The Family Gathering

  “But you agreed, the risk of schizophrenia...”

  “I agreed that if you found having children a little too frightening given your father’s disease, I can live with that. But see this little guy right here? Our little guy? He came out of a smashed car. There are a lot of risks, honey. Parents have to be brave, strong and smart. I think we’re up to it.”

  “Oh, Connie, I’ll worry all the time. Not only is there mental illness in the family, but addiction!”

  “I think the last statistics I read, addiction touches every family. Thank goodness you’re an expert on it. So, don’t be afraid. We’re going to raise Sam and he’s going to have a little brother or sister.”

  “I told you,” she said. “You’re taking a big chance on me.”

  “I don’t regret it one bit,” he said. “You feel like shit sometimes because you’re pregnant. You’ve had morning sickness and you’re fatigued. You’re going to have a few more complaints along the way, too. But all in all, it’s going to be awesome. I love you.”

  “You are too good,” she said, stroking his cheek.

  “Apparently I really am too good,” he said, grinning. “I blew right through birth control pills and nailed an egg.”

  “Please don’t get all cocky,” she said.

  “Too late. I’m feeling very invincible right now.”

  “Now what?” she asked.

  “Now I think we convince Sam to take a little nap and get busy.”

  “But I’m pregnant!”

  “I hear it’s even better that way.”

  “Well, me getting accidentally pregnant sure hasn’t diminished your sex drive!”

  “It has not.”

  “I don’t think he’s ready for a nap,” she said.

  Sam yawned so big his open mouth almost swallowed up his face. He put his fist in his mouth and his head on Connie’s shoulder. “That’s my son,” Connie said. “He’ll be asleep by the time I get my boots off.”

  Sierra took the baby to his room. “I’m not sure I’m in the mood,” she said as she was leaving.

  “That’s my favorite part,” Connie said. “Getting you in the mood.”

  Love...is an able master; he teaches us to be

  what we never were before.

  —MOLIÈRE

  16

  DAKOTA WAS EXPERIENCING an existence of calm and peace that he’d never really had before, at least not for days and weeks on end. Nothing about the Army had been peaceful, even though there was much about it he had loved. Even his most blissful days with Hasnaa were overshadowed by the challenges of their cultural differences; they had not come even close to figuring out how they were going to manage to be together long-term. She would never give up her work and he wasn’t sure what he’d do without the Army.

  But as August arrived, life had never seemed more settled. Sedona was back home in Connecticut, in the hands of a good doctor, sleeping at night. “Sometimes during the day, as well,” she said with a touch of laughter in her voice. “And counseling up the nose—Bob and me, individual, group. I’m so overloaded with counseling I couldn’t even begin to tell you if it’s working.”

  But she felt all right. There was no panic in her voice.

  Sierra was looking forward to the court appearance at the end of the month that would settle their adoption of Sam. Elizabeth was pulling herself up on the furniture and had four teeth in the front of her mouth. They looked huge when she smiled. Sully had come to think of Sierra as another daughter. It wasn’t so long ago, when Maggie was single, that he’d thought he’d never experience the joy of grandparenthood. Now here he was with a little one on each knee.

  The happiness Dakota found when he was able to spend time with Sid soothed his soul. When he made love to her, it rocked his world.

  He picked Sid up at her house early on Saturday evening. They went together to the soup kitchen, something he particularly looked forward to. The other volunteers had become friends, even though there was no socializing outside of their volunteer night. And he’d grown a fierce admiration for Sister Mary Jacob, who put so much energy into caring for others.

  “Why couldn’t you be my mother, Mary Jacob?”

  “The pope forbade it,” she slung back easily.

  Dakota and Sid were sharing a laugh over Sierra’s recent shock and Connie’s puffed-up excitement as they walked into the food hall. Before they even got to their aprons, they spotted a familiar face. Neely. Smiling beautifully. Positioned behind the pan of potatoes with a spoon in her hand.

