Sins of the Father (25 page)

I hadn’t taken it off to hurt him. It just
seemed more expedient to leave it behind in a place I knew no one
would ever find it.

“Did you throw it away? Sell it?”

“I still have it,” I said.

“So you’re not wearing it now because you
hate me.” His clenched fist tapped the arm of the chair.

For God’s sake. Was that the bug up his
ass?

“Our rings belonged to my parents,” he
reminded me. “It meant something to me, putting my mother’s ring on
your hand.”

What had David said about context? I drifted
closer.

“I remember very well what you said about me
having a ring. Do you? I said it didn’t matter to me. You wanted me
to wear it because the world would know that I belonged to you. How
do you think that symbol makes me feel after you told me that I’m
nothing more than your personal property?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“I belong to you.”

“I wish.”

“Johnny,” my eyes rolled internally,
“David’s waiting. Are you coming to dinner or not?”

“Give me a minute. Go ahead and start. Tell
him I’m on the phone or something.”

“All right. The longer you make him wait,
the more suspicious he’ll become.”

“God forbid anybody figure out that this
thing is worse than they could possibly imagine,” he muttered.

I went back to David. “He’s coming. In a few
minutes. Wouldn’t you know it? I need to… ladies room. Wait for me
for another minute?”

“Sure,” David said. “I’ll start carving. Did
I miss the mint jelly somewhere in that butler’s pantry of
yours?”

“Fig chutney, and it’s in the refrigerator.
I’m not going to have some angry rabbi gunning for me because this
meal isn’t exactly kosher, am I?”

David chuckled at the weak attempt at humor.
“I think I’ll get a special dispensation. He knows how fond of you
I am. See you back here in a few minutes, all right?”

I didn’t go to the bathroom. My bladder was
dry as a bone. Instead, I knelt on the floor of my closet and
yanked the grate off the forced air vent. I shoved my arm down the
hole and fished around until I found the cold, smooth band. I
pulled it out and slipped it onto my left hand. Heaven forfend
Johnny demand to know
where
the ring had been all this time.
Maybe if it suddenly appeared on my finger, it would keep the
peace, at least through dinner.

Johnny was in the dining room when I
returned. I hadn’t noticed, but David had rearranged the place
settings to one side of the table. He was seated at the head,
leaving no choice but for Johnny and I to sit together.

Johnny pulled out the chair next to David
for me.

David reached for my hand. “I know how you
feel about religion, Helen, but it matters to me, to Johnny too, I
understand. I’d like to offer a Yiddish prayer for healing before
we eat.”

“All right.” No sarcasm, no huffing, no
argument. I felt I could use a little healing at the moment.
There’s no harm in wishing, right?

“We need to hold hands,” David said. “Come
on. It’s traditional.”

Neither one of us would’ve known if he was
stretching the truth. The ever dutiful Johnny picked up my hand.
His thumb brushed the ring on my left ring finger. Tiny little
glance of a touch at first. As David spoke the foreign words,
Johnny’s thumb settled into a slow rub that twisted it around my
finger.

The brain suffered a major blow from the
heart.

Chapter 23

It was hard to tell that a terrible argument
occurred based on my appetite. I dug into dinner with gusto. David
shook his head and laughed. “You weren’t kidding about hunger.”

“Hmm, not a joking matter these days.”

“Did you catch the press conference on the
local news this afternoon?” David asked.

I shook my head. “Heard that Governor
Spineless Douchebag was planning to yammer on this afternoon. What
did the lily livered coward do this time?”

Johnny spoke softly. “He closed OSI,
Helen.”

I dug into the heap of potatoes on my plate.
“I hear that wasn’t a great shock though, right? Dev said everybody
sort of saw the writing on the wall.”

“When did you talk to him?”

I recognized the effort it took for Johnny
not to snarl at me. It still came out defensive as hell.

I chewed slowly and swallowed. “I was in
Downey this morning and called OSI to see who was available for
lunch. No fun pigging out alone, you know.”

“And of course, Devlin just happened to be
available.”

I nodded. “He said Crevan was out working
some hush-hush case, and he had no idea where he was. You and Chris
were up to your eyeballs with
el jefe
.”

