Looking Over Your Shoulder

CHAPTER 12

  “THEY’RE CALLING IT A brain pacemaker,” Ursula explained in her monthly gab-session with Eleena. "It’s experimental right now, but apparently it shows a lot of promise.”

  “And it shocks the brain?” Eleena said squeamishly, frowning.

  “Stimulates it,” Ursula said, substituting a more palatable word. "Yes. And these people who have been fighting anorexia for years. They start to get better. It’s incredible.”

  “But they wouldn’t use something like that on Juneau, would they?” Eleena said. "I mean, she’s not really anorexic. She’s just afraid because of her allergies. And she’s just started out; it’s not like she’s down to seventy pounds or something.”

  “No,” Ursula sighed. "Probably not. They say it is anorexia, though, it doesn’t matter why she’s avoiding eating, just that she is. And she’s going downhill pretty fast, she’s just so terrified that one bite will kill her. It’s not like with someone starving themselves to lose weight, where they are still eating five or six hundred calories a day. She’s eating nothing. It’s really scary.”

  Eleena shook her head and sipped at her lemonade.

  “I can’t imagine,” she said softly.

  “I guess God decided I didn’t have enough challenges,” Ursula joked darkly. “You know, I haven’t really hit the wall yet.”

  “The race is not to the swift,” Eleena quoted. “Just remember it is a marathon, not a sprint; or you’re going to burn out.”

  “I think I burned out a long time ago,” Ursula said. "I’m way beyond burn-out now.”

  “You just be careful,” Eleena warned, "or you’ll be the next one to end up in hospital.”

  Ursula nodded, stirring her tea morosely.

  “Abe says that even if we could get Juneau into the trials for the pacemaker, he’d never allow it.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “I guess it’s the whole history of electroshock therapy, and the way that people were treated in institutions back in the fifties. He’s afraid that it would damage her, like having a lobotomy.”

  “I think he’s the one who needs a brain pacemaker,” Eleena said. “Does he really think that you’d get her into something that could hurt her?”

  “Well, to be fair,” Ursula said, shifting uncomfortably, “it’s an unproven therapy. There are risks. Especially when you’re dealing with the brain.”

  “But what is the risk of her not eating? She’ll starve herself to death.”

  “Don’t think we don’t both know that,” Ursula said. With a slight smile, she changed the direction of the conversation. “And I would like to get one for Abe too. There was some promising research back in the seventies, and I don’t know why it never became mainstream. Maybe the modern schizophrenia medications squeezed it out. But if you could just fix the brain function abnormalities with a little device, instead of all of the medications, which all have side effects, that would be so nice.”

  “It probably wouldn’t work for everyone,” Eleena suggested.

  “No, probably not. But I’d sure like to try.”

  “Speaking of unproven therapies,” Eleena said, pushing her plate away and leaning back on her chair, "I keep hearing about gluten free diets for schizophrenia. Would Abe ever try it?”

  Ursula grimaced.

  “His whole life is food, ‘Leen. Sure we’ve heard about it, but the doctors say there’s nothing to it. And that if there is, it is probably only a small subset of schizophrenics that would respond to it. It probably wouldn’t make any difference, and Abe would just be miserable. I know it.”

  “I just think that if there’s a chance…”

  “I know. But so few of the alternative approaches out there really work. I’d rather stick with what the doctors say to try. We can’t just be chasing rainbows all the time. You have to live your life.”

  “If anyone could make gluten-free menus good, it would be Abe,” Eleena declared.

  “He’s a good cook,” Ursula admitted. “Even when he’s sick, I don’t think he’s ever burned a meal. And he’d be happy to develop a diet plan for a gluten free client; I’m sure he probably has already. But following it himself? He’d never go for it.”

  “Okay,” Eleena agreed, "I hear you. I sure hope that you can find someone to help Juneau out. And if she gets into that trial, you could always take Abe to court over it. Have him declared an unfit parent, and go ahead and do it yourself.”

  “She’s not going to get in, so it doesn’t matter. Abe’s doing okay right now. I’d never want to take him to court or something like that. He’d be devastated.”

  “I don’t know how you do it, Urs. I would have left him long ago. I’m not going to stay around to babysit a grown man. And with all this stuff in the news about him poisoning the Lion’s Club… I’d be scared to eat anything he cooked.”

  Ursula shook her head.

  “No. Uh-uh. I don’t believe Abe did anything wrong at that dinner,” she declared. “He’s so careful about things being stored and served at the right temperatures. I’ve watched him do it, timers and thermometers and all. If it was food poisoning, something must have been contaminated before Abe ever got it.”

  “They’re saying it looks like tampering,” Eleena pointed out.

  “Right. So it couldn’t be Abe,” Ursula said sharply. “He didn’t tamper with his own food.”

  “He could have. You don’t know what he might be capable of when he’s on a psychotic break.”

