The Units

by Jamie Mackay

Chapter 10

  Tatum left WMI that afternoon with an even more intense resolve to find out some more information about goings on at her new place of work. She knew, all too well, that nonverbal people often spoke with nonverbal means and, although she was not completely certain she had seen what she thought she'd seen, her belief that she had, was enough.

  Lost in her thoughts Tatum hadn't noticed the imminent black cloud just south of her on the horizon. With no mountains in their way, thunder clouds moved quickly in Saskatchewan. Before she knew it, Tatum was being pummeled by rain and hail. Not the kind of hail she was used to, but the kind you hear about on the weather channel, "as big as golf balls," they say.

  These ones weren't quite on the golf ball scale but they still stung when they hit. Tatum pulled her blazer up over her head but it offered little protection from the forceful storm.

  A black pick-up with blacked-out side windows pulled up along her on the sidewalk. Tatum's Chicago upbringing kicked in and she sped up her pace as she tried, at all costs, to avoid eye contact with the owner of the truck.

  "Hey! What's your hurry?" a voice called out to Tatum.

  Tatum still didn't turn around. She'd had men yell at her from vehicles before. She quickened her pace even more.

  "Tatum?" the voice continued softly. "Wouldn't you prefer a ride?"

  Finally she turned around. Jake's smiling face beamed at her as he reveled in her unfortunate situation.

  "Would you like a ride?" he asked again.

  Sheepishly Tatum nodded and then made her way over to the passenger side of his pick-up and climbed up. She pulled down the small mirror on the visor and tried, without success, to clean up the mascara on her face and put her hair into a semblance of order.

  "You look beautiful," Jake said under his breath, so quietly that Tatum wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly.

  Then, with a little more wind in his sails he asked, "Where to m'lady?"

  "I was just heading home from work, so if you could give me a lift to my apartment, I'd be forever grateful."

  "You bet. Got any plans once you dry off? I could buy you that coffee I promised?"

  Tatum felt her heart skip a little beat as she responded with a simple, "That would be nice."

  .

  Tatum invited Jake to come up and wait while she had a quick shower and got dried off. The warm shower felt wonderful against her cold wet skin and she found herself taking longer than she intended, distracted by thought of the time she was about to spend with Jake. Tatum stepped out of the shower and, once again, chose her favorite blue jeans, this time paired with a baby blue sweater; loose enough to be classy, but tight enough that she knew she looked sexy. Not wanting to make Jake wait, she blew her hair dry but left it down, and then applied only a small amount of mascara and lip gloss.

  Satisfied with the result of her timely effort, Tatum entered the living room and announced "Well, this is as good as it gets, so we might as well go," with a grin.

  "Looks pretty damn good to me," said Jake appreciatively.

  Thinking ahead, Tatum grabbed an umbrella she'd packed in her suitcase and followed Jake into the hallway. Never thought I'd need this here, she thought to herself as she stepped outside and opened it to share with Jake. But looking up at the large man having to stand really close to her in order to stay dry she thought, but I sure am glad that I did.

  .

  It was getting late, and all the coffee shops that were typically open during the day had long since closed. The only spot that remained open was the doughnut shop not far from Tatum's apartment.

  With an Earl Grey tea for Tatum and a hot chocolate for himself in hand, Jake found them an open table, one without leftovers from previous inhabitants. Tatum took a long deep slurp of her tea, enjoying the internal warmth that it created. She still felt slightly cold after her hail-interrupted walk.

  Tatum was pretty certain that she would have to begin the conversation, so she started with an uncomplicated "So, have you been out of town this week?"

  "Yeah, I went up north for some meetings Monday through Wednesday and got back this morning. I suppose if I had been here earlier this week, you would've heard from me by now," he said with a grin. "Are you happy with the floors?"

  "You bet I am. Sometimes something old re-done is even better than something new. I think that's what I love so much about my apartment, all the history I can see. There is so much history everywhere I look around here, especially in the people. In Chicago, people tend to move around, there isn't as much shared knowledge about the past." Tatum stopped.

