27-08-2026, 04:32 PM
But for right now, that presence of a huge, dark and dangerous criminal organization that had my back, as I glanced at my ex-wife, son and daughter, made me feel better about my life.
As I gestured and they walked back toward my bed, Debbie said quietly, “Who was that?”
“Just a. man who was concerned about my welfare. He’s a friend, of sorts.”
“I think everybody in the world must have heard about what happened,” BJ said excitedly. “I tuned into a French broadcast channel I caught on my friend’s Direct TV universal channel and caught a news broadcast. I couldn’t understand what they were saying…"
“You would have if you’d paid attention in your French classes,” Kelly interjected. As usual, BJ ignored her.
“The only class you paid attention to was Sex Ed.,” BJ said, continuing, “Anyway, they showed Dad’s picture and some of the shots of people being taken out of the cop shop and I heard what I thought was ‘The Angel of Death’ in French and I know I heard his name—William Maitland. France! They were showing it on French television. Can you believe that?”
“Yes, I can believe that and I am sure that there are people in France who will be fascinated to hear about your father’s brush with death - some people in particular.”
All of us picked up the ice in her voice. The two younger Maitlands couldn’t help smiling. I kept my face neutral. I’d known she was jealous of Aline, but I
hadn’t realized how jealous.
The timing of what came next couldn’t have happened again in a million years. It was impossible, but sometimes impossible coincidences do happen.
The phone rang. I ignored it, but a moment later the attractive nurse stuck her head back in the door.
I guess after the last time she wasn’t taking any chances.
“Mr. Maitland, there’s a lady, French I think, on the phone. She says her name is Aline. You want to take her call? I’ve got her on hold.”
“Send her call through.”
It was as if Debbie and I were the only people in the world.
I remembered the last time she had looked at me like that. It was when she had walked in on Amy Sunderland and me screwing on CC’s yacht. I had felt guilty for no good reason then but I didn’t feel guilty now. I just played back the memory of her going to Doug’s aid the night of that UNF ceremony and made myself feel what I’d felt then.
I held her gaze while I said, “Hello, Aline.”
There was a terrible hurt in her eyes but I made my heart a stone. She had no right to be hurt by anything I did anymore.
“Bill, are you alright?”
I had thought the pain of losing this woman had gone, but it was as if the morning she had left me alone had never happened. It didn’t help that she sounded like she was in the next room.
“I’m good, Aline. Better than good since I’m alive. My son just told me the shooting was on the news in Paris. I couldn’t believe it was that big a story.”
“As always Bill, you underestimate yourself. The attempted murder of The Angel of Death, a shootout between a rogue security officer officer and a whole room full of armed officers, has been around the world, I believe.”
“What did Philippe have to say about my brush with death?”
“I.....I don’t know, Bill. He is...he is still at his office. I heard about what they are calling The Massacre when I logged onto the news. Andre is with friends so I took the subway into downtown Paris and found a public phone.”
“You didn’t want to call me on your home phone or cell? Why?” There was a long silence.
“I....you must have known that Philippe was with me when I wrote you that email. It—I would have written it differently if I were alone and not afraid he would find it.”
For the first time since the shooting I wasn’t thinking about myself or Debbie.
“Bill....it’s just that....you remember I told you that I wouldn’t know if our marriage would survive until I could look into his eyes. I have looked into his eyes. We have talked. I have been honest with him and I still don’t know. For the first time in our lives, I look at him and his eyes are closed to me.”
“You were honest with him. About...everything?”
“I was too honest. I know he is hurt, although he hasn’t said anything. Both of us have been with others. I thought - I hoped - that we could move beyond. my time with you. He has no reason to be hurt.”
For the first time I heard anger in her voice.
“God knows, he has been with many other women and, although he claims to have been discrete, I know who they are - many of them. I’ve seen them, seen the look in their eyes when we are together. I’ve lived with that because I’ve had to. And now - now - because I have been with one man he knows, he is acting the wounded martyr.”
“I’m sorry, Aline. I didn’t mean for...what we had....to damage your marriage.”
“It’s not your fault, Bill. None of this is your fault. Philippe and I set the ground rules. We agreed, without many words, but we had an understanding. And he is the one who has broken that agreement! I will not feel guilty for doing what he has done times beyond number.”
There was a long silence. I looked up and saw BJ and Kelly exchanging glances. They could only hear my side of the conversation—much of it—but they were old enough to put the pieces together. I looked beyond them to Debbie. If looks could kill I would have been only a radioactive spot on the bed in which I lay.
She was silent again. Then:
‘I have no right to ask. I am with another man. I have told you that I love him. I am in his bed. You owe me nothing at all, but....If....I know I hurt you when I left that morning. But I could not say goodbye and leave. I took the coward’s way out.
