Chapter 3 Danger Left Breathing #3
“I’ve been there for you in the past when no one else was. I’ve sat and watched you pull strings for Kayden time and time again, and I need you to do the same for me now,” she pleaded.
“You’ve tried this guilt trip scenario before, with the blackmail, which didn’t work then.
What makes you think, in your crazed mind, that I’m going to do anything for you now?
Especially after what you did to my son and his pregnant fiancée?
” Maureen asked. She knew that last part would sting and was pleased to see her expression morph before her eyes.
Kim’s face went blank—that was news. The bitch was pregnant, too? Her luck just kept getting better and better. If Maureen didn’t help her, hitting a pregnant woman with a car would mean spending the rest of her life in prison for sure. Kim’s nostrils flared.
“I didn’t know she was pregnant!”
“Obviously. But you plowed Heathcliff’s squad car into both of them regardless, which means you didn’t give a damn if either of them lived or died, isn’t that right?”
“I saw red, Maureen. I saw a man, my man, literally walking out of my life to be with someone else after throwing me away like trash! Everyone gets their happily ever after—Paula, you, and Heathcliff, hell, even Taylor. When I saw them standing on that sidewalk, I just lost it,” Kim begged.
She sobbed, her face wet now, barely able to get her words out.
Maureen laughed. “That’s a lie, and you know it! The car came from around the corner, Kim. You drove that car, parked, and waited until they came out. Then you hit them. That’s called premeditation.”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“Well, for one, Lana’s ex-boyfriend was on the street and witnessed the entire thing.
And I also watched it all unfold from my hotel room window,” Maureen got close to the cell bars now.
“There are witnesses to what you did, and there is no temporary insanity plea on this planet that will save your ass.”
Kim nodded her head, and her tears stopped abruptly. Her eyes, black holes, flicked up to Maureens, her earlier demeanor replaced with rage. Several tense seconds passed as they stood eye to eye before Kim spoke.
“You’re gonna help me anyway,” she informed, a wicked grin slipping across her face.
“He’s moved on with his life, and you should do the same. Not that you have much of a life to go back to.” Maureen replied, smiling. She shook her head, ashamed that she ever steered the mentally unstable girl towards her son.
She turned on her heels and started walking away.
“Don’t forget I know what really happened to Vince,” Kim called out, hands on her hips.
The words caused Maureen to screech to a halt. She glared over her shoulder, and all traces of her earlier bravado were replaced with fear.
“You wouldn’t,” Maureen growled, in horror.
“I so would, Maureen, because I have nothing left to lose but my freedom, remember? And you’re going to make sure that’s not gonna happen. Aren’t you?”
Maureen turned to her now, her body physically trembling at the serious threat standing just outside her reach.
“Don’t forget who you called after you found Vince unconscious. Or who helped you hide the fact that his death was a suicide?” Kim taunted.
She enjoyed the emotions bubbling to the surface of Maureen’s face, finally having something on the “Queen” to make her bend to her will for a change.
“I know where all your skeletons are, Maureen, because I helped you bury the bones. And this time, you will do everything in your power to help me.”
The words shot out of her mouth and hit Maureen as if she had taken on gunfire.
Her face was crimson, the vein on her forehead protruding so big that Kim thought it would burst. Maureen glared up at her with more regret than she’d ever imagined possible.
For the first time in a long time, she was in a precarious situation and had to be very careful with the twat form here on out.
She wasn’t the same girl she knew anymore, or perhaps she was just that good at hiding it.
Maureen turned on her heels and stalked out of the hallway as the guard, Betty, opened the door and let her out.
Kim sat down on her cot and smiled to herself.
She was never sure why Vince killed himself, but she knew why Maureen kept it a secret and couldn’t be prouder that she kept that bit of evidence for a very rainy day. And it was raining cats and dogs.
JOSHUA HARTWELL LEANED back in his office chair, with his feet propped up on his desk in the city code enforcement office.
He was holding and reading the local newspaper like it was a gossip magazine.
