Chapter 21

 

Kane arrived at noon on the dot. Evelyn’s mansion is located in the historic section of Old Brooking two blocks from the knoll that Hampton Manor is built on. Her three children were raised in the house. Kane had fond childhood memories, with a few minor exceptions, namely his two sisters, Melanie and Bridget. As an adult he felt genuine affection for them, but it took him until the age of eleven to rise above the tyranny of the two as they conspired daily to make his life a living hell, as sisters often do. It all changed one day when he finally reached his limit and decked Melanie with a right cross to the jaw and after that they never bothered him again. Evelyn went through the motions of admonishing Kane, at the time, giving him a stern lecture about never hitting women, but deep inside she knew that Melanie had gotten what she deserved.

They settled down in the Florida room. It was tastefully decorated with colored wicker and bamboo furniture. Kane sat at one end of a wicker sofa with floral patterned overstuffed cushions, his mother at the other end. They agreed on Thai food which would be delivered within the next half-hour. He looked around the room at the dozens of picture frames, mostly holding pictures of his two nieces and two nephews over a span of half a dozen years. There were a few of him from his college days; nothing more recent.

“Gosh, those kids are sure growing up fast.”

“Yes they are. Much too fast! Both Jason and Colby are starting to sass me back when I correct them. By the time they grow out of it, the other two will probably start up. I love being with those kids but I’m always relieved when they go home.”

“Methinks you protest too much,” he said, watching to see how she would respond.”

True to form his mother smiled and said, “You’re right. I really do enjoy having them around. They make this old spirit feel young again.”

While they waited for the food to be delivered, Evelyn poured two glasses of Riesling. Kane was pleased with her choice of the wine.

“Here’s to you and your young lady. What was her name again?”

“Marcia.”

“Okay, here’s to you and Marcia. May you both find the happiness you so richly deserve.”

They clinked their glasses and took a sip of the wine.

“This Riesling is a delightful white wine,” he said.

“I’m glad you like it. I started drinking it at the Club about a month ago. It’s very mellow. Now, tell me about your date last night.”

Before he could begin telling her, the food arrived. During the next half hour they dined in silence on the Pad Thai Tofu noodles, Thai prawns covered with a seasoned pineapple sauce and Thai stir fried vegetables. When the last noodle disappeared from Kane’s plate he sat back with his glass of wine and filled her in on his date.

“Then this morning, while we were on the road, I spotted a blue car following Marcia. He stayed with her, making every turn, for about fifteen minutes. Finally I got in front of him. I’m sure he recognized my car and we made eye contact for a brief moment. I guess he decided that it was wise to back off, because he got off at the next exit.

“You think Adam Hampton was behind it, don’t you?”

“I don‘t just think it, I know. Who else would care?”

“That seems a bit over-controlling, don’t you think?”

“Well, there is more to it. It turns out that Marcia had a couple of dates with him.”

Evelyn got silent. The look on her face mirrored her disapproval. “That wasn’t very smart for her to get involved with her boss, especially Adam Hampton.”

“She knows that, now. It was only two dates and she decided to end the relationship a while back.”

“Around the time you came on the scene,” she astutely observed.

He smiled as he replied, “I do have that powerful animal magnetism. I think I got that from you, but actually she says she decided before I got there.”

“This is no laughing matter. You’re messing with a very dangerous man. I warned you about that family when you first told me that you would be working with them. You should never have agreed to such an arrangement. You weren’t obligated in any way. You should have just walked away from the company.”

“I know, mother, but I felt duty bound to look after my employees and some of our vendors. They’ve been with us a long time. I know many of them personally. I’ve visited with them and met their families. Besides, I never would have met Marcia if I hadn’t stayed.”

“I’ll give you that, but I’m also a firm believer that if it was meant to be, it would have happened, somehow.”

“Perhaps! Right now I just want for us to get far away from Hampton Industries as quickly as possible.” He set his cell phone down on the cocktail table. “I asked Marcia to call as soon as she turns in her resignation to Hampton. She’s giving him two weeks’ notice.”

“Under the circumstances, why doesn’t she just walk out? That’s what I would do.”

“It’s different with executives. They’re bound by an unwritten code of conduct and usually by employment contracts. Normally the time frame would be a months’ notice or until a replacement is found. She feels that because of his outlandish behavior she is justified with the two weeks’ notice. Marcia wants to get out of there as soon as she can. Trust me.”

