Chapter 17

Dad had reserved a two-bedroom suite in the hotel - a waste of money. Jason didn't feel comfortable leaving Sara alone all night, so I slept with him in his room in Sara's townhouse. Dad wasn't happy with my decision, but I didn't care until early the next morning, and I mean really, really early, when Jason tried to drag me from the warm, comfortable cocoon of his bed. That's when I wondered if I'd made a mistake.

I grumbled; he grinned. I melted. I also wondered if Jason had somehow gained the ability to read minds overnight because he did precisely what I wanted. He climbed back into the bed with me.

We didn't sleep.

Enough said on that subject for the moment, except to say the orgasm times two curled my toes and started my day with two delightful bangs.

Of course, Jason's more than willing compliance with my wishes made us late for our rendezvous with my father.

Dad grumbled; I grinned. He forgave us.

Dad had rented the suite so we could use the living room dividing the two bedrooms for what he called a war room. If not organized, Dad is nothing. When Jason and I arrived, I noticed a large whiteboard, a computer station, a folding table, and other office equipment and supplies that turned the living room into a functional space for the task ahead of us.

With a cup of coffee in hand - Jason gripped a glass of juice - I sat at the folding table and asked the question we all had on our minds. "How are we going to remove little Donna from the Destroyer's sphere of influence?"

"We'll determine Melville's weaknesses and use them against him," Dad stated, seemingly without a doubt that the objective could be achieved. "Cupcake, would you please write his weaknesses on the whiteboard as we give them to you? Also, feel free to add to the list yourself."

I jumped up and, with a blue marker in hand, waited for the first weakness to start the list.

"As Earl Wilson said," Dad quoted. "'Marriages are like diets. They can be ruined by having a little dish on the side.' Melville messed around while he was married to your sister, Jason."

"I'm not surprised," Jason said, his voice tinged with his intense dislike for the man.

I wondered who Earl Wilson was. Dad was fond of quotations and was particularly adept at quoting obscure persons, obscure to me, at least.

"My P.I. found a nanny Melville hired to take care of Donna that fell prey to his charms," Dad added. "She was a submissive by nature, which he recognized, and he soon vented his hatred for women on her. He's a sadist. Inflicting pain excites him sexually, at least according to this woman. Being a masochist, she enjoyed their games until he finally let his true nature rise to the surface. After a trip to the emergency room, she took another trip - as far away from Melville as possible. She says he's deep-down mean."

"Will she testify against him?" Jason asked.

"No. He terrifies her. Katy, list Pathological Hatred of Women and Sadist on the board."

I did as he asked.

"I don't understand," Jason said. "Why do you consider these two items weaknesses? Also, assuming they're weaknesses, how can we use them against him?"

"I consider any negative personality trait a weakness that can be exploited," Dad said. "How we'll use them to our advantage is yet to be determined, but I have a few ideas, and more will come to us with every new piece of accurate information we develop. We're here to investigate, list, collate, and then create a plan, which when implemented, will achieve our end."

"He's a neat freak," I quipped, wanting to contribute.

"Very good, Katy. Add Compulsive about Neatness to the list. I believe the next item I want to list will be the most useful weakness available to us. Jason, do you know the status of your sister's financial condition?"

With a grimace, he replied, "Not really. After I fired the psychiatrist Melville hired, I brought Dr. Rourke on board and agreed to pay her fees if Sara couldn't, which I figured highly unlikely considering Dad's legacy. When I checked with the hospital, I discovered Sara had health insurance, which paid for most of the hospital expenses. I picked up the balance because I didn't want to add any pressure about money along with all the other problems she had to deal with."

"Interesting," Dad said. "The P.I. says the townhouse she lives in is owned by a corporation. The agency is currently trying to trace the ownership back through a labyrinth of other corporations, some of them offshore, to determine the real owner of the residence. I suspect Melville's name will surface at the end. By the way, the townhouse is free and clear - no mortgage. Does Sara have a checking and savings account?"

"I don't know."

