When another of Brad’s investigators had called to let him know Peggy had arrived at home, he simply dialed her cell number. He hadn’t waited for procrastination to set in. He needed to get this over with. Maybe he could sleep tonight if he got everything off his chest.
“What? Why can’t you tell me where you are?” Peggy demanded.
“I didn’t say I couldn’t, Peg,” Kyle said patiently. “I said I wouldn’t.”
“Kyle Whitely…I don’t know what you think you’re doing…but you better start telling me what’s going on or I’m going to…”
“Going to what, Peggy?” Kyle asked sharply. “Haven’t you got it yet? I told you…I’ve told you over and over if you fucked another man to get even with me because of that bullshit idea that I cheated on you…I told you I’d leave you Peggy. I told you, and I’ve done it.”
Peggy was stunned. In an afternoon of surprises, this was the most catastrophic.
“Kyle…” she replied in a broken voice. “Honey, I haven’t…”
“Save it, Peggy,” Kyle said brusquely. “You can see why I’ve left. What more is there to say?”
“What? See what? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Peggy protested. She was confused.
“Have you been in the den?” Kyle asked.
“No.”
“Go there,” Kyle ordered. Resentfully, Peggy walked down the short corridor to the back of the house and into the extra bedroom they’d converted into a study. When she got there, she understood.
A huge, blown up photograph was propped up on the mantle over the fireplace. It had a greenish tinge to it, the colors were all washed out, but it clearly showed her and Harold out on the hotel balcony. They were naked, rutting like animals while she howled her ecstasy to the moon.
Peggy sank to the floor. Her legs wouldn’t support her any longer. She sat there, her legs tucked under her. The picture mesmerized her…it held her as completely enthralled as a rattlesnake about to strike would have. Something deep inside her told her the photo represented the end of everything.
“Kyle,” she said thickly. Her mouth wasn’t working right.
“Don’t bother, Peggy,” Kyle said. “Now you see? Now you know why the house is empty. Now you know why the kids and I aren’t there, don’t you?”
“Where are my babies?” she demanded. “You can’t take my babies away from me,” she screamed. Kyle heard the nearly hysterical tone in her voice.
“Calm down, Peggy,” he advised. “I already have taken them away from you…though it would be more correct to say you took them away from yourself. It’s already happened. You’re going to have to live with it, so get a grip on yourself and I’ll tell you how things are going to be.” He’d mentioned the kids, expecting to get this reaction from his soon-to-be ex-wife, so he could tell her what he had to say next.
“Mandy and Todd are fine, Peggy,” he told her. “Actually, they’re in better shape than I am,” he admitted. “They didn’t have too much trouble accepting the fact that they were going to live with me and that you weren’t going to be there anymore. You’ve done such a fine job of pushing them away for the past year that they weren’t troubled by the thought of not seeing you, Peggy. You didn’t see it coming, but I did.”