The headlines lately were all about Kayden Capshaw and his fiancée being hit by his crazy ex-girlfriend.
He put the paper down and shook his head.
For as long as he could remember, that kid was always a headline in the town of Hamby. And he couldn’t stand him.
The project he had finished with the diner may have had everyone else fooled, but the latest episode of drama was all too familiar, and he knew it was only a matter of time before something else happened.
He’d detested approving the plans for the diner when the paperwork came across his desk in the first place, but what could he do?
Denying it for no apparent reason would only make him look like the bad guy, and he had worked too hard for his father’s approval to give him another reason to treat him like a second-class citizen.
Judge Thomas Hartwell was his father and a close friend of Maureen’s, and she always needed a “favor.” He could only wonder what kinds of favors would be requested in the wake of this recent disaster.
Before he could think another thought, an email popped up on his computer.
He put his legs down, leaned closer to the screen, and clicked to open it.
In it, he opened an email from KDN Properties, via Taylor and Associates.
Apparently, they were interested in a renovation contract for the Spence Hotel. Josh snorted. And so, it begins, he thought. He clicked “Delete”, slapped the laptop shut, and picked up his newspaper again. Not this time, Capshaw, not this time.
EVERYONE HAD GATHERED around Paula’s luxurious dining room table while the staff she hired brought out the night’s dinner.
Lana had no appetite, although everything looked lovely—Lamb chops with mint jelly and roasted garlic potatoes with parsley, with cheddar bay biscuits.
Kayden sat next to her, rubbing her hand as she sipped her iced tea.
“So, how did everything go today?” Maureen asked aloud. Silence. “Well, everyone, don’t speak at once.”
“Well, my appointment...,” Lana started.
“How did therapy end, dear?” Maureen interrupted rudely.
Kayden glared at her for a moment, then nodded to Lana to finish. She smiled, but it wasn’t out of appreciation. She could see that something in Maureen had suddenly changed since that morning, and honestly, she was too tired to get into a battle of wits with her.
“Everything went fine,” Lana replied, dropping the subject.
“Well, that’s good,” Maureen chirped, taking a dainty bite of her lamb and smiling at Kayden.
“Mom, I think you should stay at Spence Hotel for the remainder of your stay,” Kayden deadpanned.
Paula chuckled as the smile wiped off her mother’s face.
“Whatever for?” Maureen gasped, surprised by the sudden request.
“You’re interfering with my physical therapy, you continue to be rude to Lana, and I think it’ll help everyone relax better not having you hovering around all day,” he answered in one breath.
Kayden could feel the pain returning to his leg, that slow, throbbing burn gradually reaching his hip, and he winced a little.
“That was never my intention, Kayden,” she replied.
“Really, it’s fine. You don’t have to do that on account of me. Please.” Lana replied.
“No, it’s for me,” he turned to Maureen, “Theo doesn’t feel comfortable with you, and you make me nervous during my sessions,” Kayden replied.
“Fine. I can respect that,” Maureen lied, her face turning the slightest shade of red.
Everyone continued to eat, and Lana helped Kayden with his dinner.
He couldn’t use his hand to cut the lamb, but he kept trying despite his handicap.
Maureen glared at Lana as she watched her care for her son, but only because she wanted to show Kayden that she did care and wanted to be there for him.
In a way, she felt a tiny bit of what Kim had described earlier as exclusion, and it stung.
Regardless, the truth was, her son was a man, and she had to let him be one.
“So, when’s the court date for Kim’s arraignment?” Paula blurted, changing the subject.
“In three weeks. Where she will remain in jail, since she has no bond,” Maureen replied.
“So, where will she do prison time? Here, or in New York?” Lana asked curiously since she had no idea how the process worked.
“That would be up to the judge ultimately, but more than likely, since her crimes happened in Georgia, it’ll be somewhere in the state. I don’t see her going to New York. ” Heathcliff chimed in.
“That makes sense. I wish she had committed some crime there, though. Let her do some hard New York prison time,” Kayden added.
