Worth Dying For (42 page)

Driving from the Greater Dayton Airport in Vandalia would be a long, time-consuming adventure. For the first time all year, she used the 4-wheel drive option on her Ford 350 crew cab truck. She expertly maneuvered around a snowplow to keep from having her truck sprayed with a mixture of salt and sand. It was amazing that the roads were as clear as they were considering the amount of snow on the ground.

As was the case every winter in Ohio, slick roads were not the main problem, Ohio drivers were. For some reason, Sydney swore they went brain-dead during the first snowfall. It was as if they had never seen or driven on snow their entire life.

The emergency lanes as well as the ditches on both sides of the highway were littered with cars. She was not surprised to see the majority of them facing the wrong direction. She noticed the tip of four tires sticking up in the air. She couldn’t tell what type of car it was but it was apparent that the driver had somehow lost control and the car had flipped over onto its roof.

Based on the amount of snow covering the vehicles, she reasoned that their owner’s had abandoned them long ago, and the local towing company’s would have a very profitable week.

A trip that normally took her thirty minutes to get home had now reached the hour and a half mark. She turned off Mad River Road onto Hempridge Drive. Her house was the last on the block and sat at the end of the street. At least her driveway did.

Frankie would be getting an extra nice Christmas bonus this year, Sydney thought as she easily wove her way up and around the winding lane. Frankie had plowed the drive so clean that all you could see was blacktop. If it were not for the six-foot high snowdrifts on both sides of the road, a person would have no idea that it had been covered in snow just a short time ago.

As Sydney made her way around the circular drive, she recognized Meredith’s green Jaguar parked near the front of the house. What she did not recognize was the red car sitting next to it. From the looks of both cars and the amount of snow covering them, they had been there for quite awhile. She circled the large fountain that sat in the middle of the drive, pulled her truck up next to the Jaguar, and shut off the engine. She would take her things in first, unpack, and then put the truck in the garage.

With her briefcase in one hand and a suitcase in the other, she walked over to the red car. She might not know whom it belonged to but she knew damn well what kind of car it was. It was the new German made Mercedes Maybach. She also knew there were only twenty in existence. She had come within a hairs inch of buying one for herself but the price tag stopped her. She didn’t care how much money she had, she could not justify spending $350,000.00 on a car that looked more like a Buick sedan than a Mercedes. She glanced at her truck and smiled. She could buy eight new Ford trucks for the cost of one Maybach and be happy as hell.

She fished her keys out of her coat pocket and headed up the steps with her luggage. She glanced back at the cars, finding it slightly odd that Frankie had not cleaned them off when she plowed the driveway. She wedged her briefcase under the same arm that was holding her luggage and unlocked the front door, then pushed it open with her knee.

She let out a sigh of relief as she stepped into the brightly lit two-story foyer. It felt good to be home. She looked down at the freshly polished travertine marble floor. She kicked off her shoes and set them off to the side. Edna would not be too happy with her if she tracked snow and salt everywhere. Sydney might own the house, but anything cleanable, Edna took personal ownership of, and that included the floors.

She slid across the slick marble in her socks, stopping just before her toes hit the bottom step on the left side of a spiraling duel staircase that framed the entry into the expansive family room. She dropped her luggage on the carpeted step and slid back across the floor to the entryway table. She caught her reflection in the twelve-foot, ornately decorated mirror that hung on the wall above the table. Her cheeks were still a little flushed from the biting cold.

She ran her fingers through her hair, brushing the black tresses back from her face. She laid the briefcase along with her keys on the table and pulled open the top drawer. She glanced toward the family room and wondered where Meredith was. The house was too quiet. There was always someone around, yet the house felt and sounded empty.

Thinking that Meredith was probably in her office, she turned her attention back to the huge stack of mail lying in the drawer. She picked up the tightly bound bundle and removed the rubber band. Bills, bills, junk mail, and more bills she thought as she thumbed through the stack of envelopes. She stopped at the sound of laughter.

She laid the mail on the table and slowly made her way toward the staircase that led to the second floor bedrooms. She hesitated for a second and then climbed the stairs. She stopped approximately ten steps from the top. She felt her heart pound in her chest as her brain registered what her eyes were seeing. She bent down and picked up a lacey hot-pink bra. She took several more steps and found the matching panties. She knew immediately that neither one belonged to Meredith. Meredith hated pink. Sydney looked at the lingerie as she continued up the steps. When she reached the landing, she had to wait a few seconds to gain control of herself.
 

For some reason she was finding it terribly difficult to contain her emotions. She covered her mouth with her hand to keep from busting out laughing.
What is wrong with me
, she thought as she made her way toward the second floor master bedroom, the room she shared with Meredith.

She stopped in front of the closed door and took a deep breath.
Okay, here goes
, she thought as she placed her hand on the doorknob. “Hi, honey, I’m home,” she yelled, flinging the door open with a bang.

“Sydney! What the hell are you doing here?” Meredith shrieked and grabbed the sheet. She quickly pulled it over the head of the naked woman crouched down between her legs.

Sydney smiled as she walked over to the bed. “I finished my meetings a little earlier than expected sweetheart and thought I would surprise you. I can see that I was successful by the look on your face.” Before Meredith could reply, Sydney reached down, grabbed the edge of the sheet and flung it back.

