Key West Gone into the Night

by Elizabeth Hilleren

  Harris found himself pacing the floor of the waiting room while waiting for word on Javier’s condition. Cynthia stepped in and smiled at him.

  “He’s young, strong, and he’s got some issues to deal with, but Javier is going to do well.”

  “Thank God.” Harris gave her a hug. “Sharkey is bringing his baby boy in any minute now.”

  Cynthia smiled, “That sounds like just what you and his daddy need.”

  “We’re going to check the baby over, and then you can see him in the nursery.”

  Sharkey came through the door. “We have Mateo in the nursery. He’s beautiful.”

  “Can I see him?”

  “In about an hour. How’s Javier?”

  “Cynthia told me she thinks he’s going to be all right.”

  “Good. I watched him take a bullet for Consuela. It was a crazy scene when I got there. I suggested to Sloan that his services may be needed for Javier. He said he will be here first thing in the morning. I think that’s in about two hours.”

  “You must be dead on your feet,” said Harris. “I’m calling the chief and getting reinstated in the morning.”

  “You need to slow down. You just inherited a family.”

  Harris grinned. “Yeah, I did. I need to talk to Sloan and Javier about his son.”

  Sharkey nodded. “I think that would be wise.”

  “You gonna charge him?”

  “That’s not my call. But he helped take Vasquez down. At this point he’s not even under arrest. However, I need to talk to him in depth about all of this.”

  “Understandable. I gotta get cleaned up so I can talk to Sloan.”

  Sharkey smiled. “He did take a bullet for Consuela…Just sayin’.”

  “Yeah.” Harris grinned.

  Sunday morning

  Harris met Sloan in the lobby at eight o’clock. “How are you holding up?”

  “My heart is full because the children were found.”

  Sloan smiled. “Sharkey filled me in this morning on last night’s happenings. Can we make an appointment in my office with you?”

  “Sure. I need to check on Javier then I need to go meet my grandson.”

  Sloan grinned. “I’m really happy for you. It doesn’t always end this well.”

  “It’s good for me, thanks. But not so hot for the kid’s mom and dad. I don’t know yet how to break the news to him about his mom and his dad.”

  “That’s a tough one. I’m sure he’ll be all right. Kids are amazingly adaptive. It just takes a little time.”

  “Okay. I’m on my way to see Javier for a few minutes, if that’s all right with the police.”

  “You bet. Go. Let me know when you leave.”

  “Will do.”

  Harris went to the nursery. The nurse waved and pointed to a crib by the window. Harris looked at the baby and smiled. “You did good, Susan. Real good.”

  Harris tapped on Javier’s door and walked in. “How you doin?”

  Javier was partially sitting up and smiled when he saw Harris.

  “I’m better than I thought I would be. They say the surgery was a success and I’m going to be okay. The bullet nicked the edge of my liver, but they patched it up, got the bullet out. They said it didn’t do too much damage and I should be back up on my feet soon.”

  “That’s good news. Look, I gotta get home. They found Tyler.”

  “That’s the best news. Is Mateo all right?”

  Sharkey stuck his head in the doorway. “Sorry to interrupt but I thought you might want to know that your uncle died on his way to the hospital.”

  Javier’s mouth fell open. “What happened?”

  “He ran from the police and got into deep sand on the beach. In all the tension and excitement and exertion, he grabbed his chest, and his heart gave out. The medics were right there but he died on the way into the hospital.”

  Javier was speechless for a moment. “I’m sorry he died. Mostly he was supportive of me for years when I needed the help.”

  “On the brighter side, Mateo is healthy and taking a bottle as we speak.”

  “Fantastic,” Harris said.

  “I gotta run. Just wanted you to know.” Sharkey said.

  “Thanks, Sharkey.”

  “Sorry about your uncle,” Harris said.

  “So am I.”

  Harris looked at Javier. “The little guy is great. You need to concentrate on him now.”

