Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 04 - Jupiter Returns

by Peggy Holloway

  “Never,” I said.

  “Well, she did tonight at supper. You didn’t notice? I was wondering how I was going to get you alone to talk to you. You must suspect something or you wouldn’t have asked me to come out here to talk in private.”

  “I guess I’ve been in denial. I wanted to be with Julia so badly. Okay, the first thing was that the first night she was here I caught her reading my diary. I got really angry at her and she said she didn’t think I would mind since we were part of triplets.

  “Then when I asked about Westpark tonight, she pretended she to fall asleep and she had been wide awake before…”

  “Wait a minute, back up.”

  “What, what did I say?”

  “Judith, did you tell Julia about Christina?”

  “Not yet, I didn’t want to burden her with…Oh! My God! How did she know we were triplets?”

  Tracy and I stared at each other. “You know what this mean, don’t you Judith?”

  “Yeah, I should have known. Julia has never been that skinny. Her eating habits are different too. She eats a lot. Maybe she’s trying to gain weight before Walt gets here.”

  “I wonder when the switch was made and I wonder where the real Julia is. Judith, don’t go back to bed. Go to the kitchen, no go to my room. Tell Mark what’s going on and wait for us there. I’m getting John.”

  I went to Mark and Tracy’s room and knocked on the door. Before Mark could say anything I put my finger to my lips and pushed him inside and followed. I explained what was going on and he wanted to check on Brad. We found both kids with Jesse, Rosa, and Mimi.

  “Tracy explained everything to us, Judith,” Mimi said. “I’ve thought something was wrong but I didn’t even consider this.”

  Mark and I stayed there with the others. We locked the door and waited. We soon heard screaming and language that Julia would never have used. I opened the door and saw Tracy leading Christina down the stairs handcuffed behind her back.

  They were going down the stairs with John and Jake behind them. Rosa, Mimi, Mark, and and I followed them down and left Jesse with Brad and Jennifer. The kids had slept through the whole thing.

  They took her the front den and she looked at me with pure hatred in her eyes.

  CHAPTER 19

  “Where is Julia?” Tracy asked.

  She laughed, “What is this, some kind of joke? I am Julia.”

  Jake, John, Mark, Mimi, and I didn’t say anything but left the left the questioning to Tracy.

  “Julia would never ever turn down chocolate cake.”

  “Come on, Tracy. I ate too much dinner and I was full.”

  “Julia always says supper, not dinner, and she would always save room for chocolate. By the way, what is Westpark?”

  “I forgot.”

  “Julia didn’t know about there being a triplet but you did. Julia would never forget Westpark, she spent six months there. Now are you going to come clean with me or not?”

  Tracy took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, as if she was trying not to lose her temper. “Right now we can charge you with the assessor to the murder of Ben Justice and Emily Goddard and the attempted murder of an FBI agent” Tracy said evenly.

  “Aren’t you going to offer me a deal?” Christina said, laughing like it was all a big joke.

  Tracy stormed out of the room and we waited. No one said a word. When Tracy came back in she said, “Okay, what do you want and what can you give us in exchange?”

  “I want a new identity and enough income to live comfortably for the rest of my life.” She said, looking around the living room. “Mimi, you could support me and not even miss the money, you have so much. Why should Julia and Judith live so well, while I live in poverty?”

  “I’ll give you anything you want if you tell us where to find Julia.”

  “No, Mimi,” Tracy said. “We’re not making that kind of deal. She will not be rewarded for her bad behavior.”

  She turned back to Christina, “Here are your choices, we will ask for the death penalty or you give up Jupiter and return Julia unharmed and get twenty years. How did you meet Jupiter? Let’s start there.”

  “I met Jupiter at Charters.”

  “Wait a minute,” I spoke up, “Charters is a facility for the criminally insane.”

