by Terry Keys
She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you for talking to her.”
I knew where this was all coming from or at least I thought I had an idea. Hilary was coming into adulthood and all of her childhood she’d heard my stories. Mostly negative ones and mostly about people on the wrong side of the law. I’d probably unknowingly painted a pretty grim picture of humanity.
Her boyfriend Rodney’s murder at the hands of someone I’d once called a girlfriend probably didn’t help much either. She probably felt powerless, angry and vengeful all at once. Death is hard on us all but there is nothing sadder than a young person dying. Even worse murdered in cold blood. I had to admit it was a lot especially for someone on the young side of eighteen.
Deep down I could tell that she’d lost that funny, quirky, in your face edge that she always had.
Chapter 12
This felt good really good. The four of us headed to dinner. Our family was finally whole again. I knew we weren’t healed; a lot of damage had been done. But at least we were together again.
I jumped on I-45 South and headed for Jimmy Changas, our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant. The wait, as expected, was about forty-five minutes. The place was packed every time we went. The atmosphere there was contagious; for some reason, you just wanted to be there.
“I think I’m going to have myself a margarita,” I said, smiling at Miranda.
“I was thinking of having a Texas Martini myself,” she said with a wink in my direction.
Darius Rucker’s Get Lucky was suddenly playing in my mind. Maybe you’ll get lucky tonight, I told myself. I gave Miranda’s thigh a long, slow rub under the table. I felt her tense at first. She wasn’t the public-display-of-affection type. Shortly after, she relaxed and inched a little closer to me.
“You girls know what you’re getting?” I said.
Hilary never even looked at her menu. She just sat there, keying her iPhone a million miles an hour. “Chill dad. It’s not that serious. He’ll come back I’ll order something.””
“Sure,” I said. “Works for me.”
“Karen, you know what you want?”
Karen was studying her menu. She wasn’t the type to just settle for the same old thing. “Let’s see . . . I really don’t want anything off the kids’ menu. I’m a big girl now, right?”
Hilary rolled her eyes. Miranda and I laughed.
“You are correct almost eight is very big,” I added.
“So I’ll have the tacos al ca—”
“Tacos al carbon,” I said, happy to help her out.
“Well, I don’t speak Spanish yet, so don’t hold it against me.”
We all laughed. Even Hilary puckered up a little smile. Everyone placed their orders. Miranda and I slowly sipped on our drinks. I wasn’t a big drinker anymore. Not like I was in college, at least. Nowadays I hardly ever had a drink.
“So, Hilary, your mother tells me you signed up for a forensic science course next year?” I said.
She took one of her earbuds out. I could tell by the look on her face that my question annoyed her.
“Yeah, so?”
“Yeah, so?” Miranda said in my defense.
I tapped her leg to let her know it was fine.
“Just making conversation,” I said. “You know, being in law enforcement is hard on an officer’s family.”
“Are you trying to talk me out of becoming an officer and one day an agent?”
“No, I’m trying to help you make an informed decision. I mean, they tell me that’s what parents are supposed to do.” I jabbed at her, winking at Karen.
“Hahaha – Don’t worry, Dad. I won’t take your spotlight too quickly.”
I laughed. Hard. I couldn’t contain myself.
“What’s so funny?” Hilary growled as now Miranda was laughing too.
“You really think that’s it, don’t you?” I said.
“Well?”
“Let me give you some advice, kiddo. When you do get that spotlight, you’re going to have every psychotic, maniacal criminal in the world trying to upstage you. Many of them will be smarter than you and two steps ahead of you. And the boldest ones will attack you on a personal level. The last thing I’m worried about is you taking my spotlight. I didn’t get into this business to make a name for myself. But after God revealed my talents to me, it would have been grossly irresponsible to turn my back on them.”
Hilary didn’t say a word. She just half-rolled her eyes and put her earbud back in. At least it wasn’t a full eye roll, I thought. More of an okay-you-may-be-right-now-leave-me-alone.
“Daddy, when do I find out what team I’m on?” Karen said right on cue.
“I believe the teams will be posted in two days. We’ll drive by and check in a couple days.
This was definitely one of the things I’d taken for granted. A simple dinner at a restaurant with my girls—all of them.
We finished our meal in relative peace and headed home. I gave both girls a kiss good-night, citing my need to get up extra early as my reason for going to bed so soon. It was a half-truth. I could get by on as little as three hours of sleep and still function at a relatively high level. But I wasn’t thinking about sleep right now. I had something completely different in mind, something I’d been neglecting for quite some time.
“Come tuck me in, Miranda?” I teased.
My wife caught my eye and smiled. Looks like I’d be a lucky man after all.
Chapter 13
A few days of frequent stakeouts and drive-bys had finally paid off. Caleb and Marci followed the Porters into Jimmy Changas.
Neither of them had been to this restaurant before, but they both found it rather lively. The memorabilia-covered walls and festive Latin music made the place no less annoying. The kids in here were loud and unruly. They hoped to not feel or look too out of place as most of the patrons were either families or large parties of women.
