She Wanted It All - Kathryn Casey [103]
Her handyman practically lived at the Toro Canyon house, building bookshelves and doing repairs. She had a gazebo built outside, telling the Dennisons it would be a place for Steve to sit in his wheelchair and look out at the trees. Dr. Dennison shook his head in wonder when she then had a pathway of loose river rocks laid to it, one on which it would have been nearly impossible to push a wheelchair.
Louis Shanks trucks pulled up weekly with new furniture both at the Toro Canyon house and the lake house. The carpeting had been torn out and replaced, Celeste bought new wallpaper for the bathrooms, and, in what was still a brand new house, she hired painters to change the finish on the window ledges from satin to glossy.
Other expenditures, Celeste said, were for security. She paid $7,600 for chain-link fencing and razor wire, the spirals of thin steel blades often seen on the tops of fences and buildings in rough parts of large cities. For two weeks Jimmy Martinez worked daily at the Toro Canyon house, installing a cutting edge camera-equipped security system. From a central command center, Celeste could watch every door and every room.
It didn’t help the girls’ peace of mind that spectators drove by and stared at the house. Celeste posted a sign more often seen on dark country roads than in affluent neighborhoods: “No Trespassing. This property is under 24 hour video surveillance.”
In mid-October she and the girls moved back to Toro Canyon. Jimmy left his German shepherd to guard them; and the teens, all on edge, slept together in Kristina’s room, listening for Tracey’s footsteps. “We were terrified she’d come back,” says Kristina.
Jennifer was not only frightened of Tracey; she was afraid of Celeste, so much so that whenever she could, she stayed with friends. “I just knew she was involved, and I didn’t know what she’d do to us,” she says. “I wouldn’t leave Kristina, but I shook every time I got in the car with Celeste. I was afraid she’d drive us off the side of a hill.”
Meanwhile, the bills rolled into Kuperman’s office. Along with all the house repairs, Celeste had purchased two Cadillac Cateras for the twins and a brand new $55,000 bronze mist Cadillac for herself. Combined, the three cars cost $105,000. With the bills climbing from the tens of thousands to the hundreds of thousands, Kuperman went to the hospital to see Steve. Celeste was with him, but Steve, still on a ventilator, was unable to talk. Kuperman stayed only briefly, getting no answers to any of his questions.
Ten days after Steve was shot, Becky returned to the hospital. This time she came armed with papers her father had signed years earlier that gave her his power of attorney for medical purposes. She took them to a social worker and had a notation made on his chart. When she went down to see him, Celeste tried to keep her from entering the room.
“He’s been my father a lot longer than he’s been your husband,” Becky told her. “Get out of my way.”
“He has a new family now. He doesn’t love any of you!” Celeste screamed.
Becky stared at her. “I know my father loves me. I’m not going to take this up with him now, but when he’s better, we’ll have a talk.” Then she went into his room.
After Becky left for Dallas, Celeste had Steve sign a new form, removing Becky and giving her his medical power of attorney. Once she had it noted on his chart, she began a code system; only people who knew the word of the day were given information about Steve’s condition. From that point on, the older Beard children were rebuffed when they called the hospital and asked about their father. “Steven finally got someone at the hospital to help us,” says Paul. “Celeste wouldn’t even let us talk to our father.”
Although she catered to him at the hospital,