"How would you feel about asking her?"

"That depends. Where are you going with this?"

"Patience, Jason. From your comment, may I assume that, like you, Sara inherited a substantial sum of money when your father died?"

"Yes, an equal amount. Maxie, my other sister, too."

"I suspect Melville has commingled Sara's inheritance with his own money. In other words, he stole it," Dad stated as if he were asking Jason to pass the salt.

Jason looked stunned, like I felt. "I'll wring the fucker's neck," he muttered and then blushed. "Sorry. I'm not usually prone to cursing, but Melville pisses me off."

Dad chuckled. "No problem. I kept wondering why Melville divorced your sister, Jason. He'd bent her to his will. She was completely compliant, hardly any trouble at all. Sex wasn't the issue. The damned fool didn't want her after pregnancy started to change her body, and he found the sick sex he actually preferred with other women. Then all at once, he decided to sever the marriage. Why?"

"Sara found some backbone when she was denied access to her baby and confronted Melville," I said.

"Which he countered easily," Dad said. "When did your father die, Jason?"

"About four years ago."

My lover looked like he was about to cloud up and rain. Merely thinking about his father's murder set him off.

"When Donna was a one-year-old?" Dad asked.

"Yes, my dad was killed shortly after he and Mother visited Sara to see the baby."

"At which time Sara came into her inheritance. How long did the probate take?"

"I don't know. My share was put into a trust fund until I turned eighteen. Being an adult, Sara would have received her share at the same time Maxie received hers. I can check with Maxie."

"Do it. Anyway, a year later, Melville filed for divorce, which wasn't final for another year when Donna was about three years old - a one-year separation, ample time for Melville to shuffle Sara's money around. Remember, he controlled the purse strings before the separation. I suspect he did the same during the separation, and since, for that matter. The ownership of the townhouse lends credence to my theory. Besides, Melville not only divorced Sara but also did everything he could to destroy her mental capacity. He gained custody of the little girl in the divorce, but Sara had visitation rights. Then..."

"Which really pissed him off, Sara told me," I said.

"Not necessarily. His anger could have been an act. Remember, our investigation indicates that he doesn't love his daughter. I believe he went back to the courts to eliminate Sara's visitation rights to push her over the edge, if possible, and it nearly worked when he followed up with the restraining order. Melville not only wants Sara out of his life, he wants her dead. Again, why? Merely because he hated her? I don't think so. I believe he confiscated her inheritance, and he wants her dead so she can't ask any pointed questions. However, I'll be the first to admit I could be wrong. If he did steal her money, we should add Thief to the list."

"Ruthless son of a bitch," Jason muttered.

I added Ruthless as number four on the list and then wrote Thief? as number five.

"I'll ask Sara about her finances," Jason stated with resolve.

That's when I opened my mouth and inserted both my feet, or at least that's what it felt like at first.

"I think we should ask Sara to join us in our effort to get her daughter away from Melville."

"What? Are you crazy?" Jason exclaimed.

"Not wise, Katy," Dad stated calmly.

I decided to ignore Jason's angry outburst for the moment and turned to Dad. "How would you feel if I was taken from you and someone was trying to get me back? You'd want to be involved, want to help in any way you could, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, but the circumstances..."

"Are completely different," Jason added finishing Dad's sentence for him. He was too agitated to wait for his turn to speak.

"Why?" I asked. "Because Sara's depressed? I figure helping us get her daughter back will be the best medicine we could give her."

"What if we fail?" Dad asked. "What happens to Sara's mental state if, for a host of reasons, we don't achieve our purpose??"

"I'll tell you what'll happen," Jason said to me. He was furious. "She'd dig herself a deep, dark hole, jump in, and never climb out."

