NOTE: As was the custom of her faith and from the depth of her big heart, Michelle honored those who meant something to her in various ways. One of her favorite things to do was create characters patterned after real-life people, and thus we have Kathy Spencer, who was based on a childhood friend from Atlantic City, and named after one of my cats! Another character introduced in this chapter was based on a lovely young lady with whom Michelle was very close and who was going through a difficult time. She wanted to honor this young lady for being such a wonderful human being, and so we have Jessica Gleason. ~D

Ties That Bind Chapter 10 – What the Babysitter Knew

There was stunned silence in the office as the detective's statement sank in. Perry, who had been holding Della's hand, moved his seat even closer and put his arm around her when her face went pale. Kathy's color had faded as well, and for all her ranting and unusual sarcastic behavior it appeared that the wind had been knocked out of her. David stood, walked around to the back of his wife's chair, and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Perry was the first to speak. "All right Paul, sit down and tell us everything."

The P.I. took a seat across from the attorney and his secretary and gave Della a smile along with a wink. He had noticed how she blanched at his announcement and tried to defuse the tension in the room by being overly calm and unhurried. He took out a cigarette and lit it then snapped the lighter shut and put it back in his pocket. He pulled out his notebook, flipped through the pages and began to speak.

"As soon as Perry called and told me what was going on I put several operatives on the case. At first we weren't getting anything that wasn't already public information and it was frustrating my men – and especially me. Then this morning I received a phone call from a neighbor of the Farley's, a Mrs. Gleason. My best man, Faulkner, canvassed the Farley's neighborhood a couple days ago and came up empty. He scattered my cards around and told everyone if they thought of anything at all to please call. It seems that the Gleason's daughter Jessica was the Farley's babysitter. She's sixteen, an honor student over at the high school and a cheerleader. She's also involved in community activities and totally trustworthy. Here's the kicker. Her father is also a Rotarian."

"Yes, that's right," David broke in. "In fact, I first met Sarah and Jessica at the Christmas party the year I joined the Rotary Club. You remember meeting them don't you darling?"

"Of course I do," Kathy replied brusquely. "I thought they were a wonderful family, but can we please get back to the main point and the phone call?"

"Absolutely. I wouldn't want to be accused of slacking in my assignment." There was a slight sarcasm to Paul's voice and Perry thought it justifiable, but the person at whom it was aimed didn't appear to pick up on it. "As I was saying, Mrs. Gleason called me and said she had information about the case but she wanted to wait until her daughter came home from school. I said that was fine and drove up to talk with the girl personally. She said that she became the Farley's babysitter a when Blake was about four months old. At first everything was fine but then things started to happen."

Paul paused to take a drag on his cigarette. "One Saturday night Ed and Regina were getting ready to go out to dinner and Jessica was in the kitchen warming up Blake's bottle. Suddenly she heard loud voices and she tried to ignore it but the voices grew louder. Apparently Ed didn't think Regina's outfit was appropriate and was taking his wife to task. He told her she wasn't dressed right and she was stupid for picking that outfit when they were meeting a client. The next thing the kid heard was Regina screaming for Ed to stop and not to hurt her and she wouldn't do it anymore and she was sorry and she would change. She heard what sounded like someone being slapped and she thought she even heard Regina say 'oh no Ed not with your shoe'."

Both Della and Kathy let out stifled gasps as Paul took another drag on his cigarette.

"There was a lot more screaming and Jessica heard Ed call Regina a cow," the detective continued. "He said she wasn't 'thin enough' and that she better do something about it. He told her it was 'an issue' with him and if she didn't lose weight, she'd be sorry. By that time the baby was crying and wouldn't take the bottle and Jessica had a hard time calming him down, but she remembers a door slamming and a few minutes later Regina practically stumbled into the room. Her hair was a mess and there were terrible marks on her shoulders and upper arms. Regina was crying and even though she was completely shocked and scared, Jessica made her some tea. Regina begged Jessica not to say anything because it would only make matters worse and Ed would be furious at both of them. She went into this whole long story about how Ed worked hard and he was tired and didn't mean anything by it. He was so good to her, letting her have whatever she needed especially if it was for Blake. He only got 'like that' when he was tired and stressed because he had just opened his business a few months prior and was trying to make a name for himself."

