Ransom (39 page)

“Did you see the sentencing results in the papers?” Ted asked when he called her. He sounded as though he was in a good mood, and he said he was busy. He had left the department, in a flurry of retirement parties for him, the week before.

“Yes, I did,” Fernanda confirmed. “I've never believed in the death penalty.” It had always seemed wrong to her, and she was sufficiently religious to believe that no one had the right to take someone else's life. But nine men had been killed, and a child had been kidnapped. And since it involved her son, for the first time in her life, she thought it was right. “But I do this time,” she admitted to Ted. “It's different, I guess, if it happens to you.” But she also knew that if they had killed her son, even putting the defendants to death wouldn't have brought him back or made it up to her for her loss. She and Sam had just been very, very lucky. And Ted knew that too. It could have been otherwise, and he was grateful it wasn't.

And then she thought of something they'd been talking about for a long time. “When are you coming to dinner?” She owed him so much for all his kindness to them, and dinner was the least she could do. She had missed seeing him in recent months, although it was a sign that all was well in both their lives. She hoped never to need his services again, nor anyone like him, but after all she'd been through with him, she considered him a friend.

“Actually, that's why I called you. I was going to ask if I could drop by. I have a present for Sam.”

“He'll be happy to see you.” She smiled and looked at her watch, she had to get to work. “How about tomorrow?”

“I'd love it.” He smiled, as he jotted down her new address again. “What time?”

“How about seven?”

He agreed, hung up, and sat in his new office, looking out the window and thinking for a long time. It was hard to believe it had all happened a year ago. He had thought of it again when he saw Judge McIntyre's obituary recently. He was lucky too that the car bombing hadn't killed him a year before that. He had died of natural causes.

“What are you daydreaming about? Don't you have work to do?” Rick barked at him as he stopped in the doorway of Ted's office. Their new business was already up and running, and they were doing well. There was a sizable market for their services, and Ted had told his last police partner, Jeff Stone, the week before, that he had never had so much fun, far more than he'd expected. And he loved working with Rick again. The security business they were just starting up had been a great idea.

“Don't give me any crap about daydreaming, Special Agent. You took a three-hour lunch yesterday. I'm going to start docking your pay if you do it again.” Rick guffawed. He'd been out with Peg. They were getting married in a few weeks. Everything was coming up roses for them. And Ted was going to be best man. “And don't think you're taking a paid vacation while you're on your honeymoon. We run a serious business here. If you want to get married and go running off to Italy, do it on your own time.”

Rick wandered into his office with a grin, and sat down. He hadn't been this happy in years. He'd been sick and tired of his work with the FBI, he much preferred running their own business. “So what's on your mind?” Rick looked at him. He could see there was something eating at Ted.

“I'm having dinner with the Barneses tomorrow night. In Sausalito. They moved.”

“That's nice. Am I allowed to ask rude questions, like what your intentions are, Detective Lee?” Rick's eyes were more serious than his words. He knew what Ted's feelings were, or he thought he did. What he didn't know was what he intended to do about them, if anything. But neither did Ted.

“I just wanted to see the kids.”

“That's too bad.” Rick looked disappointed. He was so happy with Peg, he wanted everyone else to be happy too. “Sounds like a waste of a good woman to me.”

“Yes, she is,” Ted agreed. But there were a lot of issues he couldn't make his peace with, and probably never would. “I think she's probably seeing someone. She looked great at the trial.”

“Maybe she was looking great for you,” Rick suggested, and Ted laughed.

“That's a dumb idea.”

“So are you. You drive me nuts sometimes. In fact, most of the time.” Rick stood up and strolled out of Ted's office again. He knew his old friend was too stubborn to convince.

Both men were busy for the rest of the afternoon. And Ted worked late that night, as he always did.

He was out of the office for most of the following day, and Rick only caught a glimpse of him the next evening when he was about to leave for Sausalito, straight from the office, with a small gift-wrapped package in one hand.

“What's that?” Rick inquired.

“None of your business,” Ted said cheerfully.

