Chain Reaction (30 page)

Lucinda looked at Tamara whose eyes seemed about to roll up into her head. If she passed out, Jimmy might shoot her, thinking she was trying to escape from him. She then studied Jimmy. When she first looked at him, his eyes appeared dead and flat; now they were jumping. His mother was escalating not defusing the situation. ‘Come on over to me, Mrs Van Dyke. You can take my gun. I will not try to stop you.’

‘See, Mom, she has sense enough to know who’s in charge here. Do what she says.’

Charlotte walked backwards toward Lucinda. She turned to face her. She reached one hand inside Lucinda’s jacket.

‘Just flip the snap on the top of the holster and it will slide right out.’

The snap filled the quiet room like an explosion. Lucinda, however, did not feel the revolver moving, even though Charlotte was acting as if she was withdrawing the weapon. Lucinda tried to get the woman to look at her but she seemed to be avoiding her gaze. Lucinda wasn’t sure what Charlotte was thinking but she wanted to yell at her to stop. But she didn’t for fear that it might prompt Jimmy to fire the gun. She sat there helpless as Charlotte spun around, slapped a hand on Jimmy’s pistol and jerked.

As Charlotte and Jimmy struggled, Jake pulled Tamara away and shoved her back.

Tamara screamed, ‘Mom!’ and rushed toward her mother.

Jake and Lucinda circled Charlotte and Jimmy, seeking any small window of opportunity to wedge in between mother and son and disarm whoever had control of the weapon. Before they could do anything, the gun went off, echoing in their ears, and Tamara fell to the floor.

C
harley pulled her iPhone out of her pocket when she heard the familiar sound of an incoming text message. She read, ‘If I tell u where I am, will u promise not 2 tell any1?’

Amber! She knew if she said yes and then told her dad or Lucy, Amber would be angry. If she told her no, then she probably wouldn’t hear from her again. If she agreed to keep the secret and kept her word, Dad and Lucy would be mad at her. Well, they don’t need to know, do they? She typed back, ‘Y.’

‘Coffee shop 2 buildings away.’

‘OMW,’ Charley answered.

She headed out to meet Amber but the moment she unlocked the front door, her father shouted, ‘Where are you going, Charley?’

‘Down to the coffee shop for something with lots of whipped cream.’

‘Why don’t you take Ruby with you?’

‘Da–aaa–ad,’ Charley whined.

‘OK, OK, just bring something back for her, OK?’

‘Yes, Daddy.’

‘There’s a twenty in the box on the table.’

‘Thank you, Daddy,’ Charley said and ducked out into the hallway before he could change his mind. When she reached the coffee shop, she looked all around but didn’t see Amber anywhere. She pulled out her cell and tapped on the keyboard, ‘Where r u?’

‘Ladies.’

Charley went into the restroom and still didn’t see Amber. ‘Amber, where are you?’

‘Down here, last stall,’ Amber said, pushing open the door.

‘It stinks like disinfectant in here. Can we go talk out at a table?’

‘I wanted to make sure you didn’t bring anyone with you.’

‘So, you don’t trust me? Really? What’s with that?’

‘I’m sorry, Charley. I don’t trust anybody. Ever. I’m sorry.’

‘Well, c’mon, let’s go get a drink.’

Amber stepped out of the stall and said, ‘I don’t have any money. We could go for a walk.’

‘Daddy gave me money before I left.’

‘He knows?’ Amber said, stepping back into the small enclosure.

‘Oh, c’mon, Amber. I told you I wouldn’t tell him and I didn’t. He gave me money so I’d come home with something for Ruby and he never asks me for change back. It’s OK, really.’

Amber came back out and said, ‘Thank you, Charley. You’re a good friend. I shouldn’t doubt you.’

Charley threw an arm around Amber’s shoulders, noticing a tear in the sleeve of her shirt and the dirtiness of her hair. ‘You can order anything you want. Double mocha, triple caramel, quadruple whipped cream. You name it, it’s yours.’

The girls placed their orders and carried the largest size cups brimming with their fattening concoctions – Amber’s chilled, Charley’s hot – to a table. ‘Girl, don’t take this the wrong way,’ Charley said, ‘but you are a mess.’

Amber sighed. ‘Duh. There are mirrors in the bathroom, you know.’

‘We’ve got to do something. You can’t live on the streets, Amber.’

‘She came to the school. She’ll come to your house, too. She’ll get me. And she won’t let up. She’ll call me a liar. She’ll make me feel so bad. All for him. All because she has to have a boyfriend so bad she doesn’t care what a piece of crap he is. She doesn’t care what he does to me. Or to Andy. All she cares is that he’s there.’

