Chapter 29

The house phone rang; I checked the CID. The number was suppressed. Still, maybe I should answer it. I looked a question at George, and he nodded, then pointed at the speaker button, and mouthed, "Record it." I pointed at the base unit, and nodded. It was already set to auto-record all incoming calls, for my business.

Everyone got quiet, and I pushed the speaker button, and said, "Rob Lister here."

The voice on the other end sounded slurred – half drunk, perhaps, and more than a little shaky. "Mr. Lister? This is Leland Cunningham." I almost dropped the phone. The voice said again, "Hello, Mr. Lister? I'm Todd's father."

I recovered my cool, somewhat, "Yes, I know who you are. What do you want?"

"First I want you to know that Saralee and I offer our deepest sympathies over what happened to that girl. We are deeply sorry for your loss."

'That girl', he had said – 'that girl'. I waited a few seconds, heard him just breathing, "Is that all you wanted?"

"No, Mr. Lister, it isn't." His voice sounded odd, not exactly confused, perhaps just being careful of his words. Almost as if he was at a loss over how to even speak with me.

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"Mr. Lister, my son is a sick boy." It did sound like he was struggling for words. "He doesn't have any idea what he's doing. He's been under significant stress lately, and some people have been trying to take advantage of him, so he's responding in the only way he knows how. And sometimes he gets somewhat carried away. I'll admit his response is a bit extreme. Understandable, perhaps, but some might feel it's extreme."

Kay was listening, and I saw her tense up as if she was going to cut loose on him, but George held up his hand and stopped her. I said, "And you're suggesting that this stress, as you call it, excuses his actions?"

"Not at all, Mr. Lister, not at all. But you must understand that my son is different. Even special. He has a future. And this Donna person is not-" He paused.

This Donna person? "Not what, Leland, not what?"

"You and I both can agree as refined gentlemen, I think, that girls like her, opportunists and such, are, well, not exactly ... they don't really hold up in polite society. I mean-"

Kaitlyn couldn't hold it back any longer. Grabbed the phone. "Exactly what do you mean by 'girls like her', Mr. Cunningham?" She hissed, "Girls like her? Did you ever meet her? Ever see her smile? Ever hear her sing? Ever laugh when she acted like an airhead?" She took a breath, "Did you ever consider that she had a mom and friends who loved her? Did you know that Donna was-" She choked up, tried to recover, then handed the phone back to me.

I took it, saw we were still connected, and said, "Do you have an idea now, of the enormity of what your son has done?"

He said, "Who was that, Mr. Lister? Was it that Kaitlyn? Laurel?" His voice was a little different now. I dunno, maybe more arrogant, maybe whatever he was drinking was taking over again. "Be careful, Mr. Lister, they'll try to worm their way into your affairs and take advantage of you the way they did my son." He took a breath, probably another swig of whatever he was drinking. "Mr. Lister, I think we, you and I, can understand one another. Men like us, like my son, well, we cannot afford to allow some slutty piece of hysterical fluff to have an influence in our lives, to drag us down to their level. I'm sure you can understand that, Mr. Lister. They simply cannot cope with the intricacies of the world at our level. They just can't deal with reality. They are not-"

"Leland, the reality is, this conversation is about to be terminated. You have five seconds to state your purpose for this call, and then you're through. And your son was through long ago. And you, you evil old man, will certainly be held accountable for what you've allowed, or encouraged him to become."

I listened to him breathing on the line, but he didn't answer, so I broke the connection. Looked at George, who was shaking his head, and at the girls, who were still standing wide eyed and outraged. "So who is worse, Todd, or his old man?"

"They're both crazy!" Laurel was coming unglued, and Richelle and Suzy were standing there with her, nodding assent to what she was saying. I held my arms out to Kay, and folded her into them. She was so angry that she was actually trembling.

George had called someone on his cell phone, and walked in to the living room to talk with them. We heard him end the call, and he came back to us. "Mitch says they've had Cunningham's house under surveillance all day, but the kid hasn't shown up. Can't get a warrant to listen in on his calls, so that leaves just one way. Somebody's gotta sit out there and stay awake. And somebody else is gonna have to be ready to tail Leland, or anybody else who leaves the house." Then he stopped and looked at me. "Of course there might just be a way to stir things up a little, Rob. Can we talk later about fixing a computer? Right now I gotta go see Mitch and get some stakeout action scheduled." He looked back at me, "Best hang tight for a while, until we can get a handle on it."

He started for the door, and we all heard a noise, like a car door, right out front. He stopped and went rigid for a few seconds, then put his hand on the gun in his shoulder holster. Put his finger over his lips and moved quietly the last few steps to the door, and looked through the peephole. I looked around and saw that Richelle and Suzy had pulled their pieces as well. We were all on edge.

The doorbell rang, and George waved us out of a direct line with the door, stood to one side, and turned the latch. Then we heard a familiar voice. "Kay? Are you in there?"

"Renee! Wait a minute!" George relaxed, unlatched the safety chain, and let the door swing open. There stood Renee, and behind her was a very big man in razor sharp BDUs, looking like he'd just stepped out of a Marine enlistment ad. "Sorry, Renee, I didn't see you there at first."

Kay stepped forward then and almost hysterically giggled, "Please come in, and excuse the gu- the mess!"

They looked around a little nervously, and the guy's face was like, set in stone. He put his arm around Renee and stepped in front of her as if to shield her, and dryly said, "Sis, you forgot to tell me I'd be needin' my Beretta."

