Richard held out his hand, but Peg went in for the hug instead. The moisture in Richard's eyes said that it had been too long since a mother had hugged him. He hesitantly put his arms around Peg and squeezed.
When the two separated, Peg looked him up and down and said, “You don't look a lot like the rest of my kids.” She smiled. “But there's something very familiar in those eyes.”
Richard smiled back. “Thank you, Peg.”
“DNA test tomorrow,” Dan told his mother.
Peg was still looking into Richard's eyes. “I think I already know how that's going to turn out.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dan, Gene, and Richard sat in the waiting room in Dr. Linda Briddle's office. Gene was flipping through a six-month-old copy of Field & Stream, mostly just looking at the pictures.
“I'm nervous,” said Richard.
“Gotta poop?” Dan asked.
Gene glanced over the top of his magazine at Dan.
“Not that kind of nervous,” Richard said.
“What kind?”
“What if the DNA doesn't come back a match?”
“Then you still made a few new friends, Rich.”
“Thanks, Dan.”
“You two aren't gonna kiss, are ya?” Gene asked.
“We just might, Dad,” Dan joked.
Richard reached into his pocket for his cell phone. “Crap,” he said.
“What is it?” Dan asked.
“I forgot my cell phone in the car. I'll be right back.” He got up and went for the door.
Gene watched Richard as he crossed the floor, and as soon as the door shut behind him, he got up and moved to the seat next to Dan. “Hey,” he whispered.
“What?” Dan whispered back.
“There's something I didn't tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Richard's mother was dating a friend of mine—that's how I knew her. He was my best friend over there. When he went back to the States, her and I still talked. We went to the movies a few times, had a few drinks together, and then the night before I shipped out, we slept together. It was only once.”
“So you're saying there's a chance that Rich could be your friend's son?” said Dan.
“Exactly,” Gene said. “Here's the thing, Sonny, my buddy's name was Richard Chase.”
“Crap,” Dan whispered. “But why would Rich's mom tell him that you were his father?”
“Let's just say, out of the two of us—Chase and me—I was the nicer person. He was a big drinker and kind of a prick to her when he was drunk.”
“Physically?”
“I saw him smack her a couple times.”
“Dammit.”
“It might not mean anything. Tran really loved Chase, even if he was a prick. Maybe she just named Richard after Chase because she wished he was the father.”
“You know where this Richard Chase is now?”
“He was killed in a car accident less than a year after returning home from Vietnam.”
The door opened and Richard walked back in. He saw the somber looks on Dan and his father's face. “What's the matter,” Richard said, “someone die?”
“Yeah, me,” said Gene. “Of old age. How long we gotta sit here?”
Dan glanced up at the clock. “Shouldn't be too much longer.”
“That's what you said twenty minutes ago.”
“Mr. Coast?” said the receptionist.
Dan and his father both looked over. “Yeah?” they both said.”
The receptionist—who gave the impression of someone who had just sucked the juice out of a lemon—looked down at her appointment book. “Dan Coast,” she clarified.
“That's me,” Dan stated. He got up and walked toward the door to the examining room. Before he got to the door it opened. Doc Briddle stood in the doorway.
“Sorry to keep you gentlemen waiting so long,” said Briddle. “I had—oh, who am I kidding? I don't care how long you waited. I get paid the same either way.” She didn't crack a smile. Doc Briddle never smiled when delivering her own special brand of dry humor. “Get your ass in here, Coast, and maybe I'll even check your prostate just for fun.”
“Not without buying me dinner first, Doc,” Dan shot back.
Linda Briddle had been Dan's doctor since he first arrived in Key West. Due to a drunken hammock accident, she put four stitches in the back of his head on his third day on the island.
Briddle was just under six feet tall and outweighed Dan by at least thirty pounds. She had a deep voice and hairier arms than most men Dan knew. On most morning appointments, she had a smooth hairless face, but by the afternoon she sported a five o'clock shadow that would make Fred Flintstone envious. Having been born in Key West, Briddle was a true Conch, as lifelong residents call themselves. Other than her time at Boston University, she had spent her entire life there.
Dan walked through the door and Dr. Briddle started to close it. She paused, and turned back to Gene and Richard. “Why don't you guys come in too,” she said, waving them in. “We'll get all y'all at once.”
Gene and Richard got up and followed Dan through the door.
“Have a seat, gentlemen,” said Briddle, closing the door behind her. “I hear we're drawing a little blood today.”
“We're not,” said Dan. “You are.”
“I am the expert,” said Briddle. She reached for a box of extra-large rubber gloves that sat on a shelf above a red, wall mounted medical waste container. She slipped her Chewbacca-like hands into the gloves. “Looking for our baby daddy, are we?”
Gene chuckled.
“Oh, yeah, sorry, Doc,” Dan said. “Rich, this is Linda Briddle. Doc, Richard Bong; he may be my brother.”
“I guess so,” Briddle replied. “You look like identical twins, for chrissakes.”
Gene burst out laughing even harder.
“Thanks folks,” said Briddle. “I'll be here all week.”
