Family Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 2) (8 page)

The big news in the Park was that we were getting a new
neighbor. The couple next to Mrs. Howard had been transferred out of state, and
the house had sold the day it hit the market to someone who bought it sight unseen. 
An enormous moving van had pulled up early Saturday morning.

Oliver came running back to the bedroom like Santa Clause had
just pulled up. “Can I go across the street?” he asked, jumping up and down in
his motocross pajamas.

“No!” I said, more aggressively than I’d intended, and I got
raised eyebrows from Maddie. When I’d moved into the Park, the neighbors had
descended on me like a bunch of vultures.

“Why not?” Oliver whined.

Maddie piped in before I could answer. “We’ll go over later
with a big batch of cookies.  How does that sound?”

“Okay,” Oliver said, sounding like it wasn’t okay at all. The
doorbell rang – Mrs. Howard’s daily bread delivery – and Oliver perked up
again.  “Can I go to Mrs. Howard’s?” The phrase
there’s more than one way to
skin a cat
popped into my head, and before I could say no, Maddie said yes.

After both boys had left with Mrs. Howard, Maddie asked,
“What’s your problem with going over to meet the new neighbors?”

“We’d be encroaching on their privacy,” I asserted, but it
sounded pretty lame when it came out.

“Encroaching on their privacy?” Maddie repeated, then she
laughed out loud. “Oh, brother!”

“Don’t
oh brother
me,” I said, trying not to laugh with
her.

“That’s just retarded, Samuel.  They’re our neighbors, and it’s
just being neighborly to go over and welcome them.”  She nuzzled into me, “I
came over and met
you
the day you moved in,” she said, snuggling her
head against my neck, then she climbed up me and wrapped her legs around my
waist and her arms around my neck. “Remember?”

“I remember,” I said, totally distracted by the proximity of my
hot wife.  “Max crapped all over the place.” I brought my lips to hers and gave
her a slow and lingering kiss that carried just as much passion as one of those
early on kisses, then I set her down and pulled down one strap at a time on her
sexy little nightgown.

Not long after I ravaged my hot wife, I watched my two boys tromp
across the grass with Mrs. Howard to the new neighbor’s house. And something
told me I’d be meeting a new neighbor before the day was out.

“You might as well go bake those damn cookies,” I said.

I was outside doing some yard work when Mrs. Howard brought my
boys back home. Oliver came running as fast as he could.

“Dad, we met the new neighbors!” he said, winded from his
sprint. “There’s a lady that’s the mom, and her name’s Mrs. Travis. And a kid
that’s five!  But it’s a girl; her name’s Emily. And a baby like Morgan, only it
has a weird cry.”

“A weird cry?”

“Yeah, like a goat or something.”

“You didn’t say that to Mrs. Travis, did you?”

“No, but it’s true.”

“Okay.  Cool.  Well, your mom’s making cookies so we’ll go over
when they’re done. Don’t tell them their kid sounds like a goat, okay?”

“Okay,” he said agreeably.  

Mrs. Howard went off to the bank and I watered some plants that
were wilting in the blazing heat. Summer had well and truly settled in. I was
just finishing up in the yard when Maddie brought my cell phone outside.

“Someone from the bank for you,” she said.

“On a Saturday?” I mouthed to Maddie, and she shrugged her
shoulders.

“Samuel Collins,” I said into the phone.

“Mr. Collins, this is Chad from down at the bank.”

“Hey, Chad, what’s up?”

“Well, I hate to bother you on a Saturday, but I know that
you’ve been in here with Sara Howard before, and . . . ”

“What’s happened?” I cut him off, and headed inside to grab my
car keys.

 “She backed into someone’s car in the parking lot.  There’s no
damage to the guy’s car, and he wasn’t even in his car at the time, but he’s
acting like he got hurt, and he’s trying to get money out of Mrs. Howard.”

“I’m on my way. Are you with her now?”

“No, but another teller is outside with her.”

“Tell Mrs. Howard I said do not, under any circumstance, give that
dirt bag a dime. And let that bastard know that her attorney is on his way. 
I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”

Sensing something was going down, Oliver exclaimed, “I’m
coming!”