“That's nice.” Rick grinned at him, as Ted walked right past him on his way out. “Good luck!” Rick called after him, as Ted just laughed, and the door closed behind him. Rick stood looking at it for a long moment, after Ted was gone, hoping that things went well for him that night. It was time something good happened to him too. It was long overdue.

Chapter 23

Fernanda was in the kitchen
with an apron on when the doorbell rang, and she asked Ashley to get it. She had grown about three inches in the past year, and Ted looked startled when he saw her. At thirteen, she suddenly looked not like a child, but like a woman. She was wearing a short denim skirt, a pair of her mother's sandals, and a T-shirt, and she was a very pretty girl, and looked nearly like Fernanda's twin. They had the same features, same smile, same dimensions, although she was taller than her mother now, and same long, straight blond hair.

“How've you been, Ashley?” Ted asked easily as he walked in. He had always liked Fernanda's children. They were polite, well behaved, warm, friendly, bright, and funny. And you could see easily how much love and time she had put into them.

As he walked in, Fernanda stuck her head out of the kitchen, and offered him a glass of wine, which he declined. He didn't drink much, even when he was off duty, which he was all the time now. And as Fernanda disappeared into the kitchen again, Will strolled in, and was obviously happy to see Ted as they shook hands. He was beaming, and they sat and chatted about Ted's new business for a few minutes, until Sam bounded into the room. He had the personality to go with his bright red hair, and he smiled from ear to ear when he saw Ted.

“Mom said you have a present for me, what did you bring me?” He chortled, as his mother arrived from the kitchen and scolded him.

“Sam, that's rude!”

“You said he did …” he argued with her.

“I know. But what if he changed his mind, or forgot it? You'd make him feel bad.”

“Oh.” Sam looked mollified by the correction, just as Ted handed him the package he had brought from work. It was small and square and looked mysterious to Sam, as he took it from him with an impish grin. “Can I open it now?”

“Yes, you can.” He felt badly not to have brought something for the others, but this was something he had been saving for Sam since the trial. It meant a lot to him, and he hoped it would to Sam too.

When Sam opened the box, there was a small leather pouch inside. It was the original one Ted had had for thirty years. And as Sam opened the pouch, he looked at it and then stared at Ted. It was the star he had carried for thirty years, with his number on it. It had a lot of meaning for him, and Fernanda looked nearly as stunned as her son.

“Is that your real one?” Sam looked at it and then him with awe. He could see that it was. It was well worn, and Ted had shined it for him. It lay gleaming in the boy's hands.

“Yes, it is. Now that I retired, I don't need it anymore. But it's very special to me. I want you to keep it. You're not a deputy anymore, Sam. You're a full detective now. That's a big promotion after just one year.” It had been exactly a year since Ted had “deputized” him after the car bombing when they first met.

“Can I put it on?”

“Sure.” Ted pinned it on for him, and Sam went to look at himself in the mirror, as Fernanda glanced at Ted with grateful eyes.

“That was an incredibly nice thing to do,” she said softly.

“He earned it. The hard way.” And they all knew how, as Fernanda nodded, and Ted watched him prancing around the room wearing it on his chest.

“I'm a detective!” he was shouting. And then he looked at Ted with an earnest question. “Can I arrest people?”

“I'd be a little careful who you arrest,” Ted warned him with a grin. “I wouldn't arrest any real big guys who might get mad at you.” Ted suspected correctly that Fernanda was going to put it away for him, with other important things, like his father's watch and cuff links. But he knew Sam would want to take it out from time to time to see it. Any boy would.

“I'm going to arrest all my friends,” Sam said proudly. “Can I take it to school for show and tell, Mom?” He was so excited, he could hardly stand it, and Ted looked genuinely pleased. It had been the right thing to do.

“I'll bring it to school for you,” his mother suggested, “and I'll take it home after show and tell. You don't want it to get lost or hurt at school. That's a very, very special gift.”

“I know,” Sam said, looking awestruck again.

A few minutes later, they all sat down to dinner. She had made a roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert. The kids were impressed by the trouble she'd gone to, and so was Ted. It was a terrific meal. They were still sitting at the table, talking afterward, when the kids got up and went to their rooms. They still had a few weeks of school before summer vacation, and Will said finals were next week, and he had studying to do. Sam took his new star to his room, just so he could look at it. And Ashley scampered off to call her friends.

