by Maris Soule
“We’re closed,” she said.
“I’m looking for Mrs. Welkum,” I said. “Is she here?”
The woman frowned. “Who are you?”
“P.J.,” I said. “P.J. Benson. That is, P.J. Kingsley. Who are you?”
“Jewel Wiscoff.”
“You’re Jewel?” Taken aback, I stared at her. “You’re Mrs. Welkum’s daughter?”
“Yes.” She gave a snort. “Her ever loving offspring.”
“Is your mother here?” Although there were two cars in the lot, I didn’t see or hear any signs of another person.
“She’s busy.” Jewel started toward me. “Come back tomorrow.”
There was something about Madeline Welkum’s daughter that made me nervous, and I automatically moved back, toward the front door. “I’m looking for a friend. Anna Carr.”
Jewel stopped. “Why do you want to see her?”
I noticed she didn’t say Anna wasn’t there. I also noticed she glanced toward the door that led to the cellar.
“I need to tell her something. Something about the audit.”
The moment I said the word “audit” I knew I shouldn’t have. Jewel frowned, her posture stiffening. “You know about the audit. Are you the one who has the pictures?”
“Where’s Anna?” I said as I took another step backward. “Where’s your mother?”
Again, Jewel glanced toward the cellar door. When she looked back at me, she was smiling. “They’re working on the audit downstairs. I think they’ve been waiting for you.”
The way she said it sent a shiver through me. Were Anna and Mrs. Welkum downstairs dead? Were there two bodies lying on cold concrete somewhere below me?
I needed to get out of the house. Needed to let Wade know there was a problem. As far as I could tell, Jewel didn’t have a weapon, but in my condition, I didn’t want to have to fight my way out. I tried to keep my expression neutral as I said, “Before I help them, I have to get something from my car.”
I took another step back.
“No.” Jewel quickly closed the distance between us. “You need to see them first.”
She grabbed the sleeve of my winter jacket and pulled. She was thin but wiry, and much stronger than I expected; however, I was used to playing tug-of-war with Baraka. I braced my feet and using my shorter stature and lower center of balance to counter her strength, I stopped her from moving me back into the office area and the door to the cellar.
She practically snarled at me, and using both hands, jerked my arm downward.
Off balance, I fell forward.
My knees hit the carpeting, then my belly. Using both hands, she readjusted her hold on my right arm and began to drag me back into the office area. Feet stretched out behind me, I flailed my left arm out and tried to grab onto a leg of Laura’s desk. I missed. Jewel kept pulling.
I was halfway through the doorway when I twisted my body to the left and reached for her right hand with my left. My first attempt to bend her middle finger back barely moved it. I knew I wouldn’t have much time before she realized what I was doing, so the second time my fingers circled hers, I jerked back as hard as I could.
With a yelp of pain, Jewel let go of my sleeve, took a step back, and kicked out at me. I grabbed her boot with both of my hands and twisted. Off balance, she fell.
I managed to get to my feet the same time she did. As she reached for my jacket, I shuffled backwards, again working my way to the front door. The look on her face was pure determination, but I was just as determined. I batted away her hand when she again tried to grab my arm. I yelled for help, praying Wade or someone would hear.
Wade had said he would come in ten minutes, but I had no idea how long I’d been in the house or if he was just kidding. The moment my back hit the front wall, I started throwing punches without actually aiming.
My right fist connected with the side of her face, but she also managed to grab the front of my jacket. She pulled, once again putting me off balance. I reached back with my left hand, felt the wall, then the edge of the door. I wrapped my fingers around the doorknob, turned it, and pulled as I twisted to the side.
The door opened, cold air entering the room, but Jewel shoved me backwards, pinning my arm between my body and the door. The door clicked shut again, the doorknob now poking into my side. “You are going downstairs,” she growled, her face so close I could smell the liquor on her breath and the cigarette smoke that clung to her body.
“No I’m not!” I twisted and pushed against her, using my extended belly as a wedge.
