Chapter 17
Monday Evening, January 10th
Larry pressed the end button on his cell phone for the third time as they drove through the blowing snow. The interstate was crowded, but so far they had been lucky and hadn’t hit a major traffic jam. Even though it wasn’t crowded, traffic didn’t move as quickly as it would have in fair weather. Snow instilled a higher level of caution in most drivers that made them slow down to well below the speed limit. Jerry did his best to weave around the slower cars, but the speedometer stayed right near sixty miles an hour.
“Still nothing?” Jerry asked from the driver’s seat.
“Nope,” Larry answered. “I tried the office too, but nobody’s answering.”
Jerry frowned as he watched the road through the windshield, “It’s a little early for everyone to have gone home.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Jerry answered. Larry was surprised that there hadn’t been any sarcasm in his partner’s response. Jerry knew this as a sign that he was really worried about something. “I think it’s a bad idea not to listen to Harper, Sid,” he added. “We should stop and get backup, but I don’t think there’s time. I didn’t like the way he sounded on the phone. It was like he was actually worried or something. Nothing fazes that guy. That means there’s trouble at your house.”
Jerry nodded, “I know. It’s why I’m not stopping in Denver on the way. We’re going straight home.”
“Sweet,” Larry said simply.
They were still nearly an hour away from Evergreen and Jerry felt like he couldn’t get there fast enough. He had heard the same worry in Harper’s voice. It was something he had never heard from his brother-in-law, and it terrified him. He didn’t know what he was going to find when they reached the house, but he had the strangest feeling that it was going to be something that would challenge his perception of reality.
He remembered the conversation he had had with his wife shortly before she died. She had been in the hospital for so long, but the doctors had been unable to find anything wrong with her. And yet she had continued to grow weaker and weaker. Each day he had felt himself dying a little inside with her. He had felt helpless as he had watched someone so vibrant and full of life waste away. She had finally insisted that he bring her home, and he had had no choice but to obey her last wish.
It had been the middle of spring when they had brought Arianna home to die. Everything was coming to life around their house after the long winter. The explosions of color and the awakening of life that had lain dormant for so many months seemed out of place when compared to the fading vitality of his wife. Jerry thought it should have been cold and dreary, because that was how he felt.
When he had settled her in their bedroom, the children had taken turns spending time alone with her. Cole had left the room last. He had been in tears, and Jerry had held his eldest son until his sobbing had faded. And then Arianna had called him into the room.
“Jerry, my love,” she had said to him as he walked through the door and over to the bed. “There are some things that I need to tell you – things that I have wanted to say for so many years.” She had paused for a moment before continuing, “But first I want to thank you.”
Jerry had wanted to say something in response, but his eyes had filled with tears and he knew that he would have been unable to speak.
“I want to thank you for the life that you’ve given me. For the life that we’ve built together,” she had said to him. “The years with you have been far shorter than I wanted, but have given me so much more than I ever could have hoped for.” She had taken his hand then and said, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he had said to her as he choked back a sob and squeezed her hand.
They had sat in silence for a moment before she had continued speaking. And what she had said to him had made no sense. He had thought her delirious - since there was no way that what she had said could have been true. It had seemed like some fantastical story – the kind that Louis liked to read about. But he had begun to wonder in the past few days if some, or even all of what she had said to him that day was true. And if any of it was true, it was only fair to warn his partner.
“Larry, when we get to the house…,” Jerry said with obvious discomfort.
“Yeah?” Larry replied as he continued to stare ahead. His hands gripped the dashboard as they moved along the icy highway.
“You might see…some things that are…a little weird,” Jerry finished.
Larry chuckled and shook his head, “Sid, don’t take this the wrong way, but there are a lot of things about your family that are a little weird.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jerry asked with indignation. “And how am I supposed to take that in the right way?”
“Don’t get pissy,” Larry answered with a smile. Jerry was almost relieved to hear the sarcasm return to his partner’s voice. It relieved some of the tension in the car. “I’ve always seen things around your family that were a little…odd. Is that better?”
Jerry pursed his lips as he shook his head, “Then why haven’t you ever said anything?”
Larry shrugged his shoulders, “Because it doesn’t matter. Look, I’ve always known there was something different about Arianna. And don’t get me started about Harper.” He chuckled again before continuing, “But Arianna was amazing. And she became my sister as much as you’re my brother. Hell, I even think of that nutcase Harper as family.” He sighed before adding, “And those kids are like my own, Sid. My point is that none of it matters - whatever I’ve seen before, whatever I see tonight. They’re my family too.” His voice dropped menacingly before he continued, “And if anyone – or anything messes with them, they’re messing with me.”
“Thanks, partner,” Jerry said with a slight choke in his voice. He was lucky to have someone like Larry to rely on, and he knew that he could rely on him for anything.
“Oh, jeez,” Larry said loudly. “You’re not crying are you? Look, let’s save our little Hallmark moment for later and focus on the road, okay?”
Jerry laughed as he shook his head, “Sure.”
Thoughts of Billie suddenly filled his head. He didn’t know how he knew it, but he knew that she needed him at that moment. His children were in danger and he wasn’t there.
“They’re in danger, Larry,” Jerry said softly. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
“Well then, we’d better hurry,” Larry answered.
Jerry knew what it meant for him to say that. Larry was already nervous about going as fast as they were in the winter storm. Jerry thanked him silently and pressed down on the accelerator.