Dawn

by Aleatha Romig

  “If anyone should be or has the right to be unfriendly,” Anna said, “it should be you, Lorna. I think time and life have given me a bit of perspective. If you came here to hear me apologize, I will. I treated you horribly. I’m sorry.”

  A lump formed in my throat. “I think we could both apologize for things in the past, but let’s move beyond that.”

  She sat straighter. “What is it you want to know?”

  “My mother.”

  Anna flinched. “What about her?”

  “What do you think we’re about to ask?” Reid questioned.

  Anna’s head shook. “When we worked together, I was married to Justin. He wasn’t a bad man” —her nose wrinkled— “but I admit to having set a pretty low bar where men were concerned. Justin never balked at raising Julie. That was his best trait.”

  “Your oldest?” I asked.

  Anna nodded. “We had two others.” She grinned. “Julie is taking classes to be a vet tech. I’m so proud of her. And the other two are still in high school. Do the two of you have children?”

  I shook my head as Reid squeezed my hand. “No, we don’t. We’ve been married for nearly ten years.”

  “Congratulations. Someday I may hit that milestone. You see, I’m no longer married to Justin. I think it is my current husband, Steve, who opened my eyes to so many things. He’s a great dad even though he doesn’t have to be.” She scoffed. “He even gets along with Justin, for the kids. I never knew life could be like this. As you know, I didn’t exactly see it growing up.”

  I waited.

  “Steve and I went into counseling before we married. I wanted him to know what a mess he was getting by marrying me.” Her gray eyes moistened. “He said he didn’t care. The kids and I were worth weeding through some issues.” She took a deep breath. “Some issues is a kind way to say a lot of BS.

  “I had to come to terms with the difference between decisions I made and the ones that were made for me. I tell Julie all the time to make her own choices.

  “Anyway, being mean to you, Lorna, was a choice I made. It was wrong.”

  “We both came out on the other side.”

  “Is that what you came here to hear?”

  “No,” I admitted, “but it was nice to hear. I’m happy for you, Anna. I really am. The reason we came is that I have a few questions. Do you see or did you see...” I wasn’t certain how to title Gordon Maples.

  “My father” —Anna took a breath— “and Julie’s father.” While I knew that was the case, I didn’t respond. “I haven’t seen him since Julie turned ten.” Sitting taller, she swallowed. “I wouldn’t let him be around her.” Anna stood. “I’m sorry. May I get you two anything? This isn’t an easy subject. I’m being honest because I know you know the truth.”

  I nodded. “I’m not trying to bring up old memories. It’s the more recent past I’m interested in.”

  Anna nodded, taking her seat again.

  “So how long has it been...what? Eight years?”

  “Longer. It was back when we first began to work together. I still hadn’t come to terms with everything, but I knew I had a responsibility to my daughter.”

  My lips pursed. “I’d say that makes you a good mother. And with that timetable, I don’t believe you’ll be able to help me.”

  “What did you want to know?”

  “We have reason to believe my mother returned to your father’s house in the recent past. I wondered why. I also was recently told that my mother had received payments. I can’t ask her, and I am grasping at straws.”

  “I never saw Nancy, but Zella told me she was there.”

  “You were in contact with Zella?” Reid asked.

  “Am, I guess.” Anna shrugged. “I haven’t heard from her in a couple weeks. I’m afraid she got messed up in whatever happened with our father. The police said that drugs were found. It doesn’t take a genius to assume our dad tried to skim from someone who didn’t like the idea. I know it sounds terrible, but when I was told he was dead, it was more of a relief than a shock. Until Julie turned eighteen, I was always afraid he’d try to claim custody. I think even Zella will agree we’re better off without him. That is, if she gets and stays clean. She and little Gordy can have a better life. I know that for a fact.”

  “Maybe Zella could answer my questions,” I said, knowing that wasn’t possible.