“Helen, you seem awfully calm about this,”
David said.

I shrugged. “What’re you gonna do? This is
the problem when people put their faith in bureaucrats and
politicians. They get burned in the end, as I well learned the hard
way nearly a year ago. There is life after law enforcement.” I
waved a forkful of lamb in the air. “It’s mighty tasty too, I might
add. No monsters. No demons. No nightmares. I highly recommend
it.”

I felt the caress of Johnny’s eyes on me. I
glanced left. “What?”

“Was that all you discussed at lunch?”

I grinned. “He gave me a brilliant idea. Dev
thinks, since I refuse to divulge any details about the nursery,
that I should have some kind of ribbon cutting ceremony to unveil
it when it’s done.”

“Count me in,” David said and raised his
glass in silent toast. “God knows we need to celebrate more in this
very short existence of ours.”

“So, I suppose that put the kibosh on
whatever Crevan was working on. Any idea what he’s gonna do for
work now? Dev seemed a little worried about it. Maybe he could
reenlist in the Marines. They’d be lucky to have someone of his
caliber back in the ranks.”

David’s eyebrows dove into a deep vee.
“Helen, didn’t Johnny tell you anything about the contingency
plan?”

“Uh, I know that denial is a popular parlor
game these days, David. Resist its lure. Isn’t it obvious that
Johnny and I haven’t been doing much quality communication
lately?”

“Helen,” he chided softly. “Civility?”

“What?” I jabbed a gob of creamy peas into
my mouth. “I’m not saying he’s the only one at fault. It takes two
to tango after all. I’m just as guilty as he is.”

“I see you still resist the lure of
tact.”

“She’s right, David. I made a choice not to
bring up that particular conversation, or any related to the job
for that matter. Frankly, I’m stunned that Mackenzie didn’t lay it
all out for you at lunch, Helen. I offered both he and Crevan work
for a new division at the security company.”

“And?”

“Crevan accepted,” he said. “Dev wants a few
days to consider his options.”

“Do you want me to talk to him?”

Johnny peered at me intently, as if he were
trying to divine my sincerity or if I merely wanted another excuse
to see a man that pinged his jealousy like no other. “I think he’s
capable of making the choice without undue pressure.”

“All right,” I said. Golden dinner rolls
slathered in butter beckoned.

David cleared his throat. “So at the press
conference, Joe announced that he could no longer justify the
expense of OSI in light of the state’s budgetary shortfalls this
year, and proceeded to praise the fine work Johnny and his team
have done over the past couple of years. He was at least gracious
enough to outline how profound OSI’s contribution to law
enforcement was.”

“Naturally,” I rolled my eyes. “You know, if
I weren’t so convinced that Sanderfield is the devil incarnate, I’d
be tempted to vote for him on general principle come November.”

“What’s this?” David grinned. “You mean that
you’re actually considering crossing party lines simply because you
believe one criminal politician could be caught?”

“Hush,” I grinned.

“You’re registered Republican, Helen?”

“Oh dear. Have I unwittingly started another
battle?”

Johnny laughed. “No. I’m not either one.
Independent. I guess I’m surprised that you aren’t too, Helen.”

“That would make the most sense, I suppose.
Never let this little tidbit of truth escape this room. I served
the first part of my FBI tenure during the Bush administration. I
figured it would be politically incorrect to register as anything
but
Republican.”

Johnny smirked.

“I
knew
it! No way were you part of
the red states!”

“Oh, calm down, Mr. Diehard Democrat. Isn’t
that something they beat into your head at Sabbath services or
whatever you call them?”

“Ahem. Speaking of the right dishonorable
Senator Sanderfield, he held a little press conference this
afternoon, about five minutes after Joe finished his.”

“God, do I want to know?”

“I’m sure you already do,” Johnny said. “It
was basically a too-little-too-late rally, one which he concluded
with an interesting question.”

“What was that?” I asked.

“If OSI no longer exists, does our request
to the FBI for a criminal investigation – er – witch hunt, I mean,
go away too?”

