So
this is what he's been after, thought Kevin, still smiling, still playing the
devoted father as he embraced his children. Brian Dale had it in for me ever
since Day One. He thwarted my plans when he blew the whistle on me in college.
He wheedled Amanda away from me; he turned Toi against me. Now he brings Tracy
into his little circle of sharks to finish me off. Damn him! If I can get out of
this, I swear I'll make him pay. I still have that trump card...Oh, man, there's
Alice! I'll bet she ratted to her boss about our scheme. No wonder I never heard
from her. Well, I'll fix her, too. That photo is still back at the apartment,
and all I have to do is mail it to her ex-hubby. No way will he want to
reconcile with her; just seeing her in the altogether will be too much for him.
Who wants a wife who takes off her clothes for money?
"Daddy," said Nick,
"Amanda says she was a dinosaur a long time ago. Know what? She's gonna do a
movie about the dinosaur. Can we go see her movie? I like Amanda, and so does
Mommy."
Kevin just smiled, trying to keep himself in check. "Yeah, tiger," he
said, holding fast to his son and avoiding eye contact with Tracy. "We can do
that." Putting Nick down, he composed himself quickly, asking, "Son, who are all
these people? And where is Mommy?"
"I'm here, Kip," came the voice from the
other side of the room. "Since you said you'd be in New York on business, and
the kids are on fall break, we wanted to surprise you. I guess you are."
He
couldn't avoid meeting her eyes, and those bright green eyes were clothed in
bitter, righteous anger. However, she feigned the perfect 'loving wife'
demeanor, coming up to him, embracing him and planting a tender kiss to his
lips.
"Kip," she said, "Thank Aunt Vi for all this. I had no idea Amanda Hardy
was her client, and she is so wonderful. And she and Aunt Vi know so many famous
people. May I introduce..."
She took 'Kip' by the hand then began introductions.
"This is Amanda Hardy, Kip. Ms. Hardy, may I present my husband, Kip." Amanda,
herself fighting the urge to slap Kevin senseless, merely took the man's hand,
saying politely, "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Wells. You have a nice little family.
You must be so proud."
Kevin, his palms sweaty from nerves, took Amanda's hand,
replying in a slightly quivering voice, "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss
Hardy. My wife is quite a fan."
Tracy tugged at 'Kip' and continued
introductions. There was Toi, Cassie, Carson, Alice, Mignon, and of course,
Brian Dale. Kevin silently seethed as Brian, ever the gentleman, shook his hand.
"Mr. Wells," he said, "Your wife had no idea her aunt knew so many prominent
personalities. Her impromptu trip was to surprise you, but I imagine she is just
as astonished."
The company gathered watched this scene, this interaction
between two men who were at odds, and tried to figure out what would become of
Kevin Williams. Toi whispered to Carson and Cassie, "I think we should get the
kids out of here. Any time, Tracy will blew her cool."
Carson agreed, replying, "She's really keeping it together, what with finding
out her husband is a liar and cheat. Let me keep the kids occupied. I'm with
you: She'll really let him have it once she gets him alone."
The eminent scientist said to Nick, "Hey, why don't you and your sister come
with me. I have some cool dinosaur pictures to show you."
"Can we go with Dr. Grant, Mommy?," said Nick, his eyes lighting up at the mere
mention of dinosaurs. "Please? We promise to be good."
Tracy looked at her son, then she looked at 'Kip', her eyes still glowering hate for the man. She replied, "Of course you may go with Dr. Grant."
That said, Carson took the kids by the hand then led them out of the room.
She looked back at Amanda, her friend, who was about to hear more of the sordid
life of Kevin Williams. In the back of her mind, Carson hoped his mother
wouldn't take the news of her son's undoing too hard. She knew Betty Williams,
and it pained her to think of that sweet woman who sacrificed much for the boy
who still is the ungrateful brat. Perhaps Kevin's father had that same mean
streak, the same dark drive to deceive and lie. Perhaps Kevin inherited his
father's (and that man's identity was still unknown) dark personality, and it
painfully shows. Exiting the room with the children, she nearly collided with
the butler, who entered the room to announce another visitor.
"Mr. William Diehl," came the crisp declaration. In strode a handsome
dark-haired man a few years older than Brian. Upon entering the room, he
immediately embraced Mr. Dale, saying in a dull whisper, "I trust that Williams
guy is going down. I wondered why you wanted me to play 'Bill Diehl'."