“I have done nothing but cause you pain on top of what your Debbie has done to you. Still, if. ”
“What I feel for you hasn’t changed, Aline. I can’t say what will happen if you decide to come back, but I know what I feel right now.”
“I love you, Bill Maitland. I am in another man’s bed and his life, but I love you. Take care. Don’t take foolish chances with your life, because it is precious to me.”
“I love you too. Take care. Au Revoir.”
I met the eyes of my children and I knew something important had changed in an instant. They looked at me very differently than they had when they’d walked into the room minutes before. Their mother and I were divorced and they were old enough to understand what that meant. They had seen Aline in the flesh and the way I looked at her, but there must have been something in the back of their minds, some memory of when our marriage had been good, that left a faint hope.
And now it was gone.
I looked into Debbie’s cold eyes and saw that they glistened. I remembered the look of contempt she had shown me as she stood with her tall young stud boyfriend in the UNF Arena. I remembered how small, old and alone I had felt in that moment. Only a stubborn core of anger had pushed me not to walk away with my tail between my legs.
I remembered her telling me to pay someone for sex because it was obvious I was not man enough to attract any woman on my own merits.
I remembered the first nights I had spent on the River listening to cars in the night, lying alone in a strange bed and knowing the woman I’d loved for half my lifetime was in another man’s arms. And there was nothing I could do about it.
There was a part of me that wanted to comfort her. Maybe I couldn’t kill it out. Maybe I would always love her, but there would be no comfort now. She had brought all of this on herself. I had pulled myself out of the pit with no help from her. Let her find her own way.
We stared at each other until she finally lowered her eyes and walked out of the room. BJ and Kelly looked at her as she left and then Kelly bent down to kiss me on the cheek and BJ squeezed my hand.
“We’d better go,” Kelly said, gesturing toward the doorway.
“Yeah, go on. All this has been a shock for your mom, too. She thought I was dead or dying last night.”
“That’s not what she’s upset about,” Kelly said.
“I know but, anyway, I’ll probably be out of here by tomorrow. I’ll call you guys and keep you up to date. Okay?”
As I gestured and they walked back toward my bed, Debbie said quietly, “Who was that?”
“Just a. man who was concerned about my welfare. He’s a friend, of sorts.”
“I think everybody in the world must have heard about what happened,” BJ said excitedly. “I tuned into a French broadcast channel I caught on my friend’s Direct TV universal channel and caught a news broadcast. I couldn’t understand what they were saying…"
“You would have if you’d paid attention in your French classes,” Kelly interjected. As usual, BJ ignored her.
“The only class you paid attention to was Sex Ed.,” BJ said, continuing, “Anyway, they showed Dad’s picture and some of the shots of people being taken out of the cop shop and I heard what I thought was ‘The Angel of Death’ in French and I know I heard his name—William Maitland. France! They were showing it on French television. Can you believe that?”
“Yes, I can believe that and I am sure that there are people in France who will be fascinated to hear about your father’s brush with death - some people in particular.”
All of us picked up the ice in her voice. The two younger Maitlands couldn’t help smiling. I kept my face neutral. I’d known she was jealous of Aline, but I
hadn’t realized how jealous.
The timing of what came next couldn’t have happened again in a million years. It was impossible, but sometimes impossible coincidences do happen.
The phone rang. I ignored it, but a moment later the attractive nurse stuck her head back in the door.
I guess after the last time she wasn’t taking any chances.
“Mr. Maitland, there’s a lady, French I think, on the phone. She says her name is Aline. You want to take her call? I’ve got her on hold.”
“Send her call through.”
It was as if Debbie and I were the only people in the world.
I remembered the last time she had looked at me like that. It was when she had walked in on Amy Sunderland and me screwing on CC’s yacht. I had felt guilty for no good reason then but I didn’t feel guilty now. I just played back the memory of her going to Doug’s aid the night of that UNF ceremony and made myself feel what I’d felt then.
I held her gaze while I said, “Hello, Aline.”
There was a terrible hurt in her eyes but I made my heart a stone. She had no right to be hurt by anything I did anymore.
“Bill, are you alright?”
I had thought the pain of losing this woman had gone, but it was as if the morning she had left me alone had never happened. It didn’t help that she sounded like she was in the next room.
“I’m good, Aline. Better than good since I’m alive. My son just told me the shooting was on the news in Paris. I couldn’t believe it was that big a story.”
“As always Bill, you underestimate yourself. The attempted murder of The Angel of Death, a shootout between a rogue security officer officer and a whole room full of armed officers, has been around the world, I believe.”
