ON The Rocks (An Ozzie Novak Thriller, Book 3) (Redemption Thriller Series 15)

by John W. Mefford

  “Very impressive,” I said when he finally paused to breathe. “So you’ve worked at BloodCorp for how long?”

  “It will be seven years in June. It’s been the best seven years of my life, I’ll tell you that much. The people of this company are just amazing. It’s really more like a family, to be honest. We’re all supportive of the goals of this great company, and that’s because our mission is so clearly tied to the health and long-term wellness of the human race. You know what I mean?”

  I knew he was slinging shit against the wall. Whether it was simply well-rehearsed or he actually believed it was an unknown. But I did know this: during this seven-year stint, he’d been married to Rosie for the first three years. He sounded awfully joyous about a time in his life that should have been difficult—of course, I really hadn’t expected him to bring up his personal life.

  We walked through his BloodCorp resume. He sprinkled in a few stories about how his work had led to valuable evidence to help save people’s lives. He dropped a fist to the table. “And that’s why I do this job.” He stared at the phone a second and then lifted his eyes to me. “I suppose there’s a service to the public to know who has herpes and other things like that, but I come to work each day to save people’s lives. Plain and simple. That’s why God put me on this earth.”

  For the first time since we’d met, he actually sounded sincere. And adamant at that. Bravo for Billy.

  “So tell me a little about life at home. Married? Kids? Dog?”

  “Check, check, check,” he said with a forced chuckle. “Drop-dead gorgeous wife. She’s been so supportive of me and my passion here at BloodCorp.”

  I held his gaze an extra second. Was that his own subtle dig at Rosie? Before I could blink, he pulled out his phone, swiped a finger across the screen, and showed me a picture. I felt my mouth start to open. I quickly pressed my lips together. She could have been on the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders calendar. How had this technician goober with a body like Flubber and a penchant for demeaning women been able to land yet another gorgeous woman? Maybe he had family money, was all I could figure.

  “One little child. A boy, two years old. Jared. My wife says he looks just like me.”

  More pictures. The kid, thankfully, looked more like his mother. Softer lines, straighter teeth, even though his were still baby teeth.

  I only hoped the kid didn’t pick up the same personality gene.

  “Community activities?”

  He went on and on about two different charities in which he was involved. It seemed all so scripted. Probably was lying. I might check them out to just give me a full picture of Billy Dixon.

  “So,” I said, changing the tone a bit. “As you may know, we’re a Christian media organization.” I paused a couple of seconds.

  His glaring smile dulled some.

  “We like to project a certain image. I’m sure you can understand.”

  “Completely.” He then told me about his family’s near-perfect attendance at Sunday church. They’d only missed twice in the last three years, and that had been when he was working overtime. “God would want me to focus on helping mankind first,” he said proudly, reclaiming his grin.

  Oh, how I wanted to call bullshit on that line.

  “So, prior to your wife…”

  “Deborah,” he said.

  “Right. Deborah. She’s a real looker.” I popped an eyebrow just to rattle him a bit. His eye twitched. Cool. “So, have you been married previously?”

  He reached into his lab coat and then pulled out his hand and wiped his face; all the while his eyes stayed on me. Must be some type of nervous habit.

  “These are all just cookie-cutter questions, so I’m just going down my list. Won’t take long. And just know this: we know everyone isn’t perfect, even in the eyes of the Lord.”

  He nodded and cleared his throat. “I was married previously, yep. A smart, vivacious young woman. Rosie and I just grew apart over time. But we’re still friends. That’s the really cool part.”

  I bet you were really close. So close that you crushed Rosie’s spirit.

  “That’s neat. Does she know your wife and your son?”

  He held up a finger as if he was about to score another brownie point. “Actually, she came by the hospital the day after my son was born. She was very happy for us.”

  I nodded. He smiled. It seemed like we were playing a game of chicken. Who would give in first?

  Just then a ringing phone echoed in our space. Billy reached into his shirt pocket, looked at the screen, and jumped to his feet. “Excuse me. I have to take this.”

  He rushed out of the conference room. On his way out, I heard the first few words: “Is everything okay…?”

  Because the walls were all glass, I watched him on the phone, without being obvious that I was watching him. Mr. Subtle. He paced some, nodded. This went on for at least a couple minutes as I pretended to flip through messages on my phone. Then he stopped pacing and brought his hand to his chin.

  I watched his mouth intently.

  “Good, so the medication is helping to reduce the brain swelling.”

  He turned his back and finished his conversation. About two minutes later, he walked back into the conference room. He seemed more relaxed.

  But I was still stuck on that last line I’d seen him say. “…the medication is helping to reduce the brain swelling.” Someone he knew had a serious medical condition.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah, just talking to the wife about kid stuff. She loves to share every time Jared hits one of those milestones. He apparently just threw a baseball across the yard.”

  He nodded, smiled. It seemed like a real smile, although I was almost certain his description of the call wasn’t accurate. Was it possible that his son had some type of serious medical condition, but he was only focusing on the positive? Or could he have been speaking about someone else? His wife, perhaps? I wasn’t sure.

