Henry was taken aback by what he heard; he asked Sam to give it until the morning before calling the police. He felt too weak to deal with that much all at once. On the one hand, he felt bad for having to report Dominic’s and Sasha’s father to the police; but on the other hand, he figured that if their father was in jail, the kids would finally be safe. Not to mention himself. The news was quite a shock.
Dominic and Sasha both apologized to Henry. Not that they were surprised at the news, but they sure felt bad. How could this be? Now they would have to face the whole truth; however, in the end it could set them free.
“Now, we don’t know how all this is going to turn out.” Henry was trying to minimize the impact on the kids. “We are all innocent until proven guilty.” Henry had mixed feelings, even though he wanted to end the suffering. The kids both gave Henry a hug before they left. He was unable to sleep that night. The same applied to the rest of them.
The next morning, Sam called the station and asked for Inspector Cooper, who in turn called Henry and informed him that they had the suspect in custody. But he advised Henry to take things slowly. Inspector Cooper wanted to make sure Henry could withstand the latest developments. He needed Henry to be well in order to bring this character to justice.
“Mr. Dobbs, you need to take it easy for a while, before we proceed with this case. However; I can assure you, this time, the suspect isn’t going to be allowed to leave until we finish with your case and Mr. Preston’s case completely. I can’t guarantee that he is guilty, but this person has changed his appearance, as well as his name, so many times, we had a very hard time apprehending him.”
When Sam got to work the next morning, he told Bill about the latest developments, Bill immediately remembered why he was unable to recognize the man who was in police custody during the news hour recently. Larry had changed his appearance, so he was not recognizable as Bill had known him. As Bill described him, he was one of those slimy characters whom you could never trust. He could never keep a job for long. Bill knew him from the time when he was working for a car dealer and tried to sell cars on the side. So this new revelation did not surprise Bill at all.
Henry could not wait to see Dominic the next day. He wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with the boy, whose life had been a continuation of his nightmares. He wanted to make it known that he held no grudges toward him or his sister. As for their mother, there had to be some explanation as to why she had acted so badly (or should we say, suffered, the way she did) for so long.
The evening came, and Dominic was at Henry’s door. “Hi, Henry, may I come in?”
“You ask too many questions. Why don’t you relax, the way I do?” Henry was trying to humour him. “If you think that I have to drink this tea all by myself, then you’re mistaken. I am not about to invite a neighbour in to join me. Now; I have some news, but I can’t guarantee that you will like it —”
“Let’s just say that whatever it is, it can’t be worse than what I already know.” The boy was still in shock. “My mother is under Dr. Thomas’s strict supervision; we have instructions as to what medications she is allowed to take and what not. She recalls my father screaming obscenities at her and slapping her around; and those obscenities were directed at the Dobbs family. That was the day that he disappeared for the first time.”
“Sadly, that was the day my brother was murdered,” Henry added with a heavy heart.
The problem was that Larry had such a hold on her that she was more worried for her own and her son’s safety than for anybody else’s. When he didn’t return, all she could think of was that he left them for good. It never even entered her mind that his absence may have been due to some other reason. In fact, Larry was running away from the law.
“Henry, I can’t tell you how many different situations now suddenly make sense of my father’s behaviour in the past. However, Sasha and I both think Mother had figured it out since you and I became close but was afraid to disclose her suspicions without major complications. Her odd behaviour may have been due to sheer guilt. Who knows? In her twisted mind, she may have felt that my father would kill us all if she said anything to anyone about her suspicions.” He put his hands over his face as tears ran openly down his face. “If only I could set the clock back . . .”
“Dominic, you must not blame yourself for anything. None of us can ever bring my brother back. Your father will be brought to justice. I have had some reservations regarding the police for taking so long but my faith in them has now been restored. Justice will be done.”
Henry managed to calm the boy and decided to pay Inspector Cooper a visit the next morning.
“Good morning, Mr. Dobbs; I didn’t expect to see you this morning. How can I help you?”
“I would like to see this person whom you have in custody. Better yet — I would like to hear his voice.”
“Mr. Dobbs, we are in the middle of several urgent situations at this moment — I will definitely call you later.”
“Thank you, Inspector Cooper. Forgive me for the interruption.” Henry reluctantly turned around and proceeded to walk down the corridor with a heavy heart. Again, he felt very much helpless as to what he could do about the whole situation, which, it seemed, always was set aside for more “urgent situations.”
Suddenly, there it was! Henry stopped and froze. There was that screeching voice that he remembered so well, yelling the familiar obscenities. Henry turned around and stared at the man who was screeching at him and threatening to “get him” someday, for ruining his life.
“I WILL GET OUT OF HERE, AS I HAVE BEFORE, BUT THIS TIME YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE!”
It all happened so quickly — for some reason, a vision flashed before Henry: his poor, terrified Lily after the murder of his brother, Edward. How panic-stricken she was and how she begged him to stay home in case whoever had murdered Edward should come back for more and kill them all. Lily always had premonitions. Henry felt faint and wanted to sit down.
“YOU STOLE MY HOUSE FROM ME AND THEN YOU SENT MY OWN SON AFTER ME FROM THE BUSHES. I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU A LONG TIME AGO!”
Then, Henry heard somebody shout at the screeching maniac to keep quiet and keep going.
The police were moving Larry to another jail where he would be kept securely and indefinitely. This time he had buried himself. He always was a bully and got away with it but this time it was different. He had no chance now to run away into hiding as he had before to evade capture.
While Henry had no memory of the names of any previous owners of the houses his father had purchased so many years ago, Larry Lambert never forgot the name “DOBBS” and was determined to seek revenge on the family. It did not matter to him which Dobbs it was. All he knew was that he had lost his home and was unable to forgive the Dobbses for ruining his life.
Henry was stunned that such a misunderstanding could have such repercussions.
But Larry wasn’t finished. His mouth foaming with anger, twisting his body about as the officers hurried him down the hall, he screamed, “NEXT TIME, I WILL KILL YOU FOR SURE!”
At this, the officers started laughing. One of them gave Larry a push to get him moving again. “Forget it, buddy,” he said. “You won’t be going anywhere for a long, long time — if ever!”
Henry could hear the laughter all the way down the hall.
Acknowledgements
My sincere thanks go to Jane Karchmar, senior editor, GSPH, for not only doing a great job as an editor but also for guiding me through my first novel and now through this second one. She is a good friend as well as a great professional. Jane, I will always be grateful to you.
Also, my thanks go to Magdalene Carson, for her willingness and her expertise as a designer. She designed my first book and now the second one.
Thank you to Tim Gordon, publisher, General Store Publishing House, for giving me another chance and publishing my second book. It is people like you who are willing to take chances that make a difference in this world.
About the Author
Cilika Kunovic was born and raised in the former Yugoslavia. She immigrated to Canada in 1958. She is a hairstylist by profession and owned her own business for twenty-five years; but she never quite stopped at that.
With three children, seven grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter, she knows plenty about caregiving; without regrets.
While raising a family and running a business, there was no time for writing. Now that she is happily retired, she is making up for it and finally putting her emotions into writing.
This is her second novel.
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