Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 04 - Jupiter Returns (11 page)

Tracy had fired Bert Jamison, the arrogant little shit, and the last we heard, he was working as a security guard for a subdivision in Katy, Texas, on the outskirts of Houston.

Huck was out of the hospital but was on a desk job for awhile. He hated it and told Tracy he wanted to be in on the bust when they found Jupiter. She promised he could.

Bettina had been doing better and
better. I believed that she had reached the point where I could ask her about how she and her mother met Jupiter. Christina had told me that Jupiter already knew Bettina’s mom but she didn’t know how they had met.

One day w
e were in the playroom playing with dolls. They were lady dolls and Bettina was dressing them up. “I’m going to design clothes when I grow up,” she said.

“Maybe you could design clothes for my grandmother, Mimi.
She loves clothes and she would love you too.”

That made her eyes light up.
Without thinking I said, “Would you like to meet Mimi?”

Her eyes lit up even more.
“Yes, is she nice?”

“She’s one of the n
icest people in the whole world,” I said.

So, we went to see Mimi.
They hit it off right away and Mimi took her into the kitchen to help make cookies.

“Where is Christina?” I asked Mimi.

“She’s upstairs in her room reading a trashy book,” she said and I could tell she didn’t approve.

I headed up the stairs.
We no longer shared a room. She had moved into the smallest bedroom we had.

She was stretched out on the bed reading a book that had Fabio on the cover with a half-naked woman on the deck of a ship.

I didn’t comment on the book and she didn’t apologize for reading it. “Do you want to come downstairs? I have Bettina with me.”

“Is she all right?”

“She’s doing great but I haven’t asked her yet how her mama met Jupiter. I was hoping maybe when she sees you she will want to talk about it on her own. She’s helping Mimi make cookies and she talking a mile a minute.”

When we got downstairs, Bettina was covered in cookie dough.
It was even in her hair. The other two, Brad and Jennifer had joined them and the kitchen was a mess but they were having a high ole time.

Both Brad and Jennifer said, “Hi Aunt Judith and Aunt Julia
,” and Bettina joined in and grinned from ear to ear.

“Bettina, how would you like to take a walk with Julia and me?” I asked.

The other two begged to go too but Mimi told them she needed them to help frost the cookies. I cleaned Bettina off and we set off down the sidewalk.

I called Mr
s. Frazier to let her know that I would be bringing Bettina home a little later. I watched Bettina as she jumped and skipped along the sidewalk like a healthy seven year old, her fine blond hair blowing in the breeze.

I noticed Christina smiling and I smiled back at her.
I thought of Jupiter and wondered if she was watching. I thought of Jake following us and wondered why I never saw him.

Suddenly Bettina stopped and looked at Christina.
“You look just like the other lady, the one with Aunt Janice.”

I
shook my head at Christina warning her but she handled it beautifully.

“I do?” was all she said.

“She was nice to me but I didn’t like Aunt Janice. She was mean.”

She didn’t say anything more but continued to jump and skip.
She found a curved stick and ran it along the sidewalk. When she came to a picket fence, she dragged it along and smiled at the noise.

It was wonderful watching her.
It was the first time I had ever seen her laugh and smile and I hated to spoil it but I needed information.

“Bettina, is Janice your real aunt?”

She shrugged, “Mommy said she was a sterority sister so that made her my aunt.”

“A s
orority sister?” I asked.

“Uh huh,” she said and became quiet.
Then she said “I don’t want to walk anymore.”

We headed back and I pushed it just a little and asked, “Did you know Aunt Janice before she came to stay with you?”

“No, but mommy tolded me that I had an aunt who wanted to stay with us. Mommy didn’t act like she liked her. I don’t know why she wanted her to visit.”

I left it at that.
Christina could fill me in on the rest.

CHAPTER 22

Later, after everyone had gone to bed, I knocked on Christina’s door.
I found her standing at the window staring outside.

“Don’t turn on the light,” she said and I could see her tears reflected by the moon.
I walked over and put my arm around her and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

When she pulled back she laughed and said, “I was just standing here thinking about how all three of our lives would have been different if Julia and I hadn’t been adopted, if you and Julia hadn’t been kidnapped,
if I hadn’t been purchased like a bag of apples, so many ifs.”

“Ifs don’t solve any problems
, nor does dwelling in the past,” I said. “I know sometimes it’s hard not to look back but we can only learn from our mistakes and move on. And I really believe you’ve learned from your mistakes, Christina.”

“There’s something else I have to tell you tha
t will help you solve this case,” she said. It’s about when I was in the mental hospital, where I met Jupiter.”

I looked at her and noticed that there was a tiny spot of light on her forehead.
By the time I realized what it was it was too late. There was no sound. Suddenly there was a small hole in the middle of her forehead and she crumpled to the floor. I dropped and screamed.

I had seen Bill Wheeler, the corrupt cop in New Orleans, shot in the middle of the forehead by Jupiter and I knew she was out there and had once again killed someone I had grown to love.

Jake ran into the bedroom and dropped to the floor. He was on his cell phone calling it in. “Are you okay, Judith?” he asked as he crawled over to look at Christina.

“I’m okay,” I said and I was shaking so hard, and my mouth was so dry
, I could hardly speak.

The whole household except Jesse and the kids were trying to come into the room.
“Get down,” Jake yelled at them and we all crawled out of the room.

