Ricki was in a class all by herself. He wanted to be with her desperately.
But was it because of her body, or because of her? It was always a lust thing for him, never a love thing. Even with every one of his three marriages. Why, then, did he feel as if it was the exact opposite with Ricki? Lust had a little to do with it, but love had more?
Love?
Himin love?
His social circle would laugh him to scorn if he so much as suggested such a thing!
But as he took a long sip of his beer, he was suggesting that very thing. To him, being in love with Ricki was no longer the big question. He believed he was in love with her or he would have left Milton when he drove away from her parents’ home, and driven straight to his home outside of New Haven. But he went to the hotel in town and stayed there instead. He couldn’t just leave town without her. Because if felt as if she should be with him. That he wouldn’t be just leaving her, but leaving her behind. And that he wasn’t going to do.
So it was no longer a question ofifhe was in love with Ricki. Inasmuch as he knew what love was, he was. The question was what on earth was he going to do about it?
“Do you ever sleep?”
It was the voice of his attorney and best friend, George Grantham. George had entered the hotel’s bar area with Fontaine-Bachman’s chief investigator Milo Bacca, a big black man with a bald head. If there were secrets in this town, Vinceknew Milo would uncover them. He and George sat down at Vince’s table.
“How ya’ doing, Boss?” Milo asked.
“What you got for me?” Vince asked.
“Vincent, you do realize he just got in town, right? And it is after midnight?”
Vince continued to look at Milo. He knew he had something. “While I was in flight, I hired an investigative team from Hartford to come over and find out what they could. Since they know the culture here. They know these people. From what you was telling me was that the kid, Erica, had been raped by Dr. Proctor when she was twelve.”
“Right.”
But Milo was shaking his head. “That don’t sound right to them.”
Vince and George were both curious. “What do you mean?” Vince asked.
“According to their sources, which I will confirm of course, but according to their sources Erica and Dr. Proctor were an item.”
Vince frowned. “What do you meanan item?”
“They were dating, the two of them. It was clandestine. They didn’t go out in public or nothing like that. But small towns can’t hold big secrets. A lot of people knew.”
“Wait a minute here,” said George. “Are you telling us that the man that raped that child when she was twelve years old, and gave her an abortion without parental consent, became herboyfriend?”
Milo nodded. “That’s what they were told.”
George looked at Vince. Vince was floored too. “Did her family know?” he asked.
“They say hell no,” said Milo. “Her old man is supposedly super-strict. So is her mother.”
“But if this doctor loved the girl,” said Vince, “why would he allow her to get on drugs and prostitute herself for money?”
“Because none of that’s true,” said Milo. “That’s what they wanted people to believe because it kept the spotlight off of their relationship. But Erica Richardson was not a hooker, nor was she an addict. She was a young lady in love.”
But Vince was shaking his head. “It’s not adding up. If he loved her, why would he keep hiding her?”
“Why do you think?” asked George.
Vince looked at Milo. “He was married?”
Milo nodded. “For twenty-plus years, yes. Has four kids too. All of which were older than Erica.”
Vince leaned back. “Wow.”