  “Only one section of it is,” Christina said. “The people who bought me when I was born, and called themselves my parents, had me put in the section for troubled teens. When I got older they had me put into the section for troubled young adults. Hell I’ve been in almost all the sections there.”

  “The last time I had made a deal with the DA and was put into the criminally insane section after some trouble I got into and convinced them I was crazy.

  “As you’ve seen, I’m a good actress. Anyway, that’s where I met Jupiter. It was love at first sight. I would have done anything for her. When she escaped, she looked me up.

  “What I had done before I met her was nothing compared to what she’s capable of. I didn’t kill anyone and I didn’t shoot that FBI agent. And I did save the child. So I should get some credit for all that.”

  “You get zilch,” Tracy said. “And you’d better hope and pray that not one hair on Julia’s head is harmed, because if it is, you’re taking the fall.”

  Tracy looked at her watch, “Jake, you and John watch her. I’m calling the locals. This is their collar. But before I do,” she pulled her gun and pointed it at Christina’s head.

  “Tell me where Julia is or I’m going to blow your brains out.”

  Christina actually laughed, “You’re not going to shoot me. I know the law and you can’t do that. You have too many witnesses. I’m going to tell the police you pulled a gun on me and threatened me.”

  We all spoke up saying we never saw anything. Tracy cocked her gun, “I’m giving you to the count of ten. This is your last chance.”

  Tracy started doing a slow count and Christina looked from one of us to the other. When Tracy got to two, Christina screamed, “Wait! Don’t shoot! Just hold on a minute. If I tell you, you’ve got to protect me from Jupiter.”

  Tracy lowered the gun, “Start talking, bitch.”

  “Jupiter told me to go to New Orleans to watch Julia and to find an opportunity to trade places with her. I think the only reason Jupiter befriended me was because I looked like Judith and Julia.

  “She never really cared about me and was only helping me for her own personal gain. I don’t think she’s capable of caring for anyone.

  “I didn’t realize what she was capable of. Stealing is one thing but I would never kill anyone. I really thought she cared for me. No one ever cared for me.”

  Tracy yawned, “We don’t care about you either. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and get on with it.”

  “Okay, first I had to lure Ben away so Jupiter could kill him. But I didn’t know that’s what she had in mind. When she started killing people I got scared but I didn’t know how to get away from her. I had to do what she said.”

  “Where is Julia?” Tracy asked. “I’m losing patience with you.”

  “She sent me to New Orleans to trade places but I saw that she had protection. Jupiter kept telling me to find a way to change places.

  “I decided I was going to have to force the issue so I snuck into her house one of the few nights when her boyfriend didn’t spend the night.

  “I went to a toy store and got one of those play knives with the retractable blade. You know the kind. When you stab someone it has a spring and the blade goes into the handle.

  “I found a dead dog and filled a jug with his blood. I put on a mask and dark clothes and got in through her window which was wide open.

  “She woke up and, as she started to scream, I put my hand over her mouth and started stabbing her. She got so scared, she passed out and I drug her into the closet and stripped her.

  “I noticed what a beautiful body she had and I wished I had more time with her. I smeared blood on her and left her. It was ver
y easy for me to sneak past the guard out front.

  “I figured she would come to Houston to the lap of her family, and mine by the way. You all seem to forget I belong here too.”

  Tracy cleared her throat loudly.

  Christina continued, “I didn’t know the police would arrest her. I wore a wig and glasses and went to her hearing. I heard the judge say that the charges would be dropped. As soon as I heard the judge say that, I left. I guess I should have heard the rest of what the judge said. He had apparently put a stipulation on the charges being dropped. He must have ordered her to get treatment at this Westpark place. Is it a treatment center? You said that Julia had spent some time there.”

  She turned to me, “By the way, Judith, that’s what I was trying to find out from your journal.

  “In the meantime, Jupiter flew in to New Orleans and we both wore disguises and got on the same plane with Julia. The FBI agent sat with her and watched her get on the plane.