  Javier smiled. “When I held him, he reached up and touched my face…I love him…I don’t deserve him, but I love him,” Javier said.

  “That’s what he needs to know now. You spend time with him and he will know that you’re his dad and will love you. My friend R. Sloan will be up to see you as soon as I leave. He’s a good guy and will go to bat for you. Trust him,” Harris said.

  “That’s good enough for me. Thanks, Harris. Susan was right. You’re a great guy.”

  “Great might be exaggerating a little, but I strive for good. Thanks, kid. You’re pretty good yourself. I’ll be back.”

  * * *

  Sloan entered Javier’s room and introduced himself.

  “Good to meet you. You come highly recommended.”

  “I understand that you know that your uncle died of a heart attack on his way to the hospital.”

  “I was informed.”

  “First off, do you have the birth certificate?”

  “I gave it to Vasquez. I’m listed on it by Susan Abbott as the father. I believe Detective Sharkey has a copy. I had the passport. Well, I had it when I went to Consuela’s house. I have no idea where it is now. It was in my pocket.” He looked anxious.

  “Not to worry. I’ll hunt them down. I want you to just relax. I have a lot of work to do, but I assure you I will straighten this mess out. You can trust me. I’m working for you and I don’t back down. I believe that because you are the only living parent you will have no problem keeping your son regardless of where you live.”

  Javier looked relieved.

  “Now, I understand that you entered into a contract with your uncle Ricardo Vasquez. Where is that document?”

  “He just told me that he would cancel my education bill and what I owed him for taking care of my winery.”

  Sloan felt a slow smile come over his face. “So, there was no actual written contract?”

  “No, not a document. He told me he would do that if I gave him my son for his girlfriend so he could marry her. I was crazy. I owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

  Sloan thought for a minute. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” He went out into the lobby and called Sharkey.

  “Sloan here. You gonna charge my client Javier with anything?”

  “Not my call, but no charges at this time. Not a lot of evidence unless there was a signed agreement.”

  “There wasn’t any.”

  “Then I’d guess the DA doesn’t have a lot of evidence to charge him. And he was voluntarily very helpful in the capture of the abductor.”

  “Thanks, Sharkey.” Sloan returned to Javier’s room.

  “You bet.”

  Sloan returned to Javier. “Okay, I’d say you’re in good shape. However, if anybody tells you differently, just call me.” Sloan smiled. “You make the best kind of client. Be happy.”

  * * *

  Harris got a call from Amy that Tyler was up and eating pancakes and couldn’t wait to meet him.

  “I’m on my way, Sweetie.”

  Harris entered though the kitchen door.

  Tyler’s eyes went big and a smile covered his face. “Grampa?”

  “That’s me.” He held out his arms and Tyler ran into them. “You’re just like mom told me you looked like.” Harris hugged him for a long time.

  “You’ve been through a lot for a little guy. I’m so glad to finally meet you.”

  “Where is my mom? She loves you too.”

  “Why don’t you finish your pancakes, and we’ll talk about that.”

  “Okay.”
/>   Harris nodded to Amy and she followed him into the living room.

  “How do I tell him?”

  Amy looked into the tormented eyes of the man she loved more than life.

  “We will make him feel secure first. Children have a way of being wise and intuitive beyond their age. As for me, I’m willing to be home with him. We make good money, and I can adjust my hours to fit if necessary or just take a leave. I thought about this all last night, while I watched him sleep. We can do this, Burt. I never had children, so this is an opportunity to be a grandmother to our little boys.”

  “I know you love your work.”

  “I love you and those boys much more. We need to do this for Susan.”

  “I believe that too.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Amy said. “Come on, let’s go talk to him and you’ll know when the time is right to tell him about his parents. Let him tell his story of being separated and his adventure of being on the streets with Billy.”

  “He was with Billy Nash?” Harris asked.

  “Yes, he saved Tyler from a molester.”

