CHAPTER 24
The meeting adjourned at six o'clock, and Noel was tired. The negotiations had gone very well; it looked like everything could be wound up tomorrow or the next day. He'd be glad to get home; he'd been gone too long.
He missed the familiar comfort of his apartment and his office. Most of all he longed for Farah. Barbara had been right when she called him a family man. He would file for divorce at once, and as soon as it was granted he would marry Farah. They could go to Las Vegas for the ceremony. Once they were married he wouldn't worry any more about losing her.
And he did worry. Farah had changed in some subtle way. He had sensed it before he left. And their long distance conversations had been so strange. Little things, but they disturbed him, for always in the back of his mind was the knowledge of the difference in their ages.
These thoughts occupied him as he walked to his hotel. Crossing the lobby to the coffee shop, he heard a familiar voice calling his name. He turned and saw Charlie North, an old friend from his school days.
"Noel!" Charlie's face was alight with pleasure. "What are you doing in this part of the world?"
Noel wrung Charlie's hand, glad to see him. "Right noe I'm on my way to the coffee shop for a quick meal. Can you join me? Gosh, it's good to see you."
"I can't join you for dinner, but I'll have a drink and we can talk for a few minutes."
They settled in a booth and ordered drinks. "In answer to your question," Noel said, "I'm here on business. What about you?"
"Visiting relatives. How have you been?"
"Great. How are things at Harvard?" Charlie was connected with the Law School.
"Same as usual. I'm glad I ran into you. I've got some good news for Kevin. He'll be notified by mail, but maybe you'd like to be the one to tell him. His application got misplaced and just now turned up. He's been accepted for the fall term."
"Sonofagun." Noel's smile of pleasure eased the tiredness in his face. "Won't Kevin be happy to hear that? I'll call him tonight."
Charlie finished his drink and left, saying he had to pick up his wife. Noel hurried through his dinner and went to his room. As he placed the call to his son's apartment, he thought how happy this news would make Kevin. He was proud of his son. He hoped Kevin wouldn't rush into marriage before he was established in his profession and old enough to choose wisely. At least he wouldn't have money problems, as Noel had had.
The young man who shared the apartment with Kevin answered on the third ring.
"Jeff," Noel said, "this is Mr. McKay. Is Kevin there?"
"No, he's not, Mr. McKay," Jeff answered.
"When do you expect him?" Noel's fingers beat a nervous tattoo on the table.
"That's hard to say. I haven't seen much of him since I've been of the evening shift. We're like ships that pass in the night."
"Do you know where he can be reached?" Noel got pencil and paper ready to write down a number.
"He has a new girlfriend. Maybe you can reach him there."
"Do you have her phone number?"
Jeff gave him the number. Noel wrote it down in his neat handwriting, then stared at it in shock. It was Farah's number! But it couldn't be. He must have heard wrong.
"Will you repeat that?" he asked. But it was the same. It was Farah's number. "Thanks, Jeff," he said in a strangled voice, and hung up. His world started falling apart around him.
As soon as he could trust his voice, Noel called the man he had been negotiating with and explained that something had come up at his office that needed his immediate attention. If he came in early in the morning and signed the agreement, could they wind up the negotiations without him?
He then called the hotel travel desk for a flight reservation home. The earliest available flight on such short notice would get him in Los Angeles the next day around 4:00 p.m. Pacific time.
Throughout the flight he stared unseeingly out the window, telling himself over and over that it had to be a mistake, Jeff had written the number down wrong, Kevin was playing a joke on Jeff -- anything except Farah and Kevin together. That was unthinkable.
His plane touched down on schedule and he picked up his car from the airport garage. There was no question about his destination. He headed for Farah's house without a conscious decision. When the house came into view he could see Kevin's Corvette parked in the driveway. So it was true. He stopped his car. He put his head on the steering wheel and moaned aloud. Then he restarted the engine and drove slowly into Farah's driveway behind Kevin's car.
He used his key to let himself in, and followed voices to the patio. Farah and Kevin, both in shorts and t-shirts, were working in the yard, laughing and teasing each other in an intimacy that shriveled Noel's insides. He had never been a violent man, but suddenly he shook with fury. He wanted to strike out at something. He slid back the screen door and stepped out onto the flagstones of the patio.
Farah heard the screen door open and turned in alarm. Noel had the only other key to the house, and it couldn't be Noel. Her eyes widened when she saw him standing there. The rake she was holding fell from her hands, and she made a little "oof" sound as if she had been punched in the midriff.
Hearing her, Kevin turned. "Dad," he said in surprise. Then seeing the black look on his father's face, he walked over to stand at Farah's side.
"Noel!" The constriction in Farah's chest made her voice sound breathless. She groped for words. "I wasn't expecting you," she said inanely.
