Betrayal

Chapter 10

IN ORDER TO satisfy Jim Kingston’s request to appear normal, Tallie let Brigitte drive her to Palm Springs on Monday morning. And after their usual stop at Starbucks, Tallie fell silent for a while. She wasn’t sure what to say, and then she knew what she had to do, to throw Brigitte off the scent.

“How was your weekend?” Brigitte asked casually as they drove along.

“Not so great,” Tallie said, staring out the window sadly. “Hunt and I broke up. He moved out on Friday night.”

“Oh my God, how did that happen? Did you confront him about what I told you?” Tallie nodded without looking at her. She was as genuinely sad as she appeared, but not only for the reasons Brigitte had told her.

“Yes, I did,” Tallie said, turning her gaze toward her, and Brigitte could see how devastated she was. “He said it was true, about the girl in his office. I asked him if he would give her up, and he said he wouldn’t. And then he admitted she’s pregnant.” Brigitte caught her breath sharply at that, and she didn’t look happy about it either.

“Is he going to marry her?” she asked, looking astounded. It was pretty shocking news and had been for Tallie too.

“I think so. In any case, he says he’s in love with her and he wouldn’t leave her, so I told him to move out.” There was a long moment of silence in the car as Brigitte absorbed it. Tallie knew her well enough to see that she was distressed at the news of his marriage and a baby.

“Did you ask him about the money?” Tallie nodded in answer. “What did he say?”

“He lied, of course. He denied it. But that problem is solved. He won’t be asking you for money now.” They rode along in silence for a while, and then Brigitte looked over at her sympathetically.

“I’m sorry, Tallie.” She could see that Tallie had believed her that it had been Hunt taking the money, and was heartbroken over the girl. “Why didn’t you call me?” Brigitte said, trying to get close to her again, as they had been before.

“I was too upset. I stayed in bed all weekend and cried. I don’t know, maybe I told him to move out too fast, but if he wasn’t going to give her up, what was the point of being the pathetic one in a triangle? And if she’s pregnant, I didn’t have a chance.”

“I thought he didn’t want kids.” Brigitte frowned.

“So did I. But apparently he wants this one, and he’s crazy about her little boy.” And it didn’t help that she was thirteen years younger than Tallie. That point hadn’t been lost on her either.

And then Brigitte asked in a soft voice, “Are you mad at me for telling you about the girl in his office and the money?”

Tallie shook her head. “No. Someone had to tell me, and I’d rather it was you.” She almost retched as she said it. What Brigitte hadn’t told her was that she had slept with him herself for three years. Tallie had learned a lot about both of them in the past few days. Both of them had betrayed her and lied to her, he had cheated on her during their entire relationship, and one of them was stealing her money. They were a disgusting pair, both of them. And she knew she would never feel the same way about Brigitte again. It had killed any feelings she had for Brigitte when she had lied about the hotel bills and Meg Simpson had told her that she and Hunt had had an affair for three years. Three years! And all the while Brigitte had looked her in the eye every day, and pretended to be her best friend. They had both lied to her. It didn’t get lower than what they did, and she expected better from Brigitte if not from Hunt. It was a double loss for her. “I wish you’d told me sooner, that’s all,” Tallie said softly. She didn’t seem angry at all, just sad, which was an act.

“I was afraid you were still mad at me,” Brigitte said, looking relieved. Tallie had given her the impression that all the blame had been put on Hunt, and it was all over, and she and Tallie could go back to the way things were before. “I agonized over whether or not to tell you.”

“I’m sure you did,” Tallie said with a sigh, and didn’t pursue the conversation any further. All she could hope was that the FBI would move quickly and complete their investigation. She didn’t want to live this charade with Brigitte for many months. The two months Jim Kingston had said it might take sounded like a nightmare to her, and every time she looked at Brigitte now she would remember that she had lied to her, while sleeping with Hunt and meeting him in hotel rooms. She felt sick whenever she thought about it. It was painful, and she wanted Brigitte out of her life now, whether or not she was stealing money. She was a liar and a cheat anyway. It was like discovering that your best friend had been sleeping with your husband. She hadn’t been married to Hunt, but she had lived with him and she loved him.