  “Oh, my Lord. Okay. Let’s do it.”

  They entered the kitchen where Tyler was just finishing his milk. He looked at them, and said. “My mom isn’t coming, is she?”

  Harris sat down next to him. “No, she can’t.”

  “Billy said his mother is dead. Is mine?”

  “I’m so sorry, Tyler. She is.”

  Tyler climbed into Harris’ lap.

  “I was afraid of that. She would never leave me with strangers.”

  “No, she wouldn’t.”

  “My dad must be with her, because he’s not here either.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right.”

  Tyler leaned against Harris. “Can I stay with you?”

  “Yes. Amy and I will take care of you. We’ll be here for you. If you’re afraid or sad just talk to us and we’ll help you understand,” Harris said.

  “Okay. Mom always said if she wasn’t there for me, she would be just a whisper away. I don’t want to stay with Grandma Williams. I don’t like her. Is that okay?”

  “Okay with us,” Harris said.

  “Okay. Can I go lay down?”

  “Sure. We’ll be just outside your door.”

  “You’re right, he’s so like Susan when she was that age, understanding far beyond her age. He even looks like her with that curly blond hair and those big blue eyes.”

  “We’ll give him a good home. How about Javier, what will happen to him?”

  “I’m not sure. Sharkey said that he’s not under arrest. He played a big and dangerous part in taking down Vasquez. That’s for sure.”

  “And Mateo? He’s your grandson too,” Amy asked.

  “That will be up to Javier. He needs time and he needs to take some time to figure out what’s best for Mateo. You’ll love him, he’s cute as a bug’s ear.”

  “I have the feeling he will make a good choice. You know that it’s been a day or so since I visited Stephanie.”

  “Yeah, I know. I guess I better check on her. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up.”

  * * *

  Stephanie was sitting up and eating a bowl of Jell-O.

  “Hey, you look better.”

  “Had plenty of time to recover…not that you cared. Where were you?”

  Harris smiled. “A lot happened over the last two days. I was kind of busy.”

  “Too busy to come see me. Well, that’s okay. I have a friend who cares about me. Those flowers are from him.”

  “That’s nice. Well, I do have some good news that just happened. We have both children back safely.”

  “That’s good.” Stephanie was not cutting Harris any slack.

  “Yes, it is. Javier came through for us and worked with me and the police to help catch the people who were holding the children.”

  “So, Tyler is safe?”

  “Yes. He’s with me.”

  “Well, you going to keep him? I can’t raise another kid,” she said, her eyes boring into Harris’.

  “I will keep and raise him. As for Mateo, that depends on Javier.”

  “Sounds like you two are just chummy as hell. I didn’t think you were a pushover too.”

  “Stephanie, you can feel free to go back to your life. The children are taken care of. As far as Javier goes, he’s a fine young man and just got himself into a really bad deal with his uncle.”

  “Whatever. Remember, you can’t trust foreigners.”

  Ignoring her last sentence he continued. “We do need to take care of a service for our daughter. We can do it any way you want.”

  Stephanie’s mouth was drawn down into a frown. She thought for a long moment. “I would like it to be here. There’s no one back in Miami who knows her anymore.”

  “How much longer before they think you can get out of here?” Harris asked.”

  “Oh…about a week, maybe two. Who knows?”

  “I’ll get someone from the funeral home to stop by and you can pick out flowers, if you’re up to it. Have them send me the bill.”

  “She just loved red roses. Can you afford roses? You never sent me any….”

  “Do whatever she would want. Look, I gotta go. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  “Thanks for thinking of me. My longtime friend will be here next week. He’s taking time off to stay with me.”

  “Yeah, sure. See ya,” Harris said with a wave.

  “He’s a banker…very rich,” she said to the empty door.

  * * *

  Harris had Amy bring Tyler to see Mateo and Javier in the hospital. He had been moved to a private room and was resting comfortably.

