Harper Ross Legal Thrillers vol. 1-3

by Rachel Sinclair

  What the Hell? My mother was talking about dad coming out as gay like she would talk about making a chicken pot pie for dinner. She had that much emotion as she spoke. “Mom, I don’t understand.”

  “You have to understand this. I guess that Arthur was always attracted to men and he just never talked about it. And then he met this guy at his golf club, and this guy, his name is Sergei – he’s a Russian, if you can’t figure that out from his name – and I guess that Sergei and Arthur started seeing each other behind my back. Sergei was married, too. Of course, he’s not married anymore. Or he won’t be for long. But Sergei and Arthur are living together. They found a place together about a month ago. And that’s why Arthur hasn’t been around for family dinners and that’s why he’s not living here anymore. And, really, it’s all just fine. The passion died long ago, so he was like a roommate anyhow. We’re friends, too, Harper. Your dad and I are good friends.”

  I felt like I was falling through the looking glass again. It was true, dad hadn’t been around for a few months. He wasn’t even in the hospital when I went in that psychiatric facility for those 72 hours when I became manic. But I never imagined…this. That my dad was gay. Gay. What did that even mean? He and mom had been married for, what, 40 years? 40 years, and mom never suspected a thing? My mom? My mom who had always been so nosy and micromanaging my life, and she never even suspected that her own husband was gay?

  I looked at my hands. “Well, okay. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You’ve had so much on your plate, the time just never seemed right. You’ve been so busy with those two girls and your cases and your boyfriend. And now you’re going to see to it that my baby brother doesn’t serve time in prison for murder. You are going to see to that, aren’t you, Harper? Well, I just never saw the right time.”

  I sighed. “You’re just full of secrets, aren’t you mom? You kept what happened to Jack as a kid from me all these years. And you kept the fact that my father has fallen in love with a Russian guy from me, too.”

  I suddenly felt sympathy for her. “And all that must have been very hard on you.” I went over to her and hugged her, and she hugged me back. “Please, mom, please don’t keep secrets from me anymore. I’m a big girl. I have big girl panties and everything. I can take it. I promise you, I can take it.”

  “I know, dear. I know. But I worry so much about you. You take on too much. And you’re so fragile.”

  I let go of holding her when she said that. “I’m not fragile,” I said. “I had a problem with my brain chemistry a few months ago. That’s better now. Ever since I’ve been on that Geodon, that problem seems to have resolved itself. I’m lucky, I guess, because I know how difficult it is to find the right meds and the right dosage. But I seem to have hit on just that. So, mom, please don’t ever say that I’m fragile, because I’m not. I can kick anybody’s butt in the courtroom, too.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean to say that in an insulting way. I simply wanted to make the point that you don’t always have it all together, as much as you try to pretend that you do. There’s nothing wrong with that, Harper. Nothing wrong with that at all. You have to let people help you, though. You can’t always be shutting all of us out. And Albany means well. I know that you think that she’s as nutty as a fruitcake, and I do, too, but she means well. Let her help you.”

  “Mom, her way of helping me is to contact Miss Cleo to give me a tarot reading. I don’t think that’s helping.”

  “See, you’re insulting her by calling her psychic ‘Miss Cleo.’ Her psychic’s name is Lady Starlight, and Albany insists that she’s the best in the business.”

  “Oh? Isn’t she in one of those shacks with a huge sign right out front, where the word psychic is spelled P-S-Y-C-I-C?”

  Mom shook her head. “Harper, you have always been so arrogant about things. You’ve always been such a know-it-all. If you don’t believe in it, then it doesn’t exist. Your way of thinking is much scarier than Albany’s. Albany has much more flexible thinking. You’re just way too dogmatic.”

  I sat down on the couch and hung my head. Mom was right. Mom was always right. She always understood my insecurities. Truth be told, I was dismissing Albany and her psychic because I didn’t want to believe what that psychic said about Steven Heaney still being alive. I didn’t want to think that. I wanted to think that the psychic was an absolute quack, and that Steven Heaney wasn’t alive. I couldn’t handle knowing that such a heinous monster still walked among us. I couldn’t ever think that Jack might run into him again. That would put him right over the edge for sure.

