The Word of a Liar (36 page)

CHAPTER thirty-four

Two weeks later, Mason walked down the corridor of the medical unit to Ellen’s room. In his right hand he carried a cup of chipped ice for Ellen and, in the other, a coffee for himself. He’d gone home for a couple of hours to shower and run errands. That afternoon JD was supposed to have visited his mother for the first time. Mason would have liked to have been there. He hadn’t seen JD since the night before the shooting, but out of respect for Ellen’s family he’d stayed away. 

The day Ellen had been shot, her parents had arrived at the hospital in the early evening. Spider had gone home and Mason had been alone in the waiting room. Ellen’s father had come over to Mason and had introduced himself.  Mr. Dominetti had then made it clear that he held Mason responsible for what had happened to his daughter. He had demanded Mason leave and never come back, but that was something Mason would not agree to. The two men had reached a hostile agreement: when the Dominettis were visiting, Mason would disappear. 

With his sexy, bad-boy charm, Mason had persuaded some of the female nurses to be his lookouts. They were to text him when it was safe to return to Ellen’s room. Mason had gotten a text about twenty minutes earlier, so he was surprised to see the Dominettis standing in the threshold of Ellen’s room. They looked as if they were about to leave, so Mason considered doing an about-face, but JD stopped him.

The boy burst from Ellen’s room, darted between his grandparents, and ran into the hallway.  Bundled in his winter jacket and boots, he plopped down on the floor and howled his protests. Mrs. Dominetti tried to pull JD up, but he kicked and screamed all the more. Then JD turned his head in Mason’s direction and stopped his fussing. He jumped to his feet and then ran to Mason. JD dove into Mason’s legs, almost knocking him over and causing him to drop the cups in his hand.

“Whoa, JD! I could have burned you with this coffee, kiddo!” Mason said as he set the cups down on the floor and then squatted to eye level with the boy. “How about a hug, big guy? I’ve missed you.”

To Mason’s surprise, JD hugged him. Mason’s eyes clouded with tears. He squeezed the boy into his chest and held on until JD squirmed to get free.

“I wanna stay here, Mason. Tell Grandma and Grandpa I can stay here with you and Mommy,” JD pleaded.

Mason looked up. JD’s grandparents watched; their cold expressions left little doubt of the contempt they felt towards him. Mason looked at JD. “You can’t stay, buddy. Your mommy needs to sleep so she can get better and come home to you. You can come back tomorrow and see her,” Mason said as he zipped up JD’s jacket.

“But what if she dies like Daddy did?”

Mason swallowed down a sob. “She’s not going die. That’s why I’m here—to make sure she doesn’t.”

“Did you shoot my mommy, Mason?”

The question triggered an explosion of emotions in Mason. The guilt and anger over what had happened to Ellen reemerged. Mason knew the boy had heard his grandparents defaming him, and he knew they were justified, but he also knew they were wrong. He wouldn’t allow them or anyone else to destroy the camaraderie he’d worked so hard to build with JD.

“JD, your grandparents are very worried about your mom, and sometimes when people are scared, they say things that they don’t mean. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop what happened to your mother, but I give you my word, I’ll never let anything bad happen to her again, or you. I love your mom, JD, and I love you.”

JD cocked his head and then did the most remarkable thing. He looked directly into Mason’s eyes and didn’t turn away. Instead, JD appeared to be studying him, like he was formulating some kind of judgment. Mason hoped he’d be kind.

“I believe you, Mason,” JD said and then looked away.

Mason picked up the cups and handed the ice chips to JD. He stood. “How about you take this to your mom, and then it’s time to go home with Grandma and Grandpa?”

JD nodded.

“And no more fussin’, understand?” Mason warned, pointing a stern finger at JD.

JD scooped some of the ice chips into his mouth and then scampered back into Ellen’s room.

Mason sighed. As he walked over to the Dominettis, he straightened his shoulders and nodded a greeting. He addressed them without the malice of their previous encounter.

