Chemical Attraction (16 page)

Walking to his car, Madeline watched him sulk. “Why aren’t you happy about that?”

“I am, but what’s his life going to be like now? He and his brothers are alone. Their parents are dead. If they don’t have any other family, those boys will be split up into foster care.”

Stepping into the cool house, she checked on her aunt while Joe washed up. This time, she returned to the room to find the lights off and Joe under the sheet. She slid close to his back and laid her hand on his shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

“I’d rather make love to you and forget about our case.”

“You make it so hard to resist you.”

“Then don’t,” he whispered.

“Eva mentioned that you could relate to that child. What did she mean?”

He stretched out on his back. “I love my sisters with all my heart, but they don’t understand what I went through as a kid.”

“Tell me,” she whispered, laying her head on his chest.

“Most of the time I think of my childhood in terms of a nightmare forgotten during the day, but some days I realize that the horror was my reality. The image of that boy lying on the ground burns my soul. I remember constantly being hungry, dirty, tired, and scared. My dad beat my mom and me. She drank, and I had to fend for myself. It’s a lot of stress for a little kid.” Joe paused to compose himself. He played with her hair. “In third grade, I met Taylor and she changed my life. Her parents encouraged me to come over after school to do homework. I’d stay for dinner, which most of the time was my only decent meal that day. Then, I’d cry all the way to my house knowing that my dad would be waiting. He’d wail on me for being over there. I considered Eva and Taylor my family. Taylor’s parents loved me unconditionally. In a way, it made my beatings tolerable. When I left for college, I never looked back.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her tears falling onto his skin.

“Finding that kid brought everything back,” he said, sitting up.

She sat up, too. “Children should be loved not told they deserve a beating,” she whispered, remembering her beating and her father’s comments. “Trusting after that type of family betrayal hurts beyond physical pain.”

“Yeah,” he whispered back hoarsely.

Through the moonlight between the lace curtains, she saw how troubled he was. On her knees in the middle of the bed, she reached out for him. He met her embrace and kissed her. She thought she’d melt from his gentleness. For the first time in her life, she surrendered her whole self.

Joe had never shared that with anyone. His sisters had known that his dad beat him, but they never knew the deep emotional pain he felt every time he returned home. Madeline understood. For the first time in his life, he felt a real connection with a woman. A link around his heart snapped; the chain fell away.

FRIDAY

PROPPING HER HEAD ON HER elbow, Madeline watched him sleep in the morning light. She had seen many sides of Joe in this short week and she liked every one. He grinned with his eyes closed. “Stop staring,” he said.

“You’re pretty sexy with bed head.”

“Can we stop pretending that we’re pretending to like each other?”

She reached out to caress his abdomen. “Can we do that?”

“Stop pretending?” he asked.

“I thought you wanted it all business,” she replied.

“We tried. It didn’t work.”

“Is there some rule about agents sleeping together on assignment?” she asked.

“So you admit you’re an agent?” He chuckled. “We could say we’re pretending. I might be able to think better during the day knowing you’ll be with me at night.”

“Are you rationalizing?”

“Yeah.”

She kissed him lightly, then jumped up. She still had to figure out an excuse to get into the locked supply cage.

“I can do this, Mom,” David said, standing outside the hospital room. He had already told her twice. Proud that his dad and uncle had included him in their discussion, he was not going to let them down.

“I know.” She sighed. “They were leery with all the adults yesterday.”

“Mom, we’ve been over this.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. I’m your mom. I worry.”

“I’ll text you if I need help.”

David opened the door to find the two boys huddled together in the bed closest to the door. He set his backpack in the chair and smiled. They sat up stiffly. He wasn’t sure if they could hear yet, so he waved and pointed to his ears. They shook their heads. He decided he needed to make friends first.

He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a coloring book, his old Crayolas, and a stack of comic books. The comics caught their attention. He thought the boys looked to be in first and second grade. He sat on the edge of the bed and opened a Spiderman comic. He pointed. The boys watched him closely and followed his eyes to the picture. Within a half hour, he had worked his way to sit between the two on the bed. He animated the fight scenes from the comics with his fingers to the boys’ delight. They seemed to relax after an hour.

Nurse Mindy carried in their breakfast. “It’s the first time I’ve seen them try to communicate.” She set the trays on the rolling tables and maneuvered them next to each boy.

“Can they hear anything?” he asked.

