Fort Lupton

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  Sandy nodded.

  “Anyway, Raz was hanging in there after more than a day of labor,” Alex said. “And all of this drama.”

  “What did he do?” Sandy had to smile at this silly story, and Alex’s conspiratorial tone.

  “Fainted,” Alex said. “I caught the blessed birth. ME! Well, me and Max, together.”

  Alex laughed.

  “Was Samantha mad?” Sandy asked.

  “No,” Alex said. “She’s all blubbery and happy. I don’t know if she noticed Raz was passed out. You know how she is.”

  Alex stuck a memory stick into a USB slot on the electronic board.

  “I guess I don’t know how Samantha is,” Sandy scowled.

  “She’s pretty focused on what’s going on with her,” Alex laughed.

  “She was so great with Charlie,” Sandy started to defend Samantha. “I don’t think any of us . . .”

  “Oh don’t worry, that’s not a put-down,” Alex said. “She’d be the first one to say that she gets really focused on what she wants. Nothing else matters.”

  “Yeah, I guess I’ve heard her say that,” Sandy said.

  Alex pushed a button on the board.

  “Oh, you mean she had her baby so she didn’t care what happened to Raz?” Sandy asked.

  Alex nodded. Sandy laughed.

  “Was he upset?” Sandy asked.

  “Nah,” Alex said. “He’s seen her with shoes!”

  Laughing, Alex turned a dial on the board. Detective Red Bear looked up at the ceiling and then around the room. He turned his head to look at the one-way mirror.

  “Can you take a step back?” Alex asked.

  “Why?” Sandy asked.

  Alex took a handgun out from a holster at her sacrum and pointed it at the window.

  “You’re going to shoot him?” Sandy was a little embarrassed at how her voice rose with hope.

  “Yeah, I know, right?” Alex asked.

  Alex’s entire focus was on the window and the man in the room. Detective Red Bear hopped to his feet. He looked around the room before screaming with rage. Handcuffed but otherwise unrestrained, he pounded his fists against the one-way mirror. Sandy was so surprised that she yelped and hopped back.

  His fists pounded against the mirrored glass again. Trying to look through, he pressed his face up against the glass.

  “That’s mine!” he said. “It’s mine!”

  He was so intense and angry that Sandy scooted to a dark corner of the room away from the window. Three police officers came into the interview room. Detective Red Bear fought them tooth and nail, but they finally got his feet and hands restrained. Once he was tied down, Alex holstered her handgun.

  Detective Red Bear continued to scream like a caged animal. Alex looked around the room for Sandy.

  “Don’t be frightened,” Alex said. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” Sandy said.

  “No, he really can’t now,” Alex said.

  “Why?”

  “Let’s see,” Alex said. “Raz and Colin have dismantled his entire operation. One of my guys found his last hidden bank account — that’s how we knew he was here. We tried to get to Seth’s house before he hurt Maresol, but . . . We were about twenty minutes too late.”

  Alex nodded toward the detective. He was yanking on his hand cuffs in an effort to free himself from his restraints.

  “What is that?” Sandy pointed to the USB drive.

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Alex grinned.

  “And?”

  “Your mother’s symphony,” Alex said. “Seth told us about the symphony, and you know we had some downtime last night.”

  “You broke the code?” Sandy asked.

  “Me and Max.” Alex nodded. “Seth conducted the Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra this morning. You know, those musicians got there about a half hour after we finished. Three in the morning, no less. Seth called; they showed up. Unbelievable. They just finished. Seth says it’s not perfect — like we could tell the difference.”

  Sandy stared at the interview room.

  “You want to hear it?” Alex asked. “You’d have to hear him scream.”

  “That’s okay,” Sandy sniffed back a tear.

  “I have to stay with you until the marshals get here,” Alex said. She leaned close to Sandy. In a low voice, she said, “They’ve been here for an hour or so. So when you’re done watching this prick suffer, you just let me know. They’ll take out the trash.”

  Sandy was so surprised that she just blinked at Alex.

  “You are a badass,” Sandy said.

