Indemnity: Book Two: Covenant of Trust Series (40 page)

At two o’clock on the dot, Judge Swift opened the door to the conference room. “Mr. and Mrs. Molinsky, come in. Ms. Ravenna has been delayed.” Bobbi looked at him, but he had no answers. As soon as they took their seats, Judge Swift opened her folder. “I think you’ll be pleased with the arrangement, Mr. Molinsky.”

Chuck took the packet of papers and slipped his glasses on. “Your Honor, I think there’s been a mistake. This is the plan I turned in.”

“
And that’s the final arrangement,” Judge Swift answered.

“
She gave in on everything?”

“
Ms. Houser assured me that this was the arrangement that you and Ms. Ravenna settled on. It will go into effect November first, which will give you some time to prepare. Until then you’ll stick to the Wednesdays and alternate weekend plan. We’ll review it after six months, and a year. After that, you or Ms. Ravenna will have to request a review. Any questions?”

“
She can’t contest this?”

“
Not for six months.”

“
What if she doesn’t cooperate?”

The judge looked at him over the top of her glasses. “Custodial interference is a crime, Mr. Molinsky, and I, for one, will see that it’s prosecuted.”

Chuck reordered the papers, and looked up at the judge. “I’m satisfied.”

“
I thought you would be. It was very gratifying to see this desire to be equally involved in your son’s upbringing. Jack will certainly benefit from it.”

“
That’s my primary concern,” Chuck said.

“
If there’s nothing else, that’s your copy of the arrangement. Make sure you sign the recorder’s documentation before you go.” She stood and reached across the table to shake Chuck’s hand and then Bobbi’s hand. “Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Molinsky.”

“
Thank you,” Chuck said. He and Bobbi left the conference room, stopping to sign the required forms before leaving the courthouse. “She just gave me Jack.”

“
Did she say anything yesterday when you took Jack home?”

“
Just thanks and good night.” Chuck held out the parenting plan. “I don’t get it.”

“
When’s her dad’s parole hearing? Maybe that figured into it. Maybe she feels Jack will be safer if he’s with you more.”

“
Maybe ...”

“
Do you really think her dad is going to come looking for her?”

“
Right now, I don’t know what to think.”

Friday, October 19

After the no show at court, seeing Tracy’s car parked in the driveway didn’t reassure Chuck as much as he’d hoped. She wouldn’t answer her phone, and Chuck feared today had been another binge day.

“
Dad!” Jack Ravenna said, opening his front door. “You’re early! I’ll get my stuff!”

“
Hold up. I need to talk to your mom just a minute.” Chuck stepped inside the door and watched with a smile as Jack ran through the house calling for his mother.

“
She’ll be right here,” Jack said when he returned. “I’m gonna watch TV. Grown-ups always talk longer than they say they will. Don’t leave without me.”

“
Not a chance,” Chuck said as Jack skipped back toward the TV room. While Chuck waited, he surveyed the kitchen and living room, the only rooms he could see from the entryway. Nothing looked out of place. Maybe he was overreacting.

“
Jack said you wanted to talk to me?” Tracy came from upstairs, dressed in a tailored gray suit, and burgundy blouse.

“
I was a little concerned when you didn’t show up at court yesterday, and I wanted to talk to you about the arrangement.”

Before Tracy could answer, her phone rang. “Excuse me.” She crossed the living room and picked up the handset. “Hello?” She looked Chuck in the eyes, nodding for him to stay. The longer Tracy held the phone, the paler she became. Then her eyes rolled back in her head, the cordless phone receiver crashed to the floor, and she crumpled in a heap by the sofa.

“
Tracy!” Chuck lunged in a futile attempt to catch her. “Come on now.” He gently shook her by the shoulders. “Don’t do this.” He pressed her neck, trying to find a pulse.

Jack ran in from the back of the house. “What was that sound? Mom!”

“
She’s okay, Jack. She just fainted.” He hoped that’s all it was.

Jack laid his face against Tracy’s. “Mom, you’re scaring me!” He looked up at Chuck. “She’s breathing.”

Tracy moaned quietly.

“
We need an ambulance,” Jack said. “I know how to call.”

“
Jack?” Tracy said in a weak, dreamy voice. She rubbed her temple, and slowly opened her eyes. She blinked several times, squinted and sighed. “I passed out?”

“
You did,” Chuck said. “Do you feel like sitting up?”

She took his hand and pulled herself up, so she could lean against the couch. “I think, I, uh ...” She rubbed the back of her head. “I think I hit ...”

“
Jack, why don’t you go get your mom a Coke or some juice? That will help her feel better.”

“
Okay!” Jack jumped over his mother’s legs and rushed off to the kitchen.

“
The phone.” Tracy pulled her knees closer. “John ... It was John Dailey. He’s out.”

“
I gathered. Let me get somebody to stay with you.”

“
No.”

“
I don’t think you should be by yourself right now.”

“
I need to be by myself, now more than ever.”

“
I know a couple of cops. I could have them drive by a little more regularly.”

“
No, Chuck. Just drop it.” She eased herself up onto the sofa. The phone rang again. “Where ...?” She pointed under the coffee table. “There it is.”

Chuck handed her the phone.

She clicked it on, and pushed her hair behind her ear. “John, I’m sorry. I was cordless. We got disconnected ... I’ll be fine. Jack’s dad is here ... I know you did all you could. I, uh ... Thank you, John.” She laid the phone down on the sofa beside her. “John said to tell you how much he enjoyed talking with you.”

Chuck felt his face flush. “About that ...”

Tracy shook her head and waved a hand. “I knew you’d call him.”

