“Not again, Lord, not again,” she murmured, and sent up prayer that history would not repeat itself. That she would not be robbed of her son again. Bending forward, she placed a kiss on his forehead and laid her cheek against it for a few seconds. Hot. She closed her eyes in prayer and hoped God would be merciful this time.
Forty years ago this April, Jason, her sweet boy, died. Even now her heart clenched tight with pain in remembrance. He’d been so full of life, everyone loved him. Her thumb ran across Kevin’s forehead while her thoughts tumbled back in time.
That day had started similar to any other, sunny, bright, and full of promise. Jason had been running in the back yard while she hung a basket of clothes on the line to dry.
“Watch where you’re going, don’t get too close to the clothes.” Her mind had been on all the chores she needed to finish before her husband Greg came home. A side of beef sat in the sink defrosting, clothes needed ironing and putting away. That day she dusted and vacuumed. In her mind, she could see him running and laughing, so happy and carefree.
“Mommy, can you play with me? I’m a choo-choo train.”
“Not now, I’ve got a lot of things to do. We can play later.” She returned to the laundry area to wring out the next load and hang them on the line. How long had it been before she realized Jason wasn’t in the back yard? Concentrating, she stopped moving her thumb as the movie clip in her mind stalled. Mother’s intuition or something made her call his name. When he didn’t answer, she walked around to the front yard to look for him.
He was across the street, pretending to be a train. Relieved, she called his name and waved.
“Mama,” he yelled, waving and smiling, and then he took off running… right in front of a large delivery truck. She could still see and hear the impact of the truck hitting his small body. By the time she reached him on the side of the road, the joy and laughter from seconds before was gone. Life from that moment changed, her reason for living dimmed. Her husband left two years later.
When the call came to allow a distant cousin, Vincente, stay with her for a few days, she’d said no. Two days later, he arrived with a suitcase and moved in. Things between her and the angry teen had been rough at first, but after a while she appreciated having someone in the house. He chased away her loneliness and gave her a reason to cook and clean and live again. A lot of the neighbors turned their noses up at him, called him names, and accused him of criminal activities. She didn’t know if he did or not, she never asked. He was her boy, and that’s all that mattered.
After Vincente left for prison, he insisted she move into a nicer neighborhood. That’s when she met a pregnant Carin. Helen had been horrified at the idea of Carin being a mother. There was nothing maternal about Kevin’s mother, and she admitted that to Helen during one of their long talks. Helen volunteered to help raise Kevin before he was born, took Carin to some of her doctor’s appointments, made sure she ate and rested. When Carin’s water broke, Max was out of town. Helen took her to the hospital, and was in the delivery room when Kevin first opened his eyes. Later, when the nurse brought him into Carin’s room, Carin handed him to her and said. “Here’s your son, take care of him.”
Despite the fact she didn’t birth him, she loved him from the very first and would do anything to make sure he survived.
Chapter Twenty
Max, Nick, Janis Green, and Vargas sat in a small conference room in Nick’s office.
“Thanks for coming Janis, Detective,” Nick said as he passed out folders to each of them. “As you know, my client has been searching for his son, Kevin, for the past nine months with no success. When he left on his last overseas job, he left his son in the care of this woman.” He pointed to a picture of Helen. “She’d been in the boy’s life since he was born. My client thought highly of her and had no reason to think she’d kidnap his child. We’ve come into information we didn’t have before. If you look through the pages you’ll get a better idea of who the real Helen Grant is. A mother, wife, teacher, friend, manipulator, and kidnapper.”
Nick picked up another picture. “Recently we discovered a connection between Helen Grant and Vincente Baretti, whose real name is Vince Stevens. The two are related and Stevens lived with Grant for eight years until he went to prison.”
“Nasty character, got a long rap sheet. Heard he moved up the ladder for some heavy weights in Virginia,” Detective Vargas said, reading the information on Vince from the file.
“We believe he’s the reason my client has been unable to find his son. We also believe it was his men who assaulted Sasha Loils and my client,” Nick said, pointing at another page of information in the folder.
“I’ve already dismissed the charges against Officer Delgado, what do you need from me, Nick?” Green asked and looked at her watch.
“I’d like a warrant issued for Helen Grant’s arrest.”
“Based on?” She looked through the pages in the file.
“Questioning, just have her brought in for questioning, doesn’t need to be an arrest,” Nick said.
She closed the file and looked at Max and then Nick. “I’m a mother and I cannot imagine what you’ve gone through the past nine months. The thought that… well, I sympathize with you.” She tapped the folder and looked at Nick again. “You could’ve asked me this over the phone, why have us come here after work? Is something else going on?”
“This guy, Vince, has been a step ahead of my client, we aren’t sure how, but in order to get his son we’re going on the offensive.”
She frowned. “Which means?”
“Tightening communications, limiting exposure, digging deeper to find information to lead us to Kevin.”
She nodded and looked at Detective Vargas. “The kidnapping charge was filed months ago, I can get the order to bring her in for questioning. What’s your take on all this?”
