Learning to Stand (38 page)

“
Larry seems quite
chipper.”

“
He’s researching Joiner’s
holdings while his honey studies for her exams.” Joseph
smirked.

“
His honey?” Alex raised her
eyebrows.

“
Don’t worry fairy
godmother. He has a crush on your Helene.”

“
A crush?” Matthew laughed.
“He worships the very ground she walks on.”

“
Anyway, nothing happened
last night. Or so her father said. By the way, Ben said he was
returning to Paris. You know how to get a hold of him?”

Alex nodded.

“
Weasel then?”

“
Weasel it is,” Joseph
said.

She looked at her watch.

“
When Robert Lopez and his
daughter get here...”

“
White Boy and Trece are on
their way with them,” Joseph said. “Trece says Bobby’s a great guy.
They want to play cards. So don’t worry. We’ll let Trece and White
Boy entertain them for a while.”

“
Those boys come in handy,”
Matthew said.

“
We need to talk about the
men.” Noting Alex’s dark look, Joseph said, “Later.”

“
Later,” Alex said. “Krystal
Jo then Bobby and Beth Ann.”

“
I’ll take care of it,”
Joseph said.

“
Thanks.”

Alex touched his sleeve. He looked up and
smiled at her. She nodded. He put his hand over hers in a gesture
of support.

“
I always hated
Joiner.”

“
I know,” he said. “See you
in a bit.”

Alex and Matthew walked down a short hallway
to a straight flight of stairs.

“
How are you feeling?”
Matthew asked.

“
Yes,” Alex said.

She turned down the hallway to the small
bedroom on the first floor. Matthew laughed.

“
Good answer.”

“
And you?” Alex asked. She
nodded to the Texas Rangers standing next to the door.

“
Yep,” he said.

She smiled.

“
At least you don’t smell
anymore,” he said under his breath as they walked into the
room.

A medium sized blond woman stood with her
back to the door. She was staring out the window at the melting
snow in their backyard. Wiping her eyes, she turned to watch them
enter the room.

“
Hello. I’m Lieutenant
Colonel Alexandra Hargreaves and this is Captain Matthew Mac
Clenaghan, US Army. You may call us Alex and Matt.”

“
Are you going to tell me
what the hell is going on?” Krystal Jo Joiner asked. “The police
came… and I don’t know where my boys are… and...”

She sniffed at a tear then squared her
shoulders. Her eyes sparked with strength.

“
What has Cee Cee Joiner
gotten us into this time?” she asked. Her voice was as fierce as
her Texas accent deep.

“
May I get you some water or
iced tea?” Alex asked.

“
You can bring my babies to
me,” Krystal replied with a shake of her yellow hair. “They have
never been away from me.”

Alex smiled.

“
Matthew, can you bring us
some iced tea and some cookies?” Alex asked.

Matthew nodded his head and left the room.
They’d agreed that Krystal might feel more comfortable speaking
with a woman, but Matthew refused to let Alex work alone. Matthew
left to let Alex get started.

“
Please sit down,” Alex
said. She indicated a chair at a small square oak table. Krystal
took the chair nearest her and Alex sat across from her.

“
I’m not sure what to call
you. Do you go by Krystal? Krystal Jo? My bunkmate at basic was
from Texas. She said people’s second name was very important to
Texans.”

Shaking her head, Krystal furrowed her
brow.

“
Is this a joke? I’m
arrested, my babies are God knows where and you want...”

Raising her eyebrows, Alex smiled at
Krystal.

“
I’m sorry,” Krystal said.
“I’m too exhausted and worried to remember polite conversation.
What was your bunkmate’s name?”

“
Catherine Susan Lesser.
Cathy Sue for short. She would squint her eyes at anyone would
called her ‘Cathy’ and not ‘Cathy Sue.’”

“
What happened to her?”
Krystal asked.

“
She met,” Alex’s voice
changed to imitate Cathy’s accent, “the sweetest boy.”

Krystal smiled at Alex’s imitation.

