Forbidden Falls (Virgin River #9)(71)

“Come here,” Noah said calmly. He led her to the couch and closed the laptop, pushing it aside. “Just sit down and tell me about it.”

“I told him I didn’t ask for that, which is the truth, but he was snarling at me, threatening me, telling me that two can play that game. If I bring trouble on him, he’ll bring trouble on me.”

“Did you call Brie?” Noah asked.

“I did. I have her business number and it went to voice mail, so I left a message. Then I called again and said I was coming here to talk to you, in case she tried to call me back. I feel like I should drive over to Arnie’s or something. I’m afraid.”

A tear suddenly emerged and he wiped it off her cheek with a thumb. And just at that moment, the door to the bedroom opened and George stood there in his bathrobe. “I’m sorry to intrude. Is there anything I can do?”

“You heard?” Noah asked.

“No, I just heard voices, but it’s obvious there’s a problem,” George said.

“Come in if you like. This is not a secret,” Noah said. “Ellie has a problem with her ex and we’re going to talk it through.”

George just smiled and said, “I think I’ll leave you two to work it out.”

Noah barely heard him as he was concentrating on Ellie. “I have Brie’s home number, if you’d like me to call her.”

“Should we?” she asked. “I don’t want to be a problem, but I don’t know what to do.”

“I think this is what Arnie wants, Ellie. He made you blink. He delivered his vengeance, he scared you. He doesn’t know where that Child Welfare worker came from. For all he knows, the judge ordered it. Those social workers are very slick, they know what they’re doing. They don’t let things slip that might hurt the children.”

“He said he doesn’t believe the judge did this. What if he calls the judge?”

“If this works the usual way, no one can have an ex parte conversation with the judge—you would have to be present, as well. We’ll talk to Brie before the judge is in chambers,” Noah said. “It’s going to be okay. The problem is proving he threatened you. That’s more he-said-she-said.”

“Oh. Well. I should tell you, I got one of those thingamajigs. I taped him. When he started giving me trouble about talking to the kids or picking them up, I went to the electronics store and, even though it pretty much wiped me out, I bought a phone answering machine that could record calls even while I was talking. All I have to do is push a button before I pick up. So I have a tape. But that won’t help, will it?”

Noah’s face split in a huge grin and he put his palms against her cheeks, gave a laugh and kissed her, quick and hard. “Ha!” he said. He kissed her again. “Ellie, you got him!”

“But I’ve always heard that if you tape someone when they don’t know it, it won’t hold up in court…”

“Bull. When attorneys and judges, not to mention law enforcement, are aware that there’s a real threat, the tables turn. It makes him the bad guy and you the victim! Any chance he knew what you were doing?”

She shook her head. “Arnie doesn’t think I’m smart enough to do anything.”

“Ha!” He laughed, grinning. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Back to Vanni’s, I guess…”

“But first, you go to Brie’s office, play her the tape and ask for her help. Now we’re done screwing around here—I don’t care what she might charge you, we’ll work that out. I have a couple of bucks saved. Whatever she can do, hang the cost, get it done. Please?”

“Do you think anything can be done?”

“Oh, honey, you’re so used to having the deck stacked against you, you stopped believing things can be worked out a long time ago, didn’t you? Yes, we can get ahead of this.” He pulled her back on the couch, his arm around her, her head on his shoulder. “We’ll get everything straightened out. This has gone on long enough—we have to bring it to a close.”

She was quiet for a long moment before she said, “We?”

He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Come on, don’t you feel like we’re in this together? I want to help, Ellie. You got screwed, by Arnie, by the court, all around. You don’t deserve this.”

She sighed heavily and rested against his shoulder. “I don’t understand people like Arnie, Noah. What’s the matter with him? Why does he want to hurt me so much?”

“He’s a borderline personality,” Noah said. “Not exactly insane, he appears to be functional. But he’s manipulative, angry, jealous, thinks he’s omnipotent, and he’s narcissistic.”

“Wow. Lotta ten-dollar words there.”

“And you know what every one of them means, don’t you?” he asked with a smile. “He probably didn’t have a happy childhood.”

“And so, making sure my kids don’t have one, that’ll make him feel better?”

“Ironically, no. In fact, he’ll probably feel worse and act worse. But he’s a bucket of trouble, and he’s not going to repent. They’re the hardest ones to cure with therapy and counseling. Everything is justified in his mind. His perception is that he acts and feels the way he does because he has to, because other people drive him to it. It’s a convoluted way of thinking to people like us who aren’t that way.”