Deceived Read Online Free Page B

One thing led to another.” Brandon watched Taylor lean towards Joe. Before she could make her point, Joe continued, “So after your boating trip, which became a one-night stand, you had no contact with Lisa until two weeks ago?”
    “That’s correct. She tried to call me a couple of times, but I didn’t take her calls.”
    “Why not?”
    Brandon drew a deep breath. There was no way to sugarcoat the reality of it. “I was busy, and I wasn’t interested.”
    Joe continued, “Why did you decide to talk to her two weeks ago?”
    “The message she left was, ‘I had your baby,’” he said, again glancing at Taylor. She was frowning. “That got my attention. I confirmed what she was telling me, and in the last ten days or so, I’ve seen her several times.”
    “How many times?”
    “Six,” Brandon paused. “Maybe eight.”
    “Did you resume your relationship?”
    “There was no relationship.” Brandon felt like punching Joe’s obtuseness out of him. “Not at first and not in the last two weeks. Never.”
    “Why did you see her so frequently in the last two weeks?”
    “I was trying to get things settled.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “Proper care for the child.”
    “Money?” Joe asked.
    “Of course, money,” Brandon said. “He’s my child, Joe. She was a student. She had no money.”
    “Were you angry?”
    Brandon felt some of the color leave his face as he realized how bad it looked. “Yes. With myself. With Lisa? Hell no. He’s my child , Joe. Hell. This is a nightmare. I had no idea that she was pregnant. I used precautions, damn it. I didn’t believe it at first, but DNA’s confirmed it. As soon as I knew about him, I knew that I had to take care of him, and because she is — was — his mother, I needed to take care of her as well. Lisa was living in a dumpy little rental. I had to persuade her to take my money and move. She had no family. She needed help. Money, and more. Sitters. Good, reliable help. A support system.”
    Joe asked, “So it was a nightmare to you?”
    Brandon winced at Joe’s use of his own word, then shrugged. “I’ve been through nightmares before, Joe. You know about them. This was one that I could handle. Without killing anyone.”
    Joe placed his elbows on the table and leaned toward Brandon. “Were you and Lisa fighting over visitation rights?”
    Brandon shook his head. “She was in favor of joint custody. At least for now, I had full access. We weren’t fighting over anything. I was doing whatever I could do to help her.”
    “This was going to cost you a lot of money.”
    “I have it,” Brandon shrugged.
    “Where were you last night,” Joe asked, “when you got the call from the babysitter?”
    “Sleeping on my boat. It was docked on the wall in Madisonville, on the Tchefuncte River. Yesterday was my birthday. I left Orleans Marina at three, and about an hour and a half later, I arrived in Madisonville. I had friends over to the boat for cocktails. We went to dinner, and returned to the boat around nine.”
    “You were alone after nine?”
    “No. I had a date,” he said. “She was with me when I left New Orleans, through dinner, and she returned to the boat after dinner. She was with me when I got the call, and she rode across the lake with me. In a taxi. I dropped her at the marina where I picked up my car and she picked up hers. Then I headed Uptown, to the university, then to Lisa’s house, to see if I could find her. That’s when I ran into you. Lisa was supposed to pick up the baby at ten-fifteen or so and she was hours overdue by that point.”
    “You said that you had visits with Lisa. Were you in her house?” Joe asked.
    Brandon stared at Joe. In the early morning hours he had pulled up to Lisa’s house at the same time as Joe, and Joe wouldn’t let Brandon in. Brandon guessed the police had found prints, and they wanted to know whether Brandon’s were a match. “Yes. Most recently Tuesday night, two nights ago. I