Rough Weather Part 38

63.

It was perhaps the longest silence I've ever sat through. n.o.body spoke. n.o.body moved. Except that Hawk tapped his gun slowly against his thigh as he stood. Behind me, through my bay windows, the day was darker, and the rain was hard now, streaming down the gla.s.s. Finally, Rugar spoke. I've ever sat through. n.o.body spoke. n.o.body moved. Except that Hawk tapped his gun slowly against his thigh as he stood. Behind me, through my bay windows, the day was darker, and the rain was hard now, streaming down the gla.s.s. Finally, Rugar spoke.

"I was somewhat startled myself," he said.

"Have you authenticated the relationship?" I said.

"DNA," Rugar said. "She is my daughter."

"Did you know, Adelaide?"

"Not until my mother told us," she said. "And even then I didn't believe it until we had the DNA test. It made it easier to go through the kidnapping."

I nodded.

"And that's why you did it?" I said to Rugar.

"Yes," he said. "I have no relatives. The thought of having one pleased me."

"I'm surprised," I said.

"As am I," Rugar said.

"Until now you had thought Van Meer was your father," I said to Adelaide.

"Yes."

"Were you close to him?"

"No," she said.

"How do you feel about your new father?" I said.

"I love him," she said. "Papa is the first person I've ever had."

I looked at Hawk. Silently, he mouthed the word Papa Papa.

I looked at Rugar. He nodded.

"Okay, Papa," I said. "Then what happened."

"I knew enough about Heidi to know she would find someone to do this foolish scheme if I declined," Rugar said. "And at least if I did it, I could see that it was done well, and I could look out for Adelaide."

"So you agreed."

"I told her I would do it," Rugar said. "But she was to do nothing without clearing it with me."

"Which she agreed to and ignored," I said.

"She hired you," Rugar said. "That would have been a deal-breaker had I known in advance."

"Why'd she do it?" I said.

"Probably because I frightened her, and the entire adventure frightened her, and she wanted personal protection from someone who knew me."

"She had the Tashtego patrol," I said.

"She knew that those on duty would have to be eliminated if this scheme were to work."

"So she hired me to protect her from the consequences of an action she initiated," I said.

"Yes."

"That's crazy," I said.

"I have thought since the beginning that some of what we were doing is putting on a kidnapping that was worthy of Heidi Bradshaw, and I still think so."

I nodded.

"But hiring you was the ultimate mistake," Rugar said. "I knew you would not leave it alone. I should have killed you as soon as I saw you."

"Yeah," I said. "You should have."

"It would have jeopardized the timetable. And it would have caused several formidable people, on both sides of the law, to attempt revenge."

Softly from his place at the wall, Hawk said, "Uh-huh."

"Later," Rugar said, "I tried to rectify my mistake by making another one. If you were to be killed, I should have done it myself."

"But," I said, "you had Adelaide to think about. You couldn't take the same risks you would once have taken."

"Your mind is quick," he said. "What has made me so successful in my profession is that I am not bothered by death, and until Adelaide, that included my own."

"Things do change," I said.

"They do," Rugar said.

"Things went awry, too," I said.

"Yes," Rugar said. "As you know, I am meticulous. But the plan was too foolish, and my co-conspirators were too . . ."

"Crazy," I said.

"Something like that."

"Was Bradshaw in on any of this?"

"I think," Rugar said, "that he thought he was."

He smiled faintly. "I doubt that he was apprised that I was to kill him."

"He didn't show," I said.

"No."

"And the hurricane was hard to plan for."

"It was. Obviously, when Bradshaw didn't show up, and the hurricane did," Rugar said, "I began to improvise. And you know how that went. I got as much done as I could, and I got Adelaide and myself out of there."

"You could still have pulled off most of it," I said. "Maybe all of it, you ended up killing Bradshaw anyway."

"I took Adelaide to a safe house and had a doctor in to see her," Rugar said. "I have, as you might imagine, considerable access to covert amenities."

"When she fainted," I said, "it was real."

Rugar looked at Adelaide.

"Yes," she said. "I didn't realize how violent it all was going to be. Momma never said anything about Maurice being killed."

"You loved Maurice?" I said.

"Not like a husband, but like a friend, yes."

"Maurice was gay," I said.

"Yes. Marriage was Mother's idea."

"You didn't mind marrying a gay man?"

She shrugged. "At least he was nice," she said.

"And you're still in the safe house?" I said.

Rugar smiled and didn't answer. I nodded.

"So you hid out in the safe house," I said, "and while you were doing it you got to know each other."

"Yes."

"And you found out some things," I said.

"Yes."

"Like that she had attempted suicide," I said.

Rugar nodded.

"And that she had been s.e.xually molested," I said.

"Bradshaw," Rugar said. "For years."

"Did you tell anyone?" I said to Adelaide.

"Momma knew."

"What did she say?"

"She said I'd have to put up with it, for a while at least, because we didn't have any money."

Again, silence. I think even Hawk was appalled. He had stopped slapping the gun against his thigh. The only sound in the room was the rain on the window. Adelaide started to cry. I gave her a Kleenex. Rugar put his hand on her back.

"Which," I said, "finally is why you killed Bradshaw. It had nothing to do with insurance."

"Correct," Rugar said.

"And why you never sent a ransom note, which eventually forced Heidi to make a very late and amateurish forgery."

"Correct."

"You were supposed to get, what, the ransom money?"

"Yes."

"And you walked away from it?" I said.

"I didn't want it," Rugar said. "Adelaide didn't want her inheritance."

"So why didn't you just take her and go?" I said.

"You," Rugar said. "I knew you would not let it go. If you thought there was a possibility that the young girl, whom you perceived a kidnap victim, were still alive, you'd plow along looking for her. We could never be safe."

"Bradshaw called me a little while before he died and said he was in danger," I said.

"I wanted him to feel fear, as Adelaide had. I couldn't afford to let it linger as long as it should have. But I told him I would kill him and I gave him a little time to be terrified before I killed him."

"And you weren't worried about Adelaide."

"Adelaide is getting help, she is becoming more stable . . . and"-Rugar smiled-"killing Bradshaw was a somewhat smaller challenge than killing you."

"Heidi called on me for help as well," I said.

"I told her I knew everything about Adelaide and Bradshaw and her."

"So she's afraid you'll kill her," I said.

"Adelaide has asked me not to," Rugar said.