“To thank him, of course,” Kris said, sounding admirably calm, “for being such a good sax player.”
“Then you’d better give him another one,” Ashley said without hesitation. “A big one. He’s not just good. He’s great!”
To Rick’s surprise, Kris simply dimpled at her daughter and said, “I couldn’t agree more.”
HE’D COME OUT AHEAD with Ashley and her questions earlier that afternoon. He wasn’t doing as well with his own sister right now.
“So, who’s the woman?”
Rick glared at his older-by-only-a-year sister, who’d just finished tossing the dinner salad and was free to poke her finger into his chest.
“What, exactly, are you talking about?” he asked, exaggerating his words.
Cathy smirked and kept poking him. “We’ve all been worried sick about you. Your phone calls are short, curt, and reveal nothing. Yet here you are, dancing in the kitchen. So, there has to be a woman. Maybe the one you mentioned earlier?”
“I am not dancing in the kitchen.” What he’d been doing was whistling and setting the table with his niece. “And I didn’t mention a woman. I talked about introducing Madison and Danny to Ashley. She’s a nice kid and can use some friends.” He hooked the ten-year-old around the neck. “Come on, Madison, let’s get some fresh air.”
The child giggled and went with him to the front door, while Cathy taunted, “I know a secret, I know a secret.”
“How do you stand it?” asked Rick, allowing the door to close behind them.
Madison giggled again. “Mommy says it’s her job to know everything. No one is allowed to have secrets while she’s around.”
“But I bet you do.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Sometimes. But, man, she always figures it out.”
He’d bet his last dollar his sister’s nose was deep into her kids’ business. She wouldn’t ignore anything, from a tiny sniffle to a difficult math problem. She’d be as protective of Madison and Danny as Kristin was of Ashley.
“Mothers are like that,” he said. “You’d better get used to it.”
He shaded his eyes from the sun. “Where’s your brother?”
They both spotted Danny at the same time, entangled in a spool of fishing line, while Quincy stood patiently by. It seemed like fishing line was the family menace this season.
“Oh, my God. What a mess.” The big sister skipped toward her sibling, a lecture on her lips, while Rick shook his head, memories of him and Cathy flashing through his mind. Nothing ever changed. Madison was bossy like her mom, and Danny always came up with a good excuse for his “situations.”
“I wanted to get it all ready for the morning,” he explained when Rick approached. “So we could leave way early and not waste time. You know, leave in the dark.”
“Stand still, pal,” Rick said, trying to unravel the line. “You’re wrapped up so well I could put you in a mailbox.”
“No, you couldn’t,” protested the boy. “Not even the post office.”
“Oh, Uncle Rick! He’s only eight. He doesn’t get your jokes.”
“Well, he sure knew how to tie himself up,” said Rick, finally freeing the boy and showing them the ball of fishing line. “We’ll be ready to go tomorrow morning if you keep your mitts off it. Come on with me now. I want you both to meet someone.”
Kristin answered his knock, Ashley right behind her. Kris’s delighted expression when she saw the kids told its own story. Her daughter simply waited quietly…until Quincy nuzzled her. Then she leaned down and gave him her full love, as she always did.
When Ash looked up, she said, “Hi.” And smiled.
“Uncle Rick’s dog really likes you,” said Danny.
“Quincy likes everyone,” Madison said. “Don’t you know that yet? By the way, I’m Madison.” She stuck out her hand to Ashley, who shook it.
But Danny wasn’t finished. “I know lots of things,” he mumbled. “Like how you’re always in trouble in school.”
Madison glared at him. “School is boring. And mind your own business.”
“You should mind yours.”
Ashley looked from one to the other, then up at Rick. “Do they always fight?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“I don’t like fighting.” She faced Madison. “He’s smaller than you, so don’t pick on him. It’s not right.”
“He’s my brother.”
“So?”
“So, that’s the way it works.”