“That’s fine for her, but what kind of code does that man live by?”

“That’s beside the point. Marcia feels strongly about this. My only hope is that he will act irrationally and fire her on the spot. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”

“I hope you’re right.”

 “So, in the meantime, what have you been up to, mother? I haven’t seen your name in the gossip columns in a long time. Are you deliberately keeping a low profile on the social front?”

“Not everything I do makes the papers, you know, but if you’re really asking if I’m seeing anyone since I got rid of Donald? No, I’m not. I think four husbands is my limit. I’m getting too old for this romance stuff. It’s the big seven-oh coming up for me this year, you know.”

“You don’t have to marry them to enjoy their company. There must dozens of seniors who would enjoy being in the company of a sophisticated lady, such as yourself.”

“What would I want with a senior? If I took up with anyone, he’d be a young buck. I’ve still got a lot of life left in me yet, you know.”

“He laughed. Mom, you never change. On a related subject, Marcia was asking me about my family and she found it strange that I didn’t know anything about my father. It got me to thinking. I’ve got plenty of time now. I’m thinking about putting out a trace on Peter Masterson. I may actually meet up with him. I’m curious as to why he would leave you when you were carrying me. I want to see for myself what kind of a man would do that? I’d like him to tell me the truth, to my face.”

Evelyn turned ashen. Her voice was faint as she asked, “Why would you go and do that now, after all these years? Obviously, that man never cared about you.”

“Perhaps so, but suddenly there is something that I feel inside that is urging me to find out about him. I’m about to make a major commitment in my life. I’d like to clear up that one question before I do. Besides, what’s the harm? If I find him, he may even refuse to talk to me. What can you tell me about him?”

Evelyn didn’t answer him; she couldn’t. Tears began pouring down her cheeks. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She started sobbing and averted Kane’s gaze. “I don’t want you to speak with Peter.”

“Why on earth, not?”

“There’s nothing to be gained by dredging things up” Evelyn’s tears turned to sobs.

He slid across the sofa and took her in his arms. He said nothing. He simply held his mother, patting her gently on the back, determined to wait her out. Minutes passed before Evelyn’s sobbing quelled. She sat back against the cushions, her eyes unfocused, as she gathered her thoughts.

She spoke softly. Kane had to strain to make out the words. “I hoped and prayed that this day would never come. Kane, Peter Masterson is not your biological father. Peter and I had a marriage in name only. I had an affair with a married man and got pregnant. We both knew Peter wasn’t the father. The day after he found out about you he disappeared and I have never heard from him again. When you were born the hospital assumed, from the forms that I had to fill out, that Peter was the father. That is how you became a Masterson. Everything else I’ve told you about your father has been a lie.”

Kane sat quietly, in disbelief. Eventually he asked, “How could you deceive me all these years? I had the right to know the truth.”

“Well, now that you know the truth, does it really change anything? Are you any better off? Your sisters are still your sisters and I’m still your mother.”

 “Yes you are, but right now, I’m very angry with you. I know that I rarely asked you about him. It wasn’t because I didn’t care; that I didn’t miss doing all the things that sons do with their fathers, because I did.” He looked directly into his mothers eyes as he said, “I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to remind you that he ran off because you were pregnant with me. I felt responsible. When I got older, I didn’t ask because I was too wrapped up in myself to really give a damn. I want to change that now. I don’t want to start a new life when my old one is incomplete.”

“I’m so sorry, Kane. I thought I was doing the right thing. After a while I came to believe it myself. Lying does that to a person sometimes. I thought I was protecting you. When I married Bruce Mason, you were only two years old. He accepted you and Melanie as his children. Unfortunately, when Bridget came along he turned all his affection towards her. She was such a beautiful baby. He was so proud that she was his.”

“That’s beside the point, mom. If Peter Masterson isn’t my father, then who is? I have a right to know.”

“I just can’t tell you that right now, I’m sorry, Kane. Someday maybe I’ll be able to, but not right now. You’ll just going to have to trust me on this.”

“That’s ridiculous. I’ve trusted you all these years and all the time you were lying to me. I want no more of your lies.” Kane got up and stormed out of the house. He sat in his car waiting for Marcia to call; his world in total disarray.

