When I took her back home I told Mrs. Frazier that Jane might have nightmares now if she hasn’t had them already.
I went home early and Mimi made chamomile tea. We sat at the kitchen table and drank in silence. Our relationship didn’t always require a lot of talking, and we were both still grieving Ben.
CHAPTER 11
The next day I got up early. I was excited about seeing Jane. I felt like we had made a lot of progress. It was nice to be able to have something else beside Ben to think about. I think Ben would have approved.
I picked Jane up at the Frazier’s house and she appeared to be glad to see me. It was hard to tell but she gave me a quick glance before dropping her head.
As I pulled my Land Rover out into traffic I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Bert Jamison behind us in his Crown Vic. I was glad to have someone on my tail but I wished Huck would hurry and get well and take over.
I had made arrangements with Dr. Alvarez to use the playroom everyday at 10 a.m. Jane went to the shelf where the playhouse was kept and took it down along with several other pieces.
Still without saying a word, she began putting the furniture in the house. After she had all the furniture in the house, she took the mommy and little girl and placed them in the bed in the master bedroom. She curved the arms of the mommy around the girl then sat back on her heels and looked at her work.
My mentor, Dr. Anna always told me to go with my gut instinct which was really my sub-conscience.
I hesitated and then began, “Tell me a story to go with what you’ve done, Jane.”
“Bettina,” she said.
“Your name’s Bettina?” When she nodded I continued. “That’s beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever known a Bettina before.”
For the first time, she looked me in the eye and smiled, but then immediately dropped her head and let her hair cover her face.
“I appreciate you telling me your name, Bettina. May I tell your foster family?” She again nodded but didn’t look up.
Our progress was very slow. I learned that the best way to get her to talk was to wait until she was busy with something. Then she would respond without thinking about it.
One day I was sitting on the floor while she sat at the tiny table on one of the little chairs painting. The painting was mostly in reds and blacks.
Without looking up she suddenly asked, “Where is the other lady?”
“What other lady, honey?”
“The mean one. The one you was with.”
I thought and thought but couldn’t think what she was talking about. “I’m sorry, Bettina. I don’t know who you are talking about. I’ve never been with another woman since you and I met.”
Now she looked at me like she didn’t trust me and it dawned on me that she was talking about my evil triplet.
I got out my wallet and opened it to a picture of Julia and me and handed it to her. “This is Julia, my sister and this is me.”
She looked up at me and then down at the picture, “You’re a twin?”
“Actually I’m a triplet. I just found out recently we have a third. None of us grew up together. Julia and I found each other when we were sixteen. The one you must have met is the other one. I haven’t met her yet but she may be traveling with a very bad woman. Is that who hurt your mommy?”
She started shaking and I pulled her into my lap and held her. When she started crying, I wasn’t as worried about her. These were real feelings and the shaking stopped.
I wanted so badly to question her but I held my tongue. I had to follow her lead. As a psychotherapist this had always been the most difficult thing for me to do. As I held her she began to calm down and I had an idea. I decided to drive around the area where she had been found and see if she could lead me to the house where her mom might have been stabbed.
I asked Bettina if she wanted some ice cream and she nodded yes. We got in my car and I stopped for ice cream and then drove around in the neighborhood where she had been found. I kept glancing at her but she was busy with her ice cream and didn’t seem to notice where we were going.
“When do I have to go back to school?” she suddenly asked.
“You go to school?”
I saw her smile for the first time and she had a look of pride on her face, “I’m in the second grade.”
I had to pullover for this. I found an Indian restaurant and pulled into the parking lot.
“How old are you?” I asked.
“I’m seven years old.” She said with pride in her voice.
I was getting excited, “Where do you go to school?”
“The one around the corner from my house.”
This was the most she had spoken since I had met her. I needed to be careful and not cause her to shut down again.
I laid my hand on her leg, “Honey, what is the name of the school?”
“Lady of Mercy, the catholic school.”
I had driven past there on my way home many times. It was in Montrose. “Why don’t we go see your teacher? What’s her name?”
“Miss Kimberly.”
CHAPTER 12
The bell rang when I pulled into the parking lot of the school. It was good timing. When we got out of the car, Bettina took my hand and led me to her class.
A beautiful woman who resembled Grace Kelly was sitting at her desk grading papers. When she looked up and saw Bettina, she stood and rushed over.
“I’ve been worried about you, Bettina. I’ve tried to call your mom but no one answers the phone.”
As soon as Bettina’s mom was mentioned, Bettina clammed up. She became as withdrawn as she had been when I first met her.
I introduce myself and she shook my hand, “Riana Kimberly. What’s happened?”
I explained how we found Bettina and how she had not spoken much until today, “Do you know where they live?”
“No! No! I don’t want to go home,” Bettina screamed.
I picked her up and held her, “It’s okay. You don’t have to go home,” I said. As soon as I said those words she calmed down.
Miss Kimberly walked over to her desk and wrote something on a piece of paper. She handed it to me and I put it in my jeans pocket.
