Chapter Sixty-One

By the middle of the week, the Connecticut farm was a fortress. Lawrence hired security to keep the paparazzi at bay. As they’d feared, it was Ali who suffered the most. Her boyfriend said he couldn’t see her anymore. By the weekend she’d shut herself away, only sneaking past the hordes of reporters to meet her closest friend.

The publicists for Jesse and Webb Productions issued denials, but without a charge of sexual assault on record they rang false. Jesse’s agent called. Several of the scripts she’d been offered had been withdrawn. All she had left was Lawrence’s new musical and the sales of her CDs. The show’s Boston debut coincided with the opening of the New Opera House.

Lawrence assumed the expenses for the house in Connecticut and the Manhattan Condo where they lived. After her extravagance and years of blackmail, Jesse had little left. But they had always had an independent financial relationship. Despite Lawrence’s insistence to help her Jess refused his charity. She’d spent too much of her life living off someone else. Despite his failing health, Lawrence tried to secure a life insurance policy…again Jesse would hear none of it.

As she lay awake tormented, thinking of Ali, she wondered what he was thinking. She knew he loved her. She’d always hoped he wanted to solve her mystery, to overcome the obstacles keeping them apart. She wondered if the stories had stifled his enthusiasm. Sometime in the dark, lonely hours she drifted into a fitful sleep.

Just after dawn, Jesse awoke with a sense of foreboding. There was a loud knock on her door. Her housekeeper burst in. “Miss Jesse, Ali was on the phone real early. She had a terrible fight and ran out of her room. She looked kinda crazy—crying and running to the stables. She rode off real fast. I’m worried.”

Jesse pushed past her, running down the hall to tell Lawrence. He dressed quickly and summoned their security people. They ran to their SUVs and began searching the farm.

“Lawrence, you can’t go. Your heart…”

“I have to.” He pushed past her, heading toward the lead SUV.

****

Jesse paced nervously on the front porch. Someone approached just before noon. Lawrence jumped out and ran toward her. Seeing no sign of Ali, she ran to meet him. His face told Jesse they’d found her.

“She’s on one of the back trails. We’ve called the State Police, and they’re getting a Medivac helicopter. Bob and Leo are there with her. I wanted to tell you in person.”

“Take me to her!” Jesse screamed.

“I don’t think it would—”

“I said take me to her!”

Lawrence touched his chest. His face wore a pallor. Jesse could see the strain in it. “Are you okay?” She laid her hand on his shoulder. He nodded as they got into the SUV.

“I didn’t want you to see her,” he said. “She took a bad fall, but I’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks.”

As the SUV bounced across the rough terrain, a helicopter rumbled overhead. Following it, they came over a rise. Jesse saw her daughter on the ground. Several men surrounded her. Ali lay motionless. Terror shot through Jesse. Rage overcame her at the thought that her daughter might never leave this dusty hillside.

Before the vehicle stopped, Jesse ran to her side. Ali’s neck and head were bent backward sharply. She wore no helmet or protective vest and was covered with scrapes and bruises. Pools of dried blood lay in the dirt around her.

Her daughter’s beautiful mount, Apollo’s Promise, stamped anxiously on a nearby hillside waiting for his mistress to get up and return to the saddle.

“Get him out of here!” Jesse screamed.

“It’s not his fault, Jessica.” Lawrence took Jesse’s arm. “You can’t blame him.”

“Ms. Long?” The medic looked at her anxiously. Like everyone else he must have seen the photos in the papers.

“Yes,” Jesse whispered. “How is she?”

The medic shrugged. “At this point, we can’t say, ma’am.” He looked back at Ali. “She’s had a serious fall.”

Jesse broke down. She turned as Lawrence put his arms around her.

“The fact they found her so quickly was a big help,” the man said, trying to sound hopeful.

She pushed her face into Lawrence’s chest.

“What if she can’t walk again?” Jesse whispered.

“We’ll airlift her into the city. There’s a neurosurgeon on alert. He can answer your questions, but it may be days before they know her condition.” The man put his hand on Jesse’s arm. “As soon as they know anything, they’ll call you…or you could come to the city.”

“Yes…yes of course we’ll follow you into the city.” Jesse looked at the medic and then at Lawrence.

Lawrence seemed to be in pain. His face was covered with sweat..

“Are you all right, sir? You’re very pale,” the medic asked him.

“I’ll be fine.” Lawrence nodded. “We’ve been under a lot of stress this week.”

The man headed toward Lawrence, but his partner pulled him toward the helicopter. It took off, hovering momentarily as it threw off a blinding cloud of dust. It disappeared behind the trees, heading southwest. They got into the SUV and headed for the farmhouse. Lawrence put his head back and closed his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Jesse asked again.

The man was right. He didn’t look well.

“Sure. Just tired.”

Lawrence closed his eyes for the rough ride back to the farmhouse.