by Sharon Sala
Otis groaned. No one knew about that purple room—no one except the People and the children he’d taken there. He started to stand up. Luke shoved him back in the chair.
“Don’t move,” he said. “Don’t you fucking move. You don’t know how easy it would be for me to kill you where you sit.”
Now Jacks began to panic. He looked frantically from Ruiz to Drury and back again. “You have to protect me. He can’t kill me!” he cried. “I know my rights. I have a right to legal representation, and the right to a trial, if it’s deemed necessary. I—”
Luke leaned forward, bracing himself with the flat of his hands on the tabletop until he was only inches away from Otis’s face.
“They can’t hurt you, but I can. I’m not a cop.”
Otis felt the heat before the moisture, but he knew the moment it started running down his leg that he’d done the unforgivable. He’d wet himself.
“Goddamn you!” he screamed. “I told you I needed to pee. Now see what you made me do!”
Ruiz made a face, then got up and moved away.
“Damn it!” Drury yelped, and scooted back from the table and headed for the door. “Hey!” he yelled to the guards outside. “Somebody get a mop. This sorry bastard peed himself.”
Luke smelled the acrid stench of fresh urine, but he wasn’t through with Otis Jacks yet. Now, while everyone was out of hearing distance, he gave Otis a final parting shot.
“I’m telling you like I told Frank Lawson. You’ll go to prison, and a Federal one at that. And don’t think that your money or your fancy talk will get you anywhere in there, because I’m going to make sure that wherever you two go, the inmates know what you are.”
Otis swung his handcuffed hands up in a defensive gesture.
“Get him away from me!” he screamed.
“Hear me,” Luke whispered. “If you believe in a god, say your prayers. If there’s anyone in this world who you care about, make a will. You won’t live a year behind bars. I’ll make sure of that.”
Luke handed Ruiz the drawing.
“You might want to keep this. There’s no telling what else you’ll turn up on this snake. When the Feds get here, tell them, if they don’t already know, to call the St. Louis Police Department and speak to Captain Myers. They want Jacks for kidnapping, as well as a number of other ugly little charges.”
Otis heard enough to know his days as a free man were over. He didn’t even want to think about how many days he might have left to live. But he hadn’t devoted his life to being a con man to quit now without giving it one last try.
“Listen to me! All of you! I have millions of dollars in a numbered account in a Swiss bank,” he said. “If you three let me go, it’s yours. No one would have to know.”
“Naw, the LAPD has a real good pension plan,” Drury drawled. “I’m not interested. Ruiz, how about you?”
Amelia Ruiz glared at Jacks, her nose twisted in disgust from the stench of his urine-soaked clothes.
“No deal. Dirty man. Dirty money. Kelly?”
Luke shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from putting them around Otis Jacks’ neck. Otis was staring up at him. The desperation on his face was easy to read, and he wondered how many children had looked at Jacks with the same expression.
“Don’t look at me,” he said. “Don’t even say my name. God forgive me, but I can’t think of you without wanting to watch you die.”
Otis groaned in disbelief.
“Forty-three million dollars? You’d throw away forty-three million dollars for that? It wasn’t such a big deal. Hell, they were only kids. They get over it.”
Before the thought had gone completely through Luke’s head, he had already doubled up his fist and hit Otis in the mouth. Blood spurted from between Otis’s teeth as he went backward out of the chair.
Ruiz jumped toward Luke, but he was already turning away, as if the touch of what he’d done had contaminated him beyond recovery.
Luke looked at Amelia Ruiz, unashamed of his emotion. His body was shaking with rage, and his voice was gruff and thick with tears.
“They don’t get over it,” he said. “They live with the pain and degradation every day of their lives, and when they close their eyes at night, they relive it some more. And those are the ones who don’t die. He put those children with men who were sick and diseased, and didn’t give a fuck as long as he got paid. Raphael was murdered, but you want to know the irony of that? If Frank Lawson had left well enough alone, none of this would have happened. Jade just wanted to put the past behind her, and Raphael was already dying of AIDS. Then Frank Lawson got nervous.”
Otis recognized the name immediately and reeled from the words, then groaned aloud.
“Damn Frank Lawson’s sorry ass. Damn him, damn him, damn him.”
If it hadn’t been for Lawson’s panic, they would have gotten away with it after all. Before he could think what to do next, the door opened again. This time, a man with a mop and bucket led the way for two men in dark suits. He groaned again, then closed his eyes.
The Feds were here. It was over.
Luke nodded to the men as he strode past them.
“Who are you?” one of them asked.
“The Lone Ranger,” he muttered. “Hi-yo Silver, away.”
“What the hell?” the agent asked, as Luke walked out the door without looking back.
Ruiz flashed her badge. “Detective Ruiz, LAPD. This is my partner, Detective Drury. Let him go,” she said. “He’s done what he came to do. Now the rest is up to us.”
But the agent wasn’t satisfied with the answer. He walked to the door just in time to see Luke disappearing into the throng of people hurrying to catch planes. When he came back, he cornered Ruiz.
“Exactly what was it that he came to do?”
