Learning to Stand (55 page)

“
Of course Samantha. Thank
you,” John said.

“
Come on, brother,” James
said. “Let’s get cleaned up and visit the wife.”

Looking from James to Sam, John started to
laugh. James joined in while Samantha looked at the brothers as if
they had lost their minds.

Stepping into the shower, John said a silent
prayer of thanks: for Alex’s safety, for the operation that went
well, for his brothers’ return in his life and for this weird trip
he called life.

FFFFFF

The cruel wind that brought all of this pain
and misfortune into Alex’s life shifted.

The Denver Police Department dropped their
charges against her. The police detectives spent a day at her
bedside gathering her evidence against the Boy Scout. Two days
later, an unmarked envelope with a map inside arrived on the Denver
Police detective’s desk. The next day, James Kelly extradited the
Boy Scout to England.

The day she was released from the hospital,
Perses dropped by to tell her the contract on her life had been
canceled. In fact, someone had put a bounty on anyone who attempted
to kill her. The word was someone high up in the US government was
pissed off. They made bets as to whether it was the Admiral or her
father. Alex suspected it was both.

Max negotiated
with Homeland Security for a lump sum settlement for over ten years
of back pay. In return, they wouldn’t go to the press or ask for
interest. She accepted the large check, which Max and John had all
ready spent. She agreed to take Ben’s job
and
his salary.
Raz would technically be her ass-istant, which they thought was
hilarious.

Cee Cee Joiner beat up another prostitute in
the Virgin Islands. Somehow, he disappeared from a jail cell before
the Feds could move in. While the Feds assured her it was a matter
of time before they picked up Cee Cee Joiner, Alex knew they would
never find him. The only way to catch him was to figure out what he
was up to. And if she didn’t know, no one knew.

The FBI was on the trail of the kidnappers.
They were confident they would find the men responsible for killing
Daniel, David and Marvin Joiner. Alex was on their update and
notify list. After a flood of information, the notices dwindled to
almost nothing. With Sue Ann near death, and Marvin’s mother not
talking, there was no one to push the FBI to find the kidnappers.
Like Joiner, the kidnappers slipped out of sight and mind.

To her chagrin, her video of fighting the
Boy Scout was voted ‘Best viral video’ and ‘Best video taken with
an iPhone’ for the month of March. The video was in the running for
‘Best video of the year.’ There was no killing the video. Sergeant
Larry Flagg came up with the idea of creating the Alex the Fey
video channel on YouTube. He and Helene were working out the final
details.

Around the time the Jakker went back to
flying Dragon Ladies over Afghanistan, Trece and White Boy were
reassigned to their security detail. Trece cried when he and Alex
parted. Ten minutes later, Alex’s phone rang. Trece wanted her to
know that his allergies were acting up. Alex assured him that he,
and his allergies, would return the moment she needed him. This
launched such a severe allergic reaction that Trece had to get off
the phone.

After her hip was replaced, Alex joined Troy
in a private hospital room. Soon they shared baby holding duties as
Patrick Michael Hargreaves arrived the day after her surgery. The
gorgeous blue eyed black haired baby was less than a day old when
he picked up the name Paddie.

And things returned to an Alex kind of
normal.

F

CHAPTER FORTY-Six

Three weeks later

Wednesday afternoon

April 23 – 12:15 P.M. CDT

San Antonio, Texas

“
Emmy called last night,”
Alex said.

“
Oh?” Vince
asked.

Vince was driving a rental car to the San
Antonio River Sanitarium. They were on their way to speak with Sue
Ann Joiner. According to Krystal Joiner, the doctors had expected
Sue Ann to die last Sunday. Against all expectations, Sue Ann
survived. Alex insisted on traveling to Texas to speak with
her.

Vince jumped at the chance to spend time
alone with Alex. So far, they had laughed the entire way to
Texas.

“
Emily wondered if I might
refer her to the woman who made my wedding dress last year,” Alex
said. She turned to look at Vince’s face. “Personally, I think
thirteen is a little young to get married. But I guess if it’s what
Amelia wants. Who’s the groom?”

Vince burst out laughing. Slowing to a stop
light, he turned to look at Alex.