“Are you going to investigate further about the money?” Brigitte asked Tallie, who shook her head.

“I’ll never get it back anyway. What’s the point?” she said to throw Brigitte off the scent and reassure her. Brigitte nodded and they drove on in silence.

Working on the set that morning kept Tallie busy, and she was grateful for her work now. It forced her to think of something else besides Hunt and his cheating on her, and Brigitte, and their betrayals. It was a hard one to swallow, and when she got back to her trailer at lunchtime, she called her attorney, Greg Thomas.

“How did things work out with Meg Simpson?” he asked her.

“That depends how you look at it. She found out what I wanted to know, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It turns out that Hunt has been cheating on me for the whole four years we’ve been together, for three years of it with my best friend. And I found out some other things that were equally unpleasant.” She sounded tense and unhappy.

“I’m sorry, Tallie. Was he taking the money too?”

“I don’t know. Maybe not. To be honest, I don’t think so. I’m keeping it quiet for now, but Meg called an FBI agent she used to work with, and I met with him over the weekend. He’s doing an investigation. There are some other possibilities as far as the money goes. It’s in the hands of the FBI.”

“I’m relieved to know that. They’ll get to the bottom of it. What can I do to help you?”

“I want you to send official notification to Hunt that I won’t be doing our next picture with him. I’m out. I told him that on Friday night before he moved out, but I’m not sure he believed me. I haven’t signed a contract for it yet, as you know. And I want to make it official. I won’t be part of the project. He needs to know for his investor, before he signs their contract.”

“Are you sure?” Their first film had made a lot of money, and giving up another one was a big sacrifice for her. But there was no question in her mind now. She had made movies before Hunt, and there would be successful films after him. She didn’t need Hunter Lloyd to make a movie, and if she wanted to produce, she could do it on her own. A movie directed by Tallie Jones was a sure box-office hit.

“I’m positive,” she said without hesitating. “I wouldn’t work with him again no matter how much we make on the back end. Besides, he’s a liar, and that’s not the kind of person I want to work with.” Tallie was a principled person, and her ethics were more important to her than money. “Just send him a letter.”

“I’ll take care of it today,” he said quietly. He could tell that she meant it. She hadn’t wavered for an instant.

“Thanks, Greg.”

“I’ll send his attorney an e-mail and give him a heads-up.”

Tallie knew Greg had notified them, when Hunt started frantically calling her at four o’clock. She didn’t take his calls, so he texted her about her withdrawal and begged her to call him. Reluctantly, she finally did at six o’clock when they finished shooting and she left the set. She had decided to drive back to L.A. for the night. She drove alone in one of the SUVs, and told Brigitte she needed some time to herself. She called Hunt from the car and put it on speaker, since there was no one in the car with her.

“Tallie, you can’t be serious. That’s crazy. This is about our career, not our love life.”

“That’s right,” she said coldly, “and both are over. I don’t work with cheaters and liars.” She sounded bitter, but she was tired after a long day, and still hurting over what he’d done. She knew she would hurt for a long time over this one. The agony had only just begun. She’d been there with her second husband ten years before.

“Do you realize what you’re going to cost us both? And Mr. Nakamura will pull out of the picture without you. I just spoke to his attorney.”

“That’s too bad, Hunt. Maybe you should have thought of that before you slept with my assistant for three years and the girl in your office for the last one. You didn’t really expect me to work with you again, did you?”

“Can’t we separate the two parts of our lives? We do such great work together. You can’t just wipe that out.”

“No, you did. Let’s be very clear about this. I won’t work with you again. I’m done.”

“Can we talk about it sometime?”

“No.”

“What am I supposed to tell Mr. Nakamura?” He sounded nervous when he asked.

