Chapter 79

MONDAY — SEPTEMBER 23

..."Understand," Tate said, "I didn't recommend to her that she get an attorney. And she damned sure shouldn't need one, but young assistant DAs sometimes want to make a name for themselves."

"I read you loud and clear," Jeff said. "Loud and clear."

"Good," Tate said. "I've recommended to the DA that this guy shouldn't be the investigator, but seems like that landed on deaf ears. This young assistant DA is in charge of the case instead of someone who knows what he is doing, as in one of the homicide detectives. I'm afraid that the DA will insist that this turkey be the one to 'interview' her. The DA likes to flex his muscles when he can — looks good at re-election time. But if he does it this time, he's liable to wind up with a lot of egg on his face. All I'm asking for is an honest investigation, and I've promised Joyce that she isn't in trouble — at least with my organization.

"Investigating law enforcement makes big headlines, and it's a good time to keep the DA's name in front of the public during election year."

Tate leaned back against his Crown Vic. "Enough of that for now. Hear you're looking for a mining engineer. I know one who is retired and was one of the best. What are you looking to mine around here? I suppose there's granite under here, although I don't know whether it would be profitable to mine."

Jeff grinned at Tate. "Sheriff, did anyone ever tell you that you were as full of shit as a Christmas turkey?"

Tate burst out laughing. "Actually, my wife does quite frequently, and sometimes even more eloquently than you just did."

Jeff looked hard at the Sheriff. "If you know that I'm looking for a mining engineer, then you probably know why I'm looking for one, also."

Tate put up both hands for a moment. "Easy, Mr. Matthews. Just like I told Deputy Cramer a few minutes ago, I'm not your adversary. Hell, I'd be a fool to be. You're the guy that gave us the money for the vests, not to say anything about enough ammunition for our pistol team to practice with for a couple of years. My motives are simple and close to home.

"I think you're going to make some kind of stronghold in case something goes wrong. I guess what I'm asking is: do you know something I don't? Do you think we're going to be attacked, or something? Do we have something worse than 911 coming down the pipe? Do I need to make some drastic preparations?"

Jeff stared hard at the Sheriff, seeing only truth in his face, and feeling the same. "I ... don't know anything that you don't, well in general, anyway. I'm just in the planning stages for building an area for my family and close friends to have a place of total safety where they can stay for a year or two — if need be."

The silence drew out as Tate scuffed the sole of his boot on the asphalt for a moment, thinking. "I can't offer any money, well, at least, not enough to make any real difference to a big project. And I guess I don't fall into that 'close friend' category, but I am familiar with the bureaucracies around here. I'll bet they'll frown on your mining this mountain, and when they find out why, they'll dig up all kinds of rules to stop you — just because they fucking can. You're not a mining company so there's no downside for them in showing off their power by jerking you around. They'll dig up all kinds of rules to stop you. And that's just the bureaucracies. There are people here who try to stop any construction they don't understand, and some who try to stop any construction, period."

Tate stared Jeff in the eye, suspecting that the tall man could easily tell if he were telling the truth. "I won't violate the law, but I'll bet you a gold nickel that I can make some of those inspections and red tape a lot easier to swallow. All I ask is for you to consider me and mine as friends if the shit hits the fan."

Jeff hesitated a moment, then put out his hand. "Done," he said, simply. "I'll get you with my project manager. Hell, we'll have a meeting and brainstorm this thing. Chances are that you'll have a lot of input that we haven't even considered."

Jeff thought for a second. "Why don't you and your wife come up for supper tonight? We'll get to know each other. I'd just about bet that Deputy Goodman will be here to check on Turcott," Jeff laughed.

Tate pulled out a business card, jotted his home phone number on the back, then handed it to Jeff. "Why don't you check with your wife before we make any solid plans. I wouldn't want to commit..."

"I'll do that Sheriff, but my wives ... uh, my wife is probably way ahead of us."

Tate grinned at him. "Now, I'm pretty certain that you're damn sure smart enough to not make a slip like that, and the answer is that my wife knows how to keep her mouth shut. And as long as you're only legally married to one of them — which, I'm not going to check, well, I couldn't care less. And besides that, it's none of my business unless someone is being hurt or forced, and from the looks of those women, that's far from the case."

"Thanks, Sheriff. I'll have Diana call your wife. Let the women take care of the when and how."

"Well, if I'm going to fall into that 'friend' category, my name is Quinton."

