Relationships, Wrong and Secret.

Ethan now had to move on to the final part of the report, and it was not something he was looking forward to… "Okay, so with that revelation in our heads, let's get back to someone that we both know much more about – Lucy. First off, she is no longer living in the Middle East. She ran into 'difficulties' there; questions were being asked that could have brought about her dismissal, and indeed she would have been sacked had she not already left to take up a new position in Berlin at the St. Joseph's Krankenhaus Klinik für Kinder und Jugendmedizin; yes, the irony of her also being at somewhere called St Joseph's isn't lost on me. It seems that she is engaged to someone that will be her fourth husband…"

Drew coughed loudly, then exclaimed, "Are you seriously telling me that in less than five years she has been married and divorced twice!?"

"I'm afraid that I am. She married her second husband two days after your divorce from her was made official at the end of 2022. As I recall, your received the papers via e-mail on Christmas Eve that year…"

"It was the best Christmas present ever," interrupted Drew…

"Well, she also received the papers that day, and she married her new husband on the 26th of the month. From that choice of date, I can only assume that she was intent on marrying him regardless of whether her divorce from you was completed on time or not; she obviously had no issue with becoming a bigamist. They went to Switzerland for their honeymoon, a ski holiday; he had a nasty skiing accident just days later; he lost control as he was heading down a piste that was designated for experienced skiers, which he was not by the way, and he hit a tree at speed. In the middle of January, he filed for divorce, stating that they had irreconcilable differences… I think that we both know that the incident on the slopes was no accident, and that is proven by the medical report at the time, which stated that he had numerous older bruises and contusions; they were noted by the doctors that treated his broken arm and leg…"

Drew sighed, then said, "Dare I ask what happened to the lucky man that was destined to be number three?"

Ethan nodded, but his face was grim. "He was, like her second husband, a doctor, but she met him out in the Middle East. He was one of the senior partners that ran and owned the hospital that she was working at; much older than her, with much more wealth naturally. The detective was unable to find out as much information on what happened during their marriage as the way things work over there is very different, but I think that we can safely assume that after she had won him over, she treated him just like she treated you and number two. They did find that he had an increase rate of absences from the hospital after they married, but that could be down to his age, if we are being charitable…"

Drew snorted at that, and Ethan nodded in agreement. "Of course, there was also a serious of injuries recorded after their wedding day, things that he could not account for fully… He was found dead in their apartment in the middle of last year. The investigation at the time concluded that it was suicide; he had taken an overdose, a lethal cocktail of drugs that combined destroyed most of the vital organs in his body. She played the part of the heartbroken widow perfectly, but alas, not well enough for there to be rumours that she might well have been complicit in his demise…"

"She aroused suspicion by the fact that she had begun to look for new positions the day before he died, and did so even on the day of the funeral. There was not enough evidence that they could hold her in the country, and once she was on that plane she was away for good, as there is no extradition treaty between that country and Germany. I cannot say whether she is capable of murder or not, but she could definitely drive a man to suicide. What makes things worse is that she began to date the moment she was in Berlin, and it was in her first week there that she met the man destined to be number four." Ethan closed his eyes, and took a breath, then said, "He is a medical student, barely out of high school. He is nineteen…"

The gasp of horror that he heard from his friend at that news was entirely expected… "I sometimes wonder if I was having some sort of mental breakdown, or was taking drugs, when I met Lucy. She made my life a living hell, but I stayed with her because my warped mind thought that I loved her."

"Your mind was fine; the only problem was that you were too kind, and thought that you could cure her and make her a better person. You wanted to make her like you, a sympathetic and caring individual who valued other people. It isn't your fault that she turned out to be twisted and borderline psychotic."