Ashley stared at the other girl for a moment, then shook her head. “Nope,” she said. “It doesn’t work like that here. Not at Morningstar Lake.” She crooked her finger at Danny and the boy went to her. She whispered something in his ear that made him smile.
When Rick glanced at Kristin, her eyes were sparkling like blue diamonds in the sun. Next to him, she murmured, “I was hoping she’d join in with other children, but I had no idea she’d do it with such confidence.”
“Seems to me all you girls are bossy. Is it in the female gene?”
She laughed and impulsively kissed his cheek. “I’ll let that pass. I’m just too happy right now.”
Twice in one day. Of her own volition. Life was good.
Danny transferred his attention from Ashley to his sister. “Now I have a secret.”
“And so do I,” Madison said slowly. “A better one.” The girl’s thoughtful gaze remained on her uncle and Kristin before the three of them went back home.
HIS PROPOSED DATE with Kristin wasn’t going to happen that night. Ash had resisted being left with his family. Too many strangers at once, regardless of the kids being there. Regardless of Quincy.
A Monopoly game, however, was in full swing in the Coopers’ big kitchen, with Rick’s parents slapping down their money to build more hotels on their properties. Rick was into utilities and railroads. Madison owned Boardwalk and Park Place, and Danny was in jail.
The boy wasn’t concentrating. Not that he could do anything about the luck of the cards, but still, his mind was clearly elsewhere. For the umpteenth time he checked the clock. It was eight.
“Gotta go,” he said, heading for the back porch, Quincy at his side.
“Just ’cause he’s in jail…”
Rick ignored his niece for once and followed Danny. Behind him, he heard the others asking questions and leaving the game. Rick stood next to his nephew on the screened porch.
“What’s going on?”
“That girl, Ashley—she said to go on the back porch at eight o’clock and listen. And I’d hear something special. Just for me.”
When the beautiful melody of “Danny Boy” floated through the night, the real Danny said, “Hey, that’s my song.”
The flute. Ash was giving his nephew a gift. Sweet, sweet girl.
He glanced at his nephew, who’d heard the song thousands of times in his life. Tonight, the child stood quietly, with his head cocked and his expression thoughtful, as if hearing it for the first time. Perhaps this solo flute performance was as unique to him as it was to Rick.
Her rendition carried warmth, clarity and the beauty of a starry night. As always, the haunting melody had the power to move hearts, as proved by the utter silence of the listeners after the last note drifted away. A silence followed by wildly enthusiastic cheering and “bravo’s.” And then, as one voice, came a chorus of “Encore, encore.” Rick thought that Sophie and Ben Grossman led the shouting from their own porch.
He held his breath, wondering what the sensitive girl would do now. Would she play something else?
She shocked him. Three Dog Night? “Joy to the World?” Holy cow, she’d changed the mood! Normally, he’d reach for his saxophone and join her, but not tonight. On this occasion, he was content to listen and learn more about Ashley through her music.
From the corner of his eye, however, he saw Madison quietly go into the house and return with her violin. His mom retrieved hers, and his dad, the clarinet. Rick hadn’t come to play the sax by accident
, and knew his family was itching to join in. He motioned for them to wait.
“That was lovely, Ashley,” sang out Sophie. “What else can you play? Maybe something more like the first one, something that I know…?”
“Amazing how voices travel in the night air,” whispered Cathy.
“Music, too,” added Jerry, who often gave himself credit for being the only “professional listener” in the family, now that his son had begged for drum lessons.
“Sentimental Journey” had Sophie and Ben dancing as soon as they heard the opening notes. The big band number cried out for the sax, and after eight bars, Rick gave in. Instantly, the flute improvised, while Rick stayed true to the melody. Ashley’s notes glided around his, her interpretation as exciting as any jazz musician’s he’d ever heard. And as free. She played as though she’d been waiting for him to show up so she could let go.
His dad started singing, his mom harmonized, and as they’d done all their lives, Rick’s family began creating a musical evening—this time with some help from the youngster two doors down.
