“Randy, he’s family,” Joe said, doing some oversimplifying of his own. “My family, and he needs help. I gotta give it to him.”
“Why?” Randy asked, her question not accusing in the least.
“Because that could have been me, Randy, years ago. I could have been in that kind of trouble, and I would have needed someone to bail me out.”
“You would never have tried to kill your father, Joe.”
“No, but I could have managed to kill someone else in any one of my drunk stupors. I could have gotten into a lot of trouble, maybe something as bad as this…” His light blue eyes looked down into hers, searching for understanding. He had told her many times that she would never have recognized the man he had been in London before his parents were killed. Randy could see now that he was identifying with this young man and was doing his damndest to make her see that.
Finally she nodded, ever trusting of her husband’s judgement. “Okay, Joe, if you think it’s something we should do, we’ll do it.”
Joe smiled, pulling her into his embrace. “Thanks,” he whispered softly into her hair. “I love you.”
Randy pulled back just enough to look up at him. “And I love you for being able continue to amaze me even after ten years of marriage.”
Joe gave her a questioning look. “Amaze you?”
“Well, first you give this kid a hundred thousand dollars without question, and now you’re bailing him out of a serious problem. You don’t even know him, you just know he’s family, and he’s not really that… but I know how you think, and to you he still is, right?”
Joe nodded seriously. Randy just shook her head, smiling and handing him the phone he had set down on the coffee table minutes before.
Joe called Robert and told him to go ahead with whatever he needed to do to get Christian out of jail.
Four hours later, Christian was surprised to find himself standing outside the jail he’d been inside minutes before. Robert walked out the double doors and over to him.
“How’d this happen?” Christian asked, too shocked to be cool.
“Your cousin made this happen,” Robert said simply. “But there are some conditions to your release.”
“And what would those be?” Christian was still too surprised to be aloof.
“You have to leave the country for a while, and you have to stay away from your father,” Robert said, almost grinning on the last part.
“Great, and where the hell am I supposed to go?” Christian said, his voice taking on an edge. They’d dealt him right out of his homeland.
“That’s all been arranged, but first I thought you’d like to go and see your mother at the hospital.”
“Yes.” Christian was still curious about these “arrangements,” but figured Robert would tell him when the time came.
It was his mother who told him; Robert had been to see her that morning. He had told her everything, having been assured by her doctor that it wouldn’t be too much for her to hear. She had been upset to hear that her son was in jail and more so when she heard what he had done. Robert had assured her that he was seeing to getting Christian out and that no charges were going to be filed. Josephine had been amazed. Robert had explained to her about Christian’s phone call to him, and that Joseph Sinclair senior’s son had been the one to pay for her treatment at her son’s request. Josephine had been taken aback by such generosity and had bid Robert thank Mr. Sinclair very much for her. She was further amazed when Robert told her about the conditions of Christian’s release, and that his cousin had agreed to allow him asylum in America to avoid charges of attempted murder.
Sitting at his mother’s bedside, Christian was just happy to see his mother looking more comfortable than she had the last time he’d seen her. The doctor had assured him the treatment was going quite well and they were optimistic for her future.
“You look worlds better, Mum,” Christian said, holding her hand and brushing her hair back with his fingers. He now looked far different to Robert, who had noted the change on the young man’s face. He knew he hadn’t been wrong, comparing Christian to Joe in his earlier days. Joe’s face had lit up the same way when his mother was around.
“Thanks to you,” Josephine said to her son. “I heard what you did…” She trailed off to indicate that she’d heard everything.
Christian immediately looked contrite, but he shook his head. “I had to, Mum. I couldn’t let the bastard get away with it twice.”
“Christian…” Josephine said sorrowfully as she shook her head. “I know why you think you had to do that, and I can’t really blame the way you feel. I just wish things could be different for you.”
“Well, I guess they’re gonna be right now,” Christian said hesitantly, not sure how to tell his mother that he had to leave the country because of what he had done. He was surprised when she started to nod.
“Yes, they will be. I understand that you’re going to America to live with your cousin for the time being.”
“I am?” Christian said, looking up at Robert for affirmation. The older man nodded. “I didn’t know,” he said to his mother.
“Well, Mr. Debenshire told me this morning. I want you to promise me, Christian Joseph Collins, that you will give your cousin all the respect he deserves for his generosity in this. He didn’t have to do a thing for either of us, you know.”
“Yes, Mum, I know,” Christian said obediently. Robert doubted that anyone aside from his mother ever warranted that tone from this young man.
She was right about Joe’s generosity; she didn’t know how right. Joe had further ordered Robert to make sure Josephine had a decent job with benefits to go to once she was ready, to ensure her future financial comfort, even if that job was at Sinclair Publishing. “Hell,” Joe had said, “I don’t care if you make her a vice president, just make sure she wants for nothing again.” To Joe’s way of thinking, Josephine Collins was family too, and he knew it was what his father would have done if he’d known the dire straits she had slipped into after leaving his uncle’s home. Robert hadn’t talked to her about the job or any of that as of yet; he was waiting until her mind was settled about her son having to leave.
Three days later, Christian Collins was on a plane headed to America.