“If they do, it’s like hearing underwater.”

The nurse lifted the lids to show scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, and apple juice. Their eyes doubled in size. They looked at him and he nodded. Forgetting the comics, they focused on the food. While they ate, he reached for his backpack at the foot of the bed. He found a pad, pen, and eight action figures. He knew they’d come in handy someday.

He stood the figures on their trays and sat back with his pad, opening it to a fresh page. On the top, he wrote his name. In between bites, the boys watched. He pointed to his name then to himself. The slightly taller blonde boy said it aloud. Nodding, he handed him the pen and paper. He took it and wrote N-A-T-E. David smiled and shook his hand. The smaller boy motioned for the pen and pad. David passed it to him and the boy scribbled R-O-B-Y. David shook his hand, too. For the next hour, they communicated by hand signals and drawings. It became a fun game.

Sitting behind her desk, June grinned. “He’s dropped you off almost every day this week. Is he moving in?”

“That’s tempting, isn’t it? I’d be in a dreamy haze and nothing would get done after work.”

“Is that so bad?”

Shaking her head, Madeline headed to her lab. Leaving her purse in her office, she checked in with her young assistant, who was already hard at work. “Did Joe drop you off this morning?” Jessica asked.

“Yes, he did. We’re talking about moving in together to share expenses.”

“Moving in to share expenses? You’re not hurting for money and you’ve only known him a week.”

“Does it matter? He’s hot.”

Laughing, Jessica nodded her head. “I wish I could find a decent guy. Does he have a brother?”

“Sorry. Do you think shipping has extra boxes I can get for packing?”

“Sure, people go down there all the time. They just throw them out if nobody takes them.”

“I’ll see if they’ll save a few for me.” She hated going down there. Those guys in their twenties had an old man smarmy way about them. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the cage. Casually glancing around for unusual shipments, she saw Kenny with his greasy mullet walking over.

“Dr. Pierce, what can I do for you?” He eyed her up and down. Today, she had on a white lace blouse, camisole, and a tight, above the knee brown skirt. Too hot for nylons, she wore a pair of brown sling-back heels.

“Kenny, do you have any packing boxes you’re not using?”

“Sure, are you moving?”

“I’m looking for about six.”

“How big? They range from shoebox to refrigerator size.”

She saw the folded boxes in the back corner of the cage. “I’m not exactly sure. Can I see your medium ones?”

He put his bony hand on her waist to guide her. The longer she stayed down there to snoop the better, so she resisted the urge to punch him for touching her. Walking down the aisle, she looked at the labels on as many boxes as she could. He showed her the stack, taking his time. She chose three medium, one big, and four smaller boxes. He carried them toward the shipping door. As he leaned the flattened boxes against the building, she saw three guys loading large plain boxes into the back of a white delivery truck a little larger than a UPS van. She noticed that the truck was only a quarter full.

“I have a friend who’ll be picking these up. Can I meet him here?”

He frowned. “Sure, have him come to the shipping gate. You’ll have to be there to sign him in. I can walk you over there if you’d like.”

“That would be so nice of you, Kenny. I’ll call him and be back shortly.”

“Anything for you, Dr. Pierce.” He leered.

Before she left the area, she noticed Kenny talking to the guys by the truck. His gesturing told a different tale. Apparently, she came on to him and he took her up on the proposal. That might actually buy her a little time. She dialed Joe’s cell as she came around her desk to sit. She checked her watch.

“Hey,” he said out of breath.

“Where are you?”

“I was in the shower thinking of you. What’s going on?”

“They’re loading a truck with large boxes right now.”

“How much time do we have?”

“I have no idea. It’s a delivery truck and a quarter full.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“I’ll meet you at the shipping gate. By the way, you’re picking up empty boxes; you’re moving in with me.”

Hanging up, she fantasized about that and smiled.

Matt sat down behind his desk and found a stack of messages. The top three urgent ones wanted him to call the sheriff. Now what? As he dialed the number, he shuffled through the rest. The sheriff answered on the second ring.

“Chief,” he started. Formal was never a good sign. “That explosion yesterday and the death at Adamczyk’s farm are outside city limits. My boys will collect your information and evidence.”

“Excuse me?” Matt replied. “Those incidences are barely outside city limits. What’s going on, Sheriff?”

“What’s the problem? I’m taking them off your hands. I’ll send my boys down after lunch,” he replied, hanging up.

