The chief smiled, "As a matter of fact I am." He went to stand.
"Don't stand! Stay there, I'm gonna have to make you wait a moment more, I must get myself a cup of coffee - willing to bring you one if you'd like?"
"Had more than my share this morning, you go right ahead, I'll wait. You lookin' like you need it."
"Thank you, I won't be long." Shawn re-entered the house heading for the basement. All the kids were up, Angela, Sasha, Joseph - Ben cooking all of them breakfast, Mundo standing next to him asking him questions. The moment he saw Shawn, "Dad, Ben tell you the police outside?"
"Yeah, gonna get myself a cup of coffee and talk to him."
"Ben say he wanna talk to me too." Mundo informed him.
Shawn stood filling his favorite mug/cup with the steaming black brew, "Don't worry about it Mundo, just be honest, tell him what you saw that night. He's here about John Sykes no doubt. You wanna go up with me?"
"Yeah, I'mo do that, good idea."
The next time the front door opened Shawn and Mundo came out onto the porch to join the chief, "Sorry to keep you waiting, but I need help waking up this morning."
"Late night last night?" Chief Hurst asked.
"Yeah, later than we're used to keeping, I should have known better, but it was the wife's idea."
"Sylvia, correct?"
Shawn felt sarcasm on the tip of his tongue, but answered, "Correct." instead, taking a seat across from the officer, with Mundo sitting next to him.
"And you young man, how are you this morning?"
"I'm good, I'm good - Ben said you wanna talk to me? Ask me some questions?"
"Yes, if you don't mind?"
"No biggie, fire away."
"I'd rather conduct this with each of you individually - if you don't mind?" He asked looking from Shawn who was sipping his coffee, to Mundo.
Lowering his cup, Shawn's face showed his displeasure, "Why is that necessary? What is it exactly you hope to find?"
"I take it you know of your sister's ex-husband's disappearance?"
"With her living there, and my father not far, and them taking care of our property in our absence, we will have heard about what's going on here." Shawn answered.
The Chief nodded, "If you would, I'd still like to question this young man alone."
Shawn looked at Mundo, "You okay with that?"
Mundo shrugged, "Hey, I'm straight."
Shawn nodded, stood and walked off the porch toward the work going on across the road, checking things out. One good thing, no one was parking on their property any longer, nor on Shanna's, for that he was glad. Thinking about the way he'd gone off on everyone the day before, he approached the foreman, smiling and asked what would be accomplished that day; before the discussion ended, Shawn invited him to order pizzas, the works for everyone's lunch, on him.
On the porch, "Now, there's no need for you to be nervous, I just wanna ask you a few questions."
"I'm not nervous, ask what you want."
"If I understand correctly, you saw Mr. Sykes one night, on the memorial weekend, that right?"
"Yes sir, at the gas station on 12/16 - the subway."
"You ever see him before that?"
"No sir."
"You see'im after?"
"Yes sir."
"Where?"
"Caught him in my headlights, running toward Shanna's jeep."
"What you do after that?"
"Backed up, to get a better look, but - it was late, and if he was sneaking around, I wasn't gone call'im out. I sat for a minute, to watch, nothing else happened."
"Okay, what you do after that?"
"Came home, told my dad."
The Chief gave him a funny look, Mundo realized why, and clued him in, "Shawn, I came home here, told Shawn."
"Oh, okay, I see. Call him dad, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Why is that?"
"Why not?"
The chief sat looking at him a moment and decided it was best not to go there, he looked back at his tablet, deciding upon another question, "Excuse that question, if you would please?"
Mundo nodded, waiting for him to move on.
"Thank you, so now tell me, what happened after you told Shawn?"
"He went and checked on Shanna, to make sure she was all right."
"How was she?"
"Upset, scared when she knew it was him."
"How did she know it was him?"
"She showed me a picture of him, and that's who I saw - told her so."
"Then what?"
"Shawn made her come and stay here for the night, she was upset."