Jeff laughed. "Good deal. And please use Jeff. That 'Mr.' just makes me remember my dad."

Jeff stood watching the Crown Vic as it passed out of sight toward the front of the house. Surely, the DA won't hassle Joyce about the shooting. Shit, DAs are elected. With as much publicity as the news media has given her, she's become a hero, especially to the women, if my wives are any indication. Not to say anything about the nurses at the hospital treating her like she walked on water.

And why would the DA send some hotshot assistant DA to do the interview? Looks like he would do the interview himself, claiming a personal, hands-on investigation since it's a cop-involved shooting. Making certain that there was no "cover-up" by the Sheriff's department, then an honest investigation exonerating Joyce, would gain a lot of votes for a DA, and absolutely guarantee the entire law enforcement vote. This doesn't make sense, he thought again. But Quinton was concerned. There has to be more to this. Something that we haven't thought of. Shit, Joyce has been through enough without some politician getting on his hobbyhorse. But if I just knew why.

Turning back to the retreat, he hurried to call his lawyer.

Shortly, Jeff was on the phone with Fontaine (the Denver Lawyer).

After the pleasantries, "We're ready for the closing on the Thompsons' farm, at your convenience. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson say that any time this week will be fine with them."

"Uh ... Let me get back to you on the time. I have something else on my mind right now. Do you have a couple of minutes for some background?"

"I'm all ears. But wait just a minute and let me tell my assistant to hold my calls for a while."

Jeff spent the next ten minutes filling in the details of Joyce's adventure, including what the Sheriff had said and the concerns he had voiced.

"Yes, we've been following the story on TV and were almost certain that she was the lady that you brought with you to the office the other day. How is she doing?"

"She's recovering nicely, but she doesn't need this bullshit — especially right now. She came awful close to death."

The attorney was silent for a moment after Jeff finished. "My first thought is that the DA is about to commit political suicide. But then, it's not actually the DA that's doing the investigating; it's the assistant. So there's going to be some degree of plausible deniability, should this go bad for him. The thing that puzzles me is that he's got to know that this deputy did everything by the book, so to speak — assuming, of course, that what you have told me is accurate. I mean, for gosh sakes, there is an audio recording of the whole thing."

Fontaine paused again. "Look Jeff, this obviously isn't my area of expertise. But I have a friend who is the best in the business. He's expensive, but there are none better. None. Let me discuss this with him. The whole thing just doesn't make sense. But for certain, don't let Deputy Cramer talk with anyone involved in the investigation until Tyler talks to the two of you. Uh, he might take this as pro bono since he likes cops..."

"Not necessary," Jeff broke in. "I'll finance it."

Fontaine chuckled. "In that case, expect a call from him shortly. I just talked to him a few minutes ago and he didn't act like he was overwhelmed with work. Said something about getting up a foursome to play a little golf. But I'm interested in this, too. There's something going on that we haven't thought of yet. Stick around the phone," he said, absently hanging up without even saying goodbye. His mind already working on the puzzle.

Jeff found everyone in their suite. Sitting beside Joyce on the bed, he took her hand. "The Sheriff is upset. He promised you that this investigation would go smoothly — cut and dried. But he's now concerned with this assistant DA insisting upon being the one to interview you. I've talked to Fontaine — the lawyer we went to see about the property the other morning — and he's going to have one of his friends call back."

Jeff could see the color drain from her face, and he squeezed her hand.

"Now, before you get too upset, the Sheriff reminded me that it was election year and the DA would probably like to keep his name in the news. Tate is firmly in your corner, adamant that you did everything by the book, but he keeps saying that there has to be another reason. Unless I miss my guess, he's already about figured out what's going on. He seemed a little distracted when we were talking. I'm thinking that he knows, but isn't totally sure, and maybe can't tell me."

"So, do I need to hire this lawyer who's going to call?"

Jeff looked down for a second as he decided what to say. "The two of you," he said, looking back into her eyes, "are part of us now. When Joyce tried to say something, he shushed her. "It doesn't make any difference if you officially become part of our family tomorrow, or six months from now. You both are part of us. So let's go from there..."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Caitlin get up just as Joyce turned and wrapped her arms around him. Then Caitlin did the same. Laughing, he toppled over backward on the bed to pull them tightly against him. Both young women were crying and trying to kiss him. "Whoa. What's going on? I've said essentially the same thing several times, and usually gotten arguments. What's changed?"