We all gathered in the front den and I looked around but didn’t see John and Tracy.
“They’re out looking for Jupiter but she’s probably long gone,” Jake said.

Just then I heard sirens and the yard soon filled with
police cars, ambulances, the medical examiner, and, of course, the press.

The two children wanted to see what was going on and Mimi had to go with Jesse to look after them.
Jake joined the local law enforcers to help and to explain what had happened.

I was called out into the hall where I was questioned and then I joined Rosa and Mark in the front den.
No one spoke. We were all in a state of shock.

I could tell that Ma
rk was worried about Tracy. He kept pulling back the edge of the curtain just enough to peek outside. I didn’t even have enough emotional energy to try to reassure him.

I was still mourning Ben and now just as I had found my other sister Jupiter killed her.
“She must really hate me,” I was thinking when I heard John say “We lost her.”

“Hell, we never had her to lose,” Tracy said.

They joined us in the den and Tracy looked like she could kill someone. “We found a rifle casing at the base of that huge oak tree at the corner of the property. I turned it over to the cops out in the hall.

“The medical examiner will get the bullet, but I doubt we’ll ever find the gun.”

She looked like she would cry. I went over and put my arms around her and we both cried. Mark and Rosa joined us and we had a good group cry.

Mimi came down and she looked like she was worn out.
“Jesse and I had a hard time getting the kids back to sleep,” she said. “They know something is going on, especially Brad.”

She hit the sofa arm with her fist, “Damn, Jupiter.
I’m mad as hell. She kills Ben and before we finish mourning him, she kidnaps Julia, as if Julia hasn’t already been through enough, and now she kills my other granddaughter just as I’m getting to know and love her.”

She continued to beat up the arm of the couch until she started crying.
I had never seen her so distraught. We all cried some more and we looked like we had been put through the wringer.

“Tracy, I hope when you find Jupiter you kill her.
She can’t be locked up again,” Mimi said and we all nodded.

CHAPTER 23

The next morning at breakfast John announced that he was going to take his family to visit Trudy.

I had first met Trudy in New Orleans when Julia was missing a couple of years ago. Trudy was a run-away and a victim of Mr. Lessiter. Mr. Lessiter had been part of the pedophile ring that had been headed up by Jupiter. Tracy and John had been part of the team to bring down Jupiter.

I had been one of his first victims when I was sixteen years old and had gone to live with him and his wife.
He had tried to rape me but I had escaped.

Two years ago I had rescued Trudy from the Lessiter house and she
had ended up living with John and Rosa for awhile. She eventually got in touch with her mama and the family and they had all moved to Houston.

Mark had given Trudy’s mom a job at McCain Oil Company.
I saw them from time to time and asked John now if I could go with them as I had a graduation gift for Trudy. She would be graduating from high school next month.

They lived in an old house in the Montrose area.
They didn’t know it but Mimi was subsidizing their rent. The house was big enough for each kid to have his or her own room.

They had fixed it up so cute.
Last time Julia had been here she had brought them some paintings she had done and Tracy had helped with the decorating.

It was a typical Southern style house with a front porch and was painted light tan trimmed in white.
They had used lots of wicker furniture on the porch and inside.

We had called ahead and when Trudy saw us she ran out of the house squealing and threw herself into John’s arms.

“Whoa, girl you’re getting too big for me to handle,” John said laughing.

“Oh my God, look at Jennifer,” Trudy said as she picked her up.
“Y’all come on in. The rest of the kids are in school and mama is at work. I’m on half days now. Can you believe I graduate in just a little over a month?”

We had a wonderful
visit and Trudy loved her gift, a briefcase. I was quiet on the way home. John looked in the rearview mirror at me, “What’s bothering you, Judith?”

“Jupiter didn’t know about Trudy, so she hasn’t been a threat to her.
But, if Jupiter is watching she now knows about her. John, we may have just put that whole family in danger by visiting.”

“Damn,” he said and Jennifer said, “Damn.”
You have to be really careful about what you say around kids.

“You’re right, Judith.
Now we need to get someone to watch them. The way we all hugged and carried on right out there in the yard, if Jupiter is watching, she knows this is someone important to you.”

“Damn,” Jennifer said again and it took all my willpower not to laugh.
She was still saying it all the way home and when we got back Brad started saying it too.

When Jesse heard them she said, “You kids keep saying that word and I’ll take you upstairs and wash your mouth out with soap, me.”

“Me too,” said Jennifer.

No one said much at supper.
Mimi had notified the Limicks, Christina’s adoptive parents about her death but they said they wouldn’t be coming to the funeral.

We all toyed with our food and no one ate muc
h. I was worried about Mimi. She didn’t look good, her coloring was off. I talked her into going to bed after we ate and sat with her until she fell asleep.

When I came down everyone was gathered in the den.
“Come sit down, Judith,” John said. “We were trying to reason something out. Give us your input.”

“Is Mimi okay?” Tracy asked with concern in her eyes.

“I’m worried about her but she fell asleep which is probably what she needs. What were y’all talking about?”

“Okay, here’s the thing,” John said, “If Jupiter has Julia then who does she think she shot last night?
I mean, there were two of you framed in the window.”

My mind started going crazy.
I hadn’t even thought about this at all. “I doubt she wants to kill me, not yet anyway. She wants to torment me first by hurting everyone I love.