Lies My Husband Told Me

Carla wasn't expecting company when she heard someone knock on her door. "Who is it," she asked.

"It's Nicole."

She opened the door. "Baby, it's late. What are you doing here? Is something wrong with Ethan?"

"Ethan's fine. I just couldn't wait to show you this," Nicole showed her the engagement ring.

Carla screamed with excitement, "you're getting married!"

"I know!" Nicole screamed back.

When they both realized everyone in the building probably heard them they went in the apartment.

"Sit down. Tell me all about it."

"He brought me to this space simulator at the planetarium and had them make the stars spell out Nicole will you marry me?"

"That is some man."

"He sure is."

"What kind of wedding do you want to have?"

"Something simple," Nicole answered like she'd had it planned her whole life. In reality, she never imagined her wedding until the night Antonio proposed. But she knew for sure she didn't want the whole town to be there.

"Really?"

"Absolutely. A friend of mine was married in December and her family invited everyone they ever knew. I remember thinking how uncomfortable I would be to have all those people looking at me. That's the only thing I'm sure of though."

"I have a confession to make. I have always dreamed of your wedding day, ever since you were a baby."

"That works out perfectly. I am going to need all the help I can get."

Carla was happy she would have a hand in the most important day of her daughter's life.

xxxxx

Antonio was in the den when Nicole came home later that evening.

"Did you see your mom?"

"She is so happy for us."

"That's good. The airport called. They don't need me to go to that orientation thing tomorrow, so I have another day as an agent. Every time I think I'm out they pull me back in."

Nicole laughed. "You could always stay home tomorrow."

"You know I can't just stay home all day."

"Right. You'd go crazy. That's one thing we have in common."

xxxxx

Joe was asleep in his room. Jess was anxiously waiting in the living room. She would be the first person Nathan would see when he came home from New Jersey. She was prepared for the fight of her life.

At ten o'clock he came through the door. He saw Jess sitting on the couch with her arms crossed and the smile washed off his face. "What's wrong?" he asked even though he knew exactly what was on her mind.

"Sit down, Nathan."

He took a seat in the love seat diagonally across from the sofa.

Jess moved from being reclined in the couch to sitting on the edge of it. "Before I go postal I am going to give you one more chance to tell me the truth. Why. were. you. in. Atlantic City?"

He looked down for a moment then back to her eyes. "It's not the right time, Jess."

"I need to know."

"All right, you want the truth?"

"I think I already have it." Part of her still hoped it would turn out to be a misunderstanding.

"I am in the Mafia. I am part of a mob. My dad was and now I am too."

Now Jess was the one looking down. "All right then, that's all I needed to hear." She got up and walked away.

He followed. "What do you mean that's all you needed to hear?"

"I mean there is no way we can continue this as long as you're gonna be apart of that."

"Are you saying you want a divorce?"

"Of course I want a divorce!"

"Why? This has nothing to do with you."

Jess wasn't in a mood for humor, but the absurdity of that made her laugh. "How can you say that? This has everything to do with me."

"No. This is me."

"You bring these people in our home!"

"I made sure you weren't here. And I was gonna tell you…when the time came."

There they were standing in the family room. Nathan looked grieved that he was about to lose his wife. Jess's face expressed both grief and anger.

She sighed and folded her arms. "Do you kill people?"

"No."

"Have you killed anyone?"

"Have you?"

"I've killed criminals."

"So have I."

Jess paced back and forth like a caged animal. "I cannot believe this! I am two months in to my marriage and a pregnancy and I'm standing here asking my husband if he has killed anyone! And listening to him justify it!"

"I killed one guy. It was self defense"

"Yeah right."

"It was. I admit we were doing something wrong, but he pulled the gun on me. If I hadn't shot him I'd be dead. I know you know what that feels like."

"Don't you dare try to make it sound like we are the same. I don't even know you anymore."

"You are the only one who does know me. I wanted to tell you I was just waiting for the best time."

"And what is that, the best time? Is that like when you're dating someone and you tell them you're five years younger than you actually are, and you're waiting until they are too in love with you to break it off before you tell them your real age? Is that what the best time was?"

"Something like that."

Silence.

"You don't have to worry."

"How can you say that with a straight face?"

"Because it's the truth. Look, you don't understand this. We are like family. We are a family. I look out for them and they do the same for me. Being married to me in this town, you and Joe are safer than you've probably ever been. I work hard making our family name known well around here. No one is ever going to want to touch you or our kids."

"If you believe we're so safe why didn't you want me here when they were?"

"Because I didn't want you to know about this before the time was right. Now that you know, I'll have them over. You can meet them and you'll see they are just like me."

"No! Don't you ever bring those men in our home again!"

"Our home? Does that mean you're not leaving or kicking me out?"

"…We can forget about all this right now if you tell me you'll quit doing this."

"I am not really doing anything. They're my friends. I've known some of them since I was a kid. I just kind of hang around."

