.

“All that time I would give Rico a check and he would take care of depositing it because it was on his route. He always brought me back a deposit slip. I just didn’t know about the withdrawals he made in between. He always said he liked taking care of the
family
bookkeeping and I was glad not to have to deal with it. Stupid, I know.” She paused to take a sip of tea in an attempt to ward off the sudden chill she felt.

“When I questioned Rico, he confessed—a real heart-wrenching, Academy Award confession. As he put it, my success made him feel unmanly. Since I wouldn’t quit, he wanted to bring more money into the house. He thought gambling was the answer. He never meant to let it get out of control, but he kept thinking he could make it all back on the next race or the next number or whatever. He promised he was done with it as soon as he paid off the last losses.”

Selena leaned forward and covered Teri’s hand. “I’ve heard gambling can be as bad of an addiction as drugs and alcohol. There’s even a Gamblers’ Anonymous.”

“Yes I know, but the addict has to want to help himself. I thought I was helping by putting my earnings in a separate account he couldn’t access.”

“What did he do when he found out?”

Teri sighed. “He went berserk. Mind you, he never laid a hand on me, but he smashed every piece of our good china before he calmed down. Afterward he was all apologies and promises again. That lasted about a month. Then he didn’t deposit his check into our house account on payday.”

“So you had it out again.”

“You got it,” Teri confirmed, making a disgusted face. “That time he threw a lamp through a window. He promised to get help, if I would just bail him out once more to the tune of twenty-five hundred dollars. I gave it to him, but with the warning that it was the last time. I thought he was doing okay, until three weeks ago.” She shook her head still having trouble believing how easily he had fooled her. “I found out he had stolen a check from my business account and forged my signature.”

Selena’s mouth dropped open. “This sounds more like a nightmare than a marriage. Can’t you have him arrested for that?”

“I don’t know. After everything he’s put me through, I don’t love him anymore, but I don’t have it in me to put him behind bars for something he obviously can’t help. That night I asked for a divorce. He pulled out all the stops. The macho-man cried like a baby. He reminded me that our religion prohibited divorce, not that we’ve been especially devout Catholics all these years. He swore he loved me too much to ever let me go, and starting from that minute, he was going to prove it by being the best husband a wife ever had. But first, he needed a little financial assistance.” Recalling how shocked she had been at his incredible nerve, she rolled her eyes and gave a dry laugh.

“I agreed to give our marriage one last chance but I refused to give him any more money. He told me he had gotten in over his head with some very nasty people. I saw real fear in his eyes, but I still said no. I was through bailing him out.

“I really never expected him to live up to his promise. But he’s been attending GA meetings for the last three weeks and basically, he’s been an angel. We were almost like newlyweds again.” She took another sip of tea, and Selena waited patiently for her to continue.

“I overheard him on the phone when I went back to the house earlier. He still owes somebody money—maybe the same nasties he told me about. It’s all been an act to get me to pay off his debt. The worst part is, I finally realized the reason he doesn’t want me to file for divorce has nothing to do with our religion or love. It’s all about my money.”

“Do you have a big life insurance policy?”

Teri looked at Selena in surprise. “What an awful thing to…” She stopped and recalled Rico’s words over the telephone—
I’ll get the money out of her. One way or another.
She shook her head slowly, thinking of Rico’s explosive temper and the handgun he insisted on keeping in the nightstand drawer
for protection
.

“We both have life insurance policies. Of course his is just a small one through the post office, enough for funeral arrangements. Mine is for a hundred thousand… enough to cover the mortgage… unless I die in an accident. Then it’s a million.”

Selena whistled. “That’s a very tempting reason to push you down a flight of stairs.”

Teri’s eyes widened. “No. He wouldn’t do anything like that. He’s a gambler and a liar, even a thief, but I don’t believe he’d hurt me physically.”

Selena shrugged. “I hope you’re right. Keep your guard up, just in case. If he gets desperate enough, he’s liable to graduate from breaking things to breaking bones. Don’t look so skeptical—I know what I’m talking about. I’ve read a lot of true crime stories. And remember, if it looks like he’s about to change tactics and try some rough stuff, you can always hang out at my apartment in town.”

Teri forced herself to smile. “Thanks, hon, but I really don’t think that’ll be necessary. To be on the safe side, though, I’m not even going to confront him. Instead, I’m going to play along until I talk to an attorney. At least I should find out how hard it will be to get a divorce, knowing he’ll contest it. Damn! I don’t need this aggravation. How the hell am I supposed to be creative with this over my head?”

Another tear threatened to escape her eye, but she quickly swiped it away and smiled again when she saw how disturbed Selena was. “I’m sorry. It was really crappy of me to dump all this on you.”

“Don’t say that. What kind of friend would I be if you couldn’t unload your problems on me?”

“I’ve only got one problem I’d like to unload. But he doesn’t seem to be agreeable. You know what would be wonderful? If he met some hot-to-trot bimbette that got him so worked up, he decided to leave me on his own.”

“Is there any chance he’s fooling around? You could hire a detective to follow him.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s cheated on me along with everything else. But since he’s been on this good behavior kick, I can account for every hour of his day. I even went with him to his GA meeting one night. Of course, I suppose he could always fit in a quickie along his delivery route if he really wanted to.” She meant it as a joke but Selena didn’t laugh.

Selena got up and walked back and forth a few times. “I’ve been told I have a very analytical mind. There must be some way…” She paced a little more, then abruptly returned to her seat. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’ve got it. I’ll set Rico up. The way he slobbers over himself every time he sees me, seducing him should be a cinch. Once I’ve got him hooked, you’ll hire a detective to take some incriminating pictures and,
voilà,
grounds for a divorce.”

Teri let out a squeal. “You’re too much. I think sacrificing yourself to my husband might be a bit beyond your job description.” Picturing Rico and Selena together made her chuckle. Not only were they extreme opposites in coloring, Selena was about four inches taller and thirty pounds heavier than Rico, but Teri had seen his reaction to her, and slobbering pretty much covered it. When Teri vocalized her thoughts, Selena caught a case of the giggles. They were soon exchanging ideas about what Rico would do with so much woman after twelve years of sex with a pixie.

Selena amended her suggestion. “I was only thinking of leading him on, but you might have the key to a permanent solution. Sex with me would probably kill him, and then you wouldn’t have to worry about how to get a divorce.”

“But I’m not sure he deserves such a great goodbye gift!” A tear squeezed out of Teri’s eye, but this one was from laughing so hard. “If I thought for one minute you could get Rico out of my life permanently by having sex with him, I’d not only give you my blessing, I’d double your next dozen paychecks!”

Selena arched her brows and pursed her lips. “Well now that you said that, I guess I’m going to have to get to work on it.”