by Jan Sumner
Chapter 27
Mike had made his call to Barbara Wilkes explaining the situation and supposition he’d formed. She was aghast to find out that Jonathan might actually be related to her brother. She expressed her like and concern for Jonathan and asked for a day to figure out what to do, but felt sure she’d help him out and let them dig up Jack’s remains.
She knew, however, that could be the end for her in Storm Lake. Once the feds moved in, so would the press and it would quickly become unendurable. She told Mike she just needed to talk it over with her husband and she’d get back to him the next day.
In the mean time, Mike had started making arrangements for the unearthing of Zane’s body in Storm Lake. He felt very confident she would consent, and he could hopefully bring this to an expedient close.
Jonathan’s father had never seen him cry, except when he was little, so the sight of him with tears streaming down his face was painful. He immediately moved to him, grabbed him by the shoulders, “My God, son, what’s the matter?”
Jonathan couldn’t keep it in anymore, the reality of it finally hit him, seeing his dad, it rolled over him like a heavy sea. Sobbing he said, “Dad, I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry? Sorry for what?” His dad couldn’t believe what he was seeing. What could possibly be this bad? This sad?
“Dad, c’mon lets go sit down in the living room. I have something I need to tell you.”
They moved to the living room, Jonathan trying to gather himself. All the way up from New Orleans he kept thinking how difficult this was going to be, but now…looking his dad in the face, well, it was going to be much harder than he ever imagined.
There he sat, a look of deep concern on his face, the worry only a real father would have for his son. And, make no mistake about it, this was Jonathan’s real father, no matter what genetics might say. He knew how he felt, but what was his dad going to think, would this change him, make him feel differently? This was so overpowering it had to change him to some extent, there’s no way it couldn’t. All these wild thoughts rushed through Jonathan’s mind, while his dad sat patiently, waiting for what he sensed was news of the worst possible kind.
“Dad,” he said, his voice breaking and weak, “There’s no easy way around this, no gentle way to say it…”
“Jonathan, its okay, whatever you have to tell me…just tell me.”
He could feel the emotion building up again, the pressure in his throat, the tears wanting to fall, “There’s a strong possibility that Zane did more than beat mom up…he probably…raped her.”
His dad got rigid, looked stern, “What? What are you saying?”
“It looks like he raped her and she became pregnant…with me and Matthew.” He collapsed back on the couch, totally drained, feeling sick all over, thinking he wanted to die and leave all this behind. His dad sat paralyzed, unable to speak, frozen in disbelief.
Finally, realizing what he’d been told, “Jonathan, what makes you think this is true, I mean…how is this possible?”
“Mike Hansen called me from Montana and told me of his suspicions based on the strong resemblance between Zane and Matthew.”
His dad stood up, indignant, “Are you kidding? This is based on the fact that they looked alike?” He was growing more angry by the second, “Jonathan, you can’t be serious, why would you do this, come here with only suspicions. I can’t believe you’d do this to me, haven’t we been through enough?”
He turned and went upstairs, Jonathan could hear his bedroom door slam shut. He sat limp on the couch, all emotion gone. He didn’t blame his dad, he’d had the same reaction when he’d heard it; disbelief, anger, denial. What was important, was that he be there for him when he did accept it, let him know that it in no way would it change their relationship. For Jonathan, he always had been and always would be…his dad.
Barbara had gotten back to Mike and given him the go ahead to dig up her brother’s remains. She knew the town would protest, but she’d also decided once they removed him, she was going to have him cremated and end it. Maybe with him out of the cemetery, things would die down and she and Clyde could at last live in peace. If not, well, they’d just have to move on. There were plenty of places they could go and slip back into anonymity.
Mike had arranged to have the Iowa Bureau of Investigation take care of the casket removal and forward DNA information to him in Montana. He’d also set up the cremation for Barbara. They’d notify her when the ashes were ready. He was trying to keep it as low key as possible, but knew once the news got out, the media would descend. There was probably nothing he could do about that, except move fast, and get it over with as quickly as possible. The IBI told him they would do their best to expedite things.
Jonathan’s dad didn't come out of his room the rest of the evening. Finally, after mindlessly watching some television, Jonathan went up to bed. As he passed his dad’s bedroom door, he stopped, heard nothing and went on to bed. Hopefully, they could talk the next morning. Jonathan was exhausted and went to sleep in a matter of seconds.
He awoke the next morning to the smell of coffee. He crawled out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and was shocked to see he looked like a toad. His face was all swollen and his eyes red. After trying to clean up a little bit, he made his way downstairs. There was his dad, making breakfast in the kitchen. Jonathan pulled up a chair and sat down. He felt like warmed over death. His dad stopped cooking for a second, turned and saw how bad he looked, “Are you all right? You don’t look very good.”
Jonathan looked up, amazed at his dad’s cheeriness. “Oh, I’m okay, how are you feeling?”
“Better… did you get any sleep?”
“Yeah, actually I slept like a log.”
His dad placed one of those delicious breakfasts, only he could make, in front of him, then got himself one and sat down. He looked fine, better than Jonathan actually. He gazed at Jonathan pleasantly, “I thought about what you said most of the night, what it meant to me, what it meant to us, and you know what? It doesn’t change a thing. Even if it is true, and the bastard was your biological father, I’m still your real dad. I’m the dad who took you to school, bandaged the cuts, went hunting with you…and I’m the dad who raised and loved you your whole life. So, I don’t care what the results are…I’m your true dad, and I always will be.”