He laughed then looked at Kevin, saying as he shook the man's hand, "And you
must be Kevin Williams AKA 'Kip Wells'. I must say, I've always wanted to meet
the man who swiped one of my papers and tried to pass it off as his own."
The die was now cast, and the odds were terribly stacked against Kevin.
°°°°°°
We stand at the opposite side of the meadow, by the lake, watching with disbelieving awe as the two female spinosaurs charge their mate. He tries to fend them off with blustering roars and snarls. He snaps at them, attempts to wound the weaker of the two. It's just his style: to take down those less likely to oppose him. He thinks he has the upper hand, but he is wrong. The other animals surround me as the surreal drama unfolds. I don't think we've ever seen such: predators turning on each other. Well, it's the females who finally thwart the bullying male. Too long they had to do his bidding, on his terms, to be satisfied with the leftovers while he enjoyed the fruits of their labor. They do the dirty work; he reaps the benefits...Or so he thinks.
The battle is on. The females are decidedly smaller than the male, but united as one, they are a force to be reckoned with, able to stand up to the fiercest of tyrants. He steps back as if poised for attack mode, but the ladies are quicker. In an instant, they are upon him. But wait! There is another female! A third! Charging out of the forest, screaming like a banshee gone mad. Why do I see this third female? Could she be...Toi?
At any rate, the trio assault the male with devastating consequences. The more he tries to fight back, the more their teeth sink into his flesh. Within moments, they tear him apart, paying no mind to his bloodcurdling screams. Deeply and mortally wounded, he howls in pain, thrashing in agony. The females show no mercy as they take him apart piece by piece. He is still alive, but barely, as they carry away his broken carcass back into the forest...
Are we repulsed by what we just witnessed? Should we rejoice? Perhaps we should realize that even predators have a darkly hidden agenda. They lord it over their own kind as they do over us. That they, by their own machinations, will soon crumble under the weight of their lies and cruelty...
°°°°°°
With the kids safely out of the room, Tracy Wells walked up to her husband and, without hesitation, slapped him squarely across the face. She was devastated, and justifiably so. She thought the man she married was honest, decent, caring, but no! The man who called himself Kip Wells was really Kevin Williams, a known liar and hustler. Tracy finally realized that her husband's claim of being a foster child was lie, too; and, subsequently, that their marriage was a sham. In all these years, she trusted him, just as she supposed everyone else in that room trusted him. Now here he stands, exposed for the charlatan he is.
"Oh my God, Kip! Or should I say 'Kevin'? How could you do this to me? What will I tell the children? Have you thought of that? It's over, Kevin! As soon as I return home, I'm filing for divorce and sole custody. You will never see your children, and I can guarantee that once a judge hears of what you did, you'll be lucky to escape prison."
She then buried her face in her hands and silently wept. Amanda and Vi comforted Tracy while Kevin just stood there as Brian and the others began to expose more of Mr. Williams' dirty laundry.
"You know, Kevin," said Brian, "if you hadn't decided to pull a fast
one, and with one of my trusted employees at that, then I wouldn't be compelled
to expose you like this. Believe me, I never wanted to put Tracy and her
children through the Hell you made for them. But you forced my hand. My brother
only agreed to play 'Bill Diehl' after we uncovered your secret double life. And
there is more, something I'm sure your soon to be ex-wife will not want to
hear."
Then they laid it all out: The lies Kevin told Amanda about the Jane
Eyre musical; the pathetic plot to frame Brian for embezzlement; the
attempted blackmail of Alice; the supposed 'dirt' he had on Toi. Then the most
damning of all: Kevin's theft of Amanda's money. When Ms. Hardy heard that, she
walked up to Kevin, slapping him long and hard.
"You bastard!," she shouted, "Stealing money I earned! You couldn't be satisfied with your thirty percent. Now, it's come full circle, Kevin. You are the predator I kept seeing in my visions, and you know what? I saw you, the predator, being torn to shreds by the very females you've used and abused. What you pooh-poohed as sheer nonsense is real, Kevin. I guess you didn't want me to consult with Vi because you knew she was Tracy's aunt. She might blow your cover. Well, she did in a way, via showing me a photo Tracy took while you weren't looking. It's over, Kevin! I hope you rot in prison for a long time."
Amanda spoke her piece then
broke down in Tracy's arms. The two women sobbed together, both deeply injured
by Kevin's deception. However, there were a few more details yet to be aired.
First, there was that photo of Alice that Kevin had yet to mail to her ex-father
in-law.
"Don't bother mailing that, Kevin," said Alice. "Jack knew all about my
college indiscretion, which is why he gave me a hard time. Bill called me
yesterday and said he had it out with his father. He's on his way to town now.
