The office was buzzing with gossip about the dance. Jonesy attended because she’d been a vital part of getting things done at the school for too long to be left out. She told everyone about the men falling all over Callie. Her smashing success was the center of gossip. Everyone wanted to know every detail of her gown and who she danced with. Not much work got done. John Lawrence didn’t object to all the talking and laughing instead of working. He voiced his satisfaction with how well the event turned out, especially the alums and supporters pledging the money to implement the wonderful new ideas, contributed by Eliza and Mac.
During all the excitement, Dave Williams showed up. He met with Mac and Callie, in Mac’s office. Dave closed the door for privacy.
“I want to bring you up to date on the drug case,”
“Why tell us? Aren’t we out of it now?” asked Mac.
“I wish you were, unfortunately, we’ve run into a snag, Blaine and Sidney refuse to tell us who Jupiter and Venus are. Also, Blaine admits to hitting Audrey but he says it was dark and he couldn’t see her. He’s saying it was an accident.”
“But you have forensic evidence?” Mac asked.
“We have all the evidence we need to show Blaine’s white van hit Audrey and killed her. But the only evidence we have it wasn’t an accident is Callie’s testimony.”
“Wait a minute, she’ll be in jeopardy,” Mac said.
“If I have to testify…,” Callie insisted.
“Here’s the problem,” Dave interrupted, “we think Blaine made a deal with Jupiter and Venus. If they get rid of you, he won’t tell us who they are. But if they don’t and he goes down for murder, then he’ll turn them in.”
“So Venus and Jupiter may be out to get me?” Callie asked.
“Unfortunately. We don’t know when they’ll make their move. Blaine gave us his story last week, so we think it’ll be soon,” Dave said.
“Why didn’t you come to us sooner?” Mac asked.
“I wanted to crack him first, so we didn’t need to have this conversation, but we were unsuccessful.”
“What do we do now?” Mac said, “Maybe Callie should go to South Africa to stay with my father. She’ll be safe there.”
“Mac, why don’t you ask me what I want to do?”
“Okay, what?” He asked her.
“Dave…there’s more…right?”
“With your help, Callie, we can catch these guys and put them away.”
“You want to use her as bait…again?” Mac exclaimed.
“Sort of. But we’d watch her every step of the way,” Dave said.
“We don’t know who these people are. How do I know you’re not one of them, Dave?” Mac demanded.
“Calm down. If Dave were Jupiter, he wouldn’t be telling us this,” Callie said.
“Take it easy. We’ll protect you both,” Dave said.
“What’s the plan?” Mac asked, trying to remain calm.
“They will contact Callie. Probably arrange a meeting, maybe for some trumped up reason. I have an idea.”
Dave spent the next ten minutes outlining his plan.
“So many things can go wrong…” Mac said.
“You have a better idea?”
“Callie, are you sure you want to do this?” Mac asked.
“We have to get rid of these people or I’ll never be safe, neither will the kids on campus.”
“One condition, Dave. Callie has to text the same information to me, before she meets with them. Okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed.
“They won’t give you much time,” Dave said.
“I’m no hero, trust me, I only want to live my life,” Callie said.
* * * *
At dinner Callie and Mac were on edge. Every time the phone rang, they jumped. Jason seemed cranky, too. After dinner, Callie gave him a bath and read to him, calming the boy down. Mac paced, turned on the TV, turned off the TV, tried to read but couldn’t concentrate on the newspaper. After they put Jason to bed, Callie suggested they watch a funny movie and go to bed early. Both brought books to bed.
“I can’t read your mood tonight. Do you want to make love?” Mac asked, turning on his side in bed to face her.
Usually he read her signals loud and clear. They communicated well about their physical relationship.
“Would you be offended if I said ‘no’?” she asked.
“It’s okay.” he said, pulling up the covers.
“I want to wrap you around me and go to sleep. Okay?”
“Sure,” he said, turning out the light and curling his body around hers. In the dark he stroked her hair and whispered, “I love you so much.”
