The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20

by Jacqueline Druga

  “El, my results . . .”

  “Mean nothing!” Ellen snapped and began to rant emotionally. “If I was too tired, if I was too emotional, if I screwed up, then explain . . .” She opened the one folder and pulled four others out. “Andrea’s.” She dropped the folder on the desk. “Jason’s.” She dropped another. “Johnny’s.” She dropped another, then the last one. “Four people ran that test, Dean. Four! All of them say the same thing.” Ellen flipped open every single folder. “All of them state . . .” Her hand slammed on each result with her each word. “Positive.” Slam. “Positive.” Slam. “Positive.” Slam. “Positive.” Slam. “We’re all not emotionally screwed up. We’re all not tired! We all got the same results but you!” Ellen swept up her folders in her arms. “Did you think for one second I wouldn’t double, triple, and quadruple check? How perfect for you, Mr. DNA Expert, that you came up with the results that disprove your paternity.” Ellen spun harshly and flew from the office with papers sticking out of the folders she carried,.

  Dean stood speechless. His pale face showed his shock. He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. He wanted to follow Ellen, but Dean just couldn’t move.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Quantico Marine Headquarters

  George laughed. It made his head wobble too much for his liking, but he enjoyed the laugh he got as he was on the phone. Holding the receiver up so as not to clank against his metal neck brace, George smiled. “And what about the amnio Ellen took from Bev?” George semi-nodded. “Good. Glad you got rid of it. At first when you pulled the switch and you told me you didn’t get rid of the original, I wanted to kill you Johnny. That was too risky, but this . . this son was just the icing on the cake.” George closed his eyes, his shoulders bounced, and a tear ran down his face from laughter. “He’s what? Oh, my God.” George laughed again. “Well, stay away from the lab now. Reactions won’t be hard to miss anymore. Now . . .” George let out that breath of after-laughter. “I need to know about what happened with you people and the Savages. It’s vital.”

  Beginnings, Montana

  His hair peeked over his fingertips that held it up and Dean looked lost. Two tests results lay before him on the counter. One was flat, the other slightly rolled from him carrying it. Both results read differently. “I couldn’t have made a mistake. I couldn’t be the father.” As Dean, alone in the lab, ran his hand down his face, he heard the clearing of a throat. He turned and looked. “El.”

  Ellen held two mugs of coffee as she slowly walked into the lab. A folder was tucked under her arm. She set down both mugs and the folder before a surprised Dean. “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “Things . . . things got out of hand a little while ago.”

  “I know.”

  “Peace offering?” Ellen pushed the mug to Dean. As she did, she saw the results lying there. Her eyes shifted to him. “Dean?”

  “I ran them again.” He grabbed both of his results and pushed them over.

  “I want to talk.”

  “Good.” Dean closed his eyes. “El, I love you. I really love you.”

  “I know.” Ellen laid her hand on his. “I love you. I’ve done some thinking and I’d like to tell you something.”

  “Please.”

  “Dean,” Ellen breathed out. “I have made mistakes in our relationship. big mistakes. Who am I to judge you? I know this. You took me back, gave me a chance, and look at us. We are so good together. I love you, Dean, more than I ever thought possible. So much that even if I never made the mistakes I did, I would still be standing here saying this to you. I want this behind us. I want to move on,” Ellen spoke compassionately. “I will move on. We’ll deal with the baby. I’ll forget the incident. All I want is for the affair to stop. Can you stop the affair?”

  Dean only looked up at her.

  “We can get past this, talk about it, work through it. But I believe.” She gripped his hand. “I believe we are stronger than this problem. If you love me, just stop the affair. End it. I know people are gonna say I look like a fool, but who am I to care what people say. Right?”

  “You’ll look like a fool, El.”

  “That’s what I said but I don’t care.”

  “A fool because you think I would be with her.”

  “What?” Ellen, shocked, withdrew her hand. “Dean?”

  “I wasn’t with her.”

  “But the results?”