  “Oh. My. God,” Sid said.

  “That’s it,” Dakota said. “That’s no accident!”

  “It can’t be. I’ll talk to Sister,” Sid said, heading for the kitchen.

  Dakota just stood there inside the door for a moment and then he followed Sid. By the time he found them having a private talk in the corner, he picked up the words stalking and vandalism.

  “You think this woman is bad news, Dakota?” Sister Mary Jacob asked.

  “Definitely. She accused me of assaulting her when nothing could be a bigger lie. According to people who have known her, she lies quite a bit. If her lips are moving, you should suspect something. I’m afraid we’re not going to stay. Sid has Friday, Saturday and Sunday off—put us on another night.”

  “The Saturday night crowd are your friends. I’ll move her. We’ll get by without you tonight. We have enough people to serve and clean up. I’ll see you both next weekend.”

  “I don’t know if she’s crazy or just determined and obsessed. You better be careful,” Dakota warned.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Mary Jacob said. “I have friends in high places.”

  “That almost makes me want to stay, hearing you say that. You can’t just rely on prayer.”

  “You naive boy,” she said. “I know karate. And I know the police chief. She’s not going to give me any trouble. I’m a nun, for God’s sake.”

  Not that anyone would know it by looking at her.

  “If anything goes strange with her, call us,” Dakota said.

  “Absolutely. We’ll see what happens when I schedule her on another night. You two, go on. I’ll tell the others you had something come up. Suddenly.”

  “I might not be available next week,” Sid said. “I have a few things to do out of town.”

  Dakota shot her a look. She’d been saying she hoped to spend a few days at her old job, helping out her former boss with something, but they hadn’t talked specific dates. He was secretly hoping it just wouldn’t happen.

  “Don’t worry about it, we’ll get by. Go now. Before we draw a crowd.”

  Dakota said hello to a couple of people in the kitchen, shook a couple of hands, made some excuses and promised to see them later. “Let’s go,” he said, taking Sid’s elbow to steer her out. He made it a point not to look back at Neely. He wondered how the hell she found out about the soup kitchen.

  He drove away. “Let’s get closer to home and get a drink. How about that?”

  “I’ll have a glass of wine,” she said. “Maybe two, since you’re driving. Jesus, that’s so disturbing.”

  “I just don’t get it,” he said.

  “Me, either. Look, I think you’re a hunk. But seriously? What’s she going to do with you when she gets you?” Sid pondered aloud. “You’re mad as hell! This doesn’t have happily-ever-after for her stamped on it!”

  “This is a first for me,” he said. “So—you’ve made travel plans?”

  “I’ve been talking to Rob about it but hadn’t nailed anything down. But, seeing Neely at the soup kitchen, I think now is an excellent time for me to take that trip. And it would give me peace of mind if you’d agree to stay with Cal while I’m gone. I don’t want to think of you alone at the cabin.”

  “I’m armed.”

  “Even more reason. Cody, I
don’t want to even imagine you shooting someone!”

  “I hate to break it to you, but in wars—”

  “I know, but this isn’t that. Yes,” she said. “We’re at an interesting juncture. A crossroads. This is the time for me to look at my past and see if I can reconcile it. And maybe decide where to go from here. You should do the same. Then we should talk about what will happen next with us.”

  “Together?” he asked hopefully. “Are we going to talk about where we go together? Because I’m not ready to give you up.”

  “We’ll work this out. And we should figure out what to do about Neely! This has to stop.”

  “I’ll call Stan tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow is Sunday,” she reminded him.

  “I know where to get his cell number. And I’ll ask Cal to help me with this—he knows everything about the law.”

  She sighed heavily. “I’m not running away, Cody. Dr. Faraday asked me specifically if I could come in and consult. I’ll be paid. He genuinely wants my input. He trusts me.”

  “Just a few days?”

  “Let me see what I’m dealing with. I promise to keep you informed. We’ll talk every day.”

