…Your wife.
Stop this!
He knows I will never do this things.
He knows me better than this.
You have been gone for a long time.
Not very long.
Long enough.
What they must be thinking of you.
Julien looked out at the house through the open loft door. He could make out Rachael’s silhouette in the mud room window. He panned to the kitchen, where Sarah, her back to him, stood at the table.
You better do this quickly.
Julien clicked reply and a blank page addressed to Matt opened on the screen. Racked with frustration, he ran his fingers through his hair and clenched his fists. Through gritted teeth, he growled, unsure of what to do and fearing the potential consequences. He looked to the house again; Sarah still in the kitchen. He began to type.
Matt-
No matter how this is looking to you, no matter what they are saying,
the man you knew is the man that I truly am. Jessica and Rachael are
with me. We are okay. Take care of your family and be well.
I hope to one day see you again.
-J
Julien’s finger hovered over the mouse; the arrow on his monitor pointing to the send button. The sound of crunching snow panicked him. He heard her enter the barn and quickly clicked the mouse.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Matt, please, can you put Nicholas’ bookshelf together while we’re gone? I’ve asked you for the past two weekends and it still isn’t done.” Lily zippered Nicholas’ jacket and pulled the hood up over his head. Nicholas whined as she tucked in his hair and accidentally poked him in the cheek with a boxy acrylic nail.
“You’re fine,” she said with indifference.
“Dinosaur, dinosaur,” Nicholas cried and hopped up and down.
“Well, go get him…and tell your brothers we’re leaving. Hurry it up,” Lily turned back to Matt, “Matthew…answer me.”
“Yes, yes, I know. I need a different Allen wrench. Stupid thing didn’t come with one.” His cell phone chimed and he picked it up from the coffee table, “I’ll run to Home Depot and get one then put the thing together tonight. He looked down at the screen on his phone; one email alert.
“Okay, but don’t say you’ll do it and not do it. I mean it, Matt.” She put on her sunglasses and preened herself in the hallway mirror, “Who is that?”
“Just an email.” Matt opened the app and read Julien’s name. Astounded, he looked up at Lily; her back to him. His lips parted, about to share the news, and then he stopped himself.
Lily began rummaging through her purse.
Matt quietly opened the message.
She rambled about her plan to take the boys to the zoo with her parents and what they should do for dinner that night upon their return. Matt didn’t hear a word she said. He read the short email from Julien and sat lost in thought.
“For Christ sake, Matt…did you hear me?” Lily snapped.
“What? What?” he jumped.
“I asked, do you want those sandwiches from Pork Slope for dinner? I can take 5th Ave on the way back and bring them home with us tonight.”
“Yeah, sure…that sounds good.”
“What are you doing? What was that? You look like you saw a ghost.”
“No, nothing…Phil… Work shit,” he said, “Lil?”
Lily pulled on her coat and tugged her hair out from the collar, “Yeah,” she looked down the hall, “BOYS! Let’s go!”
“What do you really think happened to Julien?” he asked.
Lily signed, frustrated by the recurring topic, “I told you, he hired someone to make it look like Jessica was kidnapped,” she glanced down the hallway and lowered her voice, “then took her and hightailed it to Paris.”
“But…Rachael…?”
“They had a plan. He sent for her later or met her somewhere and they all left together.”
“But Lily, why? What would be the point? He could have just moved them, like legit. Why the hell would he go through all that trouble to sneak out of town when he could have just moved?”
“Because there was something else going on there that we don’t know about. Those people weren’t who we thought they were. Scam artists or something, I’m telling you. Normal people don’t do that stuff.”
“Lil…what stuff? Stop saying that. We know them. They’re our friends.”
“Matthew, I just watched an episode of 48 HOURS where a woman was married to her adoring husband for twenty-three-years and as soon as the kids were off to college, he chopped her up and dumped her body in some Florida shit-hole swamp. The mother of his children! I bet, after twenty-three-years, she thought she knew that piece of shit too. Don’t be so naïve,” she scoffed.