‘But that’s just it, Amber. They put her back in jail.’

‘They let her out before; they’ll let her out again.’

‘Not this time,’ Charley said, shaking her head.

‘You can’t know that. Nobody can.’

‘We can go see your CASA lady. She’ll know.’

‘Yeah, right. She didn’t think they’d let her out last time.’

‘You’re going to get hurt out here.’

Amber snorted. ‘Can’t be any worse than what happened to me in my own home.’

‘OK. I’ll sneak you into my bedroom.’

‘How can you do that? There’s no way.’

‘Easy peasy,’ Charlie said. ‘Just do what I tell you to do, every step of the way.’

‘What about the doorman? I bet he’s looking for me.’

‘Sure, he is. So I’ll go in, chat him up and then let you in the back door.’

‘What if somebody sees me in the elevator?’

‘I’ll buy a newspaper and you can hide behind it.’

‘Won’t that look suspicious?’

‘OK, how about a magazine? We’ve got enough change left for that.’

‘Which magazine?’

‘There’s a bookstore a block from here – you can pick out whatever you want. Pick one big enough to hide your face.’

‘I don’t know. It sounds dangerous.’

Charley rolled her eyes. ‘And you think it’s safe roaming the streets?’

‘OK. But if anybody says anything, I’m going to run and you’ll never see me again.’

‘Drama queen,’ Charley said.

Amber stuck out her tongue and laughed.

Everything went as planned and without incident all the way up to the Spencers’ condominium. ‘Now,’ Charley said. ‘I’m going to leave the door open a crack. Put your foot against so it doesn’t close and listen. I’m going to get everybody out on the balcony – you’ll hear the door. Sneak in and go up to my room. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

‘What if someone sees me out here?’

‘Read your magazine. I’ll only be a minute.’

Charley breezed inside. ‘Daddy, Ruby, you gotta see this guy down on the street. He’s got a monkey and his hair his purple.’

‘The monkey has purple hair?’ Ruby asked.

‘No,’ Charley said, ‘the man has purple hair and a monkey.’

Ruby ran straight for the sliding glass door.

‘C’mon, Daddy, c’mon. You gotta see this guy,’ Charley urged.

‘OK, Charley, I’m coming.’

Charley peered over the railing. ‘He was right here. He couldn’t have gotten far. Where is he?’

‘I don’t see no monkey, Charley,’ Ruby whined.

‘
Any
monkey, Ruby,’ Charley corrected her sister.

‘I don’t see any monkey, either.’

‘OK, Charley, is this supposed to be a joke?’ her dad asked.

‘No, Daddy. He was right there. That darned elevator is just too slow. Maybe if we went down on the street, we could find him.’

‘He’ll probably be long gone by then. C’mon, let’s go back inside.’

‘But I want to see the purple-haired monkey,’ Ruby whined.

‘The monkey doesn’t have purple hair,’ Charley snapped.

‘But you said—’

‘Girls, girls,’ Evan said, ‘it doesn’t really matter. He’s gone now.’

‘But, Daddy,’ Ruby pleaded, jutting out her lower lip.

‘If Charley sees him again, she’ll call me on her cell phone right away, won’t you, Charley?’

‘Yes, Daddy.’

‘And that way we won’t miss him next time.’

‘That was stupid, Charley,’ Ruby complained.

‘Ruby, what did I tell you about calling your sister stupid?’

‘I didn’t call her stupid, Daddy. I just—’

‘Enough,’ Evan said.

‘Well, I’m going to start on my homework. See you later,’ Charley said, rushing off before anyone could object. She opened her bedroom door but didn’t see her friend. ‘Amber,’ she hissed.

The closet door eased open and Amber’s head popped out. ‘Made it. No one saw me, did they?’

‘Nope. I told you it would work.’

‘What are we going to do now?’

‘I have to get on my computer and do some homework. Don’t you have some?’ Charley asked.

‘Yeah, I do – or I did.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘This boy stole my backpack and it was in there.’

‘See, I told you it’s not safe out there. You can’t leave me again. Promise?’

Amber’s brow furrowed. ‘But—’

‘No buts. I had your back. I wasn’t going to let her take you. I never, never, never give up.’

‘You sure had Mom’s back,’ Amber said with a giggle. ‘If I hadn’t been so scared, I would have laughed.’

‘I bet that did look pretty funny,’ Charley said with a grin. ‘But you’ve got to promise.’

‘OK, I promise.’

‘Swear?’

‘Swear.’