The three men sat patiently with their arms out and their sleeves rolled up as Briddle gathered the syringes, vials, and other items necessary to take blood samples.
Briddle sat down on a round metal stool with wheels. “Who's up first?”
“I'll go first,” said Richard.
Briddle rolled herself over next to Richard. “Now when I get these results back, do I call one of you, or should I just send them over to Maury Povich?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“That Doc Briddle is a real piece of work,” Gene said as he walked up Dan's front steps and onto the porch.
“Yeah,” Dan agreed, “she sure is. She's one of the first people I met here.”
“Where'd you meet her, at Red's?”
“No, the emergency room.”
“What happened?” Richard asked.
“I was drunk, and fell out of my hammock.”
“That sounds like something you would do,” said Gene. He opened the front door and stepped inside. “Well hello there.”
Dan looked past his father to see whom he was talking to. Seated on the couch was Maggie Harrison.
“Oh crap,” said Richard.
“Hi guys,” said Maggie.
Dan looked around the room. His mother and Maxine were nowhere in sight. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I had nowhere else to go,” Maggie replied.
“Who is this young lady?” Gene asked.
Maggie stood. “I'm Maggie Harrison. I'm a client of Mr. Coast's.”
“No she's not,” Dan said. “She's not my client.”
“I can pay you,” Maggie informed him.
“I don't want your money, Maggie.”
“Where's my wife?” Gene asked.
Maggie shrugged. “I don't know. When I got here, I knocked but no one answered. I tried the doorknob and it was unlocked, so I came in and sat down on the couch. You guys came in a few minutes later.”
“Swell,” Dan said. “They're probably over to Bev's.”
“How did you find us?” Richard
asked.
Gene walked over to the young woman and held out his hand. “I'm Gene Coast, Dan's father.”
“It's nice to meet you.”
“How did you find us?” Richard asked again.
“Probably the same way you found me,” Dan answered.
“Damn Google,” Richard said.
“Does your father know you're here?” Dan asked.
“Are you thirsty?” Gene asked. “Would you like a drink?”
“Dad,” Dan scolded.
“I'm just being polite to our guest.”
“She's not our guest.”
“Your client, then.”
“She's not my client either. I already told you that.”
“I need a drink,” Richard threw in. He walked straight to the bar.
“Fix me one too,” Dan said. He returned his attention to Maggie. “Does your father know you're here?”
“He probably assumes as much.”
“Did you go to the cops?”
“Yes.”
“What did they say?”
“They told me to go home like a good little girl, and then they phoned my father and told him everything I said.”
“Holy crap,” Richard said. He spun around. He was pouring straight Scotch in a rocks glass. “What did your father say?” He filled the glass halfway and took a big gulp. It was obvious drinking straight booze was something he didn't do often. It took his breath away, and he struggled to regain his composure. “Is he coming here?” he gasped. He choked and coughed a couple times.
“Slow down with that Scotch,” Gene warned.
Richard nodded his head.
“Does he know about the recording on your phone?” Dan asked.
“Yes,” said Maggie. “I was thinking we could use it against him.”
“How?” Dan asked.
“Like in the movies. We could put it in a safe deposit box, and give the bank manager instructions to release it to the press in the event of any of our deaths. That would keep us all safe.”
“Good idea,” said Gene.
“No it's not,” Dan argued. “This isn't a movie.”
Richard was still leaning with his back against the bar. He held his empty glass in his hand. His eyes were a little glassy. “She's right,” he said. “It does always work in the movies.”
“A recording on a phone isn't enough to scare him,” said Dan. “He doesn't even admit to doing anything on that recording.”
“Circumstantial evidence,” said Gene.
Dan looked at his father. “Been going to law school, Dad?” he asked.
“Nope. Been watchin' a lot of Law & Order on the Netflix.”
“Anyway, we would need a lot more than that recording to get him to back off,” said Dan.
Maggie leaned back on the couch and stuck her hand in the front pocket of her white denim shorts. She pulled out a computer thumb drive and held it up for everyone to see. “Something like this?” she asked.
“What the Christ is that?” Dan asked.
“It's a bunch of files from the computer in my father's office at home.”
“What kind of files?”
Maggie shrugged. “I don't know. I didn't have time to look through them. I just downloaded as much as I could before he got home Friday night.”
“Give me that,” Dan ordered.
Maggie tossed him the thumb drive. Dan tossed it to Richard.
“What do you want me to do with this?” Richard asked.
“Maxine's laptop is on the dresser in our room. Stick that thumb drive in it and see what's on there.”
“I don't want to know what's on here,” Richard said.
“Well I do.”
Richard shook his head and let out a loud sigh. “Fine,” he said, and went down the hall.
Dan's cell phone rang. He reached in his pocket and pulled it out. “Unknown number,” he read.
“Answer it!” Richard shouted from the bedroom.
“Hello?” said Dan.
“Let me speak to my daughter,” said Harrison Harrison.
“Who is this?” Dan asked, knowing full well who it was.
