by Ann Mullen
“I guess that’s up to Abby,” Frank replied.
“That’s fine with me if Frank promises to behave.”
“Abby, you’re such a…”
“We took a limo from the airport to get here. We have plenty of room in the limo for one more and plenty of room in the helicopter for the ride back. It’s up to you, Frank.”
“Then it’s settled,” I said. “Frank, send your helicopter back home, and Abby you can let your limo go. I don’t think he’d want to drive to our place in this weather. I’m sure we have enough transportation to get you all to our house and back to the airport.”
“I drove my van,” Mom said. “It’s a minivan, but it holds five people comfortably.”
“I drove the Jeep,” Billy added. “We can carry five people, easily.”
“I drove my Jeep, too,” Cole added. “There’s room for four, but it’s a bumpy ride.”
“Claire’s SUV is in the parking lot,” Frank added.
After the seating arrangements were settled and Claire was released from the hospital, we were on our way. Abby and Isabel rode in the minivan with Mom while Claire rode with Cole as he drove her SUV. Frank drove Cole’s Jeep and Randy rode with him. Billy and I rode alone in my red Jeep—the same one I swore I would get rid of, and I will, eventually.
“I can’t believe this whole crew is coming to our house for dinner,” Billy said once we got in the Jeep and started moving. “It’s going to be a mad house.”
The snow continued to fall as our caravan of misfits drove, single file, to our home. It seemed like a peaceful end to an otherwise chaotic couple of days, but that wasn’t the way things were to be. More trouble wasn’t far behind.
CHAPTER 22
The house was warm and cozy as a fire raged in the fireplace. Sarah had just put Benny and Carrie down for an afternoon nap as Maisy sucked her bottle in the comfort of Sarah’s arms. Chief Standing Deer lay asleep on the sofa. Athena and Thor were asleep by the fire, ignoring us all, and Spice Cat lay on the fireplace mantle, self-content and oblivious to the world.
“The kids wore him out and I think he wore the kids out. They’re all taking a nap, even the dogs and the cat,” Sarah said to us as we all walked inside. “I’m so glad everyone is okay. Billy told me what happened.”
We filed in one by one and took off our coats.
“It sure is cold outside,” Mom said. “Isn’t it time for spring, yet?”
“I’ll tell you what’s so strange,” Abby said as she walked over to Sarah and cooed at the child in her arms, “It’s snowing outside and I could’ve sworn I saw daffodils in bloom on the way here.”
“You probably did,” Sarah replied. “I have clusters of them in my yard already. Most of them are in bloom. I have buds on my forsythias.”
“Isn’t it a little early for flowers to be blooming?” I asked no one in particular.
Billy walked into the kitchen and opened the cabinet. “Can I fix anyone a drink?” He looked over at Cole, Frank and Randy. “How about a beer, guys?”
“I’ll take a beer,” the chief said as he arose from the sofa. He appeared to be surprised to see the array of guests. “Are we having a party?”
“It sure looks like it,” Abby said as she walked over and shook the chief’s hand. “I’m Abigail Morgan. My friends call me Abby. This is my sister, Isabel, and my son, Randy.”
Billy grabbed a couple of beers and as he passed them around, he introduced Frank.
“Isn’t Frank that cop from D.C.?” the chief turned to Billy and asked.
“Yes, he is,” Billy answered.
The room was quiet for a minute until Maisy let out a wail. Everyone laughed and the ice was broken. Everyone made themselves at home and nobody said a word about the strange turn of events until Claire excused herself from the room.
“I need to go lie down,” she said. She promptly got up and left the room. Cole had offered to help her upstairs, but her blunt refusal caught our attention. No one spoke until we heard her close the bedroom door.
“What was that all about?” I looked at Cole and asked.
“She’s been through a terrible ordeal,” Mom said. “She probably needs some time to herself. She’s dealing with a lot right now. She was abducted by a crazy woman and then was in a car wreck. I imagine she’s still a little shaky. I’m sure she’ll be better once she gets a little rest.”