"No, but maybe if I had listened to other people's opinions when I started going out with her and hadn't been on a personal crusade to heal her…"

"Then you would not have Evie. She is only here because you have a big heart and tried to help someone become a better human being. The problem was that she did not want to be a better person, she just wanted to use and control you; she no doubt gets quite a kick out of it, being in control over others… I feel nothing but pity for the poor young man that she has now sunk her claws into…"

"I feel equally sorry for my two successors as her husband; at least the first of them had the sense to get out after the first extreme attack. I am guessing that the second must have been in the same place that I was in before Jeff bumped into me and Nick brought you in. I am going to be honest, if it had not been for Evie, you might have been too late to save me. Like me, he was stuck with her in a foreign country, isolated from family and friends…"

"Unlike you, he had easy access to the means to end his life through his workplace," replied Ethan. He stopped then, conscious of the fact that if he did not, he might say what was in the back of his mind out loud. He had read the whole report, and knew that the man in question had stopped work 10 months before his death, and had become a virtual recluse. The person with the easy access to the drugs he had used to end his life was his wife. There was no proof that she had murdered him, but it wasn't a stretch to picture such things in his mind…

"Do we have a name for the student, or know which medical school he studies at?" asked Drew, bringing Ethan's focus back to the room. "Please tell me that we can find out if we don't, because we need to intervene in this and save him from her. She will be being so nice to him right now, seducing him with honeyed words, just like she did with me. Once she has drawn him in she will persuade him to drop out of medical school and that is when the real abuse will begin. I might not have been able to save Lucy from herself, but I can try and save that poor boy…"

"I'm sure that we can find all of that out, but even then, who says he will listen?"

"I don't mean contacting him directly, because that won't work; it didn't with me. No, we get in touch with his parents and the university authorities and tell them that he is in danger; refer them to the authorities in the middle east, and even to husband two…"

"Which would in turn lead them to you," said Ethan. "It would let Lucy know where you are and give her an in. No, we cannot intervene directly; we have to be much more cunning than that. Leave it with me…"

"Well, okay, but I don't want her to be killed or anything like that; she would get off far too lightly that way…"

Ethan looked at his best friend in shock, and then laughed. "Drew, I have contacts, but not the sort that rub people out! Anyway, changing the subject back, what do you want to do about the surprise relative by marriage we have discovered?"

"Do we have a name for him?" asked Drew, then shook his head at his own stupidity and looked at the piece of paper that was on the table in front of him. "Brother Atticus Flynn… Wow, that is a first name and no mistake. I am going to guess that his parents might have been fans of a certain novel by Harper Lee…"

"I think we can agree on that one. We could take a walk down to St Joseph's one of these days and make discreet enquiries, see if we can have a look at him…"

"Well yeah, but I have an easier method right now. We check online for mentions of his name. There are always events taking place at churches, and pictures of those events end up online these days. Hopefully he will be in at least one of those images, and name tagged…"

Ethan left Drew to make his search; he suddenly needed to head out to the drugstore to pick up some more milk, as they were dangerously low. That was not the case at all, but his friend was not aware of that, and was too engrossed in his new mission to quibble in any case. He pulled on his coat and headed out, walking down the street as normal. As soon as he turned the corner at the end, he pulled out his phone and made a call to the detective that had been looking into Lucy's family for him, forgetting the time difference momentarily. Fortunately, the man was still awake, and they talked briefly about the report, then Ethan got to the point.

"You told me that you had full details of exactly where Lucy is living now, and on the young man that she is currently involved with, and at the time I declined them. My mind has now changed in respect to the student; I want to know everything there is, particularly where he is studying and where his parents reside. Somebody needs to intervene in that relationship before it becomes too toxic, and he ends up like husbands one and two, or worse, husband three. His parents and the university authorities would be a good place to start sowing the seeds of doubt."

"I can pass that information on, or I could ask…"

Ethan interrupted him and blurted out, with venom in his voice, "I have a friend that is high up in the Oval Office and I am sure that he will have links to people in the Reichstag. I have a friend that works in the UN too, and he knows the German legation there, which would be another pathway to preventing her repeating history…"

"I agree that if the suggestion that the relationship is toxic comes from on high then both the institution and the family will be more likely to intercede. A similar suggestion could be made to the board of the hospital at which she is now employed…"

"That's true. I think that it is high time that Lucy learned once more what the penalties are for being abusive to those that she is supposed to love."