  “Just hate it when the refuse fucks with good people,” Alex said. “Makes me mad.”

  Sandy nodded.

  “You wanna see pictures of the blessed birth?” Alex asked.

  Smiling, Sandy nodded.

  Chapter Three hundred and twelve

  Tiniest firefly

  Thursday morning — 10:05 a.m.

  Edie was a fairy. In fact, she was Queen Fand’s second daughter.

  “I have a crown and everything,” Edie said to the twin she thought might be Tanner. “You need to drink this!”

  Edie put the bottle’s nipple into the baby’s mouth. In the blink of an eye, the bottle smashed against the wall. The baby laughed. His brother laughed. Edie scowled.

  “I’m the daughter of a fairy queen!” Edie said out loud.

  The babies seemed to think that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. Edie turned away from them. She closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

  She was failing miserably.

  Jacob, had taken care of Katy for the night, so Edie only had to focus on the infants. She’d been able to get the sweet Rachel and Mack to sleep with a simple lullaby. Little Maggie needed a tiny bit of snuggling and she was out like a light.

  But these twins . . .

  She felt like a complete idiot. She’d begged for this job. She wanted to help these fairy-human babies. She was charged with training Katy in the simple ways of fairy. Gilfand had promised Jacob that he would teach him how to use his skills. Gilfand’s promise was Princess Edie’s command.

  Damn it! She’d even sold her house on the Isle of Man. What would she do if she lost this job?

  “I just want to do a good job!” Edie said to herself. “I always do a good job!”

  “They’re just playing with you.”

  Edie opened her eyes to Katy’s voice.

  “They do this with Jill?” Edie asked.

  “Oh, no.” Katy smiled. “Mommy’s different. She’s only human so we’re nicer to her. But you . . .”

  Katy pointed above Edie’s head. The twins had levitated a baby blanket above her head. It fell on her head when she looked up. The babies squealed with laughter. Edie yanked the blanket off her head and spun around.

  The babies stopped laughing. Edie nodded. That was better. She turned to see that Katy had her finger to her lips. Edie scowled at Katy.

  “I’m supposed to do it!” Edie said.

  “Okay,” Katy said. “Go ahead.”

  The twins started howling. Edie squinted at Katy.

  “How did you do that?” Edie asked.

  “I did what Mommy does,” Katy said.

  “What’s that?” Edie asked.

  “I told them what to do,” Katy said. “You have to say, ‘Drink this bottle now.’ ‘Go to sleep now.’ Stuff like that.”

  “I did!”

  “I bet you didn’t,” Katy said. “You probably said something nice, like ‘Here’s your bottle. Hope you like it,’ and stuff like that.”

  Katy nodded, and Edie blushed.

  “That works for Rachel and Mack,” Katy said. “They’re really nice babies.”

  Edie squinted at Katy.

  “We’re not that nice,” Katy said with a grin. She trotted up to the edge of the crib. “Here, I’ll show you.”

  Katy picked up the bottle of breast milk.

  “Dr
ink this,” Katy ordered. Katy held up the bottle. The twin closest to Katy looked at the bottle and then at Katy.

  “You have to put it in their . . .” Edie started to say.

  The bottle of breast milk floated out of Katy’s hand. It flew over the crib railing and into the mouth of the twin closest to the edge.

  “Drink it,” Katy said. “Now.”

  The twin started drinking.

  “What about the other one?” Edie whispered.

  “Do the same thing,” Katy said. “I’ll get another one.”

  Katy ran out of the room and appeared a moment later with another bottle of breast milk. She held the breast milk out to Edie.

  “It’s not warm,” Edie said to Katy.

  “Aren’t you a fairy?” Katy asked.

  “Oh,” Edie said.

  She put her finger to the bottle and the milk warmed up. Emboldened by Katy, Edie turned around and held the bottle to the second twin.

  “You have to be firm.”

  Anjelika’s Russian-accented voice came from the doorway. Edie groaned to herself. Now everyone knew how lame she was. She glanced at Katy’s grandmother. Anjelika smiled at her.