She punched at my belly, and I prayed she wasn’t hurting the baby, but I knew I had to get away from her or it wouldn’t matter. Once. Twice, I managed to get my hand on the doorknob, but I couldn’t get the door open.
And then it did open, the door shoving me forward and into Jewel.
She fell back and I fell on top of her. Quickly, I rolled to the side.
“What the hell!” Wade’s voice boomed above me as I grabbed Jewel’s leg.
“Stop her!”
I lay on my side, panting, as Wade pulled Jewel to her feet and away from me. She swore and kicked at him, but with little effect. Once he had her arms pinned behind her back, he looked down at me. “P.J., are you all right? Do you want me to call an ambulance?”
My adrenalin rush easing, I pushed myself up to a sitting position. “I think I’m okay,” I said, my hands rubbing over my abdomen. “She kept hitting me, hitting my belly.”
Jewel gave a yelp of pain, and I was pretty sure Wade had just tightened his hold on her arms. He could pull them out of their sockets as far as I cared.
Slowly I rose to my feet, waited a second to make sure I was okay, then looked at Jewel. The expression in her eyes was pure hatred.
“Go sit down for a while,” Wade said, nodding toward the couch. “I’m going to take her out to the car, cuff her, and call this in. Then we can talk.”
I looked at the couch by the side of the room. A chance to sit sounded good, but I was worried about Anna and Madeline Welkum. “I’m going to check out the cellar,” I told Wade.
He looked around, then back at me. “No. Wait for me.”
I should have, but as soon as he went outside with Jewel, I walked back into the office area. Cautiously, I opened the door to the cellar. I was immediate hit with the smells of mold, urine, and something else I couldn’t identify. The stairway was dark, too dark to see anything. Staying where I was, I felt around for a light switch, found what felt like one, and snapped it on.
A bare bulb on the wall halfway down the stairway barely illuminated the steps. I heard a noise from below, but I wasn’t sure what it was. Mice? Rats? Humans?
“Hello,” I called down the stairway. “Anna? Mrs. Welkum? Are you down there?”
Again, I heard a noise, but I still couldn’t make it out.
I debated waiting for Wade or going down. Then I heard what definitely sounded like a groan. “I’m coming,” I said and took hold of the handrail along the wall. To my relief, it felt sturdy. Slowly I started down the steps.
Concentrating on each step, I didn’t notice the spider web until it brushed against my face. I let out a squeal and batted away the slender strands. I don’t know if a spider actually ran across my forehead, but I let go of the railing and used both hands to brush my face and hair. Shivering, I continued down the steps.
At the base of the steps, I searched for another light switch. The moment I found one, I flipped it on. As light illuminated the small area in front of me, I took in a breath, and then I yelled, “Wade! Call for an ambulance.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Anna was tied to a wooden chair, a wide strip of tape covering her mouth. She’d twisted her body so her hips were as far off the seat of the chair as she could get them, but ropes around her chest and legs held her prisoner. Eyes narrowed, she was breathing hard. What worried me most was the pool of liquid I saw on the concrete below her hips. Was the liquid simply urine or had her water b
roken?
I ignored Madeline Welkum, who was tied to a padded office-chair a short distance away and went to Anna’s side. Quickly, I pulled the tape from Anna’s mouth.
“My baby’s coming,” she gasped. “The chair. It’s stopping her. She can’t get out.”
Anna stopped talking and started panting, and I could see the contraction of her belly. I moved around to the back of the chair and tried to untie the knot holding the rope around her legs. Jewel had pulled the knot tight and I couldn’t get it loose. Desperately, I looked around for something to use to cut the rope and saw nothing that would work.
Above us, I heard footsteps. “Wade!” I yelled. “Wade, I need you. Come down here. Quick.”
His first steps on the stairway were hesitant, but the moment he came into view, he hurried down and to my side. “Use your pocketknife and cut the ropes around her legs,” I ordered, “so I can get her pants off. She’s in labor.”