I didn’t say anything, but I wondered what Sherry Lane had said while she held Claire captive in that car. Claire told me she had said some pretty terrible things. Was it Carl that she had said those things about, or had she made more threats to Claire and her kids? Sometimes a person can say things that will put horrible images in your mind; ones that stay with you forever. Is that what Sherry Lane had done? Did she plant those images in Claire’s mind? Later, I would have a talk with Claire about Sherry Lane… and about what Claire had removed from Carl’s safe. We never did get to discuss why she was so determined to clean out their safe. Did the safe contain incriminating evidence against Carl or his past, or was Claire just trying to protect herself and her children’s future? I would find out.
The women were buzzing around in the kitchen and having themselves a good time with Maisy. I walked over to the fireplace where Billy was sitting with the rest of the men and asked him, “Will you help me get our stuff out of Claire’s car? My gun’s in it.”
“Sure,” he said. “Excuse me, guys. Duty calls.”
Billy helped me struggle with my coat as I tried to get my arm with the cast on it through the sleeve. “I’ll be glad when this thing comes off.”
“Does your arm hurt much?” he asked.
“No, it doesn’t,” I said. “I’m surprised. Usually when you break something it hurts like crazy.”
“It’s Mother Nature,” Abby said. “The good Lord gave us the ability to withstand a lot of stuff when we’re pregnant. It’s amazing what we can go through while we’re pregnant that we couldn’t handle if we weren’t. I call it self-preservation.”
“This is true,” the chief added. “A woman must go through many changes while carrying a child. She must be strong. It is our spirit which helps her.”
“And I guess God has nothing to do with it,” Sarah added.
They continued their conversation as Billy and I walked out the door. He put his arm around my shoulder to protect me against the wind. “I could’ve taken care of this myself, but I figured that you must have something to say that you didn’t want to say in front of the others.”
“No, I just wanted to get our stuff out of the car. Aren’t you the one who told me to take care of my gun? You said to never…”
“Okay, I guess I read you wrong.”
“No, you didn’t,” I said as I stopped and looked at him. “Claire cleaned out their safe while we were at Abby’s house. She said that Carl told her that if anything happened to remove everything from the safe. I just wanted…”
“To snoop through her stuff?”
“It’s not snooping.”
“Yes, it is and it’s not right. You can’t go through her stuff without her permission.”
“Oh, yes I can. She’s my sister.”
He looked at me hard. “Do you want to lose her trust?”
“No.”
“Then you can’t go through her stuff.”
“I hate it when you’re so honest.”
“I’m always honest. You’re just mad because you want me to agree with your wild, hair-brained idea. You know it’s not right.”
“The stuff she has in that bag might hold clues to the murder of Ophelia Pitman. I don’t believe for one minute that she was trying to blackmail Sherry Lane because she thought that Carl killed Sherry’s husband. I think there was more to it. Maybe Carl was involved in something illegal and Ophelia found out. Sherry didn’t want to lose Carl and if he went to jail, she would. Even though Carl could be involved in criminal activity, he isn’t a killer. He didn’t kill Ophelia, but it wouldn’t surprise me to
find out that Carl’s been doing something illegal for a long time. Knowing him; he’s probably been stealing money from his job. Who knows what that sneaky snake has been up to?”
“You’re speculating. You don’t know what Carl’s capable of, Jesse.”
“I know he’s too much of a wimp to kill anyone.” I looked around. “Hey, it stopped snowing. When we came out it was snowing, and now it’s not.”
“It looks like the clouds are breaking up. Look over there.”
I looked to the horizon behind our house and saw the sun peeking through. “The sun finally comes out just before it’s time for it to set.”
“It’s the first sign of spring.”
