Chapter 65

Liz burst into tears again as the last of her friends-slash-employees departed the room. I felt terrible for her but I knew the reaction, harsh as it was, would have been worse if the story was revealed to them by someone else.

Liz had offered a full release from their contract and a continuation of their salary while they looked for a new job if they decided they didn’t want to work with her any longer. I was pretty pissed when I saw them seriously considering the offer – until I recalled my reaction a week earlier.

The faces that departed showed anger, of course, but also a mixture of sadness and concern.

I took Liz upstairs and put her to bed with a light sleeping pill and a kiss on the forehead. I assured her that I thought everyone would come to the same realization that I had. Then I went back downstairs to make some calls that Liz wanted me to make.

I was sitting at the table with a beer pondering how I was going to break the news to Liz’s parents, my mother and my friends in San Diego when the last person I wanted to see – Lynwood – walked in.

He offered his usual disdainful sneer but I just ignored him.

“I was told I would need to prepare lunch for 10,” he said.

“Not anymore,” I said. “It’s just me and I don’t want you touching my food so you can head on your way.”

“I don’t work for you,” the man retorted.

“True,” I said. “And if the day comes when I have a say in your employment, you’ll no longer work for anyone. But, for now, have at it. You can empty the larder, pal, and then throw the shit in the garbage. It’s where it belongs anyway. So do whatever you want to do and leave me alone. I have too much on my mind right now to bother with you.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and turned my attention to the call I needed to make to Mickey and Bev Larimer in Golden, Colorado. Apparently Lynwood still had more to say.

“I can’t believe you screwed around on such a wonderful woman,” he said.

I no longer had the “catlike reflexes” that Liz liked to joke about. But I could still move pretty quickly when I wanted to. The chef learned that when he found himself pinned up against the counter before the last word was out of his mouth.

“I did not,” I began through clenched teeth, “I would not cheat on Liz or anyone else. You don’t get to make assessments of my behavior.”

I saw his right hand searching the countertop. I assumed it was for a weapon so I used my fist to pound it against the marble. The little man made a squeal but I was pressed too closely to permit him to even cradle his hand. I hadn’t hit it hard enough to break anything (at least I didn’t want to break anything) but I hit it hard enough to hurt.

“I told you before that I do not want you speak to me,” I said, clearly enunciating every syllable. “If you decide to disregard my request I’m going to break you in half. Now unless you want the media to question why an ambulance has been called to Liz’s home to put you back together then you need to leave me alone. When Liz wakes up, she’ll call you if she wants to see you.”

I removed my arm from his chest long enough to spin him around. I walked him to the door and pushed him out to the patio.

“And Dennis, I’m not joking,” I said. “You better make sure your next words to me are worth speaking because they are going to be the last you utter for a long time.”

I closed the door and punched in the privacy code that would block outside access. I turned to see one of the housekeepers picking up the chair I had sent clattering across the floor.

I closed my eyes again and pinched my nose to stem the rising headache I felt coming on.

“Don’t worry about him,” the woman said. “He’s a pain to everybody.”

“I’m not worried about him,” I said.

“I know,” the woman said. She looked to be my age or perhaps a little younger. She wasn’t as trim as Liz or Stephanie but she was well-formed and attractive. I wondered if Liz knew anybody that was fat or ugly. “I was cleaning and heard some of what was said.”

She gestured to the room where Liz had revealed her long-kept secret to the people she considered her friends.

“Fuck,” I muttered before I could stop myself.

“I’ve been with Liz since before all of that,” the woman told me. “I knew a lot of bad things happened when she was with those people. I’m not going to say anything and I’m not going to leave here.”

I nodded and took my chair again.

“If you wish, I’ll leave you to your thoughts,” she said.

“I just need to call Liz’s folks ... and some other people,” I said.

“I’ll be upstairs if you need anything,” she said. “I’ve given the rest of the staff the day off. I’ll call them and let them know they’ll need to call before they return.”

“No,” I said. “This is your house, too. That guy...”

“I know,” she said, smiling at me. “Liz expects him to cook for us when she is gone. He acts as though we should live on peanut butter sandwiches. He wanted Liz to make us clean his house, too. He has a wife that doesn’t work at all. I told Liz I’d do it if she ordered me to but I wasn’t going to volunteer or ask the others on staff to do it. They don’t get paid enough to put up with those two.”

“I’ve never seen the wife,” I said, laughing along with the woman. I had seen her around the house during my visits and I had waved and spoken to all the household staff. They had rarely returned the greeting with anything more than a nod.

“She’s as prissy as he is,” she said. “You won’t see her until you go out to the pool by yourself. Then she will make her appearance. If Liz is there, she won’t. Juliet thinks she’s the cat’s ... behind.”

“Well, he’s a horse’s behind so I hope they don’t breed,” I replied.