  “Screw the results. Screw them.” Dean, filling with a rising rage, stood up. “I cannot believe you would stand here and ask me to stop the affair, an affair that isn’t going on. It never has!”

  “Dean, stop right now before you . . .”

  “No!” He stepped to her. “No! I’m pissed off, El. You believe in me? You love me? Bullshit! Bullshit!”

  “What about everything else that has happened? The evidence?”

  “Evidence? El, my God, this isn’t a court case. I’m your husband.”

  “And you made a mistake.” Ellen grabbed her folder off the counter. “People make mistakes, Dean. I have proof.”

  “You have nothing. It’s not my kid.”

  “It is!”

  “I was set up!”

  “How Dean! How!” Ellen started to lose her cool. “I checked. Don’t think I haven’t. I checked the old freezer. The first thing that came to my mind was she stole a sperm sample of yours. Not a single one was touched and I didn’t just check once. I checked until my fingers were so cold they couldn’t move! I believed you didn’t do it.”

  “What changed your mind?”

  Ellen gasped in shock. “I can’t believe you just asked me that. I’m holding paternity tests that show it’s your baby. What more do you want? The truth is out. Dean, there is only one way that this child could have been fathered by you and that is because you slept with her. All right?” She calmed herself back down. “I know when we get backed into a corner, we fight. But don’t fight anymore. You have to stop lying.”

  “Lying? Now I’m a liar. A cheat and a liar.”

  “Dean, the test proves the baby is yours!” Ellen yelled. “If you don’t admit it and stop hiding it we will never get beyond it.”

  “Fuck you, Ellen! I will not admit to something I didn’t do!”

  “No!” Ellen tossed the folders at Dean. They smacked just below his chin and the papers flew about. “Fuck you!”

  Dean felt his throat swell from anger. Ellen flew out of the lab. A sweep of his hand across the counter sent the papers sailing about then

  Dean chased Ellen out. “Ellen!” He called her name loudly as he ran from the lab. He saw her bolt out the doors of the Clinic. “Ellen.” He followed her out, calling her name, and trying to be louder than the rain that poured down. He ran faster, his feet splashing in the deep icy water. He slipped some in his pursuit. She didn’t stop. Dean caught up. “Ellen, stop! Look at me!”

  Ellen stopped and turned around. “Don’t come near me!” Ellen backed up. “I was willing to forget it all! Willing to let it go! But not now! Not ever! I want you out of my house! I want you out of my life!” She turned and stormed off.

  “Ellen!” Dean chased her again. His heart beat stronger with each chasing step he took. “Ellen, stop!” In his rage, with the rain pouring down his face, he reached out, grabbed her arm, and spun her around to face him. “Don’t do this!”

  “Don’t you ever grab me like that again!” Emotionally spinning away from Dean and out of his hold then using the weight of her body, Ellen swung out her free arm and with a hard ‘crack’ slapped Dean across his face with the back of her open hand. Dean’s head flung slightly to the side and he kept it there, not looking at her. Ellen heaved a breath as she turned to stand up straight. She swiped her hand down her wet face, stared heavily at Dean for a second, then turned and stormed off.

  Eyes closed, Dean dropped his head. So much hurt filled him not even the abundance of rain that poured down upon him in the middle of the street could wash away the pain he felt.
>
  ^^^^

  “He cheated, Joe,” Henry bitched. “Cheated. Can you believe that? I looked stupid. Really stupid. Who knew it was going to be a real trial thing?”

  “Danny.” Joe looked up from behind his desk, rubbing his temples. “Henry . . .”

  “He could have let me know. Not that I want to look like the hot shot attorney and all but I didn’t want to look stupid.”

  “Henry.”

  “What?”

  “Do you see this?” Joe pointed to the vein in his temple. “It’s throbbing, Henry. That means I’m millimeters away from a goddamn stroke. Do you want that? Do you want me to have a stroke? Because that’s what this bitch session of yours is doing to me. I have problems of my own. I have to get home. My wife has a church gathering and I have five children, including yours, at my house to deal with.”

