Jake's Return

by Liana Laverentz

  The thought reminded him of the small ivory envelope Rebecca had placed on his bedroom dresser earlier in the week. The one from old lady Dillenger herself. He'd picked it up, run his fingers over the gold embossed return address on the back, then tossed it, unopened, into the wastebasket.

  He had no interest in what the woman who couldn't even be bothered to say hello when she rolled through the station for gas had to say. Not after all this time, and not when he was leaving town again.

  "Lookin’ good, Becca. Got a date?"

  "The town council meeting is tonight."

  Jake sat up. “You're kidding. Tonight?” He hadn't forgotten about it, but in the past week, without Rebecca to keep him company, the days had pretty much blended into each other and he'd lost track of time. “That's where you're going? Dressed like that?"

  "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

  "You look ... phenomenal."

  "It's just a suit, Jake. Completely appropriate for a business meeting."

  Maybe, but Jake doubted anyone else in the room would look half as good as Rebecca in ‘just a suit’ which, much as he hated to admit it, would probably go against her when the vote came over whether to let her keep her job.

  He squelched a sigh. Either way, it wasn't going to be pretty in that town hall tonight. He downed the last of the pair of cold ones FX had slipped him in appreciation on the way out the door tonight. FX knew he wasn't allowed to drink, knew it was a parole violation, and knew if he tried buying anything at the state store it would be all over town by closing time. The first call probably would have gone to Sutter, who would have jumped at the chance to pull Jake in for a urine test.

  "All right, give me a minute to get changed."

  "You're going?"

  "This concerns me too, Rebecca,” he said, coming to his feet. “If you lose your job, it will be because of me."

  "No, it'll be because Avery Dillenger wants to flex his political muscles. He's not happy with me right now."

  "Right. Because of me."

  She looked at him for a moment, then ceded the argument. “Then you need to shave and take a shower, Jake. You're looking a little rough."

  He ran a hand across his five-o'clock shadow and nodded. “Sounds good. I'll meet you there."

  * * * *

  "And last on the agenda is the matter of what do about our library, which has been boarded up since the tornado, oh, and our library director."

  Rebecca gritted her teeth at the way Avery Dillenger had made her sit and wait through almost two hours of incessant bickering among the hundred or so people who had turned out for the meeting. Quite the crowd by Warner standards, but then it had been a very busy month. She tried not to react to the way he had tacked ‘Oh, and our library director’ on to the end of his announcement, as if she were the least of anybody's worries. She knew he'd placed the library agenda item last in an effort to intimidate her. It didn't help that he'd all but encouraged tempers to rise throughout the meeting, instead of stopping arguments when they reached the pointless stage. The tornado had left everyone's emotions close to the surface, and tonight, at this first full council meeting since the disaster, those emotions were spilling over left and right.

  Apparently Avery's plan was to feed her to the sharks as a scapegoat for his failure to take care of business since the tornado. Other than buying the shelter kids a few toys, Avery Dillenger had done little besides blame FEMA for the town's lack of rebuilding progress.

  She looked around, and wondered again where Jake was. Nearly two hours she'd been here, and the folding chair beside her was still empty.

  Maybe he'd changed his mind. Decided it wasn't his fight after all and stayed home to finish his beer, the first she'd seen him drink since his return. The idea left her feeling more annoyed than betrayed. The betrayal had come last week, strong and deep, when he'd told her he was still leaving Warner. When he'd said there was nothing in Warner for him, and she knew it. When he'd asked her if she'd found someplace else to live.

  Well, this week she had, and as soon as this farce of local government in action was over, she could focus on moving on with her life and leaving Jacob Donovan alone to deal with his.

  "Ms. Reed? Are you prepared to address the council?"

  Rebecca blinked, and realized Avery had chosen to recognize her at last. She stood, resisting the urge to smooth down her suit as she did so. Lifting her chin, she met Avery's eyes, and prepared to face the world the way she always had.

  Alone.