  “Hey, Tyler, Amy,” said Javier from his bed.

  Tyler ran over to the bed. “Are you going to be all right?” His eyes were huge.

  “Yes, the doctors did a good job. Want to see the bandage?”

  “Yeah, ooh…We went down to see Mateo. He looks so cute. He smiled at me.”

  Javier smiled. “Of course. He’s your brother.”

  “That’s right. Are you going to live here with Grampa and my new Gramma?”

  “In time. I have some things I have to do in Chile before I can come back here to stay with Mateo and you.” Javier said.

  “How about some ice cream?” Amy asked.

  “Sure. See you, Javier.”

  “See you, Tyler. Thanks for visiting.”

  Javier turned to Harris. “You know I’ve been thinking a lot about that. I know that I have a recovery of weeks. I would like to get a place here for Mateo and me. But first I will have to return to my home and discuss my vineyard with my lawyer. Oh, and Vasquez’s lawyer called and wants to work with me. Seems that I am the sole heir to his property. His will was written long ago, and he never changed it.”

  “If you need us to care for Mateo,” Amy said, “we will take care of him until you decide what you want to do.”

  “I don’t want to break the brothers up. They need each other. As Susan pointed out to me, they are both citizens of this county and her last words were they should be here in their homeland. Sloan said that because there was no record of any agreement with my uncle and he’s deceased, there’s no money to pay back. I should be in better-than-expected financial shape when this is all settled.”

  “You think you would be happy here in the states?”

  “I have only a graveyard of family left in Chile. If I can sell the vineyard and business there, I could make a new start here.”

  “Well,” Harris said, “I think that would make my daughter very happy.”

  “It hurts my heart that perhaps I could have done that with her here. I did love her.”

  “And I believe that she loved you. But it would have been much different. She changed the future for you and her children. You get better and we’ll talk again tomorrow. We can take Mateo as soon as you want. Amy said she will bring him to see you every day.”

  “That would be wonderful.”


  “They are getting me up and out of bed today and I will be officially on the road to recovery. I did call my uncle’s lawyer and he’s making arrangements to return his body to Chile.”

  “Keep me in the loop.”

  Javier smiled. “I owe you everything. I can never repay you for all you are doing, but I will spend my life working on it.”

  “You just get better, okay, kid?”

  Javier laughed. “Okay, Harris.”

  * * *

  Sharkey spent the morning writing up reports on each of the cases. The death of Susan was closed when the Miami police searched Carl Abbott’s home and found a pair of boots in his closet with blood spots that matched Susan’s blood type. His food and lodging receipts confirmed that he was in Key West at the time and place of Susan Abbott’s death.

  The case against Kirk Polly was pursued by the District Attorney. Kirk Polly would be tried for the murder of Carl Abbott and the attempted murder of Stephanie Williams.

  Stephanie Williams was not arrested for her shooting of Rita Polly as it was considered by the DA to be self-defense even after some significant arguing by Kirk Polly’s attorney. It was likely that Polly’s defense would hinge on the self-defense against the crazed attack where they were drawn into a death trap set by Stephanie Williams who then tried to assassinate them both by shooting first.

  Javier was not arrested for any involvement in the abduction of the children. His voluntary, selfless, and dangerous help to capture Ricardo Vasquez and Manuel Rodriguez was considered to be of significant importance in that decision. His work in retrieving the children and protection of Consuela Lopez at the cost of getting shot also helped his case.

  * * *

  Later that day Sharkey and Harris were sitting in their office having a piece of coffee cake and coffee.

  “Man, things are quiet around here now that Webber has finally dropped the other shoe and let us know that he and Gloria are moving to Miami. I’m gonna miss him.”

  “I will too. We were together a long time,” Sharkey said. “The chief sent this memo down just a few minutes ago.” Sharkey floated the paper over to Harris. Sharkey watched Harris’ eyes get big as he read.