Cast into Doubt

TWENTY-THREE

‘I don’t know what happened to him,’ said Peggy. ‘Bud,’ she called out toward the kitchen door. But there was no answer. ‘It’s not like him to be so rude.’

‘It’s all right. I need to be going anyway,’ Shelby said. ‘I have to pick up my grandson. Thank you for your hospitality.’

‘Here, don’t step in that,’ Peggy said as she accompanied Shelby to the door, sidestepping the spilled coleslaw.

Shelby said good-bye and walked out on to the front step. Once outside, she was shaking so hard that she needed to hold on to the railing to descend. She managed to make it to her car. She climbed inside, turned on the engine, and locked the door. She needed to think. Bud Ridley had nearly collapsed when he saw her in his living room. And it wasn’t because he was pleasantly surprised. No. He clearly had hoped never to set eyes on Shelby again.

Part of Shelby wanted to jump from the car, bang on the door to the house and demand that he tell her the truth. But she knew that would not accomplish what she wanted. She needed time to think. To plan her ambush. She needed to confront him when Peggy was not around. Peggy was oblivious. That much was clear. Shelby was going to have to take him by surprise, and alone.

Shelby picked up Jeremy and drove him to the park. On the way, he said, ‘Are we going to see Daddy?’

In the chaos of the day, Shelby had forgotten her intention to visit Rob. But at least she knew now that Rob was conscious. So, even if he looked terrible, he would be able to reassure his son. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘We’ll go and see Dad after supper.’

Jeremy let out a whoop of joy, and, when they arrived at the park, he burst from the car and clambered up the jungle gym in a frenzy of excitement. Shelby took a seat on a bench far from the other parents and the squeals of the children, and took out her cell phone. For a few minutes she thought about her strategy. Then she dialed information, took a deep breath, and placed her call.

‘Sunset Cruises,’ said the operator.

‘Yes, my name is Erin Dodson. I’m in radio advertising. I’d like to speak to the head of your advertising sales department,’ Shelby said.

‘One minute, please.’

Shelby waited, and then heard a smooth, seductive male voice on the other end of the line. ‘This is Craig Murphy. How can I help you?’

‘Hi,’ said Shelby. ‘My name is Erin Dodson. I’m calling from radio station WLSP in Philadelphia. We’re a twenty-four hour sports radio station, and I wanted to know if we could entice you to spend your advertising dollars at WLSP by running a promotional giveaway of a Caribbean cruise for two. We have an excellent demographic for your kind of customer and I’d be happy to meet with you—’

‘Wait a minute. Whoa.’ Craig Murphy chuckled. ‘Are you new at this job?’

Shelby hesitated. ‘I’ve been here for three weeks,’ she said.

‘Well, I appreciate your enthusiasm but we don’t give away cruises on local radio stations. A giveaway like that is something we might do nationally with Coke or something. Local radio is definitely not a part of Sunset’s advertising strategy.’

Shelby was silent. I knew it, she thought.

‘In fact, we really don’t do any radio advertising at all these days. We’ve found that, when it comes to cruises, there’s no substitute for the visual image. We are strictly high-end magazines in print, and, of course, television. The occasional newspaper supplement entirely devoted to our product.’

‘I can’t talk you into a meeting to explore the possibilities?’

‘Sorry,’ said Craig Murphy. ‘But you’d be wasting your time. It’s just not going to happen.’

‘Well, thanks anyway,’ said Shelby.

Shelby tucked her phone back into her bag, and walked toward the jungle gym. Her gaze remained on Jeremy, but she wasn’t really seeing him. Her thoughts, and her heart, were racing away.

It was a lie. She had suspected it the moment she heard it, but now she knew for sure. They had not won the cruise in a contest. That was something Bud had told his wife and daughter, and they had believed him. But it wasn’t true. And if they hadn’t won it, then how did they happen to be aboard that ship? More importantly, why did Bud lie? And why were they with Chloe on the night that she died?

A scream ripped through her distraction and she saw a cloud of dust and a crowd of children at the base of the jungle gym. She ran over and found Jeremy fighting and clawing at an older, larger boy. They were rolling around in the sand at the base of the apparatus.

‘Jeremy, stop,’ Shelby cried, as she tried to get between them. Jeremy was flailing away, although taking the worst of the fight. ‘Both of you. Stop it right now,’ Shelby insisted.

‘He stepped on my fingers,’ Jeremy cried tearfully.

‘You pushed me,’ the other boy accused.

‘All right. All right, enough,’ said Shelby. ‘Let me see that hand.’

Jeremy displayed reddened fingers. ‘It’s his fault,’ Jeremy yelled.

‘I don’t care whose fault it is. There’s no need for a fistfight. Come on, Jeremy. Come with me. We’ve got to get to the hospital.’

‘The hospital! I’m not going to the hospital,’ Jeremy protested, drawing back his fingers and hiding them behind his back. ‘It doesn’t hurt.’

‘To see your dad,’ Shelby reminded him.

‘Oh,’ the boy said glumly. And then he brightened. ‘OK.’ He brushed the sand and dust off his clothes and began to run toward the car.

Once Jeremy was out of earshot, Shelby turned to the other boy, who was snickering. ‘And you,’ she said, causing him to look up at her, wide-eyed. ‘Next time, pick on somebody your own size. You hear me?’