  Chapter Fifteen

  "As I said, we'll address the issue of whether to renew Ms. Reed's employment contract before moving on to discuss the future of our library,” Avery Dillenger intoned from the dais at the front of the town's fire hall. The arch look he sent Rebecca was clear. No need to include you in any discussions about the library since you're not going to be there.

  "As some of you may be aware, like so many others in Warner, Ms. Reed tragically lost her home in the recent tornado. An unfortunate circumstance at best, especially since the library was also severely damaged that day, damaged enough that we haven't been able to spare any resources to reopen it.” Rebecca noticed he wasn't able to spare any word for the families whose children had been in the library that day, children whose lives Jake had saved, either.

  "I've placed this item on the agenda to discuss whether we can afford to reopen the library at this time. But before we begin any discussions, I believe it would behoove us to examine the question of whether Ms. Reed remains qualified to direct our efforts regarding the town library."

  Sounds of surprise, protest, confusion and interest rippled through the crowd. Nothing a small town liked to sink its teeth into more than a scandal and everyone knew Rebecca Reed had been courting scandal since the day Jacob Donovan had rolled back into town.

  Rebecca remained standing, feeling absurdly like Hester Prynne, with an A emblazoned on her forehead. But she kept her chin high, her eyes on Avery and her mouth shut, determined to let him finish speaking before she had her say. No way was she going to let him goad her into losing control in front of this crowd. Her personal reputation might be dancing on quicksand, but she refused to let the likes of Avery Dillenger question her professionalism.

  "It has recently come to light that Ms. Reed has chosen to take up residence with Mr. Jacob Donovan, an unmarried prison parolee that this council considers highly dangerous to the safety and well-being of our family-values oriented town. This, in blatant violation of the morals clause in her contract.” Amid another flurry of murmurs among the assembled crowd, Avery picked up a sheaf of stapled papers at his side with one hand, and slid a pair of wire-rimmed Adolpho reading glasses onto his nose with another. “It states here..."

  Rebecca felt the white hot heat of remembered childhood humiliations fill her until she was so rigid she thought she might snap in two if she breathed. She barely heard the vague paragraph of boilerplate that had probably been part of every township employee's contract since the turn of the century. Instead, deliberately, she tuned Avery Dillenger's censorious voice out and focused on what the self-righteous bastard was trying to do to Jake, and to her dreams of a home and family with him.

  Never mind that Jake himself wasn't helping that dream any—this attack was coming from the outside, and that she would not tolerate. Somehow, she'd find a way to expose Avery Dillenger for what he was.

  But for now, for tonight, she'd confine herself to the subject at hand.

  With slow deliberation, Avery set the contract aside and fixed his wire-rimmed sights on Rebecca. “Ms. Reed, can you explain this willful and deliberate violation of your contract?"

  "Of course,” she returned with an absolute calm that surprised even her. “After the tornado which so tragically destroyed my home,” she continued in her most reasonable tone of voice, “I needed somewhere to live."

  The ripple of laughter in the audience startled her, but the quiet, “Go for it, girlfriend,” she overheard in its wake from some
where behind her reminded Rebecca she wasn't without friends. In fact, she'd recognized several volunteers from the soup kitchen as she'd walked in, but she'd been too preoccupied to offer more than a quick smile or wave of greeting.

  But now that she thought about it, if she had to put money on it, she'd bet she had more friends in this room than Avery Dillenger had. It was his money that gave him his power—money that hadn't done a damned thing to help anyone in the past few weeks. The thought gave her strength.

  "But to be more specific, Mr. Dillenger, Mr. Donovan, whom you might recall was with me at the library when the tornado struck—since I understand he left you alone at Feeney's just moments earlier—"

  Avery seemed to sense her renewed confidence, and moved to try to dispel it. Leaning forward, he said into his microphone, “Excuse me, Ms. Reed, but I fail to see the relevance in that statement. If you'll confine your responses to the matter at hand, I'm sure we'll all appreciate it. It's been a very long night."

  "Of course. I'm sorry,” Rebecca murmured in mock contrition. “I thought you were aware that there was some trouble with the Sheriff's car afterward, and that Mr. Donovan was suspected of having tampered with it."