Sniffing, Caitlin said, "I talked to Daddy last night while we were sleeping. Oh, it was a make-believe conversation, and I was probably ninety percent asleep. But we had a long discussion." Thinking Jeff's expression was drifting toward the negative, she quickly stressed, "I did say it was a make-believe conversation, but I guess I just had to talk to him one way or another."

Ann handed both young women tissue. Joyce grabbed Caitlin and hugged her, both of them sobbing for a few minutes. They both wiped their eyes then blew their noses at the same time, causing mutual laughter. By then, they were sitting back up and all Jeff's wives had gathered as closely as they could.

"Anyway," Caitlin got out, her voice going up an octave before she could control it, "Daddy and I had a long talk just like we used to. I told him all about you, and how you had ... healed Joyce. He wanted to know all about Little One, and about all of you," she said, looking around her.

"I know that you all think I'm silly..."

"No, we don't," a chorus rang out that even impressed Jeff, possibly because his voice had been in exact sync with his wives. Then they all looked at him the way a mother looks at her toddler who has just taken his first successful steps.

"Don't even start," he mumbled as the giggles started anyway.

"We don't think what you're telling us is one bit silly," Diana assured Caitlin. "Please continue."

"Well, there's not much to say, other than I guess some of it was a dream because the night was over quickly. But I told Daddy everything that had been happening since ... he's been gone. I told him how much I like being a nurse and some of the things I had done. How proud I had been the first time someone lived because of me. Oh, I told him all about Joyce's job and how she was doing. I told him how close she had come to dying and how scared I was. How I had already lost him, and just couldn't imagine being in this world all alone."

Caitlin stopped for a moment. "I told him all about you, Jeff. Oh, I had already told him about how you had seven wives and how happy everyone was, but I told him about ... how it felt to be with you. How you had made love to us in the shower and later in the bed, but that you wouldn't penetrate us until we were sure. And I told him that I just couldn't because it would be like cheating on him."

Caitlin looked over at Joyce. "We cried together for a long time. Well, a lot of what we said I just want to ... well, I'll tell Joyce everything, eventually. I already told her earlier about talking to Daddy. But I'll tell you every word sometime soon," she said to her sister. "It was the most vivid dream that I've ever had," she finished.

Jeff didn't have the foggiest notion of what to say, so just hugged them and waited.

Quietly, Caitlin continued, "I guess I really don't know why, but I'm more at peace about Daddy's death than I've been since it happened. Oh, I still miss him every bit as much, and now that I've 'talked' to him, that part is probably even worse, but somehow I'm not feeling guilty any more. He was adamant about me moving on with my life, and he made it clear that he meant Joyce, too."

Caitlin sat still for a moment. Taking Joyce's hand, she brought it to her lips and kissed it. "I didn't tell you this before. I guess because I worried I was pushing my luck as it was, but he told me to tell you that you could talk to him just like I could, any time you wanted to."

That started the tears again, and both women hugged each other for a moment. When they pulled apart, Caitlin looked at Jeff. "I was the instigator of our little surprise for you this morning. I still didn't have everything straightened out in my mind at that point, but I do now. It's been me holding Joyce and me back. She wouldn't move forward without me, but I've finally gotten my act together."

Diana locked eyes with her husband, motioning slightly with her head. He glanced around the room just to check, although this had all been discussed before. Moving from between Joyce and Caitlin, he knelt on the carpet before them. "Joyce and Caitlin, will you marry us? Become one with us?"

Two pretty, young women trying to giggle and cry at the same time launched themselves at him. Jeff wrapped them in his arms and squeezed until they squealed.

Pulling back a little, they looked around them addressing all the wives as well as Jeff. "Yes," they said, simply. Then, "Forever."

When the kisses were done, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

Twenty minutes later, attorney Tyler Patton called. "Mr. Matthews, I've just gotten off the phone with Chuck Fontaine. If you and Deputy Cramer wish for me to review what has been happening with her recent unpleasantness, I suggest that we meet in my office this afternoon. I certainly don't want her writing out an account of this situation until we have discussed it in detail."

Jeff interrupted before the lawyer could go on. "I totally agree with you, but why don't you come up here for a late lunch, then you and Joyce can discuss this in private? We have a well-equipped office that can be at your disposal, and to be frank with you, with what seems to be going on, I would be ... very much more pleased if the meeting took place up here. Of course, I'd be perfectly willing..."