by Ann Mullen
“That was Brian Cherry. He wants me to recommend an attorney.”
“Does that mean he doesn’t need our services? He’s just going to go ahead and sue the hospital? He must’ve found the proof he needs, or enough to at least make a case. That’s okay,” I said, looking up at Billy. “I didn’t want us to take this case to start with. It hits too close to home for me. I’m sure I’m going to see plenty of things I don’t like about doctors and hospitals before I have this baby. I don’t need to intensify the trip.”
“That’s not exactly the situation here.” Billy sat down on the hearth and crossed his arms over his knees. “I guess I still have much to learn about the way of others. As a Cherokee, I have spent my whole life trying to live up to the expectations of my people. And this, I feel I have done. I am proud of myself and the fact that I have also lived up to my own expectations even though my first marriage did not last. I have a good life, and I love my family. Isn’t that what it’s all about? For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the white man does some of the things he does. Why do they hurt each other so badly?”
“What on earth are you talking about, Billy?” Mom asked.
“Brian Cherry called me from jail,” Billy said as he looked at me. “He’s been arrested for the murder of his wife.”
“What?” I said. “Are you kidding?”
“I do not joke about such matters. I am going to Stanardsville to meet Russ Shank.”
“I remember him,” I said and smiled at Billy. “He’s the lawyer who helped me out. I thought he was kind of cute. I also remember that you told me he’s gay. You just said that to keep me from…”
“At the time, you had your eye on every man in sight. I had to tell you something to keep you from making a fool of yourself.”
“Jealous.”
“Gay? Does he know Jack?” Mom asked.
Billy and I laughed.
“Oh, Mom… never mind. Forget it.”
“What is it? Did I say something wrong?”
“There’re a lot of gay people in this world and it’s highly unlikely that they all know Jack.”
“I’m sorry, but this is new to me. You’ll have to give me some time to learn about these things.”
I leaned over and kissed her cheek. Bless her heart, she’s trying, I thought to myself. A few months ago, my brother Jack came out to the family and Mom is doing her best to understand it all.
“It’s all right, Mom. I think you’ve accepted the news pretty well. Most parents would go ballistic to hear that their son is gay, but not you. You accepted it and moved on. I’m proud of you.” I hugged her.
“He’s my son and I love him, regardless of his love life, or whatever.”
“Back to business,” I said and looked over at Billy. “What exactly is going on? Did Brian Cherry kill his wife? I can’t believe he would do that; not after what you told me about him. He almost lost his wife and child and he believed it was the doctor’s fault. He wanted to go after him and everyone involved. This doesn’t sound like a man who would kill his wife. He might kill the doctor. That would make more sense.”
“I don’t have all the details yet. I called Russ and we’re going to meet at the jail.”
“Why did he call you instead of a lawyer?” Mom asked. “No offense, Billy, but you’re a private investigator, not a lawyer.”
“I am a man of honor and he knows this,” Billy proudly responded.
“How true!” I added.
“Hey, maybe we should call Jack.”
“No, Russ can handle the case,” Billy replied. “Besides, this is a little out the way for Jack. Doesn’t he live in Fairfax?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Mom replied.
“I need to leave right now,” Billy said as he stood. “Russ lives in Stanardsville, so he’s probably already at the sheriff’s office. I’ll bet Wake Hudson will be surprised to see me again so soon.”
“That’s not a bit funny.” I shuddered. I couldn’t see how Billy could joke about something so serious. There was no doubt in my mind that our problem with Carl wasn’t over. I just knew that he’d come back into our lives… with a vengeance.
“Didn’t I hear you say something about someone coming over?” Mom asked Billy.
“Oh, yeah,” he replied and then looked at me. “Claire called. She and Cole wanted to come see you. She asked if it was okay to bring the kids—with you just getting home from the hospital and all, and I told her it was all right. I didn’t think you would mind. I know how much you love those kids.”