“Me too!” said Max.

I didn’t have time to argue, so they both jumped in and Oliver
strapped Max in, then got himself strapped.  I drove as fast as I dared,
considering there were lots of fawns that were not yet streetwise. We pulled
into the bank parking lot next to Mrs. Howard’s Crown Victoria.  I told the
boys to stay put, and I got out leaving the motor running and the A/C
blasting.  The look on Mrs. Howard’s face was a mixture of embarrassment and
relief; Chad’s was strictly relief.

“Thanks for calling me,” I told Chad.

“No problem.  We all like Mrs. Howard.  The guy took off as
soon as I told him you were on your way.”

“Samuel, I really pulled a booboo,” Mrs. Howard piped in. 
“Look what I did to my car.”

There was a 6 inch dented scratch on the passenger rear panel where
she had cut the turn too close and scraped against the other car’s bumper.

“Ah, it’s not that bad, Mrs. Howard.  Did you give that guy
your name?”

“No, I don’t think so, but I’m so flustered that I really don’t
know.”

“You weren’t going to give him any money, were you?”  She
looked at me without answering, definitely looking guilty. “Seriously?!”  I
looked up to the heavens, or at least to the trees.  Mrs. Howard and I had been
through a lot together, and I hoped that she had learned
something
from
passed mistakes.  

“I guess I’m just a silly old lady,” she said sheepishly.

“All right.  Well . . . can you drive or are you too freaked
out?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“I’m too freaked out.”

I opened the passenger door to my Suburban.  “Okay.  Get in and
we’ll go to La Taza, then I’ll drop you back off at your car.”

We thanked Chad, got Mrs. Howard into the Suburban and headed
off to La Taza for a mocha fraspa with whipped cream on top.  Maddie had turned
me on to La Taza just before she got pregnant with Morgan. Her daily frozen
coffee drink was something she allowed herself to splurge on after she hit it
rich, and I had quickly developed an addiction to the drink.  The owner and
employees of my new coffee house were warm and friendly, making their patrons
feel right at home in the cozy living room atmosphere, complete with books,
games and puzzles.  On any given day, you could walk in to find two women of
Mrs. Howard’s vintage working on a giant puzzle, and artsy intellectuals
sitting at the counter with their laptops.

We ordered our drinks, then Mrs. Howard and I sat at a table
and slurped them down, while Oliver and Max stood by watching the puzzle ladies
do their thing. When we got back to the bank, I gave Mrs. Howard a pep talk.

“Okay, you’ve got to get back on the horse now.”

“I don’t know how to thank you, Sam.  I love you like a son.”
It was something she said often, but she always made it sound like she just
thought of it.

“Now, don’t go getting sentimental on me, Mrs. Howard. Come
here, let’s have a hug.”  I bent down and gave her a bear hug. “Now get your
ass home and try not to hit anything on the way.”  I got a toothy grin in
response. “I’ll follow you.”

When I got back in the car I noticed my kid had something in
his mouth.

“What are you eating?” I asked Max. He looked guilty and didn’t
answer. “What’s in your mouth?”  No response. “Open your mouth,” I instructed. 
It was a chewed up puzzle piece.

Maddie met us outside with a Tupperware container of homemade
chocolate chip cookies in one hand, and Morgan in the other. After my solo
weekend with the kids, there had been some sort of shift in my relationship
with Morgan, and as soon as she saw me, she reached her arms out for me to take
her from her mom.  I was secretly thrilled that at times she liked me more than
Maddie, and I’m certain that had I been the mom, I would have been insanely
jealous. Maddie was nothing of the sort.  She seemed perfectly content that
Morgan was becoming a daddy’s girl, at least part of the time, and more than
willing to pass her on. I made a stupid noise that before I became a parent
would have completely irked me, and got a big smile from my little girl.

Our family of five crossed the street together to assault the
new people with some good old-fashioned neighborhood hospitality. Feeling
mighty hypocritical, but knowing who butters my bread, I put a smile on my face
and acted like I was enjoying myself.