  “Well, mom, okay. You’re right. So, where can I find dad? Where is he?”

  “He and Sergei will be back from Russia in a few months. You can talk to him then.”

  “Russia? Russia, mom? Dad’s in Russia?”

  “Yes. Sergei wanted to go home to see his family. His mother’s very sick. Arthur went with him. Arthur was very excited about going to Russia. He’s never been, you see, and he has always wanted to see the Kremlin. I admit, the Kremlin does look like a beautiful building. I’ve always wondered why they don’t have those temples around here in Kansas City. I know that there are Russian Orthodox people living here in town, I wonder why they don’t have those beautiful temples?”

  I sighed. Mom was rambling on like she does whenever she was nervous. “It’s okay, mom. Just tell me when dad gets back. I’d like to talk to him about…Sergei. But I’m trying to figure out why you’re not more upset about this.”

  “Because, dear. As I said, your father and I have been living like roommates for years. It’s time for him to move on and for me to move on, too. Not that I’m dating again. I can’t even think about that until Jack’s case is over and I know that he’s not going to prison. I do have to make sure that he gets a good therapist who can help him, too, but I’ll worry about that after the trial. But I have to make sure that Jack is safe and secure, and then I’m going to worry about finding my next act in life, whatever that may be. I’ll figure it out, Harper. But right now, all I can think about is Jack.”

  I nodded my head. “Mom, what if Jack did it? I mean, I don’t think that Jack did it, exactly, but what if Eli did it? We’re going to have to face the reality that Jack might end up in a mental institution for the rest of his life, whether we want to admit it or not.”

  Mom rapidly shook her head. “No. I’m not going to accept that, Harper. I just won’t. You’re going to figure out who did this, and you’re going to make sure that Jack wins his trial. And after you do all of that, I’ll make sure that Jack gets the therapy that he needs to integrate again. I thought that he integrated before, but it turned out that the other alters simply went dormant. They didn’t disappear. Jack needs to integrate completely.”

  “What if he can’t integrate?” The process of integration meant that all the personalities basically fused into the main self, so that every one of the personalities became facets of the main personality, as opposed to separate and distinct alters. In other words, Jack would become Jack, and he would never again have blackouts, because Eli and Mick would never again take over. That would be a painful process, because Mick and Eli protected Jack, but I knew that it would be necessary for Jack to live a normal life.

  “He will integrate. He will. I’m going to find the best therapist in the world to make sure that he does integrate. But that’s not the problem right now. The problem right now is that he’s facing life in prison for a murder that he didn’t do. You have to figure that out, Harper. You need to find out who really did it. I hope that you can.”

  I scratched my head and rolled my eyes. “I hope that I can do that, mom. It’s not going to be easy. I’m talking to the cops on the scene on Monday, and hopefully they can illuminate more about what, exactly, happened. Hopefully they can tell me something that I can go on. I hope that they’re doing an active investigation on this as well. I know that it’s easy for them to settle on Jack, because, after all, Jack was found by the body with the
knife in his hand. It looks bad, but it also looks like a total set-up. I’ll figure it out, though, mom.”

  “I hope that you can, Harper,” she said. “Please don’t give up.”

  “Oh, I won’t give up, mom. I can assure you of that. Whether or not I can prevail, though, is an open question. I’ll just have to try my best, put my best effort in, and see what happens.”

  As I left, mom gave a quick hug and I went upstairs to Jack’s bedroom to say goodbye.

  “Bye, doll,” he said. He was sitting on his bed, typing on his computer, which was propped up on a little make-shift stand. “Don’t worry about Claire. She’s going to be okay.”

  “You obviously don’t know about my father.”

  “Oh, I know now. I overheard. So, he’s queer. So what? That doesn’t mean that he’s any less your father than before you found that out about him. And Claire seems to be fine with it. I know it’s going to be tough to see your father with this Sergei fella, whoever he is, but try not to be judgmental. I know that’s tough for you, Harper, but try.”

