Equal Access

by A. E. Branson

  The idea that flashed through Shad’s mind was just as dangerous for him as it was for Vic, but he really didn’t have the time to consider any other options.

  Shad muttered, “God, I’m Yours,” before he drew a deep breath and plunged into the water.

  He had the rumble of the boat’s motor to help guide him this time, and as Shad swam far enough below the surface to prevent himself from being seen, sound was about all he had to go by. Vic didn’t seem to be slowing the boat down, and Shad knew he’d have to surface quickly if his plan to topple the boat would work. He would have to take care to not be chopped up by the propeller blades. At least he wouldn’t have to stay under water as long.

  As Shad and the boat approached each other, Shad began swimming toward the surface. He felt more than saw the boat start passing over him. Shad kicked to the surface and broke through directly beside the boat. Even as Vic swung the pistol toward him, Shad grabbed the side of the vessel and pushed it down by raising himself.

  The boat capsized and spilled Vic into the river while Shad was busy trying to avoid them both. He dove underwater, resurfaced again a couple of yards from the boat, and saw Vic sputtering and starting to swim toward the bank. It didn’t look like Vic still had the pistol.

  Shad took a few strokes toward Vic and dove again. He plunged underneath the man and then with as hard a kick as Shad could muster, breached beside Vic with a momentum that would probably make whales burst into laughter and threw himself on top of the man.

  Shad managed to gulp more air before they both went under. Still on Vic’s back, Shad tightly wrapped his arms around the other man, pinning Vic’s arms to his sides. Their combined weight kept pulling them down. Vic struggled, and Shad did get his legs buffeted by the man’s shoes, but the density of the water dulled the blows.

  Shad believed there was nowhere on his body that didn’t hurt, especially his lungs. He and Vic touched bottom, and Shad couldn’t see a thing but there was no question Vic continued to franticly struggle. Shad was good at holding his breath for a long time when he had the chance to prepare for it, but his already straining lungs felt like they were trying to burst. Shad released a slow, partial exhale, and in the back of his mind took comfort in the fact that if he drowned soon, at least Charissa should be safe. Perhaps because his brain was starved for oxygen Shad also thought of the joke “Do you know how to save a drowning lawyer? No? Good!”

  Vic suddenly stiffened, jerked, and then trembled.

  That was enough for Shad. Crooking one arm under Vic’s, Shad kicked to reach the surface. Vic was much heavier than Charissa, and for a couple of seconds Shad considered leaving him at the bottom so Shad could breathe before he blacked out.

  But they were only a few feet below the surface. Shad broke through, noisily gulped air, and coughed and sputtered as he dragged Vic toward the bank. By the time his feet were able to touch bottom, Shad was grateful to have the water to buoy him even as it pushed against him because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand on his own.

  The rocks cut into his feet as Shad dragged Vic toward the brushy land. Shad didn’t even get Vic all the way out, but was able to lay the man’s head on a rock sticking out from the shallow water just before Shad collapsed to his hands and knees.

  Gasping, coughing, blessing every breath that filled his lungs, Shad tried to take as little time as possible to pull himself back together. He looked over at Vic, and too weary to groan, Shad forced himself to stand and pull the man farther up on the bank. Once he had Vic laid out, Shad began chest compressions.

  He was actually relieved that Vic started gagging and coughing after only a few compressions. Shad wasn’t as motivated to go through life-saving heroics this time, but he knew he wouldn’t want the man’s death on his conscience either. Shad rolled Vic to his side to cough up water, and quickly decided he’d better find a way to detain the fellow.

  Still kneeling beside Vic, Shad glanced up and down the bank, not really expecting to find anything. He did see Charissa about forty yards upstream. She was still partially lying on her side and looking their direction.

  Shad waved one arm. “It’s okay,” he croaked.