"That poor woman," Della said softly. "And that poor girl to be put in such a position."

Paul stubbed out his cigarette and gave a small grunt of agreement. "Jessica told her to get medical attention but Regina refused and kept begging her to promise not to tell anyone, that she would lose the weight and everything would be fine again. Jessica didn't think Mrs. Farley was overweight and told her so, but Regina insisted that she hadn't lost much weight after Blake was born and it bothered Ed because she wasn't the same girl he married."

"Bastard," Kathy nearly spat.

"This Jessica is quite a kid," Paul continued smoothly following Kathy's outburst. "She sensed Regina wanted to talk so while she fed the baby his bottle, she listened. I guess when they were dating Ed was respectful and kind, until about a week before their wedding when he lost control and raised his hand to her. He didn't hit her, but broke down and admitted that his father treated his mother badly, demeaning and criticizing her all the time. He even saw his father hit his mother on a few occasions. Ed told Regina if she wanted to call off the wedding, he would understand, but that he would try to treat her with the love and respect his father hadn't shown his mother."

"She should have headed for the hills," Della interjected in dismay. "He gave her the perfect opportunity."

One side of Paul's mouth lifted. "She probably should have, but she married him anyway. And from what she told Jessica, aside from having a terrible temper and being moody, Ed was a good husband. And then the baby was born and everything went to hell in a hand basket."

"He didn't like sharing Regina with the baby," Kathy said with authority. "It's a well-known pattern in abuse. The husband feels the wife is paying too much attention to the children while he suffers. Ed Farley wanted all the attention."

"Well, for whatever reason, he changed. Regina thought it had to do with the fact that he just couldn't get past what he'd seen growing up, combined with the fact his parents moved to Europe right after his wedding and there hadn't been any communication from them. As far as she knew, they weren't even aware they had a grandson. Ed felt abandoned and he turned all of his anger on Regina. She told Jessica that when Blake was just a few days old he announced that while he loved her, he wasn't in love with her, but he'd made a commitment and he would stick with the marriage for the sake of the baby."

Della wiped surreptitiously at a tear and squeezed Perry's hand tightly. Perry hugged her closer to his side.

"When Regina finished spilling her guts, Jessica told her that she was beautiful and far from overweight and that it was absurd to stay with a man who didn't love her – I'm telling you, this kid will go far – but Regina began to backpedal. She begged Jessica again not to tell anyone, not even her parents, because if Ed found out he wouldn't like it. Regina's parents had been killed when she was a teenager and all she had was Ed and their son, and she knew that everything would be okay, she just had to be more like the girl Ed fell in love with. Jessica wasn't happy about it, but she promised to keep Regina's secret, and she did. Until the night Ed Farley drove his wife to the hospital."

David's grip on his wife's shoulders tightened and Kathy stared at Paul with startled eyes. "What are you saying?"

Paul abruptly shut the notebook and leaned back in the chair. "On the night Regina Farley was brought to the emergency room, Jessica and her parents were having a bar-b-q when they heard screaming and crying and thumping coming from the Farley house, which is behind the Gleason house, separated by about fifty yards. Jessica broke down in tears and admitted to her parents what she had been hiding for over two years, what she'd seen get worse after Betsy was born and Regina couldn't lose weight fast enough to satisfy Ed. Mr. Gleason was on his way over to have it out with Ed when he saw the Farley's car pull out of the driveway and speed away. He wanted to call the cops, but Jessica asked him not to, because they really didn't know anything."