He did as I asked, cutting the rope and releasing her legs, then, as I pulled Anna’s maternity slacks and underwear down to her knees, he cut the ropes that held her arms and hands in place. Her pants were soaked with urine and amniotic fluid, the odor turning my stomach. I tried not to breathe in any more often than necessary as I helped her lie down on a dry area of the floor.
“My daughter,” I heard behind me and glanced over to see Wade had pulled the tape from Madeline Welkum’s mouth. “You’ve got to stop her.”
“She’s upstairs handcuffed to a desk,” Wade said. “And my son’s watching her until an officer arrives, so she’s not going anywhere.”
“Did you call for an ambulance?” I asked, taking Anna’s shoes off so I could completely remove her pants and underwear.
“I did.” He started cutting the ropes that held Mrs. Welkum in place.
“I want Connie,” Anna cried. “I need Connie.” She stopped talking, her face contorted with pain. And then she cried out, “She’s coming.”
* * *
When I joined Connie’s Mothers-to-Be group, I certainly never expected to be involved in delivering a baby, other than my own. Wade did most of the work. Thank goodness the sheriff’s department trains its deputies on what to do. Wade said, even though he’d never had to help deliver a baby before, he knew the basics.
I wasn’t much help. Mostly I held Anna’s hand and told her everything was going to be all right. Madeline Welkum did more. She went upstairs and got towels and water as well as a blanket to put over Anna. When the paramedics arrived, she quickly ushered them downstairs. I heard her yell at her daughter the first time she went upstairs, but I couldn’t tell what she said. I wanted to know what had happened in the last twenty-four hours but taking care of Anna was our first priority.
Once Anna and her baby were in the ambulance and on their way to the hospital, I went upstairs. Jason was seated on the couch in the reception area, so I joined him. I was exhausted.
“You okay?” he asked, patting my hand.
I nodded, then slid an arm around his shoulders and hugged him. Tears slid down my cheeks, and I wasn’t sure why. Relief that I was still alive? Happiness that we’d found Anna and that she and her baby were all right? Whatever the reason, I couldn’t seem to stop crying.
“It’s okay,” Jason kept saying. “It’s okay.”
Finally, I had to laugh. “Yes, it’s fine. I’m okay. My friend’s okay. And her baby’s okay.”
“And Daddy got the bad lady.” Jason looked through the doorway, into the office area where Wade and an officer from the Kalamazoo Public Safety were talking to Madeline Welkum. They’d moved her daughter, Jewel, onto one of the chairs in the area, and as she fought against the handcuffs holding her in place, she looked as wild-eyed as when I first saw her.
“Yes, he did,” I said, so glad Wade had arrived when he did.
“I told him something was going on,” Jason said. “I saw you try to open the door and I told him you wanted him to come.”
“You did?” I hugged him even closer. “You are my hero.”
Wade motioned for me to join them in the other room, so I gave Jason one more hug and told him we’d be through soon and once we were, we’d go out to dinner. He nodded and sat back on the couch.
“I’m so sorry,” Madeline Welkum said when I joined the others. She looked over at where her daughter sat. “A year ago Jewel came to me looking for a job. She swore she was off drugs and no longer drinking. I do think she was clean back then. I certainly wouldn’t have given her the job of treasurer if I’d thought she was still addicted.”
She sighed. “I began to suspect something was wrong around Christmastime. She seemed jittery. Hyper. I put it off to the holidays, but then last month, she came here smelling of liquor and rambling on about this and that. I confronted her and she confessed that she was again on drugs and drinking and that she’d been getting the money to pay for her habit from Homes4Homeless. I told her she had to check into a rehab facility or I was going to turn her into the police, so she did. I thought I could cover the loss, and everything would be fine, but then the damn board sends Anna to audit the books and you show up.”
She pointed at me, and I nodded.