Curiously, Kitty Travis looked aptly like something the cat
dragged in – disheveled, was the word that came to mind; definitely not a good
first impression, and reason number one why it’s not a good idea to drop in on
a new neighbor.  I was ready to leave the cookies and make our escape, but
Kitty and Maddie would have no such thing. In fact, it was apparent that they
were going to become fast friends.

We walked among boxes and ended up in the kitchen, where we met
Kitty’s other half, Jake Travis, who was holding a kid that was about the same
size as Morgan. Jake looked like a skater, with shaggy hair, a Hurley t-shirt,
and skinny jeans. I introduced myself and went to shake the guy’s hand, but he
didn’t have one; his right arm was amputated below the elbow, so I just kind of
waved instead, since his other hand was occupied with the kid.

“Nice to meet you, Jake.”

“Same here, dude!  Like, how old is your kid? They look about
the same age.”

“About four months.  Her name’s Morgan.  And yours?

“Four months here too.  This is Cosmo.”  He waved the kid’s
hand at Morgan and the two infants checked each other out, reaching out one
slobbery hand to another.

I introduced Oliver and Max to Jake.  The look on Oliver’s face
was somewhere between shock and awe, and he blatantly stared at Jake’s missing
arm.  I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him what I hoped was a reassuring
pat, willing him to keep his mouth shut until we could talk privately, but he
clearly wanted some answers right then and there.

Maddie and Jake exchanged greetings and started yakking, giving
Oliver the opportunity to pull me down to his level.  I squatted down beside
him and put my arm around his shoulder hoping to provide a little privacy for
the conversation I knew was coming.

“He only has one hand!” Oliver whisper shouted, his blue eyes
huge with amazement.

“Yeah, I saw that,” I said.

“What happened to it?”

“I don’t know. He lost it somehow.”

“He
lost
it?
Where
?”

I couldn’t help smile. “No not like that.  He didn’t
misplace
it. He may have hurt it and the doctors had to take it off,” I tried to
explain.

“But where is it?”

Maddie saw my discomfort and came to my rescue. 

“I think he’s wondering about your hand,” Maddie said to Jake like
it was no big deal, and addressing the elephant in the room somehow removed the
awkwardness.

Jake looked down at his arm and then to Oliver.

“I was in a car wreck and my arm was hurt too badly to fix. 
Want to see something else?”  Oliver nodded without speaking. Jake passed Cosmo
to Kitty, and then he pulled up the leg of his skinny jeans to expose a
prosthetic leg.  “This is what happens when you don’t wear your seatbelt,” he
said, and then he asked Oliver, “Do you wear your seatbelt?”

Oliver nodded solemnly, apparently words still eluding him.
When he finally got his tongue back, I was mortified when he asked, “Can I
touch it?”

“Sure,” Jake said.  “Check it out.”

“Max, you want to touch it with me?” Oliver asked.  Max had
been conspicuously quiet, but never one to pass up an opportunity to maul
something, he joined his big brother in the show-and-tell session where they
learned everything there was to know about Jake’s prosthetic leg. They touched
it and they knocked on it; Jake showed them how to take it off and put it on,
and they even carried the damn thing around.

We threw back a couple of beers, polished off Maddie’s cookies,
and by the time we headed back home, I suspected that the new neighbors were in
all likelihood going to turn out to be new friends, as well.

Maddie slipped her hand in mine as we crossed the street back
to our house.  “Gosh, I can see why you didn’t want to go meet the new
neighbors.  That was awful,” Maddie said, trying unsuccessfully to keep the
laughter from her voice.

I pulled her to a stop, wrapped my arm around her neck, and
planted a kiss on her mouth.  “Okay, go ahead and say it.  I know you’re dying
to.”

“Let’s say it together,” Maddie teased, and she stood there
looking at me with this adorable smile on her face.

I rolled my eyes, but I said it with her anyway, “I told you
so!”  My wife laughed. “All right,” I conceded.  “Maybe it wasn’t that bad.”

“Samuel Collins, I’ll make a social butterfly out of you yet.”

