Celia's Puppies (11 page)

“
May I introduce my friend
Aden Norsen?”

The men shook hands.

“
Seth
O’Malley.”

“
Nice to meet you,” Aden
said.

“
Yeah, sorry about that.”
Seth pulled at his collar. “Sandy’s stepdad was my best-friend and
the best person I’ve ever known. I saw Sandy’s name on your police
report. Well, naturally, I got a little hot about that. Then I saw
you and Sandy and the kids on the television tonight… I’m a little
protective.”

“
She deserves it,” Aden
replied.

“
This is Noelle and Nash,”
Sandy said. “We’re having a celebration for Aden. Is it
okay…?”

“
Please join us,” Aden
said.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday early morning — 1:35 A.M.

Because Jacob could only sleep a few hours
at a time, he and Jill fell into the habit of hanging out during
the times he was awake. While he looked forward to the day he could
sleep an entire night, he loved getting to know Jill in the quiet
of the morning.

This morning, they were sitting on a feather
bed in front of the fireplace. A large fire danced in front of
them. While Jacob was cold, Jill was warm. She wore only a white
tank top and panties. He would definitely miss that.

A few hours ago, Katy had joined them in bed
after another nightmare about Trevor stealing her away. She was now
sound asleep in the middle of their bed.

And Jill was talking about her day.

“
So Katy’s napping on my
lap and Paddie was asleep against Colin’s shoulder,” Jill said.
“Well, Alex says, ‘I’ve fought my little brother three times this
year. Who do you think won?’”

Jacob smirked.

“
Do you know the answer?”
Jill asked.

Jacob nodded.

“
This man with silver hair
and blue eyes walks in the room like he owns it. Alex and Colin bow
to him. I guess he’s their teacher. Anyway, he makes Colin show me
how much bigger he is than Alex. His arms are long and he’s like
five inches bigger than Alex. He’s like fifty or sixty pounds
heavier. Anyway, the teacher asks me: ‘Who would win if these two
fought?’ I say, ‘Colin, of course’. But...”

“
Alex won every time,”
Jacob said.

“
Isn’t that amazing? The
teacher said if you aren’t the biggest, you have to think the
fastest to out maneuver your opponent. He said Alex thinks really
fast, so she always wins. He said the only way to win against
Trevor is to out think him. Go after him head to head, and I will
lose like I always have in the past. Then he showed me some simple
movements that would keep Trevor off me. When Katy woke up, Alex
taught them to Katy.”

“
Sounds like you were
pretty impressed with Miss Alex,” Jacob said.

“
How do you know them?”
she asked.

“
I met them through Mike,”
Jacob said. “ I’ve also rehabbed a couple houses for them. I play
hockey with Colin. I think mostly, they’re always up for some
adventure. We’ve been fly fishing, backpacking,
hunting...”

“
Adventure? Yeah. I mean,
who knew? Alex showed me her scars and stuff. I...” Jill beamed. “I
feel really hopeful, like everything is going to work
out.”

Jill looked down at her hands. While she
talked, she had been playing with an object in her hand. She looked
up at Jacob, then smiled.

“
Thanks,” she
said.

“
For what?” Jacob
asked.

“
For not being mad about
my hair,” Jill said.

“
I’m mad about your hair,”
he said.

“
Well, not being mad at
me,” Jill said. “It feels really good to be here with you
and...”

“
And?”

“
I don’t know.” Jill
looked back down at the object in her hand.

“
What is that?” Jacob
asked.

“
This?” Jill held up a
gold button. “It’s not anything really. I play with it when I’m
having a hard time. I’d forgotten about it. I mean, everything has
been so hard this year. Sandy reminded me of it when she did my
hair. She got it from my purse when I started crying.”

“
May I see it?”

Jill set it in his hand. Made out of some
kind of metal, the button was gold in color. It was round on the
top, flat at the back with a simple metal loop to connect it to a
jacket or maybe a shirt.

“
I’ve had the button with
me through almost every really hard thing for… Oh, I guess, the
last four or five years.”

“
I can feel the bumps, but
I’m not sure what’s on it.” Jacob set the button in her
hand.

“
I don’t really know.
There used to be a pattern but I think I rubbed it off. I run my
finger over it when I’m worried.”

“
What does it mean?” Jacob
asked.

“
It’s a very long story
and...” Jill sighed. “You’ll be asleep again soon. I’d rather you
sleep, and get better, than stay up all night listening to me talk
about the past.”

“
Will you tell me
tomorrow?” Jacob stretched his left arm out in a yawn. Jill was
right about going back to sleep.

“
Let’s see what tomorrow
brings,” Jill said. “Mike asked Megan, Steve, Candy and me to be
here with him today. Everyone is coming at eight. Oprah’s going to
be here all day and...”

“
But you’ll tell
me.”

“
Of course. I was
thinking...”

She raised her eyebrow then smiled.

“
Yes, I do want to make
love with you.”

“
I’m so glad,” Jill
whispered.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday morning — 5:20 A.M.
Fort Logan Cemetery

“
Did you bring it?” Mike
asked Alex Hargreaves.

Alex set a package of incense in his hands.
Her team stood guard in the area. Two men had blocked off the road
to the memorial. Alex and Mike walked toward the monument for the
Fey Special Forces team. Eleven black granite slabs set in a
semi-circle. A tall black granite obelisk marked the middle of the
semi-circle. Alex gave him a Zippo lighter

Mike went from stone to stone saying a
prayer and setting the incense.

Today was his big day. Today he would tell
the world about what happened to him all those years ago. He had to
come here this morning. He hoped the guys would be with him in
spirit when he told the world about them.