  Since there were no convenient coils of rope lying around, Shad unbuckled his belt and pulled it free from the loops of his shorts. He immediately realized that a belt cut for a thirty-two inch waist wouldn’t be enough length to bind Vic’s hands securely, so Shad used it to shackle Vic’s feet together. Shad then ripped off his shirt, possibly popping off a button or two, and twisted it into a ropey form. As he tied Vic’s hands behind his back Shad realized he was going to owe Pap a new shirt.

  When he finished restraining Vic, Shad rested his hands on the ground to keep himself propped up. His head throbbed, his sides ached, his legs were sore, his feet were cut up; Shad wanted to just collapse on the bank and pass out for a while.

  “Mr. Delaney!”

  Shad looked up. Charissa was stumbling toward him, tripping over some of the brush. Still on his hands and knees, Shad staggered more than crawled in her direction.

  “Take it easy, Charissa. Don’t hurt yourself.” His voice was still hoarse and raspy.

  Charissa was easily covering more ground than Shad. He had floundered only a couple of yards when she reached him. Shad managed to sit up to a kneeling position and Charissa threw her arms around his neck.

  “It’s all right,” Shad croaked as he wrapped his arms around her and patted Charissa’s back. “It’s over.”

  She was snuffling but not fully crying. Charissa clung to him as though her life still depended on it, and Shad only had enough strength to keep patting her while he watched for red and blue flashing lights to finally appear at the house upstream.

  The deputy called in an ambulance, and while the EMT ministered to the cut above Shad’s left eye, Charissa informed him that he was rehired. Shad’s first thought was that Demetri’s counsel was going to have a field day with the fact Shad had nearly delivered Charissa to a sex offender.

  He accompanied the girl to the hospital in order to keep Charissa company, not because of the EMT’s insistence Shad should get that cut stitched. It was just an inch long slash on the corner of his brow, so the only good stitches would do was prevent a scar. Shad decided the butterfly bandage would be good enough. One more scar was the least of his worries.

  Tess, Eliot, and Monica arrived at the hospital to see Charissa. That was Shad’s cue to leave with the sheriff and answer a few questions – this time as a witness instead of a suspect.

  So Shad was able to get some information. Wally, back in St. Louis, apparently figured he wasn’t going to go down alone and was readily naming names. The sheriff already had the hit man in custody. He worked in security at the mall, which Shad found rather scary. When Dulsie winged him along the jaw, the would-be murderer hightailed it to Vic to get patched up. That was when Vic learned the identity of Wally’s target.

  It was late evening by the time Mam and Pap picked Shad up in Jefferson City after he dropped off the rental car. Still sore and bruised, he couldn’t be very exuberant about getting to see them again, but Shad was more grateful than he was able to show. It had been a long two weeks.

  And he still had one more matter to take care of.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Hence a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh.

  --Genesis 2:24

  When Shad parked the Buick in the Wekenheiser home’s driveway the next morning, his fluttering stomach was just another item to add to his list of ailments. Shad drew that well-practiced deep breath to steady his nerves, and walked up the driveway and onto the front porch.

  He was wearing a lime green button-down shirt and blue jeans – because of Shad’s bandaged brow, black eye, and busted lip, Shad figured his face was enough of a distraction people didn’t need to see the scrapes and bruises on his legs, too. Shad knocked on the door.

  In a few seconds Karl opened the door. He didn�
��t try very hard to conceal his surprise when he saw Shad’s face.

  “I see you’ve taken up sorting wildcats,” comprised Karl’s greeting.

  “Something like that.” Shad nodded. “I came to see Dulsie.”

  Karl broke into a grin. “You can do more than that, you can even talk to her.”

  Karl stepped aside so Shad could walk into the living room. Karl shut the door behind him.

  “She’s in the kitchen.” Karl nodded toward the rear of the house. “Jill took off to get her some things. She’s kinda reckoning Dulsie’s gonna stay here for a while.”

  Not if he could help it, Shad thought. “That’s ... nice of her.”

  Karl regarded him a bit curiously, and Shad wasn’t sure exactly what that was in response to. “Uh-huh. You know, you’ve always been my favorite son-in-law. I figured on keeping you around for a while.”