‘No lying?’ Charley asked.

‘If I’m lying, I’m dying.’

‘BFF forever and ever?’

‘Forever and ever,’ Amber said.

The two girls bumped fists. Amber curled up on the bed with Charley’s iPad and Charley sat down at her desk and got busy on her homework.

C
harlotte Van Dyke crumpled down to her knees and let loose a high, keening wail. Jimmy threw the gun across the room and screamed, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’

Lucinda and Jake went down on the floor on either side of Tamara. The girl still had a pulse. They searched but found no sign of entry. Puzzled, they looked at each other and then around the room. Jake spotted the point of impact. There was a hole through the crown molding.

‘I think she just passed out,’ Lucinda said.

Jake stood and checked the defect near the ceiling. ‘Looks like the bullet went up through here. ‘Mrs Van Dyke, are you hit?’

‘No, no. Tamara. My baby …’

‘Jimmy, were you shot?’

‘I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to …’

‘No one’s injured?’ Jake asked again.

‘Tamara – get help for Tamara,’ Charlotte pleaded.

Pulling out his cell, Jake said, ‘I will. I will but it doesn’t look like she was shot, ma’am. I think she just passed out.’ On the phone, Jake identified himself and explained he was with Lieutenant Pierce, then requested an ambulance and a patrol car to transport Jimmy Van Dyke.

On the floor, Tamara came round and struggled to sit up. Lucinda placed a hand on her chest and said, ‘No, Tamara. Lie still. You had a shock and you took a fall. An ambulance is on the way and it would be better if you didn’t move until the paramedics are here. Do you hurt anywhere?’

‘No. No. What happ— Mom? Jimmy? Who was shot?’

‘Easy, easy, Tamara. No one was shot. Everyone is OK. Just lie still.’

Charlotte moved into the space vacated by Jake and grabbed her daughter’s hand. ‘Hush, hush, baby. You do what the lieutenant said. Oh my good, sweet Lord, praise his name – I thought you were dead, baby. You gave me such a scare when you fell to the floor.’

‘I’m sorry, Mama.’

‘Hush, hush. Be quiet now. Everything is OK.’

‘What about Jimmy, Mama?’

‘He’s not hurt. But I suspect he’ll be leaving for the jail soon.’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ Lucinda said. ‘We do have to take him in for questioning. And there will be charges.’

‘Ah, yes, the wages of sin – at least, no one is dead.’

‘Jimmy,’ Lucinda said, ‘I really should cuff you and I’ll have to when the patrol car gets here. But I thought you might want a few minutes with your mother and sister. Can I trust you not to do anything stupid?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

Lucinda rose to her feet and said, ‘Here. Take my spot.’

Jimmy sank to his knees at his sister’s side. Jake and Lucinda moved across the room where they could keep an eye on the young man but allow some measure of privacy for family interactions.

Jimmy, Tamara and Charlotte made a circle of their hands and Charlotte prayed earnestly and long. When sirens filled the air, Charlotte said, ‘Amen,’ raised her head and placed a hand on each of her son’s cheeks. ‘I love you, Jimmy.’

Jimmy sobbed and stumbled to his feet, holding his hands behind his back. Lucinda snapped on the handcuffs and led him outside, passing the paramedics who rushed in with a stretcher. She opened the rear door of the patrol car and, pressing down on the top of Jimmy’s head, she eased him into the back seat. ‘I’ll see you at the station, Jimmy. Don’t give anyone a hard time about anything between now and then. I don’t want to have to explain any injuries to your mother.’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said, hanging his head.

Lucinda shut the car door and slapped an open palm on the roof of the vehicle. She watched as the marked car pulled out of the driveway and went down the street and out of sight.

B
ack at the Justice Center, Lucinda and Jake stood outside the interrogation room. ‘You’re ready?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Yep,’ Jake answered.

‘I’m pretty sure he did it.’

‘Me, too.’

‘I wish it wasn’t Charlotte’s son.’

‘So do I. It’s going to break her heart. She fell apart all over again when you left the house with Jimmy.’

‘I wouldn’t want to be her today. OK, let’s go,’ Lucinda said, twisting the knob and opening the door.

‘Hello, Jimmy,’ Lucinda said. ‘They told me you refused an attorney.’

‘Yes, ma’am, and I signed that paper.’

‘You want a chance to reconsider?’ Jake asked.

Jimmy shook his head.

‘I’m going to read you your rights one more time, Jimmy. You think about it again while I do.’

‘I’m not gonna change my mind.’

‘Just think about it,’ Lucinda said and recited the words she knew by heart.