Chapter 70: Confrontations and Confirmations

September, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

On Tuesday morning, just after Julia called the staff meeting to order, the doorbell rang three times in quick succession, and then I heard a pounding on the door. The last time that had happened, it had been the FBI. I hadn't heard from them in months, but given the spy ring investigation and my relationship with Tanya and her family, anything could happen. I excused myself and went to the door.

"Mr. Stephen Adams?" a scruffy-looking kid about my age asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Process server. I have a subpoena for you."

I took the envelope from him and signed his receipt. He turned and left while I opened the envelope and unfolded the sheets of paper. Callie Shepherd's lawsuit was going forward, and she had subpoenaed me as a witness. I shut the door and went to my study and dialed Robert Klein's number. His assistant put me right through.

"You don't need representation for this. You aren't party to the suit. Just tell the truth and don't worry about it. The University will certainly want to depose you, but that's going to be friendly enough that I don't need to be there. If it's not, you can ask to stop and call me. Warn your friends who were involved that the University may subpoena them, if Miss Shepherd didn't."

"I will. Thanks."

I marked the date on my calendar, tossed the subpoena into my 'In' box, and went back to the staff meeting. When it finished, I went to find Charlie, who didn't have a Tuesday morning class.

"Hey," I said. "I was just served with a subpoena to testify in Callie's lawsuit against IIT. I talked to Mr. Klein, and he said you might be subpoenaed by IIT."

"Well, that sucks. I thought this whole thing was over!"

"In this case, we just have to tell the truth and we're done. We don't need a lawyer or anything."

"OK," she sighed. "I just want that whole thing to be over and done with. I'm carrying an extra load this semester because of it, and my parents are still pissed at me."

"I really don't think it's anything to worry about. Just wait to see if they subpoena you. If you see Bert today, let him know."

I went back to the NIKA office and started working. I tried to put everything out of my mind and had just gotten into the zone when Dany tapped my arm.

"Doorbell," she said.

I sighed and got up and went to the front door.

"Where's Bethany?" a very agitated, stocky, preppy-looking young man asked.

I was sure he was Andrew, and his agitation concerned me.

"She's not here," I said.

"Where is she?" he said angrily.

I could tell that this was going to rapidly escalate, no matter what I said.

"One sec," I said, then raised my voice, "Dave, I need you at the front door."

"Where is she?" Andrew said again.

Dave walked up and stood at my side, but said nothing.

"I told you that she's not here. I'm guessing that you're Andrew. I'll tell her you stopped by."

"You're him!" He hissed. "Look, jackass, she's my fiancée and I want to talk to her. Now, let me see her."

"Andrew?" Dave said firmly but friendly, "She's not here. Honestly. She left with some friends yesterday before I arrived home."

"What friends?" he demanded, seething.

I decided to keep quiet and let Dave handle things. I knew far too much and didn't want to be caught lying.

"I honestly don't know," Dave said. "Her roommate might know, but she's in class. We'll tell Bethany you stopped by when we see her."

"Look, go get her. I'm not leaving until you do," he insisted, putting his foot forward in such a way that I wouldn't be able to close the door.

I raised my voice, "Julia, please come here."

She was there quickly.

"Please go call the police," I said firmly. "Tell them we have a trespasser."

She turned.

"No, wait!" Andrew said, suddenly sounding reasonable. "She really isn't here and you don't know where she is?"

Julia stopped and came back to the door.

"I don't," Dave said. "All we can do is let her know you stopped by when we hear from her."

"OK," he said, deflating a bit.

"Andrew," Julia said. "If you guys had a fight, give her a couple of days to calm down. I'll make sure that she knows you were here."

"OK," he said, turning on his heel and stalking down the stairs and then towards UofC.

I shut the door and leaned against it.

"He seems kind of volatile," Dave said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "That worries me. A lot. At least the threat of the police seemed to bring him back to earth."

"For now," Dave said. "Does he know she broke it off with him?"

"Apparently not," I said.

"One of us guys needs to be with her full-time after she tells him," Dave said. "He might hurt her."

"And then I'll kill him," I said flatly.