“JD and I had a talk,” Mason told them. “He’ll go home now. But just so you know, when you bring him tomorrow, I plan on being here.”

Mason left them in the hallway and entered Ellen’s room. JD allowed Ellen one more kiss on the top of his head and then his grandmother called for him.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, Mommy, at 5:30. Grandma said visiting hours are at 5:30.”

Ellen smiled and nodded.

“I’ll be back at 5:30,” JD said again.

“Yes,” Ellen whispered her reply.

“Say I’ll be back at 5:30, Mommy,” JD insisted.

“You’ll be back at 5:30,” Mason answered for Ellen. “And we’ll both be here. Now go!”

Finally satisfied, JD took his grandmother’s hand and they left the room.

Mason walked over to Ellen’s bed and kissed her softly. Despite the paleness of Ellen’s complexion, a tint of pink colored her cheeks. JD’s visit had obviously lifted her spirits. Mason sat in the chair next to her bed.

“You need anything?” he asked.

Ellen shook her head. It was still painful for her to talk. The ventilator had made her throat raw, but she’d been off of it for three days. It was the longest she had been. They’d tried a couple of times to wean her off the ghastly machine, but inevitably she’d have to be put back on. Each time they’d put that hideous tube back down Ellen’s throat, Mason had wanted to scourge himself like Pastor Dimmesdale to rid himself of the guilt he felt.

“You look happy. JD is good medicine,” Mason said.

Ellen smiled and nodded. “I’m sorry… My parents… they need time…,” Ellen said in short hoarse breaths as she reached for Mason’s hand. “Don’t hate them.”

“I don’t, but no one is going to keep me from you and your son. The two of you are my family now,” Mason said as he squeezed her hand. “Do you want to watch some television?”

“I’m tired.”

“Then go to sleep. I’ll be right here.”

“You should go… sleep in your bed.”

“I’m staying right here until you can go home, too.”

Mason combed Ellen’s hair back with his fingers. He wanted to hold her. The deprivation of her body had made him desperate, like an addict looking for his next fix. He bent down to kiss her, and then Ellen’s hand grasped the back of his head. She held him to her lips and kissed him with a feverous passion. It let him know that she, too, felt the deficiency of their physical embrace. To stymie the prodigious rush of desire, Mason reluctantly broke the kiss. He straightened, looking at Ellen’s flushed face.

“When they do send you home, do you think your parents are going to allow us to have a sleepover?”

Mason chuckled.

Ellen laughed softly as she shook her head. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you, too. Now get some sleep.”

When Ellen closed her eyes, Mason went over to the recliner in the corner of the room. He sat down and then snatched the book he’d been reading off the window ledge. It was his favorite anthology of poems that his mother had read to him when he was a teenager. The pages were dog-eared and stained with use.

Mason opened it to his favorite poem but couldn’t concentrate. He looked out the window and sighed. His thoughts turned towards his life before Mason Hackett, his life as Marshall McCabe.

When Marshall had graduated from West Point, he had been a young soldier, determined to rid the world of evil and make his father proud. It hadn’t taken him long, however, to figure out that the competition and politics of gaining rank and power was a game he didn’t want to play. He had become a civilian and joined the troops of law enforcement. But there, too, he had floundered until he’d found his niche in the realm of undercover.

There Marshall had the freedom to spread his wings and catch the bad guys, but after time, his black and white world began to show signs of gray. Meeting Spider and Mad Dog further eroded Marshall’s linear lines of right and wrong. He loved those men like brothers and could no longer decipher what ran deeper: his allegiance to the Sons of Thunder or his brothers in blue.  But Marshall knew it was only a matter of time before the club found out the truth.
The night they gave me back my colors, their eyes had shone with admiration, but when they discover who I really am, it will be replaced with loathing.