“
Somehow, Cathy Sue happened
to get pregnant after we received orders to go to Bosnia. She got
out on a medical discharge. They live in San Antonio. He works for
Whole Foods Corporate office.”

“
Everyone calls me Krystal,”
she said. “Joiner is my father’s name. Not Cee Cee’s name. Our
grandfather’s were cousins. You probably know this but I’m an
insurance agent. That’s how I met Cee Cee. I manage the insurance
plans for Pecos Oil.”

“
And?”

“
And what?” Krystal’s blue
eyes raked Alex’s face. “You’re the girl who beat up that guy in
the parking lot. I wondered if you were injured. That’s some
cast.”

“
I had surgery yesterday.”
Alex raised her aluminum and gauze arm in her blue sling. “I’m
hoping to get a real cast tomorrow.”

“
Looks uncomfortable,”
Krystal said.

“
Yeah,” Alex shrugged.
“Shall we?”

Krystal nodded.

“
What’s your relationship
with Cee Cee Joiner?”

“
He’s the father of my
children,” she said.

The door opened and Matthew came in with
glasses, a pitcher of ice tea and a plate of lemon drop
cookies.

“
You have to try these.”
Alex picked up a cookie. “My brother-in-law is a baker. He made
these last night. Matthew, Krystal wants to know why she’s
here.”

“
Cee Cee Joiner’s male
children have been kidnapped.”

Matthew gauged his voice for maximum impact.
They had to know if she was involved.

“
What?” Panicked, Krystal
jumped to her feet.

“
You didn’t know?” Alex
asked.

“
Some man called on Friday
to ask about the boys… when they were born… where they went to
school… stuff like that. He said he was from Homeland Security. I
called the police to make sure he was legitimate before I answered
even one question. Did he kidnap my babies?”

“
Please sit down,” Alex
said.

“
My boys… Are they safe?”
she asked.

“
Your boys are safe,” Alex
said. “They are with Cathy Sue. Last time I checked, they were
playing Guitar Hero with Cathy’s boys. Cathy lives in a gated
community but to be safe, there is a Texas Ranger with the boys.
It’s my understanding that he sucks at Guitar Hero. But you didn’t
hear it from me.”

Krystal looked from Alex to Matthew then sat
down again.

“
Why am I here?” Krystal
asked.

“
Cee Cee Joiner’s male
children have been kidnapped,” Matthew repeated. “All of them
except your boys and his current wife, who is pregnant with a male
child. They didn’t get him either.”

Krystal’s lips dropped in a pensive
frown.

“
When?” Krystal
asked.

“
Tristan is the only one we
have good data on because a missing person’s report was
filed.”

“
By Bobby Lopez?”

“
How…?” Alex
started.

“
I manage their health
insurance. I know all the dirt,” Krystal said. “Tristan’s lived
with them since Cee Cee fired Bobby from Pecos Oil.”

Alex blinked.

“
Didn’t know Bobby worked
for Pecos Oil?” Krystal asked. “He worked for them since he was
fifteen years old. Started in the oil fields. Tristan went missing?
When?”

“
Around Christmas,” Alex
said. “We rescued Tristan, Cory, Cody, and Kyle last
night.”

“
Cee Cee has a few more
boys. Let’s see... There’s Daniel and David…and Marvin, of course.
What?”

“
Ma’am, Daniel, Marvin and
David are dead,” Matthew said. “And…”

Krystal gasped in horror. Her hands flew to
her face. With her nose and mouth covered by her French manicured
fingertips, only her eyes showed her shock.

“
We aren’t sure Cory will
make it. Cody and Tristan have been poisoned with mercury,” Alex
said.

“
Tristan is older, bigger.
The doctors expect him to shake the mercury. However he’s been
beaten. He’s in reconstructive surgery now and...”

Matthew stopped speaking in response to
Krystal’s increasing distress. They had planned on pounding her
with the facts to break the truth from her. That wasn’t going to be
necessary. His voice softened.

“
But Cody is very ill and
Cory is only two years old.”