“Whatever,” Matt mumbled.
“Huh?” she smirked at him then turned back down the hall, “BOYS! If you don’t get your little asses to this door right now, I am leaving without you and there will be no zoo.”
Matt sat staring ahead as, one-by-one, the boys filed down the hall to the front door.
“Okay, we’re going,” she sighed, as she gave the boys a fast once-over.
“Mommy, was Jessica kidnapped?” Nicholas asked.
Lily opened the door, “You have ears like an elephant. Stop listening to other people’s conversations…go, go get in the car.” Lily closed the door behind them, leaving Matt alone to think.
He read the email again. Something about the short note just didn’t sit right with him. It was Julien’s attempt to relinquish Matt from worry, yet now, he felt sure, the Grenier family was in some sort of trouble. No matter how hard he tried, or what Lily said, he couldn’t convince himself it was any cause of Julien’s, nor could he fathom what type of trouble Julien would ever have fallen into, however accidental.
Rachael’s medical bills, he thought, could he have borrowed some money from some seedy characters and then couldn’t pay them back? Maybe they kidnapped Jessica for ransom and he’s out there trying to make a deal? But, what about Rachael? Maybe they took her too, somehow? Nooo, that’s not possible. Is it?
He sat on the couch and shut off the football game then tossed the remote on the cushion beside him. He picked up his phone and opened the email again.
Julien, what the fuck, man? Where are you?
Matt closed the email app and scrolled to his contacts. He bounced the phone on his open palm a few times then hovered his thumb over Anazi Aganju’s name. He dialed; part of him hoping his co-worker wouldn’t answer.
“Hey Naz, it’s Matt from upstairs in creative.”
“Matt, what can I do for you?” Naz asked, “You don’t need me to remove more porn from your desktop, do you?” Naz’s deep, Nigerian voice made his laughter sound all the more mocking.
“Shut the fuck up! That was some sort of virus man, I’m tellin’ ya,” Matt blushed then quickly changed the subject, “No, I’m actually at home. Question for you…if I give you an IP address, you can tell me where it originated from, right?”
“I can at least narrow it down to the area of origin, but the accuracy will depend on the density of the population in the area.”
“How long would it take?”
“Minutes…seconds. Give it to me?” Naz said, “You didn’t fall for a scam and send someone money, did you?”
“No, no, nothing like that.” Matt rushed to his laptop and opened Julien’s email. He located the IP address and read it to Naz.
“Okay, my friend. I will email you the details shortly.”
“Naz, you’re the dude, man. Thanks! I’ll bring you a six-pack of that bacon beer, like last time.”
Matt hung up the call and turned the television on in an effort to distract his mind. He sat back waiting for the email from Naz, but couldn’t concentrate on the game.
What do I do when I have the location? Maybe it’ll be Paris and Lily will be right and that’ll be that?
His cell phone chimed and he grabbed for the phone s
o quickly, it flew out of his hand. On his knees between the couch and coffee table, Matt felt around, blindly beneath the furniture. He produced a Fruit Rollup wrapper and a sock, followed by the head of an action figure, before finally retrieving his phone. He shoved the wrapper and doll head back beneath the table and sat up on the couch to read the email from Naz.
You got lucky, my friend. The location is fairly desolate. Below is a screenshot of the property in Kings Hollow, New York, where your IP address is coming from. Below it, is the address and a map. It is the only location with internet on that mountain and it is satellite internet. Very easy to trace. Oh, and I will take TWO six-packs of bacon beer.
Matt went to the laptop to expand the view of the photo and map. He typed the address into his phone.
Kings Hollow, he recalled the name, is that the house they looked at several years ago? Did they buy the house? I thought they hadn’t. Maybe they didn’t but something happened up there and they’re…no, that doesn’t make sense. What the fuck?