“I can’t wait to see them. I’m so glad everything worked out okay. I just get so angry when I think about Carl and that stupid trick he tried to pull. He belongs in jail, or better yet, someone needs to take him out back and kick his butt.”
“Don’t be so hard on the man, Jesse,” Billy said as he headed to the bedroom. “Sometimes people do crazy things when they’re backed into a corner. Maybe he was afraid of losing his kids because of the divorce. A divorce brings out the worst in people.”
“Carl’s a mean person. When he gets backed into a corner, he comes out fighting. What am I saying? Carl never gets backed into a corner, yet he always comes out on top,” I yelled to him.
Billy walked back into the living room wearing his gun.
“What are you going to do, shoot your client out of jail?”
“Jesse, you know I always wear a gun.”
“I don’t usually see you put it on.”
“You live with the man,” Mom said. “You’re going to see a lot of things now.” She let out a little giggle. “Sometimes I think you’re still a child. You want to grow up, but then when you do, you still have a child’s mind about things.”
“Mom, you always rationalize everything.”
“That’s my job.”
“Ladies, I have to go.” Billy walked over and kissed me, and then Mom. “Take care of Jesse until I get back home, please. You know how she is. There’s no telling where her mind will go once I leave. Don’t let her out of the house, either… regardless of what she wants to do. If you have to, lock her in the bedroom.”
“Can I do that?” Mom asked. “Hey, what about your sandwich? Hold on a minute.” She ran to the kitchen, picked up his sandwich and laid it on a napkin. She grabbed a soda from the refrigerator. She handed the sandwich and the drink to him as he was getting ready to leave. “You need to eat something.”
Billy took the drink and sandwich, and then opened the front door. Athena and Thor were close on his heels.
“No,” he told them. “You two stay here and protect the women.” He looked over at us, and then walked out. I heard the lock click.
Athena and Thor, mutts that they are, obeyed his command. They slowly walked back over to their resting place and lay down. They were content to just be in the same room with me. I could see it in their eyes.
“They’re such good dogs,” Mom said. “And that little Spice Cat you made us take home turned out to be the sweetest thing. Actually Spice Cat isn’t so little anymore. He keeps getting bigger and bigger every day. I had no idea that a cat could get that big. Claire says he’s a Maine Coon cat. She says he’s going to get as big as a small dog. Imagine that.”
I laughed out loud. “I wish you could see the look on your face.”
A knock at the door interrupted our conversation.
“I guess Billy must have forgotten something,” I said as I got up from the sofa to answer the door. “He locks the door every time he goes out. He’s done that ever since I moved in here. I guess he has this thing about keeping me safe. That’s why I love him.” I opened the door.
“Hello!” Claire squealed. “I’m so glad you’re okay! See kids, I told you Aunt Jesse was fine.”
“Hi, Ant Jess,” Benny said. He grabbed me by the legs and squeezed. “Mom said you were a wreck.”
I closed the door.
Claire laughed and corrected him. “I said she was in a wreck, Benny.” She ushered the kids inside an
d started removing their coats.
I bent down and hugged Benny and his little sister, Carrie. “I’m glad you two are home. I missed you guys. I was worried.”
“Why were you worried, Ant Jess?” Benny asked.
I looked up at Claire. She winked at me—which I took as a sign for me to say nothing about the last few days. “Oh, you know folks worry more when they get older.” I laughed.
Benny smiled back up at me and said, “Yes, I know. My mom worries all the time. She told me so. I don’t understand grownups sometimes.”
“Who wants hot chocolate?” Mom asked as she headed to the kitchen. “Come on, guys. I know you want some of Grandma’s delicious, yummy hot chocolate.”
The kids immediately ran after their grandma. They grow up so fast.
I turned to ask Claire if she wanted to sit by the fire with me, but she had already walked back to the front door. She opened it, and Cole walked in and stood by her side.