The morning after Randy and Joe agreed to allow Christian to come live with them, they were surprised when Susan showed up at the breakfast table with an announcement. She walked in beaming from ear to ear. “I have something I need to tell you both,” she said, looking a little hesitant.
Joe looked up from the report he was reading, lifting his coffee to his lips and nodding. Randy moved to sit down at the table, looking at Susan.
“I’m getting married,” Susan said excitedly, showing them her left hand, which had a rather large engagement ring on it.
Joe just about choked on his coffee. “You’re what?”
“You heard her, Sinclair,” Randy said, shaking her head at her husband.
“To who?” Joe asked disbelievingly.
Randy and Susan looked at him as if he’d just gone off the deep end. Randy said, “Duh.”
“I’m marrying Warren, Uncle Joe,” Susan said, using the familiar name as she had when she was younger.
“Oh,” Joe said, trying to look enthusiastic, but Randy could see he didn’t like the idea one bit. She questioned him about it as he drove her to school that morning.
“So what’s up with you?” she said softly.
“Whaddya mean?” Joe’s mind was already on the office.
“I mean your total lack of enthusiasm for Susan’s announcement this morning,” Randy said, looking at her husband’s profile. “Are you worried about her still working for us, because she’s already assured me she has no intention of quitting anytime in the near future.”
Joe shook his head. “No, that’s not it. I know she wouldn’t do that to us. I just… I don’t like it.”
“What do you mean, you don’t like it? What’s not to like?”
Randy replied without hesitation. “With everything I have. Why?”
“And would you say that you’ve felt that way about me from the beginning?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think Susan feels that way about this guy?”
Randy hesitated, thinking about the question, and after a long moment had to shake her head.
“That’s what I don’t like.”
Randy looked back at her husband of over nine years, ever surprised by his way of thinking. She hadn’t thought about it that way, and she wouldn’t have expected Joe to either. But upon reflection she realized Susan was like Joe’s niece, and he was protective of her just as Rick was. So it did make sense that he would be concerned about her making a poor choice when it came to marriage. Reaching over, she took his hand, feeling very fortunate to be married to a man that thought the way he did. Joe looked over at her, seeing her love for him reflected in her eyes, and smiled.
He thought of the moment again a number of times that day and always smiled to himself. In the time that Susan had been with them, his and Randy’s marriage had become more like it had been originally, and Joe was thankful for that. He loved his wife more than he could put into words, and any distance between them always made him feel lost. He knew it wasn’t exactly a tough cop way of seeing his marriage, but when it came to Randy he didn’t care how he looked. Joe and Randy had been through too many things in their lives together and had come too close to losing it all to allow even a fleeting thought of trivializing it, and Joe wouldn’t do that.
Joe was busy trying to get month-end reports in from all his lieutenants when Rick walked into his office and sat down. Joe looked up, his face all captain until Rick tossed FORS’ month-end report on the desk between them. Joe smiled then, and Rick laughed.
“I knew I wasn’t allowed to have a conversation with you till this was in,” Rick said, pointing to the document on the desk.
“Got that right,” Joe said, grinning at his oldest friend.
“Yes, Captain.” Rick said the rank as if it were a bad word, his grin wide. Joe had taken a lot of flak from the members of FORS for allowing himself to be promoted to captain of vice and therefore out of the unit. Rick had been the most vehement, since it had left him in the position of being in charge and eventually promoted to lieutenant, whether he liked it or not. His wife was the chief, after all.
“So, I hear tell you’re getting a care package from England,” Rick said, his voice becoming friendlier, but his look pointed.
“Yeah, and I hear you’re gaining a nephew,” Joe shot back.
“Aww, yes, young Warren…”
“You mean boring Warren.”
“What’s wrong with him? He’s from a good family, he’s been courting the girl since the day they met.”
“Good family?” Joe said, his face indicating his disgust with the term. “You’re starting to sound like our parents, man.”
“Yeah? Well, just wait till Kat gets old enough to talk about guys, then see how fast you change your tune. You’ll keep her away from guys like us, that’s for sure.”
Joe laughed. “Great, what does that say for our wives?”
“Their parents weren’t around to speak up for them,” Rick said, shaking his head ruefully. “We got lucky. But I’m tellin’ ya, man, Kail’s been hangin’ out with some older kids, and now she’s askin’ about guys and stuff. It’s makin’ me crazy!”
“Shit, Rick, she’s only ten… Maybe she’s got more of her mother in her than you thought, huh?” Joe said, grinning widely.
“Shut the fuck up!” Rick said, grinning too.
“Hey!” said a voice from the doorway. Both men looked up to see Midnight standing there. She walked in, kicking the door closed and moving to sit in the chair next to Rick’s. “I don’t want to hear that kind of language in my old office,” she said with a grin.
Rick smiled at her. “If you’d heard what he’d just said, you’d know I was just defending your honor.”
“I see,” Midnight said, looking at Joe. “And what was it you were saying?”
Joe shrugged innocently. “Just that I thought Mikeyla was probably a lot like you. Can’t understand why that would be an insult to your honor.”