They were seated across the restaurant from the Porters. Caleb eyed every word each of them spoke, looking for something – anything. He’d developed quite the talent for lip reading. Karen would know what team she was on in a few days. All teams would scrimmage the following Saturday at the Sportsplex. Be a good time to drop in for a visit, Caleb thought.
They could also mime Porter and his eldest daughter going back and forth about her potentially being a cop herself. Guess the apple hadn’t fallen too far away from the tree.
Caleb wouldn’t tell Marci, but something weird was happening down in the pit of his gut. There were some weird, conflicting emotions and thoughts. After listening to him talk to his wife and daughters, Porter didn’t seem like the kind of guy his mother had described. Not even a little. Maybe it didn’t matter. He was still responsible for the death of his mother and aunt. That was enough. He still had to pay. But maybe Marci and his mom had it all wrong.
Thirty minutes later, they watched as the four of them left, paid their check and headed to the restaurant front to leave.
“What are you thinking, Caleb? You seem a little . . . I don’t know.”
“Nothing. Just that . . .”
Marci leaned in close. “It’s just that what?”
Caleb leaned in close to Marci too. “He just didn’t sound like anything my mom described him as. Did you hear him talking to his daughters? How he talked to Miranda?”
“Are you kidding me? This man raped your mother! Did you forget that? That’s how you got here, remember? Do I need to show you the pictures from your mother’s police report again?”
Caleb placed his hands on top of Marci’s. “Calm down and lower your voice. I get it. I was just pointing out what I observed. That’s the whole point of being here—to observe and find out as much as we can.”
She never thought about the possibility of Caleb seeing something different in Porter. She knew she had to act fast and put these thoughts to rest once and for all.
“Caleb, listen. I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve staked out and observed dozen
s of these lunatics. Most of them are just like Porter; they blend in. Think about it. This guy was young, stupid, and only looking out for himself when he set your mother up to be pounded by half of the goddamn football team. Can you imagine what that must have been like for her? Can you imagine how helpless she must have felt? Being raped by one man is life-altering and traumatizing. Multiply that by a couple dozen. Just because this guy is a cop now and has a few daughters and a pretty little wife doesn’t mean that he is somehow incapable of doing what he did. We aren’t playing detective here. Read the police report again, Caleb. We know what happened. Your mother – my friend Stacy, had rights too. You let me know when your David Porter pity party is over.”
As Marci talked, Caleb’s adrenaline began to pump. Anger once again filled his veins. Marci got up and stormed outside. Caleb got up to follow her. He saw her standing beside their car.
He walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I lost focus for a second back there. I guess I just got caught up in the moment.”
She stood still. Marci wanted to let her words echo a little longer. She wanted to make sure this little daddy moment, or whatever the hell was going on in Caleb’s mind, never happened again. She’d warned Stacy that this could happen. Warned her that Caleb could begin wondering what it may have been like to have a father. Maybe her plan to get this close to Porter had been a mistake. So far it sure as hell looked that way.
Caleb turned Marci around to face him. He bent down and got eye to eye with her. “Hey, I said I’m sorry. I know how much all of this means to you.”
“Do you, Caleb?”
“Yes. Come on, snap out of it.”
Marci allowed herself to smile. But inside she knew this wasn’t over. She had more work to do. She and Stacy had spent a lifetime creating everything that Caleb was. They’d read countless medical journals, books on psychiatry, books on influence. Caleb was their Frankenstein, their evil creation. They wanted to use him and his biological link to Porter to break the man down further than he could ever conceive.
Caleb grabbed Marci’s face and kissed her. “Let’s go. We have work to do.”
Chapter 14
I was up early after all. I sat in the kitchen, drinking a cup of freshly brewed coffee while I read some police files on my laptop. I shot a text to DeLuca about meeting her in my office. Today we would hold our press conference announcing her as the lead detective on the case. DeLuca had never fully gotten on board with the idea, but the chief hadn’t left us with many options.
I grabbed my things and snuck out of the house without waking the girls. I listened to 610 sports radio on the way in. John Lopez was arguing why James Harden was the worst thing to happen to the Rockets since Yao’s feet gave way. Even though it was early, traffic was awful. Stop-and-go followed by thirty seconds of driving, only to return to more stop-and-go. It was the only thing I hated about Houston. Well, that and the humidity. Finally, I turned into the station’s parking lot just as DeLuca was closing her car door.
“Morning, boss,” DeLuca said
“Good morning. Don’t look at me like that,” I said.
“Like what?”
“You know exactly like what. You know we don’t have a choice here.”
“I know, and you know I like giving you shit. So why would today be any different?”
“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be.”
“What time is the press conference this morning?”
“Ten. Let’s meet in my office at nine to go over the last bit of details.”
I sat down at my desk and pulled up my phone book on my laptop. I wanted to call the three reporters who we were letting ask questions today. We didn’t want any surprises.