Jonathan could see the pride, the dignity and, most importantly…he was right, he was his true dad, not that malevolence buried out there in Iowa.
Dad, I couldn’t have said it better myself. You are exactly right, you are the only dad I’ve ever known and will ever know.
“You know, of course, there are going to be questions, most of which won’t be pleasant, but you know what…we can deal with them. Heck, we’ve already been through this before with Matthew, so why not put the finishing touch on it.”
They toasted each other with their coffee cups and, dove into their gourmet breakfasts.
Three days had passed and the IBI had done the excavation, removed the casket and the remains of Jack Zane, and forwarded on the necessary DNA evidence. Mike would now have the Montana Bureau of Investigation pathology lab do the tests to determine if Jack Zane and Matthew Smyth were, in fact, related. He put it on a priority basis.
Just like clockwork, all hell broke loose in Storm Lake. The town council went ballistic, demanding to know what was going on. They were still under the assumption Zane’s body had already been removed and was no longer in their cemetery. They, of course, came immediately to Barbara and demanded an explanation. She had no choice but to own up to what she’d done, apologize, and try to explain to them that things would be different now. She was having her brother's remains cremated and that would put an end to it. Typical of government entities there was a split in sentiment. Some felt she’d betrayed them; lied about her brother and the only logical alternative was for her and Clyde to move
as soon as possible. Saner voices however prevailed, which included the mayor. They felt she was probably right, things would settle down and there was no need to panic at this point. She and Clyde had been longtime and loyal citizens and were welcome to stay. She was relieved, because of the two choices, staying was what she wanted most.
Mike sat by the phone, anxiously awaiting the results. After what seemed an eon, his secretary buzzed him and told him the test results were in. He ran to the lab. A man in a white lab coat was waiting for him, looked unemotional, placid. He motioned for Mike to follow him down the hall. They went into a room full of test tubes, computers and strange looking pieces of equipment.
“Here, sit here,” the tech said, pulling out a chair.
Mike sat down in front of a large metal table with paper, beakers and computer printouts. He waited impatiently as the lab tech talked on the phone. He wanted to start looking, sorting, but knew he’d have no idea what he was looking at, so he waited. Finally, the man came and sat down beside him. He reached across a table and grabbed the computer data. Pulling them in front of Mike he said, “Lets see, you wanted to know if these two men were a match, yes?”
Mike wanted to grab the guy by the collars and say, “Are you kidding, why else would I be here?” But he thought discretion was the better choice, “Yes, yes that’s right.”
The man started sliding his finger down the numbers and mumbling to himself. Mike could feel the heat rising in his neck and, just about the time he was ready to blow, the guy stopped, “Ah, here we go, this is what you’re after.” He pointed and looked at Mike.
“So what does that mean, are they a match?” Mike said impatiently.
“Absolutely…there’s no doubt about it.”
Mike slowly rose from his seat, turned and walked out of the room. He was both relieved and saddened. The facts were in and the facts were…Zane was the biological father of Jonathan and Matthew Smyth.
He went back to his office and sat in his chair staring out the window at the cold winter afternoon. A storm was moving in, which only added to his sorrow.
The upside was he’d forewarned Jonathan, which would allow him and his dad to prepare for the worst. Still, what tragic and heartbreaking news. Zane had certainly destroyed his family, but he wasn’t part of it. Jonathan was going to have to deal with the fact this guy was his father, albeit in the genetic sense only and their dad would have to live with the fact he’d raised the sons of a serial killer. Mike wondered if Jonathan would have ever dreamt this is how the story would turn out when he started his research.
Jonathan had let Mike know he was going to his dad’s and he could be reached there. Mike made the call. Jonathan’s dad answered, “Hello?”
“Mr. Smyth, this is Mike Hansen from Montana calling. Is Jonathan there?”
“Well Mike, he’s taking a nap right now. This has been kind of tough.”
“Yes sir…I’m sorry. I can call back later.”
“No, it’s all right you can tell me what the results are.”
Mike was hoping to talk to Jonathan. He’d never talked to Mr. Smyth before and the first time he did, well…its horrible news.
“So, you and Jonathan have talked about this?”
“Yes, last night and this morning. We’re ready for whatever it is you have to tell us.”
There was a disquieting silence on the other end of the phone.
“Mike, I’m assuming by your reticence, that the results were positive. Zane was their biological father.”
“Yes sir, you’re right…and I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Jonathan and I talked about it and both of us feel it changes nothing. He’s my son and I’m his dad. It’s always been that way and always will be. These lab results change nothing.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, sir, as you probably know, my family fell victim to Zane as well and, if I’ve learned nothing else over the years, it’s that you just have to be stronger than the infamous legacy of this man. And it sounds like that’s exactly what you and Jonathan are doing. Please give him my best and tell him I’ll be in touch. If there’s anything I can do for either one of you, please don’t hesitate to call.”
They hung up and Steve Smyth sat motionless. With all the talk, all the posturing, it still hurt. Oh sure, they’d act like nothing had changed, but it was tainted, just a little. These were, in fact, his adopted sons, not his…hey, he thought, don’t give in to that stuff. Jonathan is your son in every way and that will never change, come hell or high water. He did wonder if Kim would have ever told him, but there was nothing he could do about that now.
It was getting on toward dinnertime, Jonathan still sleeping, so Steve made his way to the kitchen to start dinner. Maybe tonight they could have a pleasant dinner without emotional distress. Just sit and talk and enjoy each other’s company. Once the news broke, well, they probably wouldn’t have that luxury for a while. T-bone steak, he thought, Jonathan loves T-bone steak.
