by Trina Lane
“To be honest, I was hoping you might be able to help answer that. Luca held me captive and tortured me for seven months. The man I knew prior to being taken was clearly a façade, and I guess I was hoping you’d be able to fill in a lot of blanks about his history.”
Cecelia started tearing up again and Javier once again hated that he’d atom-bombed the woman’s hopes for the day.
“So you knew him? Before?”
Javier nodded. “I guess you could say we had dated.”
“So my brother, and I even shudder a little bit calling him that now, kidnapped, tortured and tried to murder his boyfriend? No wonder you initially looked at me like I was the antichrist. How long were you together?”
Javier rubbed the back of his neck. “‘Dated’ and ‘boyfriend’ aren’t exactly the right labels. Honestly, I think he was just an opportunist and sexuality didn’t play a part in any of his choices. The details of our relationship probably cross into the area of ‘you don’t want to know.’ But I respected him. I watched out for him. And, the day his mask came off was…well, shock would be putting it mildly.”
“I guess this means neither of us are going to find what we’re searching for today. This whole trip was a waste. I wish I had answers for you. I really do. And I feel like I should apologize to you for Luca’s actions. Maybe I got lucky not growing up in that family? The old nature or nurture debate, you know?”
“I don’t deny that our experiences shape us as individuals, but I also believe that there are just some people who have evil inside them. Regardless, don’t apologize. I’ve never believed in that whole ‘sins of the father’ crap, or I guess brother in this case. Luca made his choices. I’m sorry I don’t have any way of helping you get the answers you were looking for about either Luca or your father. Can I ask you a question?”
Cecelia shrugged. “Why not?”
“Was there anything that immediately stood out at your father’s house that seemed like it belonged to Luca? An old bedroom or box of stuff?”
“Not that I noticed, but I haven’t made it through the attic or basement yet. Why?”
“The case against him is closed, but Agent Yang is still working with the profilers who helped. Would you agree to let them on the premises? Maybe they might find insight or have questions we don’t know about.”
“Wouldn’t they have done that during the investigation?”
“I don’t know if they ever spoke to your father. And from what you’re saying, he’s incapable of providing information at this point. I just thought that maybe if there was some stuff lying around, it could help future cases that are similar.”
“I’ll have to think about it. You’re right that my father can’t make decisions anymore, but it’s still his property.”
“Fair enough. Since it’s not an open investigation, I doubt they’re going to come knocking with a warrant or anything. I’ll give you Agent Yang’s contact information and you can make that choice.”
Cecelia nodded and stood. “I’m sure you have to get back to work. Sorry I ruined your lunch.”
Javier held out his hand. “I wish it had been better circumstances, but it was nice to meet you. You didn’t mention where you’re from.”
“I flew in from New York, but I live in Connecticut.”
“Are you in town for long?”
“No, just a couple of days. I’ve never been to Texas, so I’ll play tourist then find my way back home.”
Javier reached across his desk and grabbed a sticky note. “Here’s my cell and Agent Yang’s,” he said, scribbling out the numbers. “If you need anything while you’re here, let me know.”
Cecelia paused before taking the paper. “Thanks. I don’t know why you’re being so nice to me, but…have a good life, Javier. I really mean that.”
“I’m trying. Each and every day.”
He saw her out the back door and headed back to his office. Javier quickly glanced at his scheduling software to see if his next patient had arrived yet, but there wasn’t a check mark by their name yet. He sat in his desk chair and unlocked his phone, immediately calling Mal.
“You are not going to believe what just happened.”
“Your evil clone and his pet monkey just arrived from the future and claim they need you to sleep with a transgender stripper in order to save the planet or they will banish you to Buford, Wyoming with the Continuum Transfunctioner.”
“I’m worried about the places your mind goes. No, a woman came by to see me. She was Luca’s sister.”
“What the fuck! Did you call the cops? Agent Yang? What did she want? Are you okay?”
He replayed the conversation for Malaki’s benefit. “You know, the weird thing is that even though neither one of us got the answers we wanted, I definitely think she got the shittier end of the conversation.”
“So do you feel better or was the whole situation just weird?”
“I don’t know, a little of both maybe.”
Kelsie hovered outside Javier’s office door. “I’m sorry to bother you, but there are a couple of policemen out here who want to talk to you.”
“Oh, crap, I forgot. I gotta run, the po-po are here. Probably going write me a ticket for crying wolf.”
Kelsie pointed towards the waiting area then left, but not before Javier caught her little chuckle.
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. I have a whole week of misery to make up for and I need a good…cuddle.”
“Mmhm? And would this cuddling involve any naked body parts?”
“It had better,” Malaki growled.
“Then you better just consider me your little teddy bear.”
“Oh, Javi, there is nothing little about you.”
“Really, gotta go. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
He hung up and headed out to face the music. “I’m so sorry, Officers. I didn’t really think Agent Yang was going to call in the cavalry so quickly. But I assure you that everything is okay.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Agent Yang? FBI. Called you for a safety check because the sister of the man who held and tortured me for seven months dropped in unannounced and I kind of panicked? But it turns out everything is fine. She’s not a narcissiopath like her brother. Well, half-brother apparently, and… You look like you have no idea what I’m talking about.”
