Claire Gulliver #06 - Carnage Goes Coastal (21 page)

Mrs. B shook her head. “She’s a brave woman, that one. I pray for her every day.”

“As do I,” murmured Claire. “But, we’re lucky we hear what we do.” She looked around the garden and saw no one was close enough to hear what they were saying, so she went on. “We’re so lucky we even get these intermittent reports from her. Usually anyone on the program is just gone from the lives of everyone they know and love. So I really appreciate that her minders are willing to forward occasional emails to us. Her mother forwarded a letter and picture of little Jack she got a while ago. Karen says he’s bright as a whip.

“We’re missing all the fun of seeing him grow up,” Claire said sadly. Then she straightened up, adding firmly, “But at least we know he’s growing up. He has a life. He’s alive.”

“Hello?” Kay grabbed the phone before Jamie got to it as he tried to do lately.

“I’m outside.”

Kay recognized Chuck’s voice immediately and put down the receiver to head to the door. Chuck was the U.S. Marshal responsible for keeping her safe. He made periodic visits, checking to make sure she was still following the program, discussing any problems which might have arisen and generally providing moral support and encouragement. Each time he arrived, he first spent time checking the neighborhood and the house to make sure they were still secure. And it was typical of his care for his nervous charges that he always called to let them know he was there before knocking on the door and causing undo panic. This time, she saw when she opened the door, he wasn’t alone.

He came in followed by a black and white dog. “Sit.” The dog immediately dropped to his haunches, but his eyes were alert looking around the room. Jamie came bounding out of his bedroom and froze at the sight of the dog. Then he squealed, “A dog? Is that dog for me?”

“Now Jamie...” Kay started to say at the same time Chuck said, “I don’t know, Jamie. This is a special dog.”

“Why is he special?” Jamie approached the dog slowly, his hand outstretched just as his mother taught him to do when meeting strange dogs.

The dog sniffed Jamie’s hand and then gave it a big lick, his tongue wrapping wetly around the hand.

“Oh, Mom, he kissed me. Did you see that?”

“Jamie, Kay, I’d like you to meet Harley,” Chuck said formally. “Harley, this is Jamie, the boy I was telling you about.”

Harley thumped his tail as if he understood every word.

“You see, Jamie, Harley lost his human and he’s been very sad since then. He’s been looking for a new human. He wants someone who will play with him, someone who will throw balls for him to fetch and someone who will love him. He’s been hanging around with me while he’s been looking for that perfect human.”

Everyone in the room was silent while they gazed at Harley.

“Do you think you could take him out in the yard and throw a ball for him?” Chuck asked Jamie.

“Could I? Oh, Mom, could I?”

“Jamie, listen to me,” Chuck told Jamie in his serious, calm manner. “This is how you play ball with Harley. You throw the ball and when he brings it back, you point to the ground by your feet and say, ‘Drop it’. And Jamie, this is important. When he drops it for you to pick up, you have to pat him on the head and tell him he’s a good boy. Can you do that?”

“Sure, I can do that. Easy! Can we go?”

“All right, tell him to ‘Come’ and take this ball with you.” Chuck handed Jamie a ball he pulled out of his pocket.

Kay nodded, smiling her permission while Jamie hollered “Come!” and raced for the door to the backyard, the dog right at his heels.

“A dog, Chuck?” she asked. “Why on earth did you think I would want to add to my worries with a dog.”

“Well, this dog is special, Kay. He’s been carefully trained. He belonged to another of my clients...” he stopped suddenly as he saw her face blanch white. “No, no, it’s not what you’re thinking. This client wasn’t killed. No, he died of cancer. People I work with have all the problems and conditions of everyone else. This man was never found by the people who hunted him, but that didn’t save him. He was exposed to another killer, one we never knew about until it was too late.”

Chuck shrugged. He had the grace to look a little embarrassed. “I couldn’t bear to send the dog to a shelter. No telling what would happen to him there. And I thought of Jamie. It seems little boys and dogs just go together. And I thought you might appreciate another set of eyes and ears helping to guard your son. What do you think?”

Kay wasn’t giving in quite so easily. “What kind of dog is Harley and how old do you think he is?”