  “I know him better than anyone. He wouldn’t do that. I know.”

  Eleena shrugged and sipped at her drink.

  “There he is again,” Abe murmured.

  Juneau glanced at him.

  “There’s who?” she questioned, looking around.

  Abe pointed to a parcel delivery truck parked at a strip mall up ahead of them.

  “Theo,” he said. "I keep seeing him everywhere I go. I think,” his voice was low and cautious. "I think he was part of the jewel heist.”

  “Theo? Why would Theo be part of the jewel heist? He’s a courier! And not even for that company!” she gestured at the delivery truck.

  “Think about it,” Abe said lowly, as if he was afraid that someone might overhear them. “He drives a delivery truck, so he can get onto the grounds at the airport no problem. Couriers are always taking things in to be put on flights. And because he knows you, he can keep an eye on me. He can tell the rest of the gang if he thinks I’m getting suspicious or showing up in the wrong places. It all makes sense.”

  “He’s not part of any conspiracy,” Juneau said. “And you can’t assume that every delivery truck you see is him. There’s only one Theo, and he can’t be everywhere at once.”

  Abe’s eyes darted back and forth.

  “He’s not going to follow us,” he said with relief, watching the truck as they drove past it. He checked the rear-view mirror for any suspicious activity.

  “No, why would anyone be following us? We’re all perfectly okay, Dad. Nobody’s after us.”

  “They said they would go after my family if I didn’t give up,” Abe recited the affirmation that Juneau had already heard dozens of times.

  “Give up what?” Juneau demanded. "It’s not like you’re a detective or something. You’re not trying to solve the case, get them all locked up. You’re just going about doing your own job, not getting in anyone’s way.”

  “Well…” Abe trailed off, shrugging in embarrassment.

  “What, you are investigating them?” Juneau demanded. "You are trying to solve this stupid jewel case?”

  “I have to. They’re not going to quit until they’re all behind bars. They’re just going to keep following me, and threatening me, and you. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you kids, or Ursula.”

  “But if you stop, they’ll leave you alone,” Juneau protested. The she caught herself. “I mean, if anyone was trying to hurt you, or us,” she amended lamely.

  “They won’t,” Abe said. "Even before, whe
n I didn’t know anything, they were still trying to find ways to keep me quiet.”

  “When you didn’t know anything,” Juneau repeated. “What… what do you know now?”

  “One of them is named Mary. Mary Margaret. She’s the one in charge of the… the operation. Though she’s not the boss of everyone. There are several guys working under her. Then there’s the inside man, he works for the airport or the airline. He was on the tarmac, watching everything from a plane, after the heist went down. Eating my chicken curry.” Abe’s voice dropped again, “and I am in possession of incriminating papers, and jewels they left behind.” He looked around, looking for anyone who might be listening.

  “Really?” Juneau said, suddenly breathless. “You have papers? That show who did it?”

  Abe nodded silently.

  “Well you can’t hide that. Did you show them to the police?”

  Abe shook his head.

  “Once there's enough that I can convince them,” he said, "I will. But right now, it won’t be enough.”

  Juneau looked doubtful.

  “I think if you’ve got anything, you should give it to the police to deal with. Let them investigate it. It’s not safe for you to do it.”

  “When I have enough, I will,” Abe said. “But I don’t want to take the chance that someone will bury it because they don’t believe it is important enough. Or there’s not enough evidence to convict. I want these guys off of the street, so we’ll be safe.”

  Abe had paced the halls much of the night, unable to shut off his brain. He wished that he could turn off the worry switch, but he obsessed over the danger, trying to figure out how to keep his family safe. For a while, he sat down at the kitchen table, drawing up plans, and then getting up again and pacing back and forth, trying to sort it all out. Somehow he had to devise a plan to protect them. There were too many dangers, too many factors to cover them all.

  After Ursula had headed off to work, and the kids started to wander down for breakfast, Abe broached the subject.

  “We need to figure out a way to keep you guys safe,” he said. "In case the bad guys come after me, or come after you to get me to do what they want.”

  Meggie looked at him with wide eyes. Crispin and Juneau looked at each other, gauging their reactions.

  “What do you want us to do, Dad?” Crispin questioned cautiously.

  “Well, different things. But I thought that to start with, we should work on an emergency plan for what to do if someone broke into the house. What would you do?”

  “Call 911,” said Juneau, opening the fridge to look for food, but taking nothing out.

  “Good start,” said Abe. “But it’s going to take a while for the police to get here. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

  They looked at each other.

  “Daddy, are the bad guys coming here now?” Meggie questioned, her voice high, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

  “No, no they probably won’t… but if they do, we need to have a plan. Just like we will probably never have a fire, but we have fire alarms and a plan just in case, right?”

  “So what should we do,” Crispin questioned, “if someone breaks in?”

  “Well, you need to all go somewhere safe. Where do you think would be the safest place?”

