Fadeout

by Rolynn Anderson

  “What if we can’t stop the memorial without giving people your information?”

  Tess grabbed Jan’s arm and squeezed, hard enough to make Jan wince. “No. One. Knows. Ever.”

  The General reached over to Tess’s hand and gently lifted it off Jan’s arm. He pointed to the paper. “Someone else could leak the information. Your mother, say. Or another sibling.”

  “They won’t.”

  Jan played a hunch. “A doctor or a nurse?”

  “No,” Tess said through clenched teeth. “Dad made sure.”

  Ryan put his hand on his sister’s shoulder, showing solidarity. “Madmen are skilled at covering their tracks.”

  With her back against the clinic wall, literally and figuratively, Jan mused. She glanced at her business partner. “Dad?”

  The General shook his head. “Whatever they’ve got in that clinic won’t stay a secret. As soon as we try to stop the memorial, all hell will break lose. We sign the document, we get sued.” He glared at Tess. “You come at my daughter with a knife. Two guys rough me up in the Euc forest and run down my daughter on a public street. What’s more, we get threatening phone calls from you.” He drilled Ryan with a withering look. “And now you want to guarantee we’ll be sued?”

  Jan closed her eyes and leaned against the rough stucco wall, warm from the sun. Clearly the General wanted to walk away. The easiest thing to do would be to drop Madeline Barker for a second time and let the Barker children find their own strategy for stopping the memorial.

  “You’re right, Dad,” she said aloud so Tess and Ryan could hear her reasoning. “Even if we keep their secret, even if we shut down the memorial, the truth could come out another way. The maid we found in Mexico, a nurse, a doctor…it’s only a matter of time before someone comes forward.” She stepped away from the wall. “Tess, I’m sorry. We’re sorry.”

  “No!” Tess screamed. “You promised you’d help. I’ll pay you,” she added, foisting a check at Jan.

  “Let’s go,” said the General, ignoring the money and taking Jan’s elbow. “We’re done with this mess.”

  Jan walked with her father a few steps, her eyes sweeping Grand Avenue.

  Roman. What would Roman think of all this…a memorial where a man was praised who should be vilified. Roman would be so incensed he’d crash the event, shanghai the podium and tell the world about Barker’s dark past. That is, if he knew what Jan knew.

  She smiled, thinking of Roman’s outrage. She liked the way he looked when he was impassioned, unleashed in a sexy kind of way.

  When Jan stopped, her father gave her a puzzled look.

  Facing him, she said, “We’re giving them some time to think, Dad. We’ll stand here talking for a while, okay?” At her father’s nod she went on. “I should have told you about my research on the late, great Cliff Barker. Roman shamed me into it.”

  The General raised his eyebrows, waiting.

  “I picked a local reporter who’d clocked a ton of hours following, interviewing and writing about Barker. The guy didn’t have a thing to say about the old man’s relationship with his kids. Barker carefully separated his family from politics, to protect their privacy.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “When I asked the reporter about Barker’s flaws, he said, ‘Nasty streak. Temper issues.’” Jan glanced at Ryan, who seemed to be comforting Tess. “The reporter witnessed the old man ripping into a couple of people, verbally. Just barely able to control himself from throttling them.”

  His eyebrows knit, the General said, “That’s hardly evidence the man hurt his children.”

  “No, but it makes the matter worth pursuing.” She drew in a breath, deciding to let the sobs of the children in her faint dreams guide her next move. “We’re going to help the Barker children, Dad. Remember I told you I wouldn’t bail on Tess? That was a promise I made to myself as much as to her.”

  “It’s dangerous, Janny. In so many ways.”

  “This from a General who’s done battle with the Viet Cong?”

  He gave her a wry look. “I didn’t have my daughter in my platoon.”

  With a wink and a turn on her heel, she said. “You do now, Dad.”

  ****

  Tess’s parking lot drama unfolded while Roman watched from the front window of Donna’s Furniture Store. “I’m waiting for my wife. I’ll just stand here out of the way,” Roman lied to the saleswoman, “and watch for her.”