  “It’s not you,” Anjelika said. “It’s them. Mikhail and Megan drove my mother to tears.”

  “Drink this,” Edie said.

  The baby looked at Edie. The next thing Edie knew, the baby was drinking the bottle.

  “They’re hungry,” Anjelika said. She put her hands on Katy’s shoulders. “They’d just rather play than eat.”

  “She was being too nice,” Katy said.

  “Oh, yes.” Anjelika smiled at Edie. “They are good children, mostly. But they must know what you require of them, up front. Otherwise, they get up to mischief.”

  “Why?” Edie asked. “Rachel and Mack, they . . .”

  “Who knows?” Anjelika shrugged.

  “It’s Grandpa’s fault,” Katy said in a conspiratorial voice.

  “Perses?” Edie asked.

  Anjelika nodded. Edie looked at the twins. They had finished their bottles.

  “See!” Katy said. She zoomed out of the nursery.

  “I’m going to burp you now,” Edie said.

  She reached in and picked up the closest twin and then the other. She walked around the room with the infants on her shoulders.

  “You’ll do just fine,” Anjelika said.

  “You think so?” Edie asked.

  “Look,” Anjelika said.

  The babies were asleep. Edie smiled. She set them down to change their diapers. When she looked up, Anjelika was gone. She had changed the twins and put them in new outfits when she noticed they were looking at her. They smiled at Edie, and Edie felt a well of love for these tiny babies. She smiled.

  “We’re going to sleep now,” Edie said in her best commanding voice.

  The babies were sound asleep on the changing table. She ferried them to the crib. One feeding and one changing down. Smiling at herself, she sat down in the armchair by the door and fell asleep.

  Tanner and Bladen woke up and looked for Edie. Bladen looked at Tanner. They both grinned at each other. Katy appeared in the doorway.

  “Go to sleep,” Katy said.

  They dropped back to sleep. Nodding to herself, Katy left the room.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Thursday morning — 11:15 a.m.

  Charlie opened his eyes and scowled. He had no idea where he was.

  “Hello?” Charlie croaked.

  Jill came into view. Charlie smiled at her familiar face. Sandy’s girlfriends had been around so much when he was growing up that they were like his older pseudo-sisters. He couldn’t imagine it any other way.

  “Hi, Charlie,” Jill said. “Honey had to go into Lipson for a while, and Sandy’s at the police station with that Red Bear.”

  “Where am I?” Charlie asked.

  “You just had another CT scan,” Jill said. “You’re in the waiting area. They want to check the scan before sending you to a room.”

  “A room?” Charlie asked.

  “You’re leaving the ICU,” Jill said. “If the scan’s clear.”

  “I don’t know what that means, ‘scan’s clear,’” Charlie said. “Clear of what?”

  “Bleeding,” Jill said. “Your liver has been bleeding from where it’s injured. John thought it would settle down, but we’re checking to see if he’s right.”

  “I feel . . . better,” Charlie said. He glanced at Jill. “Did you . . .?”

  “Did I what?” Jill asked.

  “Give me a whammy?” Charlie asked. “You know, like you did with Honey and Aden and Sandy and Pete and Blane and . . .”

  Jill cleared her throat, and Charlie smiled.

  “What if I did?” Jill asked.

  “Um . . .” Charlie closed his eyes for a moment. “Thanks. I’d just say thanks. I think I needed it.”

  “Well, if that happened, then you’re welcome.” Jill smiled at Charlie.

  Charlie tried to give her a dashing grin, but he mostly groaned. Jill smiled.

  “Can I ask you a favor?” Charlie asked.

  “Sure,” Jill said.

  “Will you tell me what’s wrong with me?” Charlie asked. “No one will say. I mean, maybe they told Sandy, but not me.”

  Jill looked away from him for a moment and then looked back.

  “Okay,” Jill said.

  “Okay?” Charlie asked.

  “Your legs are broken as are your arms,” Jill said. “You have some broken fingers and a couple broken bones in your hands and one in your foot. You have a few broken ribs. Your insides are . . . bruised. They were in worse shape, but they’ve healed remarkably well.”

