Part 16 (2/2)
Again, she wondered if Mercedes was talking about Lucas or Zack. ”Are you saying Lucas doesn't care about Zack?”
”Oh, I think he loved the kid in his way even under the circ.u.mstances,” she said cryptically. ”Which you have to admit are odd as h.e.l.l.”
She noted how Mercedes used the past tense when she referred to Lucas, as if he were already dead. No doubt he was to her.
”What circ.u.mstances?”
Mercedes gave her a surely-you-of-all-people-should-know look. ”Lucas wasn't Zack's real father.”
Sam felt the air rush out of her lungs. She gaped at Mercedes, acutely aware that Will was doing the same thing. ”What?” she breathed.
Mercedes smiled, feline-like. ”Ca.s.sie was pregnant with another man's baby.”
The floor seemed to drop out from under Sam. Hadn't she once hoped that the baby Ca.s.sie carried wasn't Lucas's? That Ca.s.sie had tricked Lucas into marrying her? That Ca.s.sie had already been pregnant the night she went to bed with Lucas?
”That b.i.t.c.h,” Sam said without even realizing it. ”She tricked him.”
Mercedes laughed, obviously pleased with the reaction. ”Ca.s.sie wasn't above deceiving him into marrying her, but it wasn't like that. She made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Pretend he'd fathered her baby in exchange for everything Lucas wanted. Money, a software business of his own, instant gratification-that was Lucas.”
Sam stared at the woman openmouthed. No. No. Mercedes was just bitter. She was making this all up. ”There is no way Lucas-” Mercedes was just bitter. She was making this all up. ”There is no way Lucas-”
”Zack got hurt a few months ago and had to have blood,” Mercedes said impatiently. ”He has a rare blood type. Lucas called Ca.s.sie, desperate because he couldn't give the boy blood because he wasn't related to him. Ca.s.sie didn't have the right type, either-”
Sam felt as if her heart might leap out of her chest. ”Who did?”
”That's the question, isn't it? Who is the real father of Ca.s.sie's son?”
”You don't know?” Sam asked.
Mercedes flipped her red hair back. ”A blood donor turned up, so the father was never brought in. But I can tell you one thing-whoever he was, Ca.s.sie really was in love with him.”
Sam found that hard to believe. ”Right.”
”Seriously, I think it's why she gave up Zack the way she did. The kid reminded her of the guy. I know for a fact that she'd have married him in a heartbeat, but she found out he'd fallen head over heels for some gal. I don't think she ever told him about the baby.”
That didn't sound like Ca.s.sie. Sam tried to remember who her roommate had been dating back then, but there'd been too many guys. None had lasted long. Then a memory struck her of Ca.s.sie flirting with Lucas's friend- ”You don't think it could be Bradley Guess?”
”Formerly known as Arnold Zingler, Buzz and nerd extraordinaire?” Mercedes shook her head. ”Too geeky for her.”
”Surely Lucas knew who the father was.”
Mercedes smiled-pure Ches.h.i.+re cat-and shook her head. ”It was part of the deal. Not that Lucas wanted wanted to know.” to know.”
Was it possible that Lucas had really made such a deal with Ca.s.sie? Was he that desperate for money, a computer business of his own? ”Why, if Zack wasn't even Lucas's, would he agree to keep the boy when Ca.s.sie left?”
”Keeping Zack was also part of the deal. Ca.s.sie wanted that part of her life behind her. Whoever Zack's father is, he broke her heart big-time.”
Sam didn't like the satisfaction she heard in Mercedes's voice. She'd often wondered what kind of father Lucas was. Not the kind she'd thought, that much was obvious. She felt sick. How was it possible to be in love with a man and not even know him?
Because she'd made him up, just as Will had made her up based on a woman he saw at a party. She glanced at Will. Talk about a pair of fools!
”How do you know this?” she asked shakily, wondering if she was the only one they'd kept in the dark, the only one they'd betrayed.
”I didn't find out until after I married the jerk. Just like I didn't know about his gambling problem or what that kid was like.”
”Gambling?”
Mercedes smiled as if to say, What kind of detective are you, anyway? What kind of detective are you, anyway? ”Surely you know about his online trading?” ”Surely you know about his online trading?”
”I'd heard he might have been in a little over his head.”
Mercedes snorted. ”When people come to your door to break your legs, you're in a little more than over your head.”
”Did someone come to break his legs?” she asked, trying to keep the shock out of her voice.
Mercedes waved a hand through the air again as if big burly men were always knocking at the door wanting to hurt Lucas over his debts.
”Is that why you divorced him?”
”One of many reasons,” the faux redhead said, not bothering to hide her bitterness. ”Lucas kept expecting me to bail him out. Funny how he only married women with money, don't you think?”
The words stung. Sam's family wasn't rich, but they weren't poor, either. Obviously she hadn't had enough to offer Lucas.
”I cut my losses and got the h.e.l.l out,” Mercedes was saying. ”Are you happy now that you know the whole ugly story?”
Not really. But But did did she know the whole story? Ca.s.sie had said Zack was the problem between Mercedes and Lucas, and that it had been Mercedes who wanted more money in the divorce settlement. But it seemed Mercedes had her own money. Or a boyfriend with money. she know the whole story? Ca.s.sie had said Zack was the problem between Mercedes and Lucas, and that it had been Mercedes who wanted more money in the divorce settlement. But it seemed Mercedes had her own money. Or a boyfriend with money.
Sam glanced around. The condo was certainly posh and had a view of the water. And Mercedes didn't look as if she were headed for the poorhouse. That dye job alone must have set her back a good hundred and fifty.
”Then you think Lucas is on the lam because of his debts?” she asked.
Mercedes shrugged as if she couldn't care less. ”I wouldn't be surprised if he turned up in the Sound wearing concrete slippers.”
Sam s.h.i.+vered, feeling as cold as the frigid decor. That was the second time today someone had suggested that scenario. But Mercedes's lack of interest in Lucas's fate chilled her more. Worse yet was the woman's lack of interest in Zack. She hadn't even asked about the boy.
Sam glanced over at Will. He looked a little cold himself. Then a thought struck her. ”Why did you call Lucas's apartment today if you knew he was missing?”
”Because of the d.a.m.n package I just got in the mail,” Mercedes snapped, and got up to retrieve a small square white box from the top of the desk in the corner. ”He's not involving me in any of his deals. Not again. I don't want anything to do with whatever he's up to this time.”
She practically threw the box at Sam, and then dusted off her hands as if she felt dirty just touching it. She went back to her original position on the couch. ”It's all yours,” she said. ”After all, you're the detective, right? So find Lucas and tell him to go straight to h.e.l.l. And if you should see Ca.s.sie-Never mind. I'd rather tell her myself.”
That was succinct enough.
Sam folded back the flaps on the box, not surprised to see a computer CD game box inside, the name Catastrophe painted across the black cover in what looked like blood.
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