"That's pretty obvious." Noel's rage was choking him.
"Why didn't you call?"
"I called Kevin last night. Jeff gave me a number where he could be reached. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be your."
"Please let me explain," Farah said.
"Explain what? That as soon as I turned my back, you hopped into bed with my own son? You're nothing but a tramp."
Farah recoiled. She had expected it to be bad, but not like this.
"Don't talk to Farah like that. She's no tramp." Kevin's face was white with anger. "We love each other. We want to get married."
Noel ignored him, his gaze on Farah. "What a fast little worker you are," he said. "First me, then Kevin. You really had me fooled."
"It's not like that, Dad. Why don't you give us a chance to explain?" Kevin started forward, stepped on the rake Farah had dropped, and the handle flew up andstruck him in the face. He fell backward, his head striking the edge of the marble bench, and slid to the flagstones. He lay motionless, his eyes closed.
"Kevin!" Farah screamed and crouched beside him. She put her hand under his head to lift it, then drew it back in horror, her eyes widening. It was covered with blood. She screamed again. Noel hadn't moved. His face was gray with shock.
"I've got to get help," Farah said, struggling for control. She ran inside and dialed the operator with trembling fingers. "I need help," she cried through chattering teeth. "Please send an ambulance and the police as fast as you can. Somebody's been hurt." She gave the address.
Next she dialed Hack, who answered on the first ring. "Hack," she wailed, "There's been a terrible accident. Can you come?"
"Hang on, Princess. I'm on my way."
Running back outside she found Noel kneeling beside Kevin, his face etched with grief. Crouching beside him, she said, "I've called for an ambulance and the police. And Hack's coming."
Tears poured down Noel's cheeks. "God help me," he said, "I've killed my son."
"No, no, he can't be dead!" Terror made Farah's voice shrill. She felt for a pulse but found none. This is my punishment, she thought, and moved beyond tears to icy calm.
"I've killed him," Noel said again.
"Noel!" The sharpness of Farah's voice cut through his grief. "Pull yourself together, Noel." He looked at her. "We can't have a scandal. For your sake, for Kevin's sake, for my sake. You didn't kill him. Do you hear me? He tripped and fell and struck his head on the bench. That's the truth. You never laid a finger on him. You were over ten feet away."
Noel's face showed comprehension. "You're right." He looked at her and his expression hardened. "It was You who killed him."
"Yes, in a way, I guess I killed him." Her heart was a cold stone in her breast. "You can hate me later. But right now our concern is about what the police will think. You mustn't say a thing to them about its being anyone's fault. You came here to meet your son's fiancee. Me. You understand?"
"I can do better than that. I came to tell Kevin he'd been accepted at Harvard."
"Oh, Noel." Her heart broke for Kevin, for Noel, for herself. But this was no time for regrets; regrets could wait. "Okay. You came to tell him that," she said. "That's good. You rang the bell and I let you in. We had met briefly once before. I led you to the patio. Kevin and I were working in the yard. I dropped the rake when I went to the door. Kevin tripped over it as he started forward to meet you. Can you remember that?"
"Of course. I'm okay now."
The doorbell rang and Farah ran to let Hack in. "Thank God you're here," she cried. She took his arm and pulled him outside. "Kevin fell. It was an accident. Oh, God, Hack, I think he's dead."
"Have you called an ambulance? And the police?" She nodded. Hack crouched down to examine Kevin. He stood up, his face grave. "I think he's gone," he said gently.
Farah looked at him through glassy eyes, absorbing the shock. She clung to him for a moment, then drew away. "This is Kevin's father, Noel McKay. He was bringing Kevin some good news." Her breath caught in a sob. The two men nodded to each other.
She knelt again beside Kevin. She knew without conscious thought that Hack had gone back inside. Several minutes elapsed before he returned. Crossing to Farah, he squatted down beside her and whispered, "I gathered up Kevin's things and put them in my car trunk. The police sometimes get ideas."
She turned on him such a look of grief that Hack said hastily, "It's all right, Princess."
A wail of sirens announced the arrival of the ambulance. Hack went out to meet it and came back followed by two ambulance attendants. As they examined Kevin, the deputies arrived.
After introducing himself as Deputy Poole, the short, stocky officer also examined the body while his partner took pictures, then drew a chalk mark around the body.
Farah broke down. She hadn't wanted to believe that Kevin was dead. This made it irrevocable.
Poole conferred with the attendants, then turned to Farah and asked what happened. Alert now, she related how Kevin had started forward to greet his father and stepped on the rake.
"He stepped on the rake?"
"Actually, he stepped on the prongs of the rake. The handle flew up and hit him in the face. He fell backward. His head hit the edge of the bench." She saw it again in her mind, but she pushed it away and her gaze on the officer didn't falter.