One family member, however, wasn’t happy. Quincy hadn’t moved from his spot facing Kristin’s house, his tail moving slowly through the entire concert. He’d turned toward Rick once or twice, had walked to the door, too, before resuming his position when Rick hadn’t let him out.
But when “Sentimental Journey” was over, his dog barked, went to the door and whined. He ran as soon as Rick opened it.
“I’m going with Quince.” Madison left.
“Me, too.” Daniel followed his sister.
Rick stepped toward the door, as well.
“My oh my.” Cathy rushed over and patted his shoulder. “Ashley and her mom must be special. Everyone’s running over there. What has my kid brother gotten himself into?”
“Nothing he can’t handle,” replied Rick before joining the kids. And one kid’s mother.
HIS NIECE HAD WASTED no time. She’d already started on Joplin’s “The Entertainer” on her violin when he arrived on Kristin’s back porch.
But Ashley stood, flute in hand and hands on hips, an expression of stoic resignation on her face. “Stop!” she ordered.
The violin stopped.
“First, what key are you in? Second, keep the beat. If you run wild, it won’t work.” She sighed. “You’re only ten,” she said from her eleven-year-old vantage point. “Have you ever played in a group with others?”
She spotted Rick then, and a wide smile covered her face.
“Mom and I agree. You weren’t sad tonight. You’re never sad when we play together.”
He glanced at Kristin, who quickly stepped toward him. “‘Tears in Heaven.’ That’s what she means. Rick, you can rip a person’s heart out with your playing sometimes.”
“But Uncle Rick is never sad,” said Madison. “Are you?” Now her voice was uncertain.
“He plays in minor keys a lot, where the music sounds…mournful. I guess that’s it. And music doesn’t lie,” replied Ashley.
“Neither do I,” said Rick. He put an arm around each girl. “I’m not sad now. In fact, I’m very happy.” He gave each one a kiss on the cheek, then studied Kristin. Her cheek was tempting. So tempting.
She must have read his thoughts because she stepped back and murmured, “Oh, no you don’t. Enough for one day.”
So, she was putting on the brakes. He couldn’t blame her. She’d been crazy about her husband, and Rick was nothing at all like that good man. Rick was a mess. He hadn’t solved any of his problems yet. He had no job, no direction. No nuthin’.
Kristin looked at her daughter. “Ash, why don’t you show the kids the piano? Try a duet with Madison. Go, go, go.”
They went without argument, and she spoke quietly to Rick. “After I left you earlier, I went a little nuts. I realized that the home-selling season is right now. If Ash won’t go home, I should put my house on the market tomorrow, or I might not get a buyer. People want to be in their new place before school starts in the fall. But maybe she will go home. I don’t know what to do.”
Kristin began to pace. “I earn a decent salary, but I’m not wealthy. If I move out before the house sells, I’ll have two monthly payments. I can’t carry two.” Her voice rose, despite her best efforts. “And what if she won’t go back to school? What will I do? I have to go to work. Oh, my God.”
“Stop!” He sounded just like Ashley had with Madison, and despite her problems, Kristin smiled. “Kris, you’re spinning out of control.”
“Have I said anything that wasn’t true?” she replied.
“Let’s assume everything you’ve said was true. So call an agent. Put the house on the market.”
She had a hard time swallowing. “If I do…that means we’ve failed. That Ashley won’t recover.”
“No! No, it doesn’t. It means she’s not moving forward on your timetable, that’s all. But she is moving forward, Kristin. I can see the difference in the time you’ve been here.”
“I thought so, too, but…”
“But she doesn’t want to go home. She doesn’t want to go to a movie theater, even with you. She doesn’t want to be left alone.”
Right. Right. Right.
“Sounds appropriate to me.” He reached for her hand, squeezed it gently. “Would you return to the place you were assaulted? Would you want to go home after the perp threatened you? Threatened your family? After he told you that he knew where you lived? That he knew where you went to school? That if you told your mother what he did, he’d kill her?”