  “The basement?” Crispin suggested.

  “Maybe. It’s darker down there, there’s places to hide. But hard to make an escape if you need to get out.”

  “Teacher says in an earthquake you should stand in the bathtub,” Meggie contributed.

  “Bathroom wouldn’t be a bad idea,” agreed Abe. "The door locks. There’s a tree not far from the window, maybe you could get to it and get out safely.”

  “Why don’t we all just hide under our beds,” Juneau said sarcastically.

  “Well, a mattress might provide some protection if they started shooting,” Abe said slowly.

  Juneau’s face darkened.

  “You're upsetting the kids,” she snapped. “Stop it.”

  “We need to have a plan,” Abe insisted. “An emergency plan.”

  “Why don’t we just do like we would if there was a fire?” Juneau questioned. "Just get out of the house?”

  “Maybe…”

  “Nowhere is safe, if they have guns,” Juneau said. “They’re not going to be stopped because it is dark, or the door is locked, or you’re hiding under a mattress or climbing down a tree. They’ll just shoot us anyway.”

  Meggie started to cry.

  “I don’t want to get shot!” she protested. “Daddy, please don’t let them shoot me!”

  Abe wrapped her up in his arms.

  “There, there, Meggie,” he soothed her. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe. That’s why we’re talking about it, okay? To help to keep you safe.”

  “Give her to me,” Juneau snapped, and took Meggie from Abe. “And quit scaring her.”

  Abe looked at them, unable to understand why they couldn’t comprehend the danger they were in and how important it was to sort this out.

  “Why don’t we have a drill?” he suggested. “Like a fire drill. I’ll tell you to hide, and you each go to the best place to hide. How about that?”

  Juneau and Crispin shook their heads, but something about what he had said interested or intrigued Meggie, and she nodded.

  “I want to hide,” she said.

  The others all looked at her.

  “Let’s hide,” Meggie insisted, and she scampered out of the room.

  Abe and the older children looked at each other. Abe grinned.

  “You heard her,” he said. "Hide! It’s a drill!”

  Juneau and Crispin stared at him for a minute blankly, and then they gave in. They didn’t run as quickly as Meggie had, a little reluctant, a little self-conscious, but they left the room and looked for hiding places. Abe went over to the door and opened and closed it loudly.

  “They’re in the house,” he warned the children. "Now they’re looking for you.”

  He started on the main floor, looking through each of the rooms. He had a pretty good idea that they had all gone upstairs. After checking the main floor, he went up the stairs and looked through the bedrooms. Juneau and Crispin were easy to find, Crispin hiding behind a door, and Juneau in the back of her closet. They gathered in the hall.

  “Where’s Meggie?” whispered Juneau.

  “I haven’t found her yet,” Abe said.

  “Seriously?” Juneau said. "You didn’t see her and just not tell her?”

  “No,” Abe shook his head. "She picked a good hiding place. You guys help me find her.”

  Juneau looked at her watch.

  “It’s getting late,” she commented. "We’ll be late for school.”

  “We have to find her first,” Abe said.

  He went back into Meggie’s room and looked through it more carefully. He still couldn’t see her. Abe checked the master bedroom, looked under the bed, moving the clothes aside in the closet. Frowning, he returned to the hallway.

  “She didn’t go into either of your rooms?” he asked the other two, who were still hanging around waiting for them to find her.

  “No, I’m pretty sure she didn’t,” Crispin said. "But she hid before we came up here.”

  “Where is she?” Abe said.

  “Did you check downstairs?”

  “The main floor, but not the basement. She’s afraid of the basement.”

  “What about the bathroom?” Juneau said. "That’s where her teacher said to go in an earthquake.”

  Abe shook his head.

  “There’s no-where to hide in there.”

  He went into the bathroom and glanced around.

  “She’s not in here,” he said. He stepped in and peeked behind the shower curtain to confirm that there was no one in the tub. “There’s no-where else to hide,” he told the others.

  There was a soft giggle, and Abe tried to pinpoint the sound. He looked outside the bathtub, then insid
e again, and then realized that she was standing on the edge of the tub, sandwiched between the liner and the curtain. He reached in between them and grabbed her, pulling her out.

  “You win the prize, missy,” he told Meggie, giving her a squeeze. “Wow, that was a super hiding place. I didn’t know anyone could hide there.”

  “I winned,” Meggie crowed. “I hid from the bad guys.”

  “Yes, you did. You did a great job. Much better than these guys,” Abe pointed at Juneau and Crispin, raising his eyebrows comically.

  Meggie giggle happily, her fear and tears long forgotten. She hugged him around the neck.

  “I’m hungry,” she said petulantly. “When are we going to eat?”

  “Right now,” Abe said, laughing.

  They all trooped back downstairs to the kitchen. Abe looked at the clock.

  “We’d better make it quick today. Our little game took a bit longer than I thought it would.”