"Go back to work, Steve," Julia said. "Just relax and wait until you hear from Bethany."

I took a deep breath, let it out, and then went back to my computer next to Dany.

"Are you OK?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah. That was Bethany's fiancé, though I don't think for much longer."

"What's going on? I'm confused now."

I chuckled and nodded, "Me too. I'll tell you over lunch."

Thankfully, the rest of the day was uneventful. After a special Tuesday karate class, I called Kathy's apartment to check on Bethany. Kathy said that Bethany had gone to class and was doing homework, though she was crying a lot of the time. I let Kathy know that Andrew had stopped by and expressed Dave's concern. Kathy was happy that I hadn't told Andrew where Bethany was, nor would I, and said that she would let Bethany know that he'd stopped by. I promised to call again on Wednesday night, and we hung up after saying 'goodbye'.

I called Kara into my study and we called Jessica on the speaker phone. It was a short call, mostly just a short catch-up on our day's events, though I did have to take a bit of time to explain the situation with Callie Shepherd. Jessica was sympathetic and said she'd come to Chicago if I needed her support. I let her know that I didn't think that would be necessary, but I gave her the trial date that was on the subpoena. She asked about Bethany and I described my conversation with Kathy.

That night, I juggled my schedule a bit so that I could sleep with the mothers of my child. Jennifer was showing a bit more each day, and Josie was getting a real kick out of it. While we were lying in bed cuddling, we talked about how we were going to handle things in the Spring.

"I talked to Scott and I'll take about six weeks off once Jesse is born," Jennifer said. "That will take us into April. Kara's classes end in the middle of May so she'll be able to watch him during the Summer. I think we should get someone to watch him during your normal work hours, Steve. You seem a lot busier that we thought you would be."

"That's a good problem to have, for sure," I said. "I guess we want someone from mid-April to mid-May? That makes it tough for it to be a student."

"I'm going to talk to Alice and see if maybe she knows someone who doesn't work," Jennifer said. "If not, I guess we just start asking around for a baby sitter who can work 8 to 5. And to be clear, Josie and I are paying for this, not you."

"Just ask me if you need me to contribute," I said.

"We make a lot more than you do right now!" Josie said.

"True, but we're getting there. I figure in a year Dave and Julia will be able to move out because we'll raise their salaries up to something reasonable without the room and board thrown in, so to speak. I can't pay myself more until I make sure that the rest of the people are properly paid."

We talked a bit more before Josie and I turned so that Jennifer was spooned between us, and we fell asleep.

Wednesday was thankfully quiet, and Elyse joined me in bed that night. Thursday started off with multiple doorbell rings and pounding on the door. I was getting really tired of process servers, FBI agents, and Andrew. Today, though, it was two officers from the Chicago Police Department.

"We're looking for Miss Bethany Krajick. We have a 'missing person' report filed by her fiancée. May we speak to her?"

I wanted to scream, but instead, carefully controlled my voice.

"She's not missing," I said. "She simply doesn't want to speak to Andrew."

"We need to see her; we have an official missing person report."

"She's at a friend's house, and she does not want her fiancée to know where that is. There's some serious concern that he might harm her."

"We'll need to talk to her. If she tells us that she's OK and that she doesn't want to talk to him, that will be the end of the matter. Do you have an address?"

"I do. Please wait here and I'll get it."

I went to my study and got my address book. The officer who had been speaking copied down her address and Kathy's phone number. I looked at their badges and nametags, and committed the names 'Perez' and 'Jackson' to memory.

"Thanks. We'll check on her."

"It's Wednesday, so she might be in class at Loyola. You could probably check there and find her. I'm sure she's been going to class."

"Thanks," they said, and turned to return to the patrol car, which was double-parked in front of the house.

This situation was rapidly deteriorating. The 'missing person' report was Andrew's way of trying to force the issue, or perhaps trying to cause trouble for me. I hoped the officers kept their word and dropped the matter once they found her. The last thing I wanted was for Andrew to know where her refuge was. The other issue I had to think about was that her engagement ring was on my desk.

