Dominion (115 page)

“When you gave her the pictures, what did she say?”

“Nothing,” Ray said. “She was pretty detached. Obviously she suspected or she wouldn’t have hired me. She paid me cash on the spot and said she wouldn’t need my services any longer, which was fine by me.”

“I know you’ve told me more than you wanted to, Ray, and I appreciate it. I assume you keep your negatives. Could you get me a picture of this woman?”

“Can you honestly tell me it might be critical to your investigation?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” Ray said, “I’m in this deep, I may as well put my whole head under. I can have it for you in a few hours. I’ll bring it by your office.”

After putting the children to bed and praying with them, Clarence sat down with Geneva and Daddy, who was coughing and seemed particularly frail.

Clarence told them about Ty shooting the boy and tagging the street sign. After they discussed this for half an hour, Clarence said, “There’s something I need to tell you both. It’s not going to be easy.”

Slowly, painfully, he told them the story of the white boy he’d beaten up thirty years ago. Both sat spellbound, amazed that this could be surfacing after all these years.

When he finished, Clarence wiped his eyes and rested his head on Geneva’s shoulder. She hugged him tight and whispered, “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay. I’m so glad you told us.”

After gaining his composure, Clarence looked at Obadiah. “I’m so sorry, Daddy.”

“You held on to that all these years, Son?” Obadiah said, his eyes weighed down. “You done your share of sufferin’, that’s sure. But Jesus already did the sufferin’, see, the only sufferin’ that sets things right. He wants us to accept the atonement, not repeat it. Has you talked to God about this?”

“Yes,” Clarence said. “Finally”

“Then he’ll take care of it now.” Obadiah thought for a moment. “That white boy you beat up? Was he ridin’ a red bike?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“This all happened at the dump, right by the junkyard, right? He was left layin’ by an ol’ refrigerator, wasn’t he?”

“How’d you know that?”

“A neighbor, ol’ Ron, he told me he found the boy. People was scared ’cause a white boy got hurt and nobody knew who done it. Well, ol’ Ron showed me right where he found the boy. Could still see the blood. See, Ron drove him to the hospital hisself. He kept track of that boy. Talked about it the next few weeks. The boy was in the hospital a few days. Had some broken ribs, if I recalls right. But he ended up okay, I knows that much. Told your mama all about it, but for some reason I never told you kids. Guess I should have. He turned out okay, Antsy, he turned out okay. Now why didn’t you never tell your daddy about this?”

“I was so ashamed.” Clarence hung his head, then looked up at his father. “You’re not foolin’ with me, are you Daddy? You’re sure the boy was okay?”

“God is my witness,” Obadiah said.

Clarence broke into tears again, his hands holding his head as if his shoulders had no strength in them. Geneva drew him close. Finally Clarence said, “I’ll bet you to this day that boy hates blacks.”

“We all carries lots of memories, lots of scars,” Obadiah said. “Like that one there under your ear. But I just hopes that boy found Jesus—’cause there’s some scars only he can take away. I knows,” Obadiah said, nodding. “Believe me, I knows.”

Clarence escorted Sue Keels up the aisle, passing by Jake on their right, then parting at the bottom of the church platform stairs. Sue ascended the stairs to take her place as maid of honor, and Clarence ascended to his place as best man.

Clarence looked down the aisle and watched Geneva being escorted by Ollie, looking in his tuxedo like an overstuffed penguin. The big guy grinned up at him. But it was Geneva’s eyes Clarence met. He didn’t remember her looking so beautiful since…their own wedding twenty-one years before.

Clarence looked at his daddy, sitting next to Jonah in the second row, each of them watching out for the other. Obadiah caught Clarence’s eye, then smiled and whispered something to Jonah, who also smiled, both of them looking up at Clarence.

Janet walked in wearing a striking white wedding dress. She was escorted not by her father, who had passed away, but by her daughter, Carly, pale and walking very slowly, leaning on a thin petite cane. Despite her deteriorating health, Carly was all smiles, and she and her mother whispered and giggled the whole long walk up the aisle. This was the second time Janet had been given away in marriage, the first thirty years ago. Two weddings to the same man. But a different man, Clarence knew. He’d seen close up the last two years of Jake’s life.

“I Jake, take you Janet to be my wife.”

Jake and Janet looked like kids again.

“Jake, what symbol of your love and commitment would you share with Janet?”

Clarence untied the ring from the pillow held by the most excited ring bearer in the history of the universe, Little Finn. Clarence handed the ring to Jake, not sure whose grin was bigger, Jake’s or Finn’s, not realizing his own might have outdone them both.

“In accordance with the laws of the state of Oregon and by the authority that is mine as a minister of the gospel, I now pronounce you husband and wife. What God has joined together—again—let no man dare to separate. Jake,” the pastor paused for effect, “you may kiss your bride.”