“That was some dinner, I haven't had a meal like that in ages. Thank you,” he said, feeling as though he could hardly move. Most nights now, he worked late, went to the gym, and came home close to midnight. He rarely even stopped for dinner. He went to a diner sometimes in the daytime. “I haven't had a home-cooked meal in years.” Shirley had always hated to cook, and preferred getting take-out from her parents' restaurant. She never even liked to cook for the kids, and liked taking them out too.

“Doesn't your wife cook for you?” Fernanda looked surprised, and then suddenly, for no particular reason, noticed the absence of his wedding ring. The year before, during Sam's kidnapping, it had been there. And now it wasn't.

“Not anymore,” he said simply, and then decided he ought to explain. “We split up right after Christmas. I guess it was a long time coming, and we should have done it years ago. But it was hard anyway.” It had been five months, and he hadn't gone out with another woman yet. In some ways, he still felt married to her.

“Did something specific happen?” Fernanda looked sorry for him, and sympathetic. She knew how loyal he was to his wife, and how much he valued the marriage, even though he had admitted that things weren't perfect between them, and he had said they were very different people.

“Yes and no. The week before Christmas she told me she was going to Europe with a bunch of her girlfriends over the holidays until after New Year. She couldn't see why I was upset about it. She thought I was standing in the way of her having fun, and I thought she should be home with me and the boys. She said she's been doing that for nearly thirty years, and now it's her turn. I guess she has a point. She works hard, she'd saved the money. Apparently, she had a great time. I'm happy for her. But it pointed out to me that we don't have much anymore. We didn't for a long time, but I thought we should stay married anyway. I didn't think it was right for us to get divorced when the kids were small. Anyway, I thought about it while she was gone, and I asked her how she felt about it when she came back. She said she's wanted out for a long time, but was afraid to tell me. She didn't want to hurt my feelings, which is kind of a lousy reason to stay married.

“She met someone else about three weeks after we split up. I gave her the house, and I got an apartment downtown near the office. It takes some getting used to, but it's okay. Now I wish I'd done it sooner. I'm a little old to be out there dating again.” He had just turned forty-eight. Fernanda was turning forty-one that summer, and she felt the same way. “What about you, are you going out with your lawyer?” He had been sure that he had that in mind the year before, and was just biding his time while Fernanda adjusted to her widowhood, and then the kidnapping came along. Ted wasn't far wrong.

“Jack?” She laughed in answer, and shook her head. “What made you think that?” He was very astute. But then again, studying people was his job.

“I thought he had a thing for you.” Ted shrugged, thinking maybe he had made a mistake in his assessment, given the way she reacted.

“He did. He thought I should marry him for the chil-dren's sake, so he could help me pay the bills. He said he had made a ‘decision’ about it, and it was the right thing for me to do, for my kids. The only problem was he forgot to consult me about the decision. And I didn't agree with him.”

“Why not?” Ted was surprised. Jack was smart, successful, and good-looking. Ted thought he was perfect for her. Apparently, she didn't agree.

“I don't love him.” She said it as though that explained it all, as she smiled at him. “I fired him as my lawyer too.”

“Poor guy.” Ted couldn't help laughing at the picture she painted, getting turned down on his proposal and fired all in the same day. “That's too bad. He seemed like a nice guy.”

“Then you marry him. I don't want to. I'd rather be alone with my kids.” And indeed she was. Ted had that impression now, just looking at her. And he wasn't quite sure what to say next. “Are you divorced, by the way? Or just separated?” Not that it mattered. She was just curious how serious he was about leaving Shirley. It seemed hard to believe that he was out of his marriage, and it was for him too.

“The divorce will be final in six weeks,” he said, and sounded sad about it. It was sad after twenty-nine years. He was getting used to it, but it had been a huge change for him. “Maybe we could go to a movie sometime,” he said cautiously. She smiled, and it seemed a funny way to start, after they had spent days on end together, and nights on the floor, and he had been there, holding her hand when the SWAT team brought Sam back to her.