My smile faded when I turned around.
“Your mom sent me the article,” I said to her. “I feel kind of stupid doing this, but since I never got the chance to talk to you before I figured I’d take it now.”
A warm breeze blew in from the south and the trees near us rustled in the wind.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. We thought it was best that I stayed out of the picture. I figured I’d spare you that bad father baggage. Some people say a bad father is better than no father, but those people don’t know what they’re talking about.”
The sounds of traffic whirred and wheezed by as we continued our conversation.
“I hated my father. He was a real bastard. I learned to fight from him, though. A kid can only take getting smacked around for so long before he stands up and speaks up for himself. When I finally challenged him, he beat the piss out of me and smacked me around for a couple of more years. Then the day came when I hit him back hard enough that he never hit me again. That’s when I learned what I was good at.”
I glanced around the cemetery and saw an old, white-haired woman brushing off the top of a headstone.
“Your mom, she tried to keep me up to date on what you were doing. I sent her money every month for you and she always sent pictures of you. She never wrote anything, just the pictures. You were so beautiful the day you graduated sixth grade. I loved the little yellow dress you wore. It had blue flowers all over it. I really would have liked to have seen you that day.”
I knelt down in front of her headstone and brushed the top of it with my fingers.
“I wish I could have saved you. But that’s not my life. I don’t think I’ve ever saved anybody. I’ve ruined a lot of people, but never saved just one.”
My finger traced the outline of her name. “I promise you, like I promised your mother; I’ll find who did this to you. Then I’ll do what I do best.”
Monday, April 12th
1938 hrs
507 West Corbin
TOWER
“Tough day fighting crime?” Teri asked.
I closed the front door behind me and slid the deadbolt home. I couldn’t always tell with her if she was sincere or sarcastic. The two gears were about an inch apart.
“Long,” I said. “You?”
“Well, school was a pain, but Ben’s in a good mood. No whining at all.”
“Good.” Ben rarely whines, but when he does, he makes it into an Olympic Sport.
“You need me tomorrow, right?”
I nodded. “After school, and then into the evening. If you want, you can crash here if it gets late.”
“I have a paper I need to work on.”
“You can use my computer.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You let me use it for my English paper last month. It’s ancient. It’s running, like, Windows 1962.”
I shrugged. “Use Ben’s then.”
She laughed. “When? He’s on it from dawn to dusk. And he doesn’t even have to take potty breaks, so there’s no chance at all. You know, if computer screens give out cancer rays, he won’t live to fifteen.”
“Then buy a laptop,” I snapped. “It’s not like I don’t pay you enough.”
Surprise flickered in her eyes. Then hurt. Then anger.
I took off my jacket and hung it on the coat rack behind the door.
“Where did that come from?” she asked.
I ignored her, walked to the fridge and pulled the door open. Two Kokanees left. I grabbed one and twisted the top off.
“John? What’s wrong?”
I took a pull from the bottle and counted to ten. Then I turned to her.
“Don’t talk about Ben like he’s a monster.”
She cocked her head to her side. “John, I was joking. Ben’s a great kid.”
“It didn’t sound like a joke. It sounded like bitching.”
“Bitching? Like what you said about money wasn’t?”
I didn’t answer right away.
She forged ahead. “I know I cost a lot. I know money is tight with the divorce. But I’m not just some glorified babysitter. I work hard for you and I take good care of Ben. And I don’t cost as much as-“
“I’m sorry.”
She stopped and looked at me. “Okay. Then what’s wrong?”
I shrugged. “Long day, is all. And no wife to yell at when I get home. Sorry.”
Teri gave me a look. I couldn’t tell if it was confusion or pity.
“You eat at all?”
“No. I was just about to make Ben some Mac and Cheese before you came home.”
“Stay, then. I’ll cook. You can eat with us.”
She hesitated, then nodded. “All right. I have to work on some math, though.”
“Well, I won’t be any help there. Fear of math is what kept me from going to college.”
That got her to smile just a little. I went into my bedroom and shed my shoulder holster, badge, cuffs and ID card. As always, the pager, my electronic leash, remained on my belt. I thought about changing clothes, but one look at the clock changed my mind. I’d just be undressing again in a couple hours to go to sleep.
I walked down the hall to Ben’s room. He sat in front of his computer, moving the mouse deliberately and clicking. I watched him for a minute before he noticed me.
“Hey, Uncle John.” He pressed a button and paused his game.
“Hey, kiddo. Whacha playing?”
“Swords of the Eastern March.”
“War game?”
He shook his head. “Nah. It’s a fantasy role-playing game. Pretty cool.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He rolled back from the desk and glided over to me in his wheelchair. I leaned down and gave him a hug. “You were gone a long time.”
I tousled his hair gently. “Got another hard case last night. Then I spent all day working on it.”
“Is it that girl they found?”
“How’d you know about that?”
“The TV news. I watch it at five with Teri.”
That surprised me. I didn’t know they watched the news.
“I see. You finish your homework?”
He gave me a look only twelve year olds can. “Of course.”
Back in the kitchen, I put some hamburger in a skillet and browned it. I found one tomato and some lettuce, but no green onions. I sipped my Kokanee and chopped the vegetables while Teri sat at the kitchen table and did her math. She must have turned on the stereo, because John Mellencamp was singing about Jack and Diane from the living room. Twenty years old and she listens to classic rock. Hates rap. Votes Republican, even though she’s pro-choice. Takes good care of Ben and works the odd hours I need. And then I go and snap at her. Real smart.
I turned to grating cheese and stirring the meat. When it was ready, I added taco seasoning from a packet. I finished mixing it in, grabbed some crisp shells from the cupboard and called it good.
Teri helped set the table.
“Ben! Dinner!” I called.
A few moments later, he rolled into the dining room. “Tacos?”
“Yeah. My specialty.”
Ben smiled. “It’s all you can make.”
“That’s why it’s my specialty. Besides, I make other stuff.”
Teri and Ben both gave me a look. I ignored them and finished putting the food on the table.
“Toast doesn’t count,” Ben said.
“Cold cereal, either,” Teri added.
“Great,” I told them both. “Go ahead and perpetuate that good cop/bad cook stereotype. Why don’t you just make a donut joke while you’re at it?”
Ben was smiling as he made his taco. I thought Teri was, too, though it was hard to tell through her glasses and tight lips.
Maybe she’s one of those people who smiles on the inside, I thought. Mellencamp started singing Human Wheels. She must have put in the Greatest Hits CD.
“You get your math done?” I asked her, putting a taco together.
“Most of it. It’s kinda hard.” She scooped meat into her shell.