I went back to my study, unlocked the desk, and got the ring. I relocked the desk and then went up to Bethany's room and put the ring in her jewelry box. I knew nobody would touch it there, and it was in her possession, so to speak. I wouldn't have put it past Andrew to try to cause trouble if he knew it was in my hands, and I'd just resolved that particular concern.

I went back to my study and called Kurt at work, because I didn't know how to get in touch with Kathy at her job or Bethany at school.

"Thanks for the heads-up," he said, "but I wonder why didn't he just go to Loyola?"

"Shit! I didn't think of that, and I have no clue. I suppose if he doesn't know what class she's in the campus is big enough that he might not see her. Or he might just be trying to cause trouble. I wonder if I should call the Loyola campus security office and let them know."

"Let me take care of that," Kurt said. "I think the further you stay away from this, the better, if you catch my drift."

"I do, thanks! Jessica and Kara want you guys to spend the weekend with us, assuming Bethany is coming home."

"We'll let you know Friday. Bethany's not ready to come back yet."

"OK. I'll call Kathy tonight for an update."

We said 'goodbye' and hung up, and I went back to work.

That evening after karate I called Kathy, and she said that the police had talked to Bethany at Loyola and she told them quite clearly that she didn't want to speak to Andrew, but that she was just fine and not missing. I asked if Kathy had called Bethany's parents and she said she had, but all she'd told them was that Bethany was spending some time with them. Like me, Kathy was concerned about how Harry and Nora were going to react.

Kara and I spoke to Jessica as well, and had a brief chat to talk about our days. School was really heating up for Jessica, especially with clinical work at the hospital. She had to be up for rounds that began at 5:00am every day and it was already starting to wear on her.

"So you're going to want to sleep a lot this weekend?" Kara asked.

"Yes. But I have a ton of reading to do, too. Maybe we can find a quiet place to study and Steve can work."

"We'll figure it out," I said.

"We love you, Jess!" Kara said.

"I love you guys!" Jessica replied.

Mercifully, Thursday and Friday were quiet, and I got a lot of work done. Dany and I worked well together, though not nearly as well as Penny and I did. I felt it was the two years Penny, and I had spent fooling around, both in front of the keyboard and in my bedroom, that made the difference, and there was no way that was going to happen with Dany.

Jessica arrived after dinner and looked absolutely beat. I wondered how she was going to survive her internship, and how often she'd be able to make the trip to Chicago if Doctor Barton didn't end up with the job at the University of Chicago. Kara, Jessica, and I hugged, and by mutual agreement, we went to the sauna. I put up the 'Weekend Rules' sign because the three of us would be wearing towels.

"What's with the sign?" Julia asked when she came into the sauna.

"Steve isn't going to open his present before Christmas!" Kara giggled.

"Wait! Steve Adams is NOT having sex with his fiancée?" she gasped.

"Sure he is!" Jessica smirked. "But just one of them! We decided to wait."

"Interesting," Julia smirked.

"Should I leave so you can all talk about me behind my back?" I asked with a silly grin.

"We'll talk about you in front of you, Snuggle Bear. You always let the women have their way!"

"So true!" I chuckled.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall and more or less tuned out the conversation between the girls, which was joined by Elyse a few minutes later. I continued to mostly ignore the conversation, which drifted into wedding planning, dresses, flowers, and things that I was going to leave up to the girls, anyway. That was especially true, given that Jessica's dad and Kara's mom were paying.

"Steve," Jessica said to get my attention. "Do you mind if we dispense with traditional bridal gowns?"

"Nope. What did you have in mind?"

"Something colorful, like what your friends Prajesh and Anala wore. Kara showed me pictures a couple of weeks ago."

"So no suit for me, then?"

"No. Something very colorful as well. Kara and I will go to the shop where you got the saris and your outfit."

"I like it," I said. "I have another 'three' thing we can do — three candles that we use to light a single candle together, and then blow out our individual candles."

"'Three' thing?" Elyse asked.

"There are three of us. There will be three rings, three blankets replaced by one, which is a Cherokee custom Jessica wants to include, and our right hands bound like we did for Jennifer and Josie. And now three candles."