A Child is Torn: Innocence Lost (14 page)

“What does he do for a living?”

I was starting to believe that she was asking a question that she already knew the answer to. If Diane had told her mother Justin was a cop… oh shit. Yeah, she knew.

I looked down at my mug. I imagined myself tiny enough to dive headfirst into the brown liquid and not coming up for air until she was gone.
No
, I thought,
I can do this
.
I’m not going to play this game with her.

“He’s a police officer, mother.” It sounded better than “a cop.” “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

I could swear I saw moisture gather in the corner of her eyes. She gave me a wounded look.

“I just don’t understand it, Hope. You’re a beautiful, intelligent, successful young lady, and you pick losers every time. What did I do that makes you think so little of yourself that you can’t find a good man?”

I was exhausted from talking to her already.

“Mom, you didn’t do anything wrong. You loved Richard, thought he was prize, remember? You used to call him your reward from God. You don’t even know Marty. He’s a very nice guy.”

“I was wrong about Richard. He had us all fooled. I’m sorry.”

I blinked. Was my mother telling me she was wrong? Was Hell freezing over?

“There is nothing to apologize for, mother. It’s not your fault he turned out to be a snake.”

“But Hope, a cop? Please don’t tell me this is serious.”

She was staring at me. I could see the blood starting to boil in her veins. “He’s not Jewish, is he? Jewish men don’t become cops; they become lawyers like your brother.”

“Ma, don’t be ridiculous. There are plenty of Jewish police officers, and last night was just my first date.”

Her teeth were clenched and a strange sound came from her throat.

“So, is it serious? Are you going out with him again?” She got up to get herself another cup of coffee.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know, probably not.”

“Why not?” She was obviously relieved.

“Because he didn’t ask,” I admitted sheepishly.

“He didn’t ask?” She was angry now. “What the hell is the matter with him? If this guy is too stupid to see what a wonderful gift you are….”

I just shook my head. Sometimes there were no words for my mother.

“I tell you what,” I said. “How about I get dressed and we go to the mall, do some shopping for your cruise, and have some lunch?”

“You have time for me?” She was in sympathy mode now.

“Yes, mother.” I walked around the table and gave her a hug. “I have time for you. Make yourself comfortable and I’ll go take a quick shower and get dressed.”

“Ok, I’ll just clean up here,” she said as she looked around. I could tell she was critiquing my housework. I placed my mug in the sink and walked into my bedroom. I took a deep breath.

“Relax,” I told myself. “You can do this!”

I walked into the bathroom and thought to myself that this time my mother she was right. If this guy was too stupid to know how lucky he would be to be with me…
Get a grip Hope
, I told myself as I got into the shower and a gush of warm, invigorating water poured over my body and for the moment I stopped feeling sorry for myself and I got angry instead. The nerve of that Mr. Hot Shot cop who didn’t think I was good enough for him.

Chapter Eight

Jean

Jean saw the report on Moran’s desk as she entered the office. The file had “Madison” written in bold, red marker. Curious to see what Moran was working on, she picked it up and an incident form fell out. She was bending over to retrieve it when she heard two of her coworkers whistle.

“You think Detective Whitley is spreading out a little, Hennessey?” She heard the shorter of the two men Stevens say loud enough for her to hear.

“Yeah, I guess we solved the mystery of the disappearing donuts,” Hennessey replied.

She picked up the paper, turned around, and sneered at the two detectives.

“Did she just growl at us?” Hennessey asked his partner.

“Yeah, Hennessey. I think she did.”

“Will you guys ever grow up?” Jean turned her back on them again, trying to ignore them and resumed her reading. It was an incident report from the Armistace Hospital. She brought it to her desk and sat down. She heard Moran’s voice before she saw him enter the room.

“What’s this?” she asked him.

He glanced down at the file that was in her hands.

“Kid got hurt. He was attacked. They had to send him to the hospital.”

“The Madison boy?” They’d just been talking about him the other day, and Moran hadn’t mentioned it.

“Actually the Madison kid was the attacker.” He knew his next words would bother her. “He bashed a kid over the head with a baseball bat.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just got the report an hour ago. Other kid got a concussion, but they said he’ll be fine.”

She skimmed through the report.

“What happened to Brad? What’d they do to him?”

“Nothing.” She could tell he was frustrated.