  “Don’t take this wrong, Lorna,” Anna replied, “but she wouldn’t give you answers even if she could. Zella and I took different paths. Our communication is usually spurred by her need for cash or food for little Gordy. When it comes to her, I can’t say no. It’s something I’m working on. It’s also one of the few things Steve is adamant about. He is okay with helping little Gordy, but he does not want drugs around our kids.”

  “Do you know if Nancy lived with your father recently?”

  Anna nodded. “She was there for a while. I only know what Zella told me and none of it was complimentary. According to her, Nancy didn’t have any money. She still held out that her tried-and-true commodity was of value.”

  I nodded. I wasn’t here to defend my mother’s choices.

  “Zella also said she had forgetfulness issues.”

  “Forgetfulness?” I asked.

  “The way Zella talked, Nancy was like one of those highs-and-lows people. One day she’d be real sullen and the next she would rant about all she’d lost and beg for...anything and everything. Given her surroundings, I’m going to assume she was either high, coming down, or looking for more. It’s the cycle.

  “Zella never said anything nice about her or anyone.” Anna shrugged. “I wish I could tell you more, but I have the feeling it wasn’t a great environment. My dad wasn’t the only psychopath in our family. Zella has a mean streak. It’s the reason her ex got full custody of her older kids before they were adults.” Anna shook her head. “I know she isn’t a good person. I also know I’m worried about her and little Gordy.”

  “Anna, did you hear anything about Nancy receiving payments?” Reid asked.

  Anna’s lips came together as she paused to give his question thought. “I don’t recall specifically. I think there was a time Nancy was receiving some money.” She looked at me. “It was when you were younger, but it ran out when you got older.”

  “That could just be SSI,” I said, a bit disappointed.

  “Yeah, it could,” Anna replied, “but for some reason I think it was more. I can’t say for sure. I’ll be honest, Lorna, I never liked her. Well, until the night she clobbered my dad with that baseball bat.”

  I sat taller. “You knew about that?”

  “I never said anything. After you all left, I cleaned the bat. When dad woke he thought he’d fallen. I was glad all of you were gone.”

  It made me laugh. “I was glad too.” I looked over at my husband. “I think that’s it.”

  We both stood.

  Before I could put on my coat and say goodbye, Anna asked, “Is Nancy still...alive?”

  “No,” I replied, placing my arms in my overcoat. “I hadn’t seen her in nearly twenty years. I was eighteen, right before my graduation from high school, she got in the cab of a semi-truck, and that was it.”

  Anna stood and walked to a table near the door. It was covered with small framed pictures and had an oval mirror over it. She opened the drawer and pulled out an envelope, an everyday letter envelope. When she turned, her expression was one of uncertainty. “I debated about this.”

  “What is it?” Reid asked.

  Anna shook her head. “A few months ago, Zella brought this to me, asking me to give her money for it. She said it would be valuable because one day you or Nancy would come to get it.”

  It was my turn to shake my head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “That’s the thing. When I got the call from” —she tilted her chin toward Reid— “your associate, I remembered this necklace.”

  “Necklace?”

  Anna unfolded the envelope, ope
ned the flap, and shook the necklace into the palm of her hand. “It’s not fancy.” She shrugged. “It seems cheap.” Anna lifted the gold-colored chain. The pendant was shaped like a wispy leaf with small green gemstones. “Does it mean anything to you?”

  “No.”

  “It’s so odd that Zella predicted you or Nancy would come here.” Anna grinned. “I’m glad it was you.”

  “Keep it,” I said. “Maybe Zella is right and you can get money for it.”

  She extended her hand toward me. “I don’t want money. I mean, everyone does but not for this cheap old thing. You can take it. Maybe it was Nancy’s.”

  I reached for the chain and dangled the pendant before me. “How about Julie? Does she like jewelry?” I asked.

  Anna shook her head. “Julie doesn’t need anything to tie her to that world. Keep it. Throw it away. Sell it. I really don’t care.” She smiled. “You know for the first time in my life, I’m content and” —she nodded toward the necklace— “I don’t want anything tying me to the past.”