  Karl almost sauntered through the kitchen doorway, and his voice was cheerful when he spoke up.

  “Dulsie, you’ve got a visitor.”

  Dulsie was sitting at the small kitchen table that Jill and Karl used for everyday dining. Her left arm was bandaged in a navy blue sling across her chest, and her right hand was resting upon the newspaper she was reading. Dulsie was wearing an untucked button-down blouse and jersey shorts in differing shades of blue. She looked up as Shad followed Karl into the kitchen, and Dulsie raised one eyebrow when she saw Shad’s face. Other than that, her expression remained impassive.

  Shad’s heart drummed harder for a few beats. “How are you doing?”

  “Not too bad.” Dulsie sounded perfectly normal. “Considering this time I wasn’t faster than the speeding bullet.”

  Guilt surged through him again. “How’s the baby?”

  “Hanging in there.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t get to stay longer at the hospital. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to see you again before now.”

  Karl suddenly coughed and started heading toward the back door. “I’d better go count the turkeys, make sure they’re all there. It’s gonna take me a while ‘cause I gotta take off my shoes after I run outta fingers.”

  One corner of Dulsie’s mouth twitched upward, but Shad knew it was for her dad and not him.

  Karl stepped out and shut the door without another word and Dulsie continued to regard Shad with an expression that was so neutral his heart began to hammer harder. She was the first to speak, however.

  “Did the dogs drag you out from under the porch?”

  Shad stepped closer to the table. “I had a busy day yesterday.”

  “Going for the understatement, aren’t you?” Dulsie tapped her forefinger on the newspaper. “They actually got some of your story in here already.”

  Shad started to raise his eyebrows, but that hurt just enough to make him quit.

  “Don’t worry.” There was something rueful in the slight smile that finally formed on her lips. “They don’t mention you at all. It’s just a little article buried inside about the arrest of the guy who shot me.”

  “There’s a lot more that happened.” Shad rested his hands on the back of the chair next to Dulsie. “There’s a lot I need to tell you.”

  “Sit down, then.” Dulsie motioned toward the chair where he was standing. “I can tell this is gonna take a while.”

  Shad told her everything that happened yesterday, even including his darkest moment when he was ready to reduce Wally to a grease spot on the concrete. Dulsie listened but didn’t say much except to ask a couple of questions for clarification. Shad finished with describing how he comforted Charissa on the riverbank while they waited for law enforcement to arrive.

  “I was already back home with Mam and Pap before I realized what had happened.” Shad looked down at his hands clasped together on the table. “I had the wrong feelings about this girl only last week. But nothing like that happened yesterday.” He looked back up at Dulsie. “I know I was exhausted, I know I was in agony, but I would like to think something ... paternal ... asserted itself instead. I’m not gonna claim this thing’s gone back into latency, because it just isn’t that easy. But I have hope again that I haven’t had in many days.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” But Dulsie’s voice matched her expression.

  “We know this is gonna haunt me for the rest of my life, but it doesn’t have to haunt you. I’ll go into therapy if you want me to. If we have a daughter and it makes you feel better, we’ll establish some ground rules about what I’m allowed to do. And if you feel comfortable enough to leave her alone with me, I promise I won’t even have so much as one beer. I’m at your mercy. What you say is law.”

  Shad reached out to place his right hand upon Dulsie’s left, but as soon as his fingertips touched her, Dulsie pulled her hand away. Shad left his hand where hers had been and stared at Dulsie.

  “I came to take you home.” A hush had settled on his voice. “Actually, we’re going back to my parents’ until our house gets cleaned up.”

  Dulsie gazed at Shad with his beat-up face and realized she was still having trouble accepting what she had learned about him. What she said next was painful, but it was the truth.

  “I can’t. At least, not now. I need more time.”

  Shad studied her face for a few seconds before speaking in a calm and quiet voice. “I’m not leaving here without you. We need to talk. We need to work this out. We can’t do this each on our own any more. I know I’m the one in the wrong but we need to start now on patching things up.”

