Chapter 14: Rescuing Lisa. Secrets revealed. Another date

Dusk had come by the time we landed in Erie. I landed on runway six and back-taxied to the general aviation terminal building. Erie airport was smaller than I expected. I taxied to North Coast Air, the dominant FBO at the airport, and was guided to a parking spot by a lineman that ran out from one of the buildings and directed me.

We opened the doors, and I explained that I needed a refueling, a meal, and had to pick up a passenger. He told us there was one woman inside waiting for someone. He commented that she kept crying.

Ashley heard that comment and took off running for the administration building. Chris and I were right behind her.

Ash had gotten inside the building thirty seconds ahead of us. When we came in she and her mother were in an embrace and a noisy reunion was going on, the crying and sobbing attracting attention from a dozen other people in the large room. This was obviously a highly emotional meet up.

I joined the two women as did Chris, and we put our arms around the two of them in a large group hug. Lisa was inconsolable. She clung onto Ashley as though the world would end were she to let go. Chris and I both spoke calmly to the two of them, assuring them that the ordeal was over and that she was safe.

Lisa looked ragged, both physically and emotionally: her hair in tangles and dirty, and her skin pasty and wan. She wasn’t a large woman to begin with and she’d lost weight and looked haggard and unkempt, and certainly as though she hadn’t slept much recently. She looked totally exhausted. She had a filthy backpack near where she’d been sitting; it was full of all her worldly possessions at this point. Her clothes were dirty. I’m sure the others in the waiting area were wondering what this homeless-looking woman was doing in their upscale setting.

Ash and Lisa gradually calmed, but they kept holding onto each other. I settled up the refueling of the plane, and then arranged for transport to a nearby restaurant. We were dropped off by one of the airport employees who promised to return for us with a simple phone call.

We ate and Lisa told us the horror she’d been through for two months. She’d been on a date with her friend Tony, someone she knew but they weren’t too serious. Nonetheless, when Ricci tried to intervene to dance with her; Tony took issue with him and argued that Marco should leave them alone. She said, “Ricci just pulled out a handgun without warning, aimed it at the center of Tony’s chest, and pulled the trigger several times. I just know he was dead before he crumpled to the floor in the bar we were in.

“Ricci looked at me and said, ‘You’re dead too, you slut.’ He raised the gun and pulled the trigger but nothing happened except for a click. I about died anyway. Others in the bar were yelling and running for the doors. The bartender kept yelling that he’d called 9-1-1 and that the police would be there in seconds.

“Ricci looked at me and said, ‘I’ll hunt you down, bitch; and then you’re dead meat. Prepare to die.’ I ran out the door to my car. He ran out the side door but then turned to come after me, but I accelerated away. I sped home. I was sure I’d get stopped; I was going like ninety miles per hour. I grabbed a suitcase, threw clothing in it, and headed for the airport. But after I parked in an out of the way lot and was waiting for the shuttle to the airport, I realized that I was doing just what Ricci would think I’d do; so, instead I walked to the nearest ‘T’ station. I got on a train to Springfield, being careful that I wasn’t spotted by anybody like Ricci.

“In Springfield, I sat in the bus station all night. There were some other people there too, and the cops would drive through every twenty minutes or so. There was a bus going to Chicago that left at six a.m., and I was on it. It’d stop now and then for us to eat or go to the bathroom, and finally I got off in Gary, Indiana. I figured no one would look for me there, and I got a job working in a diner as a waitress. The owner had a flophouse behind the diner and let me stay there. After five days I worried that Ricci would find me, so after I got paid and collected my tips I left.

“God, I wandered all over. I caught rides with truck drivers mostly, and before you ask no one assaulted me or did anything. I got propositioned more than a few times, but I just turned them down. I think most of them could tell I was really scared of something and they were glad to help out. I went to Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Ames, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Akron, and ended here in Erie. There were other cities too. I was trying to figure out how to get home without being killed.”

Lisa doubled over in tears again and Ashley held her. She kept saying to her, “It’s over. It’s over. You’re safe. We have you. We’ll protect you.”

We got a little food into Lisa and the rest of us, and then got our ride back to the airport. I got the four of us into the airplane, with Lisa and Ash in the back seats so they could hold onto each other. Neither wanted to let the other go.

We were back in Massachusetts about one a.m., and at my house just before two a.m. Lisa had slept a little on the flight home, I was guessing from complete exhaustion. Ash held her the entire trip.

Once we were back at my house, I had Ashley and her mother take the guest bedroom. Marcia, Christy, and I took my bedroom.