  Jill raised her eyebrows and cleared her throat. Charlie smiled at her.

  “Why did I have more surgery?” Charlie asked.

  “John did surgery because you ripped a bunch of veins where they all come together in your arm,” Jill said. “He said you shouldn’t have any more trouble, but it may also be a problem.”

  “I’ll never play basketball again,” Charlie said as a matter of fact.

  “Maybe,” Jill said. “Personally, I think you’ll heal.”

  “Why? Why would you think that?” Charlie’s voice rose with pain. “My life is over.”

  Jill took his hand.

  “You’re not going to try to talk me out of it?” Charlie asked.

  “I’m not,” Jill said.

  “Aren’t you supposed to?” Charlie’s voice rose with pain and indignation.

  “Maybe,” Jill said. “What would I say?”

  “That my life is my life,” Charlie said. “No one is guaranteed a free ride. That I’m young and healthy and have all the opportunities in the world and I’m loved and . . .”

  Charlie’s eyes flicked to Jill’s face. He raised an eyebrow.

  “That was either brilliant or lazy,” Charlie said.

  “Lazy.” Jill nodded. Charlie laughed.

  Jill leaned back away from Charlie. He grabbed her hand. Jill leaned over him again.

  “What am I going to do?” Charlie whispered. “I was getting caught up in school and working and Tink and . . . everything. I can’t get up the stairs at the Castle if I go back there. And my brain . . . and . . .”

  Jill kissed his cheek.

  “What am I going to do?” Charlie whispered.

  “You’re going to do what we all do,” Jill said. “You’ll just live one minute at a time. We’ll help. Sandy’s traded hairstyling for help from a PT. The PT’s going to start working with you as soon as you’re home.”

  “What about school?” Charlie asked.

  “My mom’s still your tutor,” Jill said. “She’s not about to let you slip.”

  “I can’t pay her,” Charlie said.

  Jill squeezed his hand.

  “What?” Charlie asked.

  “You’ve already paid her,” Jill said.

  “How?”

  “All those choices you’ve made,” Jill
said.

  “What?” Charlie asked.

  “You’ve stayed sober,” Jill said. “You’ve worked really hard in school. Your reading has improved a lot. You decided to testify and helped Tink and the other girls.”

  “So?”

  “That’s all my mom cares about,” Jill said. “She’ll be here as soon as you get into your own room.”

  “Oh,” Charlie said. “But I’m sick.”

  Jill smiled. Charlie grinned.

  “It’s not going to be easy, Charlie,” Jill said. “But we’re all here to help in any way we can.”

  Charlie stared at the ceiling.

  “What’s been happening?” Charlie asked.

  “You mean you want an update?” Jill smiled.

  When Charlie was a little boy, he used to like it when the girlfriends gave him “updates” on their lives.

  “Just an update, not the whole thing,” Charlie repeated what he used to say back then. “Just the interesting parts.”

  Jill smiled. She took a breath to start, and Charlie interrupted her.

  “Well? I haven’t got all day,” Charlie said, the way he used to.

  “I’ll get right to it, then,” Jill said with a smile.

  Charlie nodded.

  “Sissy’s excited and nervous about going to New York,” Jill said.

  “Tink?” Charlie asked.

  “Oh, poor, Tink,” Jill said. “She’s devastated about what’s happened to you. She’s upset about Blane. She’s been sleeping in your little closet at the Castle just to be close to you.”

  Charlie’s mouth was set in a grim line.

  “But Tink’s tough,” Jill said. “She’s ready for you to come home and start getting better. That’s what she says. She’s really ready to move forward in her life.”

  “Without me?” Charlie asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Jill said.

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s been here every chance she got,” Jill said. “She’s sleeping in your bed.”

  “Oh.” Charlie cleared his throat. Trying to change the topic, he asked, “How’s Nash?”

  “Nash-like,” Jill said.

  “Annoying and great?”

  “Yes,” Jill said. “He’s come up with a grand plan of how to get into the Science and Tech school. He and Teddy think they have a chance. We’ll see.”