"That's it? Nothing else happen?"
"I got chewed out for staying out so late." Mundo grinned, shrugged.
The chief nodded, "Was Shawn upset about him being here?"
"He was worried about his sister. Wouldn't you be if you knew your sister was scared of her husband for abusing her? And she about to divorce because of it?"
"How worried was he?"
"As worried as anybody would be."
Again the chief nodded, making notes. "Anything else you can tell me?"
"Nope, and I'm out of time too. Got places to go, people to see, thangs t'do! Ciao!" Mundo stood and went back in the house meeting his mother, he told her what he said, that he kept it simple, no extra's, straight to the point. Sylvia nodded, and went out the front door to look at the chief of police. Hearing her exit, he looked up at her and smiled, "Morning, Sylvia."
"Good morning, been a long time."
"I'll say, not since you come to the police station, made out that report a while back, you been okay since?"
Sylvia smiled, "As okay as can be expected."
"You know why I'm here?"
"Of course." She made her way to the bench, taking a seat adjacent to him.
"What have you heard?" He asked.
"Not much, only that you're asking around about Shanna's ex-husband."
"Missing husband." He pointed out, correcting her.
Sylvia only nodded in response, refusing to say another word unless he asked more, she crossed her legs, placed an elbow on her knee, her chin in her palm, smiling and waiting.
Chief Hurst sighed, "I'm hoping you don't mind me asking you a few questions?"
"They will have to be a few, I have a house full of children to see to."
"Fair enough, and I see, another on the way."
"Yes."
"Due when?"
"You thinkin' of throwing me a baby shower?" She simpered.
The Chief smiled, "I imagine you got friends that'll do that, I'll leave'em to it, that's a woman thing anyway."
"So it is."
"Got a lot going on here." He looked off across the road, observing the works happening around them.
"Yes we do."
"Baby on the way."
"Yep, that too."
"Seems to me, with so much going on, you have a lot at stake, seeing as how maybe, all come with the man you married, huh?" He looked at her, smiling.
"No more so than any other woman." Sylvia could already see what he was trying to do, which made her ready for him.
"Emmm, don't seem as though you can afford an interruption of all this happening."
"No reason for an interruption. Anyway, Chief, in all due respect, my time is precious. As I stated, I have children to see about, let's get to the point here, I don't have all morning."
"So you have. Okay, Sylvia, to the point, your husband get rid of Shanna Sykes's husband? Remove the threat from her maybe?"
"Why would you suppose that he would do such a thing as that?"
"He's got quite the reputation, he does..." He elaborated, nodding towards Shawn, who stood speaking with a few men that had just driven up to work on the garage apartment connected to Sylvia's house. "...a fighter in school, quite a few wouldn't mess with him, in fact, the McPherson rule I'm hearing, is that you don't - you don't - mess with their women; heard it said, especially when that one was a
round, Shawn that is. Some have said, that he would do whatever it took, to protect his. What do you think about that?"
"I'm married to him aren't I? Pregnant, happy as can be, I've never felt safer."
The chief nodded, watching her, "Emmm, I imagine so, in fact, he come to your rescue that night so long ago when that man come into your house, beat him to within an inch of his life, he was pretty messed up. Can't help but wonder about a man that could do that? I mean, I suppose I understood it at the time, but now - I ain't so sure, you know, with her husband gone and all."
"Chief, there's not a thing I can do to help with that."
"Just to make sure I'm covering all the bases, where exactly was your husband that night he was seen, and the nights following?"
"In bed with me, we're newlyweds you know. Not only that, we happen to be in love, we haven't gotten to that stage yet, where we wish to sleep apart."
"I suppose not. One more thing, you think your husband is capable of killing somebody?"
"Well that's a silly and unprofessional question. Under the right circumstances, mess with my kids, I'm capable of killing someone. Under the right circumstances, you're capable of killing someone, almost everyone I know, is capable if put in a situation where they must."