  “She flew first class and so did we. It was my first time in first class.”

  Tracy made a motion like she was playing a violin. “Move on,” she said.

  Christina continued, “When she got off the plane, we got close to her and Jupiter put a gun to her back and told her go to the ladies room. You see, Jupiter seems to be able to do anything and how she was able to smuggle that gun on board, I’ll never know. That’s why you have to protect me from her.”

  Tracy gave her no reassurance, “Get on with it. There was an agent waiting to escort Julia here. How did you get past him?”

  She smiled like she was so clever. “Jupiter told her that if she alerted the agent she would shoot him. So Julia went to the ladies room and I traded clothes with her.

  “We put the wig on her and Jupiter walked out with her at gunpoint, she had the gun in her coat pocket. Jupiter told me to wait five minutes and then come out.”

  I spoke up for the first time, “I still don’t understand what the plan was. What were you supposed to do after you traded places with her?”

  She studied her hands and Tracy said, “You’re holding back.”

  “I need some help, here. You want to find Julia, I want protection. I will testify against Jupiter but you have to protect me.”

  Tracy motioned John and Jake out into the hall. While they were gone Mimi spoke for the first time.

  “Christina, why didn’t you come here when you were sixteen years old? When you found out about us?”

  “You wouldn’t have wanted me or you would have found me before then,” Christina said, as she started crying.

  “I didn’t even know about you before a few days ago. I would have welcomed you with open arms,” Mimi said.

  “But not now?”

  “Well, you’ve made things hard for yourself. Julia and Judith had a rough life and overcame the things they had been through. You had parents who loved you and you even turned on them.

  “I’m sorry,” Mimi continued, “but we all have choices in life, once we’re adults, and you made some bad choices. You want them to make things easy for you, now that you’re caught. But you have to pay for your bad choices and hopefully learn from them.

  “I consider myself a generous person but forgiveness is going to take awhile, especially after you’ve hurt Julia who has already been through hell on earth. She is finally getting her life back together.

  “You need to cooperate with them, Christina, just because it’s the right thing to do. I believe that once you show them you are willing to help us save Julia, and catch Jupiter, they will protect you.

  “Tracy Carr is a good and fair person and she will help you as we all will, but there will be consequences for your past behavior.”

  She sat with her head down and I noticed she was wringing her hands and I realized she was really scared.

  CHAPTER 20

  When Tracy and the two agents came back into the room Christina looked up, “I’ll tell you all I know. I can’t live like this anymore. I’m scared all the time.

  “I thought I was so tough before I met Jupiter. I thought it would be cool to be like her. I didn’t know what tough was. You’ve got to believe me when I tell you I’ve never killed anyone.

  “I’ve stolen and I’ve treated my parents like shit ever since I found out I was adopted and that they had bought me. When I was sixteen, I found out about Judith and Julia, from a newspaper I found in the garbage, I was angry. All I wanted to do was to hurt the people who bought me. I wasn’t a bad person before that, I really wasn’t.”

  She stood and walked around looking at pictures on the mantle. She stood for a moment staring at the big picture of Julia and me over the fireplace. We had had the photograph made for Mimi for Christmas when we were sixteen.

  Then with her hands still handcuffed behind her back, she turned and faced us. “Everything Jupiter has done has been to hurt you, Judith. She said she was going to hurt everyone you loved. When she told me I had to set fire to your house,” she looked at Tracy and Mark, “I knew I was in over my head.

  “I didn’t tell her but I watched the house and waited for everyone to move to the big house. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t moved over here.”

  She looked at me with tears in her eyes and if I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn she was Julia.

  “Then she had me kidnap Ben. I was terrified she would hurt him and I tried to talk her out of it but she told me to shut up and quit acting like a pussy or she would kill me.

  “I kept trying to get the attention of waitresses, and the realtor and everyone I met hoping that someone would catch up with us and stop us before it was too late. She watched me like a hawk and told me I would eventually have to kill for her.”