  “Okay. Well, Uncle Mick, I’ll see you soon. I’m doing all kinds of investigations. I’m going to find out who did this. I promise you.”

  “I know you will. Well, ta ta. I’ll see you soon.”

  I kissed his cheek and went down the stairs.

  As I left, I knew that I was going to put my heart and soul into this case.

  I prayed that it would be enough.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The next day, it was time to talk to the cops on the scene. Officer Brown and Officer Maddox were the ones who got to the scene first. I had a copy of the police report, which told me the basics of what happened. But I needed to actually interrogate the cops to see if there were any other tidbits that they could provide for me. If there was something good that they told me, then I would subpoena them in for a deposition.

  “Hey, Harper,” Officer Brown greeted me when I went into his office. “How are things on the other side?” He grinned and offered me a donut. “I know, I’m such a stereotype with these donuts, but I’m kinda addicted to Lamar’s.”

  I took a jelly donut out of the box and noted that Officer Larry Brown, despite his professed donut habit, seemed to be in amazing shape. “Thanks, Larry,” I said, biting into the middle. The raspberry filling oozed out, and Larry handed me a napkin, a smile on his face.

  “So, you’re here to talk about Jack Calhoun,” he said. “I got the file right here.”

  “Yes. Jack Calhoun. I wanted to make sure that I got the details right, and if there was anything else that you could tell me about it.”

  “Go ahead. Ask away. I’ll tell you whatever it is that you need to know. As usual, I’m an open book.”

  I cleared my throat. “Okay. Here’s what I understand happened. You and Officer Maddox got to the rectory at early in the evening on a Wednesday. The date was April 19, 2017. And why were you called? That part wasn’t on the police report.”

  Larry got out the file and looked at his notes. “Yeah, sorry about that. Sorry I didn’t put that into the report. I do so many of these goddamn things a day, sometimes I leave out details. But according to my notes, we received an anonymous call about a welfare check. This person was worried about the Father. He wanted me to check on him and make sure that he was doing okay.”

  I furrowed my brows. This seemed significant to me. I was annoyed that Office Brown had left it out. “He was worried about the Father? Why was he worried about him? Did he say?”

  “Yeah. He said that the Father had been in the rectory with a known harasser. I guess that your Uncle Jack was known around the church for being somebody who was stalking the Father. Father Kennedy had told his Associate Pastor, uh, Father Mathews, that he was worried about Jack. He thought that Jack was just a little bit unhinged. And, when Jack was in that rectory for such a long time with Father Kennedy, I guess that this person got concerned.”

  I made notes carefully. Something about this story was just not adding up. Father Mathews did indicate that Father Kennedy had repeatedly told him that Jack was making sexual advances to Father Kennedy. But I didn’t recall him telling me that Father Kennedy had found Jack dangerous. He certainly didn’t use the word “unhinged.”

  “So,” I said. “You got to the rectory, because this person called you, and what happened? What did you find?”

  “We knocked and announced. Nobody answered. We then got a locksmith to break into the rectory. When we walked in the door, your Uncle Jack was laying on the couch, passed out, with a knife in his hand. Father Kennedy was laying on the floor, covered in a blood, and recently deceased. I went ahead and arrested Mr. Calhoun.” Larry bit into a lemon-filled donut that was covered in powdered sugar. “Damn, Lamar’s knows how to make donuts.”

  “Yes, they do.” I took another bite of my raspberry-filled donut and rubbed my stomach unconsciously. “What did Mr. Calhoun say to you when you arrested him?”

  “Well, he was unconscious, so he didn’t say much. We handcuffed him, with his hands behind his back, and carried him into the squad car. On the way over to the station, he woke up.”

  “What did he say?” This wasn’t in the police report, either. I wanted to know if he announced that he was Jack or said his name was Mick or claimed to not know what was going on. Either way, I didn’t quite know why Jack would have been unconscious. When he flipped over to Mick, he didn’t lose consciousness. He simply changed over. It was almost seamless. I was suspicious about this, to say the very least.