  “Why does it have to be you?” he asked, his voice demanding.

  “I was very invested in his project. I know what I’m doing. At least, I did before a year of slinging drinks.”

  “You’re saying you’re the only one qualified to do this? Now, when we’re just getting around to talking about us?”

  She was very quiet. “Yes,” she said quietly. “This is a good time for me to go back there, see what I really want. Need.” After a moment, she said, “Maybe you should just take me home.”

  He grabbed her hand. “Please, Sid. No. Come home with me tonight.”

  “If you’re sure. I can’t say no to you.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on,” he said. “Sorry I barked. I’ll keep my head.”

  “Please. I think right now we need to be supportive of each other. We need to not go crazy. God, we’ve dealt with enough craziness.”

  They were quiet for a long spell.

  “I have some of your favorite wine at home. Let’s skip the bar and go to the cabin. Let’s get our heads on straight. We’re a little shook up, I think,” Dakota said.

  “I think so,” she agreed.

  * * *

  There was no reason to get up early. It was Sunday morning. The bar would open later. Rob and the boys would probably sleep in. Dakota made himself bacon and eggs while Sid had her fruit and oatmeal. It was ten before they cracked the cabin door.

  The first thing they saw was the paint on the Jeep’s hood was burned off and full of bubbles.

  “Stay here,” Dakota said. He took a couple of steps toward the Jeep, then stepped back to the doorway. He pushed Sid inside and locked the door. “Acid,” he said. He pulled out his phone and dialed 911. Then he opened his laptop, signed on and looked at the video from the security camera. He scrolled through hours before she came into view. It had been nearly dawn. The image was perfectly clear thanks to the camera’s night vision, infrared LEDs.

  * * *

  “It’s going to be a busy day,” Stan said to the small gathering inside Dakota’s cabin.

  Dakota sat at his desk, laptop open. Stan, Cal, Officer Glenda Tippin and Sid all looked over his shoulder at the screen.

  “Dakota, can you download this and email it to me?” Stan asked.

  “Sure,” he said. “Now what? Do we get to arrest her?”

  “Sure, but that’s not going to be very satisfying. It’s malicious destruction of private property and, at the end of the day, it’ll probably be a fine. You can take her to court for damages, but what we really want is to make her go away. See, I’ve been doing a little checking—Ms. Benedict has a record. Sort of.”

  “Sort of?”

  “Well, there have been two restraining orders that I can find. She’s broken into a house and created some havoc, destroyed some property, followed people. She gets in trouble, blows it off. She’s a poser. She slides into communities and groups, invents a new Neely, attaches herself, makes a nuisance of herself. She gets fined, gets sued, throws money at her problems. Yeah, madam comes from a rich family and apparently she can buy off her victims.”

  “Good,” Dakota said. “I’ll take some of her money. The damage to the Jeep is considerable.”

  “Agreed, but what troubles me the most is her playing around with dangerous items like knives and acid.” Stan shook his head and ran a hand through his sparse hair. “Jesus. I’m no genius, but I think she’s escalating. And I want her the hell out of my town.”

  “Do we even know what she’s done?” Sid asked.

  “Yeah, I know some things,” Stan said. “She claimed a man led her on. I don’t know what he did or if he did anything at all, but he was married. Neely put the family through quite a bit for a long time, until they moved. Then there was someone she met in a yoga class. A woman. A single woman. Neely wanted to be her best friend, stalked and pestered and created mischief until the woman got a restraining order. Apparently she did things like break into the woman’s house, did her laundry, set her table, prepared food left in the refrigerator. My wife asked, ‘What do I have to do to get her interested in me? I wouldn’t press charges!’ Four kids. My wife doesn’t have much of a conscience if housework and cooking are involved—she’d sleep with the devil.