  “Joe?” Henry’s whole demeanor changed. “Are you watching Nick tonight? That is really nice of you to . . .”

  “Henry. Enough.” Just as Joe slammed his hand down, the phone rang. “Christ, what now?” Gruffly Joe answered the phone. “Hello.”

  “Joe,” George said his name with a tad of ‘humble’.

  “I’ll be a son of a bitch.” Joe leaned forward. “Didn’t you hang up on me last time?” Snatching up a pencil, Joe wrote the name ‘George’ on his scratch pad and showed it to Henry.

  Henry perked up with excitement.

  “Yes, I did. I realize now why you called. I think we know what the problem is,” George said.

  “Just to be clear, why don’t you tell me?”

  “Savages.”

  “I’m listening.” Joe leaned back.

  “Let’s set up a telephone meeting about this situation between my council and yours. I’ll give you my thoughts; you share yours. Tomorrow at noon your time.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Tomorrow then.”

  When Joe heard the click of the hang up on the other line, he slowly set down his phone.

  “What did he want?” Henry asked.

  “To talk about the Savages. It seems we have a telephone conference tomorrow with our sworn enemy.” Joe nodded. “Like you said before, it could be historical.”

  “Well, don’t invite Trish to be there. She gets on my nerves, her and her Perry Mason comments.”

  “Henry.”

  “No, Joe you should have seen her. History or not I wouldn’t be able to handle her being there, not right now. I’m still too bitter.”

  Joe returned to rubbing his temples as Henry continued to ramble on.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Joe had to give a nudge to Robbie whose head kept falling forward in the third pew of the church.

  Robbie sprang up, blinking and trying to stay awake. He shortened his night’s sleep by one hour for the church gathering and he kept telling himself that vegetable soup would make it all worth it, along with hoping Frank would let him catch some sleep.

  “There are so many of you,” Andrea said as she stood before the packed church. “Thank you so much for coming on this cold evening. With everyone here, it truly accentuates the warmth of God.”

  A few ‘amens’ came from the congregation.

  “I won’t keep you long. You know why we’re all here. It’s exciting. A few of us, who sort of helped Rev. Bob run the church, got together to discuss a replacement for him and we decided on one man.” Andrea smiled. “He is someone Rev. Bob placed his trust in, taught, and took under his religious wing. So we would like to ask him to fill in and be our new pastor.” Andrea turned a little. “Robert Slagel?”

  “Huh?” Robbie looked up.

  “Stand up.” Andrea motioned her hand. “Don’t be shy.”

  Robbie stood.

  “We would like you to be our new Reverend. What do you say?”

  “Me?” Robbie asked shocked looking around.

  “Yes, you were Ministry Assistant. You learned the ropes. Will you be Rev. Robbie?”

  “Me?” Robbie asked again.

  “Robert,” Joe grumbled in a warning.

  “Um . . .” Robbie scratched his head. “Yeah, sure, why not.”

  Applause ensued.

  “Oh Jesus Christ.” Joe covered his face and slid down into the pew.

  ^^^^

  Nothing. There was nothing there. Dean figured he checked the old silver freezer case in the lab probably more than Ellen.. It hadn’t been touched. The sperm samples, the only ones he made, were still intact. The blue seals they ran out of years before were undisturbed on the freezer vials. Not only that but the safe guard Dean put on to let him know if Ellen had opened them was still there as well. Not a vial had been opened. Not a drop of his sperm was missing. Dean was baffled.

  Hours upon hours he thought about it. He stared at the results each with two completely different DNA strands. One said the child was his. The other was not even a same blood line relative. Dean couldn’t figure it out. How did it happen? With each hour that passed, it got harder and harder for Dean to go home, but he did.

  It was still early in the evening when Dean got to his house. There was a warning ‘silence’ that exuded from his home making it worse for Dean as he walked in.

  Quiet.

  No kids. No sounds. Quiet.