Sydney immediately recognized the close-cropped blonde head. The woman between Meredith’s legs slowly turned her head to look up at Sydney.

“I think these belong to you,” Sydney said, tossing the lingerie on top of Meredith’s stomach. “It’s good to see you, Anne. You come here often?” Sydney laughed at the irony in her question.

“I ... I um, don’t know what to say, Sydney. Um, it’s not what it looks like,” Anne muttered, grabbing her bra and panties. She quickly slipped them on and climbed off the bed.

“Not what it looks like? You are joking, right?” Sydney’s look was incredulous. She watched with enjoyment as Anne nervously fumbled around for the rest of her clothing.

Meredith leaned back against the headboard and crossed her arms over her breast. She opened her mouth to speak but the warning look from Sydney made her reconsider.

“I think you can show yourself out,” Sydney said, after Anne finished dressing.

Anne picked her purse up off the dresser. She ran a trembling hand through her hair. She started through the doorway and stopped. She turned to face Sydney. “I’m sorry, Sydney.”

Sydney shook her head in disbelief. “Actually Anne, what I believe is that you are just like everyone else who gets caught with their proverbial panties down. You aren’t sorry you were sleeping with my lover, you’re sorry I caught you.”

Sydney looked first at Meredith and then at Anne. “How long has this little fling been going on? Never mind, don’t answer that because I really don’t give a damn.”

Anne opened her mouth to speak but Sydney held her hand up to stop her. “Out of curiosity Anne, how much do you make in a year?”

Anne’s brow furrowed into a frown. “What?” she asked.

“Come on, it’s not a hard question. How much is your yearly salary?”

The color of Meredith’s cheeks was nearly the same flaming red color of her hair. “Sydney, what the hell are you doing?” she asked, her voice shaking with annoyance.

Sydney turned and looked at Meredith. “I don’t think I was talking to you and if you have any sense whatsoever, you will sit there and keep your mouth shut.”

“Around $250,000.00,” Anne said, pulling her car keys from her purse.

“If memory serves me correctly, I think your bonus last year was somewhere around a hundred grand.” Sydney smiled at Anne. “I guess what I really want to know is, was she worth it? Was fucking my girlfriend’s ears off worth more than a quarter million dollars a year?”

Meredith slid off the bed and wrapped the sheet tightly around her body. “Come on babe, don’t do this,” she said, coming around the side of the bed to stand next to Sydney. She laid her hand on Sydney’s arm.

“Don’t touch me!” Sydney hissed, shrugging Meredith’s hand away. She looked at Anne. “As for you, you’re fired! Don’t bother going to work tomorrow. I will have Maureen pack your stuff and send it by courier. Now get the hell out of my house!”

Without a backward glance, Anne left the room.

Meredith was livid. She stomped her foot on the floor. “You can’t do this, Sydney!” she yelled.

Sydney whirled around to face Meredith. Her light brown eyes were now black as she glared at the woman who had shared a bed with her for the last ten years. Meredith, seeing just how angry Sydney was, took a nervous step back.

Sydney jabbed her finger at Meredith’s face. “Now it’s your turn, you, you cold calculating ungrateful bitch! You’re fired too and I want you out of my house, out of my sight, and out of my life.”

Meredith began to sob. “Where am I supposed to go?” she asked, her voice cracking with emotion.

Sydney wasn’t buying it. “I don’t give a shit where you go and you can knock off the fake tears. You forget that I know you better than you know yourself. You have one hour Meredith, to get your shit packed and get out.”

Meredith’s whole demeanor changed. Not a single tear ran down her cheek. She looked at Sydney with pure contempt. “I need at least three weeks to find another job. Can you at least give me that?”

“You have one week, Meredith and that’s final.”

“Can I stay here tonight? I promise to make other arrangements tomorrow?”

“I want you out of my house today. There are plenty of hotels you can choose from or better yet, why don’t you have one of your gal pals put you up for the night.”
 

“Fine,” Meredith said, grabbing a pair of slacks from the closet. “Would you mind giving me a little privacy?” she asked sarcastically.

“Why? It’s not like you have anything I haven’t seen before.”

“If you paid more attention to me, I wouldn’t have to spread my legs for other women.”

Sydney couldn’t help but laugh. “How stupid do you think I am? Do you think that I don’t know you’ve been spreading your legs for every Tom, Dick, and Harriet that comes along? I know exactly whom you’ve been sleeping with. I also know when you slept with them and how many times. I didn’t get to where I am by sticking my head in the sand.”

“If you knew, why didn’t you say or do anything about it?”

Sydney shrugged. “Because you just weren’t worth the hassle and as long as someone else was servicing you that meant that I no longer had too.”

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Meredith said, shaking her head.

“Do you know what the difference between a whore and a prostitute is, Meredith?” When Meredith didn’t answer, Sydney said, “A prostitute is at least smart enough to charge for her pussy. Just think about it, if you charged, you’d be a millionaire by now.”

“You are one heartless bitch,” Meredith said through clenched teeth.

Sydney laughed. “Maybe I am but I’m not your bitch anymore.” She stopped in the doorway and turned to look at Meredith. “You have one hour to get your things packed. I want you gone as soon as possible and if you think I’m joking, try me. I won’t hesitate to call the police and have you physically removed.”