I dropped my fork and stared at Johnny.
“You’ve got to be kidding. Who is this asshole? Does he really
think that the bureau gives a damn about what his constituents
think? If there’s evidence that a crime has been committed we
investigate it. Period.”

“We,” David said softly.

“You. Sorry, old habit.”

“His posturing aside, it has no impact on
what I’m doing,” David said.

“Then you’ve uncovered something?”

“Lots of suspicious somethings. Nothing
concrete. I’ve had a forensic team combing through the man’s
financial records for the past two weeks. Remember those crazy
straws for kids, Helen? The ones that bend and twist into wild
knots.”

I nodded.

“That’s pretty much what his books look
like. If nothing else, we’ve got hard evidence for the voters that
this man is not qualified to manage a state budget if that’s how he
keeps track of his campaign finances.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s intentional. What a
better way to hide large amounts of money made from selling human
beings?”

“We’ve got this political action committee
that Eugene Sherman founded under the microscope as well,” David
said. “That is a much clearer picture. The Department of Justice is
interested in pursuing the case.”

“So the campaign contributions were shady
after all.”

“Yeah,” Johnny said. “Something that Joe
failed to mention this afternoon.”

“And steal the federal government’s thunder?
No, that’s not how this particular game is played, Johnny. Don’t
worry. When we make the formal announcement I will certainly take
the opportunity to give credit to OSI, and of course mention my
dismay over disbanding such a valuable and productive unit,” David
said.

My hand brushed Johnny’s arm. “Joe really is
a fool, Johnny. I have no respect for cowardly politicians. Now you
know why.”

“He assured me that our friendship is
intact,” Johnny said. “At the same time, I’m sure he’ll understand
when I don’t call, or accept his should he pick up the phone.”

“The good news in this investigation of our
intrepid senator is that we
may
have found a link between
him and another suspect, Sanderfield and Sherman. It’s too early to
talk about it, Helen, but you may sleep easy tonight dear friend.
We at the FBI will not stop until we completely shut these bastards
down.”

“Thank you, David.”

“Just like Eliot Ness,” he grinned. “I
always get my man.”

We moved to the patio for dessert, not only
because the air wasn’t coating tongues with an oily sensation
outside, but because the weather was truly too pleasant to be
ignored.

“It’s decaf,” Johnny apologized when he
poured the coffee. “I hope you don’t mind. Helen’s been trying to
limit her consumption of caffeine lately.”

“I didn’t mention it earlier, Helen, but you
look positively radiant.” David made a clipping motion with two
fingers. “And this is extremely flattering.”

“It’s called a pixie cut,” Johnny said. “I
think it suits her very well.”

“Agreed,” David clinked his coffee cup
against Johnny’s. “So, Johnny tells me that you found out that
these babies are both of the male variety. Were you terribly
excited?”

“Honestly, I was relieved,” I said. “Mind
you I would’ve loved daughters just as much, but I hear they’re
more difficult to raise. I know what my poor father endured with
me. I couldn’t imagine a double dose of that.”

David fell silent for a moment. “You know,
Helen, I’m certain that Wendell had a great many regrets in his
life. I’m equally positive that you were never one of them. Johnny
told me that when he spoke with Wendell last year that he continued
to demonstrate his deep love for you.”

I had to be sure. Go to him.

The last words my father spoke to me
ricocheted through my brain. What had he meant?
Had to be
sure
… I shivered.

David and Johnny assumed it was the damp
mist blowing in off the Pacific. Johnny peeled his suit jacket off
and draped it over my shoulders. His fingers brushed the side of my
neck.

“Better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

David slid away from the table on the
terrace. “I should get to the hotel. We’re on for a briefing with
Crevan in the morning, yes?”

Johnny nodded. “LaPierre Tower, obviously.
Let me see you out.”

“Nonsense. Stay and enjoy the beautiful
weather with your lovely wife.” He sent me a meaningful look. “I
insist.”

“Thank you for everything, David,” I
said.

He bent over and kissed my cheek. “It was
delicious as always. I can always depend on you for the best rack
of lamb in the country. I’ll call you when I get back to
Montgomery.” David shook Johnny’s hand. “Be good to each
other.”