Perry's face registered control but his eyes gave away his true feelings and Paul knew exactly what he must be thinking. David's expression was just as stony but the detective didn't miss his hands moving tiredly over his face. Kathy had lowered her head and it was clear she was crying and Della didn't even try to hide her weeping. Perry stood up and all but lifted Della out of her chair.

"Let's take a break. Della and I are going out on the terrace if anyone wants to join us. I think we all could do with a bit of fresh air."

"You go ahead Perry. We'll join you in a few minutes." David had to clear his throat before he could speak again. He bent down and spoke softly to Kathy. "Come on kitten, let's take a walk." David helped Kathy up from her chair and took her hand. He was about to walk her out of the office when she pulled away and walked unsteadily over to Perry and Della, holding out her hand.

"Perry…I'm so, so sorry for the way I treated you…I-I know you were trying to help David and I should have listened to you about the legalities. It's just that I was so caught up in the case and the kids…and…and everything and the very last thing I wanted was all of this to come between you and Della. But if you had just listened to me, we could have avoided a lot of unnecessary distress over this situation."

Perry smiled with a bit of sadness and took Kathy's hand in his. While she had made the first conciliatory move, it wasn't without treacherous barbs. "You're an excellent doctor, Kathy, and even though you think I didn't listen to you…or to Della…I assure you that I did. What we've just learned doesn't mean one side won and the other lost, or you were right and I was wrong because while the circumstances appear to have changed, the basic legalities haven't. Let's concentrate on the business at hand and figure out what our next step will be. Della and I will talk and do what we need to and if I'm not mistaken you and your husband have some talking to do as well."

Kathy merely nodded her head. "Friends?"

Perry shook her hand solemnly. "I never thought you weren't."

Kathy turned to Della, who was smiling, proudly and tremulously, and without any words the women embraced.

Perry and David gave the girls time to gather themselves before retaking their hands and escorting them from the office for what promised to be very intense talks. However, Paul chose that moment to make one of his impeccably timed comments.

"I think I'll go out for some coffee. Anyone want anything?"

David was about to tell Paul there was coffee in the office but realized very quickly that wasn't the real reason Paul wanted to leave. He exchanged amused glances with Perry, who shook his head.

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Perry led Della out to the terrace and stood by the railing in the warm afternoon sun. No sooner had he taken her into his arms than she began to tremble so badly he thought for sure she would collapse against him at any minute. Her tears returned in what was most certainly a delayed reaction to Paul's report.

"Shhh…shhh…shhh…I'm right here baby. Let it all out." As he spoke Perry rubbed her back to calm her down. "As bad as this case is something good is going to come out of it, I promise. I'll see to it that those children end up with wonderful parents and a family that will love them as much as their mother wanted to. We'll give Kathy a chance to tell David about wanting to adopt the kids and when he's had time to process it we'll do whatever we can to help them. It's probably best that David and I advise Ed Farley to confess, unless we can swing a plea with the D.A. It will save the good people of Carmel the expense of a trial and a lot of bad publicity about Regina. And I'm going to advise Ed on my own to sign away his parental rights to David and Kathy. If he refuses, we're through with him and he'll have to find different representation."

"Perry?" Della's voice was tiny and unsteady, like a little girl's.

"What darling?"

"Can we go home now?"

Perry wiped Della's tears away with gentle fingers. "Precious girl, we can do anything you want. I think we probably do need to go home and be by ourselves. It's still early and warm enough to sit on the beach if that would make you happy but right now let's go back inside and finalize our plan of action."

"Can we stay out here a minute longer please?"

Perry searched Della's eyes for what he heard in her voice. "What baby, what do you need?"

"I'd like to take you up on that offer about hiding away in your arms. Could you please hold me and not let me go?"

As sad as he was for Regina Farley and as angry as he was at that piss-poor excuse for a man Ed Farley, Perry Mason smiled as he held the woman who was the very essence of his life in his embrace.