Diners, Dives & Dead Ends

by Terri L. Austin

  I rubbed my neck. “Yeah, it’s multifunctional.”

  “Huh.”

  Having exhausted the furniture topic we descended into silence once again.

  “Would you like something to drink?”

  “It’s after five, so why not?” he said, brightening up. “I’ll take a scotch, single malt if you have it. Neat.”

  “I have water.”

  “No, no. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  This was the most painful conversation I’d ever had. I lived in the same house with this man for eighteen years. You’d think we’d have something to talk about, for crying out loud.

  My eyes darted a glance at him and then bounced away. He was staring at the tips of his shiny black loafers.

  “Is there anything I can do for you, Dad?”

  “Oh, yes.” He looked up at me expectantly. “Well, your mother. You know. She’s very upset.”

  I kept my mouth shut. This was his party, not mine

  “Very upset. She had to take a Valium.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Well, good. That’s good. Now just apologize to her and I’m sure this whole thing will blow over.” He stood.

  “Wait, what whole thing?”

  “Look, you know I don’t like to get in the middle of your little…,” he shook his head, “but your mother is very upset.”

  “So you’ve said.”

  “Then apologize and all will be well.” He smiled, patted me on the shoulder, and walked the three steps to the door.

  “Are you kidding me, Dad?” It was a rhetorical question of course, because the man never joked with me in my life.

  He turned, confusion marring his forehead. “Kidding? What do you mean?”

  “I mean I have nothing to apologize for. She came into my place of employment acting like I was a homeless person she had to step over on her way to Neiman Marcus and scolded me like a three-year old. I am not apologizing.”

  My father’s face became cold, shut down. “You will apologize, Rosalyn, and you will do so immediately. She talked to you like a child because you’re acting like a child. From what I understand you were being inappropriately physical with Dane in the middle of the street. Your mother was humiliated.”

  I flinched. I felt like I saw my father’s true character for the first time. The man was weak. In choosing the easy way out, constantly acquiescing to my mother’s demands, he diminished himself to me.

  I looked him in the eye. “I’m not apologizing.”

  He frowned at me as if I was speaking Mandarin with a British accent. “Pardon me?”

  “I’m not apologizing.”

  “But Rosalyn—”

  “And another thing,” I said, stepping around him to open the door. “I prefer to be called Rose.”

  After he left, I made a piping hot pot of coffee with an extra scoop of dark brown grounds. I refused to think about our conversation, so I called both Roxy and Eric and asked them to come over.

  Roxy made it over first. She shrugged out of a hot pink fuzzy jacket, hanging it on the hook next to the front door.

  I handed her a cup of coffee, poured one for myself, and curled up on the futon, my feet underneath me. “Thanks for coming.”

  “Yeah, I was bored anyway.”

  Eric arrived soon after. He stepped inside, pulling off his blue knit hat and coat. He dropped to the floor, crossing his legs. He took the mug of coffee I handed him. “Thanks,” he said. “Okay, what’s going on?”

  “We need to brainstorm. I called Sullivan again—”

  “Goddamn it, Rose.” Eric set his coffee cup on the floor next to him and glared at me.

  “I wanted to make an exchange for Axton.”

  “Well?” Roxy asked.

  “He won’t trade for just the hard drive. He wants the money, too.”

  Eric rubbed his head. “I thought you said Packard was in debt. Can he get that kind of money?”

  “Nope, no way. I think Sullivan’s just feeling pissy because of the hard drive debacle. Nevertheless, he won’t make a trade. So…”

  Roxy grinned. “So we break in.”

  Eric’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “What?”

  “Where is the most likely place Sullivan would stash Axton?” I asked. “He owns a ton of properties, but I was thinking the most likely would either be an abandoned building—”

  “Right.” Eric nodded slowly. “He wouldn’t leave him tied up in a working business. Too risky.”

  “Or,” I said, “he’s keeping Axton in his own home.”

  “He could keep an eye on him that way,” Roxy said.

