In Harm’s Way -Ch. 38

Rough draft from In Harm’s Way by Pat Otterness

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

???????????I had a lot of time to think that night, ensconced as I was between wiggly three year old Dorita and lively five year old Chip, with Ruffle scooched??right under my chin. It was certainly impossible to sleep. The older boys had my sons’ room upstairs, and Hope had my daughter’s room, but mine was the only double bed, so I drew the short straw. I told them to be still and go to sleep. They giggled and petted the dog and squirmed around until I used my other voice, my no-nonsense one. That was working so far.

????????????I had read a bit more of what was in Vaughn’s notebook, and found myself beginning to enjoy the never-took-place sex scenes he had dreamed up. Here and there in his dialog, he mentioned the ICE man. Apparently, he had been commissioned by Barr to find one particular migrant, Carmen Diez-Garcia, who was thought to be in the area. According to Barr, she was armed and dangerous, but it was a hush-hush mission. Then, when a body was found, Barr claimed she was the wrong Carmen Diez-Garcia.??Vaughn was supposed to keep the investigation into her death from going anywhere, but was being thwarted by Sheriff Morris.??Towards the end,Vaughn was beginning to suspect that Barr might have killed her. I felt a little sorry for Vaughn. He so badly wanted to be important, and he was being made a stooge by men who took advantage of his stupidity.

????????????What I couldn’t figure out was where diamonds came into it. Were they smuggled into the country, and if so, by whom? Surely not the Carmen I had met. She didn’t look capable of subterfuge. But if there were diamonds, where were they? Who did they belong to? And why were Barr and his friend searching Fletch’s house?

????????????Dorita threw an arm over me. I was touched. She was a brave little soldier. I would try to be there for her until her mom returned. Chip started wiggling around, and managed to kick my leg. A bed this size wasn’t intended for three people and a dog.. I shifted my position. Ruffle opened her eyes, licked my chin, and went back to sleep. I looked at my watch. It was going to be a long night.

????????????I was rudely snatched from a light doze when Ruffle decided she needed to go out. The sun wasn’t even up. There was no way I could climb out of bed without waking the children. I tried, but once wakened, they were bright-eyed and eager to get on with the day. I opened the door to let the little dog go out, and we were greeted with a much larger pooch waiting on the doorstep. Ruffle backed up and immediately peed on the floor.

????????????“Woof!” said Wolf, sniffing the little dog, who was trying to back away, tracking the pee across the kitchen floor. Memories of my child-rearing days came flooding back. I laughed out loud, not because I was enjoying this refresher course, but because I knew it would soon be over.

????????????I pulled up a chair and held Wolf’s collar while Ruffle sniffed him. After a few minutes, Ruffle’s little tail began to wag. Wolf, of course, was wagging all over. A canine playmate was clearly welcome. I put them both outside and hoped for the best. Then I set about cleaning up Ruffle’s accident.?

????????????Dorita and Chip wandered into the kitchen and looked expectantly at me.?Sorry kids, no eggs and bacon. No pancakes and syrup,?I pulled a box of cereal off the shelf and poured it into two bowls. They set to work on it with gusto. I poured two glasses of milk, and cut a banana in half. That would have to do. I fixed myself a jelly toast and heated water for tea.

????????????“Chat,” said Chip politely, “can I have some jelly toast?”

????????????“Me too,” said Dorita.

????????????“After you finish your breakfast,” I said. I wanted to have my toast and tea in peace.?Like that was going to happen.?Resigned, I popped two more slices of bread in the toaster.

????????????The sun was finally up, though, and the two kids finished their toast in record time and slipped out the kitchen door to play with the dogs. Hope appeared, trailed by the older boys, and I let her fix me bacon and eggs. I wanted her to feel needed. Oddly, the boys wanted cereal. I handed each of them a banana and poured more milk. We were running out of milk. I treated myself to another slice of jelly toast after the older boys had gone outside. I was going to eat this slice in peace.

????????????Of course that didn’t happen. We heard tires on the gravel road, and then a knock at the door. Hope went to answer it while I quickly gobbled down the last of my toast.

????????????“I’m looking for Charity Chance,” said a chilly voice, too professional to be believed.

????????????“ Hi,” said Hope. “I’m Chat’s sister, Hope. Come on in.”?

????????????There she stood, in all her glory. Auburn hair beautifully groomed. Golden eyes glowing. Full uniform, form fitted to perfection. “I’m Mallory Drummond,” she said to Hope. “I’m replacing Investigator Vaughn.”

????????????Hope picked her jaw up off the floor and said all the right things. I simply stared at Mallory with foreboding. A quick glance in the mirror showed me Jordan’s?other?choice. Slept-in tee shirt, uneven thatch of hair on end, bleary eyed from lack of sleep. No contest.

????????????“Hi Mallory,” I said. “What’s up?”

????????????Mallory looked me up and down. Her lip quivered a little, but she didn’t smile. There was something about her expression that I liked.?Go figure!

????????????“Something amuses you?” I asked. I decided to take her to the mat.

????????????“Since you asked,” she said,” you look like you’ve been dipped in shit and rolled in cracker crumbs.” She said this to me with a perfectly straight face.

????????????I looked at her for a long moment. “Thank you,” I said, and meant it. A worthy opponent indeed.

????????????“You, on the other hand, look like you just stepped out of a candy box.” I countered. “ Be careful not to soil your hands at work today. There is so much scum to be found in policing.”

????????????“Speaking of which,” she replied, “ you have jelly on your face.”

????????????“I did that on purpose,” I replied.

????????????Hope watched this interchange with horror, but it was the expression on her face that finally left me and Mallory grinning at each other.

????????????“Jordan has odd taste in women,” said Mallory.

????????????“Indeed he does,” I replied, laughing, and we were suddenly, unexpectedly, friends.