“Detective Porter, to what do I owe the pleasure of a phone call?” Tess said.
Tess Keystone worked as an investigative reporter for Channel Two news.
“I think you know why I’m calling, Tess.”
“Well, I can think of a few reasons.”
“I bet you could.”
Tess and I dated most of our junior and senior years in high school. Then I was going off to play football, and she would be halfway across the country on a volleyball scholarship. Our relationship was the first for both of us, and we’d promised it would be the last. Foolish high school kids. We even fooled ourselves into thinking we’d be able to give it a real go after college. But I spent a few years in the military, and Tess fell in love with someone else and got married. Then I did the same with Miranda. We’d talked a few times over the years, but we’d tried to keep as much distance between ourselves as possible. Our relationship had never really been given the type of closure it needed. Deep down I’d always known that.
Tess still looked great. I hated to admit as much, but it was true. Her eyes were as blue as the ocean and she still wore her hair slightly teased which I loved. I’d occasionally see her on a news broadcast and wonder what life would have been like if we’d married. It’s difficult, but sometimes we really did need to thank God for unanswered prayers. And if I were being honest with myself, it was a really selfish thing to think about.
“I guess you heard the news?” Tess said.
“Yes, if you’re talking about your marriage. I’m sorry to hear that. The kids handling it okay?”
“They’re kids. They’re a lot more resilient than we are. So I’m assuming you’re calling because you don’t want me going off script today?”
“Just making sure everyone is on the same page. You know me—I still don’t like surprises.”
“I’d be disappointed if you did. Don’t worry, I’ll be a good girl. Today, anyway. And now that I know you have my number, you should use it sometime.”
I disconnected and stared at the phone for a second. Then I placed calls to the other two reporters. As I hung up, Captain Wilcrest eased through my door.
“I know you’re busy this morning, but I wanted to talk to you for a minute.”
“Sure. Have a seat. Everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. Well. . . as good as it can be, all things considered. I just wanted to talk to you about the other day. You know I don’t have much time left, and you’re the . . . I just need you in my corner right now.”
“Listen, Cap, I was out of line before. Way out of line. It just. . . I don’t know.”
“I know how that feels all too well, trust me.”
We shared a laugh.
“Still no excuse. I should have handled it better. I’m trained to handle bad news.”
“Just proves you’re human, which is good because I’ve often wondered over the years if you actually were.”
When our conversation ended, I stood up and walked over to Wilcrest. I pulled him close to me and hugged him even harder than I had before.
I heard a knock on the door just as someone pushed it open. DeLuca.
“So this going to become a regular thing for you two?”
Cap slapped me on the back and made his escape without commenting.
Chapter 15
DeLuca and I went over everything she needed to say and even some key pieces of information that we didn’t want to share. Chief Hill also stopped by to make sure we still planned on making a trip down to Jamaica to investigate the murdered couple. As he’d surmised, Caleb and Marci wanted us to see the murder, and we needed to find out why. We’d decided to make the three-hour flight shortly after the press conference, do some investigating and head back home. Be gone a day at best.
“You ready to do this?” I said, eyeing DeLuca.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Thrilled.”
We headed down to the conference room, which was jam-packed by the time we arrived. I spotted the mayor and a number of other city officials, and two of the three reporters we’d invited to participate were front and center. What stunned me was the standing-room-only bunch of media folks who were pressed into every available space in the room. What the hell is CNN doing here? I wondered as I scanned
the room. This wasn’t a national case—at least not yet. I bent down to whisper to DeLuca. “Hang tight for a second.”
I made my way around the room, shaking hands with a few people. My main goal was to make my way over to Chief Hill. I wanted to know why so many people had showed up.
The chief was talking to the mayor. I stepped into his line of sight to get his attention.
“Mayor, you remember David Porter?” he said with a nod in my direction.
The mayor stuck out his hand to shake mine. “Of course! I remember what you did to the last guy who had my job. I’ll be sure not to piss you off, son.” He laughed and nudged the chief. I smirked and allowed myself a quiet giggle. Just to look like I seemed amused as the other two did.
“Porter, what can I do for you?”
“Lot of people here for this presser,” I said, more as a question than a statement of fact.
“Yes. I’m proud of the formation of the Major Crimes Division. Houston is one of the first cities to have such a team. So we’re going to make sure the world knows about it.”
“Ahh. Okay. How about a little heads-up next time, Chief? This is a bit more than we bargained for.”
I headed back to DeLuca, a lot more pissed off than I probably should have been. When, exactly, had he planned to clue me in on this bright idea?
DeLuca moved pensively and filed the papers back and forth in her hands.
“Chief wants to let the world know about the Major Crimes Division, so . . .”I waved my hand at the crowd.
“So I guess that explains why the world is here?”
“Pretty much. Don’t worry, I’ll do the lion’s share of the talking. You just stand beside me and look like a New Yorker.” I laughed.