I shook my head. "It's a risk she'd want to take." Besides listening to Jason's uncomplimentary thoughts about me, another thought struck me - one of my own. "Also, if we lose the war, we'll still need to steal Donna away from him. If either of you think I'll let that little girl remain with the Destroyer until she becomes a basket case like her mother, you have another think coming. If we can't get her away from him legally, I'll be the first one ready and willing to help Sara kidnap her. Of course if that happens, Sara and Donna will need to disappear, change their names, possibly even their appearances, and go into hiding where that evil man will never find them, but the alternative isn't acceptable. Tell me I'm wrong, Jason. Tell me you wouldn't help, too."

His anger whooshed from him like it was the air in a balloon pricked with a pin. He slumped in his chair, finally raising his head so he could look me in the eye. "You're right, Katy. I'd help."

Dad wasn't convinced, though. "The risk is too great," he said forcefully with a frown and a shake of his head.

"Perhaps," I rejoined, "but in truth, if we're to succeed the legal way, we need her help. We need Sara's active, committed involvement. No one knows the enemy like Sara, and we need her knowledge. Let's do this, Jason. Inform Dr. Rourke you hired a private investigator to look into your niece's well-being. Outline the results of the investigation in its current shape. Then tell her that you need Sara's help to get little Donna away from Melville and back where she belongs - with her mother. Finally, ask her to help you help Sara help you, and then listen to what she has to say. And, no matter what, leave Dad and me out of the picture. Waddaya think?"

Jason looked at Dad. Dad nodded his agreement, reluctantly according to his thoughts. I pulled my toes out of my mouth and tried not to gloat. Jason didn't like smug women, and I sure did want him to like me.

My lover pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed. A few minutes later he had an appointment that afternoon with Dr. Rourke to present my scenario. I hoped she wasn't as uptight and self-righteous as I believed.

We returned to the subject under discussion and continued to list the Destroyers weaknesses. When I mentioned he was also a control freak, Dad told me to add Compulsive Need for Control to the list. After some more discussion about the possibility that Melville stole Sara's inheritance, Jason suggested that if Melville would steal from his wife, the mother of his child, he wouldn't hesitate to steal from others. Dad agreed and called the P.I. agency working for him to ask them to look for other possible crooked dealings Melville might have been involved in over the last five years. I added Other Crooked Activities? as number seven on our list.

Shopping with Sara was a kick. She adored clothes, expensive clothes, more expensive than I could afford, but I said nothing. I didn't want to dampen her high spirits. After our morning strategy meeting, Dad left to meet with the private detective agency he'd hired, and I asked Jason to drop me off at the townhouse on his way to meet Dr. Rourke. While Sara and I ate a tasty lunch Sara prepared for us, I suggested some shopping. Sara jumped at the chance, and after we cleaned up the lunch mess, off we went.

We were trying on some designer dresses when it occurred to me that the expensive clothes gave me an opportunity to ask about her finances.

"Yikes!" I exclaimed while looking at the price tag on one of the dresses. "I can't afford this dress. Dad would skin me alive if I bought it. You must be rich, or something."

"Not really. Gary puts a little money in my checking account every month for incidentals, and he pays the mortgage on the townhouse and the household expenses. The Toyota is paid for. Before we married, I signed a prenuptial agreement that obligated him, in the event of a divorce, to pay my monthly expense up to - I can't remember the amount now, but obviously I haven't exceeded the limit because Gary hasn't called me to chew me out. It's strange. While we were married he was stingy with me. Since the divorce, he takes care of most of my needs. Of course, I don't need much."

"Didn't you inherit some money like Jason when your father died?"

She looked confused for a few seconds, and then her face lit up. "Yes, I remember now. Daddy's death combined with the postpartum depression I couldn't shake really sent me into a tailspin. I was numb for months on end. I remember Gary mentioning the inheritance. It wasn't much, and Gary told me he invested the funds for Donna's college education, which I thought was sweet at the time."

Good call, Dad, I thought. Melville was a thief, and he wasn't a petty thief, either. Earlier during our morning meeting, Dad had asked Jason how much Sara had inherited. Dad said he wasn't being nosy, but if we knew the amount, it might help the detective agency dig for information about it's whereabouts. Jason told Dad that his father had left each of his children one million tax-free dollars.