"I agree, but I would add a note of caution. Have you considered that Mr Symons might not approve of such a plan, and that even if he did, he might well object to you embroiling your mutual friends in it as well? As for those friends, do you believe that they would approve of your plans, and would they countenance the kind of intervention by them that you wish for? We read about politicians and others in power abusing their position all the time, but those below them are not usually the ones involved or the instigator of such things…"

Ethan said nothing for a moment, as he realised that he had let his emotions get the better of him for a moment and had failed to take into account the position that he would place Trent and Nick in by asking such things of them. "You have saved me from making a massive error of judgement through your words. The two friends that I spoke of would agree with me in their condemnation of Lucy's actions, but neither of them would want to abuse their position even in the circumstances, and it would be wrong of me to even consider suggesting that they should. As for Drew, he probably would never forgive me for it, and my parents would certainly have something to say on it… I think I was morphing into a stereotypical mafia don there for a moment. So, shall we say a copy of the report into Lucy, translated into German, sent to the home of the student's parents anonymously? I would not suggest the information is sent directly to him, as she might find it and he would be the one to suffer for it."

"That would be the most sensible approach in my opinion. I can also look into the young man in more depth, see if he has close friends or even siblings that could also receive the report in addition to his parents. A combination of family worries and peer pressure might well be the winner here. I can also alert the authorities in the Middle East to her past, as they are unaware of the reasons behind her two previous divorces; I have the feeling that the patriarchal authorities in that part of the world might well see the hints of abuse towards her previous husbands as a reason to no longer believe that she was the innocent angel that they were meant to see. Even the hint of a reason to suspect that her third husband did not actually die at his own hand might well be enough for their criminal system to have her face detailed enquiries and possibly charges, even if they cannot ask for her extradition."

Ethan returned home with the milk he had stated he was heading out for, as he realised that coming home empty handed would be viewed with suspicion, and the drugstore was never out of milk. He found Drew was still on his laptop, looking at pictures on Facebook. "He actually looks a little bit like her; the same shape of face, the same colour of eyes and a similar nose…" he said as Ethan looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, but his beard is much fuller than hers," quipped his friend, which made Drew laugh.

"He looks like a good man, and from a quick search into his past, his volunteering before he became a Friar goes a lot further than we thought. When he was in Africa on his gap year, he actually helped to build a water and sewage scheme for a couple of villages, and he returned to assist on his summer breaks from college too, before he graduated with honours. Since being in the order, he has spent time in Latin America and has travelled at short notice to assist after two earthquakes. As well as his ministry at St Joseph's, he helps run a drug rehabilitation program and also assists at an initiative aimed at preventing street violence over in Queens. He is the polar opposite to Lucy in every possible way…"

"She is all about dominance, greed and power, whereas he is there to assist others willingly without any need for reward. She would never do something unless she was getting paid for it; you'd never find her working for a charity like Médecins Sans Frontières for example," said Ethan.

"I think that I would like to meet him after all; not tell him who I am or anything like that, but rather befriend him in some way, maybe by volunteering with one of his groups."

Ethan nodded, then responded thoughtfully, "I wonder if any of those organisations has ever applied for a grant from the Mackenzie Trust? Even if the haven't they sound exactly like the sort of groups that the Trust would fund. I can check, and if not, then I could try and arrange a meeting with him to discuss the possibility of us funding them. You could come along as my assistant…"

"That might well be perfect, as it would satisfy my curiosity," replied Drew. Ethan nodded, then changed the subject to one that was not linked to his friend's past…


At the end of that week, Beats would make a discovery of something that would come as a surprise to him and indeed would shock everyone else too. It had been an extremely busy week for him at the office; he was curious as to why some of the meetings that he had been expecting the following week had been brought forward or pushed back, to the extent that he now had none at all on Thursday and Friday. What was surprising was when one of the people involved told him that they had been moved at his request; he knew that he had not made such a request, but he put it down to crossed wires and let it slide.