Rick was laughing by this time, seeing that Midnight was buying it. Joe managed to hold a straight face long enough to get Rick punched in the arm, and then he broke out laughing too.
Midnight watched them both, shaking her head. “I think you two need a vacation. Hey, look, I came down to get the scoop on this kid you got comin’ in from England,” she said to Joe.
“Christ, how did you two hear all this so fast?”
“Dad,” Rick said, at the exact same time Midnight said, “Robert.”
“He called this morning,” Rick explained. “Having received Susan’s little announcement telegram this morning with the paper. He called to make sure she’d told us, and then told us about your… cousin, is it?”
Joe nodded. “Yeah, I guess he’s my uncle’s son…” He trailed off, indicating that he didn’t really doubt it. “Anyway, he got into some trouble and now your dad is sending him here to cool out.”
“What kind of trouble?” Midnight asked with a pointed look.
“Robert didn’t tell you?” Joe said. Midnight shook her head. “Well, he kinda tried to off my uncle.” His voice was chagrined as he looked back at his partner of thirteen years, knowing she wouldn’t take something like that lightly.
“Kinda tried to off him?” Midnight repeated, with an expression that indicated she thought Joe was euphemizing the situation a little bit.
“Look,” Joe said, putting his hand down on his desk. “You don’t know my uncle, Night. The guy’s a real bastard. Christian’s the son of a maid that my uncle slept with, got pregnant, and then canned. The kid snapped, that’s all. Do you think I’d actually let him live with my family if I thought he was dangerous?”
Midnight shook her head, knowing full well Joe’s priority was that his family remain safe above and beyond everything else. She blew her breath out. “I guess if you trust him, we will too.”
Rick nodded his agreement, and Joe smiled at them both. They were like the siblings he’d never had. They were his family, as far as he was concerned. Midnight and Rick were his best friends in the world, and he prized them right up there next to his kids and Randy in terms of importance. It felt good knowing that his “family” approved of his acceptance of Christian, and he knew it would make things easier on Christian as well.
“Okay, now on to the next topic of discussion,” Midnight said, sitting forward and looking at Joe. “What’s goin’ on with my student and your brother-in-law?”
“Huh?” Joe said, his face blank.
“Oh, come on, Sinclair! Wake up! Haven’t you seen Jeanie lately? She’s like in a daze, and I think it has a lot to do with that brother-in-law of yours. And you’re telling me you know nothing?” Midnight shook her head at him, as if he were slipping.
“Well, we haven’t seen a lot of Donovan lately…” Joe said, trying to think of the last time they’d seen him.
“Yeah,” Rick said, getting into the discussion finally. “I heard he busted one of his best friends in the mouth at 10-7 a couple of weeks back.”
Now Midnight looked concerned. “Who?”
“Uh-oh,” Rick said, looking over at Joe, who had also gotten a serious look on his face. “I see the chief and the captain coming, and I think I need to go back to work. Let’s just forget I said that, okay?” He stood up and moved to Joe’s door. “It’s been real,” he said, and walked out.
Midnight and Joe looked at each other, concern clear on their faces.
“Think it was another cop?” Midnight asked.
“If it was a citizen we would have had a complaint by now,” Joe said, not wanting to thi
nk about this too much. He knew what could happen, and he knew Randy was not going to like it if it did.
“Maybe not. I mean, if it was a friend of his… Maybe the guy didn’t care, or maybe he was just drunk or something…”
“Or maybe Donovan was,” Joe said, aware of his brother-in-law’s penchant for going out with his buddies and getting drunk and stupid. Another thought occurred to him, not one he wanted to think. “Most of Donovan’s friends are cops.”
Midnight nodded, her lips twisting in an unhappy frown.
“Find out from Rick where he heard it, and I’ll talk to Donovan after you do,” Joe said. He knew this could be a problem for both of them.
Two days later Donovan sat in Joe’s office. Joe and Midnight had found that another lieutenant had told Rick about the incident and that the lieutenant wasn’t the only ranking officer in the bar that night. Donovan knew by the look on his brother-in-law’s face that this was definitely not a social visit.
“What happened at 10-7 a couple of weeks ago?” Joe asked, his tone all business.
Donovan closed his eyes for a second, then opened them to look back at Joe. “David Jones and I got into it,” he said evenly.
“Why?” Joe said.
“He was being rude to my date.”
“Rude?”
“Yes, he kept putting his hands on her and grabbed her rear end.”
“So you ‘got into it’?” Donovan nodded. “And did he hit you first?”
“No. I hit him.”
“How many times?”
“Once,” Donovan said, almost tonelessly.
“Do you know that you dislocated his jaw?” Joe asked, his voice deepening.
Donovan looked surprised. “No, sir, I didn’t know that.”
“Do you know that there were a number of ranking officers in the bar that night?”
Donovan winced ever so slightly. “No, sir.” He suddenly felt like he was back in the academy.
“Do you know how far my ass is hangin’ out here, Curtis?” Joe said, almost sounding like a drill sergeant now. “Do you know the position you’ve got the chief in? Don’t you know by now how close these people watch how you’re treated, how Rick’s treated, or Randy?”
For all Intents and Purposes (MidKnight Blue Book 6) Page 13