The parking lot lights illuminated a soft flutter of snow. Christmas was in three days. Ellen should be out shopping for JD or at home decorating a tree befitting of her new house, but instead she was there fighting for her life because of his deceptions
. I should have known she would try to save me. I should have been more careful.

Marshall popped the recliner back and studied the shadows on the ceiling tiles. He closed his eyes. Outside the wind howled in a shrill, cold voice and kissed the window with its frosty breath.  He fell asleep.

***

Mad Dog stood on the stepladder. He adjusted the glittery gold star on top of the Christmas tree. He looked down at his three children, who stood watching.

“I think we are ready for the lighting of the O’Donnell Christmas tree,” he said with a smile.

Sean, who was home from college, plugged in the lights. A rainbow of tiny colored bulbs illuminated the balsam branches.  Mad Dog got down from the ladder and stood with his children admiring their handiwork.

“It’s a beautiful tree. One of the prettiest we’ve ever had,” Mad Dog said.

“That’s because I picked it out and not you,” Sean said.

“What are you talkin’ about? I pick out awesome trees,” Mad Dog said in his defense.

“No you don’t, Daddy,” Amelia countered. “Remember that tree you cut down in the woods. It was bald on one side, and on the other, the branches were so long they’d get caught in the door every time someone opened it.”

Mad Dog grinned. He did remember that tree, and he remembered how Gina had complained. “Your Mom never let up on me for that one, did she?”

The children looked away and shifted nervously. He knew talking about their mother with him made them uncomfortable, and he was sorry for that. He was certain his past behavior was the cause of their anxiety. He put his arms around Tess and Amelia’s shoulders. He looked upward and then called out, “Gina, do you see this tree? I have now redeemed myself.”

The children looked at one another with bewildered faces and then back at their father.

Sean smiled and said, “Mom would’ve loved this tree. I can just hear her.” He mimicked his mother’s voice. “Oh, kids, it’s just the right shape and fits so nicely in front of the window.”

The girls giggled and Mad Dog smiled.

“We still have one more thing to add,” Mad Dog said.

“What’s that?” Tess asked.

“Presents!”

Mad Dog raced up the stairs and into his bedroom. Opening the door to Gina’s closet, he looked at the large shopping bags filled with ornately wrapped gifts. His eyes fell on Gina’s clothes. Her shoes and purses were stacked neatly on the small wooden shelves Spider had made. He breathed in the fragile traces of her scent. He knew it was time to let go of these material things. None of it would bring her back, and he no longer needed physical reminders. She lived in his heart.

“Dad,” Tess called from the doorway, “are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Mad Dog said as he grabbed the bags of presents. He closed the closet door.  “You know, Tess, it’s about time we packed up some of your Mom’s things. I think I’m ready to let them go.”

Tess looked at her father and smiled. “Mom would like that.”

“And you know what else?” Mad Dog asked.

“What?”

“We should do some redecorating.”

“Dad, are you sure you’re ready for that?”

“As long as I have you kids to help me over the rough spots, I think so.”

***

Marshall was awakened by a restless moaning. The weak winter sun broke into pink pieces of light in the cloudy horizon. Ellen wrestled in her sleep. With the book still in his hand, Marshall got up and went to her bedside. Sweat beaded Ellen’s forehead. With a gentle nudge, he tried to wake her from her troubled sleep, but her eyes remained closed.

Marshall called out her name. He was just about to buzz for the nurse when her eyes fluttered open. They darted frantically from one object to the next and then up to him. A sigh of relief escaped when she saw him. She grabbed his hand.

“I was dreaming… I was… stranded. JD was crying…. I couldn’t… find him. Then you came…. JD was on your shoulders…. He was laughing. But… it wasn’t you… it was… that trooper… from….”

Ellen stopped and closed her eyes. It hurt to talk. The dream had been so real. And the eyes of that trooper were unmistakably her Mason’s. Her heartbeat settled back into a normal rhythm. She let go of his hand.