In his hurry to leave that Friday night, he left his tablet computer on his desk, and he needed it in case he was summoned out to deal with an emergency over the weekend; as soon as he realised his mistake, just as he was about to enter the subway station naturally, he sighed and headed back. As he was about to turn the corner into the corridor that his office was on, he heard voices, and that made him slow down and check what was going on first. What he saw made him glad he had done so.

His colleague Matthew, Seth's cousin, was kissing someone with passion at the door to his office; that was not against the rules of the department per se, but the young lady he was kissing was known to Beats, although he would not have said they were close friends. He had to double check his first assumption, as she was supposed to be in Ohio, and he was sure that it would have been mentioned by someone in his circle of friends if she was known to be visiting that week. As far as he was aware, Mason had not mentioned that his twin sister was to be in town, and it was unlikely, especially seeing she had been there at the start of the month for the two weddings. That all paled into insignificance given the kiss that he was witnessing. He smiled at seeing it though; Matthew deserved to find love after all, and he could do far worse than Madison McCarthy…

He waited patiently for them to leave the corridor before he headed into his own office to collect his tablet, grateful that it was an older building that their department occupied, as that meant there had been an alcove he could sink into and be invisible to the couple as they headed to the elevators. He did not want to imagine how awkward the conversation could have been for all of them if they had bumped into each other. With his tablet now safely in his briefcase, he headed back out, stopping at the entrance doors to glance out into the street before he exited in case they were lingering in the street. He saw no sign of them, and he made his way quickly to the subway again, and was able to jump on a train straight away…

He let himself into his apartment, and smiled to himself as he heard Elliott singing away in the kitchen, the air filled with the delicious aroma of their evening meal. He walked into the kitchen and hugged his husband, and for once Ty was also in the market for a hug, something which Beats was happy to oblige him with. He placed his tablet on charge, then freshened himself up before joining his little family at the table.

Elliott talked about his day, telling him how the diner had been exceptionally busy that day, and then went on to say that he had seen Dante at lunchtime, and that he and Lachlan would be coming over for dinner on Sunday. Beats smiled at that news, and made a mental note that he would pick up a chicken at the Union Square market the following day; although he was no great chef, he could whip up a mean roast chicken dinner, and that was a great favourite of both their adopted son and his boyfriend. He knew that Elliott would be at the diner all day, so the catering would fall to him.

The subject then changed onto how Elliott's brother Josh and his husband Scott were getting on over in Japan; they were progressing well with getting the prototype device they had invented into production and had actually made even more improvements with access to the research and development labs at the firm's headquarters. There were new photos to share as well, and Elliott smiled inwardly as Beats sighed and looked wistfully at the younger couple immersing themselves in Japanese culture. He knew that going to Japan had always been his husband's dream, and he still had no idea that in just a few days, that dream was going to come true…

It was only as they washed up together after dinner, Ty despatched to do his homework, that Beats felt able to mention what he had seen as he left the office that night. Elliott had smiled, and then chuckled to himself.

"I did notice that the two of them spent a lot of time talking at Marley and Ryder's wedding reception, and saw that they seemed close again the following day when Roderick and Hillary got married. I have the feeling that it might have been love at first sight for Matthew, and I got the impression that Madison liked his company, but I thought that the distance between them would put a kybosh on the relationship. It would seem not if she is in town again; it must really be something for them both, given that she normally only comes to New York once or twice a year at most. I wonder if Mason knows that his twin sister is in town? I am going to assume that he doesn't, or the whole protective brother thing might well have kicked in!"

"There is no real way of confirming that without telling him what I have seen, and that is the last thing that I would want to do," replied Beats.

