Chapter 20

Kwame all but tipped the chair over as he got up to leave. Shantel was a little slower to rise, but Tanisha could see a faint smile on her face, as well as a tear rolling down her cheek as she shook her head. She'd said not a word through the whole affair, as if she'd have a good reason to fear what would have happened if she did. Kwame threw a stony glance at her, and she hurried to catch up with him.

As soon as they saw Kwame's back leave the room, Jon said softly, "Well, I guess that's that."

"Yes," Tanisha agreed. "I'd rather it hadn't ended that badly, but I guess it was about the way I expected it to happen."

"Actually, I thought it might come out so we could exchange Christmas cards, at least until you got your back up toward the end."

"I thought so, too," she sighed. "I got to realizing that he was the same old Kwame, and there was no way he was going to change. At least maybe we got the message across."

Jim Bricklin came over and sat down in the chair Kwame had occupied. "Leopards don't change their spots, do they?" he said in a face devoid of a smile.

"No, I guess not," Tanisha smiled. "Do you think I overdid it?"

"Maybe a little," Bricklin replied with a slight frown. "At least now you know you have an enemy for life, but at least I don't think he's going to be a threat to you now. I think you managed to get across to him that you're not an easy target like that Hammerstrom woman."

"Yeah, and that we've got some support behind us," Jon said.

"And that the support will be keeping an eye on him," Bricklin added. "I'm glad you didn't bring all of that out."

"I came very close," Tanisha nodded. "He may have gotten the hint that we knew about Hammerstrom anyway, but if I didn't say anything, he couldn't be sure that I knew. He has to suspect we know about it, just like he has to suspect that we know about his girlfriend. But saying it might have pushed him to try to shut me up, and then we'd be back where we started."

"Except worse," Bricklin sighed.

"Right, except worse," Jon agreed. "Basically, things haven't changed at all. We still don't know what he might do, especially now that we've got him rattled a little bit."

"A kidnapping attempt seems a little unlikely," the Halloran man said. "I only hope he realizes he's going to be the most likely suspect if anything happens, and there are other people who know about it. Hopefully that will keep him a little scared."

"Could be," Tanisha agreed. "I guess now we get to see just how vindictive he really is and how much risk he'll take. You're going to keep a little closer eye on him, I hope?"

"Well, we can't watch him all the time without the cost being really exorbitant," Bricklin said. "But my guess is that if he doesn't try anything in the next few days he won't try anything ever. I like the way you didn't reveal anything about yourselves that would indicate where you are, and laid some false trail in the process, but we'll put a little extra security on you for a while, just to be on the safe side."

"That's what we planned," Tanisha agreed. "It's too bad that we didn't accomplish anything."

"Like I told you before this started, it was doubtful that you'd accomplish very much. And don't think you didn't accomplish anything, because you did. You established that you're not a threat to his position in the church unless he wants to make something of it, and that you have the resources to do it if you want to. Best of all, you established that you're not easy targets. What do you say we get out of here and get heading back? The local guys are hourly, and we might as well save Stan a buck where we can."

Although this was Crystal's third trip on Skyhook, she'd never had the chance to sit up front, so when Jennlynn offered to have her join her to keep her company, Crystal took her up on it. It wasn't long before they were in the air, headed for Phoenix.

As glad as everyone was to be aboard the Learjet and be heading back toward home, there couldn't help but be a somber mood on the Learjet. "Maybe it wasn't totally a waste of time," Jon said as he, Tanisha, Bricklin, and Preach sat in the facing seats in the back cabin. "But I don't know if we're in any better shape than we were before. We're still going to have to look over our shoulders. At least when I was on the outs with Dad, I knew that all I had to do was stay the hell out of Chicago and everything would be fine. This always was worse, and it still is."

"I keep trying to tell you it's not a total loss," Bricklin shook his head. "We know a good deal more than we knew before you raised the issue. In cases like this, ignorance is not bliss."

"I almost hate to say this," Tanisha said, "But I'm a little worried about Shantel. She really seems to fear him. I mean, she always used to be rather submissive to him, but it's worse now."

"Remember, Kingfisher had his suspicions but wasn't able to document any instances of abuse," Bricklin pointed out. "That's not saying it hasn't happened, but if it has it's been out of sight. As much as we'd like to, we can't know everything, but it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest."