Jack returned from the kitchen walking slowly, carefully holding a glass in both hands. His serious expression couldn’t hide the smile in his eyes. “I put a bendy straw in it just like you do when I’m sick,” he said. Tracy smiled and took the glass from him. She took a long sip from the straw, and then patted the sofa beside her. He hopped on the couch. “So why’d you faint?”

“
I don’t know. People just do sometimes.”

“
Jack, sometimes when people don’t eat right, they get a little weak and can pass out,” Chuck said. “I bet your mom hasn’t eaten the way she should in a couple of days.”

“
Is Dad right?” Jack crossed his arms across his chest.

“
Maybe so,” Tracy said.

“
If I leave you alone this weekend, do you promise to eat and not pass out?”

“
I promise,” Tracy said, raising her hand. “I’ll be okay.” She kissed the top of his head. “You go ahead and go with your dad.”

Jack hugged her tightly. “Dad can bring me right back if you need me.”

“
I know. You go have a great weekend at your dad’s.”

“
You sure you don’t need an ambulance? ’Cause I can call.”

“
I’m sure,” Tracy answered.

Chuck handed Jack his keys. “Push this button and it will unlock.”

“
Cool!” Jack said. He hugged his mother once more, and headed outside, already pushing the unlock button.

Tracy spoke before Chuck had the chance to. “Don’t say anything. It’s hard enough.”

“
I’ll check on you tomorrow.”

“
No. Please, I need some time alone.”

“
I’m worried about you.”

“
I can’t help that.” Tracy walked toward her front door. “Jack needs you.”

“
He needs you, too.”

“
Your wife loves him. He’ll be fine.”

“
What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
You love Jack, right?”

“
Of course.”

“
You believe I love Jack?”

“
I know you do.”

“
Then I need you to trust me to do what’s best for him.”

Saturday, October 20

“
Daddy!” Shannon called from the family room. “We’re ready to start the movie!”

“
I thought you wanted popcorn.” Chuck stepped into the doorway, his hands on his hips.

Shannon slumped onto the sofa between Bobbi and Jack. “Oh, right. Can we start the previews without you?”

“
Yeah, go ahead. This won’t take five minutes.” He threw a bag of popcorn in the microwave and punched in the cook time. Before he could get a bowl from the cabinet, the telephone rang. “Molinskys’. This is Chuck.”

“
Uncle Chuck, this is Kara. You need to get down here. They brought Tracy in a little bit ago. She’s in pretty bad shape.”

“
What happened?” Chuck gripped the doorframe to steady himself.
I shouldn’t have left her alone. I let her talk me into ...

“
Did you hear me?” Kara asked.

“
I’m sorry, what?”

“
She wrecked her car. Flipped it, and she wasn’t wearing her seat belt. Kenny told me she was probably going fifty around the curve.”

Fifty? In town?
Was she drunk?
“What curve? Who’s Kenny?”

“
He’s a cop. You know as you’re going west on Lanham, past the grade school?”

“
Toward 270.”

“
Exactly. There’s that sweeping left just before it turns into the on ramp.”

That’s 270-West. Was she leaving town?

“
Listen, I gotta go. You okay?”

“
Yeah ... Should I bring Jack?”

“
Honestly, if you want him to see his mother alive again, you’d better.”

“
Dear God,” Chuck whispered.

“
Just ask for me at the ER. I’ll get you back here.”

“
We’ll be there as soon as we can.” Chuck hung up the phone, and slammed his hand on the counter. “I am so stupid!” He closed his eyes to make the room stop spinning. It all made sense.
Your wife loves him. Trust me to do what’s best for Jack. Running is all I know.
She’d have a day’s head start and he’d never find her.

A gentle hand rubbed across his shoulders. “Chuck? What’s wrong? Who called?”

He slowly raised his head and looked in Bobbi’s eyes. He’d asked so much of her already ... “It was Kara. Tracy, uh, Tracy wrecked her car. It’s bad. I have to take Jack to the ER.”

“
Of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can get somebody to stay with Shannon.”

“
Bobbi, what am I supposed to tell him?”

“
Tell him the truth. Don’t sugarcoat it.”

“
Yeah,” Chuck said, taking a deep breath and wiping his eyes. “Can you get him?”

Bobbi wrapped her arms around him, her quiet strength bolstering him. “I love you,” she whispered. A moment later, he heard Jack.

“
Dad?” He tiptoed across the kitchen floor. “What’s wrong? Did my mom faint worse?”

Chuck knelt down to the boy’s eye level, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Jack, your mom’s been in a car wreck. She’s hurt really bad, and we need to go to the hospital right now.”

For an instant, Jack stood motionless, too stunned to react. Then suddenly, he threw his arms around Chuck’s neck, held on tightly and sobbed. Chuck held him for several minutes, his own angry tears dotting the boy’s sleeve. How could she do this to him? “I love you,” he whispered, then kissed Jack’s forehead. “We better go.” Chuck braced himself, then scooped his son up and carried him out to the car.

Jack had seen hospitals on television, and he visited when his grandma was here, but he’d never even been in one, like
in
one, except when he was born. He was born in a hospital. That’s what his mom told him anyway. He didn’t remember. At least no more tears were sneaking down his cheeks. He pinched off one side of his nose, and tried to breathe.

“
Here.” His dad flipped up the thing in between the front seats and handed him a tissue.

He took a deep breath and blew until his ears popped. “Did my mom call you? About the wreck?”

“
Your cousin, Kara, called. She’s a nurse in the emergency room. She was there when they brought your mom in.”

“
Who brought her?”

“
An ambulance.”

“
Did they have to shock her?”

“
I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and find out.”

Jack rolled the tissue into a tight ball. “Does God fix car wrecks?”

“
Sometimes.”