Dream Lover by Suzanne Jenkins Read Free Book Online Page A

are coercing you at any time, please say something right away. Is that clear to you?”
    Yes,” Pam replied. Get on with it, will you? she thought. I hate you, Jack.
    “Okay, we can get started. Have you had unprotected sex, which includes anal, vaginal, or oral with another partner? Unprotected means without the use of a condom or rubber dam.”
    “No,” Pam answered, shivering involuntarily. She clenched and unclenched her fists, resolving to stay calm no matter how gruesome and depraved this meeting became.
    “Have you shared needles to inject intravenous drugs with anyone?”
    “No!” Pam exclaimed. What the hell did they think she was? The interview continued for several more minutes with the same questions being answered different ways. Pam was quickly losing patience until the last question was asked.
    “Do you know of any other partner your late husband may have had sex with, or shared intravenous injected drugs with?”
    Pam stared at Maggie with an unreadable emotion; either contempt or stubbornness or complete disgust. But she answered. “Yes. He slept with my sister, Marie Fabian, and with Sandra Benson. I can provide telephone numbers for both women if you don’t already have them. However, I gave Miss Frank this information.”
    “Do you suspect there were others?” Maggie asked as gently as was possible.
    Pam looked out to the sea. She thought of the attractive young women who had shown up at Jack’s funeral—there had been at least twenty of them, and they had come alone—and thought she might have an answer. She remembered an odd young woman who had come to Bernice’s seventieth birthday party a few years ago, and then materialized again at the funeral; of the gorgeous model type who had just happened to run into Jack on the beach, right in front of the house, but claimed not to have known that the Smiths lived there. What would disclosure mean to her family? It was all hearsay. No one had any proof until someone stepped forward. What difference did it make? Would saying yes mean they would search further into his life? Truly, she wanted to know. Having her head stuck in the sand, as she evidently had done for most of her adult life, had not worked for her.
    “Yes,” she answered. “But having said that, I must ask that you divulge what information you are able to gather to me. I won’t ask names, but I must know the truth.” And then she thought of her mother-in-law. She remembered reading Jack’s accusation in a legal brief found after his death, that his father had sexually abused him and his brother, Bill for most of their childhood. Could Jack have gotten HIV from his father? Then there was a risk that his mother was infected, too. Oh, my God. “I just thought of something,” she said looking at Maggie. “My mother-in-law may be infected.” She didn’t need to say another word. Betty James nodded her head. She reached out a hand to Pam.
    “Please accept our deepest apologies for having put you through this. I wish there were another way to gather information. As for your request, we will stay in touch with you. That’s all I can say right now.” Betty looked over at Maggie for confirmation.
    “Anything you need from us, you only have to ask,” Maggie said. “We will do what we can to help you through this, okay Mrs. Smith?” They stood up together to end the questioning. But Maggie wasn’t ready to leave. “Can I just walk down your path here? I am dying to see the water. It will probably be the only time this summer that I get to the beach.”
    “Me too,” Betty said. “Every year, we say we are going to go to the beach for a picnic and then we end up in Philadelphia with my husband’s brother.” The three women walked down the wooden path to the beach. It was a gorgeous day for sunning and swimming, but not for them. They didn’t speak for several minutes. Finally, Maggie said it was time to go; they had to get back to the city by four. She was reluctant to move