Ruiz sighed. “He wanted revenge, but he settled for letting the law enact justice instead. So I strongly suggest that you boys don’t mess up this arrest, or the ensuing gathering of evidence for this bastard’s trial. If you do, and Otis Jacks goes free, you’ll live the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.” She pointed at Otis. “And that pissy bastard won’t live past the courthouse door. I’m also supposed to ask you if you’ve spoken to a Captain Myers with the St. Louis P.D.”
While the first agent was digesting the thinly veiled warning, the other was corroborating her assumption.
“Yes. We have a Federal arrest warrant for Otis Jacks aka Solomon, for kidnapping as well as a few other associated charges.”
She nodded. “Good. Then we’re outa here. Drury…you’re driving, and it’s time to go. We’ll let the big boys handle ole pee-pot here. I think we can find better things to do.”
Otis heard them leaving, but he couldn’t watch. He kept telling himself that if he kept his eyes closed, this would be nothing but a bad dream. Then the strong smell of disinfectant filled his nostrils. He opened his eyes just as the janitor swung a soaking wet mop across the top of his feet.
“God damn it!” he shrieked. “You’re getting my shoes wet!”
“All the better to match your pants,” the agent said, and pulled Otis to his feet.
Luke had every intention of flying home, but when he called the pilot, he’d been told that due to weather, all planes had been grounded again. He checked his watch, calculating the time between California and Missouri, and then sighed. It was after midnight there. Too late to call. All he could do was check into a hotel, and hope they could start home in the morning.
“Sir, what about your luggage?” the pilot asked.
“Hang on to it,” Luke said. “I’m on my way over. It’s a ten-minute walk. I’ll get it and then catch a cab.”
“I already have a rental car. I’d be happy to drop you wherever you need to go,” the pilot said.
“Hey, thanks, buddy,” Luke said. “I’ll be right there.”
At the same time and half the country away, Jade was dressing carefully for dinner with Sam, wearing a pale blue cotton sundress tha
t he’d purchased for her, and white backless sandals with silver heels. She pulled her hair up off her neck and fastened it back with a tortoiseshell clip, then added a little bit of lipstick before coming downstairs.
Sam met her at the foot of the stairs with a smile on his face.
“Jade…you look stunning!”
Still a little uncomfortable with such compliments, she smiled shyly.
“Thank you,” she said, eyeing Sam’s beige slacks and pale yellow shirt. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
“One does what one can,” he teased, and then offered her his arm. “Would you care for a glass of wine before dinner?”
“Is it proper?”
Sam grinned. “Oh, yes, it’s very proper.”
“Then, thank you, I believe I will.”
He led her into the library, then seated her in a chair near the bookcase before going to the bar and pouring them each a drink.
“Try this,” he said, as he handed her a fragile, long-stemmed glass half-filled with one of his best vintages.
Jade took her first sip, then made a face. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m afraid I’m socially inept. Is this supposed to be good?”
Sam laughed out loud. “Would you prefer a soft drink?”
She grinned. “Please.”
He took the wine from her and returned with a glass of cola.
“Try this,” he suggested.
She sipped, then smiled. “Better, thank you.”
He was still chuckling when Velma came in to tell them that dinner was ready.
Sam stood and once again offered his arm.
“My lady, will you join me?”
She slipped a hand in the crook of his arm and then briefly laid her cheek against his shoulder. There were no words to describe her sense of finally belonging somewhere and to someone.
The lights in the dining room had been dimmed. A beautiful centerpiece of fresh flowers adorned the table. On either side of the flowers were long white tapers in silver candlesticks, and the air from Jade’s passing caused the flames to shimmy.
Sam seated Jade to his left, then sat down.
“Comfortable, darling?”
Still taken aback by the casual elegance of the man and his home, she sighed.
“Not yet…but I will be,” she promised.
It was enough to satisfy Sam.
Their time together passed easily. Sam soon had Jade smiling and laughing as he shared anecdotes about things from his travels and his past. Little by little, Jade was coming to know the man who was her father and to appreciate his wisdom. He’d accumulated great wealth in his lifetime, and yet it seemed to have no negative influence on him. Even though Sam had made it very clear in the beginning, it was staggering to know that one day this would all be hers.
They were just finishing dessert when Jade put down her fork.
“Have you heard from Luke?”
“Not since you did.”
“Do you think everything is okay?”
“Yes. Luke can take care of himself. You like him, don’t you?”
Jade felt the heat rising on her neck, but she wouldn’t lie.
“Yes.”
“He will never hurt you.”
She sighed. “I know that…or at least, I do now. But I’m so flawed.”
“The flaws are only in your mind.”
She was quiet for a few moments more; then she looked up at Sam, unaware of how frightened and helpless she looked.
“Do you think it would be all right if I slept in my old room? Just for tonight? With your room right next door, I wouldn’t feel so—”
“Absolutely,” he said.
“I feel like such a baby, but I’ve never slept alone since—”
“Don’t apologize to me—ever,” Sam said. “Not about that. Never about that.”
She nodded. But there was relief in her voice as she kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you, Daddy. Maybe one of these days I’ll be as old in my mind as I am in real years. Imagine, being afraid to sleep alone. Isn’t that crazy?”