“Hello,” I said when our eyes met. “How’s everything going?”
“I’m doing fine, how about you? You look good for someone who’s been hit by a dump truck.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “Come on in and get out of the cold.”
He bent down and started to kiss me, but I quickly backed away. Memories of our short, but intense love affair resurfaced as it had done many times since our breakup. I brushed those thoughts aside and gave him a dirty look. I scanned the kitchen and then the living room to see if anyone was looking. My own actions made me feel guilty. Fortunately, Mom and the kids were busy with each other, and Claire had gone over by the fire and sat down on the sofa with her back to us.
“I had hoped that you and I could get beyond our past and move on, but you keep pushing the envelope,” I whispered to him. “You need to put our relationship in perspective. I’m married to Billy now.”
“I have, but you haven’t,” he said, winking at me. He walked over to Claire, sat down on the sofa beside her, and then leaned back. He stretched out his arms and made himself comfortable.
“What an insufferable jerk,” I said under my breath.
“What did you say, dear?” Mom came up behind me and asked.
I looked over at Cole and wondered how I could have been such a fool to let myself fall for him. At first, he was such a dream come true. He was handsome, had power—being a Greene County deputy and all—and he lavished me with the attention I needed. I guess that’s what I found so exciting then, but now he was a nightmare in the making. A bullet had changed him forever. He was arrogant, obnoxious, and so full of himself, and he was determined to ruin my life with Billy. Poor Claire had no idea of what she was getting herself into by seeing him.
“Nothing, Mom,” I replied. “Let’s have some of that hot chocolate.”
CHAPTER 7
The day grew late and it was getting close to dinnertime as the four of us sat and chatted. The kids spent their time rolling around on the floor with the dogs and not once did they stop to take a break. Billy still hadn’t returned home.
“Jesse, Sheriff Hudson’s a good man,” Cole said. “If you’d give him half a chance, you’d realize that.”
“I never said he wasn’t. The problem I have with him is that he’s a man of power and a lot of times they forget their humble beginnings. Once they get into that position, they use it to push people around.”
“Wake Hudson isn’t like that,” Claire joined in. “As a matter-of-fact, I’ve had a few conversations with him since your accident and I firmly believe he could have handled the situation with Carl, if we’d given him the opportunity. We never should’ve gone off half-cocked like we did.”
“Is that what he told you?” I asked.
“Yes, it is,” Claire replied. “He also said that the D.C. Police aren’t too happy with Billy. They believed Carl when he told them it was okay for the kids to be with him. Now the kids are back home and nobody knows where Carl is. I guess his friends miss him.”
“The problem now,” Cole added, “is that Carl hasn’t resurfaced. It’s been almost a week and nobody’s seen him. He’s nowhere to be found.”
“Who cares?”
“You should care,” Cole said as he stood. He walked over to the fire and picked up a poker. He stirred the embers in the fireplace and then threw on another log. He sat down on the hearth. “After Sheriff Hudson called the D.C. Police to tell them about the return of the kids, they went back to Carl’s house, but he didn’t answer the door. At the time they didn’t see anything that was suspicious. A couple of days later, Carl’s boss reported him missing. He told the police that Carl always checked in regardless of where he was—even if he was on vacation. The cops were sent back to Carl’s house armed with a search warrant. When Carl didn’t answer the door, they went in through an unlocked window. They said there were signs of a struggle.”
“What kind of signs?” I asked. My stomach churned at the thought of Billy’s account of the events of that night. He said he had hit Carl once, and Carl had hit him, but it was nothing.
“They said a lamp had been knocked over and they found blood on the floor.”
“How much blood did they find?” I asked. I was shaking inside and was afraid of his answer.
“It was just a few drops, but it was enough for the police to suspect something. While the blood is being analyzed, they plan to check out the property he owns. Sheriff Hudson said that he could be hiding out just to throw off the police and to get back at Claire.”
“Is Billy a suspect?”