“Sure,” I said. I rolled my eyes and started walking toward Claire’s car. “And tomorrow when we wake up the snow will be gone and all the trees will be green.” I opened the side door to the car. I reached in and picked up Claire’s purse and the bag that held her safe’s contents. “If you’d get the duffle bags, I can handle this.”
He looked at me with a smile and said, “I’m right behind you.”
We carried the stuff into the house. Billy set the duffle bags on the floor in our bedroom and then I set Claire’s purse and bag of goodies on top.
“When Claire wakes up, I’ll take her stuff upstairs. In the meantime, it’ll be safe here.”
“You can count on it.” He smiled.
I smelled the aroma of food. “Mom must be cooking something.”
“Isn’t she always?”
We both laughed as we took off our coats and walked out of the bedroom. Billy hung up our coats as I walked into the kitchen.
“What’s cooking?” Billy asked as he walked up to his mother.
Sarah turned and placed Maisy in his arms. “We’re making dinner a team effort,” she said. “Maisy needs to be burped. I’d hand her to Jesse, but she has only one good arm.” She winked at me. “Besides, it wouldn’t hurt for my son to hone up on his baby-burping skills. It’s been a long time.”
“You’re not kidding,” Billy replied. “It’s been a real long time.”
Billy’s cell phone rang. “I’ll get it,” I said. “You have your hands full.”
“Tell them I’ll call them back. I’m busy at the moment.”
I walked over to the coat rack and removed Billy’s cell phone from his coat. I didn’t bother to look at the phone’s Caller ID, instead, I flipped it open and said hello.
“May I speak to Billy Blackhawk?” a woman asked. Her voice sounded frantic.
“He’s busy at the moment,” I replied.
“It’s very urgent,” she said.
“Okay, give me a second and then I’ll put him on.”
I walked over to Billy and handed him the phone as Abby walked up to him and offered her assistance. She took Maisy and placed her on her shoulder as she sat down at the kitchen table. Isabel and Sarah walked over and sat down at the table with her while Mom continued to work in the kitchen. I looked up and noticed that the men were still over by the fireplace, drinking beer and telling lies. I stood, waiting to hear the outcome of the call when the house phone rang.
“This sure is a busy place,” I joked as I walked over and picked up the portable phone from the computer table.
“Is this Jesse?”
“Yes, it is,” I replied.
“Jesse, this is Russ Shank. How are you?”
“I’ve had better days, but otherwise, I’m fine. How’re you doing?”
“I’ve had better days, too. May I talk to Billy?”
“He’s talking on his cell phone. Can I give him a message, or would you like to wait? He shouldn’t be long.”
“I’ll hold on,” he replied.
I looked over at Billy and caught his eye. I held the phone up and mouthed Russ’s name. Billy shook his head in acknowledgement.
“He’ll be right with you, Russ.”
“Thanks, Jesse.”
Billy closed his cell phone and handed it to me. “Put this up, would you, Jesse?” He took the portable phone and walked out of the room.
I heard the bedroom door close.
The men stopped talking and looked over at me.
“What was that all about?” Mom asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied, looking around the room. “Usually, when Billy walks out of the room like that, something bad has happened.”
We all remained silent and trance-like until Billy walked back into the room. When he did, a cold draft whisked through the air and sent a chill down my spine. I knew that something bad had happened. The look on his face said it all. The news was not going to be good.
“You all will have to excuse me, but I have to leave. I’ll be back soon.” Billy looked at me. “Where did you put my cell phone, Jesse?”
“Wait a minute,” I said as I walked up to him. “What’s going on?”
“Russ just got a call from Brian,” Billy said. “Brian was out of control. He said he was going to go find Benjamin Beard and kill him.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because he just found out that he’s not Maisy’s father.”
“And the good doctor is, right?” I said.
“Exactly.”
“How did he find out?”
Billy looked around the room and saw that everyone had their eyes glued to him. “Belinda, the receptionist at Dr. Beard’s office, faxed him a copy of the paternity test by mistake. She was supposed to fax it somewhere else, but got the fax numbers mixed up.” Billy looked down at me. “I have to go find him before he does something awful. He now has reason to believe that the doctor killed his wife to shut her up. He has nothing to lose and he’s out for blood.”