Evelyn sat alone on the sofa, her mind filled with feelings of regret. Those evil Hamptons. First the father walks out on Kane. I should never have let him get away with that. Why was I so proud? I could have made his life miserable. I guess what’s really important is that Kane made it on his own, without being tainted by that family. But, now, that bastard Adam Hampton III is hell bent on destroying Kane. Well I won’t let that happen. I know how to stop him and get even with his father at the same time. I’ve waited long enough for my revenge. I’ll wait no longer.

 

Adam sat with Chuck Meredith in a booth in the back of Ye Olde Taverne. Enlarged photos and a detailed report of Kane and Marcia’s date were spread across the table leaving no room for the tankards of beer when the waiter arrived. Adam moved the photos to one side to make the room and handed the menus back to him.

“We won’t be having anything to eat, thank you.” He turned his attention back to the photographs. His face turned crimson as he looked at the pictures of them kissing in the car and walking on the beach. He noted the times recorded on the report, especially the hour of their departure in the morning.

“This is good, Chuck. You did a good job. I’ll take it from here. I want all your efforts back on the investigation of my father. What have you found out so far?”

“It’s slow going. I sent a truck over to your storage vault. We pasted a logo on the truck for a document shredding company; a perfect cover. We picked up forty seven storage boxes that covered all of 1974. We moved them to a warehouse space that I rent on a month-to-month basis. It has good lighting and A/C. I set up a bunch of tables and hired some college kids to do the initial sort. I told them it had something to do with a pending lawsuit. I have them going through two consecutive month’s folders at the same time. They’re trying to link phone calls, credit card receipts and your father’s personal day planner using the same first and last name. For example, if your father’s day planner shows that he planned to meet Mary Jones for lunch, they will look for a corresponding phone record and credit card receipt. Any matched records will be clipped together and set aside. Due to the sensitivity of this investigation the initial matches will not be gender oriented. My second level team will make that separation. Right now we have twenty students working around the clock. The manpower for each team is determined by the size of the files. A few of the months required two and three people due to the high volume. I had a devil of a time getting a copy of a 1974 phone book. Luckily, I have a good friend at the phone company who I persuaded to loan it to me for a while.”

“Have your people isolated anyone yet that can be moved to the one-on-one investigation?

“Yes, sir, we have. Two operatives are checking on women that showed up repeatedly early that year. The first, Sarah Gershwin, apparently went with your father during April and May. They had dinner at a hotel at least eight times. On five of those occasions your father reserved a suite at the hotel. The second lady, Alice Wentworth, saw him during July through November. She might have been from out of town because they always met in New Haven; sometimes staying at a hotel for a long weekend. We haven’t located either of these women yet, but we have a number of leads that look very promising. There is a third possibility. Your father just used the initial ‘E’ during January and February. There were no corresponding records of hotel or meal expenses tied into these appointments, so maybe they won’t amount to anything. ‘E’ could have lived locally too.

“There’s just no way we can tell anything for certain, yet. ‘E’ never shows up after that in the day-timer.”

“How are you handling that one?”

“I’ve assigned one of my top men to go through his phone records for that period of time. Your father spent a great deal of time on the phone. It’s highly unlikely that he could have so many meetings with a person without ever talking with them on the phone. There are over fifteen hundred calls to sort through. This is real tedious work. We don’t want to overlook anything.”

“Well let me know when you have something concrete. I realize that it was a long time ago, but my father was well known. Somebody has to know something.”

“It might help if I knew why you want to locate this woman.”

Adam put his beer down and glared at Chuck. “You know all that you have to know,” He snapped. “This is a very personal matter. I thought I made that clear when we started this search. If I thought you needed something more, I’d provide it. You have plenty enough to work with already.”

“I’m sorry, Mister Hampton. I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just that the more information we have the less money this search will cost you.”

Adam calmed down, “Chuck, don’t think I don’t appreciate that. I’m sure you are not the only one who wonders what is behind this investigation, but don’t forget that I use your company because I know I can depend on your discretion. I expect you to be pro-active in squelching any speculation by the people you hired to go through those records. If you ever need more, I’ll provide it. For now, work with what you have. Understood?”

 “Perfectly, Mister Hampton. I ’m taking every precaution. That’s why I have people working at only one level. Once the sorting and matching is done, the students involved will be released. The correlating is being done by my junior people and only my most trusted operatives will be assigned to work on the individual investigations.”

“Okay, then. Call me day or night when you have something concrete.” Adam swallowed the last of his beer and left the tavern.