  From his vantage point he could also keep his eye on the black SUV, boldly parked forty feet from Jan’s car and only twenty feet from the furniture store entrance. The driver was a man, alone, his backside toward Roman. Big ears, wide shoulders. Wore a baseball cap. Chain smoker. Made three phone calls in five minutes.

  Roman yearned to shock the big-eared guy by opening his car door, pulling him out of his SUV and forcing him to tell his story. Even more, he wanted to join Jan and her father, learning what Tess and her companion had to say. Was it significant that they’d rendezvoused in front of a medical clinic? Now they passed a piece of paper around. What did it say?

  Roman had seen Tess grab Jan’s arm. When the General had stepped in to protect his daughter, Roman had been relieved, but not satisfied. Why couldn’t she trust Roman? Let him help?

  Instead he got to hide in a furniture store while struggling to interpret a pantomime.

  Why had Jan walked away from Tess even when Tess appeared to hand her something the size of a check? More to the point, why had Jan and her father returned to Tess and the man after a short conference?

  Later, Jan and her father waited in the side parking lot with the man while Tess entered the clinic. When the woman emerged, she held a piece of paper by its corner, her face pinched in anguish. Tess handed the sheet to the man. Back to Tess. Tess to Jan.

  Jan read it twice as if she couldn’t believe what it said. She thrust it at the General, patted Tess on the shoulder and said something to the guy. The General shook his head when he returned the paper to Tess, his shoulders bowed with the burden it must reveal. The four continued to talk while they edged toward their cars. Clearly something was accomplished and this meeting was over, but what action would Jan take because of it?

  Roman glanced at the SUV, knowing Big Ears had viewed the same mute drama. Sure enough, the guy punched a button and raised the cell phone to his fat ear. Who was he talking to? Madeline Barker? Someone connected to the mayor who wanted Barker’s memory to stay lily white? Roman held his cell phone up, willing it to ring. He’d called Pete to trace the SUV’s license number. Why was Pete taking so long?

  A whiff of new leather reminded him he was in a furniture store playing the role of a husband waiting for a tardy wife. He held up his watch, grimaced at it and said, aloud, “Where is she?” The irritation was real but the question of the moment was, who to follow now? Jan or Big Ears?

  The order was obvious, wasn’t it? Jan had cut him out.

  “I get the story no matter what,” Roman muttered, knowing his nature doomed him forever to a place at the periphery of Jan’s life.

  He gazed to the right, expecting to see Jan pull out of the parking lot. Instead, he saw Jan and the General striding straight toward him. Had they seen him? Shit! Now she wants to buy furniture?

  Pivoting, he fast-walked through the furniture obstacle course to the rear of the store where bargains beckoned thrifty buyers. He passed a puzzled salesperson, waved, said, “I’ll be back,” and ran out the rear door, cursing Jan, her secrets, and oddities. By the time he got to his car, he’d worked up a full-fledged mad.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Over there, on that wall, Dad,” Jan said, pointing to an empty spot in her bedroom hallway. She watched the General position the small rectangular table, feeling pleased about her choice. Perfect for a vase of flowers or an objet d’art. “Thanks. Looks good.”

  The General adjusted the table to the middle of the wall section.

  “We’re using it for Sidney’s memorial. Remind me to ta
ke the table with us when we set up Friday morning, okay?”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “I bought potted flowers, bromeliads, to place on both sides of Sidney’s urn. Two big candles, too. My table does double duty.” She smiled. “Now you can’t say I come home furniture-less after a shopping trip.”

  With a meaningful glance at her empty bedroom, he nodded. “Right. We have an earth-shattering meeting with Tess and Ryan Barker followed by a buying spree at Donna’s Furniture. Makes perfect sense.”

  Jan shrugged and leaned against her granite counter. “Life goes on. Gotta multi-task.”

  “You’ll set up the meeting with Madeline?”

  “I will. We speak to no one about what we learned today.”

  “No one.”

  “You’ll arrange for Sidney’s military salute this afternoon?”

  He nodded. “Since Roman’s not around, I’m bringing Frank over to stay with you. I’ll take Bella and her sister with me.”