Kris froze. Could only stare at him. “Did she tell you? You, and not me? How do you know he said all that to her?”
“Because they all say it! Every one of these perps. They threaten in order to control the kids. Didn’t the cops explain? I’ve worked so many cases…” He paused a moment before continuing. “If you think a sad song can break your heart, try a child murder. Or being the first responder to a situation like Ashley’s. Not once, but again and again. Do you think I don’t know? I know, Kris. I really do.”
Her tears fell. Not quiet tears, like in the movies with glamorous actresses. No. Hers came with big sobs. Noisy sobs. Lots of tears. She cried on Rick, on his shirt, on his chest. She couldn’t stop this time. Maybe she’d never stop. “My baby. My baby.”
In his arms, she’d found a safe harbor for the moment. So comforted. So not alone. He understood. And his arms were strong.
“I hate him. I hate him for what he did to my little girl.”
“I know, honey. I know.”
She breathed.
“Look at me,” he said.
She did, and saw his compassion for her.
“Kristin, do you understand that this perp may never be caught?”
“I want him…hanged from a tree. Put in the electric chair.”
“Of course you do.” He paused, then spoke slowly. “Now, answer my question. Do you understand that he might never be caught?”
Never slammed her, but she nodded, her head weighing a thousand pounds.
“Nevertheless, you and Ashley will have to go on, or the bastard will have won. Don’t let him win. Don’t let him ruin the rest of your lives.”
Again, she nodded. “But how?”
“You’re already doing it,” he replied. “One day at a time. By repairing yourselves. Your lives have been interrupted. Your job is to reclaim them.”
“You sound like Dr. Kaplan.”
“Yeah. Right. I’m a real shrink,” he said, sarcasm evident in his voice. “I couldn’t even help myself.”
“What…?”
“Forget it. That’s a story for another day. Go find a new house while I search for a new career.”
Look for a house? It was a big step. Kristin played with the thought seriously now. She tasted it. Pictured packing up. Pictured bare windows. She and John had bought the house, so excited about the purchase of their first home. She remembered going through the empty rooms after they owned it, hardly believing it was thei
rs. She remembered twirling round and round on the lawn. They actually had a backyard!
So many memories, but somehow moving felt okay, too. Recent events had shadowed those early memories and, in the end, a house was just bricks and mortar. Ashley’s recovery was far more important. Maybe Ash needed a new place for a fresh start. Maybe they both did.
“I’m calling an agent,” she said.
“Good. But now, I’ve got to get the kids home.”
“Can I tell you something first?”
“Sure.”
“You don’t need a new career, Rick. You’re wonderful at helping others, and that’s what good cops are supposed to do. Think about it.”
She led him into the living room where, for the first time, the two girls were in harmony with each other. “The Entertainer” sounded exactly right.
“Just like in the movie,” whispered Kristin.
The piece ended then, and Madison announced with the authority of a queen, “She’s excellent!”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “But if you fight with Danny, we won’t play together again.”
Kristin caught Rick’s attention, then inclined her head at the boy. The expression on his face…He was the first member of the Ashley McCarthy Fan Club.
“Smart kid,” Rick whispered. “Those McCarthy women…wow.”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Three gunshots from inside the house. Rick watched the sharpshooters enter first. He was behind them, adrenaline rushing through every artery and vein. He saw bright red splatters everywhere. On the man, the woman and…oh, God…on the little white jersey.
Moaning, Rick snapped upright in bed. He mopped his face with a pillow and waited for his heart rate to slow down. This was his first nightmare about the incident since he’d come to the lake. And it had been a doozy. In Technicolor, with sound effects—horribly real all over again.
Quincy jumped up next to him, licked his face, then lay down, one paw on Rick’s leg. Oh, man, he felt no less needy than Ashley. And, as he’d suspected, in no shape for a relationship with her mother. He had nothing to offer the lioness, Kristin McCarthy. Rick was still too shattered, heart and soul.
Linda Barrett - Count on a Cop Page 9