“
Cory was always sickly. He
has bad allergies and asthma. Oh God...”

Krystal wept in earnest. There was no
mistaking her reaction. Krystal Joiner had no idea the children
were kidnapped.

“
I know I’m not helping,”
Krystal said. She swiped at her tears with her hands. Matthew held
a box of tissues out for her. “I loved those boys. My boys will be
heart broken. Poor Sue Ann. Daniel and David were her
life.”

Krystal squinted her eyes with determination
then squared her shoulders.

“
You want my help figuring
out what happened,” Krystal said. “Let’s get the bastard who did
this. If you can beat up that big guy, I bet you’ll find out who
did this. Ok, what can I do?”

Krystal reached for a cookie. She bit into
the cookie as if she was biting into this problem.

“
What do you know?” Matthew
asked.

“
Nothing,” Krystal replied.
“I had no idea the boys were… well… wait a minute.”

Krystal tapped her upper lip with an index
finger.

“
We usually get together
with all of Cee Cee’s kids, and their Moms, for the holidays. We
Moms hate Cee Cee so much that we are actually pretty good friends.
Well… the wives are very tight. A couple of the other mothers work
for Buffy. She’s Cee Cee’s first wife and acts like the Queen of
the Joiner harem. I’m not a part of the inner circle. After all, I
have a job. But they usually include us in their holidays. We saw
everyone at Thanksgiving but at Christmas... Huh.”

Krystal lapsed into silence while she
finished her cookie.

“
What?” Alex
asked.

“
We were supposed to get
together before Christmas. Tristan was going to be home. My boys
worship Tristan. We usually meet at Buffy’s house. This year, she
canceled at the last minute. I figured she was mad that Tristan was
living with Beth Ann. But… Why wouldn’t she tell
everyone?”

“
We don’t know,” Alex said.
“The Texas Rangers are interrogating the mothers. We spoke with all
of the mothers on Friday. They denied their children were
missing.”

“
Every single one,” Matthew
said.

“
That is… odd.” Krystal
lapsed into silence again. “I was relieved we didn’t have to go to
Buffy’s house. She can be impossible. We had such a nice Christmas
this year… just me and my boys.”

“
How are you and your boys
different from the other children and mothers?” Matthew
asked.

“
I’m financially
independent. That’s probably the biggest difference. I don’t get
money from Cee Cee. My father was in insurance. I joined his
practice after college and I took the practice over when he died. I
owned my own house when I met Cee Cee.”

“
How… I mean…”

Alex started then stopped. She wasn’t quite
sure how to ask Krystal why she had a relationship with the awful
Cee Cee Joiner. Krystal laughed at the look on Alex’s face.

“
Cee Cee can be fun. After
my Dad died, I felt very alone in the world. I took over insurance
at Pecos Oil and I met Cee Cee. It happened like one, two, three,
four: Daddy falls over dead; take over his large insurance practice
with this huge oil contract; meet Cee Cee Joiner; get pregnant. I
think everything happened in less than six months.”

Krystal shook her head then took a drink of
iced tea.

“
You aren’t from
Texas.”

“
We are not. Why?” Alex
asked.

“
This tea is not sweetened,”
Krystal smiled.

“
Would you like some sugar?”
Matthew asked.

“
No, thank you,” Krystal
said. “Ok, why Cee Cee? Cee Cee isn’t the kind of man like I bet
you are Matthew. No, he’s not kind or thoughtful. He could care
less about anyone but himself. But he made me laugh. He took me out
on the town. He’s fun in bed.”

“
I knew he was married... It’s not my proudest moment.”
Krystal shrugged. “I got pregnant with Lance and Cee Cee started
bossing me around. I needed to do this and that and whatever else
for
his
child. That was it for
me.”

“
How…?”

“
Sperm bank,” Krystal said.
“I didn’t want Lance to grow up alone and I wanted them to have the
same father so we would look like a family. Stupid huh? Cee Cee
banked sperm so I used it to have Jason. I’m not sure Cee Cee even
knows.”

“
How did you arrange
it?”