  “Dad, I—”

  The General put up his hand to stop her from speaking. “Another multi-task. He stays with you until Roman or I take over. Nothing’s changed about our safety issues. In fact, now that we know the truth about the Barker children, we may be in more danger than before.”

  She waved her hand, dismissing his fears, but accepting his conditions. “Okay. Fine.”

  He made his way to the front door and turned, his brow arched. “Notice I said multi-task. This presents an opportunity for you to talk to Frank alone. Which is why I’m taking Bella with me.”

  With a sigh she said, “Big thanks, Dad. You can imagine how I look forward to a heart to heart with Frank.”

  “Chin up, Janny. You can do it. I watched you stand up to Tess and her brother, convincing them we shouldn’t have to sign their legal document. You’ll do as good a job with Frank, I’m sure.”

  Jan smiled at her dad, aware that their talk at the dog salon had sheared the rough edges off their relationship. This is a genuine compliment; accept it! She said, “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Pop. I’ll need it.”

  He gave her a thumbs-up as he left. “Chip off the old block and all that. Good luck.”

  Jan took a seat on her front stoop. Elly nudged her leg, begging to be petted. She scratched behind his ears, his rear leg pumping his pleasure. Her dog’s needs, though constant, were simple. Why were her own so complicated?

  “Who will scratch me behind the ears?” Jan asked Elwood.

  “I’m up for the job,” said Frank.

  “Yikes! You scared me. How’d you get here so fast?”

  He bent down to kiss her cheek. “I’d just pulled up when I saw the General head for Bella’s. He gave me the high sign.”

  “Sorry about the duty.”

  “My pleasure,” he said, sitting down next to her, close enough so their hips touched. “It hasn’t been easy getting time with you, Janny.”

  Jan opened her mouth to protest, but Frank stopped her by putting his index finger gently over her lips. “Not your fault. You warned me you’d be too busy before Sunday.”

  “Yet you’re going to lay some guilt on me anyway, aren’t you?”

  “Listen,” he said, speaking deliberately. “This Barker deal, including the threats you told me about, scares the hell out of me. Can’t I convince you to back off the thing?”

  Jan heard tension in his voice. Why was he struggling so hard to be calm?

  Anxious to move away from him but concerned she’d offend him when she did so, she scooted away and angled her body toward him, pretending she needed to look him more fully in the face. “I’ve got a job to do.”

  He looked hopeful. “So you’re going ahead with the memorial? Barker’s I mean?”

  “I’m working with the widow, yes.”

  “Not the kids, right?”

  Jan cocked her head, curious about his grim look. “Why do you care, Frank?”

  “I…I…” He knuckled his bald head. “The General seems to think you need protection. I’m concerned. Since the danger is connected to stopping the memorial, I don’t want you going in that direction.”

  Jan eyed the lawn to the right of the stoop, imagining Roman sprawled out, ankle bitten, dog treats dropped. She smiled. Roman and Pete would counsel her to forge ahead. Frank’s view: Men take risks for their women. She wondered how much Frank’s philosophy had influenced her over the years. After he’d risked everything so Jan could keep her job at HighTech, she’d honored his sacrifice by staying. Cloistered. Cossetted. Grateful. Safe.

  But it wasn’t his fault; it was hers.

  She straightened her spine. “I’m not returning to Seattle, Frank. In fact, Elly and I are going to take a break and head to Palm Springs. Dad’s bringing in another event planner to take my place.”

  His jaw dropped. “Oh?”

  “I’m learning how to devote myself to people and causes. My dad. My dog. The Barker family.”

  “Not me?”

  “You sacrificed too much for me, Frank. I was so young when we met, a naïve twenty-one-year-old intern dazzled by a HighTech executive. When they fired you for our indiscretions, but kept me, thanks to your negotiations, I felt terribly guilty.” She let out a breath. “I’ve been consumed by obligation and inadequacy for twelve years.”

  “Janny—”

  “I’m so grateful for our friendship and because of your mentorship I worked my way up the ranks at HighTech.”

  He grasped her hand. “We have more than a mentorship, for God’s sake.”

  She bowed her head. “The passion isn’t there, for either of us, Frank.”