“Let me speak to her right now, smart-ass, and maybe you'll live through this.”
“She's not here, Harrison. I told you I haven't spoken with her since your gorillas warned us off.”
“I don't believe you.”
“You need to trust people more, Harry,” said Dan. “Maybe that's something you should bring up to your therapist.”
“You talk like a man with a death wish.”
“I can't help it,” Dan remarked. “She says you killed her mother and her boyfriend, and now you want her dead.”
“You know how kids are,” was Harrison's response. “They have great imaginations. Did my daughter tell you that the gun that killed her mother was registered to Steven Foster, and that his fingerprints were all over it? Did she tell you that Steve Foster had a violent past? Two young girls that he previously dated, both had restraining orders against him. Did Maggie even bother to tell you that she suffers from schizophrenia and paranoia, and has been on medication to treat those disorders since she was a child? Mr. Coast, you may not approve of the way I make a living, or who I represent, but I haven't killed anyone … yet.”
“I heard the recording on her cell phone.”
“So did the police, Coast. They didn't think it was anything to be alarmed about.”
“You mean the cops in your pocket?”
Harrison chuckled. “You watch too much television, Coast. That, or you have an imagination just like Maggie's. Either way, if my Maggie isn't back in this house by tomorrow afternoon, I'll be sending the gorillas.” The call ended.
“What's on that thumb drive?” Dan shouted.
“Still reading!” Richard hollered back.
“Read faster, please!” Dan looked over at Gene. “Dad, I'm bringing Maggie over to Maxine's house. Her old roommate still lives there. It'll be a good place for her to hold up.”
“I want to stay here,” Maggie said.
“You can't,” Dan told her. “I'm sure your father knows where I live by now. You'll be safer at Maxine's place.”
Maggie got up. “You're probably right,” she said. “I don't want to put any of you in danger.”
“Really?” Dan asked. “Don't you think it's a little late for that?”
“Sorry.”
“What do you want me to tell your mother and Maxine when they get back?” Gene asked.
“Don't mention anything about Maggie. Just tell them I ran to the liquor store. They'll believe that.”
Dan and Maggie walked out the door and to Dan's car. “Thanks for everything you're doing,” she said, as they drove down the street.
“Didn't really have a choice, did I?”
“I guess not, but I had no one else to turn to.”
Dan took a left onto Bertha Street. “Maggie, your father said that you suffer from schizophrenia and paranoia. Is that true?”
“He left out depression, but yes, it's true.”
“Swell.”
“Mr. Coast, when I'm on medication, I have no symptoms from my illnesses. My head is perfectly clear. You have to believe me. I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid.”
Dan looked over and smiled at the young girl. “Believe it or not, Maggie, this ain't my first wacko rodeo.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Dan returned home about an hour later. He walked through the door carrying two black plastic liquor store bags. In one bag was a bottle of tequila, and in the other, a bottle of Scotch and a bottle of rum.
Richard was sitting on the couch, and Gene was in the recliner with the foot rest up. Both men were idly watching an episode of Bonanza on MeTV.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” Richard asked.
Dan put up his index finger. “One second,” he answered.
“Where have you been?” Peg asked. She was just walking out of the kitchen and into the dining room.
; “I told you he went to the liquor store,” Gene said.
“Thought I better stock up,” said Dan. He carried the bags to the bar and placed the bottles on top. He crumpled up the bags, went to the kitchen, and tossed them in the garbage. “What's for dinner?”
Maxine was putting away a few of the groceries that Peg had purchased. “Your mother bought a bunch of stuff.”
“Stuff like what?” Dan asked.
“Lunch meat, water, the coffee they like, paper towels—”
“We were out of paper towels?”
“No, but she doesn't like the kind we use. Evidently they fall apart when they get wet.”
“So what?”
“She likes to dry them and use them a couple times.”
Dan smiled. “Yeah, when I was a kid there were always paper towels drying on the back of kitchen chairs. She also used to wash out sandwich bags and use them a few times.”
“Frugal,” Maxine commented.
“Is that a medical term for insane?”
Maxine slapped Dan on the shoulder. “Be nice.”
“I don't know how.”
“Where did you go?”
“Liquor store.”
“It took you an hour to go to the liquor store?”
“Was I gone that long?”
“Yes.”
“Huh. What's for dinner?”
“Whatever you're making.”
Dan spun around. “Mom! What's for dinner?” Dan walked to the doorway. His mother was seated on the sofa.
“I bought some lunch meat,” Peg replied.
“I don't want lunch meat, water, or paper towels for dinner.”
“We could go out to dinner,” Gene suggested.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” Richard asked.
“Hold on,” Dan responded. “How about if I take you all out to dinner at Red's?”
“Red's?” Maxine asked. “Isn't there somewhere nicer we could go?”
“What's wrong with Red's?”
“It's a bar.”
“And grill,” Dan added.
“Red's is fine,” said Gene.
“How much is that going to cost for all of us to go out to dinner?” asked Peg.
“It doesn't matter, Mom. You're not paying, I am.”
“I bought stuff for sandwiches.”
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