  “Especially since you’ve been running around asking questions at different NorthStar businesses,” Eric said.

  I nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. I’m sure Henry took me to Sullivan’s house the night he snatched me—”

  “Whoa, what now?” Eric asked.

  Whoops. Forgot to tell him about that.

  “Henry threw her in the back of the car and took her to see Sullivan who threatened her.” Roxy blew over the surface of her coffee. “Again.”

  Eric stood and walked to the window, his hands thrust in the pockets of his jeans. “You didn’t think this was important enough to mention?”

  Roxy popped her gum. “She didn’t tell me about it right away either.”

  “Can we have ‘let’s all yell at Rose time’ later?” I asked. “I want to narrow down Sullivan’s properties.”

  Eric rubbed his stubble. “But if you know where he lives—”

  “I was kind of blindfolded.”

  Roxy stopped chewing mid-chomp. “Anything else you left out?”

  “I saw his decorated library, he threatened me, he served me whiskey, then I came home. End of story.”

  “Then you have no clue which direction you were going?” Eric asked.

  “No, but I know we took the highway to get there, and we drove no longer than thirty minutes.”

  “Even if we found the place, he probably has it under major surveillance.”

  I took a sip of coffee. “Probably.”

  “I can get us in, but not without setting off alarms,” Roxy said.

  Eric started to look optimistic. “If there’s an alarm, I could hack in and disable it for say, twenty minutes. Would that give you enough time?”

  “Definitely,” Roxy said.

  I started to feel a little sick to my stomach. Yes, this was my idea. But breaking into Sullivan’s place made me very, very nervous. So many things could go wrong. And knowing me, they probably would.

  “I’m going home.” Eric shrugged into his coat and put on his cap. “When should we meet back up?”

  “How about tomorrow after we close? What about Steve? Will he help?”

  Eric nodded. “Yeah, I think so. We’ll meet you at the diner at two-thirty. That’ll give me time to go over the list of properties. Maybe something will jump out.”

  “Sounds good,” Roxy said.

  They left and I was alone in the apartment, going stir crazy.

  Chapter 28

  The next morning at work, I was such a nervous Nellie that I screwed up orders, spilled coffee, and received very little tippage. I barely noticed. My brain spun with the many ways our plan could go awry. We could break into the wrong house, Sullivan could be home, Sullivan could take us all hostage, Henry could shoot us in the face.

  Ma flipped the closed sign and patted my shoulder. “Don’t be nervous, toots. Things are going to be okay. Besides, it’s kind of exciting.”

  I didn’t find it exciting. I found it scary as hell.

  At two-thirty on the dot, the boys walked into the diner. Eric looked like a kid on Christmas morning, Steve looked worried.

  “Rose, can we talk for a second?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  He glanced at the others. “Alone?”

  I walked with him outside and crossed my arms against the chilly breeze. �
�Steve, you don’t have to be a part of this. It’s okay if you want out.”

  He looked down at me, his dark brown eyes full of concern. “Eric told me Sullivan kidnapped you, threatened you. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  I was sort of taken aback. “I didn’t tell anyone, not even Roxy at first.”

  “Don’t feel like you have to hide things from me, okay?”

  First Kevin, now Steve. I was tired of intense guys who couldn’t take a hint. And I didn’t have time to worry about Steve’s delicate feelings, so I smiled. “Sure. No more hiding.”

  I walked back inside and moved two tables together and shoved chairs around. Ma served us Rice Krispies Treats and apple juice. Perfect for preschool snack time or when planning a break in.

  “This is such a hoot,” she said.

  “Thanks for coming, you guys,” I said. “But I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to do this.”

  Steve pushed up his glasses. “I’m in. Anything I can do to help get Axton back.”

  “Breaking into Sullivan’s house is highly illegal and very dangerous and we might get caught and Axton may not be there—”

  Ma touched my shoulder. “Be quiet, toots. We know the risks.”