"In self-defence - I suppose so."
"Well of course, what else do you think I mean?"
"Okay, that's all for now, I best let you get back to your children."
"Thank you, I appreciate that." She stood walking towards the door.
"Ah, just to let you know, for whatever reasons might arise, I may need to ask more questions later. Just wantin' to make you aware."
"You know where we live chief, all this going on, you can't miss us." Smiling, Sylvia re-entered the house, closing the door behind her, then collapsed back against it. Her head was buzzing, her heart pounding. "Oh God, please - don't let this go any further, please - no further." She was starting to feel sick. She knew she needed to eat, but her nerves over this matter shot straight to her heart. No matter how brave she tried to be, it worried her, scared her. She stood away from the door trying to take her mind off of it, but all that happened was a triggered thought, that this was the story of her life. All the hell with Armundo, and now here with Shawn, whom she loved with all of her heart, but - more drama. She wondered was she a magnet to these types of men and the problems connected with them? She made her way to the basement with one thought, her baby. Come what may, no matter what down the road may be, she had to put her baby's welfare first, and that meant, whether she felt like it or not, eat. Her husband was a big strong man, he could take care of himself, and that fact is what she had to hang on to. After all, she had been through worse circumstances than this, and she'd made it. It had been hell, but she'd come through. While she didn't want the drama, the hell, the rocky road, she'd travelled it before, and if she had to, she'd travel it again. And if, because of what Shawn did, it meant travelling it alone again, then, so be it, she would - there simply would be no other choice. She had a baby, their son, Jesse James to worry about, and just as she had put Crystal and Mundo first, she would do the same with this one.
In between her having pealed herself off the front door, and walking to the basement, her mood went from fear and worry, to resentment and being pissed off at herself, in a matter of moments. Once more, she faced some type of flaw in herself that made her fall for these men, and she couldn't for the life of her, put her finger on why? She stepped into the basement kitchen with the kids, quiet, her mind simmering, her mood to go off on someone firing up. With her body language, it didn't take a rocket science to read the signs, it was best that she was left alone. In fact, after Ben fed the kids with Mundo's help, they suggested taking all with them to the Dells and then the early matinee for Iron Giant, and after that, they would take Sasha and Joseph back to their grandparents for the rest of the evening. Mundo packed the boys a day bag and to keep the fuss down, accepted the ride from Angela's driver in the Hummer - her bodyguard in escort. Due to lack of space, Ben rode in his car, putting Isaac with him in his car seat; which was fine with him, because it gave him time to spend with Isaac alone, and Isaac, was in heaven.
Meanwhile, on the porch, Shawn noted the chief was free, wishing to speak to him - he didn't keep him waiting, wishing him to be on his way.
Chapter 293
Making eye contact with the chief, Shawn noticed that he smiled the entire time he approached the porch; Shawn decided to make himself comfortable by sitting relaxed on the steps down from where the chief sat. "All right Chief Hurst, shoot."
"Interesting choice of words?" He asked.
Shawn grinned, "Thought you'd like that." And winked at the man.
"Yes, well - anyway, straight to the point shall we?"
"Works for me."
"You ever meet your sister's husband, John Sykes?"
"My sister is divorced from Mr. Sykes now, chief, divorced, that makes him no longer her husband." Shawn made sure to correct him.
"Right you are, sorry about that. You ever meet Mr. Sykes?"
"No sir, I can't say that I have."
"I take it you were aware of the problems in their marriage?"
"Domestic violence is not a problem chief, it's a crime. A crime that takes place all too often, especially when the victim is someone who cannot defend themselves against the person they should be able to trust, in my sister's case, she was exactly that, a victim."
"There was a lot of passion and aggression in your words just then Mr. McPherson. I hear that in the past, you were fiercely protective and a force, all your own to contend with."
"Still am chief, I still am when it comes to my family."
"So how would you have dealt with a man like John Sykes?"
