Deadbeat Dads (7 page)

Would someone notify her? Did he have another family here in Florida? He sure lived in a ritzy area. More importantly, what was he involved in? An idea formed in my mind. I got out of my car and hurried to the office Bob had taken me to previously. I needed to find out what kind of work Bob did. 
I thought it had something to do with advertising.

Half hour later, I pulled up to the gate to Bob’s development. Hopefully this would work. “Hi, I’m here to pick up a package from Robert Brown.”

The attendant looked around. “Sorry, ma’am. I don’t see anything here.”

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. “Are you sure
? He said he’d leave it at the gate.”

The guard
shifted a few papers, looked under the counter. “Sorry, nothing here.”

I sat for a minute, hoping I looked perplexed and hoping he’d let me in. “Can you call him? See if he’ll bring it.”

“Sorry, ma’am, Mr. Brown left about an hour ago. Maybe Mrs. Brown has it. Let me call.”

So, I was right, there was a Mrs. Brown. Not legally, of course, Bob never filed for divorce
, and Nicole couldn’t because she didn’t know where he was. At least, that’s what she said. How did I find him so easily and Nicole claimed even social services couldn’t? How much had Nicole even pursued looking for him?  Not that it mattered now, but something didn’t set well with me.

“She’s not answering. Maybe she’s in the shower or the pool. I know she’s home. I guess I can let you in.” He pressed a button and the gate rose.

Bingo, I was in. Now what was I going to say to Mrs. Brown? By now she must know of Bob’s death. Why wasn’t she on her way to the hospital or morgue or wherever it is you went to identify or claim the body or whatever you had to do? I followed the street around and turned right, following the directions the attendant gave me. Bob Brown had done all right for himself. These houses were upwards of three to four hundred thousand easily. I found the address and parked in front. Could I pull this ruse off again? What did I hope to gain? A look at the new Mrs. Brown? I was pretty sure it was the stripper he was involved with. Still, curiosity got the better of me, and I hurried up the walk before I lost my nerve.

I rang the bell and waited. Nothing. Maybe she was in the shower. Maybe the horrible phone call of Bob’s death woke her up.  Or would the police come in person to deliver the news
? The guy at the gate surely would have known about his death if the cops had been here. I rang the bell again and listened. Not a sound from inside. Although, what I expected to hear was beyond me. Heck, you couldn’t even hear the humming of the air conditioning unit. As big as this house was, surely I didn’t expect to hear footsteps.

This was crazy. What was I doing here anyway?
Suddenly the door opened a crack.

“Who are you?”

“Mrs. Brown, I’m uh…I’m an associate of your husband. He was supposed to drop off some papers at the gate for me. I thought maybe you knew where they were.” I continued the lie. I had nothing to lose. No one could prove me wrong.

The door opened wider.
“I don’t know nothing about papers. You can come in and look on Bob’s desk.” She moved aside for me to enter.

The
girl was no more than twenty-five. Her eyes were so swollen and red, I couldn’t tell what color they were. Her carrot- orange hair badly needed a comb, but the color looked real, not dyed. Apparently, she had heard the news of Bob’s death.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you, if this is a bad time…” For some reason I felt sorry for her.

“No.  Please come in. Were you a friend of Bob’s?”

“Not
really. We’re business associates. Actually, my firm contacted him about doing his taxes.”  Small lie, but I had a feeling she didn’t know a thing about Bob’s business dealings.

“
Oh.” She swiped at a tear. “My husband’s dead. He got hit by a car.”

“I…I’m sorry. I….”

“Please come in,” her voice squeaked as she held back a sob.

“Maybe I should come back another time.” I turned to leave.

“No, please. I need to talk to someone. I don’t know what to do.” She left the door and walked toward the front of the house.

I followed her to
, what I assumed was, a great room. My whole first floor could fit inside that room. Now what was I going to do? This was none of my business. I shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place.  Nicole was taken care of.  What did I hope to accomplish by coming back and looking for Bob? He made his choice. Who was I to interfere?

“Please, sit down.
I’m Sylvia, by the way.” She pointed to a powder-blue wrap around couch, the size of which I’d never seen before. One side filled a long wall and the other stopped just short of floor to ceiling windows.

“Thank you. I’m Erica. Erica Morris.” Why I felt compelled to give my
real name I’ll never know. Stupid on my part. I sat down, not sure what to say or why she even wanted me there.

“I don’t know anyone here. Bob and I kept to ourselves. I…I don’t know what to do. I don’t have anyone to call.” Her body shook with sobs she tried hard to hold back.

“Don’t you have family?” I moved next to her and touched her arm. It was my fault Bob was dead and this poor kid was falling apart. Stripper or not, she didn’t deserve this.

“My mother, but I can’t call her. At least not from here.”

I must have looked puzzled because she explained.

“Bob and I aren’t really married. Not yet. I met him about nine months ago. He found me battered
, beaten, and bloody in an alley. He took me to a hotel and cleaned me up. He wanted to take me to a hospital, but I wouldn’t go.” She choked back a sob.

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I didn’t say anything. What could I possibly say anyway? I’m sorry? Meaningless words. I waited for her to go on.

“The next day he took me home to his wife and asked if I could stay there. She had a fit. I guess I couldn’t blame her. I looked a mess. What would you think if your husband brought home a woman, wearing skimpy, half torn clothes? She had every right to kick me out. Crap, Bob didn’t really know me. He came into the bar sometimes and watched me dance, but we never spoke before that night.”

Nicole met this girl. What would have happened if she had let her
stay? Not that I blamed Nicole. Heck, no. I would have reacted the same way if Johnny had brought a stripper home. Beat up or not.