“God damn it!” he yelled into the phone. “Bobby!” he yelled louder.

“Yeah, Chief,” he said, taking up the entire doorway.

“Come in and shut the door.” He clenched his jaw as he waited. “The sheriff wants our information and evidence from Pete’s death and the explosion.”

“Why? He’s usually shoving stuff on us.”

“Something is not right and I don’t like it. I want copies of everything and pictures from all angles of our evidence. He can have the originals, but you and I will continue to look into it.”

“Strictly confidential?”

“Yeah, I don’t want word to get out that we even have copies. Can you get it done before lunch?”

“Yeah, I’ll hijack the copier and take over the interrogation room.”

“Make sure the viewing room is locked.”

If anyone around here could get it done, Bobby could. Wadding up the three messages, he pitched them into his trash and returned the less urgent calls. Forgetting Jack Adam’s voice message, he started on the stack of paperwork, hoping for any excuse to leave his cramped office.

“Jessica, since we’re just waiting for the machines to process our cultures, I’m leaving,” Madeline said, coming out of her office with her purse. “Joe’s coming to pick up some boxes. I want to be around to help, so I doubt I’ll be back.”

She nodded. “I may leave early, too.”

By the truck, Kenny monitored the loading progress. As she approached, they instantly became irritated. At closer inspection, the boxes were unmarked, the truck half full. She didn’t see the driver, but Dennis gave Kenny a slight shove.

He turned her away. “Dr. Pierce, back so quickly. I’ll walk you to the gate.”

They strode across the large compound. Only semi or delivery trucks with the proper paperwork had access to the shipping gate behind the main building. The fence was at least twelve feet high with barbed wire. BennTech even had its own road for the semi-trucks, so they didn’t disrupt the employee parking lot or tear up the public streets.

Twenty-five minutes later, Joe stopped at the gate to find his girlfriend standing next to a thin dirty lecher. She continually pushed his hand away as he tried to move it between the small of her back and her butt. He suppressed the urge to rip off his arm. She needed saving.

“Hey baby,” he said.

Madeline smiled and walked to greet him. Leaning down, she rested her elbows on his window frame. “Where have you been? Kenny’s been groping me for the last ten minutes.”

She pointed to the third shipping door. He pulled through the gate and drove the fifty yards to the area. He backed in and parked next to the delivery truck, to the annoyance of the group. Madeline sped to the car while Kenny pretended to guide her with his grubby hand. Joe walked over to where Kenny stood by the flattened boxes. Kenny smirked as Joe picked up the boxes.

Joe glared. “You, my friend, will never touch that high-class ass again.”

“Is that a fact?” Kenny asked, grinning.

“Yup, because if you come within three feet of her, I will make you disappear.”

“Yeah, whatever, she’s an iceberg. It’d take too long to melt that.”

Joe smiled and put the boxes in the backseat while Madeline ignored their conversation. “Ready baby?” he asked, opening the car door for her.

“Thanks for the help, Kenny,” she said over her shoulder.

“Anytime, Dr. Pierce.”

Joe smacked her playfully on her butt. She cupped the front of his jeans, giving him a gentle caress. They saw Kenny’s mouth drop. She grinned almost to the point of laughing. Joe shut her door and walked behind the car to the driver’s side.

He smiled again at Kenny. “Yeah, she’s an iceberg.”

Madeline immediately wrote the truck’s plate number down. “I was hoping you’d punch him. I am not an iceberg.”

“No, you definitely are not.”

David figured out that Nate was seven and Roby five. The other brother, Stevie, was four. He tried to explain that Stevie was in another room. Roby took the note pad and spelled out M-A-M-A. His questioning look broke David’s heart. He didn’t know how to respond, but he wanted to tell his young friends as gently as he could. He reached for the crayons and pad. He drew the earth, clouds, and sun. He tried to draw an angel flying to the clouds, but he wasn’t sure they would understand.

Nate pointed to the angel. “Mama?”

He nodded sadly.

“Papa,” Roby asked, pointing at the angel.

Again, David nodded. The boys looked at each other with a sense of relief. Changing the subject, he motioned to his ears again. They still shook their heads. On his notepad, he wrote soon. He settled back with the boys now that they seemed more relaxed. They used the action figures to act out the scenes from the comics. The door slammed open against the wall. David flinched, which made the boys jump.