“I’m sorry that I was so ... cold toward you,” she said. “I told you: I’ve been around Liz for a long time. I was a 17-year-old when she hired me and took me in. She gave me a life and a job. I saw the types of people she brought around here. Even after she stopped ... that stuff ... she had lousy taste in guys. I learned never to try to befriend them. They either would act like I was a piece of garbage or think I wanted to have them visit my room later. I can see you’re not that way. You’re not going to do anything to hurt her. I can see that now.”

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t always see that,” I said, admitting to myself that her allegation of infidelity had cut me.

“She was joking about it until you arrived and announced to the world that you’d goofed up,” the woman said. “I knew that things were stressful last week when you were here. It was worse after she came back. She missed you. She was always happy after she’d speak to you. Now I understand better what was bothering her. I’m happy that you’re standing beside her on this.”

“It took me some time,” I said. “The rest of her friends will come around.”

I didn’t add that I hoped that would be the case.

“I need to call her parents,” I said.

“That should be fun,” the housekeeper said with a laugh. “It’s only noon out there so they might not be totally baked yet.”

She gave me a soft pat on the arm before she left. I picked up the phone and looked at the paper with the phone number on it.

A man picked up on the first ring and he sounded relatively normal.

“Hello, Mr. Larimer,” I said. “This is Travis Blakely.”

“Hello, Travis,” Mickey Larimer said in a polite voice. “How are things with you?”

“They’ve been better,” I admitted.

“Oh?” he asked. “Is Lizzie OK?”

“She’s fine,” I said. “It’s ... there’s no easy way to tell you this. Some really bad things are going to be said about her in a few days. I don’t want to go into it on the phone.”

“No, I understand,” Mickey said.

Some “media” members used handheld scanners to try to intercept cell phone signals. I had been amazed when Ryan had mentioned it to me and I figured he’d had the same conversation with Liz’s parents. Of course I also figured Mickey and Bev were parts of the “tin-foil hat brigade.”

“How bad?” Mickey asked.

“Some of it is the normal stuff, I’m sure,” I said. “Some of it is new. It’s from the days she hung out with some pretty awful people.”

“I knew those people were going to cause trouble,” Mickey said with a heavy sigh.

“Liz knew what they were all about and still hung out with them,” I pointed out.

“Growing up with your folks, Bev and I must seem like pretty terrible parents,” Mickey said.

“Different,” I cut in. “Not better or worse. You were just different types of parents than my folks were.”

“I pretty sure Zane and Annabelle didn’t worry about you spending time with people like that,” Mickey said.

“Probably not,” I said. “But I’m not Liz either. If she had been raised like I was, she might not have reached her potential. You might have stifled her creativity if you had raised her like I was raised. Liz knows right from wrong. You taught her the lessons she needed to learn. I’m not blaming you and I doubt anyone else will either.”

“They can blame us if it takes the blame off her,” Mickey said. “I know you’re dealing with her media stuff now. If you need to point us out as the poster children for horrible child raising you do it without a second of thought. OK?”

“It won’t come to that,” I said. “But thanks for offering it.”

“What can we do?” Mickey asked.

“Just stand behind her regardless of what you hear,” I advised.

“Always,” Mickey said. “We ... we stay away from her because our lifestyle doesn’t mesh with her image. But we love her. We’ve always loved her. And we’re proud of her. We’ll do whatever she needs us to do.”

“Thanks, Mickey,” I said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing you two again.”

“We’re looking forward to it, too,” Mickey said. “It’s ... it’s nice to hear the happiness in her voice that I’ve heard the past few weeks. It’s good to see her smiling and enjoying her life. Are you two OK with whatever is coming?”

“We’re going to be OK,” I said. “I have the entire story from a lot of different places so I’m doing all right. The more I learn about the truth the less uncomfortable I am with what’s coming. I’ll find a way to fill you in completely.”

“We have a landline,” Mickey said.

“Yeah, but ... I’m in Nashville now and Liz doesn’t have one here,” I said. “If I can find one somewhere I’ll give you a call. Otherwise it might be Sunday night when we get to Jacksonville.”

“No problem,” Mickey said. “It’s good to talk to you, Travis. You take care of my little girl. OK?”

“I will,” I said. “I give you my word that I’ll do what I can to protect her.”

“Before we go,” Mickey said, “Liz told us about your dad. I liked him a lot. He was a good man and I know he loved you very much. He ... he was our insurance agent and we spent a lot of time talking about our children. He was very proud of you, Travis ... and so are we.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I know he always liked you folks, too.”

“Now we just need to work on your mother,” Mickey said, laughing lightly. “Tell Liz that we’re with her all the way.”

I ended the phone call and thought about Liz’s parents. They were nice people that had raised a nice daughter. She had inherited some of their guilelessness and it had cost her but they genuinely loved her ... and I think they would have loved her if she was the checkout girl at the local supermarket.

I looked at the clock and saw it was barely past two o’clock. It would be another hour before my mother was home. I figured that would be long enough for me to contact the other people on my list.

I called Susan first.

“How’s Amber?” I asked.

“She’s a little sweetie,” Susan said. “She’s taking a nap right now.”