  The crowd gave a collective gasp, and something dark and ugly flashed in Avery's eyes, but he gave no indication of his emotions as he attempted once more to verbally bring Rebecca to heel. “Ms. Reed,” he said, a strong warning note in his voice. “The council fails to see how this has any bearing on this discussion."

  "Then the council needs to be enlightened. Since you're calling Mr. Donovan's character into question, and, by association, mine, wouldn't this be the ideal time to clear up any misconceptions regarding either one of us, allowing the council to make a fully informed decision regarding the renewal of my contract?"

  She had him there and he knew it. Avery Dillenger wanted everyone to believe he spoke for the entire council, but Rebecca had been at enough of these meetings to know that wasn't always the case. George Mueller she could see agreeing with Avery, if only because the man was cowed by his own wife. Mimi Modano, the council secretary, could go either way, considering her former relationship with Jake. But Matt Hannan and his brother Patrick had both been an enormous help to her and Jake in the days following the tornado. Looking at them now, sitting there on the dais, Rebecca couldn't believe the council's sentiment regarding the non-renewal of her contract was unanimous, as Avery had implied in the letter he had sent.

  "May I continue?” she asked pointedly.

  With a sharp look of disgust, Avery sat back and offered a deeply put upon, “Very well, you have the floor."

  "Thank you. As I was saying, Mr. Donovan was also on hand when I discovered my home had been destroyed. I believe you'll find Mr. Hannan can attest to that.” She nodded to Hannan, seated at Dillenger's left, and was relieved and reassured when he smiled back and said into his microphone, “Yes, ma'am, I can."

  "I believe Mr. Hannan can also attest that, as any good friend and neighbor would do, Mr. Donovan immediately offered myself and my daughter temporary shelter in his own home, which was fortunate enough to have survived the tornado."

  Hannan nodded. “That's correct."

  Rebecca paused, hoping the idea of Jake as a good Samaritan would take root in at least a few of the more open minds in the room. The weighty silence as the assembled crowd waited for Dillenger's rebuttal gratified her. She didn't miss his annoyance at having it pointed out his council might not be one hundred percent behind him on this. The look he'd sent Matt Hannan for answering her questions had bordered on killing.

  "I see,” Avery finally said, stiffly, tightly. He shuffled his papers in front of him. “That's certainly admirable of Mr. Donovan, Ms. Reed, but isn't it true you rented your garage apartment from your aunt, who lives in the house to which the garage belonged?"

  So that was where he was headed with this. “Yes, it is."

  "And isn't it true that your aunt had plenty of room available in her house for you and your daughter to live in, should you have chosen to do so?"

  Court TV had nothing on Avery Dillenger. Rebecca smiled, ready for him. “Of course. But our moving in with Aunt Martha would have deprived another homeless family of a place to stay. Mr. Donovan wasn't likely to offer the use of his home to anyone else in town."

  "And why is that?"

  "I believe you stated the council considers him highly dangerous to the safety and well-being of our town. Can you imagine anyone else accepting an offer of hospitality from him under those circumstances?"

  Avery frowned, then realized she'd thrown his own words back at him. He narrowed his eyes at her in renewed challenge and asked, “Why did you accept Donovan's offer? Surely you don't expect the council to believe you moved in with a convicted murderer for purely altruistic reasons?"

  Score one for Avery. The audience got a chuckle out of that, even if it did contain elements of nervousness. Rebecca wondered again where Jake had disappeared to, and what would happen if the town's ‘convicted murderer’ showed up now. It didn't matter. She'd be damned if she'd let Avery Dillenger poison the minds of everyone in the room. This was a public forum and she intended to make the most of her right to be heard.

  "Of course not, Avery. I accepted Mr. Donovan's offer of hospitality because I knew my daughter and I would be perfectly safe living there."

  Another murmur of response from the audience. Rebecca sensed perceptions shifting, and prayed any positive impressions she was making lingered beyond the moment.

  "And just how did you know this?” Avery asked archly, clearly displeased with the direction in which she'd taken his discussion.

  "Because I've known Jacob Donovan since I was ten years old, and I know he couldn't possibly be guilty of killing a woman."