“I think a crime of the worst order has been perpetrated against a man who served and gave his best to his country. Anything I can do to right this wrong, I will. I’ve sent notices to every police department in the state and am monitoring hospital reports for new cases of strep patients.”
“Strep? Why?” She frowned and leaned back in her chair.
Max explained what the doctor told him at the hospital. With each word her jaw tightened, and by the time he was done, her face was red.
“Damn. There’s something wrong with that woman. I agree, if she’s found, the warrant will allow her to be picked up immediately. What she did at that hospital is enough to bring her in.” She shook her head. “You never know what’ll cause a person to snap.” She looked at Nick, and Max saw the light of battle or determination in her eyes, he wasn’t sure which. It didn’t matter as long as she helped him find Kevin.
“I’ll take care of this immediately. Anything else?”
“No. Just let me know when you hear anything. Kevin needs to get to a doctor, that’ll be our main focus. She has to take him somewhere.”
“Will she?” Green glanced at Max and then back at Nick. “She has to know what’ll happen to her if she takes him to a hospital. Do you think she’ll sacrifice herself to save him?”
“I pray to God she does, Janis. Otherwise we’re out of options,” Nick said, placing his hand on Max’s shoulder. “We don’t have a plan for anything else.”
She nodded, glanced at Max and stood. “I’ll take care of this, just make sure it gets pushed to the areas where she’s been seen. It won’t do any good if she checks into a hospital and we miss her.”
“That’s already in the works. We just need the police to pick her up before her relative takes her away. It’ll make things a lot easier. We plan to press charges,” Nick said.
“I’m sure you will.” She nodded at them and left the room.
“That went well,” Nick said, rubbing his hands together, then picking up a page. “Vincente is not the type of guy who’ll step aside and allow Helen to be arrested. I don’t want to know how you and your men intend to handle t
his, just stay on the right side of the law,” he said, glancing at Max and then Vargas.
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of Janis, but this guy is a nasty piece of work. He rose through the ranks by killing and sabotaging the competition. People who cross him disappear, permanently. No bodies, no witnesses. He’s been getting away with murder for years,” Vargas said with a shake of his head.
Max nodded and mumbled his favorite saying.
“What?” Vargas asked.
“God will judge our enemies, we’ll arrange the meeting,” Max said, meeting Vargas’ gaze. “I got no problem with the way he handles business, as long as he has no problem with the way I handle mine.”
Vargas straightened and looked at Nick, who was reading a page from the file. “I’m with your attorney; I don’t want to know anything. You have the file on him. I’ll contact you as soon as I hear anything. Deal?”
Max nodded. “Deal. Thanks, man I appreciate it.”
“Enough to allow me into your club?”
“If you have a Vet card, yeah.” Max said, knowing the Detective had never served.
“Can I have honorary status?” Vargas said, walking to the door holding the files.
“That’s earned my friend, one day I’ll explain how you can do that.”
“You already told me, I’d have to complete SEREs training. We both know I can’t do that.”
Max tapped his forehead with his finger. “It starts up here.”
Vargas nodded and waved as he left the room. Max shifted in his seat.
“You okay? Need anything?”
He looked across the table at Nick. “No. Not yet. Tamara should be here soon, I’ll need to take something in the next hour.”
“Tamara’s a good woman.” Nick leaned back in his chair and stared at Max. “She got a bad break with Eugene, he used her and hurt her bad.”
“She told me a few things that went down. You were there… during that time, right?” Max watched Nick closely.
“Yeah. I testified against her in divorce court. Eugene lied and pulled me and Susan into the mud with him. I wonder if we hadn’t been involved…” He looked at Max. “Would she have lost it all, the business, her home, everything? I don’t know. But I hate the role I played in her downfall.”
Max heard the sincere pain in Nick’s voice. “She understands and isn’t holding it against you. As long as it never happens again, it’s all good.” He stressed the word never.
Nick nodded. “I was thinking along the same lines for you. Like I said, she’s good people, don’t mess her over or cause her unnecessary grief or life as you know it will change in an instant. I owe her and I always pay my debts.”
Max leaned back and smiled. “Are you warning or threatening me?”
Nick pushed his glasses up his nose. “No, I never threaten. I’m promising severe retribution if you mess her over. This is the kind of promise you can bank on, it’s that certain.” The man didn’t smile or show any signs that he was anything other than serious.
“Well, good to know we understand each other,” Max said. “Neither of us is allowed to hurt my woman.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Sasha was biting her nail as she paced the small confines of the living room. She’d promised to call Helen when she left the DA’s office. Things didn’t go as smoothly as they’d planned. What had she missed? She’d studied pictures of Delgado for days and knew him like the back of her hand. Yet that blasted woman said she’d gotten something wrong.
Helen would understand it wasn’t her fault. She’d given it her best shot. Convinced she had done all she could for her dear friend, she dug out the private cell phone Helen had given her and placed the call.
Helen answered on the second ring.
“Sasha dear, are you okay? I hadn’t heard from you and got worried.”
Sasha calmed at the kind tone and relaxed. “It took longer than I thought. They had me repeating the same thing over and over again.”