Despite the late hours the night before, Marcia, Christy and I were up at our normal time and decided that we would go and do our classes or in Marcia’s case open the gallery. Chris woke Ashley and told her we were leaving, and made her promise to call me around mid-day about dinner and other arrangements. She nodded and went back to sleep. Chris observed that Lisa never woke up.

Ash did call during the lunch hour. We talked for a few minutes. She told me her mother had wolfed down four eggs and four large pancakes that she’d prepared for her, and was devouring cups of coffee. She commented that she could see her coming back to life. She thought we should do dinner at home, so I resolved to stop on the way home and pickup some Oriental food.

Lisa was much calmer and rational that evening when Chris and I got home. Marcia arrived just after we did.

We set out the various containers of Chinese food we’d gotten, and had a feast. Lisa’s appetite had obviously returned, and so had the color of her skin. She had cleaned herself up and was even wearing a little makeup tastefully applied; unlike the times I’d seen her before when it had been caked on her skin. She was quiet and subdued.

Detective Sam Satori arrived at seven-thirty. He was expected because of a call I’d made that afternoon to him. He met with Lisa and she told her story again about what had happened in the bar two months ago that left Tony Capresse dead and Marco Ricci and her on the run for different reasons.

Satori had a tremendously calming influence on Lisa. He assured her that Ricci wouldn’t see the light of day for at least eighteen years and maybe never. He also assured her that she would never even be a second thought to him, specifically, because as it turned out he didn’t know her name and would never find out because she wouldn’t need to appear in court. That news alone brought a huge sigh of relief to all of us.

Before he left, Satori talked about how Lisa could retrieve her car that had been impounded over two months earlier. He laughed and said, “We don’t need that evidence any longer. I think it’ll cost about $80; that’s a pretty good rate for off-airport parking for over two months.”

We all thanked Satori, and the various police departments, for their efforts to locate Lisa Caldwell. He looked happy that the situation had a happy ending, and left able to close a case that had been on his desk for many weeks.

As we’d sat with Satori, Marcia had sat tightly against me with her arm around me. I knew one of the subtle messages we were sending Satori and Ash’s mother was that the two of us were the romantic event, and that Ashley and Christy were just houseguests.

Marcia got up to get us some tea. Christy went to help.

Lisa thanked me again for coming and getting her and for watching out for Ash during the months she’d been gone. I assured her it had been a pleasure to have her around and that she was always a welcome person in my life.

I guess Ash and Lisa had talked about what had transpired over the two months she’d been on the run. Lisa mentioned about co-authoring the AI book, and I validated how smart she and Christy were, and how they were also co-teaching an AI course at the university. We also talked about the work at Robotix, and what they’d done there.

Lisa then dropped her bomb, much the way Marcia had a few months earlier. “I feel much better than I did last night. Ashley can go back to your bed tonight. I won’t need someone with me.”

I sat stupefied at her comment, and she smirked back at me.

Lisa said softly, “A mother knows. This mother is glad.” She teared up again. “Maybe someday I’ll meet a guy as nice as you, but for a while I’m off the circuit. I need to rethink my life; I’ve already started. I had a lot of time to think, and I didn’t like a lot of what I discovered about myself.

“I realized I’d become a cock tease and a slut. I also had ceased to be a genuine person. I dressed like a tart, used makeup as a crutch to help me pretend to be much younger, and had lost my motivation to make something of my life. Did you know I have a college degree in accounting, and I got my CPA years ago, although I’d need to take a refresher? I’m going to refresh and then get a good job. My waitressing and bartending days are over. I did that to get near guys that I could party with. My party days are over too. I’m not that woman anymore.”

I spoke carefully, “I can put you in touch with some folks at the university if you think you might want to work there. They could give you some kind of position I’m sure while you refresh you skills.”

Lisa nodded. “That’d be a good start. Let’s see what happens. Any resume I’d put together wouldn’t be very attractive to an institution of higher learning.”

I said, “On the other item you mentioned, about Ash and me, I don’t know what to say other than I am very protective of her.”

“And Chris and Marcia,” Lisa confirmed. “I know. I can see it in each of your eyes. You all love each other and that’s fine with me. I know you’re being circumspect about it, and I promise I won’t upset the apple cart.”

She looked at Marcia and winked. She teased, “I guess my daughter has discovered she can go both ways, too. That’s good because as I used to say, it doubles the chance for a date on Saturday night.” She laughed at the trite line, and then sipped her tea.