  I changed mental gears and went back to the interview questions. “So, Rosie came by and visited you guys in the hospital, right?”

  He nodded. “They say the birth of your child is the best day of your life. That’s so true. It was great for Rosie to see the joy in our family.”

  “Well, God certainly wants us to find the good in everyone, even those who we might not see eye to eye with.”

  Another stare-off.

  “So, I’m to assume no arrest record?”

  “I’m as clean as you get.”

  “Wow. So, the cops were never called to your place?”

  “Nope. Why would you ask?”

  “Just standard questions. You must have had a ticket.”

  “Well, I did have one a couple of years back. That’s when I was rushing to work to handle a job that came through over the weekend.”

  “So dedicated to your work.”

  His white teeth were nearly blinding me now. Why even bother whitening such a snaggle?

  “Just between us, you never smoked a little weed…you know, maybe back in college?”

  He looked confused.

  “Maybe you didn’t inhale?”

  “No. Nothing,” he said, his tone bordering on being curt.

  “Back to your wife for a moment.”

  “Right, sure. So, she’s really involved in the community as well. We’re really just like partners.”

  “So, is she okay with you verbally abusing her?”

  It looked like he might have swallowed his tongue. Then he went still.

  “Do you enjoy taking a woman’s spirit and slicing it until there’s nothing but a pile of dust?” I could feel my jaw tighten as I placed my palms to the table.

  He pushed the chair back and stood. “What kind of interview is this?” he asked, his expression a snarl now.

  “I like to get to the meat of the story. This is the meat, isn’t it, Billy?”

  He narrowed his eyes and headed straight for the door.

  “Do you treat Deb
orah the same way you treated Rosie?”

  He stopped at the door and then flipped around. His eyes were like marbles, darting around, probably looking to see if any of his colleagues were watching his body language in the world of transparency.

  “You don’t know me. I treat my wife with respect. I treated Rosie with respect too. I already told you that she showed up at the hospital when my son was born. You can check the visitation records.”

  I made a mental note. “What if I talked to Deborah? How do you think she’d describe how you treat her?”

  He pressed his lips together, pumping out breaths so fast I saw spit flying. He took a small step in my direction. Keep it coming. I could only be so lucky. “You better not threaten me or my family.”

  “I threatened no one, certainly not your poor wife and child. I can only imagine what they experience on a daily basis.”

  I could see his jaw muscles tighten as he gritted his teeth. His gaze went from my phone to me. “Do you know Rosie or something?” he asked.

  “I know she was telling me the truth when she talked about how you treated her day in and day out. You shouldn’t be allowed to have kids, you piece of filth.”

  He started to tug on the door.

  “Unless you want me to share this little recording with your so-called transparent management, you’ll answer a couple of questions.”

  He tugged at his tie. “What?”

  “Why were you so obsessed with her making money a few years ago?”

  “Just thought she should hold up her end of the deal.”

  “The deal. As in a contract. Is that what your marriage was…a financial contract?” I could feel my ears burning.

  “Look, I’m not perfect. I made a few mistakes. Who doesn’t, right?”

  I stood up. “You made her feel like a nothing. Less than nothing. Why? Why did you do it, Billy?”

  He opened his lips but said nothing. Then he hoofed it straight out the door.

  I now had a few things I could track. After I picked up my one and only daughter.

  16

  In a chilling rainstorm, it was Dad to the rescue. At least that was how Mackenzie viewed it when I walked into the door of our apartment looking like I’d just taken an ice shower.

  “Thank you,” she said, taking the bag of Chuy’s Mexican food from my hand. She grinned. “I’ll set it all up. Are you going to get out of those wet clothes?”

  “Good idea,” I said with a quiver.

  I went to the bedroom and changed into a comfy pair of sweats. I used a towel to dry off my face and hair. I glanced in the mirror for a second. I was so pale; I looked like one of those vampires from those god-awful movies that came out years ago. On top of that, my body felt lethargic. I hadn’t done much on the exercise front in the last few weeks. My hip had been bothering me. I needed a rigorous swim. Actually, I needed to figure out a new routine—find a way to get back to my swimming and still take care of Mackenzie and do my job. I knew my mental acuity—and sanity, for that matter—were directly correlated to a good workout. And no, sex didn’t count; the whole deal with Nicole had only added to the confusion.

  I clapped my hands as I rounded the corner into the kitchen. “Okay, who wants the cheese enchiladas?”

  Mackenzie froze. Warm cheese stretched from her mouth down to her plate. She tried to smile. “I couldn’t wait,” she mumbled.

  I laughed and went to make us both drinks. She wanted an Izze, and I went with water. Had to keep my mind sharp tonight. I had a date with my computer after dinner.

  I sat down and joined Mackenzie. It was quiet for a moment. Maybe too quiet for her. “You want to turn on the TV? You might find a football game to watch,” she said.

  I could sense that she was trying to fill the void of silence while at the same time figure out a way to make me happy.

  “Only if you want to watch one of your shows, maybe an Andi Mack show?”

  She twirled more cheese around her fork. “I’ve seen all of them twice.”