The day I was dreading had arrived; we were going to Harmony. I’d
considered going in a separate car, but Maddie wouldn’t hear of it, so I had to
put up with Felicia’s nervous chatter for hours on end.  I wasn’t sure if she
realized the favors I’d had to pull to get the court order.  If it hadn’t been
for a friend of a friend who was a prosecutor in Franklin County, I never could
have pulled it off. We’d taken my Suburban because I had refused to ride in
Felicia’s truck.  I’d never ridden with her before and I had no intention of
making it a first on a road trip.  She’d told me herself that she’d rammed her
truck into the back of a Porsche.  As far as I was concerned, she was lucky the
guy didn’t pull out a gun and shoot her.  I certainly didn’t want to be caught
in the middle of a road rage battle if Felicia decided to do something stupid
while my wife and I were with her.  

She and Maddie were both chomping at the bit at the prospect of
meeting Felicia’s brother.  They talked about nothing else for the first hour,
while I listened to the radio trying to ignore them.  Felicia sat perched on
the edge of the back seat, leaning forward between us, until I finally
suggested that Maddie sit in the back with her.

“Dairy Queen!” Felicia exclaimed, before Maddie could answer. 

She was pointing her finger practically in my face, like it was
possible that I might
not
see the place, even though it was the only
structure on the horizon. 

She moved even farther up towards the front.  “Let’s get an ice
cream cone,” she suggested.

I looked at the clock.  “It’s barely 10:00,” I pointed out.

“So?”

I looked at Maddie, hoping she’d side with me.  “I’ll take a
choc top,” she said.

I knew it.  They were going to overrule me on everything that
came up.  I pulled into the drive thru and paid a pimple-faced kid for three
chocolate dipped cones and we were back on the road within minutes.  I had to
admit it was a good distraction.  It kept Felicia quiet for a while anyway, and
it tasted damn good.

It took two more pit stops before we made it to Harmony and
another 15 minutes to Serenity.  By the time we arrived, it was after 1:00. 

The place was just as Maddie had described, down to the ducks
in the pond, but it was larger than I had imagined. The grounds were
immaculate.  There wasn’t so much as a leaf out of place. We parked in an area
designated for visitors, and I cracked the windows before locking the doors. 
The temperature was hovering at 100 degrees and I could feel the heat rising
off the black asphalt through my shoes.  We walked towards the entrance.

“Let me do the talking,” I told Felicia. 

I couldn’t quite read the look that Felicia gave me, but she
agreed to the terms with a silent nod.  For whatever reason, for the first time
in hours, she was speechless and I welcomed the peace and quiet.

If it was 100 degrees outside, the air conditioning inside must
have been set on 60. The cold air hit like a blast.  It actually sounded like a
north wind blowing when I opened the door. 

“May I help you?” a faceless voice said from behind the desk. 
A head poked out and I was surprised to see that it was woman; at least I
thought it was.  It occurred to me that she should sue her hairdresser, but on
closer inspection, I decided that maybe she’d cut it herself.  It was short and
black and so unstylish that I had to wonder if she was intentionally making
herself as ugly as possible.  Hell, Felicia’s hair looked great in comparison. 
The three of us stepped up to the desk.

“My name is Samuel Collins.  We’re here to see Jackson Whitaker.”

She blinked twice.  “I’m sorry.  We don’t have anyone here by
that name.”

“Jackson Whitaker?” I repeated.

“I’m sorry.”

To the contrary she didn’t sound sorry at all.  Felicia started
to say something but  I put my hand on her arm and she remained silent.

“I’d like to speak to the Administrator,” I said firmly but
politely.

Bad Haircut looked me up and down, at least as far down as she
could go with only my upper torso visible to her, then she raised herself from
her stool and walked back to what looked like offices behind the reception
area. 

Felicia started in as soon as she was gone.  “He has to be
here!  Why would she say that?  He was here two weeks ago!”

“Maybe she’s new,” I suggested lamely.  “Don’t worry.  He’s
here, and we’re going see him.” 

Felicia nodded vigorously in agreement, and I could tell she
was trying to keep her cool.  I actually almost felt sorry for her. 

Haircut reappeared with a man who was presumably the
Administrator.  He took one look at Maddie and Felicia and a frown replaced
whatever suggestion of a smile had just been there.  He came around to our side
of the desk and I introduced myself. 