“Tell him you screwed my assistant and some girl in your office and you lost your partner. I’m sure he’ll understand.” She was getting angry at him now, and it felt better than being sad.

“Look, I’m sorry, I know it was terrible. I was wrong. You didn’t deserve that, Tallie. But do we have to fuck over our careers to prove a point?”

“I’m not proving a point, Hunt. I’m not going to work with you again. I don’t want to. I’ll finish this picture and that’s it.” He suddenly panicked that she might walk out on that, but he knew that she was too professional to do that, but he also knew how principled she was, and how fair. And how stubborn if she thought she’d been wronged. And he knew she had been. There was no moving her off her position now, although he hoped she might reconsider it later, but he doubted she would. And then he thought of something else.

“Did you fire Brigitte?”

“No,” she said flatly.

“Why not?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Why? You can forgive her, but not me? That’s ridiculous.”

“I didn’t say I forgave her,” she said quietly. She couldn’t tell him that she had kept her because the FBI had told her to. And he was under investigation too, so she couldn’t say anything to him. “That’s my business, Hunt, not yours. I gave you the option to stick around. You said you wouldn’t stop seeing Angela, it was your choice. My choice was not to live with a man who wants to sleep with two women, and lie to one, or both.”

“I still love you, Tallie, even if I screwed up.”

“So do I, Hunt. That’s unfortunate for both of us. We’ll get over it. But I won’t work with you again. That’s all I have to say about it. And one other thing. Please don’t say anything to Max about us. She’ll be very upset, and I want to tell her myself, in person, not on the phone. I’ll go there when I can. Thanks for your call. Take care.” And with that, the phone went dead in his hand. They were supposed to sign the contracts with Nakamura in the next few days, and now he had to tell him this. He knew it was the price to pay for what he’d done. And he knew he’d been rotten with her, and dishonest. He didn’t blame her, but he wished she’d at least work with him. They were going to lose the biggest investor they’d ever had, and without Tallie directing he had much less to sell. He needed her. But he needed Angela too, and he didn’t want to give her up. And he couldn’t leave her pregnant with his baby and go back to Tallie now. His whole life was falling apart, and he thought it was all Brigitte’s fault for telling Tallie and causing her to investigate further. He hated Brigitte for what she’d done. But even more than Brigitte, he hated himself for what he’d done to Tallie. He couldn’t hide from that.

Tallie called her father on the way home from Palm Springs that night, to tell him about her notifying Hunt that she wouldn’t work on his next film with him.

“How did he take it?”

“He tried to talk me into doing it so he doesn’t lose his big investor.”

“And?”

“I told him to take a flying leap.” She laughed.

“That’s my girl. I have to say one thing, you’ve got guts.”

“Thank you, Dad. I couldn’t imagine working with him again after this.”

“How do you feel?”

“Lousy. Like I’m crawling out of my skin. Between him and Brigitte, I wish I were a million miles from here. We’ll be through on location next week, I think. We get a break before we start shooting again in L.A. I think I’m going to spend a few days with Max in New York.”

“It’ll do you good to get away. I wish I could go with you,” he said sadly. He hadn’t been able to travel in the last ten years, and he missed it.

“I wish you could too,” Tallie answered. They talked for a few more minutes, and then they hung up, and Tallie drove the rest of the way in silence, thinking about everything that had happened, and how badly she’d been betrayed by Brigitte and Hunt. Brigitte called her just before she got home, and she didn’t take the call. Gone were the days when she wanted to talk and laugh with her best friend. Brigitte was no longer her friend, never had been, and never would be again. She knew that now. It was a double loss for her.

The house was dark and silent when she got home. There was no one waiting for her at home. No lights. No romantic meal set out on the table with her favorite wine. Hunt was doing that for Angela now. The thought of it hit her like a bomb. She walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and decided there was nothing she wanted to eat. She went upstairs, and took a bath, and Jim Kingston called when she was getting out of the tub.

“I just wanted to check in,” he said in a friendly tone when she sounded surprised to hear him. “How did it go with Brigitte? Did she say anything? Did you?”