She rolled over and gave him a long, sweet, loving kiss. He returned the kiss and Callie found she couldn’t resist him, lying so close to her, his lips grazing her neck.
“Can I change my mind?” she asked him.
He smiled and began kissing her neck and massaging her breasts, capturing her hard peaks with his mouth. She touched his chest then slid her hand down his body until she heard him moan. He rolled her over on her stomach, placed a pillow under her hips and entered her deeply. He made slow, sweet love to her, filling her heart, mind and body with his presence and pushing fear out. He thrust up far into her, murmuring sweet words in her ear as she closed her eyes, losing herself to passion and his magic touch. It wasn’t long before she reached her climax and he followed soon afterward. Mac lay lightly on her, feathering kisses lightly down the back of her neck, the hairs of his chest tickling her back. When he rolled off her, he pulled her to him, wrapping his arm around her middle. Callie always felt safe when they were curled up together. Mac was her buffer against pain and the dangers of the outside world. Sleep came quickly.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Morning found them busy getting everyone dressed, fed and out of the house on time. There was no time to focus on danger, only shredded wheat. But today, Mac insisted on driving Callie to class instead of letting her walk as she usually did.
After class, she stopped at the bank and ran an errand before going to work. She wondered about Venus. Who could she be? Venus knew a lot about her schedule and Mac’s, because Blaine was in the office all the time, or was Venus in the office?
Her phone chirped. A text message came in.
Be at Doc’s Diner in ten minutes if you want to see Jason again, Venus
Callie started to panic. Jason! She hadn’t figured they would use Jason. How could they get him? Wasn’t he safe at daycare? She didn’t have time to check and she needed to send her text to Dave and Mac. Mac! She couldn’t tell him about Jason, he would go ballistic.
Callie, calm down, you’ve been waiting for this.
She started to text Dave and Mac as she walked to Doc’s. She was only a short distance away, close enough to make it in time. But the diner was closed!
The door swung open and a female voice called,
“Come in, Callie,”
Callie walked in.
“I’m going to ask you once, nicely, Callie Richards. Are you going to testify against Blaine Tremont?” said Mary Wilson, Doc’s wife.
“I am, Mary.”
“A foolish decision, Callie,” Mary said.
“Where’s Jason?”
“How the hell do I know? Probably in his stupid daycare,” she replied.
Callie put her hand in her pocket and turned to walk out of the diner.
“Not so fast. Turn around!” Mary yelled.
Callie heard a click. She turned to see a rifle cocked and aimed at her chest.
* * * *
Back at the office, Mac’s cell phone chirped, but he was in a meeting. Jonesy put papers on his desk when she saw the phone light up.
Humpf, not even married six months and already he isn’t answering her phone calls. Not on my watch.
Jonesy picked up the phone and barged in on the meeting. John Lawrence, Eliza and the Provost looked up as she came in.
“Mac! You got a call from your w
ife,” Jonesy said, tossing the phone to him.
“Isn’t she here?” he asked.
“No. And I need her today. Find out where she is and tell her to get her tail in here!” Jonesy replied.
Mac started to sweat. He checked the text.
Doc’s diner, ten minutes.
* * * *
“What are you doing, Mary?” Callie asked.
“Fixing a problem. If you testify, we all go down. So you’re not gonna testify. You’re gonna disappear.” Mary said.
Doc walked in.
“Mary! What are you doing?” he asked.
“Shut up, you idiot! Get outta the way,” she yelled, turning away from Callie.
During that split second, Callie pulled a Beretta Bobcat out of her pocket. She squared off, put both hands on the handle and fired two shots at Mary, hitting her twice in the right side of her chest.
Mary fell, dropping the rifle.
“Mary!” Doc yelled. He went to help his wife.
A blaring police siren announced the arrival of Sgt. Lufkin. As she turned away and put her hand with the gun in her pocket, Doc stood up with the rifle and fired it at Callie. She went down.
“You shot my Mary!” He screamed and fired again, grazing her upper arm with the second shot.
