***
The next morning, I sat in the executive offices of the men’s store. They not only had receipts with my name on them, but it was definitely my signature. I felt like I was living in an episode of Twilight Zone. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Look. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I maintain that I did not buy those clothes. There has to be some explanation here. You know me. I buy a good deal of merchandise from your downtown store all the time and I’m a prominent doctor and businessman here in town. Why would I claim I hadn’t done this?”
The man behind the desk looked sideways at his assistant and nodded. She left and came back with a DVD in her hand. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to go this far, Dr. LaViere, but I’m prepared to prove it to you. If you’ll look at the monitor, you’ll see the store camera footage as you tried on various items and then checked out with the salesman.”
I was feeling much better now because this would be the definitive proof. As the footage played, my mouth dropped open as I saw myself pulling items off the racks and disappearing into a changing room. Eventually, I emerged and pirouetted in front of the store’s triple mirrors while the salesman tucked and pinched fabric to determine whether I was wearing the ideal size. Then, once the counter was piled high, I took the sales slip and signed it. I didn’t do this! I had no explanation. None, that was, until “I” turned around and left the store with the clerk following me with packages. That’s when I got closest to the security camera.
It was Linc.
“Well?” the man behind the desk asked. “Have you seen enough, Dr. LaViere?”
I turned toward him. “That wasn’t me, but I know who it is and I accept responsibility for what he purchased. I’ll write you a check right now.” I pulled my checkbook from my inside breast pocket. My face was red, it wasn’t embarrassment — but unadulterated anger. He was trying to take over my life.
I left the offices and headed for the park. I needed to get a clear head and decide what to do. I headed down Hurstbourne Lane until I left the city and pulled into a smallish country park with ponds and even a small golf course. I’d stopped here before and eaten lunch because it was filled with ducks and swans. There was something about getting in touch with nature that settled my mind.
I sat in the car in the parking lot, watching the ducks. Linc was taking over my life and now my head and it had to stop. I noticed a car pull up in the parking lot a few spaces down from me and two men got out. They headed toward each other and joined hands, walking down to the water’s edge. It somehow made me feel more peaceful. Just as I was about to leave, the men turned and headed back. I was surprised to see Auggie’s assistant was one of the men, or at least he looked just like him. He had very unusual coloring and it caught my attention. I didn’t acknowledge him because I felt it was a private moment, so I backed the car out and left.
I called the office and cancelled my appointments for the rest of the day. Instead, I caught the loop and then merged onto I-71 North toward Cincinnati. I found Jessie Klinger in consultation and told the receptionist to cancel the rest of her appointments as well. When she emerged, I told her to get her purse and follow me. We went to the track and I went to great lengths to romance her. I even kissed her on the cheek a couple of times and hugged her off her feet when we won a race. As we left the track, I nodded to the man I’d hired who was sitting just a few rows away from us the entire time.
I took Jessie back to the clinic and dropped her off. I drove home and arrived late. I found Auggie in her office. “Hello, sweetheart,” I said and went to kiss her cheek. She didn’t move. I moved closer, but she reached forward and slammed her laptop shut. A tight smile on her lips, she then twirled in her chair to look at me.
“Did you have a good day?” she asked.
“A wonderful day,” I said, knowing I was lying.
“Good. You look like you’ve gotten some sun.”
“It must have been the window in the car, or maybe when I went to the park.”
“Which park was that?”
I felt the noose closing. “I was driving to the office after lunch and needed a bathroom. The park was right there and afterwards, I sat on a picnic table for a while to enjoy the ducks. Time got away from me.”
She nodded. “That can happen, for sure. Why don’t you go wash up? Dinner will be ready in ten minutes,” she said. I nodded and kissed the top of her head before I went upstairs.
Auggie
Liar.
I called the clinic to get Worth’s credit card number for a bill I’d found in my stack that I assumed he’d created. He wasn’t there. I opened the laptop and looked again at the Facebook posts. Park, my ass. I slammed the lid shut again and went to the kitchen to finish something. I only had to decide whether it would be the salad or my marriage.
Worth came into the kitchen and snatched up Ford, blowing bubbles on his chubby tummy. Ford laughed and Worth continued to play with him.
“Dinner is ready,” I said and pointed at Worth’s chair with intent.
“Okay, thanks!” He was so cheerful; so deceptively cheerful. Maybe he was happier with her than he was with me. That’s when the truth struck me. I represented things he didn’t want to think about. Before, I reminded him of our parents’ affair and the mistreatment he’d received as a child from his father. Now, I reminded him of the offspring of that affair — Linc. He wanted to rid himself of that legacy, no matter what it took.
I realized then that he’d invited Linc to the barbecue so that I would get used to having him around. Maybe Worth wanted me off his hands and Linc was to become the recipient of my liability. Of course! It would be so much easier to just pile up the problem people in his life into one house and he’d be free of it forever. Linc didn’t need him. I knew the same people as Worth did. I could act as the liaison between Linc’s nefarious connections and his need to get into the inner circle so he could set races. That would free Worth from the threat to his practice, to his life in general.
This also answered why Worth was so overtly flirting with his director of the Cincinnati clinic. He knew I’d find out. He knew I would come unhinged and leave him.
Of course! Worth was a master of mental manipulation. He’d spent his life learning it from his father and then from professors in college. He practiced it every day when he had a patient in the chair. He’d constructed this whole tableau in order to free himself from his problems; all in one bundle.