"Like you just said, ignorance is not necessarily bliss," Tanisha shook her head. "I'm worried that she's going to be the one hurt over this. He was furious, and who else could he take it out on if he can't take it out on us?"

"She has a point," Preach agreed. "I've seen it happen, people taking their anger out on their families. It's never pretty."

"The hell of it is that Shantel is a nice woman," Tanisha sighed. "It's just that she's been so beaten down by him for so many years it's like there wasn't anything left of her at all."

"I noticed that," Preach said. "I mean, not even a word of greeting. She didn't say a thing, and that tells me more than if she'd actually said something."

"She's pretty shy anyway, and has been as long as I've known her," Tanisha agreed. "But that was way beyond what I've ever seen before. I don't know if I could do anything for her, and I don't know if I should if I could. I mean, she had to have known about the Hammerstrom woman, and she has to know about the Frederick woman he's supposed to be seeing now, if Kingfisher picked the stories about both of them up from gossip in the church."

"You'd think so," Bricklin shrugged. "But it doesn't always work that way."

"The people who are most likely to be hurt by stories like that are often the last to know," Preach nodded, "Especially in churches. Again, I've seen it before, and not just at Glen Hill. Believe me, I went to a conservative religious college and all too many of the stories going around were beyond hurtful, even if they didn't have a lick of truth to them. I sometimes wonder how I stuck it out as long as I did."

"I don't know," Bricklin shook his head. "I'd certainly warn you to not do anything that would draw attention to yourselves, that's for sure. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do about it either, but I'll tell the people in St. Louis to keep their eyes open. Something might come up. You never know."

Given the speed of the Learjet and the time zones, it was mid-afternoon when they arrived back in Phoenix. "Thanks again for the ride," Jon told Jennlynn after he'd done what little he could to help get the sleek white machine parked in its hangar. "It's always nice to have a friend like you who we can count on."

"That goes both ways," Jennlynn smiled. "You kids have been there for me when it counted, and all I'm doing is returning the favor."

"Can we take you to dinner or something to help thank you?" Tanisha asked.

"No, I'm going to head back over to the office and try to get some catch-up done," the tall, raven-haired woman sighed. "If it weren't for the fact that Will has some duty or other this weekend I'd have dropped you off and headed for Biloxi, so it makes for a good weekend for it."

"I suppose," Jon shook his head. "Tani and I have worked through a few of them ourselves."

"I guess Preach and I'd better be heading back to Flag," Crystal said. "Church tomorrow, and then I guess in the afternoon we'd better get back to rigging. We've got a raft to paint. That's always a pain in the ass, and it's better if no one else is around when we do it. The paint is really nasty stuff and you have to wear face masks."

"We could stick around if you want, and then leave early enough in the morning to get to church," Preach offered.

"No, that's all right," Jon said. "We're just glad you could come. Sorry the trip was such a waste for you."

"It wasn't a waste," Preach grinned. "I never figured I'd get to ride in a Learjet."

Soon, Jon and Tanisha were headed back to the townhouse in their car. Even though they were still a couple months away from making their move, the townhouse didn't seem much like home anymore.

"You know," Tanisha said as soon as the car doors were closed, "I'm a little surprised that Jennlynn didn't head on up to the Redlite. I'm wondering if she's going to give it up."

"It's still too soon to say," Jon sighed, "But I suspect there's a real good reason she's been in Biloxi just about every chance she gets."

"If you're going to have a long-distance romance like that, then I guess it's just as well she has a Learjet," Tanisha laughed. "Boy, wouldn't that be a pain in the butt on an airliner?"

"As if you could get her on an airliner now, anyway," Jon shook his head.

They rode along silently for several minutes before either of them spoke again. Finally, Jon broke the silence. "Well," he said, "I guess that's that."

"Yeah, I guess it is," she sighed.

"You got anything you'd like to do this afternoon? Maybe look for furniture for the new house or something?"

"Jon, I have to say my heart isn't in it right now," she sighed. "Can't we just go home and chill out?"

"You mean..."

"No, for once my heart isn't in that right now, either," she sighed. "Maybe tomorrow."

"I'm willing to give it a pass if you are, but I ought to point out that it'd be a good way to put this morning past us, too."

"We'll see," she grinned. "You might be right at that."