Matt scratched his head then ruffled his hair. The more he revisited Julien’s email, the more it sounded daunting to him.
Maybe I’m wrong? Maybe they just wanted the hell out’a here? No, but the cops…they were looking for Jessica. And why would Julien say not to call the cops if he wasn’t in some sort of trouble? What was that detective’s name? Something with a B? Bard, Ball, Bane…Bale! But Julien specifically said not to call the cops. But you could call and just ask about the case…out of concern. Not mention the email or that Julien made contact…just ask for an update and see what he says. Matt, think…are you fucking up? Don’t do anything stupid. But if you just go up there, Julien’s gonna have a fit and if you do nothing, you’ll never be able to live with yourself, if something bad happens.
Matt paced around the room several times then hurried to his dresser. On top of a tall chest of drawers, directly beside his wedding portrait, was a pile of crumpled receipts, change, an open roll of Tums, and his ID badge from work. He went through the receipts, which he had been planning to toss for weeks. In the middle of the stack, he found the card given to him by Detective Ed Bale. He dialed the phone.
“Detective Ed Bale, please.”
“Detective Bale is not in,” said the dispatch operator.
“Okay, when do you expect him in?” Matt asked.
She paused, “Can I put you through to someone else? What is this in regard to?”
“Umm, well, I talked to him a few weeks ago about a case and I wanted to check back.”
“I can put you through to his lieutenant,” she suggested.
“No, that isn’t necessary. Can you just tell me when he’ll be in?”
“Sir, Detective Bale will be out indefinitely. If I forward you to his lieutenant, he will be able to update you on any of Detective Bale’s cases. Please hold.”
Matt hung up the call. A chill ran down his spine and he stood in the center of the room with a terrible feeling in his gut.
Out indefinitely? Maybe the guy’s sick? Maybe he retired? Maybe it’s none of my business?
An hour later, Matt stood in line at Home Depot. He removed his wallet and handed the woman six-dollars for the Allen wrench set in his hand. She bagged it, handed him his change and he went on his way. He felt like he was walking around in a fog, unable to shake the thought that Julien was in trouble. As much as he knew Julien was a private person who preferred to keep his problems to himself, as time passed, Matt could sense the gravity of the situation. He became more convinced that Julien needed help and either couldn’t ask for it in the email or his pride wouldn’t allow it.
By the time Matt arrived home, he knew he had to go to Kings Hollow, he just didn’t know how he would convince Lily. He found the box containing the book shelf beneath Nicholas’ bed and sat on the floor putting the pieces together.
The simple task took hours longer than it should have; his mind wandering back to the Grenier’s continuously. He repeatedly placed the wrong pieces together and others on backwards or upside down as he broke down Julien’s email in his mind, over and over again. In time, he finished then maneuvered some furniture around in the room. He placed only a few books on the shelves when he heard Lily and the boys return. Matt hurried to move the rest of the books from a stack on the floor, beside his son’s bed, to their permanent home.
Lily appeared in the doorway, “Food’s here,” she said. Her eye brightened as she saw the shelf unit, “Yay! You did it. Finally.” She hopped up and down.
“I told you I would.” Matt picked up another stack of books and Lily bounced toward him, planting a kiss on his cheek.
Matt continued to place the books on the shelf.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Hmm? Yeah,” he arranged the books in size order, “Actually, I talked to Phil earlier.”
“Oh no, what?”
“No, nothing, just…well, with Julien gone…”
“What?” she folded her arms and shifted onto one hip.
“Geez, Lil, calm down… With Julien gone, there’s this thing, a meeting in Chicago on Monday,” he continued nervously rearranging the books.
“And?”
“And he thinks I’m ready to handle something like that. Maybe this will mean a raise or a bigger bonus. He didn’t say that or anything, but ya never know.”
“Monday? Chicago?” she frowned.
Matt stopped fiddling with the books and turned to face her, “Yeah, I would leave Monday morning and be back in a few days.”