I visited Deb Summer the next afternoon. I told her about Lisa’s mother and the adventure she’d been on, including her rediscovering herself. I asked about accounting related jobs at the school, and Deb lit up in joy. “Really! She’d like to work here and she has a CPA?”

I emphasized, “She hasn’t used it for it a long while. She spoke of needing a refresher of some kind. Her background since college is kind of sucky too. This woman is most likely an adolescent who just turned into an adult because of a traumatizing event.”

“Oh, that’s all right. We can get her certified again, but we need someone right now. Hold on.” Deb swung around at her desk, and dialed someone. She said a few things, and next I knew, Brian Watson, the Comptroller of the University came into the office from down the hall. I’d met Brian several times at some of the faculty-admin cocktail parties. He was a good guy.

Deb had me tell Brian about Lisa, and I outlined what little I knew about her professional experience. Apparently, the university had been trying for months to find the right person and they’d almost given up. He asked whether I could have Lisa in for a job interview on Monday morning. I called Lisa at home, and we set it up for nine a.m. Monday. She said she’d bring her resume along, such as it was.

Brian left with a happier lilt to his step.

When the door had closed, Deb caught my eye. She said, “Thanks for keeping my secret.”

I assumed she met the secret about her bisexual and sapphic relationship with Marcia.

I commented, “Everyone has secrets. I have no issue with your secret. I wasn’t the one who figured it out.”

“Marcia told me it was Ashley.”

“She won’t say anything, I’m certain. Nor Christy.”

“Good. Some day soon I will want to borrow Marcia for a weekend.”

“And I will again applaud the two of you for being honest with your inner selves.”

“Doug doesn’t know.”

“Are you sure?” I teased. “If Ashley could see the two of you together with as little as she knows about you both, don’t you think he could?”

“You give me food for thought, Dr. Clark,” she mused.

Deb said after a pause, “And rest assured I will keep your secret.”

I played it straight, “And which of my many secrets is the one you will forget about?”

“Why the one where you are in love with and sleeping with two young maidens who are likewise in love with you, but then again maidens is probably the wrong term these days.” She giggled.

I deflated slightly, “Oh, that one. Did Marcia say something?”

“No, to the contrary. I raised the subject with her and she clammed up on me. That did give me a stronger supposition, but then I’ve met with Ashley and Christine several times to talk about your arrangements for them at your house and the work and all. I even picked up that you cleverly set up a situation where you didn’t have a conflict of interest situation in assigning them a grade last semester, and now you’ve done it again by having them co-teach with you in a course they are also students in; an automatic ‘A’ out of the starting gate.

“Lastly, Doug and I were having dinner at a Greek restaurant in Newburyport one day, and you came in with Ashley and Christine. You were all very proper – too proper. You looked like you wanted to make love to each other right there in the dining room but were all resisting the urge to do so. You didn’t see us, but I had a straight-line view of your expressions. I knew right then you were in love with both of them, and they with you.”

“Will I be disciplined and terminated?” I asked, genuinely worried about the answer.

Deb softly said, “I believe in situational ethics. The absolute answer for some hard ass would be to categorically dismiss you, and ruin your reputation for any other position in academia. The relative answer and mine as well for this situation, is that you have a relationship with two – no make that three – young women. They are mature well beyond their ages, and their accomplishments are already suggesting that your experience and mentoring is doing wonderful things for two of them that will benefit them, the university, and society. I have no plans to upset that situation in any way, and if asked if I ever knew I will deny my suppositions or that this conversation ever took place.”

“Thank you,” I whispered as I started breathing again.

Deb responded, “And thank you, as well. You are a real gem, Jim. I would like our families to socialize more. Hopefully, your new extended family will feel at ease with us enough to get together with us from time to time.”

“We already do,” I grinned back. “Let’s plan something soon, maybe before the weather gets too chilly and I have to take the pool offline.”

“Ooooh, I’d like that.”

“Next Saturday?”

“You’re on.”

David and Jeremy stood in front of my desk in my office. I wondered which one would be the spokesman for what I guessed was about to be asked.

David was the spokesman. “Errr, Professor Clark ... jeeze this is awkward ... Professor Clark, Jeremy and I would like to take Ashley and Christine out on another date, but with us in your ‘Introduction to AI’ class we are hoping that this doesn’t pose a conflict of interest, an automatic bad grade, or an awkward situation for any of us.”

I was laughing inside. I had been correct in my assessment as to why they came to my office. I glared at them, “Am I to understand you value a letter grade in my class more than you do either of the two young women?”