Sam wished he could answer, or at least smile—anything to dislodge the knot in his throat, but he couldn’t, not without breaking down in tears. She couldn’t know how deeply he hurt for what she’d endured, and he prayed she never would. All he could do was shake his head in denial. There wasn’t anything crazy about Jade.
After dinner, they spent the evening in the library, supposedly watching television, but Jade, growing up without constant access to televisions, had not developed the habit. Instead she’d gotten up from the sofa and wandered over to the book-burdened shelves. Despite her lack of schooling, she was a voracious reader, and when she saw one of her favorite stories, she took it from the shelf and headed for an overstuffed chair beneath a Tiffany reading lamp.
It wasn’t until a commercial that Sam realized Jade was engrossed in the book.
“What are you reading?” he asked, as he got up to get himself a cold drink.
“ The Boxcar Children. It’s a story for kids, but it’s one of my favorites.”
Sam frowned, trying to remember the story line, but couldn’t.
“What’s it about?”
“There are these children who have no home, and they find and live in an abandoned railroad car. It’s sad and it’s wonderful, all at the same time.”
Sam touched her hair as he passed. “I’ll have to read it when you’ve finished.”
She nodded.
“Want something cold to drink?”
“No, thank you,” she mumbled.
He grinned. She was already engrossed in the story again. It dawned on him, as he watched her turning the pages, that she read very quickly. For having no formal education at all, it was a miracle in itself that she could read, let alone with skill.
The grandfather clock in the corner was striking eleven when the phone suddenly rang. Jade flinched as Sam answered.
“Luke! We’ve been waiting to hear from you. Is it over?”
Luke sighed. “Pretty much. We stopped Jacks—he’s in custody, too. Is Jade still up?”
Sam smiled and handed Jade the phone.
“Luke?”
Just hearing her voice eased the rage he’d been carrying. “Yes, it’s me, baby. Just wanted you to know that it’s over. You’re safe, and I’ll be home as soon as I can.” Then he added, “I love you.”
She sighed. “I love you, too.”
Then Jade stood up and stretched. After hearing Luke’s voice, all her tension had eased.
“I think I’m going to bed,” she said. “Do you mind if I take this up to read?”
“Darling, there’s nothing in this house that is off-limits to you. This is your home, remember?”
She smiled her thanks and started toward the door.
“I’ll be up in a bit,” Sam said. “I’ve got some overseas calls to make. Would you like me to look in on you when I come up?”
“That would be nice,” she said, then waved goodbye as she left with her book.
The phone calls took longer than Sam had expected, and it was after midnight when he finally started up the stairs. He was tired, but his heart was full to overflowing. It was going to take time, but today had been a turning point for all of them. He could tell that something had happened between Jade and Luke. He hoped it was something on which they could build a life together. But even better for Sam, something had happened between him and his daughter. Today she had called him Daddy, and it was as special now as it had been the day she learned to talk.
As he neared her room, his steps slowed. The door was closed, but he’d told her he would check on her, and he wasn’t about to break his word.
The door opened silently on well-oiled hinges. The book she’d carried upstairs was on the bedside table beneath the lamp. She lay facing the door with her knees bent toward her chin and her head tucked near her chest. Even in sleep, she assumed a position of defense—curled in upon herself for optimum protection.
/> Emotion swept over him as he stepped into the room. The covers had slipped off her shoulders, and although it was hot and steamy outside, the central air kept the rooms quite cool. Carefully, so as not to disturb her, he lifted the covers and pulled them back up. As he did, he noticed she had something clutched in her hands. When he bent down for a closer look, he saw it was the little pink blanket that had been left behind when Margaret had taken her away.
Oh, baby…my sweet, sweet baby…it may take you a while to realize it, but it’s finally safe to grow up.
He turned out the lamp and tiptoed quietly from the room.
Jade never knew when Sam came and went, but sometime toward morning, she began to dream. And as always, it started off the same way: with Solomon coming to the bedroom and waking her up, then dragging her down the hall toward the purple room. Her heart began to pound, her hands started to sweat, and, as always, there was that overwhelming need to pee that came from ungovernable fear.
In her sleep, she began to struggle and beg, fighting the bed and the covers as he dragged her nearer and nearer. Then, suddenly, she was holding Raphael’s hand and Solomon was gone.
Her heartbeat evened, and the panic she was feeling subsided, even though something still wasn’t right. She wasn’t yet at the part in the dream where Raphael always came to save her. That came later, after all the pain. But this time he was smiling at her, and she could feel the brush of his lips as he bent and kissed her cheek. Because of that, she told herself it was going to be okay.
In the dream, he tugged at her hand impatiently, just as he always did when she dawdled. She smiled as they started to move. Then she saw herself turning around. The door to the purple room was swiftly disappearing, and suddenly it was gone. When she turned to see where they were going, she saw a long narrow hallway with a light up ahead.
“Rafie…where are you taking me?”
He smiled. “Home.”
“But aren’t we already home?”
“Not yet, but we soon will be.”
Jade pulled her knees a little closer toward her chin and let herself fall deeper into the dream.