  Nodding, I placed the necklace in the pocket of my coat.

  “I don’t know,” Anna said, “but looking at the two of you, I get the sense that you’re content too. I think we’re both much better off than we could have been.”

  “I agree.”

  Her countenance fell. “Didn’t I hear that Mason died?”

  “You might have heard that,” Reid replied.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you again, Anna. I’m glad we came even if we didn’t learn much.”

  Anna looked at Reid. “Your associate has my number. I think it would be nice to stay in touch.”

  I smiled. “We’ll see.”

  As Reid and I settled into the back seat with our Sparrows in the front seat and in the car behind, I sighed.

  “Sweetheart, I’m sorry you didn’t learn more.”

  “But I tried.” I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “And for that, I’m thankful.”

  Once we were on the highway headed back to the city, I asked, “Where is little Gordy?”

  Reid

  “I think he’s better off with a stranger,” Mason said.

  “It’s not your decision to make.”

  Mason ran his hand through his hair as he paced to the weight bench and back. “You have one meeting and suddenly you think Anna will make a great parent? Her sister sure as shit didn’t. They were raised together.”

  “Anna said she was worried about Zella and Gordy. Zella will never be found. Anna can assume she took off or she is messed up with whoever’s drugs were found at her father’s house. I don’t give a shit what she thinks. She should have the option to take on little Gordy.” I was arguing my wife’s point. The more I spoke, the more I saw its merit.

  “And if she doesn’t want him, she sends him to DCFS. My way, we guarantee him a good home.”

  I shook my head. “A home with money to buy a kid isn’t the guarantee of a good home.”

  Mason stopped near my desk and picked up the gold necklace Anna gave to Lorna. “What is this?”

  “It’s the necklace Lorna mentioned last night.”

  Mason’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not a jeweler, but it looks like cheap costume shit.”

  “It probably is.”

  “Tell Lorna not to wear it. It’ll fucking turn her neck green.”

  “I told her I’d try to find out what I can. I figure the age of the metal and design of the pendant will tell me if it might have been something that mattered to Nancy.”

  Mason let out a long breath, dropping the necklace to the desk. “I need to get the fuck out of here. I’ve spent the last two days going back over traffic cams, security footage, and anything I could access to verify or nullify Top’s information.”

  The steel door opened and Sparrow and Patrick entered.

  “How are the FBI?” I asked.

  Sparrow’s dark stare came my way. “Fucking great. I’m having lunch catered to them today.”

  “Laced with a side of arsenic?” I asked.

  “If only it were that easy.”

  “They won’t come up with anything,” Patrick reassured. “The way I see it, they should be done by today.”

  Sparrow’s head shook. “I fucking hope so. Instead of them taking shit out of the building, we were able to push back and let them stay in the office space. At the time I thought it was a good idea. That way they couldn’t add shit that wasn’t there. Now I’m sick of their fucking faces.” He shook his head. “Give me county, city, or state cops. I fucking hate the feds.”

  “Sorry,” Patrick began. “I know you all needed me last night, but man...” He ran his hand down his face. “I needed some sleep.”

  It was pretty funny considering Patrick and well, all of us, were used to working with minimal slumber.

  “Did you get some?” Mason asked.

  Patrick sighed. “Four straight hours. I think it’s a fucking record.”

  “We’re good,” Mason said. “I spent most of yesterday verifying Top’s information.”

  “And?” Sparrow asked.

  Mason shrugged. “It’s verifiable.”

  “You sound enthusiastic,” I said in observation.

  “You’re wondering if you can trust him or if this is a setup,” Patrick said. “I’m wondering the same thing.”

  Mason lifted his own coffee mug and leaned against the counter, his cowboy boots crossed at his ankles. “Hear me out.”

  Sparrow and Patrick sat as we all turned to Mason.

  “We’re listening,” Sparrow said.