  I let a few seconds pass as I bit into my burrito. She had a couple of bites of her food, but she seemed a little distant. “You know, you don’t have to worry about making me happy. Just having you around makes me happy.”

  “That’s cool,” she said, her eyes on her plate.

  Something else was brewing. I asked her a generic question about school. She gave me another brief response. I let it go for now. We finished dinner, cleaned up. Mackenzie soon hit the couch and picked up a book to read.

  “What about homework?” I asked

  She held up the book.

  “That’s your homework?”

  “Yep.”

  I joined her on the couch. “Looks like you’re about halfway through the book. What’s it about?”

  She gave me another short reply. Something about a knight and the love he had for both his horse and this girl he’d known since childhood.

  “Sounds interesting.”

  She was looking at the open book. “I’d probably like it if it wasn’t homework.”

  Good point. “So, was school any better today?” I almost crossed my fingers.

  “I ignored those girls. And I think I made a new friend during lunch.”

  “That’s cool. What’s her name?”

  “Ariel.”

  “You have anything in common?”

  “She’s been to Hawaii on vacation. We talked a lot about that. I told her about how I lived there and stuff.”

  Her mom must have come up. I put my hand on her shoulder. “Have you been thinking about your mom?”

  “I don’t know. Some, maybe.” She used her forefinger to outline something on the couch.

  “You can talk to me about it, you know.”

  “Yep.”

  “Or, if you want, we can go back to you seeing Miss Suzie.” That had been her therapist.

  “I’m cool. Just, you know, sometimes I miss her. But what can I do? Miss Suzie said it’s okay for me to be sad sometimes. Just not all the time. So, maybe this is one of those times.”

  Thunder rattled the windows.

  “Mom used to be scared of storms. So, we’d snuggle up on the couch under a blanket. She said it made her feel safe.”

  I leaned over, grabbed a throw blanket, and draped it across our legs. “I can never replace your mom. I always want you to try to remember the good times with her.”

  “I try.” Her small hand found the tag on the blanket and began to slide it between her thumb and forefinger. She was very tactile. She looked up for a second. “Mom had a lot of demons. She was always trying to get past those, but I could never tell if she was happy. It made me sad to see her struggling all the time.”

  Her eyes became moist.

  I held out an arm, and she leaned against my chest. “The fact that you care so much means a lot, Mackenzie. Most kids wouldn’t even notice or would be more interested in playing a video game or yapping on social media.”

  She sniffled.

  “I can’t undo your past. And I don’t think I want to. You’re an amazing girl with a heart so full of love. Don’t ever let anyone change that in you.”

  She nuzzled deeper against me, and we just sat there like that for a few moments. She was silent, and I wondered if she’d fallen asleep. I peered down at her, and she suddenly moved to sit Indian style on the couch. “I need to get back to reading my book.” She grabbed it and thumbed a few pages. “Twenty pages to go until I finish this chapter. Might have a quiz tomorrow.”

  “Better get on it, then. Bedtime in thirty minutes.” I grabbed my phone with the intent of doing some homework of my own.

  Thirty minutes flew by, and she got ready for bed. As I leaned down to kiss her goodnight, she said, “Dad, I want you to be happy too, you know.”

  “I am. I told you that, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah, but I can tell something’s missing.” She paused, looked off to the corner of her room. “When am I going to meet your wife? She’s technically my stepmom, you
know.”

  Wow. I hadn’t really thought to put that specific tag on Nicole. But Mackenzie was right: Nicole was her stepmom. Now that Nicole and I had bonded earlier in the day, I was a little more open to taking that next step. I just wasn’t sure what that step was. And by bringing her into Mackenzie’s life, I worried about how Mackenzie would be able to handle the uncertainty of my relationship with Nicole.

  Hell, I was still uncertain about it.

  “I know you’re curious about learning more about my life. It’s cool that you’re interested. But you can hang out more with Uncle Tobin or my mom.” Since just after my father died, I’d seen my mom with a new lady friend. They appeared to be more than friends, however. Mom had always been a bit self-absorbed. The fact that she, at her age, was now finding herself was…interesting.

  “You’re changing the topic,” she said, raising her eyebrow.

  She was way too good at reading people.

  “You got me,” I said, thumping my chest. “Let me think about it some, and I’ll get back to you on that.”

  “You’re blowing me off.”

  I chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Sweet pea, sometimes adults need a little time to think things through. Just like you do sometimes, I’m sure. Hey, you and I need to start thinking about summer vacation.”

  “Okay. I’ll dream about it and let you know in the morning.”

  “Sounds good.”

  17

  I put together a list of all the major hospitals in the greater Austin area and prioritized it by those who promoted their focus on obstetrics. Four hospitals stood out. Now, the question was how I could verify where Billy and Deborah Dixon had delivered their son. Then, I’d work on trying to learn if Rosie had, in fact, visited the Dixon family.

  First thought: Brook. I called her up.

  “You again?” she said.

  “Don’t tell me you’re still at work.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell you that I’m still at work staring at this video. Well, I was, until about ten minutes ago.” She had a little lift in her voice.

  “You found something?”