“
You were going to tell
me...”

“
Emmy and I are getting
married, Alex,” Vince said.

“
Finally getting married,”
Alex said.

“
Yes, thirteen years later,
we’re finally getting married,” he said.

“
Have you picked a date?”
Alex asked.

“
Yes, Miss Smarty Pants. I
can tell by the look on your face you already know that. Is this
it?”

“
I think so. The address
matches the one Krystal sent me,” Alex said. “I do love weddings.
Raz loves the cake.”

“
Yes, I’ve heard that
somewhere,” Vince said. Pulling into a parking spot, he turned off
the car. “How is it to share a room with Troy?”

“
At St. Joseph’s? Good,”
Alex said. “We’re having fun. We’ve held baby Patrick every day
this week.”

“
Do you think he finally
arrived because you were there?”

“
If you saw Troy and Paddie
together, you’d think so. Colin’s even thinking of asking Troy to
be Paddie’s non-Catholic Godfather. They have such a connection.”
Alex laughed. “Of course, we’re not having the wild fun you and I
had. No Privates around to abuse.”

Vince laughed. He helped her out of the
rental car. Alex took off crutching across the parking lot.

“
Proving your crutch master
status?” Vince laughed.

“
I have to keep my stamina
up,” Alex said. “Troy keeps trying to beat me!”

“
You don’t get a handicap
for your lime green arm cast?”

“
I should!”

Laughing, Alex pressed the handicap button
to open the doors. They moved from the bright parking lot to the
nursing home lobby. Alex touched Vince’s arm. She nodded her head
toward the hall where Krystal Joiner was walking toward them.

“
I’m glad you made it,”
Krystal Joiner said. “Sue Ann’s been asking for you.”

Krystal hugged Alex. Alex introduced Vince
and they shook hands.

“
I’ll take you back,”
Krystal said. Stopping at the edge of a sun drenched patio, Krystal
added, “Be prepared. She’s… barely alive.”

Alex nodded. She touched Vince’s arm and he
stopped walking. Alex continued forward with Krystal. She saw a
slight person wrapped in a cotton blanket sitting in a chair in the
sun. When the person turned, she looked like a living skeleton. Her
pale skin stretched over the bones of her face while her lips
pressed together in a tight line. Sue Ann’s dark eyes flicked from
Krystal to Alex.

“
Sue Ann, honey, this is
Alex,” Krystal said. “Alex, why don’t you take the chair? I’ll keep
your friend Vince company.”

Sue Ann’s sunken eyes followed Alex’s
movement. Alex sat in an adjacent orange plastic chair. She set her
crutches under the chair to take Sue Ann’s extended hand. Sue Ann’s
hand was ice cold.

“
You’re the Fey?” Sue Ann
asked.

“
I’m Alex. It’s nice to meet
you.”

Sue Ann gasped a deep breath.

“
You and I have a lot in
common,” Sue Ann said. “Cee Cee killed our loved ones.”

Alex nodded.

“
Were you really as wounded
as they say?” Sue Ann asked.

“
I’m not sure what they say,
but it took me almost two full years to recover. And even then...”
Alex gestured to the crutches.

“
Two years. I can’t imagine
two years from now,” Sue Ann said.

“
Then we do have a lot in
common,” Alex said. “I remember that feeling. Vince too. We were in
Walter Reed together.”

“
You saw my boys in that…
mine.” Sue Ann’s eyes welled with tears. “No one will tell me.
Alex, did my babies suffer?”

“
No,” Alex said what she
wanted to be true. “They did not suffer.”

As if to nod, Sue Ann’s head moved.

“
Cee Cee told me if I didn’t
make a ruckus, my babies would return to me.” Sue Ann’s eyes
flicked to Alex. “And I believed him. I knew he was a liar. I
caught him screwing another woman in our honeymoon suite. Liar,
cheater, but I believed him.”

Sue Ann lapsed into silence. Her eyes looked
out into the sunny flower garden outside the window. Alex thought
maybe she had gone to sleep when Sue Ann’s chest rose with a deep
breath.

“
He was married to me the
longest. Cee Cee and I were married for… almost eight years,” Sue
Ann said. “I thought I’d go to hell if I divorced him. I was raised
Southern Baptist.”