"What were you doing "hanging around" the laundry mat and the flower shop? Was that the Massey family extortion I read so much about?"

Nathan decided not to tell another lie, "yes."

"I want you to bring that money back…all of it, including what you got in New Jersey."

"I can't do that. I don't even have it any more." There was another lie.

Jess shook her head. She couldn't believe that was the man she married. "How did this happen to you? What started this?"

"When I was eleven my dad took me to meet his friends and told me what he really did. It was the first time he spent time with me…not pounding or yelling at me. It was scary, but it was a good kinda scary. Like a roller coaster, thrilling."

"You never told me about that."

"He made me swear I wouldn't say anything. I knew my mom didn't know. It was just something between the two of us. I liked that. Anything to bring us together, y'know?"

"Yes," Jess replied, showing she understood, but making it clear to him that she didn't think it was an excuse for what he did.

"My dad got all the way to boss, but when he found out I was moving to Maryland and ready to settle down he retired. Can you believe that? He gave up the only life he's ever known just for me, so he could send the Underboss here just to teach me the business. That's the only time he's ever sacrificed his happiness for me."

"He still hasn't. He only wanted you to be apart of this because it would reflect badly on him if his only son didn't become a made man. And I certainly hope you are not planning on teaching this to Joe."

"I won't."

"And you know if you have to feel closer to your dad by hurting other people it's not worth it."

"Maybe not to you. And besides I'm not hurting anyone."

"Yes you are, honey. You're taking from them. You're threatening them. That's hurting. I know this isn't you. And you have to stop it."

"I can't."

"This is going to catch up with you sooner or later. Just like when you were in California. What happened there anyway? I mean really. If you weren't part of your dad's group until you moved here what were you doing?"

"I was a consigliere to another family."

"So you really didn't actually do anything?"

"No."

"…I don't know what else to say. You honestly expect me to tolerate this?"

"I know you love me. I love you too."

"I guess that's not enough."

xxxxx

Instead of her alarm clock going off Nicole was woke up by the sound of her doorbell. "I'll get it," she told Antonio.

Nicole tied her robe and went down stairs. She opened the door to Kelly."

"Good morning," Kelly said cheerfully.

"What are you doing here?"

"I got early release for good behavior."

"How did you get here?"

"I took a plane. I couldn't wait to see him. Where is he?"

"He's still sleeping. I don't wake him up for another hour or else he gets tired and doesn't focus in school."

"Okay. I can wait. I've waited this long."

Kelly and Nicole sat in the living room. Nicole was glad Kelly was out of jail. She knew Ethan missed her. But at the same time she wasn't looking forward to losing Ethan.

"So," Nicole said, "how are you?"

"I'm doing good. I know you're worried about Ethan, but you don't have to be. I'm not gonna screw up again."

"I hope not."

"When I get back I am going to move to better neighborhood, maybe out of Chicago all together. I might find some suburban town close to work, but out of the city. That way Ethan can go to better schools and I can stay away from temptation."

"That's a good idea." Nicole looked at the clock. "Well, if you're going to take him back to Chicago today he won't be going to school, so I guess you can go wake him."

"Actually, I just wanted to see him and touch him, but I think it might be better if you keep him until I find a new place for us to live. It'll be easier to move and get everything in order if he's here."

"Okay. I have to go get ready for work. I'll be back down in half an hour."

xxxxx

"Who was that?" Antonio asked. He was in front of the mirror shaving when Nicole came in the master bathroom.

"That was Kelly. She got out early and came to see Ethan. She's going back to Chicago to get everything in order and then she'll take him."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?"

"I was hoping he would finish the school year at Geneva. I hate that he is going back to public school."

"Couldn't you just send Kelly the tuition to send Ethan to private school in Chicago?"

Nicole gave him a look, "you know she would never let me do that. She's too proud."

"You knew this day would come. I guess you have to let go."

xxxxx

While Antonio made breakfast and Ethan was still asleep, Nicole sat down with Kelly to tell her what Antonio suggested. "Maybe you should stay in Chicago."

"What?" Kelly said incredulously.

"Ethan is doing really well in school, you know. He's been attending a private school, Geneva Academy. I'm pretty sure they have a chapter in Chicago."

"Nicole, I am not going to let you pay for my son's education."

"Why not? He's my nephew and I love him. And I know you know his chances are better in a private school. Don't let your pride get in the way of what's best for your baby."

"…I don't know."

"Just think about it."

xxxxx

That morning over breakfast, while she was getting Joe ready, while she was getting ready herself Jess never spoke to Nathan. He decided to break the ice, even though he was nervous about what kind of a response she would give him. He had to bring it up because it was important.

"Jess, Teresa is going to be here soon, so let me just say this and then you can go back to ignoring me."

"Okay." She stared right in his eyes with her arms crossed, giving him her full attention and still making it known that she really wanted nothing to do with him.