Mac’s car pulled up.
Mac and Sgt Lufkin went in at the same time. The Sgt’s cell phone was ringing. Mac looked over his shoulder and saw the name of the caller. It was Venus!
Inside, Mac saw Callie on the floor and ran to her side.
“Hey, Doc, put the rifle away,” Lufkin said.
Doc put it down when he saw it was Sgt. Lufkin.
“I’ve been hit. Call an ambulance you idiot,” Mary shouted.
“Are you okay,” Mac said to Callie, taking her hand.
She nodded.
He whispered to her Sgt Lufkin was Jupiter. Callie slipped her tiny Beretta into his hand. He looked at her, raising his eyebrows in surprise as he gave her his handkerchief. She pressed it against her shoulder to try to stop the bleeding.
Mac stood up, showing the gun.
“Lufkin. Drop your gun. You, too, Doc.” Mac said.
Doc dropped the rifle. But Lufkin stood his ground.
“What are you doing, Mac?”
“I know you’re Jupiter, Lufkin. Stop pretending. Drop your gun and slide it over here, slowly” he said.
Lufkin stood still. Mac walked closer.
“I’ll shoot you,” he said.
“Naw. You wouldn’t shoot me,” Lufkin said, reaching for his gun.
Mac shot him in the leg and then again in the other leg. Then he trained the gun on Doc.
“Get over here! Get his gun and walkie talkie. Slide them over to me. Then slide your rifle over to me, or I’ll shoot you, Doc. You shot my wife, I might even kill you,” Mac threatened.
Doc’s eyes grew wide and his hands trembled with fear. He took the gun and walkie talkie from Lufkin, who was on the floor, howling in pain. He slid them across the floor toward Mac. Then he got his rifle. Mac shot Doc in the shoulder.
“What did you do that for?” Doc asked, dropping the rifle to grip his shoulder.
“Because I don’t trust you, Doc,” he said.
“Get my phone,” Callie said to Mac.
He reached into her purse, still holding the gun on Lufkin, and handed her the phone. She dialed Dave’s private number and gave the signal.
“Mary, what is this about?” Doc asked her.
“You don’t think we make enough money in this crummy diner for us to live on, do you?”
“I thought we did,” he said.
“Well, you’re an idiot. I’m done talking. Get me an ambulance before I bleed to death!”
Callie called 911. A minute later, Dave broke in, gun in hand. Mac put the Beretta in his pocket. Dave and the officers arrested Mary, Lufkin and Doc. They called for another ambulance. Callie let Mary take the first ambulance.
Callie was sitting up on the floor, blood soaked her shirt and ran down her arm. Mac pressed the handkerchief against the wound while Callie, feeling weak, rested against his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head.
As the ambulance arrived, she felt a huge pain, tearing through her abdomen. She clutched her stomach and doubled over barely able to breath. Blood began to soak through the crotch of her jeans and spread to her legs.
“No! No! No!” she screamed.
Mac sat next to her but could only watch in horror as the blood continued to gush. He didn’t know what was happening, Callie, bent over, sobbing, was bleeding in two places and he was scared. The medics raced over. They put her on the gurney and wheeled her into the ambulance and sped away.
When Mac arrived at the hospital, they were working on Callie and he couldn’t go in. Word travels fast in a small town, Eliza showed up.
“What happened?” she asked.
Mac explained what he knew to her.
“But I have so many questions. Where did Callie get a gun?” he asked.
Dave came to the hospital, too.
“Is Callie all right?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Mac said. “Did you give her a gun?”
“I knew she had it. I told her to take it with her.”
“Where did she get it?” Mac asked.
“You’d better ask her. Have you got it?” he asked.
Mac nodded.
“Please give it to me, Mac. Neither of you should need it anymore and it’s illegal,” Dave said.
Mac handed the gun to Dave.
“I gotta run. Three perps I gotta check on. Looks like we busted the gang. Would you believe nice old Mary Wilson was Venus? Go figure!” Dave said as he walked down the hall.