“I still can’t believe she did what she did. I hope one day she gets the help she needs. Something in her is broken.” Lana admitted out loud, staring at her plate of uneaten food.
Then everyone fell silent.
“I didn’t see it before either,” Maureen agreed, and took a long sip of her wine.
Maureen couldn’t see the real person Kim was until that afternoon, but now she believed Kim was capable of anything, and it rattled her to the core.
AFTER DINNER CONCLUDED, the staff cleared away the leftovers, Paula retired upstairs, and Maureen made her way down the hall with her luggage in tow to check in at the hotel.
As Kayden and Maureen shared words on the front porch, Lana slowly made her way outside on the lanai with her crutches and stared down over the town.
For a quick flash of a moment, she forgot about the constant pain in her leg and that Kayden looked as if he had just returned from a serious war zone.
She took a deep, soothing breath in and blew it out, calming her racing mind.
The air was sweet and crisp, smelling of lilac as the sun disappeared below the treetops.
The twinkling of lights beyond began to trickle as the street lamps flickered on, one by one, reminding her of the little snow globe towns trapped under glass domes.
The slow opening of the French door behind her interrupted her thoughts, and Kayden wheeled himself outside next to her, with help from the ramp Paula had installed.
“Hey, you,” he spoke as he grabbed hold of her hand.
“Hey,” she replied.
“Is everything OK with you?” he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders at his question. Everything wasn’t OK. Her body hurt, she was still in shock from the last few weeks, and she was really starting to miss her family back home.
“I’m just tired.” Only partially a lie.
He pulled on her hand lightly and dragged her down to sit on his lap.
“Kayden, no,” she protested.
“I’m fine, here, sit on the good leg,” he patted his left knee. She smirked and lowered herself a little, but lost her balance, landing on his lap too hard.
“I’m so sorry,” she apologized, trying to get up, but he held her down.
“Stop it, you’re fine and I’m fine,” he replied.
She relaxed a little and let him hold her as they watched over the town below.
“I’m scared, Kayden,” she admitted after a few moments.
“Why, baby?”
“I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling.”
He turned her face to his and looked her square in the eyes.
“You have nothing to fear, you hear me? I will never let something or someone like that into our lives ever again.”
A tear sprang to her eye, and she believed him. It still didn’t shake the feeling she had in the pit of her stomach, though.
“I know,” she replied, then kissed his mouth.
“We’re a sight for sore eyes, huh?” he joked, wincing at his bruised lip.
“We sure are,” she smiled back, “But we’re gonna get through this better and stronger than before, right?”
“Damned right, Mrs. Capshaw,” he replied.
For a moment, the words Mrs. Capshaw caught her off guard since she hadn’t thought about their wedding since everything happened. She turned her head back towards the town and wished she could fast-forward time six months to see what the future had in store.
“Guess what? I took your advice,” he whispered in her ear.
“What advice?” she was sincerely confused.
“I had Taylor send over plans for the Spence Hotel renovations.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, how can you start a project that big, in the state you’re in?”
“Nothing’s gonna happen tomorrow. We have to get the plans approved and do a ton of other things before we even have a date in mind to start renovations.”
“OK, when you explain it like that, I guess I get it. Just don’t try to overexert yourself, please. You have to take it easy,” she commanded, then kissed his hand.
“I love you. Have I told you that today?”
“Actually, yes, but it’s good to be reminded,” she replied, and stood from his lap. “It’s getting chilly, let’s go in.”
“Thank goodness, because my leg was about to fall off,” he laughed, wincing.
She swatted his shoulder, “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
She bent over on her good leg and then kissed him again. He grabbed her backside and gave it a squeeze, then a slap.
“Not complaining,” he replied, before turning and wheeling himself inside.
She followed, and as she closed the doors behind them, she felt a little better.
Maybe she was being silly and just needed to relax and stop overthinking everything.
She joined Kayden in their room, where she helped him get into bed.
They both took their required medications, like an old married couple, turned on the TV, and before they knew it, they were both asleep before the opening credits of her favorite sitcom, The King of Queens, even began.