A Hero's Reward (20 page)

“Yes, there is. I can finish it myself and a good cleaning
and a dehumidifier would take care of the dankness. My dad used it to
store a whole bunch of stuff and after I went through his piles down
there I never gave it another thought. I probably should have. We're
getting into what will be my slow time of year for work so I can work
on it on the days my regular job is postponed due to inclement
weather.”

“Thank you, it will be major relief to not have children
running around the kitchen when I've got things cooking on the stove
top. I keep worrying that they'll knock something over and burn
themselves.”

“I'll call my boss and ask him if I can use the company
contractor discount for my supplies right now and if he says yes then
I'll get the first of the materials for it this weekend. Probably two
by fours for a framework against the walls and paneling over it. I'll
fill in the gaps in the frame with insulation to keep it warmer down
there. I'll need to extend the electrical outlets and switches out to
the paneling, I don't know if there's spare wiring in the outlets in
place there now to do that or not...” Greg's voice trailed off
as he began planning the job.

Margaret smiled, she enjoyed watching
Greg work the planning phase of a job. He got an intent, focused look
on his face that was unique to that situation. It occurred to her
that she'd be able to see the other part of his job now also, the
hands-on portion. He intrigued her to no end and she was interested
in everything he did. She was deeply in love with him and wanted to
know how a man turned out the way he had instead of the way the men
she had previous experience with had turned out. She wanted to know
desperately, so she could try to guide Jack to be more like Greg than
Freddy.

Greg walked out to the living room and
got the cell phone from his coat. He also surreptitiously patted the
inside pocket making sure the case was still there. It was and he
still hadn't been able to work up the courage to ask. He quickly
dialed his boss' phone number to avoid thinking about the ring.

“Hey boss, it's me Greg.”

“What's up Greg?”

“Hey, I got a project I'm
starting at home, you mind if I use the contractor card for the
materials discount for it?”

“Nah, go ahead. What do you have
planned? Do you need any help?”

“Margaret asked if I could finish
out the basement to make a room for the kids. Keep them from running
all over the house. I was kicking myself for not thinking of it on my
own. I can take care of it myself, I just thought it'd be nice to
save a few hundred bucks on materials.”

“Sounds like that woman has a
good head on her shoulders. You ask her yet?”

“No, I haven't. I'm such a
coward.”

“No you're not Greg. I imagine
that you just haven't thought the time was right yet.”

“I keep thinking it might be the
right time then chickening out when I think about asking.”

“Don't worry about it. You'll get
to it eventually. If you don't then maybe it wasn't the right
decision after all. Go ahead and use the discount. I've got to go,
the game is coming back on.”

“Thanks boss.”

“Don't mention it, I mean
literally don't. I don't want the rest of the crew thinking they can
use it for their own projects.”

Greg set down the phone after breaking
the connection. He chased Ellen off the computer and started to make
some rough plans for the basement. He spent the rest of the evening
making lists and drawings but before he went to bed he had a
materials list and rough plans for the project.

When Greg arrived home the next day it
was obvious to him that Margaret had been crying.

“What's wrong? Are the kids
okay?”

“The kids are fine. I just got a
call from the police. They determined that my house fire was arson.
Who would try to kill me and Jack?”

“I can think of one person that
might try to kill you, but not Jack.” Greg said, recalling
Ben's warning.

“Who?” she asked.

“Who would benefit from you being
gone? Who would get custody of Jack and no longer have to be sending
you a check every month?”

“No, even Freddy wouldn't do
something like that, he wouldn't want to kill Jack.”

“Who's saying he intended to kill
Jack? Wasn't that a school day, and in the middle of the day?”

“Yes, it was...” Margaret's
voice trailed off as she considered the possibility.

“Jack had a doctor's appointment
that morning so I kept him home from school. I wondered when Freddy
was ready to drop everything and come pick up Jack, normally it takes
him an hour or two to get ready to do anything. If he were ready
ahead of time, though, because he was expecting something...”

“One of the FBI agents warned me
that he had a bad feeling about Freddy and that we should watch our
backs. I'm thinking that it was better advice than he had thought.”
replied Greg.

“I won't believe it without more
proof. I don't think that even Freddy is stupid enough to pull
something like that. But, the reason I was crying wasn't any of that.
I was crying because I was happy. You were right! It wasn't my fault,
I didn't put my son in danger. It was somebody else.”

“I was sure of it, you're a
better mother than Emily by far. I'd say better than most others too
but I haven't really seen any other mothers in action since I've been
an adult.”

“How can I be so happy and so mad
at the same time? I don't even know who to be mad at, so it's
confusing.”

Greg's phone rang, interrupting their
conversation.

“Greg?” asked a vaguely
familiar voice.

“Yes, who is this?”

“This is Ben. I wanted to let you
know that my suspicions were correct. The police told me they
notified Ms. Chisolm today so I was free to call. What they didn't
tell her was that the only suspect they have is Freddy and that he
has disappeared from his listed place of residence. His new wife was
the only one there when they showed up to question him. She was very
upset; he's been gone for several weeks from what she said, and she
has no idea where. He didn't even tell her he was leaving.”

“Thank you Ben. But why did you
call me to let me know?”

“Well, I think that he may be
planning something involving you or Ms. Chisolm. The two of you were
very cooperative with us before and we were hoping that you might
give us a call if you see him. We've a warrant out for his arrest on
some other charges now. They were developed from our earlier
investigation. I thought that I should warn you and ask for your
cooperation again if you were willing.”

“I'll let you know if I see him.
Do you have a direct number I should call, or just go through the
switchboard?”

