“I appreciate that and under different circumstances, I would be grateful, but my mind is made up. I’m going to pack my bags and leave Old Brooking forever.”
“Are you running off with him?”
Marcia was getting annoyed by his line of questioning. “As a matter of fact I am, not that it’s any of your business.”
Adam fidgeted in his chair. He already suspected that Kane knew in advance about the customer defection and now this. How can that loser be getting the best of me? “You’re making a big mistake, you know. I can offer you so much more than Kane Masterson ever can.”
“Everything isn’t about money, Adam. Please don’t make this anymore difficult than it already is. My resignation stands. I’m sure that if you think about it you’ll realize that. it’s for the best.”
Adam’s cool quickly turned to anger. “You ungrateful bitch. You’re no better than he is. You both can rot in hell. You’re fired! Get your things together and be off the premises in one hour.” Adam’s face turned red as he gestured toward the door. “Get out!”
Marcia had a shocked look on her face, but inside she was thinking, Oh, my god. He did it. I’m free! She stormed out of Adam’s office and slammed the door for effect.
Marcia was out of the building in fifteen minutes. Within another twenty-five she joined Kane in the front seat of his car which was still parked in front of Evelyn Littleton’s house. They were anxious to tell each other their news. He let her go first.
“It went just as we were hoping it would. He actually fired me, but not before he admitted that he had someone following you. He said that you’ve been watched since you first arrived in Old Brooking and that I just got caught in the crosshairs.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute. I think I would have spotted a tail right away if they were following just me. Well, that doesn’t really matter, now. Does that mean you’re ready to shake this town?”
“The sooner, the better. Now tell me, how was lunch with your mother?”
“Well, that’s a whole other story. Unfortunately it took a totally unexpected turn. It wasn’t entirely her fault, though. It was mostly of my doing.”
“What happened?”
“Well, do you remember that I told you that my father ran off before I was born? Well it seems that Peter Masterson ran off, alright, but he was not my real father. My mother says that she had an affair with a married man and that I’m the bastard son of a mystery man. Worse than that, she flat out refuses to tell me his name.”
“She must have a good reason, Kane, although, after all these years, I can’t imagine what it might be, except, perhaps it might be someone you know.”
“She’s obviously covering up for someone and she’s very adamant about disclosing his name. I haven’t a clue as to who it might be. What should I do?”
“I think you have to respect her wishes. I’m sure it was hard for her to admit as much as she did. You need to cut her some slack. When the time is right, she’ll tell you.”
“I‘m not so sure. I could see that it was tearing her apart just talking about him.”
“That’s all the more reason for easing off. What are you going to do, now?”
“I’m going to try to locate Peter Masterson. Maybe he can shed some light on this.”
“I’m not surprised. May I suggest that you don’t tell your mother what you’re planning to do. She’s upset enough as it is.”
“Don’t worry, I’m just going to make some discreet inquiry into his whereabouts. That way I can keep my options open.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “She wants to meet you, you know.”
“I’m anxious to meet her too. She sounds like a remarkable woman.”
“She is,” he said, “But she’s also stubborn and very proud.”
Kane’s mother answered the door with a big smile on her face. Her eyes still showed a slight puffiness from the tears that flowed so freely an hour earlier. Evelyn reached out and drew Marcia into a close hug, catching her off-guard, but since she came from a family of huggers, it felt comfortable.
After several moments, Evelyn released Marcia and held her at arm’s length.
“Look at you, you’re more beautiful than Kane said you were.”
“That’s kind of you to say. I’ve so looked forward to meeting you.”
Evelyn opened the door wider as she said, “Well, don’t just stand there, you two, come on in and bring me up-to-date on everything that happened with Adam Hampton.”
The rest of the afternoon went well and by six, Kane and Marcia were back in his room at the Belmonte. Kane phoned his attorney, Bert Wilson at Wilson & Schirmahorn.
“I need the name of an investigator who can trace someone down.”
“Give Ted Andreason a call. I use him for skip-tracing. He’s good and he’s discreet.”
Kane wrote down the number. “Thanks, Bert.”
Ted Andreason returned his call within an hour. Kane gave him the few facts that he had.
Three hours later the investigator called again with a report on Peter Masterson.
“Here’s what I’ve got on Peter Randolph Masterson. When he left Old Brooking in 1974 he headed for Los Angeles. He married Joan Farley in 1976 and divorced her two years later. Then he disappeared for twenty years and reemerged in Las Vegas in 1998 as the owner of a small restaurant. I have his business and home phone numbers. I can dig more into the “lost” years if you can give me more time. He’s an open book, one of the easiest traces I’ve ever had.”
“No, Ted,” Kane replied, “That won’t be necessary. You did great. Thank you.”
The phone rang several times before he answered, “Peter Masterson. Who is this?”
“Kane Masterson, Evelyn Littleton’s son.”
At first it was quiet at the other end then, “Well, I’ll be damned. Why are you calling me? Has something happened to Evelyn?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I’m calling because my mother recently told me that you were not my real father and that I got your name by accident. I’m trying to locate my real father and I thought maybe you could help. My mother refuses to tell me who it is, but I believe that I have a right to know.”
“Your mother is a very stubborn woman. I think I know why she won’t tell you and I’m not sure I should either.”
“Then, you’re admitting that you know who it is.”
“Of course, I know. That’s why I left town. I wasn’t going to be made a fool of. She was not only having an affair, but she got pregnant on top of it. Tell me something about yourself. What have you done with your life?”
Masterson was obviously stalling for time, but Kane decided to go along with it for now.“Well, I was CEO of my own textile business until recently. I’m planning to get married soon and move away from Connecticut, but before I do that I want to clear up any loose ends in my life. This thing about my real father is one of them.”
“That makes sense. Sounds like your mother did a good job raising you. You seem to have both feet solidly on the ground. Tell me, how is your mother doing these days? I always admired the woman, but I just couldn’t forgive her infidelity. So I left and never looked back.”
“Mother is definitely her own person. She married two more times after you, searching for some idyllic person to make her happy.” Kane was getting anxious. He sensed that Peter Masterson wanted to level with him, but it was like pulling teeth to get him to divulge the name. Finally in desperation he said, “Look, Peter, this is my life we‘re talking about. Please, man to man, help me out here.”