“Oh, poor you,” Jewel sneered from where she sat. “My fancy mother who wants to take care of the homeless but never had time for her daughter. You pretend you’re so perfect. Well, you aren’t.” She looked up at Wade. “Get me out of here. She makes me sick.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Since the office for Homes4Homeless was within the Kalamazoo city limits, it was the Kalamazoo Public Safety Officer who made the official arrest, not Wade. Wade, Jason, and I were allowed to leave with the promise that Wade and I would go to the station in the next twenty-four hours and give our statements. I think Madeline Welkum went to the station with the officer. I wasn’t sure, and I really didn’t care. I’d had enough drama for one day.
“You still want to go out to dinner?” Wade asked.
“Beats cooking at home,” I said, but then I turned to Jason. “What about you? You’ve had quite a day.”
“I’m hungry. Can we go to Louie’s?” He looked at me. “Dad used to take me there. Mom didn’t like it.”
I had a feeling I was being tested. “Louie’s sounds fine.”
And it was fine. Over a century old, Louie’s Trophy House Grill wasn’t exactly a kids eating place, but the taxidermy heads on the walls were fascinating, the waitress was friendly, and Wade was able to enjoy a beer while Jason had a soda, and I had iced tea. We agreed on a pizza, and when Wade thanked Jason for warning him that I needed help and not to wait ten minutes before going into the Homes4Homeless house, Jason beamed. “I was a hero twice today.”
“Yes, you were.” I grabbed the hands of both of my heroes. “Thank you.”
While at the restaurant I received a phone call and so did Wade. His was a report on Principal Singer’s condition. “She’s off the critical list,” he told us. My call was from Connie. She was with Anna in the hospital. “Mother and baby are doing fine,” she relayed. “Both are going to spend the night. I’ll let you know how they are in the morning.”
Jason fell asleep on the drive home, and I had a difficult time keeping my eyes open. I knew it was going to be an early bedtime for me.
* * *
Wednesday I woke feeling slightly nauseated. I wasn’t sure if it was the pizza from the night before—neither Jason nor Wade complained of indigestion—or from fighting with Jewel or from the combination of all the excitement of the day before. What I did know was I wasn’t up to hosting the Mothers-to-Be group, even with just three of us. When Connie called to report on Anna’s condition, I told her how I felt and asked her to call Maria and cancel. She said she would.
“They’re keeping Anna and the baby one more day,” Connie said. “Anna’s dehydrated. I can’t believe that woman kept her tied up in the basement from Monday afternoon until you rescued her.”
“The baby’s all right?”
“Seems to be
fine. Cute little thing. They want to keep her in the hospital to make sure she doesn’t get any infections. Anna said that basement was filthy.”
I remembered how bad the room looked and smelled and my stomach turned over. “The woman was crazy.”
“They showed her picture on TV. It’s sad what drugs and alcohol can do to a person. Anyway, let me know if you don’t start feeling better. You’re close enough to your due date, this could be the start of labor. I don’t have anything important scheduled for the day. Give me a call if you think it’s time.”
“I will.” The idea that the discomfort I was feeling might be the start of labor made me take in a shaky breath.
For days I’d been saying I was ready, but was I?
I didn’t have time to worry about it. Jason came clomping down the stairs, Baraka behind him. “Since there’s no school today, can I go over to Howard’s and pick out my kitten?”
“They’re not old enough to leave their mother,” I reminded him.
“I know, but I want to watch them play, see which one I want.”
“Howard’s probably busy.” I didn’t know what Howard did during the day, but I had a feeling entertaining a seven-year-old wasn’t high on his list.
“Yesterday, when he was here, he said I could. He said just to call, and he’d come over and pick me up.”
“Oh, he did, did he?”
I thought about refusing, then decided to say no would be silly. With Wade at work and Jason at Howard’s, I could do my personal taxes undisturbed. “Sure. Give him a call. If he says it’s all right, I can take you there. It’s only a quarter of a mile. Baraka and I will walk with you. It will be good exercise.” And I hoped the walk would help ease the queasiness in my stomach.
Ten minutes later, Jason and I, with Baraka between us, started for Howard’s place. The snow and ice we’d had the week before had melted, the sky was blue, and the temperature was in the low forties. A perfect day for a walk.