  My brother-in-law’s expression was somewhere between angry and defeated. That alone had my attention. He lifted his coffee to his lips and then set the mug on the counter, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Fucking believe me that this has been the only goddamned thing on my mind. First, I’m damn good.” He lifted his chin toward all of us. “We’re all damn good. We had already discovered bits and pieces of the information that Top sent, but ours was not compiled as succinctly. What he sent...it’s all right there. There’s a pattern of behavior that I didn’t pick up on.” He took a deep breath and ran his fingers again through his hair. “Maybe I’m stuck on something he said the other day in DC. I admit, I can’t separate my emotions for Laurel and Lorna, and from everyone in this case. I think I should confess to all of you that I screwed up.” He turned to Patrick. “Fuck, my inability to see what was right in front of us could have resulted in Ruby’s death. There’s not a damn thing I can ever do to make that up to you, Madeline, or Ruby.”

  Sparrow stood, his brow furrowed. “Is this a resignation speech?”

  Mason exhaled. “No, it’s—”

  “Good,” Sparrow interrupted, “because unlike the fucking Order, I won’t accept it. You’re still useful to me whether you think so or not. You think you’ve screwed up on this? You think it’s entirely your fault that we’re not celebrating Morehead’s and Jettison’s demise?” He didn’t wait for Mason to answer. “Get the fuck over yourself.”

  “She was trained by the Order,” Mason refuted. “I was too. I should have known she wasn’t dead. Everything starting with the damn canister in the ventilation at the ranch screamed the Order and I didn’t figure it out.”

  Sparrow turned to me and Patrick. “Which one of you had this entire debacle figured out, or was it both of you? Did you decide it was a fun pastime and you’d keep the information to yourselves?” Before we could respond, Sparrow turned back to Mason. “It wasn’t only you. It’s them and me too. Listen, I can handle another outfit. I can handle shit on our streets and gang fighting. I’m pissed as hell at the gun supply and that is fucking going to stop. Patrick made a trip to Dino’s yesterday. The owner was given the choice to sell and get the fuck out of my city or stay and watch his business go up in flames.”

  “What?” I asked, hitting a few keys on my keyboard. “Fuck,” I muttered, remembering a news story. The picture appeared before me with the caption
of Dino’s Liquor and the address. “He chose flames.”

  Sparrow lifted his chin. “It’s a fucking message. I’m done messing around. My city. My rules. Fucking comply or you’re done.” He turned to Patrick. “Any news from the capos?”

  Patrick nodded. “Yeah, I got a report down on 1 about an hour ago. Word is spreading fast, and six newly declared gang lords” —he shook his head— “who rule over maybe five people each, have gone to our capos asking for protection.”

  “From us?” I asked.

  Patrick shrugged. “We protect our own. They pledge fidelity to Sparrow, turn in the firearms, and rat out others, and we’ll find them a place.”

  Sparrow went on speaking to Mason. “Maybe Morehead understands better than most how to get to us. Hell” —he tipped his head up— “Walters was right about something. Those women up there...” He grinned at Patrick. “...and that little boy, yeah, they’ve fucking changed my perspective. They haven’t made me weak or any one of you weak. They are what I always knew they’d be and why I fucking fought Lorna in the beginning. They’re our Achilles’ heel.”

  I lowered my chin, not wanting Sparrow to see my grin caused by the confession I’d known for over nine years.

  “Reid, you’re an asshole,” Sparrow said.

  Looking up, I saw his grin. “Everyone in this room is.” I looked at Mason. “Don’t tell us what we or you should have done. That time is over. Your gut was telling you it was the Order on the ranch. Walters misled us regarding Morehead’s demise. Now we have that information. What do we need to do? What conclusion did you come to when you were going through Walter’s information?”

  Mason took a step away from the counter. “I think the reason I’m so pissed is that throughout this entire fucking time, she’s been a step ahead or ten. Hell, she had my mother for over a year. She infiltrated my ranch.” His head shook. “Jettison hurt Lorna.” He looked up. “Ruby was taken right under our fucking noses. She wants us to know it’s her. Like Top said, the memory thing with Lorna and Araneae was a calling card.