“What did Philippe have to say about my brush with death?”
“I.....I don’t know, Bill. He is...he is still at his office. I heard about what they are calling The Massacre when I logged onto the news. Andre is with friends so I took the subway into downtown Paris and found a public phone.”
“You didn’t want to call me on your home phone or cell? Why?” There was a long silence.
“I....you must have known that Philippe was with me when I wrote you that email. It—I would have written it differently if I were alone and not afraid he would find it.”
“What do you have to be afraid of, Aline?” “I...Bill...it’s different. I...”
“What is it, Aline? What aren’t you telling me?”
For the first time since the shooting I wasn’t thinking about myself or Debbie.
“Bill....it’s just that....you remember I told you that I wouldn’t know if our marriage would survive until I could look into his eyes. I have looked into his eyes. We have talked. I have been honest with him and I still don’t know. For the first time in our lives, I look at him and his eyes are closed to me.”
“You were honest with him. About...everything?”
“I was too honest. I know he is hurt, although he hasn’t said anything. Both of us have been with others. I thought - I hoped - that we could move beyond. my time with you. He has no reason to be hurt.”
For the first time I heard anger in her voice.
“God knows, he has been with many other women and, although he claims to have been discrete, I know who they are - many of them. I’ve seen them, seen the look in their eyes when we are together. I’ve lived with that because I’ve had to. And now - now - because I have been with one man he knows, he is acting the wounded martyr.”
“I’m sorry, Aline. I didn’t mean for...what we had....to damage your marriage.”
“It’s not your fault, Bill. None of this is your fault. Philippe and I set the ground rules. We agreed, without many words, but we had an understanding. And he is the one who has broken that agreement! I will not feel guilty for doing what he has done times beyond number.”
There was a long silence. I looked up and saw BJ and Kelly exchanging glances. They could only hear my side of the conversation—much of it—but they were old enough to put the pieces together. I looked beyond them to Debbie. If looks could kill I would have been only a radioactive spot on the bed in which I lay.
“So....what….”
“Is going to happen? I don’t know, Bill. I do not wish to hurt you, but I still have feelings for him. We have made a life together and there is Andre. I cannot just walk away but, I do not know if he wants to be with me. Perhaps only time will tell.”She was silent again. Then:
‘I have no right to ask. I am with another man. I have told you that I love him. I am in his bed. You owe me nothing at all, but....If....I know I hurt you when I left that morning. But I could not say goodbye and leave. I took the coward’s way out.
“I have done nothing but cause you pain on top of what your Debbie has done to you. Still, if. ”
“What I feel for you hasn’t changed, Aline. I can’t say what will happen if you decide to come back, but I know what I feel right now.”
“I love you, Bill Maitland. I am in another man’s bed and his life, but I love you. Take care. Don’t take foolish chances with your life, because it is precious to me.”
“I love you too. Take care. Au Revoir.”
I met the eyes of my children and I knew something important had changed in an instant. They looked at me very differently than they had when they’d walked into the room minutes before. Their mother and I were divorced and they were old enough to understand what that meant. They had seen Aline in the flesh and the way I looked at her, but there must have been something in the back of their minds, some memory of when our marriage had been good, that left a faint hope.
And now it was gone.
I looked into Debbie’s cold eyes and saw that they glistened. I remembered the look of contempt she had shown me as she stood with her tall young stud boyfriend in the UNF Arena. I remembered how small, old and alone I had felt in that moment. Only a stubborn core of anger had pushed me not to walk away with my tail between my legs.
I remembered her telling me to pay someone for sex because it was obvious I was not man enough to attract any woman on my own merits.
I remembered the first nights I had spent on the River listening to cars in the night, lying alone in a strange bed and knowing the woman I’d loved for half my lifetime was in another man’s arms. And there was nothing I could do about it.
There was a part of me that wanted to comfort her. Maybe I couldn’t kill it out. Maybe I would always love her, but there would be no comfort now. She had brought all of this on herself. I had pulled myself out of the pit with no help from her. Let her find her own way.
We stared at each other until she finally lowered her eyes and walked out of the room. BJ and Kelly looked at her as she left and then Kelly bent down to kiss me on the cheek and BJ squeezed my hand.
“We’d better go,” Kelly said, gesturing toward the doorway.
“Yeah, go on. All this has been a shock for your mom, too. She thought I was dead or dying last night.”
“That’s not what she’s upset about,” Kelly said.
“I know but, anyway, I’ll probably be out of here by tomorrow. I’ll call you guys and keep you up to date. Okay?”
Like, Comment and Give Rating.
![[+]](https://xossipy.com/themes/sharepoint/collapse_collapsed.png)