 “I spoke to the administrator there, Judy. She said they sedated him right away afterward, and they’re monitoring him closely.”

Jean shook her head. “What’s going on with this kid, Moran?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t know, can’t tell you. I do know the uncle got that insurance check though. He must have
—
I just saw him leaving Starbucks in a brand new Mercedes. Pretty. Dark blue. Twin turbo CLS, looked fully loaded. Still had the sticker on the window.”

“I think we need to have a chat with the uncle, Moran. Find out what else he lied to us about.”

“Jean,” he said, sitting on the edge of her desk. “Do you see that report you have in your hand?”

She squinted at him, the line in the center of her forehead getting deeper.

He continued. “The uncle was nowhere around when this kid took a baseball bat
—
a
baseball bat
, Jean,” Moran stressed, “and slammed it over the head of another kid.”

“Just out of nowhere? He wasn’t provoked?”

“They aren’t sure, no one knows. The kids were playing ball and the Madison boy was batting. The other kid called the ball a strike, and next thing they knew, the kid was on the ground with a cracked skull. The uncle had nothing to do with it.”

“I still want to talk to him. Somebody, somewhere, must know what happened to this boy. Just maybe we’re letting some monster out there get away with abusing another kid because we didn’t look hard enough.”

She took a business card out of her purse and picked up the desk phone to call Dr. Rubin. She left a message asking the doctor to return her call.

“What are you calling her for?”

“I just want to find out if the uncle has been to visit.”

He sighed. “All right, I’ll tell you what. If you find out the uncle was there, let’s say forty-eight hours or less before the incident, we’ll take another look at Uncle Eddie.”

She smiled. “I’ve got work to do, got some reports to finish. Oh yeah, Connie mentioned your twenty-fifth anniversary is coming up. She told me to make sure you didn’t buy her an appliance.”

“Actually, you know Annie’s birthday is the same day.”

She nodded.

“I ordered them matching necklaces
—
here, you want to see?”

He pulled out a catalog from the jewelry store in the mall. “Here, this one.” He pointed. She was impressed. The picture was of a beautiful, yet simple charm that hung from a gold chain. In the middle of the charm was a flower with a pearl representing the center, and emeralds outlining the gold leaves.

“I’m gonna have them engraved. It’s going to say, “My love for you forever grows.”

A chorus of “aahs” came from two cops standing at the coffee station. They’d been eavesdropping, waiting in the background like cats eyeing a mouse. An embarrassed Moran turned beat red.

“Forget them, Moran. They’re just jealous.”

He dropped the catalog back into the drawer, and turned his attention to the ringing cell phone in his pocket. Leaving Moran to his phone call, she turned to Hennessey and Stevens. “Why don’t you two assholes grow up?” she growled with her teeth clenched. She went back to her desk, took out a writing pad and made a list of questions she wanted to ask Dr. Rubin. She continued to make a list of questions to ask Eddie Ginns and his parents.

When she got to the bottom of the page, she paused. Then she added:
Questions to ask Brad.
She left it empty. She knew there was only one question she wanted to ask him.
Who? Who did this to you?

As she put the pad aside, her eyes fell on one of the photos of Cliff and Bethany that lay below the glass covering her desk. Taken about eight years ago on a family vacation, the photo had grabbed a moment in time that she realized she had never fully appreciated. It was a candid shot Glenn had taken on a trip to Florida to see her parents. They were building sand castles, their little faces looking intense, absorbed in the task before them. She gently put two fingers on the glass directly over the picture and then brought her fingers to her lips, then back to the photo.

Though not much of a religious person, she looked up and whispered, “Thank you.”

Marty

Marty tossed and turned all night long. Something was happening to him and he wasn’t quite sure if he liked it.

His mind kept drifting back to the evening he had spent with Justin, Diane, and Dr. Rubin. He was genuinely impressed with Diane; she was not only attractive but appeared to be intelligent as well. He got the impression that she was in the process of falling under Justin’s magic charm.

He was hoping that Justin was genuinely attracted to the girl, not just her position with the New York Yankee organization. Knowing Justin could be a dog at times, he made a note to himself to confront Justin with his suspicions.

He tried hard not to think about Dr. Rubin
—
Hope. He knew the next time he saw her at the hospital he would feel terribly uncomfortable calling her by her first name. This was a doctor, a full-fledged medical doctor.
Well
, he thought,
It would be a pipe dream to even think she would contemplate going out with me again. She’s way out of my league.