"Not kindly, had I met the man, not kindly at all."
"Define, not kindly."
"I don't have to, chief, not to you or anyone else. My sister is there across the road from me, safe now. They're divorced, so from the day the judge dissolved that marriage, he no longer has any rights to her. My suggestion to you chief, is to take in, that while married, he beat her, abused her. It's your licensed duty, to serve and protect, should he appear on the scene again. I suggest you have on hand those beneath you to be here should she need help, because anyone that comes on my property to do harm to my family, won't do it again." Shawn stood, "Anything else chief?"
"What has upset you Mr. McPherson?"
"All of this has upset me, your manner - and how you've questioned my family. You, and all those like you, standing behind your badges, are part of the problem, why so many women, don't survive, their domestic attacker - and the so called laws, set up to protect them. Ha! I'm going to be honest with you chief, I don't have much respect, trust or faith in the law. I happen to know, there are more crooks in the police force, than out. That's a fact, that you know, as well as I. My relocation to this small town, is with the hope, that maybe - and I stress, maybe - the handful of law enforcers here, might have taken their responsibilities to heart and really want to serve and protect. But then, had I not arrived back here from a business trip so long ago, the woman who is now my wife, carrying my child, might not be - no thanks to your office and the way things are done. So sir, don't come here, to my home, questioning us about someone neither of us knew, and would never care to know. If I appear upset and aggressive to you, don't let it bother you, I'm harmless as a pussycat - ask my wife, she'll tell you."
The chief sat a moment, sighed, stood, eyes making contact with Shawn's. "Mr. McPherson, this is a quiet, nice little town - I want it to stay that way."
"This is where I've chosen to bring my family up sir, I like that about this town, quiet and nice - you need any help, keeping it that way, you know where to find me." Shawn smiled.
Realizing the interview was over, he had to ask directly, "Mr. McPherson, I need to ask, you have anything to do with John Sykes disappearance?"
"Chief, as I said, I never met the man. Anything else?
"
"Not right now, I may be back later however."
"That's up to you sir; now if you'll excuse me."
When Shawn re-entered his home, closing the door, he stood looking out of the peek hole to see what the chief was doing. He watched him step off the porch, cross the yard and then off towards his parked vehicle. Going from there to the back bedroom that Isaac and Darren shared, he watched from the window as the chief, got into his vehicle, started it, backed up to turn around and then righting the cruiser, heading back towards town. When Shawn turned from the window and went to leave the room, it was to encounter Mundo coming for the boys bag he'd packed.
"He gone?" Mundo asked right away.
"Yeah, just took off."
"We gonna ah, get out'ah here, for the day maybe."
Shawn stared a moment, "Why?"
"Emmm, well - mama gotta mood on-..."
"Shit!"
"Yeah, gone hit the fan you don't step carefully." Mundo warned, "I live with'er all my life, and I'm tellin'ya'naw - she smokin', and it ain't no weed."
Shawn turned leaning back against the wall while Mundo gathered up what he needed, heading out, "See'ya later."
"Yeah - see'ya later." Shawn returned, sighing, wanting to go back to bed. He stood wondering if he should - just pretend he didn't know and head back to bed, avoid the whole scene of what might be coming his way. But how could he? "Oh hell, I'm not in the mood for this either." He thought, and then, decided, "I'm going back to bed, just pretend I don't know." and headed that way, back in their room, stripped his clothes off down to his shorts and climbed into bed.
Downstairs, now that all the kids were gone, Sylvia prepared Shawn's breakfast, knowing he'd be hungry. However, there was no sign of him. Heading out of the basement door, her mind was wondering if he was still possibly on the porch speaking with the chief, but when she made it out front, there was no one on the porch, and walking further out into the yard, no sign of the cruiser the chief had come in. She stood in the front yard, looked around at all the workers, and then at the guys working on the apartment flat above her garage. One of them was coming out of the garage looking for something, spotted her, spoke.
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