Both men shook their heads. One of them stepped forward and Javier looked at the patch with his last name stitched in bold white letters.
“Are you Javier Alde?”
“Yes, Sergeant Murphy, I am. If you’re not here for the safety check, what are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but we need to speak to you. Is there someplace with more privacy we can go?”
Javier glanced around the empty waiting room. “I’m fine here.”
“Okay then, we need you to come identify a body.”
“A what? Who?”
“Your mother, Salena Alde. I’m very sorry to tell you this, but she was found in her apartment this morning. Preliminary results suggest it was natural causes. I am very sorry for your loss.”
The front door opened and Javier saw his first patient of the afternoon hobble in. “Hola, Sr. Valdez, siéntese y estaré con usted en un momento.”
“Mr. Alde, did you hear what I said?” Sergeant Murphy asked.
“Yes, and I have questions. So many questions,” he repeated in a whisper.
“I understand. If you’ll come with us, we might be able to help. Can we give you a ride?”
“No, thank you. If you tell me where I need to go, I’ll stop by after work.”
Sergeant Murphy took a few steps forward and indicated for Javier to move out of the open area of the waiting room. “Mr. Alde, do you understand what we are telling you?”
“Yes, Sergeant. I understand English just fine, contrary to what you may assume.”
“That’s not what I… Mr. Alde, your mother—”
<
br /> “See, let me stop you right there. I’m going to set aside the question of how you came to the conclusion of my alleged connection to this woman. You stated that you have a woman identified as Salena Alde in the morgue and you’d like me to come see if she is the same woman who gave birth to me. The same woman who, last time we spoke, told me I was an abomination and would burn in hell. She completely excised me from her life and last I’d heard was no longer even living in the US. So I will finish my scheduled appointments for the day because my patients need me, and most of them volunteer their gratitude on a daily basis. After my responsibilities have been met, I will do as you request, but please consider I haven’t seen my mother in a nearly a decade, so this woman may not match the one in my memories.”
The other officer cleared his throat and held out a business card. “This is the medical examiner’s information. You can call when you’re ready to come down. I’m sure he’ll be flexible to your schedule. We’ll be on our way so as not to disrupt your patients any further.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
The one who’d offered him the card nodded and grabbed his partner by the arm when the man opened his mouth to no doubt give Javier another piece of his mind. Clearly his lack of grief confounded the man. But he didn’t really care. It wasn’t as if he had to justify his feelings to a complete stranger.
He popped his head around the corner and saw Mr. Valdez check his watch. “Siento la tardanza. Sólo uno más momento y yo estaremos con usted.”
Javier quickly send Malaki a text.
Hey, love. Change of plans. Meet me at work when you’re done and we need to run an errand. I’m going to need you to drive because I plan on getting drunk…very drunk tonight.
* * * *
Javier opened the door to the medical examiner’s office. With each step towards the desk in the middle of the lobby, the goosebumps on his skin seemed to grow. Mal’s hand on his lower back chased away some of the chill, but Javier still felt there was more ice than blood running through his veins.
“Can I help you?”
Javier tried to hide the tremor in his hands by gripping the edge of the counter. “My name is Javier Alde. I have an appointment with the medical examiner.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll let Dr. Liefson know you’re here.”
“Thank you.” He turned to look at Mal. “Why am I so nervous?”
“Because you’re about to see your mom for the first time in nine years. It’s perfectly normal to feel some uncertainty.”
“If she were alive, I would totally buy into that. But my mom is reportedly dead. So it’s not as if anything is really going to change in my life. All I need to do is look at…look at a body, and tell them if…if it’s her.”
“Mr. Alde, I’m Dr. Liefson, the chief medical examiner for Dallas County. Thank you for coming down. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
The doctor stood tall. His black suit said consummate professional but the deep purple sneaks with coordinating checked shirt and tie said he had personality. Javier shook his hand, “Yes, well, as I told the officers who came to my work, I haven’t had any contact with Salena Alde in almost a decade. I’m not entirely sure what information I have that will be helpful to you.”
“Come with me, please.”
They followed Dr. Liefson through the lobby, ran a maze of hallways and down a floor until they came to a set of doors leading to the morgue. Javier knew because it said so, but it might have been his imagination that made it seem as if they were blinking in neon colors. They went through the doors, but instead of finding himself faced with rows of metal cabinets that held bodies, Javier and Mal entered an office.
“Okay, so if you don’t want an up-close view I can project the table onto the LCD screen here.”
He glanced over at the bookcases and credenza that took up one entire wall, and sure enough, there was a decent-sized TV hanging on the wall right in the middle.
“What do you want, Javi?”
On one hand, he wanted to get this over as fast as possible, but on the other… “If this really is the last time I’ll ever see her, I think I want to do it in person.”
Dr. Liefson nodded. “I understand. Come this way.”