I took Bettina back to the Fraziers and started home. When I stopped at a red light I got the paper out of my pocket and read it. It was the address where Bettina and her mom had lived.
I swung by there on the way home. The building was an old house that had been divided into four apartments, two up and two downstairs. This was common in the Montrose area of Houston.
These houses had once been family homes. Sometimes they had made the bottom floor into a restaurant or boutique and had living quarters above as there were no zoning laws in Houston.
I walked up onto a wrap-around porch and knocked on the door. No one came to the door and I realized I would have to knock on one of the doors to one of the apartments.
Miss Kimberly hadn’t put an apartment number on the paper she gave me so I knocked on the door to the right of the stairs.
The woman who opened the door looked to be almost 100 years old. She had no teeth and I had a hard time understanding what she said but I thought she was asking me what I wanted.
I looked at the paper the teacher had given me, “Emily Goddard?”
“Up pose stars, lef side.”
I started up the stairs but before I got half-way up an anorexic looking woman came out of the right side apartment. Her hair, what little there was of it, was dyed pitch black. It was shoulder length and I could see her scalp underneath.
“You a social worker?” she asked and, without waiting for my reply, she continued. “You need to check on those two. We ain’t seen them for over a week and they have something rotting in there.”
Now that I was at the top of the stairs, I could smell a smell I recognized. It was a dead body. I had hoped to find her alive. I went back out to the porch and called the police and then Tracy. I was surprised when Tracy drove up, before the poli
ce, with John Shepherd in the car with her.
I ran out and hugged John, “Did you bring Rosa and Jennifer?”
“Yes I did, Judith. Wait til you see my beautiful daughter. You know she just had her second birthday?”
“John’s going to be working here in Houston until we catch Jupiter,” Tracy said. “I just picked them up from the airport, took them home and then got your call, so I was close by. Who lives here, Judith?”
“Bettina’s mother.”
John and Tracy looked at each other, “Who is Bettina?” They both asked at the same time.
“The little girl you assigned me to work with, Tracy. She told me her name yesterday and then today I was able to get information about her school and teacher. By the way, she’s in the second grade. She’s small for her age.”
John spoke up, “By the way, Judith, I’m so sorry to hear about Ben. I loved that man. He was one decent human being.” John said as he wiped his eyes.
I got tears in my eyes and turned away. Mixed in with my grief was guilt. I had strung Ben along for years before agreeing to marry him. We had so little time together and now he was gone.
As I was getting my emotions under control, the yard began to fill up with cars. There were two city police cars, a Crown Vic that I assumed was a detective car, and a black station wagon with medical examiner written on the side.
Introductions were made all around and it was then that I realized that my body guard wasn’t around. In fact I hadn’t seen him all day.
“Where’s Bert?” Tracy asked just as I was about to ask her.
“I haven’t seen him all day, come to think of it,” I said.
Tracy walked to the end of the porch around the corner while dialing her cell phone. When she came back she was shaking her head. “The little shit called in sick but didn’t bother to call until a few minutes ago. I‘ve never liked him. He thinks he’s God’s gift to the human race. I’ll find someone else for you, Judith.”
“How’s Huck, by the way?”
“He’s hanging in there but it’s going to take him awhile. At least he’s out of intensive care.”
We talked while the coroner, police, and CSI people did their jobs. They were coming in and out until finally they brought out the body, in a bag, on a stretcher. By then the media had shown up but couldn’t get past the yellow crime scene tape the police had strung across the yard. They had mikes and were shouting questions but no one paid them any attention.
The detective I had seen earlier came out of the house with the medical examiner. The detective was tall and build so much like Ben, that seeing him from the back made my heart almost stop. The coroner left and the detective came over to talk to us. He looked nothing like Ben from the front. His hair was lighter blond than Mark’s and I noticed the blond hairs on back of his hands. He was wearing a gray suit, gray shirt and white tie.
Tracy introduced herself and John and then me. “Judith is the one who reported the body.”
He shook our hands, “Wade Russell,” he said. He turned to me. “How did you come to be here? Do you know this woman?”
“I’ve never met her.” I explained to him how I came to be there. He reminded me of John the way he seemed to hang on every word when he listened to someone.
When I finished, Tracy started filling him in on Jupiter but he held up his hand. “I’ve been following this intriguing case since it began,” he said. “The FBI did an excellent job, by the way.”
He turned to me. “So, Judith you think that Jupiter and you evil triplet have teamed up and they are responsible for killing this woman?”
I nodded and continued to tell him all I had learned from Bettina.
When I was finished Tracy said, “I was going to take John to see Huck. He’s finally awake. Would you and Judith like to join us?”
Wade looked from one of us to the other and then nodded. “Let me tell my partner, and I’ll be right with you. And thanks for including me.”
Tracy drove and I was glad. She got us there in record time. The first time I had ever ridden with her, I was terrified. Now I was used to her breaking the speed limit.
