Not Dead Yet (14 page)

“Yes?”

“I think I’m losing my mind.”

“Well of course you’re a little frazzled, you’re under a lot of stress.”

“I don’t mean that way.  Lu had her brother Jack come over.  Mollie, I think I felt something.  Something I haven’t felt in a very long time.  Am I going crazy?”

“Do you mean what I think you mean?  Are you interested in this guy?”

Theia blew out a breath.  “Yeah, and the worst part is, according to Lu, he’s interested in me.”

“That’s wonderful!”

“No it isn’t, it’s awful!  I have no business whatsoever getting involved with someone.  Haven’t I learned anything from what I’ve gone through?  I must be the world’s biggest fool.”

“Theia, you can’t assume that every relationship is going to end badly.  Look at David and me.  We’re happy and we’ve been together since law school.  It can work.  You just need to give it a chance.”

“But what if my mind is playing tricks on me?  What if I’m just using him as a momentary distraction to take my mind off of the stuff going on with Rose and Donald?  What if I can’t take the stress anymore so I am shifting gears emotionally so I don’t crack up?”

“Good Lord, Theia.  You’re analyzing this to death.”

“That’s because it’s important.  I don’t want to get hurt again.  After everything I’ve been through, trusting someone is going to be huge for me.”

“I understand.  Tell me this – how does he make you feel?”

“He makes me feel like my heart is alive again.  I really thought it was dead, but it must not have been.  He intrigues me, he pisses me off, he makes me horny, and he annoys the hell out of me.”

“Sounds promising.  I think it is high time you were with someone.”

“But I don’t want to just be with someone – I want to be with the one.”

“Then I suggest you give him a chance.”

CHAPTER NINE

“Colleen?”  Theia asked, sounding like a nervous twelve-year old.

“Who is this?”  Colleen asked warily.

“This is Theia Pearson.  You came to my office a few days ago.”

“So?  I’m not paying you a consultation fee.  Talking to you in the lobby doesn’t count.”

“Of course not,” Theia agreed.  “I’m not calling about money.  I’m calling to see how your sister’s doing.”

“Like you give a rat’s ass,” Colleen said.  “You didn’t want to help, remember?”

“I wanted to help, but I didn’t know what to do.  Now there may be a way to help your sister.”

“How?” Colleen asked, hopeful but still suspicious.

“That’s why I want to talk with you.  Can we meet?” Theia asked.

“I’m not going to your fancy-ass law office in that fancy-ass building.  The traffic was crazy and they charged me four dollars for parking.  Four dollars! I wasn’t there more than ten minutes.”

“We don’t have to meet there.  I’ll be happy to come to your house,” Theia offered.

“Why do you want to come to my house?  What’re you trying to pull?”

“I’m hoping to look at some photographs.”

“What?  What photographs?” Colleen asked.

“Photos that might help your sister.  Look, I’ll explain when I get there.”  She verified the address, then Lu, Jack and Theia drove over to Colleen’s house.

“Why didn’t you tell her there’d be two other people with you?”  Lu asked.

“Because she would’ve run like a rabbit if she knew I was bringing two strangers to her door.  She’s suspicious enough as it is.  Maybe you two should hang back and let me go in first.”

“No way in hell,” Jack said. “What if Donald is hiding there?”

“I didn’t think of that,” Theia admitted, a bit startled.

“You have to start thinking defensively,” Jack said.

“So I’m going to have to use what I learned when Foster was after me.  Great.  I’d hoped to never have to do that again.”

“Well you two might know what to do, but I don’t,” Lu replied.

“It’s not that hard.  Visualize what you’re going to do,” Jack offered. “Imagine walking up to the front door of Colleen’s house. You check out the trees, bushes and anything else a person could hide behind. Make note of all doors and windows. Enter the front door and immediately scan the room for hallways, doors and closets. Be aware that someone could be hiding behind furniture. Does the house have a second floor? Is there a basement? Locate all the exits.”