Staring at the garden in front of her, Sue
Ann fell silent. Alex startled when Sue Ann’s head jerked to look
at her.

“
Now, I know I’ll go to hell
for killing my babies.”

“
You didn’t kill them, Sue
Ann.” Alex’s heart ached for the poor woman. “You were trying to
save them.”

“
You’ve probably heard,” Sue
Ann said.

“
Heard what?” Alex
asked.

“
Cee Cee’s gone to court to
eliminate my spousal support. No reason for spousal support or
child support when the children are dead.” Sue Ann’s eyes flicked
to Alex again. “I never cared about money. I wanted Cee Cee to love
me. When we divorced, I never cared about the child support. After
all, I had the boys. As long as we had food and shelter, I was
happy. His lawyer has put my house on the market.”

Alex’s face reflected the horror she felt in
her heart. Sue Ann chuckled at Alex’s face.

“
You don’t want the wrinkles
that face will give you,” Sue Ann said.

Alex smiled.

“
I was going to die… join my
boys… wither away,” Sue Ann said. “Then I realized you and I have
so much in common. Krystal told me about going to Denver, eating
cookies and meeting your friends. I figured if you could survive
then I could survive.”

Sue Ann’s chest filled with air at the
effort of speaking.

“
Krystal offered me a place
to stay until I’m on my feet. She says I can work for her. I was an
accountant at Pecos Oil before I married Cee Cee. I’m good with
numbers and everyone knows Krystal works too much.
Plus...”

Sue Ann’s eyes raked Alex’s face.

“
You need someone to help
you get Cee Cee Joiner,” Sue Ann said. “As God is my witness, Alex,
I’m going to take down Cee Cee Joiner.”

“
Sue Ann...”

“
I refuse to fill my heart
with hatred. Daniel and David wouldn’t want me to hate. Danny used
to say, ‘Don’t hate Mommy.’ I won’t hate. But I will work every
single day to destroy Cee Cee Joiner.”

“
Sue Ann, you can’t let Cee
Cee take all of your focus. You have to let life inside you. That’s
how I survived. I felt like I owed it to the people who died to
live well, really well, because they couldn’t.”

Sue Ann’s head moved up and down
slightly.

“
You’re very brave,” Sue Ann
said. “I’ll remember that. Let life in. Right now, I need to let
death out.”

Sue Ann chuckled at her morbid joke.

“
Do you have kids, Alex?”
Sue Ann asked.

Alex shook her head. Tears dropped unnoticed
from Sue Ann’s eyes.

“
Having Danny and Davy... I
don’t think I’ve ever been happier. They were fun to be around,”
Sue Ann said. “I miss them. A lot. But they lived well, my boys. I
wanted proms and weddings and grandchildren. I worried they would
do drugs or get someone pregnant. It never occurred to me that
their father would kill them.”

“
It’s hard to make sense of
what happens,” Alex said. “My friends were better, stronger,
braver, lovelier people than I will ever be. They are gone and I am
here. I understand how you feel.”

“
I couldn’t plan their
funeral,” Sue Ann said. “Krystal took care of that.”

Tears pooled Sue Ann’s sunken cheeks. Alex
held a tissue box for her. Sue Ann startled as if she didn’t
realize she was crying. She wiped her tears and blew her nose. Her
gaze shifted to the flower garden.

“
I was lucky, Alex,” Sue Ann
said. “I never realized how lucky I was. I regret every cross word,
every punishment... If I had known...”

Sue Ann sighed. Her eyes flicked to
Alex.

“
I wouldn’t have done
anything different.” Sue Ann’s lips turned up in a smile. “I’m
going to make it, Alex. You’ll see.”

Alex smiled. She looked up when a nurse came
over to check on Sue Ann. While the nurse fussed over Sue Ann’s
blanket, Alex pondered Sue Ann’s words. She remembered how hard the
first days and weeks were after her friends were murdered. She’d
wanted to die. She survived because people loved her. But at first,
she survived for the people who loved her. Sue Ann Joiner needed
something to live for.

“
You probably need to get on
with your life,” Sue Ann said.