"I figure you found all that stuff out about me from Nicole and Antonio…mainly Nicole I'm sure."

"And?"

"And I'm sure you told her it was all wrong, right?"

"Go on."

"No matter how mad you are at me you have to remember that as far as they are concerned it was all wrong."

"In other words, you want me to keep my mouth shut." She was going to anyway. If for no other reason because she was embarrassed. She needed to work everything out by herself, and to do that she would have to lie to everyone who knew what Nathan did and even people who didn't. She was still going over what she would say to her family if she had to divorce Nathan. She would never tell them the truth.

"I would have put it nicer, but yeah. Will you?"

"Only because I don't want the Maryland police tearing up my house…and since I brought it up, there isn't anything in around here that could be…incriminating, is there?"

"No. I told you, I don't bring that home with me."

xxxxx

Kelly took Ethan to school. Nicole and Antonio went to work.

Antonio put the car in park.

"It's your last day…for real this time."

"It sure better be."

"I'm going to miss this, us driving to work together. Oh, I almost forgot I talked to a wedding planner this morning and she is coming over at seven tonight to meet with you, me, and my mom. Okay?"

"All right."

xxxxx

On her way to work that morning Jess stopped by her lawyer's office and told him to draw up papers for a divorce in case she couldn't make Nathan see things her way.

Antonio and Nicole's flirting—that they often did when no one was around or looking—stopped when Jess got to her desk. Antonio knew she knew he had a hand in the background check, so he left feeling uncomfortable.

"Did you talk to him?" Nicole asked her partner, knowing Jess would know exactly who she meant.

"Yeah. It was a mistake, just like I said."

"I know you don't really believe that." Nicole was losing the patience she had.

"I took vows."

"He is a professional criminal!"

"Even if that were true…Nicole, you don't understand. And it's none of your business anyway." Jess said those last seven words remembering that she was mad at Nicole for "starting" it all in the first place.

xxxxx

"Her name is Bailey Hughes," Thomas explained the pictures covering the board of a four-year-old girl with blonde hair. Some of the pictures looked like those of a child, others looked like those of a twenty-year-old in the running for Ms. America. "She disappeared from her ballet class yesterday afternoon. This one's for us because it's a high profile case. Her father twenty-six-year-old Jose Hughes is a professional actor."

"Where?" Nicole asked.

"Malibu." He gave Jess the file.

"What else do we know?"

"As you can see Bailey participates in a lot of child beauty pageants. She's won over forty titles. She's also involved in ballet, tap, piano, and singing lessons."

"Doesn't give her much time to just be four," Nicole commented.

"I guess not. She was with her nanny Gwendolyn Packard when she went missing. Her mother Ella Hughes aged twenty-eight was at the spa and her dad was on the set. The parents have been cleared and so have the nannies."

"Nannies?" Jess said.

"Gwendolyn is the daytime nanny and Elizabeth Rhodes stays with the girl at night. Bailey spends most of the time in their care."

xxxxx

The flight to California was mainly quiet. When the three of them did speak it was only in relation to Bailey. Nicole was frustrated and somewhat angry at Jess for her decisions with Nathan, Jess was very upset with Nicole for being the instigator of all their problems to begin with, and Antonio was stuck in the middle.

"The police talked to all the children who were in the studio when Bailey went missing, but only a hand full of them gave enough information to consider worth thinking about," Jess told them. "Four of them were taken to the local police department for further questioning by people who know how to talk to kids."

"What did they see?" Nicole asked.

"One girl said she saw a man with his daughter. She said they left before the class was dismissed because quote 'her daddy's cell phone rang and he got scared and left.' They figure she meant that he became nervous after taking the call. Another two girls said that there was a woman without a child watching them. But of course they're all too young to help a sketch artist."

"How old are the children who talked to the cops?"

"All the children in the class are between three and five."

xxxxx

"I was talking to some of the other nannies. Bailey was running around the room playing," Gwendolyn told Jess and Nicole.

"Then what happened?" Jess asked.

"I turned around and she was just gone. I don't know how no one saw anything."

xxxxx

Antonio came back from the dance studio. "What's new?"

"Typical story," Nicole said, "nanny is too busy talking to the other adults to notice the kid. When she finally decides to check on her she's no where to be found. At least this one didn't use that old adage I only turned my back for a minute. This is exactly why I don't let Teresa take Ethan anywhere."

"Okay, I have something that might help us," Jess approached them, "Bailey's pageants were all conducted by the same agency, Little Starlet Inc. Little Starlet's pageants are for children six months to seven years old. Their shows are all held in L.A."

"All right," Antonio said, "I'll cross reference all the registered child molesters in the area who have abused children seven or younger." He left them to go to the local field office.

"When was Bailey's last performance?" Nicole asked.

Jess looked over all her notes until she found it. "Three weeks ago."

"Where?"

"The Octoplex."