  “Okay,” Eric said. “I narrowed the properties down to two, both out in the country.” He pulled two pieces of paper out of his computer bag and handed them to me. “I looked them up on Google Earth. Which one do you think is more likely?”

  One house was close to the street, the other had a long narrow road leading to a circular driveway. I closed my eyes and tried to remember my bumpy blindfolded ride. “I think there was gravel. I remember a curve before the car stopped.” I looked back down at the aerial maps. I handed him the one with the circular driveway. “This one, I think.” I hoped.

  Eric powered up his laptop. “I pulled the blueprints from the zoning commission.”

  I rubbed my eyes and sighed. “You hacked into the zoning commission?”

  He just smiled. “Okay, look at this.” He shifted the screen toward Roxy and me. Ma crowded in, squashing my shoulder until I moved my chair over and gave her some room. “This could be the library they took you to.” He glanced up. “Do you know if it was on the first floor?”

  “Yeah, it was.”

  “Good. There are six bedrooms. Four upstairs, two down. Axton may be in one of them.” He hit a few keys. “Then there’s the basement. The door is here, next to the pantry in the kitchen. Any questions?”

  “What should we search first?” I asked.

  “We should start downstairs,” Roxy said, “work our way up and search the basement last.” Then she grinned. “It’s been too long. Do you feel it, Rose? The rush?”

  I shook my head. I didn’t feel a rush. I felt the need to hurl. “Are we sure this is the right move?” I scanned their faces. They didn’t seem fazed we were about to commit a very serious crime.

  “It’s your call,” Eric said, “but the longer Sullivan has Axton, the more worried I get. And the dean said if Ax didn’t show up tomorrow, he shouldn’t bother showing up at all.”

  “He’s been gone for over a week,” Roxy said.

  I took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “Okay, let’s do it.”

  “Right,” Eric said, rubbing his hands together, “we’ll be in Steve’s Explorer on the edge of the property. You two,” he nodded at Roxy and me, “will have to run through a wooded area, here.” He pointed to the aerial map. “I’ll hack into their mainframe and disengage—”

  To tell you the truth it got very technical at that point. All I knew was the computer geniuses decided to temporarily disable the alarm instead of turning it off completely.

  “So you guys will bypass the alarm and Roxy and I will sneak in.”

  “We’ll hook you up with headphones with a microphone attached. You’ll tell us if you need a diversion or if you get caught. We’ll have your back.”

  We agreed to reconvene at Eric’s house at ten p.m. Project Rescue Axton was a go.

  I was about to walk out with Roxy when my phone rang. It was Jacks and she was crying.

  “I’ll be right there,” I said.

  I knew Jacks was going to be angry with me, she always was when Barbara and I weren’t getting along. It was easier for her to blame me than confront my mom. I’d already been through the wringer the last couple days and wasn’t looking forward to any more confrontations, but she was my sister and I loved her. It was time to put on my big girl pants.

  For once Scotty didn’t answer the door. Jacks greeted me with a red nose, watery eyes, and splotchy skin. She wasn’t a pretty crier.

  “I heard your talk with dad didn’t go so well.”

  “No, I guess it didn’t.” I stepped inside the foyer. Sunlight shone through the windows, leaving bright lines of light on the marbled floor. The house smelled like furniture polish and disinfectant, so I knew the maid had been by earlier.

  “Dad’s very upset,” Jacks said, with a sniff.

  “I hear that’s going around.”

  She gave me a look. “I thought you’d listen to him.”

  “You sent him?” I assumed my mom gave him those marching orders.

  “I thought he might be able to calm the situation down. Do you want some coffee?” She walked to the kitchen and I followed.

  She poured me a cup and topped off her own. She rubbed a tissue against her red nose. “This whole thing has been very distressing.”

  “I can see that.”

  “Dad’s angry because you were so disrespectful. Mom’s barely talking to me. She’s mad because I didn’t tell her you’re dating Dane. Then he calls and he’s all worked up about your place getting vandalized. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Jacks—”

  “And you know when Mom’s pissed off like this, Dad is too. So now he’s doubly upset.” She took another sip of coffee. “I don’t want to be in the middle of this.”

