Booby Trap Read Online Free PDF Page A

you think?”
    Lil nodded and swallowed hard. “You’ll want to know why I suspect my own son of such heinous acts.”
    Truth is, I didn’t want to know any of this, but the reality was I had to know to be of help. I studied Lil’s lovely face and noted the deep blush creeping into her lined cheeks. Something told me that what she was about to disclose, on a scale of one to ten, was going to be a nine on the doozy scale.
    “Odelia,” she began, speaking quietly, “have you ever met anyone on the computer—you know, on the Internet?”
    “ We met online, Lil. Remember?”
    “I don’t mean like us, Odelia.”
    She paused to take a sip of tea. She sat still for a minute, clutching the dainty cup between both hands. I didn’t prod her to continue. It was obvious that whatever she needed to say, it was going to be difficult for her.
    Finally, she continued. “I mean romantically. Did you ever meet anyone online and become involved with them?”
    I hadn’t, but I knew people who had. The stories of online dating had been both good and bad. My friend and co-worker Kelsey Cavendish met her husband, Beau, online, and that seems to have worked out very well. Then I remembered that the news reports had hinted that the Blond Bomber had met all of his victims online.
    “Does Brian meet women online?” I knew that Dr. Eddy was married, but I certainly wasn’t naïve about married people going online in search of excitement and affairs. Dr. Eddy wouldn’t be the first or the last.
    Lil nodded slowly. “Yes, he does.”
    “And he told you this?” I didn’t think many men would confess to their mothers that they were playing around online or offline, but especially one that wasn’t particularly close to his mother. Lil had told me that her relationship with her son, though intact, was often strained. “I didn’t think you two were that close.”
    “We aren’t.” Again she paused. This time she held the china cup so hard I was afraid it’d shatter.
    “Why don’t you put that cup down before it breaks.” I reached over and gently extracted it from her hands. She let me and picked up a linen napkin instead and started twisting it slowly.
    “Have you ever done anything you were ashamed of, but were glad you did it anyway?” She spoke without looking at me.
    My first thought was, was there a minimum answer requirement I could get away with? Even though the question was purely rhetorical, it still made me uneasy. How do I screw up? Let me count the ways.
    “Are you talking about something you did, Lil? Or something Brian did?”
    “Brian … and I.”
    I felt my body wanting to squirm but forced it to remain still. In my head, I could see the doozy scale going up to a twelve, possibly even a thirteen.
    “As I’ve mentioned to you before, my son and I are not very close. We used to be, but it all changed after I married Cecil Ramsey. I married my first husband, Brian’s father, for love. I married Cecil for security. I don’t think Brian has ever forgiven me for that.” She took a deep breath before continuing.
    “When Brian’s father passed away suddenly, I found myself a young widow with a pre-teen son. The two of us struggled to stay afloat, and I often worked two jobs. Shortly after I met Cecil, he proposed. I declined at first, but the more I struggled to raise my son alone, the more I saw the advantages my marrying Cecil would have for Brian. Finally, I accepted. Soon after, Cecil shipped my son off to a very exclusive preparatory school, and from there to a college of Brian’s choice. Cecil even paid for Brian’s medical school. He lived up to his bargain of providing for my son’s future, and I lived up to my part of being the beautiful and gracious wife and hostess.”
    “You were his trophy wife.”
    “That’s what they call it now, isn’t it? And I suppose I was. I was much younger than Cecil, very pretty, educated, and proper. Cecil was very rich and important. I may not have loved Cecil,