“That’s the way they do things.” Helen coughed. “Excuse me, I’ve been a little under the weather lately. My cousin is taking Kevin and me to the hospital. I’m not sure which one we’re going to, but hopefully we’ll be there soon.”
Sasha frowned and looked at the phone before replacing it to her ear. “Are you okay?” Helen rarely volunteered information about where she was going or who she was with. The whole thing sounded odd.
“Yes, like I said, my cousin is taking me and Kevin to the hospital to get checked out. Shouldn’t take too long. A few shots and we should be good as new.”
Sasha debated whether to share what happened since Helen wasn’t feeling well. No need to upset her, Sasha decided she’d tell her the next time they talked.
“So how did it go? When is the trial?” Helen asked.
Sasha closed her eyes and took a seat. Ironic that she sat in the same chair Delgado had stumbled into that fateful night.
“I’m not sure when this will go to trial, they don’t have a suspect.”
“What?”
She wet her lips and explained what happened in detail, answering Helen’s questions as she went along.
“I told you the system is set up to protect those who have money and connections. No one cares about children or the elderly,” Helen said. It was obvious she was angry.
“When they asked about the pictures, what’d you tell them?”
“What pictures? There’s no pictures.”
Helen laughed, which brightened Sasha’s feelings. “Brilliant, my dear. You’re right of course, what pictures indeed.”
Sasha pulled her feet beneath her in the chair and settled in for a short chat. “I saw the man who hit me, I don’t care what anyone says. I’ll be pointing at him in the press and in the court room, if he shows up. I promise you, they won’t win this time. Not this time.”
“That’s the spirit, Sasha. I’m behind you all the way on this. If you need anything, let me know and I’ll get it for you. You’re the best friend I’ve had in a long time. When I leave the emergency room later tonight, I’ll come visit if you’re home. Will it be okay if Kevin and I stay with you for a day or two while we recover?”
Sasha had planned to go to a charitable event at the church, but this was more important. “Yes, I’ll be here and you can stay as long as you need.” Sasha looked around, making a mental list of all the cleaning she needed to do before Helen arrived. She stood and walked into the hall closet and pulled out the vacuum.
“Good, I knew I could count on you. I will see you later tonight. Hopefully we won’t be too late.”
Sasha waved off Helen’s concern. “Whenever you get here I’ll be here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you later and thanks again.”
“For what, being your friend? You never have to thank me for that. I’ll see you later.” She disconnected, pulled out the vacuum, and began cleaning while humming Dionne Warwick’s song, that’s what friends are for.
Chapter Twenty-two
Helen hung up the phone from Sasha and exhaled. She liked the woman, but why couldn’t Sasha do something as simple as hold it together during a friendly chat with the DA.
“Was that your friend, the one who fingered Delgado?” Vincente asked. They’d just met his car. She, Vince and Kevin sat in the back, with the glass partition between them and the front seat.
“Yes. She didn’t convince the DA that Max was guilty.” Helen rolled down the window and threw the cell out the window, breaking it into pieces on the concrete.
“I’ll take care of it. Back to this matter. If you go into the hospital with the boy, the cops are going to come before you can leave, and before I can get you out of there. Why not just let one of my guys walk in with the boy and leave him there. The doctors will take care of him.”
“And I lose him. Lose my son all over again?” She stroked Kevin’s forehead, it was still hot.
“With all due respect, you’re going to lose him if he does
not go to the hospital, and you’ll lose him if you go with him. My loyalty is to you. I don’t want to lose you. But that’s a possibility if you walk inside with him.”
Helen looked at Vince for a long moment. “You’ve grown into such a handsome man, loyal and loving. Your parents were wrong, you have so much potential. Your heart is the one thing they never understood. You love hard, that’s a good thing, for your children and your woman.”
“Thanks, Cousin.”
“So do I. I love this boy as my own. I talked to him while he was in his mother’s womb. Mine was the second face he saw after the doctor pulled him out of the birth canal. I stayed awake with him through colic, rashes, fevers and everything. I’ve cared for him most of his life, I can’t drop him off and hope for the best. He is my son in every way that matters.”
Vincente met her indignant stare, hugged her close and then released her. “That’s why I love you. You gave me that same fierce devotion when I arrived on your doorstep all those years ago. Take this.” He placed a small pistol in her hand. “They’re going to try and separate the two of you. If they do that, you’ll never see Kevin again. Use the threat of this to stay with him as long as you can. Hopefully, you’ll get a chance to talk to him, explain a few things…”
“Tell him goodbye? Is that what you mean?”
Vincente nodded.
Helen inhaled deeply and looked at Kevin. She loved him too much to allow him to suffer. If it cost her, so be it. “Take us to the hospital.” She shoved the small weapon into her pant pocket.
Vincente nodded, and sent two text messages. She turned away when she read Sasha’s name. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“There’s a hospital across Virginia state line. Even if they call it in, it’ll take some time for anyone to reach it. I’m hoping they’ll be slower on paperwork to buy you some time.”
Lies in the Morgue Page 11