  “Not much. He asked where he was. We told him that he was in the back of a squad car. He asked why he was in the back of the squad car. We told him that he was in custody for the murder of Father Kennedy. He then looked out the window and refused to say anything more. It was rather odd, the way that he acted. Like he had no clue on what was happening, but, once he figured out that he was in the squad car, he clammed up. He apparently knew enough to not say anything more. Then we got him into the station for questioning, and he refused to speak at all. He said nothing at all. So, yeah, we didn’t get much out of him. To say the very least.”

  “Did anybody bother examining him? Physically? Did anybody stop to consider why it was that he was passed out in the rectory?”

  “Well, yes. Of course.” Larry looked down at the table. “I mean, we checked to see if anybody hit him on the head. Apparently nobody did.”

  “No other examination?”

  “No. We took him into custody. We didn’t take him to the hospital, because he woke up and he seemed to be just fine. He was talking and he was coherent.” Larry screwed up his face. “And that was that.”

  I started to think that I had some fruitful avenues to explore, after talking with Larry. It sounded like there was the possibility that somebody came in and killed Father Kennedy, and maybe overpowered Uncle Jack and did something to make him pass out. Then again, maybe he passed out because of the trauma of what happened. Uncle Jack as so fragile and so broken, that was a definite possibility, too. Losing consciousness after doing something like that wasn’t unheard of.

  “Is there anything else that you can tell me?” I looked at the police report. It indicated that the knife, which was found in Uncle Jack’s hand, was sent for DNA analysis immediately after Uncle Jack was taken into custody. The addendum to the report indicated that the DNA analysis matched the blood of Father Kennedy and the fingerprints of Uncle Jack. I wanted to have a glove analysis done, and I was going to, but, without figuring out who could have done this, getting a glove analysis done was going to be pointless. I needed a solid suspect to pin this on. Thus far, I wasn’t getting any closer to that.

  “No. That’s really all that I can say. There wasn’t a sign of a struggle. Nothing was out of place in the rectory. We checked, and there wasn’t so much as a book that had fallen off the shelf. And Mr. Calhoun was a mute man.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We’re still investigating, mind you. But, for now, it looks like your Uncle Jack is our guy. Sorr
y about that.”

  “Don’t be sorry. You’re just doing your job.” I wanted to acknowledge that it all looked bad, but I didn’t want to admit to that.

  Jack was no help, of course. That was because he wasn’t Jack when this happened. He apparently wasn’t Mick, either.

  I needed to talk to Eli. I didn’t know why Mick was hiding him, but Eli held the key. I knew that he did.

  Why didn’t Mick let me speak with him, though?

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I went to see Jack again, after talking to the cops. I wanted to see if I could possibly coax Mick into giving up Eli. I wanted to ask him why he was hiding him. I was determined that I was going to get answers, and I didn’t have any answers thus far.

  Unfortunately, however, when I got to my mother’s house, I realized that Jack was apparently out. I didn’t know why. From what I knew about Mick, and from what I had been reading about DID, I thought that Mick would be out until the trial. Mick was apparently the strongest of Jack’s current alters, and Mick would be the one who would keep the others in line. And, because Jack was going through a great deal of stress, I didn’t think that he would be “allowed” out by Mick. But, apparently, he was.

  “Hi Uncle Jack,” I said to him. I noted that he wasn’t wearing glasses, his feet were firmly on the floor, and, before he even opened his mouth, I knew that he was Jack and not Mick.

  “Hi, June Bug,” he said. He was sitting on my mother’s front porch swing, drinking a glass of lemonade. He seemed relaxed and calm. “How are things going on my case?”

  “Not too good.” I felt irritated that I was talking to Jack and not Mick, just because Jack knew nothing.

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Well, I’ve been trying to find who might have done this. I have very little to go on right now.” I sighed, not really knowing what to ask Uncle Jack. “And you’re sure that you never knew Father Kennedy, is that right?”