“Yeah, I told her that Hunt moved out this weekend. She asked if it was because of the information she gave me about the girl in his office, and I said yes. I didn’t tell her that I had found out about Hunt and her. Then she asked if he admitted to taking the money, and I said no, he hadn’t, he lied, but I knew he did. She seemed perfectly comfortable with that, and I think she relaxed when I told her I wasn’t going to investigate it or pursue it any further. She thinks we’re best friends again, and I told her I wasn’t mad. My nose grew about four feet when I said it, and you can call me Pinocchio from now on,” she said, and he laughed. She sounded better to him than she had on Sunday. She still had a sense of humor despite what she’d discovered about both her boyfriend and her best friend. He wasn’t sure he could have handled it as well, and doubted he could. “Anything new at your end?”

“I filed an initial report and opened the case today. I have to get approval from one of the deputy U.S. attorneys here to proceed with it, but that’s more of a formality. If I tell them that I think it’s a good case, they’ll let me go forward with it to check it out. All I have to do now is get enough evidence so they feel they can prosecute it. And hopefully I will. We’re just starting, but I think it’s a valid case.” He sounded optimistic about it.

“How long do these things usually take to get to court?” Tallie asked him, and there was a short pause at the other end.

“You won’t like my answer,” he warned her. “Nine months to a year. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but we get there in the end.”

“At what point would you arrest her, if you get the evidence?” She had become convinced that Brigitte was stealing from her, and no one else. Even if she didn’t need the money, she had the access and the opportunity, and she had proven herself to be a liar, so maybe she was a thief too. And Jim Kingston agreed with her. His gut told him it was Brigitte too. All he had to do now was prove it, and he hoped he could, for Tallie’s sake.

“We arrest her when the prosecutor thinks we have enough evidence for an airtight case, beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s the clincher for us. We don’t try them if we think we could lose. Most of our cases don’t go to trial. We get so much solid evidence that suspects usually plead guilty instead, which saves us all a lot of trouble.”

“That sounds like a tall order,” Tallie said, sounding discouraged.

“Trust me. That’s my job. If the evidence is there, we’ll find it.” He didn’t tell her he was meeting with Victor Carson the next day. He had called him that morning. Jim was moving fast. If nothing else, he wanted to rule Carson out. And he had already lined up a forensic accountant to check his books. Jim had asked Tallie’s permission to use him, since she had to pay for it, and she said of course it was fine. And he was hoping to meet with Hunter Lloyd later that week. Jim was curious to meet him now, after what he’d heard from Meg and Tallie. He didn’t sound like a great guy to him. “I’ll call you later this week,” Jim told her, “if I have questions about some of the interviews I have. Will you be available?”

“I’ll arrange to be, and I’m coming back to the city every night.” She thought it would be too depressing now to stay in a hotel room in Palm Springs. Even if it was dark and empty, she wanted to crawl home to her own nest, and sleep in her own bed. She felt too miserable and sad to be far from home, and he could hear it in her voice.

“I’ll call you if I get anything, Tallie. Try not to get too worked up about it. To be honest, it’s always a long haul. Just leave the worrying to me.” He made it sound so simple, but it wasn’t. All she could think about was what Brigitte and Hunt had done, how trusting she had been, how she had believed them, and how they had betrayed her. But the wounds were still fresh and raw. In time, it would settle down, and all she’d have left were the scars. She couldn’t imagine it yet. She felt as though she were bleeding from every pore. “I’ll be in touch,” he promised. He had wanted to give her a ray of hope. He just hoped he could get the evidence they needed about the money, but he had to figure out who the suspect was first.

Tallie lay in her bed, thinking about it again that night. She was sure now that it had been Brigitte who’d been stealing the money from her. After everything else she’d done, that was the icing on the cake. And as she had for the past three days, Tallie lay awake, thinking about all of it, for the rest of the night. It was dawn before she fell asleep, and her alarm went off minutes after she closed her eyes.