  I hated when my sister cried. And I hated she was in the middle of this family drama. But I hadn’t put her there, my mother had.

  Old anger resurfaced. Anger at my mom for holding the family hostage with her icy temper all these years. Anger at my dad for acting like her little lap dog. And anger at my sister for letting my mom control her.

  I set my cup down a little too hard and coffee sloshed out onto the counter. “Mom’s upset? Dad’s upset? Are you freaking kidding me?”

  She pulled another tissue from the box by her elbow and delicately blew her nose. “Of course I’m not kidding. I get so stressed out when everyone’s like this. Why can’t we all just get along?”

  I looked at her like she had told me that clouds are made of delicious marshmallow fluff. “Because, Rodney King, we can’t.”

  “Why do you have to be so difficult?”

  “How is this my fault? What did I do wrong?”

  “Let’s not get into this, Rose.”

  “I think it’s the perfect time to get into it, Jacks. How am I difficult?”

  She put her hand to her temple. “I don’t want to do this.”

  She wouldn’t look me in the eye. So I kept at her, like a little kid picking a scab.

  “How am I difficult, Jacks?”

  She finally met my gaze. “You always have to provoke Mom. Why can’t you just do what she wants? I mean, I did and is my life so bad? I have a husband and a child. What do you have? You live in a hovel. You’re a waitress, for God’s sake. You have no one to love you. Thumbing your nose at Mom and Dad really paid off, didn’t it?” Her voice had gotten louder and louder as she spoke.

  Feeling like I had been sucker punched, I left the kitchen and headed for the front door.

  Jacks scurried after me. “I’m sorry, Rose. I didn’t mean it.” Fresh tears ran down her cheeks.

  “Yes you did. And you’re right.”

  “No I’m not, Rose. You’re just more independent than I am. You live your life your way.”

  “Bullshit, Jacqueline. You think I’m a loser.
” I looked around the foyer of her beautiful home. “And you’re right. I’m dead broke and don’t know what I want to do with my life. I’ve been pissing around taking random classes trying to figure it all out. And I date other losers because that’s all I can attract.”

  Jacks shook her head and sniffed. “No.”

  “I know what Mom and Dad think of me, but I never thought you saw me like that.” I pulled open the door and left, swiping at a tear as I ran to my car.

  I spent the next hour sitting on my new futon feeling sorry for myself. Axton was gone — it wasn’t his fault, but I really needed him right now. And I needed Jacks, too. I pushed for the truth, and I didn’t have any right to complain, but I still felt abandoned by the people I loved when I needed them the most.

  I stood and started to pace. My frayed thoughts took me from Jacks and my broken relationship with my parents, to worrying about Axton and breaking into Sullivan’s house. A week ago, I thought my life was boring. Now I prayed for boring.

  As I wore down the nubby carpet, there was a knock at my door. I grabbed Sparky before I looked out of the peephole. Two delivery men in red t-shirts stood on my doorstep.

  They brought in a small rectangular cherry wood table with two matching chairs. One of the men handed me an envelope before he left.

  I ripped it open and read the note.

  Hope you like this. If you don’t, please notify my secretary and she will arrange an exchange.

  Dad

  This was the most thoughtful thing my father had ever done for me. Was this a peace offering? Did my mother know about it?

  I ran my hand along the smooth cool wood. It was the most beautiful thing in my apartment.

  I called his cell and left a message thanking him. It was easier for both of us this way — no awkward pauses.

  Chapter 29

  Roxy arrived at seven with a duffle bag in one hand and a black backpack slung over her shoulder. I could tell by the goofy grin on her face how excited she was. I, on the other hand, had spent the past several hours chewing my nails ragged.

  “You ready?” she asked, chomping her gum fast.

  “No.”

  “Sure you are. This’ll be fun.” She reached into the duffle bag and pulled out black stocking caps, sweats, leather gloves, and canvas utility belts.