  “I’ve talked to Neely’s older brother. When I asked him if he knew a woman named Neely Benedict, he asked, ‘What did she do now?’ Our short conversation suggested she’s been like this since she was about five—no empathy or conscience whatsoever, very spoiled, very entitled. I suggested it would help mightily if they’d cut off her bottomless pit of money and he said he’s not feeding her family money. She’s getting paid out of a trust. Oh, and her brother doesn’t want her back.”

  “Great,” Dakota said.

  “She said she was invested in small businesses around Timberlake, but I sure can’t find anything about that,” Sid said.

  “Oh, she’s made herself well-known around town, stopping in this business and that, acting like an heiress looking for a home for her money. But these are pretty simple folks around here and they’re not looking for a partner or investor. I guess we just don’t think like that.” Stan laughed. “Can you imagine this fancy woman driving out to Sully’s to try to entice him into letting her buy in?”

  “Do we even know where she lives?” Cal asked.

  “I’m not just some hick cop,” Stan said. “Of course I know, though I admit, work is harder when the suspect tells about half the truth. She lives in Aurora. Nice house on the country club golf course. I’m friendly with the Aurora chief. And the state trooper captain. We like to help each other out when we can.” Officer Tippin cleared her throat. “All right, no need to try to keep me honest, Tippin. I get most of my computer help from Castor. So what?”

  “Do you have a plan, Stan?” Dakota asked.

  “I do, indeed. I plan to appeal to her sense of fair play. When she comes to me to discuss the situation, I’ll offer to allow her to make restitution. She’ll want to do that. Then I’m going to suggest Timberlake isn’t right for her.”

  “Swell,” Dakota said, not very encouraged.

  “Meantime, until we get our differences straight, I’d like you to stay somewhere else. This cabin is awful isolated to be at the hands of some loony woman with acid. Jesus, I can’t even let myself think about the possibilities.”

  “He’ll stay with us,” Cal said. Then he looked at Sid. “Plenty of room for you, too, Sid.”

  “Thanks,” she said. Then she exchanged glances with Dakota. He knew immediately. She wasn’t hanging around for this.

  * * *

  A tow truck was called and eventually everyone had dispersed. Dakota and Sid rode ba
ck to Cal’s house with him, then Dakota borrowed Cal’s truck to take Sid home.

  “Can we just talk a bit?” she asked. “Can we park somewhere and talk?”

  “You know I’d always say yes to parking with you,” he said. She could tell it was all fake cheerfulness. He knew what was coming.

  “Cody, none of this is your fault, but I don’t want to be in the middle of it,” she said. “With any luck Stan will have this sorted out and you’ll be done dealing with the crazy one. This is a perfect time for me to get this trip out of the way. I’m very loyal to Dr. Faraday. I’ve been trying to help him sort out a problem via computer but going there, to my old lab and my old colleagues, will serve more than one purpose. I should know if I want to go back to that career field. I did train for it for a long time. And I should know if I can make peace with the past. That’s the only way a person can move on.”

  “And what else, Sid?” he asked. “Do you need to know if you’ll miss me?”

  She smiled gently. “I know I’ll miss you. This will be good for us. We should see how we feel about things after a brief separation.”

  “Didn’t we do that while I was in Denver looking for Sedona?”

  “Kind of, but you were challenged with an important mission. I need to do the same thing. It’s been sneaking up on me, needing that important mission. I have to see how that feels.”

  “It was so perfect for a while, wasn’t it?” he said, running a knuckle along her peachy cheek. “Like a time out from the real world. I know you have more important things to do than tend bar. I should probably stop pretending I’m a garbage collector. I should—”

  “You don’t have to be in a hurry,” she said. “I hear snowplowing is fun.”

  “What really happened, Sid? Was it just your lousy husband?”

  “It was mostly him,” she insisted. “I think I’d been working way too hard, playing and relaxing way too little. I was too alone. It happens to people like me, you know? I was working in a university. I watched brilliant professors go off the rails. When the work is meaningful, it can get intense. When it gets too intense...”