What You See (23 page)

Cole
left with the promise
to
come over first thing Sunday morning. He wanted to make sure my wounds were
healing properly. Not only was he a policeman, but he also had extensive
training in first aid and CPR. He could stitch up a cut, set a broken bone, or
give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation... whatever I needed. I liked the
mouth-to-mouth bit. As a matter-of-fact, I liked everything about him.

There was only one drawback... he was a cop. How could we
cope with him being an officer of the law and me being the flunky of a private
detective? I guess that’s what you’d call me. I didn’t know what I was doing,
but I knew enough to know that if I continued to run with Billy Blackhawk, I
was destined to wind up in jail. I could see it coming. I was headed for
trouble.

It didn’t matter. I liked Billy. I wanted to be a part of his
life. I wanted him to be a part of mine. Sometimes, I wondered about some of
the things he did and how he managed to do them, but I tried not to ask why. He
was a good man and he had a good heart. That was enough for me. We had formed a
bond. He knew it, and so did I.

I now had Cole and Billy in my life, but they were like oil
and water. Still, I loved them both. What was I going to do about their
continuous, nerve-racking arguing? If these two men were going to share my
life, we had to come to an agreement. We had to reach a happy medium.
Eventually, I decided I would have to sit them both down and have a serious
talk. I wouldn’t let them be at each other’s throats all the time. We needed to
lay it all out on the table, and set some boundaries.

“Here’s the deal, guys. Cole, you’re a cop and Billy, you’re
a private investigator. You’re both my friends. I realize it’s hard for you to
see eye-to-eye, but you have to start acting more mature. I’m finished with
your arguing. You’re best friends—for God’s sake! Get over the pettiness and
stop fighting. Please! Do it for my sake.” This is what I’d say to them, later.

It was Sunday morning, one week until the 4th of July. I had
the blissful feeling of a woman in love. I got out of bed with a whole new
outlook on life. Cole was in love with me, and I was in love with him.

I was in desperate need of a shower. I removed the bandage
and examined my shoulder in the bathroom mirror. It didn’t look nearly as bad
as I’d expected. The blood on the once sterile gauze had dried and there was no
indication that the wound had bled during the night. The blast had caught me on
the edge of my left shoulder and took out a sizable patch of skin. What was
left was an ugly red, raw area. It wasn’t infected. Good ole’ Dr. Chief Sam
Standing Deer Blackhawk did a fine job of fixing me up. I guess I wasn’t going
to die after all.

I turned on the shower, stripped down and jumped in. The
first wave of burning pain from the water hitting my shoulder almost brought me
to my knees. Trying to withstand the pain, I forged ahead. I used soap to wash
my body and hair as I leaned to one side. I wanted to get this over with as
fast as possible. The thought of getting soap in my wound was scary, but I
didn’t, and I felt like a new person once I was finished. My hair would be
funky from using soap on it and not using cream rinse, but I could live with
that for another day. Using a hand towel to dab at my raw shoulder, I noticed a
speckling of blood.

“Hmm... this isn’t so bad,” I said out loud. “I’ve seen
worse.”

I put on a pair of jeans and a tank top, sat down at my
computer and tried to brush the rats out of my long hair. I left my shoulder
bare so it could get some air. I figured it would heal faster that way. That’s
what my mama always said.

Soon I’d have to do something about my hair. The red was
fading and the brown was shining through. Also, three inches of it from the
bottom up was nothing but dead ends. And it was drab. I needed a new hairdo.
I’ve always loved Dyan Cannon’s hairstyle. She’s a bit older than I am, but she
has great looking hair. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll get my hair cut and styled as
soon as I have the time.

Having made all my new resolutions of how I could fix myself
up—I did have Cole to think about now—I started pecking away at my computer. I
had tons of e-mail to answer, but that could wait. I wanted to surf the net and
find out anything I could on this case. As much information as there is today
on the web, I knew I could find something. And bingo, I found a site where you
could find out everything there is to know about a person, from their credit
history to the name of their family doctor, for the low, low price of $39.99,
which could be billed to your carrier, or your credit card. You decide.

I wondered if Billy knew about this site. I’d have to tell
him. But in the meantime, I decided to check it out. I’ll pay for it on my
credit card and then submit it to Billy for reimbursement. There shouldn’t be
any problem. It was related to my job.

I hesitated. Whose name did I want to type in? This was going
to cost me forty dollars, so I’d better go for the gold. My main suspect was
Jay. I typed in Patrick Jason Teale, hoping the information on him would be
listed under his birth name and not his adopted name. I hit pay dirt. There
were three pages—everything about him from the time of his birth to three
months ago when he was cited for speeding on I-64 in
Henrico
County
.
What was he doing in
Henrico
County
?
It was almost an hour from where he lived.

I printed out all the information and put it in my briefcase
for Billy to read. I made another copy for myself and left the web. After
scanning the printout, I determined that this boy had been one busy guy. He had
one heck of a rap sheet. He’d been arrested four times in his short career as a
juvenile delinquent: the first time at the age of twelve for shoplifting; at
thirteen for participating in a public brawl; 15—vandalism; and last, but not
least, at 17—DUI, for which he spent four hours in lockup until he was bailed
out by his parents. Whew! It looked like Jay had a promising future as a career
criminal. Wait until I tell Billy! Boy, he’ll be surprised! I’m so smart.
Sometimes I even amaze myself! I patched up my shoulder the best I could with a
sterile pad and tape I found in the first aid kit in the bathroom vanity.
Knowing my mom like I do, I knew she probably stocked all the bathrooms in the
house with such necessities. It was her thing.