  Dulsie’s gaze slid down to the hand she had pulled away ... the one with her plain gold wedding band. Shad was saying all the right things, but she still wasn’t able to shake off or subdue the repulsion that lingered despite everything else she knew and felt.

  “I know you’re right.” Dulsie looked back up. “But I’m just not ready. I need more time. I am trying to come to terms with this, but ... it’s not easy.”

  They both heard the front door open abruptly. Dulsie could immediately tell that wouldn’t be her dad.

  Mom, grasping a few plastic bags filled with various supplies, strode into the kitchen with a scowl on her face that anybody could interpret. She locked her gaze on Shad the instant he came into her line of sight, but for a split second looked startled by his appearance.

  “You’re not welcome here,” Mom stated matter-of-factly.

  “I know,” Shad replied calmly.

  If the situation were only better, Dulsie could have rejoiced that her mother finally spoke to Shad. But there was something else that was different.

  “Then why aren’t you leaving?” Mom set the bags on a counter top while never removing her gaze from Shad.

  “I’m not leaving without Dulsie.”

  Dulsie stared at him. Shad was completely calm and rational. This wasn’t the emotional suppression she had grown used to. There was something almost professional in his attitude, as though he were arguing a case in court.

  Mom’s attention snapped to Dulsie. “What’s he talking about?”

  Dulsie stammered a bit. “He’s here ... he wants me to go back with him.”

  “To what?” Mom’s gaze returned to Shad. “Have you actually changed anything?”

  The back door of the kitchen opened abruptly. Dad, breathing just a little hard, glanced around the room as he stepped inside and shut the door. Apparently he really had been out at the barns, and had sprinted to the house when he realized Mom was home.

  Mom shot a glare at him. “And what are you doing in leaving him alone with Dulsie?”

  Dad’s expression was his usual What? Little ol’ me? response. “They had some things to talk about.”

  Mom’s attention returned to Dulsie. “I hope you’re thinking good and hard about this.”

  Shad spoke up. “You were right, Jill. You always are.” Mom frowned at him, and Shad continued. “I wound up hurting Dulsie despite my best efforts not to. And I’m very, very sorry. But everybody was wrong about who your warning was aimed at. It wasn
’t meant for Dulsie. It was meant for me.”

  Maybe it was because Mom still wasn’t used to speaking to him that she remained silent. But her expression became a bit inquisitive.

  Shad continued. “You were right that I was hiding something, but at the time I really didn’t realize that was what I was doing. It wasn’t until recently that I realized I was hiding it from myself as well. That was what your warning was. If I had told Dulsie then instead of now I wouldn’t have hurt her like this.” Shad’s gaze moved to Dulsie. “She would have had more time to make a decision about it.”

  Dulsie stared at him.

  Shad’s gaze remained steady with hers. “God knows I don’t want to hurt her.”

  Dulsie felt the proverbial chill go down her spine. God knew. In the tale that Shad recently told her, he had been the right person in the right place at the right time. What often appeared as a bad event had been turned to good fortune because Shad had a part in it. It was true he was flawed, that some of his imperfections were atrocious, but he was able to work miracles and therefore was still a son of God. And if the Almighty could love him without reservation, then who was she to judge what Shad was so ashamed of?

  And Dulsie also had to accept that Shad was still in the right place at the right time. Just because she didn’t feel ready yet was no reason to put off what Dulsie knew needed to be done. The road ahead would not be easy, but she had faith it would be rewarding.

  Shad turned his attention back to Jill. His heart had started hammering again when she came into the house, but he had already prepared this revelation in expectation of seeing her. He just wasn’t sure if he was getting through to either of the women in the room.

  Jill regarded him for a few seconds before returning her gaze to Dulsie. “And what do you have to say about all this?”

  Shad realized that Dulsie was looking at him instead of her mom when she said, “I’m going with him.”