CHAPTER 13
Huck was wired up to monitors that beeped and thumped and made all kind of weird noises. The doctor had told Tracy that the bullet had gone all the way through Huck’s body and gone through the right side of his colon. Another few inches and he would have been paralyzed. As it was, he had to have a partial colostomy.
He was in good spirits, “The good news is that the doctor said I would probably never have a weight problem.
“Did you find Ben?” he asked looking from one of us to the other. When he saw my face he said, “Jeez, Judith. I’m so sorry. Damn, I really liked that man, the nicest man I ever met.”
I rushed out into the hall, my emotions so raw and put my face against the wall. I cried so hard, I was shaking. Tracy came out and put her arms around me and put her head on my shoulders and cried with me. Even though I knew these emotions were healthy, it hurt like hell.
The three men were talking football when we came back in, The Houston Oilers, love ya blue, and so on.
As soon we walked in, they fell silent. “Do you remember what happened, Hutch?” Tracy asked. “Judith and I were walking down the beach and you were supposed to be keeping an eye out but you disappeared.”
“I’m sorry, Tracy,” he said. “I usually don’t leave my post but you were some distance down the beach and I saw Jupiter and Christina walking along the seawall, laughing.
“They were going in the same direction and I followed them. They started running and giggling trying to balance on the wall. I was amazed none of you saw each other. I couldn’t yell out and attract attention but since you were all going in the same direction I figured we would all meet up anyway.
“Then you both turned around and started back the other way just as Jupiter and Christina headed toward a beach house. I waved my arms but you two were deep in conversation and didn’t even look up.
“I made a stupid decision and kept following the other two. My plan was to look around and maybe look into some windows to see what I could see and then head back to you two.
“My plan backfired when I got almost up to the house and Jupiter had gone out the back door, circled around and shot me in the back She must have made me the minute I started following her. Boy that bullet hurt like hell and I thought I was dead. I’m sorry I screwed up, agent Carr.”
Tracy patted his hand, “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Jupiter is smart. Remember, she used to be a police officer so she can probably spot a tail a mile off.”
He sighed, “Thanks, Tracy. I guess that’s it. I didn’t even see her when she shot me. Next thing I know, I’m waking up here.”
CHAPTER 14
It was wonderful seeing John, Rosa, and Jennifer again. I wish Ben could have been there but I believe in some way he was. John was right, Jennifer was adorable. She followed Brad around like he was her older brother. Brad was patient with her and tried to teach her the computer but she started pounding on the keys and Brad told his dad to take her away.
I enjoyed the time I spent in the kitchen that night with Mimi, Tracy, and Rosa. We prepared a roasted duck dinner and told the men they would have to cook out on the grill the next night.
John was here to help with the case, but I was glad he had brought the whole family.
Our house was so large it still didn’t feel crowded. After dinner, Tracy called a meeting with John and me. Jennifer and Brad went upstairs with Jesse. Mimi and Rosa went to watch a runway show on TV showing the latest fashions. Mark went into his study to get some paperwork done.
We three went into the back yard and sat at the picnic table.
“Well, Judith, it looks like you’re still on the case, since your new client mother was a victim of Jupiter. I need to know if you can handle this part of it.”
“Yes,I can do it Tracy. And besides, Bettina is beginning to trust me and to open up to me. It would
be unfair to her to have another therapist at this point.”
She studied me, “Okay, it’s against my better judgment, but to be honest, we’re both emotionally involved. I loved Ben too. I just hope we can keep a clear head.”
“I’ll make it part of my job to keep an eye on both of you for any signs of loss of objectivity,” John said. “Actually, I’m emotionally involved too, since Ben was my dear friend. We’ll have to keep a watch on each other.”
We hugged and went back into the house. I joined Mimi and Rosa in the den and watched the rest of the runway show with them. Mimi was making notes and I knew she was going to get some of those outfits.
“Did you either one of you see anything you wanted,?” Mimi asked. “I’m taking orders.”
Rosa and I looked at each other and grinned and suddenly I burst into tears. Grief seems to come in waves and spring up when least expected. But I was remembering my first trip to Houston.
Julia and I had been sixteen and had just found each other and Mimi. We had gone to Houston for Christmas. Mimi had invited Mark and Tracy, Rosa and John, and Ben. Mimi had taken Rosa, Julia and I to the Galleria and tried to give us a roll of money to shop with.
This was before I had broken Ben’s heart, before I had strung him along, and used him. The guilt was a large part of my grief and I needed to talk to Dr. Anna.
As soon as I started crying, Mimi turned off the TV and she and Rosa sat beside me and hugged me.
I told them about the memories I was having, “I think part of the problem is that I can’t forgive myself for the way I treated Ben. I thought I would have the rest of our lives to make it up to him.” I hugged both of them back and stood up, “I’m going to go up to my room and call Dr. Anna.”
“I guess I need a shoulder, Dr. Anna.” I said when she answered the phone.
“It’s here for you, Judith” Dr. Anna said. “I think you know what you need to do.”
“Yes, I need to forgive myself and move on, but I can’t”
Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 04 - Jupiter Returns Page 5