There was another door in the corner that Javier hadn’t noticed before, but when he passed through, it was as if he’d entered another world, cold and sterile where the office had been warm and homey. He shivered and leaned in to Malaki’s arm around him. His eyes were glued to the body-shaped sheet seemingly hovering in the air. As they got closer Javier noticed smells. Some were familiar as generic medical scents, but others cluttered his sinuses in a way that he knew wouldn’t dissipate until long after the day ended.
Dr. Liefson pulled back the sheet to reveal a woman’s face. As Javier stared down, he tried to catalog features that should be familiar. The black hair was shorter than he remembered, but the deep-set eyes and narrow lips matched his memories. The one obvious element that was wrong was her skin color. Instead of the tawny beige color highlighted with rose undertones, the body in front of him had a blueish-purple marble-like appearance.
“It’s her.” He looked up at the medical examiner. “Can you tell me anything about her?”
“She died of a massive pulmonary embolism.”
“A blood clot?”
“Yes. The officers mentioned on the phone that you had not seen your mother in a very long time?”
Javier nodded “Almost ten years. Is there anything else you can tell me? Where did she live? Work?”
“I’m sorry. I only know what was in the police report. She was found in an apartment in the Urban Park neighborhood. I’m sure the detectives assigned to the case can answer your questions.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t really matter, I guess.”
A single tear found its way down his cheek unchecked. And as if it called out to the universe in its loneliness, the flood gates opened and Javier screamed out years of pain, unanswered questions, self-loathing and regret. He sought shelter against Malaki, unmindful of the tears that soaked his shirt.
“I’ve got you, Javi. Just let it all out.”
He tried to put his arms around Mal, but his limbs suddenly weighed a hundred pounds each and hung at his sides. The air behind him moved and his ears rang with the sound of metal sliding on metal. He looked up just as Dr. Liefson shut the door of the cooler with a resounding click. When he was able to stand on his own he turned around, trying to appear composed, but undoubtedly looking a muddled, snot-nosed mess.
“What do I do now?”
That was a question with so many interpretations, and he was in no place to even contemplate half of them.
“With her, I mean?”
“That’s up to you. You are under no obligation to claim the body.”
“If I don’t, what will happen to her?”
“You have twenty-seven more days to make a decision. If more than thirty days pass and a body remains unclaimed, they are cremated and the county disposes of them in a local cemetery.”
“Okay, I don’t know what to do right now.”
“I can understand that. You know how to reach me when you do.”
He turned to look at Mal. “Can we go now?”
“Yeah, love. We can go. I called Brandon and Tyler on my way to pick you up and they should be in the city about now. How does some top shelf tequila sound?”
“Like the answer to all my prayers.”
Malaki nodded to Dr. Liefson and Javier followed his lead back up to the lobby. Where before his body had practically vibrated, now numbness pervaded. He came to when the metallic black of Malaki’s truck door swarmed his vision.
Mal turned Javier around and cupped his cheek. He bent down and when their lips touched, it was like a jolt from an AED. Life suddenly filled him again. Fortunately, that life belonged to the man he loved with all his heart.
“Oh, Javi. I’m so sorry,” Malaki said when they parted.
&nb
sp; “You know, it’s strange? I shouldn’t feel sad. Not really. Like I said, it’s not as if losing her is going to change anything. So why does it hurt so much?”
“Maybe because where before somewhere in your subconscious, there was a glimmer of hope that someday the two of you might reconcile, now the story of your relationship has truly ended.”
Javier shrugged. “Maybe. Let’s go get drunk. Well, I’ll get drunk. I’m just going to apologize in advance for you having to deal with me later.”
Malaki kissed him softly. “No apology necessary. Now let’s go.”
Chapter Fifteen
“I’m sorry, but you mean to tell me that your mother has been living in Dallas all this time? Was living? Had lived? I probably could have figured that out two shots ago.”
Javier saluted Brandon then swallowed another shot of tequila. “Apparently.”
Their little party had made liberal use of the happy hour specials. Or at least he and Brandon had. God bless his mate for sacrificing his liver on behalf of their friendship.
“What a bitch.”
Tyler squeezed Brandon’s hand while he sipped his beer.
“Sorry,” Brandon mumbled
Javier shrugged. “It’s not something I haven’t already said.”
“So what did the police have to say?” Tyler asked.
“We only talked to the medical examiner. He said they’ve actually had her down in the morgue for three days while they tried to find next of kin. They ended up tracking me down because of my birth certificate on file with the records office. They also apparently found my parents’ marriage license and record of divorce.”
“Did they try to find your dad?”
He rolled his beer bottle between his hands. Mal’s big body took up more than his share of the booth, and if Javier didn’t think it would completely emasculate him, he would probably have laid his head on his lover’s shoulder.
“Javi?”
He looked up at the group. “Huh?”
“Did they try to locate your dad?”
“Oh, um, I don’t think so. I don’t know really. Haven’t talked to any of the investigators yet.”
“What do we need to do for a funeral?” Tyler asked.