We're talking reconciliation, Kevin. Oh, by the way, when I asked if you ever
contacted him, he said he didn't know a Kevin Williams or a Kip Wells. You lied
to me, Kevin, just as you lied to everyone."
That said, Alice excused herself
from the gathering, saying her good-byes then left.
"Oh yeah," said Toi, who by
now had been strangely silent during this whole sordid mess, "I got some juicy
details on a certain insurance policy you took out on Tracy and the kids."
Turning to Tracy, she said, "I have a friend who's a detective, and he did some
digging. Seems your hubby took out a $500,000 life insurance policy naming 'Kip
Wells' as the sole benefactor."
"And," rejoined Brian, "I would suspect you had
it all worked out once you returned to Ohio."
"Huh?," said a suddenly concerned
Tracy. "What are you talking about? I don't know of any such policy. I have my
own policy, for the kids' future if something happened to me."
She turned to
Kevin, demanding, "You said nothing to me about a $500,000 policy! And what
exactly did you plan for me and the children? With you as sole
beneficiary, that means...Oh my God, I think I'm going to be sick."
Cassie, her mind's eye sensing what Kevin had plotted for Tracy and the children, said, "What were you going to do, Kevin? Hire a hit man? Set fire to the house? Maybe rig her car so the next time she takes the kids to school or something, the brakes would fail in the middle of rush hour? Make it all look like an accident? Oh yeah, sounds like something rotten you'd do. I can't imagine these ladies ever hooking up with a piece of filth like you. You are scum, Kevin. What you did to them is lower than low, and I hope you pay dearly."
Now Kevin was hopelessly trapped. His secrets were now out in the open; his
dreams of an easy, freewheeling life dashed to bits. As usual he blamed Amanda,
Toi, Brian, everyone for messing up a good thing. He wanted to lash out at all
of them, give them a sound lecture on their 'moral' outrage. But he was too
embarrassed, too outdone to say a word.
"I guess," said Vi, "that Kevin is at a loss for words."
"More like," rejoined Mignon, "a crook who is on the verge of being nabbed."
Her words couldn't have been better timed. For as soon as she spoke, the
butler entered the room, announcing, "Sir, the detectives are here. May I show
them in?"
Barry Dale replied, "Yes, Edwards. Please show them in. And thank you for your
cooperation and discretion in this matter."
Edwards bowed in assent then ushered in the detective and two uniformed
police officers. Kevin was flabbergasted. He turned to Barry and Brian, pointed
an accusatory finger, saying, "YOU sent that invitation, pretending to be 'Bill
Diehl'! You tricked me, both of you! I'll get you for this! I swear I'll get
you!"
"What is there is 'get', Kevin?," said Barry. "After all, it was you who stole
my paper, you who stole Amanda's money, you who deceived Tracy, you who lied and
cheated your way through life. I am not to blame and neither is my brother. It
ends here, Kevin. You are finished. By the way, this is my home, and your 'Bill
Diehl' is merely a character from one of my stories. You were so blinded by your
insatiable desire to blackmail and deceive, that you were gullible enough to
fall for the ruse. Well, it worked, as much as I, like my brother, hated to see
these fine ladies – not to mention two innocent children – hurt."
Nothing more was said as the detective motioned to the officers. They slapped the cuffs on Kevin, reciting the familiar Miranda rights. "Kevin Williams, you are under arrest for extortion, fraud, false representation, grand larceny, identity theft...You have the right to remain silent..."
They took him away, out of the house, then shoved him unceremoniously into the backseat of a squad car. All the while, he kept protesting, "You'll be sorry, Brian Dale! You'll all be sorry! No way will these charges stick. I'm innocent; you can't prove a thing! Go on, Amanda, make your stupid movie. I hope it flops, then you'll come crawling back to me."
"Ungrateful little bastard!," Amanda said under her breath as she watched at the window as squad car took off. "He has his nerve threatening like that, after all the grief he put us through."
Brian put his arm around her, reassuringly saying, "Amanda, he will not hurt anyone else again. Besides, we have more pressing matters: Support Tracy and her children; they'll need it. And don't forget we have a movie to complete. I predict a year from now, Mesozoic Me may a shoo-in come Oscar® time."
Amanda just laughed – and laughter had been hard to come by these days –
replying, "OK, and if it wins, we'll both go onstage to accept our award
together. The way it should be..."
To be continued...Go to the Epilogue!
Copyright©2004 by P.R. Parker. All rights reserved.