“We’re here to see Jackson Whitaker,” I said, hoping not to
have to resort to the order in my pocket.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Collins,” he started to say, and I reached for
the inside pocket of my jacket.  “Mr. Whitaker died two days ago.”

At first, I was certain I’d heard him wrong.  Ever since I’d
obtained the order, I’d been turning over different scenarios in my head of
what I would say in response to the Administrator’s denial of our request. I’d
gone there prepared for a fight. Felicia was there to see her brother and there
was no way we were leaving without seeing him.  The guy’s being dead was not an
option I was prepared for.  I’d never even considered it.

Felicia was the one that snapped me out of my disbelief.  It
had obviously taken her off-guard too, but she recovered more quickly than I
did. 

“You’re a liar!” she screamed.

Maddie reached over and took Felicia’s hand and the two of them
launched into the Administrator like a couple of wet hornets.  I tried to keep
my head.  Someone needed to remain rational. I stepped in between the women and
the Administrator, afraid of what Felicia might do to him if she actually
reached him.  The last thing I needed was to be bailing Felicia out of jail for
assault. 

“I’m sorry,” the Administrator kept saying, as he backed away
from my wife and her cousin. “Your brother had been very ill for a long time,”
he tried to explain, but Felicia was having no part of his apology.

“I could have seen him before he died!” she screamed.  “He was
alive.  I was here and he was alive.  And you wouldn’t let me see him.  You
bastard!” 

Felicia’s yelling had summoned a security guard and he was
headed in our direction.  I knew from Maddie’s description that it was the same
guard she’d dealt with before, and I was filled with rage all over again that
some asshole would rough up my wife.

I pointed at him for emphasis.  “You touch either of these
women and I’ll break your knees!”

The guy stopped short.  I hadn’t been in a good fight for a
while and a part of me wished he’d keep coming so I could beat the crap out of
him. 

I put my arm around Felicia’s shoulder and pulled her next to
me.  “We want to see him.  Where is he?”

The Administrator shook his head.  “I’m sorry.  That’s not
possible.  He was cremated.”

At that point, Felicia dropped her head on my shoulder like it
was too much to bear.  She’d been biting her bottom lip, I assume in an attempt
not to cry, and she’d finally drawn blood.   

“He just died.  How could he already have been cremated?” I
asked in disbelief.

“There was no reason to wait.  He had no relatives . . . that
we were aware of.”  His eyes darted to Felicia and her head shot back up.

“You knew I was his sister! And you knew I was coming back.”

“I have no proof that you’re his sister,” he asserted.

“You had her word,” I said angrily.  I was feeling very
defensive of Felicia at that moment.  “There was no reason not to believe that
Ms. Armstrong was Mr. Whitaker’s  sister.  And what harm would it have done for
her to see him, regardless of whether she was his sister or not?” I asked
raising my voice. “I was under the impression this was a hospital, not a
prison.”

“I’m going to ask you to leave now,” the Administrator said, attempting
to regain the upper hand.

“Oh, we’re leaving all right,” I said.  “But you haven’t seen
the last of us, I assure you.”

“I certainly hope you’re not threatening me,” he said primly.

“You damn right I’m threatening you. This hospital is about to
become embroiled in the most hellacious lawsuit you could ever imagine.  When I’m
finished with you, you won’t be able to administrate an insurance claim.”  I
turned to Maddie and Felicia.  “Let’s get out of here.”

The Administrator and the guard couldn’t get rid of us fast
enough and they gave us a wide berth to pass.  After the frigid air, it felt
good to get back outside, for about 20 seconds.  It was so hot that I could
actually smell the tar melting in the asphalt parking lot.

I was so pissed off that I couldn’t think straight.  I counted
to 10, but it didn’t work.  I went for 20. Maddie and Felicia were saying
something, but I wasn’t paying attention.  My gut told me that things at
Serenity were not on the up and up and I was trying to determine how best to
deal with the situation.  The first thing I needed to do was to get rid of my
wife and her cousin, but that was easier said than done.  I knew we should have
come in two cars.

