Still skeptical he said, “Sabrina came down here looking for her husband?”
Having reached the point of no return, I told Appleton exactly why Sabrina had come to Palm Beach, reiterating yet again, “She’s here to protect you, Tom.” Of course, what I had to say didn’t alleviate his fears, it just shifted them from mother to daughter.
I hate to hear a grown man moan, but that is exactly what Thomas Appleton did when he heard my story. Or should that be Sabrina’s story? “She told Gillian the truth?”
In our society what passes for the truth is usually the lie everyone agrees upon hence Appleton’s incredulity. He couldn’t agree with her less. Sabrina had broken the commandment and reprisal was swift and exacting. Gillian and Zack go after the Holy Grail, Silvester and Sabrina follow to make sure they don’t find it, Lolly runs a blind item and Archy is toe-to-toe with an Appleton in the New Media Lounge of the PBICA. You go figure.
And another county is heard from. Good grief, Zack Ward. I almost forgot about him. If Appleton thought he had reached the nadir of this conversation I had a bulletin for the old bean.
“Sabrina didn’t disclose your identity to Gillian,” I insisted. “In fact she’s down here to make certain that Gillian does not learn who you are. I can tell you that Sabrina is determined that Gillian, or anyone else for that matter, will never know you are Gillian’s father.
Her sole concern is protecting your anonymity, Tom.”
“Why?” he wondered.
Two minds with but a single thought. Appleton was having as much trouble as yrs. truly trying to figure out Sabrina’s munificence. My job was to placate not incite the man so I answered, “Because she entered into a pact with you…”
“For which she was well paid, believe me.”
The rich can’t resist reminding you of the fact. Be that as it may, I went on, “She’s holding up her end, as agreed.”
Still perplexed, he groused, “Whatever induced her to tell Gillian the truth? It was my understanding at the time that the infant would be put up for adoption and then Sabrina would adopt her. It was the most expedient thing to do at the time and, lord knows, it’s worked for others. Why? And why now?”
I told him what Sabrina had told me. “She doesn’t like Zack Ward, the guy Gillian is dating and getting serious about, and she thought the girl would be more receptive to the advice of her flesh-and-blood mother.”
Appleton frowned, “Now she and her boyfriend are down here looking for her flesh-and-blood papa. It’s bizarre.”
“Not really,” I protested. “If you learned your father was not your real father, wouldn’t you be curious to know who was?”
“Archy, my father was one of the richest men in the world. If someone told me he wasn’t really my father I would tell that SOB. to bug off.”
Hey, the guy had a point.
“And just who the hell is this Zack Ward anyway?” he nearly bellowed.
Were this a film I would yell, “Cut!” and we would break for lunch.
This would give me time to compose a response that would not cause Thomas Appleton’s heart to pause for an unhealthy period of time. This not being the case, I had no choice but to keep the camera grinding and hope for the best. “I was meaning to tell you about Zack,” I said. “I believe he’s a reporter for a trashy tabloid.”
Appleton’s cheeks glowed to a point where I feared spontaneous combustion would turn his head into a burning bush. He opened his mouth but gasps, not words, emerged. “Can I get you some water, Tom?”
Closing his eyes he answered slowly and sincerely, “I don’t suppose you have any cyanide on you.”
“Afraid not, Tom. But let’s be realistic. As we speak, Sabrina is talking those two into returning to New York and she will never reveal your name to them or anyone else,” I repeated for good measure. And that should settle it.”
“That should settle it?” He mimicked. “Archy, that’s what Chamberlain said when he got back from Munich.”
He had a point there, too.
As if thinking aloud, Appleton reasoned, “If Sabrina told Gillian the true story of her birth because Sabrina thought it would work to her advantage, what would stop her from revealing my name to the girl for the same reason?”
Point number three, and he took the set. “It’s a fear you may have to live with, Tom,” I said.
“I do not and I will not.” He spoke like a man used to getting his way regardless of the consequences. “Where is Sabrina, Archy?”
“They’re all bedded down at The Breakers,” I told him.
“I’m going to call and meet with her.”
“Do you think that’s wise?”
“No, but I have to impress upon her that I will go to any length to protect myself and my family from any scandal.”
There was that menacing phrase again and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one stinking iota.
Nine
Given the amount of time and energy I was putting into a case that was closed and a family affair that was none of my business, “The Man That Got Away’ could now be retitled “The Man Who Wouldn’t Go Away.” I didn’t owe Sabrina Wright a thing but couldn’t resist one last conversation with the lady to warn her of the imminent call from her former, if brief, lover. If nothing else, it would be interesting to see what her reaction would be to hearing from him after all these years — and to my being a third party to their little secret.
Did I also want to impress upon her my unique ability to ferret out the most obscure Palm Beach mysteries without really trying? Sure. I might even turn up in a Sabrina Wright novel as a PI named Danny Desire.
I made the call from my office, asking the desk at The Breakers for Mr.
Robert Silvester. It worked. I was immediately connected to his suite and doubly rewarded with the now familiar sound of Sabrina’s deep-throated, “Hello.”
“Archy McNally here,” I announced.
“Mr. McNally, what a coincidence. We were just talking about you,”
Sabrina said.
“I take it you are not alone.”
“No. Robert is with me. Why do you ask?”
“I want to pass on a bit of information that is intended for your ears only.”
There was a pause during which I thought I could hear a sharp intake of breath, or was there static on the line? “Is your daughter with you?”
Now there was no mistaking the anxiety in her voice when she answered,
“No. She and Zack are out hunting.”
Was it open season on runaway fathers? And just how did one go about tracking down a man you had never seen and didn’t even know existed until a few weeks ago? “I hope they’re not knocking on the doors of the local gentry. The people in these parts don’t take kindly to nosey strangers. They’re apt to shoot first and ask questions later.”
“I believe they went to the local library to scan the newspapers dating back to nine months before Gillian’s birthday. Clever, don’t you think?”
I thought it was rather dumb and from the mocking inflection in Sabrina’s delivery, so did she. The young people’s endeavor did prove just how hopeless poor Gillian’s chances were of finding her father after a trail gone cold for thirty years. Did she expect to turn up an item listing all the couples who had engaged in sexual congress in southern Florida nine months before her birth? “I take it you haven’t been able to talk her into abandoning the search and going home.”
“You take it right, Mr. McNally, but I’ve made them an offer they might find hard to turn down,” she boasted.
Did this family never tire of bartering their lives away? “May I know what it is?”
“Certainly,” she answered with an enthusiasm that was far too coy to be genuine. “I will give Zack an exclusive interview for his rag if he and Gillian will give up this asinine charade. Believe me, Mr.
McNally, it’s against all my principles to be misquoted in a lousy tabloid, but if it gets Gillian off the scent, I’ll do it.”
Whoever would have thunk it? Sabrina, sacrificing her principles for the sake of a one-night stand. Noblesse oblige or noblesse desperate?