“He has Maisy!”
“Not according to him. Maisy isn’t his child.”
“But he still loves her, doesn’t he?”
“He’s not rational, Jesse. He’s not thinking straight.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?”
“Russ did that before he called me.”
“Then why don’t you let the police handle it?”
“Because I feel responsible, Jesse. I need to do something. Russ is meeting me at the doctor’s house.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, you’re not,” he demanded. “I can handle this by myself. You need to stay at home. You’re not much use to me with that cast on your arm, `ge ya.”
“That’s a lame excuse, Billy Blackhawk,” I said, defiantly. “Okay, I’ll stay home if that’s what you want. Just be careful.”
“I will,” Billy promised as he grabbed his coat and walked out the door.
I turned around and looked back at everyone left. “I need a drink.”
“I don’t think so, Missy,” Mom said.
Frank got up from the sofa and walked over to me. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Thanks, but I don’t think so, Frank. Having a cop around to protect us is enough.”
He smiled and then went back over to the sofa and sat down next to the chief. He knew there was nothing he could do, but he offered anyway.
Abby got up from the table and said, “Maisy’s asleep. I could hold her all day, but I think she needs to be put in her crib. Where is it?”
I led Abby to my bedroom and showed her Maisy’s crib.
“It’s a portable crib, but it works fine for now,” I said.
“How long is she going to stay? Your mother and I were talking about what happened to her mother. It’s a terrible thing for a child to lose a parent in such an awful way.”
“People do some pretty bad things to each other, don’t they?”
“I’m afraid they do.” Abby laid Maisy down and then covered her with the tiny baby blanket. “She’s such a sweet little blessing. I hope she doesn’t lose her father as well.”
“Let’s hope not,” I said as we walked out of the room. I left the door ajar. “You just never know what people will do.”
Claire came down the stairs with Benny an
d Carrie following behind her. “What’s all the commotion?” she asked. “It woke up the kids and when they saw that I was home, they woke me up. Mom, do you have any Tylenol? My back is killing me and I have a splitting headache.”
“Check the cabinet in the bathroom behind the stairs. Did the doctor say you could take Tylenol?” Mom asked. She looked at Abby and Isabel. “Now that both of my girls are going to have a baby, I’ve got double duty.” She looked back at Claire. “I don’t want you to take anything that would be bad for the baby, even if it is Cole’s child.” The words were out of her mouth before she realized it—you could tell from the expression on her face. “I’m sorry, Claire. I shouldn’t have said that. I made a promise to myself that I would give Cole another chance and that’s not going to happen if I have an attitude like that.” She looked at me. “I promised a wise person that I would be the forgiving person that she thinks I am, and open my heart. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Please don’t, Mother,” Claire said. “I need your support, regardless of how mad you are at Cole. Give him a chance and if he screws up, trust me, I’ll dump his…”
“I get the picture,” Mom replied. She turned and walked to the kitchen. “It’s time to get this show on the road. We’ve got a lot of mouths to feed.”
“Kids, go help your grandmother,” Claire said, ushering them into the kitchen as she headed to the bathroom.
Benny and Carrie squealed at the prospect of being in the kitchen with their grandma.
At the sound of Benny’s and Carrie’s voice, Spice Cat jumped down from the mantle and sent the dogs into a tailspin. Athena and Thor came to life for the first time since we had come home. They rallied around the kids, licking and jumping.
“I bet you’re so glad to have your mommy home,” Mom said to the kids as they walked into the kitchen. “Are you guys hungry?”
“I’m starving,” Benny said.
“Me, too,” Carrie added, agreeing with her older brother.
I introduced Benny and Carrie to everyone in the room. Unfortunately, they didn’t appear to be interested in anything other than being in the kitchen with their grandma.