"Oh, don't be too sure that we can't find out. I might just go and have a quiet chat with Jane on the phone; as we both know, Mason will be onstage right now. She and I have a good relationship, and I'm sure that I can slip in a question about how her sister-in-law is getting on right now, given that her long-term relationship ended a couple of months ago…"

Beats chuckled then, and added, "If we knew whether Roderick was working or not we could call him too and ask the same thing. It is a pity that we aren't really close to Spencer and Alistair, because they would know much more as they live in Ohio; they are close neighbours of Madison, so they would not only know how she was, but if she was out of town…"

"Better yet, they might not even be aware she was away from home, which makes the whole idea of them keeping it quiet a reality. Okay, I will go and talk to Jane; she has been asking me for a recipe for months now, and nagged me at the wedding about it. Tonight I finally have the time to call her and tell her it, as well as having a nice chat…"

That call would confirm that the presence of Madison in the city was not known to her brother, and that only Beats and Elliott were aware of it of all their friends, and then only by chance. Of course, they decided that it would remain that way; it wasn't their place to do otherwise. It was obviously early days for the couple and the last thing that they needed as they started out on a relationship with each other was the close attention of friends and family, analysing every little thing that they did.

Beats did notice when he came into the office on Monday morning that Matthew was grinning from ear to ear; he smiled to himself at that, then headed into his own office to start his tasks for the day. When it came to time for a coffee break, he headed to the kitchen and discovered that Matthew was already there; as they were alone, he couldn't help but comment on the younger man's demeanour…

Matthew smiled, and then lowering his voice, replied, "I had a wonderful weekend, being honest… There is a very special someone in my life right now, and for the first time I am in love. She is older than me, seems to get me and makes me laugh all the time; I think that she feels the same level of love back…"

Beats nodded, then couldn't resist temptation. "Well, be careful… I mean, those cougars can be quite vicious once they get their claws into a young man like yourself…"

Matthew looked at him in horror, and exclaimed, "She isn't that much older! I mean, the very idea of being with a woman that age is just… There is a guy that I went to school with that is going out with a lady that could be described as that due to her age, and she has a son that is older than he is, which is just wrong! I could never do something like that, even if she was a millionaire!"

"Well, whoever she is she is a lucky lady to have you, and I hope that it all goes well for you."

"I hope so too, because I really do think she is the one," sighed Matthew. "There is one fly in the ointment at the moment, and that is the fact that she lives out of state; however, she is moving here in the next couple of months. If it is still going well then, I will of course introduce you all to her, once she is settled in the city…"

Beats nodded, resisting the urge to say that no introduction would be necessary as he already knew Madison. "Well, I am very pleased for you. What is it that she does for a living?"

"She has her own business," replied Matthew. "It is one that can be done from anywhere in the world really, but it turns out that most of the people that buy from her are located in the vicinity of New York, so by moving here she will be able to reduce the cost of shipping her goods to them. I think that given that, she could in time move into a physical retail space as well as the online one she has now, so it makes even more sense for her to live in the market that she sells to. Anyway, how is work progressing on the Second Avenue Subway project? I hear on the grapevine that there are to be open house consultation meetings in the communities that are to be impacted on the Lower East Side next month."

"Yes, we finally have a concrete set of dates," Beats responded, noting the quick change of subject. "Of course, the first of the meetings was actually intended to be this weekend when we first talked about it, but then there was a memo in my inbox on Friday to say that they had been postponed. The toughest of the meetings will be the ones we hold in Stuyvesant Town and the Peter Cooper Village; there will be many residents there that will welcome a new subway line through their community with open arms, but there are just as many that will feel that the new line will destroy their little corner of Manhattan by making it too accessible…"

Beats sighed, then went on, "Of course, the same sort of conflict did not occur when the city council was expanding the subway network on the west side of Manhattan – then they just drew a line on the map and built it through the neighbourhoods in question, whether the people liked it or not, destroying everything in its path. Ironically, that is also what happened when Stuyvesant Town was being built; eighteen blocks of what was then known as the Gashouse District were razed to the ground, with everything there, from apartments to businesses and even three churches and the same number of schools, destroyed. Of course, I'm not against public consultations, far from it, but maybe they are the reason why it takes so long to get anything done, and why it all ends up costing so much…"

Matthew nodded, knowing that although what his colleague had just said was controversial to many, it was completely true…