Jake and Janet kissed now, understanding a great deal more about love than when they’d kissed at that wedding thirty years ago. The entire church erupted into applause, long and heartfelt.

At Clarence’s request, in the recessional Ollie and Sue joined arms, and Clarence escorted out Geneva. When they locked arms, he kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful,” he whispered as they walked down the aisle.

“You ain’t mulch on the flowers yourself, baby,” she whispered back. When they got to the rear of the auditorium, Clarence took her aside.

“I want to get away with you, baby,” Clarence whispered. “Maybe a second honeymoon or something. What would you think of us renewing our wedding vows?”

Geneva looked shocked. “That sounds…wonderful.” Her eyes watered, and he surrounded her in a hug. They finally released each other just in time to hear a loud voice say, “Wow, Mr. Abernassy, you and Mrs. Abernassy really knows how to do a
big
hug!”

Obadiah had sat down, looking weary, but assuring everyone he was fine. Clarence kept glancing over at him. Suddenly he saw him slump over in his chair. Clarence ran to him. His daddy had already lost consciousness.

Clarence picked him up while people scrambled to find a phone. Ollie waved to Clarence as he went for the front door. “I’ve got the precinct car. I’ll pick you up out here. Faster than an ambulance.”

Clarence nodded as he walked toward the door, people crowding around son and father, father looking remarkably childlike in his son’s huge arms.

As Clarence got his daddy in the backseat, Ollie grabbed the magnetic cherry top, popped it on top of his car, and turned on the siren. He pulled out of the church parking lot and wove through traffic, speeding toward Emanuel Hospital. When they pulled up by the large Emergency sign, Clarence threw open the door, picked up his father, and ran inside.

“Hello, Mrs. Norcoast,” Ollie said, admiring the mansion’s beautiful decor. “Thanks for letting me come over to meet with you. I’ll get right to the point. I’m sure you know about your husband’s involvement with Leesa Fletcher.”

Esther Norcoast, dressed impeccably, turned frigid. She moved only her right hand to reach up and finger the angel pin on her blouse.

Ollie handed her the fax sent to Matthew Harper. She looked at it.

“Where did you get this?” Esther asked.

“Well, let’s just say we know you typed it on your husband’s computer and sent it to Mr. Harper on his fax machine. We’ve been in contact with Harper. What would you say if I told you he saved the fax in case something went wrong? As you know, as a result of this fax, Leesa Fletcher ended up dead.”

“I thought she died of heart failure.”

“Yes. From a drug overdose. But she was the real target in the shooting that killed Dani and Felicia Rawls. The guys Harper hired for you got the wrong house. You knew that, didn’t you?”

Esther teared up. Ollie had been groping in the dark, preferring not to mention Ray’s photo of Leesa Fletcher. He suspected now he’d pushed the right button. “What did you have on Harper, Mrs. Norcoast?”

Esther sat quietly a long time. “He worked for my husband. I used to spend a lot of time in the office, until the last year when I really got involved in my angel business. Three years ago I was going through the books and saw some things I didn’t understand. I started watching Matthew, then I caught him manipulating figures on the computer. He’d been embezzling. I told him I’d give him a few months to return all the money, but then he’d have to resign. I said if he did, I wouldn’t tell anyone. Even Reg and Carson didn’t know, still don’t. But I kept the records proving Matthew’s guilt, just in case.”

She seemed to be organizing her thoughts as if this were an after-dinner speech.

“When I found out about…Reggie’s involvement with the girl, I confronted him. He broke off the relationship, but the next thing I knew I overheard Carson telling someone the girl was pregnant and he’d given her money to get an abortion but she hadn’t done it. I realized that if she gave birth to…his baby, everything we’ve worked for could crumble. She’d tell someone, and next thing you know there’d be a scandal, which would cost us the mayoral race, ruin everything. Besides, I couldn’t live knowing he’d had a baby by another woman. I thought about it. I knew Matthew had some…connections. I called and reminded him he owed me a big one, and if he did a job for me, I’d turn over all the records I had on him and pay whatever was necessary to get the job done.”

“Thirty-five thousand dollars,” Ollie said.

“Yes,” Esther said, surprised Harper had divulged all the details. “I still go over the office books once a week. Nobody else pays much attention to them. Matthew’s done plenty of consulting work for us. And we’ve had a lot of generous contributors come through for us the last six months, everyone from Raylon Berkley to the former governor—Reggie’s very popular, you know—so I knew we could cover it. After I sent the fax, Matthew called me and said they could come up here that Saturday night. We wanted to make sure they found the right house, but of course I couldn’t talk to them directly.”