Page 119 of Turning Back

“Yeah, he mentioned that after you left. Said it took nothing at all to pull up all kinds of bank transactions in Pagosa Springs, including,” I say, my voice getting louder than I want it to—I look down at Adley, so fucking sorry this has to happen right now—“including,” I repeat, softening my tone, “the bill for the resort on her fucking credit card. Were you even looking, Bric? All last year, did you even bother looking? Or was all that a lie too?”

“I looked,” he says, narrowing his eyes at me. “But I can’t see credit cards, Quin. And I wasn’t going to do anything illegal.”

“OK,” I say. “I’ll accept that. I don’t exactly believe you, but fine. You looked, never found her, then Chella hired an old friend, who found her immediately. Am I right so far?” Bric glares at me. “Stop me when I get it wrong.”

“I called the Club last summer,” Rochelle says. “Right after Adley was born. I was upset. Crying. Sorry for leaving like that,” she says, looking at me with watery eyes. “And then Adley started crying and I knew Bric was gonna ask a bunch of questions about me keeping the baby, so I hung up. And then Bric came to my suite at the resort,” Rochelle says. “The day before I came back. He spent the night.”

“You called him?” I ask, looking at Bric. “And you never thought I’d need to know that? When you knew damn well I had no idea she was dead or alive?”

“I was on my way out of town,” Bric says. “I was closing the Club for the summer and I had a flight to catch.”

“A flight to catch?” I want to laugh, it’s so ridiculous. “So you’re telling me your summer vacation was more important than letting me know the woman I love was OK? That I had a baby?”

“You don’t even know if Adley’s yours,” Bric says.

“No.” I laugh. “I guess I don’t. But that doesn’t even matter at this point. You stayed the night with Rochelle and Adley?”

“In another room,” Bric counters, seething at me.

“Then what happened? How did you two decide to lie? And better yet, why? Why the hell did you even bother? What did you think you were gaining by not telling me the truth?”

“You weren’t even talking to me,” Bric says.

“He didn’t think… we didn’t think…” Rochelle falters. Which means she’s trying to tell me the truth, but the truth is gonna hurt too much, so she can’t say it.

“Just tell me,” I say. “For fuck’s sake, just tell me what the hell is going on with you two?”

“Bric wanted to play the game with you again.” Rochelle says. She looks at me. Her eyes are glassy with the threat of tears. “And I figured the only way to get you back was to play the game with both of you. Because you never wanted me, Quin. You only wanted us.”

“So why lie?” I ask. “I don’t get it.”

“Because if I brought her home, I’d be Number One.”

“Oh.” I laugh. “That’s amazing. You’d be Number One. And you were afraid she’d what? Fall in love with you?”

“Hey,” Bric says. “Stranger things have happened.”

“So let me get this straight. Just so everything is crystal clear. You went down to Pagosa Springs to talk Rochelle into coming back—”

“No,” Bric interrupts. “I went down there to tell her to stay away.”

“Which is an amazing coincidence,” Rochelle sneers. “Because Smith came here last week offering me two million dollars to leave town.” She shakes her head and laughs. “And when I said no, he decided to find another way to break us apart.”

I can’t speak. Everything I thought I knew has just been turned upside down.

“At least Bric changed his mind and wanted to bring me to you as a gift,” Rochelle adds.

“A gift?” I look at Bric and put all the pieces together. “You wanted me back in your game, didn’t you? That’s why you wanted Rochelle here. To lure me back.”

“I really don’t see the problem,” Bric says. “I love her, Quin. And the baby. I really don’t understand why you’re so pissed off. We’re all getting what we want.”

I’m seeing red right now. “You selfish motherfucker,” I say. I hate swearing in front of Adley. I hate the fact that all of this is taking place in front of my daughter, but I need to make things very clear. Right here. Right now. “He doesn’t love you, Rochelle. You know that, right? He’s not capable of love. The only thing Elias Bricman is capable of is playing games.”

“Fuck you,” Bric says.

“Language, Bric. Oh, let me fill in the blanks about the swearing thing too, while I’m at it. You’d already spent the night with Rochelle and Adley before they came back to Denver. So you knew the rule that first day. That’s why you were all over people and their swearing, right?”

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing, Quin,” Bric says.