“Just call the number I'm calling
from right now. It should be saved in your recent calls log, you can
toss it on a speed dial if you like. That will get you directly
through to me. Agent White and I will respond as quickly as we can
should we hear from you. Thank you.”

“Thank you for the information
Ben.”

After Greg had hung up he turned to
Margaret and explained what he had just been told. He also copied the
phone number for Ben down and gave it to her with a request to put it
in her own phone, just in case.

“So, it really was Freddy then?”
Margaret asked.

“It looks that way. They don't
have proof positive yet, but his disappearing shortly after the FBI
went down with us to get Jack back suggests that he's guilty of
something he doesn't want them to catch him for.”

Margaret just shook her head and
wandered off, obviously deep in thought. Greg went to find the
children and ask them about their day. He was constantly surprised
that of all three of the children, the one who seemed to enjoy
talking to him about their day the most was Jack, who wasn't even his
own child. Christine would talk to him about her day some also, but
he had to pry answers out of Ellen with a crowbar.

Margaret seemed preoccupied throughout
dinner and after the kids were settled in with a movie Greg asked her
what was bothering her.

“The whole thing. What Freddy did
and what they think he might have done. It means he hates me. Did he
hate me before, or did I make him hate me by leaving him?”

“Margaret, he obviously had few
positive feelings for you while you were married to him. You yourself
said he treated you like a possession. Then, to his thinking, one of
his possessions gets up and walks away, taking another of his
possessions with it. Meaning you leaving and taking Jack. If that's
how he viewed you then yes, he may well hate you. But did you cause
it? No. If that's how he felt about the two of you then he was
already pretty crazy. Did it push him the rest of the way over the
edge? Possibly. Once again that isn't your fault though. You had to
do what was best for you and Jack and as far as I'm concerned that's
what you did.

I think it boils down to the fact that
Freddy is seriously disturbed. It sounds like the church you were
talking about and that the FBI are interested in pushed him even
further out there. It isn't your fault at all. Some people are just
wired wrong. I'm guessing that given the opportunity to get help
Freddy would claim that there's nothing wrong with him that needs to
be helped. You know him better than I do, would you say that's
accurate?”

“Yes, that's accurate. If you
suggested that he was wrong or needed help you'd better look out
because he'd immediately boil over.”

“So, you've answered your own
question I think. He may well hate you now, but you didn't cause it
by leaving or by anything else. He caused it himself through his
actions and then probably by brooding over things after you left
him.”

“That does sound like him. I'll
accept your answer and I'm going to stop thinking about this now
since I find it incredibly disturbing.”

“Okay, let's change the subject
then. I'm thinking about getting the kids their own television and
DVD player for the basement. As a matter of fact, how about we all go
out tonight and pick those two things up along with a dehumidifier.
We'll start the dehumidifier running down there and do as much
cleaning as we can. We'll get the kids to help clean by leaving the
television and DVD player up here in their boxes, telling them we'll
set those up as soon as the basement is fully cleaned. I can work
around them for a lot of the things I need to do down there. For
those I can't I'll just chase them out for a bit.”

“That sounds wonderful Greg.”
Margaret gave a tired smile, “Let's do that right after
dinner.”

Greg went online to track down the
models he wanted to buy. He tried to allow the children some say in
what electronics they got for the basement but, in the end, he needed
to make the decision himself since the children just kept asking for
the biggest one, regardless of its quality or price.

He chose one by quality, which he
judged based on reviews on the site, and price. He made sure it was
in stock at the local store and then went through the same procedure
with a DVD player. His qualifications for that were no-frills and
sturdy, realizing that the children would be the primary, if not
sole, users. He printed out the sheets for both his choices to take
with them to the store and then it was time for dinner.

After dinner they headed to Target and
picked up his selections as well as a dehumidifier of a brand he
trusted. They used them on the job frequently enough that he was
familiar with those and hadn't had to research them. When the five of
them got home, he told the children what he was going to do with the
basement. He also told them that if they wanted it completed sooner
they could help clean and that the electronics wouldn't be going down
in the basement until it was all the way clean. He let them know that
they could then start using the basement for their own area even
while he was still working on it.

The children were enthused about having
the basement for their own use and even Ellen chipped in and helped
with some cleaning over the next few days. Before the next weekend
the basement was cleaned and ready for framing. Admittedly, Greg and
Margaret had done most of the work, but the children had at least
helped some.

Greg went out and got everything he
needed for his project in a single run with his truck on Saturday
morning. Except for the paneling, he had decided to let the kids come
with him for that one and decide on the paneling for themselves,
assuming they could agree on a single choice.

Greg spent the weekend on the project
and had the framing done, some solid board style insulation
installed, and the electrical outlets and light switches extended and
mounted to the frame by the end of Sunday night. Greg set up the
framing and electrical outlets near the television first so the kids
could use it as soon as possible. Margaret had taken any opportunity
she could to be down there with him as he worked. The children were
using the new TV for their movies as well so everyone spent a good
portion of the weekend in the basement.

Margaret had watched Greg as he worked,
bringing him coffee now and then. She'd also helped by fetching items
he might need that he didn't have within reach, at least when she
knew what items he was talking about. She came to the conclusion that
he was happiest when he knew what he was doing. She'd now seen it in
his planning, in his work, and during sex. In all three of those
things he was very self-confident and doing them made him happy. Ever
since the trial she'd noticed that he'd been unsure of himself
frequently and she had worried that it might be due to her somehow.
He was very happy when she was assisting him while he worked though
so she laid that worry to rest. She was pretty sure that if there was
a problem, he'd tell her in due time. At least she truly hoped that
he would.