“What happened? I mean
, who beat you up? Didn’t you go to the police?”  Why hadn’t Bob taken her to the hospital or police station?

“My ex.
Boyfriend, that is. Said I was cheating on him. If he finds me, he’s going to kill me. Bob brought me to Florida to hide me.  Oh, God, Bob’s dead.” Sobs shook her body again.

Well,
now I knew why Bob didn’t want anyone to know where he was.

Sylvia sat up, dried her tears and looked at me. “You must think I’
m horrible. But I didn’t break up Bob’s marriage. They were already separated.”

“Bob was separated from
Nicole?” That was news to me.

“Yeah, that’s what he said.
He got me an apartment, brang me groceries. He wouldn’t let me go out ’cause Earl might find me again. He came over every day, and we talked and played cards. It was boring, ya know, sitting there all day not going out. I hated it. Bob took me to a show a couple times. But it wasn’t the same. I was scared.”

“Why did he decide to move to Florida?”

“Bob said we’d be safe here. Said he liked the warm but his wife wouldn’t move. He always wanted to live here. At least here we can go out. I can go out alone and not worry about Earl.”

I stood. “I see. I’m sorry for your loss, but I have to go.” I looked at my watch. An hour had passed. “I have an appointment.” Another lie, but at this point what difference did it make?

“Please don’t go. I don’t know what to do. The police said something about an autopsy.”

“You need to call a funeral home and make some arrangements. Did Bob want to be cremated or buried?”

Tears flowed down Sylvia’s cheeks. “I don’t know. We never talked about it.  Why would we? We’re young. Who talks about croaking?”

Something told me Sylvia wasn’t the smartest camper in the woods. But I didn’t have time for this. I ce
rtainly couldn’t help her plan Bob’s funeral.

“Bob wasn’t even divorced. I’m not even his widow. His wife lives in Ohio. He was going to file for divorce next week.”

“Do you know who Bob’s lawyer is? Maybe he had a will. Maybe he knows Bob’s plans.”

Sylvia snapped her fingers. “I think his card is on the fridge.” She hurried from the room, but stopped at the doorway. “Hey
, didn’t you come here for some kind of package or something?”

Lord, I had forgotten my reason for being there. “Yes, but it’s not important now.”

“You can look for it if you want. Bob’s office is down the hall to the right. His desk’s a mess though. I don’t know how he finds anything. Won’t let me touch it though. He said I can clean any room but that one. Does it himself.” A new round of sobs escaped from her throat.

I hurried down the hall to get away from her. I needed to leave. I couldn’t handle this. And poor Nicole was going to be worse.  I
went into Bob’s office and felt like I was intruding on someone’s inner sanctum. This was Bob’s personal space. Even Sylvia wasn’t allowed in.

I flipped on the light switch. The room became awash with bright sunshine as the navy blue drapes opened, exposing patio doors that led out to the pool and patio.
Apparently, I had hit the switch to open the drapes. The cherry paneling gleamed in the bright light. A huge mahogany desk sat in the middle of the room. Floor to ceiling bookcases lined one wall, books and knickknacks sat alternately on the shelves. A black marble fireplace filled the opposite wall. Warm, cozy and very masculine. Bob had good taste.

I moved a few papers around on the desk and
opened a folder with an attorney’s name on it. Inside was a Divorce Petition. I guess he was going to file. I closed it and set it aside. The desk mat slid and an article from a Cleveland Newspaper stuck out. I picked it up.

Body
of Unidentified Man Found in Alley. Police need help identifying a man murdered in an alley off East 14
th
Street. If you know this man or anything about his death, call Cleveland Police at
-a picture of the man interrupted the sentence. I picked up the mat to put it back and found another article.
Mystery Man Identified – An unknown source identified the body of Earl Mullins of Euclid, Ohio. His body was found Thursday in an alley on East 14
th
Street. Police aren’t releasing the cause of death pending an autopsy.

Holy crap. Earl was dead and Bob knew it. Did he have something to do with his
death? Did he kill him? I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but at least Sylvia didn’t have to worry anymore. I put the articles back under the mat and hurried back into the great room. She’d find them soon enough.

Sylvia sat on the couch, staring out the window. I felt sorry for her, but I had to go.

“I couldn’t find the package. Maybe Bob took it to work with him. Like I said, it doesn’t matter now.” I picked up my purse. “Listen, I have to go. Why don’t you call your mother?”

Sylvia shook her head. “I can’t call her from here. I have to go to a phone booth.”

“Why?”

“In case Earl has her phone tapped. I use calling cards to call from phone booths.”

“Do you really think he has her phone tapped?”

“I wouldn’
t put nothing past Earl.”

“How about you call her from my cell phone?” I took my phone from my purse and handed it to her.

“Maybe your mom can come to Florida.”

Sylvia took the phone and shook her head. She
don’t have enough money for a plane ticket.”

“You can buy it. She can pick it up at her airport. Where does she live?”

“Cleveland. Can you really do that? Buy a ticket for someone?”

“Sure. Just call the airline and arrange it.
You have a credit card, right?”

“Will you show me how?”

I sat down. Looked like I was going to be here for a little while longer. “Okay. But first call your mother.”

Sylvia took the phone and sat down.
“Do you think I should call his wife?”

Good lord, what would Nicole say if Sylvia called? Memory of the phone call to Babette came to mind. “Maybe his lawyer can do that. Did you find his card?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I couldn’t find it.”

“Maybe it’s in his office.”

Sylvia stiffened. “I can’t go in there.”

“You’re going to have to go in there sometime. Did Bob have a will?”

“Heck, I don’t know. Will you look? I just can’t go in there.”

What had I gotten myself into? “Call your mother. I’ll see if I can find something.”

A few minutes later, I gave her the file. “Is your mother coming?”