“I have coffee brewing,” she offered as I walked into the
kitchen. “Poor dear, how are you feeling today? Is that shoulder bothering
you?”

“No, I’m fine,” I replied.

She poured me a cup of coffee and said, “I think you and I
need to talk.”

“Sure, Mom, what’s on your mind?” I asked.

“It’s about last night...”

“What about last night?” I asked, afraid to hear what she had
to say, or worse, afraid of what she might have seen.

“It’s about you and Cole,” she replied. “Jesse, I realize you
and Cole are crazy about each other. I can see it in your eyes. I’m not a
prude. If you want to spend the night with him, go ahead. It’s none of my
business. You’re a grown woman.”

“Let me get this straight. You’re saying you don’t mind if I
sleep around?” I asked. “You surprise me. I thought you were a firm believer in
marriage before sex. What happened to change your mind?”

“Nothing happened to change my mind. No, I don’t want you to
sleep around, but you and Cole are in love. That makes a difference.”

Here it comes. But...

“Let’s face it, Jesse—you’re not getting any younger. Grab
Cole. He wants you. You two could date, then get married and have kids. You can
do whatever you want, and I don’t care in which order you do it. Just do it.
Don’t let this one get away.”

Mom’s intense stare gave me the creeps. This wasn’t like her.
My mom is about as Southern Baptist as you can get. They don’t go for stuff
like this. Marriage always came before sex.

“Don’t look at me like that, Jesse,” she said. “I’m not so
dumb. I know what goes on with your generation. Remember, I’ve been there. You
don’t know the places I’ve been.”

“I don’t think we need to go there, Mom. I trust you.”

“Honey, all I’m trying to say is I want this to be your home.
I want you to be able to be yourself and have a say in what goes on here. And
if that includes having a sex life, you should go for it. If it makes you
uncomfortable talking to me about it, then why don’t you just think of me as
your roommate?”

“Oh, yeah, right. I don’t think so,” I replied. “I get the
idea, Mom. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If I decide to stay away from home for
the night, I’ll call you. Just don’t ask me a bunch of questions and I won’t
have to tell you any lies.”

“Deal,” she agreed. “Just one personal question before we
close the deal. I’ll ask you one, and you can ask one.”

“Fire away!”

“What’s the relationship between you and Billy?”

“He’s my boss and my friend,” I stated. “I care about him. I
hope our friendship will last until death we will part, but that’s all there is
to it. There’s no romance, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“You’re saying there’s nothing romantic between the two of
you?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“You answered my question, now ask me yours.”

“No!” I replied. “I reserve the right to save this question
for a time in the future that I may deem fit.”

“One question,” she hissed. “After that, if you force me,
you’ll be subject to my lies.”

That’s a joke—my mom doesn’t know how to tell a lie. Who is
she trying to fool?

Mom and I were immersed in a heavy conversation about sex and
the corrupt moral fiber of our society when suddenly Athena started to bark. I
walked to the front window and saw Cole pull up into the driveway. My heart
skipped a beat. It was only
nine
o’clock
and he was at
my door. I love this man!

I tried not to fall all over myself as I went to the front
door to greet him. I had visions of last night in the backyard, and my raging
hormones started to kick in again.

“Good-morning, ladies,” Cole said as he walked in and kissed
me lightly on the lips. He kissed Mom on the cheek. “How’s everything going?
Has Jesse been a good girl?”

“As a matter-of-fact, we were just having a conversation
about sex.”

Not again! I was doomed.

“Sex?” he asked. “What about it?”

“I just don’t get enough of it!” Mom laughed like a crazy
woman.

Oh, my God!

Once I recovered from her outburst of insanity, I took Cole
off to the side and said, “Don’t mind her. I think she’s in another world.
She’s been acting weird ever since she got out of bed. I think it’s menopause.”

“Oh, don’t be silly. She was only joking. Can’t you tell?”

Twenty minutes later, Billy drove up in the driveway.

“What’s he doing here?” Cole asked.

“We have an errand to run.”

“Like the one you had yesterday?”

“Don’t be silly,” I said, teasing him.

The expression on Cole’s face surprised me. I thought he’d go
off if I didn’t tell him everything, but I soon learned that he was going to
give me my space. He wasn’t going to push me. That’s what all women look for in
a man, isn’t it? We want someone who’ll give us love, trust and the freedom to
be a real person.

“Good-morning, folks,” Billy cheerfully said. He bent over,
patted Athena’s head and then looked up at Cole. “How’s it going?”

“Just fine,” Cole answered. “Jesse tells me you two have an
errand to run today. Do you need any help?”

“Nah, I think we can handle it.”

“Like you did yesterday?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Jesse getting hurt.”

Mom walked back into the living room. “All right, guys. No
fighting. I swear, you two are worse than my kids were when they were little.
Would either one of you like something to eat?”

“No thanks,” they both said and then went to their separate
corners.

“Are you ready to go?” Billy asked.

“Give me a minute. I want to change clothes.” I left the
room, keeping my fingers crossed they wouldn’t go at it again before I
returned. I ran upstairs, removed the tank top and put on a clean T-shirt. I
grabbed my cell phone from the charger and slipped it into my shoulder bag,
along with Rossi. From now on, my gun was going everywhere with me.

When I got back downstairs, everyone was sitting at the
kitchen table drinking coffee. I caught the end of the conversation.

“What’s this about Bill and Edie?” I asked.

“I was just telling Billy that I didn’t know about the 4th of
July,” Mom replied. “Uncle Bill and Aunt Edie are coming for a visit next
weekend. They called this morning. But that’s not all. Claire called last night
to say that she and the kids were coming for the weekend. Since everyone was
going to be here, I called and invited your brother. He’s bringing a friend.”