  Avery's eyes glittered with icy triumph, as if she'd just made a fatal mistake. “I see. So you think Mr. Donovan couldn't possibly be guilty of killing a woman. How about a man?"

  Rebecca suddenly felt herself surrounded by political quicksand. She had no idea what Jake might have done in the military—or in prison for that matter—but she didn't doubt Avery Dillenger had made it his business to know.

  She did the only thing she could. She punted.

  "I really can't answer that, Avery, but after this farce of an inquisition, I'm sure you'd be at the top of his list."

  Laugher exploded throughout the room. Whether it was from combined nervous relief or genuine mirth Rebecca couldn't say, but it gave her a few much needed moments to refocus, and left her feeling Avery Dillenger might be thinking twice about having taken her on. No doubt she'd have to pay with her job for challenging him, but right now it didn't matter. Standing her ground against the man who'd all but turned her town into his own personal fiefdom was more important. The people in town needed help and support, not these petty politics, but all Avery could see was his own agenda.

  Eventually, he regained order in the room. After sending Rebecca a quelling glare obviously meant to let her and everyone else know he'd had enough of her shenanigans, he turned his attention to their audience. “Clearly, ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is an unfortunate case of the Stockholm Syndrome."

  Rebecca couldn't hide her disbelief. “Oh, for Pete's sake, Avery. I'm not Jake's hostage."

  He met her eyes, the icy deliberation in his letting her know he wasn't going to end this until he'd won, hands down. “Perhaps not physically, Ms. Reed, but he obviously has a great deal of control over your mind. Control that could prove quite dangerous to certain ... shall we say impressionable patrons of the library—should they fall under your influence while you're so intimately involved with this man of questionable character."

  "You're talking about children? You think Jake is dangerous to children?” Rebecca asked, incensed that anyone would suggest such a thing. Not to mention daring to imply she would allow Jake to abuse Katie in any way. “You're way out of line, Avery."

  He sat back, and managed to look both grim and superior.
“Am I? I didn't want to have to mention this publicly, but there have been several reported cases of child molestation in the area in recent weeks."

  At this, an almost tangible wave of disbelief and horror swept through the room. Rebecca herself thought she might be ill at the thought of some child molester loose in Warner. But more than that, she wanted to kill Avery Dillenger for deliberately linking Jake's name with something so heinous.

  "I'm afraid Sheriff Sutter has been trying to keep it quiet to disguise his own ineptitude at solving such offensive crimes during an election year, but if you don't believe me, ask him,” Dillenger told the still rumbling crowd. “In fact, if I were a parent in this town, I'd demand to know what he's doing about it."

  The noise in the room swelled to titanic proportions. Rebecca mentally scrambled to get her own roiling emotions under control. She'd known Avery Dillenger was slime, but this proved he was insane as well. Attacking the sheriff in public? When the man wasn't here to defend himself?

  Rebecca looked around in growing confusion and concern. Where was Bob, anyway? He never missed a town meeting.

  Oh, God. Was he with Jake? Had something happened and Bob arrested Jake for it? Was that why Jake wasn't here?

  Avery banged his gavel to restore order in the room, then calmly refocused on Rebecca as if the past five minutes hadn't happened. For the first time that evening, Rebecca began to have grave doubts about what she was doing. The barely disguised malevolence in Avery's eyes chilled her to the bone.

  He didn't just want to win, he wanted to destroy her.

  "Ms. Reed? Do you have anything else to say in your defense?"

  She swallowed hard and lifted her chin. If she was going to go down, she was going down fighting. “Just this. As much as you might like for it to be otherwise, Mr. Dillenger, this is no courtroom and neither I nor my morals are on trial with you serving as judge and jury. Jacob Donovan is no child molester, and you're looking at one hell of a libel suit if you plan to continue in this deliberately inflammatory vein. Just because I'm temporarily staying in the home of a single man who spent some time in prison doesn't make either of us targets for public slander. And just because you own three quarters of Warner doesn't give you the right to try to control my or anyone else in this town's behavior."