  She didn't want to get too deep; she knew that she had a tendency to dive right into the type of topics that scare people off. Religion, politics, philosophy, all off the table for the time being, she reminded herself.

  Jake certainly did not seem to be put off by anything that Tatum said, in fact, he appeared to drink in every word. It was obvious that he wasn't much of a talker, but he seemed perfectly happy to answer questions when he was asked and otherwise let Tatum fill in the gaps.

  "Family, friends?" asked Jake. "Tell me everything about your life in Chicago."

  Tatum took his request literally and told him details about her parents, their business, Sarah and Michael, and her friends. When she seemed to be running out of things to say, he would ask her questions in an effort to elicit even more information about the beautiful woman sitting in front of him.

  Finally, Tatum retorted, "Enough about me. What about you, what's your story? How about your family, friends? How come a great guy like you is still unmarried in his mid-30s? You are unmarried aren't you?" she teased.

  "Yes, I am definitely unmarried, but I wasn't always."

  "Divorced?" Tatum assumed.

  "Umm, not exactly," Jake stammered. "My wife, Julia, and I were childhood sweethearts, together since we were 17. You know, kind of the typical small-town story, I was the football hero, she was a cheerleader. We got married young, right out of high school. Then, we both went to university where I got my business degree and she got a degree in social work. We fully intended to get jobs and make our home here in Wainwright. I started working for my family and she was able to get a position at WMI. As I know you know, social workers are a big part of the team up there and she wanted to help the families of the patients."

  This was the most Tatum had ever heard Jake say and she found herself silent, unsure of where his story was going.

  He continued, "She'd been working up there for about three or four years when she got a promotion requiring her to move into Unit Five. She was brave, confident and beautiful, a deadly combination in a forensic psych unit." He looked directly into Tatum's eyes as he said his last sentence. "One of the inmates took her compassion and friendliness the wrong way."

  Tatum was sure she could hear Jake's voice start to crack.

  "One day during a session to discuss access to his child, the patient, Lee Trent, was his name, decided to interpret Julia's caring nature as a come-on. Right there on the Unit, with other workers, doctors and patients continuing about with their normal activities, he raped and strangled her."

  Tatum was dumbfounded. Despite her years of clinical training, and becoming well accustomed to hearing things she was neither prepared for nor wanted to hear, she had nothing to say.

  The two sat in silence for a few moments until Jake finally broke the stillness with his simple inquiry. "Would you like some more tea?"

  Tatum thought to herself that for once she wasn't the one that had made the conversation too deep.

  .

  Tatum drank several more cups of tea, while Jake slowly finished an additional hot chocolate. With the hardest part of the conversation over, they spoke more casually about life since Julia's death, Jake's desire to stay close to the rest of his family, and also to stay close to friends that he had known long enough to be his family. Then, just as Tatum thought their conversation was beginning to draw to a close, Jake dropped the second bombshell of the evening.

>   "I still live with my mom and dad in their house, that way I have help with Brady when I have to travel." Jake made the statement as if Tatum should have known exactly who the name Brady referred to.

  "Brady?" she asked.

  "My son," said Jake. "He's nine; he lost his mother when he was four, so I want him to be around family as much possible. He will know her through this place and its people."

  Tatum felt her heart sink a little at the mention of Jake's son. One thing she had always promised herself was that she would never get mixed up with a guy who was tied down with kids.

  .

  Jake dropped Tatum off at her apartment with a promise that he would call her when he returned from his latest work excursion. Something about the Parade and Fair? She hadn't really heard anything he'd said after, "My son."

  She inspected her fridge. She and Jake had sat for several hours at the 'Donut Hole' and it was going on eight o'clock. She was hungry. Despite her hunger, she found herself reaching for the rest of her Two Oceans. She emptied what remained in the bottle, then made herself a frozen pizza and paired it with a bottle of beer that had survived the floor crew.

  Feeling just buzzed enough, Tatum decided now was as good of a time as any to finally read Niko's text.

  .

  "I love you. I miss you. I'll wait," was all it said.