Shelby tapped on the door of Rob’s room, and then looked cautiously around the corner. Rob, bandaged up and attached to an IV, was sitting up in bed looking at some program on the television. He looked up at her.

‘I brought someone to see you,’ she said.

Jeremy barreled past her and headed for the bed. Rob’s eyes lit up at the sight of his son. But Shelby practically had to tackle the boy in order to keep him from jumping on to his father’s fractured body.

Father and son managed an awkward hug. Jeremy looked at his father in amazement. ‘You look bad,’ he said admiringly.

‘I feel pretty bad,’ Rob admitted. ‘How are you? How’s school?’

‘Miss Darcie is nice. She said I did the best picture.’

‘Did you bring it?’ Rob asked.

Jeremy looked disappointed. ‘I forgot.’

‘It’s OK. I’ll see it soon.’

‘I talked to your doctor in the hall,’ said Shelby. ‘Looks like they might spring you soon. Although you’re going to need some help.’

Rob nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Shelby, about what I said to you.’

‘What did you say?’ Jeremy asked.

‘Nothing, honey,’ said Shelby firmly. ‘Your dad has had a lot on his mind. But I have some good news for him. Your grandparents are on their way here from Indonesia.’

Jeremy’s eyes were wide. ‘Are they Indians?’

Rob and Shelby both laughed.

‘No, they’re just working there,’ said Rob. ‘Really? Are they headed back?’

Shelby nodded. ‘I think Darcie took care of it, through the church. They were able to locate them.’

‘That’s great,’ said Rob, a catch in his voice. ‘It’ll be so good to see them.’

Shelby cast a glance at Jeremy. ‘I figure they can handle things for a while.’

‘I want to thank you for all you’ve done,’ he said sheepishly.

‘No thanks necessary,’ said Shelby. ‘It’s my grandson.’

‘I know,’ said Rob.

‘You might want to thank Darcie. I’ve really relied on her help.’

‘She has been great, hasn’t she?’ said Rob. ‘A lot of people say they’d do anything for you, but she really means it.’

‘Well, she really cares.’ said Shelby. She watched Rob’s face to see if he understood what she was saying.

‘I can’t help it. I still think of her as a little kid,’ said Rob.

‘She’s no little kid,’ Shelby said. ‘She’s a very capable young woman.’

Rob looked at her in surprise. ‘I’ll be sure to thank her,’ he said.

‘Can I watch cartoons?’ Jeremy asked, crawling up on to a chair beside Rob’s bed. Rob handed him the remote, and Jeremy began to flip through channels with an authoritative ease, finally settling on a cartoon show that immediately engrossed him.

A nurse bustled into the room and took Rob’s blood pressure. Then she handed him a paper cup with pills in it. ‘Down the hatch,’ she said cheerfully.

Rob swallowed the pills.

‘Those are for the pain,’ she said as she headed back toward the door. ‘If you need more, push the call button.’

Rob thanked her and then looked back at Shelby. ‘Look, Shelby. About this business with the detective you hired to look into . . .’ He glanced at his son, curled up in the chair, staring at the television. ‘What happened . . .’

‘I went behind your back,’ said Shelby. ‘I can understand why you felt blindsided.’

Rob shook his head. ‘No. I’ve been thinking about what you said. That I accepted the official version too readily. You may be right about that.’

‘Why do you say that?’ Shelby asked.

Rob’s expression was rueful. ‘Lately I found out that I can be too trusting. I believe what people tell me. I always think people are telling the truth.’

Shelby knew he was thinking of Lianna, and the truth about Molly’s father. She decided not to mention it. ‘I’ve found something out,’ said Shelby quietly. ‘Something you should know about.’

Rob frowned.

‘Do you remember the people on the ship who were with Chloe during the bingo game? The Ridleys? She had a cane. They helped Chloe back to your state room?’

Rob nodded. ‘Yeah. Vaguely.’

‘They’re here. In Philly. I ran into them.’

‘Really? That is strange. Or, maybe not. I imagine there were a number of people from Philly on that cruise.’

‘This guy said that he won the cruise in a radio contest. But that wasn’t true,’ said Shelby.

Rob’s eyes were beginning to glaze over. ‘Hmmm . . .’ he said. ‘How do you know that?’

Shelby did not tell him that their daughter worked for Talia. She wasn’t prepared to say the words aloud. Not yet. ‘It’s a long story. I just know,’ said Shelby.

Rob peered at her. ‘Why would he say that?’

‘I don’t know. But, I plan to find out.’

‘Hi Dad.’

Rob and Shelby looked at the door. Molly stood shyly in the doorway.

‘Hey,’ said Rob, holding his arms wide. ‘There’s my girl.’

Shelby edged away from the side of the bed to let Molly take her place. She glanced out into the hallway and saw Lianna waiting there. Lianna raised a hand in greeting and Shelby nodded.

Molly tousled Jeremy’s hair, and then leaned carefully over the bed to give Rob a kiss. Shelby saw him blink away tears as he squeezed her hand. She was still his daughter, no matter what they both had learned about her actual conception. It was as if the revelation had never occurred. Their relationship appeared to be seamless in the face of that startling news.

Rob’s medication was kicking in, and he was becoming enveloped in the cushiony fog of pain relief. He held his children close, and the three of them seemed to form a complete family. As if no one was missing from the picture.

Stop. That’s so unfair, Shelby chided herself. They were simply relieved not to have lost one another. As for Chloe’s death, they thought it was settled. Shelby was sure that it was not.