George chuckled, and holstered his gun, and the girls did as well, and Laurel stepped out and grabbed Renee in a hug. Renee still looked confused, until Kay joined them and said again "Please come in. This must be Jake!" She turned to him, stood up on her tiptoes, and kissed him on the cheek, and said, "We're really glad to meet you, Jake, really we are! Just a little bit tense right now." Then she turned back to Renee and said "He's big!"

Well, that broke whatever remaining tension there was. George left, saying he'd see us later, and we all introduced ourselves and sat around the table.

Jake WAS big! Maybe 6'3", 250, and those BDUs were obviously tailored just for him. Actually looked like the uniform was designed just for Jake Hanford, and every other Marine just had to try to fit into it. His face was smooth, with clean, sharp features, and eyes that did not miss much, if anything. His smile showed even, white teeth, and his voice was level, clear and powerful. Here was a man's man. I watched Laurel as she just sat there in seeming awe, just drinking in what she later called, "The beauty of this man!"

Renee had not heard anything about what had happened to Donna, and she and the two girls cried and clung together for a few moments. She hadn't known Donna for long, or any of them, for that matter, but she was sad for her, and for the rest of the girls. I filled Jake in on what had been going on, and he was profuse in his thanks for my "saving his sister."

"Man, I owe you big time," he said, "and if I can do anything to help you guys get through this I will." He reached out and shook my hand, and it was like grabbing onto a chunk of steel. I think he could have crushed my hand, but it was controlled strength, the kind you hope to have on your side when something goes wrong.

We talked some more, and answered more questions about Donna, and about what had happened with Todd and his old man. Even got asked about Hector. Renee got a few knowing glances thrown her way after asking that, but either didn't notice them, or just ignored them. Kay just looked over at me and smiled. Jake didn't pick up on it at all.

We sent out for more ribs to go along with what we had left, and sat there and ate, and talked for quite a while. I noticed the looks that Laurel was laying on Jake, even got nudged a couple of times by sweet Kaitlyn, who had finally begun to notice it herself. In fact, the only one who didn't seem to see it was Jake, himself. The girls all got up to clear the table, though, and I think he did start to wonder, when they came back with a couple of board games, and Laurel and Renee switched places, putting Laurel right across from him. The way I heard it later was, "Can't be partners if you're sitting right next to each other!"

Kay's thoughts

No, we didn't forget about Donna, or her mom. Sometimes you just have to stop mourning, and get on with things. But you don't forget them, ever. I tried calling the hospital to see how Mitzi was doing, but they wouldn't tell me anything. They did say Donna's father had got there, and was with her. I knew nothing about that situation, but I hoped that they could find some way to comfort one another.

We did get into some board games, but Richelle didn't join in, just sat there. Finally she said she had a headache, and went into the bedroom. After a while, Suzy excused herself and went in to be with her, and we were quiet for a while. Rob said, "She's taking it way harder than I'd expect. Didn't even know her, did she?"

I started to answer, but Laurel broke in, "Didn't have to know her, Rob. Richelle showed me how she'd gone through some of the same kind of stuff before she was twenty." She pulled her shirt up and exposed her breast. "Worse than this." Still had some stitches, and you could see the lacerations and tell they were bite marks. The bruises had faded some, but they were still there. She ignored the gasps from around the table, "Way worse than this. And seeing me, and what Kaitlyn and Renee almost went through, then what happened to Donna, let's just say Todd-boy better make his peace with the Big Guy, before she runs into him."

She pulled her shirt back down and straightened it, then put her hands back down on the table. And I saw Jake reach out, and her hand just disappeared as he put his on top of it, to comfort her. He said, "A man does something like that to a woman, he doesn't deserve to be walkin' around free on God's green earth." I noticed that he didn't make any attempt to move his hand away, but Laurel turned hers over, palm up, and just clung to his for a few moments.

"Yeah," I said, "And from what we've heard from Suzy and Richelle, Todd has been implicated in several attacks on other girls before this." I looked at Rob "and every time, the charges have been dropped, or the girl has left town, or disappeared, and nothing has ever stuck on him. Can't hang a guy for rumors, as they say." He nodded, and I said, "And I think the call this afternoon was just the first attempt to handle it gently. The boat was something else. A warning, maybe, and maybe just to get rid of that Toad guy." I slid closer to Rob, and he put his arm around me, and I shivered. Wasn't really cold, but I shivered.

Then Jake broke the silence, figured to change the subject to a brighter one, I guess, "So, who's this Hector y'all were talkin' about? Where does he fit into all this?" I noticed Renee did brighten up then, dunno if Jake noticed or not. I guessed he would, though, before much longer.

Rob fielded that one. "He's another one that helped us when we badly needed it, and he's not done helpin' yet." I got squeezed a little tighter, "Right?" I just smiled, as Rob continued. "Hector rescued us, me and Kay, after I got hurt, and got us back to the marina. He's also the pastor who's gonna marry us, and we've really gotten to like him. He really lives what he preaches."

Jake smiled and said, "Sounds like someone I'd definitely like to meet!"

Renee just smiled, as Rob said, "Oh, I think you will, Jake, you certainly will." He looked at Renee, and said, "In fact, I'm thinkin' you'll be getting to know Hector real well, before too much longer." Heard Renee's indignant gasp, and covered, "At the wedding, I mean. He's outgoing, loves people, and he'll definitely want to be friends with you!"