“I’m sure he will be if the police conclude that Carl has been, well, you know.” Cole looked over in the direction of the kids and then back. “He can be placed at the scene.”
I rose from the sofa and walked over to Cole. I looked around the room from Mom to Claire, and then back to Cole. “Why didn’t someone tell me about this earlier?”
“This is a first for me,” Mom said, looking my way. “I never…”
Cole held up his hand. “The police aren’t releasing any details until they have more evidence. They’re still not sure a crime has been committed. They did a search of the rest of the house and everything seemed intact.”
I was shocked at Cole’s statement. Did Billy know any of this, and why was Cole telling us about it if none of the information had been released? He never used to give out details of a case.
“I don’t believe a word of it. You’re making this up to scare me.”
“Why would I do that?”
I gave him an evil look and then turned and walked away. My throat was dry and I felt sick. I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Mom and Claire followed.
“Are you okay, honey?” Mom asked. She put her hand on my shoulder and then turned back around to look at Cole. “I hope you’re not making this up young man, because if you are, I’m going to be real mad. If this is a joke, I don’t find it to be the least bit funny.”
“It’s not a joke,” Cole said as he walked toward the kitchen. “I just found out myself. I waited to say anything until I got here. I didn’t even tell Claire. I thought Billy would be here and then I could tell everybody at the same time. This is all one big mystery and things just don’t add up. There’re a few other clues that Carl planned all this and the police are investigating as to whether he’s met with foul play in the process, or whether he’s trying to make it look like he has. He stopped delivery of his newspaper and had his mail rerouted to a post office box. That makes it look as if he planned to be gone for a while—like he was taking a long vacation. The lights at his house are on a timer, so everything appears normal to the neighbors. His car isn’t in the garage. The cops interviewed the neighbor next door and she told them that Carl told her he was taking his kids to his place in Florida… with his wife.”
“His wife?” Claire said, stunned.
“That’s what the woman said,” Cole responded. “She said he was getting back with his wife and that they were moving to Florida.”
“That’s
crazy! That’s never going to happen. Carl made it up!”
“He probably planned to run off with the kids and was covering his butt. Unfortunately, there’s that little puddle of blood on the floor to contend with. Why would someone who’s going on a vacation leave a mess like that? Why not clean it up first? I guess his vacation plans were changed when Billy took the kids from him. I’m sure he was shocked.”
I was surprised at Cole. He acted as if he was a part of our family… unlike the way he used to be. When we first started dating and even up until the time he was shot, he would never give us the details about a case even if it involved one of us. Now he was pouring out his heart.
“It seems to me that there once was a time when I couldn’t get crap out of you about anything. Now you’re spilling your guts. What happened to that man?”
“He found out how short life is,” Cole said as he walked up to me. He turned to Claire, put his arm around her, and then smiled. “Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to hold things back from people… especially if it’s your own family.”
“I thought you said that the police weren’t releasing any details.”
“They’re not releasing anything to the press.”
“A man’s been missing for almost a week, a man who was involved in the kidnapping of his own children and then had them forcibly taken from him, and you’re telling me that the press hasn’t heard a word about it?”
“Look at what Billy did. He stole those kids right out from under their noses. The police don’t like to be standing around with egg on their face. How would it look if they built a case of murder and then Carl showed his face? No, they’re taking their time and holding off until they’re absolutely sure that a crime has been committed. The blood is still being analyzed.”
“What’s taking them so long? Billy could’ve had that blood analyzed in a day.”
“Billy might be a super hero, but in the real world, things take time. Forensics is so backlogged, it isn’t funny, and don’t forget that we’re talking about Washington, D.C., not Stanardsville. Can you even imagine what it’s like on the streets of D.C.? Does the expression, ‘It’s a jungle out there?’ mean anything to you? Well, it really is a jungle out there in D.C., and the cops have their hands full. Sometimes it takes a while.”