“A few days!”
“Well, yeah…meeting’s Monday afternoon and then I would stay a day or two to close the deal and like, be there to show them what the office sends over. C’mon, Lil, this can be a big thing for us. Maybe some better money in the future. It’s only a few days.”
“Yeah, and if this goes well, you’ll have to do it all the time,” she pouted, “I mean, I’m happy that they’re finally recognizing your potential, but we do have three young boys. I can only handle them alone in small doses.”
Matt moved toward her and took her into his arms, “I know, I know. I’ll talk to the boys about being on their best behavior.”
She smirked, “Oh, that’ll work.” She rolled her eyes.
He kissed her forehead, “I’ll talk to them.”
Jessica squealed, startling Arlette. Jérome tickled her neck again and she squealed louder.
“Alright, that’s enough now,” Arlette insisted. “No screeching at the dinner table.”
Julien descended the stairs and found his seat at the head of the table, between Arlette and Sarah. He held a finger up to his lips, reminding Jessica to behave then winked at her. She fidgeted in her chair and mumbled to herself happily.
Rachael entered the dining room with a large serving platter in her hands. She bent over the table to place the roast down in the center. Jessica sat up on her knees to reach for a roll and accidentally bumped her mother’s arm. In an instant, Rachael spun around, leaning in close to Jessica’s face. A breathy hiss escaped her throat and Jessica shrank back in her chair terrified.
“Rachael!” Julien snapped and jumped up, knocking his chair backwards along the floor.
Arlette held her hands up, “Now, now, everyone calm down. What is with all of you today?” she shook her head and placed her napkin over her lap.
Sarah walked into the dining room and, without warning, slapped Rachael across the face.
Rachael gasped and held a hand to her cheek.
Julien reached out and grabbed Sarah’s wrist in midair, before she could do it again. Sarah cringed and Julien tossed her arm down to her side.
Rachael, still holding a hand to her face, ran past them and Julien tried to stop her but she shook herself free and continued out the front door. He heard it slam shut then watched her cross their view from the dining room window.
Julien kicked his chair out of the way. Sarah rushed closer and grabbed hold of his arm.
“Stay here!” he
demanded and pointed to her chair.
Sarah sulked back to the table and sat down.
“You too,” Julien pointed at Jessica who hadn’t moved from where she stood, fearfully pressed up against the wall.
Lind waved her over and Jessica slipped behind Jérome and up into Lind’s lap.
Julien left the chaos and dysfunction behind, heading out after Rachael.
As Julien came over the bridge, he could hear music blaring and he knew Rachael had run to the loft. He entered the open door and recognized Elvis Presley’s, Suspicious Minds blaring from up above.
We’re caught in a trap…
Yes we are.
“Rachael?” he called, but could hardly hear himself over the music.
He tested the ladder with his hands and shook his head, denying his fear. He moved quickly to the top, wanting the risk over and done with, fast. As he peered over the floor, he found her, her back to him, sitting with her knees drawn up to her chin and rocking at the edge of the open loading doors; instantly reminding him of her attempt to leap from the roof of their building years earlier. He climbed over the ladder and came up behind her. He crouched down and took hold of her shoulders.
Startled, Rachael turned, realized it was Julien then throwing her arms around him. She began to sob.
He held her for a moment, letting her cry it out.
“Let me see you,” he said, moving her back.
She tried to turn away, but he wouldn’t let her.
“You are okay,” he said, checking her face for bruises.
Rachael dove against him again.
He spoke softly, “I am so sorry, Rachael,” he didn’t know what else to say.
She shifted back and wiped at her face as Julien walked over to the stereo to lower the volume. Returning to her, he groaned as he sat back down on the floor beside her.
She sniffled then looked him in the eyes, “You’re sleeping with her.”
“What?” he laughed, unable to contain himself, “You are joking, no?”
WISHBONE II: ...Some Wishes Should Never Be Made Page 24