“You actually do this for a living?” Theia said to him.  “I had to do this before, but not by choice.  And the moment it was over, I put it behind me.  I can’t imagine voluntarily signing up for a job like this.”

“I’m with you, girlfriend. I’m never going to be able to look at cop shows the same way again. This looks all exciting and fun on television, but in real life it’s a fright,” Lu said fervently.

“You guys’ll do just fine,” Jack said. “Hey Lu, did you bring the DMV reports on Donald and his family?  What kind of cars do they have?” Before getting out of the car, they looked up and down the block, but didn’t see any of the listed cars parked on the street.

“Stand up straight, ladies. You’re on Candid Camera,” Jack warned.

“What are you talking about?” Lu demanded.

“Colleen has street smarts, which means she’s watching us as we walk up,” Jack answered.

They made their way carefully up the crumbling concrete steps and across the warped wooden porch. Theia raised her hand to knock on the door, but before she made contact, a voice snarled, “Go away.”

“Colleen, it’s me, Theia.”

“I said I’d talk to you. Who are these other people?”

“Friends of mine,” Theia answered.  “They want to help, and we need their help. We can’t do this alone.”

“Well, I’ve never seen them before.” 

“And you’d never seen me before you came to my office.”

“Are you trying to trick me?” Colleen asked.

“If I were, would I admit it?” 

The door swung open.  Jack stepped in front of Theia.

“Get your butts in here. I don’t want the neighbors to think I hang out with nerds.”  Colleen’s expression quickly turned serious when Jack held up a small piece of paper on which he had written “Is anyone else in the house?”

Colleen frowned then shook her head side to side.  Jack stepped into the house with Lu and Theia behind him.  Colleen glanced up and down the street before closing and locking the door.

“No, there’s no one else here.  Are you some kind of cop?”

“No, I’m Jack Capeto.  This is Lu, my sister,” he explained.  “She was the Deputy Juvenile Officer for one of your sister’s kids a few years ago. We’re here to help.  I just wanted to make sure Donald wasn’t here.”

“It’s okay, Colleen, they’re my friends.  Actually, I just met Jack the other day, but I’ve known Lu for years.  They’re good people.  So, have you heard from Donald or Rose since you were at my office?” Theia asked.

“No, just the cops - why? Have you?” Colleen asked.

“Yeah,” Theia said, stepping around Jack. She pulled off her large sunglasses and turned her face toward Colleen.

“Holy shit girl!  Who fucked up your face?”

“Santa Claus.”

“Why would Donald do this to you?”

“Because I tried to help Rose. May we sit down?” Theia asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Colleen responded. “Hey, do you want an ice pack or something?  An aspirin?  A beer?  Man, he really tore you up.”

“You should see the rest of me.”

“He always did like to hit Rose where the bruises wouldn’t show.  That son of a bitch.  Now it makes sense.”

“What does?” Theia asked.

“Why you want to go after him,” Colleen replied.

“So what’re we gonna do?”

“We?” Lu asked.

“Yeah, we. She’s my sister, damn it. I’m not gonna sit here with my thumb up my ass when my sister needs help.”

“Look, we only came here for information,” Jack said, holding his hands up. “We’re not asking you to get involved beyond that.”

“I don’t care. I don’t need an engraved invitation. I’m crashing this party, so suck it up,” Colleen insisted.

Theia, Jack and Lu looked at each other.

“I like her,” Lu said to Jack and Theia, “even if she was a horse’s ass at your office the other day.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that,” Colleen apologized. “I was really freaked out about Rose.”

“That’s all right. Now that I’ve gotten to know Donald a little better, I understand,” Theia said.  “No harm done.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“If you two are finished with your group hug, can we get to work?” Lu asked.  “Colleen, Donald claimed he had Rose at some abandoned quarry out in the middle of nowhere, but the police checked it out and it was bullshit.  So in order to find Rose, we have to find Donald.  We figure the best way to do that is through his family.”