  We waited while she walked over and looked out the windows. I noticed new spring growth on all the trees and buds on several bushes. She studied the outside for so long I thought she had forgotten us.

  Mark started to speak but Tracy held her hand and shook her head.

  Christina walked over sat down next to me. I was so angry at her for getting Ben killed but at the same time she was part of me and I couldn’t help but love her.

  Tracy was watching us and I knew I had remain professional so I didn’t move or say anything. I was also remembering how Jupiter had fooled me into thinking she was sorry and wanted help.

  She looked toward the fireplace and sighed, “Jupiter doesn’t tell anyone her plan. She’s had several people helping her since I’ve known her. She tells us to do things but not why. The only thing I do know is that she has a plan to bring you down, Judith.”

  Tracy spoke up, “But she did tell you what you were supposed to do after you were established here, right?”

  “She said to worm my way in and become one of you. She is to contact me soon. I never know how she will do this.”

  “Okay,” said Tracy, “we’re going to play it out then. I’m not calling the local cops yet. If you double cross us or if you hurt either child, I’ll personally kill you myself. Do you understand?”

  She nodded, “I will not double cross you. Will you protect me when the time comes?”

  “I will, we will,” Tracy nodded to the rest of us.

  “I’m supposed to go out and be seen with you, Judith. I do know that much. Jupiter will be watching and wants to see us together.”

  “I’ll try to keep you in character,” I said. “You slipped up when you turned down the chocolate cake. You need to gain some weight too, so Julia’s professor won’t get suspicious.”

  “We can go shopping together,” Mimi spoke up. Tracy and I looked at each other and laughed. Mimi likes to shop as much as Julia likes chocolate.

  CHAPTER 21

  We all pretended that we still thought Christina was Julia. We shopped together with Mimi and she insisted on buying Christina a new wardrobe. While we waited for Jupiter to contact Christina, we had long talks and I was beginning to like her. Behind all the bravado was a scared and confused little girl.

/>   She continued to eat a lot and started gaining weight. Everywhere we went we were being tailed by Jake. He was so good at it I sometimes wondered if he had forgotten to follow us.

  Tracy had fired Bert Jamison, the arrogant little shit, and the last we heard, he was working as a security guard for a subdivision in Katy, Texas, on the outskirts of Houston.

  Huck was out of the hospital but was on a desk job for awhile. He hated it and told Tracy he wanted to be in on the bust when they found Jupiter. She promised he could.

  Bettina had been doing better and better. I believed that she had reached the point where I could ask her about how she and her mother met Jupiter. Christina had told me that Jupiter already knew Bettina’s mom but she didn’t know how they had met.

  One day we were in the playroom playing with dolls. They were lady dolls and Bettina was dressing them up. “I’m going to design clothes when I grow up,” she said.

  “Maybe you could design clothes for my grandmother, Mimi. She loves clothes and she would love you too.”

  That made her eyes light up. Without thinking I said, “Would you like to meet Mimi?”

  Her eyes lit up even more. “Yes, is she nice?”

  “She’s one of the nicest people in the whole world,” I said.

  So, we went to see Mimi. They hit it off right away and Mimi took her into the kitchen to help make cookies.

  “Where is Christina?” I asked Mimi.

  “She’s upstairs in her room reading a trashy book,” she said and I could tell she didn’t approve.

  I headed up the stairs. We no longer shared a room. She had moved into the smallest bedroom we had.

  She was stretched out on the bed reading a book that had Fabio on the cover with a half-naked woman on the deck of a ship.

  I didn’t comment on the book and she didn’t apologize for reading it. “Do you want to come downstairs? I have Bettina with me.”

  “Is she all right?”

  “She’s doing great but I haven’t asked her yet how her mama met Jupiter. I was hoping maybe when she sees you she will want to talk about it on her own. She’s helping Mimi make cookies and she talking a mile a minute.”