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Before they could get turned around, the two men stepped in and gestured for them to enter the room with the elderly doctor. Ace tensed at her side. Since they had cut off their avenue of escape and they both knew the older doctor pretty well, they entered the room. Ace pulled her back against the window and away from the other men.
“I never thought for a minute the poor, grieving ex-wife would come to pay her respects.”
“You know I cared deeply for your son.”
“An ounce of damn understanding was all he needed from you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We picked you because you were young, innocent, and were supposed to be true blue.”
Barbara was taken aback. “I was for the entire duration of our marriage.”
“He went to you and tried to make things right. He told me all about how you bragged about moving on with man who gave you lots of orgasms.”
“He needed an excuse to move on with his life, and I created one.”
“Even with that piece of shit standing right there beside you, I still have trouble seeing you as a biker slut.”
Offended on her behalf, Ace squared up beside her and said, “We came here to pay our respects, not so you could spew hate. I know you’re grieving, but you have no call to take it out on Barbara.”
“We moved heaven and earth to get you back,” David’s father continued, as if Ace hadn’t spoken.
Ace’s voice turned suspicious, voicing what she was thinking. “What kind of stuff?”
The older man scrubbed his hands over his face. Looking down at his son, he spoke woodenly. “I told him that when women are in trouble, they always come running back to the one man who can keep them safe. It was a flawless plan.” Lifting his head, he glared at her. “But you went running right into the arms of a fucking biker.”
Barbara gasped. “I’ve never heard you talk like that before, Dave.”
“My son was the better man. How could you choose that monster over my David?”
Holding up both hands, she tried to talk reason to him. “It wasn’t like that. David was real good to me, but I couldn’t stay married to a man who wasn’t faithful. You have to know cheating is wrong.”
Shaking his head, the grief-stricken man closed his eyes. “My David overcame so much in life. He kicked drug addiction, alcoholism, and even his anger management problems. He made it through premed, medical school, and even passed his medical exam. He deserved to have a good life.”
“I don’t disagree with you,” she agreed softly. “He did deserve good things. He could have found a woman who didn’t mind the cheating so much.”
As if she hadn’t even spoken, he said, “We researched everything about you. You were innocent, sweet, accommodating, and easy to guide. You were supposed to be the mother of my grandchildren. I never thought you would throw away the perfect life we provided for you over him stepping out occasionally. You could have had it all.”
Ace’s voice turned deadly. “It was you, wasn’t it? You set up the perfect terrifying situation. A young, newly-divorced woman running into a bunch of dead bodies in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t know how to handle something like that. Especially if she came from a sheltered home and was innocent about criminal activity. Most of them would freak out and go running to the only capable man in their life.”
“Our Barbara faints at the sight of blood, so we were sure she’d call him that day. We both cleared our schedules and were waiting for the call that never came.”
“Jesus.” The word slipped out before she could stop herself. In an instant, her knees buckled, and if Ace hadn’t had his arm firmly around her waist, she would have fallen. “I can’t believe David would do that to me.” Looking down at his pale form, she whispered hoarsely, “On some level, I honestly thought he cared about me.”
“Cared about you? He thought you were perfect. Every wealthy man has a mistress. It’s just the way the world works. Leave it to a naïve little thing like you to believe in true love,” Dave sneered.
Ace’s wheels must have been turning. “That farmer found the bodies and freaked out long before he called Barbara and invited her to come and look for fossils.”
“Who’s the first person you’d call if you found bodies buried on your property?”
“My fucking attorney, of course.”
“As did Mr. Farrington.”
Ace guessed, “It would be difficult to phone up the police and convince them that the property that’s been in your family for generations suddenly had dead bodies.”
“The police aren’t ignorant and neither is Farrington.” The older man was sounding more lucid by the minute.