  Dean swallowed nervously as he looked around. He heard shuffling coming from the back and he headed down the hall, looking in each bedroom he passed. He stopped at his bedroom door. Two duffel bags set on the floor. Ellen walked by him, to the dresser and poured a drink.

  “I figured you’d come back for your things.” Ellen downed her drink. “I guess Bev is going to be happy you’ll be living with her. One big happy family.” She grabbed the bottle again.

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “You’re drunk.”

  “I am far from drunk, Dean.” Ellen slammed down the bottle. “This is my second drink. It’s not my last, but it’s only my second.”

  “We need to talk.” Dean took the glass from her hand. “Don’t . . . don’t make me leave. All right. You don’t understand what this is like for me.”

  Ellen laughed.

  “No, El, listen to me. Imagine.” Dean made her face him. “Imagine this was the old world and one morning you’re getting ready for work. The news is on the radio and it says something about a convenience store being robbed. You think nothing of it and go on with your day. That night, the police show up and arrest you. They have finger prints, pictures, you name it. Guilty. The only problem was you were sound asleep. That’s what’s happened here. I didn’t think twice about the Bev situation because I know I wasn’t with her.”

  “The results say otherwise.”

  “There has to be an explanation.”

  “Why can’t you just own up to the truth?” Ellen asked emotionally.

  “Why can’t you own up to the truth? I’ll tell you why. It’s easier for you to believe I did than to try to find out how I was set up.”

  “Get out.” Ellen grabbed the bottle again.

  “Ellen, I . . .”

  “Get out!” Ellen pointed.

  “No!” Dean shouted. “Now I am willing to forget this hitting me thing and this . . .”

  “Fuck you.” Ellen sipped her drink.. “Forget what I did? I want you out of my house, Dean. The more I think about it, the more I lose all feeling for you.”

  “No. It’s me, El, me. I wouldn’t do this.”

  Setting her drink down, Ellen spun to him. “You did and it’s over. How long have you been sleeping with her, Dean?”

  “I haven’t. Why would you think I have?”

  “The baby for starters.”

  “You, Ellen, are going to feel really stupid when you see how wrong you are.” Dean pointed at her. “I will show you how wrong you are over this.”

  “How did she know about the hysterectomy?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “How does she know about the way you make love . . . if she hasn�
��t been with you?”

  This shocked Dean, “What?”

  “Oh yeah.” Ellen backed up to her dresser. “She knows things she shouldn’t. Trust me. And, Dean, I found things. Notes in your dresser, her metal, notes you left her . . .”

  “This is ridiculous, Ellen.” Dean moved to her. “Ellen, stop this. What notes? What letters and what metal?” He laid his hand on her face. “Don’t give up on us. Believe me, not this . . .” Dean stopped talking when a handful of items was placed in front of him. “What is this?”

  “What I found.”

  “I’ve never seen any of this stuff before in my life.”

  Ellen had a chuckle to her. “How did I know that was coming?” She picked up her glass. “And you mentioned about me feeling stupid. Yeah, I feel stupid. Stupid because I actually contemplated staying with you, knowing the way you are with Alex.”

  Dean lifted his eyes. “I’m lost. What does Alex have to do with any of this?”

  “Nothing really.” Ellen shook her head. “Just another thing to leave you over.”

  “What?”

  “I told you I want you out of my house. I will let you see the boys. You will not . . . not go anywhere near Alex.”

  “You cannot stop me from seeing my daughter.”

  “Watch me.” Ellen took another drink and put down her glass.

  “Why would you even want to stoop that low as to try to keep me from my kid?”

  “Because you could care less about her. She makes you cringe. That’s what you told Bev.”

  “She’s lying.”

  “Oh yeah.” Ellen lifted the gods-eye. “Remember this?”

  “Yes. Alex gave that to me when I was leaving Beginnings.”

  “Where was it, Dean?”

  “With my things.”

  “Wrong,” Ellen said strongly.

  “What do you mean wrong? It was in my . . .”