Laying his head back down on the pillow, and grateful he didn’t have to go to work the next day, he started to daydream. Moments of the night flashed before him like the trailer from an action film. He willed himself to put the thoughts in slow-motion so he could dissect each and every moment, hoping to find something about this woman he didn’t like.

The Captain stuck his head through the bedroom door, interrupting his thoughts.

“You going to get up, or stay in bed all day, boy?”

He waited until Marty sat up and handed him a steaming cup of coffee. Moving Marty’s feet, he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Marty carefully took a sip. “Um, thanks dad.”

“I thought you could use some wake-up juice,” he said smiling, referring to what Marty had called coffee as a young child. “How did the evening go? Was Justin’s date’s bra size bigger than her IQ?”

“Actually dad, she was really nice, and really pretty. You know, now that I think about it, they kind of look alike. Tall, redheaded, slim.” He took another sip. “Justin kind of monopolized her time, so I didn’t get to talk to her much, but she did seem like she had a brain.”

“What about your date? You get lucky?”

Marty took a while to answer. He realized he was starting to feel a sense of loss. Confusion was setting in. He couldn’t understand the feeling, but it reminded him of the time in junior high when Ellen Fine dumped him for Scottie Fisher. He hardly knew this girl, but he was already feeling like she had given him the boot.

Carefully choosing his words, he looked up at the Captain.

“Not my type.”

“Sorry, maybe next time. Hey, you feel like coming with me to the mall? I’ve got to buy a sweet sixteen present for Patty.”

Patty was the one and only girl out of the Captain’s eighteen grandchildren, and therefore, the one who had the biggest piece of his heart. “They’re having a big sale at the jewelry store. Maybe I can find something for her there.”

“You need to tell your children to stop having babies. Pretty soon you won’t be able to afford them. You know, Christmas is coming. You might have to take out a second mortgage this year.”

The Captain grabbed hold of Marty’s foot and gave it a tug.

“Still waiting for you to give me more, son. The more, the merrier.” He stood up.

“Sure Pop, about the mall. You’ll have to wait about the grandkids though. I can’t do it without help. I’ll be ready in about an hour. How’s that?”

“That’ll work. I’ll scramble up some bacon and eggs for you. Maybe we can find you a wife at the mall.”

Marty got out of bed, and walked toward the bathroom.

“I don’t think they sell the perfect woman at the mall, Pop, and I won’t settle for anything less.” He smiled at his father. “You didn’t, I won’t.”

The Captain returned the smile and headed toward the kitchen to make breakfast for his son.

A desolate mall gave the men the motivation to begin some holiday shopping, hoping they would be able to avoid the crowd at Christmas time. Peering into the counter in the last shop they entered, Marty pointed to a gold chain that held an opal charm in an antique-style, filigree setting.

“Isn’t opal her birthstone?” he asked his father.

A well groomed, middle-aged shopper to his right was watching the men intently.

“Opal is for October,” the lady interjected. “It’s beautiful. You men have excellent taste.”

Marty was getting the feeling that her tone was a bit flirtatious and looked over to see the Captain’s reaction. He was oblivious. She looked up at Marty and then back at the Captain.

“Is it for your wife?” she asked Marty.

She glanced down at his ring finger, and then took a peek at the older gentleman’s hand. She was glad to see the younger of the two men’s ring finger was naked, with no evidence of a ring having ever occupied the spot; she seemed disappointed to see a gold band on the Captain’s hand.

It was the Captain who spoke up. “My granddaughter, she’s going to be sixteen. Do you think she’d like it?”

“Oh yes,” she looked back at Marty. “I’m sure your daughter would love it. You look way too young to be fathers and grandfathers.”

Yep
, Marty thought to himself,
she’s flirting with us
. He looked at his dad again, thinking maybe it was time for the Captain to get back in the saddle.

“No Ma’am,” Marty answered, “It’s for my niece.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. It’s a beautiful gift. I’m sure your granddaughter will love it. You said she’s going to be sixteen? Yes, it’s perfect for her.” She took another good look at Marty, appraising his good looks.

“Mom,” a voice called from the entrance of the store.

“May I help you?”

The store clerk had come over, and Marty was turning to face him when out of the corner of his eye he recognized Hope walking over to converse with the older woman.