  “Passion? That’s for kids. It’s temporary, replaced by deep respect and friendship.”

  Looking into his eyes, she saw his hurt, his confusion. Anger, too. Elwood nudged her leg, seeming to sense Jan’s discomfort. She ran her hand over his newly shorn hair, his skin rippling in pleasure at her touch.

  Frank stood, hands on hips, his mouth a thin line.

  She waited. He’d beg, she was sure. He’d profess his love for her, passionately, perhaps. Could she resist his pleadings?

  “Dammit!” he said.

  Startled by his outburst and his look of disgust, she stared at Frank.

  Shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe his discovery, he said, “You’re going to stop that memorial, aren’t you? Give up on me after twelve years, too. In a search for causes?” he said with sarcasm.

  “Wha—?”

  “Forget the rebuttal,” he said, leaning so his nose almost touched hers. “You’re a grown woman acting like a kid on a misguided mission, coached by a two-bit scriptwriter and a tired old foot soldier. When you come to your senses, you’ll be sorry. Very sorry.”

  “Frank!” she exclaimed, shocked at his vitriol. Who was this man?

  He took a breath, seeming to calm himself, clearly surprised at his outburst. “I…I’m sorry. About us. About everything.” With a glance toward his car, he said, “I’ve got to go. You’ve made a mess here and I…”

  Apparently too befuddled to finish the sentence, Frank walked to his car, got in, started the motor and raced away.

  Jan remained on the stoop and lifted Elwood to her lap, drawn to the dog’s warmth. When he licked her neck, she squeezed him until he squirmed.

  “Frank and I didn’t fight for twelve years, Elly. In this last week, we’ve chalked up two big ones.”

  She set the dog down and eyed the spot where Frank’s car had been parked. “Revealing, don’t you think? I finally see his passion, but it isn’t directed at me.”

  ****

  After a morning of stakeouts followed by a tedious hour of tailing Big Ears, Roman hadn’t come up with a way to approach Jan. Now, with his borrowed key poised over her front lock, his brain refused to focus. Should he tell her a SUV followed her to the Medi-Quick building? That Roman had tracked Big Ears to the parking lot at City Hall and the man disappeared into the building?

  Would she like to know her ex-boyfriend
strode into the building half an hour later?

  Roman had considered waiting until Big Ears and Frank left the building. Maybe if he’d followed the SUV some more, he’d learn where the man lived and whom he was tailing next. But Roman got worried about Jan. Even though she lied to him and sneaked around on him, the idea she might be alone and in jeopardy scared the hell out of him.

  He gripped the key in his fingers, jammed it in the lock and wrenched to the left.

  The house was quiet. Too quiet. Yet her Volvo was parked in the driveway. Was she at Bella’s?

  No dog.

  “Jan?”

  He took note of the new table in the hallway, shaking his head at the irony. A furniture store should have been a safe place to hide from Jan. Roman’s gaze swept the classic but cozily accoutered room. “She’s cured,” he muttered. Miffed he’d failed once again to anticipate the woman’s next move, he shouted, “Jan?”

  “Out here, Roman. Back yard.”

  He let out a breath and stomped to the patio, angry that his worry over her scared him so much.

  Elwood bounded up with a ball in his mouth. Roman bent to pick it up, trying to get control of his emotions. He palmed the wet ball and glanced at the dancing dog, who’d finally decided they were buddies. No more ankle-biting or growling. He’d been promoted to ball thrower. “At least he trusts me,” Roman grumbled as he heaved the ball to the far end of the lawn.

  Jan, dressed in shorts, a halter-top, and sandals, smiled and held out a handful of weeds. That she looked so good to him and the relief he felt when he saw her safe, made him even madder.

  “Dammit, Jazz. Where’s your dad? Where’s Frank? Why are you here alone?”

  The look on her face, as if he’d just punched her in the gut, shook him. He tugged her up into a fierce embrace and squeezed.

  Settling into his arms, she sighed.

  He was ready for her to squirm out of his arms, not give in. What was wrong with her?

  What’s wrong with me? I’m mad at her.

  “Hey, baby. What’s up?” he soothed.

  She sighed again and nestled in.