I made a decision.  We’d return to San Antonio and I would
enlist Niki’s help.  He and I could come back to Serenity the next day without
my having to watch out for the ladies.

Before I could state my intentions, a janitor came out of a
side door with an arm full of boxes.  He propped the door open with a trashcan
and headed towards a dumpster.  I watched Maddie and Felicia exchange a look,
and the next thing I knew, the two were speeding towards the open door.

“Wait!” I whisper shouted, but instead of stopping, they both
turned around and motioned for me to follow.  I was certain it was a gesture
that would have been accompanied by expletives had there been no need for
silence.  I cursed myself for not having initiated the move.  If I was going to
do something stupid, I’d rather it be my idea. 

As it was, I dutifully followed the two in through the side
door and into an adjacent stairwell, where we hovered on a landing between the
first and second floors.  We were all winded from the sprint, but Felicia was
actually holding her side and wheezing from the effort. 

“What the hell are you doing?” I directed the question to
Felicia, although I suspected the exploit was Maddie’s idea.

“Didn’t you hear a word we said out there?” Felicia inquired. 

“I was thinking.” I said it more grumpily than necessary, but
her chiding tone had put me on the defensive. 

“We’re going to find the Faker,” Maddie explained. 

That actually sounded fairly logical.  He had claimed that he
knew of Felicia’s brother.  Of course, there was every possibility that the guy
was a nutcase or a liar,  but it was the only lead we had at that point.  I
felt certain that things were not legit where Felicia’s brother was concerned,
and finding the Faker seemed like as good a starting place as any.  When I
didn’t protest, Maddie and Felicia talked among themselves again.

“We’ll check the rec room first.  If he’s not in there, we’ll
have to go room to room,” Felicia said.

“Okay, we need to go up to the second floor, and I think that
way,” Maddie said, pointing to the back of the hospital.

“Are you sure?” Felicia asked.  “I thought it was to the left
of the lobby.”

I love my wife dearly, but she’s lousy with directions.  I
don’t know anyone who gets more turned around than Maddie.  I pointed in the
opposite direction.  “That’s to the left of the lobby.”

“Are you sure?” Maddie asked.

“Positive,” I assured her.

Maddie looked to Felicia for confirmation.  “Yeah, I think he’s
right,” Felicia said.

“I am right. Do you want to stay together or split up?”

“Let’s stay together until we check the rec room,” Maddie
proposed. “If he’s not there, we’ll decide then.  Do you think there’s a rec
room for each wing?  That would at least limit the number of rooms we had to
search.”

“I don’t know,” Felicia said.  “Remember how many patients were
in there last time – at least 15 to 18; but there’s at least that many rooms in
a wing.”

“If we’re going to do this, let’s get on with it,” I told
them. 

We climbed the stairs and I looked down the hall before we
exited the stairwell.  An orderly was going into a room at the far end of the
hall.  There was no one else around.  We walked down the hall, passing
abandoned wheelchairs and a roll-away bed.  The hall was poorly lit and it
smelled like piss; very different than the impression from outside the place. 
We continued until the hall dead-ended at another hall, this one brighter and
less pungent but still with that distinct hospital smell.  A woman sitting in a
wheelchair at the intersection  smiled when she saw us.  If I were guessing,
I’d say she was in her mid-60s, but she was frail with too much skin that hung
from places it shouldn’t.

“Can you wheel me into the living room?” she asked.  “This old
chair is so hard to steer with one arm.”  Her left arm was in a sling across
her chest.

“The living room?” I asked.  “Is that the room with the games
and the television?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

Maddie and I exchanged a smile.

“Is there just the one living room, or is there one for each
wing of the hospital?” I asked.

“I’ve only been to the one, but I guess there could be others. 
It would make sense wouldn’t it?” 

Yes, and it would make a search for the Faker much simpler
too.  She reached for me with her bony hand.  At one time she must have had
beautiful hands; her fingers were long and her nails were still immaculate.  But
when I took her hand in mine, it felt like I was holding a skeleton.  She
squeezed my hand before releasing it, and I moved behind the chair and started
to push.