Clicking the lighter, he hoped that he would
do his dead saviors justice. He hoped...

“
Ten minutes, Roper,” one
of the men yelled.

Moving from stone to stone, he lit the
incense. He stepped back to look at his work when he heard.

“
Ah fuck.”

Turning, he saw a news van pull up to road
block. A reporter and videographer jumped from the van and were
arguing with the soldiers. He knew Alex and her team could easily
destroy the transmission. Hell, they had equipment that could wreck
a camera without ever touching it.

He whirled around to look at Alex. She
shrugged.

It was up to him.

Blowing out a breath, he went to talk to the
reporter.

Chapter Thirty-Three
Valerie and Mike

Thursday mid-day
The Castle

“
Okay, Mike?” the producer
asked. “Can you sit right here?”

Mike sat on the ornate Victorian style
sofa.

“
Val honey? Can you sit
next to him?”

Valerie sat down next to him. As always, the
molecular draw to each other took immediate effect. The space
between them shrank until they were touching.

“
Sit a little apart,” the
producer said.

Mike scooted over. When he put his arm to
the back of the couch, Valerie slipped closer to him.

“
Maybe we should get two
chairs?”

They were sitting in the sitting room where
Ramon had spent the last twenty four hours converting into a studio
set. The small room was packed with people, equipment, and wires.
Sam, Jacob, Jill, Megan, Candy and Steve sat on the floor along the
wall of the room.

The plan was to tape Mike and Valerie’s
interview at the Castle. While Mike and Valerie made their way to
Chicago, the television editing magic would happen. This interview
would be interwoven with the variety of video interviews taken in
the last few days. Mike and Valerie would arrive for the airing of
their interview and answer questions live. That was the plan.

They just needed to get this interview
done.

The rehearsal was sheer chaos. They blew
fuses. The family talked in the background. The room was so hot
that even Valerie was wet with sweat. This take was going to have
to do.

“
They’re fine,” the camera
man said. “At least they’re in the frame.”

“
Everyone happy? Everyone
quiet?” the producer grimaced at the family.

Everyone nodded their heads in unison.

“
All right, let’s check
the lights? We are going to tape...”

When the producer turned to Mike and
Valerie, they were kissing.

“
We need
makeup...”

A flurry of people came forward to touch up
their make up. The woman facilitating their interview sat down
across from Mike and Valerie.

“
We’d better start or
we’ll never get this done,” the producer said.

“
Let’s start with how you
met,” the interviewer said.

“
Even though we lived only
a few blocks from each other, Mike and I had never met. I went to
public school and Mike went to Catholic school,” Valerie said. “I’d
never seen him before. My family went skiing for a weekend at
Copper Mountain. I was on the lift when he sat next to
me.”

“
I had this bet with my
buddies. The guy who could sit on the lift with the prettiest girl
won. Of course, I was a fourteen year old alter boy. Just sitting
next to a girl was a thrill. I hadn’t seen Valerie’s face. I... One
of the guys pointed her out and said she would win the day. Well, I
couldn’t let him win. My friends and I followed Valerie and her
family around Copper. I tried get on her chair in three different
lifts. But her parents always sat with Valerie and her brother.
Finally, I cut her father off to sit next to her.”

Valerie and Mike looked at each other.

“
And?” the interviewer
asked.

“
I don’t know. It’s one of
those things,” Mike said. “One moment, I was hanging out with my
buddies hoping to win the bet. The next moment, my life changed
forever.”

“
What
happened?”

“
I smiled at him,” Valerie
said. “He stammered. Jake, my brother, said something silly and we
all laughed. It was a long lift ride and when we got to the
top...”

“
We weren’t really apart
after that,” Mike said. “We spent every moment we could together.
Valerie’s parents had this rule: as long as we got good grades,
participated in school, and worked our jobs, we could hang out at
their house. We were ‘A’ students, star athletes and model
employees.”

Valerie laughed.

“
It sounds wonderful,” the
interviewer said.

“
It is wonderful,” Valerie
said.

“
What happened?” the
interviewer asked.

“
My parents died,” Mike
said. “A stupid accident. I have three younger siblings. Megan, my
older sister, and I wanted to keep the family together but we don’t
have any other relatives. Meg went to work and I... I joined the
Army.”

Mike and Valerie’s eyes held for a moment.
Like a current, sorrow and regret flowed between them.

“
What was that?” the
interviewer asked.

“
I was intimidated by Val
and her family,” Mike said. “I joined to Army because I thought I
would make something of myself. I wanted to be good enough… for her
and myself, I guess. But I left her.”

“
I think it’s one of those
things,” Valerie said. “You have such an amazing thing when you are
so young... I don’t think either of us appreciated the preciousness
of our relationship. We took our relationship for granted
because... I don’t know.”

“
Because it was so easy,”
Mike said.

“
Yeah.” Valerie nodded.
“We had no idea what it meant to be in the Army. But once he left
for basic training, Mike was basically gone.”

“
What was that
like?”

“
It sucked.” Mike and
Valerie said in unison. They laughed.

“
I finished high school
and Mike worked,” Valerie said. “I didn’t see him for six months
then he was gone for...”

“
Two years,” Mike said. He
reached to hold Valerie’s hand. “When I came back, she had
graduated high school and was on her way to UCLA. I had been around
the country and some of the world.”

“
And the desire to be
together was still there,” Valerie said. “I thought he’d finished
his two years. He was done. He was home. We’d move to LA together
and... But after a few weeks of leave, he was gone.”

“
That was about a hundred
times harder than the horrible first time,” Mike said. “And I don’t
think things really were the same after that. Until
Monterey.”

“
Until
Monterey.”