“Our information says his parents live about an hour outside of town, that he has a brother who was in prison for felony murder, a sister in Seattle and a sister here in town,” Jack began. “The problem is, our information’s three years old and we wouldn’t know them if we ran into them on the street.  That’s where you come in. We need current information on their whereabouts, and we need to know what they look like. Do you have any photos of them? And do you know where they’re living now and what they’re doing?”

“Sure, I’ve got photos,” Colleen said. “They always got a family reunion in July. Rose dragged me along every year. I like to take pictures and scrapbook. I have one scrapbook that’s just of their reunions over the years.”

“Awesome! That’s exactly what we need,” Theia said.

“I’ll grab the scrapbook.” Colleen was gone less than a minute, then whirled back into the room proudly bearing the scrapbook and cans of Pepsi.

“Okay, here are the Rockefellers,” she handed them each a soda and opened the scrapbook.

“This is impressive,” Theia said.  “I’m terrible with photos. Half the time I don’t even take them off the memory card. I’ve never put together something like this – it’s beautiful,” Theia said.

“Thanks,” Colleen said, warming to the compliments. “Taking pictures gives me something to do at their get-togethers. Every year they meet out at a park, have a cookout, drink too much beer and trash talk people,” she continued. “The way they put everyone down you’d think they’re royalty or something.”

“Who’s who in these pictures?” Theia asked.

“Let’s see.  Here’s Donald and Rose,” Colleen nodded at a photo of a mousy woman and a confident man, proudly holding a plate of pastry. 

“Is that strudel?” Theia asked.

“Yep,” Colleen answered.  “I know you’re not gonna believe it, but the asshole can bake circles around everyone else in the family.  Always bragged he was gonna go on one of them tv cooking shows and win a million bucks.  He used to bake Christmas cookies with the kids when they were little.”

“No shit!” said Lu.

Colleen raised her hand.  “God’s truth.  Decorated them real nice, too.”

Theia stared at Donald’s hands cradling the strudel platter, and visualized them punching her in the attack at her car.  Then the phone message of Rose’s beating played in her head, and she pictured his fists pummeling Rose.  Where was Rose now?  What was she going through?

“This here’s Cruella and that’s the Pervert,” Colleen said, jabbing her index finger at two faces in a photo, a scowling woman and a smiling man.

“Cruella and the Pervert?” Lu asked.

“That’s what they call Donald’s parents.  I never heard their real names.  His mama’s a cold, angry woman.  Mean as a fucking snake. She didn’t like kids, especially her own. And she hated her husband, the Pervert.”

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Jack said. “Why do they call him the Pervert?”

“Cause he’ll screw anything that moves. Anything that don’t move fast enough, that is.  He’s a nice enough guy, not a mean bone in his body. I mean, I’m not trying to make excuses for him, but he’s just not nearly as mean as her,” Colleen explained. “Unless he loses his temper. One time he did rip a door off the hinges chasing down one of the kids. But Cruella now, she wakes up angry and goes to sleep even worse.”

“What’s she so mad about?”  Theia asked, trying to force her attention off of the images that flashed in her mind, of Foster in his schizophrenic rages. 

“The best I can figure is jealousy,” Colleen answered. “She grew up in a rich family and thought her daddy’d leave her a million bucks one day. She told everyone he would. Well, her daddy died and didn’t leave her one red cent. In fact, in his will, he said he wasn’t leaving her nothing on purpose. She was a spoiled brat before that, but since then, she’s been mad at the world.  That’s what happens when you go through life expecting pots of gold to fall into your lap.”

“No wonder Donald turned out the way he did.  Do you know if his parents still live at this address?” Lu asked, showing her the notes.

“I guess so,” Colleen squinted. “I’ve never been to their place, but I heard they lived out there.”

“Do you think they’d hide Donald?” Theia asked.   Memories leapt into her head of when she first left Foster and went into hiding.  She remembered waking up every time someone walked down the hallway outside her hotel room. Why hadn’t she been able to convince Rose to hide in a shelter?  If she had, she’d be safe now.