“He looks like he’s mostly Border Collie to me, but maybe not a thoroughbred, and I’m pretty sure he’s about four years old. He’s a nice dog, Kay. He’d be good for Jamie, and you too, I think.”

Kay nodded. “I’ll think on it. Meanwhile, let’s get the business over with while Jamie’s outside.” Chuck nodded his agreement and pulled a thick file out of his briefcase. They went over each point carefully. Chuck reported the FBI still hadn’t identified who had instigated the contract which Wade Hampton had put out on her. Nor did they have any clues as to who killed Hampton, but Chuck assured her they were still pursuing it, albeit, slowly.

“How’s your work going?”

Kay was happy to report that she loved her work. The firm who brokered her services as a web designer and website manager to small and medium sized businesses, seemed to be very pleased with the services she was providing. In fact, she had to turn down a couple of new clients because she just didn’t have time to add them to her schedule.

“That’s good. And what about your social life?”

Kay laughed. “What social life? I’m a mommy twenty-four/seven.”

Chuck frowned. “You’re a person, too. You need to take care of your own needs as well as Jamie’s. We’ve talked about this before, Kay. You need to fit into this life. It helps you be invisible. You need to go out to the movies, dinner, whatever girls do. And who knows, you may even find a man you like.”

Kay shook her head. “I just don’t have much time. I’m still going to the Karate Palace three times a week and the gun range once a week, then between my work and taking care of Jamie, there’s not much time left.”

“Make time. Trust me on this. You need to live a well-rounded life. This is going on and on and on. I’ve seen how this works and I’ve talked to the other Marshals. Whenever we lose someone, invariably we can trace it back to the same reason. They become so depressed with their life, there comes that one day they can’t force themselves to follow the procedures. And the predators are out there watching, waiting, ready to swoop in when they see a chance. Don’t ever forget that, Kay. They’re still out there.”

Kay sat still watching him. She shuddered, then seemed to regain her balance, saying sardonically, “So, let me get this straight. If I don’t find a boyfriend, or I don’t go out with the girls, they’re going to catch me?”

Chuck glared at her. Then she saw a little quirk at the corner of his mouth. He couldn’t stop himself. He chuckled. “Okay, okay maybe I got a little revved up there, but you know what I’m saying. I really just wanted to point out that you’re in this for the long haul and you have to live your life that way. It’s the only way to fit in.”

Kay nodded. “I know. Really, I do. I’ll promise to keep my eyes open and look for opportunities to make connections.” She laughed a little, and then proceeded to tell him about the new instructor at the Karate Palace. “What you don’t understand is in a little town like Applecorners, whenever a new eligible man appears every woman in town rises to the occasion. Not just the available women, all the women. The competition is keen and frankly, I hardly think I could get to the head of the pack, even if I was trying.”

“Mom, hey Mom, can Harley and I have a cookie?” Jamie skidded into the room with a bounding dog at his heels. “And a drink?”

Kay got to her feet. “I don’t have any dog cookies, Jamie, but we can give you both a drink of water.”

Chuck reached down into his briefcase again. “Here, I happen to have a couple of dog cookies, right here.”

Jamie grabbed them and followed his mother into the kitchen. “Mom, you should see how good Harley is at catching the ball. And he can really run fast, can’t you, Harley?” He patted the dog on the head and then handed him a dog biscuit.

“Chuck, can you stay for dinner? I’ll order in a super pizza, just like you love.”

“Oh, Chuck, can you? Please stay.” Jamie grabbed Chuck’s hand, pulling on it.

“Why do I think you have ulterior motives for wanting me to stay, Jamie?”

Jamie looked sheepish. “Well, I know Harley would like to stay a while longer, wouldn’t you, Harley?” The dog pranced around the boy, nudging him with his nose.

“I guess I have time, and pizza sounds mighty good to me.”

It was a pleasant dinner. Chuck had become a good friend over the years, perhaps because he was the only one who knew Kay’s story. And even though they seldom discussed it, they both understood where she was coming from and the difficulty she had getting through each day.

“How’s your family, Kay? Everything okay with them?”