Finally Dr. Cho came out. Mac went to speak with him alone.
“Mr. Caldwell, you wife is going to be all right,” he said.
Mac breathed a sigh of relief.
“The bullet went clean through her shoulder. The arm wound was superficial and should heal quickly. She lost a lot of blood, but we’re taking care of that. She’ll have a sore shoulder for a few weeks. But I’m sorry to tell you she lost the baby.” said the doctor.
“What baby?” Mac said.
“Didn’t you know? I’m sorry. Your wife was six weeks pregnant, Mr. Caldwell. She had a miscarriage this morning. In two months you can try again,” he said.
“Can I see her,” he asked.
“Just for a minute or two. We’ve given her something to make her sleep. She’s in room 105, down the hall, the second right,” the doctor said.
“Thank you, Dr. Cho,” Mac said, shaking his hand.
* * * *
Mac was in shock. A baby! He had no idea. How long had she known? Why didn’t she tell me? Keeping secrets has got to stop. He got to her door full of outrage she kept her pregnancy from him. But he stopped cold when he saw her.
Callie was curled up, in the bed with her eyes closed. She looked tiny and fragile in the big hospital bed, so vulnerable, lying on her right side with a huge bandage on her left shoulder and her left arm in a sling. Blood was being pumped into her right arm. Her hair was matted with blood and her eyelids were swollen from crying. She lay perfectly still, he couldn’t even see her breathing, her face was pale, her skin washed out.
She looked completely defenseless, defeated. He hadn’t seen her so completely deflated, like a balloon that’s lost its helium. His eyes teared up, his heart melted. The strong, independent, invincible Callie he loved…gone…his wife was wounded body and soul. She could have died. How could he be mad at her now when she needed him the most?
He came in quietly and approached the bed, taking her hand gently. She opened her eyes and looked at him and tried to smile. But she was dopey from the medication and weak from the blood loss. Then she tried to speak, but he put his finger on her lips, leaned over and kissed her gently.
“Don’t talk. Sleep. I’ll be back when you’re awake,” he said. “I love you.”
She squee
zed his hand slightly with what remained of her strength.
Mac asked the nurse when he should come back.
“Oh I expect she’ll sleep for at least five hours, Mr. Caldwell. We’ll get her up for dinner. Maybe afterward, say around seven tonight? Can I tell her you’ll be coming then?”
“Definitely. I’ll be here. Thank you.”
In the waiting room, Mac ran into Eliza who raised her eyebrows when she saw him so visibly shaken and pale.
“Is she going to be all right, Mac?”
“She is. But she looks pretty bad now.”
“Is she sleeping?”
He nodded.
“She almost died,” he said, sinking into a chair.
“Oh, God,” Eliza said, taking his hand.
Dave Williams came back.
“How’s our star witness doing, Mac?”
“She’ll live. But she looks pretty bad right now,” he repeated, irritated to have Dave refer to her as a star witness.
“Good. You saved her life, Mac. Doc told me what happened. By golly, just when I think you college guys are a bunch of wimps you go and shoot three people and prove me wrong. If you hadn’t, Callie would be dead now,” Dave said, “and we’d be having this conversation in the morgue.”
“I only shot two, Dave. Callie shot Mary,” Mac said.
“Good for her. My thanks to you and Callie. I’m glad to get these perps under lock and key.”
Dave left.
“I need a drink and I think you do too. Let’s go,” Eliza said, taking Mac’s arm.
Eliza and Mac went to a bar near campus where he explained everything to her about the drug gang, the police plan and the outcome. It was only three pm, but Mac downed his drink quickly and ordered another one. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her about the miscarriage. Frankly, he didn’t know much about it yet. Eliza drove him to daycare to get Jason.
After Eliza dropped them at home, Jason searched the house for Callie. When he couldn’t find her he turned to his father.
“Where’s Mommy Callie?” Jason said.
“She’s in the hospital because she had an accident, but she’s all right and will be coming home in a few days,” Mac said. Jason started to cry.
A Love Story Page 18