"I'm sorry to put you through this, Miss, but you understand I have to ask these questions." Poole's voice was matter-of-fact. He then asked the name, address and age of the "victim," which he wrote down in a well-thumbed notebook. He passed this information along to the ambulance attendants and instructed them to take the body to the Coroner's office.
Farah watched them lift Kevin into the ambulance, close the doors, and drive away. This is just a bad dream, she told herself because if it isn't I don't want to go on living. She took several steps toward the retreating ambulance. Hack sprang forward and put his arms around her and she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Hang on, Princess," Hack whispered. His face as he held her was full of pity and love.
"It's all right, I'm okay now." She disengaged herself and turned back to Poole, who suggested they all go inside for questioning.
Poole parked his hat on a table in theliving room and selected the most comfortable chair. The other man, who was introduced as Deputy Mendez, eased himself into a chair in the background. Poole began by asking their names and addresses, which he entered methodically in his notebook.
When Noel gave his name, Poole looked up. "You related?"
"My son," Noel said. He sat down in an adjacent chair, his face drawn with shock and pain.
Poole looked questioningly at Farah. "My fiance," she said.
"Now, what were you all doing when the accident happened?" he asked Farah.
"Kevin and I were working in the yard," she said. "The gardener couldn't come this week and we were doing it ourselves."
"What was Mr. McKay doing?"
"He had just arrived. He came to tell Kevin ..."
"Let him tell me," Poole said, not unkindly.
Farah glanced at Noel. He looks dreadful, she thought. Oh, God, let him give the right answers.
"I've been away on business," Noel said. "While I was gone I found out that Kevin's application to Harvard Law School had been accepted. I knew how much he wanted this. I came in by plane late this afternoon and called his place. I was told he was out here, so I drove out." He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his eyes. "I wanted to tell him ... I wanted to be the one to give him the good news."
"You've been here before?"
Farah's heart sank. She hadn't anticipated this question. But Noel answered steadily in the same tone. "I was acquainted with Dr. Fuller."
Poole turned back to Farah. "You were not expecting Mr. McKay then," he said. "What happened after he arrived?"
"I went to the door and let him in. We came out to the patio. Kevin was standing near the rake where I had dropped it when the doorbell rang. He started forward to greet his father and stepped on the prongs of the rake. It happened just like I told you before. The rake handle hit him in the face and he fell backward against the bench."
"What did you do then?"
"I ran to him. I tried to lift his head. My hand came away all bloody." She stared at her hand in horror. The blood was gone, but she automatically wiped her hand on her shorts, noticing that they were already bloodstained where she had wiped her hand before.
"Was he conscious?"
"No. He was just lying there with his eyes closed."
"Then what did you do?"
"I ran inside and called for an ambulance and the police."
"Did you try to revive ..." he consulted his notes, "Kevin?"
Noel said in a dead voice, "Neither of us could find a pulse. Or a heartbeat."
"What about you?" Poole turned to Hack.
"I wasn't here when it happened. I live a mile up the road. Farah called me."
Poole turned back to Farah. "You called him when?"
"Right after I called for the ambulance and the police."
He looked back at Hack. "What's your connection with Miss Fuller and the deceased?"
"Dr. Fuller was one of my closest friendss. You might say I'm a friend of the family. I met Kevin for the first time when I came to dinner here last night."
Poole was studying Hack. "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"
"Yes, last February when Dr. Fuller was killed in an explosion. You answered the police call."
"Of course, now I remember." He looked at Hack with respect. "You got burned trying to save him."
He turned back to Farah. "Trouble seems to follow you around, Miss Fuller." She turned on him such a stricken look out of tear-filled eyes that he said hastily, completely out of character, "I'm sorry. I'm used to dealing with crooks and criminals."
He turned again to Noel. "Mr. McKay, do you agree that what happened was an accident?"
"Well, of course it was an accident," Noel said, looking astonished at the question.
"Do you agree in substance with what Miss Fuller has said?"
"What do you mean, 'in substance'? It happened exactly as she said."
"You have nothing further to add?"
Noel shook his head.
After a few more routine questions, Poole closed his notebook and stood up. "There will have to be an autopsy," he said. "You'll be notified when you can claim the body. I must ask that you all stay available in case you are needed for further questioning." He started to the door, followed by Mendez.
"I'd better go, too." Noel rose and followed Poole. "God help me, I've got to tell Barbara."
"Your wife?" asked Hack. Noel nodded. "Just a moment, Poole," Hack said, "McKay here has had a bad shock. Could you see that he gets home?"
"Sure thing, Dr. Hackaby. I'll drive him myself and my partner can follow in thesquad car."
As they went out Noel was saying, "Do you suppose you could go in with me and help break the news to my wife?" He didn't say goodbye or look at the others as he left.