Kay nodded. “I miss them terribly, but I know it was my decision and somehow knowing that keeps me sane. I just pretend I’m living across the country from them, as I was before. I don’t know how I’d survive if Langley hadn’t agreed to relay my emails so we can stay in touch. They all love getting the photos of Jamie I attach, so they can see how big he’s getting.”

Jamie looked up. “I’m almost four. When I turn four I’m going to be one of the big kids.”

His mother nodded. “That’s right. Four year olds are the big kids at the preschool Jamie goes too. He’ll be going three days a week next fall.”

Jamie nodded with pride.

When the last slice of the pizza was gone, and Jamie had fed all the discarded crusts to Harley, Kay went into the kitchen to make some coffee and clean up while Chuck showed Jamie some of the tricks Harley knew.

Kay was pleased Chuck had stayed. She and Jamie enjoyed company and except for the babysitters, they rarely had company. Chuck was right. She needed to expand her social life a little. Perhaps she should invite people over occasionally. She had purposely tried to maintain a distance from people because she was so conscious of how dangerous a friendship with her could be. She really didn’t want to be the reason someone she knew was killed or hurt, because they inadvertently got in the way. But maybe she was being too strict. Perhaps it was safe enough now to relax a little.

She saw out the kitchen window the neighbor putting out her trash and waved. She had remembered the Murphy’s, Claire’ neighbors in Bayside, and soon after she moved in she introduced herself to all the neighbors. And once in a while she talked to them over the fence. It had been easy to explain Chuck’s occasional visits. He had told her to tell curious people he was her cousin, but Kay didn’t think they would buy that explanation considering Chuck was a big, black man with a fierce looking moustache. He was the kind of man if you met him on a dark street, you would probably cross the street to put a little space between you. No way would people believe he was related to Kay without a long explanation of the family connections. So she had merely said he was her boss and would appear occasionally to review her work and bring her new accounts. That seemed to be acceptable even in a small town like Applecorners.

When she went back into the living room she could see how tired Jamie was. “Time for bed, Jamie.”

“Oh Mom, can’t I stay up a little longer? Harley and I are having so much fun. Couldn’t he stay here tonight?” Jamie looked so hopeful that Kay swiveled her eyes to Harley, who was also looking at her with a soulful expression. She moved her eyes to Chuck who didn’t even pretend to be neutral.

“Jamie, we aren’t prepared to have a dog as a guest. We don’t have the food or anything he needs to be comfortable...,” she started.

Chuck shook his head slightly. “Well, I happen to have some things in the trunk of the car.”

Kay felt a wave of irritation wash over her, then she let go and laughed. “Of course you do. Okay, let’s give it a try. But I’m warning all of you, I’m doing this because I can see what a gentleman Harley is, and I think he can probably teach us some manners. But, Jamie, you’re going to have to take very good care of Harley. Do you understand that?”

“Oh, Mom, I will. I promise.” He threw his arms around Harley’s neck and hugged him joyously. “Harley, Mom says you can stay here. And it’s time to go to bed. Come on, you can sleep with me.” And they were both running toward Jamie’s bedroom before Kay could protest.

Chuck shrugged. “As I said, boys and dogs just seem to go together. I’ll just slip out to the car and bring those things in.”

I watched the visitors at the Vietnam Memorial as I passed. I’ve seen it all many times so I was no longer interested in the emotion of the visitors who were confronting their issues at the wall. Instead I scanned the crowd looking for the man I was there to meet. I had selected this place for the meeting because the large number of eclectic people who always congregated here made it easy to be invisible. I followed the path past the area where the names and their wall locations were listed, past the memorial for the women of the Vietnam War, down a path bordered on both sides with benches placed under the overhang of trees. There he was. Four benches down, he sat on the otherwise empty bench.

He was a smallish man. His sharp facial features gave him a mean look. But of course, I didn’t expect to find a saintly looking man willing to do what I was paying him to do. I never expected to be friends with the man. I was just hoping he was able to succeed where Hampton had failed.

I casually sat down on the other end of the bench, not even glancing his way. I could see from the corner of my eye he showed no interest in me either. We both sat there quietly watching the people passing and letting our eyes roam over the other people sitting in the area. After a few minutes of waiting, when there didn’t seem to be any interest in either of us by anyone in the vicinity, he spoke very softly, still not looking at me.